Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ

A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed!

"Telepathy"

"Talking"

"Thoughts"

Life of a Saiyan Hybrid

Chapter 6

"I tried to warn you. They're monsters when you train with them together."

Trunks groaned and lifted his face off his bed to look at Gohan was sitting on the floor in his room, already showered and in a change of clothes from training. Trunks was nowhere near ready to get cleaned up after training. "How did you have the energy to get cleaned up already?"

"It's been about two weeks since these monster training sessions started for me, Trunks. I am mostly used to it." Gohan sighed. "Mostly, they still manage to beat me unconscious though." He grinned at his friend. "At least you were here today to join my side when they ganged up on me. Thanks for helping me!"

"It would be much simpler if you just ascended." Trunks pointed out.

"I know, but it's more fun this way. I want them to force me to go into it." Gohan replied.

Trunks stared at his friend incredulously. "They beat you unconscious! You should transform into level two before that happens, Gohan."

The younger half-saiyan shrugged. "I get enough training in when my dad makes me transform during our private training sessions. Besides, it's fun to watch your dad get so mad and annoyed!"

Trunks groaned and dropped his face back into his pillow. "I thought I knew what tough training was. Apparently, neither one of us truly realized what a saiyan training session was truly like. And I think you really have gone insane if you think it is fun to make my dad angry just for fun."

Gohan stared at his friend for a moment before looking around the room, but when Trunks moaned in pain again, he sighed and stood up. He crawled onto the bed next to his friend. "Trunks, do you want me to massage your back? It really helps."

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble." Trunks mumbled into his pillow.

Gohan started kneading his hands into Trunks's sore and tense back. "You know, if you just got up and took a hot shower that would help as well."

Trunks moaned happily into his pillow. "Who needs a hot shower when I have you to massage my back? I don't get how our dads can go all out like that and not be sore."

"They're monsters. That's how." Gohan replied, kneading harder in Trunks's lower back when he felt a big knot there.

"Where'd you learn to massage anyway?"

"My dad taught me." Gohan replied. "In the Hyperbolic Time Chamber I would sometimes go a little too far with the training, especially in the beginning when I still wasn't used to the gravity so my dad would help me relax by massaging my back to release the tension and stress."

"Hmm, right, you weren't a super saiyan when you went in." Trunks said. "Must have been hard for you."

"For a while." Gohan replied.

"Well, he taught you well." Trunks said as he sat up and rolled his shoulders. "In fighting and massaging."

Gohan laughed. "Just go take a shower, Trunks. You stink and Bulma is already going to be mad that you got blood all over your bed."

Trunks rolled his eyes and pushed Gohan towards the bedroom door. "I did no such thing."

"Going to hide the evidence?" Gohan asked as he was pushed out of the room, looking over his shoulder at Trunks with a smirk. "I suggest destroying them with ki! They'll never be found then." He shouted as the door was closed in his face.

Laughing, Gohan turned to head back to the guest room Bulma gave him and his dad.

*Kame House*

Krillin ducked under Yamcha's kick and grabbed his ankle before he could pull back. He roughly yanked on Yamcha's leg and threw him into the ocean. Yamcha was barely down a second before launching out of the water, but instead of attacking Krillin, he landed on the sand with a sigh.

"You know we have next to no chance of winning this tournament with Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, and now Trunks in it!" Yamcha said frustrated. He wanted to win this tournament. He needed money before he went completely broke.

Krillin shrugged. "I'm not going down without a fight though!"

Yamcha sighed. "Maybe we'll get lucky and not have to fight any of them in the beginning."

"I wish they would tell us how this tournament is designed differently from the world tournament." Krillin said as he crossed his arms behind his head. "They sure are doing a good job of keeping that under wrap though."

"Guess that helps add to the excitement." Yamcha suddenly grinned. "But forget about the tournament for now, have you seen 18 recently?"

"Why would I have seen her?" Krillin shouted, cheeks turning red.

Yamcha nudged his side. "Come on, Krillin. Gohan has already exposed your crush for her."

"Gohan." Krillin snarled. It was all because of him. Since when did he have an evil side like this? Where was the sweet little kid he saw a nephew who could do no wrong?

"So, come on, Krillin." Yamcha said slyly. "You're trying to win her over, right?"

"Would you shut up?" Krillin shouted, quickly glancing over his shoulder to where Master Roshi was napping on his lawn chain. He didn't need the old perv hearing about his crush on 18 as well. There would be no end to his prying. Finding him still napping, he looked aback at Yamcha. "There is no trying to win anyone over going on in this house!"

"Sure, there isn't." Yamcha replied with a smirk.

"What are you smirking at?" Krillin asked warily.

"You see, I happen to have a very reliable source that says he saw you at a café in West City chatting with 18 and it looked like she was starting to warm up to you." Yamcha said.

Krillin gaped at him for a moment. "Wha…N-no, she…I…WHO? HOW?!"

"It just so happens to be someone we know very well that has an evil side we didn't know about before, but it is beginning to surface." Yamcha said with a smirk.

Krillin's brows furrowed. "So someone we know very well who is usually always kind and sweet, but has a previous unknown about devious side." His mind trailed back to when Gohan showed him that video of Vegeta playing peak-a-boo with Trunks and his eyes widened. "That little punk! What was he even doing in West City?"

"He apparently goes there a few times a week to spar with Goku and Vegeta. That just sounds highly dangerous." Yamcha said with an evil grin. "A little advice, Krillin, if you don't want people to find out you have a secret girlfriend, don't go to a city where our friends live."

"She isn't my girlfriend!" Krillin protested. "We're just friends."

"But you are trying to get to that base, aren't you?" Yamcha asked.

Krillin groaned and subjected himself to the teasing support that Yamcha was giving him for the next five hours. And while he was half listening to it, he was also plotting revenge against Gohan. Darn kid, where was the love and loyalty the kid was supposed to give him?

*2 Days Later*

"Goku, wake your son up!" Chi Chi shouted from the kitchen window since her husband was outside during one-handed vertical push-ups. He paused when he heard his wife before pushing down once more and flipping himself to land on his feet.

"Alright, dear." Goku shouted back as he walked inside. "Is breakfast almost done?"

"Yes, but you'll have to eat quickly. We have to meet the others for registration at nine." Chi Chi called out to her husband as he walked passed the kitchen doorway towards the staircase.

Goku jogged up the stairs and walked down the hall to his son's room. He nudged the door open to see his son curled up into a ball under his covers on his bed, hugging his pillow tightly to his chest. Shaking his head, the saiyan went over to his son. "For someone so excited about the tournament today, I thought you would have been up at the crack of dawn, Gohan."

Gohan groaned and rolled away from his dad. "My bed is comfy." He mumbled into his mattress.

"Well, it's time to leave that comfort. You and your bed can meet again tonight." Goku said as he reached down and ripped the covers off his son. "But right now, you need to get up and get dressed then eat breakfast quickly so we can leave."

Gohan grumbled and threw his arm out behind him trying to whack his dad away from him. His warmth may be gone, but the comfort of his bed was not.

"Come on, Gohan. If you don't get up soon, we'll miss registration and then you won't be able to participate." Goku said.

Gohan shot up from his bed, eyes wide and hair a complete mess of spikes. "I'm awake! Don't steal my chance of fighting from me!"

Goku raised an amused brow. "Then get out of bed, son."

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Gohan nodded and jumped off his bed. "Sir, yes sir." He mumbled, making his dad laugh.

Goku ruffled his hair before leaving the room so he could get dressed.

Sighing, Gohan stumbled around the room, rather ungracefully for a warrior who should be prepared for battle at any moment in time. He grabbed his orange gi that was like his father's since he wanted to proudly represent the fact that he was Goku Son's son and student today.

When he was done getting ready, Gohan ran downstairs and into the kitchen. He practically flew into his seat and looked excitedly at his mom. "Time for breakfast?"

Chi Chi sighed. "You saiyans are all alike."

Grinning in response, Gohan turned to look at his dad, who was smiling at him.

"Going to be my student today?" Goku asked as he took in Gohan's gi. "Well, if you win today, Gohan, then the student will pass the master." He teased.

Chi Chi turned around sharply. "One of you better win today. That prize money would be amazing! We could really use it. We could use it to expand the house and get everything that we will need for the new baby."

Gohan scowled. His mother already had everything planned out for the money. What if he did win the tournament? Shouldn't he get to use the money the way he wanted if he won? Everything was always decided for him. He was the strongest on the planet not, but still had a bedtime and still got grounded. When would he get his freedom? Didn't he already prove he could take care of himself?

Goku laughed. "Gohan is the real challenge for the tournament." He nudged his son, who looked up in surprise from his thoughts. "Try to go easy on us, would you?"

Gohan shook his annoyed thoughts away and laughed. "I don't know, Daddy. You never go easy on me during training."

"Maybe that's because a certain someone gets mad whenever I try to be gentle." Goku replied with a teasing smirk.

Giving his father an innocent shrug, Gohan turned his attention back to his mother as she put the food on the table. His hand itched to lung forward and grab some food since he was so hungry, but his mom wasn't sitting yet and they were not allowed to start eating until everyone was sitting at the table. Reaching forward now was a guaranteed smack on the head via frying pan. He was not eager to meet that pain anytime soon. He got hit enough times during the nine days before the Cell Games when he and his dad kept breaking everything because of their super saiyan strength. Even as super saiyans, his mom smacking them with the frying pan still hurt a lot. He really could not understand how she always made it hurt so much.

Goku and his son both kept an eye on Chi-Chi so the moment that she was sitting down, it became an all-out war between the two saiyans to get the most food and eat the fastest. Chi-Chi huffed in frustration as she ate her normal portion of food. No matter what she did, she just couldn't get those two to have manners when it came to eating. There was a time when Gohan had perfect manners, but ever since he developed his saiyan appetite, it was like those manners never existed. She only had Goku to blame since he took him into the hyperbolic time chamber and they were alone for a year. During that time, Gohan picked up so many of his father's habits. That is what happens when a child stays alone with someone for so long. It showed just how impressionable children are. This is why she didn't want her son hanging out around that gang of Goku's.

*Capsule Corp.*

"Uh, Mom," Trunks said as he watched his dad eat an insane amount of food. Since he grew up in a future that was destroyed by androids, there was always very little food for everyone to eat so he ended up not getting to eat a lot so he never developed the appetite that the saiyans in this time seemed to have. He grew use to eating small amounts, which is why seeing Gohan and Goku eat after coming out of the time chamber shocked him so much. "How did you possibly get Dad to agree to enter this tournament? I think he would find it a complete waste of time."

Bulma smirked at her future son before turning back to baby Trunks to feed him. "He does, Trunks, but it is easy to get him to enter. All you have to do is say he might get the chance to fight Goku and beat him in an official match so everyone knows he is the strongest and he'll gladly join."

"That sounds like him." Trunks replied with a smile. "It's good to see their rivalry is as strong as ever. I was worried for a bit that Father would lose his drive to fight and be the strongest after Goku and Gohan both surpassed him."

"Oh, he did for a few days." Bulma informed her future son. "But then Goku showed up, demanding a spar and wasn't taking no for an answer. Vegeta got so annoyed with him that they ended up sparring." She huffed in annoyance. "And now they spar a few times a week and now they've dragged poor Gohan into those vicious spars of theirs."

Trunks grinned before he shoveled some of his cereal into his mouth. "It's amazing Chi-Chi lets Gohan spar with them."

Bulma hummed and rested her chin on her palm. "I still want to know what Goku did to get Chi-Chi to let Gohan continue his training." She grinned. "Whatever it was, it wasn't good enough to keep Goku fearing what she would do to him if she saw Gohan after those spars. That is why Goku always makes him take a senzu bean, get healed by Dende, or sleep it off here. Chi-Chi would freak if she saw how beat up he got and probably ban him from ever training again."

Vegeta scoffed and looked up from his meal. "That woman should be more proud of the brat's skill and power."

"Not everyone is a martial arts fanatic like you and Goku." Bulma snapped at him.

Trunks laughed a bit nervously. He didn't realize his dad was listening in on their conversation the whole time. "Actually, I remember the Gohan from my time telling me once that Chi-Chi practiced martial arts as a kid. What happened?"

Bulma shrugged. "I don't really know, but if I had to guess, she stopped practicing when she became pregnant with Gohan and just never got back into it since she was taking care of him, and then all those battles started happening and she saw how dangerous it was. I guess she got scared for Gohan's safety and just started to hate how much danger it put her son in." She looked thoughtfully at her ceiling. "No, hate isn't the right word. We actually watched the battle between Vegeta and Goku, then Gohan showed up and started to fight Vegeta. She was scared and freaked out, but she was cheering for Gohan to fight at one point."

"So?" Trunks prompted.

"She doesn't want her son in so much danger, but she is proud of him and his accomplishment." Bulma explained. "She was absolutely furious when Mr. Satan stole the credit of defeating Cell from Gohan. At least, that is what Goku told me. I wasn't there to see her get angry." She shuddered a bit. "It wasn't just Chi-Chi either."

Trunks raised a brow. "You mean Goku was angry too?"

Bulma nodded. "He didn't say it, but I could tell from his tone and the look in his eye that he wanted his son's strength recognized."

"Of course he does. That was the whole point of sending the brat to fight." Vegeta growled. "Not only did he want his son to kill Cell, but he also did it so he could show off how strong his brat is. A saiyan is always full of pride to see their child become strong and they want to show it off, but with that buffoon stealing the credit, he pushed Gohan aside so everyone could admire an idiot."

"Did you just call Gohan by his name?" Bulma asked surprised. "That's never happened before."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and went back to his breakfast. Damn woman. Why did she have to make such a big deal about every little thing?

"What time does the tournament start?" Trunks asked curiously and to get off the topic of Gohan, Cell, and Mr. Satan. The idea of Goku being angry over his son's time to shine being stolen was not something he wanted to think about. The idea of Goku actually getting angry about that was hard to fathom.

"Well, registration starts at nine thirty and ends at eleven. After that, you have an hour before the tournament begins at noon." Bulma explained. She looked at her watch. "And if we want to be there on time to meet everyone, we have to leave soon." She turned back to her baby and fed him some more food. No more time for talk. She needed to get him fed and then get out of here to the tournament.

*Intergalactic Tournament Island*

"This is just sad." Krillin said, rubbing the back of his head with a sigh as he looked around.

"I know." Yamcha said, frowning. "How is it that they can always be late? Especially when Goku has instant transmission!" He shook his head. "What do you think they are doing?"

Krillin put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Knowing Goku, probably stuffing his face with all the food in his house."

Just as Krillin said that, three people suddenly appeared in front of him, leaving Krillin surprised for a moment before he grinned.

"It's about time you showed up, Kakarot." Vegeta growled, glaring at Goku. "I was starting to think you chickened out."

Goku laughed. "Hardly." He ruffled Gohan's hair. "Gohan just didn't want to leave his breakfast."

Blushing, Gohan rubbed his stomach. "I was hungry."

Krillin actually fell over in shock. It was Gohan that made them late?! It was always Goku who was pigging out and arriving late! "Well, like father, like son they say." He said as he stood up. "You two should register though." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the registration booth. "We already did."

Gohan nodded and tugged on his dad's arm. "Come on then, Dad."

Laughing, Goku let himself be dragged over to the registration booth by his son.

"Hey!" Gohan greeted the registration guy cheerfully.

The man looked up with a smile. "Hello," He looked over at Goku, ignoring Gohan, who scowled. "Are you here to register for a spot in the tournament?"

Goku nodded. "That is correct."

"Name?"

"Goku Son."

The man looked up in surprise. "Goku Son? The Goku Son who won the 23rd world martial arts tournament?"

The Earth raised saiyan's grin widened in reply. "That's me. You must be a big fan of martial arts to remember that off the top of your head. That was a long time ago."

"Oh, not that long ago, Mr. Son. And I wouldn't be here if I didn't love martial arts."

"He recognized us too." Krillin said with a grin as he came up behind Goku and Gohan.

"What made you guys so special to be remembered?" Gohan asked curiously. "It's not like you guys won."

Krillin shot the kid a mock offended glare. He wasn't sure if Gohan was being serious with that question or just mocking with his newfound devious nature.

"I'll have you know that I won the 22nd tournament." Tien pointed out.

"And it was also their amazing fights as well. They used some amazing attacks in their matches." The registration man told him as if Gohan didn't know anything before turning to Goku and holding out a clipboard. "I just need you to sign this waiver saying that the tournament committee is not responsible for any injuries you receive during the fights."

Gohan almost rolled his eyes, but restrained himself and smiled at the man. Wasn't it clear that he was with these people so he would know about the attacks they did? "Is that right? Those attacks were really that amazing?" He asked, making Krillin chuckle behind him.

Goku took the clipboard and quickly signed his name at the bottom before handing it back to the man. "Well, Mr. Son, you are all signed up." The man said as he looked at the signature before putting it down in a pile of registered fighters.

Goku smiled. "Thank you."

"Hey! I want to join too!" Gohan said, raising a hand before the registration man could pass over him again.

The man blinked and stared at him in surprise. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. A lot of strong people are entering this tournament. A kid could get seriously hurt."

Snickers met Gohan's ears and he whipped around to glare at the Z fighters who were unsuccessfully trying to hide their laughter. Vegeta and Piccolo just smirked and looked away. When they saw Gohan glaring at them, they all shifted their eyes away. Looking at the kid would only make them laugh harder.

If only this man knew of the many powerful fighters that Gohan has fought in his life.

"I'm sure I will be fine." Gohan replied as he turned back to the man.

"Well, I can't let a child register without the permission of his parents." The man replied in a matter of fact tone that made Gohan want to slam his face into the table. That probably wouldn't be the best idea since it would destroy the table with how hard his head was.

So instead, Gohan found himself having to restrain himself from screaming in frustration. He's fought saiyans, the Ginyu force, Frieza, Garlic Jr., and Cell all without having to ask permission. And now he can't even get into a tournament alone?! To him, the very idea was completely messed up.

"Daddy!" Gohan whined, turning to Goku with a pleading look as he tugged on his shirt.

Behind him, the Z fighters fell into painful fits of laughter at the mock childish innocence that Gohan was showing. They were sure he was doing it as some sort of scheme against this registration guy for thinking he knew nothing about the dangers of fighting. While the Z fighters continued their laughter, being unsuccessful in stopping, Goku assured the skeptical man that his son could enter the tournament, which left Goku having to sign an injury waiver for his son to get in.

As the group left, the man looked at the clipboard. "Gohan Son, huh? I never knew Goku Son even had a child." He muttered as he put the paperwork away.

"So," Krillin started with a smirk as the group headed towards the fighters' waiting room.

"Not one word!" Gohan growled, cutting off Krillin and sending the group into another laughing fit, which made Gohan pout like the little kid he was.

Yamcha laughed. "These tournaments never used to be so strict about kids entering when we entered them."

"Luckily, otherwise I think it would have been much harder for Goku and me to get into them." Krillin said as he folded his arms behind his head.

"I guess being the savior of the Earth at nine years old is a hard thing to handle since you don't get to do anything freely." Piccolo said with a smirk.

Gohan threw his hands into the air in disbelief. "Even you, Piccolo?" He sighed and hung his head. "I feel betrayed by you all."

*Waiting Room*

Gohan ran over to one of the opened viewing areas in the waiting room and took in the fighting arenas with wide eyes. There were eight special platforms that they would be fighting on over the sea with the audience filling the seats around the platforms. Each of the buildings that housed the seats had special tv screens on them so they could see the action going on in the other fighting arenas as well.

"I hope Chi-Chi and the others found good seats." Goku said as he walked up behind his excited son to look at the arenas. He gave a small whistle when he saw them. This was definitely not like the World Martial Arts Tournament. This was going to be a lot of fun! He was starting to get as excited as his son.

Krillin snorted. He was sure Master Roshi and Oolong were in the café looking for hot girls to stare at with their perverted gazes. He hoped Chiaotzu managed to keep them behaving as best as he could since the small martial artist decided not to enter the tournament.

"I'm sure they're fine. If something happens, Chi-Chi will just kick anyone's ass when they get in the way." Yamcha replied.

Goku shot him an annoyed look and resisted the urge to slap his hands over Gohan's ears. "Don't swear in front of Gohan."

Yamcha held up his hands in a placating manner. "Sorry, sorry." He looked over at Gohan. "Erase that word from your memory, Gohan, before your dad kills me."

Gohan looked over at him with a smile. "Dad would never kill his friend, Yamcha." He hummed and looked back out the window. "Maybe hurt you a bit. Be lucky it's not Vegeta. He might leave you in a coma if you annoy him."

Yamcha sweatdropped as he glanced warily at a smirking Vegeta. "Thank you for that, Gohan. You have made me feel very safe."

Vegeta snorted. "As I've told you before, Kakarot, I don't see why you care. Your brat has been on enough battlefields to have heard plenty of swearing."

Goku shot him an annoyed look. "I don't want him hearing it constantly when he isn't fighting enemies because then he'll be more prone to focus on it and start swearing himself. My nine year old son does not need to have the kind of language you do, Vegeta."

Ignoring the two saiyans, Gohan lifted himself onto the ledge and swung his feet outside as he sat on it. He swung them as he looked around in excitement. He was finally getting to fight in a tournament! He couldn't wait to get started!

Trunks leaned on the ledge next to Gohan and whispered, "You know, future you actually swore quite a bit. The androids really got to him, though he still found time to sit back and enjoy life in the quiet moments."

Gohan looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Despite the horror and terror that we lived in, Gohan still took the simple pleasures in life. He said that he was in a lot of pain from what the androids did, but he thought it best to enjoy the pleasures of life so he wouldn't forget what it meant to truly be alive." Trunks looked over at the audience starting to gather in their seats then over his shoulder at their friends. "So he could remember what it was he was fighting for. It's not all about the terror and battles. Life is about more than that. I didn't really understand what he meant since I grew up in a life knowing nothing about the terror of the androids."

"Have you learned?" Gohan asked with a smile.

"I'm starting to." Trunks replied. "Now that the androids are gone and we are fixing the world of my time, I am starting to see what it is like to live in a peaceful world. It's nice not having to live in fear of the next attack now."

Gohan nodded. "I can agree with you there! Ever since I was four, I have been training a lot for so many threats so it's nice to not have to worry about any threats coming."

"What is a little kid doing in the fighters' area?"

Gohan's brow twitched and he turned to see a big man standing there, staring challenging at him. "I'm fighting." He replied calmly.

"You're going to get squashed if you try to fight, shrimp."

Gohan smiled brightly at him. "I would like to see you try. I hope we fight, sir." He said with a challenging tone of voice.

The man stared at him with a raised brow. "You've got guts, don't you?" He leaned down into Gohan's face. "I do hope I get the chance to show them to you."

Goku laughed, though it sounded like a dangerous one to the Z fighters. He pulled his son back off of the ledge and into the room away from the man. "Sir, can you please stop trying to scare my son?" He asked kindly, but his eyes were anything but as they glared at the fighter. He didn't wait for a reply as he pushed his son away with him.

"Is it my size?" Gohan grumbled. "Is that why people keep bothering me?!"

"It's more like kids your age shouldn't be at the level you're at." Yamcha said as he followed Goku and Gohan.

Gohan sighed. "Right." He looked up when Goku ruffled his hair and smiled at him.

"You should have just let him handle that man on his own, Kakarot." Vegeta growled as he approached the father and son. "It makes your kid look weak when he can't handle the taunting without his father butting in."

"It's fine." Gohan said. "It's not like that man is even worth it." He looked over his shoulder to look at the man, but couldn't find him. There were a lot more fighters in here then he first realized and more kept coming in. He didn't think they would be so much competition, but it didn't worry him. It actually made him excited. This was going to be so much fun!

Krillin raised a brow. "That sounds like a very Vegeta thing to say."

Gohan blinked and looked back at him. "Is it?" He shrugged. "Sorry?"

"Attention fighters!" An announcer walked into the room with a microphone to attract the attention of all the fighters. He jumped onto a table so all the fighters could see him. "The tournament will be beginning in a half an hour. The first round will be a preliminary round. In this round you will be fighting a battle royal on one of the eight platforms with your group. The last one standing will move onto the quarter finals. To begin with, each of you will draw a slip of paper from this box," He motioned to one of the referees with him who was holding a blue box. "The number on the slip is the fighting arena you will be in. So if you could all form a nice orderly line–ARGH!"

Krillin sweatdropped as the announcer was knocked off the table by the fighters rushing up to get a slip of paper. "They sure are eager." He mumbled as screaming from the referees filled the room as the fighters scrambled for their slip of paper. Good thing Chi-Chi wasn't here or she would go on another one of her rants about how barbaric fighters were.

Vegeta growled. "I can't believe I have to fight a bunch of weaklings. This is a waste of time!"

"It's just the first round, Vegeta." Goku replied cheerfully. "I'm sure you will find more enjoyment in the second round."

"What's wrong with the first round?" Gohan asked in the hopes to cheer Vegeta up. "You get to fight all these "pathetic humans" as you call them and throw them around as much as you like without getting in trouble, as long as you don't kill or seriously injure them that is."

Vegeta stared in surprise that Gohan would suggest that before he smirked. "I like the way you think, kid."

Krillin smacked his face. "Why did you have to say that, Gohan?"

"Vegeta seemed annoyed." Gohan shrugged.

"And to cheer him up, you thought it was a good idea to throw his competition under the bus?" Tien asked.

"What? It's not like he's going to kill them so it will be fine." Gohan said. He looked at Vegeta warily. "You aren't going to start killing, are you? I don't want held responsible for that cause of what I said."

Vegeta shot him an annoyed look. "And what if I am?"

"Then I want it known from this point on that if something happens, I will not be held responsible for it!" Gohan declared, shooting all his friends a look.

Once the rest of the fighters finally got their numbers, the Z fighters made their way forward to get their numbers.

"Arena five is my domain." Yamcha said with a grin as he held up his slip of paper to show his friends.

Piccolo smirked. "Guess I'll be fighting you in the first round." He said as he held up his own five, making Yamcha groaned in distress.

Gohan perked up and stared at the two. "Really?" He grinned widely. "Cool! I'm in arena five too!"

Instead of Yamcha being excited, he fell to his knees and just moaned in misery, making Gohan blinked. "Was it something I said? Yamcha? What's wrong?! Come on, it'll be a lot of fun!"

"Don't be concerned with him, kid." Piccolo smirked at Gohan. "You should be more concerned about beating me."

Gohan suddenly smirked. "It should be the other way around." He spun around, hands clasped behind his back and stared at the arenas in anticipation.

"Somebody sure is confident." Krillin teased.

Gohan looked over his shoulder at him with a grin. "What arena are you in?"

"Arena three." Krillin replied. He looked around at the others warily. Like Yamcha, he didn't really want to fight any of their super powered alien friends in the first round. "What about the rest of you?"

"Arena one." Trunks said.

"Arena seven." Tien said.

Goku grinned. "I'm in Arena four. Too bad, I would have loved to be in Arena five. That sounds like the best arena to be in for the first round."

Yamcha moaned and felt close to tears. He should have never joined this stupid tournament.

Vegeta growled. "And I wish I was in Arena four so I could wipe that stupid grin off your face."

Goku blinked in surprise before he wiped that look around. He was getting too use to Vegeta always wanting to punch him for something.

"So where are you, Father?" Trunks asked.

"Arena six." Vegeta growled, scrunching the paper up in his hand.

"Now, Vegeta, remember, these humans are very weak compared to us so you have to control yourself." Goku warned.

Vegeta glared at him and stalked away.

"Should we be worried? I don't think he knows how to control himself." Yamcha said with a frown, forgetting his misery for a moment.

"It will be fine. He wants to fight Goku so he isn't going to risk getting disqualified." Piccolo replied.

Gohan hummed and folded his arms behind his head. "He spars with him all the time and loses. I can't believe he wants to lose in public that badly."

"G-Gohan!" Krillin shouted, whacking the boy in the back of the head. "Are you trying to get him to come back to kill you?"

Rubbing his head, Gohan shrugged. "He is always threatening to kill me. He is too high strung."

Trunks chuckled. "One of these days you are going to push him too far, Gohan." He smirked. "And my dad loses? Aren't you the one that usually loses in those spars?"

"That's because it's not fair cause Dad is helping him pummel me into the ground!" Gohan whined. He rubbed his ribs as his mind went back to when his dad broke them. Goku apologized profoundly for that since that wasn't his goal, but Gohan waved it off since they had senzu beans. It was partly his fault for letting his defense slip because of Vegeta which is why his dad managed to break his ribs.

"Gohan, we saw you fight seven Cell juniors all by yourself and they were stronger than Goku and Vegeta! I think you can handle taking on your dad and Vegeta." Krillin said.

Yamcha turned to Goku. "How do you beat the strongest kid in the universe anyway?"

Goku smirked. "It's easy when he refuses to go super saiyan two to annoy Vegeta."

"Yep!" Gohan said cheerfully. "I have officially signed my death warrant! Now it is just a matter of Vegeta succeeding!"

Before anyone could reply to that, Gohan got distracted when a referee called for all fighters in arena five to follow him. "Oooh, that's us!" He grabbed Piccolo's and Yamcha's wrists and dragged them away before the two could protest.

"I have never seen him so carefree." Tien said surprised as he watched Gohan dragged an annoyed looking Piccolo and a depressed Yamcha.

"It's a rarity." Krillin mumbled. "But the recklessness? That is nothing new."

"It isn't?" Trunks asked surprised, looking over at the short fighter.

Krillin sighed. "Trunks, I've seen him charge into more dangerous situations then I am comfortable with. I know he does it to protect his friends, but it is still beyond reckless, especially when he was five and didn't have the power to back up such moves!" He grumbled as he remembered Namek. That trip taught him so much about Gohan's personality. Against the saiyans on Earth, he was scared to death. It was his first battle so he wasn't surprised, but his attitude towards fights on Namek was a complete change as he was more willing to charge into those battles and always got back up no matter how much he was beaten down by their enemies.

"Oh, then the Gohan in my time must have been considered reckless as well." Trunks said amused before he heard a referee calling for Arena one fighters. "Well, that's me." He smirked and cracked his knuckles. "I'll see you guys in the quarter finals."

On platform four, Goku stood surrounded by a big group of fighters as they waited for the fight to start. He looked up to see a platform next to his higher up. He couldn't see any fighters on it, but he did sense Gohan, Piccolo, and Yamcha on it. They weren't together, but spread out over the platform. He smiled. They would probably be aiming to get rid of everyone else before trying to take each other out. If that was the case, he would have to finish his battle quickly so he could watch.

Smirking, Goku cracked his knuckles and refocused his attention on his own opponents.

"Welcome to the Intergalactic Tournament!" A voice shouted over the intercoms that were placed all around Battle Island. "With two hundred competitors in this tournament, the first round will be a preliminary battle royal taking place on the specially designed combat stages! The rules are simple; each arena has twenty-five contestants fighting against each other until one remains. Fighters are disqualified if they faint, surrender, or fall into the sea! The last one to survive moves onto the quarter finals. Killing and the use of weapons is prohibited."

On Arena five, Piccolo looked over the heads of all the fighters to look at Gohan, who was hard to see because of his height. It looked like some of the fighters were trying to intimidate him, but Gohan ignored them and chose to look over at Arena six which was on a cliff. Vegeta was standing there, smirking quite evilly and scaring all his opponents before the fight even started. Piccolo wouldn't be surprised if some of them jumped off just to escape him.

"And now," The announcer shouted just as fireworks started to go off and explode in the sky. "Let the fights begin!"

*Arena One*

The moment the announcement was given to begin the fights, Trunks was ducking and dodging attacks all around. He immediately set to work on throwing his opponents over the edge of the stage or punching them over the edge with as much restraint as he could so he wouldn't injure them. And considering the fact that he was a half-saiyan that was pretty hard for him to do.

Trunks stepped to the side to dodge a fist and grabbed the fighter's wrist. He spun around on one foot, swinging the fighter with him in a circle and knocked multiple fighters around him off the stage before he let the fighter go and he went flying through the air onto another arena.

*Arena Three*

Krillin jumped to the side just in time to avoid a body slamming into the ground. He looked up with a frown, but only saw Trunks's back briefly before he was charging back into the fight. Krillin looked back at the fighter whose eyes were spinning. Well, at least Trunks was controlling his powers. He couldn't see Vegeta from the arena he was on, but he did hear the painful and fearful screams. They were kind of hard to miss.

The short fighter did his best to ignore them though and focus on his battles. His special fighting stage actually had portions of it that shifted going up and down. It made keeping their balance during fights a lot harder, for normal fighters at least. Since Krillin has faced a lot more difficult situations in fights, a little shifting of the floor was hardly going to stop him.

So with ease Krillin jumped around the arena, throwing multiple punches and kicks at his opponents before they could react. He sent a powerful kick into this big man's stomach and sent him flying backwards into multiple other fighters. Because of that, they all went flying with him and they continued to fly backwards until they went over the edge of the arena and fell into the sea.

Then, to Krillin's surprise, the arena started to tilt towards the sea.

"Oh, come on!" Krillin cried as he slipped and went flying down with the tilting. He quickly reached out and grabbed onto the edge of the arena to keep himself from falling as the rest of the fighters fell around him, unable to save themselves. "What kind of martial arts tournament is this?"

*Arena Six*

There was no doubt in the prince's mind. He was dominating this fight. These pathetic humans had nothing on the Prince of Saiyans. He would grab one and send him flying over the cliff, and then go after his next target. An evil chuckle escaped him. It was always the same. He would attack someone and then his next opponent would see him coming and get so scared that he actually jumped off the arena himself….Or at least he tried to. Oh, Vegeta would make sure they all lost, but no one was getting away with jumping off of the arena. The only way they would escape this battle was by being thrown into the sea by Vegeta after he was through with them.

He hated to admit it, but Kakabrat was right. Dominating these pathetic humans and showing them their place was a lot of fun. Though he would rather be fighting Kakarot or Gohan or hell, even the Namekian. He wanted a challenge and he better get one next round or there was going to be hell to pay. First, the woman would hear all about it and how he would never let her get him to agree to another tournament ever again. Second, he might actually destroy this battle island.

A smirk crossed Vegeta's face. That actually sounded fun. Chaos and destruction.

*Arena seven*

Tien frowned as he heard screams of pain and fear all around. As he threw his opponents away from him, all he could hear was the screaming and begs for mercy from Arena six. Vegeta was really showing no mercy over there. But then again, Tien expected no less from someone like Vegeta.

"Come on, Tien! You can win this!" Chiaotzu shouted from the audience, making Tien smile very faintly before he was completely serious again and dodging slow attacks all around with complete ease. This first round wasn't even a challenge for any of the Z fighters. Well, except for Gohan, Piccolo, and Yamcha. Two of the Z fighters were losing in the first round. A shame really.

*Arena five*

Gohan dodged a punch before jumping over a kick. He flipped in the air over the head of one of the fighters. As he was flipping over him, he grabbed the man's shoulders and yanked him with him and sent him flying over the edge of the arena as he landed and blocked a foot with his forearm. Standing, he grinned and slammed a foot into his opponent's gut, leaving him gasping for air. This was so much fun, but…he looked over his shoulder to see Yamcha taking care of a couple opponents himself, then over at Piccolo to see him easily kicking people into the sea. It wouldn't be easy to take them out. But at least it wasn't his dad or Vegeta, or heaven forbid, both of them in this arena with him. If it was those two, he doubted he would win. Well, unless he ascended that was.

*Arena four*

A laughing Goku dodged another attack before swerving around to avoid a kick from behind. It's been a long time since he's had fun fighting like this. Unless his training with Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber counted. He knew that was training to face Cell, but training with Gohan had been so much fun. It gave him a chance to see just how strong and skilled his son was able to become. He didn't think he could have been prouder of him, until he defeated Cell that was.

A grin spread over his face as he kicked one of the fighters off the arena. He hoped he got the chance to fight Gohan in the next round. Sure, they sparred and trained together all the time, but fighting him in an official match would be so much more fun and challenging. If Gohan wanted to win as badly as he did, then there was no way he would continue to hold back just to annoy him and Vegeta. He would finally get to face his son in his ascended form for a serious match. Training him to control it did not count in his opinion. And it wasn't just Vegeta getting annoyed with Gohan not ascending during their sparring sessions. He was aiming for it to. He thought it would be so much fun to face Gohan at that level which is why he always teamed up with Vegeta against Gohan. One day, they would get Gohan to ascend.

"Trunks has passed the preliminaries!"

Goku looked up in surprise at the announcement.

"Vegeta also advances to the quarter finals."

Goku sweatdropped. "Those two sure wasted no time in getting through this round, but at least Vegeta didn't kill anyone."

"Naulhi is advancing to the quarter finals!"

Goku swerved to the side to avoid a punch before grabbing the arm and flipping the fighter over him and slammed him into the ground hard enough to knock him out.

"Goku advances as well!"

Blinking, the Earth raised saiyan stood up straight and looked around his arena to see a bunch of groaning, unconscious fighters in his wake. He sweat dropped a bit. His mind was so focused on wanting to fight Gohan in the second super saiyan level that he didn't even realize he was destroying his opponents so fast.

"YES! That's my husband!"

He grinned as he heard his wife shouting and waved in her general direction.

"Next going to the quarter finals is Krillin!"

Smiling, Goku jumped high into the air, ignoring the awed sounds he heard and landed on Krillin's arena. Krillin immediately noticed him and gave him the peace sign with a huge grin. "I saw your arena start to tilt during my battle. It looked like a lot of fun."

Krillin laughed. "You would find something like that interesting."

"Udo is advancing!"

Krillin looked up at one of the big screens to see the man called Udo smirking as he appeared on screen. "Hey, recognize him?"

Turning to look at the screen, Goku nodded. "He's the one that was trying to scare my son."

"Tien is heading to the quarter finals!"

Goku smiled and turned to look over at Arena five. "That only leaves Gohan, Piccolo, and Yamcha."

"I am so glad I'm not in that ring." Krillin said.

Laughing, Goku led Krillin to the fighters' waiting room to watch the fight from there with the rest of their friends.

*Arena five*

Piccolo watched as Gohan pushed the last weak fighter out of the ring before he spun around to face Yamcha and Piccolo, both who were already in their fighting stances. As Gohan slid into his own stance, Piccolo's eyes moved to look at Yamcha before slowly moving to look at Gohan. He noticed the boy's eyes going from him to Yamcha before a smirk slowly grew onto his face.

Without moving a muscle, Yamcha looked at Piccolo who was standing a few feet to his left before looking ahead at Gohan who was standing at the other end of the arena. Not one of them moved an inch with all three trying to wait the other two out.

As the three stared at one another, the tension in the air was becoming so thick that it would have been hard for lightning to strike through it.

Gohan's ear twitched a bit as he heard a loud boom behind him before fireworks shot into the air again. As he heard the explosion in the air, his eyes narrowed and he kicked off of the ground at the same time as Piccolo and Yamcha.

They met in the middle.

A/N: Please Review! I would really love to hear your input about what you like or maybe ideas of something you might want to see.