"Here's the second half-final: Majunior versus Shen!"

Piccolo was quite confident with the introduction of this peculiar stranger. Seeing an old man do better than any other would prove to be quite the feat, but still, Piccolo could tell he would be able to come out the winner in this bout. "Hehehe...I'll squash you in less than 2 seconds! My goal is Goku...not you!"

Shen noticed that Piccolo still had not figured out that he was Kami using the body of a random human. "You want to kill Goku because he might interfere in your plan to take over the world, right...Piccolo?"

"H-How did you know!?"

"I won't let you!" Shen lifted up two fingers and began to do various movements with them in a quick and swift manner, all of which the normal human eye wouldn't be able to decipher, nonetheless imitate. In a quick flash, Piccolo was taken aback by an extreme force of hot wind, strong enough to have Krillin and the likes of others on their toes.

Piccolo was sent off his feet and a couple of dozen yards into the sky, but he managed to come to a halt in the end to regain his own balance. Piccolo had just now realized that he had been underestimating his opponent. Shen shot off into the sky, getting a great amount of hangtime in the process. It was now that Piccolo began to question things. "WHO ARE YOU!?"

He fired a wave of chi towards Shen, who just barely avoided it. Said attack did not stop until it collided against an island from afar, blowing it up to pieces. Piccolo zipped behind Shen and rendered the man a hard double axe handle to the head, having him plummet down below at superhuman speed.

Though Shen did manage to land on one hand and knee, Piccolo was right behind him yet again. He tried to swipe him away, but Shen vanished at the very last second. Shen hopped up from the ring where Piccolo suddenly came up from under. The two were at approximately seven yards away from one another, their eyes glaring hard.

"A-Ah...How do they do that!"

Kami was finally seeing that things weren't going to be as easy. He figured they wouldn't from the get-go, but actually going toe-to-toe with Piccolo had him now see that things were going to be tougher than he had thought beforehand, especially considering that he was in a human body that limited his own power to an extent. He was getting frustrated, but as a god, he knew to keep concentrated.

"They're...so strong..." for Muten Roshi to be in a daze at such power showed just how strong these men were. He wasn't able to keep up, not one simple second. This new generation was truly something else.

"No wonder we lost," Yamcha remarked. He could now see that the entire time the two were holding back in their previous fights. From the little show they had just witnessed, it all made sense that they would be capable of making it this far in the tournament. The victor of this match would be the one to be in the finals, against Goku.

'I didn't think he'd make such progress,' Kami nearly panicked in his head. 'The body I borrowed is far too fragile. I can't fight him...'

"Borrowed?" Piccolo asked, "a human body?"

~You were able to read my thoughts, Piccolo~ Kami said in a completely different language.

Piccolo knew it all now. It was Kami he had been fighting this entire time. This came to him as the biggest shock of all. Not only was he aiming to kill the person he hated most of all, but the other person he found most revolting was speaking to him one on one.

~I see who you are now...that's why your techniques are so similar...~. A deep rage came over Piccolo, who felt he was truly interrupting his plan to take over the earth. ~WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, KAMI!?~

~You know very well why I am here~ Kami responded cooly.

"I can see that they're talking to one another," the announcer said, "but I can't understand not one thing that they speak."

"They're using some unknown language!" a member of the audience blurted out.

~BEAT ME!? HAVE YOU GONE MAD? You and I are the same people. You kill me and we both die!~

Shen grinned. ~You see, I knew that you couldn't kill me either. You don't wish to die, huh...?~

"I can't understand a thing..." Yamcha said.

~Don't worry about me~ Shen told Piccolo. ~I've learned a trick from humans that will permit me to dispose of you without the cause of death.~

~E-Excuse me!?~

Goku began to grow anxious. He knew that Kami wasn't going to just outright kill Piccolo, not that he could as easily if he tried, but he wondered if anything he was to do in the next upcoming seconds would do significant damage not only to Piccolo but to himself as well.

From the pocket of the collar shirt that Shen wore, he pulled out a little bottle. He opened the cap and set it down in the middle of the ring. The gestures started to confuse people. Was the man going to fight or perform black magic?

~Ready?~

"NO!" Piccolo shouted.

"MAFUBA!" Shen yelled.

Tien, Yamcha, Roshi, and Goku all recognized this technique. Years ago the man named Muten Mutaito, the sensei of Muten Roshi himself, used the technique to rid of Piccolo Daimao at the cost of his life. Years later when he came back, Roshi did the very same thing, killing himself off, only to not succeed as his master did many years before he. None of them expected that such a technique would appear in the tournament.

A great whirlwind of power began to circle out directly for Piccolo, who was on the verge of getting weak at the knees. If there was anything he feared more than death itself, it was being trapped inside a stupid object for the rest of his life. Luckily, he had a plan for this, filling the weaknesses that the Piccolo before him had.

"REVERSE MAFUBA!" he shouted.

"WHAT!?"

Piccolo had this technique in his arsenal just in case someone would even dare try this on him again. Instead of the attack being brought onto it, it was placed onto Kami, who was being sucked up by the attack he initiated. His entire being was sucked into the circular motion of wind prior to being placed right into the small bottle pulled out just moments earlier.

"I-I didn't think this through!" Kami yelled. "I must give this body back to its owner!" Out from the human body that Kami used was his very soul. "Goku, it doesn't matter if I die! Kill Piccolo! We must save the world!"

Piccolo directed Kami's soul into the bottle itself. Once he was in there, he quickly ran over to the bottle and sealed it tightly. He looked over to Goku as he spoke. "You thought the same technique would work on me again? You fools were wrong. I have no more flaws."

"SHEN!" the announcer called out. "He's down! ONE...TWO...THREE..."

Piccolo looked over at the bottle he had Kami entrapped in. "Hehehe, it's useless to count. Even if he wakes up, he won't be able to do a thing."

"NINE...TEN! He's still down! Majunior wins thanks to his mysterious technique! He qualifies for the finals!" The announcer went over to the man. "Eh...Mr. Shen?" He started to shake him.

"AHIE!?" The man poked his head up. After he had finally woken, he noticed a big crowd just before him. He was bewildered as to what the hell was going on.

"Good...you're awake."

He started to look back and forth at everything around him. He did not recall being here prior to suddenly falling asleep. As he stood up, everyone in the crowd gave him a standing ovation for his performance in the ring. He looked over at the announcer and spoke. "Uh...I'm not at the Budokai tournament, am I?"

"Of course you are. Did you hit your head?"

The man walked off into the crowd, truly not remembering how the hell he got there. He was left wondering if he wound up drinking too much Sake for one night.

"PAPA!" a kid yelled in the crowd.

"EH?"

The man who had his body stolen had no idea that his son was in the crowd, watching him fight. "Papa, you almost won! I didn't know you were that strong. Bravo, Papa!"

"WHAT?"

"THE FINALS WILL FEATURE GOKU AND MAJUNIOR! THIS FIGHT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE THE BEST YET! IT WILL START AFTER TEN MINUTES OF REST!"

"Pfft!" Piccolo scoffed, "I don't need rest." He walked past everyone that participated in the tournament. "Out of the way."

Goku stood in Piccolo's way and confronted the man up front. "What did you do? Give me the bottle!"

"No." He showed Goku the bottle, putting it up close to his face. "Inside is where the troublemaker lies." He stuck his long thin reptile like tongue out and wrapped it around the bottle before sucking it in like an animal getting its prey. He relished at the shock of Goku and others. "Hehehe, what did you think? You can only get the bottle by killing me. But if you do, Kami will die as well, bwahahahaha!"

"You...bastard!" Goku hissed.

"HAHAHAH!" Piccolo laughed as he walked away. "Get ready! It'll be your turn to get squashed like the bug you are!"

"Goku!" Roshi hollered from afar. "Tell me what's going on."

"Tell us," Tien said. "I know that he's from Piccolo's family, but..."

Goku knew that there was no need to hide it anymore. Too much has happened at this point and it was probably best to fill everyone in on what was truly happening.

"He is...Piccolo Daimao..."

Everyone hollered WHAT simultaneously. Not any of them happened to be expecting that for an answer. All considered him to be dead before.

"Impossible!" Tien yelled in denial. "You pulverized Piccolo! I saw him blow up to pieces with my own eyes!"

"Yes, I did kill him," Goku said, "but I learned from Kami that Piccolo laid an egg just before his death...by giving it all his might, Majunior was born from the egg as a reincarnation of Piccolo himself. The truth is, he's even stronger than his original counterpart."

"I didn't think about Piccolo," Roshi said. He squeezed the old cane he had tightly. With him back even stronger and sharper than before, problems could arise. "We have a deep issue."

"But earlier," Yamcha started, "when that guy used the Mafuba, I saw someone identical to Piccolo come out for a split second."

"He looks like Piccolo, but it's not him," Goku informed everyone. "He was battling Piccolo in a human body. The one who used that guy was Kami himself."

"K...KAMI!?"

"A long time ago, Kami and Piccolo were once the very same entity. To become of pure heart he separated all the evil from himself. That side of him became Piccolo. That's why if we kill one of them, both of them die."

"What a story," Roshi said. "It all makes sense now."

"What are we going to do?" Krillin asked worriedly. "His strength shows no bounds! H-He's even beaten Kami!"

"You're right," Tien said, "even if we all attack him at once, we stand no chance."

"We have to count on you, Goku!" Yamcha said.

"Don't worry about it," Goku said with a smile. "Count on me, guys. I'll be sure to resolve everything in this final fight."

"This time I'll be sure to kill you, Goku," Piccolo said as he came into the spotlight. "I'm warning all of you pests. I'm not the same person I was three years ago."

"Me neither," Goku said, completely self-assured in his own abilities.

"Hehe...bluff while you can, Son Goku. I only have to kill you...and the world will be mine within a blink of the eye! An amazing demonic world awaits us all! HAHAHAHAAH!"


"Ladies and gentleman!" the announcer yelled. "THE FINAL IS ABOUT TO START! WHO WILL BECOME THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION? SON GOKU OR MAJUNIOR!?" He looked off to his side, seeing Piccolo walking to the arena. "HERE THEY COME!"

"No need to say goodbye to your friends," Piccolo told Goku as he walked to the arena. "They'll catch up to you in the after-life soon enough."

Krillin walked up to his friend, hoping to get his hopes of. "G-Goku...you'll win, right? Ya sure you can beat him?"

"Sure?" Goku asked. He looked at Piccolo while he continued to walk on the stage. He turned to Krillin and stared into his friend's worried eyes. His lips curled into a vicious grin. "I am totally sure I'll come out without even a scratch on me."

"Ah..." Krillin grabbed at Goku's collar and gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Man, I can tell you right now, dying isn't the best thing in the world. Beat him and spare us all more time to live, please..."

"Here goes!" Goku began to walk himself up onto the stage.

"WHAT SUSPENSE!" the announcer shouted. "THEY'RE BOTH UNEQUALLED MARTIAL ARTIST EXPERTS! WE ARE BOUND TO WITNESS THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!

The two stood across from one another. Piccolo was taller than Goku, but he stood up as high and tall as he possibly could. He was showing Piccolo that he indeed was nowhere near intimidated by his mere presence.

"You feel ready?" Piccolo asked.

"AND HERE IS THE 23rd TENKAICHI BUDOKAI TOURNAMENT! WHO WILL REMAIN VICTORIOUS!?"

"Ready for what?" Goku asked.

"Ready," Piccolo started as he took off his cloak, "to die!"

"KILL HIM!" Launch inspired her friend.

"WE'RE WITH YOU, GOKU!" Bulma cheered on.

"BEGIN!" the announcer shouted.

Piccolo didn't waste any time and shot directly for Goku, letting out a war cry. He had been waiting for three years just to fight him and now was the best moment. He was going to take back everything he felt needed to be reclaimed. And all of that started with the death of Goku.

Goku ducked under a swipe from Piccolo and came up with a solid upper-cut to the chin. Piccolo was shot into the sky and flipped over. He stretched out his elastic arms, getting ahold of Goku's shoulder. Deciding to use Piccolo's technique to his advantage, Goku let Piccolo reel him in so he could get a good hit.

Goku got to Piccolo before he was to get got first. The green man was sent back yet again from a hard punch to the face. His body was away from the perimeters of the ring and over the green grass, mere inches away from touching the outer area of the arena. Piccolo was lucky to come to an immediate stop, saving himself just in time.

Once he hovered upright, he looked ahead at the center of the arena where he expected to spot Goku, who was no longer in sight. Piccolo balled his fists and snarled. "You running away?"

ZIP ZIP ZIP

Goku was moving all over the place at inhuman speeds. Piccolo heard where Goku was for a moment and looked there, only to hear another zap and look there. He simply could not keep up.

"Who's able to follow this?" Krillin asked, his gaze shifting all over the place.

"Not me," Yamcha said, doing very much the same thing as Krillin.

"Same here," Tien spoke.

"It's unreal," Roshi said. "Goku's far surpassed any barriers that a normal human can ever come to." He gripped his cane tightly. He now found true confidence in his former pupil and had a small smile of pride. To know he participated in raising and training a prodigy such as Goku couldn't have made him prouder. "He may be stronger than God himself."

Piccolo grunted. He looked off to his left, where he finally managed to get a faint view of his opponent. "FOUND YOU!" The entire time he had been waiting to spot Goku, Piccolo secretly charged his chi. He launched it right where he saw Goku.

"HEHEHEHEHE!" Goku, having used his afterimage, fazed out of sight once more. Piccolo's attack didn't faze him and only continued soaring into the clouds until it was no longer visible. "Behind ya!"

Piccolo was sent sliding into the ring from a kick to the lower back. Piccolo quickly executed a handspring and got back to his feet. He swiftly turned around and was met with a near seizure inducing elbow to the torso. Piccolo could nearly feel his bone crack prior to being struck with an open palm strike to the chin. Goku followed with a leg-sweep, knocking Piccolo down and accelerated the process with a hard elbow to the hip.

Piccolo came crashing down on his side, grunting in pain.

"Goku's beating the guy up!" Krillin said happily. "He's gonna win the fight!"

"Go GOKU!" Chi-Chi cheered him on.

"Give 'em hell, Goku!" Launch yelled as well.

Goku watched as Piccolo struggled to get up. Those last few blows did a good number on him and he could still feel Goku was holding back a lot.

"Just forfeit, Piccolo," Goku told him, "we can both tell you're outnumbered and you won't beat me. Just release Kami and I'll let you live."

Piccolo was on one knee, scowling in Goku's face as he was being looked down upon. Their fight wasn't supposed to be going like this, not at all. He used more chi of his and forced a great portion of it into the palm of his hand. The mere look of Goku's face felt insulting to him. "NEVER!" Piccolo yelled, firing a thick amount of energy at Goku's face from point-blank range.

Goku's entire body was enveloped by Piccolo's energy and this had some of his friends in a panic.

"OH NO!" Tien shouted. He leaned a bit closer to the ring, eyes wide. "T-There's no way he could take that on full force and come out of it unscathed."

Roshi stuck his cane into the ground hard. The strong wind that was emitted from the aftermath of Piccolo's attack had him struggling to remain on his two feet. His beady eyes behind his shades narrowed as he figured things were getting much more serious.

"G-Goku?" Chi-Chi asked, her voice cracking. Even she didn't know if Goku were to survive that. All that they could see was a major cloud of smoke and nothing more. Not even a silhouette seemed to appear behind it.

"Come on, Goku!" Krillin shouted. "You hafta be alive, man...!"

Piccolo stood up on his two feet and turned his head back to face all of those encouraging Goku. "BWAHHAHAHAHAAHA! You all put far too much faith in that weakling! He may be strong, but he isn't invincible!"

"Don't count on it, buddy!" Oolong yelled in the stands. "LOOK BEHIND YA!"

"HM?" Piccolo re-directed his gaze to where he last saw Goku. From behind the cloud of smoke, he could see an obscene grin on a familiar face, one that he dearly despised. Piccolo's eyes twitched by simply seeing it. He gave off a strong attack at such close range and here Goku was taunting him. "N-No!"

BUUM! ! !

Piccolo was hit in the gut with so much force that the turban atop his head flew off and fell down in the middle of the arena, revealing two antennae attached to his bald head. He came down on his knees, coughing heavily subsequent to gushing out a heap of saliva.

Seeing Piccolo's entire head did make him realize that this was indeed Piccolo. "You are him..."

Piccolo began to cough a lot, growling still. Around him, many murmurs in the crowd of how he looked extremely to Piccolo began to surface. Hearing all of them mention his late ancestor started to aggravate him. He turned his head to the crowd and shouted. "I AM PICCOLO! I AM HIM INCARNATE! COUGH COUGH! I WILL KILL GOKU AND TAKE BACK THIS WORLD! GAGHK!" He started to choke.

Now people were starting to realize what it was. Everyone began to get weak at the knees from being in the presence of the real-life devil. All the people there for spectating were stuck like a deer looking at headlights.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

It wasn't until someone yelled those five words that the entire crowd started to flee. Men and women picked up their little kids as they tried to shoot out from the vicinity. Old people were slower and some, in fact, fell over in the midst of the crowd due to being less efficient than others at vacating the premises. Many yells of fear surfaced the area, only to die out moments later once the entire audience was empty, all except Bulma, Oolong, and Puar.

The announcer found himself the only normal citizen within the vicinity. He was as scared shitless as the rest of them, but the man was very serious when it came to his work. He had to stick and announce the fight, no matter the costs, but he wasn't going to remain so close to the man who wouldn't hesitate to kill a baby if he so wanted to for his own sadistic pleasure. So he fixed his shades and hopped over the walls that separated the audience from the fighting area. That would be his cover area for now.

Piccolo, who seemed to be coughing up a lung, finally spat something out. Goku was proud to know that his punch would be strong enough to push up the bottle Piccolo had swallowed moments earlier. Piccolo reached for it, though Goku quickly picked it up before he could.

"TIEN CATCH!"

Tien caught the bottle and looked at it. Not even a second after glancing at it, he knew what it was and who was in it. "I-It's..."

"OPEN IT!" Goku barked.

"It's the bottle that contains Kami inside!" Yamcha said, speaking the obvious.

Piccolo looked over to Tien and watched as he began to open the bottle. He got up and tried to make an effort to get to him before he could open the bottle up. Goku zapped before Piccolo and shot the man back down with a sold punch to the cheek. Piccolo twirled above the arena for a moment prior to landing hard on his chin.

VOUF!

Out from the bottle appeared Kami, who looked nearly exactly like Piccolo himself, but much older and with different clothing. "Great!" Goku exclaimed. Freeing Kami was a total success and now he had less to fret over during his fight with Piccolo.

"W-What's going on?" Kami asked.

Bulma and the announcer shrieked upon seeing the old man. They couldn't believe that there were two Piccolos! Things felt to be getting worse.

Kami looked at his surroundings and checked himself. He now remembered what had transpired. "I see...my Mafuba was reversed..."

"Kami..." Roshi said, being the first to speak to the God, "Goku saved you."

"Goku...!" Kami looked to his side at the battle arena. Yes, Goku was to be fighting Piccolo now.

"Asshole!" Piccolo hissed through his clenched jaw. The anger he had could be seen on his face from the throbbing veins surrounding his forehead. His plan was going to shit, second after another. "I WILL KILL YOU!" Piccolo rushed in for Goku yet again.

Goku got into a fighting stance, now taking the fight much more seriously. Both fizzled out of sight, vanishing before the others. Their minor scuffles shot all around the place, on the arena or within the skies above the Budokai temple.

Kami himself was having trouble spotting them. "I...I can't see them. Not even with my godly eyes!" He, like the others, who were only humans, was completely lost. "Unbelievable..."

Goku knocked Piccolo into the skies with a hit to the face. He proceeded to fly past Piccolo and changed direction, coming back down. With a quick dash on his descent down, Goku elbowed Piccolo right in the nose. If Piccolo was to hit the ground due to the force of that strike, it would all conclude in a ring out. Goku figured he wasn't done yet and glided down a couple dozen yards down. He watched as Piccolo came down from below and waited so he could time his next attack.

A deep gash appeared on the top of Piccolo's head when Goku used the ball of his foot to hit him. The demon's back came crashing hard against the arena, which had a crater, thanks to a potent downward double foot strike dead center in the chest.

"HE'S DOWN!" Yamcha yelled.

"I told you to give it up," Goku told Piccolo, "I won't hesitate in giving you another chance to stop embarrassing yourself."

"How dare you...!"

"Goku," Kami called out, garnering his attention. He walked onto the arena alongside Goku as he looked down at his malevolent counterpart. "I'm going to help you...let's kill him!"

Goku scoffed at Kami's offer. "For someone who knows that you both will die, you sure are eager to kill him."

"It's the only way!" Kami replied. "We must end this now while we can."

Goku placed his hand on Kami's shoulder and softly placed the elder aside, trying his best to show a lack of disrespect. "I can not allow that and you know it."

"I beg your pardon? I need not explain myself any more than I have, Goku! Stop this nonsense!"

"If you, the creator of the Dragon Balls, die, then the Dragon Balls will be gone, too." Goku cocked his head a bit, showing a very dark expression, one that even intimidated Kami a bit. "And as I said earlier...I can not allow that."

Kami lowered his head. He now knew that there was no convincing Goku at all. His pupil now knew it all. "Fine."

"Look on the bright side," Goku told Kami, now smiling, "with as powerful as I am, I'll be there to always stop Piccolo." He motioned his finger off to where the others were. "Now just sit back and watch. I'm going to end this fight."

"As you wish, Goku." Kami was a bit disappointed to know Piccolo wasn't to die, but at the same time relieved as he would still have his own life intact. Regardless of the well-intentioned sacrifice he was willing to make for the greater good of the earth, he now believed it would be best to leave it all in his hands. Goku's strength seemed to know no bounds and he appeared capable to take on any opponent. With every strong fighter he faced, his power would only progress even more. With the superiority in strength Goku had been putting on display, there was no doubt in Kami's mind that Goku would come out the winner of this bout.

Goku nodded, happy that Kami accepted his own desires. "Now to end the figh-GAH!"

Son Goku, one who seemed to have this battle totally won, received a direct blast through the upper right chest of his from Piccolo's mouth-blast. He let his guard down for a slight moment and paid for it dearly. He was sent lifted off his feet and fell over on his behind.

Goku laid there, frozen for a couple seconds. His head cocked back for a bit prior to him coughing up blood. It wasn't then until he felt the pain. He clutched his wound and opened his mouth wide, letting out an ear-piercing scream. "WAHHHHHHH!"

"GOKU!" everyone shouted.

Piccolo stood up and towered over Goku, chuckling out loud. "As strong and smart as you are, you're a fool to let your guard down on your opponent-even for a second. Heh. And to still be alive...you're far more endurable than I imagined."

Goku seethed at Piccolo as he slowly got up, still clutching his wound. The wind brushing against the hole in his chest burned to no seeming end and that was what pained him the most. His posture was hunched, though he still faced Piccolo. "Y-You..." thick oozes of blood fell down from his lower lip to his chin, leaking to the arena below.

"We have to help!" Krillin shouted. "Let's go!"

"No!" Goku yelled. He looked over at his friends. Every one of them stopped in their tracks and looked at Goku as if he was completely mad. "I-I'm going to end this fight..."

"GOKU ARE YOU NUTZ!?" Krillin asked, shrieking. "We have to help!"

"You come near the fight and you all die!" Piccolo shouted.

"You...you didn't hit any vital parts." Goku cocked his fist back and tried for a punch to the face.

Piccolo immediately noticed the degrade in Goku's speed and just managed to grab a hold of his fist. "Hehehe...you're getting weaker."

Goku raised his knee and blocked a kick from Piccolo prior to countering with a shot to the stomach. Piccolo took the hit and headbutted Goku in the face, forcing him to stumble back. Said earth raised warrior maintained his balance, but didn't close his openings.

"GOTCHU!" Piccolo elbowed Goku in the cheek and followed up with a series of kicks. Goku couldn't do anything else for the current moment, merely having the only option to accept Piccolo's attacks. The green demon ended his series of punishment with a direct claw to Goku's wound.

"AGHHWAAAAAA!" Goku cried.

"S-Shit!" Yamcha clenched his teeth, bubbling with rage. "We can't just watch Goku get punished like this...!"

Piccolo chuckled in Goku's face for a few seconds before retracting his long sharp nails from Goku's wound. More blood leaked down to the ground beneath their feet, all of it belonging to the more human fighter.

"Now die!"

Goku just barely ducked under Piccolo's swipe and stood on his tippy toes, clocking Piccolo in the chin with the top of his head. The impact had Piccolo back up and Goku hopped off one foot, kneeing Piccolo in the nose.

"KKK...!" Piccolo stumbled back more, losing composure.

Goku released the wound and tried for a grapple. Piccolo grabbed both of his hands, initiating a power struggle.

"How's that wound of yours!" Piccolo mocked through fits of maniacal laughter.

"Just fine!" Goku smashed his forehead into Piccolo's face. Piccolo held onto Goku's hand still and kneed him in the wound. Goku's grip loosened as he tried to tend to his injury by covering it. Piccolo elbowed Goku against his backhand, which was covering his wound. Not only did he break his hand entirely, but forced more blood to come out as well.

Piccolo walked over to Goku and spat his own blood on the man's face, showing blatant contempt for his arch nemesis. He raised his foot up and crushed it against Goku's shin, breaking it in half.

"GAHHH!" Goku screamed. His voice cracked in the process, following up with hard coughs that only came up with more blood from inside.

Piccolo did the same to his other leg, breaking them both, eliciting another scream, though nowhere near as loud and heart-wrenching.

"H-He broke his legs...!" Oolong said, petrified.

"GOKU!" Chi-Chi cried.

Piccolo chuckled. "My father lost to you because he left you with a working arm." Piccolo aimed his finger for Goku's right arm and rendered him a sharp stinging beam up and down. Goku winced as it was done to the other as well. "Now you won't be able to move period."

Goku growled. "W-why..."

"Hahahaahaha! I awaited this movement all my life! You killed my father and took this world for me, the world that belonged to me! Pfft. Ask me why, dumbass..." Piccolo turned his back on Goku and elevated himself up into the clouds.

"He'll kill him!" Krillin told the others. "GOKU'S GOING TO DIE!"

"I...I WILL WIN!" Goku yelled at the top of his voice. "I PROMISE!"

Kami had his mouth opened, preparing to speak to Tien, but stopped mid-sentence. He knew Piccolo needed to die and was going to demand the tri-clops to take his life. But the determination of Goku's voice through the hellish agony he was enduring got to him instantly. Goku was so certain that he was to win but the condition he was in compared to Piccolo showed otherwise. Curiosity had gotten the very best of him. Goku was a man of his word and never failed to pull through. How was he going to do it this time?

"YOU READY TO DIE!" Piccolo asked.

"NO!"

Goku turned around on his stomach and pushed his face into the arena.

"W-What are you doing, Goku?" Krillin asked.

"KAME..."

His voice was muffled because of the arena blocking the acoustics of his voice, but the Kamehameha chant was all too familiar to the ears of his peers.

"He's about to do the Kamehameha!" Yamcha answered.

"But how?" Tien asked. "None of his limbs are able to work for him!"

Roshi didn't say anything and just watched. Goku was one of the smartest people he knew when it came to fighting. Whatever he had up his sleeve was to come to a success surely.

"HAME..." Goku used the rest of his energy he built up from the very center of his being and propelled it all up through his very throat. "HAAAA!" A bright force of light emitted from his very mouth and onto the ground, sending him up.

"W-What the hell!?" Piccolo yelled.

"He's using his mouth!" Roshi said, trembling in shock. "A-Amazing!"

Goku turned around mid-air as he now had enough momentum for Piccolo, who was in complete shock. "I WON'T LOSE THIS!" Goku's head rushed into Piccolo's abdomen as hard as he could. The very first time he gave it his all against Piccolo, his tiny body pierced right through him. But this time...Goku only managed to crack his bones and render Piccolo down for good.

The two came down falling from the sky like two fallen angels. Blood was spotted flowing in the skies. Eventually, the two came crashing down hard just inches from one another. Goku's back was crashed against the very edge of the ring while Piccolo was just on the green grass.

Goku looked over to the announcer, who was as steel as a rock. "M-Mister judge...i-it's a ring out, right? T-The match...I've...won it."

"A-Ah...t-that's right...HE'S OUT OF THE RING! WINNER GOKU! GOKU IS THE NEW CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!"

From the final confirmation, Goku put his head down as he could finally relax. Everyone else jumped up and down and began to hoop and holler. Kami was still in disbelief. Goku actually managed to do it. When the odds were all stacked against him at the very last moment, he came out victorious, just as he had promised.

He did indeed pick well.

Everyone, Yamcha, Krillin, Bulma, Launch, Oolong, Puar, Roshi...everyone in support of Goku through the entire time ran up to him with total glee.

"YOU'VE GOT HIM!" Krillin shouted into his friend's ear. "You won it!"

Goku chuckled. No longer did he feel any pain as his body was completely numb. "I know...I-I am champion." The fatigue, however, wasn't gone at all.

"Goku," Chi-Chi lowered and raised his chin up. "A-Are you okay?"

"N-No...not really."

"I'm bringing you to the hospital immediately!" Yamcha told his friend.

"No need to panic!" a gruff voice said. "I have some senzus."

Everyone turned to the short and fat samurai. Not once did they see him at the tournament from the moment it started to the very ending. And now he pops up out of nowhere.

"Y-Yajirobe!?" Goku asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Heh. Just passing by." He crouched down and stuffed a senzu into the man's mouth. "Eat this."

"Thanks...niam, niam." Goku felt the instant influence of the bean and smiled. He plopped up to his feet as if nothing before happened. The man was overcome with so much happiness that he didn't even realize the bit of jump in strength he had gotten subsequent to being healed. The man shot off into the sky with his hands out to his sides.

"I AM THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!" he shouted out loud. He began to dance cheerfully. "I am champion of the world!"

"H-he was just injured..." Chi-Chi mumbled. Those who knew not the effects of the senzu bean didn't know why Goku was so healthy all of a sudden.

"Goku!" Kami called out.

Son stopped dancing and zoomed back down before Kami. "Yo!"

"Son Goku...you are lucky to have met such people."

"Yeah," Goku said. He looked over at Bulma. "I honestly couldn't have done it without these guys..." he winked at every one of them. "They are the backbone of my power."

Kami smiled. "I won't kill Piccolo, but you will have to take care of the planet. You have enough strength to protect this world from anybody." Kami stuck his finger out at Goku. A sudden plop followed by the look of a bruise and bloody-free Goku, who also had on the same set of clothes he started the tournament with. "The turtle school's uniform fits you like a glove, Goku."

"Thanks, hahaha!'

"Yajirobe!" Goku called out. "Give me another senzu!'

Yajirobe didn't know why Goku would want another senzu. One in itself would heal a person of any injuries or diseases and have them perfectly full for ten days. He knew one was enough, but he shrugged. "Sure." He plucked another green bean over to Goku.

"Thanks." Goku crouched down and force-fed it to Piccolo.

"GOKU!" everyone screamed.

Piccolo munched on the bean and felt similar effects as well. His eyes popped open and he shot back up on his feet. Everyone backed up in fear as Piccolo was back to full health.

Goku grinned. "If you die, Kami does, too. And I don't want to lose you as an arch nemesis."

"Are you stupid?"

Goku laughed. "HAHAAHA, maybe! But I know you can get stronger and I want you to fight me when you feel ready!"

"Heh." Piccolo's facial expression mirrored that of Goku's. "Fool. Your feelings will be the end of you. I will leave for now, but you better believe that I'll be back. I'll break you and the world will be at my mercy."

"SEE?" Krillin asked. "Look at what ya done! You shoulda killed him!"

Piccolo shot off into the sky, laughing as well. "ENJOY YOUR LIFE IN THE MEANTIME!"

Goku watched him fly off into the clouds with a sincere smile on his face. He knew Piccolo wasn't lying and that he would indeed be back someday. When? Perhaps a long time from now. But Goku knew he would be ready for that day. Whenever and wherever.

But for now...

It was time to enjoy life!


For those who have continued reading, thanks. As you can tell, the Goku Piccolo fight was a bit different, but ended up pretty much the same. Now the next chapter and on will be enitrely different to the canon. This is where the real story begins. See ya'll next time.