Part Two: Tournament

The throne room was basked in darkness, but that was how they liked it. Their home world had been this way, covered in a lovely veil of hatred that blocked out the weak rays that their suns and moons had given off. A rancid smell seemed to permeate through the walls of their ship, but they were completely oblivious to it.

A dark figure sat on an exquisite chair; it was covered in the hides of exotic animals and had bits of gold placed intricately throughout. He was covered in black leathery skin and two wings were folded behind him. Two deep red eyes were bored into his face, and his pearly fangs dripped with warm saliva.

"Shamus, have you found a suitable planet for us to inhabit?" He spoke in a low echoing voice to the figure before him. It was one of the females of his species: slightly slimmer, but with the same horrific eyes and evil aura. Long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders and back.

Slowly, she bowed before the throne.

"Sir Maler, there is a planet by the name of Scrapula that is only one light-year away. It has all of the resources we need, but there seems to be a collections of very strong powers in one area that may become a nuisance."

"They can be easily disposed of, is we go about this properly. Bring forth the lowly Malician. He will be the one. There is no need to waste valuable energy and resources. He can find out how much of a threat we face." He looked at the woman at his right. She was beautiful to him, with her wings that spanned over fifteen feet when completely exposed. "We will find a planet, and then the ones who destroyed our home." He gave her a tender kiss. "Under any circumstances."

*~*~*~*~*

It had proved to be a tough six months, with the struggles of training day and night, and school, but Gina had pulled through. The last night of her training, she had peaked at 5,000. Now they were all gathered in Niro's car, on the way to the big tournament. Niro and Kismet were in the front seat and Gina and Xavier were in the back.

"Just how strong are these guys anyway?" Gina asked Kismet, who was fixing her hair in the rearview mirror.

"This is my first time in the tournament, but I've heard that some of these guys are unbeatable. You should watch out for this one guy named Strata. I heard that he is the favored winner this year."

As they neared the main arena, the group started to see more fighters either doing last minute training by the roadsides or making their way to the arena before the registration period was over.

"Those guys don't look so strong…" Xavier mumbled under his breath.

They all climbed out of the car when they reached the registration area.

"Gina," Xavier said, "Hide your tail."

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

Gina quickly obeyed by tucking her tail into her pants. She wasn't quite sure why it was important not to let everyone know that she had a tail, but she didn't know if Xavier could beat her in a fight (they had stopped fighting in the last month of training), so she didn't want to challenge his authority.

They walked up to the registration table to get their names on the list of competitors.

"I'm going to get a good spot by the arena." Niro said. "I expect to see you all qualify. See you guys later." Then he disappeared in the crowd of people.

"Name?" The man behind the registration desk stared at them.

"Gina."

"Xavier."

"Kismet."

"Go inside and pick a number from the box to your left. Now, you two girls will have to go and watch from the front of the arena."

"We're competing." Kismet said, grabbing Gina's hand and following behind Xavier.

"I just hope you two girls know that only eight people can qualify!" The man yelled after them.

They entered the arena and Gina's eyes opened wide when she saw all of the fighters that had gathered there.

"We don't have a chance…" Gina said, her mouth hanging open.

"Excuse me, but you two are going to have to watch from outside…" A Jungarian man grabbed Kismet by the arm to stop her from entering the arena, but she forcefully removed his hand.

"We're competing." Kismet said. "Are you supposed to give us our competition number?"

"Um…yeah. You pick a number from the box and then look at your position on the chart that's on the wall. When you hear your number called, report to your designated ring. Ring one is for numbers 1 through 8, Ring two is for numbers 9 through 20 and so on."

Gina put her hand in the large box and drew a number. 39. Kismet drew number 18.

"We're not in the same area, let alone the same ring." Gina said.

"That's a good thing. There can only be one winner from each two rings."

"And that means we won't have to face each other."

"Yeah so, we'd better get going before we miss out qualifying matches." Kismet replied, walking in the direction of her ring.

"Good luck!" Gina yelled after her.

"You too!"

I guess I'd better get going… Gina thought to herself.

She reached her ring and looked at all of the people that she would be competing against. Almost all of them were big burly men.

"Hey baby, are you going to be cheering along side the ring?" A particularly ugly specimen asked her.

Gina ignored all of their comments and watched the first match, between numbers 33 and 34. They were both Jungarians about six feet tall. When they were called to begin, they both sprang into a fighting stance. The more muscular one ran at the other and executed a flying kick. To his dismay, the other Jungarian grabbed his leg, throwing him out of the ring. The match was over quite quickly, and there were only two more until Gina had to fight.

She looked to the ring next to hers and to her surprise, she saw a Jungarian girl about her age. I've got enough time before my match… Gina assured herself, and she walked over.

"Hey, are you competing?" Gina asked. The girl turned around. She had shoulder length brown hair and deep brown eyes.

"No, I'm here to watch my brother compete." Her reply seemed somewhat mean.

"They let you watch the qualifying rounds?" Gina asked. The guards had repeatedly tried to throw her and Kismet out.

"Oh!" The girl said, a sweat drop forming on her face. "They only let me watch because my brother won the tournament next year."

"Okay…" Gina said.

"Would numbers 39 and 40 please report to ring five at this time…"

"Excuse me." Gina said, "That's me." She then began to walk away, midst the astonished stare of the girl.

Gina walked back over to the ring and slowly climbed up, waiting for her opponent. He was a gargantuan man, with hair over the front half of his body.

"What is this? A joke?" The man asked, stomping his feet on the ring.

"Both fighters… to your ready…"

Gina and the man both took a fighting stance.

"Hey, wait… wait a minute!" Gina yelled and she reached down her pant leg, pulling out her tail. All of the faces at the ring suddenly changed to that of fear.

"Okay, I'm ready." Gina said as she took her fighting stance once more.

"Fighters… to your ready…. FIGHT!"

The large man who had been so arrogant before was shaking with fear.

"A…a…a… saiyan…"

Gina smiled. This saiyan thing was going to have advantages.

Gina ran at the man, and began a series of swift punches to his chest. She had almost knocked him out of the ring when he began to block the punches she was throwing. Suddenly, Gina stopped, jumped back and smiled at the man, who gave her a look of sheer terror. He let down his guard, shaking all over. That was when Gina used a swift kick in the face of the man to win the match.

"W…Winner- number 39!"

Gina jumped down from the ring and watched as her number was moved up a level.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Several matches had passed, and Gina was trying sitting down, mentally preparing for her match. She was trying to watch all of the rings at once, studying the fighters' techniques and weaknesses. Many of them appeared stronger than her, but an equal amount wouldn't last thirty seconds in the ring with her. She giggled lightly. That was when she felt the presence of someone behind her. Someone…Gina couldn't quite put her finger on it.  She turned around and saw familiar face.

"Long time no see, Gina."

It was Saquel, smiling a wicked smile. Gina immediately stood up.

"How did you get here?"

"Escaped, like I always do. I wouldn't have had to do it if it wasn't for you. The cops caught me and had me sentenced to death. So, are you competing?"

"What's it to you?" Gina said. She could feel her anger growing.

"Oh, I was just wondering. Anyway, I have a match to prepare for. I'm competing against number 39 next. Now you wouldn't happen to know who that is, would you?"

The matches she had missed…Gina silently cursed herself for being too curious.

Saquel came closer to Gina and whispered in her ear. She cringed.

"You almost had me killed. I always repay my debts, girlie. I don't care how strong you think you are, I won't be beaten by a child, even if she is a saiyan." Saquel began walking away.

Gina felt herself grow angry; her hands clenched into fists and she was running her nails into her palm. She looked at her left hand; a strange glow had come over it. Gina quickly looked around. She hid her hand under her shirt to dull the glow. No one had seen.

She quickly exited through the back door of the arena. There was an abandoned alleyway. Gina held her arm out, looking at that strange glow which had now begun to die down.

What the hell is going on? Gina thought to herself. This was all a bit too strange for her. First she was a member of a race of killers, and now her hand was freaking glowing. Gina shrugged her shoulders. For some reason, this didn't feel entirely alien to her, and wasn't worrying her that much.

Gina decided not to think about it. She had a match with Saquel coming up, and besides, weirder things had happened to her. When she stopped thinking about the glow on her hand, it went flying off into the distance. It hit a trashcan and exploded, spewing garbage everywhere. Gina's mouth opened up in bewilderment.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Last call for compeditor number 39. Please report to ring number five." The intercom echoed through the arena.

Gina was running to her second round match. She had been outside too long and hadn't heard the officials calling her number for the past fifteen minutes.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Gina said, climbing into the ring. Saquel was standing on the opposite side of the ring, giving a devilish smile.

"I thought you weren't going to show, you monkey…."

Gina felt her anger rise slowly…

"Fighters, to your ready…"

They both took a fighting stance.

"FIGHT!"

Saquel smiled.

"Come on, you beast! Take your best shot at me!! Where's all your power now? Where did it go? Huh? Take your best shot!!"

Gina stood there, looking into Saquel's eyes. They were what made her hate him the most. They had looked so sincere at the Jungar port, but now they seemed to almost have a hellish glow to them. The sight of him made her cringe with anger. This was the one who had struck her down, the one who had tried to steal their ship, the one who had called her a monkey, a beast…

"What are you waiting for?" Saquel yelled impatiently.

She looked down at her clenched fists; they were glowing again, this time with more brightness and intensity than before.

Gina ran at Saquel, and began a series of swift punches. The punches had more power than her last match, but Saquel was able to withstand them by crossing his arms over his chest. He found an opening and punched Gina in her face, knocking her to the ground.

"What's the matter, monkey? Am I too much for you? Get up! Get up! Get up, damn it!"

Gina slowly rose to her feet. Sweat dripped from her brow and fell silently to the floor. Saquel ran at her, yelling and she tried to use Xavier's trick on him, but it backfired and Saquel kept a tight grip on Gina's hands, flipping her over his head. She was barely able to keep herself from being thrown from the ring. She hit the ground with a thud and lay there, trying to regain her lost strength.

"Get over here and fight me! I'm going to get you for what you did to me. You almost cost me my freedom!!"

He went up to the fallen saiyan girl and held up her limp head with his hand.

"Remember who did this to you!" He yelled, making sure Gina could see his face.

Gina's neck was being pulled backwards to where it really hurt her. His sweaty face was hovering over her, giving a devilish smile.

"What are you going to do now, you little saiyan girl? What now?

His face made her blood boil… those malicious orbs that he called eyes… his pointed Jungarian ears…black wavy hair and purple tinted skin…

"Get your hands off of me, you grape!!" Gina summoned up all of her power and jumped to her feet. Her legs were shaking a little, but rage had taken over her body and she stayed standing. Her eyes had taken the color of fire.

Gina's fists were glowing again. She began to remember what had happened in that alley. She held out her arms and began to think… the blast left her hands; it was purple in color and so bright that it lit up the entire arena. The world seemed to go into slow motion for a moment, and the sound seemed blurred out. All that existed were Gina, the ki ball and Saquel. She watched as the purple energy flew silently through the air. It hit Saquel, and he flew back, out of the ring.

"Winner, number 39!"

Gina jumped down from the ring. She didn't know how hurt Saquel was, or even if he was alive. She didn't care. She needed some air.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Gina gripped her right arm tightly with her hand as she made her way through the crowds of people. She was on her way to the finals now. She had won her last matched easily, without even using her powers, and had qualified. There was about a half an hour before the tournament was officially going to start, and Gina was starving. Her clothes were also covered in sweat and blood (her last opponent had opened a gash on her head and her arm was numb from where she had been struck rather hard) and she needed to get a clean pair of clothes from the car.

"Hey girlie! How's it going?" Gina turned around and saw Kismet running up behind her.

"Hi…" Gina said weakly.

"We'd better get a good spot so we can watch Xavier fight. I ran into him, and he and Niro were headed to the car to get lunch, but I figured I'd go looking for you."

"Lunch?…"

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey! Here come the girls!" Xavier said, coming to his feet and beginning to applaud. "Good job! You guys should be glad you got as far as you did, even if you didn't qualify."

Gina was already mid-sandwich by then, and finally realized what Xavier had said.

"Did you qualify?" Gina asked, between bites.

"Yeah, and I've only got about twenty minutes until the tournament starts up." He sat down on the hood of the car beside Niro. "I've got to tell you, I'm anxious to see what kind of fighters they REALLY have here." He poked Niro with his elbow.

"Oh, well I only made it to my second round." Kismet said, reaching for the picnic basket that Gina was keeping for herself.

"That's more than I would have expected from someone who had never fought in competition before. How far did you make it, Gina?"

"Oh, I qualified." Gina proudly stated, biting into a piece of glowing Tumulian fruit.

"You qualified? All right!" Kismet yelled, hugging Gina, who was still trying to protect the picnic lunch.

"You're not serious…" Xavier said, standing up.

"She sure is!" Kismet replied. "I guess you've got a little competition for the title, huh?"

"But… how could you have made it?"

"She's good!" Kismet said, putting her arm around Gina.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Would all participants of the 58th annual Scrapulan Tournament please assemble at the main arena…"

Gina and Xavier were already on their way to the arena when they heard the announcement. Xavier was still upset.

How can she achieve power in six months that it took me years to achieve? He thought to himself, all the while trying to figure out why Gina was holding onto his arm. Sure, at first he had thought that Gina would qualify, but in the pit of his heart, he had strongly hoped that she wouldn't.

"Isn't this exciting?" Gina exclaimed.

Xavier had never seen her like this before. She was grinning from ear to ear and her now unhidden tail swung back and forth behind her. She had changed into some of Xavier's old fighting attire, and her wounds had been treated. Despite the obvious pain that she should be in, Gina was surprisingly cheerful.

"What's up with you?" She asked him.

"Oh, uh, nothing." He said, and forced a smile.

They reached the main arena and found where all of the fighters had assembled. It was a small room behind the outside ring, where they would be fighting.

Only four of the competitors were already there, which meant that two hadn't shown up yet. Gina looked at the people. There was a bald gargantuan man who was devouring the complementary snacks. One was dressed completely in fighting attire. The other two were peculiar. One was dressed in a blue kimono and one completely in black. A black hood covered his face. His hands were sticking out from under his coat. They were also black.

Gina and Xavier took a seat at the long table and partook of the snacks.

The door opened and in walked Niro, dressed in fighting attire. He had a wound on his face that had carefully been bandaged and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Gina and Xavier were stunned. Xavier immediately stood up and walked over.

"Are you lost? Niro, you have to watch from outside."

"Not if I'm fighting." Niro said, smiling proudly. "I qualified."

Xavier and Gina's mouths opened wide with amazement.

"But how?" Xavier asked. "You didn't train…"

"No, you just didn't see me when I trained." He winked at Gina, who then knew exactly what was up. He had used the machine.

"Attention! Attention!" A short, pudgy Jungarian man entered the room. "We're going to start as soon as our last competitor shows."

"How do you know he's not going to be a no-show?" The large, bald Jungarian asked.

"Strata Zephyr? You must be kidding."

"Oh, I didn't know he was competing. I thought he moved to Jungar."

"Who is Strata Zephyr?" Xavier asked, only to regret it a second later when the jaws of almost everyone in the room dropped in surprise. The man in the kimono spoke up.

"Strata Zephyr won the Scrapulan tournament last year. He also won it for four years before that."

"He doesn't sound too strong…" Xavier mumbled under his breath.

"Glad to see you think so much of me." Xavier turned around and had to look up in order to see a face. It was a fairly tall Jungarian with short brown hair. He was holding the championship trophy.

"You must be Strata." Xavier said. His demeanor had quickly changed.

"That's my name… Just hope you don't get in the ring with me. Then you can see what happens to people who underestimate me." Strata went and placed the trophy on the end of the table and sat down. "Can we get this over with already?"

"Glad to see you, Strata." Said the pudgy Jungarian.

"Hey, Tarsus. Let's get this show on the road."

"Okay." The Jungarian stood in front of the group. "You are all the participants of the Scrapulan tournament. You will all pick a number from this box, which will determine your opponent. The rules are the same as in the qualifying rounds; no hits in the private region, you can not kill your opponent, and the fight isn't over until an opponent is knocked from the ring, forfeits, or is unable to battle. Any questions?"

"Yeah, " the man in the kimono said, "Are we allowed the use of weapons?" His voice was low and foreboding.

"No sir. You must only use your body as a weapon." The man went and found the box with the numbers in it. "Would everyone please reach into the box and pick out a number."

Each fighter came up and reached into the box. When they had all chosen a number, Tarsus recorded it and came up with the match-ups. Gina cringed as Tarsus read aloud who would be fighting whom.

"Match number one will be between Zuko and Xavier." Gina guessed that Zuko was the man in the kimono, because he gave a satisfied nod. "Match number two will be Gina against Kinawa." Who was Kinawa? The man in the fighter's outfit had given a silent cheer. Maybe that was he. "Lastly, matches three and four will be between Niro and Unchibas and Strata and…how do you say this? Irace?"

"Iras." The man in the black cloak replied. His voice seemed to make the room tremble. He removed his hood slowly. He was a Jungarian with dark hair. But wait… Gina thought… He wasn't Jungarian a few minutes ago…

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Welcome to the 58th annual Scrapulan Martial Arts Tournament!"

The crowd gave an earth-shaking cheer as the announcer read off the names of the competitors.

All the while, Gina was a nervous wreck. She was holding on to Niro's arm as they waited impatiently for the announcer to finish talking to the audience. Niro was trying hard to listen, but couldn't get his mind off of the two little hands that were clasped around his arm. It wasn't if he wasn't enjoying every moment of it though.

The announcer finished speaking and Xavier came up and stood beside Gina and Niro.

"Good luck." Said Gina; anxious to see how Xavier had improved from his last tournament.

"Luck? I don't need luck." He said, as he arrogantly made sure his headband was tied tight. "You're the one who's going to need luck, little Niro." Xavier then walked out to the ring.

"In that case, break a leg!" Niro yelled after him, only to get an unexpected smile from the eager fighter.

Gina looked back and saw Zuko, sitting in the lotus position. He slowly came back from his meditative state and walked out to the ring. His hands were like he was about to pray and his head was bowed.

"He's an human, like Kismet and Xavier." Niro explained. "But I think he's from Relic."

"Where's that?" Gina asked.

"It's a moon of Jungar 12. They are a highly religious people who accept anyone who accepts their beliefs and rituals."

"Where are humans from?"

"Ssh…" Niro said, putting one of Gina's fingers over her mouth. "The match is starting…"

"Fighters, to your ready!"

Xavier took a fighting stance.

"FIGHT!"

Xavier stood in his stance, waiting for Zuko to attack, but he was kneeling, as if he were praying. His long black hair hung low to the ground and almost covered his face.

Gina's head was now almost completely out of the curtained door so she could see the whole match.

"What is he doing?" Gina asked. "He's going to get killed if he doesn't get up."

Niro laughed out loud.

"He may look like he's praying, but trust me, he's fully aware of everything that's going on around him. The thing is, Xavier doesn't know that."

Xavier ran at Zuko full force, screaming. Just before Xavier reached Zuko, an unknown force knocked him back.

Gina was confused.

"It's an ancient Relic ritual. He's creating a force field around himself. The Relics usually use that for warding off evil. I can see why he used it on Xavier." Niro explained as he cracked a smile.

Xavier was barely able to keep himself from being knocked from the ring, but her quickly came to his feet and took his stance with a look of absolute confusion on his face.

Zuko came to his feet, his head still bowed, but now he had plastered his arms to the sides of his tall, slender body. He had developed a heavenly glow and was slowly making his way towards Xavier, who stayed in his stone hard stance.

"I've been waiting for this my whole life…" Niro said, pushing Gina out of the way, so he could get a better look.

Zuko began to levitate into the air and approached Xavier, who had a look of terror on his face. Then he struck with a hard karate chop and hit nothing but air.

Xavier was behind him, and with a devastating blow to the head, Zuko was out for the count.

"And the winner… Xavier!"

The crowd cheered, but Xavier didn't even bow. He walked out of the ring.

"I… I can't believe it…" Niro said, flopping down at the table.

"Believe it." Xavier said, patting Niro on the back. "You can also believe that I'm going to win this tournament."

"You'll win when saiyans lose their tails. No offense, Gina."

"None taken."

Xavier gave Niro an 'I'm going to kill you' glare that almost sent Niro rushing at Xavier in anger.

"Come on Gina… Let me…. I can take him now." Niro whispered to Gina.

"Not now." Gina replied. "Besides, I want you to watch my fight. I've got some tricks up my sleeve."

"What do you mean?"

"Just watch." Gina said, and walked through the curtains that led to the fighting ring.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gina looked at the fighter that stood opposite her. Kinawa? Was that his name?

"Fighters, to your ready…"

They both took a fighting stance.

"FIGHT!"

Kinawa immediately rushed at Gina, screaming like a banshee. She stood there as he came ever closer to her.

Suddenly, he ran to the side, completely missing Gina, and almost stepping from the ring.

"I don't know what's going on, but it looks like Kinawa is changing his strategy!" The announcer yelled.

"Come on!" Gina yelled, tapping her foot with impatience.

Kinawa steadied himself and ran at Gina to punch her, but stopped his fist before it hit her face.

"I can't do it!" he exclaimed, dropping to his knees in disgrace. "Even if she is a saiyan, I can't fight a girl!"

Every jaw in the arena dropped at this revelation.

"Wha…"

"Kinawa forfeits! The match goes to Gina!"

The crowd roared as Kinawa and Gina exited the arena; Gina with a wide smile on her face and Kinawa with a walk of shame.

"My mom's gonna kill me…"

*~*~*~*~*~*

 Match number three was between Unchibas and Niro. They stood opposite each other in the ring, Unchibas almost taking up the entire ring.

"FIGHT!"

Unchibas took a sumo stance, and Niro winced with fear.

"Ha!" Xavier said from behind the curtain, "Little Niro doesn't know what he's getting into!"

Niro rushed at Unchibas and then did a flying leap over his head and struck his back. Unchibas stood unmoved.

"Little man cannot beat Unchibas!" he yelled, laughing a gut laugh that seemed to shake the whole arena.

Niro began to punch Unchibas in the back, a quick series of punches that did not even budge the massive fighter.

"He just won't move!" Niro exclaimed in desperation.

Unchibas smiled and turned around slowly making his way towards Niro, who suddenly smiled, as if hit by a revelation.

Xavier moved so that he could see better.

"No…Niro couldn't…"

Unchibas got close enough to Niro that he could almost feel his sweat. Niro looked at him, smiled and grabbed his leg. He lifted Unchibas high into the air over his head.

"Wha… This puny boy?"

Niro laughed insanely and threw the large man from the ring.

"The winner: Niro!"

Niro walked triumphantly behind the curtain.

"How did you…" Xavier said, his jaw hanging open in amazement.

"I told you that I've been training, Xavier… and you might just have to fight me next.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The crowd was restless as they waited for the announcer to introduce the fighters in the last fight of the first round.

"And now for your champion! In the test of the best, he beat the rest! STRATA ZEPHYR!"

The crowd burst into overwhelming cheers as Strata stepped out into the ring. With an overconfident grin on his face, he held out his arms to accept the crowd's adulation.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Just who does he think he is?" Xavier said, with a scowl on his face.

"He did win the tournament three years running…" Gina said, grabbing an apple from the reception table.

"He's my brother, that who he is." They all turned around a faced a short Jungarian girl with long brown hair. It was the same girl Gina had seen in her qualifying matches. "And I'd appreciate if you didn't talk badly about him."

"That's only Xavier…" Niro replied, "and it doesn't matter because he's an idiot."

*~*~*~*~*~*

This is what Strata thrived on: the adulation and affection of his fans. They were always there to cheer him on.

"And the challenger: Iras!"

The muscular Jungarian man walked into the arena amidst the boos and jeers of the crowd.

It's in the bag… Strata thought to himself as he took the customary fighting stance.

"READY…"

Iras threw his long, black cloak to the ground and took a stance.

"FIGHT!"

Iras gave a low guttural growl and smiled. It was not a regular smile, however. It reeked of hatred and resentment. Then he charged at Strata, who was waving to the crowd.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"What is he doing?!" Niro exclaimed, apparently more into the match than Strata himself was.

"He always does this." The Jungarian girl said. She had named herself as Strata's sister Astra.

"He's going to be killed that way!'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Strata didn't even hear it coming. He was so used to his opponents cowering with fear of his reputation, that he didn't realize what had happened until he heard his ribs crack and felt the hard ground outside of the ring.

"The winner...Iras?"

Strata lay on the ground as the paramedics rushed to his aid. He held onto his injured chest with his hand, fighting back tears. It felt as if his insides were on fire. His sister ran from behind the curtain, tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly, an explosion occurred out of nowhere, right by Astra and Strata. The paramedic truck became a pile of ash and soot and the smell of burning flesh filled the air accompanied by the futile screams of the paramedics, who were already being led away by death himself.

"This is the strongest being on this planet?!"

They all turned and saw the Jungarian called Iras floating above the arena. He lashed his arms out, and explosions occurred on either side of him, killing those unfortunate enough to have the best seats in the house. The crowd began to disperse in a cloud of chaos: mothers quickly picking up their children, the slower people getting pushed out of the way or stepped on.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What's going on out there?" Gina asked, only to regret her question when she stepped through the curtain. Her jaw dropped and her legs began to shake. It was as if the world was ending. Black clouds of smoke hovered over the arena and the helpless screams of the dying echoed in the air. And in the middle of this chaos was Iras, somehow floating above the arena, laughing like a hyena. His hand was pointing toward Astra and Strata.

"I challenge any being on this planet to fight me! Defend your planet's honor or be conquered!" He lashed his arm out once more and another explosion occurred.

"If no one will fight me, then your beloved Strata will become no more!" He held his hand out to point at Strata and Astra, who were still near where the paramedic explosion had occurred. Strata was lying on the ground, practically whimpering with pain while Astra kneeled next to him, weeping with sympathy and cowering in fear.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Come on, Gina. Let's get out of here before he spots us." Niro said, pulling on Gina's sleeve.

"No." Gina said, firmly holding her ground.

"YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING! YOU MUST BE CRAZY!"

"She's right." Xavier said. "We're the only ones left that can do anything about this."

"Right." Gina said, beginning to walk towards Iras, only to be stopped by Xavier, who grabbed her arm.

"Gina, you don't need to fight. Leave things up to me and little Niro here. You go find Kismet and wait for us back at the house."

"But…"

"There will be no argument, just go!"

Xavier grabbed Niro and the two of them ran towards Iras, leaving Gina standing there.

"We will fight you." She heard Xavier say. His voice was far away, and should have been drowned out by screams, but she could hear him as though he were standing in front of her, challenging her instead of some unreal Jungarian. Gina was then struck by a revelation. She had to do something… something…

Part of her wanted to rush out and help, no matter what Xavier had said, but the other part wanted to respect his wishes. As she stood there, alone, Gina knew what she had to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"You? Fight me? I have seen your pathetic attempts at attacks, and you believe that any of you stand a chance against the great Iras? I will conquer this planet in the name of the Malician army!"

"You're too scared to fight us!" Xavier exclaimed boldly, although he was practically shaking in his boots.

"Shh... Don't provoke him…" Niro whispered.

"Scared to fight you?" Iras said, slowly floating to the ground. He then laughed an evil laugh, and Niro and Xavier could feel their skin crawl. "Let me show you what real fear is…"

Iras gave a sinister smile and began to go into violent convulsions. His hands went flailing in all directions, triggering explosions. A cloud of ash surrounded him, and he yelled so loudly that the whole arena seemed to shake.

"What is he doing?" Niro asked

"I…I don't know…'

The smoke cleared, and a different figure stood before them: a black creature with bulging muscles and leathery skin. Two sleek wings rested against its back and it smiled with glistening fangs.

"Oh, my God, we'll never beat that…"

"We will!"

Xavier and Niro turned and saw Gina and Kismet, who were in a fighting stance.

"Gina, I thought I told you to leave! Get out of here!" Xavier yelled at Gina.

"Xavier, I've been listening to you for almost my whole life. I can't just stand back and let you guys do this on your own."

"And you two might end up turning on each other." Kismet said, and Xavier and Niro looked at each other, both knowing that Kismet was one hundred percent correct in what she had said.

"Do you insolent fools want to talk or fight?"

"We'll all take you on!" Kismet exclaimed, not the least bit frightened by the horrific transformation that had just occurred.

"I will fight one of you." Iras replied, "So decide which one of you is strongest."

"I am." Xavier said, stepping forward.

"So be it."

Iras ran at Xavier, and began to punch at Xavier swiftly, and he was able to dodge all of the attack fairly easily until Iras began to glow with energy. He then punched Xavier with such force that he was thrown completely from the ring.

He attempted to get up, but caught sight of the liquid of life that was flowing from his side. He went limp and fainted.

"Xavier!" Gina yelled.

"Don't worry." Said Kismet, "I'll make sure that he's alright." She ran over to Xavier and began to check his pulse and make sure he was still breathing.

"You're all so WEAK." Iras said, and thrashed his arm down, which caused an explosion right where Xavier and Kismet were. A cloud of ash and soot surrounded them as they went hurling through the air.

"Kismet!" Gina yelled, and felt tears run down her cheeks. She wiped them with her hand and then looked curiously at her palm. She suddenly realized that this was the first time she had felt this warm liquid come from her eyes. All of her life, she had seen it happen to other people- when they fell and scraped their knees at grade school, in laughter or in extreme sadness. I really am different, aren't I?

"I will fight you next." Gina said.

"You? Fight me? What makes you think-" Iras stopped in mid-sentence as he noticed Gina's tail. He hadn't seen it before. "You're a saiyan!"

"Yeah, so?"

"A saiyan!"

"What's your point?"

"You beast! You animal! The saiyans were the very ones who destroyed our people and took over our planet! Your death will be a victory that I will savor!"

Iras began to glow red with rage.

"Gina, maybe we need to get out of here…" Niro whispered to Gina.

"No, Niro. This is something that I need to do. If he says the saiyans destroyed his people, I think it's my duty to defend their honor."

"Defend their honor! Gina, you don't even know how to be a saiyan, and all of a sudden, it's up to you to defend their honor?"

"There's just something in me that says this is the right thing to do. I can't explain this feeling, but it's there."

"When it's all over, you will have lost all feeling if I have anything to do with it!"

"Bring it on!" Gina yelled, and ran at Iras, who was able to block or dodge all of her punches and kicks. They moved swiftly all over the arena, so fast that Niro could barely see them. He only caught a glimpse whenever one took a momentary pause, and those only lasted for a split-second.

The entire time, Gina was unsuccessful in landing a single punch. Iras was dodging them all, and smiling while he did it. Suddenly, he stopped dodging punches and let Gina hit him square in the face. It didn't faze him, and he punched Gina in the stomach, sending her flying halfway across the arena.

"Saiyan scum…this will be the END of you…"

Iras stood over Gina, ready to make his final blow as she lay there in pain. He held his hand up in the air, ready to thrash it downward and cause an explosion right where Gina lay.

Suddenly, a figure appeared. A flying kick sent Iras sprawling to the ground. Gina sat up and saw Iras, clutching at his chest, gasping for air.

She turned and saw who had struck Iras. It was Saquel, and he had a devilish grin on his face.

"Saquel?"

"None will destroy this saiyan until I'm done with her!" he said.

"Go away, Saquel." Gina said, coming to her feet.

"I just saved your life." He said, "So be happy, because after I defeat this thing, I'm going to take it away."

Gina scowled at him, and he could only give her an evil smile in reply.

"How… dare…you…"

They all turned and saw Iras, who was slowly coming to his feet.

"Uh oh." Niro said, backing away.

All of a sudden, a bright light appeared in the sky, and they all covered their eyes out of reflex. Squinting, they turned their eyes up to the sky. Another figure floated above them; he was a Malician like Iras but he was gigantic. A red cape hung from his shoulders and blew in the light wind.

"Iras!" he said in a low voice. "Destroy them and stop wasting time!" He then disappeared in a ring of fire.

"Yes, Lord Maler." Iras replied, bowing low at the waist. He then turned back to his opponents. "Prepare to die."

Iras began to glow with more intensity, screaming as more energy surged from inside of him. He floated in the air once more and thrashed his arms our to either side of him.

They were all instantly engulfed in a ring of fire. Gina almost screamed when it happened. The flames leapt high into the air, and Iras floated over them, laughing insanely with pleasure.

"DIE!"

Suddenly, Gina felt the rage rise up from inside her again. She began glowing a bright purple glow. She slowly began lifting up into the air, her mind a blur. She only knew that she had to defeat this evil. Whatever the cost may be, she had to eliminate it. He had killed hundreds in a matter or minutes, and among those were two of her best friends.

"You won't harm anyone else!" She yelled, lifting both hands over her head. A swirl of cloud-like energy began to move quickly between her outstretched hands, like a ping-pong ball. She flung her hands down in front of her body and the ball of energy went flying towards Iras, who had a look of absolute terror on his face. He screamed a blood-curdling scream as he was surrounded in white light.

To be continued…

Author's Notes:

Ok, so I wrote a mini-cliff hanger…you'll have to read part three to see what happens. And about Saquel, you'll have to read on to see what's going on with him.

Name notes:

Iras- comes from the word Irascibility, which means prone to explosions of extreme anger

Unchibas- play on the Japanese word Chibi, which means small

Kinawa and Zuko- just names I came up with

Strata and Astra  Zephyr- Strata is the atmosphere and I think Astra is about the same thing. A Zephyr is a light breeze.

Maler- play on the word Malice

Shamus- slang for detective