Chapter: 7

The World Junior Finals Concludes

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Dragon Ball Z. All rights are owned by their respective owners,Toei, Toriyama, etc. This is purely a fanfictional work done by a simple fan done for fun. I do no get profit from this in any way.

Both the audience and the announcer were jawdropped at the outcome of the match. Finally the announcer got his act together and adressed the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman, it looks like we have a winner over here! But just to be safe I'm going to have to go through the official ten count." announced the announcer as he then went down the full ten count while Gohan looked down at his laying opponent mournfully. 'Wow... She really gave it everything she got.' thought Gohan mournfully as he realized that it was him who'd done that to her, knocking her out like that and it didn't sit right doing that to a friend he cared about much much more than he wanted to admit. "8... 9... 10! Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner!" called the announcer as he raised Gohan's hand in victory to the rapturous applause of the crowd. But Gohan however, didn't look like he felt much like celebrating.

"Wow! Videl really took it to Gohan. Who knew she was at this level? She's almost evenly matched with Gohan now." exclaimed an excited and proud Goku. "It may be true that her energy levels and speed are about the same as Gohans' but she's still wet behind the ears when it comes to this kind of high level of fighting. She still can't control her energy blasts well enough to control their trajectories yet and she still doesn't know how to regulate her powers well enough at that high a pace which is why she'd used up most of her energy before the match ended. Videl made a rookie mistake at the end when she took her eye off the ball for one second and Gohan took advantage like a seasoned warrior. But then again I also noticed that due to her prior training she uses a great deal of basic elementary level martial arts moves and smartly incorporated them into her fighting style. Gohan's greater experience at this level of fighting was the only thing that saved him at a few points. All in all she did do a good job, but she still has much to learn." gruffly analysed Piccolo with his arms ever crossed. "Yeah, I noticed all that stuff too but aren't you being a bit hard? I mean she caught Gohan for a loop quite a few times and she's only been training with us for less than a year so cut her some slack Piccolo. I think she fought great and gave us an excellent show." said Goku as he leaned forward on the railing with pride. "Well I think they just fought like children and that's all I have to say about them... Although it wasn't half-bad entertainement for this pathetic little human tournament." said the ever sour Vegeta as he scoffed it off and walked away, although the rest of the gang suspected he enjoyed the match more then he let on and just didn't want to admit it.

Meanwhile, a certain TV director was busy yelling at his camera crews. "You mean to tell me that you didn't catch any of that?" rhetorically asked the blond haired TV director to one of the technical guys. "No way, all the units all still down and the funny thing is we can't find anything wrong with them. They should be working just fine but they aren't, it's wierd and it's not just us. All the camera's in the stadium are out, even down to the disposables from the vending machines." explained the technician. "Darn! The fight of the century just went on and we couldn't even get a snapshot!" cursed the director while slapping a rolled up newspaper in his hand.

Meanwhile, back at ringside the announcer glanced down a look at the unconscious Videl as he continued to hold up Gohan's hand. "Will she be alright, kid?" privately whispered the obviously concerned announcer man. "She should be just fine in a few moments. The special energy I used to knock her out was only supposed to be strong enough to keep her down just long enough for me to win the match. She should've woken up any moment now." said Gohan as he looked away in shame as he still felt badly about what he'd done. But just then Videl began to stir up. She woke up rubbing the back of her neck and looked up just to see that the announcer was holding up Gohan's arm along with the entire crowd cheering. It didn't take long for her to put things together and figure out what'd happened. "Wait a minute, don't tell me... I lost." despondently said Videl once she'd gotten up. "Yeah... you did." reluctantly responded Gohan, very reluctantly.

"I'm sorry Gohan, I couldn't be a better opponent. I wanted so badly to beat you so I could prove to you that I'm as strong as you but I'm still so much weaker than you. You must be so ashamed of me as a student." disheartedly said Videl as she looked down at the ground in shame. "What are talking about? You did great! I can't believe how much you've gotten stronger. You have gotten to where you're just as strong as I am in my normal form. I wasn't holding back anything during the entire match but still you were able to be well matched with me the whole match long. You even honestly caught me off guard a few times and almost won the match. I'm very impressed and proud with you Videl. You're an awesome fighter." adamantly praised Gohan. At that praise, Videl lifted up her head and her spirits were also lifted as an incredibly grateful smile adorned her face. "You really mean that? Thank you!" exclaimed Videl. "Hey, it's the truth Videl. And don't mention it." responded Gohan as she and him clasped each others hand like gang members' greetings in a symbolic gesture of respect.

"And there you have it folks! What an end to an incredible battle! But now that that's settled, it's time for the newly crowned World Junior Champion to make a decision. Gohan, you now face the choice of either competing in the adult's portion of the tournament and compete for the World Championship or face the World Champ himself MR. SATAN!" said the announcer as he turned from addressing the crowd to addressing Gohan directly. Gohan just glanced back in the direction where Mr. Satan was standing and gave a mischievious little smirk. That looked like the absolute last thing that Hercule wanted to see as the look on his face indicated that he was either ready to shit his pants or to piss in them. But Gohan just looked back up at the announcer. "You know, as tempting as it is to fight the "great" Mr. Satan I would have to say that I want to fight in the adult tournament." declared Gohan. A small little smirk appeared on the face of the announcer as he knew what that meant and was hoping for that. "Are you suuuuuure you don't want to change your decision?" asked the announcer although it sounded more like a playful tease as he already knew what the answer was. "No, absolutely not." responded Gohan with a smile. "Well, theeeeere you have it folks. It looks like we're going to see the World Junior Champion in some more action here today. What an exciting development!" excitedly addressed the announcer to the crowd and they loudly responded in kind.

Meanwhile, back up on the railing. "Well, that was certainly interesting to watch. What do you guys say we head for the adult tournament? I'm sure we'll meet up with Gohan once we're there." suggested Goku. "Sure, nothing left for us here." agreed Krillin as he and the rest of the gang moved on except for Future Gohan. "You guys go ahead, I'll meet with you guys later." said Future Gohan. "You're sticking back? That's fine, but for what for?" asked Goku. "There's just something I just want to check out. I won't be long." cryptically said Future Gohan, looking up at the sky. "Alright, suit yourself." said Goku shrugging his shoulders before he and rest moved on.

Gohan and Videl left the ring, waving to the crowds until they entered the entranceway to the main building where they encountered a stunned Hercule. "V-V-Videl... How? ... How is it that you got's the same powers as those guys who fought Cell? And how is it that you know this boy?" asked a discombobulated Hercule. "Well, it's kinda of a long explanation dad and I don't really have the time for it right now. But I promise you I'll explain it all about me and Gohan later. But right now I have to go change. See you later Gohan! Wait up for me!" said Videl as she waved back as she ran off to the locker room. "You got it Videl! See you later Mr. Satan." said Gohan as he ran off in another direction. It took a few seconds for Hercules brain to get around what had just happened. "Hey you boy! You'd better not be her boyfriend or there'll be some hell to pay! Do you hear me!? You'd better keep your hands off of my daughter!" yelled out Hercule angrily waving his arms, seeing the signs of their relationship and going into "overprotective fatherhood mode". Gohan just laughed it off as he ran off out of earshot.

A little while later, Videl walked out of the locker room wearing her regular white and purple shirt combo that she usually wears instead of her slightly tattered Gohan uniform replica. But what she found or rather who she found waiting for her leaning against the wall a la Piccolo next to the locker room doors was Future Gohan. "Hey there, you must be Videl right?" asked Future Gohan with a small smirk on his face. "Uh yeah, that's right." spoke an oddly meek acting Videl who was even blushing to have this admittedly handsome older version of Gohan addressing her and looking all cool the way he was like that. "I saw you fight out there. Very nice. I could see from the way you two fought out there that you and the younger me seem to have a very strong connection to each other." said Future Gohan. "Oh? You noticed that huh? Well... I guess me and him have become really close friends now." admitted a bashful looking Videl.

There was a slight pause as Future Gohan just looked at her with a knowing smirk but then it shifted to a just a warm smile. "You know what? He's really lucky to have someone like you in his life. I'm really glad that you're in his life. But I'm ashamed to admitted this, but I guess I can't help but feel envious of him a little." admitted Future Gohan with a slightly lowered look on his face. "Why do you say that?" asked a curious Videl. "Because he has you, a close friend his own age to be with and growing up I never had someone like that in my life. In my world there is no Videl. Either it's because she was killed in the dark times of the Androids or maybe it's just that we've always missed each other and never met." said a sorrowful looking Future Gohan. "I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm sorry things turned so bad for you in your world." said an equally sorrowful looking Videl. At that Future Gohan's face snapped up with a smile now covering his face. "What do you have to be sorry for? It's not your fault it happened. Besides, things all panned out in the end for both our worlds. And even though it's only for a moment, I'm happy to have met you. You've made me hopeful now that I can meet my own Videl someday." said Gohan with a smile as he then turned his head and looked optimistically to the skies and at that Videl smiled too.

Meanwhile, the present day Gohan arrived at where the others were waiying in front of the entrance to the area where they were holding all the fighters for the preliminaries. "Good for you to finally join us Gohan." Goku joyfully greeted. Shortly thereafter Future Gohan and Videl arrived to join the group. "Hey, sorry to hold you guys up but we just needed to have a talk to each other a little." explained Future Gohan. "No problem." simply said Goku. 'What could they have had to talk about?' thought Gohan, suspiciously but innocently confused. At that point the gang began moving into the open area where the fighters were all gathering. But then a monk who was guarding the entranceway motioned to stop both little Gohan and Videl. "Sorry, but this a restricted area. Only adults who are participating in the adults tournament are allowed in this room and that means no kids allowed." said the monk. Both Gohan and Videl were annoyed at this but should've expected as much. "Look sir, I'm the new World Junior Champion, Gohan and I've just won a whole tournament to earn a spot in the adult tournament." politely protested Gohan. "Yeah, and I'm Videl Satan the daughter of the World Champion Mr. Satan and plus I was placed in the finals match of the Junior Tournament so shouldn't there be some sort of special privileges or exceptions for me?" asked a very annoyed Videl. The monk stammered in his place with which he then checked with his superiors on his walkie-talkie and he came back to wave them in along with muttering a few apologies.

Once they were in it seemed as if there were hundreds of fighters crowded in the area. As they waited for things to move forward, certain members of the Z-Fighters began scanning the crowd to scope out the competition to pass the time. It was then that Piccolo noticed a pair of familiar faces among the crowd. "Look over there. It looks like the Androids have decided to show up too." said Piccolo as the rest of them quickly turned their attention to the left. Indeed it was Androids 17 and 18 who were standing together off in the crowd. Future Gohan and Trunks both snarled and growled aggravatingly at the sight of the pair. "It looks like they want to take part in the tournament too. Let's keep an eye on them." said Goku. But then the present Gohan turned his head as he felt what he thought was a strange but familiar energy. Pretty soon all the rest of the Z-Fighters were sensing the presence and they eventually turned to the direction they sensed it from. They saw what was a cloaked figure about as tall as Vegeta with a brown hood and cloak covering his head and body completely. "That guy isn't normal. He feels too strong for this competition." said Piccolo. "It's strange, I feel as though I've felt him before but I can't place where. He feels familiar but... different?" said a confused but somehow alerted Gohan. Piccolo looked down at his young prodigy and put his hand on the young Gohan's shoulder. "You too kid? I know, I get the same feeling. His energy is too weak to make out for sure so I can't tell exactly. But his energy feels almost exactly like your own but also different in some ways. It's strange... But anyway I don't like it and whoever this guy is he feels like trouble so I say we watch him carefully." said Piccolo and the others agreed with a collective nod.

"Attention participates! The prelims for the World Martial Arts Tournament will now begin. 209 people have entered the adult tournament, unfortunately there are only 16 spots. To ensure fairness we will select the finalists by way of punching strength. The people with the highest scores on the machine will be given the 16 spots." announced a rotund tournament official. "Punch Machine? Mmm... That's a new one." said Krillin. Some monks heaved the Punching Machine to the front of the crowd. "And now to test out the new Punching Machine and to give us a score to go by we have asked the defending World Heavyweight Martial Arts Champion and the tournaments special honored guest Mr. Satan to make the first hit. Mr. Satan! Would you care to come on down please!" directed the official and on cue the "great" Mr. Satan appeared in all his macho glory. "Does anyone want this!?" yelled Hercule as he held his championship belt in the air to the cheer of the crowd of fighters. "People will cheer for a goldfish if you put a champion belt on it." joked Krillin to the laughs of most of the Z-Fighters, including Videl who gave Krillin a high five. "Alright, I'll show you something. SATAN PUNCH!" screamed Mr. Satan as he delivered his full power punch to the machine and the screen flashed 137. "Incredible! Mr. Satan has scored 137 points!" shouted the tournament official. "Hey! I hope that at least one of you chumps break a hundred so we can have a decent match." said Mr. Satan as he left to the cheer of the crowd.

"Next up, would the newly crowned World Junior Champion please come up. As the official winner of the choice prize he is automatically allowed entry and the second punch." announced the official. Gohan immediately walked up to the machine much to the snickers and laughs of the regular normal fighters who obviously hadn't watched his match and thought he was just a weak kid. Gohan punched the machine as lightly as he could and the screen flashed 224 to the amazement of the official and to the horror of the regular fighters. But the amazement didn't end there as one by one the Z-Fighters and their "guests" punched out their amazing scores and qualified. Eventually Vegeta was the last in line and with his patience at an end he gave the machine a real punch which completely obliterated it before the bugging eyes of the officials. "Well, so much for restraining." said Gohan as Goku grabbed his head in despair. "I'm giving up! That guy would turn me inside out." said one anonymous competitor and the rest of the competitors shared the same sentiments as they too all gave up and pretty soon the room was cleared of anyone but for the Z-Fighters, their direct opposition and the unfortunate qualifiers from the normal fighters.


Author's Final Thoughts: Well... a lot happened in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the little clause I managed to get for Gohan to win the World Junior Championship while still getting him to participate in the Adult Tournament. I feel that that would be something that Videl could sneak into the rules thanks to her dad. I hope you liked the little moment shared between Future Gohan and Videl. And the tournament is moving on and I've introduced the new player as a mystery fighter. You'll just have to keep guessing for now as to who it is.