Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball/Z

Chapter 11 – The 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament

"We're finally here!" Yamcha grinned cockily. It felt so good to be back here.

It had been a tough three years of training for the former desert bandit. From Roshi's training to climbing Korin's tower and then the toughest assignment, going off on his own and finding ways to make himself even stronger. He and Krillin had both gone their separate ways mid way through the year 752. Krillin had gone back to his old temple and he trained there until it was time to return to the tournament while he had returned to his old hideout to train under the tough conditions of the desert.

Unlike the last time he was here three years ago, Yamcha felt far more confident on winning this tournament and defeating Kakarot. He glanced to his right to see Bulma, with her hair cut short, looking much more beautiful than ever. They had all met up yesterday at Roshi's island so they could come to the tournament together and Yamcha could still remember just what he felt when he saw her again. It was like he had been punched in the gut, the air was knocked out of him as he remembered just how much he wanted to be with her. No matter what, he would win this tournament. It was the only chance he had to get Bulma back. He wouldn't fail.

"Do you think Kakarot is here yet?" Krillin wondered, fixing the cuffs of his suit. Just like last year, the students of Roshi had to come to the tournament in a suit but Krillin didn't mind, he quite liked how he looked.

"There is no way that he would miss this tournament." Roshi answered him with a slight smirk, "He will want to have a rematch with Jackie Chun."

"Considering that Kakarot took out the entire Red Ribbon Army on his own, he should have no problem taking on that old man." Bulma said confidently.

Roshi frowned at the comment. She might not be wrong. The old martial arts master truly didn't know how powerful Kakarot had become. He would have to go check to see if Kakarot had registered yet, there wasn't much time left.

The old man glanced at his other two students. To be honest, he didn't even know how powerful they had become.

"Fighting with rules... how boring." The blonde haired Launch retorted.

"If anyone but you said that, I would have said that they were crazy." Turtle piped up.

"Well, well, if it isn't the turtle master." A voice that was familiar to Roshi and he looked to his left. The person that stood before him caused his eyes to widen behind his sunglasses. There stood his old friend. They were about the same height, he had grey hair and he wore sunglasses similar to Roshi's. The man wore a green and yellow martial arts suit and he wore a crane hat. He had two pupils standing behind him and they were both wearing the same uniform as the old man. One was a small mime looking boy and the other was a tall man with a third eye on his forehead.

"Shen, huh?" Roshi said with some surprise, "I'm surprised that you're still alive."

"The years haven't treated you too well, Roshi." Shen smirked at him, "I heard a rumour that your students did quite well in the last Martial Arts Tournament. That just shows how low this tournament has fallen in recent times. So I thought I should enter my students in the tournament and remind everyone what real martial arts looks like." The crane master chuckled slightly, "So sorry. Of course I'll understand if you all run home and save you suffer too much embarrassment."

"You still have such a warped sense of humour, fool." Roshi chuckled.

"Says you, baldy!" Shen snapped at him angrily.

"Yeah, says me, half-baldy!" Roshi retorted irritably.

"Let's go, we have wasted enough time on these losers." Shen spun around and began walking away towards the entrance to the tournament. "This tournament is going to be fun!"

His two students followed him through the entrance and the tallest one released a snort at his master's declaration.

"Who was that offensive old guy?" Yamcha frowned heavily, his arms folded across his chest.

"A jerk! And a former rival of mine. He is Shen, the master of the Crane school." Roshi answered angrily.

"Who cares?!" Launch retorted sharply, "There is only a minute left until the registration closes and we still don't know if Kakarot has registered yet."

"That's right!" Roshi shouted, "I was on my way to check if he had registered before that stupid crane got in my way!"

"I registered yesterday, old man." A familiar voice called out to them, "You all took your time getting here. I was starting to get bored."

They all spun around to see Kakarot lounging around on top of a wall. He had grown slightly and he was definitely leaner looking, but the most surprising thing that they noticed was that he wasn't wearing his scouter. He never went anywhere without his precious device.

"Wow, Krillin..." Kakarot said surprised, "You haven't grown at all."

Krillin blushed in a mixture of embarrassment and fury, "I have so grown! You haven't grown that much either! Most of your height comes from your wacky hairdo!"

The Saiyan smirked in amusement.

"Since you're already registered, why don't we got to lunch and reacquaint ourselves?" Roshi said happily, "My treat."

"That sounds great." Bulma admitted in delight.

"Thank you, master." Yamcha and Krillin said gratefully.

"I was hoping that you would say that." Kakarot smirked, "I haven't eaten at all today so I'm going to stuff myself."

Roshi's eyes widened behind his glasses and he hurriedly pulled out his wallet. He had nowhere near enough money to pay for a Saiyan with an empty stomach. The old martial arts master chuckled slightly, and he hopefully suggested, "How about I just make us all some sandwiches?" He looked up from his wallet and his jaw dropped when he saw that nobody had listened to him and they had all started walking away to a restaurant, leaving him behind.

What did he have to do to get a little respect? He was the one that trained Yamcha, Krillin and Kakarot. Shouldn't he be granted some more respect from his students? He blamed it on this generation, no respect at all.

Hotel Room – 9:00pm

After a very expensive but wonderful meal, the group all headed to the hotel to get some rest for the big tournament tomorrow. Of course, it was still too early and so they were all in Bulma's and Launch's room just hanging out to pass the time.

Currently Roshi wasn't joining in the discussion. His mind was sorely focused on the tournament that he had to win. After that expensive meal that he couldn't pay for, he had to promise the chef that he would win the tournament and pay him back.

"We should play a game or something?" Oolong piped up, feeling bored at all of this talking.

"I agree," Kakarot took the chance, "I think we should play some poker... strip poker." The Saiyan suggested with a cocky smirk.

That brought Roshi out of his thoughts.

"I fully agree with you, my favourite pupil!" the old man shouted happily, a lecherous grin on formed on his face at the thought of Bulma and Launch losing their clothes.

"Your favourite?" Yamcha spluttered.

"Master!" Krillin shouted, shocked.

"Strip poker, huh?" Launch smirked at the suggestion, "That does sound interesting, but I prefer we played with money."

"Let Oolong, Puar and Turtle play with money." Kakarot responded, "Strip poker is more fun."

"I am NOT playing strip poker!" Bulma shouted furiously, folding her arms across her chest not paying attention to the fact that she just enhanced her breasts slightly. It was an action that Roshi, Kakarot, Yamcha, Krillin and Oolong didn't miss. "Since when do you play games like strip poker?!" she directed her demand at the Saiyan.

"I've seen and learned a lot in the past three years." Kakarot informed them, "I've grown in more ways that you can imagine. One of the areas that I have grown in... I think you humans refer it to, 'becoming a man.'"

Everyone in the room's eyes widened as they knew what he was referring to. Once they got over their shock they all had different reactions to the news. Oolong and Puar were just surprised to hear that Kakarot had been with a girl, they thought that he was a one track minded kind of person. Turtle just hoped that he wouldn't become like Roshi. Yamcha was annoyed that Kakarot had lost his virginity at a younger age than him. Krillin was just plain envious of his friend, he hadn't even come close to scoring with a girl. Maybe he should stop shaving his head? Perhaps that would help him get a girl, Krillin thought naively. Roshi was beaming with his pride... his student was just like him. The blonde haired Launch got over her shock quickly and she began to wonder if he was as talented in the sack as he was in the ring. Perhaps she would find out when he was a little older.

Bulma, having known him the longest, was confused to say the least. The teen had always known that Kakarot had a hidden perverted side, their first meeting was an indicator of that but she hadn't expected that he would have sex by now. Even though they were broken up, Yamcha was still jealous at her feelings towards Kakarot. His jealously wasn't totally misplaced. Bulma couldn't deny that a part of her was attracted to Kakarot but he was too young for her. She didn't know if it was just a lust thing or genuine feelings.

Kakarot was enjoying the looks on everyone's faces at the news he just told them. Misa wasn't the only girl that Kakarot had bedded in the last year. He had come across several villagers with their own problems and Kakarot had taken care of it. Several teen girls had been very grateful towards him. He could understand Roshi's interest in the female bodies now, although he didn't need to perv on them like his old master did.

"You all looked shock." Kakarot said in amusement, "I'm fifteen and exploring the whole world... you never thought of the possibility that I may hook up with a few girls?"

"Damn it," Roshi groaned, his pride giving way to his envy, "If only I was a younger man."

"You still wouldn't get any." Bulma snapped at Roshi.

"I am so travelling the world after this tournament." Krillin muttered quietly.

Yamcha nodded in agreement, if he wasn't able to get Bulma back, then he would definitely have to travel the world. Although he might not have to, he had quite the fan club back in West City. He quickly shook those thoughts off. No! He only wanted Bulma back.

"So," Kakarot grinned, "Are we going to play strip poker or not?"

Unfortunately for the Saiyan, Bulma refused to play and so they just played ordinary card games for a few hours.

Preliminary Halls – 5:00am, 7th of May

"It's great to be back here!" Kakarot said happily while stretching out his limbs. Since the Saiyan hadn't trained under Roshi for the last three years that meant that he didn't have to wear that red gi that he wore at the previous tournament. This time he would wear his Saiyan armour when he fought.

"Yeah, it feels like I never left." Krillin said confidently, scouting the competition in the red gi that he wore previously.

Yamcha was also in the red gi that the turtle hermit students traditionally wore in the tournament. He had his arms folded across his chest and like Krillin, he was checking out the competition. "There are a lot more people this year. The competition has grown in popularity."

"That just means more competition for us to get through." Kakarot said happily. "I doubt all of the strongest people in the world entered the last time. I reckon that has changed this year."

Yamcha and Krillin were the first two to be called up. Kakarot watched with interest but he wasn't surprised when his fellow rivals defeated their opponents with ease. Yamcha knocked his opponent out in one blow with a backhanded punch to the face. Krillin had to fight a giant and he decided to play with the man a little by allowing himself to be grabbed. He pretended to be in pain before revealing the truth and he broke the hold the giant had on him, effortlessly, and Krillin threw him out of the ring.

"You guys weren't bad." Kakarot smirked at them, "You have both really improved in the last three years."

Krillin chuckled, "That was nothing. Just you wait until you see me go all out." The bald warrior boasted.

A cold laugh pierced their discussion and they spun around to see the tall student, with the third eye that was trained under the crane master, Shen. He had a large taunting smirk on his face. "To strut over such a pitiful display... you're a bunch of fools."

"Who the hell are you?" Kakarot asked him rudely. The Saiyan could feel the energy that this guy possessed and he knew that he could back up his words.

"He is one of the disciples of the crane master." Krillin scowled up at him. "He is a nasty old geezer that is one of Master Roshi's rivals."

"You're just lucky that you don't have to fight me in the preliminaries." The three eyed warrior retorted calmly, "Of course, that underserved luck will run out eventually. That is if you make it into the final 8 with such childish tricks."

"Get lost before we flatten you!" Yamcha snapped at him, annoyed by the arrogance of the man. Forget Kakarot, Yamcha wanted to pound this guy into the ground.

"If only you had the skills to back up your attitude." The top crane student smirked. He turned away when he heard his number be called out but before he left, he left one final parting shot, "It's my turn now... well, good luck to you, I suppose."

"That creep!" Krillin snarled through gritted teeth, "He is definitely the biggest jerk I have had the displeasure of meeting! I'll bet his is all talk! I'm going to laugh loudly when he loses!"

"No, he won't." Kakarot smirked, "He is pretty strong. I would guess that he is as strong as the two of you are."

"Huh? You think so?" Krillin asked surprised.

"The two of us, you say?" Yamcha asked the Saiyan with narrowed eyes, his hands on his hips, "You make it sound like you're way above us."

Kakarot didn't reply and instead he kept his attention on the crane master's student. The three eyed warrior didn't have any trouble taking down his opponent. A few minutes later it was finally Kakarot's turn to enter the ring and the crowd was amazed at who had entered the ring with him.

"That's King Chappa! The King Chappa!" Yamcha shouted after overhearing the whispers from the crowd.

"Who is King Chappa?" Krillin asked him curiously.

"He is said to be an incredible fighter... almost God-like." Yamcha whispered in awe. "The legend is that when he last participated, he won the whole tournament without being hit. Not a single blow."

"Kakarot won't have an easy victory this time." Jackie Chun appeared next to them, a serious look on his face. Yamcha and Krillin were startled by his sudden appearance.

"Do not fear, young one." Chappa assured him, falling into his preferred fighting stance, "I will not kill you."

"I guess I should be grateful," Kakarot smirked, "although considering that if you kill in this tournament then you're disqualified, so I shouldn't be too surprised by the assurance."

The warrior ignored him, "Open with any attack you wish, little boy." Chappa allowed him.

"If that is what you want, then who am I to decline?" Kakarot responded and faster than Chappa could react; Kakarot kicked him hard in the stomach. The blow sent Chappa crashing out of the ring and left the audience stunned at the sight.

"You did that quite easy." Krillin muttered stunned when Kakarot jumped off the ring and approached them.

"It was disappointing. He had the potential to make it to the final 8 but his arrogance cost him." The Saiyan shrugged, "Hopefully he learns the lesson. Never give your opponent a free shot, no matter how good you think that your defences are."

"That's funny," a familiar voice reached Kakarot's ears. "I seem to recall you being hit like that once before."

Kakarot raised an eyebrow when he saw who it was. He never expected them to actually come to the tournament but it was a welcome surprise.

"Melee," Kakarot greeted the female demon, she looked exactly like she did the last time they met and she was in the same clothes. "I take it that Shula is here with you."

"Of course," Melee smirked at him, "he spent a lot of time preparing for a rematch against you. His pride was severely damaged after you defeated him."

"That was my intention." Kakarot admitted, "I've got no doubt that he learned to overcome his weakness to the light."

"He kind of had to, didn't he?" Melee stated the obvious, "This tournament is in the daylight."

"Who is this woman, Kakarot?" Krillin asked him, curiously.

Yamcha was looking at the woman with interest as he had never seen a woman with such exotic looks before. Jackie Chun had a slight nosebleed, his eyes focused firmly on her curves.

"This is Melee, she is a demon." Kakarot answered him.

"A-a demon?" Krillin stuttered. Yamcha's eyes widened and Jackie Chun's expression didn't change. Human or demon, what did it matter? A beautiful woman was a beautiful woman in his books.

"Does that frighten you, little boy?" the demon sneered down at him.

Krillin blushed in embarrassment.

"I'll see you in the final 8, Kakarot." Melee turned and walked away, with four pairs of eyes watching her swaying hips.

Melee's last sentence was quite accurate. Kakarot, Krillin, Yamcha and Jackie Chun had no problems dealing with the fighters in the Preliminaries and they all advanced to the final 8. The other four to join them in the finals were Shula, Melee and the two students from the crane school.

All eight contestants were gathered in the small room and Kakarot lazed about watching some of the other contestants interact. He could feel the glare coming from the demon lord, Shula, but the Saiyan just ignored him. Yamcha seemed to be having an argument with the three eyed warrior, and the mime looking one seemed to be mocking an angry Krillin. Jackie Chun was ogling Melee intently and the female demon was indifferent to his attention. After a few minutes the same announcer from the previous tournament, wearing the exact same suit and glasses entered with a couple of assistants pulling a whiteboard.

"Okay everybody, let's get this done quickly." The announcer called out, "When I call your name, come up here and pick out a number."

"Jackie, you're up first."

The former champion picked out number four. It didn't take long for the contestants to draw their numbers. The final eight had been decided.

1st Match: Tien vs. Yamcha

2nd Match: Jackie Chun vs. Melee (The old man seemed very happy with this matchup)

3rd Match: Krillin vs. Chiaotzu

4th Match: Kakarot vs. Shula

Tien thanked his little friend for fixing the matchups for him. He wanted Jackie Chun in the second round after he knocked Yamcha down a few pegs and then he would defeat the former champion in the second round leaving him an easy victory in the final match.

Tournament Arena – 10:00am

"Here we go, ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer shouted loudly into his microphone from the middle of the tournament stage, "It's time for the first match, Tien vs. Yamcha!"

The two fighters walked onto the stage, the crowd's cheering ringing in their ears.

"Let the tournament, begin!" the announcer called out and he quickly jumped out of the ring. Only seconds later, the two fighters clashed with each other.

Kakarot sat on top of the wall, watching the fight with interest. He had no trouble keeping up with their movements but he couldn't help but be impressed by how much Yamcha had improved over the last three years. Yamcha was easily stronger than he had been when he defeated the Red Ribbon Army. If Kakarot had to guess, then Yamcha was about as strong as he was when he invaded demon land. He was equal with Tien; blow for blow and the Saiyan could see the frustration beginning to mount on Tien's face. The three eyed warrior had obviously thought that this fight wouldn't be that difficult.

"He's doing really well, isn't he?" Krillin grinned next to Kakarot.

"He is a lot stronger than I imagined he would be." Kakarot admitted, "It's hard to believe that he got this strong under Roshi."

"We only trained under Roshi for a while, then we climbed Korin's tower." Krillin informed him, "After we finished there, we went our separate ways."

"That explains it." Kakarot smirked, "Did you have fun trying to get the water?"

"It was challenging, but it was worth it." Krillin answered.

Meanwhile, in the ring, Tien and Yamcha punched each other fiercely in the face and then they followed up with a clash of knees. They both quickly disengaged and jumped back, gaining a few feet of distance from each other.

"I have to admit, you are much better than I had anticipated." Tien conceded, wiping a stream of blood from his bottom lip, "It's obvious that I won't win this fight with superior strength or speed in my current condition but I will show you the huge gap there is in our skill level."

"Even after all of that, you're still so cocky." Yamcha snorted, "What a joke. I've matched you for blow for blow so far and you're telling me there is a large gap in our skill level."

"I'll show you," Tien smirked, "Let's see how you do against my Four Witches Technique!"

From the crowd, Shen smirked triumphantly. This fight was as good as over.

Yamcha's eyes widened – along with everyone else in the stadium, except those closest to Tien –when they saw Tien's technique in action. Underneath his shoulder blades, Tien generated two extra arms.

"I've never seen anything like that!" Kakarot shouted with wide eyes, "This guy has some real skill!"

"Yamcha doesn't have the chance against this guy!" Krillin declared with wide eyes.

The battle from that moment swung in favour of Tien. Yamcha was forced on the complete defensive because of the two extra arms that Tien had sprouted. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn't able to get a move off and instead he was slowly being pushed back towards the edge of the ring.

Yamcha grunted from the punches crashing into his guard and he could feel his back heel reach the edge of the ring. For the last few minutes, he had been forced to defend himself with a cross guard in front of his face but it had left his stomach open for many blows. He couldn't keep this up for much longer and with a desperate attempt to stay in the fight, Yamcha struck out with his right leg. His kick managed to make contact with Tien's leg, causing him to lose balance and it allowed Yamcha to get away from the edge of the ring.

"Talk about a desperate lash out." Tien smirked, "You're just delaying the inevitable, you know. It would have been easier for you to have just lost the match there and then."

"I'm not giving up!" Yamcha panted heavily, "I've trained too hard to lose this match!" With that declaration, Yamcha cupped his hands to his side, "Ka... me..." a ball of blue energy formed in between his hands.

"He is able to use the Kamehameha?!" Jackie Chun shouted incredulously.

"Ha... me..." the ball of energy grew bigger and Tien prepared himself to counter the attack, his smirk never loosening. Like the guard Yamcha used earlier, Tien had his two extra arms to guard his face and upper torso and his regular arms to guard his lower torso.

"HA!" Yamcha roared and he unleashed the powerful blue energy wave at this opponent. However just before the attack hit, Yamcha grinned and he separated the attack. Instead of there just being one large beam, there were now two and Yamcha guided them to go around a shocked Tien and slam into him from behind.

"Tien!" Chiaotzu shouted in worry.

"Impossible!" Shen growled furiously, "There is no way a mere student could master the Kamehameha wave to that extent!"

"That was impressive." Kakarot noted and he turned to Krillin, "Can you do the Kamehameha wave too?"

Krillin just answered with a smirk.

"To think that he had mastered the Kamehameha wave by this much." Jackie Chun whispered in awe. "His progress is outstanding. I don't even know if I could beat him. If he has improved by this much, then I would have to assume Krillin has to, if not more. Then there is Kakarot." The legendary old martial arts teacher smiled sadly, "It looks like it is time for me to hand down the baton. However," his eyes narrowed on the smoke that had covered Tien, "I still have one final lesson to teach, it would seem."

"Did I win?" Yamcha wondered out loud.

"DODON RAY!" a furious roar came from the smoke and a yellow energy beam suddenly shot out and slammed into Yamcha's chest. It exploded on impact and Yamcha crashed into the wall separating the ring from the audience and he was unconscious before he hit the grass.

The smoke surrounding Tien cleared up, and it was revealed that his extra arms were gone and he had light burns and major bruises on his back.

"Not bad, Yamcha," Tien growled lowly, "but not good enough. Be grateful I held back or you would be dead!"

"That's it, folks!" the announcer declared loudly, "Yamcha is both unconscious and out of the ring! That means this match is goes to Tien Shinhan!"

End of Chapter

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Power Levels:

Yamcha = 170

Tien = 180

Chiaotzu = 110

Krillin = 175

Jackie Chun = 140

Melee = 135

Shula = ?

Kakarot = ?

Next Chapter – The Finals; release date = previously the 7th of December but has been moved back a week to the 15th of December.