BAM
The punch landed clean on Merun's side. Suprisingly, Bankei didn't pull his punches and Merun didn't need to fake being hit as he was flung toward the side of the arena and hit the far wall.
THUD
"Oof what a hit!" Merun thought. It seems the old man still has it!
Suddenly, a large arc of lightning exploded from Bankei's fist, and In a split second, it landed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The arena was completely silent.
The dust cleared as they only saw a large heap of rubble and bits and pieces of a mask. It looked like he had been vaporized!
In truth though, Merun had tanked that hit, and had suppressed his aura to his maximum, hidden under the rubble.
What the heck I didn't think he'd really strike me with his lightning! He thought,
Still, that's first phase of the plan complete. The only thing left to do is to trust Bankei.
Come on Bankei... I need the moon!
Merun kept still and quiet as he focused on the vibrations and the muffled noises of the crowd. He could very vaguely tell what was happening in the arena. Fortunately, Bankei was much more gentler to them than he was to him.
Also, it seems the Shinken Martial Artists were doing their part well, and had talent with acting! Who would have thought?
After a few moments, Merun felt it. A huge concentration of aura converged into the arena.
What the? Did one of the Masters caught on?
Merun took a risk and moved enough rubble to take a peek.
His eyes widened.
KA
ME
KA ME? That stance...! That compression of energy...! There's no way!
HA
ME
He only taught him the move in passing while he was, in turn being taught how to heal. He never showed the actual technique done. After all, doing so underground would have been catastrophic!
Bankei figured it out in the three days he was gone? Truly a genius in ki!
Almost at a level of a Saiyan's!
HAAAAAAAAA!!!!
His voice echoed in the air as a luminous beam of pure destruction erupted from Bankei's palms, rising through the night sky and into the thick dark clouds.
The glowing beam reflected in Merun's eyes. He recalled Noritsugu's technique, the one that looked like a ki blast but not quite... here, it was the real deal!
There was nothing else going on in his mind other than,
"Fuck. I want to do that. I really really want to do that!"
Finally, the beam slowly shrunk in width and then finally dissipated. To others it seems his attack had missed, or was done purely for a symbolic, religious purpose.
Little did they know, he had allowed the next phase of the plan as the arena was bathed in the moonlight of a full moon.
———
Merun took a good look at the moon. The transformation wasn't as instant as he thought, yet he could already feel it... somewhere in his tail, something was tingling.
This was all thanks to his Master. Bankei was smart enough to guess the significance of the moon in his plan, and so he used his one and only technique that could reach the heavens, a technique Merun had taught him in passing. The Kamehameha!
But now was not the time to celebrate. The Blutz Waves were hitting his tail and triggering the great ape transformation. He could feel from the inside like his ki was being violently seized and multiplied against his will. It's like trying to hold a river with your hands. It was a surge of chaotic, inconsistent and destabilizing energies. His carefully controlled light blue ki suddenly burning a different color, moving too fast for him to control.
He inhaled. Fortunately, unlike the first time he transformed, he was conscious this time, and was actively fighting for control. Thanks to the two weeks of ki control training with Bankei, and his freakish inclination for ki as a Saiyan, he was able to somewhat gather reins.
Somewhat.
Merun had beads of sweat on his forehead.
"This is so fucking hard to control" he thought.
If he didn't know that Vegeta was even able to talk after transforming into the Great Ape, he wouldn't even think of trying to control it.
Granted Vegeta was the one and only prince of Saiyans, while Merun was just a commoner grunt.
There were lots of online arguments to whether or not retaining consciousness in the ape form was exclusive to elite Saiyans... guess it's time to see if the myth was true or not.
After all, there was no other plan other than this.
He was still far too inexperienced and unskilled to fight Martial Seniors in his base form.
Slowly, he rose from the rubble as he suppressed the overwhelming destructive changes within him and yelled with his slowly deepening voice:
"NEXT PHASE!"
The prisoners and Bankei immediately ran towards the end of the arena farthest from Merun, totally ignoring the presence of Master Mangūsu, who was totally entranced by the 'technique' Merun was using.
The crowd and master artist stood by and watched as something unexpected was happening in the arena.
The masked man that was supposed to be 'vaporized'... he was growing.
The shackles snapped.
His back arched. His spine lengthened with a sound like green wood splitting, vertebrae separating one by one down his back. His knees buckled inward, then restructured. His palms hit the stone floor as his fingers spread wide and thickened, cracking the ground beneath them.
The mask split down the middle and fell.
Dark fur pushed through skin in spreading patches. Starting from his wrists, then forearms, shoulders, chest. His dougi tore at the seams and kept tearing. His jaw widened. His skull expanded with a crack that reached the upper tiers.
Three meters. The prisoners scattered back.
Five meters. The torches along the walls flickered.
His tail swept free behind him, dragging a long crack across the arena floor. His shadow swallowed the space entire. The crowd at the nearest rails stumbled over each other getting back.
Seven meters. Someone in the upper stands screamed.
Ten meters. The stone rim of the arena was level with his chest.
His spine gave one final restructuring crack and went still.
Twelve meters. Master Mangūsu's eyes stood frozen in stillness.
The Great Ape stood in the arena.
It took a deep breathe. Steam rolled off its chest in slow clouds. The black eyes swept the space once.
Bathed in the moonlight, the Great Ape has appeared in Panama once more.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR