Trip to the past

Chapter 12: Confrontation

After the match Yamcha, Krillin, Goku and I were standing together. Yamcha and Krillin were busy speculating about who would win the finals and how the fight would go. Goku was spending his time getting me completely worked up for our match, not that that was really necessary, I was anxious enough as it is.

"And then I'd use the Kamehameha wave. Do you know an energy attack? Maybe you can try the Kamehameha wave too?" Goku said. He was talking so fast I had trouble keeping up. It didn't seem to cross his mind that most people needed a lot of training to master the Kamehameha wave.

Just at the moment that Goku took a deep breath to continue his monologue, Master Roshi interrupted. He had gotten rid of his wig and had put his glasses back on. Apparently his Jackie Chun disguise wasn't needed anymore, thanks to me.

"Oh, hello Master Roshi? What are you doing here?" Goku asked.

"Well, I thought I should wish you luck for the final match Goku. And tell you all that you did great in the tournament. I never expected you to make the finals," Master Roshi said, glancing at me when he spoke that final sentence.

"Thanks Master Roshi! I'll try my best!" Goku said.

"I'm sure Goku will win. I mean, no offense Goten, but Goku is just the best," Krillin said, sounding confident that Goku would wipe the floor with me. In the future dad could win, but not when he was twelve.

"I don't know Krillin, Goten looked pretty strong to me. I don't think I could've beaten Jackie Chun like that," Goku said. That was strange, my father was usually more confident. Maybe he could already see that I was stronger than him. Could he already sense ki at some level? Or perhaps he was just being modest.

"Well anyway, we'll know it pretty soon. The final match was supposed to start after a break of twenty minutes right?" I said.

"Goten, there was something I wanted to ask of you," Master Roshi suddenly said.

"Oh.. um, what is it?" I said reluctantly. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like his question at all. The small frown on Master Roshi's face didn't help that restless feeling at all.

"Well, I wondered how you managed to block Jackie Chun's Kamehameha wave? I invented that move and I'd like to know how you did it. I have seen it deflected before, but never have I seen it blocked with someone's bare hands," Master Roshi explained.

I was right, I didn't like this question. Just when everything was going smoothly something had to go wrong. I never got any rest, instead of invasive aliens I now got an annoyingly curious old man. Now I had to think of a good excuse real fast.

"Uh… Well, you see, I'm not really sure myself," I stuttered. Great, what a defence, I should become a lawyer. I took a deep breath and tried again. Trying not to notice everyone incredulous facial expressions at my statement.

"I mean, I wanted to dodge the attack, but I was too late. So I just threw up my hands in reflex. I guess his attack wasn't really that strong, he probably hadn't fully mastered it yet. If you used the move on me I probably wouldn't come out of it unscathed," I explained, this time successfully.

The last piece of my explanation wasn't true of course, and Master Roshi knew this. But as long as the others were near he couldn't inquire about it. The only problem was that he would be even more suspicious of me now. I'd have to make an effort to avoid Master Roshi for the time being. I couldn't risk running into him while I was alone. That could be disastrous. If I had to tell anyone who I really was, it would definitely be my father.

"Wow, I guess you got really lucky then?" Goku said. At least Goku believed me without question. Sometimes it was a good thing he was so naïve.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I won't beat you in the finals," I said, glad that I managed to escape the suspicions for now.

"One more thing Goten," Master Roshi suddenly said.

You have got to be kidding me. More questions? I was almost afraid to ask what it was. I could hardly say that I wouldn't answer. That was probably the most suspicious thing I could do besides telling the truth. I could only hope this question was easier to avoid than the last one.

"It's all right, I don't mind helping the great Master Roshi," I said, wincing when I noticed the slightest hint of sarcasm slipping into my voice. My words projected the opposite of my thoughts, answering Master Roshi honestly was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment.

"I was wondering how you blew Jackie Chun out of the ring? One moment he was attacking and the next he was crashing into the crowd. It all happened very fast, so I'm not sure what happened," Master Roshi asked.

"I was wondering about that too actually. Did you use some kind of energy wave on him?" Yamcha suddenly asked.

Great, now I had two people asking me questions. I would be lucky if I could keep my secret until the end of the day.

"Actually, um, I don't know how to use energy attacks. I don't use them at all. I'm not really sure how he got blown out of the ring. I think it had to do with the recoil of his attack getting broken," I slowly explained, a nervous laugh at the end. Even though it didn't come out very fluently, at least this excuse was perfectly believable. Except for, of course, Master Roshi.

Maybe, if I was very lucky, I could convince him that I wasn't aware that I had hidden powers. That I only got more power when I was in danger. After all, I used to be like that, way back before Raditz came to Earth and Piccolo started to train me. That thought died away however when I saw Master Roshi's piercing stare. I didn't even know it was possible to glare at a person while you had sunglasses on. Somehow though, Master Roshi managed.

I was quite used to being glared at. Most of the time Vegeta, but sometimes also mom, or even Bulma if she was in a bad mood. But when they glared at me it was with the promise of punishment, or in Vegeta's case, pain. Master Roshi's glare, however, was different. It was a glare that seemed to be picking me apart, analysing my every movement. I wished that I was a better liar, so I could fool the old man. But neither me nor my father ever were good liars. And Master Roshi has had about three hundred years to learn how to recognize a liar.

After watching me for a couple more moments Master Roshi eased up. For once I hoped he would go back to his perverted pastimes and left me alone.

"Well, that makes sense. Too bad, it would've been awesome if you had really blown him out of the ring, but I should've known. You're not that good after all," Krillin said. It made me look at him weird, he was different from the Krillin I knew. They were alike, but this Krillin sometimes made a couple rude remarks. It actually made me kind of sad. Krillin had always been one of my best friends, and to hear him talk like that to me, it hurt. But I couldn't really blame him, he didn't know me that well, and he told me once in the future that he used to be a pretty mean kid before he met my dad.

"Well, maybe, but I'm sure I can give Goku a good challenge at the very least," I said, slightly offended.

"Huh?" was Goku's only response. Apparently he hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation.

Yamcha and him were talking to a group of girls who had come to see the finalists. Yamcha was of course trying to impress them. But next to Goku who was just looking around innocently, he didn't really stand a chance. Goku's 'cute act' was much more effective than Yamcha's tough boy act. It was good to see that that hadn't changed a bit over time. Then I got a good idea to rid me of Master Roshi's questioning for the time being. Up until now I had been able to come up with good excuses, but my luck was bound to run out sometime. Better to avoid it altogether.

"Master Roshi, do you think maybe those girls would be interested in meeting the famous Turtle Hermit?" I asked, pointing at the girls in question. I there was one thing I had learned during my various stays on Master Roshi's island then it was the fact that he was obsessed by young girls. I did get his attention, and as predicted he immediately ran over to them. I was free, for now.

"Hey, where'd Master Roshi go?" Goku asked, apparently he had gotten tired of the girls and had wandered back over to us. I just pointed at him in answer.

"Can Goten and Goku please come to the ring?" I heard the announcer yell.

"Huh, that's weird, it's still five minutes until the match is supposed to start," I said, slightly confused.

"Doesn't matter, I want to fight now!" Goku said loudly, pulling me along with him towards the ring. When we arrived there however it became clear we weren't going to be fighting just yet. The announcer wanted to interview us.

"So boys, you are our youngest finalists ever, but exactly how old are you?" he asked us. Goku seemed to need some time t think about his answer so I told him first.

"I'm eleven, but I'll be twelve in a few weeks," I said. I actually was already twelve, but to keep my birthday on the same day it would be easier to pretend I was eleven.

"I'm twelve," Goku said.

"Wow people, did you hear that? Our finalists are only eleven and twelve years of age! This certainly is a new record!"

I laughed awkwardly when the people cheered but Goku just ignored them. He seemed to be trying to figure out how the microphone made his voice so loud.

"Goku, you're a student of Master Roshi, right?" the announcer asked.

"Yes, Krillin is too," Goku answered.

"Alright, can you tell us something about his training? It's supposed to be really special. And it has to be to make you so strong."

"Oh, it's not that special. First we have pre-morning training, then we have morning training, then we eat lunch. Um, what's next? Oh yeah, then we have early afternoon training, next is-" Goku talked, unaware of the crowd's amusement.

"That's nice Goku, but I think we get it now," the announcer quickly interrupted, realising he wasn't going to get a clear answer.

I could hear Goku mutter that he wasn't finished yet, he looked so funny when he was frowning.

"And you Goten, who was your teacher?" the announcer asked curiously.

"Well my father actually, but he wasn't really famous. I learned to fight mostly through experience," I said, hoping it was believable enough. I didn't want any more difficult questions for the rest of the day.

"Alright, one final question for the both of you then. Who do you think will win the final fight?" he asked us.

"I will win," we both said at the same time. Then we laughed at each other.

"Well, I think we can all agree that it's certainly going to be a great match!" the announcer shouted in his microphone.

Goku and I looked at each other I anticipation.

"Let the finals of the twenty-first World Martial Arts Tournament begin!"


This took way too long, but I got it done. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. You're all probably very excited about the next chapter(I would be), but there's a small problem. Starting on Friday I'll be on vacation for a week, so I won't post any new chapters until the seventeenth at the earliest. I'm sorry for all of you who have trouble waiting. For the readers of my other story, they'll also have to wait a while longer.

I didn't get as much reviews for the last chapter, in case that one wasn't good enough, I hope this one makes up for it. Please review, it might give me new inspiration to write.