In regard to the person who suspected Jayden may prove to be important: you are correct. However, it may not be in the way that you imagine. This is DBZ fan fiction, not high literature, but I do on occasion throw in some of the classic metaphorical elements. That is about all I'll say on the topic.
While I do not mean to shamelessly plug (this being the reason I mention it beforehand) I do feel this may have some value. A new fan fiction of mine should be appearing in conjunction with this one. Those of you who may have had complaints about the fighting style in this story may wish to read it. I take from your complaints that you like spelled out combat, which fits excellently with the Naruto universe. Understanding of Naruto is mostly irrelevant.
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Walking back to Arena C, 18 glanced at both her paper and the clock nearby. There were still matches going on before Round 3 was scheduled to begin. They hadn't told her who she was going to fight, which probably meant the match was still going on. Glancing at the various arenas, 18 glimpsed another fight about to begin. Good.
As she got closer to the arena, she noticed who was fighting in this one. On the closer side of the ring stood a giant cat-like monster, but her eyes were drawn to the opposite side. Jayden stood motionless, only his cape gently fluttering in the wind. Sitting beside the arena, 18 waited for the match to start.
It wasn't long before the official signaled for the fight to begin, and the cat creature leaped forward immediately, claws unsheathing. Sparks flew as claws hit the stone tiles below, but Jayden was long gone. A swift kick sent the cat tumbling, and Jayden landed easily behind him. Righting itself, the creature charged and pounced, and this time Jayden ducked under the blow, then spun around, delivering another hard blow to the creature's jaw.
Instantly both of its arms crashed together, intending to crush him. Holding out a hand to either side, Jayden caught both paws, delivered a kick to the creature's face and jumped away. They faced off briefly again, and then the cat creature hurled some manner of knife toward Jayden. Most of those watching failed to understand what happened next, but 18 saw Jayden's fingers close around either side of the knife, turn the edge away from him, and send it careening into the pavement harmlessly.
With weapons having been used, Jayden took out what appeared to be a large, twisted ninja star on a long chain. Hurling it, Jayden nearly took off his opponent's head. The cat creature ducked barely in time and leaped back once again. Jerking the chain, Jayden pulled the blade back to himself and caught it, then swept once again. While the blade appeared to miss, it curved in air, wrapping the chain around his opponent.
Gathering energy slowly in one hand, Jayden fired a blast forward as he jerked his blade back. Off balance, the cat creature was hit directly and flung from the arena. Catching and returning his weapon, Jayden left the arena noiselessly. From her vantage point, 18 smiled. Not bad, really. It was amazing he had avoided the androids' destruction. A loudspeaker above blared a new message, and she listened with half an ear.
"We need a Juuhachigou and a Jayden in the northernmost arena. Match must begin within five minutes. Please report to the northern arena immediately."
So that was how it would be. Getting up, 18 tightened a hand slightly. This match promised to be far more interesting.
Turning his attention to another sphere, Dai Kioshin observed the match taking place below. A footstep called for his attention, and the greatest Kai turned, slightly annoyed. His apprentice carefully waded his way through the forest of crystals spheres that hovered around Dai Kioshin, each focused on a different match.
"Is this tournament really worth your attention, master?"
"You misunderstand. There has not been a concentration of power such as this for a long time now. Both the saiyan and the android are there."
"Ah. But why so much importance on a single planet?"
"Call it custom. I watch all of the greatest tournaments, and the one on Earth has continually drawn some of the strongest fighters. This time, I sense a dark ki somewhere, and it could be a great problem."
"A dark ki? What do you mean?"
Dai Kioshin gritted his teeth, slightly annoyed. "Something I have not felt in ages. A truly evil force. Whatever it may be, it is shielded, but I know it is at this tournament. Plus, he is there."
His apprentice remained silent, awed at exactly what that portended.
"Is... is that because of the dark ki?"
"Among other things." Dai Kioshin smiled coldly. Both turned to watch the current match. Little cosmic importance, and no major power being thrown around, but it passed time until some of the greater battles yet to come. Their silence was shortly shattered by a new arrival.
"I've got 5000 zeni on the saiyan."
The apprentice's head whirled, but Dai didn't even both looking.
"Go away Piccolo. There's important work going on here."
"I couldn't do that," the Namek smirked, settling into a cross-legged position. "You're the only person in fifteen planets who has a wide-screen viewing globe. Ooh, look, another match is about to start. This should be a good one."
"Shut up."
Infinitely below, two combatants stepped up to opposite sides of the arena. As the official began scribbling on his clipboard, both glanced at the other silently. Eventually Jayden smiled dryly.
"Of course, this would happen to me. I run into this match before I even reach the finals."
"You seem unconfident of yourself."
Jayden shook his head. "I can feel an insane amount of ki coming from your direction. Normally I'm not a naysayer, but I don't think I stand a chance. And don't try to make me feel better."
"Alright, I won't." 18 smoothed back a lock of hair. The attendant finally finished his writing on the clipboard and glanced up at them.
"Are both of you ready? Good! And... go!"
Instantly Jayden's smile vanished, replaced with an emotionless and deadly expression. He leaped forward, twisting to the side and springing off the ground at an unexpected angle. 18 admitted to herself that the move was a good one; it had taken her totally off guard, but Jayden wasn't fast enough to take advantage of that. Jumping, 18 avoided his attack and returned; her fist was barely deflected.
Rolling backwards, Jayden avoided any further attacks and came to his feet, throwing three ninja stars toward her. Deftly catching them between her fingers, 18 dropped the weapons and attacked, driving a knee into Jayden's stomach. He fell back, and barely flipped to his feet in time to avoid another assault.
18 could have finished the fight with that blow, but she wanted to win this battle with skill, not power. Besides, Jayden was the only one who was likely to be interesting. Only slightly wounded, Jayden backed away carefully. In one swift move he pulled his chain-blade and hurled it. Weaving to the side, 18 avoided the first swipe and jumped the second. The third she met head on, catching either side of the blade with her fingers and pulling. She wasn't disappointed, Jayden had let go of the chain. Momentum from her pull wrapped the chain around her.
Shattering the steel links, 18 caught his fist before it got closer to her face. Realizing how outmatched he was, Jayden pulled back before she could reverse the move. Attacking again, 18 was surprised when Jayden managed to pull off a relatively decent zanzoken before he hit the ground, arriving behind her. Whipping up a forearm behind her head, 18 deflected his attack, then spun to face him, blocking another strike.
Desperate, Jayden launched a quick and effective series of attacks toward her. While 18 found herself admiring the attack, it was woefully inadequate compared to what Goku had trained her for. Before she bothered to counterattack, Jayden broke off the strike, narrowly avoiding heavy damage to himself. Breathing heavily on the opposite side of the arena, he shook himself and then held up both of his hands in front of him. Energy gathered there, in a rapidly glowing orb. Launching the attack, Jayden covered his eyes from the brilliant explosion of light he knew was coming.
She honored his attack by raising her arms to defend against the blast. The light faded, with 18 unharmed and Jayden breathing heavily from his exertion. Scanning him quickly, 18 wondered if this was it for the battle. Jayden showed signs of serious fatigue in body and spirit, and didn't have any more tricks up his sleeve.
Closing his eyes briefly, Jayden gathered what remaining strength and ki he had and supported himself with it. He charged forward, and 18 did the same. They met in a clash of golden light that erupted in the arena, and then both fighters were out, landing on opposite sides. 18 brushed off a bit of dust, and Jayden struggled to rise to his feet once more. This time, he failed. Medics quickly swarmed around him, and it wasn't long before they carted him off. Painfully raising a hand, Jayden saluted her, and 18 responded in kind.
Again and again the blue tail swept, narrowly missing the weaving fighter below. One gigantic fist crunched
down, only narrowly blocked by the fighter. In the next instant as he recovered from the impact, the tail flicked around, sending him across the arena.
Barely grabbing the arena floor and slowing himself down, the smaller warrior flipped to his feet, only to have a giant foot slam into him. Flying back, the warrior slammed against the edge of the arena floor, where he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the next stomp that left cracks in the tile below. Laughing, the large, blue dinosaur monster attacked once again, nearly finishing his opponent once more. Ducking under a massive punch, the smaller fighter got in close and delivered a series of swift blows that sent the larger monster backward.
Goku detached himself from the wall he was leaning against to get a better vantage point. He was pretty sure what both fighters were trying to do, and their fighting styles were pretty obvious, but the winner wasn't certain. While the dinosaur creature was stronger, his opponent appeared to be a bit more skilled. However, Goku was relatively certain that Morai, the larger fighter, would win.
Even so, he hadn't expected the next move that took place. As Morai staggered back, and his opponent rushed in to finish him off, the monster caught his balance, and reared his head back. Coming down, he spewed a stream of fire that engulfed his opponent. When the magma faded, the badly burned fighter was unconscious and out of the ring. Medics hit the scene immediately, and Morai raised a fist to the sky.
"Hah! Puny humans!"
Circling the arena, Goku stepped up on the opposite side. Morai's eyes narrowed instantly.
"Who are you?"
"Your opponent."
Morai glanced to the attendant, who looked down at his clipboard.
"Is your fighter code 67?"
"Yes."
"Then you are scheduled to fight next. In Arena B."
"There is no need," Morai turned to face him, grinning evilly, "I can take him down here and now!"
"Sir, that's a breach of th-"
Two grey eyes fixed themselves on the official below, who stopped in mid-sentence.
"It's alright," Goku broke the silence. "We can fight here."
"Well," the official coughed, "this is highly irregular, but I suppose it could be done. Very well. This is now officially a Round 3 match. Begin!"
There was a moment of silence, and then Goku saw the muscles in Morai's leg tense as he leapt forward. The match had begun.
There weren't any more scheduled matches until the finals began, and 18 thought most of the rounds were still going on. She couldn't find out where Goku was fighting currently, but he would meet her again when they gathered in the central arena, at the very latest. Now that most of the contestants were eliminated, the hallways were much emptier. A few tournament personal scurried around, and some of the losing fighters were still watching the matches going on.
Sounds drifted from a nearby arena, and 18 turned to look briefly. She already knew Goku wasn't involved, but maybe this fight would be interesting. True, both contestants had relatively little ki, but if they had made it this far, they should be at least potentially good.
Glancing through the door, 18 focused her senses on the two dueling in the center of the arena. It appeared the match was at its highest intensity, both of them going all out. One fighter was a Namek, and the other a younger girl. Still, the ki coming from both of them felt about equal, so the match probably fell to either luck or skill. She got little time to watch however, because the girl's foot barely clipped under the Namek's arm, sending him crashing backward and into the nearby wall. Sneering contemptuously, the girl stalked from the room.
At the doorway, their eyes met briefly, and the girl's expression shifted to one of confusion. She brushed aside a lock of black hair and squinted toward 18, but then shook herself and walked on without a word. 18 mentally raised an eyebrow and decided to see if she could figure out who the girl was. More importantly, why had she made a double-take while looking at her? Just then, 18 caught Goku's ki as it rose slightly, and she moved more in that direction. This situation could wait.
Back down the hallway, the girl shook her head again, trying to figure out what was going on. For an instant, she could have sworn she had known that face. But then again, that could be her subconscious talking. After the androids had killed her mother, she'd been seeing their faces everywhere. Shaking herself forcefully, the girl put the thought out of her mind. It probably didn't matter. Right now she needed to concentrate on winning the tournament.
Roaring, Morai charged directly toward him. Goku decided the move was more intending to intimidate than actually do much damage before he rolled to the side, easily avoiding the attack. Jumping into the air, Morai crashed down into the arena, making a small crater and sending shock waves out from the point of impact. Calmly levitating over the blast, Goku landed again, unharmed.
"Eh?" Morai grunted, eyes narrowing. "You're unhurt?"
"Go ahead. Give me the best you've got."
This time Morai spared no words or battle cries, but merely dove for him without warning. Jumping over the attack, Goku allowed the monster to plow into the arena before jumping off his head and to the opposite side once again. Getting up, now angered, Morai attacking viciously with all five of his limbs. Merely avoiding every attack thrown his way, Goku decided to see how long his opponent could go before tiring out.
About eight seconds, as things turned out. Slowly, Morai halted his attack, still having failed to touch a hair on Goku's body. Having no desire to end the fight, Goku kicking him lightly, but enough to do serious damage. Summoning all his strength, Morai held his ground and whipped his tail around in a swift strike. Catching the attack, Goku gave a sharp tug, sending Morai tumbling across the arena behind him.
Turning, Goku looked around in time to see Morai gathering his breath once again. The stream of fire flooded out toward him, and Goku raised a hand, allowing the flame to splash off the energy he generated around himself. Eventually the column of fire faded, and Goku responded in kind with by blowing a stream of ki fire. Scorched, Morai managed to stay within the arena.
"How...?" Morai coughed up dust and looked at him in disbelief. Goku moved closer.
"I have an idea. There's something I want to test out."
"What?" Morai's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Goku smiled.
"You get one shot of flame at me, point blank."
"Where's the catch?"
"None. Except if I can take the damage, you leave yourself completely open."
"No, I won't play these games, this i-"
Breaking off in mid-sentence, Morai launched the largest stream of fire that had yet been seen, surrounding Goku with a blazing inferno. If he had intended to take Goku by surprise, he succeeded. If he intended to do damage, he failed. Engulfed within the flames, Goku marveled as the fire wrapped around him. He had suspected that flames of such a low temperature couldn't actually damage. Now he knew.
Moving through the flame, Goku rapped Morai on the chin, sending him falling away and ending the stream of fire abruptly. Crashing into the ground, Morai raised dust around both of them. When at last it returned to the ground, Goku was revealed, standing above his defeated opponent.
"What now?" he asked the official viewing the match.
"You're in the Final 8. They'll all take place in the central arena. None of that begins for at least an hour. In the meantime you can go to the contestants room, which is in the west wing."
Nodding to him, Goku moved from the room. If his matches had been any indicator, this tournament would be a good one. First off, however, he needed to find 18.
