Hey there readers! Thank you for all the new subscribers and reviews! I see that all the reviews think that Gohan is going to win, let's see if you were right….

Rawr: Don't worry King Kai is here in this chapter and of course there are going to be interludes! I love creating havoc! Buahaha! Thanx for reviewing :D

Disclaimer: *sigh* I don't own DBZ, but I do control the characters in this story!

*Enjoy

CHAPTER 9: Gohan vs. Pikkon

Tremors were sent through the arena as our fists connected. I could hear some of the audience gasp as our power reached their seats. We stood for a few seconds like that; our fists touching. "Let the games begin." Pikkon whispered challengingly and fazed out of sight.

I spun around, just in time to block an upcoming fist directly above my head. I caught his fist in my hand and twisted his arm behind his back. "You have to be faster than that." I whispered and kicked him in his spine, sending him flying across the ring.

He stopped himself mid-air and immediately rushed to me with a magnificent speed. I crossed my arms in front of my face as I braced myself for the impact. His feet connected with my crossed arms and I skidded backwards. I held for dear life, but his strength didn't lessen. Damn, he is strong! At last I unclenched my arms and bended backwards with extreme speed; just before his feet could reach my face. I threw my feet up, into his abdomen and he was sent tumbling into the sky.

He recovered quickly and charged a beam at me. "Death Beam!" he yelled and sent the beam in my direction. I formed a small ki-blast in my left hand and slung it to the nearing beam; it collided with each other and exploded. I fazed from the explosion to Pikkon's behind, hoping that the element of surprise would be on my side, but to my dismay, he was already turned around facing me; he expected my arrival. "You can sense ki." I stated, unsurprised.

"No" He said sarcastically. "I just like this view."

I chuckled. "I am nice to look at, aren't I?" I teased.

He laughed. "Real smooth mister." He smiled arrogantly. "I am tired of these child games. I think it is time for you to see my true power." I was not surprised. "Then let me return the favour." I replied smugly. He is in for a treat!

We both started to release our true powers. His green fire-like aura rivalled my golden one. I smiled as the familiar power rushed through my veins. I contemplated if I should transform into my second state right now, but decided to leave that as I little surprise for my dear friend here.

"Well this is unexpected!" The announcer exclaimed. "The rookie fighter, Gohan, has just changed into some shiny golden thing." He looked up. "The entire sky itself seems to be shaking from that awesome power. This is going to be an epic battle!" I glared at the announcer in annoyance. Shiny golden thing; is that really the best you got?

After my quick transformation I noticed that Pikkon was still busy with his power up. I waited patiently for him to finish. His cry stopped and he clenched his fists. He looked at me with a confused expression. "You look different." He noted. He grabbed his turban and cape and flung it outside the ring. Dust settled around the garments and the ground dented in a little bit where it landed. Hmmm, he also trains with weighted clothing. That's was not exactly unexpected.

He snapped his knuckles and neck. "So let's find out if your power has changed as much as your appearance."

I rushed to his side, not wanting him to make the first move, and threw a magnitude of punches at him, but surprisingly, none hit him. I frowned, he was fast. I floated back a couple of inches to get momentum and sent a powerful kick his way. He caught my foot and threw me with incredible force to the ring. I stopped myself just before I could crash, but to my deject Pikkon was promptly in my face, already with a charged blast ready in his hand. My eyes widened in surprise at his speedy approach. I don't have enough time to dodge this attack! I realised in alarm. I threw my hands instinctively in front of my face to protect myself, but he didn't aim for my face, I realised too late.

A massive pain shot through my legs as my gi burned into my flesh when the blast connected on a close range with my lower limbs. My agonised scream echoed through the arena and I fell to the ground. I tried to ignore the pain and got up. Pikkon was rushing towards me again; this guy is a beast!

I blasted off into the sky, creating a huge gap between Pikkon and me. I took advantage of Pikkon's halt. "Masenkoha!" I yelled and threw the blast at him. He caught the blast in both his hands but struggled to hold it. I pushed a little more energy into the blast but Pikkon countered. He summoned enough strength to fling the blast into space, but he was panting after this gesture.

"Had enough?" I taunted; I still had lots of energy to spare.

He blasted into the sky, ignoring my question. He went higher above than where I was floating. "Let's see you dodge this!" He yelled chesty and began spinning like the Tasmanian Devil. A giant tornado formed around his body. "Hyper Tornado Attack!" He shouted; the tornado approached me with an incredible speed. I frowned. Now what? I have never encountered such an attack in my life!

The tornado effortlessly picked me up and I was engulfed by the wind; I was spinning around very fast in its strong grasp. I couldn't move; the wind was too potent! I was rendered immobile by the strong wind and to make matters worse, Pikkon attacked me from every possible angle; he sent bullet-blasts down the tornado's eye, and there was no way for me to dodge them. The pain was excruciating. Parts of my gi and skin were ripped by his razor-sharp energy. Blood trickled down my slash-wounds, dripping slowly down my body. It was unbearable.

The crowd clung onto their seats and nearby pillars for dear life as the tornado-strong winds reached them too. "Gohan, you must know that there is no point in fighting it." Pikkon said, trying to discourage me.

A determined expression rested on my features. "We will see about that!" I yelled and summoned all the power I had to transform into Super Saiyan 2. My energy blew the tornado away from me and into space. Why didn't I think about this sooner? I questioned myself. I scoffed in disbelief. The brain is magnificent; it is the most outstanding organ that works for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, right from your birth until you actually need it the most...

Pikkon stopped in his tracks and stared at me with awe and shock as lightning started thundering around my body. I have to act fast, while he is still distracted. I rushed towards him with an extended arm and punched him in the face. He flew backwards, his face twisted into a painful scowl.

I cannot stop now; I will not get a chance like this handed to me on a silver platter, again.

"Ka... me... ha..." I started chanting. But before I knew it I flew down full speed to the ring, creating a crater. Pikkon had head-butted me in the stomach so fast that my brain didn't have time to register his approaching ki. I jumped up quickly, just to see that Pikkon was still advancing towards me very quickly; his speed was so tremendous that it seemed like there was ten Pikkon's on the arena simultaneously. I gathered some energy and aimed a blast at his head. I fired at point-blank range.

He didn't attempt to dodge the blast; instead he smiled devious at me while his power-level doubled. He was now surrounded by a blue aura circling his entire body. He looked so calm, not threatened by my blast at all. I frowned at his odd behaviour; what was he up to?

He extended his arms with clenched fists out in front of him and drilled through my blast. Crap he was so close now! I pushed more energy into my blast. "You are getting predictable Gohan!" He yelled at me overconfidently and dove under my beam; my eyes widened, if I let go of the blast it will hit the audience, injuring or maybe even killing them, if that was possible, but I am not willing to take that chance. Damn it Pikkon!

Everything was in slow-motion; I retracted my blast back into my hand, causing my hand to glow due to all the ki gathered in it, and tried to punch him in the stomach while he was still diving under the blast; all this happened in a split-second. He anticipated my attack and fell flat on his back to the floor; just barely scraping by my fist. He didn't waste any time; he kicked me through the face before I could retract my fist for a second attempt. Damn, he is right! I am getting predictable, I thought as my face twisted under the weight of his kick.

I skidded across the stadium floor on my back till the edge of the ring. My eyes widened in angst as I clung onto the end of the ring with a nearing Pikkon. This could be it; this could be the difference between victory and defeat for me. I raked my brain for ideas and my eyes lit up as I remembered one of my physic lessons.

I waited for him to get a little bit closer and; perfect!

I pushed myself upward with both of my arms and flung myself into the sky, just barely escaping Pikkon's approaching foot; I made a few summersaults in the air and landed gracefully on my feet a good distance away from my opponent.

Phew! I wiped some sweat off my forehead. He almost had me there; thank goodness I have maths and physics on my side!

Pikkon's hands did a wild dance as he almost slipped and fell out of the ring. I couldn't help but laugh at him. He looked so silly!

Pikkon grunted in frustration and glared at me furiously. He was panting heavily by now. I smiled; his energy was fading away rapidly while mine stayed constant; I still had more than enough energy to spare. I waited patiently for him to recover. It won't be very challenging to fight an exhausted warrior and my Saiyan nature itched for a decent fight.

"I have never..." *pant, pant* "fought someone," *pant* "quite as powerful as you are, *pant* you are either *pant* a fighting genius *pant* or a complete fool!" He said through all the heaves. "But unfortunately for you, not powerful enough!" He yelled and made some odd movements. I frowned in distress. His power was skyrocketing! A bright blue fire-like aura surrounded his body.

"Thunder flash attack!" He yelled as he brought his two fists together. Uh oh... This doesn't sound good... Why can't warriors name their attacks something like 'the fluttering butterfly' or the 'sparkling swan attack'? Giving your attacks vicious names doesn't make you automatically tough! Speaking of tough...

I braced myself for the impact by throwing my hands in front of my face. The blast collided with me and I was flying backwards. I lay on the ground between all the debris, my hands still planted protectively in front of me. "Aughg!" I yelled in agonised surprise as a burning pain hugged my arms in a tight embrace. I blew frantically on my upper limbs, desperate trying to cool them off; they were on friggin fire! Thank goodness I managed to extinguish the flames; otherwise I was going to have Hybrid Arm Stew for dinner!

I looked up to locate Pikkon. He is doing those movements again! Nice try bud, but this time you aren't going to hit me! "Ka... Me... Ha... Meha!" I yelled and shot all my energy into the wave as fast as I could.

He shot his blast out, again, at the same time as mine. Pikkon's blast collided with mine and we both struggled to get control over the forceful amount of clashing energies. The wave was currently equal. Damn if I could transform into SS3; then we wouldn't be evenly matched at all! I would be dominating this fight!

Where is he? I desperately search the crowd for Magisterial; at least he stuck out like a sore thumb with that purple robe of his. He saw me looking at him and I stared straight into his eyes pleadingly. He shook his head slowly from side to side as a 'no'; knowing what I wanted to suggest.

I sighed and pushed all the power I had left into my Kamehameha-wave, that first blasted Thunder Attack thing really damaged me, more than I realised.

The blast-battle was in my favour now; Pikkon skidded back as I pushed even more energy in.

The crowd was silent, watching in suspense and wide-eyed as they tried to predict the outcome of our so far, evenly matched battle. I walked forward with the energy-wave, trying to push Pikkon off the ring. "NO!" He yelled and frantically released more energy into the blast. I stared at him with admiration; his body was covered in bruises and blood gushed out of his wounds but he still didn't give up.

A sudden bright red glow yanked me back to reality. The wave got vermillion-red and shot strings of random energy out; looking exactly like the surface of the sun I have seen in books. My eyes widened in horror as I realised that it is going to explode, and it ain't going to be pretty...

The wave erupted like an angry volcano and I was shot through the sky by the incredible force of the once colliding powers. Little pieces of debris collided with my body, but I barely felt it; I wasn't 100% conscious after that blow.

The soft grass caressed my aching body when I landed outside the ring. I sighed. I am out of the ring. I slowly opened my eyes, but I still couldn't see anything. A black smoke-cloud, probably caused by the explosion, covered the entire area, blocking my vision completely. I waited for the smoke to settle and noticed that the arena had completely vanished; only a massive crater was visible to the place where the ring was once firmly planted. My eyes travelled to the area where the crowd was supposed to be; the pavilion barely survived the impact and it was clear that it was going to collapse any minute; all the people were floating in the sky now, waiting in suspense for the referee's reign.

I got up, but fell to the ground again when I tried to put my weight on my right leg. It is broken, I realised as I examined it.

"Well folks looks like we currently have a tie on our hands." The announcer claimed. "The directors and Grand Kai will just rewind the tapes, to see which fighter landed outside, where the ring was, first."

I floated towards the announcer. I clutched my left hand with my right one; I suspected it was broken too. "Excuse me" I said in a weak voice, trying to get his attention.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Someone get these boys some healing potions." He yelled and snapped his fingers at the medics as he saw me cringing in pain. I drank the potion and felt all my energy returning to my body. I stretched all my sore muscles and saw Pikkon get up out of the corner of my eye.

A little red minion rushed to the announcer's side and tugged on his shirt. He gave him a little piece of paper and whispered something in his ear. The announcer's eyes shot wide when he was finished reading his message. "Well, I'll be damned." He exclaimed and walked to the centre of the landscape, so everyone would be able to see him.

"Well folks, our two wonder boys here," he said pointing to me and Pikkon, "are disqualified for destroying the arena and endangering the deaths of every person on this premise." He looked at both of us sympathetically. "They ruled that the fighters in the semi-finals, excluding these gentlemen here, shall get a chance to redeem themselves. One of them will then be crowned the strongest fighter in the universe!"

I can't believe this! "Maybe next time boys," He said when he saw our expressions. "Can Arqua and Tapkar please report to the arena?" I heard the announcer call vaguely as Pikkon and I walked off in disappointment.

That match didn't last long. Arqua dominated the floor and defeated Tapkar in under five minutes; using that same water technique he used in our battle.

"Arqua is the winner! Congratulations to our new champion! He will receive training with our own Grand Kai." Everybody cheered. I felt happy for Arqua; he deserved it.

Pikkon's eyes suddenly shot wide in surprise. I mimicked a confused expression. "What's wrong?" I asked concerned. "Grand Kai just asked me if I wanted to join him in training." I looked around, not seeing Grand Kai anywhere near us. "When?" I asked puzzled. "Right now, through my mind." His eyes filled with joy. "I have to go!" He exclaimed and shook my hand. "One day I will challenge you to a proper battle." He said out of nowhere. "Somewhere where we aren't limited by a ring or surrounded by people who can get hurt by our battle." He smiled confidently. I returned the smile. "Deal, we will have a proper rematch."

He waved at me as he started retreating. "Don't get too much stronger." I waved back. "Don't count on it! Next time I will beat you!" Our eyes met for the final time and I threw him a congratulating thumbs-up with a brilliant toothy smile. He smiled back at me with astonishment and stared at the cheering crowd chanting his name, in disbelief. I was actually shocked to see a tiny smile spread across his lips. Who knew that he could show emotions! He walked in the opposite direction, towards Grand Kai in complete happiness.

I grabbed my belongings and headed towards the exit. Draco suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of my face.

"Why did you let that green goblin win?" He sneered, angrily. "We, I mean, you could have been crowned the strongest warrior in the universe!" He said over-passionately. "Do you know how big the universe is?"

I laughed at his ignorance. "It isn't about winning Draco." I lectured him. "I had fun in that fight and I learned so much." I smiled at him. "That sounds like a victory to me! And besides, I didn't let him win, we are tied. I am perfectly happy being second best."

Draco blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to decipher the hidden message behind my words "You... Second best?" His voice trailed off as if those words didn't make sense to him together in a sentence. He threw his hands in the air in defeat. "I give up. There is no point in reasoning with such a selfish little creature like yourself." I rolled my eyes at his dramatises. "Do you know how big we could have been?" He continued with a crack in his voice. "We could have been Gohan and Draco," He spread an invisible banner out in front of him with one hand. "The legendary..." He whispered sadly and began to sob quietly.

I felt so sorry for him. "Gosh Draco, I didn't know you felt that way." I said comforting. I stroked his back to calm his sobs; they only got worse.

"Ignore him, Gohan." Magisterial's voice interrupted. "He is faking." I looked at Draco who smiled innocently up at me, with big puffy eyes while blowing into a tissue. "I can't believe I am so naive; I fall for every one of your little schemes!" I felt so gullible. "Lighten up buddy!" He said while giving me a brotherly noogie. I rolled my eyes at him, irritated. "Whatever." I said and crossed my arms.

"I am very proud of you." Magisterial interjected and put one of his arms around my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, congratulating me. Draco still went on about my foolishness but I just laughed at him.

"Gohan!" Reflex reaction; I turned around to the sound of my name being called. I looked around, not finding anyone around me who would have called my name. I heard someone clear his voice and I looked down. An odd-looking blue midget with round sunglasses was staring at me. Antennae shot out on his head and two whiskers twitched on his cheeks. A dancing monkey and a grasshopper flanked him.

I stared back uncomfortably at him; he didn't utter a single word. "Yes?" I asked him in awkwardness.

"Hey. This is my pet monkey Bubbles and Gregory my cricket." He introduced his friends. "Uh, hey, nice to meet you." I waved uncomfortably at them. The blue midget nodded. "Indeed it is a privilege." He said while clutching his mouth with both his hands; his whole body was shaking in fits of laughter. What was up with this guy? A slight blush appeared on his light-blue cheeks as he regained his composure.

"You are no fun!" He yelled at me. I started to back away; this guy is freaking me out! "It was really nice meeting you mister but I have to go." I said as I saw Draco and Magisterial's silhouettes nearly disappear into the horizon. I don't want to be stuck here! "Wait!" He yelled back just as I started retreating. I stopped unwillingly, not wanting to appear impolite. I stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"Are you by any chance, the Gohan from earth?" He blurted out. I flinched, how did he know who I was and where I came from? I hesitated, not knowing if I should tell him the truth. I nodded. "Yes, that is my home planet." I confirmed. He smiled broadly. "So you are Goku's son, I am King Kai by the way." I remembered Dad talking about him being the one who trained him before the confrontation with Vegeta and company. "Oh yeah, my dad has talked about you before." He frowned. "Of course he has."

He grabbed my arm. "He will be so relieved that I found you!" He exclaimed while tugging me forward. "We have to tell him right away." My eyes widened in horror. Dad is here? Of course he's here Gohan; nothing can keep him away from a fight. Part of me wanted to see him, to apologise for killing him and letting him down, but the majority of me wasn't ready to face him yet, I was still filled with regret, but maybe someday...

I planted my feet firmly in the ground; the action was so abrupt that it caused King Kai to fall on his face. I helped him up and apologised. "Sorry King Kai, but I don't want to see my father." I told him sternly. He raised his brow in confusion. "Why not? He has been worried sick about you!" That just made me feel even worse.

"Please, respect my wishes," I pleaded, "I am not ready to face him." His eyes filled with pity.

"Please don't tell him that I am here." I begged. He nodded solemnly. "My lips are zips!" He exclaimed and gestured his fingers across his lips; zipping it closed. I smiled at him. "Thank you King Kai." I exclaimed gratefully. "Now you will have excuse me…" I said and rushed towards my comrades again.

I continued walking with Magisterial Kai and Draco to the exit; on our way to my new home again...

So what did you think? Aren't I evil for making Arqua the champion? *evil smirk* Hahaha! Anyway keep me posted on your thoughts about this story!

*Live long and prosper!