I do not own DB, DBZ, DBGT or DBS all rights to the companies that own them and Akira Toriyama.
Year 774, Early May - Recap.
The plane was huge, Krillin and his family were there, Vegeta even joined the flight, Grandpa was also there along with Yamcha, Master Roshi and Oolong. The group were deciding if the Saiyans should be able to use Super Saiyan, Vegeta came up with the argument of, unless it's against another Saiyan there really shouldn't be a need for it. So with that it was decided they wouldn't transform, except Gohan who's outfit was her as super saiyan but she promised not to power up unless it was needed. Like she was against Vegeta or her dad or something. But definitely no ascended Saiyan.
When they arrived the arena was packed with people, "Wow it's gotten so commercialized over the years, we only missed one tournament right?" Yamcha asked the group. He wasn't competing this time, just here to support.
"Yeah, after Goku destroyed the ring it was 11 years before they rebuilt and had another tournament apparently they decided to go back to every 7 years between tournaments instead of the old 3. 10 guesses who'd idea that was." Master Roshi informed the group
"I wonder if Goku is here yet? can any of you feel him?" Bulma asked.
"No can't feel Goku but we do have another old friend over there" Master Roshi said pointing to a cluster of trees, with Piccolo leaning against one. Gohan went up to him with Goten, greeting him.
Suddenly the group felt a large Ki come up behind them. "Hey guys, long time no see!" Goku greeted with his usual cheerful voice.
Year 774, Early May - The Tournament
Gohan turned around excited, he really was here, she could feel Goten hiding behind her leg, so she didn't rush up to Goku, he was already swamped by almost all their other friends, besides Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, #18 and Maron. Trunks and Maron just looked confused as to why this guy, that looked like an older Goten was getting so much attention.
"Wow it's good to see you all again, you've all changed so much! Is that really you Krillin? Since when have you been able to grow hair?!"
"I told you years ago, I kept it waxed, but the missus preferred me with hair so here I am."
"Missus… that means girlfriend or partner right?" At Krillin's nod Goku got excited, "wow, that's great I'm glad you found someone to date."
"He didn't just date me he knocked me up and married me." #18 came up to the group declaring in her smooth voice holding Maron.
"Woah, android #18!" Goku blinked a few times registering what she said. "Wait you guys married?" he paused for a moment. "Wow, that's awesome."
Goku was bombarded with so many voices and all he could think was where is his daughter and wife. Seeing Gohan off to the side, he couldn't believe what he saw, there with her hair up, the spiky bangs still in front, she was taller, now at 5'3", then he remembered, she was in her Super Saiyan form. If it wasn't for her Ki signature he wouldn't of recognised her, politely pushing past his friends he stopped in front of his little girl she really was all grown up now.
Gohan got a bit emotional then and jumped up to hug her father. "I missed you daddy." She whispered to him.
"Missed you to monkey princess." After he put her down he looked around again, "Hey Gohan where's your mother? I thought she would be here to watch us compete?" Everyone around them got quiet quickly.
"Dad, do you not get any news or see other people at all in Otherworld?"
"I'm sure if King Kai thought it important he would tell me, but he doesn't watch over this part of the galaxy that much and I usually only see other fighters why's that?"
"Dad, mum died, about 2 years after you." Gohan said as delicately as she could.
"What? How?" Goku's face paled, why hadn't he been told his wife joined him in Otherworld, even if they weren't on the same plane, her in heaven and him in upper heaven, he would of still found a way to visited her.
"It was cancer." Gohan felt Goten tugging on her leg to get her attention, looking down at him she smiled with the tears in her eyes that always sprung when she talked about it.
"Mummy, are you okay?"
At the young voice Goku looked down, he was speechless, there was a mini him behind his daughters leg, he looked at least 5, his daughter wouldn't be more the 17 yet. "Gohan why is there a mini me behind your leg?" He crouched down to get a closer look, the kid was even wearing a replica of the outfit Goku was wearing.
"Dad meet Goten. Goten say hi."
"Hi Grandpa."
Goku still couldn't wrap his head around it, he got up turned to Krillin behind him and whispered "Is he really Gohan's son? Isn't she too young to of had a kid that old, right? Who's the father?" The thought gave him those complicated mixed feelings he had trouble differentiating between.
"It's... complicated Goku, we'll explain it in a bit, just be happy that Gohan wasn't alone for the past 5 years."
"Right, right, wow a grandpa.." Goku mused turning back around to the sight of Goten now in Gohan's arms looking worried with Vegeta behind them with a supportive hand on Gohan's shoulder almost to the point of looking protective of her. Gohan was just watching her father pensively.
"Hey little guy, it's nice to meet you." Goten got over his shyness and jumped at Goku hanging around his neck hugging him. Both were laughing along with each other and playing. Gohan had a small smile on her face and let the breath she was holding out, patting Vegeta's hand, turning around and smiled at him.
Piccolo chose that time to interrupt. "If we don't hurry we will miss the sign in's"
That got everyone's attention and they all went to sign in. The fighters branched away from the spectators and went to go change into their fighting clothes. The two boys were walking ahead complaining about not fighting in the adult division and having to fight children while Goku and Krillin caught up on things with #18 walking behind them, further behind her were Gohan, Piccolo and Vegeta, they weren't talking, there was no need between them she just enjoyed the silent support, until her name was called out to her. Turning around she saw Videl running up to meet her, "I'll catch up to you guys, um, if dad brings it up tell him I want to explain the situation please?" The two guys nodded and kept walking, Goku turned around at Gohan's name being called and over-heard what she said, pausing for only a moment watching his little girl meet another female fighter, before continuing on.
"Hey Gohan, ready for this?" Videl asked.
"Yeah I am, just a little nervous. Fighting in front of a crowd is a bit daunting."
"It'll be fine. When your out there you hardly notice the crowd, only your opponent."
"Guess it's the same as a battle then, just focus on the threat. Got it. Anyway, I got to make sure Goten's ready."
Gohan was already in her Gold Fighter uniform she wasn't trying to hide herself nearly as much as before, she figured people will know the truth of it all in a few days so why not let them speculate first, she waited out front of the changerooms to see Goku and Goten coming out together talking. As she was walking up to them a man announced over the P.A. that they were starting the junior division.
"Okay squirt, go out there and do your best, I'll come watch you in the finals as quickly as I can." Gohan knelt down and Goten hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay mummy, I'll do my best!" Running off to meet trunks and the rest of the people they would be fighting.
"Am I really a Grandpa already? You would have been 10 after he was born, I don't remember you being pregnant when we fought Cell." Goku asked once Goten was out of ear shot, he really was confused by the situation and was thinking maybe it had been longer than the 7 years he thought it was.
"No, I wasn't pregnant dad. Technically," deep breath this is going to get awkward, "he is your son. Yours and mum's. I told him who I was to him many times after mum died as well as who you were to him. But around the age of 3 he started calling me mummy, I stopped correcting him after the Bojack incident. He made the decision that you were his grandpa beacuse I am his mummy, and we all just support it. After all I have raised him alone his whole life."
Goku was quiet while she spoke. A part of him was glad his daughter hadn't given birth at a young age, and that answered who his father was, Goku wasn't sure what to make of the situation, a part of him felt bad that she had to do this alone at such a young age, Goku could look after himself at the age he left her but the thought of a 100% dependent baby as well, heck if it wasn't for Chi-Chi he didn't think he would of been able to raise Gohan half as well as she had done for Goten even as a full grown adult. "You've done a great job, he is a really good kid, I see you let him keep his tail, has the moon been brought back?"
Gohan smiled, this couldn't of been easy for her father, but for him at admit that out loud made her feel-good inside. "Ah no, but I didn't want to get rid of it, even if the moon was back we'd work on making sure he could control it, but thanks dad, I had a lot of support though, thankfully."
Together they walked to the contestant waiting area, it was packed with over 180 people. Working their way to their group, Gohan excused herself to go see Videl. As she made it to her a loud greeting was heard over to the entrance.
"YEEAAHHH! Are you ready! Who want's this!" Mr. Satan yelled to the crowd gathering around him, while most of the contestants gathered around him and cheered, the rest just looked embarrassed by him, including Videl.
"Alright! Can I get everyone's attention please, we will be starting the elimination round, starting with Mr. Satan. Everyone was assigned a number at registration if you could please gather we will have Mr. Satan go first so we have a number to judge by, the next 15 highest scores to Mr. Satan's will go through to the Semi-finals." An officiate announced
Mr. Satan did his signature Pose for all the camera's really playing up the scene. Suddenly all the cameras blew up, Gohan who had moved her way back towards her group with Videl in tow just looked at Piccolo, "was that necessary?" She whispered to him, she knew it was Piccolo.
"This is a place for fighting not dancing, and I don't want you holding back." He stated.
Mr. Satan looking sad at all the cameras blowing up, faced the punch machine, winding up and giving it all he had, punched a 137. "Let's see some of you break the 100's so we can at least have a proper fight! YEAH!" He yelled walking off to his private room looking proud of himself.
The gang and the rest of the contestants lined up according to their numbers, turns out the group signed up earlier than a lot so they were in the 60's, Videl was #25 punching a respectable 160, she decided to wait off to the side and see the rest, she saw Gohan talking to the group that was around them before, must be all her friends, a few looked familiar and she remembered the spiky haired guy from dinner that one time at Capsule Corp but the rest were a mystery, she would only be guessing if she tried to name them.
First out of the group was #18, she looked like she tapped the machine and punched a 770, this caused the officials to have her go again, she looked like she was putting a lot of effort into the next punch when in reality she was focusing on not punching too hard. Second time around she got 203. Needless to say, the officials were speechless, they openly talked about the machine maybe on the fritz but couldn't deny her access to the semi-finals, next up was Krillin's 192, followed by Piccolo's 210, Gohan was next at 198 and Goku got 186. As all of them didn't look like they were putting much effort in the officials were on their way to getting the other machine, when Vegeta annoyed at waiting so long walked up to the machine and punched it, destroying the machine and sending it into the wall. Gohan was just happy she got her go in before Vegeta so that she would be able to watch Goten and Trunks fight. Bringing up the idea to the group, they already knew they were through to the semi-finals. Videl decided to join them, she knew Gohan was stronger than her but all of them seemed to be in the same league as her, Videl was starting to feel quiet small.
"Oh, who's this? Gohan you haven't introduced me to your friend." Goku asked when he noticed Videl hanging around Gohan and the rest.
"Oh right, dad this is Videl, she's a friend from school, she's the one who convinced me to join the tournament."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Goku!" Goku stuck out his hand. Videl was reluctant to take it but didn't want to seem rude.
Then it hit her, why he was so familiar this was the Son Goku, Gohan had just called him dad, but wait… "Gohan you said your father was dead?!" she asked as Goku walked away with the group looking for a place to watch the junior matches.
"He is, see the halo above him, he got some special privilege or something from the higher ups in the Otherworld, so he chose to come back today."
"Oh, wow, okay, considering all that you've told me over the last few weeks it'd be silly to doubt you now." Though she was still trying to wrap her head around it all. Who were all these people that punched effortlessly in the high 100's, when she put all her effort in and only got a 160, her father was even lower still.
As a group they all went to watch the juniors fight.
When they got there, Trunks and Goten had already won their first matches, the next few fights were pretty embarrassing, but the kids actually gave it their all. It was nobodies surprise when it was Trunks and Goten in the finals, it was the fight they were all waiting for.
The boys went all out from the start, both perfectly matching the other's attacks, though all you could hear was Goku cheering them on as the rest of the audience was just staring at these two boys suspended in mid air throwing punches and kicks at each other.
The fight went on for a while, eventually Trunks got the upper hand and got Goten in a body lock.
"Come on Goten, you can get out of it" Goku still cheering them on yells.
"Hmm, my boy has always had the upper hand to yours Gohan" Vegeta taunts smugly.
"I wouldn't count Goten out yet Veggie" Gohan teases back with the nickname she gave him, smiling.
The rest of the group had gotten used to Gohan and Vegeta's type of friendship, it was the only time they could really tolerated him. Goku however just looked on sideways at the weird dynamic, it really threw him how much things have changed for everyone in his years gone, change was inevitable he knew that, but he didn't once think Gohan and Vegeta would be this close.
Suddenly the crowd stops cheering and is once again speechless, Goten had transformed into Super Saiyan pushing trunks off him and floating down to the arena and powering back down.
"Hey that's no fair! We promised not to transform!" Trunks whined also coming to the ground.
"Opps, my bad I forgot" Goten says sheepishly, with a smile that said he knew exactly what he was doing.
Gohan up in the stands just had her hand covering her face, 'damn kid,' was all she could think.
"WOW! How is he already a Super Saiyan?!" Goku exclaimed
"That's not fair! Kakarot the brat broke his promise!"
"Hey, don't look at me he did it." Goku whined. "Gohan, how? He's so young?!"
Gohan just shrugged. "One day we were training he said he wanted to be like me, then next thing I know he's super. Kid didn't even realise he transformed until after I pointed it out."
"Wow, kids these days, making it look so easy"
The boys started fighting again just as ferocious as before. After what seemed like ages and multiple techniques that would be too advanced for a regular kid, Trunks transformed as well. This caught Goten off guard and resulted in him not being able to stop himself in time before hitting the grass outside the ring.
The group were speechless about the turn of events except Vegeta whom was just chuckling to himself in pride. The brat might not see himself as the son of Kakarot but he was still a spawn of him so it was worth the bragging rights over him.
"Wow, what is with this generation both of them already Super Saiyan." Goku mused.
"Hehe, too bad Gohan, my boy is still the more superior. There is always next time," Vegeta took the time to gloat.
"Poor Goten he tried so hard, I better go check on him, I'll meet you guys in the waiting area." Gohan went to leave, Videl not feeling comfortable around these strangers yet, went to follow Gohan.
"Wow, I have to admit I feel extremely insignificant after watching that." Videl admitted out loud.
"Don't be, they're special cases." Gohan consoled her while they made their way to where the award ceremony was going on for the juniors. After they had all gotten off the stage Goten noticed Gohan and ran to her talking a mile a minute about how awesome it was, not the least bit sad he lost.
"Wow boys, you both did great, congrats on the win Trunks, it was a close one. You made your dad proud, he won't shut up about it to the rest of the group." Gohan informed them. Knowing this would make Trunk's day even brighter. "I'm so proud of you too Goten. Now I want you to stay with Bulma and Grandpa up in the stands okay? Both of you. If I hear you have wandered off I'll leave you for a whole day training with Vegeta in the G.R., then the day after with Piccolo, no breaks, got it?" Gohan had developed a motherly tone over the years and was currently using it on both boys.
Both boys blanched at the threat, they knew Gohan would subject them to it too, so they nodded and Gohan watched them until she saw them fly over and actually sitting with Bulma in the stands.
Over the speakers they heard. "Okay folks wasn't that a match to remember! Now to get on with the Semi-Finals, who will be crowned strongest under the Heavens, can I get all contestants into the elimination area so that we can draw up the line-up."
Turning to Videl, "That our cue."
Entering the waiting area behind her father and the rest she overheard the announcer greeting her dad, "Do my eyes deceive me?! Is that really you Goku? Oh, and Ma Junior and Krillin! Kami I've missed having you around, these tournaments have been capital-B-boring!"
"Hi, good to see you again," Goku greeted back.
"Well I'm glad you are back today, where have you been? That was you at the Cell games wasn't it? You were the real one to defeat him right? Come on, you can tell me" He asked with a wink.
"Shhh, it's a secret. Besides I died that day, they just let me back today for a special occasion to spend with my family." Goku said pointing to the halo above him.
It took the announcer a few moments to register what he was looking at. "Huh, well considering all the things I've seen you do over the years it'd be silly of me to doubt you now, am I right Goku baby! Just please try to keep the ring in one piece."
Goku just smiled while Piccolo spoke up smirking, "we'll try."
As they gathered around, Gohan noticed Piccolo scoping out the competition. "Hey Piccolo, see anyone that might give us some competition?"
"Most contestants no, but there are a few that just don't sit well with me, you see those two over there, the short purple guy and the tall red one with the weird clothing?" Gohan nodded. "I can't sense their energy, they are hiding it, not suppressing it but cloaking it so I can't even get a reading on it. Then there's the 2 muscle heads over on the other side, their Ki just feels off, it's human but not normal. Almost artificial." Gohan also sensed out those two groups and realised what Piccolo was saying.
"We should keep an eye on them, just in case." Piccolo nodded in agreement.
Eventually they started drawing numbers. #18 drew #11, Krillin was #1, Goku got #10, Vegeta #12, Gohan #7, Piccolo #3 and Videl was #5. As the rest of the contenders drew their numbers the line-up was officially set.
First round was Krillin Vs. A large man named Pintar
Piccolo (Ma Junior) Vs. The mysterious purple skinned Shin
Videl Vs. the Muscly Spopovich
Gohan Vs. against the large Red Skin man, Kibito
Mr Satan Vs. Goku
#18 Vs. Vegeta
A masked fighter, Might Mask Vs. a tall boxer called Killa
Lastly A bedazzled dancer/fighter called Jewel Vs. the other shorter muscle head Yamu.
The first match between Krillin and Pintar was extremely short, after Pintar insulted Krillin's height and tried to show his power and speed, Krillin simply slapped him a few times then kicked him out of the ring. By the end of the fight the announcer had only just finished his introduction of Krillin and his accomplishments in previous tournaments and was about to start on introducing Pintar, but the fight was already over in under a minute.
The second match of Piccolo and Shin didn't go as planned, they just stared at each other while the announcer boasted up each fighter. All of a sudden Piccolo looked scared, Gohan and Goku had been watching intently for a bit and noticed for the brief moment that Shin had let his power out, it wasn't large in comparison to them, but it had a different feel. What shocked them all most was when Piccolo forfeited and left the ring, with a smirking Shin behind him.
At this stage the crowd was getting a bit rowdy, while the announcer was trying to salvage the debacle the z-fighters went up to Piccolo and asked what happened. Krillin was especially concerned as he was set to fight him in the next round. Piccolo didn't answer any of them only walking over to Shin. After a brief conversation that had Piccolo showing signs of emotions again the third round was announced. The rest of the Z-fighters went up to Piccolo and Shin to find out what was happening, Gohan was torn between the conversation she wanted to join and watching her friend fight, especially since her opponent was not a normal human. Hoping it would be quick and Videl would be fine Gohan went to join the conversation having missed the beginning she was glad she caught the end as it seemed more important.
"I am indeed the Supreme Kai, we are here today to hopefully stop a great catastrophe from happening, the 2 muscle men with the cursive M on their foreheads are agents sent by the Wizard Babidi to gather energy for him."
"So you think they'll attack whoever wins the tournament?" Piccolo asked.
"We suspect so, though they may attack sooner if someone shows a considerable amount of power. Possibly even multiple people"
"Well that makes it easy, we just won't go all out, besides we shouldn't even need to, not even against each other, we can be good sports." Gohan interjects. Vegeta just scoffed in the back ground causing Gohan to playfully elbow him in the ribs.
"I've been thinking it would be better if someone did go all out, someone like you young Gohan, you are still the strongest on the planet."
"I'm not letting someone attack me just so you can follow them after. You have no idea the power we possess especially at Super Saiyan levels." Gohan argued. She wasn't as prideful as her father or Vegeta, but she wouldn't let herself be used like that or any of her friends.
"We need to be able to follow them back to Babidi's hideout." Shin tried to reason.
"If they attack we will fight back, but you will regret letting them get any energy from any of us especially the Saiyans. We can think of another way, I won't risk any of the fighters or myself for something so uncertain." Gohan declared. It was times like these that people were reminded she was never a little girl, she was a strong and smart warrior, and this is the voice of a leader, her age was not a factor. She is already the leader she is destined to be. Even Shin stepped back at the tone of her voice, no one had talked to the Supreme Kai in such a regal tone, yet held zero arrogance in it, before. Suddenly there were shouts of panic from the crowd. Gohan ignoring the rest rushed over to see what was happening with Videl's fight, what she saw was angering.
Videl was on the ground battered while Spopovich was kicking her around the arena like a soccer ball. Gohan didn't know what to do, she wanted to stop it, but it would disqualify each of them. Suddenly his companion Yamu told him to finish it, luckily killing wasn't aloud so he just kicked her off the side of stage. Gohan rushed out to check her over, most of her ribs seemed to be broken her arm was at a funny angle and she wouldn't be surprised if there was some spinal damage. Letting the medics take her in a stretcher to the infirmary Gohan turned to the smirking Spopovich, "watch out, you won't last come the next round."
Running in behind the medics Gohan asked the group for any sensu beans. When all of them shook their head 'no' and said they didn't think they'd need them, Goku stepped up and offered to get some from Korin. Gohan went over to the announcer and informed him she needed a few more minutes she has a way to help Videl but needs time, if he could give it. The announcer called a 15-minute intermission, by this stage the crowd watching the favourite, Videl being so brutally beaten the audience didn't object.
Luckily it didn't take Goku long to I.T. it to Korin tower and get the only 3 sensu's he had. Coming back, he gave one to Gohan, Gohan turned to her opponent, "I'll be quick then you can show me what you Kai's are like at fighting." Dashing off before he can respond.
When Mr. Satan was blocking her from entering all Gohan could do was flash her aura "I suggest you move, you should remember what I'm capable of when pushed, I'm here to save my best friend from some pain." It was at that moment Mr. Satan realised all the fighters that were there during Cell, not just the older ones from the side lines, but the little girl as well had come for the tournament, he had suspected the Gold Fighter was the little kid but never found a way or want to prove it. Once Videl was healed Mr. Satan stopped Gohan from leaving.
"Um, miss delivery kid, um…" He stuttered.
"The names Gohan, and for the record I don't care what you had done, just be a decent person and stop lying, I've got a tournament to win." She rushed out of the room towards the arena.
"Daddy?" Videl asks all healed up to the amazement of the medics.
"Videl! Sweet Pea! Thank goodness."
"Gohan wouldn't tell me who actually beat Cell after I confronted her about it. But your actions just told me, your scared of her cause you know she is stronger than you. She beat him didn't she? Why did you lie?"
"She was 10 years old, and I didn't actually know she was alive at the end of it. She was carried away… the reporter wanted to know what was happening and so I said I did it, I didn't think it would get this out of control. I didn't know she had survived till she appeared again as the Gold Fighter. I'm sorry." Mr. Satan said ashamed of being caught out.
"I always suspected. But just so you know you took a victory from a 10 year old girl, that's just wrong and you know it. You're lucky she is so humble and forgiving." Videl gave her dad a kiss on the cheek showing she wasn't that mad at him anymore, she had had plenty of time to come to terms with it, she was disappointed for it to be confirmed the way it was and honestly a bit in him as well, but at least she knew now and went to change so she could see Gohan's fight.
Kibito was waiting in the ring for Gohan, the announcer was just about to call her a no show when she made her appearance.
"Sorry I'm late, but I have good news Videl will be perfectly fine, she is all healed up." She let the announcer know.
"There you go folks I've just been informed that Videl will be all right! Now to get onto the 4th match of the day, we have the mysterious Kibito, he hasn't given us any information about himself but scored rather high on the punch machine. On the other side we have the lovely Gold Fighter, she didn't give us much information on herself either, but I have just been informed that she is in fact the Gold fighter helping clean up the streets of Satan City and West City. Let's hope she can stand up to the big man in front of her. Lets give them a round of applause and get the fight started!"
While the announcer was listing off each opponents accomplishments the fighters were having their own conversation. "Gohan, I want you to power up your Super Saiyan for me."
"I already told Shin that I will not give them the opening, however if you push me enough to need to use more then I already am, you may get the chance to see further than a Super Saiyan."
"That's Supreme Kai to you mortal. That is disappointing, you know you won't be able to beat me if you don't transform."
"We'll see," Gohan said sinking into her signature form. From the crowds she heard multiple people calling and cheering for her, she could pick out Erasa and Sharpner's voice but there were more voices, looking behind Kibito she noticed at least 3 other people from her class all sitting the row in front of Bulma, the kids and the rest of their friends. Smiling at the support. She focuses back on Kibito.
"Ready when you are." She declares, it has always been her strategy to let the opponent go first if possible, got to see what she is working with.
Kibito attacks hard, he is fast and sends a flurry of punches at Gohan, the hybrid easily doges all of them though to the audience it looks like Kibito was moving super-fast, they thought Gohan would be flying backwards any moment now they couldn't tell if any had hit her, eventually Gohan starts blocking and sending back attacks of her own. All of her attacks hit the big guy sending him backwards. Catching his breath, "I can see I underestimated you, guess I better go all out then."
Gohan not even a little winded just smiles and sinks back into her perfect stance waiting.
Kibito attacked again this time with full power, charging up an attack to send her way Gohan merely flicked it out into the atmosphere, Kibito then followed through hoping to catch her by surprise but Gohan was quick to deflect his attacks, she was working up a sweat but wasn't yet feeling the need to exert more power, she was determined to keep her power level locked for as long as needed.
"This the best you have?" Gohan asked. Kibito had a look of shock, he was going all out and unable to land a single punch. Gohan taking the initiative went on the offensive attacking Kibito with a combo of attacks not giving him time to recover and grabbing is arm, throwing him out of the ring effortlessly making leave a small crater in the grass.
"Wow! There you have it folks that's the second match today that proves size doesn't matter. Gold Fighter advances!"
Gohan jumped down the side of the ring landing in front of Kibito, "you gave a good fight, but you should never underestimate your opponent" she said giving him a hand up.
"Indeed, I will admit I was a little over confident, amazing that there are mortals so much stronger in the universe than anticipated, you don't even seem even a little tired." Gohan smiled and together they walked into the waiting area.
Videl ran up to her so excited after seeing that, "Wow Gohan, I knew you held back when we fought but I didn't think it was that much, you don't even look exhausted!" She gushed.
"Next up is the current world champ Mr. Satan Vs. The former Champ of the 23rd WMAT, Son Goku. Both men are extremely accomplished…"
Goku P.O.V.
As the announcer went on and on about them, Goku made his way out to the ring, followed by a scared looking Mr. Satan. Goku didn't want to humiliate the guy, but he knew that Mr. Satan wasn't even a slight match for him.
"Um… Mr. Goku?" Mr. Satan said timidly.
"Hi?"
"Um, your not mad are you?"
"About what? You taking the credit from my daughter about Cell?" Mr. Satan nodded, "nah, we don't care about that type of stuff, I just want a good fight."
"Um, well I know I can't give you one, there wouldn't be a chance that I could maybe pay you to let me win? Double of what you'd get if you won here?" He tentatively asked.
"What? No, there's no honour in that," Goku was starting to think he might need to be humiliated, but that's just not his style. "But if it's that important to you we can at least make it look like a good fight beforehand."
"I guess that's more then I can expect. Okay lets get this fight over with." Sighing, he had resigned himself to loosing the title that gave him everything. Looking more confident then he felt Mr Satan went on the offensive.
Goku didn't put much effort into his dodging and let a few attacks slip through but he also didn't punch back. Mr Satan didn't seem like a bad guy, just a bit greedy, no need to hurt him too much. Goku was trying to think of a way to end the fight without humiliating the guy. But all he could think of is making it look like he tripped him to fall outside the ring. Goku started backing away while trying to make it look like they were fighting all out, it was kind of fun, the pretending thing, but he wanted the better fights, once he was at the edge he expertly maneuvered his way so that Mr Satan was closer to the edge, if he noticed what Goku was doing he didn't let on, Goku then made a grand gesture and went to trip him, Mr. Satan was a good sport and went to jump it but caught his foot making him lose his balance on the landing and essentially tumble out of the ring.
Needless to say, the crowd was silent, they had not expected that. "Well, there you go folks, Mr. Satan has been defeated," the announcer started flabergasted at the turn of events, "and that makes Goku the tentative Champ until the finalists compete, considering Goku has gone to the finals in every WMAT championship he's entered this announcer is certain he will hold the title to the end. Can we get a round of applause!" Goku helped up Mr Satan and gave him a smile, Satan returned it, it could of been worse at least if he lost like that, making it look like a good fight and a mere 'slip up', people wouldn't know he was a fake. "Look at that sportsmanship, they are both still Champions showing us it doesn't matter if you win or lose as long as you do it with grace and respect!" The announcer continued on, though Goku suspected the announcer guy wasn't expecting the match end like that he looked really happy when announcing Goku the winner.
"That wasn't so bad Mr Satan, doesn't look like you've lost many fans just because you lost the championship." Goku tried to console.
"Yeah I know, thanks for not making me look bad." Goku just smiled as he left the guy to go to his family, they all looked at him a bit strange. Vegeta looked bored, Gohan looked proud of him, Krillin looked saddened, though Goku couldn't understand why and the rest seemed to not care.
"Geeze, Goku why did you go so easy on him? You do know he has spent the last 7 years discrediting all of us and taking Gohan's credit right?"
"Yeah, but if I humiliated him then the public would probably take it out on him, so I wanted to let the guy fail gracefully, and he did. Anyway, it's your turn Vegeta and #18, give them a good show!"
Gohan's P.O.V.
Gohan was proud of the way her father handled it, she didn't care much for the guy but any backlash may of rubbed off on Videl and Gohan cared about her, she had turned into a really good friend, one of the few that was her friend first, not her fathers.
She was interested in Vegeta and #18's fight, they hadn't even spoken to each other except for the odd insult, since he attacked her back when she first appeared, and by the stories told to Gohan by Krillin, Vegeta was humiliated by her. She knew Vegeta was stronger now and was happy there was no killing allowed.
Both contestants were teasing and taunting each other while the Announcer was going on about each one. They both attacked head on, going all out from the get-go. Gohan was impressed they both had speed, the main advantage was that #18 had almost unlimited stamina while Vegeta may have more power there was only so long he could go for. Now that her father had won his round she was betting Vegeta would want to end it quickly so that he had more energy to go against Goku in the next round.
Gohan's guess was right, Vegeta was doing everything he could to get a ring out, as even though he was stronger just knocking out #18 would be a lot harder and take more energy. After 15 minutes of intense fighting Vegeta got the upper hand and tricked #18 into landing a punch outside the ring resulting in her touching out of bounds.
Gohan hadn't seen Vegeta so happy in a while, not even Trunk's win had him this type of happy but considering last time #18 and Vegeta fought he was humiliated, and the type of person he was, he tended to like to dish it back, she thought he handled it gracefully enough, all things considered. "That was a good match Veggie." Gohan quietly teased him smiling as he was walking past, Vegeta didn't stop but he smiled softly to her and let his hand trace across her stomach in acknowledgement as he went to lean against the wall.
Collecting herself after the tender touch she hoped none of the others saw their quiet moment and turned to 18 who was making her way in as Krillin ran up to her. "Well it could have been worse, you gave a good fight there #18," Gohan complimented her. #18 didn't say much but smiled none the less, as graceful as ever and walked away with Krillin.
The rest of the matches were pretty rudimentary compared to the few that had happened before. The next fight between some masked guy and a tall boxer ended with the boxer knocking out the masked fighter, the fight after was the second quickest match of the day, Krillins being the first. Yamu didn't play with his opponent Jewel much, mostly just dealing some blows and the guy was knocked out within the first few minutes.
"Well there you go! What a start to the Semi-finals! Moving on to the next round after a short 10-minute intermission then we have Krillin Vs. Shin, Spopovich Vs. Gold Fighter, Goku Vs. Vegeta and Killa Vs. Yamu!"
TBC...