Vigilante Angel: Chapter the Thirty-sixth

Disclaimer: It's all about Dragonball Z, and how I don't own it. /Sighs/

A/n: All right, peoples, I have a proposition for you to consider. Should I or should I not bring in one character from another fandom completely unrelated to DBZ, and anime in general actually (the character is from a very popular book series actually, and I mean, extremely popular), and have that character interact with Gohan and Goten for a while, then go away again? There will be a purpose behind this, but it's mostly for the character from the other fandom than for Gohan. Hm. /Muses/ And no, this does not mean that it's a crossover. I guess it is a semi-crossover, I suppose, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

This means, however, that the character is going to be showing up for only a few chapters and then disappearing again. I'm considering writing a sort-of more in-depth side-story to more fully explain what goes on with the character, Gohan, and Goten, etc. Yeah.

So, would you be willing to bear with me on this, or would you just like to know when the end of this whole fic is going to be? Either way, this fic is long. It's going to be longer with the other fandom character in here, so think carefully about this before you answer me in a review.

On with the story! Enjoy!

:-:-:-:

Last time on Vigilante Angel—

"Would you believe me if I told you she was just a friend?" he asked Krillin, a flat tone coming into his voice.

"No."

"I didn't think so," Gohan said ruefully. Krillin only snickered in answer, as did Yamcha and Vegeta. But then Goten broke into the conversation with,

"I'm hungry. Can we get some dinner?"

:-:-:-:

Round Three Semifinals, Match One

Goku Grinned™ cheerfully at Juuhachi, his opponent of the day. The Android merely Looked™ coldly at him, a disdainful expression crossing her face. This was just Juuhachi's way of trying to intimidate Goku, but it didn't work, for the both of them knew that the Saiyan was much stronger than the Android. Still, Goku sobered down a little bit as Jared approached.

"Are the fighters prepared?" The time-honored question issued from the announcer's mouth, and the warriors standing in front of him acknowledged the usual reply of nods. They stepped into their stances simultaneously an instant later. Goku's cheerful smiled turned instantly into a concentrated frown, marking the change in Goku's mental process from a naïve, happy-go-lucky adult-sized kid to a fully mature, calculating, and composed warrior. The only thing that said anything about Juuhachi's shift into deeper concentration was the narrowing of her bold blue eyes. Nevertheless, the fighters were set, and a rematch such as the world had never seen before, but would possibly see again, was about to begin.

Of course, the rematch between the Android and her original target, the Saiyan Goku, would be on a way less grander scale than if these two were to duke it out elsewhere, i.e. in private. "Private" did not mean that these two would be alone in some place or other, as every member of the Z-senshi who was interested would come watch, but compared to having most of the world watching, the small gathering of Earth's Special Forces was private enough.

Because the rematch was in front of the world, and the Z-senshi did believe in privacy (SP: Weren't we just talking about that?), it was going to be a bit boring in light of what we DBZ fans are used to. There would be no ki balls, Kamehamehas, flying, jumping really, really high (the last may actually happen, who knows?), levitating, running extremely fast, or any other obvious or subtle use of ki. Imagine the disappointment on Goku's face if he were to hear these rules, especially as it meant neither he nor Juuhachi could power up.

Yeah, Goku was just crushed.

Jared, unaware of the fidgety group of readers and the authoress sitting behind him, raised his mike and his arm. The audience in the grandstand almost immediately hushed and waited for the beginning of the first match of the semi-finals.

"And begin! Fighters, go!" The arm swept down as it always did to mark the opening of a fight, and Jared had to quickly get out of the way of the rushing rhinoceroses in the ring with him in order not to get pulverized. Juuhachi and Goku, who were these rushing rhinos, slammed together and bounced off each other in the space of two seconds, each testing the other before the real fighting began.

Jared was wise enough to got off of the platform entirely as the titans enclosed within its pitifully small embrace clashed for dominance. Everyone watched with wide-eyed amazement as the fight started out, but as it started settling in, the whole grandstand started cheering for one or the other. Chichi was all for her husband, and Bulma was, too, but Roshi, the dirty old man, was whistling for Juuhachi. It was a good thing that Krillin wasn't there, for Roshi would have been smacked upside the head a good three dozen times by the angry ex-monk. As it was, Yamcha did the job for his friend anyway, although it should be noted that Oolong was being a pig too. :D

The arena, or the contents of it, was a different story. There was absolutely no noise in here, except for the occasional grunt and the far more frequent sounds of flesh thudding on flesh, of leather smacking against flesh, of leather warring with leather, and of leather hitting on cloth (SP: Hey! No flirting here, Leather! Get outta here:P). The grunts were merely grunts of exertion or of breathlessness, the latter often mistaken for pain, as they sounded the same. But these sounds did not say anything about the fantastic action that was going on.

After bouncing off of each other, the two fighters, Android and Saiyan, slid to a stop on either side of the ring. They didn't stay long at these sides, though, but immediately dashed back to each other. Juuhachi jumped at the last moment and drilled her foot into Goku's chest, but Goku blocked her at the last moment by catching her foot. The Saiyan started to swing the Android around and around with a few of the earlier mentioned grunts of exertion, while Juuhachi tried vigorously to get out of the Saiyan's grasp with grunts of breathless exertion, a new combination never tried before. (SP: Ooh, ooh, can I try it? Aline: No, you dolt, it's a fight here, not a food! SP: I KNOW THAT! Kami, you make me sound like I'm Goku or something! Aline: (Looks pointedly at authoress))

Juuhachi, bending down with great effort, finally managed to dig her fingers into Goku's wrists and the veins that were ensconced in those areas of the arm, forcing her opponent to let go of her ankle to get away from the metal-induced pain. As she was let go, the Android pushed off of Goku's hand and back-flipped gracefully to land lightly on the ground on her two feet, much like a cat. She did not hesitate from there, either, but forged determinedly on ahead to where Goku was standing, blood trickling from one of his wrists. Goku ignored the bright red liquid and braced himself to meet the Android, who was still strong enough to break through Saiyan-tough skin.

When Juuhachi was in range, Goku stood up quickly and kicked her in the face, bringing his body around sideways with force so that Juuhachi couldn't predict his action beforehand. The Android staggered back with the strength and the surprise of the blow, but she recovered quickly and dealt Goku a vicious uppercut to the solar plexus (a.k.a. the gut) as he came on towards her. Before this fight, before Cell, this uppercut would have been a devastating strike, backed as it was with the strength of three thousand pounds of indestructible steel, but, unfortunately for Juuhachi, Goku wasn't that weak anymore. As it was, the Saiyan merely gurgled for exactly three seconds before he rammed on Juuhachi's blond head with a double-handed fist.

The Android nearly fell, but, somehow, some way, she turned her fall into a floor-kick, an attempt to sweep Goku's feet out from underneath him. It would have worked too, had Goku actually been right in front of her. As Juuhachi had nearly been falling, Goku had stepped back a few steps to let the Android fall. The drop kick was foiled, and all Juuhachi got for her effort was another full-footed kick straight into her face.

Now Juuhachi was floored, landing straight onto her back so hard that her whole body vibrated, one of the most nasty effects of having a metal skeleton. Poor Eighteen. But not for long! Goku bent forward and let fly a punch with a nice amount of strength behind it, but, unluckily for him, it never reached his opponent.

Instead, two feet landed on his chest and threw him far, far away from his opponent, giving the Android enough time to get up and chase after him. Goku put his own feet down and slid to a stop, just in time for him to catch Juuhachi's fist in between his forearms. Juuhachi didn't stop, however, but brought her other fist up and punched Goku in the jaw, rattling some bones in there and making him step back. He didn't release her first fist as he stepped, making Juuhachi step ahead with him and thus losing her momentum as she stumbled.

Here the Saiyan tried his own drop kick and it was to more avail than Juuhachi's attempt. The Android pitched to the ground again, landing askew on her left hip and jarring her skeleton worse than before. Goku stepped back again, this time to avoid any more drop kicks, but this was a mistake, as it allowed Juuhachi, with her fist still stuck in the crevice made by Goku's forearms (one of which was slippery with blood), to get to her feet again. But this time, Juuhachi started to use the stuck fist to her advantage. Since Goku had such a tight hold on the fist with his arms, it was possible to execute some amazing wrestling-style moves that had before been attempted but in a different way.

With her fist still gripped by Goku's forearms, Juuhachi pulled on it, but not to claim it back. Instead, Goku was lifted off his feet and swung over Juuhachi's head and slammed into the tiles on the other side of the Android. This move, marvelously enough, did not stun Goku (Why is it "marvelously enough"? This is Goku's head we're talking about here. He's famous for being so hardheaded!). The next time Goku's head collided with the tile, on the side that he'd been standing on this time, that did not stun him either. The seventh time that the infamous Saiyan-tough skull met with the tiles of the arena, though, Goku finally let go of Juuhachi's fist and fell to the ground, headfirst, for an eighth time, onto the arena, and was finally stunned.

The Android, calm as ever, looked with distaste at the blood covering her hand, streaming down her own forearm, and coating her sleeve, and thanked Kami that it wasn't much. Else it would get in the way, and she had enough on her hands. She hastily returned to the fight and strode over to stomp on Goku, only to have the Saiyan grab her leg again and throw her over his head. The Android tucked in her head and rolled to her feet, turning and planting a foot squarely on Goku's nose a second later. Goku, in retaliation, let his head fall back but brought his own leg up as he tripped backwards, kicking Juuhachi in the chin as she straightened up.

The two fighters staggered backwards only a few steps before they finally stopped, moving automatically into their fighting postures as they tried to recover as much as they could before fighting again. Both of the fighters were breathing heavier than normal, but you can guess who was breathing the heaviest: Juuhachi. The Android had not had to fight anyone this hard for seven years; as it was, she had not trained for nearly that long so as to raise Marron instead. She had not considered ever having the need for fighting anymore, but she knew that if she had kept up her training, even sporadically, she would not be having this much difficulty against Goku like she was now. The Android huffed at herself in annoyance while keeping her eyes trained on Goku, ready to react if he made any move.

Goku, on the other hand, was gleeful. He was getting a proper warm-up now, which would serve him later in the finals. He had no idea whom he was going to fight in the finals, Gohan or Vegeta, but he was going to have a challenge either way. Gohan was the more likely candidate, with his strength and endurance, but Vegeta was crafty, and he wasn't far behind Gohan in strength, either. Both were at SS3, even if Gohan was in possession of far more ki than Vegeta at that level, and could control it more. It didn't matter for this tournament, though, because neither of them was going to ascend to such a level in their fight. They would have to rely on their technical skills and innate sneakiness to win their fight, such as Goku and Juuhachi were doing. (This, New Dye, is why you should not make assumptions about Gohan defeating Vegeta. Gohan actually may not defeat Vegeta in their fight. Vegeta has as much of a chance to win as Gohan does. Just a warning, m'dear! )

Both of the fighters were eyeing each other warily for any signs of weakness. Suddenly Goku moved his foot just a tiny millimeter, but Juuhachi was already off and coming at him. Goku allowed himself a grim smile for his successful tactic, but it quickly disappeared as he waited for the Android to fall more completely into his trap. Juuhachi was like the fly invited by the spider to "Step into the parlor." (SP: Muahaha! I just had to put that in. Enjoying the fight so far? (Grins wickedly))

At the very last moment, when it seemed that Juuhachi was once again going to smash into the arms of a braced Goku, the Saiyan performed a feat that was stunning to see, and those who saw it would babble confusedly about it for years to come.

Yes, it was quite the trap that the Android fell into. For as soon as Juuhachi was only eleven steps away and closing, Goku suddenly crouched and flared open his arms. His left arm went to the ground and solidly placed a hand there, while the right hand soared into the air to help Goku stay balanced as the left hand did its work. Goku, when his left hand connected with the ground, leaned back on it, freeing up his feet. After that, he did two things at the same time, even as Juuhachi continued to lunge at him: he pushed off on his hand and kicked out with his feet, both of them. These feet landed on both of Juuhachi's shoulders, and with enough force to knock her clean to the ground.

The Android steadfastly refused to fall yet again, however, but stayed upright, if only to fall back under a ferocious barrage of fists that drove her all the way from one side of the arena to the other without stopping. Goku stopped the barrage when Juuhachi was almost at the edge, but he followed it a mighty kick to Juuhachi's stomach that she had absolutely no chance against. She actually flew over the sparse meters of grass outside of the ring and ended up smacking against the wall, jolting her skeleton for the third and hopefully last nasty time.

Oh, I'm getting too old for this, was Eighteen's thought as she slid with a curious squeaking sound down the wall. I can't do this anymore. My nuts and bolts need some rest from this sort of thing, never mind the fact that rest is exactly what put me into this predicament. I'll just leave the fighting to the boys from now on. No more of this for me; I'm staying put on this nice soft grass until I feel all better. The Android sighed. Of course, I could use a massage, too. I'm not going to get it here.

When Eighteen didn't get up right away from outside the ring, Goku was worried that he'd done something to permanently injure the "tin can" as Vegeta so often liked to call her. But then he saw her sigh and he relaxed. He Grinned™ as Eighteen started to get up, finally, and hurried over to help the Android stand.

"Nice job, Eighteen. Great fight," Goku declared when the Android finally stood on her own two feet.

"Thanks, Goku. I suppose it was just a warm-up for you, though?" Eighteen asked, arching an eyebrow as she leaned on him for his support. The Saiyan Grinned™ sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in his classic Gesture™. Eighteen nodded knowing at the Saiyan as the two walked back to the fighter's lounge. Krillin was already more than halfway out of the lounge when they encountered him; Eighteen told her husband that she was all right, just a little jarred. Even so, Krillin hovered anxiously near his wife as they continued on to the lounge, where Gohan and Vegeta were waiting for their fight to be called.

While the most recent fighters were walking back to the lounge, Jared was yelling excitedly about the fight.

"Wow! Now that was a fight! Ladies and gentlemen, you have just been witness to a fight reminiscent of the old World Tournaments, the days when Son Goku was young! This type of a fight was guaranteed in those times, with Goku fighting Jackie Chun, Chestnut Krillin, Chiaotzu, Tienshinhan, Majunior, and just about any other opponent he faced back then! Goku didn't always win these fights, but he always gave it is best, and he quickly became a Tournament favorite and legend! Now you have just seen why Goku is so celebrated, and why he won so many tournaments! Let's give it up for the legendary Son Goku!"

Jared gestured with a flourish to the now surprised Goku, who had been alerted to the rant of his biggest fan (SP: You know Jared is his biggest fan outside of the Z-senshi, you know it!) by his eldest son. Goku waved cheerfully at the masses before he turned to go inside, while everyone in the audience, wide-eyed at the announcer's cry, gave him a standing ovation. The ovation went on for quite a while, and Jared nearly lost his voice right then, and Goku just waved at everyone through it all, especially at his wife and Bulma, who were ecstatic at the recognition he was getting.

Finally the clamor died down, with lots and lots of loud talking still left over, and Jared was free to announce, less haphazardly, the next fight.

"And the fighters of the second semifinal are Vegeta and Gohan!"

The Saiyan and the demi-Saiyan exchanged glances. Both smirked; Gohan jumped to his feet up from the couch he'd been perched on, and Vegeta pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning against, his arms crossed. The two warriors passed by the incoming fighters on their way out: Vegeta nodded to them silently while Gohan actually used words to congratulate them both on such a good fight. Eighteen merely said dryly, "Yours is going to be better, I know it," which only caused the smirks on the other two's faces to widen.

Yes, their fight was going to be quite a show. These two had not fought since the time that Vegeta had first arrived upon Earth with Nappa; that had been the first and only time they had fought (SP: or did these two fight in Namek? I can't remember. /Snorts/ I'm a regular DBZ history buff, aren't I?). Since then, other enemies had come in the way, and Vegeta had been more obsessed with beating Goku than with his rapidly strengthening son; indeed, both of them had been getting stronger, only Gohan had had the advantage of being young to aid Vegeta's overlook of him. Well, no longer. No longer would Gohan be overlooked by anyone, which wasn't necessarily a good thing, as well as not necessarily a bad thing. It wasn't a good thing, for then Gohan lost an advantage that he'd previously had, but then he would also be treated with the proper sense of danger that he deserved, instead of being considered a weakling because of his age and looks. So, yes, their fight was going to be a good one, and not just because of the long years spent fighting other people.

Gohan and Vegeta also had issues of power to contend with; Gohan, with his mastery of SS3 extending three years, was stronger than Vegeta, who had accessed the same level only days ago. However, Vegeta had far more experience than Gohan had fighting, even though the latter had many fights under his belt as well. Vegeta, therefore, had more strategic options at hand, and knew what to do in some instances of fighting what Gohan did not. The same applied to Gohan: he could do some things in some situations that Vegeta had not even known could be done, and thus that balanced out more evenly. Still, Vegeta had the definite advantage, and could afford to be patient and crafty, and perhaps even predict what some of Gohan's moves would be.

Basically, this fight panned out to be a game of brains versus brawn, experience versus power, stamina versus brute strength, and it would be interesting to see which triumphed over the other. This was another one of the long overdue rematches that the world had never, ever, seen before (even the Goku versus Eighteen one), and would see again, no matter who won this one.

The two fighters, Gohan and Vegeta, normally wary partners in the game that was Life, were now, in the space of time needed for their fight, opponents; people stuck on opposite sides for the sole purpose of entertaining some higher Force, enemies, rivals, what have you, these they were. But it was not to their disagreement that they were so, not at the present moment. They had a score to settle from long ago, a score that had nearly been obliterated by Time, and had nearly been forgotten in the shadow of one that was deemed far more pressing. Yes, Vegeta and Gohan had some issues to work out, and the best way (at least for them) for them to do that was by fighting.

So why aren't we watching them fight already?

That's a good question. I'll shut up now. :D

"Seeing that the fighters are prepared, let this fight commence!"

:-:-:-:

Round Three Semifinals, Match Two

As far as Gohan and Vegeta were concerned, there were only two people left on Earth, and they were it. It didn't matter that there were people in the grandstands cheering them on, nor did it matter that there were family and friends standing behind them in the fighter's lounge. It didn't matter to Gohan for once that Goten and Trunks were nearby, that Marron was sitting in her mother's lap safe and sound, or that his friend Gabrielle and the Satan Gang were sitting in the stands, watching them compete. Vegeta didn't care that his mate and his gaki were around, nor that Kakkarot was looking at him and his brat interestedly, or that Krillin was wide-eyed as he realized the full ramifications of the fight and who was fighting it.

None of these things, normally at the very core of existence for these two, was even spared a passing thought as these two great warriors faced off.

As soon as Jared dropped his arm and called for the advent of the fight, neither saw anything but the face of his opponent.

:-:-:-:

For his first move, Gohan ducked under one of Vegeta's punches and attacked from below, delivering a right hook to Vegeta's chin within four seconds of the beginning of the fight. He followed that with a roundhouse kick that actually contained less power that it normally would; he was obviously pacing himself. It was a good idea, but Vegeta, as a result, was able to bounce back faster from the blow and Gohan had less time to plan his own offensive. So he hastily discarded the idea, but he still didn't, and wouldn't, go in with his guns, er, fists blazing. Not until later.

Vegeta had in mind much the same tactics. He would reserve some of his power for later, and use most of his other strength to try to tire Gohan out. Then when Gohan started to fumble, he would put all of his heart and soul in defeating him.

It was in these similar states of mind that Vegeta blocked a scissor kick with his knee and retorted with a blocked attempt to land his fist into Gohan's gut. Vegeta immediately punched Gohan in the face afterwards, sending the demi-Saiyan reeling back. Alas, it was only a feint, for Gohan promptly kicked Vegeta on the hip where it jutted out, causing the elder Saiyan to fall to his knee. This was a prime opportunity for Gohan to do some damage, and he took it. He raised his hands and smashed them down on the back of Vegeta's neck, hoping to knock him out. He had no such luck, for Vegeta was only stunned, but Gohan did get the beat the Prince down quite a few times as he attempted to get up again. Vegeta was suddenly under the impression that if he had remained under the service of Frieza, this was eventually the situation he'd find himself in. this thought gave him the incentive to literally get out from under Gohan's feet.

With a feral roar, coaxed out of Vegeta by the thought of Frieza's now non-existent dominion over him, the elder warrior sat partway up, put out a hand to catch Gohan's incoming shoe, pushed the younger warrior away from him, and stood up, all in one move. In the next move Vegeta bent down his shoulders and spread out his feet, forming his fighting stance.

Gohan, on the other side of the arena and in his own stance, locked eyes with Vegeta. Speaking Saiyago in a casual tone that disguised his budding tiredness, Gohan asked,

"Care to tell me what that was all about?" He nodded to the spot that Vegeta had previously occupied while on his back as a referral.

Vegeta, with his black eyes narrowed in concentration and in rage, answered back in the same language and tone, "You just reminded me of Frieza then." The Saiyan Prince was not surprised that Gohan knew Saiyago. Heck, the gaki probably knew it better than he did at any rate! Far from being jealous or irate about that, the Prince was in actuality fiercely proud that his culture was being revived, even if the person reviving it was dead. Oh, the irony.

Gohan's own eyes narrowed a quick second before they returned to normal, and Vegeta knew that his opponent understood. His knowledge was confirmed further when Gohan muttered his apologies. Vegeta had no time to accept the apology, however, as Gohan raced toward him the second after he said it.

Instead of blocking Gohan, Vegeta grabbed him by the wrists and stopped Gohan from kicking him with a well-chosen placing of his own feet. Vegeta grinned up ferociously at the demi-Saiyan towering over him and said savagely to him,

"You will make a great warrior someday, son of Kakkarot!"

The Saiyan Prince's eyes gleamed martially as Gohan struggled to get free. The demi-Saiyan did make time to retort mockingly to Vegeta's statement, however.

"I thought I already was a great warrior, Prince of all Saiyans!" With a mighty effort, Gohan broke free of Vegeta's hold and double-footed him in the chest, forcing the Prince to step back. Vegeta only grinned in a warlike way as he shot back,

"Cheeky gaki! I'll teach you to curb that insolent tongue of yours! Grah!" That being said, the Saiyan Prince charged forward, clearly bent on giving Gohan his promised beating.

Gohan's only answer was, "Oh yeah? Then catch me if you can!"

Vegeta stopped dead as he was suddenly surrounded by a dozen Gohans all lined up in a circle (SP: Ha! TAKE THAT, simba-rulz!). They all looked like the real Gohan, but Vegeta did not scare easily. He knew that in time the original Gohan would appear, and he was correct.

He turned at a sudden whisper of cloth behind him and brought his hands up to block the flying kick that was coming his way. He was left dumbfounded when the attacker suddenly faded in midair, however, and looked this way and that for the Afterimage, as the technique was called. He suddenly felt a foot creeping in under his bent ankle only a second later and tried to turn around again, but he was too slow and got flipped over in midair.

He landed on his stomach on the hard unfeeling tiles beneath him (some of which were severely dented from where that idiot Kakkarot had banged his head eight times thanks to the female tin can). He felt a foot come onto his back and twisted up to see an amused Gohan bending over him, his hands on his hips, a smirk on his face, and his foot still planted infuriatingly in the middle of Vegeta's back. The purebred Saiyan growled and rolled over, using his momentum to kick Gohan in the face (SP: How he did that I have no idea. Who knew, Vegeta's elastic! ) and to get to his feet in another one of those one-move maneuvers. I don't know how Vegeta does those things, I really don't. /Shakes head, disbelieving/

Anyway, the fight had been going on for ten minutes now, and for a fight, that was long. But the world was enthralled, just as they had been with Goku and Juuhachi as they fought, and were getting a proper fight for once, or twice, in this tournament. No more of those amazing feats that were amazing, yes, but didn't keep the audience in their seats for more than a minute. There were some people who wanted to sit down for some length of time, thank you very much. /Scoffs haughtily/

Yeah, the fight was getting long. It was also heating up, as Gohan and Vegeta were putting more power behind their blows, due to the fact that both of them were getting tired. It wasn't evident in so many words just yet that these two mighty Saiyan warriors were slowing down; they were still as fast and as furious as they had been when they started the fight. But the both of them took one second more to recover than when they had started the fight, and they were taking in more deep breaths than they normally would, and they were also just a minute fraction slower than when first starting the second match of the century. Obviously the first match of the century is the fight between Juuhachi and Goku. Well, if you counted the fact that Videl and Killa had a pretty good fight themselves, I supposed this is actually the third match of the century, but anyway.

The Saiyan boys were still going at it, though, and were not about to stop just because they were getting tired. Tiredness was for the weak to acknowledge and to let hinder; the strong ignored it completely and fought on. As some person so cleverly came up with to put on the back of sports shirts, "Pain is temporary; Pride is forever!", and the very example of this was the fight between Gohan and Vegeta, Vegeta and Gohan, two Saiyans, fully independent, fighting for dominion and power, and bragging rights, too, over the other. Neither was winning at the present moment. Joy.

Five more minutes later, the audience was getting restless. "When was this fight going to be over again?" everyone asked their neighbors, except, of course, the non-fighting Z-senshi members. These were currently screaming their hearts out, the loudest two being Chichi for Gohan, and Bulma for Vegeta. The rest were for Gohan, but I will not mention what Roshi was doing with the pretty blonde sitting next to him, no, I will not. I will leave it for you to imagine the wanderings of a dirty old man and what he does in that situation. Sheesh.

Finally, a blow from Vegeta struck Gohan on the left side of his face, right where his scar rested peacefully. Gohan fell from that blow and landed hard on his forearm, even sliding a bit on the tile. It didn't hurt him to have the scar punched, no, what Gohan was reacting to was the fact that the cheekbone beneath the scar had been punched three times already, and the force behind that last blow had been enough to break it apart entirely, even though it didn't do that. Gohan rested on the platform boards, breathing heavily, and looked up at Vegeta standing over him. The Saiyan Prince was also breathing heavily, but a spark of pugnacity still resided in his eyes, and Gohan knew he wasn't going to get far if he tried to get up. So, what to do? I know, I know!

"All right, Vegeta," Gohan panted, his eyes glazing over, "that's it for me. I'm not going to get any farther in this state. You can knock me out, I don't care." He waited for Vegeta to smirk and drop his guard, then hooked a boot around Vegeta's calf and neatly tripped him, jumping up in the next second. He looked carefully down at Vegeta, who looked surprised, then said, "Did I say that I didn't care? Oops, sorry, I lied. Whoops." He Grinned™ cheekily at the Saiyan Prince, whose expression was now irate, and kicked him straight in the eyes, knocking out the last pureblooded Prince of all Saiyans alive.

So, the answer to the question "what to do?" was to trick your opponent? Gohan asked himself. Apparently so, he answered. The demi-Saiyan shrugged. Hey, whatever works, as long as your opponent understands afterwards. He winced. This wasn't going to be pretty.

He stepped away from Vegeta to let Jared examine him, still wincing inwardly about the just revenge Vegeta was undoubtedly going to exact the next time they met. Externally, he looked to be on an adrenaline-high, with his face flushed through the bruises (yes, bruises), cuts, scrapes, blood, and all else that comes from pugilistic encounters with another Saiyan (that is, if you're a Saiyan yourself, heh!). His eyes had a unnatural light to them, and there was a fierce smirk on his face, even as Gohan put his hands in his pockets and settled back on his heels, as if to act bored. He was in actuality pretending to act bored, but then we knew that. Duh.

Then Jared stood up and put his microphone to his face. "And with an utterly underhanded tactic, Gohan defeats Vegeta!"

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A/n: Wah! I wanted Vegeta to win! Darn chapter! How dare you run away with me! (Grumbles) Turned out that Gohan was more crafty than Vegeta, eh? LOL!

Whoa, baby! I've got 5,648 words of story content, not including the author's note at the beginning and end of the text! WHOA! That's HUGE! I've gotten used to getting 3-4 thousand words, but over FIVE thousand! I think I'm going to faint. /Sits down abruptly/ And to think I just wanted to include both semifinals in the same chapter…. Yeeks! (Hides behind her chair and curls up) /Starts rocking back and forth and sucking her thumb like a regressive child/

/Returns to normal/ Scary…

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More Specialized General Responses to Reviews

1) New Dye: (Bursts out laughing at statements about Yamcha) (Tries to calm down, but fails)

5 minutes later….- (Finally calms down) Hoo… (Wipes away laugh-tears on face)

…OK… So 3 questions, and one was a fake question, right? (Wondering) So that makes two questions for me to answer. /Blinks/ OK!

Q1) I think I said why in the chapter. Hm, I'll have to reread it meself and see. I think that Roshi got pranked though, with runes on his head or something. Thanks to you, I'm now not sure. Thanks a lot, Dye/Mock ungrateful/

Q3) Hmm… Yes. :D

If you don't have any questions for me, Dye (as is evident by the disturbingly low number these many chapters), you don't have to think up any. I'm not putting any pressure on you to think up questions, none at all. I would like you to review, though, and just give me an idea of how things are going at your end. Yeah.

What was that catchy phrase? Till later, make mine Vigilante Angel by TheShadowPanther? I don't get it! (Is extremely confused) Ay yi….

2) Salazarfalcon—Yeah, I thought that was a plug. Bad Falcon! (Shakes head at shameless Fal-chan admonishingly) Bad!

Yay! The Shinrai slump went away! Wahoo! When is the stupid chap coming out anyway! (Grumbles) Sneaky authoress, dangling it in front of me. Grr... I really don't care if Shinrai or Partners get looked at that often. I know that it's there, and I love it. So :P! LOL:D What's the 17 and 27 respectively thingy about? (Confused)

3) Tiara Shin—No, not a very good cliffie... (Sniffs) I'm sorry... One of the siblings pranked Videl's room? Can you be more specific? (Grins) Yes, I have an island:P Happy days! Thanks for the compliment on the pranks:D It was hard work thinking up all those pranks. Now, though, we approach the end of the tournament and I'll be out of ideas again... (Sighs)

Aww, Goten's so cute! Thanks for your review of Vigilante Angel: Fraternity! Arigatou! (Bows)

4) miroku-has-darkness—But I have such company when I talk to myself! (Blinks innocently) :D

5) MarshmellowDragon: YES! Orange!paint, here we come! (Cackles) Yes, Yamcha-kun had better watch out, or else his beautiful skin will be ruined, as will his hair, his face, his clothes... (Grinz evilly)

Yes, it would be fun to walk on the ceiling! (Extreme happiness)

Hail, in Scotland? Oh god. I'm not going there. I have crazy enough weather in my part of the U.S. already. Damn snow blizzards. /Mutters/ You're welcome.

Ciao! (Where's Svizzera (sp?) O.o)

6) Neptunes Tsunami—Oh, yeah, I love Gabrielle. I was wondering what I was going to do with her, but no it seems she has a path to follow once more... Heh.

I'm tired of coming up with pranks meself, so I'm going to try and cut down on them. If demand by the public is too much, though... I updated:D

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Thanks to New Dye, Salazarfalcon, Tiara Shin, miroku-has-darkness, MarshmellowDragon, and Neptunes Tsunami for their excellent reviews!

Thanks to Tiara Shin, MarshmellowDragon, and Salazarfalcon for reviewing Vigilante Angel: Fraternity!

So, Goku defeats Juuhachi, and Gohan has to get sneaky to beat Vegeta! Oh, no! What does this mean for the world if Vegeta seeks just transaction from Gohan for his surreptitiousness? God, that's a long word. Good thing I didn't have to type it. Heh! Thank Kami for built-in computer thesauruses! Heeheehee…. Yeah. But how in the world are Juuhachi and Vegeta going to make it during the exhibition fights? Find out in the next chapter of Vigilante Angel!

Let me know what you think about the other fandom character thingamabobby! Arigatou!

Sinon!

TheShadowPanther and Aline, from AASN

AASN; Writing is what we do for you at AASN. Enjoy.

Updated 03.24.05