Yo! Son Goku and friends! Saiyan Saga (Chapter 43)
Krillin
Krillin and Tien rode an elevator, soft hums and clicks as it passed by the slight divots on the way up. Krillin raised his brow questioningly.
"So how'd it go?"
"Messy, but I guess I'd still call it a win."
"Hegh-haha. If you have to guess, is it really a win?"
"Ha-ha-ha. I don't know."
"What's the move from here?" Krillin brought up a drink with a label on it, a logo with a panda's face smiling with a green circle around it, taking a slow sip as the elevator doors opened to a spacious loft with no separate rooms.
Tien breathed out harshly though his cheeks, looking up at the ceiling fan.
"I'm taking her to King Kai's periodically to get her to remember what she does between sneezes. Neither of them seemed very happy about that."
"Yeah, that's gotta be crazy. Can't imagine how much that musta put everything in perspective."
Tien shook his head and the pair sat down on the grey couch, staring out the glass walls facing the outside as they opened their foam boxes containing lunch.
"You hear about the 24th?"
"Yeah, Yamcha told me, pretty crazy. I didn't think it was coming back honestly, we've fucked up that arena every single time we've been."
"That's right, Yamcha claims Goku turned into a giant monkey at the 21st."
"He did. It was wild."
"That's bullshit."
"He did, I swear on everything Goku did that."
"Then why can't he do it on command?"
"It's the light of the full moon, he also needs his tail, which of course, is long gone by now."
Tien sat back on the couch, stuffing his face with some chicken and rice, thinking thoughtfully.
"Huh."
"You wrecked the place with the Tri-Beam at the 22nd."
"Oh yearh, I did." Tien laughed out through sloppy chews of his food. "Ha-ha!"
"Then Piccolo blew everyone away with that explosive bomb of energy at the 23rd. Yeah. Every Single Time we've been to the Tenkaichi Budokai we've remodeled the arena. What about that? Huh." Krillin capstoned his statement with a hearty chomp of his food.
"So you goin'?"
"Honestly? I don't know, I feel like I'm kind of tapped out of competing. I feel like the only thing I have left to do with my martial arts is compete against myself. Ya know?"
"Chom. Chum. Gull. Yeah, I respect that." Tien went back down to gobbling down the rice.
"You?"
Tien finished up eating, dabbing at his face with the napkin provided in the box.
"Of course. As always. Whoever wins the exhibition is gonna have to face me and I'd like my rematch with either of them."
"Exhibition?"
"Yeah."
Krillin just raised a brow as he put a fork through one of the broccoli nodes.
"You don't know about the exhibition?"
"Well my priorities are kind of elsewhere, I didn't pay all that much attention when Yamcha was talking about it."
"They're selling the event with an exhibition match after the finals starring Goku and Piccolo. The arena was blown up before their last match concluded so the tournament organisers officially declared it a draw. And of course, there's the fact that Goku definitely got his ass kicked and we illegally jumped the other competitor."
"Ohp~"
"Mmhmm." Tien smirked wide. "And whoever wins the tournament gets to face the winner of the exhibition."
"Well you said you'd like a rematch with either? When has Piccolo beaten you? I don't recall you guys ever one on oneing on the lookout."
"It was in Other World."
"Oh."
Tien got up and stretched, yawning a bit, his third eye producing a small pool of water.
"I think I'm about to head out, this week has been exhausting."
"I'll bet."
Tien's mouth squirmed around as he turned his back to the couch and headed towards the elevator.
"Krillin?"
"What's up?" He put his arm over the seat.
"Are you sure you don't want to give the 24th a go? I feel like you're gonna be missing out."
"Hehhh~" He fell back into his seat with a large sigh before standing right back up. "We've gotten so strong now that I feel like I need to abide by a certain level of responsibility."
Tien furrowed his brow.
"We were already crazy strong back in the day but now? Tien, I can feel the energies of the world's greatest fighters from miles away and they're…" Krillin averted his gaze to that of the window. "...they're not even close anymore. I don't want to hurt anybody accidentally, and I feel like I'm taking away the opportunity from someone else."
Tien looked at the ground for a moment, nodding slowly.
"I feel ya, but, the majority of the people at Papaya island are there to watch the best of the best go crazy, not see someone new get crowned king. They don't care so much about the commoners, Krillin, they want to see Goku and Piccolo shoot laser beams." Tien's laugh ushered a chuckle out of the turtle student.
"Yeah… I guess you're right."
"Thanks for treating me to lunch."
"Anytime, Champ."
"I thought that was Yamcha's nickname."
"Well, trying to conquer your girlfriend's multiple personality disorder is the mark of a champion if you ask me, so I think you've earned it."
Tien couldn't help but smile as the doors to the elevator opened and closed swiftly.
Kami
"You want me to bless the arena?"
"Yeah, just reinforce the tiles like you did when we were up here training, no big deal, right?. That way Goku, Piccolo, or Tien won't ruin the arena like they do every year."
"Heh-heh-heh. Fair enough." The Guardian of Earth chuckled. "Popo?"
Yamcha and Bulma looked to each other excitedly.
"Yes!" Bulma cheered in her mind. "The less money wasted the better."
"Yes, Kami?" Popo responded with his deep and polite voice.
"Do you think you can watch the lookout while I'm gone?"
"Do you still trust me, Kami?"
"Popo, it is not your doing, you must forgive yourself. It was Garlic's evil ambitions that took over the lookout, you hold no blame. It is my burden to bear."
"You are too kind."
"I am ready, whenever you need me." The green god smiled brightly.
"Thank you so much, that'll be a lot of help."
"It is no matter to me."
"Dope, we'll see you down there on May 7th, just like always. The tournament is still being held on Papaya Island!"
"See you then young Yamcha, Bulma." He bowed to the both of them, Bulma returning the favour as Yamcha pulled her by the hand and waved the pair off, leaping into the sky with his partner in tow.
"We are in good graces now, Kami."
"I agree, I feel at ease finally. I have not felt this way since Goku first faced off against Piccolo's reincarnation, I feel that this prosperity will last for a while now."
He was mildly correct, but it really just depends on what you consider to be a while.
Yulin
The girl sighed in a pouty way, hands pushing up on her cheeks, her bow tie hair bobbing down as she sat at the steps of what looked like an apartment. A man stepped down the staircase brandishing a wad of cash, smiling as he sifted through them like a flip-book.
"We need better management skills, Yulin." She said to herself as she clawed at her cheek bones, dragging down her skin in an over dramatic fashion.
She eventually let her head rest on the knuckles of her left hand, lazily sitting on the concrete steps for a long time, the bright morning lights shining until the regular daytime sunlight came around. Another man, this time with a blue attire and cap pulled around, a cheery attitude and bright smile.
"You wouldn't happen to be Yulin, would you?"
"Hahhh~" She let out a harsh sigh, shifting her powerful gaze to the man before her. "It's Yu-rin."
The man blinked for a few times, checking the mail once again.
"Well this is you isn't it?"
He flashed the mail.
"Yeah…" She snatched it, eyes immediately caught by the sender's signage.
"My mistake then, have a good day ma'am." He bowed with his cap, jogging off the premises pretty immediately."
The letter read as follows:
It's me, I know we haven't talked in a long time but better late than never, right?
The Tenkaichi Budokai is finally back, I couldn't believe it when I saw the advert on the television. I think it's finally time we settle this sibling rivalry! :D What say you, Fried Chicken? I know father will be watching over us when we step into the ring.
With love, little sis :)
"That little bitch!" Yulin crumpled the paper in her hand swiftly but her genuine smile told a different story from her words. "I wonder if that poser is gonna attend too?" Her happy thoughts were broken up as she looked skyward.
The woman's previous smirk fell away into a more vicious scowl and she stomped back towards the doors of what looked like an apartment building.
Bulma
Mic walked around behind Bulma in her garage, her father tooling away at an archway device of some sort. The pair strolled right up to it, Mic blinking rapidly and lowering his sunglasses to get a better look at it.
"Wow. Is this it?"
Bulma nodded with a smile.
"Remarkable… I, err… pardon me, but how do we tell how strong the combatants are?"
Dr. Brief got out from under the archway, sliding on a flat metal board, the wheels squealing loudly. He coughed harshly into his left fist and dusted himself off, loose grey stains and the like tattering his lab coat. The man brushed his hair and shook it over before walking over to the table behind the pair and grabbing a tablet. Dr. Brief handed the tablet off to Mic, who was unprepared.
"This is it?"
"Hah-heh." Dr. Brief laughed out. "I hope so, that'd be a shame if I did all that work for nothing."
Bulma smiled and shook her head.
"Give the normies a break, dad."
"Hah-heh."
Mic scratched the side of his bushy blonde hair and examined the tablet.
"How do I… Oh!" He found a red button on the side and pressed it, it displaying a counter in the middle of the screen with the number 0 in bright green. The words 'battle power' displayed in red at the top.
"The archway isn't done yet so we can't actually use the tablet." Bulma stated, her hand flopping down in a sassy manner. "But we've got a few months so my dad can definitely get your little project done for you."
"Thanks a ton, this'll be way better for business and entry. Once people realise there will be separate divisions based on power it'll be a lot better for everyone. What do you think the number for supernatural is?"
"I don't know, me and dad are only like 3 or something." Bulma jogged over to a table on the other side, picking up the scouter and turning it on, placing it over her right eye and scanning the two men. "Yeah. Dad's 3 and you're 4, I don't really have a good reference for these things yet, all I know is that our boys are around 7,000 now."
"Wow." Is all Mic could get out, rapidly blinking behind his shades.
Gohan
Raditz sat in the corner of Gohan's room sitting on his bed and throwing a red bouncy ball against the wall as his nephew worked away on his school work. Periodically the little half-Saiyan would glance over at Raditz and then quickly back towards his schoolwork. This went on for a while until Raditz caught him, staring back with a ferocity, spooking the little lad.
"Hah-Hah! Sorry little one, but you make it too easy."
Gohan just sharpened his brow and went back to work, his brown tail jiving back and forth like a happy dog.
"I know you want to learn about the Saiyans so you might as well ask."
The boy looked up, and halted his studies abruptly as his uncle spoke. Turning around and putting his little paws over the back support of the chair, eyeing him like he were a monarch, or royalty of some kind, eyes twinkling. Raditz scoffed and then laughed.
"Boy, you have to ask if you want something, you can't just expect people to read your mind and give you everything without warning you know." He bounced the ball harshly off the wall and caught it in a dramatic flair. "So speak up." He made eye contact to reinforce his point and then went back to bouncing the ball.
Gohan thought to himself for a moment, his right index glued to his lip as he shifted his gaze to the ceiling.
"Why do we have tails?"
"Pretty standard question I suppose." Raditz fought back a chuckle and caught the ball, forgoing throwing it anymore and placing it gently on the bed. "Well the real reason is because our tails are the source of our power, we use them to transform under the light of a full moon, we do this because the bluntz waves are at their most potent during that time in a cycle and cause a chain reaction with our tails that impacts the rest of our bodies."
"So that's why dad always told me to never look at the moon."
"Suppose so, your tail would cause you to transform into a mighty beast, we call it the Oozaru."
"Hmm." Gohan pondered, shifting the green titans cap on his head.
"A Saiyan's tail is also why we're so good at fighting, our tails provide us with a great center of gravity, we can generate a lot more force when on the ground if we still have our tails, it's pretty easy to lose them considering they don't grow back if cut off during adulthood. My father lost his in battle a long time ago. I'm pretty lucky to still have mine."
Gohan raised his eyebrow sky high.
"They can grow back?"
"Only until around 14 or so, that's when most Saiyans start going through puberty and changing into an adult. By that time usually your tail's not gonna grow back if it's cut off."
"Wow."
There was an awkward pause as Raditz leaned back, staring up at the ceiling.
"What do the Saiyans do?"
"We conquer planets and then hand them off to Lord Frieza. The Saiyans used to just do it for their own amusement and to test their limits but ever since the Cold Estate took over the proud warrior race has just had to twiddle their thumbs waiting for the right opportunity to take back what's theirs."
Gohan ruminated before continuing his questioning.
"Who's Lord Frieza."
"Lord Frieza is..."
Raditz answered Gohan's questions all day long, the boy dreaming up wacky scenarios later that night based on what his uncle had told him.
"Dad?" He asked Goku, tucking him in.
"What is it?" He replied, bopping Gohan's nose with his index finger.
"Do you regret not having your tail?"
"Huh-Hah! Where'd this come from?" Goku ruffled his son's hair, messing up the bowl cut his wife had made.
"Raditz told me."
"Are you getting along with him better, son?"
"Yeah."
"That's great, I appreciate you being a big man and exercising forgiveness."
Goku kissed the top of his forehead, making him blush. The father sharpened his brow, taking his right hand and placing it right under his chin in thought as he sat down at the other end of the bed.
"Yeah, I think I'd prefer to still have my tail. I miss it a lot when I think about it, but, when you grow up you just gotta roll with the punches. My tail's no longer here so~" Goku shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "-shouldn't waste time worrying about it."
Gohan looked to his father with a deep respect and Goku walked out of the room, waving him off as he closed the door.
Muramasse
The enormous brown bear stomped across the grass, slashing through the tall weeds and rinds of bushes and trees until he came across the clearing.
"Hmm." He grunted with stoicism, placing his large sword over his shoulder and walking towards the loud construction.
The construction of the arena was almost complete. Only a single month out until May 7th.
The brown bear spooked the nearby construction workers until they saw him sit down on the dirt in a criss-cross meditation, eyes closed. After a long time of reflection the bear opened his eyes to see a blue haired woman and a greyish cauliflower haired man with a mustache bolstering an archway into place, gadgets and lights surrounding the metal walkway. They banged at it for a while before it hummed to life, the girl smacking her hands against each other to get the dust and dirt off, wiping her brow as she finished.
The man and the woman high fived and walked past Muramasse, throwing down a capsule and then subsequently soaring off into the aether on an airplane. A blonde haired man instructed one of the staff to stand in the walkway and then blew a gasket at something.
"Who-hoo~ It actually works! They're something else! Get in here, try this thing out!"
Most of the crew abandoned their post and marveled at the item, all Muramasse could do was raise an eyebrow in intrigue. The blonde haired man with sunglasses finally saw the brown bear, eyes wide.
"Don't do it boss…" One of the men in the orange and purple robes pleaded.
"Hey! You!"
Muramasse turned his head to face the man.
"Yeah! Get over here man! Come on!"
Muramasse got up and stomped over to where the man was waving him in from, each step forcing the surrounding men to cower in fear.
"You look like a strong fella, you mind stepping in on this metal plate."
The bear complied immediately, the staff's eyes all simultaneously just about flew out their sockets. The displayed number was:
Battle Power
422
Tien
Tien and Launch giggled as they entered the inn. Laughing as they sprinted down the hallway, holding hands and hiking up the stairs before they finally got to the back of the establishment. Tien smiled brightly, which was returned by Launch and they opened the door to room 225. The couple slammed the door closed and made their way towards the bed while in full embrace. There was a palatable tension as they roughly tore off their clothes and made their way towards their destination until:
"AH~CHYUUUU!"
Tien exhaled loudly and averted his gaze. Blue stared back embarrassed and enveloped herself in the sheets, tears in her eyes.
"Hahhh…" Tien let out frustratedly, flopping onto the bed beside her.
Her lip quivered and she stuttered out.
"I'm sorry. It's just…" She glanced at her boyfriend quickly before turning back around. "Now that I know it, it feels so gross. I know that you're with that other girl. I don't feel like I'm even in control anymore…"
Tien facepalmed with his left hand.
"It's not fair…" She whimpered. "I want you to myself, but I can't."
Tien had nothing to say, Blue just whimpered out in cries. Tien wormed his lip around and turned to put his arm around her.
"Please don't touch me…"
Tien laid back, staring at the emptiness of the dark room, cursing himself and his seeming inability to solve the problem before him.
"Fuck."