"Nice gi, Videl. Ready to lose your first battle in this tournament?" I joked, walking side-by-side with Videl.
It was time for our battle. Videl was currently wearing a white and blue gi that matched mine. I'd based mine partially on Goku's GT outfit, and I found it kind of funny that Videl was copying me.
"I wanted something that paid homage to Gohan, who trained me, and my dad. I didn't feel right using the color orange, though, so I used blue instead. The white's meant to remind people of my dad's cape." She explained, "and you might be overwhelmingly stronger than me, but don't count me out yet. I've been training for years, Hanna. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, y'know. Don't you dare hold back against me."
I shrugged. I was going to hold back. No doubt about it. That wasn't discounting Videl's skills, though. As far as I knew, the only three humans alive stronger than her were Krillin, Pigero, and Tien. She grew so quickly that you'd think she was a Saiyan.
But obviously she wasn't, so she couldn't go Super Saiyan. Humans needed to find other ways to break that wall, and I pretty much knew for a fact that the only humans capable of that were Pigero and Tien.
As such, I wasn't about to go Super Saiyan during this duel. Not against someone who hadn't been in many high-stakes battles yet. If I were going against Krillin, Vegeta, Nappa, Rise, Raditz, or Yamcha, it'd be a whole different story, but I wanted to beat Videl with technique, not overwhelming power.
"Sorry, Videl. You'll have to force my full power out of me. May the best girl win."
"May the best win." She agreed, shaking my hand.
…
"READY?! FIGHT!"
As soon as Ruby called out for our fight to start, Videl was ready. Drawing a bit of power from the energy battery that we'd allotted her, Videl covered the entire ring in a thick mist almost instantaneously.
"A parlor trick." That's honestly all it was. A trademark Krillin move. She wasn't as strong as me, and she couldn't use the energy from her battery in any concentrated way, or in large amounts, so she covered the entire arena in a mist capable of obscuring my energy detection.
I could probably still sense her by tossing my own energy out to find her, but it'd be a better use of my strength to simply blow the entire mist away with overwhelming power.
But just as I raised my arm to do just that, I sensed something coming at me from my blindspot, and immediately moved my elbow to intercept Videl's fist.
And I got blown away. The force of Videl's blow caused the nearby mist to scatter, showing the girl to me for a moment before she vanished into the mist once more.
"Ouch. Times ten, huh?" I grabbed my elbow. It actually hurt quite a bit. She'd shattered right through my guard, and her hair had been gray when I'd caught my glimpse of her.
Still, though. "If you think I'm gonna fall for this trick-" I dodged another fist, "You've got another thing coming! Haah!"
Pushing a Kaio-ken times two out, just for a moment (like the technique was originally meant for), I released a wave of energy that overpowered Videl's energy mist, slamming against her and knocking her off her feet and backwards almost ten feet as a side effect.
…
Videl gritted her teeth. She'd already known that Hanna was a monster. According to Legacy's computers, Hanna's resting power level was six times higher than hers, but it was only after feeling that wave of power that she felt she truly understood that difference. If she hadn't been using Silver Mode to multiply her strength tenfold, she'd have been blown clear off the ring like a wad of trash.
At least, facing Gohan, there were openings and inefficiencies that she could take advantage of. He held back from using his full power against Videl because he was scared of hurting her when they fought, but Hanna had no such flaws. In fact, there was almost no excess to her energy use at all.
Videl's plan to exhaust Hanna's stamina died right then and there. She instinctively knew that her only chance to beat the Saiyan girl was to take advantage of the vast gap that existed between them.
Pushing her Silver Mode up all the way to its maximum twenty-five multiplier despite the rick of tiring quicker, Videl pushed herself to her feet once more.
…
Sensing Videl maxing her Silver mode out, her hair flaring a brilliant silver, I used Grey Mode to multiply my power level by three. That made me notably weaker than Videl, but I suspected that part of her plan was to tire me out, so I wasn't about to use any more energy than I needed. I'd just adjust my Grey Mode on the fly.
Tapping my foot on the ground, I rushed in to punch Videl. She parried it easily in her Silver state, but I pressed my attack anyway, undaunted.
We traded hundreds of blows in a matter of seconds, each as powerful as a freight engine, before she finally managed to get a good kick on my gut, knocking me backward.
Flying backward, I landed on my feet with a somersault, wiping a few drops of blood from my lip. She'd hit me in the face some time while we were trading blows.
But, smirking, I tapped my foot on the ground, slipping through the air once more to attack her up close once more.
This time, I pushed her back, planting my elbow right into her side. She spat out a glob of blood.
"You're not going to win with little tricks like that, Nova!" She called out.
I relaxed my attitude for a moment, though I wasn't stupid enough to lower my guard. "You noticed, huh? I was hoping to keep your focus on me."
"I can sense energy just as well as anyone, you know." I laughed at that.
"Doesn't mean much if you can't stop my attack, though."
"NO!" Shouting, Videl pushed off of the ground, racing toward me with everything she had.
But it was too late. "Trinity. Pyramid Blitz!"