AU: The Rise of a Legend
Prologue Arc:
The 24th Tenkaichi Budokai Saga:
Chapter 9: Justice or Revenge!? Choose your path, Upa!
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The excitement was high as the tournament entered the second half of the quarterfinals. The crowd was cheering loudly and the announcer had to shout to make himself heard.
"All right, all right, all right!" He declared jovially. "Next up we have the newcomer Upa versus renowned tournament veteran and former Champion, Tien Shinhan! Which of these wild warriors will be the victor? Your guess is as good as anyone else's!"
In the waiting room, Upa was staring stoically ahead, while a good distance away, Tien stood watching him, wondering what would happen in the third round.
"I won't stop him if he wants to seek revenge." Tien thought. "This is my penance. I'll let him do what he wants."
"Tien! Tien!" A voice called. Tien looked down to see Chao-tzu hovering near him. "What are you going to do, Tien? Can you really fight Upa? He just wants to avenge his master. How can you fight him?"
"Chao-tzu, believe it or not, I have no intention of fighting Upa." Tien replied. "He can do whatever he wants to me."
"But, Tien, surely there must be some other way!" Chao-tzu insisted.
"There isn't." Tien said gravely. "If you respect me, Chao-tzu, then please, keep out of this."
And Tien walked into the ring to a mass of applause and cheers. Upa stood on the other side, glaring at his opponent.
"I'll avenge you today, Master." Upa vowed confidently.
In the waiting room, Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha assembled together.
"Oh man, this is gonna be a brutal one!" Krillin declared. "Upa's got everything to prove and Tien has everything to lose!"
On the ring, both opponents eyed each other critically. But none said a word.
The drums' beats began increasing in tempo; anticipation was reaching its breaking point; the crowd was going wild!
And then…
*GONG!*
"BEGIN!"
But after the announcer's yell… none of the fighters moved a single muscle. They were seemingly locked in place.
After a few seconds, the Indian warrior grew exasperated.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you attacking?" He demanded to his three-eyed opponent.
"I am wondering the same thing about you." He retorted simply.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I know what you're here for. I heard you and the others talking in the rest room. If that's your motivation, why aren't you attacking?"
His words made Upa hesitate, thinking to himself.
"Fighters, the match has begun. Please fight!"
Upa growled in irritation.
"I cannot attack someone who isn't fighting back! So fight me, damn it!"
"If you insist, but I have no desire to see you defeated, Upa. Whatever you came here for, you're just going to have to do it without my cooperation." Tien stated simply.
"You… I'll show you, you bastard!" The young warrior yelled out, lunging at the older fighter.
Tien remained completely stoic as he watched the teenager charge at him. With fury in his eyes, Upa throw a left hook directly at Tien's face. The three-eyed man, however, swiftly tilted his head to the side, avoiding the strike with the ease only decades of intensive training could produce.
Upa wasn't done, though, for as soon as his attack failed, he launched another punch, which his opponent easily evaded too, further angering the teen. With a savage battle cry, Upa threw himself into an intense barrage of punches and kicks that Tien only barely dodged, the blows coming closer and closer to striking the Crane student's face.
"I'm so sorry you're so filled with hatred, Upa." Tien said sadly. "I know the path you're walking down. I walked it once too. Just know that I was a totally different person when I crippled Nam like that."
"So was he!" Upa roared. "He! Could! WALK!"
Finally, Upa scored a direct hit on Tien's face, a vicious punch that left a red welt and sent the three-eyed warrior stumbling back.
Chao-tzu gasped. "No, Tien!"
As much as he sympathized with Upa, he hated the idea of Tien getting hurt, and he'd do almost anything to avoid that.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Goku called.
"Just try to hang in there, man!" the desert bandit advised.
Filled with renewed fury, Upa launched himself at Tien, throwing himself into a series of attacks that found their mark, and pretty soon he was beating away at Tien, smashing him around like a rag doll.
Finally, Upa stopped. "Wait a minute… this feels wrong. I know he hurt Master Nam, but… this doesn't feel right."
Upa shook his head. "Is it possible… that he truly has changed? If so, hitting him like this will solve nothing!"
And then he recalled one of the earlier lessons that his master had taught him.
"The ultimate enemy of every warrior is their own emotions." Nam said, confined to his wheelchair, like he always was. "Anger, sorrow, and fear. If you cannot learn to control these then they will end up ruling you."
"Oh Master…" Upa thought. "Am I forgetting one of your basic lessons?"
Tien wiped at a bloodied cheek, staring at Upa, sensing the conflict deep within him.
"Well, do you finally understand what I am telling you?" Tien asked the young man. "By doing this, you're only hurting yourself."
Upa shook himself. "Whether or not it hurts me is irrelevant! I am committed, and I WILL take you down!"
And he charged forward at Tien again, but the three-eyed warrior countered his attacks much better this time, grabbing each punch as it came at him and moving him further back. Goku saw something, however…
"Hey, Tien!" he shouted. "Watch out! You're approaching the edge of the ring!"
Tien looked back and winced in surprise. "If Upa intends to end this fight, he will do so now by knocking me out of the ring."
Upa noticed this too, and hesitating for only a moment, he jumped back before Tien could fall out of the ring, assuming another fighting stance, but his expression was changed somehow — more guarded. Tien could sense ever growing conflict in him.
"Well, you didn't end the fight yet." Tien noted. "But why? Because you don't want to hurt me, or just to inflict more pain on me?"
"No, you're wrong!" Upa shouted. "You're… you're just trying to confuse me!"
"I can sense it in you." Tien retorted, turning to face the native warrior again. He spit to the side. "Your conflict. The drive to do the right thing at war with your own desire to avenge your master and all he stood for. I've been down that road before. Perhaps we are more alike than you care to realize."
Upa reacted with horror. "No! I'm… I'm nothing like you! Do you hear me?! NOTHING!"
Upa flew at Tien again. "NOW FIGHT ME!"
Tien sighed. "As you wish."
Upa went on his most intense offensive yet. Tien and Upa entered into a full-blown barrage of punches slamming against one another's chests and heads. Bruises and cuts appeared on both the fighters.
"Wow, just look at those attacks!" The announcer commented. "You can feel the blows even from this distance! What a fight!"
"Tien… Tien… Tien… Tien…" A good chunk of the crowd cheered.
"Upa… Upa… Upa… Upa…" A smaller portion of the crowd chanted.
"Look at them." Krillin said, flinching for every blow that the two warriors made on each other. "They're not even bothering to block those head shots! Are they crazy? I'm just glad I'm not in there!"
"This is pure offensive." Yamcha observed. "They gave up thinking with their brains a long time ago."
And so the barrage continued, until finally both leaped apart, breathing heavily and looked almost… happy.
"I've gotta say, for someone so young you have great power." Tien praised him. He rubbed his cheek. "And you have one hell of a punch. It's been one of the great honors I have ever had to fight somebody as strong as you."
Upa gazed in total confusion at Tien. "He sounded almost… friendly. But how? How can he be so friendly after all I've done to him?"
"Remember the danger, Upa." Nam's voice rang through his head. "Giving in to your rage completely will consume you as well. Learn to use it well, for justice and defense, but never forget that it is a two-edged sword. Just as easily as you can use it towards good means, it can also be harnessed to destructive purposes as well, in the end."
"I… I can feel it…" Upa said. "My rage… it's so hot… what if I'm truly becoming a monster, as bad as Tien was?"
Tien, seeing Upa was gonna learn no other way than through a demonstration, rushed at him with a battle cry. Upa was drawn back to the present and took on a battle stance, ready to defend himself.
Tien launched himself at him with a flurry of savage kicks and punches, which Upa dodged or just caught, pushing him further and further back. Every so often, Upa would send a punch or a kick at Tien, which the three-eyed warrior blocked or weathered, though it didn't slow them down at all.
"Amazing! And it looks like our combatants have launched into another bout of punches and kicks!" The announcer declared. "I don't know how long they can sustain this momentum, but it sure looks like these warriors are giving it their all, neither of them backing down!"
Tien was pushing Upa into a corner, which he knew was bad. He could feel it. If he was pushed into the corner, Tien could just beat on him endlessly until he lost his strength and fell to the arena floor for more than ten seconds.
"I cannot allow that to happen!" Upa thought. "But… he's… too fast to fight head-on! What… am… I… going… to… do?"
Tien increased the amount of punches as he pushed Upa further back, landing more and more solid blows which left fresh red bruises on Upa's chest, eliciting a wince of pain or a moan from the Indian fighter as he guided him right where he wanted him to be.
"Yes, Tien, you got him!" Chao-tzu cheered.
"Any second now…" Tien thought. "Any moment he's going to pop…"
Upa could feel it. He was losing, failing in his mission, falling further and further back to Tien. He wasn't powerful enough. He wasn't good enough. He hated that feeling. He really hated it a lot. He could feel it, like a tempest building up within, a wild, raw hurricane of emotion with the force of a volcano and just as Upa's back touched the edge of the wall, it erupted, taking total control of him as he gave in to his fury and his anger.
"No… I… will not… I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU!" He roared.
And just like that, as though a different person had taken his place, Upa lashed out at Tien, punching and kicking at him with the force of a freight train, aiming at every solid inch of Tien that Upa could get his hands or feet and pummeling him viciously.
"Now it's getting serious!" The announcer said. "Upa has launched into a new offensive, but can he sustain it for long?"
"I won't lose!" Upa cried. "I won't lose! I WON'T LOSE!"
Every new blow brought a grunt of pain and a sharp exclamation from the three-eyed warrior, but Upa was too caught up in the blind battle lust to even notice. He felt alive, as if every part of his body was on fire, surging and crackling with new power that had suddenly taken control of him. It was like lava, burning, wild, and completely hot. And more than that, it also felt good, despite all of Master Nam's teachings.
Upa's ruthlessness increased as he started landing increasingly harder blow, smashing into Tien with extreme power and the force of a comet slamming into the Earth. Tien stopped resisting and just let himself be swept up in this flood of rage, weathering each new attack with the endurance of a master warrior, though the pain made each second feel like its own hour.
"Oh, and that had to hurt!" The announcer winced. "When will it end for poor Tien?"
"He's… he's gonna kill him!" Chao-tzu shouted in concern.
"No!" Krillin shouted. "Just hang in there, Tien, old buddy! You can do it!"
"Stop letting him hit you and start hitting him!" Yamcha said. "Just fight back!"
If he heard them, Tien didn't show it, and Upa kept up with his barrage of punches and kicks, tearing into Tien like a madman out for blood, screaming and shouting in frenzy as he did so. His speed was practically a blur as he flew around him, smashing into him, pounding him, hitting each part of his body that he could possibly find. Finally, when it looked there was no end in sight to this terrible spectacle Upa stopped, and Tien fell to the floor, red and beaten and looking totally thrashed.
Upa stood above him, breathing heavy.
"And contestant Tien is down! It seems Upa's fierce barrage has proven too much for him! I shall start the countdown now!"
"No, Tien! Get up!" Chao-tzu pleaded to his fallen friend.
"One!"
"This is not good! Tien, come on!" Goku urged him too.
"Two!"
Meanwhile, Upa stared at what he had done, looking at his bloodied hands as realization set in.
"What have I done…?" He asked himself in horror.
"Three! Four!"
Looking around, the young Indian warrior saw the reactions of the people around him: His old friends, Krillin, Yamcha and Goku, calling out for their friend, with concern evident in their voices; the small Chao-tzu in particular, looked almost at the verge of tears.
"Five! Six!"
The audience around him looked with clear discomfort at him; some even outright shot him glares of disgust. Those looks tore at Upa's conscience, making the teenage fighter question himself.
"No… this is not right." Upa realized. "Father, Master Nam… have I betrayed your ways? Have I truly become a beast as bad as that which I sought to destroy?"
"Seven! Eight!"
"This is wrong…"
"Nine!"
"I have to end this now!"
"Te —"
"STOP!" Upa suddenly screamed, startling everyone in the now-silent arena.
"Uh… Contestant Upa, I don't think stopping the countdown may be permitted by the judges." The announcer explained to the teen.
"Please do it. I-I need to know this." He replied, turning to look at Tien, who, while obviously battered and in pain, was still conscious.
"I know you can still hear me, Tien." Upa called to his downed foe. "Why? Why did you stop? Why didn't you fight back?"
"It was my only option. After a while, I realized that you just weren't going to listen to me or what I told you. Remember, I've been down the path you're heading toward. Rage is your only companion, your burning desire to inflict pain on those around you. I wasn't kidding when I said we're more alike than you know. You have great potential, Upa. I don't want to see you waste it on bitterness or old hatreds. Do what you want with me, just please remember this lesson I've managed to teach you. Anger is useful, it can help you when you need it, but give in to it too completely, use it without proper restraint, and it will consume you and turn you into a completely different man."
Upa's eyes widened upon hearing such wise words come from the three-eyed warrior. He remained silent for a while, not believing what he was hearing. However, any rebuttal he thought of instantly died in his throat, his mind quickly realizing no amount of denial could make him escape the harsh truth.
"He's right!" The boy realized. "If this keeps up…I will become as bad as he was… as bad as…"
And with that train of thought, his mind wandered to a far-off memory of his distant past…
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Nine-year-old Upa yelled out as he punched a tree as hard as he could. Upon removing his fist, a small crater on the trunk could be appreciated. Growling, he went right back at punching the tree, yelling out in focused fury as he slowly chipped away at the thick tree until, with one last powerful punch, Upa's fist tore completely through the thick wood, tearing the tree down.
The young boy panted heavily, admiring the result of his hard training. Just on his own, his strength had increased enormously, if he kept it up, he would be able to surpass even his father in strength in just a few more years!
"You never cease to amaze me, son." His father, the noble Chief Bora of the Karinga Tribe, praised his child as he approached the area where he was training.
"Thanks, Father!" Upa replied excitedly, looking up to the giant man who up to that point had taught him everything he knew.
"It seems Goku has really inspired you, hasn't he?"
Upa nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Once I meet Goku again, I want to be as strong as he is!"
"At the rate you are progressing, I am sure you will do so soon." The man said, fatherly pride evident in his voice.
"Yes!" His son said, before his eyes and voice darkened somewhat. "And I will not let anyone else like that monster Tao get away with harming my loved ones. I will not depend on Goku to destroy my enemies!" The boy declared furiously.
The man's reply was a concerned look.
"Upa… I can tell my death still haunts you."
"I… I hate that man. I won't ever forgive what he did to us. If I meet others like him, if I meet anyone related to him and his evil ways, I will destroy them! As utterly as Goku destroyed Tao!"
A small frown, part from disapproval and part from concern, formed on the man's face.
"Upa, I do not blame you for feeling such things. I know if I was in your place, at your age, I would feel the same. But you should believe when I tell you, you do not want to feed such emotions."
Upa looked at his father's gaze, surprised.
"Son, I will not tell you feeling such things are wrong, because I would be lying. Any good person SHOULD feel outraged at the cruelty and evil such people commit. It is a matter of basic decency." Bora began, solemnly gazing at the forest around them.
"But I want you to always remember, that even the most vicious beast was once a harmless cub, unable to conceive such thoughts." He said. "That man, Tao, was no exception."
"Are you telling me I should forgive him after what he did to you?!"
"Of course not. I cannot ask such a thing. I want you to always remember, however, that all beings in this world have, or at least had at some point, some good in them, no matter how little. It is true, that the darkness can and has consumed them and suppressed that good, and with that man that was most likely the case. But I want you to remember that with every triumph over evil, there is also the tragedy of a lost chance… truthfully, I pity that man. He foolishly thought himself a man who could play with other people's lives for something as trivial as money, and he paid the price for such arrogance. In fact, from what you and Goku spoke of him, he was also a coward: ready to murder millions out of selfish greed, yet fearful of his own demise."
Upa nodded at his words.
"However, you must not be quick as to judge someone as completely beyond redemption. True, Tao was such. But I want you to always remember, that people can change."
"How?"
"Son, there are people who, like Tao, are cold and cruel to the outside world. But at the same time, they can also have people they hold dear. People they care about… people willing to avenge them."
"But who would want to avenge such monsters?!"
"In the many wars before our people's existence, legends told tales of fearsome men who were infamous for their cruel deeds, yet also renowned as charismatic, even wise leaders to those who sided with them. They were loathed, seen as monsters by their enemies, yet loved and respected by their allies and relatives."
Upa listened intently at his father's words, entranced by the wisdom he demonstrated.
"When these people inevitable fell as the cost of their actions fell on them, those who grew to love them, would hunt down those that slain them, and they would slay them in turn." He continued gravelly. "Such processes would sometimes go back and forth for entire generations, in a vicious cycle of vengeance and bloodshed, to the point entire nations would suffer for them. Even children paid for the sins of their parents."
Upa winced at such a thing. True, he hated Tao, but if he had relatives, children even, would he really go as far as to hurt them just to get to him?
"But… what do I do, then? How do I stop evil without creating such a horrible cycle?"
"The answer lies deep within us. In the core of the code that binds us to this sacred land: We fight to protect, not to destroy."
Upa remained silent, allowing his father to continue.
"In order to comprehend this, you must also learn to understand the hearts of the beings around us. The Great Spirit granted us all a piece of itself when this world was born. If you can reach that fragment of light, then I can assure you, even the biggest monsters can find their inner light, and be redeemed."
"How can I do that?"
"It's a matter of feeling their hearts, son, of learning to feel the aura of their spirits, and understand what that aura represents. It's all a matter of feeling one's emotions."
"Our emotions."
"Yes. Our emotions, you see, are like the elements around us: The water that flows in the rivers, the wind that echoes across the sky, the fires that we create at our camps."
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying, son, is that our emotions are what drive our actions, and on how we control them depends whether or not our hearts are purified by light, or destroyed by the darkness." He explained to the confused child, pointing him to look at the area surrounding them.
"The water on the rivers flows peacefully and aids us by providing us drink and the means to cleanse our bodies, but if the river overflows, the water will escape and flood the land. Wind helps us cool our bodies and minds, but too much of it and we will be blown away, the trees uprooted, and the land devastated. And fire… fire is an element that must always be kept under control, for if we lose control of it… it will consume everything we hold dear, including ourselves." The Indian chief said solemnly, looking back at his son.
"Do you understand what I mean, son?"
"I think so…"
Bora smiled approvingly, patting his son's head.
"I know even if you don't fully understand it now, you will as you grow up. I have faith that you will not fail me, my son."
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Upa felt tears form in his eyes. He felt ashamed of himself. How could he have allowed his anger to blind him so much?
"Father, Master Nam, I'm so sorry… I failed you both. I ignored your wise teachings… I allowed my anger to devour me… I became a cruel as Tao himself! Or how Tien used to be…" He realized miserably.
His eyes then drifted to the assorted fighters at the edge of the ring. Namely to the tall, spiky-haired man, who watched the scene with clear concern.
"Goku… all this time I wanted to be like you, a hero who always stood for the weak and defeated evil… but instead, I'm turning into…"
"Um, excuse me, gentlemen, but I need to finish the countdown, the judges are getting impatient, and if we don't continue now, you'll both be disqualified." The announcer chimed in, adjusting his sunglasses and pointing at the nearby stand, where the tournament judges seemed less than pleased.
"Yes, of course." Upa said, wiping the unshed tears from his eyes with his forearm. "I know now what I have to do."
"You know?" The announcer said, sounding confused. "But… what… what do you mean?"
And then, to everyone's shock, Upa walked away from Tien, promptly jumping out from the arena.
"Well…" The announcer began awkwardly. "I'm not sure what just happened, but Tien is the winner by way of forfeit!" He quickly finished, regaining his composure.
There was not a single applause, though. The entire crowd was staring in shock at what just transpired. And some of them, namely the seniors from the 22nd tournament, felt an odd sense of déjà-vu in the back of their heads.
"I'm not worthy…" Upa thought, as he walked away from the arena, feeling ashamed and dishonored. "I am not worthy of standing by your side, Goku. But I promise you, I will become better. I won't fail Father or Master Nam again, I swear it." He finished decidedly, walking past Goku and company.
Goku rushed out to the ring. "Tien, hey Tien, are you okay?
"I'm fine." The three-eyed man said as he struggled to his feet.
He glanced one more time at the retreating back of Upa, at the man's build and the way he carried himself, and then, he smiled.
"We'll fight again someday, Upa." He thought. "I just hope you're ready."
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Author Notes: Well, people, here comes a new chapter of ROL. But before anything else, I want to give my special thanks to the King Of Soda, who helped me put thistogether! You're the best, nuddy!
Now, let us see the power levels of these fighters...
Power Levels:
Tien: 350.000
Upa: 360.000
