Chapter 11

Friendly Fire

Yamcha sauntered away from Krillin and Goten toward Tien and Trunks, both pairs huddled up, piecing together their strategies for the final match. "Hey guys!" He began, "Krillin wants to know if you two wanna meet up with them and set some rules for the finals so everybody's on the same page. He sent me so it wouldn't look like he's trying to eavesdrop."

"Sure, we'll head over in just a moment." Tien replied, wanting to finish his thoughts on the match with his student.

Yamcha returned to Krillin to report the response, and true to their word, the Crane school was soon heading over to the Masters' seating area. Just as they arrived, Piccolo emerged from the tunnel, back in his turban and cape, Gohan trailing behind him.

"Guess we better wait on them." Krillin said, "I'm sure Piccolo's gonna have an opinion."

Soon the group was gathered together: both fighters, all three masters, Piccolo, and Gohan. Sure enough, Piccolo was the first to speak.

"Alright boys, listen up." He began gruffly, "Everyone knows you two aren't going to stay in your base forms even if we tell you to, and there's nothing more I can learn from that anyway. So don't waste our time; start the fight as Super Saiyans."

Goten and Trunks nodded with smiles on their faces; Goten's big and excited, Trunks's more wry in nature.

"We're all going to line the stadium and protect the crowd as much as we can, but you two are carrying a lot more power than any of us except Gohan now, and if you're anything like your masters, you've both probably got moves that would be next to impossible for us to block." Piccolo continued, "If things start getting intense, get up in the air away from the crowd, or we'll break up the match, no questions asked."

The smiles faded from the boys' faces as they nodded once more.

"One more thing." He said, "You two are friends, I know. But I also know you're Saiyans. Don't forget that this is just a match. You've both got enough power to kill the other one or destroy the planet if things get out of hand. Do NOT let it get to that point. Do I make myself clear?" He finished the lecture with a slight growl in his voice.

Both boys nodded solemnly. "Let's get a little more specific, just to be sure." Krillin said, "Goten, don't break out the Kienzan. It's not really useful unless you plan on cutting him in half, anyway."

Tien chimed in as well, "No Kikoho either, Trunks. We want a match, not a battle."

The boys agreed again, less enthusiastically this time.

"Good." Piccolo said, "Now go rest up for what's left of the break; you'll need all the energy you can get."

"Didn't anybody bring some senzu beans?" Trunks asked.

"Absolutely not!" Piccolo yelled, catching everyone by surprise at his sudden explosion, "Do you know how hard it is to grow those?! If you think we're about to waste two of them on a tournament you're out of your mind!"

"Geeze, I was just asking…" Trunks said. He and Tien turned to leave, as did Goten and Krillin.

"Good luck, guys!" Gohan yelled, "You're both gonna do great!"

Goten smiled and waved back at him; Trunks rolled his eyes and continued walking.

Up in the stands, 18 saw the storm coming, and had placed both Marron and herself between Chi Chi and Bulma. The two had cheered wildly for Goten in his bout with Piccolo, but as soon as the Announcer had teased the final matchup, the two had fallen completely silent.

"What, no catfight?" Roshi asked, overtly disappointed.

The two ignored him, and 18 shot him a death glare. He turned his attention back to the arena, and patiently awaited the match.

Down on the arena floor, the workers were working frantically to finish the repairs. The chunk of missing concrete on the side of the ring was giving them particular trouble.

"Geeze, he did all that with his hand and lost?" The Announcer said to himself. "Good thing this is the last match…"

Finally, after twenty minutes, the staff determined the floor was functional, despite the massive cracks around the new tile. Trunks and Goten met in the tunnel entrance and awaited their introductions.

"Laaaaaadies aaaaaand Gentlemennnnn!" The Announcer shouted from the center of the ring, reveling in the raucous response from the crowd. "Welcome to the finals of the 26th World Martial Arts Tournament!"

"Hope you're ready, Trunks." Goten said, "I'm not the same kid you beat here three years ago."

"Yeah?" Trunks replied in similar playful fashion, "Well I am the same kid who beat you three years ago, just a lot stronger. I've still never lost a fight, you know."

"Better say that as much as you can while it's still true." Goten retorted. Any further dialogue was cut off as Goten's introduction began.

"The two youngest fighters in the history of the public portion of our tournament everyone! A rematch of our last tournament's JUNIOR division! First! The pride of the Turtle School, he's got the pedigree of a champion, and he's out for revenge. Give it up for Son Goten!"

Goten walked out to the far side of the ring, smiling and waving at the crowd as their raucous cheers poured down. He managed to find Chi Chi in the crowd, already beside herself with a mixture of enthusiasm and what appeared to be aggression. Upon reaching his destination, he turned and looked back toward the tunnel, locking eyes with Trunks. His face quickly faded from his crowd-pleasing grin and turned to sheer determination as the Announcer introduced his opponent.

"And now! You're returning Junior Champion! The Crane School's finest! He's out to win two different divisions in as many tournaments, and he's got the skills to do it! Ladies and gentlemen, let me hear you! Introducing, Trunks Briefs!"

Trunks walked down the aisle and onto the ring directly opposite Goten, still with a cocky smile on his face, the crowd erupting all around him. When he reached his mark, the smile faded, and the noise of the crowd seemed to fade from both their ears, as they completely locked in their focus on one another.

Both fighters had shed their excess clothing; Goten no longer wore the weighted undershirt beneath his orange gi, and Trunks had forgone the aesthetics of his cape, opting to reduce his wardrobe to the more practical blue formfitting shirt. Both kept their power suppressed, but they could feel it boiling beneath the surface in one another, waiting for their signal.

Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo had spread to the four corners of the interior of the stadium, primed to deflect any errant blast up and away from the crowd. Gohan stood closer to the ring, prepared to follow the action as it went and use his superior speed to track any errant blast and, if necessary, put a stop to the action. The Announcer was to serve as the official judge, but the real authority rested in Gohan's hands.

"Fighters, ARE YOU READY?!" The Announcer boomed, driving the crowd to it's feet in anticipation of the action. In response, Goten and Trunks began steadily raising their powers toward their peaks. Each gave an affirmative nod without breaking eye contact with the other.

"Then let the final match…BEGIN!"

Neither fighter made a move, but tensed their muscles and grunted. Their hair bolted upright and glowed gold, their eyes went green, and their powers skyrocketed. They stood looking at one another, measuring their opponent before the impending engagement.

"Look's like you've got me by a little bit." Trunks said, his golden aura still pulsating around him.

Goten cracked a smile, "I wasn't gonna say anything."

Trunks relaxed, causing his hair to turn from it's bright gold color to a white blonde. His power dropped slightly, and his aura faded as his power stabilized. "But you can't do this, can you?" Trunks asked, a half smile appearing on his face, now.

"I don't know what that is," Goten replied, relaxing and allowing his aura to calm slightly, though his hair stayed it's golden color and the light off his body continued to pulsate, "You're still a Super Saiyan, but you're weaker now. You should go back to the way you were."

Trunks chuckled slightly, "Let me worry about that. You didn't do much training as a Super Saiyan did you?"

"No, Master Krillin wouldn't let me." Goten said, "I was almost always just regular, that's how you build the most strength. You should have, too, you were stronger than me when we fought last time."

"You're strong, no doubt about it." Trunks said, "But I like my chances. Whenever you're ready."

"You got it!" Goten said, and the two broke down into classic stances.

Gohan found Videl and backed over to her, keeping a close eye on the ring. "THAT'S a perfected Super Saiyan." He said, motioning toward Trunks.

"So what does that mean? Is Trunks stronger?" she asked.

"That's the weird thing, he's not. All the Super Saiyan form does is amplify whatever power you already had; perfecting the form doesn't make you stronger, it just puts you in total control so you don't waste any energy. When me and Dad learned how to do it we were already so much stronger than Vegeta and Trunks that it didn't matter, but Goten's base form is stronger than Trunks's. I don't even know what to make of this!"

Goten made the first move of the final match, sparking his power back up and charging forward with his right fist drawn back. Trunks watched as he closed in, still bent down in his crouched position, before sparking his aura back to it's golden color and firing out to meet him at the last possible moment. The two launched into a furious flurry of punches and kicks, trading evenly for a long while, before Trunks finally gave ground as Goten continued to press his assault.

Trunks held his own in the exchange, but Goten had gained the advantage, forcing Trunks to the edge of the ring and up into the air while they continued to trade blows. Feeling the need to change the momentum, Trunks took a chance and fired a wild overhand blow intended for the side of Goten's head. Goten saw the move coming, and made him pay. He spun to Trunks's left, deftly dodging the punch and forcing Trunks to overextend. With his opponent vulnerable, Goten continued his spin, raising his left leg high and, in one smooth motion, sending a full roundhouse kick directly into Trunks's back. The blow sent him firing diagonally back to the ring below, head first. Trunks free fell for quite a while, but regained control and flipped upright, and began to descend feet-first.

Goten was hot on his trail, however, intent on pressing his advantage. Trunks hit the ground and fired out to the side, and Goten crashed directly where Trunks had landed a split second before and gave chase. Trunks turned tail as if to run away as Goten sped wildly after him, quickly closing the gap. As he reached his target, he threw a devastating right hook at Trunks's head, only to wiff wildly. Trunks had regained his composure and, noticing Goten's overzealous approach, had baited the blow. At the last second, he ducked down and phased to the side, catching Goten in the same overextended position he had been caught in moments earlier.

Goten saw the blow coming, but there was little he could do to stop it. Trunks thrust his hands out and shoved Goten with all his might, emitting a massive explosion of golden light as he pushed. As a technique, it was identical to the blast he had levied against Okami; in terms of power, there was no comparison.

Goten was cleanly broadsided by the blast and sent tumbling through the air just off the arena floor. As he approached the edge, he rolled to a position parallel with the ring and descended, causing dust on the surface of the tile to billow around him as he slowed his momentum with his feet and one hand, the other stuck up behind him to regain his balance.

The crowd roared with approval at the flurry of activity, but the action didn't subside, yet. Seeing his opponent on his heels, Trunks began rapid-firing energy blasts at Goten from either hand as his slide finally came to a stop. Goten fired off the arena floor directly into the teeth of the attack, phasing in and out, dodging most of the blasts and swatting away any that were on the mark. Gohan phased into the path of the attack and collected any stray rays well before they reached the crowd.

Seeing the distance coming to a close, Trunks lessened the pace of his blasts and increased their power, switching from the machinegun push-fire method he had been using and began throwing large blasts one after another, overhanded in a windmill-like motion, in high-octane succession. Each blast carried the potential for heavy destruction.

Goten saw the change in tactic and responded accordingly. He stopped his charge and set his feet, drawing his hands to his hip as the blasts hurtled toward him. Without a word, a massive blue orb formed between his palms, and he quickly fired it into the path of Trunks's attack with a "rrrAAAAHHHH".

The wave tore through the series of blasts and careened toward Trunks, completely caught off guard by the speed the Kamehameha had been produced. Without the time to retreat or summon his own attack, Trunks was forced to try to block the wave. He set his feet and threw out his hands as the wave washed over him.

The wave engulfed Trunks's body and continued on it's path toward the crowd beyond, though significantly weakened from the brunt Trunks had taken. The blast closed in on Krillin's side of the arena, and he squared to face it head on, joined quickly by Tien and Yamcha on either side. Together, the three threw their arms out and caught it in their hands, and struggled against it's force for several seconds as Goten continued to pour energy into the attack. Finally, they gained enough control to redirect the wave and threw their hands up, turning the wave harmlessly up into the sky.

Goten finally relented on the attack and stopped to catch his breath as the smoke cleared around Trunks. Sweat was pouring from his temples, his left side burned from the brunt of Trunk's blast, and he was winded, but he was sure Trunks would be much worse for wear.

When the smoke finally cleared, his suspicions were confirmed. Unable to redirect the blast, Trunks had ducked his head and crossed his arms over his face, attempting to weather the storm. He had succeeded, but at a price. He was visibly shaking from the effort of keeping his feet while taking a Kamehameha Wave head-on, and was covered in black marks across his body. His back had developed a massive welp from swelling in the wake of Goten's kick, and his shirt was badly torn in several places. He finally dropped his arms and locked eyes with Goten. Goten wore a calm, stoic expression; Trunks a look of raw anger.

Trunks took a deep breath and calmed himself, forcing his mind to avoid slipping into the senseless rage it desperately wanted to venture into. He had clearly taken the worst of the exchange, having only landed one meaningful blow on his opponent. He noticed, however, that Goten was breathing just as heavily as he was. Goten was extremely powerful, but stamina was clearly becoming an issue for him; in terms of conditioning and control, Trunks was clearly superior. Fighting head-on was not an option; he had tried several times in the exchange to spike his attacks at opportune times, but Goten always reached into the well and found enough energy to neutralize his strikes. His one success had come by outsmarting his opponent; that would have to be the key, he reasoned.

Goten was strategizing as well. Trunks was strong, but not nearly strong enough to match him in a brawl or beam struggle. His tenacity had paid off, too: the Kamehameha Wave he had worked so hard to set up had significantly weakened Trunks, and though it had come at a high price to his own energy, another blast might be enough to keep his opponent down for good. No doubt Trunks would resort to more traps and odd strategies, but he was clearly winning thus far. He was tiring, but had not nearly reached his limit. If he kept his head about him, the fight was his.

The crowd erupted at the temporary cease-fire, anxious to let their approval be heard. Chi Chi and Bulma had slipped into hysteria, giving 18 all she could handle to keep them apart. Piccolo, the only ringside protector to not be involved in the action thus far, stood with his arms cross, taking in every move the two fighters made, judging them meticulously.

As the Announcer egged the crowd on to a fever-pitch, Goten and Trunks wordlessly collapsed back into their stances and prepared for another round.