Chapter Twenty: Elimination Round

Across the world, fighters had gathered to join the World Martial Arts Tournament. As a gong was rung, the elimination round began. Unfortunately, Bulma and co were not going to be able to see it.

'No pushing, it makes me nervous!' shouted the announcer. 'I'm sorry, but the audience is not allowed in the elimination round area! It would be a major fire hazard and-'

'Well then how are we supposed to see our friends and boyfriends fighting!' roared Bulma in his ear, causing him to land with a crash.

The announcer raised his loudspeaker to her ear. 'Just close your eyes and pretend you're there!' he roared in return.

Bulma gritted her teeth. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

As the gong run, Kakarot and co looked up to see a judge clad in red come up on the center ring with a microphone. 'Hello, hello, testing one two three. Well, uh, first we'd like to thank each one of you fighters for coming all this way to the tournament. Because, of course, if you didn't come, there wouldn't be much of a show to watch.' That got a low chuckle from some in the audience. 'Now if anyone is of a counting nature, you may have noticed that there are one hundred and thirty-seven fighters packed into this hall, representing countries and species from all over the world.'

'I thought there was only one country.' said Kakarot.

'King Furry leaves the regional governments to sort out their own affairs.' said Chi Chi. 'Like my papa for instance. The King of the World is kind of like a figurehead for everyone on earth to get behind when they all need to unite.'

'What is the entire world going to unite against?' asked Launch. 'An alien invasion?'

'It could happen.' said Kakarot.

Krillen in the meantime, was looking around at the towering figures about them in horror. 'One hundred and thirty-seven?' he cried. 'And half of them have knee caps taller than I am.'

The giants looked down at Krillin with narrowed eyes. The young martial artist trembled beneath their gaze. Finally, he looked down at the floor, having lost all hope of winning.

'And unfortunately,' continued the judge, 'out of all the crowds here, only eight will get a chance to fight in the finals. So fight hard in the elimination round, and let's try not to have any whining.'

Meanwhile, Bulma had found a convenient window. Unfortunately, the window was so high up that she couldn't see a thing. She looking for something to pull herself up on and sighed. 'Gee, what's the point of windows if you can't reach them?' She turned to Puar. 'Could you turn into a footstool or something?'

'But I want to see Yamcha fight,' said Puar, 'can't we find a box or something.'

'Let's look around a see what there is.' said Bulma.

Quickly looking around, they found some old storage boxes. They set them up at the base of the window before Bulma climbed up to look through. 'I can see,' said Bulma, 'I can see inside!' she cheered.

'Now let's see how they do.' said Puar.

The judge continued:

'Now listen to the rules carefully, because I can't stand repeating myself.' said the judge. 'You will be divided into four tournament blocks, and the top two from each block will advance to the finals. We'll be playing single elimination. A person loses when they land outside the ring, loses consciousness, or says I give up. But killing your opponent is strictly forbidden. Anyone who does so will be disqualified. And no weapons either. Claws may be used, but only if they're natural.'

'Well, that counts my power pole out of things.' reflected Kakarot sadly.

'Fights that aren't finished in under one minute will be decided by points. Now please move to the boxes and find a number. You can look on the boards to find your place. And please, no trading.'

The groups obeyed one by one.

'Ninety-three for me.' said Krillin. 'What did you get?'

'Seventy.' said Kakarot.

'That means you are both in block three.' said Yamcha.

'Oh no!' said Krillin. 'That's bad; I don't want to go up against Kakarot again!'

'Relax will you,' said Kakarot, 'we're on opposite ends.'

'What's your number, Yamcha?' asked Kakarot.

'I'm thirty-five,' said Yamcha, 'that's block two.'

'That's good right?' asked Kakarot.

'It's perfect, I didn't want to be put in the same tournament block as you.' said Yamcha.

'Ah, so you were scared, just like me.' guessed Krillin.

'Don't display your ignorance, Krillin.' said Kakarot. 'We want to face each other in front of the crowds.'

'Yeah,' said Yamcha, 'the ring is bigger there, and there is no time limit to stop us. I've been waiting for this, Kakarot, so you had better make it through.'

'Count on it.' said Kakarot with a smile.

'Well then,' said Yamcha, 'I'll see you in the ring.' And he made his way off to block two.

Launch then came up behind them from where she had been watching. 'Sorry to burst your bubble, Kakarot.' said Blonde Launch 'But there ain't no way you are going to fight Yamcha. I'm number twenty-eight. Which means that even if he makes it to the finals, he's going to be knocked out by me in the first round. Count on it.'

'A little overconfident, aren't we?' inquired Kakarot. 'I'd take him seriously if I were you.'

'You know, I've been meaning to ask.' said Krillin. 'Do you two have some kind of history?'

'Sort of,' said Launch, 'it happened something like this…'

Launch was fifteen saw the train coming on the horizon. She'd been waiting to rob this thing all day. She would have just shot it down with a rocket launcher, but she'd done that last time. So it was that she drove alongside it, and entered the hatch. As she did so, she spotted a dark-haired figure driving off on a vehicle with many bags. At the time she paid it no heed as she entered the car, and fired her machine gun through the ceiling.

'Alright, you cows, listen up!' called Launch. 'This is a robbery! Now put any valuables and wallets you might have in the bag! Anybody tries to be a hero, and I blow you all to kingdom come!'

They did not look nearly so much terrified as incredulous. Finally, a man stood up. 'Uh… ma'am, this train was already robbed three minutes ago by Yamcha the Desert Bandit. We've got nothing left to give you.'

Launch blinked, before lowering her gun. 'THAT PIG! I'll riddle him so full of bullets that he'll have to check into the afterlife twice! Nobody makes a fool of Launch!' And she leaped off the train, back onto her bike and raced after him.

Drawing her machine gun, she homed in on him. Launch opened fire, and he swerved to crash and burn as the bandit, and his partner leaped away. The bandits ducked for cover. Launch opened fire with an unyielding hail of bullets until her gun clicked empty.

She was out of ammo. The bandit came over the top, a pistol in hand and then froze. His face went race, as his breath came out in short gasps and he fell down. Launch reloaded her gun and prepared to circle round and finish him. Then a breeze kicked up dirt and threw it into Launch's face, and she gasped. 'Ah, ah, achoo!'

When Blonde Launch came to, she found that the valuables were scattered across the ground. But the bandit was gone.

'Ah, that explains it.' said Kakarot. 'Well I hate to tell you, but Yamcha has gotten over his paralyzing fear of women. If he hadn't had it then, you would probably be dead. I'd be careful if I were you.'

'You worry too much squirt.' said Launch. 'Now let's get to the ring.'

'How in the world can all of you be so confident?' asked Krillen. 'We're surrounded by about twenty thousand pounds of muscle.'

'Because none of these martial artists were trained by the Turtle Hermit.' said Chi Chi. 'Oh, and I'm in block four, so none of us will have to fight each other until the finals.'

'Excellent,' said Kakarot, 'whatever happens the Turtle School will prove the stronger.'

'But guys,' said Krillen, 'the old man never taught us to fight! He just gave us dirt to move around!'

'Will you quit whining,' said Kakarot, 'finish one fight and then complain!'

'…Right, okay.' said Krillen.

At that moment, an announcer came up with a pen and paper. 'Hello everyone, I will be your ref today, so if I could get fighters 69 and seventy into the ring, that would be super.'

'Well, that's me.' said Kakarot, and he scrambled up into the ring.

'Good luck, Kakarot,' said Krillen.

Laughter echoed through fighters as he stood up. 'Oh, watch out!' said his opponent, a fit man with black hair. 'We have a top competitor from the little tyke brigade!'

'I just hope he doesn't make a mess on the fighting room floor.' said another.

Kakarot joined in the laughter. In fact, he laughed loudest of everyone, so that soon they had all fallen silent. Then he smiled. 'Every single one of my opponent's bones will be broken by the time I am done with him.' He boasted.

'Wait a minute Kakarot.' said Krillen, who knew his friend well enough to know he wasn't bluffing. 'Remember what Master Roshi taught us! We're not supposed to hurt people!'

'Meh,' said Kakarot.

Yamcha saw the fighters laughing at Kakarot and smiled. 'Kakarot is already up; now I'll finally have the chance to learn what he learned from the crazy old man.' These guys didn't know what they were laughing at. Then he saw Kakarot's smile and realized that they were laughing at Kakarot. They were dead meat unless Yamcha did something.

'Kakarot,' called Yamcha, 'don't forget that if you kill someone, you'll be disqualified for sure!'

That seemed to get Kakarot's attention, and he looked up with wide, oddly innocent eyes. 'Oh, right, yeah, I completely forgot about that. Alright, I'll go easy on him.'

Yamcha breathed a sigh of relief.

Bulma was watching as well. 'Look, it's Kakarot's turn.' Then she saw his smile. 'Please don't kill anybody kid.' She pleaded.

Finally, a giant hulk of a man clad in a blue toga came onto the ring. He had muscles on top of muscles, and a large brown mustache and looked around. 'Where is my fighter?!' He boomed before his eyes fixed on Kakarot. 'What is this? A joke fight? I've fallen on my rump and squashed bugs bigger than you are!'

'Tell me,' said Kakarot, 'what would you say your favorite limb is?'

'You have one minute to fight,' said the ref.

'Heh, I just need one second to crush this pest between my thumb and forefinger.'

'Nevermind,' said Kakarot, 'I'll guess.'

'Begin.'

The giant rushed Kakarot, who disappeared even as he lunged. The man stared at the ground beneath his arms. 'I really did crush him.'

'Actually, I'm right here, moron.' said Kakarot, before slapping him across the back.

The man was flung out of the ring to crash against the far wall and land hard on the floor, unconscious. The fighter was carried out of the elimination rounds on a stretcher.

Kakarot stared at his competition with cold eyes. 'Would anyone else care to mock me?'

Bulma watched stunned from the window. 'Well uh… I guess Kakarot will end up in the finals if the way everyone is trembling is any indication. At least he's alive.'

'I hope Kakarot doesn't win this tournament.' said Puar in a small tone.

'Number seventy advances.' said the referee.

'…What just happened here?' asked a fighter.

'He lost his footing and fell over.' said another with false confidence.

'That's what I call humiliating.' said the third finally. 'Beat by a baby.'

'You're next.' said Kakarot as he walked away.

'That was no accident,' thought Yamcha, 'if Kakarot wins this tournament, then he may try to skip fighting Gohan. I've got to make sure that doesn't happen.'

For his part, Kakarot landed on the ground next to Krillin, who looked ecstatic. Kakarot did not feel so, after that close call. 'That was amazing, Kakarot!'

'You showed that fool who was boss!' said Launch.

'I was almost disqualified.' said Kakarot in a low tone.

'What do you mean?' asked Krillin.

'When I ducked around him,' said Kakarot. 'I was going to punch him all out in the back and maul him. But then I thought I wanted him to see me doing it, so I slapped him lightly instead. If I hadn't stopped to gloat, he'd be dead, and I'd be disqualified. That was too close; we can't use our full powers against these fighters guys.'

'You mean… we have to hold back?' asked Krillin fearfully.

'I'll keep it in mind.' said Launch. 'I've got a fight soon, so I've got to go.'

No sooner had Launch left, and a voice rang out: 'What do we have here?'

They looked up and saw two monks in yellow gi's approaching them. 'It's our old punching bag.'

Krillin looked broken, and terrified. There was none of his usual smarm and snark, and Kakarot didn't like it. 'Erm… hello.'

'It's been a long time since I've seen you Krillin.' said the taller of the two monks. 'When you ran crying out of the Orin Temple.'

Krillin looked down at the ground.

'But look,' said the smaller one, 'his clothes are so pretty.'

'Now surely you aren't trying to fight in the world martial arts tournament.' said the taller one.

'Well yeah, I mean, I was thinking about it…' said Kakarot.

'How horrible,' said the taller one, 'making all these real fighters waste their time on you.'

'Have you forgotten what we taught you? That runts are always runts!'

'No, I remember.' This was pathetic. Krillen was letting them walk all over him.

'How sad,' he said, 'he's number ninety-three. Would you like to know who your opponents gonna be?'

Krillen looked up fearfully.

'Your looking at him!' boasted the monk.

For reasons beyond Kakarot's comprehension, Krillin looked afraid.

'Just like old times, huh?' asked the smaller one.

'I would smash every bone in your worthless hides.' said Kakarot in a low tone. 'But I'll leave that to Krillen.'

The monks heard his words, spoken scarcely above a whisper. A bit of fear crossed their eyes — fear at something they neither understood nor comprehended. Then their bluster returned, and the tall one slapped Krillen across the head. 'Just try not to be too hard on me, Krillen.' Then they turned and walked away, laughing scornfully.

'Those fools are pathetic.' snapped Kakarot. 'They hide behind their delusions of grandeur to disguise their lack of ambition. Why let them speak to you like that, you could crush every one of them with a finger!'

'Because everything they say about me is right!' said Krillen. 'They have known me longer than anyone! They know the truth! Maybe… I should drop out-'

'Stop it!' snarled Kakarot. 'I will no longer tolerate your senseless wailing! Ever since I've met you, you've been acting smug one minute, and then whining more than Bulma when things get rough! Every waking minute of every waking day for the last eight months you've been complaining! And that's not even going into the time you stole Chi Chi's meal stone, puffer fish or no!' Krillen stepped backward, eyes wide and shaking as Kakarot advanced on him in a fury. 'Do you know why I put up with it Krillen? Do you know the sole and single reason I was willing to tolerate your endless pathetic mewling?!'

'I… I…' began Krillin.

Kakarot hugged him. 'You. Didn't. Quit.'

'What?' said Krillen.

'Oh don't give me that uncomprehending look Krillen.' said Kakarot, pulling away to look him in the eyes while gripping him on the shoulders. 'You could have backed out and gone back home in defeat at any time. No one would have stopped you, least of all me. You didn't even have to admit defeat to do it. You could have dismissed Roshi as a crank and looked for easier training. Kami knows it's what those guys would have done. Even I considered it at several points.

'But you didn't! You pressed on, through all the menial labor, and pathetic drudgery and became stronger for it! Maybe what they said about you was right. Maybe you were pathetic; maybe you were nothing more than a punching bag who ran crying out of Orin Temple! I find it entirely in keeping with what I know of you! But you aren't the same person that you were back then!'

'What do you mean?' said Krillen. 'I'm nowhere near as strong-'

'No.' said Kakarot, raising a hand for silence. 'I'm not going to waste any more of our time by explaining something you should have figured out by now for yourself. Now get up there, and crush that smug fool!'

'Right,' said Krillen, taking heart, 'thanks, Kakarot.'

Kakarot sighed as Krillen moved off. Then he caught Chi Chi and Launch looking at him proudly. 'What? What?!'

'Nothing.' Chi Chi said with a knowing smile.

Bulma and Puar, in the meantime, we're getting ice cream together. They had taken a break from watching fighting and now were hanging about.

'So I wonder where Master Roshi has gone, you guys.' said Puar. 'He's been gone for quite a while.'

'Hmph,' said Bulma, 'that old creep is probably hanging out by the ladies restroom. I'm more concerned about getting to see that elimination round.'

Another fighter went down, and a ref looked at his list. 'Gee, we're really making progress here, aren't we? Well, let's get fighters number ninety-three and ninety-four in the ring please.'

'Alright, that's me.' said Krillen.

'Show these fools what you are made of.' said Kakarot.

'Yeah,' said Launch, 'they ain't got nothing on you.'

As Krillen clambered up, one of the monks turned to the other. 'I have to admit, I'm kind of jealous that you get to be in the ring with him.' he said.

'Don't worry.' said the tall one. 'I'll give him a good slap for you.'

Krillen stood still, fighting off his doubts as he made his way forward. His enemy was chuckling, relishing his suspense. Krillin thought about everything Kakarot said. And he was very angry indeed.

He said nothing as they stood across from each other, the referee between them.

'You didn't run away this time,' said the monk. 'I can't say that's a healthy move, but at least your less of a chicken!'

Suddenly Krillen became very calm. Kakarot was right. 'I'm not the same kid you bullied in Orin Temple.' he said.

'You'll always be a runt,' said the monk, 'and right now I'm gonna prove it to you.'

'Begin!' said the announcer.

'Which bone should I break first?' asked the monk,

Then he lunged with a swift punch. Yet Krillen leaped over him with ease, then landed on the far side of the ring. He surged after him and striking the monk in the back. The monk was sent flying across the room to crash through the wall, leaving a giant hole in its place.

Bulma and Puar were making their way back to their perch. Quite abruptly, a yellow-clad monk shot past her to land with a crash against the masonry behind them. There was now a human-shaped mark in the wall.

'…I wonder who did that?' wondered Bulma.

'I'll bet it was Yamcha.' said Puar. 'Hey look, there is a hole in the wall!'

'We can watch through there!' said Bulma, before rushing up to look through it.

Utter silence engulfed the room as man and animal alike stared at the hole in the wall the boy who made it. Finally, the ref spoke: 'Well, I'd say ninety-three is the winner.'

Krillen stepped off the ring in a daze, looking at his hands.

'See,' said Kakarot, 'there is a method to Roshi's madness. Let's see those fools dismiss you now.' He paused. 'Hey if you want we could go gloat to them about how pathetic they are?'

'Kakarot,' said Chi Chi, 'two wrongs don't make a right.'

'Yeah, well I'm pretty sure good, and evil are subjective moral concepts.' said Kakarot. 'And I say that totally humiliating those idiots is the right thing to do.'

'Actually, I'm with Kakarot on this.' said Blonde Launch. 'What do ya say Krillen?'

'No,' said Krillen, 'because by that standard them mocking me would have been right too, you know. Let's just leave things as they are.'

So it was that they did not gloat to their defeated enemy.

'Look,' said Bulma from the hole Krillen had made in the wall, 'Yamcha's about to fight! Yay, go get em, Yamcha!'

Yamcha stood facing down a massive man with a huge mohawk. He was dressed in a white gi, with a red symbol on it, and his face was frowning. A gong sounded to mark the beginning of the match, and as one, both took a stance. 'Ah ha,' said the man, 'I'll give you a freebie. Just try and hurt me!'

Yamcha surged up, took him by the shoulder and kicked him in the face, sending him to the mat with a crash. The mat shuddered from the force of it as Yamcha landed, and smiled. 'How's that?' he asked.

'Knock out!' called the ref. 'Number 35 advances.'

'Yamcha is really doing well,' said Kakarot, 'the path to the finals is all but clear.'

'Yeah!' said Krillen.

For his next fight, Kakarot knocked out his opponent with a single kick to the chin.

'Number seventy wins!' said the ref.

Krillen next faced his opponent down with mutual stances as the round began.

'Nice posture.' said Kakarot.

'Thanks,' said Krillen, looking away.

At that moment, his opponent kicked him in the head to knock him into the air. From there he slammed him down and began to slam him repeatedly into the floor with many war cries. Panting the man stopped, as Krillen groaned.

'Krillen, get up.' said Kakarot. 'We know you're faking.'

'What are the chances he'll live through that.' said a fighter.

'Not too likely.' said the other.

Then Krillen stood on his feet and stuck his tongue out. 'Hah, nice try sucker!' Then he turned away. 'Now what kind of counterattack should I use?'

'How did you… that was my famous dragon stomp!' said the man.

'Right, okay!' said Krillen, before turning to him.

'Okay! Okay, I give up! I give up now!' cried the martial artist in fear.

This seemed to take Krillen by surprise. 'That was easy.'

There was a commotion some ways away. Kakarot turned to see that Yamcha had defeated the other monk with a single punch. He took some satisfaction from that.

Then came the first match Launch fought. She left behind her a pile of heavy weaponry as she stepped into the ring. She was facing off against a woman with violet hair, clad in green shorts and a blue shirt. For a moment, the two faced each other, as the ref stepped up.

'Who is the violet-haired women?' asked Kakarot.

'Her name is Ranfan.' said Yamcha behind him. 'Supposedly she's a pretty good martial artist. But I hear rumors that she has a pretty underhanded way of winning big matches.'

'Well, what is it?' asked Kakarot.

'No idea,' said Yamcha, 'supposedly it only works against guys.'

'Begin.' said the ref.

Launch surged forward and met Ranfan in a flurry of blows that waged back and forth across the mat. Launch was clearly superior, dealing multiple successful strikes. Then suddenly they separated as Launch dealt Ranfan a vicious blow to the gut.

Launch halted. 'Ready to give up yet you… ah, ah, not now! ACHOO!'

At that moment, her blue self took charge, looking very confused. 'Oh, I appear to be in a match, I uh…'

At that moment Ranfan started sobbing uncontrollably and Launch flinched. The blue haired women kneeled down by her. 'I'm sorry, whatever my other self did to you it wasn't supposed-'

Then Ranfan kicked her in the face and sent her reeling back. Then she let loose an onslaught of strikes. Blue Launch dodged them on reflex but was driven back to the edge of the mat before sneezing. Ranfan lunged for a finishing blow. Then Ranfan's hand was caught by Launch, whose eyes were veiled in shadow. As she looked up, her gaze seemed to glow red. Ranfan looked very afraid.

'Careful with those crocodile tears,' said Launch, 'or you might get thrown to the gators!' Then she kneed Ranfan in the gut. The force of the blow was such that the wind was knocked out of the woman before she could scream. Launch let her go, and Ranfan fell forward and slumped unconscious. The blonde cracked her knuckles.

'Number twenty-eight wins.' said the announcer.

'Easy as robbing a bank!' she said, before leaping out of the ring. 'The finals had better be harder than this; let me tell ya.'

As their victory became clear, Yamcha faced off against a bald martial artist clad in black. The martial artist surged forward but was knocked clean out by a single rapid punch.

On and on it went, knock out after knock out, until the elimination came down to the final deciding bouts.

'Whoever wins this bout will be the first in ring two to advance to the finals!' called the ref as the fighters clustered around. Most of them were already knocked out but stuck around to see who would win.

'Fighters thirty-five and forty, please take your positions.' said the ref.

Yamcha stepped onto the stage. In the opposite corner came a humanoid wolf. The two faced each other down. Kakarot watched eagerly as the two took stances. The wolf would have had to be a pretty formidable martial artist to make it this far. 'Take him out, Yamcha!' he called.

Yamcha took a stance. 'It's wolf fang fist time.'

'You humans come up with the wildest names to make your moves sound tough.' said the wolf. 'But I'll show you how the real wolf attacks!' Then he took a stance as well, his eyes glowing yellow.

The wolf charged forward with a howl, but Yamcha leaped over him and came at him from behind. The wolf turned, but Yamcha passed him before he could take any action. For a moment, they stood where they were. Then the wolf fell forward to land with a crash, and Yamcha looked up and smiled with a gleam.

A cheer broke out throughout the room, and Kakarot caught Bulma cheering as well. Despite himself, Kakarot smiled. His friend was a fortunate man. Of course, Kakarot fully intended to break them up at some point, but that could wait.

'And that's a wrap!' said the ref. 'Thirty-five has just earned a spot in the big show!'

'Yamcha is far stronger than the last time I saw him.' reflected Kakarot. 'And he isn't even going all out yet.'

'You serious Kakarot?' asked Krillin, in awe.

'Yeah,' said Kakarot, 'we fought once and were just about evenly matched. I saw him going all out then, and this is nothing like that. That wolf moved faster than about everyone else except us, and Yamcha blitzed him in seconds.' He glanced to Launch. 'You'd better take him seriously.'

'Yeah,' said Launch, 'well if he doesn't put up a fight I'm gonna be disappointed.'

Kakarot moved off to meet up with Yamcha. 'Nice work on that wolf.'

'Yeah,' said Yamcha, 'cool move right.'

'I know from personal experience.' said Kakarot. 'So, yes.'

'We are in the final stretch you guys.' said a ref. 'Fighters number seventy and seventy-three, please come forward. Winner of this match will go on to the tournament. How exciting.'

'Well one more before the finals I guess.' said Kakarot.

'Go get em.' said Yamcha.

Kakarot made his way and climbed into the ring. The man he was facing was a mustached man, clad in a light purple shirt, and black pants. He looked at Kakarot seriously.

'Kakarot,' said Krillin, 'throw him from the ring.'

'Sounds entertaining,' said Kakarot, before opening himself up to all strikes. 'I'll give you the first strike.'

The man surged forward and lunged at him. Yet Kakarot disappeared as he leaped into the air, before surging down upon him. The martial artist moved away just in time and brought round his leg in a roundhouse kick. Yet Kakarot ducked under it, knocked him down and gripped him by the leg.

'Where is your technique?' asked the man.

Kakarot threw him out of the ring without a word.

'Out of the ring, seventy advances!' said the ref.

Kakarot leaped out of the ring and landed with a smile.

'Nice moves.' said Yamcha, looking a little concerned.

'Thanks.' said Kakarot.

'Now for the final match of the ring three finals.' said the ref. One of the numbers he called out was Krillen's though Kakarot missed the other.

'Take care of the next one,' said Kakarot, 'and we'll both be in the finals.'

His opponent was a giant beast man with enormous claws. He surged forward and tried to grip Krillin, who dodged and leaped over his shoulder with ease. Then as his enemy turned around to face him. Krillin launched himself into the air and kicked him in the forehead. His enemy landed with a crash, and literally raised a white flag.

'Make the pain stop…' said the man.

'Fighter ninety-seven surrenders!' said the ref. 'That means ninety is on to the finals.'

'We did it, Kakarot!' cried Krillin. 'We're going to the tournament!'

'Well obviously.' said Kakarot.

Yamcha looked as things went on and leaned against the ring in thought. 'Krillen is a pretty good fighter too. This is going to be a long day.'

'Hey Yamcha,' said Kakarot, 'I just realized something. I don't think any of us have seen Chi Chi fight yet.'

'Well here final match is about to go on over there.' said Yamcha 'Want to see?'

'Sure,' said Kakarot, 'why not.'

They smelled one of the fighters long before they saw him. The stench was horrific and pained the senses as they made their way to the front. They saw a giant with only a few yellow teeth leering down at Chi Chi, who stood without her helmet. Her dark hair was flowing around her as she took a stance.

'Who the hell is this guy?' asked Kakarot, clutching his nose.

'That's Bacterian.' said Yamcha. 'Supposedly he defeats his enemies with his overpowering smell.'

'That's disgusting,' said Kakarot, 'if I have to face him in the finals, I'll kill him myself.'

'You'd be disqualified for sure.' said Yamcha, though he didn't seem to object per se.

'It'd be worth it just to plaster his reeking guts across the ring.' said Kakarot.

'Begin.' said the ref.

'You should be ashamed of yourself!' said Chi Chi and Bacterian flinched at her tone. 'A grown man coming to fight in the world martial arts tournament in nothing but his underwear!' Bacterian took a step back as Chi Chi advanced on him. 'Honestly, its as if you have no idea about social graces at all! What would your mother say if she saw you now?!' Bacterian looked down at the ground in shame. 'And you never did call or write since you became a martial artist did you?'

The giant's lip quivered slightly. Then Bacterian began to cry, and sob uncontrollably as he bawled. Everyone watched as Chi Chi loomed over him. 'Now, get out of the ring, take a bath, get your life together and become a productive member of society.'

Bacterian nodded and fled sniffling out of the room.

'Geez,' said Yamcha, 'I almost feel sorry for him now.'

'I don't,' said Kakarot, 'juvenile tactics like that have no place in the ring.'

'Still,' said Yamcha, 'Chi Chi can be scary when she wants to be.'

Launch made it into the finals shortly thereafter. Though unfortunately, Kakarot missed it, much to his disappointment. 'So how was the match anyway?' asked Kakarot.

'Boring,' said Launch, 'my last guy wasn't worth much. The best I ran into was Ranfan.'

The rest of the group breathed a sigh of relief. They had been observing everything and were now glad that this stage was over.

'So they're all getting into the finals.' said Bulma.

'Yay!' said Puar, 'I'm so happy right now!'

'I'm happy as well.' said Master Roshi.

They turned and glanced at him. 'Where did you run off to?' asked Bulma in suspicion.

'Oh, I've been around.' said Roshi, his sunglasses gleaming.

So it was that our heroes all made their way into the tournament. Yet within the finals, the enemies would be tougher, the stakes would be higher. And the question remained: Who would be the finalists, and who would take home the prize?

Authors Note:

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are now entering the finals. As you can see, I dispensed with the sillier fighters of the tournament. I kind of regret that I couldn't bring Nam into this chapter, but there wasn't much time.

As of today, by the way, I am setting up a poll in my profile that takes guesses as to who will win the tournament. Keep in mind, I'm not changing the outcome based on the guesses, I just want to see who people expect to win. It may be the obvious choice, but then it may not.

Ordinarily, I'd post polls asking who you expect to win each individual match. But since I post on a daily basis there is no time for the results to be collected before they would be replaced. I guess there is a downside to punctuality.

See you next time on Kakarot and the Quest for the Dragonballs!