Chapter 15
Yang's first-round opponent was a man in what looked like armor over a magenta shirt with a bowl cut. "Lion Style? I've never fought that school before. Maybe you will prove a challenge." Said the man.
Yang reached out with his Ki Sense to get a sense of how strong his opponent was. His ki was decently powerful, about the level that he and Yamcha were at during the last tournament, but Yang had grown a lot since then. "You cannot win this one, I would withdraw if I were you." Replied Yang.
His opponent huffed and said, "You clearly do not know who you face. I am Sky Dragon of the Panther Fang School, master of martial arts for King Wonton. It is you who should withdraw."
Yang nodded and said, "So be it." Before taking a fighting position.
As the tournament official called a start to the match, Yang moved forwards to meet his opponent's charge. Sky Dragon was fast, Yang could tell that if he had stayed where he had been after the last Budokai he would likely have had quite a bit of trouble with him, but Yang was no longer the same fighter. The blistering barrage of strikes that Sky Dragon sent out was each parried by Yang, who returned with twice as many strikes as his opponent. The rapid-fire exchange of punches and elbows was simply too much for Sky Dragon to keep up with and the Panther Fang School's master could only block half of the attacks sent back at him. Yang's victory started with a punch that slipped past Sky Dragon's Guard and caught his opponent in the chest. It continued as Sky Dragon blocked another punch only for it to turn into an elbow strike that caught the panther fang master in the ribs. A knife-hand chop by Yang was parried by Sky Dragon, only for a knee strike to slip through and nail the panther fang master in the gut. Finally, a kick impacted Sky Dragon's solar plexus and sent him rocketing out of the ring, unconscious and out of bounds. The whole affair took maybe 20 seconds and Sky Dragon did not get in any offense after his initial salvo of punches. Yang advanced to the next round of preliminaries.
The next fighter Yang faced was not nearly as skilled as Sky Dragon had been, a beastman type human whose animal features reminded Yang of a boar. The Beastman charged ahead in what Yang was sure would be a fearsome charge for most people but he seemed to be moving in slow motion to Yang. One elbow strike was all it took to send the beastman to the ground unconscious. Yang's 2nd round took less than 10 seconds. Just in time to Watch as Sifu Lao squared off against King Chappa. The two masters were really pulling out all the stops. King Chappa's famous 8 Arms Technique was being checked by Sifu Lao's own strikes. Both men moved with the skill borne of a lifetime of martial arts. They seemed to be more interested in putting on an exhibition match than actually winning the match though as the fight dragged on past the 1-minute mark. Yang briefly wondered if this was in service to whatever plan they and Roshi had hatched before being called to fight in his next preliminary match.
Here Yang faced off against one of King Chappa's students. The dark-skinned man in the orange and yellow formal uniform of King Chappa's School wasn't as strong as Sky Dragon had been according to Yang's Ki Sense, but that did not mean that he did not have any tricks. Yang found himself in a grappling match as soon as the bout started, the student using King Chappa's striking techniques as a method of establishing grapples. Yang knew that grappling was one of the weakest areas of martial arts for him which put him at a disadvantage against Chappa's student who could leverage his clear grappling specialty to fight more evenly against Yang. Still, Yang was more powerful than his opponent. Even having to battle out of poor positioning, he would still be able to win this. As his opponent turned a punch into a grapple and forced Yang's arm into an arm lock, Yang carefully reversed the hold, flipping out of the arm lock and turning it into a wrist lock on his opponent who himself was forced to battle out of the hold. This exchange of grappling techniques set the pattern for this bout, with each man reversing a hold and putting another one on their opponent before Yang was able to turn an armbar from his opponent to his advantage by lifting his foe and slamming him into the stage tiles. Chappa's student let go of the hold as his head impacted the tiles and Yang was able to throw in a kick that ended the match.
"Smart, using grappling to make up for a lack of power compared to your opponent. Chappa's School is no joke if he teaches such strategy." Muttered Yang as he headed off to his final match of the preliminaries. Waiting for him here was Sifu Lao.
"You have made it through, as I knew you would." Said Sifu Lao.
"I had several good teachers." Replied Yang.
"Yes, Roshi told me that you trained under him after the last Budokai." Said, Lao.
"I don't suppose you want to tell me what you, Roshi, and Chappa have planned?" Asked Yang hopefully.
"Simple. Roshi believes that a new golden age for the martial arts is at hand. We three old men have simply decided to pool teachings to better hasten it's beginning. Roshi, Chappa, and I believe that if we each take on new students teaching our amalgamated Curriculum, then it is quite possible that the next generation of martial artists will be able to spread our teachings across the earth. Chappa already has several new prospective students, as do I. Not sure about Roshi, as his block is further down the hall." Replied Sifu Lao.
Yang grinned and said, "So that's why you and Chappa were fighting like it was an exhibition. The three of you don't care about winning the tournament, just about getting new students, and as you all have students in the tournament, so long as one of us wins, it should only help matters."
"You always did catch on quickly, my student. Now, shall we begin our match?" Asked Sifu Lao, taking up a fighting position.
"Let's start." Replied Yang, doing the same.
For a few moments, the two fighters just stared each other down before bursting into motion. Yang was stronger than his old Sifu, even with his weights on, but by unspoken agreement, the pair fought mostly an exhibition. Yang reducing his power to just enough to give his old sifu a good fight without being overpowering. The two traded punches, knees, and elbows on the ground in a furious contested rush, each man checking a strike with a parry and returning another strike that was checked in turn. This went on for about 20 seconds before they broke apart and each let out a Lion's Roar Technique. Both techniques canceled each other out against their intended targets, but spectators watching the fight found themselves caught up momentarily in the effect as the two fighters rushed at each other with Lion's Claw Strikes, palm strikes parrying each other at the wrists as both fighters battled across the preliminary ring. At the 45 second mark, the pair took to the air passing each other with leaping kicks and flying knees as they leaped 30 feet into the air, struck out a few times, and landed on opposite sides of the ring. By the 1 minute mark, the pair began to grapple. The Lion Style wasn't the best suited for grappling, but as an exhibition, it needed to happen. Holds were put on, countered, and exchanged, with Yang countering a Kimura Lock, rolling through, and putting a reverse choke on Sifu Lao, only to be shoulder thrown in turn, but land on his feet rather than his back.
At 1 minute and 30 seconds, the exhibition finally reaching its conclusion, Sifu Lao spoke up once more. "You are still keeping strength in reserve, and I can tell that you are also wearing weights. Just how much are you keeping in reserve exactly?" He asked.
"About a quarter again what I am currently showing, and I have techniques to boost that further." Replied Yang.
"I see. Truly the student has outgrown the teacher. I cannot defeat you at this time, my student. I will be looking forwards to seeing how you do in the main bracket." Grinned Sifu Lao before heading over to the edge of the ring and hopping out, eliminating himself.
Yang could only bow to his old teacher as he emerged triumphant from what was apparently the most hotly contested bracket in the preliminaries. Yang walked over to Block G where he knew Yamcha was fighting just in time to see him eliminate Pamput in the final round. The Movie Star had gotten stronger since Yang had last seen him, but not as much as Yamcha. However, Pamput could likely give Monk Taison a run for his money as he was now. As it happened, the movie star was rung out by the former bandit after an exchange of kicks left him reeling out of the ring. It was at this point that King Chappa stepped in and began talking to Pamput, likely trying to sell the movie star on the 3 master's new curriculum.
Yang walked over to Yamcha and said, "Hey, made it I see."
"Yeah, most of these guys aren't in our league, though that last guy wasn't too bad." Grinned the former bandit.
"That was Pamput, martial artist and movie star, though I hear he's been spending more time on the former lately than the latter. It shows too. I met him before in the Club Iguana arena, he could barely handle the first challenger on their house team and was defeated by the second. He's gotten a lot stronger since and if Chappa can convince him to sign on with their plan, he'll get a lot better too." Nodded Yang.
"What is their plan anyway?" Asked Yamcha.
"Sifu Lao, King Chappa, and Muten Roshi are forming an amalgamated curriculum to teach students. Something about a new golden age of martial arts. If it goes through, I think the next tournament is going to be even stiffer in terms of competition." Replied Yang.
"You're telling me. It seems like a bunch of really strong guys just showed up out of nowhere in the last 4 years!" Chuckled Yamcha.
Yang simply cracked a grin and said, "How do you think I feel?"
The pair wandered off to meet up with Goku and Krillin who were watching Muten Roshi dominate the last round of his preliminary block against the other of King Chappa's students who had entered. The old master was turning the bout into a teachable moment, giving advice to Chappa's student on what he should be doing in the fight. It wouldn't help him win of course, but it would be useful in future bouts. Before too long, Roshi had knocked out his opponent. A few moments later, the last of the blocks were finished with the Crane student with the hair loops pulling off a victory against what was apparently a werewolf. As Yamcha, Goku, Yang, and Krillin looked on as she reunited with the other 2 Crane fighters, it seemed almost as if the battle lines for the upcoming main bracket had been drawn between the 2 groups.
Needless to say, the provided lunch was a tense affair with the 2 groups staring each other down, except for Goku who was busy eating, and Yang who seemed unconcerned with the partisan politics of martial arts schools older than he was and decided to make polite small talk with the hair loop girl.
"Apparently our friends are rivals. What's the story with that?" Asked Yang between bites of fried rice.
"My master, the Crane Hermit was once wronged by the Turtle Hermit over a hundred years ago. I do not know the specifics, but we have trained hard to prove our superiority over the Turtle School so that our master may have his revenge." Replied the Girl.
"Seems a waste, all that energy devoted to revenge when it could be spent on getting stronger." Shrugged Yang.
"You will find that Tien is very strong should you have the misfortune to meet in the main bracket. Besides, would you not do the same to avenge your master?" Asked Yurin.
"My master would want me to not devote so much energy to revenge that I forget to enjoy life." Replied Yang.
Yurin frowned and said, "I suppose that is where our philosophies diverge then."
Yang shrugged and said, "I have been in situations where nothing mattered other than to get strong enough to survive. It is no way to go through life. I would imagine the same holds true for nothing mattering other than revenge. What will you all do when you attain your revenge? Will it have been worth it? What comes next?"
Yurin frowned in thought but said nothing. The rest of lunch passed in silence, barring the sounds of Goku eating. Soon enough lunch was over and the battle for the 22nd Budokai Championship would begin. The bracket was drawn up in such a way that Yang briefly wondered if the Crane Hermit had paid off the tournament staff. Goku was paired up with Yurin, Krillin with Chaotzu, who was the small pale crane student, and Muten Roshi with Tien Shinhan, the 3 eyed Crane student and current strongest of the Crane School. Yang was once more fighting Yamcha first, the 2 of them being the least involved in the Kame-Tsuru rivalry, at least barring Yamcha's eagerness to fight anyway. Yang knew that Goku would beat Yurin, but he was less sure of Krillin and Muten Roshi, the former being roughly on par with his opponent and the latter being around the same with Improved Max Power as his opponent, who was still holding some power in reserve.
Yang just hoped that things wouldn't get too out of hand...
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Author's Note:
The 22nd Budokai has now commenced! Power Levels are as follows
5: Average person
65: Average Preliminary Participant
90: Boar Beastman (Full Power)
165: Pamput (Full Power)
170: King Chappa's Students (Full Power)
190: Sky Dragon (Full Power)
200: King Chappa (Full Power)
210: Master Lao (Full Power)
240: Yurin (Somewhat Suppressed, Ki Only)
252: Yamcha (Enhanced Full Power)
254: Yang (Full Power, Weights on)
260: Muten Roshi (Full Power)
262: Yang (Full Power, Weights Off)
375: Krillin (Full Power)
380: Chaotzu (Full Power, Ki Only)
381: Yamcha (Improved Max Power)
390: Son Goku (Somewhat Suppressed)
390: Tien (Somewhat Suppressed)
390: Muten Roshi (Improved Max Power)
393: Yang (Improved Max Power)
589.5: Yang (Improved Max Power, Fully Buffed with Magic)