Saonel enacted the first move of the match; he extended his arm and struck Piccolo in the jaw. The universe even Namekian ecovered with a backflip and proceeded to fire off an array of Ki blasts in the opponent's direction. Saonel ran forward, ducking and weaving between the blasts. Getting close under his kin, he swiped Piccolo's leg and then struck with an uppercut sending him flying upwards. Before the universe seven contestant could take a breather, his opponent appeared below him ready to kick him in the ribs; Piccolo, however, blocked with his knee and proceeded to blast Saonel point-blank the abdomen, careening him backwards. It seems the two were still gauging each-other's strength.

"Power-up to full, I want to confirm my suspicions," Saonel broke the silence. Piccolo was taken aback slightly, but didn't reply, wanting to get more information out of his counterpart. Getting no response from his opponent, Saonel continued: "Very well. I will force you to." A white Ki enveloped the screaming universe six Namekian. Powering up to maximum, his energy concentrated into sparks of electricity that shocked the stage below and shook the whole planet.

Once his opponent had powered-up, Piccolo immediately lost sight of Saonel. He caught a glimpse of his opponent, and put his shoulder up for defence, but an overhand punch threw him at blinding speed down toward the stage, where he smashed against the pavement breaking his arm and dislocating his shoulder.

"That's what you get for holding back," his opponent taunted. "Show me your full power!"

Piccolo got up slowly, half annoyed with himself for not taking the match seriously enough from the start, half annoyed with his opponent for taking it too seriously. With his left hand, he snapped his shoulder back into place and ripped off his broken forearm, immediately regenerating a new one with some effort. He spat some blood and eyed his opponent. Saonel descended to the stage to face his opponent on the ground.

"Fine, I'll give you what you want." Piccolo took a wide stance, spacing his legs out, thrusting his arms forward, and began screaming. Soon a thick white aura much like Saonel's began enveloping the Namekian. Debris started floating upwards as the Namekian concentrated his Ki and confirmed his opponent's suspicions. Saonel's face gradually contorted into anger. When Piccolo had finished powering-up, he disappeared and reappeared behind Saonel, attempting to punch him in the back. However, his opponent was perceptive and managed to dodge. Piccolo used his momentum to knee his opponent in the liver, forcing Saonel to spit up blood. but Determined with pure rage, the universe six snail-man grasped his opponent's leg with his hands and flung him to the opposite edge of the stage. Piccolo stopped his flight and faced his opponent once more after touching the ground.

"Is that the kind of treatment you should be giving your own kind?" Piccolo jested, trying to rouse some reaction out of the opponent facing him with intense facial expressions.

"Silence! I was right. That ominous Ki… you're not one being! You've performed our assimilation technique with others! I sense another… no, two other presences inside you!"

"Oh, so that's what it was," Piccolo realized with a chuckle. "I'm sorry, but we had to fu-" but before Piccolo could justify himself, Saonel struck again by extending his arm, grabbing Piccolo by the mouth with his hand, and firing a Ki blast at point blank range. The explosion blew away Piccolo's lower jaw, but the Namekian regenerated a new one before the smoke had cleared. Nevertheless, angered by this move, he concentrated a powerful Ki blast which disintegrated Saonel's hand and wrist still holding on to Piccolo's face. His opponent, too, regenerated almost instantly and the two disappeared and began trading blows deep into the sky where they would vanish numerous times from the sight of the weaker spectators.

"Looks like they're about even, huh, Dad?"

"Yeah… guess we have ta see who holds out the longest… That Piccolo's been trainin'! He's about as strong as Cell was."

"Yeah, Mr. Piccolo never stopped training all this time. I think he doesn't want to fall behind us either," Gohan looked at Tenshinhan, who smiled in acknowledgement.

While the two Namekians exchanged blows, they also exchanged words. "Listen," Piccolo argued. "We had no choice but to fuse."

"Is the technique not forbidden in your universe too?"

"It is." Piccolo blocked a punch. "But there were special circumstances." And threw a right hook, which Saonel ducked.

"Special or not, I can't forgive someone who would undergo the assimilation technique with others while keeping himself as the base. Are you not aware of the freedom you've taken your fellow Namekians?"

Piccolo sunk into thought for a split second, which allowed his opponent to strike him down with an elbow. "They're lost forever inside your consciousness now. There's no way to get them back."

The universe seven Namekian remained silent.

"There is a tale passed down by our older Namekians. Long ago, one of our elders betrayed our trust by abusing the properties of the assimilation technique. He would convince his students to fuse with him, taking away their freedom forever. When the other Namekians caught wind of his plan, he altered the technique in such a way where he would forcefully fuse with others. Since then, that technique has been forbidden and it becomes a mark against any and all Namekians who have used it. Sorry, I don't care about the circumstances of your universe, it just doesn't sit right with me knowing you have entrapped your fellow kin." Saonel enveloped himself with an exuberant aura, crossing his arms and squatting down. "I'm going to finish this. I can't stand your sight. Know this! A Namekian with such little resolve will never beat me."

"Tch." Piccolo braced himself by powering-up likewise, crossing his arms in front of him, and placing his right foot forward for balance. "Nail and God chose their own fate! I won't let you patronize them, you pompous bastard!"

Everyone paid close attention as tensions rose. This relatively quick bout would soon be decided with the next attack. In a split second, Saonel extended his limbs and unleashed a gigantic explosive wave. In spite of bracing himself, Piccolo was still knocked back by the blunt of the wave, but he managed to adjust himself to the force of the attack before being knocked out of bounds.

Saonel continued to expel all of his energy. Piccolo, who had thought it best just to endure the wave and then attack when his opponent had exhausted himself, soon realized that his fellow Namekian wouldn't stop using his Ki until Piccolo had been knocked out, even if that meant dying in the process. "Tch," the universe seven Namekian, moved by a sense of kinship and obligation, put all of his strength into his next moves: he took gradual steps forward, closing the distance between himself and his opponent in a herculean feat, all while bearing the weight of the energy progressively more intense as he got closer to Saonel. While his body worked to regenerate the tissue that was being shredded by the wave, it could not keep up with the speed and strength of the attack, so when Saonel had finally exhausted himself and unwittingly ceased his attack after falling to his knees, Piccolo, who stood right above him, appeared bloodied and crippled, yet dignified.

"You stupid fool…" He let out amidst huffs and puffs. Before Saonel could die of Ki exhaustion, Piccolo extended his hand and granted him a sliver of Ki, just enough to spare his life. Following this act of generosity, Piccolo immediately knocked his opponent out with a chop to the neck. Saonel collapsed. "Things aren't that black and white," the wiser Namekian remarked finally.

"The winner of this match is universe seven's Piccolo!"

"Good job Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan congratulated from the side. Piccolo gifted him with a slight smile, but turned his attention to his counterpart, who was being carried out of the ring by Frost.

"He was strong, huh?" Piccolo's trance was broken by Gohan's father.

"Yeah…"

"An' all without fusions," Goku joked.

"Yeah," Piccolo chuckled, but then in a more serious tone: "I never thought a regular Namekian could get that strong…" Reminiscing about his past assimilations with Nail and God, Piccolo vowed to always remember his opponent and his words forever.

"Next match! Piccolo of universe seven will continue to fight against… the Saiyan from universe six, Cabba!"

Cabba took his spot in the fighting stage and greeted Piccolo with a bow. "Pleased to meet you, let's enjoy this fight."

"A Saiyan, huh?" He looked over at his universe's bench, specifically to Vegeta, and grinned. "I give up."

"Huh, what?" The announcer asked.

"That's it, I can't continue. I'm too exhausted," Piccolo had already materialized a new turban for himself and was now descending the stairs to leave the arena. Universe seven was a bit surprised but in general not all together shocked. Champa secretly punched the air in jubilation.

"Contestant Piccolo has dropped out! Next up is contestant Vegeta!"

Vegeta greeted the young Saiyan with a nod and the two took their fighting stances. Vegeta rocked his characteristic elite Saiyan stance, while Cabba exhibited a stance not too dissimilar, but not exactly the same.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Tagoma and Mr. Popo were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Surprisingly enough, Mr. Popo was too quick for Tagoma, although whenever he struck with his own blows, the alien didn't take much damage. "His battle power keeps fluctuating… it was 19,329 a few moments ago, but now it's back to 5; either way he should be weaker than me, what gives?" the grey alien examined.

"You rely too much on sight," Mr. Popo then vanished and reappeared behind Tagoma. The alien, shocked, attempted to kick the genie, but Mr. Popo jumped and landed on the soldier's leg. Tagoma, enraged, threw a jab, but Popo calmly dodged by jumping to the left. Dende's assistant then countered with a punch of his own, but Tagoma tanked it without much issue. "Emotions cloud attacks, that's no good."

"Damn mosquito!"

Mr. Popo is an ancient creature that serves as the advisor, guide and assistant to the current God. Following the events of the Saiyan invasion, Mr. Popo had dedicated himself to training more rigorously in hopes of being a worthy guide to both the previous and the current Gods. His power had jumped to what the scouters read as 19,329, but Mr. Popo's real asset laid in his tremendous martial arts experience, allowing for swift movements, and a calm and collected battle sense. His opponent, with a battle power of 22,500, could not believe why he had yet not won, and that, unbeknownst to him, caused his power to fluctuate. A lesson Mr. Popo had taught Goku long ago, Ki is divided into three components: vigour (Genki), courage (Yuuki) and mind (Shouki). Traditionally, high level battle power measuring technology such as the scouters only measure one's vigour, leaving aside two important components of one's Ki that may cause an increase in overall battle performance. Outside of very abnormal situations where mind and body are in disarray (for instance, when captain Ginyu took over Son Goku's body), then the scouter will only report one's vigour, changes to one's courage and mind could either increase or decrease one's battle efficiency. This was a lesson that Mr. Popo had understood perfectly, knowledge that many martial arts masters were aware, but knowledge that soldiers relying on brute force could never comprehend.

Sorbet could have taken the opportunity to steal the dragon ball from the Namekian, but his power lacked in comparison to Dende's, so he resigned himself to watch and pray. Tagoma, getting progressively angrier, fired a Ki blast in Mr. Popo's direction. The genie, however, merely opened his mouth and ate the blast in full.

"What?!"

With a blank expression, Mr. Popo took the offensive.