Gouki's First Coming

[Gouki]

"If you insist on speaking," said Gouki, his voice rumbling like a raging thunderstorm, "Do so with your fists!"

Retane obliged and dashed towards with a wild haymaker that landed on the back of the demon's gloved hand, raised to defend his jaw. Though he grunted under the weight of the blow, Gouki held strong. The second punch that came was aimed at his ribs but missed as Gouki deftly sidestepped out of the way. The Namekian continued his attack with a mighty roundhouse kick that came hard and fast at his foe’s head. Gouki intercepted it with his forearms, though not without difficulty; the self-proclaimed master of the fist clenched his jaws tight as the fierce blow sent him skidding several feet away. Retane followed closely behind, refusing to let up.

With a hiss, the Namekian threw a series of left jabs and right crosses, alternating his aim between Gouki’s face and his stomach. Each punch whistled and snapped from the speed they were thrown at, keeping Gouki under intense pressure. He parried the first few blows, using his open palms to deflect and push them aside, but the hail of powerful strikes came too fast for Gouki to keep up, forcing him to huddle up and tighten his guard to keep his opponent from hitting anything other than his arms.

Retane continued pounding relentlessly on the gloved hands that covered his foe’s face and the forearms and elbows that protected his chest and stomach. He whaled on them like there was no tomorrow, clearly aiming to break through with brute force. Gouki tried several times to step out of Retane’s range but the alien consistently stepped forward, thwarting any attempts to escape. Yet despite the onslaught, Gouki’s experienced eyes never wavered from his enemy and soon enough he got the Namekian’s timing down.

The martial artist suddenly turned the tide of the battle by ducking an anticipated high punch and lunging forwards with an elbow extended, driving its bony point into Retane’s solar plexus. The Namekian stopped dead in his tracks, paralysed by the sudden jolt of excruciating pain that shot through his chest, his breath trapped in his throat.

"Your foolishness would be entertaining if it weren't so tiresome,” Gouki spat as he thrust his opposite arm into a swift elbow uppercut that smacked Retane dead on the chin. The Namekian reeled from the jarring blow, giving Gouki the space to chamber a side kick that landed flush in his gut. Unlike his opponent, Gouki picked his shots and landed them with deadly precision; where Retane chose punches in bunches, Gouki took a far more technical and efficient approach to fighting. The force of the blow left Retane doubled over and staring at the ground, entirely oblivious to the incoming axe kick coming down from above. Gouki’s heel crashed against Retane’s nape in a ruthless strike fit to break a man’s neck, sending the alien face first into the ground.

Gouki’s intimate knowledge of ki and lifelong training in martial arts gave him the ability to sense a person’s life force and as he rested his gaze upon the Namekian’s back, he knew his foe wasn’t dead. He stepped away and slowly circled around the green man, expecting him to rise and resume the fight.