Defenders of Sol
Chapter 11: On the Brink of War Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, or Dragon Ball Z. That belongs to Akira Toriyama. All of the original characters in this fanfiction belong to either me, or the selected users found on chapter 1 and the prologue. Please support the official release.

Note: My writing style may change a bit, so don't be surprised if everything seems a bit… off. So I suggest you all reset your expectations and enjoy the last chapter of the arc!


Chapter 11:

"Now we're on to the semi-finals of the Tenkaichi Budokai! Judging by how well the contestants performed in the previous rounds, what we will see next may boost that high-paced action 10 fold! Next up we have the child of a world-renowned fighter Ryal, up against the powerful robotic-armed lady Sheryl! May the fighters please enter the ring!"

Those words rang through the blond man's ears like loud doorbell. The only thing worse was the constantly cheering crowd, as if it were necessary to scream at the top of your lungs about a couple of people stepping onto a platform. If only this tournament can lack the audience, and lack the dragon ball on the line. The last thing he needed was an asshole that would win the damn thing and take the dragon ball home only to be murdered a day later by the Cranes who would snatch the thing and high-tail it out of there.

Of course, who would have thought that this kind of thing was hidden from the entire public? How can everyone not know that an all-out galactic war is spreading right under their noses? Perhaps there's something he has yet to discover that would explain that.

The tall warrior travelled to the side of the ring, and planted his left foot on top of the platform, pushing himself up onto the tile floor. Ryal lifted his head to see his opponent waiting for him to take his position on the ring, and receive the announcer's call for the match. The lad wasn't very fond of this match since there was something huge on the line now. Not to mention, the crowd's endless cries. Thank goodness he was gifted by growing up in the middle of nowhere.

"I see you're still up and kicking. So how's it coming along being a bandit? You know, the fun times you get for attacking random people that pass by." Ryal questioned the woman, speaking to her without giving it much thought.

Sheryl's face remained unchanged as the remark left the young fighter's mouth. His sense of humour didn't seem to really affect her, nor did she take it negatively, but merely acknowledged his statement. "As expected of you to show such confidence in your abilities. I'll make sure I'll rub your face into the dirt this time, and hear my name be called into the finals while your groupies can cry about whatever the fuck you're going on about."

Ryal simply chuckled in response to her retort, all too familiar to her condescending nature. Maybe having a rematch with this woman would be worth it. He never minded a little bit of "seizing each other up" before getting into the heat of battle. Hell, the audience's mind-numbing shouts get drifted into small play when the fight begins. That's when instinct kicks in and your five senses become enveloped into the match.

"Well, all I can really say is good luck. We're here to simply compete, am I right?" Ryal pointed out, which was partially a lie considering the staff's ridiculous decision of introducing a dragon ball to add to the rewards with bandits and people plotting to let the world die from an alien invasion competing, which meant that Ryal now has another reason to be there.

Sheryl was taken back slightly from his comment, somewhat surprised to hear mutual respect towards a person like herself. It was odd, and she can't recall the last time a person complimented her without being forced to. She remained steady however, and kept her emotions hidden from her physical attitude.

"Now let the match begin!"

Now it's time.

Much like the previous match, Ryal displayed a softer style as opposed to Sheryl's harder style. She had her fists clenched together like a rock, and her stance seemed very offensive. There was a difference between her style of fighting that stands out from other hard styles, and that was her lack of conservatism and displayed an enormous amount of experience. This was unique, and rare to find in hard styles.

Neither fighter moved from their position, oddly enough. Despite the bandit's fighting stance being designed for an attack, she didn't move her position. Did she have something in mind?

Soon enough, his opponent started the brawl off with a quick energy wave. Ryal quickly side stepped the attack, only to find out the Sheryl had disappeared.

Suddenly, the blond fighter jolted forward from a bone-shattering high side kick, tumbling straight to the ground beneath him. Ryal instantly rolled over onto his back and leaped up to his feet. He raised an eyebrow at her, unable to see why she was using an offensive stance just a few seconds ago.

A grin formed on her face as she watched the young man raise his brow, "Moron, I thought even you wouldn't fall for that."

Well there it is, she toyed with him just for that brief moment and read him like a book. How she can spot his weaknesses like that is far beyond him.

Ryal gritted his teeth, but refrained himself from charging forward. He knew well that doing that was simply repeating a mistake that Celeria made, which was attack and pray.

So the warrior immediately shot a ki blast at the ground in front of himself, shooting up dust that kicked up at the robotic armed fighter. Using the quick time he has available, he shot himself forward and fired an elbow strike towards her nose, landing successfully. She was knocked back by the hit, stumbling back from the power. Ryal followed up with a hooking kick and aimed for the side of the head, which Sheryl ducked under successfully. Sheryl then countered with a quick jab, and Ryal swayed his head to the side of her fist, returning with a palm strike to her chin. The bandit was fired back from the strike, though threw her feet up which caught Ryal's chin, causing him to jolt back from the hit.

Upon being hit by the palm strike, Sheryl was sent flying, though she managed to touch the ground with her hands and propel herself a few feet into the air, just enough to land back on her feet. Immediately, she rushed back at Ryal to quickly close the gap, and threw a barrage of punches directed towards Ryal's face.

The male fighter managed to move out of the way of the incoming punches, only catching few of the incoming strikes with glancing blows, barely even fazing the defending fighter. Ryal then caught weakness of Sheryl's assault, and delivered a rapid series of front kicks to her mid-section area, and landing a final blow to her stomach with a turn side kick, sending his opponent flying back several feet. Sheryl was unable to recover, and hit the ground like a rock.

Ryal didn't let a second go to waste and leaped right over to Sheryl, though she immediately jumped to her feet. Once the 2 fighters were within melee distance, Ryal shot a roundhouse kick towards her head, only to find his opponent ducked right underneath the kick. Sheryl pressed her hands on the ground to maintain her balance as she bent backwards to the point where her head was almost touching the ground. She launched a high lifting kick towards Ryal's chest, sending the blond lad vertical into the sky.

Sheryl then bent herself forward and kept a steady eye on Ryal as he was fired into the air, and jumped off after the combatant. Within a fraction of a moment, the 2 warriors were already dozens of feet into the air, and Sheryl was already at Ryal's level of altitude. The tall man was already recovered at this point, and shot into his fighting stance the instant he spotted Sheryl next to him, only to find her wearing an evil smile on her lips, as if she had achieved something great.

Ryal quickly realized that this was no time for thinking, but only fighting. He launched a barrage of kicks and punches, mostly made of up of simple straight punches and front kicks, occasionally pulling off a roundhouse or twisting kick to catch her off guard. The scar-faced woman seems to have dodged these strikes with ease, causing Ryal to only try harder as they fought in mid-flight.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you suck at flying?" Sheryl questioned him; dodging each passing punch or kick may it be close or far off. None of them seemed to even faze her as some of them even brushed against her hair.

Instantly, Ryal halted his assault after hearing Sheryl's question, taking in the thought of his poor flight abilities.

"Shit, she found out about that too?" Ryal thought.

Ryal immediately began to fly back to the ground as soon as he possibly could, but received an incoming axe kick to the top of his head, ultimately sending the fighter head first to the ground like a meteorite. Upon landing, the blond warrior ricocheted off of the tile floor and fell again, this time keeping him on the ground. Moments later, Sheryl came in and landed a few feet away from him, expecting to win by knock out. Ryal didn't seem to be moving a muscle.

Finally, she got him back after 4 months. The sensation of being victorious over the damned man was at last, finally come. Halleluiah it's over, and now she can proudly state that everyone she had ever encountered her in a fight, ended up losing in the end. He was a tough bastard too, and plagued her mind for months after he taught her that "lesson." like it actually meant something. To her eyes, it's all bullshit, and didn't mean a single thing. You live to win, and losers get the wrong end of the deal.

Yet she saw it happen.

That man got up again, just like he did months ago. Even if all of his bones were broken, he still got up. When will this guy just lose already? I've fought Saiya-jin veterans that don't have the kind of skin he does. Is he even human?

Ryal slowly but steadily climbed up to his feet, heavily damaged from the previous kick and the landing. He stared Sheryl straight in the eye after regaining his posture, and mercy clearly didn't show in those eyes.

"…You honestly think I'm done after a hit like that?" He questioned her in a lower, more serious tone. Blood spilled down from the bottom of his bangs, and ran down the right side of his face. He stared her down in a menacing way that acted like a totally different animal.

"My father would be disappointed in me if I was defeated like that, because he trained me to become the best fighter to could ever be… So I won't go down yet, not by a long shot!" Ryal exclaimed, sliding into his fighting stance.

Sheryl charged forward without word, with the space between the two fighters waning rapidly. She launched forward, and threw several punches comprised of hooks, uppercuts and straight punches. Ryal rolled along with the punch, managing move out of the way of many. Soon enough he threw off his own strikes towards her direction, directed at various points of the body.

The female bandit halted her assault of punches and shot a front kick towards the man's direction. Ryal leaned back to avoid the incoming kick, and countered by launching a front leg side kick to her mid-section. Sheryl caught the blow and doubled over from the strike, indicating Ryal to lean forward and fire off a forearm inward strike to the jaw. Sheryl caught the blow using her own arm to minimize the damage, and follow up with a swift reverse roundhouse kick, planting her foot successfully on the male's cheek. Ryal was blown back far from the kick, but ricocheted himself high into the air.

Oh how familiar this was, giving Ryal the feeling of advantage. It was this moment he realised that he needed to do better, which was exactly was he did back then. It was possible then, and it's possible now.

As Ryal was boosted into the air, he folded his left hand firmly over top of his right, and positioned his hands at his hips. The blond warrior began to focus his ki into his palms. As seconds went by, his hands began to glow in a red aura. Soon enough, petit sparks of red lightning emitted from the point where he focused his ki, which grew in power consistently.

He was ready. Let's see how this woman can handle another one of these.

"Reddo… KYANON!"

Ryal shot his hands forward out in front of him, which was facing towards Sheryl's spot on the ring. A large, red ball of energy formed in front of the warrior's palms. Seconds later, an energy wave shot out of the large ball that Ryal created, spiraling down towards the small figure that is the bandit herself.

Sheryl smiled at his attempt to defeat her using such a technique. Did he honestly think that she would repeat the same mistake that plagued her for months?

The scar-faced female leaped into high into the air faster than the speed of sound, avoiding the explosion of the attack by a hair. Smoke kicked up from the impact, which practically covered the entire ring with debris reached dozens of feet into the air.

Sheryl immediately rushed in on her opponent, using her full might to take the man down before he can fully recover from his own attack. A fraction of a second passed, and Sheryl was already above Ryal, almost within melee range.

"That'll never work on me fool! I'd never make that mistake twice!" The female fighter screamed as she attempted to fire a hammer fist to his head.

Ryal simply smirked from her reckless charge, and raised his head to bring her his full attention, "Who said I was trying to pull off the same stunt?"

Suddenly, another energy wave fired straight out of the large red orb that Ryal formed himself to attack Sheryl, though this time fired upwards, directed at his current opponent. The scar faced fighter got caught off guard right then and there, and another explosion took place. This indicated Ryal to minimize the red ball of energy that he formed and covered his own face to protect himself from the point blank explosion.

Of course, his father wasn't a fool when it came to creating techniques. Who would have thought that the Reddo Kyanon can fire several beams at once?

Ryal quickly flew to the other side of the air space directly above the ring, giving himself at least a thirty foot distance between the two brawlers, and waited for the smoke to dissipate into the air.

Seconds passed slowly, with each one being apparent and clear. The explosion finally let off, revealing Sheryl covered in even more scratches and bruises than she already was beforehand. What seemed strange though, was the smile that was placed on her lips.

"After taking a hit like that… She's still smiling?"

"We're both flying again… How convenient!" Sheryl exclaimed.

Ryal's eyes widened, and his pupils shrunk from listening to her claim. Reluctantly, Ryal trailed his eyes towards the ground beneath himself.

They must have been at least 50 feet into the air. Damn, that was the last thing he needed. He should have landed on the ring when he had the chance.

Ryal brought his eyes back to his opponent, only to discover that she was merely inches away from him.

She brought both of her hands together, and landed a double hammer fist to the top of his head, which sent the fighter crashing to the ground.

Only this time, he landed outside of the ring.

"Sheryl wins by ring out! She will be advancing to the finals!"

"I want you to go and avenge our friends. They're seeking for the dragon balls without fail, and they need to stop, and be brought to justice. I strongly believe you're the only one who could pull it off."

Those words rummaged through his head, which pretty much concluded that he failed. He wasn't capable of pulling it off himself. He just lost to a woman whom he had less trouble with than fighting with Eton. How was he of all people suppose stop the Cranes from hunting the down the dragon balls and use it for themselves? Let alone protect the Earth from a bunch of aliens.

He was a mere human, gifted or not. Saiya-jins have more fighting potential, Namekian's have more potential, even Kento managed to achieve something that took Ryal years to do. What's the point in trying when you just failed what he had practically promised to do? Not only is he incapable of keeping the planet safe, or even coming close to stopping what the Cranes desire, he wasn't a good friend either. What kind of person makes a promise that is outside their own reach? He literally told a lie to his friend. Actually, his best friend for that matter.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars…And what do you do if you miss? You shoot again."

That's it; you get up and keep going even if you miss. Missing in itself can help a person grow. Whether he'd fail what he trained months for, or lacking the capabilities to do something that is mandatory for the survival of the human race, or even failing to keep a promise with a friend. What matters, is you fight for improvement, and eventually achieve the things that have yet to be achieved.

"That's what my father would tell me right about now."

Ryal slowly picked himself up from where he landed, standing upright before turning his head towards the ring.

It appeared to be empty.

The young warrior sighed and turned towards the roof of the temple and dragged his feet towards it. Once he was up against the wall, he leaped up onto the roof and sat down next to Kento, who seemed to have a wide grin on his face. Questioningly, Ryal gave him an odd look.

"What's up, Kento?"

"That was an amazing fight! That's what!" The Kamesennin student exclaimed.

Ryal's eyes opened up a little upon hearing his friend cheer for him, even though he was defeated. Of course, his friend was well known for constantly being astonished by practically everything he did. It wasn't much of a surprise now that he realised it. Unfortunately though, that doesn't change the raw facts.

"So what? I still lost, and our chances of collecting the dragon balls have gone much lower." He responded harshly, fully understanding the reason behind such a thing. It was the only way to keep the Earth safe sufficiently.

Kento let out a sigh and laid back down on the rooftop, resting his head on top of the palm of his hands, "Well I didn't think of that. We still have Zejuto though, right?"

The kid? He wasn't even close to Eton's level. If Zarx had difficulty landing a single hit on him, who in their right mind would think that Zejuto can somehow win? Not to mention, he would have to fight Sheryl even if he did somehow win. The only people that would think otherwise are ignorant!

"He doesn't have a chance. He's weaker than all of us; even his sister is stronger."

Kento simply shrugged in response, "Let's just wake him up anyways, he needs to prepare for his next fight anyway."

"More like get his ass handed to him." Ryal thought. Judging by what he did to Zarx, he either held back a lot when he fought the blond warrior, or managed to become immensely stronger. Perhaps both.

Reluctantly, Ryal shook the teen Saiya-jin awake, causing him to yawn and stretch his arms and legs. He slowly sat up and rubbed his left eye, adjusting to the sunlight that hit his eyes as he looked around. Eventually he noticed the blood that practically covered the side of Ryal's face, raising a brow in reaction to his appearance.

"Ryal, did you already fight?" He asked.

The blond fighter gave him a small nod, "Yup, now it's your turn to fight."

Without question, the young Saiya-jin leaped up to his feet and began to stroll off towards the ring, "Well, wish me luck then."

- 5 minutes later –

Zejuto was already doing his stretches in preparation to the match on the ring, making sure he was completely prepared to have what will be likely to be the toughest fight he will ever have up until that point in his life. He stretched his legs, arms, back, neck – you name it.

Eton had beaten both Ryal and Zarx at this point, which is turning him into a nerve wreck. He wasn't sure how well he'd fare, but one thing is for certain. He stood no chance against Eton. That guy was like a tank; forget about his sheer power and speed. He left his battles, looking like he didn't even break a sweat. Even worse, he didn't show much mercy.

At the same time, he was pumped to have the chance to fight a fighter with far more experience, strength, speed, stamina, and even technique. Fighting was… no. Fighting is a huge part of his life. Whether the person he's up against is 10 times stronger than the absolute pinnacle of his abilities, or simply on his own level of strength, Zejuto will never decline the chance to engage in battle. To him, a fight is a living entity of itself. It begins, and it ends. It has its climaxes, it has its ups and downs, and lastly, it has its results.

The full blood Saiya-jin finished off his stretches by rotating his hips both ways, and shaking his legs around before jumping up and down a couple of times just to make sure he was nice and loose. Zejuto turned to see the other end of the ring, and grinned when he saw Eton had already positioned himself on the other side of the ring. It won't last long, but he'll sure give the guy a run for his money.

The announcer took his position on the sidelines, with a microphone in hand. It looks like the match is just about to begin.

"Let the match begin!"

It was just how he predicted it.

Zejuto was the first to make his charge, letting out his biggest war cry as he ran after the demi Saiya-jin. When the teen reached within striking distance, he threw his first punch towards the man's gut. Instantly, Eton had jumped right out of the way of the punch, as expected.

Zejuto zipped his body around to see Eton land a few feet away, and fire off a strong gust of wind powered by his ki. The teen threw his arms up in the form of an 'X' to remain steady in the strong wind. Cries from the audience behind him let out screams from the sheer power of this man. Surely he was a true warrior let it be good or bad.

Zejuto slowly brought both of his palms forward, facing them in the direction of Eton. He then fired off a yellow energy wave directed at his current opponent, whom dashed off to the side just in the neck of time. Rapidly, Zejuto persisted after him and followed up with a jumping turn side kick towards the skull, which was blocked firmly by Eton. The young fighter didn't stop there however.

He quickly flipped over the man after committing his kick, and landed inches behind him. Zejuto then drove a full power upset bunch dead centre into his back, forcing Eton to arch his back from the impact. Before he could follow up with another strike though, Eton forced an elbow strike towards Zejuto's forehead, making him tumble to the ground in the aftermath.

Quickly, Zejuto tried to get right back to his feet, but Eton clenched his hand around the teen's hair. Zejuto gritted his teeth in pain as he was grabbed by the man, letting out shouts and screams whilst being lifted off the ground by his hair.

"Bastard! Why are you grabbing my hair!?" Zejuto screamed, throwing kicks and punches while flailing around.

Eton, who appeared to be taking the hits head on without fazing much started to walk towards the edge of the ring. Once he reached the grass area, he simply tossed Zejuto onto the grass, ultimately winning by ringout.

"Because I haven't got the time to play around with you." The man responded before turning around to leave.

"It appears Eton advances into the finals by ring out!" The announcer exclaimed, earning a crowd erupting in applause, though there were plenty of boo's as well due to the short-lived fight.

Ryal and Kento sighed in relief simultaneously, simply glad to see that Zejuto ended up in the path of the best case scenario. He didn't lose a limb, get impaled, knocked out, or even bleed a little! What a miracle.

Disappointingly, Zejuto ended up arriving on the rooftop within moments after his loss. He looked as if their whole trip had gone to waste, and going there in the first place was simply redundant and well, useless.

"Can we go home now? I'm bored." Zejuto whined, crossing his arms whilst carrying a disgusted look.

"No." Kento and Ryal answered in unison.

- Meanwhile –

Another break time was allotted for the time being before the finals were to be executed, so Eton went on to the open area outside of the temple grounds to meet up with his former guardian for the trip. He wasn't there to have fun or anything, or whatever it was. He was to be the man carrying out the objective strangely enough. Usually there were people to do that for the headmaster, but it looks like they want this to be done peacefully. Eton was the best man to carry this out, for the simple reason of winning the tournament to earn the prizes.

The Crane fighters are generally sent out to do objectives like these to gain power, whilst Eton himself would go around and supervise them. Others see it has, "Eton is just there to lick the sensei's boots" or whatnot, but he never cared for such a thing. He was there to simply do his job, nothing more, nothing less.

The man arrived at the outer walls of the temple, and leaned up against the wall. He should be here any moment now. There were a bit of news to be informed, which may change the plans a little bit.

As expected, the old man arrived with a couple of groupies tagging along to ensure his own defense of course.

"Master, I have acquired news regarding the rebellious Namek." Eton stated formally.

The old man halted his troops to where they stood before he strolled over beside Eton, "And what may that be?"

"The Namek recruited a few allies, evident through their positions on a particular location on the rooftop of the temple. They are known as Ryal, Celeria, Zejuto, and Kento. Zarx is the Namekian, and anything else is unknown due to little or no evidence. Their last names can be recovered by looking through the tournament records. Note that some of these people are identified as Saiya-jins or trained by legendary fighters. I don't recommend sending our lower class fighters to carry out a mission if implemented." Eton explained thoroughly, making sure he even added a few factors into this situation. The demi Saiya-jin knew well that his master loved hearing details.

The old man bit his lip as his thought process began, planning out his next move.

"Who are you up against next?" He asked.

"I believe it is a woman named Sheryl, sir." Eton replied.

"Is she in any way associated with the ones you just mentioned beforehand?"

Eton took a moment to think about the recent question. Judging by the fight, they did have a previous encounter according to the directional microphone. So the demi Saiya-jin simply nodded his head, "Yes sir."

"Alright, kill her on stage quickly and take the dragon ball. We don't want to risk another possible rebel." The old Crane master directed before he began to stroll off.

"But sir… I thought you said it was supposed to be peaceful?" Eton questioned him.

The old geezer turned around and set a glare at him, "Are you questioning me?"

Eton stood silent, but merely acknowledged his rhetorical question.

The old master sighed and turned his back on the half Saiya-jin, "Looks like we'll have to take you to the doctor's office and give you another shot." The man muttered. Eton simply rolled his eyes at the man as he walked off. He never understood why he was given shots on a weekly bases. They were nano machines which were usually used to enhance a person's physical abilities, but they only seem to mutter on about it was when he questioned his master's decision, which he does rarely. Do his actions with those higher in the Crane hierarchy have to associate with his own physical abilities? Surely not. Perhaps he should maybe, do an experiment at some point.

The highly skilled fighter simply dropped the idea in mind and went over to the ring in preparation for the next objective in mind. It was straightforward, so it didn't really bother him. Killing was easy, and so was stealing. The only difference there was of course, is the fact that a whole crowd gets to see it happen.

- 20 minutes later –

"Will the finalists Sheryl and Eton please enter the ring!"

There we go, looks like break time is over. Now she can win the money and go home. Her name will be planted everywhere in the city and everyone will know her for being a world renowned fighter. She'll be filthy rich, and her next mission may end up battling extra-terrestrial life. After all, who is there to win against once she wins the world tournament? Maybe the name Sheryl Han will be known across the entire galaxy! Maybe even the entire universe! Why not? A mere human like her wouldn't win against Saiya-jins, aliens, gifted fighters, but she did in fact, beat them! So if she is capable of defeating opponents far above the level of a normal human, why not the most powerful in the galaxy, or the universe?

Sheryl was a dreamer, and loved to dream about big things. "It's only a dream." They said. So she's making this a reality, and she's making progress. Only one more to go before she goes out to kick the living ass out of aliens!

The woman began to take her place in the ring, and face off against the last one who opposes her. Apparently this man was supposed to be something else, but hearing this was common. To her, it didn't mean anything. What mattered was what you actually did.

"Oi, Sheryl."

She turned her head around to see the same blond kid with the pony tail. It looks like he dried the blood off of his face so he doesn't get a reaction. Figures, the crowd can be a bother.

"What is it?" She said gruffly.

"Whatever you do, don't lose to him. I don't care how you win, just don't let him." Ryal insisted in a stern voice.

"I don't plan on it." She responded flatly before turning back to Eton. "Geez, what's his problem?" the scar-faced bandit thought.

"Let the fight begin!" The announcer cheered.

The announcer gave the call, and Eton didn't waste a single second. He raised a finger, and fired off a thin beam, yellow in colour. The beam travelled at breath-taking speed, making the speed of a bullet move like a snail in comparison.

Sheryl wasn't even in her fighting stance, and the beam fired through her stomach, causing her eyes to widen at the sudden attack. She couldn't even witness it before she got impaled.

Then the first second had ticked away.

Sheryl spat blood onto the ground and fell over unconscious, immediately causing the audience to erupt into complaint and cries of grievance and hate. Eton turned his head to the announcer, aiming his finger at the man.

"Give me the dragon ball."

Ryal turned around to see what unfolded, widening his eyes by the scene displaying before his eyes. Instantly, the blond fighter rushed over to the announcer, who seemed to have turned blue from the sheer intimidation of the man. He couldn't blame the poor guy either.

The fighter rushed in front of the announcer, and held his arms out.

"I can't let you do that." Ryal stated firmly, setting his eyes on the Crane pupil before him.

"Move out of the way, or I'll be forced to kill you…."

"Just kill him, Eton. He is a rebel" A voice intervened from behind the Crane fighter.

Eton turned his head to see his former master walk onto the tile ring, "…Master?"

"Kill him."

"No! I won't let you do such a thing!" Celeria interrupted, running in front of Ryal. The taller combatant drifted his eyes towards the shorter girl that stood directly in front of him.

"C-Celeria?"

"None of you are gonna lay your rotten hands on the dragon ball!" Kento shouted, running onto the tile ring, followed by Zejuto who ran directly behind him.

"I.. I don't even have the dragon ball!" The announcer exclaimed to defend his position, aiming to avoid such a conflict.

Ryal immediately turned his head towards the announcer, "Do you know where it is?"

"I have no clue! The staff has it!"

"Scumbag! I thought you were supposed to have it ready for the end of the battle!" The old master spat before turning towards Eton.

"Eton! Find the damn ball!" The master insisted.

Eton nodded at the man's request, "Yes sir."

"Zejuto, Kento, take her body and get out of here! Zejuto, show Kento the way out of here. We'll meet up with you." Ryal demanded desperately before turning towards Celeria who stood right beside him.

"Celeria, come with me."

She nodded without a question and waited for him to make his move. Ryal didn't waste a single second and immediately ran towards the temple's staff area. Upon entrance, he found several people inside working on their errands. The tall fighter didn't know what they were doing, nor did he really care either. All that was on mind was the dragon ball.

The blond lad tapped a one of the staff people on the back, which led to the man turning around to see Ryal and Celeria directly.

"May I help you?" The man asked.

"Do you have any clue on the whereabouts' of the dragon ball?"

"It was stolen by the green guy a while back. We couldn't retrieve it so we were punished for it by doing work after hours."

Ryal sighed in relief upon listening to the man speak his words. What a guy Zarx was, thank goodness for what he did.

"Thanks for telling us sir." Ryal finished before barging out of the exit followed by Celeria, not even giving the man a chance to reply.

"Ugh, kids are crazy these days." The middle aged man muttered under his breath, continuing his errands.

- 30 minutes later –

Zarx was found lying up against tree, staring off into the sunset that peaked over the vast ocean. Kento and Zejuto were already resting on the ground with Sheryl lying unconscious, though treated thankfully. Her wounds were covered up from where she was impaled just half an hour ago.

Ryal spotted the group of fighters at their meet up location, "There, everyone's together now." Ryal said under his breath. Celeria appeared to be silent throughout the whole ordeal. However, she actually spoke this time.

"Well, everyone is still around. Nobody really died or anything!" She exclaimed, trying to cheer up Ryal who was in a sour mood for being stressed out. He simply smiled from her statement, "Yeah, I think this tournament benefited us if anything." He added.

Zejuto jumped to his feet once he saw the last two fighters approached the scene, and stretched his limbs around to adjust his body, "There, everyone is here. So what do we do now, Zarx?"

The Namekian raised his head from under the tree, trailing his eyes across all of the fighters, also acknowledging the single boat they had. The man had a plan, though it wasn't time to execute it. It wasn't the right time yet.

"We'll head home and take continue our regular routine for a week. After that, it'll be time for us to lead the rebellion. We shall be going on a full search for the remaining dragon balls."


End of Chapter 11.

End of first arc.

There we have it folks! I shall now present the current battle levels for this arc. So what do you guys think so far? Leave it in a review below and have a nice day!

P.S. If this chapter wasn't divided into parts, it would be 11k words long! Quite personally, I'm not up for editing an 11k word long chapter.

Battle levels for the Tenkaichi Budokai (Chapters 9-11)

Ryal: 270

Kento: 115

Sheryl: 270

Zejuto: 190

Celeria: 205

Eton: 360

Zarx: 280

Curtis: 45