Rento, Goku and Krillin would continue doing their training over the next three weeks. During this time, the boys managed to save some strange woman named Launch who seemed really nice at first, but had one thing that made everyone in the house somewhat hesitant to be around her.
"Hey Launch...Can I have some more rice?" Goku asked the woman.
"Why of course you can, Goku." She took the boy's plate and loaded it up with the white rice. As she turned to hand him his plate, she sneezed.
"...Uh oh…" Goku said nervously.
The now blonde haired Launch stared at the slightly scared Goku. "What do you think I am, you little punk?! I ain't nobody's maid!" She shouted, throwing his plate of rice to the floor.
"Hey! That was mine!" Goku said with a glare.
"Oh yeah? Well whatcha gonna do about it?" Launch asked with an evilly satisfied grin. She whipped out a machine gun and started firing at Goku.
"OW!!!" Goku jumped up and kicked the gun away from her. He then jabbed her in the abdomen. "That was for my rice!"
All things aside, the boys did enjoy Launch's company whenever she wasn't in her aggressive state. She served as a mother figure in the house. She always encourage the three to do their best and would feed them which in Goku and Rento's eyes, was a sign of love and appreciation.
As training continued, the boys were shown to elevate in strength. Krillin's balance in both ki and his mentality during a fight was superb in comparison to the other two boys. Goku and Rento had greater strength and striking speed but that's where their advantages end. Especially for Rento who still couldn't get a grip on his ki. Goku had good strength, good speed, moderate ki control and a good mentality. Rento had everything but the ki control, putting him at large disadvantage. It made him irritated but he decided to hide his growing jealousy.
After their last day of training, Roshi called the boys over and handed each of them a red gi with the turtle hermit kanji. Launch got the boys to wear fancy looking suits. The boys took the clothes with open arms.
"When we get to the island of the world tournament, I want you guys to wear the red gi." Roshi got them for the boys to represent the turtle hermit. Rento found it a tad bit bright but Goku and Krillin adored the new outfits.
The boys got ready to head out, waving goodbye to Launch and the Kame House. Roshi and the boys took a plane to the island. Goku and Rento were especially enjoying the plane ride. It was a new experience for both brothers.
-Next Day-
The boys were currently waiting at the signup station. It was the day of the tournament and waves of anxiety washed throughout the three young fighters. The island was packed with people. Fighters from around the world came to this one place just to compete against each other in hopes of being the world champion. The thought got the three boys excited and pumped them up for their upcoming fights.
"Oh man! I can't wait to fight! I know there's gonna be some tough guys competing." Goku said practically bouncing on his toes. A wide smile staining his face.
"Chill out Goku. You're gonna pop at this rate." Krillin said with a smile of his own.
"I'm sorry but I just can't help it. I'm so excited! We finally get to fight!"
"Yeah, well don't get too excited because I'm gonna kick both of your butts!" Rento said.
"How are you two so confident? Aren't you worried about losing? I mean, we haven't even really gotten much skill training. Master Roshi only really made us do work." Krillin said.
"Don't worry Krillin, we're gonna kick butt in there. Especially me!" Rento said with a smirk.
"Says the one that can't use ki yet." Goku snickered.
"Shut up! I don't need ki to win!"
"Next participant." Said the monk at the sign up booth.
"That's me!" Goku shouted happily.
"Woah?! Aren't you a little young to be competing?!" The monk said.
"No! I'm tough as nails!" Goku said loudly. "Trust me!"
"...Well alright then. Name and age please." The monk said.
"Son Goku. I'm...Uh...Nine! I'm nine years old!" He said with a cheeky grin.
"Ok Goku...Your number is seventy. Next!" The monk said.
"Krillin. I'm also nine!" The bald kid said.
"Ok Krillin, your entry number is ninety three. Next up!"
"Son Rento. Nine years old." Rento said with a smirk.
"Mmhmm, your entry number is eleven...Next!" The monk called out. Rento moved over to his brother and friend. As they were conversing, their ears caught something as the monk was signing people up. "Woah! Another kid?! What's up with this generation?" The monk said. "Name and age please."
"Cayde... I'm eleven…" Said a kid with a dark blue, short sleeved hooded gi with a white long sleeved undershirt. His hood was up and he had his hands stuffed into pockets of his gi.
"Alrighty then, your number is sixty three Mr. Cayde. You're good to go."
The little boy huffed a response and walked on. As he came towards the boys, he roughly shoved past Rento and Goku.
"Hey! What's up with you?!" Goku shouted angrily.
Cayde stopped his walking and looked back towards Goku and his brother. The darkness of his hood made the glare of his icy blue eyes much more chilling. Goku and Rento lost their nerve immediately. Cayde continued walking away from the two boys, leaving them confused.
"What…What was that about?!" Krillin asked.
"Not sure...But I really don't like that guy…" Rento said with a solid glare.
"Forget that guy! Why don't we grab something to eat before the tournament starts." Goku suggested.
"You guys go ahead... I need to get my mind straight." Rento said back.
"Uh...Ok…Do you want us to bring you anything?"
"No thanks…" Rento answered as he began walking away.
This left both Goku and Krillin confused. Rento almost never passed up a meal. It was unnatural.
The brown haired boy decided to give his ki control one last try before the fights started. He put all of his focus into forming a physical ball of ki. The small red orb formed within his hands. It then faded away just as quickly as it had formed, leaving the boy with a feeling of distraught.
"Darn it! I guess I'll have to keep it close and personal." Rento said to himself.
He was disappointed in his lack of control and it angered him to no end. He was losing his confidence as time passed on.
"WOULD THE COMPETITORS OF THE TOURNAMENT PLEASE ENTER THE ELIMINATION ARENA!!!" An announcer said on the loudspeaker.
"Well...Time to shine I guess…" Rento said with a sigh.
Rento walked over to the arena with his two comrades after meeting up with them. When they got there, they took a good look around. Krillin sighed at the wide array of fighters from around the world. A lot of them looked pretty strong in comparison.
"WELCOME FIGHTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD! TODAY, WE HAVE A GRAND TOTAL OF ONE HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN COMPETITORS!" The announcer said.
"Woah...One hundred thirty seven?! That's crazy!" Krillin said.
"I know, but it doesn't matter! We can do this!" Goku said with a wide smile.
"Hey Goku, take a look." Rento said, pointing to a familiar face.
"Hey, it's Yamcha!" Goku exclaimed happily.
The two brothers and Krillin walked over to the older desert bandit. Goku ran up to him first. "What's up Yamcha!" Goku said.
"Hey you guys! Good to see you two here." Yamcha said with a grin.
"Yeah, it is. I hope you're a lot stronger than the last time we met, because we pretty much kicked your butt in the desert when we fought!" Goku said.
"He's not wrong…" Rento said.
"What?! You two practically jumped me! These fights are one on one so you better be able to handle yourselves!" Yamcha said crossing his arms.
"WE SHALL NOW COMMENCE THE ELIMINATION ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT! OUT OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN OF YOU, ONLY EIGHT COMPETITORS WILL MOVE ON TO THE WORLD MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT AND FIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! THAT MEANS THE TWO BEST FIGHTERS FROM EACH OF THE FOUR ELIMINATION RINGS WILL MOVE ON TO FIGHT IN THE REAL RING!" The announcer said.
"Only eight?! No way!" Krillin said with shock.
"You guys should be fine. Just make sure you give it your all. I don't wanna miss the chance to fight you for real." Yamcha said.
The elimination round had finally begun. Goku and Krillin were in ring three, Yamcha was in ring two and Rento was in ring four. The fighters were fierce and things got heated quickly. Some were tearing apart the competition with ease. Rento looked up and saw Goku stepping it up in the large elimination ring. Krillin was on a different side of the ring, kicking butt and doing his thing. The Cayde guy however, caught Rento's attention in ring one. He was eliminating people left and right without even moving from the center of the arena. Any time an opponent would come near him, he'd send them flying out of the ring with a singular, quick jab. Other times, he just knock them out with rapid attacks that we're much too hard for the untrained eye to process.
Rento built up his courage and set foot into a preliminary ring. He stared at all of his oncoming opponents. In his ring, many large fighters were vigorously attacking each other with constant aggression. It was Rento's turn to fight once again. Rento turned around and stared up at a tall, short haired man that just so happened to be his opponent. The man smirked down at him.
"Well, you've got quite the spirit to be in a place like this, kid."
Rento glared at the man and got into a fighting stance. "Bring it on!" He shouted.
"You're brave but you're also pretty stupid of you think you're gonna beat me!" The man said as he ran at the small boy.
Rento ran forward with blinding speed and slid under the lanky man's legs. The small boy then jumped up and threw a roundhouse kick to the back of his head. The man turned around and glared. Rento bounced lightly on his toes and taunted him.
"Come on! I thought that you'd be tougher than that! The last guy I beat up was a lot more of a challenge."
The man grit his teeth and swung a wild fist towards the boy. Rento dipped the hit and landed a swift uppercut, dropping his opponent. Rento grinned and prepared himself for more action.
After about an hour of the elimination round, the top eight fighters were guided to the world tournament's main stage. The fighters were Goku, Krillin Rento, Yamcha, Cayde, a man named Jackie Chun, another man named Nam and finally, a gross looking guy named Bacterian.
Rento regrouped with Krillin and Goku. All three boys stared at the large crowd of people in the concession stands as they walked inside of a small room where a blonde haired man wearing sunglasses was standing near a box.
"This is the coolest!" Goku said.
"I'm gonna assume that you guys did well in the elimination round." Krillin said.
"Yep! It was too easy!" Goku said with his hands behind his head.
"I had a few close calls but I think I did pretty good." Rento replied.
Krillin nodded with acknowledgement. "Well, things are only gonna get harder. The opponents from here on out are only gonna get stronger and stronger."
"You're not scared, are you Krillin?" Goku said.
"Don't be dumb, Goku! Of course I'm not scared! I'm just saying that we can't underestimate the other fighters." Krillin said.
"That just means that we gotta do our best out there! I'm sure we can take em'!" Rento said.
"Ahem!" The man with the glasses cleared his throat. "Welcome to the real part of the tournament. Here's how this is going to work. All eight of you are gonna draw a number from the box. Your number is gonna determine who it is you're gonna fight."
"Seems interesting enough. I think that I'm gonna pick first." Goku said while walking up to the box. He stuffed his hand inside and fished around for a number. He ripped his hand out and smiled. "Cool! I got number three." Goku said.
"You'll be fighting in the second match, Goku." The blonde man said.
"My turn!" Krillin went up to the box and dug his hand inside. He yanked his hand out and grinned. "Number two!" Krillin said.
"I'm up!" Rento said. His hand went through the box and he pulled it out. "Number seven."
Cayde dug his hand inside and whipped out the number five. Yamcha stuck his hand inside a pulled out the number four. Jackie Chun pulled the number one, Nam pulled the number eight and Bacterian got the number six.
"I feel bad for that Cayde, kid. He's gotta fight big, stinky and ugly over there." Krillin said. Goku and Rento chuckled.
"Sucks to be him." Rento said.
"Will Krillin and Jackie Chun please enter the ring!" The blonde man said.
"Wish me luck, guys." Krillin said.
-In the Ring-
"This is it! My first fight. I may not know much about my opponent, but it doesn't matter! I have to win!" Krillin said to himself while shaking with anxiety.
Jackie Chun stared at the small monk fighter with a calm expression. "What's the matter young one?"
"N-nothing! I'm perfectly fine!" Krillin said.
"Relax and calm your nerves. Just do your best and remember to learn from this battle." The old man said.
"Huh?" Krillin was confused but nodded with agreement.
"FIGHTERS, ARE YOU READY?!" The blonde announcer asked. The crowd was watching silently with anticipation. "BEGIN!!!"
Krillin wasted no time running at his adversary. Krillin attempt to land a high jump kick only to land near the edge of the ring. Jackie Chun had effortlessly side stepped Krillin's hasty attack. Krillin ran back at the old man and stopped directly in front of him.
"How about this!" Krillin shouted at the old man. Krillin threw three fast punches at Jackie Chun. The old man blocked all three hits and swept the boy to the ground.
Jackie looked down at the bald boy. "Your movements are much too tense. You are letting your fear and frustration of losing cloud your judgement. Instead of having fast and precise movements, you are throwing stiff hard swings." The old man said.
Krillin grit his teeth. "I don't need a lecture from you! I've been trained by the one and only Master Roshi!" Krillin jumped up and punched the old man, causing him to stagger back a bit.
Jackie Chun grunted and took a quick step backwards and lunged forward, striking the boy with a devastating punch to the chest, sending the little monk flying across the ring, straight outta bounds.
"Krillin is out of bounds! Jackie Chun has just won the first match of the tournament via ring out!" The announcer said to the wild crowd.
From the grass, Krillin could be seen glaring at the dirt below him. "Darn it! How could I lose in the first round!"
Jackie Chun walked over to the small boy. "Don't take this loss and a sign of failure. Take it as a step towards your next victory. I do hope you take my words into consideration and learn from your experience."
Krillin looked up at the old man and nodded. "I will! Thank you."
After the two fighters exited the ring, the announcer called for the next set of competitors. "WILL SON GOKU AND YAMCHA PLEASE ENTER RING!"
"I hope you're ready for my new special technique, Goku." Yamcha said as he and the pint sized fighter stepped into the ring.
"I could say the same to you, Yamcha!" Goku began doing some light stretches.
"FIGHTERS, LET THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE WORLD MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT...BEGIN!!!" The announcer shouted.
Without any sort of warning, Goku and Yamcha both vanished from sight. Within seconds, the two fighters both reappeared in the center of the the stage. Both fighters were trading rapid blows. Yamcha sent Goku back with a swift low kick. Goku recovered with a back handspring and landed gracefully on his toes. The little boy sprung forward and delivered a harsh shoulder charged to the former desert bandit's abdomen, doubling him over.
"How's that?" Goku asked him with a grin.
"Not bad...But I'm not losing to you today!" Yamcha said as he got into an strange looking stance.
"Yeah right! You're going down Yamcha!" Goku jumped up high into sky.
The crowd stared at the astonishing height of the small boy. He was a good hundred feet in the air. From the crowd, Bulma, Puar and Oolong could be seen rooting for both fighters. Over by ringside, Rento was looking at his brother with a grin.
"Yeah! Get him Goku!" The brown haired boy shouted. He and Krillin wanted a good view of the intense action. It took Rento a good deal of encouraging words to snap his friend out of his bummed out mood due to his defeat in the first match.
"Hope you're ready for my Super Flying Fist!" Goku shouted as he dove straight down at Yamcha, with his fist cocked back. Before Goku's attack could make contact, Yamcha pivoted out of the way and grabbed the boy's exposed tail.
"Ha! I gotcha!" Yamcha smirked. He applied more pressure to the boys tail in hopes of getting Goku to submit. "It's all over now Goku!"
"Nice try! Rento and I trained our tails after the last time we fought you. That won't work!" Goku then jumped up and nailed Yamcha across the jaw with a mid-air spin kick.
"Fine! If that won't work, then this will! Let's see how you handle my ultimate attack. WOLF FANG FIST!!!" Yamcha charged at the boy and pounded him with a series of brutal hits. "Time to finish this Goku!"
The little boy wiped the trickle of blood from his busted lip. "Fine by me." Goku watched as Yamcha ran up to him. As the taller fighter got in range, in all of his excitement, he misplaced his footing and tripped over the small warrior. The crowd watched as Yamcha stumbled outside of the ring. Everyone was shocked including the announcer.
"...Y... Yamcha is out of bounds...Which means that Goku is the winner!" The blonde man said.
The crowd cheered wildly. Bulma and Puar both held looks of disappointment. Rento and Krillin were both laughing on the sidelines.
"Oh man…" Yamcha muttered to himself.
Goku walked over to him and bowed his head. "Nice fight Yamcha." Goku said.
"Yeah, yeah…No need to rub it in." Yamcha said as he walked off.
"Where you going?" Goku asked.
"To get a burger…" Yamcha muttered.
"WILL OUR NEXT SET OF FIGHTERS PLEASE STEP FOOT INTO THE RING!" The announcer said.
"So that Cayde guy is gonna fight the stinking caveman. I bet he'll forfeit the match when he gets a whiff of that guy's BO." Krillin said as Goku joined them.
"Either way, Rento is gonna have to fight one of them." Goku said with a chuckle.
"Don't remind me…" Rento muttered.
"FIGHTERS...ARE YOU READY...BEGIN!!!" The announcer yelled, covering his burning nose.
Bacterian was chuckling down at the hooded boy. Wet drool seeping from his mouth. "Me gonna make puny boy cry." The big, smelly brute said.
Cayde lifted up his hand and gestured his opponent to come at him. "Stop talking. We're here to fight, so FIGHT!"
Bacterian, not liking the boy's tone, stomped towards the kid. Cayde's sharp blue eyes glared at the Goliath before him. "Bye bye little boy!" Bacterian said as he swung a fist at the boy, only to hit a blurry image of the child. "Where he go?!"
"I'm right in front of you, ya dirty freak!" Cayde said as he sent a disgusting punch right between the eyes of the smelly man.
Bacterian held his throbbing face. A single tear, threatening to fall down his face. "You do a funny trick! Me got tricks too!" Bacterian puffed up his chest and let out a harsh gust of smelly air.
"Damn... Your breath freaking stinks!" Cayde growled with annoyance. The small, mysterious fighter vanished from sight and reappeared all around the ring, leaving multiple images of himself. Bacterian tried to blow his nasty breath onto each image only to realize that the boy wasn't in the ring.
"Huh?! Where he go?" The large man asked.
"Up top, smart guy!" Cayde smashed his heel down on top of his head, causing the bulky man to bite down and shatter most of the teeth outta his mouth. The huge man staggered back. "Fall…" Faster than anyone could process, Cayde had dug his fist into his opponent's stomach. The child then hit the man in his jaw with a backflip kick. The sheer force of the kick, not only popped his chin up but also lifted the large, heavy brute off of the stadium floor and also sent the stinky fighter out of the ring.
"MY WORD! NOT ONLY HAS YOUNG CAYDE SENT THE LARGE BACTERIAN OUT OF BOUNDS, BUT HE'S ALSO MANAGED TO KNOCK HIM OUT AS WELL!!!" The announcer said with shock.
The entire stadium was dead silent as Cayde exited the ring with his hands stuffed into his pockets. As he brushed past Goku and Rento, he sent them a cold look. He looked at Rento and narrowed his eyes.
"You fight is next...You better win because it's you and your brother that I really wanna fight…" He said with a bitter tone. He continued walking towards the lobby area leaving Rento with an uneasy feeling.
"... Don't worry bro! You can take him." Goku said with encouragement.
"WILL THE NEXT TWO FIGHTERS STEP FOOT INTO THE RING!" The announcer said.
Rento hopped into the ring and stared down his stoic opponent. "So you're Nam, right? My name is Son Rento, and I'm here to win!"
"..." The man decided to remain silent.
"Hey! What're you ignoring me or something?" Rento asked.
Rento got annoyed with the man's lack of response. "Whatever! I'd rather talk with my fists anyway!"
"FIGHTERS... BEGIN THE LAST FIGHT OF FIRST ROUND!" The announcer said.
Rento slowly shuffled his feet and brought up his hands up. "C'mon! Come at me!" Rento taunted.
"..." The man didn't move from his spot in the ring.
"...If you think that I'm gonna come over there and get pummeled then you've got another thing coming!" Rento yelled.
"...Screw you!" Rento ran at the man as the man jumped up into the air and crossed his arms.
"I will end this in one last attack."Nam said calmly.
"What? That's the first thing you say? Don't make me laugh!" Rento said.
Nam began to descend towards the boy at sonic speed. Rento not entirely sure on what to do, decided to throw his guard up and block the attack. Nam slammed straight into the boy sending him flying back. Rento bounced roughly against the stadium floor. Rento picked himself up slowly and glared.
"A nice attempt...But there's no way that I was going to get put down with just one stupid move." The boy said.
"Hmm...You are a very durable young boy...but I cannot lose to you." Nam said.
"Sorry to say this, but you don't have a choice!" Rento took three steps forward towards Nam and lunged his knee into Nam's chest. Nam responded with an open hand palm strike to the boy's face. Rento ducked the strike and spun around, dropping Nam down to the floor with a double legged takedown. Rento grabbed both of Nam's legs and lifted them up. "Mind if I take you for a swing."
"...What are you-"
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Rento's loud yells instantly cut off Nam's words as he began swinging him around rapidly.
"IT SEEMS THAT RENTO HAS JUST GAINED THE UPPER HAND, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!" The announcer shouted with excitement.
Rento kept spinning around faster and faster. A small whirlwind was being created from underneath the boy. Once Rento felt that he was going at a pretty good speed, he let go almost instantaneously. Nam flew out of the ring at terminal velocity, slamming straight through a wall.
"YEAH! HE DID IT!" Goku cheered.
"AND RENTO WILL FACE CAYDE IN THE SEMI-FINALS! STAY TUNED EVERYONE. NEXT UP IS GOKU AGAINST JACKIE CHUN FOR THE START OF THE SEMI-FINALS!!!" The announcer said.
-In the Lobby-
Cayde stared at the screen and glared. "Hmph...Time for you dumbass monkeys to get what's coming to you…" The boy muttered darkly.
A/N: Good to be back on this story. Sorry if I kept you guys waiting. I was working on my other two stories. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one!