Korin's most recent students (minus Yurin) were currently sitting in the reception area of the venue. Chiaotzu was sitting on the floor, trying to regain some strength. He was sipping water from a small cup that Yamcha had got him.
Chiaotzu slowly took a sip from his cup. Tien had urged him to eat a senzu bean, but he reluctantly relented when the smaller teen pointed out they may need it against Piccolo and Piano. Still, he needed to stay hydrated.
Krillin and Yamcha didn't know what to do. On one hand, Chiaotzu was beaten to the point that it was sadism. They really needed to keep an eye on him, especially once Piccolo and Piano actually strike. He could be defenseless at that point.
On the other hand, Tien was a different story altogether. He was quietly seething by himself and was trying to mask his composure, but they knew him well enough to know he was seeing red. They truly feared that if he were to fight Shen or Tao soon, he may kill them. Or at least, maim them worse than Shen did Chiaotzu.
The two turtle students locked eyes for a moment. The two needed to come up with a game plan, and fast. The two didn't say a word, but this did not stop them from communicating.
'Yamcha, one of us has to help Chiaotzu and the other has to help Tien.' Krillin paused his telepathic message to sigh. 'Who do you want?'
Yamcha pondered the question for a moment. 'Well, I tend to be able to talk to Tien better than you can, and you're a more comforting person than I am. So you could probably help Chiaotzu better.'
Krillin nodded. 'Yeah, but counterpoint.'
'Hm?'
'We both don't have any money, so if Chiaotzu needs something, I can't help him get it. However, we both know you stole that cup from the gift shop, along with a water bottle, and just pretended you bought it and used a water fountain. Nothing stops you.'
Yamcha blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head. 'How'd you know?'
Krillin smirked at his expression. 'You left your wallet with Bulma. And by left, I mean she is your only source of income.'
Yamcha scowled a bit. 'At least I have a source of income!'
Krillin suppressed a snort. 'Okay sugar baby.'
Yamcha rolled his eyes. 'So you want me to help Chiaotzu and you take Tien?'
Krillin shrugged. 'Nah, I don't care either way. I just wanted to make a passive aggressive insult.'
Yamcha twitched. 'Okay, fine.'
"Chiaotzu!" A feminine voice exclaimed.
Both Turtle students looked up as Yurin ran towards Chiaotzu. The little guy didn't even have time to process anything as she picked him up.
"Are you okay?!" She asked worriedly, as she quickly checked over him.
The impish human's face lit up with a very obvious blush. He nodded awkwardly. "Ye-ah."
Yurin relaxed a little bit, before her eyes narrowed angrily. She stomped over to Krillin and glared at him eye level. "Who. Did. This."
Krillin gulped uncomfortably. Before he can answer, Tien stepped in. "It was Shen."
A tinge of hurt flashed through her eyes, which just made Tien angrier. Shen has hurt both of his closest friends with one action.
Everyone else stood in an awkward silence. Yamcha and Krillin felt obligated to help ease the tension, but they had no idea how to help ease the situation.
"I'll be fine. Besides, Master Shen could've hurt me a lot more than he actually did." Chiaotzu finally spoke aloud.
They all turned to him in surprise. The small boy began trying to use his psychic abilities to lift a stray piece of grass. He frowned when it just wiggled for a bit.
Yamcha took a step forward. "How can you say that? Look what he did!"
Krillin's expression mirrored Yamcha's. "It was one of the most brutal things I have ever seen, and I've died before."
Tien nodded his agreement. "I see no reason to disagree with them on this, Chiaotzu."
Yurin stayed silent as she looked at Chiaotzu. She knew he wouldn't just say something without reason.
Chiaotzu seemed to ignore them as he concentrated on moving grass. "Replay the fight in your head, objectively." Chiaotzu smiled as the piece of grass started to float off the ground. His strength was coming back!
Tien quickly began analyzing the previous encounter. Each blow to Chiaotzu's body, insult to his pride, and overall humiliation of his friend only caused Tien to grow angrier. "I'm failing to see the plus side."
Yamcha grimaced from the memory. "Yeah, me too."
Krillin on the other hand had a puzzled expression on his face. Each blow to Chiaotzu's body, while painful, Shen seemed to not attack very many vital areas. In fact, as he glances at Chiaotzu, he realizes Chiaotzu hasn't even obtained a broken bone. Krillin's eyes widened as it clicked.
"Shen wanted to hurt you, but not maim you." Krillin's trailed off eyes as he crossed his arms in thought. "He went for every shot to hurt your pride, but avoided most vital areas."
The rest of Chiaotzu's friend's eyes widened in surprise. Tien quickly reanalyzed the fight, but came up with the same results as he had before. His third eye twitched in irritation at his inability to revision the fight objectively. He swiftly began looking for a solution to the problem he was facing. Perhaps if he "muted" his memory…
Tien's eyes widened. It worked. Shen had many openings throughout the fight to permanently or excessively harm Chiaotzu, but never did. Each hit was thrown at full force and was visually brutal, but never aimed in an area that would maim Chiaotzu.
He glanced up at Yamcha to see if he came to the same conclusion, and the look of realization on the scarred human's face was evident. He had.
He then caught Yurin looking at him with a hopeful expression. He nodded, as if to say, "Yes, he's correct." He suppressed a smile when her face lit up.
Before any of them could comment on it, Goku, Hercule, and Chichi strolled up with an alarming amount of food. Goku bit down on his mini T-rex thigh and glanced at their expression with confusion. "…What?"
Krillin was quiet for a moment. "We got to fill you in on a few things…"
Chichi was confused, but she knew something was wrong. She wanted to help, but she couldn't. It would probably be best if she stayed quiet on the mat-oh shit.
Chichi's eyes widened in alarm when she glanced at Chiaotzu. His injuries looked painful, but shallow enough. She had taught herself first aid as part of her training. If she couldn't impress Goku with her martial arts skill, she could at least impress him with her ability to patch him up. Perhaps this was her moment to do the latter.
She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out her supplies. She slowly walked over to Chiaotzu and bent down to him. She smiled hesitantly. "Let me help." He nodded with a small smile, and she quickly went to work.
The rest of them quickly let them in on everything that happened. Chichi bristled at what Shen had put him through.
Hercule was having entirely different thoughts. He was thanking the gods above for allowing his opponent to be Goku. Otherwise, he would be demolished if he had to go against a guy like that. Not to mention, if Goku wasn't his opponent, he wouldn't have all of these badass people to protect him.
Goku's eyes were furrowed with a rare seriousness. He turned to Chiaotzu and said, "Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah…" Chiaotzu trailed off, dreading being pitied again.
Goku beamed. "Great! You did good!"
Chiaotzu's eyes widened in surprise. "R-really?"
Goku's trademark Son grin grew. "Yup! You kept getting up even when all odds were against you. If that's not being a warrior, then I don't know what is!"
Chiaotzu beamed from the praise, while everyone else smiled. Classic Goku, finding the positive in a negative situation.
"Who is she?" Krillin asked, as he watched Chichi apply a cotton swab with peroxide to a small cut.
"Oh that's my wife." Goku replied.
"WHAT!?" Everyone uninformed screeched, along with Tien just staring in shock.
"Goku, I'm not your wife. You're not using the word right." Chichi explained gently.
They all calmed down at that. Goku being a husband is unbelievable, but Goku misusing a word is just typical. THAT they can believe.
"I will be your wife, right now I'm your fiancé." She said with a slight blush and a large grin.
"WHAT!?" They all repeated.
Hercule sweat-dropped. He knew he was in a weird group when getting married is less weird than super humans. What has he gotten himself into?
Kami once again scoured the perimeters to keep track of his "nephews." 'One, two, three…' His brow furrowed once more as he counted twelve once again. Each of them haven't moved more than five feet from when he first saw them. Despite each demon spawn being in the perfect position for an ambush, they made their appearance so utterly obvious. They wanted Kami to know they were there. But why?
Kami's questioning eyes returned back to Piano. The young genius returned his gaze with a smile that reached his eyes. He especially wanted Kami to know he was here. Kami glowered even more.
Piano's smile grew with amusement reflecting in his eyes, much to Kami's chagrin. The beaked demon was silently taunting the guardian of earth, and he wanted Kami to know it. His smirk grew, almost as if he is saying "go on, guess what I'm up to."
Kami broke eye contact. Piano wasn't the only one causing him stress. His eyes returned to the being that smirked at him before. Something about that one felt, off. His hood covered most of his face, only allowing the shimmering of his teeth to be visible. Yet, each expression his mouth made was so reminiscent of his father that it caused Kami to classify him as a threat on par with Piano and Piccolo junior themselves.
The demon prince dipped his hood towards Kami in a mockingly polite way. Kami frowned. This one was most definitely one of the ones that needed to die today. He was blatantly more intelligent than the rest of his brothers (besides Piccolo and Piano anyway), and Kami feared he was strong as well.
"LAUNCH VERSUS PAMPUT! PLEASE ARRIVE TO MAT 3C FOR YOUR PRELIMINARY MATCH!" The tournament announcer shouted over the telecom.
Kami broke contact with his nephew once more. He positioned his current host's blonde hair over his shoulder and walked towards his destination with only a single thought in mind.
'Who was going to die today if he failed?'
"Did you guys just hear Launch's name being called?" Yamcha asked in surprise.
The rest of them answered him with some level of surprise. All except for the Crane Students, who haven't met her yet.
Goku plopped down on the floor with his hands on his face. "Ya know, I think I fought some guy named Pamput in the last tournament."
Krillin's brow rose. "You think?"
Goku nodded absently. "Yeah, he wasn't that strong." Goku stretched his shoulders while he spoke. "Though, I don't think Launch can beat him."
Tien zoned them out. He was still thinking about this situation with his previous master. On one hand, it was infuriating that his master did that to Chiaotzu. But on the other hand, his master did "pull his punches" in some regard. Was that a glimmer of goodness? Or was he merely looking out for his own skin, to make sure he wasn't disqualified?
"TIEN AND TAO, YOUR PRELIMINARY MATCH IS READY! PLEASE COME TO MAT 5C!" The tournament announcer exclaimed over
Silence fell across the group as every eye turned to Tien to gauge his reaction. This was quite possibly just as bad as if Shen's name was called. Whatever Tien decides in this fight will determine how he deals with Shen, and that worried the other two Crane students.
The triclops was frozen in concentration. He lifted his head, with his expression in a thin line. Without even acknowledging their stares, he walked towards his destination.
The others began to trail after him, causing him to stop. He looked over his shoulder with a blank expression. "I need to do this alone." And then he walked off.
Yurin watched her dear friend walk away to fight someone else she was close to. This was going to be hard.
She blinked when she felt a little piece of grass float up in front of her. Holding out her hand, the stray piece dropped into her grasp. She turned over to see Chiaotzu with a reassuring smile. She smiled back.
Tien walked up to mat 5c. His eyes widened a bit in surprise when he saw him. Across from him stood his former master, but he was much different than before. He seemed to have obtained cybernetic parts, especially in areas all around his face. But Tao's expression was still the same. He had the cold and calculating smirk he always had before a fight.
Tien's eyes wandered to his other former master, who was standing a few feet away from the mat. He too wore a smirk of confidence, but his was different somehow.
"You ready to repent for your disregard for the Crane School?" Tao taunted darkly.
Tien turned back to Tao with a small frown. "The Crane School did a lot for me. I cherish it." His eyes narrowed in a stern expression. "However, I do not cherish the morals I was taught there. THAT, I disregard."
Shen scowled. "You'll regret that boy."
The tournament announcer was sweating as he looked back and forth between the two. Of course there would be ANOTHER uncomfortable connection in the Crane School. Why didn't he take that Bullfighting announcer job in West City?
With a sigh, he faked a large smile. "ARE BOTH CONTESTANTS READY?!"
Both of them nodded their affirmative. The announcer smiled uncomfortably. "LET YOUR PRELIMINARY MATCH BEGIN!"
Both fighters positioned themselves in their fighting stances. The two of them stared each other down, before Tao took his moment to strike. The older fighter aimed a punch towards Tien, only for the latter to dodge with ease. Tien responded with a punch directly into Tao's gut, causing the latter to skid back in pain.
Tao glared at his former protégé in annoyance. "Lucky shot."
Tien just stared back at him blankly, causing the older fighter to scowl further. Tao ran at Tien at full speed, only for Tien to block. Tao's eyes narrowed in anger. The cybernetic mercenary threw strike after strike, only for Tien to block and dodge all of them.
Tao aimed another punch towards Tien's right eye, just to be jabbed right in the stomach. Tao skidded across the mat on his feet with his mouth agape. Everyone in the room were dumbstruck.
Tien's eyes widened as he glanced down at his hands. Before the 22nd tournament, he didn't believe he could handle Tao. But now, his former mentor is almost…slow. But Tao said he trained hard for this tournament. How strong did Korin's training make himself?
Shen was having similar thoughts. His brother was even stronger than he was, yet Tien was manhandling him. It was quite unnerving.
"I'm…not…done…yet!" Tao said between pants.
Tien frowned at his mentor. "Give up and leave this place."
Tao's eyes bulged at that. Metaphorical steam blew out of his ears. "I'll kill you!"
Tao sprinted towards Tien with a blinding speed. Right when Tien was about to block Tao's kick, a blade came out of Shen's hand, slicing Tien across his face. Tien winced in pain for a moment, only for Tao to kick him directly into the mat. The cyborg positioned himself in the mount, with anger in his eyes. Tao began using a barrage of punches onto Tien's face.
The tournament announcer couldn't follow the movements, but he could see the blade. "TAO IS DISQUALIF-"
"No." Tien cut him off, before catching each wrist. "I've got this."
Tien rolled him onto the mat so Tien was on top. Tien hit Tao in the face with tremendous force, knocking the older fighter out with one blow.
Shen and the Tournament announcer stared at him in shock. He turned to the latter. "Begin your count."
The tournament announcer nodded hastily. "1…2….3…"
Tien and Shen tuned out the announcer as he counted. Both of them were too busy staring the other down.
They were going to settle their problems one way or another.
Yamcha and Krillin were getting some food from the concession stands. Both were conversing about everything that has happened, and more.
"Ya know, we're the only ones who haven't fought yet." Yamcha brought up with a smile.
Krillin mock-sighed. "Yeah, I wonder who we'll be fighting."
"Probably some loser." Yamcha joked with his natural level of cockiness.
Krillin laughed. "Yup! Probably!"
"KRILLIN AND YAMCHA, PLEASE COME TO MAT 1B FOR YOUR PRELIMINARY MATCH!" The announcer exclaimed over the telecom.
Both Turtle students sweat-dropped at their luck. So much for fighting "some loser."
Author's note:
So, I have no excuse for the delay. No good ones anyway, so…Yeah. I'll try to update once more before March is over.
Question about last chapter, should I go back and add character reactions to Chiaotzu and Shen's name being called? It would just be a short scene setting up their match. I can't determine if I should or not, so please let me know.
Review Responses:
Awareness Bringer: Yup, I like the idea of Chocolay so I wanted to at least mention him. Also, congrats on being right!
BigBangYingYang62: I have plans involved for Chichi and Goku's relationship, so I can't spoil much. That being said, their relationship will be better than canon's, but worse than most Goku/Chichi fanfictions. I want to keep them in character and they've both got severe flaws.
Guest: Dammit. Yes. I was afraid it was going to be too obvious. Oh well, that just means I gotta be more subtle. But congrats on being correct.
LWexe:It changes things in a slight way at this point, but will change more than you think in the long run.
Nocker: I'm glad you like it! I also hope you enjoyed Tien's match!