On to the semi-finals, as Roshi squares off against the reincarnated Piccolo! This one wound up being a lot longer than I'd expected, so just the one fight this time.
Stuff;
SoulAuron; I'm going to try my best to develop the relationships among the cast, especially since this is the first chance most of the cast will have to develop them in any real detail. And as for the second request, the time travellers have already started on developing new techniques and perfecting older ones. They'll be branching out a bit more over time, and finding their own 'specialties', which I should be able to show by the Post-Saiyan saga at the latest.
sarista wow; Thanks for the review! And yeah, Krillin's starting to step up as the 'face' of the Z-Fighters. Tien isn't very sociable outside of his close friends, and even though Yamcha's taken charge in the past, he's still getting used to being any kind of a leader. Krillin, meanwhile, has had experience dealing with people as a policeman [in the future, as per Super], and has been taking a teacher role for the twins over the last few years. He's a bit more accustomed to taking control in situations like that.
...
Roshi's stance switched instantly as he burst forwards, stone cracking under his feet as he launched the first attack of the fight. Piccolo blinked slightly, caught off-guard by the old man's sudden assault. The green warrior was quick to switch to defense, however, easily batting away and blocking all of Roshi's strikes.
"Heh, pretty spry for an old fool, aren't you?" he smirked, slamming a palm against Roshi's stomach when the latter slowed for a brief second. "You look familiar. Maybe one of your ancestors was unlucky enough to meet me in my previous form."
"I doubt that, since you've only existed for three years," Roshi coughed, back in a defensive position now that his attack had been cut off. "But your inherited memories are certainly interesting. Perhaps you remember a man by the name of Mutaito?" He had to hold back a grin when he saw the demon's eyes widen.
"Mutaito? Then you-"
"I am one of his two apprentices. Master Mutaito gave his life to protect this world from your father. I was too weak to help him back then. I was too weak to face Daimao when he returned. It's about time I live up to my legend! I am Muten Roshi!" the Turtle Hermit bellowed, buffing himself up to his MAX Power state as blue light shone in his palms. "Prepare yourself, Piccolo!"
OoOoO
"Holy crap, Roshi's been holding out on us." Yamcha gaped, ignoring all of the spectators hissing to one another about Piccolo's identity.
"He's got better control over his energy than we have," Krillin agreed. "I couldn't sense any of this power from him earlier. We should have brought him to the Lookout with us."
"Th-this energy..." Mashi stammered, sweating heavily. "The heat... how can you people do this?" he demanded, whirling around to face the Z-fighters beside him, his fingers twitching as he resisted the urge to grab his gun. If the display on stage was anything to go by, these weren't even close to normal people, no matter how they acted. He was surrounded by living WMD's!
"It's a matter of training the right way," Tien answered bluntly. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't draw your weapon here. It wouldn't work on us anyway, but you could hit someone in the crowd."
Mashi's jaw was clenched so tightly, he thought his teeth might shatter. "Get out of my head!" he hissed, resting his hand inside his suit jacket, next to his holster
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Krillin held up his hands, stepping in between the two, Yamcha subtly positioning himself to protect Launch, Tights and Bulma, the latter of whom looked ready to bolt. "Look, none of us want to start a fight, alright? Agent Mashi, we've had this kind of power for years, we're not going to suddenly try and take over the world or anything. Tien, I get that you don't trust this guy, but he's just doing his job. We've already agreed to meet the king and sort things out properly. So let's all just stay calm and watch the rest of the tournament."
Tien nodded quickly, turning away from Mashi silently. Mashi continued glaring, until he caught sight of Krillin's stern expression. With a sudden sensation of defeat, he let his hand drop back down to his side.
What good was a bullet against a superman?
OoOoO
"Kamehameha!" Roshi thrust his cupped hands forward, projecting the massive pillar of swirling blue light. Piccolo didn't even bother to dodge, throwing out a palm in front of him, yellow sparks coalescing in his hand.
"Demon Wave!" he snarled, a yellow explosion blasting the Kamehameha apart and kicking up a gust of wind, strong enough to knock several of the spectators off their feet. "You almost had me worried there. But a weak energy wave like that is nothing to me."
"It was still powerful enough that you had to counter it rather than try to face it directly," Roshi commented coolly, a slight mocking tone in his voice. "It seems the great Demon King's son isn't as invincible as you'd like us to believe."
"Trying to bait me into losing my temper? Really? Still, if you want so badly to experience true despair, then feel free to try again," Piccolo stood up straight, arms folded. "I won't block this time. Go ahead." He smirked evilly, showing off his fangs as he felt the crowd shifting. It seemed some of them had figured out his identity, possibly from his opponent's speeches. He'd wanted an audience to witness his triumphant return, but on the other hand, having them all flee in terror would arguably spread the word even faster.
Roshi was quick to note the 'demon's' indifference towards him and readied a second energy blast between his palms, firing the Kamehameha at Piccolo as swiftly as he could. The caped fighter was still assured of his own power, almost lazily raising a hand to catch the blast. Roshi grinned. Perfect.
"HA!" he roared, bulking his body up as much as he could in the instant before his attack made contact. With the new muscle mass came a surge of ki, causing his attack to triple in size.
The impact as the ki wave detonated was even more intense than the last clash. Several members of the audience were forced to duck for cover as dust and shrapnel flew towards them. Roshi breathed harshly from the sudden dip in his energy, shrinking his musculature down to a more manageable level as he waited for Piccolo to reappear.
The Namekian's cloak had been ripped to shreds, and his left arm appeared to have been torn off at the elbow. With an animalistic roar, he forced his body to regenerate, a fresh arm bursting from the stump and spraying purple blood around him. "I underestimated you, it seems. But that trick won't work twice. Besides, you've wasted quite a chunk of your energy with that. You've got enough for maybe... two more of those? Three, if you're lucky." He tossed aside his cape and turban as he spoke, looking over Roshi's stance in search of an opening.
Roshi silently conceded the point as he was suddenly forced on the defensive. He'd worked on accessing his Maximum Power state more easily, eliminating his former need for a lengthy charge time, but it was still too inefficient, burning through his body's energy at an inordinate rate. But then, that had been only one tool from his arsenal.
He allowed himself to be struck in the shoulder, rolling with the blow to create some distance between them, splaying both hands out in front of him.
"The Mafuuba?" Piccolo whispered to himself, hesitating. He couldn't afford to be caught off-balance by the sealing technique.
Roshi resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Even with his training, he still needed a few moments to prepare this attack. "Not this time. This is my Thunder Shock Surprise!" he cried, lightning darting from his palms and enclosing his enemy in a field of sparking energy. "I'll beat you right now, Piccolo Junior!" he proclaimed, levitating the namekian over towards the edge of the ring.
To his credit, Piccolo barely reacted to the sensation of electrocution, refusing to make any sounds of pain, though his jaw was clenched tightly. "Y-you think this can hold me? I'll just have to show you how outclassed you really are..." he hissed, his veins bulging beneath his skin.
"What?" Roshi exclaimed, as he felt a sudden pressure resisting his technique, the electrical field surging momentarily before shattering, Piccolo growing to three times his original size in mere moments.
"Ha! Now do you see? No mortal can hope to defeat the Demon King!" he cackled madly, Roshi staring in open-mouthed horror at the sight. A scream tore through the air, shattering what little courage the crowd had left.
OoOoO
"Tien, try Multi-forms!" Krillin called through the chaos, blurring into three identical copies himself and darting into the panicking audience. Tien did as directed, four weaker copies diverting people through the stampede as safely as possible. Yamcha held out his hands and concentrated, pale barriers surrounding the few spectators who weren't fleeing in terror, drawing them closer to the area the time travellers had been standing.
Mashi was stunned, watching the combat between Roshi and Piccolo with his mouth hanging open. He'd almost managed to wrap his head around the idea of energy beams and flight, but cloning? Becoming a giant?
Thank God they seemed to be on the same side.
OoOoO
Roshi skidded painfully to a halt, lying on his back on the cracked tile. Piccolo stood up straight once more, having bent low to backhand Roshi away from him. He'd grown even larger, barely fitting on his half of the ring. He chuckled, a deep voice devoid of any real humour. "I suppose I should commend you. You've surpassed Mutaito, easily. My previous form might even have lost to you, had you been this powerful three years ago. But the gap between our powers is too much."
Roshi pushed himself to his knees, one hand clutching his side. "There's more to a battle... than just pure power... Piccolo. Mutaito should have proven that to you... But maybe you need a second lesson." He moved his hand away from his hip, holding a miniscule clay jar with a charm inscribed on it.
"That- You can't know that technique! It died with him!" Piccolo spat, a note of desperation in his voice.
"I relived that fight a thousand times. I remember every detail of that day. Every move he made, every shift in his ki. I knew that one day, your father would escape. I thought this was the only way to stop him. Now, can you stand against the Mafuuba?" Roshi asked, surrounding them both with a vortex of green light and pushing it towards Piccolo with a yell.
OoOoO
"What are you doing?" Krillin muttered, staring wide-eyed at his teacher. He snapped himself out of his stupor, addressing Roshi directly. "Stop this, Roshi! You could die! Is this fight seriously worth that?"
"What?" Mashi started, bewildered. "What's he doing?"
"A very risky technique," Tien explained, arms folded. "It can be used to seal away enemies, but it requires a lot of life force to even activate it, never mind controlling it. It looks like Roshi really wants to prove himself here and now."
"How can you be so calm? He's going to kill himself!" Bulma shrieked, having found her tongue at last.
"You can't sense his energy. If this was the Roshi from three years ago, he'd die from this. But he's much stronger now. He knows what he's doing." Tien shrugged, still observing the match stoically, while Krillin and Yamcha looked to be barely refraining themselves from jumping in.
OoOoO
"HAAAA!" Roshi roared, his attack encircling Piccolo, who was tryng desperately not to lose his footing. 'Come on, just a little more power... Now!" He raised his arm, ready to begin the sealing portion of the technique, when he noticed something odd.
Piccolo was grinning, an expression completely at odds with the fear he'd shown before. "I've got you now. Mafuuba Gaeshi!" With a minute pulse of energy from Piccolo, the green waves abruptly changed direction, turning against Roshi himself.
Exhausted, he tried to resist the sudden pull, knowing that a single misstep would mean his loss. Squaring his shoulders, he prepared to pulse his own life energ-
A tile, almost shattered from the continuous punishment the ring had taken, slid away from Roshi's foot, and his stance slipped. He felt himself being pulled from the ground distantly, as though it were happening to someone else, but one thing stood out clearly. The jar, still sat innocently on the ring.
Ignoring Piccolo's cocky smirk, Roshi strained against the force restraining him, trying to raise his arm to fire at the jar. If he could just tip it over... but his hands refused to move, as his entire body felt like it was fading, being converted to the energy that the seal was designed to control.
Suddenly, the ground seemed to be approaching much faster, Piccolo having swept his arms downwards to complete the sealing. Digging deep, Roshi pulled for whatever scraps of power he could muster, and screamed. This was a crude, inefficient excuse for a kiai, barely more than a sound with a little more echo to it, but it was enough.
The bottle fell with a tink.
Roshi landed on his back, gasping for oxygen. He winced as his lungs pressed against what had to be a cracked rib, before a giant hand grabbed him holding him in a clenched fist. Piccolo looked down at him with a smirk. "You're certainly determined to drag this out, aren't you?"
Roshi's response was to raise his one free hand and fire a weak bolt of ki into the giant's eye. Caught off-guard by the dart of pain, Piccolo let go, allowing his captive to fall helplessly towards the grass.
Roshi shut his eyes with a smile. "I've lost this one..." A fall from this height would hurt, but it wouldn't kill him. He'd forced the demon to take him seriously, though he'd definitely been holding back the full extent of his power. For today, that was enough.
He opened his eyes when a pair of short but sturdy arms caught him, barely six feet above the ground. Krillin slowly lowered the old master to the ground, supporting him when he stumbled. Roshi blinked as he was clapped on the back by Yamcha, with even the Briefs sisters expressing amazement for his performance.
"By forfeit, the winner of the match is P-Piccolo!" the announcer informed the couple dozen observers who remained. "Next, we will learn who his opponent will be. Will it be Son Goku, or Chiaotzu?"
"That was incredible, Master," Tien said respectfully. "I hadn't realised how much power you really have in you." Roshi waved away the praise as Lapis and Lazuli made their way over to the audience.
"You were holding out on me, old man," Lapis accused, though his grin made it clear how little offence he took. "Next time, I'm going to make you fight seriously."
Lazuli's attention was focused on the two semi-finalists in the ring, as was Yamcha's. The ex-bandit was smirking, eyes flicking back and forth between them. "Guys? I have a feeling we should be paying attention. This is going to be a good one."
"Begin!"
...
Yeah, Roshi! Roshi's new prowess is going to be a thing here, inspired by his amazing showing during the Tournament of Power. For being the [supposedly] weakest member of the Universe Seven team, he seriously kicked ass. It was about time that actual fighting skill became a factor again, instead of weird powers or the classic 'MOAR POWER' that took over the story.
Anyway, time for power levels;
Roshi; 280 full power, 685 Maximum Kamehameha
Piccolo; 290 at first, 350 fighting seriously, 620+ Giant form
...
So, what did you guys think? Any changes you think I should've made? Anything you want to see during the timeskip? Let me know!