Hello everyone! I just want to say I'm really happy with the reception this story has gotten. I didn't expect it at all! Thank you to everyone that took the time to leave a thoughtful review, or to add this story to your favorites and follows. It's really motivating for me! Now, without further ado, here is the next chapter!
Mr. Satan laughed proudly as he watched his darling Videl go with the rest of the kids that were participating in the Junior Division. He was absolutely sure she was going to win that competition. She worked so hard and she always beat everyone back at their local dojo. Perhaps there were other kids that could make her struggle, but she was definitely going to be the champion!
My daughter and I will both be champions! He grinned widely. The amount of work he put into bringing the tournament back would be worth it when he and his daughter both had their respective titles. Videl had been so excited when she heard there was a Junior Division. She'd mentioned wanting to participate in the tournament one day, and then he'd made sure she'd have her chance.
I hope they move along these preliminaries quickly. I want to be on time to see Videl kick some ass on that ring!
He looked around to see if there was any indication of the preliminaries starting. He didn't see the machine anywhere, but he did see a monk talking a bit urgently to a fellow with an orange gi and a really weird taste of hair gel use. Because, seriously, how did he get his hair to stand like that?
He was a bit curious about whatever was happening, but he assumed it wasn't something of concern. Well, if it was important, they'd surely tell me. He instead decided to picture himself when he won the tournament. He already had a lot of wins before, so it wasn't hard for him to do it. I need to give some kind of speech! Something a cool champion would tell the world. Something motivating… Oh, yeah! They'll all love me!
"Um, sir, excuse me, sir?" A monk approached Goku. He seemed a bit stressed. "Are you Son Goku? The former World Champion?"
Goku blinked. "Oh, uh, yeah." He was a bit surprised, because no one had approached him until now to ask him that. He'd assumed it wouldn't happen. "That's me."
"O-Oh! I'm sorry for not approaching you sooner," the monk said, seemingly flustered. "But since you're the former champion, I should fill you in on the new rules for the preliminaries."
"…New rules?"
"Yes! See, in previous tournaments, if the champion was to participate again, they would have to fight in the preliminaries and earn their spot in the tournament once again."
They all looked at each other oddly. They all knew that; Tien had to fight for a spot in the 23rd tournament, even though he won the one before it.
"Yeah…"
"Well, starting this tournament, the returning champion will automatically have a spot in the tournament. And since this is you, Mr. Goku, you don't have to participate in the preliminaries. A spot is already yours."
"What?" The six of them were surprised to hear that. They hadn't expected the rules to be changed that much. Goku didn't particularly like it. "Oh, uh… Thanks for the offer, but there's no need for that. I'll just participate in the preliminaries and get the spot myself."
"But…" The monk was at a loss for words. "But you don't have to. You're guaranteed the spot already!"
"I heard ya. But, it's been years since I won." Goku wasn't arrogant, but he was pretty sure he was the strongest person on this planet right then—if he was stronger than Gero's androids or even Vegeta was something to be seen in five more days—but that didn't mean he deserved to get into this tournament just because he won the last one. What if he hadn't trained at all these last ten years? "What if there was someone stronger'n me now and they didn't get in because they gave me the spot? That ain't fair. I'd rather just participate like everyone else. I'll get in if I'm strong enough."
"W-Well, uh… If that's what you'd rather, I can… talk to my boss and see what they say, okay? Give me a moment." The monk ran off inside to talk to his superior.
"Former champion automatically gets a spot, huh?" Yamcha asked out loud.
"Why didn't you just say yes?" Chiaotzu asked. "We all know you're gonna get in."
"Yeah, I know. But as I said, I don't really think that's fair," Goku replied. "I'd just rather get in on my own. I don't like they're just givin' me the spot because I won before. It's like they're assumin' I deserve it, but they don't really know if I do. For all they know, maybe I don't! Besides, aren't the preliminaries just fights? No way I'd miss that!"
Yamcha laughed. "Classic Goku!"
"That's understandable," Tien nodded. "It is strange though, considering that rule never existed before."
"I guess we know why it exists," Krillin rolled his eyes, and glanced at one man in particular. "We've said this tournament was brought back by someone so he could be the champion. I guess he wanted to ensure he remained the champion for years to come."
"Yeah. I guess they never expected you'd show up, Goku," Yamcha grinned at his friend. "They looked like they didn't know what to do with you. Clearly they didn't think that rule would apply for this particular tournament."
"That guy looked particularly lost when you told him you wanted to compete in the prelims like everyone else," Krillin snickered. "Ha! I guess they didn't expect the former champion to be an actual humble person, considering who the tournament face is."
"That arrogant fool really did think everything would go his way." Piccolo was watching Mr. Satan. He kept hearing him laugh and rehearse what seemed to be a victory speech to himself. It annoyed him, but he couldn't wait to see the man's face when his plan blew up on his face. He smirked at the thought. "With us in the tournament, there's no way that rule will apply for him for the next one. He'll have to work like everyone else."
The man that had talked to Goku returned and assured him that the higher-ups had allowed his request to participate in the preliminaries along with everyone else. Soon after that, a group of monks brought forth some sort of machine.
"What's that thing for?" Goku asked.
"At this point, I'm not sure I wanna know," Krillin said.
"Everyone!" the referee called. "The preliminaries of the World Martial Arts Tournament are about to begin! First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for coming to participate today. Out of the 234 fighters competing today, only sixteen will be allowed to compete in the tournament."
"Sixteen?" Krillin whispered.
"Wasn't it eight?" Chiaotzu whispered back.
"They must have changed it," Yamcha muttered.
"According to the rules, one of the sixteen spots is reserved for the returning champion. In this case it's Son Goku, who is one of the participants today. However, he's expressed his preference to participate in the preliminaries like everyone else, so, as per his wishes, he will not be given the spot automatically."
There was silence for a moment, and then people began to talk to each other. Mutterings about the former world champion being among them, and that he refused to have his spot automatically given. "The former champ is here?" "I think I've heard his name before." "I wonder who he is." "That's cool of him, man." "I guess he didn't like to be given the spot. Wants to earn it himself." "I can respect that."
"Oh, man," Goku chuckled as he scratched his cheek. He wasn't shy at all, but he didn't mind not being the center of attention and now everyone knew he was here. "Did he have to say that out loud…?"
"Maybe it's a good thing," Piccolo said. "They're all saying good things about you now."
"And that's a good thing?" the Earth-raised Saiyan laughed. "I knew you liked me deep down, Piccolo!"
Piccolo smirked. "Hardly. I just think it's better they have a good opinion of you instead of that fool."
"Whatever you say!" the Saiyan sang playfully.
There was one person, however, that wasn't happy with what he heard. The former champion is here?! Mr. Satan didn't know much about Son Goku; he'd never seen him before, he could barely find information on him and whatever he did find seemed very fake. People spoke of lasers, flying, turning into a giant monkey, and many other things that should very well be impossible. That guy is some mysterious trickster, I'm sure. There can't be any other explanation to all the things they say about him! I made sure they couldn't possibly do any tricks in this tournament, just in case. But now they're here…
He'd made sure the tournament's promotion were on dojos and fighting arenas in which he was sure there were no tricksters involved. He wanted to make sure the whole thing was legit. He hadn't expected the former champion would actually show up!
And if he's here, maybe those friends of his are here, too… Son Goku wasn't the only one with strange rumors to speak of him. There were others with weird tricks in those tournaments and Mr. Satan had heard more than once that they were all friends. He was more worried than he wanted to admit.
And what's with him refusin' to accept his given spot anyways?! Everyone's here thinkin' he's oh-so-great for doing that! I know how these things work. He's all high and mighty, sure he'll get his spot anyways so he just gracefully stepped down to participate like everyone and end up lookin' like a hero!
"In order to avoid injuries," the referee continued while Mr. Satan was lost in his own thoughts, "the preliminaries system from the previous tournaments have been changed." Sounds of surprise were heard from some of the fighters. "Instead of eight mini tournaments to select the competitors, we will use this punching machine," he gestured to the machine brought by the monks, "to measure everyone's strength fairly. Those with the sixteen highest scores on the punch machine will qualify for the tournament!"
"Are you joking?" Krillin asked, incredulous.
Needless to say, the Dragon Team's six fighters had no problem qualifying for the tournament.
After they drew lots to determine the fights, they were taken to the waiting area behind the ring. Apparently, the Junior Division was set to be before the adult tournament, while the adults were having their preliminary rounds. Gohan sat on his own while he waited for the Junior Division to start. Some kids had come with their friends. Others hadn't but had made friends while waiting. Gohan was too shy to really approach anyone so he stayed by himself.
It sucks I can't be with Dad, Piccolo, and the others… Gohan sighed. Though, I guess I don't really have many friends my age. Only those from Grandpa's village, but that's pretty much it…
He loved living on Mount Paozu and being so close to nature, but sometimes he wished he had more contact with kids his age. Then again, he used to go to school and interact with other kids before his uncle's very unfortunate arrival; and he hasn't really been able to go back yet because of all the battles they'd have to deal with since then. Maybe after the androids I'll go to an actual school…
The World Tournament Announcer walked into the waiting area. He saw Gohan and smiled, though he acted like he had no favorites in front of all the kids. "Okay, kids! The time has come. Now I'll go up the stage and announce the Junior Division's start. After that, I'll call for you when it's time for you to fight. Go up there and do your best!" He was looking at Gohan specifically, but since he was wearing glasses, no one could really tell.
"Look, there's the TV cameras!" Puar pointed to the ZTV's camera crew down at the ring. Since there was nothing going on the ring, they were filming the audience. "This really is gonna be on TV."
"Well, wouldya look at that! And the Juniors are first, ain't they?" The Ox-King laughed proudly. "The entire world's gonna watch my grandson be the champion!"
"Yes, they will!" Chi-Chi agreed happily. "I can't wait to see my darlin' boy surprise everyone!"
Chi-Chi had many negative feelings about the tournament after what happened with Goku and Piccolo. She didn't think she would enjoy being here, but now that she was, she was actually really getting excited! She couldn't wait to see her son dominate the Juniors and her husband easily win the Adult Division. She even reconsidered her decision of not entering-–thinking maybe she should have joined as well—but it was too late to go back. So, instead, she would sit with her baby Goten and enjoy every second of her family showing their amazing strength.
(Not to mention the prize money! That would be very convenient to have. Especially with everything that has been going on. With all the dying and fighting and training business, Goku hadn't really worked in years. She had full intentions of making him get an actual job when the android threat was over, but until then, having the prize money would make things much easier.)
Master Roshi hummed. "I want to see how the next generation is doing." He'd always thought nurturing the next generation was very important, and he did his very best with his students. He was happy with how they all turned out. He was proud to know they were, too, passing their knowledge to the next generation—Gohan was the proof of that. But he was interested to know what the other children who were participating knew.
He could sense the Ki from the children in the waiting area. Other than Gohan, none seemed to be noteworthy. He would have to see them on the ring to see if they truly had potential.
"Hey, isn't that the announcer from the other tournaments?" Oolong asked once he saw a familiar blond man walking to the ring.
"It is!" Launch replied happily.
"Sure is nice to see a familiar place, considering how different the tournament is," Bulma said. When she and her friends had entered the stands to sit, they were amazed by the difference. The ring was much bigger than before, and there were actually stands for the audience to sit. It almost felt like they walked into an entirely different event.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer spoke into the mic. "Thank you all so much for joining us here in the 24th edition of the World Martial Arts Tournament!" The crowd cheered loudly. "As you all may know, this is the first edition of the tournament to be televised," he said, looking at the camera of ZTV with a big smile, "so for the people at home, thank you so much for tuning in as well!
"For those of you who have long been fans of the tournament, I must tell you that there are a couple of changes made to the tournament. Other than the bigger arena and the TV cameras, of course," the blond joked. "First of all, the tournament now has two divisions! The first one is the Junior Division, in which everyone up to fifteen years old can participate. This Division has no preliminaries, so all the brave kids that joined will get a chance to fight in the ring!"
"Oh, good. I hope not many children showed up," Oolong mumbled as he took a sip from his coke.
"Oolong!" Puar scolded.
"What?! The only kid that's worth watching is Gohan and you know it!"
The audience clapped as the announcer continued talking, "Then there's the Adult Division. Everyone who is sixteen years old and up can participate. For this one, however, fighters must go through preliminary rounds to choose the sixteen fighters that are fighting in the tournament. That's right, folks! Sixteen! In all the previous tournaments, the total number of fighters allowed was eight. Now it's double! Double numbers, double fun!"
"Sixteen, huh?" Roshi said. "That's interesting."
"I wonder if any of them are actually good," Bulma said.
"Well, I guess they might be good, compared to the general population." Chi-Chi shrugged. "But compared to Goku an' everyone else? They ain't gonna be able to stand a chance against 'em."
"I wonder if Mr. Satan is actually any good at all," Launch said.
"I doubt it," Bulma replied.
"We'll have to wait and see," Master Roshi said.
"Now, without further ado, let us begin!" The announcer grinned excitedly. "We will begin with the Junior Division. There are forty brave kids that are just waiting to give you all an espectacular show with their amazing fighting prowess!"
People cheered in excitement. The announcer called forth the first fight of the day: a ten-year-old boy versus a nine-year-old boy. Both kids walked to the ring together as instructed and began their fight. They clearly both had some background on martial arts, but they weren't full-cut martial artists and came off mostly endearing. Their battle just didn't have the high stakes that was usually associated with the World Martial Arts Tournament. It was incredibly entertaining to the audience though, who watched in amusement as the kids did their best to win the match. In the end, the ten-year-old managed to win by ring out, since he managed to push the younger boy out of the ring.
"This is the standard of the Junior Division?" Oolong was not impressed. Maybe he had a skewed worldview, but he'd seen Goku as a kid barely two years older than them do much more impressive things. These kids barely even punched!
"I hope not," Chi-Chi said. "Because if it is then my poor Gohan's gonna be very bored."
"I feel bad for him," Launch said. "They should've let him just compete with the adults."
Ox-King grimaced, shrugging. "Rules, am I right?"
"Man," Krillin sighed. "This sucks."
They'd passed the punching machine preliminaries, even though their scores made people think the machine was broken—and they were holding back, mind you. A part of Krillin was very excited that he very clearly had a chance since everyone else was so weak, but the other part was worried thinking about what the tournament was becoming. They were questioning their strength according to whose standard? That joke of a man, Mr. Satan, who was—for some convenient reason—the person who punched first?
(He was absolutely sure Mr. Satan had made sure he was the first on that list so he could be called "Number One". Unfortunately for him, he wasn't going to be the Number One in this tournament. Shame.)
As soon as they passed the preliminaries, they'd gone to watch the Junior Division. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't this.
"Well," Yamcha said, wincing as one of the children fighting threw a very awkward punch, "this is disappointing."
"You don't say," Krillin said.
"I expected more, honestly," Chiaotzu commented.
"So did I," Tien said. Budo wasn't as popular as it might have been back in the day. It wasn't as popular as other sports like baseball to begin with; and with the King Piccolo incident, there were a lot of people who were rightfully scared to even begin practicing martial arts. Then the tournament disappeared, so it was even less popular. But he'd assumed there'd be kids out there that would still practice and have the discipline they all had as children to become great martial artists.
Clearly, he was mistaken.
Of course, they were only six matches in, so maybe things could change as the tournament went on. But with how things were going, it seemed like all the children were there because the tournament was mainstream now and they thought they knew fighting because they watched action shows. So far, only two kids seemed to actually know what they were doing and taking it seriously. He hadn't expected to see a show like this in the famous World Martial Arts Tournament.
"I feel bad for Gohan," Goku said. "He's stuck with all these kids even though he's so much stronger than 'em."
Piccolo wasn't happy about it either. "Well, I suppose this could be taken as a lesson on holding back," he said distastefully, but he was trying to find one positive to the situation his student was in.
"I really hope there's more kids down there who actually know what they're doin'," Goku said. "Because if not, Gohan's gonna be really bored."
"And so will we," Krillin added.
Oh, man… Gohan was watching the fight along with some other kids through the window, and he didn't really like what he was seeing. If they're all like this, then my actual challenge won't be winning this; it'll be making sure I don't actually overdo it and hurt them! This sucks. I really wish they'd let me fight with the adults…
He could hear the audience laughing in amusement at some of the fights and it upset him. He hadn't come to a tournament to be laughed at! He'd been in fights with adult warriors who took him seriously for so long that the idea of being patronized because of his age annoyed him. He was so much stronger than everyone around him—even most of the adults on the planet—and yet he was stuck on the division that seemed to have been created to make the audience laugh more than anything.
He winced at the poor six-year-old that tripped and fell out of the ring, ending the match due to ring out. If the laughs bothered him who wasn't even fighting, he couldn't even begin to imagine what that poor kid felt right at that moment.
"The next match," the announcer said, "is between fifteen-year-old Ryouma and nine-year-old Videl! May you both please come out to the ring?"
Gohan noticed that the girl who was with Mr. Satan walked to the ring. Assuming they're related, maybe I can figure out if Mr. Satan's good or not by seeing how she fights. I guess this'll be interesting.
"A fifteen-year-old boy versus a nine-year-old girl?" The man took a drink of his beer and shook his head. "Well, that's unfortunate for her."
"Is that even fair?" a woman asked.
"Well, the fights are supposed to be random. She just had bad luck."
"She's certainly got the attitude of a winner though. I kinda want her to win now."
Videl walked confidently to the ring. Her opponent was looking down on her, smirking as if he knew already he was going to win. He thought he had the advantage because he was older and bigger than her. Well, she would show him! I will win this!
The match started and Videl quickly attacked. She was small, but she was fast. Before he could react she punched him in the stomach before kicking him on his side. He was startled and didn't expect the pain, so he crouched to protect his hurting chest, leaving his face wide open for her to do an uppercut straight to his jaw.
"What—" Ryouma did not expect his first match to be like this; especially not against a little girl! "Dammit! You—" He got up and tried to up his game. I wasn't taking her seriously 'cause she's a kid. I won't make that same mistake again! He attempted to punch her but she would dodge everything he threw. Eventually he kicked low to trip her, which she did, but she was up quicker than he expected.
Videl took advantage of her speed to attack him before he could block her. He was getting tired and wasn't quick enough to counterattack effectively. He managed to get her with a couple of jabs, but she was the one who was doing most damage. At the end, she kicked him with enough force to make him lose his footing and fall off the ring.
"Videl is the winner!" The announcer was a bit surprised, but concealed it well. He had his theories, but he hadn't expected Videl would have been so good a fighter. Maybe he had to give Mr. Satan more credit. He raised a tough little warrior. She's definitely one of the best ones so far, he thought as he watched her celebrate while the audience cheered loudly for her. If Goku's son wasn't in the game, maybe she could have been the champion.
Huh. Gohan had to admit he was pretty surprised. He lowkey hadn't expected her to actually be a good fighter. After all, his opinion of Mr. Satan was obviously very influenced by what he had been told about him, and admittedly it was mostly bad things. But if this girl who was very clearly a fighter related to him, then maybe he wasn't all that bad a fighter after all. She's definitely one of the better fighters here. I wonder if we'll end up fighting each other at some point.
Mr. Satan was very troubled. The preliminaries had been a disaster. He'd been the first, and had gotten quite the spectacular score in the punching machine if he said so himself. No one had been able to get a better score than him. Only two or three of them had been close! He'd been the highest score, until it was that group's turn.
Their scores easily doubled his own. And the worst part is that they did it so casually. They didn't look like they were punching the machine as hard as they could. They just naturally hit it and got insane scores. There were six of them, all around the same scores. They were clearly all friends and Mr. Satan knew immediately who they were.
Son Goku and his trickster friends. He knew they were back. It wasn't hard to realize who they were. Only them could have broken the harmony of things and made them so strange in an instant. He almost thought the machine was rigged, but he'd been the one who brought it in the first place. But if the machine wasn't rigged, then how did they do it?
He didn't know and it was eating him alive. What was he supposed to do? Surely, he can't compete against their tricks! He had to find a way around them if he wanted to win.
But all those problems flew out the window when he saw his baby girl's first fight. He'd barely paid any attention to the fights of the other kids, but when it was his darling Videl's turn to fight, he'd paid the uttermost attention. And she'd won!
"YES, VIDEL!" Mr. Satan cheered. He was very proud and he was the loudest, because he was her biggest fan. "YOU SURE SHOWED THAT PUNK WHO'S BOSS, HUH?! HAHAHA! YEAH! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER!"
"Well, what do ya know, that girl knows what she's doin'," Goku commented. "She's got lots of potential."
"Yes," Tien nodded. "She's pretty good, all things considered. She could become a fantastic fighter one day."
"With the proper trainin', of course she could. And she seems to be really motivated, too!"
"I'm just glad to know there's some kids actually taking budo seriously. If she kept training, she could go places."
"She's the girl who was with Mr. Satan before, right?" Chiaotzu asked. "I wonder if they're related."
"That would be unfortunate," Krillin quipped.
Piccolo could hear Mr. Satan's cheering very clearly. Even among the crowd, his loud obnoxious voice was very easy to tell apart. "Well, in that case, I have some unfortunate news for you."
"Unfortunate for who?"
"They're related?" Yamcha asked.
"She's his daughter," Piccolo replied, ignoring Krillin's question.
It didn't matter because Krillin had his answer anyway. "Unfortunate for her, then."
"Huh. I hadn't known he had a daughter," Yamcha commented. "I mean, I didn't know that guy two months ago either, but with how egotistical he seems to be, I'm kind of surprised there isn't any information about her anywhere. Maybe he's actually a protective dad. Gotta give him credit for that."
"I still think she's unfortunate," Krillin insisted.
Three fights later and it was finally Gohan's turn to fight. His opponent was an eleven-year-old boy named Neo. He seemed nice, actually; but Gohan could tell Neo was very nervous. Honestly, he was a bit nervous as well. Not because he thought he could possibly lose, but because the crowd looked huge and he'd never been in front of so many people before!
Gohan smiled kindly at Neo. "Are you nervous?"
Neo smiled shakily. "Yeah. You?"
"Me, too."
"Ha, well… Time to do our best, I guess." Neo extended his hand to Gohan. "May the best one win."
Gohan took his hand and shook it. "May the best one win."
"Our next match is nine-year-old Gohan versus eleven-year-old Neo!"
"That's our cue," Gohan said, and they both walked to the stage. Standing in the ring, he could feel the Ki of his mother, baby brother, grandfather, father and Piccolo. They were all there watching him. He bowed respectfully before the match, but he was determined. He wasn't going to disappoint any of them!
The announcer was very excited to see the son of Goku in action. He was sure he was going to win, and he knew Gohan wouldn't be able to show off too much considering the level of most of the kids, but he wanted to see him fight either way. He'd wanted to ever since he'd heard Goku say Gohan was even better than him as a child! "Fight!"
Poor Neo didn't stand a chance. Gohan wasn't quite sure just how much power or speed he could use, so he let Neo attack first to get an idea of what to do. Neo punched and kicked but Gohan dodged everything. Okay… To show off, but not let it be too much… He was actually kind of nervous of attacking back because he didn't want to hurt Neo too much. This is hard!
In the end, the solution Gohan came up with was to vanish from Neo's sight. Neo—as well as the audience—gasped in surprise. The boy looked desperately around the ring for his opponent, but he couldn't find him. It was like he disappeared from thin air.
"Got you!" Suddenly, Gohan reappeared behind Neo, grabbing a hold of him and throwing him out the ring. That should have been enough to show off, right? And I didn't actually hurt him, so win-win!
"Ring out!" the announcer yelled in excitement. He remembered that move. He'd seen it countless times before when Goku, Krillin and everyone else used it in the tournament battles. Now he saw it again and he was just as pumped up as he had been when he first saw such techniques! Now that's what I call showing off! That is amazing! "Nine-year-old Gohan is the winner!"
The roar of cheers from the audience was deafening.
"How did he do that?!"
"He disappeared, man! Did you see that?! He was there and suddenly he wasn't—"
"I'd never seen anything like it before!"
"No, but seriously, how did he do that?!"
"There sure are some talented kids, ey? Between that girl from a few matches ago and this kid right here, this certainly will be quite interesting to watch."
"And you said the Junior Division was boring."
"Well, yeah, that was before this!"
Chi-Chi was so happy for her son. She hadn't wanted him fighting before, but she couldn't deny how proud she was with how far he'd come. Now the entire place was cheering for him. He was clearly the new favorite with that move he pulled. "Yeah, that's my Gohan!"
Goten cooed and cheered in her arms. He was too young to properly know what was going on, but she was going to take it as him cheering for his big brother too.
"Yes! Atta boy, Gohan!" Goku cheered for his son as if he hadn't been perfectly aware he was going to be the winner. He was just so happy! "Way to go!"
Piccolo didn't say anything, but he had a proud smile on his face.
"Well, he's won, as we all knew he would," Krillin said grinning. "What a surprise."
"You see that move he pulled though?" Yamcha asked with a grin. "Got the entire audience wild with that one! Guess he decided to follow the announcer's suggestion of showing off."
That kid is one of them! The moment the kid vanished from sight and suddenly reappeared behind that other kid, he knew the tricksters had truly made it into the tournament. He hadn't expected to see any in the Junior Division though! And looking very carefully at him, he could tell the kid looked very similar to one of the weirdos of the preliminaries, and he was wearing the Gi the tall green one wore. The connections were in plain sight. This kid was clearly in Son Goku's group. Dammit… I thought pulling those tricks would be impossible now! There shouldn't be any way! How did he do that?!
Mr. Satan had been so sure his daughter would be the Junior Champion of this tournament. But now he knew there was a trickster among them, and he feared for his daughter's victory. Not to mention his own. This is bad… Now what do I do?
And that's chapter 2! I had a lot of fun with this one. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And, again, thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a review! It means a lot.
Speaking of reviews; there were a question or two, so I thought I could do some sort of Q&A. So here it is!
Q: Will this fill only the Android Saga or also follow up in the Cell Games, or even see Gohan going to school?
A: This isn't supposed to be a long story, but I do want to cover what happens before and after the Cell Games, as well as take a look into Gohan's high school life. Don't expect a rewrite of the android saga, though. A lot of things are gonna stay the same and I'm gonna skip all that hasn't changed. That being said, this tournament's gonna have some big consequences the Dragon Team probably didn't really consider when they decided to sign up, and those consequences will follow them long after Cell is gone. I'm excited to explore that!
Q: How is Goten even born at this point? His mother wouldn't have even had him growing inside her at this point.
A: You're absolutely right, in canon Goten didn't exist at all at this point. Or he did, as an embryo unknown to all. Anyway, the reason I had him be born already is because it annoys me how it is said he's seven in the 25th tournament in the manga/anime. He can't be seven. For him to be seven, he would have had to be born already by the android saga, and as you point out, he wasn't. This annoys me more than it should, so since this is an AU I decided to go ahead and have him be born earlier so he can actually be seven years old when Majin Buu shows up. It's just a pet peeve of mine, and since I could, I decided to do something about it.
So there it is! If you have more questions, feel free to ask them! I'll answer what I can without spoiling, heh. As always, thank you all so much for reading! Hope you all have a great day!