Chapter 2: The Junior Division
A cold wind blew, enveloping her tear-stained face with her long hair. She began to quake with sorrow, letting her legs buckle until she was face down in the wet grass. The rich smell of the earth filled her nose and made her exhale forcefully.
How could I have allowed this to happen? I can't understand it…I tried everything. Everything I could have done had been done…but I must have done something wrong…made a mistake…
The young girl's thoughts ran rampant with every treatment she had given them, every doctor she took them to in order to validate those treatments. Her efforts had been in vain. They were gone. But how? How had all of her training and knowledge failed her?
I learned from the best…and I still failed, she thought while she slowly brought her upper body away from the ground with her arms.
I'm sorry for my incompetence, Mom and Dad. I swear I'll find out what was wrong with you. I love you both so much…
She managed to compose herself just enough to sit cross-legged. Her hair clung to her sticky face. The smell of the dirt became strong as her right hand dug into the ground. She began to cry again silently as she let go of all her restraints. She closed her eyes and drifted into a state of tranquility and color. The colors manifested themselves into patterns and far away in the distance, sweet sounds echoed towards her. She basked in the energy they gave off. It was incredibly warm and intoxicating. She felt a pull in her core to become one with this sound's energy. Deep within her, something burst. All of the sudden, her voice projected the sound energy forth into the night air, causing an invisible force to ripple out from her body like an explosion. The note she sang echoed far into the distance and sustained itself for several minutes. The energy radiated all around, and then dissipated.
When she awoke, the girl looked around her to see that it was early morning. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon and gave off a peachy glow. She blinked and rubbed her eyes with her dirt-covered hands. When her vision became clear, she noticed a small flower beneath her, a jasmine blossom. Its tender petals sparkled with dew and new life.
* * *
The buzz of the tournament reached new heights as everyone prepared for the junior division competition. Trunks, Vegeta's son, and Goten were to participate. Trunks was quite put off by the idea of a junior division. He knew that Goten and himself were more than capable of competing against the adults. He wanted very badly to fight his father to showcase how far he had come as a warrior.
Goten approached Trunks in the preliminary area for the junior division fighters. Everyone around them was introducing themselves to their opponents, exchanging false hopes of success to the other.
"Trunks, I don't think being in this division is that bad. At least we get to fight each other!" Goten tried to sway his friend's mind about the competition. He was excited to show him how strong he had become while training with his brother Gohan.
"Mmmm…" responded Trunks. He was obviously not enthused.
High up in the stadium, Goku and the other adult contestants gathered to watch the junior division matches. In this group stood Vegeta, Krillin, Piccolo, Gohan, Gohan's new girlfriend Videl, and Krillin's cyborg wife who called herself Number 18. Krillin joked about how he thought that Trunks and Goten were going to have no problem defeating anyone but each other.
Videl felt quite uneasy being in this group of strangers. She had just recently begun training her chi with Gohan after school. She was getting the hang of it, but from what she had seen, these fighters was far more superior than she had ever imagined was possible. Her father, Mr. Satan, the world renowned wrestler who supposedly saved humanity, was in her eyes the strongest man alive. She was beginning to have doubts.
I wonder how Gohan knows all these people. Except for his dad and the short guy, they all seem pretty uptight and grouchy. Her eyes fell on Vegeta, Piccolo, and 18. They stood rigidly straight. Both Vegeta and Piccolo had their arms crossed in front of their broad chests. Number 18 had not said anything since Videl had met her.
Down below, the tournament announcer strutted onto the arena with his microphone in hand. Goku smiled at his familiar face and remembered when he first met him when he was a young boy.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The junior division round is about to begin! Please give our 35 young warriors a big round of applause!" he bellowed. His command prompted a loud eruption of praise from the crowd as the contestants walked into the arena. Trunks and Goten took up the rear. Trunks had his eyes closed and his head held high. Goten looked around in awe of the audience with his mouth slightly agape. Never in his life had he seen this many people in one place.
Krillin spotted Trunks and Goten and immediately pointed them out to his friends.
"Look guys, there they are!" He exclaimed. A board smile spread across Gohan's face as he saw Goten's expression. He eagerly awaited his brother's chance to fight. Gohan was jarred out of his thoughts about his last training session with Goten by Videl's elbow piercing his rib cage. He looked at her and raised his eyebrows.
"What is it?"
"It's that girl over there," Videl whispered with one hand covering her mouth. "She's been staring at us for the past few minutes. She never looks away and it's kinda freaking me out."
Gohan glanced past Videl to the end of the aisle. A girl was standing there, hunched on the railing of the wall she stood behind. Her eyes were on him. She didn't seem to have any readable expression on her face. It was definitely odd. Gohan turned to Goku and asked him if he knew the girl from somewhere. Goku examined her features and shook his head.
"Sorry, son. I don't think I've ever met her before."
Vegeta and Piccolo's attention turned to the girl as well. Vegeta met her gaze and wrinkled his nose.
"Hmmph. It's that good-for-nothing woman who cut me in line earlier. I hope I get paired with her in the tournament so I can teach her a lesson," Vegeta said too loudly. Upon hearing Vegeta, the girl smirked. Piccolo noticed this and furrowed his brow.
What does she want?
The girl suddenly stood upright and began to walk towards their party. Vegeta kept his eyes on the arena as if he had never said anything. Piccolo eyed her as she advanced and he noticed she was still smirking. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. She was completely dry now. She still smelled of salt. Her long mahogany tinted hair was flowing free in the wind. Its highlights captured the radiance of the sun and shone brightly. She certainly had a presence.
As she met Piccolo's gaze her smirk disappeared. Her face was suddenly tense and perturbed, as if she had just heard some dreadful news. She passed behind Goku and the rest of the group quickly without a word. As she walked away, Piccolo clenched his teeth.
"Did you see that? She looked like she had just seen a ghost or something," Gohan said as he watched her depart as well. Vegeta grunted as a signal for Gohan to be quiet. Piccolo kept his eyes on her until she disappeared from the stadium. He felt no life force from her at all. Her chi was nonexistent.
