Chapter Six

He walked casually towards her and the center of the ring. He came to a stop five feet in front of her, giving her a sinister smirk. She glared defiantly at him, and a fire started inside her, smoldering with a mix of fear, apprehension, excitement and some other emotions she couldn't identify.

The referee addressed the crowd, then turned to Reina and Vegeta and gave them the same "fair match" talk Reina had heard three times now. She rolled her eyes, like this guy would fight fair. She nodded and bowed to Vegeta, who just stood there, arms crossed and glaring at her. The referee saw his irritated look and decided to just begin the match. They stepped back and Reina placed her feet apart and raised her arms in her fighting stance. Here we go, she thought, I may be able to catch him off guard.

The bell chimed and Reina rushed forward, leading with a left hook, but faked and hit him with her right fist in the stomach. He barely grimaced. She bared her teeth and came at him again with a left and a right. He blocked all her punches with simple, calculated movements then found an opening and punched her hard in the left shoulder. She leaped back and grabbed her shoulder in pain. Damn, he punched hard, and she had a feeling he wasn't using his full strength either. This wasn't good, but she refused to give up. She'd just have to toss his sorry ass out of the ring.

Vegeta stood and took her weak punches, and didn't strike back, although he saw many opportunities to do so. She was strong, a lot stronger than most humans, but she could be better. Seemed she needed a teacher of her own. She seemed to have a natural talent, but she didn't practice regularly, that was evident in her tactics. He hit her once in the shoulder just to see what she'd do. By now it must have been obvious to her she would lose whenever he was tired of her tactics and decided to throw her out of the ring. She couldn't fly, so it was just a matter of time before he caught her off guard and tossed her out. He wanted her to wear herself out, embarrass herself and feel humbled by him. Yes, he would teach her to insult him.

Reina was panting from her attacks. This guy was ridiculous! Every move she made it seems he predicted and moved at the last second. Then, to add insult to injury, sometimes he hit her lightly on the neck or shoulder, not really attacking, just provoking her. He was too fast, and Reina was starting to see she wasn't going to win. Well, if he wants to play games, let's play games. She stepped back from him and tucked her arms to her side, imitating what she saw him and Gohan do earlier in the day. Gohan had taught her basics in charging up power, but she had not been able to do so successfully yet. She wasn't sure if it would help, but she didn't want to loose, and she was so mad at him for toying with her. She opened her mouth and started yelling, drawing all her power that she could feel. This action finally won her a reaction from Vegeta.

Vegeta watched in stunned silence. She was actually trying to power up! What was worse, Vegeta could see the outline of her aura come into view, a soft glow at first, but it grew stronger and stronger. Soon, she was enveloped in a bright blue aura. Vegeta's lips parted as a surprised gasp escaped him. This is impossible! Sure, he had seen Kakkarott's offspring attempt to teach his human to harness her energy, but she had never managed an aura like this. This girl's ki was rising steadily, and Vegeta didn't like being proven wrong.

Reina didn't know exactly what she was doing, but it felt right. She focused her eyes on a spot on the ground in front of her and pulled any energy she could towards her center. She felt energy in her muscles, energy in her organs. As she focused, she felt all her pain slip away, and all she felt was desire; the desire to beat this arrogant man.

"HHAAAA!" Reina cried as she reached the pinnacle of her meditation. She slowly lifted her head and glared at Vegeta. Her eyes narrowed as she crouched down in her aggressive fighting stance. She smiled wickedly.

Vegeta stood there motionless and distracted, his face now showing disbelief and awe. She didn't transform, but at her final cry, her hair had flickered from jet black to a familiar golden yellow. Her long locks flashed and pulsed that bright canary color. Her eyes flickered too from her normal grey to a light turquoise blue. How-

Vegeta's thoughts were cut off as Reina lunged for him. She went to punch him in the stomach, saw him prepare to block so she stepped on his foot instead. Vegeta gasp and looked down briefly at his foot and Reina flashed her own confident grin as she hooked a left into his jaw. She then used her right elbow to whip his head back the other way.

Vegeta fell to one knee, stunned. Her attacks not only became harder to predict, but were stronger too. His jaw actually throbbed in a dull ache. He rubbed his chin with his hand as he glared up at her. He bared his teeth and a dark guttural sound resonated deep in his throat.

"Oh, will you actually take me serious now, or are you just a big coward afraid of a woman?" Reina taunted with a smirk. A little voice in the back of her mind told her she probably shouldn't provoke this cocky so called prince, but she was ignoring that. She had to make him pay for calling her a lowly human, as if she was some bug to be crushed. And she knew something he didn't. She wasn't human.

Vegeta felt anger bubble up inside of him. She insulted him again. He stood and flashed a dark, sinister smile at her and pointed a gloved finger, "You dare make a joke out of me?!" He turned the gloved finger to himself and stabbed his chest hard to emphasize his point, "I am Prince Vegeta, and YOU cannot defeat ME!" He shouted as his hair changed to gold in an instant and he rushed at Reina.

Reina braced herself for combat. She was faintly aware of the roar of the crowd, but most sounds had left her. She focused mainly on him. She felt a rush of excitement, angry, and a few other emotions that all jumbled together engaging her focus. She found immense pleasure in provoking the stoic prince. She had struck a nerve when she insulted him it seemed. Her mother always said she had a wicked tongue. She smiled as he came at her. Either his movements had slowed, or hers had quickened. She could see his punches now and was able to dodge more of them. She was still struck by a few, which hurt, a lot, but she managed to keep up with him for a time. Her stamina was quickly diminishing and she knew she needed to finish this fight one way or another quickly. One thing was for sure, her power up actually did help it seemed.

She landed a hit on his jaw, just below his right eye and he leaped backwards into the air, halting ten feet up. He stuck his palms out and Reina just made out Gohan's voice before a hail storm of blue energy balls blasted towards her.

Goku had been watching Reina very closely since before the fight even began. Her eyes blazed with a fire he was all too familiar with. He had felt that fire on more than one occasion, a burning desire to win at all costs. When she tucked her arms to her sides he stood up and watched with some disbelief, but it quickly turned into giddy excitement. She couldn't be…..could she?

Reina saw each energy ball headed right for her. For one brief moment, she didn't move. Time seemed to slow down. She could see Goku and Gohan standing now, Gohan with a look of shocked horror on his face as he reached out overdramatically towards her, his mouth moving but she couldn't make out the words. She saw Goku had a different look on his face. He was looking at her with excitement, like one who just learned a dark secret and was bubbling to tell someone. He caught her attention and was mouthing the word 'fly' over and over again excitedly. Reina smiled.

Time went back to normal again as Reina refocused her energy and jumped backward into the air and imagined herself flying. She had perfected the art of falling gracefully, yet she still had not been able to fly on her own yet. She watched as Vegeta's energy blasts converged on her previous location creating a concentrated explosion and a smoking pile of stage debris. She didn't fly through the air like she had hoped to do, but she did manage to leap out of the way and guide herself back and away. She landed a few feet back from the burning rubble and watched as tendrils of smoke rose lightly between her and the now irate prince. She crouched into her fighting stance, one foot out in front of her, her fists raised in a defensive, yet ready stance. This was going to hurt, a lot. She smiled and raised one eyebrow giving Vegeta a look she hope said 'is that all you got?' She grinned madly and bent the four fingers of her right hand, urging him to come at her.

Vegeta fell for the taunt and flew towards her, starting a barrage of kicks and punches. Reina could hardly keep up now. She blocked some, but one punch connected with her jaw so hard it sent her tumbling backwards to the ground. She rolled and came to a stop about five feet from Vegeta. She tried to get up, spit blood and wiped her mouth as she sat up on one knee. She eyed him through her left eye, the other was starting to swell. She didn't care. She started laughing uncontrollably. Her jaw throbbed, her body ached, yet she still felt that fire inside her burning away. She struggled to get to her feet and managed to stand. She placed her hands next to her side and called her energy again, feeling it instantly reviving her tired body. She watched and waited for Vegeta to make a move.

This girl just would not quit, Vegeta thought as he watched her get slowly to her feet and gather her ki. He would never admit it, but he liked the girl's spirit. She put up a good fight, for a human. But in the end, she was just a human and could not hope to beat him. He rushed at her and grabbed her around the waist and lifted her high into the air. She punched him hard in the back of his head and neck, but was struggling in vain. Vegeta lifted her about twenty feet in the air then spun and tossed her away from him and out of the ring. A toss out wasn't the best way to win, but it was a win, and he didn't want to kill her. He figured she would fight until she passed out or died so he decided to finish her by ring out. He watched and waited as she started to fall to the ground outside the ring. He descended down slowly to the stage.

Reina was sure it was over. She was lifted and tossed like a sack of potatoes and since she couldn't fly, she was sure she would be defeated by ring out. Never one to quit, she tried to focus all her energy into stopping her body from falling. She closed her eyes and tensed her muscles, feeling all her power. She took a few deep breaths and scrunched her body inward, willing it to fly. Just don't hit the ground, she thought with a panicky mind. She did not want to loose! And more importantly she did not want him to win. She could sense the ground was only a few feet away now. As another feeling of de ja vú came over her, she opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could.

"AHHHHHHH HHAAAA!" Her body slowed and then stopped midair, just inches from touching the ground. The crowd was first silent, then exploded with shock and awe. She opened her eyes and looked around cautiously. She saw the crowd was mostly on their feet cheering and chanting her name wildly. She looked down and saw she was floating just off the ground. She focused hard and began to rise slowly, her hands at her sides. She looked over at the stage and a large grin overtook her face as she saw Vegeta had a dumbfounded look on his.

Vegeta couldn't believe what he was seeing. The girl was actually using the bukujutsu technique! Not only did she stop herself from falling, but she was rising up slowly into the air. His lips rose in a half smile and he grunted his disbelief, "Hmmph." The girl was proving to be quite entertaining.

Reina rose and flew back over to the stage and touched down on the opposite side of Vegeta. She was panting but smiled a giddy smile at Vegeta, "Not too bad for a lowly human, right Vegeta?" She snickered, "I thought you were going to beat me easily? Don't tell me you're still going easy on me?" She was tempting fate now, playing with fire, as her father would say. She didn't care, she was having too much fun teasing the ill tempered man.

Vegeta growled at her impotence, but he liked her. He started to realize this when he picked her up. She had been slung over his shoulder, and he could smell her strongly. She smelled….different. His wife was human, and she always bombarded herself with perfumes that burned Vegeta's nose, but this girl wore none, or at least didn't to fight, yet she still smelled good to him. A mixture of spices and flowers and lust. He could smell her excitement and her sex. He couldn't help taking in a deep breath of her right before he flung her. He almost didn't let her go. Why was she so different and why was she having this effect on him? These questions ran though his mind as the woman that plagued him taunted him from the other side of the ring. Ok, he thought, no more playing around. This ends now.

Reina watched as Vegeta powered up and charged at her. When he got close, he pulled his arm back to punch her. She tensed, crouched, watched and waited for the right moment and when he was just inside her defense zone she pivoted on the balls of her feet, grabbed his outstretched arm meant to punch her and tossed him up and over her. She turned and watched as he vaulted over her and out of the ring. She heard him gasp in shock and then heard the loud thud of him hitting the ground. He sprang back up quickly, but it was too late. He hit the ground, so by the rules of the tournament, he lost. She was panting heavily but managed a victory smile. The crowd roared with amazement and excitement as the referee rushed on stage and grabbed her arm and thrust it skyward.

"AND THE WINNER BY RING OUT, NUMBER FIVE, REINA!" The referee's voice boomed loudly, but could barely be heard over the crowd's wild cheers. Reina was waving at the crowd, but was aware of Vegeta yelling at her from behind her back. She didn't spare him a look, but instead looked over to where Gohan and Goku were sitting. Gohan's mouth was slack in shock and Goku clapped him on the back as he waved for Reina to come over to them. Reina nodded and smiled then resumed waving to the crowd. Apparently she had made an impression.

Vegeta was livid. How dare she defeat him in such a dishonorable way! He was yelling at her for fighting dirty but what pissed him off more was the fact that she was ignoring him! He powered down from super saiyajin, but blasted off into the sky nonetheless. He had to get out of there. He would deal with her later.

Reina all but collapsed into a couch in the lobby. She was beyond exhausted from her match with the 'Badman'. Her head sagged and she smiled weakly to herself. Serves him right for being so arrogant and prideful, she thought. Reina was quickly joined by Gohan, Goku and Videl. She raised her head upon their approach.

"That was some fight, ne?" Goku asked chuckling, "I haven't seen Vegeta that riled up since I kicked his ass on Namek!" Goku brayed laughter.

Gohan laughed with his father briefly then looked at Reina seriously, "How did you master the bukujutsu technique so quickly? That was amazing!" He regarded her just so.

Reina ignored the tinge of heat on her cheeks at his compliments, "I don't know, it just felt….right."

Gohan smiled and Videl scoffed, "And here I thought I was doing well. I look like a toddler compared to you. That was amazing!"

Reina heard the conviction in her voice, but also could hear jealousy too. She smiled, "Thanks, but it took a lot out of me. I don't think I can continue the tournament. Still, I'm happy to beat that arrogant bas-"

She was cut off by the crackle of electricity before a booming voice announced over the loud speakers, "ROUND FOUR IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. ALL REMAINING CONTESTANTS PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR DESIGNATED STAGE."

Goku's face brightened, "Oh, I bet you could use one of these. Here-" he rifled around in a bag he carried and pulled a small drawstring pouch out. He pulled the string then brought out a small green pod and held it out to her, "eat this. It's called a Sensu Bean, and it will….umm…well it will make you feel better." His grin broadened.

Reina took the small bean and looked at it skeptically before shrugging and popping it into her mouth. She chewed it up with a crunch, and swallowed it and almost instantly felt her energy rising. She looked at Goku and the others with wide eyes, "What the-" she started to ask, but she was cut off.

Trunks and Goten came running up to the group. Trunks was holding a large trophy over his head as he ran and Goten had a smaller one in his hands, slightly less enthusiastic. Chi Chi and Bulma came in behind them.

"Sensei, I won, I won! Look I won!"

Trunks came into their little circle around the couch and right up to Reina. He held the trophy out to her.

"Wow, Trunks! Great job!" She smiled warmly at the lavender hair boy, taking in his battered outfit and scraped knees. She ruffled his hair and looked around him to the smaller boy who was being lifted onto Goku's shoulders, "And you got second place, right Goten?"

Goten nodded to her with a mixed look of disappointment and jealousy that made Reina bite her tongue to suppress a laugh. These boys were too cute.

Reina got up from the couch, brushed at her own battered outfit and smiled with resolve, "Ok. Thanks for the umm…sensa-whatever thing. I feel much better! Bring on this last preliminary round!"

Without waiting for their replies of good luck and the such, she raced off towards stage four, where her next opponent awaited.

After her round with Vegeta, the guy she faced seemed like a piece of cake. The crowd cheered for her eagerly enough, and she ended up pummeling the poor guy until he gave up. Goku won his fight, and when it came down to her and him in the final round, she told him to fight her seriously and he did. Needless to say, she lost. Goku won the prize money, to Chi Chi's great pleasure, and when it came to Goku fighting the "champion", Mr. Satan, Goku threw the fight to allow the reigning world Super hero to keep up his visage. Reina left the tournament grounds satisfied she had placed second. What gave her the most pleasure was the fact that she beat that stubborn 'Badman' She smiled as she recalled her fight with him as she turned the key to her apartment and stepped inside after her long and weary day.

Author's Notes- Hey there! Whew, Reina beat Vegeta, hard to believe, right? Don't worry, I think Vegeta liked it *wink*

Pop quiz: What anime is this line from?

"Do not believe in yourself. Believe in the me that believes in you. Your drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens!"

Review if you know ;)

K