~*****~

Cabba was... well, not exactly the strongest opponent. While Saiyans are technically strong opponents, it seems the Saiyans in Universe Six haven't reached the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan yet. Even if Vegeta helped him reach that level just by threatening to destroy his home planet, the younger Saiyan couldn't hold a candle to Vegeta's Super Saiyan Blue form. "You didn't have to be so hard on the boy," I remind Vegeta as I start patting at his face again with a cold rag. "Honestly, you'd think you'd learn to be a little nicer, considering you have to train your own kids-- most of which are girls." Vegeta just scoffs and turns his nose up at me. "Don't get snippy with me, or I'll show you what for."

"Our next challenge, taking on the victorious Contestant Vegeta, is the final competitor from the Sixth Universe. The one and only Contestant Hit!" The announcer cheered.

I pursed my lips delicately as I peered across the rings and patted at Vegeta's arm. "Be careful around him." I urge. "He'll be a tough one to beat."

Vegeta snorts at me. "As if I need you to--" Vegeta's sentence is halted as I snatch his ear and hold tight. "Woman--" He warns.

"It's Mara, your wife, and you'll do well to remember that." I snap quietly. "Just because I can't do all those fancy tricks you can doesn't mean I can't sense a strong opponent. Honestly, you're the reason I'm starting to hate martial arts. You're so stuck in your own head you can't bear to listen to anyone giving you any sort of forewarning or advice. Oh, but you're so willing to train someone you've just met. You're insufferable!" I keep my voice down, thankfully. And even if the arena is quiet, I don't think anyone heard my little mini breakdown. I release his ear and stomp back to the seats and plop down besides Beerus, my arms curled tight around my chest in irritation.

"Goodness, having marital problems so late into the marriage, are we?" Beerus sneers.

My hand snatches up and pinches his cheek for just a moment. "Keep your nose out of our marriage, Beerus."

Beerus grumbles irritably as he rubs at his cheek. "So, his name is Hit, right, Whis?" Beerus asks. "I know he's from another universe, but he seems familiar. What's his deal?"

"From what I've been able to glean, he's a professional assassin. In fact, he's the most talented one in the entire Sixth Universe." Whis explains. "Stories of his exploits claim that not a single target has ever escaped his reach. They call him, Never Miss Hit."

"Whoa!" Goku coos.

"That sounds lame," I retort at the same moment.

"I don't know, Mara, if he's even half that good, I'm impressed!" Goku chirps.

"Well..." Beerus chides. "For the sake of winning my bet, I need Vegeta to come out on top. But speaking purely as a fan of a good fight, I'm excited to see these two in action." Beerus lifts his hand and shoots an energy beam at the gong, starting the match.

"And begin!" The announcer cheers. The match starts off strong with Vegeta powering up to Super Saiyan Blue almost immediately. My brows quirk in response. Perhaps he had sensed it and just didn't want to worry me about it. Or perhaps he's bullheaded and didn't sense it sooner. But out on the ring, Hit may not seem like much, but his guard is absolutely perfect.

"See that?" Piccolo hummed.

"His guards perfect," I retort in awe. "There's not an angle I can see to get around it, either."

"No kidding. This guy knows how to handle himself in a fight." Goku chuckles.

Just as Vegeta takes a step, Hit is already moving, faster than I had ever seen. Vegeta throws a punch, only to get knocked away easily. "What the--" Vegeta growls as he sits up, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Holy crap!" Goku exclaimed.

"That speed!" Piccolo gasps.

I snag my lower lip between my teeth, angling forward on my seat, gnawing on my lip in worry. "Give up. Now." Hit warns softly.

Vegeta scoffs. "Yeah, right. You're pretty cocky for someone who's landed a single blow. I'm gonna end this fight now!" Vegeta shouts, energy pouring from his body in response to his anger. Vegeta attacks again, only to be completely overwhelmed by Hit's speed again.

"Hey, Piccolo, are you seeing Hit's attacks?" Goku asked.

"No. Nothing." Piccolo stated.

Hit assaults Vegeta with a barrage of strikes and blows on Vegeta, and he's unable to keep up, even in his strongest form. I can hear the kids shouting after their father as he hits the ground. But no matter how tough a beating Vegeta can take; he's ultimately taken down by Hit. Champa is cheering loudly for his competitor. "The winner, by knockout, Contestant Hit!" The announcer cheers.

"Dad!" Mars barks out, and the entire crowd of children are suddenly flying down to help.

"Kids," I hiss as I stand up. Krillen leaps down after them with a familiar bag in his hand.

I leap off of the stand I'm on and hurry towards the group surrounding Vegeta. "Dammit! What a waste of time!" Vegeta growls once he comes to, his fist slamming into the ground.

"How're you feeling?" I ask softly as I wrap a hand around his arm.

"How do you think?" He hissed back, snapping his heated gaze up at me.

My brows are furrowed, and my eyes suddenly narrowed as I glared down at him. "We're not doing this right now. Get up. Thank your children for coming to see if you were okay and get back to your seat." Vegeta stares at me for a long time before sighing in defeat. He peers back at the kids staring at him anxiously. Mars is holding onto Elara and Eschalot's hands as they sob, Marble has a towel in her grasp, and Goten is standing behind her, brows furrowed in confusion as he holds a jug of water.

He sits on his haunch and reaches up to rub at Marble's head as she tilts down to him with a towel in hand. "Thank you. Now get back to your seats." Vegeta orders in a soft tone.

There's a subtle amount of whispering from the others watching. When everyone is in their seats, the announcer calls out the next match.

~*****~

"All right, fans!" The announcer cheers. "For our next match, Contestant Hit will face off against an old favorite from the Seventh Universe: Goku! He's back in the tournament!"

"Well, how do you guys think I should handle this?" Goku asks, hand patting Pan's head as she rests on my shoulder.

"By praying," Jaco immediately says.

"Oh, and to make it a good one," Jaco's friend added.

"Who are you?" I retort haughtily. "Anyway, Goku, just keep a level head and stay on your toes." I remind him. "And for goodness sake, do not underestimate him like you do everyone you fight."

"I do not--" My brows quirked and Goku immediately stopped talking. "I won't..." He murmurs in shame.

"That's a good boy," I chirp affectionately and pat at his arm. "Now get down there and kick some butt!"

Goku beams and leaps onto the stage. And as with the fight with Vegeta, Hit gives Goku the business as easily as he did in the last match. Goku does manage to get some blows on Hit after figuring out his Time Skipping ability.

"That was amazing! How did Goku do that?" Krillen asked.

"Now it looks like Hit's the one who can't keep up with Goku!" Jaco's friend coos.

"Yeah, I know!" Jaco gasped.

"Oh no! C'mon, Hit!" Champa cried as he leaned over the railing of his island.

I palm at my cheek. "Goodness, this is going to be quite the blow to my poor husbands' pride." I mention lightly.

"I can imagine the brooding," Yamcha hums.

"Your whole advantage is moving a tenth of a second forward in time for a surprise shot." Goku explains. "So then I just anticipated, guessing where your moves will take you after you start your attack, based on watching your fighting style."

"A new phase of the fight begins," Hit hums softly. He removes his hands from his pockets and suddenly, the aura surrounding him becomes even deadlier. There's absolutely no evidence of an opening that's there or will be. He's become an impenetrable wall.

Goku just smiles. "You're finally taking this thing seriously, aren't ya? Then, I'll be doing the same, Hit! Now I'm going all out!"

"Can I have my grandbaby back?" Mr. Satan whines as I start patting at Pan's back.

Chi-Chi just snaps her gaze onto him. "Give it a break, Mara's experienced with babies. You've only had one child."

"Yeah, and he was a poor father until very recently." I murmur. "Give me a couple more minutes, Hercule, she's almost asleep."

Goku launches at Hit, bringing our attention away from the snoozy baby and back onto the fight. He's powered up to Super Saiyan Blue, and it becomes an actual fight where Hit has to defend himself against Goku all the while trying to attack with his Time Skip ability.

Goku gains ground with his attacks. "Yeah, Nice one!" Bulma cheers as Goku knocks Hit to the ground.

"You ready to surrender?" Goku asks.

"Don't underestimate him, Goku," I whine to myself.

There's a subtle shake coming from Hit. "Hey, you feeling okay?" Goku asks, and at that moment, Hit lets out a roar, the feeling of death suddenly crawling all over me. My skin shivers in response. "You kinda caught me off guard there," Goku called as Hit stopped. "Guess you're the sort of guy who yells when he powers up, too."

"This is not going to be good," I mention, shifting in my seat to deal with the prickling sensation in my skin. There's a moment where it looks like Goku's going to win but Hit gets him good in the chest with a strong blow.

"That was a brutal blow!" The announcer chirps as Goku clutches at his chest in agony. "I need to know, Contestant, can you still compete?"

"C'mon, buddy," Krillen murmurs.

"Well... looks like this fight is--"

"Wait!" Goku snaps, cutting the announcer off. "I am not finished yet!"

"I can't increase my ability through some kind of noisy transformation the way Frost and you Saiyans do." Hit explains. "If I wanna become more lethal, I don't have the luxury of cutting corners; I just have to do it the old-fashioned way."

"Anybody know what he's talking about?" Krillen stammers.

"He's talking about his pure technique." I explain. "He's figured out how to improve his fighting move in the middle of this match, without any boost to his power. I suppose there's a reason he's the best Universe Six has to offer."

"Combat is craft. What matters most is now raw power, but the skill by which you hone it. I'd never even thought of improving my Time Skip. Up to now, there was no reason, since I could defeat anyone I faced. And then came you. So I thought, maybe I can push it farther. And as you can see, my experiment paid off. By refining my technique, I've managed to jump twice as far into the future."

"He improved his Time Skip?! Man, what's gonna happen next?" Krillen wondered.

There's a few tense moments of Champa egging Hit on to attack but Hit allows Goku to get back up on his feet to continue to match. Hit takes on a new stance that sucks out any chance of an opening. It's amazing how fast his mind works in the midst of battle. And he continues to improve within the time of them staring at one another. Goku hits the ground after a few more attacks.

"Referee?"

"Yes!" The announcer chirps at Hit's voice.

"We've established that killing will disqualify me." Hit retorts.

"Th-That's right!" The announcer nods.

"Then as with Vegeta, it's up to you to end this fight." Hit states. "A while back, you nearly called this match. What are you waiting for now?"

"Goku, get up!" Krillen whines as the announcer stumbles around on his words. I see slight movement in Goku's body and when it starts to rise, I suck in a hurried breath.

"He's up!" I chirp loudly, standing on my knees and beaming.

The announcer whirls around and gasps. "Contestant Goku is somehow back on his feet!"

It's silent for a few moments. "I'm not giving up." Goku simply states, arms hanging in front of him as if he's fighting soley on instinct.

"It seems you're too proud to admit when you've failed," Hit retorts.

"That's not it!" Goku shouts. "Stopping now wouldn't be fair to you. It'd give you the wrong idea."

"What does that mean?" Hit snapped.

"Look, it's not cause I've been trying to trick you, or make you think you're stronger than you are, okay? I'm just still working on something, and I didn't want to use it in battle till I was sure it was time." Goku explains. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd try it till after this tournament, when I was ready to challenge Lord Beerus again."

"Say what?!" Beerus snapped. "Do you know what he's talking about, Whis?"

Goku's body suddenly explodes with new energy, sending chills through my entire body. "Since I'm still figuring it out, at this point, I only have about a one-in-ten chance of pulling it off. And if I mess this move up, it's gonna do a lot more than just knock me out of this tournament. But here goes!"

"Mercy--" I murmur as Goku's energy continues to climb higher and higher, in a fashion that I recognized as his Kai-oh Ken that he'd learned from King Kai all those years ago to defeat Vegeta and his partner, Nappa.

He's much faster now, overwhelming Hit's senses as he tries to keep up with Goku's movements. Goku needed to finish this fast, otherwise he was going to pass out from the strain on his body. I can vaguely hear the others barking out orders for more towels and water as my own body wavers and falls limp against Chi-Chi against my side, my vision swims but I manage to focus on the battle. It's a brilliant display of power between the two. Despite the agonizing pain from my body naturally absorbing such energy, I couldn't tear my eyes away.

And as the smoke settled and the islands righted, my body relaxing against the harsh energy thrumming in my body. I sat up anxiously, wiping at my sweaty brow. I can still hear my heartbeat in my ear, but the two are still standing strong.

The match continues. There's a moment where I wonder if they're going to turn on Champa-- with how he's called them pawns and all-- but Hit and Goku are more interested in fighting each other. Despite having gotten a good couple of strikes on Goku, Hit is thrown back by Goku's retaliation.

The two fall to the ring, gasping for breath. They struggle to get to their feet and Goku asks Beerus to lift all rules for the tournament. "Hey, Kakarot! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Vegeta snaps loudly.

"You want a no-holds-barred fight with that guy?" Piccolo asks.

"Of course not! I mean, it's not the ideal set up for me, but I really want to fight Hit at his full power, and this is the only way he's gonna be able to do that." Goku explains.

"Pig headed!" I shout.

"Think about it! If Hit coulda used some of his assassin tricks, then who knows? There's a pretty good chance he would've killed me after that last attack!" Goku states. "Right?" He asks as he turns to Hit. "Anyway, sorry it took me so long to realize all of that. Though, in my defense, I did kinda have my hands full back there."

"But are you not afraid that you might die?" Hit asks.

"Oh, you're not gonna get me like that again," Goku retorts confidently.

Hit hums. "I see. Have to say, I never imagined there were people like you out there."

"BRAVO!" Champa roars. Our gazes fly up to the large windbag floating above the ring. "This is the true spirit of sportsmanship in action! I'm so touched! The rules are hereby revoked. Extreme force is now legal!"

"Hold it!" Beerus shouts. "This is unacceptable! You can't just unilaterally make rule changes!"

"But it was your own contestant who made the request. Just let him have it." Champa chirped.

"Oh, you are shameless!" Beerus barks. "The only reason that you wanna change the rules is to give yourself an advantage!"

"Well, now that's pretty rich coming from you since the only reason you want to leave the rules in place is that it's to your advantage! You make me so sick!" Champa shouted.

The two began to wrestle with each other. "You already agreed to the rules! You can't just undo that!"

"Yes, but it was your contestant who asked me to make this change!" Champa exclaimed.

"That may be, but you can't go changing the rules!" Beerus barks.

The others look at me and I shake my head. "Don't look at me, I feel like I might explode if I move." I mention as I rub at my still sparking skin. In the end, Goku leaps out of the ring, considering neither God wanted to give an inch for bending the rules, giving Hit the win.