In Legume's time, tournaments were as big of a deal as they are in this distant past - however, through forty thousand years of history, they had evolved so far from their predecessors that when the Saiyan first heard about one being organized in his vicinity, he was sure that there was a some sort of name misplacement.

The primary difference is that martial arts and ki mastery had become much more of a competitive sport rather than something people take up on for self defense or to further their goals. With the absolute majority of the population having some sort of control over their inner ki abilities, and the society orderly and without any risk of unwelcome threats, such a development should perhaps be anticipated. Martial artists, who participate in tournaments as highly paid sportsmen representing cities or planets, often don't even hold a candle to the elite fighters in the Galactic Military - but they don't need to, either, as tournaments are focused a lot less on raw power and a lot more on technique and teamwork. There is a hard cap on how far a martial artist is allowed to push his power level during a match, there is an official organization hardcoding rules on how matches should be organized and what techniques are banned...

As a veteran of the Galactic Military, Legume hadn't gotten a chance to test his skill in a tournament before his time leap, but having realized that the time he ended up in has no qualms with a person pushing his power to the max and flailing it around, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to try something new for once in his lifetime.

One thing which apparently didn't change during those forty millenia, though, is the commercialization of tournaments. Including hyping up all of the combatants in the tournament beforehand to get the audience's attention. Hell, as Legume sat on one of the benches right outside of the arena, he overheard the announcer mention his name and immediately craft a fake story behind it, calling him a freedom fighter from the distant edges of the Galaxy who has arrived out of nowhere with a sense of justice and an enormous power level. The Saiyan snickered a little afterward.

Maybe I should steal this description to not reveal where I'm from unless necessary, it pays no favors. Just... please, don't put me as an inhabitant of the Galactic Rim, I'm not a damn hillbilly.

With the rest of the combatants described, the gates to the Arena opened and, carrying Vanity on his shoulder and shifting it in his hand to not have the tip of the blade bang on the roof the gate, Legume stepped out to the soon-to-be battlefield. His partner in this two on two match was Tora no Seshin - the two had met each other on the other side of the Galaxy a week or so ago and just so happened to stumble across each other in Shroomy's Invitational. The Saiyan held a lot of respect for the Earthling martial artist thanks to the great fight he put up in the Nickel Tournament and thus couldn't ask for a better partner today.

Their opponents, on the other hand, were completely unfamiliar to him - however, from what Legume had heard of them from the announcer's description, they were forces to be reckoned with and the power levels which their bodies put out confirmed that. The demoness, apparently named Kuueru, was affiliated with the now deceased Emperor Polaris - surprisingly, a name which Legume had heard of before his leap to the past. In passing and often confusing him with all the other Frost Demons who lived in this millenium, but heard of regardless. Which definitely meant that this was someone to keep note of. Her ally, named Kaijin, was apparently an advanced artificial lifeform.

An android? A test tube baby? A clone? All of these three were likely answers and all three of them were prolific in Legume's time, thus firmly in Legume's comfort zone. Aside for the auspicious lack of an Android Civil Rights Movement. But hey, that's the primitive first millenium for you.

"Tora," Legume spoke, removing Vanity from his shoulder and slightly raising it to the air. "I'll leave Kaijin to you. Kuueru seems like the more important target here."

Without waiting for an answer, Legume suddenly slammed his greatsword to the ground with a loud thud, coinciding it with his Super Saiyan transformation. A powerful golden aura and a shockwave from the sword slam rolled across the entire arena, reaching to the edges of the dome and threatening to blow away everything standing in its way. And this wasn't a normal Super Saiyan transformation, either - the significantly greater power level, crackling electricity around Legume's body and a single lock of hair falling onto his forehead indicated something beyond.

Legume knew that the people of this era still saw Super Saiyans as a rare occurrence, as legends. And if this enigma in front of them becomes not just a Super Saiyan, but a Super Saiyan Two... that's got to pick up the crowd.

Without any further ado, Legume sped forward from his position, eyes locked towards Kuueru and registering even the faintest of her movements, ready to either react or activate Time Skip at the slightest sense of danger, As soon as the Super Saiyan got close enough, he swung Vanity forth in two wide and powerful horizontal swings.

Legume held no assumption that the two warriors he was facing against were in any way less talented or clever than him and Tora - and the precious seconds which unfolded after the Super Saiyan's initial offensive exemplified that. Kuueru and Kaijin reacted to Legume and Tora's offensive with haste, apparently switching the opponents they want to fight among each other - the demoness suddenly vanished from where she stood a moment ago, and in her place, Kaijin released a thunderbolt straight towards him. All while Kuueru decided to take on Tora first, clearly hoping that with her overwhelming power in comparison to the Earthling, she would be able to turn this into a two versus one bout.

"Oh no you don't..."

The lightning was heading towards him at blistering speed. To take down two birds with one stone, Legume took a breath and twitched his muscles, a crystalline bubble of time suddenly forming around him and everything else - Kaijin, Kuueru, Tora, all the thousands of spectators surrounding them - froze for a fraction of a second. That fraction of a second was enough for the Super Saiyan to make his way towards Kuueru and stop in front of her before releasing a powerful uppercut towards the demoness's chin. Whether or not he would actually land the technique, Legume would instantly fly away to maintain his momentum, his eyes now focused on Kaijin, whose lightning bolt he had successfully avoided withe the Time Skip.

The Saiyan's breaths were starting to turn unnaturally tense and coarse, as if something was building up in his throat, and a shooting exhaustion was slowly creeping up in his muscles. He wasn't wearing himself down this quickly, was he? His Super Saiyan 2 form was mastered enough to not drain him of his energy reserves this quickly... Legume's mind suddenly went to the introductions of each fighter before the battle. The announcer described Kaijin not just as an artificial lifeform, but also as a doctor, an expert in bio-engineering who spends his time distributing medication. The conclusion was obvious.

Biological warfare.

One of the most disgusting forms of waging war. The universal geopolitical stage had long since banned the use of viruses and nanobots in warfare as a part of the Common Rules of Warfare. Unfortunately, it's going to take twenty five thousand years before they are established, so at this point, anything goes. It also meant that Legume would need to eliminate Kaijin as quickly as possible.

The Super Saiyan activated his Time Skip yet again, using the fraction of time he froze to fly straight towards the Doctor and release a barrage of strikes towards him. More specifically, in an attempt to immobilize him, Legume targeted his opponent's joints and neck, the closest thing he could imagine to weak points in an android's body. As soon as the Time Skip faded, Legume would leap back, landing a couple of feet away from Kaijin and raising his greatsword in a horizontal, defensive stance.

CURRENT PL: 919,294
HP: 99/115 | KI: 63/100 | DEF: 50 | DMG DIE: d12 | ACC: +30

As one might have expected, the Android didn't seem to be affected by the Time Skip onslaught at all. Of course. Most of them aren't programmed to feel pain, it would only be a drawback for a machine. Coupled with the fact that androids are usually not lacking in endurance and aren't affected by exhaustion... means that Legume is in for a fairly tough pickle.

But that's okay. It's not like he is completely on the back foot here. Even android endurance is not infinite, all he needs to do is wear the bastard down...

Before he wears the Saiyan down, and with all of this biological weaponry being thrown at him, that did not seem unlikely. At least all of the weak energy attacks Kaijin seemed to be throwing at him didn't get to achieve anywhere near the same effect. As soon as the android appeared behind him and unleashed a burst of energy straight into his back, a hand, cloaked with a paper-thin, but still powerful energy shield, emerged from the blast and grabbed straight onto Kaijin's arm.

He may be weakened by the viruses in his bloodstream and his stamina slowly being drained because of that, but tenacity in the face of all that goes a long way regardless.

"Good to hear, so will I." the Super Saiyan muttered, referring to Kaijin's previous statement about "enjoying to pick him apart", then chucked the android straight to the air, only to activate his Time Skip immediately after and use the fraction of a second of frozen time to catch up and unleash several joint strikes. Legume instantly followed up on the technique with dual horizontal swings with his greatsword Vanity.

CURRENT PL: 919,294
HP: 88/115 | KI: 50/100 | DEF: 50 | DMG DIE: d12 | ACC: +30

As Legume's battle with Kaijin continued, the Super Saiyan was starting to tell that it was not really going to go anywhere at this rate. And even if it was, then potentially not in Legume's favor. The android was able to easily swat aside his attacks, even when he and Tora assaulted him together, and struck back in the range which the Saiyan was not adequately prepared to counter him in - directly into his bloodstream.

What can he do? Biological weaponry is supposed to be banned, not used against him in something as simple as a tournament match. And yet, this was exactly what Kaijin was pulling against him. Not only that, but the longer he is held up with this android bastard, the less time and resources he can dedicate to the other side of the match. Where Kuueru was busy handing Tora the smackdown, and one versus two would be the worst situation for him to end up in.

Nope, that's not going to happen.

Legume leapt back immediately after Kaijin sent his fist towards him, even if it merely ended up as a feint, and raised his greatsword in response to the incoming piercing energy beam. With a horizontal sweep, the Super Saiyan smacked away the energy attack before vanishing entirely. In what would look like an instant for everyone watching, but a half a second of frozen time to the Saiyan, Legume appeared in front of Kuueru, suddenly parrying the demoness's blade of ice with his greatsword, the two weapons smacking into each other with a powerful shockwave.

"No, we are ready to rumble." the Super Saiyan spoke, his voice slightly coarse from the effects of the nanovirus in his bloodstream. Immediately after, he activated his Time Skip yet again, this time to throw a series of light strikes into Kuueru's chest and shoulders before the effect of the technique faded, at which point Legume would continue his offensive with two horizontal blade slashes to try to blow his opponent away.

CURRENT PL: 919,294
HP: 88/115 | KI: 90/100 | DEF: 50 | DMG DIE: d12 | ACC: +30

At this point in the battle, Legume's lungs were practically burning and his head felt like it was about to pop. Whatever Kaijin was trying to pull with his nanovirus, it was definitely lethal to any normal person. And the fact that the bastard Android was continuing to zap him while he was focused on Kuueru didn't help him at all.

But who gives a damn at this point. If Legume were a type of person who would fold under pressure as pathetic and insignificant as a mere lethal disease in his bloodstream, he wouldn't have even bothered setting himself the goal of liberating this downtrodden galaxy from its own clutches. He wouldn't have bothered to sign up for this tournament and spent his weekend eating chips and watching Kuueru and Kaijin stomp on Tora alone.

"I believe you're going to find me to be a lot more fun than Tora ever could." Legume muttered in response to Kuueru's complaints, blocking the spear thrown by her snowman ally with his upper hand, then swinging Vanity across the air to blow away all of the incoming icicles with a powerful airburst, sending the majority of them flying right towards the demoness. Now, while she's distracted, all he needs to do is-

Damn it, I'm in no condition to just use Time Skip over and over.

It's not the least energy consuming technique, that's for sure - and when his body's is pretty much in the middle of puking his lunch out during this entire battle, there has to be a limit which even tenacity fails to punch through. Legume stood where he was after he deflected the icicle barrage, letting out a few weak breaths, a faint sound of blood bubbling in his throat and starting to clot his vocal chords following them.

The small break to recover a bit more stamina helped somewhat. He should be able to last a few more minutes, assuming no further symptoms or complications. And he has to defeat two opponents who still seemed to be at top shape, with an Earthling who seemed in no better condition than him.

...problematic.

"If we could punish people for unpleasantry, that robotic friend of yours would be the first to be charged." Legume replied to Kuueru's second comment and suddenly charged forward, sending his greatsword to the front in a stabbing maneuver, hoping to take advantage of her voluntarily disarming herself.