AN : Hey, here is another chapter, the longest I ever wrote in fact. Hope you'll like it. By the way, the saiyans and the ship are still on Earth. They are waiting until the end of the tournament to go back to Vegita-sei. And thank you for the enormous response in reviews, it really helps me find inspiration for this fic.

Chapter eight

" Come on, woman, you can do better than that. You have already shown me better. Punch, kick, dodge, punch, punch, dodge …"

BAM!

" Ouch, be careful Bardock. I have to be able to stand on my two feet tomorrow," said Bulma, just recovering from her fall on the hard ground.

Since this was their last night of training, Bardock had brought her outside of the ship to train in the desert. The night was truly beautiful, the stars illuminating the  pitch dark sky. The weather was just perfect, not too hot but not to cold either. Gigantic mountains surrounded them, reflecting the light emitted by the moon.

" Enough for today. You should rest." Bardock stated, matter-of-factly.

" Don't worry, I'll win this tournament and you know it. Now stop worrying about me, you big oaf, and return to the ship. I'll join you shortly, I promise."

Over the past year, Bulma and Bardock had grown quite close developing a father-child like relationship. Bardock did not vocalize his concern- he was still saiyan, mind you- but Bulma could clearly feel it.

Bardock frowned and responded,

"Don't lie to me girl. We both know perfectly well that you will continue training until you grow too tired to move. Well, I defend you to do that. I want you to win the competition. I have, after all, bet on you a lot of money."

Bulma jumped on him and hugged him like there was no tomorrow.

" Look I promise you to go back to sleep in an hour. What do you think?"

" Perfect." Bardock then quickly detangled himself from Bulma and flew away.

Bulma sighed and resumed her training. She practiced her latest ki moves not even known by Bardock. She had practiced them in secret on very opportunity where she was alone. She would not only win this competition but also surprise all of those arrogant apes.

However, one was to know of her rapidly growing power. One who was very close to her at the moment, hovering above her, watching her every move, sensing her every motion, breathing her sent. The light from the moon flickered in his eyes as a flame would, a fire slowly consuming the normally heartless warrior. He grunted and flew away, not wanting to lose control.

' Soon, very soon little one.'

………………………………..

" Let the tournament begin!"

The announcer quickly scurried out of the area as a bulky girl and a short woman took their place in the center of the ring. Now, this was no regular ring. For beginners, it was as big as 10 football fields. Lets not forget all of the obstacles that were added to make to show more interesting to the saiyans such as boulders, mountains, lakes and forests. The audience was surrounding the area, cheering as the women beat one the other. Bulma watched all of this from a cold and calculating eye. The prince was no where to be seen, his throne facing the center of the area still unoccupied.

A few fights took place and it was finally Bulma's turn. She stepped in the ring and heard a loud cheering. The saiyans had obviously not forgotten her little show of the previous day. The fact that she was wearing a tight black spandex fighting gear was probably affecting their judgment too. However, Bulma did not notice those unimportant facts and focused on her adversary.

The girl was well built and looked arrogant but Bulma could clearly feel the uncertainty that veiled her vision. That was another of the things Bardock had taught her, to be able to follow her instincts. And her instincts told her presently that the girl did not want to fight at all.

' This will be too easy,' Bulma thought. Bulma did not show any compassion whatsoever since she knew that  the girl was part of a group who hated her because of her success in the last few months.

A gunshot was heard and the young girl threw herself on Bulma. The latter easily dodged every attack carried on by the girl and, feeling a bit of sympathy for her, Bulma simply knocked her out unconscious in a matter of seconds.

The atmosphere, firstly full of raging saiyans screams, quickly dropped as they watched with wide eyes, the rapidity in which the fight was over. They were not happy. Not happy at all. This was supposed to be fun but that Briefs woman had simply knocked the other one unconscious without a second thought. There was a revolting motion in the crowd when the king suddenly made his appearance, holding off any protestation. The crowd quickly quieted and the king took his seat. He then nodded at Bulma to resume what she was doing and she simply walked out of the fighting area, her job already done. Though she still saw the disapproving glare Bardock shot her for defeating her enemy too rapidly and the angry glare the king threw her for disrespecting him by turning her back on him.

'What do they think I am, a bloody, heartless murderer or a respectful sniveling servant?' Bulma sarcastically thought.

She entered the shelter provided for the women of the tournament and waited until the semi-finals were to be announced.

After what seemed like days, everyone had fought. The semi-finals took place and Bulma once again easily took out her adversary to the surprise of the gaping audience. Chi-Chi however did not have that much chance and was disqualified in the last round. Kakarrot shot her a warm smile, an unusual act from his part, while she was carried to the medical bay. She gave him a small smile in return.

Now was the time for the ending fight. Bulma walked to the center of the ring and was all but surprised to see Brista standing in front of her.

" Looks like I will finally able to beat you to a bloody pulp- won't I?" Brista said, her voice full of venom.

Bulma did not even degrade herself to respond. She simply ignored her completely.

"Yes you better preapare yourself mentally. It will hurt after all." Brista continued.

' I can't believe it, the girl is so full of herself!' Bulma thought.

The gunshot was heard and the battle finally began. Bulma had to admit that Brista was stronger than the other girls but she was still inferior in every other point to Bulma : strategy, rapidity, ki attacks – you name it. She just strived on power.

' It isn't good to develop only one strength' Bulma gloomily thought, unconsciously remembering the numerous beatings Bardock had delivered on her to get her rid of all of her weaknesses.

Bulma switched to the attack mode, suddenly realizing that she had not even needed to uncover one of her secret moves until now.

' Well, I guess I will use them another time. Time to finish this ridiculous little game.'

Bulma dodged the punch of Brista, took her arm and flung her up into the air. She then released a series of attacks that quickly got the air and life out of Brista  who fell on the ground below, badly beaten. Her eyes slowly shot close, although not before she had the time to send one last glance towards Bulma who did not even show a sweat. The glance said only one thing : she was beaten.

The crowd applauded noisily and the handsome king ascended towards Bulma. He proclaimed,

"Here is the winner of the fighting tournament."

A loud cheering was heard. A mocking glint could be seen in his eyes.

" But don't you think that all that show was too easy for her?"

The audience thought about it for a second, and slowly realizing what their king had in store, cheered, to Bulma's horror.

' No, no he wouldn't!' she pleaded Kami.

" Yes, I thought so too. Let the real game begin. You will fight me, woman, as a retribution for all your past disrespects towards me."

That said, he threw his cape aside and placed himself in combat position.

Bulma could only do the same, her heart loudly beating in her chest from anxiety.

AN : Well, another chapter done. For those who are wondering about my other fic, Nobility, yes I will eventually update it. The response on this fic is bigger so I tend to show favoritism towards it. I will try to update the fastest possible but I warn you that am still in my finals.

Don't forget to review !