Dragon Ball NG Chapter 53: The Day of the Tournament!

Two years had passed. During that time, all of our heroes (and anti-heroes) trained vigorously for the 101st World Martial Arts Tournament. They all made sure they were in tip top form so they could all come out on top. Junsei continued the training that he was already doing under Krillin before the whole mess with the Black Tie Army put their routines to a halt. Basically, just refining his techniques and even introducing a couple of new things. Kansho, however, had to start from the beginning; having to catch Suta the pet dragon (at least he didn't have competition this time), being sent on a delivery quest during the worst possible weather and being sucked underground, walking on water, etc. As hard as it was, he still managed to come out much stronger. In West City, home of the Capsule Corporation, Trunks and Goshen did what they always do – spar, spar, spar. They long since understood the weird aspect of their bodies – every time they suffered a bad injury, they'd get much stronger when they recovered. They also worked on their awareness – as those two masked fighters showed, there's more to fighting than just strength. You have to always be on top of your opponents.

Trunks and Goshen weren't the only ones aware of their strange genetic gift. Retasu had taken notice to his habit of getting stronger after an injury long ago and used that as the basis of training, putting himself through courses where death was nigh-unavoidable and coming out on top every time. One thing that a lot of people didn't know about Retasu was that he was an expert of all sorts of natural remedies. After all, it's pretty much a necessity of his type of training. He also fought against all sorts of people and things. He went from village to village to find out about some sort of mysterious beast so he could kill it. Sure, being a hero all the time was annoying but whatever gets the job done, he figured. He even competed in a couple of local tournaments, because he might just find another opponent who can rival him in strength. And of course, like everyone else, he refined his techniques.

Of course, our main hero did pretty much the same type of training. Gosu took the advice Master Krillin gave him to heart and went all around the world looking for dojos run by only the most legendary of martial artists. While he didn't make himself a student or anything, he sparred with most of them and picked up some new attacks and techniques. And his personality was guaranteed to make him not only just associates with these guys, but friends. Sure, his hot headed personality rubbed some people the wrong way but for the most part people appreciated his fun loving personality and motivation to be the best. His obstacle-course-like training mirrored Retasu, as he pushed himself to his absolute limits. He even climbed Basmati Mountain again just so he could get a huge stash of rice to eat so he could heal himself every time he pushed himself to near-death.

Now, the day had arrived. Gosu and Retasu were coming on their own terms of course but Krillin and the gang all got together. Chitsu was still living with them and took all of her Capsule Corp classes online. Panko was still there, too, and of course smoking all of the weed available to him. Kansho's usual green shirt now had the "栗" symbol on the back while Junsei's was the same.

"Alright, guys, here's where we finally see if the two years of training finally pay off!" Krillin said. "I even got us some first class plane tickets!"

"That's fantastic! And here I thought I would have to build a jet!" Chitsu said.

Master Roshi and Android 18 were coming along with them. Junsei was psyched for the tournament. He wanted to be a two time winner. Gosu, I hope you trained well because you'll need all of the strength you can get! He thought. Kansho was going to do as best as he could, and was going to avoid being taken out in the first round like last time. The group all walked to the airport and Krillin gave them their tickets. After a few minutes of waiting they all got on the plane. Junsei was amazed by the first class service. Master Roshi sat down in his seat and started fawning all over the girls around him. The worst part was that Chitsu had to sit next to him. Roshi noticed a hot stewardess walking down the aisle and immediately jumped out the chair, ran at her, and grabbed her breasts from behind. He was promptly smacked all the way back to his seat.

I knew I shouldn't have put Master Roshi in first class! Krillin thought.

After a long plane ride, which was about three hours or so, they finally arrived at Papaya Island. And boy was it packed. There had to have been twice as many cars there as there were three years ago.

"Oh man, everybody wants to see the tournament this year. It's crazy!" Kansho said.

"Let's just hope there aren't a bunch of creeps!" Chitsu said.

"You can say that again." Android 18 replied, looking at Master Roshi.

The line for the sign-ups was long as all hell.

"…Yeah, I think we should wait until the line gets a little smaller." Junsei said.

While the gang was looking around, a group of old friends walked up to them – Trunks, Goshen, and Bulma!

"Hey, guys!" Trunks said.

"Ah, you all made it!" Junsei replied.

"Sure are a lot of people here this time, huh?" Goshen said.

"Yeah, I guess we really raised the bar!" Junsei replied.

"Just remember Junsei, if we end up facing each other again, I'll be prepared!" Trunks said.

"Likewise." Junsei replied.

"So where's Gosu?" Goshen asked.

"Who knows where he's at." Chitsu said.

Meanwhile, Gosu was flying steadily to Papaya Island. His attire was very strange though. Rather than wearing his usual puffy blue pants and white shirt, he was wearing big baggy jeans, yellow boots, a puffy jacket with a hoody underneath, and A LOT of chains. He looked for a familiar Ki and flew down to that location. He jumped straight to the ground and startled everyone around him.

"Hey, guys, what's up!" Gosu said.

Chitsu and the others turned around, and needless to say, they were startled by Gosu's appearance.

"Gosu, you made it!" Junsei said.

"Gosu, what the hell are you wearing?" Chitsu asked.

Gosu laughed. "Well, while I was training I met up with my friends Smokey and Craig and they gave me these clothes. I don't like them very much but they're really heavy, so I ran around in them for extra weight."

"Ah, Gosu, making a training regimen out of anything!" Master Krillin said.

"Of course!" Gosu replied.

Gosu's Ki…it's so strange! Just how strong has he gotten? Junsei thought.

"Hey, palm tree head!" Yelled a very rough, girl voice.

Gosu turned around and saw a red haired girl with combat boots on. He recognized her from anywhere. "Hey, Tori!"

"Whassup, Gosu? What's with the get up?" Tori asked.

Gosu tossed the hoody, the boots, the baggy jeans, the jacket, and all 150 chains off, revealing his usual attire. "Oh just extra weight. What brings you here?"

"Well I figured you'd be here so I came to watch you kick some ass!" Tori replied.

"AND WHO THE HELL IS THIS?" Chitsu screamed like a jealous girlfriend. She leapt between the two in the middle of the conversation. Gosu felt a lump in his throat. It was like the hallucination Bakachu gave him 2 years ago came to life.

"Who the hell is this broad that's all in my face?" Tori said.

"Who are you callin' a broad?" Chitsu asked.

"Uh, Chitsu, why do you care?" Gosu asked.

Those words snapped Chitsu back to reality. After all, it wasn't like Gosu was her boyfriend or even did anything that even hinted at affection. She just looked like a stalker with a crush right now. Chitsu blushed and immediately got from between the two.

"…weird." Tori said.

"So where are the other people from the village?" Gosu asked.

"Eh, they didn't feel like goin' to the trouble of comin' here. I came on my own terms." Tori replied.

"So, Gosu, how did your training go?" Master Krillin asked.

"It was great!" Gosu replied. "I met fighters all around the world and picked up a whole slew of new moves and techniques!"

"…and you better make the most of every single one of them." Said a familiar deep voice. The gang all turned around and looked up to see Retasu standing from the top of a tree. He was smirking. He jumped back down from the tree to the increasingly large group.

"Ah, Retasu, you decided to show up after all." Gosu said.

"Like I said I wasn't. I did make a promise to show up as long as I get to fight you, after all." Retasu said.

"Retasu?" Bulma yelled.

Retasu turned to his sister and shrugged.

"Don't worry about it." Trunks said. "Look, let's just put the past behind us and kick some butt, okay?"

"For once I agree with you." Retasu said. "Now, I'm not one to give compliments, but I must admit, I'm impressed by the Ki I'm sensing from you Gosu. I hope for you it's not just my mind playing tricks on me."

"I can say the same to you." Gosu replied. The two stared each other down, smirking.

"Boy, that would be some fight, huh?" Junsei said.

"Retasu, you're here!" Said yet another familiar voice. Retasu turned around and it was Tamana, accompanied by Norio, Waka, and Moto, who were all taller. Retasu was actually somewhat happy to see her but not in front of these idiots.

"What made you even think I'd be here?" Retasu asked.

"Well, you told me y-" Retasu gave her a look pretty much implying for her to stop talking. "Whoops!"

Gosu was of course the one to be the instigating fuck about this. "Ooooh, Retasu has a secret with a girl!"

"Shut up, or I'll kill you before this tournament even starts." Retasu threatened.

"Gosu, what's up?" Waka asked.

Gosu remembered how he stole his Dragon radar and yanked his tail. "Nothing much. But don't fuck around or else I'll beat the crap out of you again!"

"Oh please, I'll have you know I'm way stronger too!" Waka replied.

"Uh huh." Gosu sarcastically responded.

"Well, look who crawled out of the hole." Said another voice. This one wasn't familiar to anyone this time. Well, anyone except Retasu. Retasu recognized that voice instantly and turned around. There were two fighters accompanied by an old man. One of the fighters was about Kansho's size, and had short shoulder length hair. The other one was very short. Retasu's eyes widened upon seeing them.

"H-Hojiro!" He yelled.

The tall one, Hojiro, smirked. "Surprised to see me?"

"A-and Kama!" Retasu said, referring to the old man with shades.

"And here I thought you faded into obscurity." Kama taunted.

"Wait, I've heard of you." Krillin said. "You're the ruthless Master Kama."

"Ah, so I see at least one person is smart enough to know who I am. But then again, you're the world famous Master Krillin, right?" Kama asked. "I saw the last tournament and it was nothing but amateurs. I've decided to bring my two star pupils, Hojiro and Zakai, to sweep this tournament and win the prize money!"

"Amateurs?" Junsei asked. "You better watch who you're talking to, old man!"

Retasu's mouth was still gaped open in shock. Even Gosu's eyes were wider than usual. The Ki he was feeling from Hojiro was wicked. He wasn't an ordinary fighter.

"Ah, Retasu, I never thought I would see your disgraceful face again! After leaving our dojo I figured you would never want anyone to know who you were." Hojiro said. "But no matter, I guess I'll just have to squash you, too. You'll learn why you should've never left us." Hojiro was smirking the entire time.

"Wait, you know these guys, Retasu?" Gosu asked.

Retasu still couldn't believe who he was seeing before him. He thought that area of his past was buried.

"Oh, and you must be Son Gosu." Master Kama said. "And you're Junsei! Don't let your showings at the last tournament go to your head. It was nothing compared to what my two students are capable of. Even little Zakai here is far more than enough to take care of you for good."

The three of them turned around and left, laughing.

"Well I'm confused." Junsei said.

"Retasu, who were those guys?" Gosu asked.

Retasu's shock turned into anger. Those were the last guys he wanted to be belittled by. Retasu ignored Gosu and got on line.

"I'm assuming he trained with them and they did something for him to hate them. We'll just let him deal with it on his own; it isn't our business." Master Krillin said.

Tamana was concerned. She was the only other person who actually knew what was going on.

"Man, Gosu, did you feel the main guy's Ki?" Junsei asked.

"Yeah, man. It was huge, and he wasn't even doing anything!" Gosu said.

"Well, you should expect it." Krillin said. "These are fighters from around the world. You guys aren't the only ones with abnormal strength."

On that note, they all went to sign up for the tournament. When they all finished they walked around a little bit. While they were walking, some creep jumped from the trees and tried to attack Junsei, although he fell straight into the ground.

"Oh man, Junsei, you've got a big bull's-eye on your head since you won last time!" Gosu said.

"And that's where fame has its price." Junsei said.

Trunks was curious of the history between Retasu and Hojiro. He didn't know much about what Retasu did after he left years ago, but he assumed that there was at least something important.

The group walked over to the building where the preliminaries were taking place. Gosu saw Retasu sitting in a corner.

"Well, good luck, guys." Krillin said.

"Yeah, Gosu, make sure you kick ass for me!" Tori said.

Chitsu shrugged. She has to get over that jealousy at some point.

"Alright see ya!" Gosu said as they all left. Before they entered the building, Gosu walked up to Retasu.

"Hey, fuck those guys. Don't let them kill your concentration. Whatever happened, happened." Gosu said.

"Look, my history with those three is more complex than you of all people could understand. Pretending like it never happened isn't an option. Just stay out of it." Retasu replied.

Gosu should've seen that coming.

"The only thing you should be concerned about is our fight, got it?" Retasu said.

"O~f course." Gosu replied. They both walked into the building. There were tons of fighters in there. Everyone was gathered around one of the announcers.

"You guys have really packed this place up since last time. This year, for the 101st Tournament, over 300 fighters came to try their hand at being named the strongest fighter in the world! And of course, we're going to need to weed out the pretenders and weaklings from the real fighters, which is why we have the preliminary rounds. You will all be separated into four blocks with two sections each, and the eight best fighters will be the ones who make it into the finals! Let the fights begin!"

Gosu and the others were all ready to take on all-comers. Hojiro and Zakai looked over at them smirking. Gosu noticed and responded in kind, while Retasu glared at them.

The tensions are running high at the tournament this time around. Who will come out of the preliminary rounds? Find out on the next chapter of Dragon Ball NG!