I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 6: Round 1
"Hahaha! Your new rookie is gonna get beaten down!" I heard West Kai taunting from behind my back.
"In your dreams, I'll be surprised if Longid is still there in a minute!" King Kai shouted back. Yeah, so would I.
"Well looky here folks, this boy Verto resembles the great Goku. Perhaps a distant relation, we shall see! We all remember the last six times we tried to have a tournament! Goku beat everybody! Time to find out if this boy can live up to the legend!" the MC shouted again. I noticed the crowd groaned a lot when he mentioned Goku, as if they knew what might be in store for the show. As I lined up across from the green Longid, I noticed his arms were almost dragging on the ground as he walked up. They hung very loosely, like he had no bones in his arms and they were made out of elastic or something. I heard a clang of some kind coming from the Grand Kai, meaning the starting bell just rang. Longid came charging at me, almost too slow for me to stay awake. His arms swung high and clumsily in the air before coming down towards my face and neck. I lazily blocked with both arms, expecting this guy to break his hands just by hitting me. When the blow didn't come, I glanced up to see that his hands had wrapped around my wrists several times, and his body had jumped back across the ring, his arms lengthened quite a bit. They got the flexible part right, he's like a ton of rubber. He had a grin plastered on his face as he landed on the other side of the ring, easily fifty feet away, maybe more. I snapped my arms back sharply and watched that grin vanish as he flew overhead in a panicked state. I grabbed the ends of his arms and swung downwards, putting him right into the ring at a high speed, face first. His hold released as I heard a painful moan, and his arms shrank back to his body. He managed to leave a minor dent before he stood up, slightly surprised. West Kai stood outside the ring behind him, just as wide-eyed as his student, but without the birds floating around his head.
"Wow, it seems this boy is stronger than we thought. Longid sure is in trouble now folks!" MC mushroom man announced. Well at least he got it right this time.
"Want to keep going, Stretch? Or are you done?" I asked. He got up slowly, flinching in pain a few times. He eventually made it to his feet and tried what you could call an extended punch from where he was. It was something I had seen out of Majin Buu a few times, and even from Piccolo. His fist flew in with a great deal of speed, and stopped just as fast when I blocked it. Just as I was about to throw him again, his arm stretched over my own and enveloped my whole forearm much like before. I felt him try to pull me back, and I let him do it. I used his momentum to charge in and nail his chin with a soft punch. His hand unwrapped easily as the rest of him went flying into the far wall, way out of the ring.
"Oh man. Longid sure did get served, our first winner is Verto!" the MC announced. I heard a little bit of cheering, but most of them were concerned about what just happened to Longid. I didn't sense he broke anything, but he didn't appear to have any bones after all. Paramedics came over with a stretcher and loaded up the body before carting him away, arms and legs dragging all the way.
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," King Kai said with a slight grin as I jumped down from the ring. I was surprised to be honest, at the fact that he wasn't dancing around yet.
"You smoked that guy!" Videl said, giving me a high five.
"Wasn't worth it though," I muttered.
-
The next five minutes were spent on King Kai and West Kai bickering back and forth about lucky kids and bad jokes, shortly before the wager was made.
"Argh, that kid got lucky! He's going down next round!" West Kai claimed.
"If your fighter makes it to the next round, I guarantee that Verto is going to make the semi-finals at the very least. No one in the bracket has a prayer against him! The North side is taking the title again!" King Kai retorted.
"Fine, I bet you that one of my fighters takes the gold! I'll be your slave for a week if anyone from your quadrant wins the tournament. But only if you agree to the same!" West kai dared.
"Sounds like an easy bet! Same goes for me if one of your losers wins it all!" King Kai announced. There's some incentive to win this thing. The two Kais finally stopped bickering once this bet was placed, and the Grand Kai called for the next match.
"Hey King Kai, where is Fasha and Videl in the bracket?" I asked once the bickering was over.
"We usually don't disclose the draw until its time for the matches. It adds to the unpredictable nature of this style of tournament," he said quickly.
"Good answer…" I muttered.
-
The large blue Papoi stepped up when announced, representing South Kai. West Kai then sent the small but speedy looking short man up there, his name Tapkar.
"Wow folks, this is a fight with opposites! As we know, Tapkar is small but extremely fast. Papoi boasts great strength and size, but is still new to the Other World, who's going to win this fight?" the MC said.
"Go Papoi, pound that little midget into dust!" South Kai called out.
"Yeah right, that overgrown rookie is gonna get blown down!" West Kai said with a grin. The bell sounded and the tiny Tapkar started running in place. His legs churned faster and faster until all I could see was a blur below his waistline. Just as I thought, incredibly fast, more than I thought as well. Tapkar blazed around Papoi, who didn't even have time to shift around to see him. Soon there was just a big circle of dust while Papoi tried to find his opponent. I barely saw the new dust trail forming behind Tapkar as he ran circles around Papoi easily. He stopped once Papoi had his head turned the other way, and punched the crap out of his knees. He ran into a snag when he saw they didn't do anything at all. He kept trying, until a fist larger than half his body slammed into Tapkar's head, and he dropped to the ground. Papoi picked him up and tossed him out of the ring, fast asleep from the blow.
"The winner, in convincing fashion, is Papoi!" Mushroom Man announced. A loud roar of cheers came up from what was marked the South section.
"Yeah, that little blur is going nowhere now!" South Kai celebrated at West Kai's deep frown.
"Argh, he had a pretty bad stomachache, that's all! Plus I wouldn't want the kid to have to fight two of my fighters in a row. He deserved some variety!" he claimed.
"Yeah, sure! Sounds like another excuse from the west side of the planet, haven't we heard them all by now?" King Kai taunted.
"You just wait, even if that kid gets to the semi-finals - that means he'll have to fight Pikkon as well!" West Kai claimed. I glanced at the green fighter, who seemed more annoyed with his master's claims, rather than backing them up. He looked back at me and grinned just slightly, more like he was looking forward to having a go with me. I grinned back, only because he would probably be the only challenge I would have, save Fasha or Dabura.
Speaking of Pikkon, he was up next to fight. His opponent was the small blue fighter from East Kai's core, Arqua. He looked beyond nervous as he stepped into the ring to face the strong green man. This had West and East Kai going at it for a moment, until Arqua landed at their feet.
"Ha, told you!" West Kai pointed out.
"Well folks, whatever is left of Arqua has definitely been defeated!" the MC announced, "Up next is a match between another new rookie from the North quadrant, and a rare, female fighter, Fasha! And fighting her will be our buddy from the East, Chapuchai!" Fasha fixed her gloves for a moment with a deep grin on her face as Chapuchai strode into the ring. He was even shorter than Tapkar was, and I wasn't sure that was possible.
"At least your taller than both of them. Otherwise I might be too much woman for you," she thought at me, using enough suggestion to get the point across.
I grinned back at her, "Just be careful, you never know what some of these guys might be able to do!" She nodded and jumped into the ring, facing the tiny warrior.
"You better win Chapuchai! Otherwise you're grounded!" East Kai warned. I cocked a slight eyebrow while the other Kais chuckled at this.
"What's so funny?" she asked with a furious stare.
"Nothing, just the fact that your little mascot is fighting a Super Saiyan. He's going to be beyond grounded after this match!" King Kai laughed.
"A Super Saiyan? Like Goku was? Oh no!" she whimpered, pulling her hat down around her ears. In the ring, the tiny man was in a fighter's stance in front of Fasha, who kept her arms folded. The bell rang and he charged forward. He stopped short and hovered a few feet, circling around Fasha. Then he sped up and kept his tight circle. He moved even faster to the point where it looked like there were seven smaller versions of him in the ring. I looked closer, and sensed 7 distinct signals around Fasha now.
"What is that, some sort of split form? I know he can't be moving that fast, what gives?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's a cheap move. Get used to it with East Kai's fighters around here!" West Kai sneered, drawing a general scowl from the counterpart.
"It's a cheap move that isn't going to help him," I muttered. The 7 fighters surrounded Fasha and swooped in for the attack. Fasha had a little trouble for a moment until she flared her energy and sent them all flying backwards. Once her blue aura was up, she phased out and knocked out every one of the midget fighters. Grand Kai went through a ten count before calling the match.
"Fasha is the winner, setting up a potential great match with Pikkon in the quarter finals!" the MC rang out. Oh boy, that will be a good match, assuming she lets it happen, I said as she walked up.
She walked right by before stopping behind me, "I suppose I could give him a match. Then me and you are gonna have it out!"
I cocked another grin, "Bring it on!"
--
I was only interested in one of the next two matches, the slightly better one being first. Olibu stepped up the ring when called, only to find himself face to face with Dabura.
"Oh boy. This is going to be a slugfest," Videl said.
"If Dabura lets it go that long," I answered. Olibu charged once the bell sounded, hitting Dabura's blocking forearms quickly. They went around the ring in just a few moves, all of which were blocked by Dabura. Olibu fired a sizable ki blast at him, only to see it knocked away easily. An asteroid blew up above the arena, brightening things up. Olibu phased out of view and kept moving that way, trying to catch Dabura off guard. Dabura stood in one place and blocked or dodged everything that Olibu threw at him while he circled around. Nothing got through again, and Olibu went even faster, phasing in and out of view as he zoomed around the demon king. Several shockwaves per second went off as Olibu made some sort of contact with Dabura, but I could see that he only hit the blocking hands and knees. After about a minute of this, Olibu stopped and jumped away, huffing and puffing as he came down and landed. Dabura hadn't even been hit despite a very good effort from Olibu. Olibu dropped into a stance and waited on Dabura this time, probably hoping to conserve some energy and time by taking the defensive. A sudden energy surge caught my attention and I gazed over to the right, where all of South Kai's fighters were. The white butterfly creature had suddenly emitted a large surge in power, one that I had doubted he was capable of. Dabura noticed as well and took his eyes off of Olibu. BAM! Olibu took the quick opening and let Dabura have a fist sandwich. The distraction didn't last, and Olibu was quickly thrown into the ring, stomach first. Dabura wiped his chin clean before kicking the human straight in the side before giving him a backspin forearm that sent him into the grass.
"The winner is the Demon King, Dabura!" the mushroom announced. Olibu managed to get up, but very shaky in doing so. Dabura looked disgusted with himself for dropping his guard like that, but then cast a gaze towards the butterfly creature again. I followed the movement, also sensing that the sudden power surge was gone. To my surprise though, the butterfly was gazing back at me and not the demon king he managed to distract.
"What's up with that moth thing?" Fasha bent down and whispered into my ear.
"I'm not sure, I sensed some sort of power surge, and it distracted Dabura as well. Olibu's lucky he finished it quickly, he could have gotten hurt badly," I noted as the human limped up.
"Ho ho ho, finally someone in my quadrant is going to the semi-finals!" East Kai said, jumping up and down.
"Only on a technicality, he isn't your fighter at all," West Kai muttered.
-
The next match went slow, so I decided to grab some food while the green skinned Frogue and the blue haired Dragonetti beat each other's brains out. Both were decent fighters for their power level, but the movements were too slow for me to acknowledge. Fasha joined me in a short feasting, though the Grand Kai was encouraging the black hole stomachs with a lot of food.
"So what do you think I should plan for against Pikkon?" she asked. I didn't have a real clue, only what Goku had said about him a few times in the past.
"Well all I can think of is to keep your eyes or senses locked on him at all times. I really don't know what he can do, for all we know he's been hiding his true power and he may be on par with you. I don't think he is, but I do know he wears some extremely heavy clothes. Goku was always comparing him to Piccolo," I briefly explained.
"Did he mention any special moves?" she asked.
"Wouldn't you rather be surprised? He may give you a better match and challenge that way. Besides haven't you all been training in this one big group anyway, surely you saw something out of him? I just got here and I only spoke with him for a few minutes during the whole Majin Buu incident, so I'm in the dark," I said while munching down a big steaming turkey leg.
"Actually, no. Whenever Dabura held one of his beat downs he just defended against everyone. Pikkon fought him a few times, but never did much other than ki blasts and other general movement. He also never took off his weighted clothing," Fasha explained.
"Beware then, who knows what he may actually be able to do. Just because he trained with the midget doesn't mean he's weak," I warned.
"Don't have to tell me twice, hey, Videl is up next!" Fasha suddenly shouted out as Videl jumped into the ring. I noted the green Frogue had been knocked out of the ring, meaning that Dragonetti had won. East Kai seemed happy, but then pissed off at the same time, as Dragonetti would be facing her other "fighter", Dabura, and it wasn't going to be pretty.
-
The red skinned insect from South Kai's camp then strolled up. His energy seemed a bit higher than Videl's did, so she was going to have a tough time with him. Assuming of course she didn't use the Kaioken attack, which would shift things in her favor right away.
"Ok folks, here comes another North vs. South battle as the earthling Videl takes on flyboy Torbie!" the MC announced. The bell sounded and Torbie charged at Videl right away, wings flapping wildly.
"Yeah Torbie, tear her up!" South Kai cheered. Videl ducked under his punch and swung a knife hand into his back. Torbie stumbled from the attack, but flipped upwards just as Videl ran in, kicking her in the upper back area. She took her own stumble before landing on one knee and flaring her energy. She phased out just as Torbie came in for a low kick. I sensed her jump above him and come down for a double arm smash. She narrowly missed his head and got out of the way of his next punch a split second later. They traded missed blows and phase-outs for the next few seconds, dodging whatever they had to throw at each other. This ended when Torbie charged a big ki beam behind him and fired just as Videl landed on the other side of the ring. She sent her own Kamehameha at it, no doubt King Kai or Gohan had taught her how to do it. The two beams clashed explosively and struggled with each other for a moment. Videl gained a slight advantage before she sprung her trap.
"Kaioken - times two!" The red aura popped up just as the Kamehameha surge arrived, blowing Torbie right out of the ring and into the grass.
"And our winner, Videl!" Moderate cheering came from the North section, but nothing more.
She sighed and walked back over to Fasha and I, giving thumbs up. "No sweat!"
-
South Kai was too busy bitching about rookies to notice that his next fighter was in the ring, facing the strong dinosaur.
"Hey, look Northy! South Kai is about to lose another one!" West Kai joked. The other two Kais laughed a bit as this outmatched butterfly floated into the ring.
"Hey, I thought that his transformation wouldn't be complete for over a thousand years?" King Kai suddenly asked.
"I'm not sure myself, but he turned up a few days ago, ready to fight again. I can only imagine that his metamorphosis does not take quite that long. Still it is strange," South Kai muttered aloud.
"Like it matters, he's about to get pounded into mush!" West Kai declared as Maraikoh stomped into the ring. I tended to agree, however the butterfly creature had emitted a strange and sudden power surge earlier, therefore I wasn't sure. I noticed Dabura eyeing the moth as well, trying to figure him out.
"Next up, we have the strong arm of West Kai, Maraikoh! And facing him will be Caterpy! Nothing is known about Caterpy's strength now that he has transformed into this new form. One can only guess on what sort of new tricks he has learned! Whether or not he can take on Maraikoh is another story, let's get this party started!" the MC teased, probably not knowing either.
"Throw him into orbit Maraikoh!" West Kai laughed.
"Caterpy…uh, try to avoid his attacks!" South Kai called out, trying to shout some sort of encouragement. Maraikoh stomped forward with a deep grin, intent on doing something nasty to Caterpy. Caterpy stood his ground and even dared to close his eyes, as if just waiting for the end quickly.
"Hey look, South Kai's fighter is giving up! About time they did something smart!" West Kai pointed. Maraikoh shook the ground as he got within two feet of the moth, drawing back a potentially devastating punch. I sensed another power surge from Caterpy, but no one else seemed to take notice, as he seemed to hide it rather well. His signal felt familiar suddenly, but vanished just as fast. Just as Maraikoh would have connected, his face erupted with painful shock. Caterpy had easily ducked the punch when it arrived, and buried his fist in Maraikoh's large stomach. Maraikoh didn't do much more than gasp before just standing there and allowing his jaw to quiver. Then he simply fell over as Caterpy retracted his fist and looked at it before crossing his arms again.
"What the?" South Kai asked, as even he was astonished. The crowd became silent as Grand Kai hit the ten count and declared Caterpy the winner. Maraikoh still hadn't moved afterward and the stretcher was called out. None of the Kais made much motion, West Kai least of all. Since they had no clue, I glanced over at Dabura, who was still giving Caterpy quite an eyeful. I walked over to him alone, wanting to get his thoughts on the matter.
"I advice great caution in dealing with that one. He is not what he seems," Dabura suggested, not shifting his eyes at all.
"Yeah, I noticed, but his energy almost seems familiar," I mentioned.
"Yes, I detected that as well. We shall see through that guise eventually. Either you or I will see to that," he said, before walking off.
A/N: What is the mystery of Caterpy, and by what is Dabura referring to? The 2nd round is next, and will feature some potentially fierce battles, what will transpire? The matchups are: Verto vs. Papoi; Fasha vs. Pikkon; Dabura vs. Dragonetti; and Videl vs. Caterpy. Place your bets. And for those of you who have figured it out, Heh, try not to spoil it too badly for the others. Just a note here, so far only Rodaiogin (the proofreader) has figured it out, which to me is quite a surprise, and it isn't because he gets to look ahead of time.
