In Search of Oceans

Period 9: Congregation of competition in the ring.

Videl draws in a long breath, flashing her bottom teeth nervously. Hoping Dende will understand it's for all for the right reasons that she is asking.
"I don't mean to sound bigoted or cynical Dende. But Savarna's appearance, she looks like she comes from the south of Asia. India or Bangladesh or close to it, even though she does have a lighter complexion. "Videl explains sensitively. Indeed Savarna does possess a lovely shade of colour. Dende nods, listening carefully to her words, noting that she is trying to be extra gentle.
"I suppose she does, but why are you so worried about that? She is still the same baby." He states, placing his hands in his lap he leans into the back couch. Videl breathes in again and turns to look at Gohan. He is also wondering what she is trying to say.
"Dende... there is so much poverty in those counties, along with that, a high degree of disease. Are you sure she doesn't have anything, especially since you found her in an alleyway?" Videl finally asks the question, noting Dende's eyebrow ridges knitting together. Dende turns away from her and looks to the ground, leaning forward, his hands hanging between his knees.
"I never thought about that..." He admits, his eyes tracing the crevices between the tiles beneath his feet. Fearful she should have held her tongue; she looks to Gohan as he lifts his eyebrow at her. Unable to say much else that will help the situation. They both watch Dende give an unexpected grin, looking back at them both.
"No need to worry guys, she hasn't shown any kind of sickness. It would have shown up by now, so don't worry everything is fine." He assures, leaning back into the soft cushion of the couch.

Piccolo stand by the edge of the balcony beside Krillin, his large ears picked up the entire conversation between Videl and Dende. To him, there is something hidden and eccentric about the baby concerning her health. Unable to hold back, he slowly turns his head and glances at the three women doting on Savarna. She is still asleep, this is wrong for child at this age to sleep with all this attention.
Gohan clears his throat.
"I wouldn't put the suspicion aside Dende. Your right, it doesn't matter where she came from, but that doesn't go without say that she doesn't have some kind of illness. She will end up catching everything in the book before long anyway. "Gohan states.
"You can't presume she is perfectly healthy, she has only been here a week. Symptoms can take time to appear." He ads, shuffling closer to Videl.
"I know you are right about her becoming sick with something eventually. But Mr. Popo seems to know what he is doing; I think it will be OK. After all, he has taken such good care of her. Maybe we won't have to worry." He explains, trying to be positive, Gohan lifts his eyebrows with a smirk.
"Ah, so Mr. Popo is really playing the part of father to her huh? Well that's great, means you can still carry on with your guardian duties." He says cheerfully. Originally concerned that this baby would take away all the responsibilities for a guardian.
"I think ill go and see the little darling for a while." Videl says, kissing Gohan she rises up from the seat, running her hand along Gohan's arm. Gohan watches her walk to and sit down beside Bulma, then sees Videl take the baby into her arms, he sniggers at the scene.
"You just can't buy happiness like that Gohan. I can see it in your eyes; you are very content with your life." Dende observes, the quite exchange between husband and wife is hard to miss. Gohan nods.
"Yeah it is Dende. But let us get back to more important things, like this tournament. After all, that's what we're here for right?" Gohan suggests, catching Yumcha attention.
"You said it man." Yumcha agrees, slapping his hand down on Gohan's shoulder.
"Who's your money on Yumcha?" Gohan asks.
"Me, im betting on your dad. He will beat Vegeta to a pulp!" He decalres, he and Gohan chuckling. Dende watches in amusement, and then feels a strange sensation. A cold chill hits the side of his head, someone is watching him. The feeling straining and unpleasant, he looks over his shoulder to find Piccolo's eyes firmly attached to him. Dende knits his eyebrows in confusion, wondering why Piccolos glare is so icy, and then he remembers. Piccolo had warned him first off the possibility that Savarna may be ill; he ignored his warnings, now he is hearing it from others. He looks away, unable to look into his eyes any longer. His stare making him feel like an ignorant child.

The tournaments preliminaries are over quickly. Not surprising considering Vegeta, Trunks, Goten, Goku and Majin Buu are competing. Along with little Pan in her first ever tournament, which the entire audience adores and watches in astonishment. She has defeated each one of her massive and fearsome opponents with ease. Her strength in comparison to her size and age is unimaginable... Down in the ring the competitors are about to begin anonymously selecting numbered spheres, this will place then in order of which opponent they will face.
"Get out of here, that girl over there is Olivia? I don't believe you." Goten exclaims as Trunks points out his date Olivia in the crowd. Waving at Trunks is a stunning young girl, with long blonde hair and brown eyes, screaming out his name. Trunks turns to Gohan, smirking.
"That's right buddy, if you want any pointer on getting the hotties, look no further." Trunks huffs warm air onto his fingernails, shinning then against his chest.
"Get over yourself; you're such a dick sometimes." Goten replies with a laugh.
"She will be waiting for me at the Cafeteria like you told Virginia to. So we could all meet up together ... remember?" Trunks reminds.
"Oh yeah, of course." Goten replies.

The fighters await the announcers go ahead to begin the selection process, who would face who? Vegeta's attention is briefly distracted by Captain Chicken jogging by. Clucking and carrying on, dressed in his rooster costume, Vegeta snarls in disgust.
"Pathetic display, even for an idiot." He snorts with disgust. The crowd cheers uncontrollable, overexcited and anticipating a good fight. Calling out to their favourite fighters, holding up signs with their names printed upon them. Particularly posters for Majin Buu mainly held up by women.
A young fighter in the ring, he is particularly distressed by all the noise and the insurmountable amount of people in the stands. His forehead sweating profusely.
Gosh, I didn't realise there were so many people in the world. he thinks. His mind as he shaking nervously, his skin dark, his hair in a pitch black Mohawk. His clothing traditional for people of his tribe fitting him comfortable, a dark brown sash around his waist.
Many in the stands shout insults as well as cheers, Uub's mind and body has become so tense that when a hand comes down onto his shoulder he panics. Swinging around and backing away several steps, shrieking out.
After Uub's sudden outburst, the competitor stands back, unsure of this young fighter's mental stability.
"Relax." Says Knock, one of the competitors, keeping one if his hand up offensively. Uub does not relax his body, but stands up as best he can and looks into Knocks.
"S, sorry." he blinks profusely.
"Sorry huh?" Knock replies, standing straight up placing. Laughing out aloud, letting his tonsils be shown to the world.
"Well, don't be." he ads, folding his arms against his chest.
"So tell me, how did a little twerp like you make it past the preliminaries?" he inquires smugly. Uub hangs his head, unsure of the reason himself. To him, these fighters around him are so much stronger than he.
"Maybe I was just lucky... I guess." He whispers, looking down at his feet. Knock leans his much taller frame onto Uub's head with his elbow; leaning down closer to Uub's ear he expressed his personal opinion.
"Heh happens every time, every tournament there's a few little squirts that make it to the finals." He says.
"Funny thing is, that one over there makes you look like a giant." he adds. Looking over toward a much smaller competitor. Uub also looks over curiously. Pan is walking effortlessly along the edge of the ring, her legs hoisted over her head; she uses her tiny fingers to do the walking.

Distracted by a ladybird, Pan looses her balance. Running along the edge she skims past Knock and Uub. They watch her tripping past, shrieking out when she finds she can't stop. Finally she stops. Thanks to Wild Tiger who was peacefully sitting on the ring floor. Pans body ricochets off Wild tigers back, sending her tumbling back several times, and landing headfirst onto the ring floor. Sitting up she rubs her numbed skull with the tips of her fingers. As she nurses her injury, Pans looks up when she feels a cold shadow looming over.
"Did you do that?" Growls fighter wild Tiger, glaring down at her. Pan looks up at him with innocent little eyes.
"I think you did, didn't you?" He accuses, clenching his right fist tightly and threateningly, his long black braid hanging over his shoulder. Pan doesn't respond, Wild Tiger steps closer, his face inches from hers. She backs away.
"Oh I see, messing with Wild Tiger." He snarls.
"Well that's not too smart, dumb kid" he insults. Pans face is starts to turn a light shade of Pink, her nose starts to run. Her pursed lips quiver as she sniffles, trying to swallow down her cries to not let them be heard. Her tears started to fall, sniffling deeply she looked up into Wild Tigers angry expression. Wild Tiger bares his teeth, growling at her. Pan gets to her feet, running back to Goku, standing beside Vegeta.
Wild Tiger laughs callously. Offhandedly he happens to look at Trunks. Trunks glares at him, witnessing his treatment of Pan. Wild Tiger grows at him before returning to his previous business. Goten notices Trunks suddenly become silent, he sees him staring at Wild Tiger.
"Trunks, what's up with you?" Goten asks, nudging his with his elbow. Trunks continues eying off Wild Tiger.
"Its nothing Goten, forget about it." He replies. Turning around he grins.
"Just giving them something to think about." he lies. If Goten or Goku know that Wild tiger is responsible for Pans distress, Wild Tiger would no longer be a part of this competition. The announcer finally appears in the stadium, walking up the stair to the ring he announce the procedure of how the fights will be selected. Also informing that the fighter who reached the finals would go head to head with the raining world champion Mr. Saten, at the mention of the world champions name the crowds go wild.

Trunks and Goten stand back to back with one another, observing each of the fighters, trying assessing their strengths and weaknesses.
"Hey, do you think that 'amazing' guy your dad was going on about is really one of these?" Trunks wonder in a sceptical tone. Raising a sceptical eyebrow at each fighter. Goten looks over his shoulder to him, looking at each of the fighters with the same though in mind.
"which one was these is the amazing fighter. How can dad be so certain that he will be here?" He wonders.
"They all seem... kinda normal." Trunks adds with disappointment. Goten glances at each of them individually, coming to a competitor named Odakoski, dressed in a peculiar police uniform, he winks at Goten. Goten's eyes widen, he looks away quickly.
"Yeah well. There's one that's not so normal." he says looking away as much as possible. Goku and Vegeta are standing behind the rest of the competitors, awaiting their names to be called so they could pick out their numbers. Vegeta's patients have run out, he leans closer to Goku.
"Come on, which one is it Kackarot?" He demands impatiently.
"Nope, not telling!" he replies, looking up at the announcer.

The announcer reveals it is time to select their numbers. He starts calling out each fighter's name.
"Goten! please come and select your number" The announcer calls. Goku then has an idea; he needs to get into a position so he can compete against the reincarnated Buu, who is amongst the competitors. With help from Majin Buu's magic, Goku instructs Buu to fix the selection so that sphere he draws will put him up against Uub. As Goku contemplates with Majin Buu about which fighter to allocate certain numbers, Vegeta overhearing them.
"It's not like you to break the rules Kackarot." He stipulates. Goku explains the importance of the rigging. That he and Uub will be at their best, the match will be totally fair. Vegeta says nothing, squinting his eyes at Goku.

Up on their first class balcony, Bulma hands Savarna back to Dende. They watch as the fighters select their numbers.
"Hey, look. Goten's got number 8!" Gohan points out. Following him is the ruthless Wild Tiger, eagerly reaching into the sphere box to get a number. Bulma's face faults at the sight of the hideous competitor.
"Wow, I wouldn't want to be matched up with that guy. He's hideous. " She grimaces, watching him pick out the number 2 sphere. #18 is leaning on the couch.
"Humph, Wild tiger is nothing more than paper. Even Killin could beat him." She observes, speaking without regard for Krillin.
"Hey, what's that suppose to mean?" Krillin retaliates.
"Well, you should have entered; you might have won some prize money... I would have been a world champion if I did not let Mr. Satan win." she proclaims arrogantly.
"Yeah, well what about Goku and Vegeta withdrawing that year to go fight Majin Buu" He reminds. #18 sighs letting her true thought be known.
"You're just a wimp." she says coldly turning her eyes into his direction.
"Look everyone, Pans going to take a number!" Marron announces. Everyone except Piccolo comes to the edge of the balcony for a look; Dende joins them with Savarna cradled in his arms.

Pan trots across the ring floor swiftly to the announcer, he kneels down so she can reach. After a long and eager shuffle, Pan pulls out a sphere, glancing at the large black number across it she beams. Showing it to the announcer.
"Yes, number 1" he says. Then announces it on the loudspeaker to the crowd, the crowd responds with a horde of cheers for Pan. Pam skips across the ring, cheerfully calling out her number as she passes by Wild Tiger & Narig. Goku and Buu put their plan into action, Goku instructs Buu to make his selection number 3, and then Goku instructed him to give the next competitor named Narig the number 6. Seeing this, Vegeta steps in urgently.
"Hey, hey, is this guy the one?" he asks as Narig steps forward to select his number. Narig picks out a number and Buu changes it to six.
"Next is Uub!" the announcer calls. Goku leans over to Majin Buu.
"Alright, now make this one number 4; I don't care about the rest of them." Goku whispers, not discreet enough for Vegeta not to overhear.
"WHAT, no way. That can't be him, he's a kid!" Vegeta exclaims in disbelief. Watching Uub walk up to the announcer.
Goku smiles.
"He has been waiting a long time for this; do not be deceived by his appearance. He is the one all right." Goku explains. Both Majin Buu and Vegeta can't comprehend. Goku has in the past had some madcap ideas, but this by far was the maddest.
"How can you possibly know that, I don't understand Kackarot?" Vegeta states. Goku explains his promise and request when he was defeating the final evil form of Buu. That Buu be brought back to life as a good person, so that they could once again fight together. Coincidently, the great King Yemma overheard this request and made it possible. Vegeta's face lights up in shock.
"Wait, hold on... your are saying that this boy is Buu?" Vegeta asks. Majin Buu has also turned to Goku to hear what he has to say. Goku nods.
"I am almost certain, there is a pretty significant clue, just look at his name, its U U B, that's Buu spelt Backwards, bizarre wouldn't you say?" Goku acknowledges, watching Uub closely as the boy holds up the number 4 sphere above his head.
"He is the final form of Buu, reincarnated." Goku adds.

Up in their first class seats, the two sensitive eared Namekian's listen, shocked at what they hear. Dende turns to Piccolo.
"Did, did you hear that?" Dende solicits nervously, holding Savarna closer. Hoping that what Goku said about Uub being a good person is true.
"Yes. He is Crazy." Piccolo exclaims in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Uub, unaware of his significants watches as his name is written down on the chart beneath the number 4 slot.
Maybe what my mother said was true, even though im the strongest one in my village, there may be some men in this world who may be stronger than me. These men look so powerful. He thinks to himself, watching as a fierce looking competitor wearing a black tank top, his hair pitch black and standing on end steps up to take his numbers.
"... 12." Vegeta announces, showing the sphere to the announcer. He turns; looking directly at Uub with curiosity, finding the young competitor is already looking at him. Uub's eyes widen and he turns away from Vegeta's piercing glance.
Oh heaven help me, what am I going to do. I promised everyone I would win the prize money and come back with lots of food, I CANT go back empty handed. He thinks angrily. He glances at the chart, who is he competing against?
Goku... which one is he Uub wonders wearily. His shoulders were bunched up nervously; he feels eyes staring into the back of his head. He turns to find a man with wild black hair staring down at him intensely. It's Goku.
Uh oh. Uub looks away. The strength Goku possesses is evident. Uub may have made a big mistake coming here, but there is no turning back now.

Thankyou for reading!