Title: A Legend Reborn
Author name: Trugeta
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ as well as Akira Toriyama and many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story.
Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.
This story takes place after Movie 10 of Dragonball Z and at the beginning of the Ranma series. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.
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Chapter 23: The World Tournament
The 22nd of May was a bright and sunny day, the sun's rays filtering from a cloudless sky bringing the air to more than just pleasant temperatures of just above 28° C, just as the weather forecast had predicted. It was doubtful that the group just arriving on Papaya island via Capsule Corp shuttles (Vegeta having complained that he'd seen slugs move faster than these vehicles) cared one iota, however.
Bulma expertly manoeuvred the shuttle to the allocated landing zone with Ranma mirroring her with the other shuttle, and once safely on the ground the Briefs, Son's, Tendo's, Ranma and everyone else disembarked, the fighters amongst the group looking collected and business-like. Papaya island was without a doubt a good choice as the site for the world tournament, and it was obvious that a lot of money had been spent to attract as many spectators as possible. Gauging from the number of people present it was doubtless that the strategy had worked.
A special air of expectation hung in the air that was not just due to the upcoming tournament as the group walked up the paved path that led to the tournament area. Just a few days ago Gohan had received a message from the Afterlife, and the said message, or rather conversation, had brought with it a real shocker.
His father Goku, who had sacrificed his life seven years ago during the Cell Games to prevent Cell from destroying Earth with his self-destruct sequence, would be allowed to return to the Earth realm for one day, and those who'd known Goku were looking forward to meeting him again, but none more than Chi-Chi and Gohan. Others like Ranma, his parents and the Tendos who had but heard of his exploits were curious as well, but there was someone amongst the group who didn't know how to feel yet: Goten, who had never known his father.
Yamcha, in an attempt to lighten the mood turned to Ranma. "Whoa, now that's a badass sword you're carrying there, buddy. I didn't see it back there when we got acquainted," he said and gave the long-sword an admiring once over.
"Yes, our Ranma-kun is badass alright," Nabiki purred from where she was standing, a few metres behind Ranma with her sisters, Ranma's parents and her father.
"And such a cute ass he has," Kasumi added with a faint blush, her comment eliciting mixed reactions; Nodoka was giggling like a schoolgirl while Bulma's and Chi-Chi's expressions belied the veracity of the oldest Tendo sisters' words, the males looked faintly revolted and Ranma acted like he didn't care.
"A few months ago I'd have yelled at you for being a pervert, Nabiki-neechan, and I'd have convinced daddy to shunt you off into a nunnery, Kasumi-neechan. And you I would've clobbered to the moon, Ranma-sensei, or at least I'd have tried to," Akane amended at Ranma's look, "But now I must say you're right, sisters.
"This is not to say I like him that way," she added with a blush at her sisters' amused looks and turned to glare at her father, "So don't get ideas, daddy!"
Soun raised his hands and wore his best 'who, me?' expression. "Wouldn't dream of it, pumpkin."
Akane harrumphed and crossed her arms underneath her breasts, the exchange prompting many amused looks. "A right spitfire, that one," Yamcha commented with a chuckle, only to raise his hands in a placating gesture when he felt Ranma's ki-laden stare and the gesture that said 'remember the bad-ass sword'.
"I hope Yamcha-san wasn't hitting on me, Ranma-sensei, or I'd have to show him how I treat perverts," Akane said in a mock-sweet tone that conveyed she wasn't joking.
"A sharp tongue as well," Yamcha mused, his expression wistful, "Alas, if only you were like, ten years older, Akane-chan."
"Apropos sharp, when did you get that sword, Ranma?" Krillin queried in an effort to defuse the situation before Yamcha could dig himself deeper. "It's awesome."
"Not awesome, Krillin, badass!" Yamcha corrected, causing Krillin to roll his eyes.
Ranma resisted the urge to finger the blade he'd christened Nasumi, a small smile playing in the corners of his mouth. "She is a right beauty, isn't she? I had Nasumi commissioned two weeks ago," he said and looked meaningfully at the two older Tendo sisters to convey whom he'd named the blade after.
Nabiki and Kasumi shared a content smile, and Nodoka exclaimed, "So romantic," with hearts in her eyes, Bulma and Chi-Chi easily agreeing.
"But why use a sword in the first place, Ranma?" Krillin wanted to know. "As far as I know you're very good at hand to hand."
"Understatement if there ever was one," Gohan muttered good-naturedly, prompting Goten and Trunks to make agreeing noises.
"I have been asking myself what the boy would need a sword for ever since he came up with this harebrained idea. 'Broadening my horizons', he said. Bah!" Genma muttered indignantly to himself. "A true martial artist doesn't need a weapon 'cause his body is a weapon!"
Ranma ignored the injured pride his father was apparently still suffering from in favour of answering the question. "Yeah, I'm pretty good when it comes to the Art," he easily agreed matter-of-factly and narrowed his eyes to shoot his father a serious look, "But it's far from a detriment to use a weapon. With my speed and the skill I acquired through training in the hyperbolic timechamber I can dispatch large groups of enemies without even trying.
"Yeah, I asked Dende for permission to use the chamber to get up to speed when it comes to wielding a blade, and he agreed," Ranma expounded upon seeing the incredulous looks of the human Z-Fighters. "And I've still my skills to fall back on should I need to go hand-to-hand."
"So there really is a chamber where a year passes in one day real time?" Akane wanted to know and elicited several nods, "I thought Ranma-sensei was just joking when he took that day off a week ago," she muttered to herself, astonishment not showing just on her face.
"The chamber exists, Akane-san, and it works as advertised," Gohan spoke up, "Ranma used it together with Vegeta and me, and we trained hard."
"It was a spur of the moment thing," Ranma admitted, "But it worked out quite well."
"Oh yeah," Gohan chuckled, and even Vegeta smirked.
"So that's where you'd disappeared to!" Bulma and Chi-Chi exclaimed in unison and glared at their respective man/son.
"Why don't men talk?" complained the blue-haired scientist and threw her hands skyward before glaring at Vegeta again who returned her gaze impassively, "Oh right, because they're Saiyans, and preparing for the next battle looming on the horizon is more important than anything else."
"There you have your answer, woman," Vegeta commented with his arms crossed across his chest.
"If a tool like the chamber exists, why not make full use of it?" Ranma interjected before a glowering Bulma could develop steam, "And Vegeta really taught me a lot when it comes to swordsmanship."
"Vegeta?" queried Bulma incredulous, having been successfully derailed by what Ranma had said, "Using a weapon?"
"And what did you get out of this training?" Yamcha had asked at the same time.
"That is... A secret!" Gohan answered, a smirk playing on his face, his answer making the ex desert bandit face-vault.
The Saiyan Prince had scoffed. "Using all kinds of weapons with utmost efficiency was part of my training on Vegeta-sei. The brat proved surprisingly competent and exceeded my expectations.
"Besides, where do you think that brat from the future got his penchant for using a sword from, woman?"
"Hmm, I had forgotten about this," Bulma admitted thoughtfully while Ranma inwardly smiled at Vegeta's round about praise, "Anyway, what Ranma forgot to mention is that this li'l baby is one of my finest works to date," she explained, a modest smile playing on her face, "Nasumi's made of a ki-conductive metal of my own making, and with the energy of a Super Saiyan channelled into it it's pretty much indestructible. A tiny burst of ki is sufficient to sharpen it to a molecular edge, and it's probably the most well balanced sword in the world.
"Oh, and no one beside Ranma can use it as it's bound to his ki-signature," the azure-haired scientist concluded, pride creeping into her voice.
"Isn't that a bit, umm, bad if an ally had to use it in case Ranma were incapacitated?" Yamcha inquired.
"Bulma got that covered. I can key in anyone I find trustworthy on the fly, and have already done so in two cases," Ranma explained.
"And whom do you trust, boy?" Genma wanted to know.
"It's not just a question of whom I trust, but of whom'd be able to do a lot of damage with Nasumi," Ranma retorted, his face going serious, "And as you can imagine, that's a short list with just two people on it: Vegeta and Gohan."
Genma looked put out by this answer, but before he could even say anything further Vegeta barked, "Enough of this incessant chattering. I have come here to fight, not to be bored to death by you wasting air."
With that the Saiyan Prince turned on his heel, fully expecting the others to follow. Ranma, Gohan, Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha and the others were well familiar with this kind of behaviour and knew that it was easier to just give in when it came to small things like this, and thus they let themselves be led by the Saiyan Prince while taking in the sights. The others (even a pouting Genma) followed shortly thereafter, and even the Saotome patriarch forgot his ruffled feathers soon due to the plethora of impressions they were assailed by. Krillin's comment that 'all this stuff looked like a world fair' hit the nail right on the dot.
"A pity Ryoga couldn't make it," Ranma said wistfully, "But who'd blame him... Poor guy hasn't seen his parents in years, and both just happened to pop up at their house the day before yesterday. No wonder he gave in when his mom asked him to stay, especially since Mrs Hibiki found out her son's now her daughter too."
"Poor Ryo-chan," sighed Akane in a mock-empathising voice and began giggling, "Hope her mother doesn't play dress up with her."
This elicited smiles on many faces, but a commotion amongst the people around them caused the group to pause for a bit, and scoffs all around could be heard. The 'great champion', Mr Satan, had arrived. The impromptu interview the Champ then gave revealed that nothing had changed about Hercule Satan in recent years, and not just Vegeta scoffed when the man denoted his chances at winning as 'more than 120 percent'.
Smiles were exchanged though when the anchor-woman for KTV, an attractive blonde wearing a pin-striped blue business suit asked Videl what she'd do should she have to fight her father, Videl's comment being, "Oh I don't know, I guess I'll punch."
Shaking his head Gohan chose to ignore Hercule Satan in favour of tracking down his father and started to look around in addition to feeling out the area, but Master Roshi had apparently come to the same conclusion as he. "I don't think Goku's around yet, but someone else we know is," he said with a smile.
Gohan mirrored the smile, having detected the large Namek as well. Walking up to Piccolo he nodded solemnly, a small smile escaping his lips when his little brother exclaimed, "Oh look, it's Mister Piccolo!"
"Hello, Piccolo," Gohan greeted with an inclination of his head. "I don't suppose you've seen or sensed my father yet either?"
"Not yet, Gohan," the Namek returned, visibly evaluating the younger warrior who was clad all in black, "I see you have decided to up your training. Finally."
The older son of Goku scratched his head. "I had an incentive to, believe me," he replied, his look telling Piccolo that he'd let him in on the details later.
"Where in the world could Goku be?" Chi-Chi muttered to herself while looking around. "Gosh, maybe they weren't able to bring him back!"
"I'll help go comb the area!" Krillin offered, pointing his right thumb at himself, Yamcha adding, "Yeah, me too!" when suddenly the tell-tale sound of someone teleporting in pierced the air, stopping the two veteran Z-Fighters cold.
Those who were ki-sensitive immediately whipped around their heads (with the others who'd just perceived the sound not being much slower), and their eyes fell upon a man of about 1.80 metres in height clad in orange pants and an equally orange muscle shirt, a navy-blue undershirt, wrist-guards and belt, his hair standing up in five large, black spikes. Hovering to his left on some sort of bubble-shaped sphere was the witch known as Baba Yaga, the sister of Master Roshi wearing black clothes and a pointed witch's hat with a red stripe, her arms crossed underneath her breasts.
"Hey, I'm back!" Goku exclaimed, fists planted on his hips, a smile playing on his face.
"Dad, it's you!" Gohan exclaimed happily, while the others made their own exclamations of greeting.
"Goku," Piccolo grunted in way of greeting, but even the stoic Namek couldn't keep a small smile off his face.
"Whoa, pinch me!" Krillin, who had an expression on his face that was a mixture of disbelief and happiness, muttered.
"Wow, you guys have changed a lot in seven years!" Goku exclaimed with a smile. "Gohan, you're a giant!"
The half-Saiyan in question smiled. "Couldn't stay a midget forever now, eh, dad?"
Smiles were exchanged amongst the group, and emotions ran high with Chi-Chi exclaiming, "Oh Goku!"
Master Roshi nodded his head solemnly, muttering, "Welcome back to Earth, Goku!"
Vegeta and Trunks were (aside from the Saotomes and Tendos) the only ones who watched with a neutral expression, but it was obvious that Goten had no idea of how to react, as was evidenced by the uncertain look on his young face.
Goku, oblivious to his youngest son's inner turmoil, laughed softly. "So, guys, are just gonna stand there and stare at me all day?"
The reactions to this exclamation were immediate as Gohan, Krillin, Yamcha and Oolong all rushed to hug the living daylights out of the returnee, and Chi-Chi sighed softly. "Oh sweetheart, I missed you!"
"I've missed you, Chi-Chi," Goku replied softly, only to start when his eyes caught sight of Goten who so resembled him.
Goten noticed that he had been detected and tried to hide behind his mother, but he was only partially successful in that some of his spiky hair and his right hand were still visible. Chi-Chi smiled softly and turned around to her youngest. "Goten, it's okay."
Goku whereas pointed his left index finger at having noticed a seven year old that bore a striking resemblance to himself, right down to the style of clothing. "Hey, I think there's a little me hiding behind your leg, Chi-Chi!"
Goten shyly poked out his head, his hands still cradling his mother's legs for support. "I'm Goten," the little half-Saiyan managed to say.
A smile appeared on Goku's face and he softly pushed Krillin and Oolong aside, making his way over to his wife and the son he'd never known. Coming to stand right in front of them he smiled. "And I'm Goku. Hi!"
Goten remained half-hidden behind his mother for a few seconds before shooting into his father's arms like liquid lightning, exclaiming "Daddy!" while laughing loudly.
Goku lifted his youngest up into his arms and balanced him on his right arm, laughing as well. "Hey, you're a strong one, aren't ya?" he exclaimed amidst the smiles of (almost) everyone around them, father and son goofing around for a bit.
Baba Yaga glided forward on her bubble. "Listen up Goku, remember that you only have 24 hours. That's all I can do."
Goku nodded solemnly while holding Goten in his hands. "Yeah, I know."
The old witch nodded. "See you there."
"Alright, thank you, Baba!" exclaimed Goku while Baba Yaga quickly ascended up to the heavens.
With Goten still in his arms and a determined expression slowly fading from his face Goku turned around and trained his eyes on Ranma, a curious look appearing on his face as he sized up the Saotome. Slowly walking over to the group of Saotomes and Tendos, Goku nodded politely at each of them, finally coming to a halt in front of Ranma.
"I don't believe we have been introduced, but there's something about you I can't lay my finger on, something that's familiar," the raven-haired Z-Fighter mused almost to himself.
"Daddy, that's Ranma-niisan!" Goten exclaimed in a tone that made it obvious he should have known.
Goku looked from his youngest to Ranma, a slow smile blooming on his face. "Ranma-niisan, huh?"
Ranma looked amused as well and shrugged his shoulders. "Goten's adopted me, I suppose. Name's Ranma, Ranma Saotome. Nice to meet ya," he said and held out his hand, which Goku took, giving it a firm shake.
"Daddy, he's a Super Saiyan, and he's as strong as big bro!" Goten enthused, smiling in a way that showed just how similar he was to his father.
"A Super Saiyan, you say?" Goku asked, his surprise showing briefly in his eyes.
"Uhuh! He and big bro train all the time together, and he's really strong!" the seven year old half-Saiyan exclaimed, nodding several times for emphasis.
Ranma smiled slowly but kept his face otherwise impassive. "What Goten said is true, Goku-san. I am a full-blooded Saiyan, even though I'm not from Planet Vegeta," he explained, purposefully being vague, "And I will gladly explain everything once we have registered."
"He's right, Goku. I too think we should move on to the registration desk before it closes," Piccolo spoke up in the usual gruff and serious tone he was wont to use, and Goku nodded after briefly considering his options.
"Okay, so as long as an explanation is given," the father of Gohan and Goten amended, to which Ranma nodded seriously.
"My word on it, Goku-san," the Saotome youth replied.
"Well," Gohan spoke up and clapped into his hands, "let's move out."
Nods all around ensued and the group set out toward the registration desk after brief introductions had been made. The said registration desk turned out to be only a short walk away and was manned by two middle-aged men in golden robes and matching hats, and the fact that the officials were using pens and notebooks to note down the competitors seemed to be an attempt at staying in tune with the traditions of the Tenkaichi Budokai.
Gohan walked up first and registered under his given name, and the eldest son of Goku briefly wondered if somewhere, in a different dimension where he'd never met Ranma he'd have registered under some weird secret identity complete with tacky outfit. Shaking his head at the absurdity of this thought Gohan briefly smiled, glad that he had long since decided that if his schoolmates were to find out about his Saiyan powers it was just fine. Having trained with Ranma the half-Saiyan had come to the decision that trying to blend in with them was futile as he'd always be different, and why should he hide what he was?
Next up was Trunks, who quickly found out that the rules had been changed from the last tournament. Instead of having one section for both adults and kids a junior division had been created, likely with intent to alleviate the unfair advantages in size and strength as well other physical and mental advantages adults usually had over kids.
The young Briefs however, whose strength, speed and endurance far exceeded what even the best trained human was capable of was more than just a little miffed, but even trying his hardest the officials wouldn't budge an inch, citing that there 'were rules to follow'. To Krillin the rule-abiding behaviour of the officials brought a feeling of relief as he didn't have to fear being swatted like a fly by either Goten or Trunks.
Soon it was announced by an official that the competitors were to gather in the waiting area, and as soon as the well wishes had been exchanged the group of warriors made their way over, anticipation running through every single one of them.
-.-
Ranma adjusted the sword strapped to his back and audibly grumbled to himself while shaking his head in contempt, muttering about "Amateurs" and "Wannabes" that wouldn't last a second while he took a few steps forward. The Saiyan Prince standing behind him scoffed in agreement, but it weren't the hordes of attention seekers acting worse than rutting stags that had put them in a bad mood but the fact that there were so many of these wannabes that the officials had had been forced to come up with a method to thin out their numbers, which totalled one-hundred-and-forty-nine competitors.
The solution the officials had come up with was utterly ridiculous in the Z-Fighters opinion, for having a punching machine that tests your strength decide who moved to the preliminary rounds wasn't exactly an accurate gauge of skill and technique; attributes that could be even more decisive to a battle's outcome than just strength. Only that this more accurate gauge would've probably taken even longer.
It had been decided by the officials that the fifteen people with the highest strength, as well as Hercule as the reigning Champion (who had scored a 137 as the first t have had a go at the machine), would make it to the finals, which was why the Z-Fighters slowly trudged forward in a queue that was much too long for their liking. There already had been one very annoying break when it had been Number 18's turn. The former android, whose presence had greatly surprised Goku, had 'caressed' the punching machine with the back of her hand earning her a score of 774, which had been deemed impossibly high by officials and fellow competitors alike, leading to the assumption that the machine was malfunctioning.
A gruelling fifteen minutes later the 'faulty' machine had finally been replaced, and when it was Ranma's turn he just casually flicked his right index finger with a bored expression, eliciting a score of 298. Discussions sprung up amongst officials that they had no punching machine left to replace this obviously equally as faulty one and that a new would have to be shipped in from the mainland.
It were the officials' squabbling that was the last straw as far as Vegeta was concerned. Brushing Ranma to the side Vegeta stepped forward and punched the machine with unrestrained strength, and the Saiyan Prince's expression of annoyance and disdain turned into one of happy satisfaction when he perceived the machine crashing into an adjacent wall where it shattered into a thousand pieces.
The 'normal' competitors surrounding them slowly inched away from Vegeta with expressions of bewilderment and fear, and Ranma casually commented, "As great as that must've felt, you know that it'll take even longer now as they'll have to get their hands on another machine, right?"
Vegeta scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest. "Bah. It was worth it, and if they," he nodded his head at the officials, "don't get their jobs done I'll gladly provide the proper motivation," he said with a dark glint in his eyes that promised nothing good.
Ranma and Gohan exchanged a look and shrugged their shoulders seeing as both didn't particularly care before shooting the officials a significant look as well. "Umm... Err... We will... That is," one of the officials, a rotund man wearing thick glasses stammered, before he visibly screwed up his courage and cleared his throat, looking solemnly at the crowd, "We will do everything in our power to ensure a swift continuation of the preliminaries. Thank you for your understanding," he exclaimed and turned around to walk away, his colleagues following suit.
"That would've been impressive and downright dignified hadn't he been so afraid of Vegeta that he almost ran away," Gohan commented while scratching his chin with his left thumb and index finger in a mock-thoughtful gesture.
"At least he had enough spine to make his statement in the first place before his tactical retreat. That has to count for something," Ranma mused, mirroring Gohan.
"Least I hope they don't take all day," Gohan grumbled, his expression turning serious.
Vegeta's eyes flashed teal for a barely perceivable moment. "They better not if they know what's good for them..." he muttered darkly and turned to walk away.
Ranma patted Gohan on the shoulder. "At least the company's pleasant," he said and indicated Videl with his head, a grin on his face. "If I had to spend time waiting I'd rather spend it with my girlfriend."
An identical grin formed on Gohan's face. "You got that right..."
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, bro," Ranma grinned making Gohan smirk as well, and he was about to turn around to follow Vegeta when he saw something, or rather someone out of the corner of his eyes, "What is he doing here?" he exclaimed, his tone one of cold fury.
Gohan followed Ranma's line of sight and started in surprise. "Isn't that that Amazon boy who can transform into an Ice-jin?"
"Mousse," Ranma confirmed darkly and stared daggers at the raven-haired teen who glared right back, "This tournament's become a lot more personal now. He should pray that he doesn't have to fight me, for this time I won't show him mercy," he spat, and with one last ki-laden stare that made the bystanders involuntarily flinch the raven-haired Saiyan stalked away.
"Oh dear, maybe the officials should bring a mop and paper bag, 'cause it sounds like Ranma won't leave enough to bury should they butt heads," Gohan muttered to himself.
"He wouldn't, would he?" Videl asked tentatively, worry and apprehension on her face.
"He would," confirmed Gohan, the look in his eyes telling Videl that he was convinced Ranma would follow-up on his words, "And he has good reason too."
-.-
Half an hour later it was Vegeta whose irritation had been replaced by cold fury, and even Goku had forgotten to get Ranma's story due to the events of the last thirty minutes. Ranma, sitting directly across from the Saiyan Prince could easily understand where the older Saiyan was coming from and actually commended him, Piccolo and Gohan on their restraint.
'If someone'd taken credit for something I'd done, and saving the world no less, I'd have kicked his lily ass no questions asked,' Ranma thought angrily while stuffing his face.
Goku, Vegeta and Gohan were mirroring him and between the four of them the pile of empty bowls continued to climb higher and higher. Even though distracting himself with food helped Ranma's thoughts still circled around the happenings of the last thirty minutes, and that even Mousse's participation in the tournament had been pushed into the background was saying something.
Gohan, Piccolo and Vegeta were still simmering, and Ranma could tell that even the easy go lucky Goku who seemed to be least affected, wasn't too happy. And it'd all begun so innocently.
After Videl and Gohan (according to whom Mousse had behaved) had been forced to wait on a replacement punching machine Goku had suggested they watch the Junior Division, a suggestion that'd been met with approval. At first it'd seemed like a perfectly normal set up with an old acquaintance, the announcer that'd worked the crowd on previous Tenkaichi Budokai's revving up the audience by him showing the crowd what the winner and runner-up would get as their prizes. The supposed icing on the cake, the so called 'extra bonus' the winner was to reap was supposed to be an exhibition match against Hercule.
Ranma had intended to reserve judgement on the quality of the 'extra bonus' until after having seen Hercule Satan in action (Videl was rather competent after all), but his initially neutral opinion of the 'champ' had dropped to somewhere around zero after having witnessed Hercule's supposed 'grand entrance' as well as his attitude.
Not only had the man with the giant afro slipped and fallen so awkwardly that even watching had hurt, something that didn't speak well for his skills, but his boastfulness and demeanour had exposed him as a dazzler, as far as Ranma was concerned. And it'd only gotten worse afterwards.
A TV blimp had entered the stadium, and the announcer had played the curious crowd masterfully, exclaiming that the video they were about to see, for the first time in history to boot, had coverage of the Cell Games never been aired before.
A dark scowl appeared on Ranma's face as his thoughts returned to the contents of the video. The said video, if it could even be called that, had been a cheap bizarro version of what had really happened at the Cell Games, depicting Hercule as the great saviour who'd beaten Cell. And with a single chop to the neck to boot.
The tall raven-haired Saiyan wondered how stupid people could get as they hadn't just bought it, but had eaten right out of the palm of Hercule's hand. Whoever had pieced the video together had used cheap figures instead of even actors, fact that should have outright ruined the video's credibility, and even he'd been angry at how goofy, incompetent and downright helpless the Z-Fighters had been portrayed. So helpless in fact that the 'great Hercule' had had to save the day.
Ranma almost snarled at the unfairness of it all. The Z-Fighters but especially Gohan had fought to exhaustion, sweated and bled, and some of their group had even died! They had given their all, and some glory-seeking freerider had had the gall to adorn himself with borrowed plumes and get stinking rich to boot? It was an outrage, and if it weren't for Videl he'd have asked Gohan for permission to make the 'champ's' life a living hell right there on the spot, the man's popularity be damned.
A slow smile spread on Ranma's face and the chopsticks paused short of his mouth when he remembered the sliver of just (yet involuntary) payback that'd occurred, a few grains of rice falling down into the bowl. Alas, what fun it'd been to watch little Trunks blast Hercule into the wall in what he (Hercule) had termed a 'Champions greeting'. The look on the 'champ's' face had been priceless, and Ranma had sworn to himself that he'd do something nice for Trunks. Like teach him a few techniques or something.
Ranma grinned to himself as he reminisced, his eyes twinkling darkly. Trunks, having been the one to emerge the winner of the Junior Division after breezing through all his matches except the final, during which he'd beaten Goten by a hairsbreadth, had had the 'honour' of going up against Hercule in the announced exhibition match.
Ranma still presumed that Hercule had somehow connected Trunks and Goten to the Cell Games after having seen them transform into Super Saiyans during their match and had therefore hurriedly made up the ridiculous 'Champions greeting' in which each champion gave a little punch to the others face to escape his just punishment.
Hercule had however made the mistake of telling Trunks to go first (probably due to the fact that he was the champ and had to maintain his reputation), and even though Trunks had held back greatly (much to Ranma's and every Z-Fighters misery) the little tap had blown the large man out of the ring and into a wall, leaving the crowd stunned.
Sadly the 'champ' had got back up in an effort to show the audience that he'd allowed Trunks to punch him and that the 'little love-tap' had been nothing, and they'd eagerly gobbled it up as well. But Ranma, knowing full well how much a blow from a Saiyan could hurt privately wondered how many ice bags the 'champ' had already gone through.
Ranma's and everyone else's heads swivelled around when suddenly one of the officials announced via loudspeaker that the fighters were to congregate in the arena so that the numbers for the matches could be drawn.
"Finally," Ranma and Gohan muttered in unison with Vegeta's "Hn," echoing them, and cleaning out the last morsels from their bowls in an impressive display of speed eating the Saiyans, Piccolo and their human comrades got to their feet.
They walked as one to the designated tournament area engaged in small talk until they were unexpectedly halted in their progress by two male individuals wearing strange robes and matching golden earrings in both ears. One of them was a short male with skin colour approaching light purple and a white mohawk, and from the way he carried himself as well as gauging from the body language of his companion it was easy to discern that he was the leader. What stood out right away was the fact that he was floating several centimetres off the ground.
The other male was much taller and broad shouldered, had red skin and very long, white hair that easily fell to midback. It was glaringly obvious not just from their pointed ears that these two were not human, and from glancing at his comrades not just Ranma was wondering if these two were projecting a glamour of some kind as to not stick out.
Videl, standing beside Gohan, turned her head to look at her boyfriend. "I'm picking up some weird vibes from these guys," she mouthed, and Gohan nodded back, indicating that he felt the same.
The shorter one floated up to Goku, and even though he moved in a non-threatening way Ranma could feel Gohan subtly adjusting his stance to be ready for everything just as he was doing the same. "Good afternoon. You wouldn't be Goku by any chance, would you?"
"Yeah. How'd you know my name was Goku?" the Saiyan queried with a puzzled look.
The unknown alien smiled. "Well, your reputation as a great fighter precedes you. I was actually hoping for a chance to fight you during the tournament."
Goku looked still puzzled and made a non-committal sound which prompted the alien to continue. "It's not that I'm confident about me, don't worry, it's just that I want the greatest challenge that I could meet, and I know you're a man who understands that.
"Well then, it was a real pleasure. And I'm very much looking forward to the day's competition. I travelled very far for this opportunity to meet you, in fact, you might even say that I'm one of your greatest fans. In any case after meeting you, I'm certain I won't be disappointed."
"Gosh, thanks," Goku exclaimed modestly, unaware of the dubious looks on his friends' faces.
"Goku, may I shake your hand?"
"Yeah, of course," Goku agreed.
The man smiled and held out his right hand to Goku who took the proffered appendage, but as soon as he'd actually gripped the man's hand the spiky-haired Saiyan got a really weird feeling. Seconds later the mohawked man retracted his hand, a smile on his face. "Alright. Thank you, you're as brave as everyone said you are."
Goku was left non-plussed and uttered another non-committal sound while the man floated to the ground and let his gaze travel over the others, stopping on Gohan. Apparently having found what he'd been looking for his gaze came to rest on Ranma, and the teen had the distinct impression he saw the strange man's eyes widen. The flicker of emotion was gone before he could be certain, and a neutral expression firmly in place. The alien then bowed from the waist. "Good day," he exclaimed and turned around, walking away.
"Hey! Wait a second! I didn't catch your name!" called Goku after the retreating man who didn't even turn around.
"I don't like the feel of it. They're strong," Piccolo spoke up.
"Real strong," Goku agreed seriously, only to brighten, "But hey, isn't that what the tournament's about? Finding the unexpected challenge and seeing who emerges as the victor?"
"Hn," Vegeta grunted.
"Gee, I don't know. They don't seem that strong to me, guys," Krillin spoke up, "To tell the truth, I don't think they know what they got themselves into."
"Those two are not to be trusted," Piccolo commented, brushing aside Krillin's comment.
"Why?" Goku wanted to know, turning to his long-time comrade-in-arms.
"I sensed something from them, and I'm not sure what it is. They're very powerful, but their power is... different."
"Damn, now I got a weird feeling about this," Krillin muttered softly.
"That's probably 'cause of the shrimp you ate, Krillin," Gohan inserted mock-seriously, nodding to himself.
Krillin chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Let's hope so, Gohan, let's hope so."
-.-
Standing confidently in the arena with his arms crossed across his muscled chest Ranma patiently waited for the drawing procedure to begin, the noise the crowd made a faraway cacophony of sounds that didn't even faze him. He had partaken in so many tournaments during his training trip that stagefright was a foreign concept to him, and he chuckled inwardly at the thought that some would've undoubtedly called him an old hand had they known his CV.
Ranma's long black flowing pants fluttered lightly in the breeze and he subtly surveyed the competition, cognizant that the others were doing the same. There wasn't much in way of competition outside his own group, he noted, but the duo of bald, muscular men standing to the side stuck out like a sore thumb to his finely honed senses. The men with a stylised M on their foreheads had something about them, some indiscernible evil taint he couldn't sufficiently pinpoint, and he instinctively knew he'd have to keep an eye on them.
He'd just decided upon this course of action when the announcer proclaimed that the time to draw the numbers had finally come, prompting him and everyone else to look at the sun-glasses wearing man who'd just finished his conversation with two officials. A conversation that'd made Ranma smile, seeing as Mister Satan had apparently been 'temporarily incapacitated' due to Trunks love-tap.
"Okay, people, this is how it works. I'll call your name and you'll come up here to draw a ball," the announcer exclaimed, pointing at a rectangle-shaped box standing on a small, wooden table. "The balls you choose will determine your opponent in the match."
Krillin looked skyward and folded his hands in a praying gesture. "Okay, I don't ask for much. Just please, please don't let me fight any of my friends."
"Krillin, destiny is not something that you can control," Piccolo commented knowingly, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Hey, it never hurts to try," Krillin retorted with a shrug, and added, "Especially not Ranma. And Goku."
The aforementioned Saiyan was in the meantime seizing up the competition. "Most of these guys look like they're not going to be much of a challenge," he commented quietly, his gaze stopping on the same two men Ranma had picked up on, "But those two really send chills down my spine."
This comment seemed to prompt the muscle-bound twosome to swivel their heads around and glare at their group at large. "I wonder what's making them so angry," Goku mused and shrugged, "Maybe they didn't have a good breakfast."
The ever-hungry Saiyan's gaze then fell on a masked individual in a plain white costume adorned with a blue cape. It seemed the masked man had trouble keeping his balance, and Goku's face scrunched up in distaste. "Who's that? Eugh! Is he actually gonna wear that? He looks so weird!"
Ranma shook his head in mirth and beckoned Gohan to join him. "You know this character's actually Trunks and Goten is disguise?" he asked the Saiyans standing around him.
"Are you certain?" Gohan asked, only to smile ruefully at Ranma's look, "Of course you are," he added and shook his head in mirth, "I should've known. Trunks was way too determined to enter the adult division to let it go, and it's easy to deduce he had no trouble in stringing li'l bro along."
Vegeta smirked. "The brat acted like a true Saiyan for once."
"I wouldn't have guessed. But if they're this determined to fight in the adult section I'd love to see what they can do," Goku said with twinkling eyes.
"Yeah. I'd say let's give them their shot," Ranma agreed, "They trained hard enough."
The other Saiyans nodded their assent, and each of them was curious as to how the little Super Saiyans would do. And then the drawing finally began.
-.-
The drawing had heralded interesting results, and the fighters now waiting in the area directly adjacent to the ring were visibly seizing their opponents up. The luck of the draw had seen to it that a certain Saiyan Prince was downright giddy as his opponent was none other than Goku. The drawing had also brought with it the revelation of the identity of the two mysterious aliens as well, the shorter one being called Shin, the taller one Kibito.
Krillin would go first, his opponent being a Turkish giant by the name of Pintar. The almost seven foot tall dark-skinned Turk had been pissed off at Krillin dismissing him as an 'incompetent fighter' and had promised the small Z-Fighter a painful death; Krillin had just about not laughed himself to death in response to the threat.
Piccolo would cross swords with the mysterious Shin in the second match, and truth be told, the tall Namek was a bit apprehensive as the strange alien was a wildcard.
Ranma would be fighting the strange muscle-bound giant Spopovitch thereafter, the Saotome youth being very curious if this fight would help him determine just what felt so strangely tainted about the other fighter.
Gohan's opponent would be the mysterious Kibito in the fifth match, and even though the alien was tall and imposing the half-Saiyan knew all too well that looking powerful didn't exactly equal being powerful, and if push came to shove he'd still have something up his sleeve.
# 18 was envied by most of the other Z-Fighters seeing as she would have the 'honours' of fighting Mr. Satan in the sixth match, but the real blast, as far as the Z-Fighters were concerned, would be the seventh match, Goku versus Vegeta. Now this would be the long awaited fight between two warriors that had gone from bitter enemies to reluctant allies and steadfast rivals.
Mighty Mask aka Trunks and Goten would be fighting Videl, and the match Mousse versus Yamu would conclude the first round.
"Hey, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?" the announcer yelled from outside, and a resounding cheer kicked up in the stadium.
"Now let the martial arts championship begin!"
-.-
A cheerful and festive-like atmosphere filled the arena, but to Piccolo, who was deeply immersed in meditation the wagonloads of spectators could've been cheering on another planet. The tall Namek warrior instinctively sensed that something was wrong, and his forehead continued to furrow in concentration as he tried to determine what.
'Something's wrong,' Gohan thought to himself, having noticed his erstwhile mentor's distress.
"Hey Gohan, Piccolo really looks stressed out. Does he get like this before every fight?" Videl spoke up from beside her boyfriend.
"Piccolo's usually a damn serious guy, but honest, no. And that worries me," Gohan admitted. "I wonder what's eating at him like this, and I also wonder if I should be more worried about fighting this Kibito character."
"Soon, Kibito, that which we came for will be within our grasp," Shin softly said to Kibito, and despite the fact that the aliens were standing round about twenty metres away outside of the waiting room Gohan could hear them clearly; what Shin had said puzzled him greatly.
One look at Ranma, who was standing a few metres to his left with his arms crossed told him that the other Saiyan had heard it as well, and the barely perceptible nod confirmed it. The look in Ranma's eyes told him that he'd be on guard, and Gohan inclined his head ever so slightly, conveying that he'd understood and would do the same.
Goku was meanwhile stretching due to being excited because he had to fight Vegeta in the first round, but even the usually oblivious Saiyan noticed Piccolo's distress. "Eh? You alright, Piccolo?"
"Yeah, looks like he got his game-face on," commented Krillin.
"Looks like we'll find them in here," a voice of someone just entering the waiting room spoke up, and the owner of the voice, Shin, stopped and shot Goku a look before walking into the middle of the room.
"Hey hon, I've got a great idea!" Krillin spoke up to ease the tension, "Let's trade. You take my slot now and fight and I'll take Mr. Satan."
"Forget it. He's mine," # 18 retorted calmly, and tossing her hair over her shoulder she walked away, causing Krillin to mutter to himself about opportunities lost.
"Yes! Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm proud to present to you the first match in the World Martial Arts Tournament!" the announcer yelled into his mike from just outside the ring, "So, let's get Krillin and Pintar out into the ring!"
"Break a leg, Krillin!" Goku cheered from beside his long-time friend.
"Just so long as it's not one of mine," Krillin retorted jokingly and turned to walk outside just as Pintar crossed his path, and the tall Turk used his big belly to bodily launch the much smaller Krillin into the doorframe, following that up by grabbing Krillin by the head to stop him from walking out.
"Hey, save it for the ring!" Krillin complained, massaging his scalp.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you down there," Pintar retorted arrogantly, "I'm surprised that you stayed this long, little man. I was worried that I'd end up beating myself into a pulp," he said with a heavy accent and began to rotate his arms, "But now that you're here I guess that you'll do just fine.
"You know, I asked my sister to reserve you a private room in the hospital. You'll thank me, hih hih," the giant smirked before leading the way up into the ring.
"We now have both fighters for the first match entering the ring," the announcer told the audience and proceeded to give background information on the fighters, "Krillin is quite the accomplished fighter, but this is his first tournament appearance in many years! It's a pleasure to see him back in the ring!
"Pintar's fearless fighting in the last championship proved he had stamina, and he never lost in the semi-finals, but he's back today ready to change his luck!"
The large Turk laughed all the way to the ring, and Maron, Krillin's and # 18's little daughter who was sitting in between Oolong and Puar couldn't help but to feel worry, but Yamcha quickly eased her fears by telling her that he wouldn't want to fight Krillin, and he was much stronger than Pintar.
In the ring Pintar loomed threateningly over Krillin, the hulkish Turk laughing threateningly all the time, but Krillin just looked bored. Suddenly Pintar let loose a war cry and proceeded to do backflips around the ring like a bouncing ball on sugar high until he landed right in front of Krillin again. "Hah hah hah hah, I told you, size matters, boy. I guess you see what I'm talking about? You must be ready to forfeit the match, right? Run home like a little girl?"
"Meh, you're so lame," Krillin retorted in a bored tone.
Pintar just laughed. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but you can never hurt me," he boasted, his fists planted into his sides, "And just to prove you I'm right I'll give you a little something. I'll give you the first punch, shorty, right here in the gut. Come on! Now!"
"Kay!" Krillin exclaimed and jumped upward, solidly planting his fist into Pintar's gut, all the while managing to look bored.
The large Turk's eyes bugged out and he cried out in pain, leaving the spectators shocked, and Krillin then proceeded to slap the man silly before deciding to take pity on him, and with a flying kick to the face Pintar was sent flying out of the ring. The brutish man bounced once and came to a stop in a crumpled heap, moaning in pain and shaken down for some teeth.
"Out of the ring!" the announcer yelled, "Pintar has landed out of the ring, which makes Krillin the winner!"
Krillin walked out of the ring at a sedate pace and waved a few times at the spectators, rejoining his friends in the waiting room where he received his congrats. "Hey, it was nothing," he said before turning to the tall Namek, "Sorry, Piccolo, but it looks like they want the next victim out in the ring. So you better put your fighting gloves on," he said in a joking tone, "Hey, why you're getting all bent out of shape? I'm just fooling around! This match's gonna be a piece of cake for ya!"
"Hn," Vegeta grunted, and Krillin noticed that all of the others were looking utterly serious as well.
"Hey, what's the matter with you guys? All of you? Loosen up!" Krillin exclaimed.
"Now for match number two!" the announcer yelled from outside, "And I guarantee you that this will be another colossal brawl! Majunior versus Shin!"
Both fighters walked outside with Shin taking the lead, the alien stopping just shy of the door, prompting Piccolo to do the same. "Well then, this should be interesting, don't you think, Piccolo?"
Piccolo glanced down at Shin with a serious expression but said nothing and silently walked up to the ring beside the mysterious alien, and as before the announcer was giving background information on the contestants. "This is the first year Shin's participated in the tournament. He's a man of few words, so we know little about him, and it could spell trouble for our other competitor, Majuniour, whom if I remember correctly came close to turning this ring into rubble the last time he was here!
"Erm, this time try to leave the stadium intact, okay?" the announcer asked quietly.
Piccolo grunted non-comittally and walked up to face Shin, asking himself, 'What is this strange energy I sense?'
In the waiting area Krillin was puzzling over Piccolo's unusual behaviour. "I don't understand. Is this guys really getting under your skin that much?"
It was Goku who turned to his long time friend, simply admitting, "Yeah."
"If you say so. He just doesn't seem all that powerful to me," Krillin retorted.
Vegeta, who was watching the ring intently, narrowed his eyes. 'Come on, Shin. Why don't you show us why you have the little Namek all worried?'
"Fighters, let the second match begin!" the announcer yelled into his mike.
Shin just smiled confidently, and Piccolo grew more and more agitated when he noticed that he couldn't properly focus his power. 'Why am I holding back like this? I never met him before today, and yet, there's something about him.'
The crowd was completely oblivious to Piccolo's inner turmoil and the first exclamations of disapproval were reflected in several boos, prompting the announcer to mutter, "The match has already started, so you guys can fight it out now!"
Shin just continued to stand there with a confident smile on his face while Piccolo couldn't bring himself to attack his opponent, the announcer commenting, "Well folks, it looks like we got ourselves an old-fashioned stand-off!"
'I've sensed this kind of energy before,' Piccolo thought and furiously wracked his brain trying to figure out where as he tried to dissect Shin's aura with his senses.
"Damn, what's wrong with Piccolo?" Goku muttered worriedly, "Why won't he fight?"
The Namek had in the meantime come to a startling conclusion. 'No! It couldn't be!' he suddenly thought, his eyes going wide. 'It can't be him! Why would he be here!'
"I promise you'll know soon," Shin uttered softly, shocking the hell out of Piccolo, "But for now let's enjoy our little match."
"So, is this gonna happen, or what?" the announcer asked.
"I'm sorry," Piccolo muttered softly, "I can't."
Shin started in surprise, but none were more surprised than Piccolo's friends. "Quitting?" Gohan exclaimed in disbelief.
"Does… this mean you withdraw from the match?" the announcer asked uncertainly.
"Yes, it does," Piccolo simply replied and walked out of the ring.
'Interesting,' Shin thought, 'Yes, that Namek was the guardian of this planet at one time. Perhaps he knows more about me than I thought.'
"Well you heard it, Majunior is withdrawing from the match! This makes Shin the winner by default!" the announcer exclaimed.
Several more exclamations of disapproval, in other words loud boos, followed this declaration, but Piccolo made his way back to the waiting room undeterred and stoically walked past his friends. "Hey Piccolo, is he that strong?" Goku inquired.
"Yes. Stronger than you can imagine," Piccolo retorted seriously.
"Please tell me you just got a headache or something," Krillin pleaded, "'Cause I'm getting edgy! I'm the one who has to get out there and fight him next!"
Piccolo just grunted in reply and walked off to dwell on what he'd learned at rest.
"Not wasting any more time let's get on with the third match! Ranma versus Spopovitch!" the announcer exclaimed.
Ranma let his eyes wander to his opponent to find him still seated on the ground Indian style, seemingly unconcerned that he'd just been called on. Spopovitch gave absolutely no indication that he'd even noticed anything and continued to breathe heavily. Only when the man's companion, Yamu walked up to him and snapped his fingers in front of the man's face, muttering, "It's time," did the muscle-bound man get to his feet.
Ranma exchanged a confused look with the others and walked out of the waiting room, and not just he was asking himself what was up with this strange fighter that wouldn't stop breathing like some kind of psychopathic killer out of a horror movie.
-:-
"And we have another first-time contestant, Ranma!" the announcer exclaimed loudly and drew out Ranma's name as the Saiyan walked up into the ring beside Spopovitch, "Little is known about this young man other than that he's been on a ten year training trip from which he just recently returned! Oh, and that he wields a badass sword, which he luckily left with his companions!"
This elicited chuckles from the spectators and Yamcha muttered to himself, "Hah! I said badass, didn't I?"
"As for his rival today, Spopovitch is here to redeem himself for a loss he suffered in the first round of the last tournament. He's trained hard and bulked up, I'm sure he'll be a mighty challenge for this newcomer!" the announcer exclaimed.
The aforementioned man continued walking into the ring still breathing heavily like a bodybuilder on steroid-high while Ranma followed him at a sedate pace in an effort to fathom his opponent. He'd well noticed Shin's reaction when the alien had passed Spopovitch, and the fact that the pink-skinned man seemed to have scanned the hulking man gave him even more food for thought. 'The questions are mounting but no answers are forthcoming,' Ranma thought to himself and shrugged internally, 'Fight first, answers later.'
Taking a relaxed stance Ranma calmly stood across from his opponent who continued to breathe heavily, unaware that Piccolo had just found out the identity of the mysterious Shin who was none other than the Supreme Kai.
A few dimensions away King Kai, who'd been observing the happenings from the Afterlife, was just as surprised as the Namek that the Grand Kai's boss, someone he'd never even seen before and whom he'd just heard rumours about would travel to the Earth realm to participate in something as mundane as a human sports event.
His participation indicated that there was more going on than was visible at a first glance, and it worried the Cat-fish god. Especially his supreme boss' request that Piccolo keep his identity a secret from the others was worrisome indeed, and King Kai hoped against hope that things wouldn't go to hell in a hand basket.
Down on Earth the announcer had just given the signal for the third match to begin, and smirking confidently Ranma made a come-hither motion with his right hand. Spopovitch didn't need to be told twice and lunged forward with both arms outstretched, a look of supreme anger on his face and the intent to crush Ranma to pieces written all over it. Ranma calmly stepped aside to the left with slightly above human speed and kicked out his right foot which connected solidly with Spopovitch's backside, making the hulking fighter stumble forward and almost out of the ring.
The muscle-bound man whirled around with a look of rage and hatred on his face amongst the yowling of the spectators who'd apparently found this very funny, his right fist the size of a t-bone steak coming screaming in at Ranma's face. The look of boredom never left the Saotome's face as he calmly deflected this attack and several follow-ups consisting of punches and kicks, and upping his speed in a blitz-attack he let his left foot lash out in a roundhouse kick, catching Spopovitch squarely in the chin. The force of the blow was so great that the onrushing man was thrown backwards and spun around in the air which resulted in him landing face-first on the ground in his personal crater.
"I don't think he'll be getting up from that, folks," the announcer commented and the spectators cheered, "I'll start the countdown-"
"Don't bother," Ranma spoke up and crossed his arms across his chest, "He still has some fight left in him."
The announcer looked as disbelieving as the audience, but with a snarl not unlike a wild animal Spopovitch got back to his feet. Shooting forward with speed that belied his bulkiness he aimed to deliver a devastating punch to Ranma's face, only to start in surprise when his fist was caught effortlessly. Not a second later Spopovitch found himself sailing through the air and a snarl escaped him when he made his second very own crater this day.
"Is that all you got?" Ranma asked in a bored tone from his position a good five metres away and pretended to yawn, "If so I find it disappointing. My girls give me a harder workout every day."
The taunt didn't miss its mark, and roaring like a diesel engine Spopovitch renewed his onslaught, attacking Ranma with punches and kicks that were stronger and faster than what a normal human should have been capable off. Ranma whereas had no trouble deflecting the blows with a casual ease that seemed to border on arrogance, but in reality his tactical mind had compared Spopovitch's strength, stamina and speed against the capabilities of the human Z-Fighters. 'There are definitely similarities, but he has nothing on a Saiyan,' Ranma thought, boredom bubbling up inside of him, 'Feh, didn't think I'd have to go Super Saiyan, but that fights a bust. Couldn't I've had more luck? Fighting either Vegeta, Gohan or Goku would've been a blast, but nooo.'
Standing in the waiting room Shin's eyes widened ever so slightly. 'Interesting,' the Supreme Kai thought, 'This is the chance to find out if my suspicions are correct. Provided I can manipulate this Ranma's power.'
A look of concentration formed on Shin's face and pearls of sweat began to roll down his face, and up in the ring Ranma, having calmly deflected an over-extended punch, began to feel a strange build-up in his ki-reserves despite him not actively drawing on much of his power. 'Damn, it's like my body wants to turn Super Saiyan on its own!' he thought furiously and tried to get his energies under control.
"Damn, what's up with Ranma?" Gohan muttered to himself, "Why is his power-level rising like that?"
Vegeta and Goku, having noticed the rise in Ranma's power-level as well, were as at a loss; especially as they had agreed to desist from transforming into Super Saiyans beforehand. "That's not like the brat," the Saiyan Prince muttered to himself and shook his head before concentrating again.
"His power output is nearing Super Saiyan," Goku added, his look of concentration identical to his companion's. "But it looks like it's happening against his will. What is going on here?"
One fighter in the room had a pretty good idea as to what was going on, but Piccolo, bound by his earlier promise to refrain from revealing the Supreme Kai's identity just yet couldn't help but wonder if the mysterious Kai wouldn't be getting more than he'd bargained for.
Up in the ring Ranma had found neither an answer to what was going on nor a way to get his powers back under control, and his distraction cost him. Spopovitch's right fist connected solidly with Ranma's chin, the power behind the blow sending Ranma flying backwards.
"Oooh, that had to hurt, Ladies and Gentlemen!" the announcer exclaimed, "Can Ranma fight his way back into the match after such a blow?"
Spopovitch and everyone else watched the parabolic arc Ranma's body described, the former with a look of abject satisfaction on his face, and he was fully prepared to work off some of his frustrations when suddenly Ranma's flight was halted in mid-air to the surprise of many.
"Are my eyes going bad or is he... Floating?" a scrawny bespectacled man asked.
"If so then I'm gonna need my eyes checked as well," the man to his right said and rubbed his eyes.
Power that bled into the visible spectrum in form of a golden aura suddenly sprang up around Ranma's body as it righted up into a standing, or rather floating position, and with a yell the Saotome ascended to Super Saiyan.
The spectators looked on in utter dumbfoundedness at the sight before them, yet Shin had a look of satisfaction on his face, a satisfied smile turning up the corners of his mouth. The look lasted exactly as long as it took the Supreme Kai to notice that it didn't stop there.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for reading, and many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s). If you liked this instalment (or not) and read it to the very end please take the time to drop me a review of the constructive variant, ideally detailing what you liked and what not, and where there'd be room for improvement.
The next chapter will be out in a month.
Until then,
Trugeta