-Howdy! Wahoo! I finally finished chapter 14! I'm sorry it took so long, but it ran a lot longer then I thought it would. I kind of slacked on my editing a bit for this chapter, so I'm sorry if there are more errors then I usually make. I kind of rushed through it last night, because I didn't want to have to wait another week to post this chapter. I didn't notice anything too distracting however… Well, I hope this was worth your wait! Read and enjoy!
-Disclaimer: Hold on let me check… Damn! My last check bounced, so I still don't own DBZ… Oh well, only the Ray Lien ninja's, Taro, and Takura come from my sick and twisted imagination.
Chapter 14
Ryo twitched with nervous anxiety. In a matter of mere minutes the hover bus would be landing on the small island that was home to the Tenkaichi, where he would test his strength amongst the greatest fighters on Earth, and do it in front of a gathering of over 100, 000 people. However, that wasn't what he was nervous about at the moment. Gohan was slumped against Ryo's shoulder from the seat next to him snoring softly, and Ryo feared Gohan would begin drooling on him at any second. All he knew was that everything else about a Sayian seemed to be heightened compared to a human, so he could only assume that Sayian saliva would be just that much more disgusting.
"Gohan, wake up!" Ryo nudged him with his elbow, tarring the boy away from whatever he'd been dreaming about.
"Huh, what?… Are we there?"
"We'll be landing in about ten minutes, so you might want to wake up!" Ryo snapped, not appreciating being used as a pillow all that much. "We don't want you sleep walking through the entire Tenkaichi now do we?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I was sleepy!" Gohan yawned, as his eyes finally opened fully. "We didn't get down from that damn Ferris Wheel until midnight last night! I had like three hours of sleep before I woke up to Goten jumping up and down on my chest, screaming it was time to leave!"
"Well, why did you have to pass out on my shoulder?! It's not like it was my fault!" Ryo said, trying hard not to giggle.
Gohan's jaw dropped at his nerve. "Not your fault! You're the one who short circuited the damn ride, and got us stuck up there!"
"Blah, blah, whine, bitch, moan!"
"You know, I only have one thing to say to you about that little stunt you pulled last night Ryo," Gohan said, looking quite serious.
"And what is that?"
A small grin found Gohan's lips. "Thanks."
"No problem," Ryo said, as he returned a smile of his own. "So, did you talk to her?"
"Yeah… Everything seems to be all right… It's just like you said, I felt a whole lot better last night then I have in ages once I got all that off my chest… I told her the truth… That I wasn't quite ready to face what was going on between us just yet, and she agreed to wait a little longer…"
"How long are you going to make her wait?"
"Not much longer… Probably tonight or tomorrow, sometime after the tournament anyway. She's bound to have some questions if she and her father fail to make it that far in the Tenkaichi. I realized when she was sleeping against my shoulder last night how much I wanted to be with her, and that I really didn't want to wait myself for much longer… I'm going to tell her everything. About me being part Sayian, about Cell, and everything else…"
"So suddenly?" Ryo asked, looking quite surprised. "Well, that is a good thing, but I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that. You're not afraid of how she might react anymore? Just a few days ago you were afraid that once she found out about everything you really were, then she wouldn't talk to you, or have anything to do with you ever again."
"And that still worries me…" Gohan sighed. "But I have to do this… I don't want to say I'm in love yet, because I'm not sure… Falling in love maybe, but I'm not sure if I'm quite there yet. I have to get things sorted out before that happens. If our relationship is going to grow into anything serious, then there are a lot of things she's going to have to learn to accept about me to make it work… If she is going to freak out when I tell her and decide to have nothing else to do with me, then I'd rather her do it now rather then later, and risk digging myself in a hole so deep I can't dig myself out. If she breaks my heart now, it would hurt a lot less then if she did when she finds me out later, and I find I've already gotten too attached."
Ryo stared off into nothing. "In other words… You don't want to end up like me…"
"Well no, but I think that's more your own fault then anything else Ryo. Maybe you should try taking your own advice one of these days."
"What do you mean by that?" Ryo asked somewhat defensively, turning a bit pink.
"What I mean is that you've been pushing me to open up my heart, and kept telling me how good it would feel to get all of my feelings out in the open. Well, you were right, it is a huge load off my chest, but why do I have this sinking feeling that you've never done the exact same thing you pushed me to do? Have you Ryo?"
Ryo lowered his head, now glowing full-blown red. "Well no, but… My situation is different…"
"How is it any different?"
"Well, for one Videl actually feels the same way about you that you feel about her… I don't have that luxury. She has her own destiny to live out… We all have our own road in life that we're meant to go down. While mine might always seem to twist and turn until it leads me right back to her, I was just a little speed bump on hers. She might have meant a lot to me, but to her I was just another face that came into her life and left just as quick."
"For some reason I have an awful hard time believing that. What makes you so sure she feels that way? Is that what she told you?" Gohan wondered.
"Well… No, not in as many words but…" Ryo chose his words carefully. "She hasn't done anything to convince me to the contrary either…"
"But how can you be sure if you've never approached her about it? What if she does feel the same way about you? Did you ever stop to think you might be doing the exact same thing to her that she's doing to you?… Or maybe what you've been doing to yourself."
"There's other issues involved that I'm not at liberty to discuss," Ryo said somewhat guiltily.
"What's the problem? You don't trust me enough to talk about it?" Gohan frowned, feeling a bit insulted.
"That has nothing to do with it Gohan. Like I've told you before, I refuse to betray one friend's trust for another. Just like I would never tell her anything you've told me in confidence. Like about the half-alien thing and all."
"Well when you put it that way…" Gohan smiled a bit. "Still, you can't give me one good reason as to why you're convinced you have no chance with her? You haven't seen her with somebody else in the future have you?"
Ryo appeared to ponder that question for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I haven't really seen much as far as her future goes. I usually can see little bits and pieces of people's futures, at least those I'm closest to, but I've never seen any of hers at all as far as I remember…"
Gohan looked thoughtful. "Well… That's more then likely a good thing isn't it?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well… You're the one who told me you couldn't see your own future. Maybe that has something to do with why you can't see hers."
Ryo feel silent, and Gohan took that as a sign that he'd gotten the point through to him. Ryo, ever the eternal pessimism when it came to his own personal life, hadn't stopped to consider that even once. The boys had been conversing rather quietly so to avoid the ease dropping that was bound to occur with so many people in that small-enclosed area. Krillen and Chi-Chi had practically bent over backwards trying to hear their whispers, but heard little if anything they could use against Gohan. Goku, already aware of his son's admiration for the young Satan girl, had little reason to listen in but overheard parts of the conversation and smiled anyway. He was more concerned with watching Goten anyway, who had passed out asleep in his father's lap some time ago. Eighteen was staring out one of the windows, and Yamcha and the Ox King were oblivious to anything of the sort at the moment. Bulma was concentrating on flying, while Trunks was consumed in coming up with evil ways to wake up Goten before they landed. Piccolo's sensitive ears picked up every word the boys had shared, and smiled somewhat affectionately at the obvious bond his two pupils had developed in such a short time. He felt particularly happy for Gohan. It was nice to see he finally had someone his own age to relate to, something he'd always lacked living out in the country for so long. Vegeta, as always, couldn't have cared less if he tried.
"Hey, there's the island! We're here," Yamcha announced, as Bulma was already making her decent. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing for me or not…"
"Don't worry about it Yamcha," Krillen told him. "You're an old pro. You'll handle yourself just fine."
Vegeta humphed. "Is that some sort of fancy human way of saying he's washed up?"
Yamcha sweat dropped. "Come to think of it, that is what it kind of sounds like isn't it?… Is it to late to back out now?"
********
The welcome the fighters received as they entered the arena the Tenkaichi was to be held bordered along the lines of impressive and annoying. Several monks greeted the fighters as they came through the gate, and a small army of reporters ambushed every poor unfortunate soul that happened to wander too close to their cameras. They were hoping to get the inside track on anyone who might be the next big Tenkaichi star, or as they were whispering behind their backs, the next punching bag for Hercule. Luckily, with a few menacing glares from Vegeta, and the cold shoulder from the rest of the Z-senshi, they managed to avoid that little nuisance. Chi-Chi, Bulma, and company had already departed to find a good seat in the stands after they managed to pry Goku off of her and Goten. The one thing he regretted about signing up for the tournament was how it limited the time he got to spend with his family… Oh well, maybe he'd at least get a chance to say good-bye later on.
"I wonder if Videl's here yet?" Gohan asked, as he searched the area.
"Well, all we really have to do is find the biggest crowd," Ryo replied. "That crowd will most likely be surrounding Hercule, and undoubtedly Videl should be with him."
"I still can't believe Videl's that goofs daughter," Krillen cracked, almost like it was a reflex. "I don't see the resemblance at all. She must take after her mother, but then again I question the type of woman that would marry someone like that… She was either brain dead or a saint."
"Well, they say there's someone for everybody… She must've been a very patient and understanding woman though… Now that I think about it, Videl did say he was never quite like he is now when she was alive…"
"Probably because she wasn't around to keep him in line," Eighteen said, much to the surprise of the other Z-senshi. She never joined in on casual conversation, and even more shocking yet was that almost sounded like a joke. "What are you guys looking at?"
"Well, you go ahead and look for you girlfriend Gohan. The rest of us are going to see if we can find out where they're holding the qualifying round," Goku said, as he and the rest of the crew separated from Gohan and Ryo. "See you there!"
"She's not my girlfriend dad!" Gohan whined, but no one was listening to him.
Ryo smirked as he looked his friend's way. "You might want to get out of that habit Gohan. You might not be able to say that in a couple of days."
Gohan frowned at him. "Don't you start! I don't even want to think about that right now! I'll worry about all that after the Tenkaichi…"
"If you're not worried about it, then why are you looking so franticly to find her?"
"Don't you remember the reason you drug me here in the first place?!" Gohan barked irritably, a bit annoyed at where he knew Ryo was headed. "You said Videl was going to be in trouble! If the Ray Lien are going after her again, that doesn't mean they'll wait for the actual tournament itself to strike! I want to make sure she's safe… I'll be worried until I know we've taken care of this little problem…"
"Are you sure it isn't a little bit of both?" Ryo teased.
"Shut up Ryo! Her well being is my only concern right now! Whatever I'm feeling for her doesn't matter right now! I'm not wasting time worrying about anything else at the moment!"
"Of course, but what's the reason you're so worried about her?"
Gohan groaned, as he nearly tripped over his feet at such a stupid question. "Of course that's the reason Ryo! Yes, I do really want to see her, but right now it's more so I can protect her, rather than for my own selfish reasons… Come on, are you going to tell me that you wouldn't be acting all paranoid and frantic if you knew Amy was in trouble?"
"Would, and have," Ryo replied. "I'm not faulting you for it at all Gohan, I just wanted to get you to admit it. I also know that I personally enjoyed the excuse to be close to her, so I can only imagine you do as well."
"Well it is a bonus…" Gohan smiled. "But I still rather not have her be in mortal danger for an excuse to get close to her."
"She doesn't need to be in trouble for you to be close to her Gohan. I'm sure she'll accept an excuse as simple as that you needed a little extra body heat if you know what I mean?"
"I don't even want to know what you meant by that?!" Gohan winced. "Can we just focus on finding Videl?!"
"Sure no problem." Ryo turned to his right, and pointed towards a huge crowd amassed around some sort of small podium. Actually, it was s huge landing strip where Hercule's private jet had just landed. "I'm rather positive we'll find her right over there."
Gohan gave Ryo a bit of a look. "When did you notice that?"
"Oh, about five minutes ago," Ryo said, flashing a toothy grin.
Gohan nearly fell over. "I really hate you, you know that?"
"Well, I don't have any idea what type of competition I'll be up against this year, but the Tenkaichi Budokai draws the most skilled fighters from around the world," Hercule spoke, laying it on as thick as he could for the masses of reporters that had flocked to him the second he stepped out of his jet. "However, the best in the world has just arrived, and I'll go out on a limb and predict yet a another victory for your hero the great Hercule!"
Hercule growled, and sported the victory sign above his head to the massive approval and applause to everyone in the crowd. Videl grunted, and turned her head away from her father's public display of arrogance. No matter how founded his claim might be, or as so she thought, he could still be annoying at times like this. "Here he goes again."
"Of course my stiffest competition this year will probably come from my own flesh and blood, meaning my very own daughter Videl of course," Hercule boasted with pride, as he put his arm across Videl's shoulders. About two dozen different sets of flashes from cameras went off trying to catch the very essence of the world famous father-daughter duo.
"So Videl, how do you feel about entering your first Tenkaichi Budokai at the adult level, and the possibility of facing your own father somewhere along the way?" one of the reporters asked her.
Videl growled, and turned her head away. "I don't do pre-match interviews! If you want to talk to me then wait until after the Tenkaichi, and then I'll tell you how I feel."
Many members of the media seemed a little distressed by this as they began to look back and forth to each other, rambling on about what they should do. A pre-tournament interview with the daughter of the man who defeated Cell meant big ratings, and like the vultures they were would've normally circled her ailing body until she collapsed allowing them to swoop down before her corpse had time to die. However, Videl didn't give them a whole lot of choice, as she walked away from the crowd right after giving them a look to let them know the consequences if they dared followed her. The reporters mourned for all of three seconds before once again swarming a more then willing to oblige Hercule.
Videl smiled as she saw two welcomed faces push their way through the mass of humanity, well she'd notice Ryo was there later on anyway. "Hey Gohan! I'm glad to see you made it."
"Yeah, we're here. I've been looking all over for you!"
"Well, I just got here a couple minutes ago, so that would explain why you couldn't find me," Videl smirked a bit before frowning as she looked back at the assembled sea of the media. "It's not all that hard to track down a Satan… Just look wherever the most camera lenses are at."
"That's what I told him," Ryo said, as he walked up beside Gohan.
Videl's eyes widened slightly just then realizing Ryo was even on the same planet. "Oh hey Ryo… Didn't notice you there. It's good to see you too…"
"You didn't notice me?!" Ryo frowned playfully, and then smiled as he looked straight at Gohan. "Oh, I get it. You were distracted. You should've seen Gohan over here, going all frantic to find you. He couldn't wait to see you."
"Oh really?" Videl blushed, probably more from Ryo's comment about her, then the one regarding Gohan.
"Are you kidding?! I'd say it's good to see you too, but I'm sick of you already. That's all I heard the entire trip here. Videl this, and Videl that. It wasn't hard to see what track his mind was on this morning. He even mumbled your name a couple of times after he feel asleep… What was that you said… Ewe, a little lower Videl. Yeah, right there."
"Shut up Ryo!" Gohan growled, and took a swipe at Ryo that sailed over his head. Gohan knew Ryo would duck it easily, it was merely to punctuate his point anyway. "I did not say anything like that!… Um, did I?"
Ryo smiled evilly. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Now wait a second here!" Videl jumped in, and pulled Gohan around to face her. She was wearing a grin vile enough to match Ryo's. "I don't recall giving you permission to dream about me! Who do you think you are anyway?!"
"Son Gohan for the time being," Gohan replied smugly. "And I don't recall asking for your permission. I'll dream about you whenever I feel like it, thank you very much."
Videl blushed, taken back by a very un Gohan like reply, but managed a smile anyway. "You better watch the way you talk to me Gohan. You claimed that you still had things to think over remember? You haven't earned the right to talk to me like that yet."
"We'll see… Anyway, on to more immediate matters," Gohan said quickly wanting to avoid the smart-ass response he knew Ryo was dying to jump in with. "Do you happen to know where the qualifying round is being held? We'd hate to be late, so if you wouldn't mind pointing us in the right direction…"
"Dad and I were just headed there when the reporters ambushed us. He can find it himself once he's through making out with the cameras. Come on, follow me…"
Videl wouldn't take more then three steps before she heard the voice of her father calling out to her. "Hey Videl! Where did you run off to sweet pea?! These nice reporters would like to have a few words with you, so I told them you wouldn't mind."
"Not now dad!" Videl frowned. She hated it when her father talked to her like she was still a five year old. She didn't mind being daddy's little girl all that much, but for Kami's sake enough was enough. "The qualifying round is going to start any minute! You were supposed to do the demonstration remember?! I doubt they'd start without you, so you don't want to hold things up!"
"It'll only take a second Videl so…" Hercule paused when he noticed the two boys standing on each side of his daughter. "What in the world?! Look out for those two skinny kids next to you! Who do you guys think you are anyway?! Are you stalking my daughter?!"
Videl rolled her eyes. "Oh please dad! They're not stalking me! These are my friends Gohan and Ryo…"
"Your friends?!" Hercule looked shocked. "But… They're boys!"
"Well duh?" Ryo muttered under his breath. "Good boy, does monkey want a banana?"
"I do not approve of this Videl! Not one little bit! How could you do this to me? Running around with boys this entire time, and not even tell your own father!"
"I'm not running around with either one of them! They're just friends! The only reason they're here right now is because they're competing in the tournament!"
Hercule blinked a couple times before bursting out into hysterical laugher. "HA, HA, HA, HA! These two broom handles?! That's the funniest thing I ever heard! I think you boys better back out while you still can! I'm afraid I'd break you two in half like toothpicks!"
"Yeah right. You actually expect us to believe you can even break a toothpick?" Ryo snickered out loud so Hercule could hear him.
Hercule stopped laughing, and got right up in the boy's face… Well, Ryo was looking up into his neck anyway. "What did you say little boy? Don't you know who I am?! I'm the great Hercule! Marital arts World Champion! The man who single handedly defeated Cell and saved the world!" Hercule pounded at his chest a couple times, and made other various hand gestures that impressed his more ignorant fans. He looked down expecting Ryo to run and go crawling into a corner somewhere, but got the exact opposite. Ryo stared at him indifferently, and actually look about ready to fall asleep.
Hercule sweat dropped, and nearly fell over. "Didn't you hear me kid?! I said I'm the great Hercule!"
"Oh that's right, this is the part where I'm supposed to scared isn't it?!" Ryo chimed sarcastically. He put his hands to his mouth, and dropped to his knees begging off Hercule like a bad actress in an old gangster movie. "Oh please mighty Hercule, don't hurt me! I'm sorry I ever defied you! You're so magnificent and strong! Oh, you're my hero!"
Videl elbowed Gohan in the ribs as he started to laugh at this display of disrespect towards her father, when Ryo began circling Hercule from his knees. Gohan had to throw his hands over his mouth to stop himself. It was rather hypocritical considering Videl found it kind of amusing herself. It was nice to see her father get shown up for once after trying to verbally abuse someone else. Her father could be a real arrogant jerk when he wanted to be, and he deserved this at the moment anyway.
"Wow… I don't know how to describe this," a TV anchor said, as his cameraman shot the scene live to every home in Japan that had their TV's tuned to the Pre-Tenkaichi show. "It looks as if this young man is actually mocking the great Hercule! This kid either has a lot of guts, or more likely suffers from a serious case of brain damage. I sincerely hope this boy doesn't make it past the prelims for his own sake. Hercule might rip this poor boy apart if they happened to meet in the ring after this little display. Then again, judging by the way Hercule looked at him a minute ago this kid may be lucky if he's able to crawl in a few seconds let alone qualify for Tenkaichi Budokai."
"That goof doesn't have a clue what he's talking about," Gohan mouthed, overhearing what the nitwit of a reporter was broadcasting over the airwaves.
A crowd of several dozen reporters and slack jawed fans watched intently to see just how Hercule was going to respond to this despicable challenge to his greatness. Most present probably expected Hercule to pound this skinny kid into the ground in an incensed rage. Instead, the crowd received the exact opposite. "Well, okay then kid. As long as you realize your mistake," Hercule said casually, before walking away.
The crowd of media and Hercule supporters stared in shock, mouths hanging open as they wondered what the heck Hercule's plan was. Most expected him to come charging back, in a clever attempt to psyche the boy out, but he never came back. Perplexed himself, Ryo nearly fell flat on his face. "Well apparently, Hercule has decided to show this boy some mercy by turning the other cheek, and walked away from him. What a show of grit and patience by one of histories greatest hero's, allowing all those harsh words from this juvenile delinquent to bounce right off of him. Instead of pounding him into a pulp like we all know he could, instead the great Hercule…"
"Enough already!" Gohan shrieked in defense of his friend, giving the reporter a dirty look. "Juvenile delinquent?! Why don't you and your cameraman over there come over here, and say that about me? I'll give your viewers a revolutionary camera view when I stick that thing up your bony little…"
"Whoa, down boy!" Videl grabbed Gohan by the arm, and pulled him away from the reporters. "Some of these reporters are like small children. They can dig up dirt and roll around in it whenever they want, so don't supply them with anymore then they need."
"Yeah, and besides its no big deal," Ryo added, as he walked over to them. Most of the media had already dispersed in search of Hercule. "I did happen to defy everybody's favorite *hero* in case you didn't remember."
Gohan calmed down, and thought the matter over to himself. There's no way that goof could've thought Ryo was serious is there? Then again, this is Hercule we're talking about Gohan.
********
"Punch machine?!" Goku whined, as he gawked at the object that would determine which fighters were strong enough to enter the Tenkaichi Budokai. "That's weak! When did they start doing this?!"
"Well, for as long as I can remember," Videl replied, honestly unable to remember a time when the machine wasn't used. "You mean they didn't always use a punch machine to decided the participants?"
"No, we used to do it the old fashion way," Krillen grumbled. "We fought it out, and the sixteen that survived earned their spots in the Tenkaichi…"
"There's a whole lot more to the art of fighting then who can throw the hardest punch," Piccolo grunted disgustedly, voicing his disapproval with this method as well. "Let me guess, this must've been another one of their little schemes to save time. Just like that carnival last night…"
"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do but grin and bare it guys," Goku sweat dropped, and rubbed the back of his neck. "All we can do now is wait I guess…"
The Z-fighters wouldn't have to wait long. About ten minutes at the most. The preliminary round was scheduled to begin at 9:00am on the dot, and continued until the last entry took a swing at the punching machine. You could drop in at any time while the line was still moving, but once that last entry took his turn that was that. The well known promoter of the Tenkaichi Budokai over the past few decades made his presence known at nine sharp, and warmed up the crowd a bit before explaining the rules of the qualifying round. Goku had already shared a nice conversation with the man earlier, as he remembered Goku fondly from his previous tours in the tournament.
"Okay fighters, the rules are simple. All you have to do is punch the target, and the machine's computer will measure your strength by the force of your blow. The fifteen highest scores will be automatically be entered into the Tenkaichi. The sixteenth spot has already been granted to our current champion Hercule. Speaking of Hercule, why don't we bring the World Champ out to demonstrate how this contraption works, what do you say?!"
A rousing round of cheers followed, as Hercule bounded out of his personal locker room, and appeared in front of the large crowd. Everyone either cheered or stayed silent, with the exception of Krillen who hardly booed after all the applause died down. He stopped after getting several strange looks from some of the other fighters, including Videl. Moments later, Hercule went into a long winded speech about being the Tenkaichi champion, a speech considered encouraging and uplifting by the host of other fighters, and perceived as bullshit by the Z-fighters and the DBZ community on FF.net. Videl stood at the front of the crowd looking on partly with pride for her famous father, and partly embarrassed by his predictably silly antics. Finally, the World Champ got down to business, and gave the machine a good whack. He scored a 137, impressing the rumpus crowd, with the exception of the small group towards the back.
"Now that's how it's done! Would one of you please try to score over one hundred, so we can at least have a decent fight?" Hercule boasted, before heading off towards his dressing room.
Once the crowd's excitement died down, or in the Z-senshi's case when they stopped, barfing, laughing, or were just waking up, the qualifying round finally got under way. About two dozen men at the front of the line took their turns, the highest score being only a ninety-two out of the entire bunch. Now it was time for the older Z-senshi to take their turns. Goku went first, scoring a 265, and shocking the hell out of the monks and other onlookers. Then Krillen took his turn, scoring a 250 even followed by his wife Eighteen who rung in at 273. Piccolo followed her racking up a 268 with a mere slap of the back of his hand. Needless to say, by now almost every jaw in that little square was hanging open, including Videl's. Ryo and Gohan both snickered at the various humorous looks that would pop up on her face as she looked on. The monks huddled up to discuss this strange and sudden phenomena, and of course determined that something must be wrong with the machine. They wasted a good fifteen minutes tinkering with the machine before having Goku, Krillen, Eighteen, and Piccolo take their turns over again. They did, and once again they all scored in the high two hundreds. More mouths dropped, and shocked gasps filled the air. The monks didn't bother with it this time, and decided to keep their scores for now and get on with it.
Yamcha sweat dropped when he only managed a score of 205. Though he was a bit disappointed, it was still more then enough to shock the rest of the crowd. "Man, I didn't try to hold back that much! I must really be slipping… I knew coming here was a mistake!"
Vegeta walked up next, and considered punching the damn thing into oblivion. He thought twice after he remembered the looks of shock on all the human's faces when the other Z-senshi were only scoring in the 200's. Vegeta certainly didn't want any of these slacked jawed humans gawking at him all afternoon, but his more devious side still wanted to give these fools a bit of a scare. He put a bit more pop into his punch then the others, scored a 481, and reveled in the shocked cries of a crowd growing more nervous by the second. In fact, a handful of combatants had already emptied out of the stadium, deciding that the prize wasn't worth the risk of going up against one of these freaks of nature.
"What the hell is going on?!" Videl cried, still staring in shock at Goku and several of the other Z-senshi. "My dad only scored a 137, and they're all scoring in the high two hundreds?!"
"Don't sweat it Videl," Gohan said, as he put his hand on her shoulder. "If you're a good girl I'll tell you all about it after the Tenkaichi is over with."
Videl gave Gohan a funny look, appearing a bit confused as she nodded her head in conformation. If it were only a day or two earlier, Videl may not have believed any of this was really happening, assuming the erratic scores were do to some sort of glitch in the machine. However, considering the events of the past few days, Videl wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
Once the majority of the onlookers managed to pull their chins up off the ground, the line finally began to move again. A sense of normality re-gripped the area, as normal high double-digit scores began to register on the machine. Goku, along with the other's who had already qualified, decided to head off to watch the Junior Tournament, which was about to begin at any moment. Gohan, Videl, and Ryo were way off towards the back of the line, they were late mind you, so the other's decided not to wait on them. It was a good idea for them too, for the line seemed to move at a snails pace shortly after they left. Several complaints from entries followed and after several minutes of tinkering with the machine, before Gohan and company knew it close to two hours had paced before it finally came their turn to qualify.
"Finally!" Gohan proclaimed when Videl reached the front of the line. "I thought we were never going to get through this! The Junior Tournament is almost over! I'd like to see my brother fight at least one match before the thing's over with! Can we please speed things up here?!"
"We're going as fast as we can young man," one of the monks replied with a tug of his glasses. "Don't worry, you'll get your turn soon enough. Okay, Miss Videl. She's all yours."
"Good luck Videl," Ryo wished, as she approached the punching machine.
"I won't need it," Videl smirked back.
"Give it all you got!" Gohan encouraged with a smile.
"I plan on it…" Videl muttered to herself. She wasn't kidding either. Especially with seeing the kind of scores Gohan's father and his friends put up. Her father only scored a measly 137 compared to them, so she thought there was no way she'd be able to even come close to that. Still, she was going to give it her best shot. She concentrated hard, focusing all of her energy like Gohan had taught her to do. Little did she know how effective this little technique was. She paced herself a moment, and then finally reared back her fist and slammed it into the machine with everything she had.
The three monks that were supervising the qualifying round, jaws dropped in unison. One only managed a slight crackle to escape from his mouth. "This is unbelievable!"
"What? It couldn't be that bad could it?!" Videl panicked slightly, taking their expression of shock as a bad sign. That was until she looked up at the screen that is. "742!"
"Amazing…" Another one of the monks gaped.
"Hey, nice shot Videl," Ryo said casually.
Videl whirled around looking a little overwhelmed, and a bit surprised at how calm and un-phased her friends appeared. "Didn't you guys see that?! You're not the least bit surprised?…"
Gohan cringed, and looked at Ryo as if to ask him what he'd should say or do. After getting no response, he realized he'd have to wing it. "Oh no, of course we're surprised Videl! Who knew you'd be able to score that high. It was unbelievable really…" Gohan paused, when he noticed the dirty look Videl was giving him. "Umm… I mean… Oh boy."
"He's laying it on a little thick isn't he?" Ryo snickered. "What he wants to say is that we weren't all that surprised because we expected you to score high."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was getting at! Sort of…"
"But… 742?! That's remarkable… I can't believe I…"
"Believe it Videl," Gohan said, now completely composed. "You're a lot stronger then you give yourself credit for… You'll understand eventually."
"Understand what?!" Videl asked, wondering what in the world Gohan was getting at.
"Well, I guess it's my turn then." Ryo cracked his knuckles, and headed towards the machine.
"Try to at least score in triple digits Ryo," Videl teased, trying to rub her latest accomplishment in his face. She'd quickly progressed from shock to a rather potent sense of pride in herself. "I can imagine following an act like that can be intimidating, so don't let it distract you too much."
Ryo rolled his eyes. Apparently modesty wasn't her strongest trait. "I think I'll do just fine thank you."
"Get a load of this kid." Ryo's eyes shifted in the direction of a trio of bulky young men, who he assumed were talking about him. "Look at that bony little body of his, it looks like he hasn't seen a set of weights in his life."
"Yeah, I bet you he scores like a twelve or something."
"Oh, don't look now guys, he's looking this way!" one of the men laughed, as Ryo shot a glare their way. "Ewe, he looks mad. I think you hurt his feelings Trevor. You better be careful, or he might get his buddy Videl on us if we keep picking on him."
"Oh yeah! We definitely wouldn't want that. I suppose having a Satan as a bodyguard would have its advantages… In more ways then one." Trevor smirked, eyeing Videl in a way that made her want to puke, and at the same time was kind of pissing Gohan off.
"I'm not his bodyguard you morons!" Videl barked at them. The men seemed surprised Videl had overheard them. "He doesn't have to ask me to do anything, I might just knock your blocks off for the hell of it! At the very least you're going to be blind if you don't stop gawking at me like that you pervert!"
"Don't let them bother you Ryo," Gohan whispered to him. "Those weaklings don't even have a clue who they're talking to."
"Yeah I know…" Ryo mumbled, but his expression said something entirely different. "I'm used to it by now… I've had to take this crap my entire life. It's still annoying though…"
The men shut up for the time being, not as willing to mess with a Satan as they were with what they observed as an underdeveloped weakling. The silence didn't last long however, only until Ryo stepped in front of the punch machine, readying himself to take his turn. "Careful now! You don't want to hurt your hand on the target! You do know how to throw a punch don't you?!"
Ryo cringed, and tried to tone them out, but the men were determined to make themselves heard. "Try to score in double digits at least! We'd hate to see you embarrass yourself too awful bad!"
"Oh, that does it! I'll shut those morons up," Ryo grumbled. He reared back his fist, and gave the target a more then adequate whack. Nothing all that stellar, not to him or Gohan anyway.
"1,542!!!!"
The three men who'd been mocking him nearly fell over, while Videl was gawking at him wearing one of those famous standard anime expressions of shock. Not to mention that the majority of the few people that were still waiting to qualify looked about the same as her. Most everyone expect for Gohan who just shook his head, and sighed. "He just couldn't resist could he?"
The monk who was monitoring the scores was practically quivering. "There… Is… No… Way… I'm sorry son, but this machine is obviously out of order. We'll give the equipment a check, and let you take your turn over."
Ryo frowned at this. "There is nothing wrong with the damn machine! I could've scored higher if I wanted to!"
The monk slightly laughed at this, thinking he had the situation all figured out. "Sure you could young man. It'll only take us a minute to recalibrate, so just standby and I promise we'll have the problem fixed soon."
"What?! This is ridiculous!"
All Ryo could do was cross his arms, and wait as the monks played with the machine. Most of the crowd began to assume there was something wrong with the machine, including the three stooges who once again began to taunt Ryo from the sidelines. Videl herself was feeling a bit disappointed, wondering if her score might have been inaccurate as well. A few minutes later, the mechanic pulled his head out of the machine looking rather stunned.
"Well, what's the problem?"
"That's the funny thing…" the monk said, as he scratched his head. "I can't find anything wrong with it? All the parameters seem to be inline."
"But that's impossible! There has to be something wrong! It's not humanly possible to score over a thousand!"
"I'm sorry, but it's true! The machine is running just like it's meant to!"
In the meantime, Gohan turned his head to the side as he heard the loud speaker begin to boom. "Attention, ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the final round of the Junior Tournament featuring Trunks VS. Goten, with the title of Jr. World Champion on the line!"
"Ah, damn it!" Gohan groaned, as his feet got a little antsy. "Can we please hurry this up over there!"
"We're still trying to determine what's wrong with the machine young man. It'll be just another moment or two, so please be patient."
"I can't take this anymore! Look, I'll just redo the damn thing okay?!" Ryo grumbled in frustration. He gave the target another good whack. He was a bit agitated, so he scored a bit higher then he intended to. A 931 to be exact. "Is that better?!"
The monk went pale again. "Well, I guess that's more reasonable but... I still think we need to tinker with this machine a bit more…"
Ryo rubbed his forehead, and groaned. "Look, my friend here has a brother who's fighting in the finals of the Junior Tournament. Frankly, we'd all like to be there to cheer him on, so if we could just get this over with… I have an idea, why don't you take a shot at this thing to see if it's working! If you score higher then a twenty then we'll now something's wrong!"
The monk grumbled a bit, but did think the idea was a rather good one. "Okay then… I guess a little test couldn't hurt." The monk took a shot at the machine, and sweat dropped when his blow rang in at only a thirteen.
"I rest my case," Ryo huffed and guided the man aside. He gave the machine another, softer, punch that registered at a measly 305. "Is that good enough for you, or would you like me to score lower still?!"
"Umm… No, that will do just fine I suppose…"
"Good, so I take it I qualified then," Ryo stated, as he walked away.
"I would say so… Okay next…"
"Finally!" Gohan sighed, as he charged towards the machine. He gave the target a quick and sudden whack, one that caused the machine to bounce a tiny bit, and darted off towards the arena without even bothering to wait to see what he scored. "Sorry I can't stick around, but I'm in a hurry!"
The monk's mouth was a gap again, as he read the numbers flashing across the screen. "Five… Thousand… Seven Hundred and… Thirty-four?!"
"Good heavens, what are these kids eating for breakfast in the morning?! Surely it can't be merely wheaties could it?"
"I'm getting to old for this…"
"There's… no… way…" Videl stammered, as she stared in shock at the screen.
"Sure there is Videl. Now come on, if we hurry we might be able to catch Gohan, and see the last part of Goten's match." Ryo grabbed Videl by the arm, and drug her towards the arena. "Oh get over it girl, at least move your legs!"
********
The Junior Tournament was still in its infancy stages, this only being the third year since it was separated from the Tenkaichi itself. Needless to say, the first two were both a complete farce. The tournament mostly consisted of little kids who spent most of the match slapping each other around until one of them began crying and gave up. The first year was rather forgettable, so people did just that. They forgot about it, and during the second go around Videl pretty much wiped the mat with any other poor unfortunate kid that had to climb in the ring with her. People didn't expect much from the youngsters, but this year they received more then there money's worth. At least with one match that was. The final match to decide the Junior World Champion pitting Trunks against his best friend Goten in a match that delighted the crowd, and made many of the adult matches look tame in comparison. Videl herself was particularly impressed with the youngsters abilities, and got yet another shock when she watched both of them turn into mini gold fighters right before her eyes. Ryo barely managed to prevent himself from failing over the rail in laughter at the hilarious looks of shock that attacked Videl's face throughout the duration of the match. Gohan definitely had a lot of explaining to do once this was all over.
After a hard fought match, Trunks finally managed to just barely eek out a victory over Gohan's younger brother, much to his dismay. The exhibition match with Hercule directly afterwards was a whole new experience for Videl in itself. That meaning when she watched her father get hammered outside of the ring, and into a brick wall after only one punch from young Trunks. Of course Hercule picked himself up a few seconds later, and played off to the crowd like he threw the fight so the young boy could win. Of course the crowd ate it up, except for the two teens observing from the railing wedged in between a young girl who assumed her father had thrown the fight as well. The other Z-fighters had left to grab something to eat before the Tenkaichi, finding little interest in watching an eight-year-old boy beat the crap out of the so-called World Champion. The three teens followed suit after the fight was over. After a bizarre, when it came to watching the Sayians eat that was, but rather uneventfully pre-fight meal the group headed towards the square in front of the arena where the drawing to pair the fighters for the Tenkaichi was to be held.
"Well, at least this hasn't changed much," Goku smiled, as they waked into the square. At least this leg of the Pre-Tenkaichi festivities hadn't seemed to have change much from the way he remembered it. Not that they could've done things much differently that was. There was a big board set up in the center of the square were they filled out the bracketing for the tournament, and the small table nearby that the box containing the balls with the numbers 1 through 16 printed across them was set up on. The MC of the Tenkaichi noticed Goku and company walk onto the scene and waved to them. Goku gave a small wave back, and proceeded to examine the rest of the field.
Goku, or any of the other Z-senshi for that matter, didn't expect to find much competition outside themselves. Goku felt the energy surrounding him, picking up the Ki's of fourteen fighters in all, and to Goku's shock every one of them appeared to be rather strong. Seeing no problem with this unexpected surprise, he simply smiled at this. He then shifted his eyes around the square to put faces with the various waves of energy he was feeling. He could only pick out four out of the six. Two of them were large burly looking guys, with veins bulging out of their already bulging muscles. Not only that, but they were shaved bald, and had the letter 'M' Tattooed on their foreheads. Goku wasn't one to be rattled easily, but something about those two gave him the creeps.
The other two entries where a much different matter all together. They were creepy in their own right, but a different type of creepy all together. Maybe bizarre was the word he was looking for. One was a little purple man who Goku noticed hovered in the air a few inches above the ground when he walked… Well sort of walked anyway. The smirk on his face was in a word or two *spine numbing*. Not quite an evil grin, but you couldn't quite call it anything else. His companion was either very grumpy, or just dead serious. He was a tall imposing figure with pinkish skin, and long white hair that fell down to his butt. Whatever type of conversation they were sharing at the moment appeared to be one-sided on Shin's part. Goku hardly noticed the big man's lips move once, as his only replies were usually held to a simple nod or shake of his head. Their energy was rather strange as well… He couldn't quite put his finger on what it felt like… He wondered if the other Z-senshi noticed as well. Piccolo obviously did, as the presence of the duo seemed to trouble the Namek greatly. Goku couldn't quite get a straight answer out of him. Piccolo did tell him that he thought he knew the smaller man from somewhere, and that Goku and the others should take the pair very seriously. Goku assumed Vegeta probably sensed something from them as well, but most likely didn't care. Goku also noticed that Ryo seemed to pick up on something from them as well… Or at least he appeared to. He saw Ryo give the pair a couple of suspicious glances ever since they'd arrived at the square. He did consider that the boy might have been simply surprised to see a little purple man floating in the air. Videl definitely seemed fascinated by his presence. Then again, Ryo was trained by Piccolo, so strange looking alien like creatures with odd skin pigments shouldn't surprise him too much. Maybe he knew more about the feel of someone's Ki then Goku had originally given the boy credit for. He was still young after all, and even with Gohan for that matter, youth and ignorance allowed things like that to go over his head from time to time. Maybe his psychic sense had something to do with that.
"Man, the competition seems to get weirder and weirder every year," Videl said, gawking at the four new comers.
"You can say that again," Gohan agreed. "But we seem to be three short. I wonder where the others are at? We can't start the drawing until they get here."
"They should be here soon enough," Videl told him. "The drawing isn't scheduled to start for another ten minutes or so."
While Gohan and Videl were conversing, Ryo was busy trying to put on lock on where the two other stray Ki's he'd felt, were at. He had a sinking feeling he knew where these two had come from… He mentally slapped himself when he realized the two Ki's were originating from a spot practically directly behind him.
He turned his head slowly, and grimaced at what he saw. He nudged Gohan in the ribs with his elbow to get his attention. "Gohan, look!"
"What is it?" Gohan asked, as he turned around. Ryo wouldn't have to answer for Gohan's mouth dropped when he saw the two Ray Lien resting against one of the far walls built around the square. They were dressed in full gear, one decked out in a blue Gi, and the other green symbolizing their ranks. "Damn… I was hoping they'd decide to skip the show…"
"We're not that lucky…"
"Hey, what are you guys staring at?" Videl's eyes widened in horror when she the two men leaning against the wall. They were standing still as could be, seemingly paying no attention to the world around them. "Oh Kami… They're dressed just like that guy that attacked us in the alley a while back Gohan!"
"I know Videl…"
"But who the hell are those guys anyway, and what are they doing here?!"
Gohan looked towards Ryo as if to ask him if he should tell her or not. Ryo decided to give Gohan a reprieve and told Videl himself. "They're called the Ray Lien… They're a group of assassins pretty much…Undoubtedly, they're here to take somebody down, not to win the world title."
"Assassins?" Videl gaped. "You don't think they're after me again do you?"
Gohan chocked as he spoke. "Yes… Yes we do Videl. At least one of them anyway…"
Videl looked a bit unnerved at first, before growling in determination. "Let them try and get me then! They won't catch me by surprise like that Riego guy did! Besides, I have you and all your friends with me Gohan. Not to mention my father who just happened to save the world seven years ago. You know what they say… Strength in numbers…"
"You have a point there," Gohan smiled, ignoring the part about Hercule.
"Just be careful Videl," Ryo said, a deadly serious look still etched on his face. "I know you're a strong girl, but they aren't your ordinary fighters Videl… Be careful."
"I will. You worry too much Ryo."
"Somebody has too."
"Well, well, look at what crawled out of the sewer," Vegeta sneered, as he walked up next to the children. "I thought I felt a couple of bad karate movie rejects in the area. So, you really think one of them is after your little girlfriend here brat?"
"Yes, we're sure, but she's not my girlfriend," Gohan sweat dropped. Unnoticed by him Videl frowned slightly at the way he said that.
"We're positive actually," Ryo stated, his arms folded across his chest. "One of them at least… We're just not sure who the other one is after…"
"Well, it's obviously one of us boy," Vegeta snickered, remembering the last fool that tried to assassinate him. There were still pieces of him scattered across the gravity room back at Capsule Corp. "I'm impressed those fools actually had enough guts to bring themselves out in the open for once, instead of lurking around in the shadows. Cowards."
"Hey, what are you guys talking about over hear?" Goku asked, after wandering over there wondering what they all were suddenly interested in. His eyes then focused on the two men he identified as the two missing Ki's he couldn't locate earlier. "I see… So, are those the Ray Lien guys you've been talking about?"
Vegeta grunted. "Yes. They never send more then one assassin to do a job, so they've obviously targeted at least two people. Your brat and his friend here seem to believe that this little human girl is one of their targets."
"I see…" Goku looked thoughtful. "Hey, I wonder if one of them is after me?"
"You are such a fool Kakarott!" Vegeta snorted. "Think about it clown. What sense would it make for them to target you? You're already dead! Not to mention they'd have no idea you'd be here back from other world!"
Goku sweat dropped. "Well true, but it's a thought…"
"That would be a first."
"So let me get this straight," Videl said to Gohan, frowning slightly. "Are you saying that you knew about who these Ray Lien guys were all along, and you never told me?!"
"Well yeah…" Gohan admitted guiltily. "I know I should've told you, but I didn't want to worry you. Besides, I didn't even really know who they were until recently… I'm sorry. I know I probably should've mentioned something to you, but I was just trying to protect you."
"Well thanks Gohan, but I can take care of myself!" Videl snapped, sounding a bit angry all of the sudden. "What's with all the secrets lately anyway?! I know there's something going on here that I don't know about Gohan! I'm not stupid, I noticed that everyone in your little clique seems to know what's going on except me! Even Ryo for Kami's sake!"
"We're not hiding anything Videl, I swear… Okay, I guess there's no point in lying to you… We are hiding a few things, but they're for good reasons. Just wait a little bit longer, and I promise I'll tell you everything…"
"Wait just a little bit longer," Videl mocked, putting on her best Gohan impersonation. She'd heard that enough in the last few weeks, especially the past day or two, to drive her out of her mind. "Wait for this, and wait for that! What is it with you and putting everything off anyway?! What's so horrible that makes you so afraid to tell me?!"
"It's probably worse then you think Videl!" Gohan yelped defensively. "Why are you so angry all of the sudden anyway?"
"I think I have the right to be! There are people wearing pajama's running around here that just might be out to kill me, so I'm sorry if that upsets me just a little bit! I think I have the right to know just who the hell they are, and why they're after me!"
"Well…" Gohan looked to Ryo, asking for his opinion with his expression. However, Ryo was in no mindset to pay Gohan any attention. Gohan stared curiously as Ryo's head started to shift around as if he was looking for something. Ryo's face suddenly lit up, and a broad smile crossed his face. "Ryo is something up?"
"He's here?" Ryo asked himself, or more like stated to himself. He didn't even notice Gohan had spoke to him. "Why would he… Excuse me guys, I've got to go!"
"Ryo, where are you going?!" Gohan called, as Ryo darted out of the square. He gave Videl a questioning look. She just grunted at him, and walked away from him as well in the other direction. "Videl! Don't be mad! I said I was sorry… Awe damn it…"
Gohan sweat dropped, and debated as to which of his friends he should go after. He was interested in seeing what Ryo had gotten so excited over, but quickly decided mending fences with Videl was more important. He didn't take him long to run her down, she wasn't exactly trying very hard to allude him. It was almost as if she wanted him to follow her…
"Wait up Videl!" Gohan shouted, jumping in front of her to prevent any further progress in the direction she was going. Videl growled softly and turned her head away from him, otherwise not moving another inch. "I'm sorry Videl I really am… I understand why your upset, but I didn't have a choice… I promise I'm going to tell you everything right after the tournament. You only have to wait another few hours, is it really all that bad?"
"I shouldn't of had to wait this long…" Videl then looked Gohan straight in the eye. "Why haven't you told me all this already?"
Gohan sweat dropped, completely unprepared for that type of question. "Well I… Look, things are rather complicated… You'll understand why I've kept things secret once I tell you… At least I hope you will. There are good reasons I haven't told you any of this yet Videl…"
"I already know… You don't trust me, that's as good enough reason as any."
"It's not that I don't trust you! I trust you as much as I do everyone I'm close to if not more… Trust isn't the issue, it's something else all together…"
"Then why can't you talk to me?" Videl asked softly. Her expression was definitely not typical Videl at the moment. She looked a lot more emotional and expressive then usual. She nearly looked like a normal teenaged girl right then instead of the daughter of Satan Hercule. "I know you can talk to Ryo, so why not me? I know because I've seen you talk to him, and he talks to me a lot… We don't seem to have any problems opening up to each other like you have with me. It's strange because that's what I was looking for with you…"
"Videl…" Gohan rubbed the back of his neck. He never knew what to say in situations like this… Maybe because he'd never been in one before. "I want it to be that way between us too Videl… But I'm afraid there are a few things you're going to find out about me you're not exactly going to like… Is it really that important to you?"
"Yes, it's that important to me!" Videl frowned at him, looking much more like herself. "Maybe it was stupid of me, but for some reason I wanted to be close to you… I don't know why, because I never cared about getting that way with someone before… I was fine being on my own, and didn't need anybody! Then I met you, and something in my personality changed… I tried to get closer to you, but each time you'd just push me away like you had no clue what was going on. I got frustrated, but I never gave up. I wanted to get to know you, and for a long time I thought I did. Then this Gold Fighter thing happened… Which you still haven't explained to me yet by the way!… It bothered me that you wouldn't tell me, but I lived with it... I figured you'd tell me when you were ready… And now all this crap is going on, and I just can't take it anymore! All of a sudden I don't feel like I know you at all… Like you're an entirely different person I need to figure out all over again… I'm sorry, but I care about you too much not to hate feeling like shit because all of this is happening! I know this was kind of sudden, but I've kept it bottled up for a while… Maybe I was stupid… I should've just kept to myself, and not have bothered with you and I wouldn't be in this mess I'm in now!"
"Videl, don't talk like that," Gohan partially laughed. He tried to put his hands on her shoulders, but Videl knocked his arms out of the air and turned her back to him. Gohan went on as if nothing happened, and continued talking. "You know full well who I am. I'll admit that there are a couple things about me that are going to shock and possibly disturb you, but despite that I'm still going to be the same guy you've always known. Besides the Gold Fighter thing, I've never pretended to be anything I'm not. I never really meant to push you away either… The truth is, I wanted to be closer to you too… Look, I was just stupid okay, there's no other explanation for it. You know Videl, I for one am glad you didn't keep to yourself. I've noticed that you don't show that particular side of yourself you show to me for just anyone. I'm rather proud you choose to show it to me… It makes me feel kind of special in a way… I probably should've picked up on as to why sooner but…"
Videl remained silent, but Gohan could almost hear her knees shaking. His hands found their way back up to her shoulders, but this time she didn't turn them away. "Look, I guess what I'm getting at is… I'm sorry if I hurt you in anyway, I wasn't trying to. I swear that's the last thing I want to do, everything I've kept from you was to keep you from getting hurt. I promise that if you forgive me, I'll tell you everything soon enough… And if I don't, I won't blame you at all if you tell me to go to hell and never have a thing to do with me again."
Videl remained still, but that didn't last long. She turned around slowly and looked up at him looking a bit broken, but for the most part still looked tough and proud none the less. "When are you going to tell me?"
"Right after the tournament concludes tonight, I promise."
"Why then?… Just out of curiosity."
"Because that's the way I've been planning it for days now. I thought it might be easier then, because you might see a couple things occur during the Tenkaichi that might make the explanation a bit easier…"
"Like what?"
"You'll know when you see it," Gohan smiled, knowing she wasn't going to like that answer. She was going to hate the actual answer a lot worse, so for now she'd have to live with it. "So. do you forgive me? I really don't want you mad at me ever, but right now isn't a very good time for either of us. You don't want us to be distracted while we're fighting now do you?"
Videl frowned at first, before dipping her head and laughing slightly at this. "I'm going to be distracted either way you doof. I'll forgive you for now… I'll wait until after the Tenkaichi. However, if you don't talk to me then, I might just take you up on your offer, so don't forget that."
"I won't," Gohan said softly. "And remember no matter what happens… Or how differently you might look at me once everything starts unfolding… Remember that I'm still Gohan, and nothing from what you already know from me is going to change. Most importantly, the fact that I'll still be your friend, even if you do decide you hate me when this is all said and done."
Videl wanted to laugh at this. Sure she hated him, but in a different way all together. At the moment, she couldn't imagine herself hating Gohan in the way he was insinuating. "What if I don't want to be friends anymore?…"
"You don't have a choice, you're stuck with me. You don't have to be my friend if you don't want, but I'll still be yours."
"That's not what I meant," Videl giggled slightly, and rested her forehead against his chest. "What if I'm not satisfied with leaving it at that?"
Gohan blushed a bit, but appeared thoughtful over the matter none the less. "Well…I guess you'll either have to live with it, or maybe I don't want to leave it at that either."
Videl's head jerked back, revealing a slightly red face. It wasn't like Gohan to say something like that… "Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until you're ready before I find out… Like you said…"
"Honestly, I think I might already have it figured out, so you might not have to wait long on that either." Gohan enjoyed the way her face would light up when he'd talk that way to her. It was just so unlike her to look all embarrassed like that, and he thought she looked rather cute when she was… Then again, he thought she looked cute when she did just about anything… "Anyway, why don't we go see what Ryo's up to?"
Videl frowned at this, wondering why Gohan was bringing him into the conversation at the moment. It was kind of ruining the mood for her. "Ryo? Why, we'll see him in a couple minutes! The drawing's going to start any second!"
"I know, but he mentioned something about someone being here before he ran off," Gohan explained. "I'm kind of interested in seeing who he's going to meet."
"Hey yeah!" Videl beamed, suddenly getting interested. "He never talks about the people he knows back home very much… This could prove interesting… Let's see if we can't drop in on him…"
Ryo found himself walking down that intersection that connected the arena to one of the training facilities. He could feel him nearby, so he knew he was somewhere around there… That boy had made a hobby out of finding ways to hide from him ever since he learned the ability to sense a person's Ki. Sure enough he was giving Ryo the slip, until he heard a deep voice taunt him from somewhere in the shadows.
"Well, who would've thought I'd ever see this. That nerdy little bookworm who used to get his face rubbed in the dirt by the other kids on the playground, and at one point in time could barely string together three words into a sentence let alone hold a conversation with someone, is all of the sudden competing as one of the final sixteen of the Tenkaichi Budokai. You know that most of the people that know you would die of laughter if they heard you were even considering to try out!"
Ryo smiled slightly, and turned his head slowly behind him. "Maybe so, but I don't care what any of them think. The people who know me best believe in me, and that's all that really matters to me."
Ryo watched as the blond boy came into view, walking out of the shadows with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. Dusty blond that came down to his shoulder, and a matching set of brown eyes to his friend who was only a couple inches shorter then he was. Everything about the boy seemed rather grungy in a way, not sloppy, but somewhat rough all the way down to the heels of a pair of faded cowboy boots on his feet. "We all do Ryo, even when you don't believe in yourself sometimes. I'm still kind of shocked to see you here… It's amazing to see how far you've come over the last few months."
"Hey, don't forget who taught me how to defend myself when we were younger," Ryo said, as he held his hand straight up in the air so it was even to his chest. The boy did the same, and clasped Ryo's hand in his sharing a gesture of respect and friendship the two often shared for about as long as they'd known each other. "I'm glad you could make it. It's great to see you again Takura."
"It's good to see you too Ryo. Don't see you around much anymore. I understand why you had to move again for a while, but that doesn't mean you can't come by and visit every once in a while does it?"
Ryo sweat dropped, and smiled guiltily. "Sorry about that… I know I should come around more often then I do, but things have been a little hectic lately. I can never be sure when something is going to pop up…"
"I told you I understand Ryo," Takura smiled, as he let go of Ryo's hand. "You're doing what you think is best just like we all would. Just don't make a habit out of being a stranger okay?"
"I won't, I promise. What are you doing here anyway?" Ryo asked before a thought occurred to him. "Hey, you're not competing too are you? There was one person missing from the square, minus Hercule that is. I bet it's you isn't it?"
Takura shook his head. "Sorry Ryo, but you're wrong for once. I did think about signing up for a while, but I decided not to. I'm afraid I'd be out of my league here."
"You're a lot better then you give yourself credit for… You've still been working at it haven't you?"
"Yeah…" Takura frowned, looking a bit disappointed in himself. "I'm still trying to get the hang of all this Ki mumbo-jumbo you've tried to drill into my head. I tried to find you by looking for your Ki, but I didn't do a very good job of it…"
"Don't worry about it, you'll get the hang of it. It took me weeks to finally catch on enough to use mine, and learn to sense other people's energy on my own. Keep working at it, and don't get discouraged. Then again, I forgot whom I'm talking to. I've never known you to give up on anything in your life…" Ryo paused, and thought over what he was about to say. He wanted to comment on that one little thing Takura had failed to chase after, but decided not to. She was a sensitive subject for him anyway. "So, if you're not fighting, then why are you here?"
"Why do you think? I'm here to watch you, you goof. When you told me you were going to enter the Tenkaichi, I just had to see this for myself. You have no idea what a pain in the butt it was to sneak around here just to get a chance to talk to you. Shayna and Ken really wanted to come too, but some things came up… By the way, everyone says hi."
Ryo looked a bit disappointed, but not too much as he expected his. "Hey, it's no problem… I'd rather not have a big audience anyway. I'm going to be nervous enough as it is."
"There you are!" a female voice called out, grabbing both Ryo's and his friends attention. Ryo knew before he looked up that he'd find Videl and Gohan walking towards them. "The drawing's going to start any minute! They'll start without us if we're late!"
Videl and Gohan stopped, appearing a bit surprised when they looked up at the blond boy standing next to Ryo. "Hey, who's your friend Ryo?"
"Oh, hey guys. You two have impeccable timing. This is my friend Takura from back home. Takura, this is Videl and Gohan. I'm pretty sure you can figure out which is which."
"So, you're Takura!" Gohan smiled, and extended his hand. To his surprise, Takura didn't accept the gesture right away. He stared at his hand a moment, as if thinking things over before finally shaking Gohan's hand. Gohan's first impression of the young man was hard for him to put into words. He seemed cold, but not in the normal sense of the word. Not emotionless or uncaring, but literally seemed cold. In fact, a chill ran through his spine when his skin met his, and the palm of his hand seemed rather chilly to the touch. Very unusual for a day when the temperature was a brisk eighty-five. Maybe it was something in his expression. His face looked a cross somewhere in between Eighteen and Vegeta. Not exactly emotionless like Eighteen, or grumpy with seeming distain for everything around him like Vegeta. Somewhere in the middle of all that. He wasn't exactly frowning, nor did he appear happy, content, or upset in anyway. Just kind of there watching the world go by around him, unable to tell what the boy was thinking or feeling at all just by looking at him. The perfect poker face if you will. Ryo had told Gohan that Takura would seem a little cold at first, but was fine later on if you took the time to get to know him. "It's nice to meet you. Ryo's told me a lot about you."
"He has?" Videl frowned. "He hasn't told me anything!"
"You never asked me!" Ryo laughed. "Gohan hasn't known about him that long himself. Takura just happened to pop up during a conversation with Gohan recently, and that's the only reason he knows anything about him."
"I prefer it that way," Takura jumped in suddenly, exposing his voice to Videl and Gohan for the first time. "That's why Ryo doesn't talk about me much. I like to keep a low profile. I have, however, heard an awful lot about you two. I kind of feel like I already know you. It's a pleasure to meet both of you."
Takura held his hand out to Videl, which she accepted after hesitating for a second. "Oh right… It's nice to meet you too Takura."
Takura's brow furrowed slightly, but other then that his expression didn't change. "Are you okay Miss Videl? You seem a bit disappointed. Do I not meet up to your standards?"
"What? Oh no, it's not that!" Videl giggled briefly, realizing what the boy must've been thinking. "Nothing personal against you, but when Gohan told me Ryo was meeting somebody I was hoping you'd be a girl…"
Ryo blushed, and growled. "Don't start Videl!"
Takura looked confused for a moment, before his eyes brightened with realization. His face grew wide in an odd smile of sorts. "Oh, I see. You must be talking about Amy. He told you two about her huh? He never tells anybody but his closest friends about her. He must really like and trust you guys."
"Don't you start either!" Ryo flared, turning his attention to Takura.
"Yeah he's mentioned her, but he won't tell me anything other then her name," Videl whined. "Maybe now that you're here, I can get some information out of you. The purple bomber over here won't tell me a damn thing."
"He doesn't have time to tell you anything because he has to get to the stands and get himself a seat, or he'll be standing for the Tenkaichi!" Ryo growled, wanting to put an immediate end to the subject this conversation had suddenly switched too. "Speaking of which, we better be getting back before they start the drawing without us!"
"He has a point Videl," Gohan concurred. He looked up at a large clock imbedded in a slab of stone over the entryway of the square. It indicated that they had less then a minute before the drawing began.
"Shot! We better hurry," Videl said, as she began to move towards the square. "It was nice meeting you Takura!"
"Take care Takura!" Ryo wished, as he waved his friend good-bye. "I'll see you after this thing is done and over with!"
"I'll be waiting! Good luck to all of you!" Takura wished, as they rushed back into the square praying they made it to the drawing in time. Takura smiled to himself after Ryo disappeared from his sight. "Well, well… At least it looks like he's in good hands…"
"Come on Ryo!" Videl begged, as they ran towards the square. "I just want to know what she looks like! What's the big deal?!"
"I said no Videl, now drop it!"
"Come on Ryo! What are you blushing for? I'm not asking for much… Just a little tidbit, even if it's only the color of her hair or something! Come on, what's it going to hurt you?"
"What part of bite me don't you understand Videl?!"
----------
"Okay, is everybody ready to begin the drawing?" the MC asked the crowd of eleven fighters that had gathered around him.
Goku looked around for Gohan and his friends, but could find no sign of them with his eyes anyway. "Excuse me sir, but we should have at least three more joining us shortly. Wherever they are…"
"I'm sorry Goku, but you know the rules. If they're not present when their names are called out to draw, then I'll draw a number for them. Everyone knew what time we were going to start, so they had plenty of time to make sure they were here."
"We're here, we're here! We got a little held up, so give us a break!" Videl wheezed, as she skidded to a stop. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. She looked rather annoyed when Ryo and Gohan came bounding up next to her casually. While her lungs felt like they were about to explode, Ryo and Gohan didn't even appear to have broken a sweat. Sure it wasn't that long of a run, but they had to run as hard as she did to get there… Or at least she thought they had.
The MC smiled. "Oh, there you are Miss Videl… And you two would be Gohan and Ryo, am I correct?"
"Right," Gohan said, while Ryo nodded his head slightly in conformation.
"Great! I guess that means everybody's here expect for Hercule, and that other fellow… Has anybody happened to see anyone named Taro around anywhere?"
The short blond man received a few headshakes, and even a pair of spoken no's, but most just looked at him as if they had no clue what the hell he was talking about. Everyone except the two ninja's who, unnoticed by anyone else, shot each other a questioning glare.
"Do not worry yourself with my whereabouts little man," A deep raspy echoed through the air, drawing the attention of most of the field of fighters and Tenkaichi workers. Gohan, Goku, and most of the rest of the Z-senshi already had their heads turned in that direction at the feel of a monstrous Ki approaching from that direction, and were staring wide eyed at the beast headed their way. He resembled something straight out of Greek Mythology. He stood upright over eight feet in the air, brownish skin complexion with horns protruding from his forehead that curved over the top of his head and pointed straight down to the back of his neck. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't wearing any pants… It didn't have to, for a bushy sea of hair covered everything below his waist down to what looked more like hooves then feet. The satanic tale complete with pointy triangular tip, appeared to be the icing on the cake for what could only be called a demon. "I'm here, so can we get this ridiculous formality over with?"
The MC looked a bit, okay very intimidated by this massive beast standing before him. "Umm… Right! Of course, we'll be under way shortly, just hang on another second or two…"
"Damn, what is that thing?!" Videl retched, as she gawked at Taro from behind.
"I don't know, but he doesn't look like a pushover," Gohan whispered back to her, feeling the evil energy just pouring out of this creature. Vegeta, Goku, and Piccolo watched Taro with interest as well, not to mention the purple stranger and his friend. Ryo's focused stayed directed more so on the two Ray Lien hiding towards the back of the large loop the fighters had formed. He noticed how they seemed a bit confused by Taro's presence, as if they knew this monster from somewhere. His suspicions were confirmed as Taro immediately walked over to the ninja's after scaring the MC, and the rest of the Tenkaichi work crew half to death. Ryo leaned in close to try to overhear as the three began to speak.
"What are you doing here Taro?" The blue ninja asked him. "We don't need your help!"
"I'm not here to help you fool," Taro snickered. "I'm here to make sure the job gets done! You pathetic fools have failed to hit even one of your targets! The master grew tired of your blundering, and sent me to ensure things go as planned."
The blue ninja growled, and turned his head. "Fine, do what you like! Just stay out of our way! We always uphold our contracts eventually…"
"Yes I'm sure, but we don't have a century or so wait, and at the rate you Ray Lien are going the only danger the Earth's fighters face is dying of old age! Well, I'm going to put a stop to this. The master should've sent me in the fist place! Not trust you morons with such an important mission… World's greatest assassins indeed!"
Hearing enough, Ryo straightened up. He looked over to his left as he felt Vegeta and Goku standing next to him. "Did you get all that boy?" Vegeta asked gruffly. "It looks like the Ray Lien have some backup."
"But they don't seem to be getting along very well do they?" Goku observed. "This doesn't look good. That Taro guy is strong… Something about his energy is just not normal… You better go warn Gohan about him Ryo."
"I was just about to do that Goku."
Vegeta grunted, as Ryo walked away. "At least the boy had the sense to survey his enemies. Unlike that son of yours."
"Hey, lay off Vegeta," Goku smiled. "He's obviously been distracted in case you haven't noticed."
Vegeta grunted again as he looked behind him, seeing Videl and Gohan talking amongst themselves, Ryo just then walking up to them. "Distracted by a woman… Undoubtedly, he inherited that from his human side!"
Ryo placed a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "Hey Gohan? Can I talk to you a second?"
"Yeah sure," Gohan said, as he turned to him. Videl looked at him with interest as well.
"Don't look now, but I think that Taro guy is associated with the Ray Lien in some way. I don't think they're working together exactly, but Taro mentioned something about his master sending him here with all the Ray Lien's recent failures."
"So, what you're saying is that you think Taro might be working for whoever sent the Ray Lien here?" Gohan assumed.
Ryo nodded his head. "Exactly. Maybe we can even squeeze some answers out of him."
"Hold on a second!" Videl looked a little spooked after hearing what they said. "Finish what the Ray Lien failed to do? That doesn't mean that thing is after me is it?"
Ryo sighed, and looked Videl in the eye. "I won't lie to you girl, it's a possibility, so keep your guard up okay?"
"Hey, I'm not afraid of that overgrown slab of beef!" Videl grimaced, showing no back down whatsoever. "I can take him, or anybody else for that matter!"
"Sure you can Videl," Ryo rolled his eyes. "We'll be here to watch your back anyway."
"I feel so reassured," Videl said sarcastically.
"You should," Gohan told her with a smile, that only widened with the curious look she gave him after he said it.
"Okay everybody, I think we put this off long enough! It's time to begin the drawing! The rules are simple, and are as follows. When I call your name, each of you will walk up to the podium, and draw a ball out of this box here. Whatever number you draw, your name will be filled underneath the corresponding number on the flow chart up on the board over there. You'll be paired off with the fighter that draws the number corresponding with the number you drew. In other words, number one will fight two, three will fight four, and so on until we get to fifteen and sixteen. Okay, without any further adieu let's begin! First up is ah… Hail! Would Hail please come and draw his or her number?"
The crowd of fighters watched as the blue ninja known as Hail walked up the podium. "So, Hail's his name huh?" Gohan said to himself, making a mental note of that.
Hail reached into the box, and pulled out a hand-sized ball with the number '10' scribbled on it. He handed the ball back to the MC without saying a word. "Alright! Hail has drawn number ten! Put it up on the board!"
9.
10. Hail
"Okay, next up to draw is umm… Eighteen?…"
"That's me," Eighteen said, as she approached the table.
"Umm… Is that name correct or…"
Eighteen groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yes it's correct. Don't ask, or I'll pound you okay?"
"Okay Ma'am… Go ahead and draw your number then."
Eighteen reached into the box, and pulled out number '13'. The MC relayed the message back to the guys working the board.
-----------
The fans cheered as they watched one of the monks write the name eighteen under the number '13' slot on the big bracket board.
"Hmm… Looks like they're already pairing people for the first round," Roshi observed.
"This is getting exciting," Bulma added, as she sipped on her drink. "I wonder who'll end up fighting who?"
Chichi didn't seem as confident as her friend. "Well, I'm glad your enjoying this because I'm a bundle of nerves! Our family really needs that money… Not to mention that I don't know what I'll do when Gohan and Goku have to fight each other… It's practically unavoidable."
"Not exactly," Bulma smirked. "You know that at least one of them will have to fight Vegeta eventually, maybe both, and after Vegeta defeats them you won't have to worry about your boys fighting with each other."
Chichi frowned, and snorted at this. "Vegeta?! Don't make me laugh! That arrogant jerk couldn't hold a candle to my Goku when he was alive, so I don't see any reason for things to be any different now!"
"Oh yeah?! The great Goku huh?! I guess that's why he wears that halo over his head huh?!"
Leave it to Bulma to open her mouth without thinking. That rather insensitive comment mashed down on a particularly sensitive button in Chichi's head, and it showed as her face boiled red before turning to Bulma and shouting into her face. "NEED I REMIND YOU THAT THE ONLY REASON HE'S WEARING THAT HALO WAS TO SAVE YOUR LIFE! NOT TO MENTION YOUR SON, MINE, AND EVERYBODY ELSE ON EARTH FOR THAT MATTER! THE ONLY THING YOUR HUSBAND WOULD RISK HIS LIFE FOR IS FOR DINNER! THE NERVE OF YOU BULMA! AND YOU USE TO CALL YOURSELF HIS FRIEND! I'D EXPECT YOU TO SHOW A LITTLE MORE RESPECT!"
Bulma backed up a bit, and for the first time in her life found herself lost for words. She wanted to throw a witty comment back at her, but she just didn't have one… "Look, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that… I talk before I think sometimes. I realize everything Goku's done for us, and I love him for it. And Vegeta's not as bad as you think he is… At least not anymore… And just the record, Vegeta's still going to win."
Chichi scoffed, as a smile crossed her lips. "We'll see about that."
Before any further argument could break out, the girls plus Roshi, Ox King, and Marren were distracted by a rather dejected looking Yamcha as he sat down next to Bulma. The man sitting next to her gladly made way for him, wanting to distance himself from the two frightening women as far as he could. "Hey guys, what's up?"
"Yamcha?" Roshi asked, looking confused. "What in the world are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the drawing with the rest of the fighters?"
Yamcha slumped his shoulders and sunk lower into his seat. He would've hidden under the bench if it were large enough. "I didn't qualify…"
"You didn't qualify?!" Bulma asked stunned. "How could you not have a qualified?!"
"That's what I can't figure out!" Yamcha snipped somewhat irritably. "I scored a 205, but fifteen other fighters still scored higher then me! I just don't get it! I know I'm not what I used to be, but I still have my pride… At least I did… This is so embarrassing, I couldn't even look Goku and the others in the face…"
"Well, don't let it get to you too much my boy," Roshi said, as a devilish smirk crossed the old man's lips. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the cheap seats with the rest of us bleacher bums Yamcha!"
"Thanks… I feel so much better now."
----------
"The next entry is Kabito!" The MC gulped when the rather mean looking, and not to mention big and pink, man walked up to the table. Kabito quickly drew a ball from the box, and handed it to the MC. The blond man sweat dropped, as Kabito gave him one last menacing glare before walking back over towards his small purple companion. "Okay… Kabito is number 16!"
9.
10. Hail
12.
13. Eighteen
15.
16. Kabito
"Okay then… Up next is Vegeta."
Vegeta's head poked upwards at the sound of his name. He grunted softly before heading towards the draw box, Goku watching him intently as he went on his way. Vegeta reached into the box, looking disgusted as usual as he did so. Vegeta looked at his ball with disinterest.
"So, that makes Vegeta number 3!"
"Good!" Vegeta snorted. "At least I can get my first fight out of the way quickly. I despise waiting."
"Well, you'll only have one match to wait through until it's your turn, so I guess that does work in your favor. Okay, so next is Spopovich!" The MC waited a few seconds, and repeated himself after no one came forward. "Umm… Excuse me, but is there a Spopovich here?"
"It's your turn, go on," the smaller man said to his beastly partner. Spopovich let out a sickening grunt as he stood upright, and lumbered his way towards the podium. Most of the Z-fighters watched the big brut intently, including Shin who's head snapped around violently once Spopovich had passed him.
Interesting, Goku thought to himself. It seems like that little guy senses something from Spopovich too… And his expression doesn't look all that flattering.
Spopovich jabbed his hand into the draw box aggressively, and rummaged through the inside. The MC examined this big man he thought he knew curiously. "You've changed a lot over the past few years haven't you there Spopovich? Must've been hitting the gym hard huh?"
Spopovich grunted at him with a disgusted gaze, before yanking out a ball and handing it to the man.
"Alright then big guy, you're number 6."
"Right! I'm ready!" Spopovich snorted, as he pounded his fist into his hand.
"Whoa, calm down there! You're not fighting for at least another hour or so yet, so wait and keep the adrenaline pumping for the match. You don't want to waste it here." The MC took a look at his clipboard. "Okay, our next participant is… Gohan!"
Gohan jumped a bit, surprised to hear his name. He gave his father and Piccolo a grin before, who smiled with pride as he walked up to the podium. Ryo and Videl, especially Videl, looked on with interest as he dipped his hand into the box.
"Say, do I know you from somewhere kid?" The MC asked, noticing the boy looked an awful lot like Goku. "You aren't related to Goku in any way are you?"
"Yes I am," Gohan smiled proudly. "He's my father."
"Your father! That's wonderful! I guess fighting runs in the family huh? If you're half the competitor your father is, then this is bound to be one hell of a tournament."
"I'll try my best," Gohan said, as he pulled out the ball with the number '7' written on it. He then handed it to the MC.
"Looks like for the first time in Tenkaichi history we'll have two former champions, and they're offspring in the same tournament! The possibilities here are endless…" The MC quit rambling when he remembered he had a drawing to attend to. "Oh right! Gohan will be number 7! Now, will Krillen walk up to table? You're next!"
"Oh, it's my turn already?!" Krillen gulped nervously. "Well, guess I'd better get this over with."
"Try to draw a number in the top eight Krillen," Eighteen told him. "I'd hate to have to defeat you too early in the tournament. You can't make any money if you don't make it to the top five at least."
Krillen sweat dropped. "I'll try my best hon…"
Krillen reached deep down into the box, praying to draw anything but 12,8, and 4. He wanted to avoid fighting his wife, Gohan, and Vegeta at all costs. There were others he wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of being matched up with either, but he'd worry about them when it came their turn to draw. After playing around inside for a few seconds, Krillen pulled out the ball numbered '9'.
"Number nine… Let's see, that puts me up against…" Krillen looked up at the board, and sweat dropped when he saw the name Hail scribbled under the number 10. "Oh wonderful! I have to fight one of those wired ninja guys in the first round!"
"Okay, we have our first match setup now folks! It will be Krillen vs. Hail! Okay, the next entry is Yamu!"
Yamu gave Spopovich a look, as if he was sending him some sort of message. Probably instructing him to stay put, and behave himself. Yamu seemed much more calm, and in control compared to his intense partner. He reached into the box, and snapped up a ball looking at it for only a second before giving it to the MC.
"Got right to the point didn't you? Okay, Yamu is number 12! That means Taro is up next!"
A collective grimace hit the face of almost every Z-fighter as Taro trotted up towards to podium. The creature smirked, sensing the accusing eyes of many of the onlookers piercing into him.
"Wow…" the MC marveled as he looked at him. "You are most definitely different from anyone I've ever seen before at this tournament."
"Let's just say I'm from out of town," Taro smirked, as he dipped his hand into the box and pulled out a ball. "Hmm… Number 2. Interesting, looks like I'll get to start things off."
----------
"Damn that Trunks!" Hercule growled, as he tried to apply some bandages to his face. "Where did that kid learn how to punch like that anyway?!"
Hercule quickly jumped to attention when he heard a knock at his door. "Pardon me Hercule sir, but may I come in?"
"Umm… Sure, hold on a second," Hercule said, as he quickly removed the bandages from his face before the short monk walked inside.
"Excuse me sir, but the drawing is being held now. Are you going to attend?"
"Umm… I'm busy right now, so tell them to go ahead and draw without me," Hercule said, as he picked up a bottle of water from the table next to the bed. "So, how is the competition shaping up? Did anyone else even manage to score over a hundred?"
"Actually yes…"
"Oh really?! Probably Videl huh?" Hercule laughed, as he put his bottle of water to his lips.
"Well actually… Everybody in the tournament scored over one hundred this year… In fact, several scored over two hundred, and a pair of boys even scored over a thousand…"
Hercule almost chocked on his water, before spewing it out all over the place. "What?! That's impossible! You're either joking, or that machine must be busted or something!"
"No, we checked it several times… The machine was working exactly the way it was supposed to. In fact… You're not going to like this, but sixteen other fighters actually scored higher then you… Which means if you hadn't won the Tenkaichi last time around, then you wouldn't even have qualified this year…"
Hercule stared at the monk with his mouth hanging open. "There's no… There's no way those wimps can be stronger than me! I don't care what those scores said, I'm still the champ! I'm going out there to see just what in the hell is going on!"
The monk sweat dropped, as Hercule blew past him. "It looks to me like you're in over your head… Talk about an ego out of control."
----------
"Okay then, seeing as Hercule is held up at the moment, I guess I'll draw for him," the MC said before sticking his hand into the box.
"Not so fast announcer guy!" a burly voice called from inside the building connected to the square where the drawing was being held.
"Could it be?" The MC asked dramatically.
Hercule remained hidden another second or two, for dramatic effect, before charging out onto the square, sporting his usual cape, and making his usual entrance. He danced around and did his usual poses, finishing up with his famous hand on hip other hand high up the air sporting the victory sign pose, striking it proudly in front of the mass of Tenkaichi fighters gathered in the square for the drawing. "Ah ha! Hercule! Gwar har!"
Hercule held his pose making himself look like a complete idiot. He was expecting some sort of reaction. Mostly either wild applause, or awestruck stares at the great Hercule from the other fighters. Hercule waited, and looked on waiting for their response…
(Crickets chirp)
Hercule sweat dropped, and his grin left his face. "Umm… Hello people! Hercule here… You know, World Champion? The guy who defeated Cell…"
(More crickets join in)
"Hi dad," Videl said, giving him a little wave.
"Hey sweat pea…" Hercule mumbled, looking completely stunned. Hmm… That's weird. They must be concentrating really hard on fighting… Or maybe I've intimated them all speechless? Yeah, that must be it! I knew it, they're all scared of me… Ewe, what the hell is that big hairy thing with the horns? Or that green guy, and the little purple dude? Damn, is this the Tenkaichi Budokai, or a circus side show?!
"Gee, the crowd seems rather focused don't they?" the MC said, wondering why Hercule didn't receive a warmer response. "Well Hercule, I'm sure we have over 100 thousand+ fans itching to see some action today, so if we can move this thing along…"
"Oh right, my fans!" Hercule said, perking back up. "They know a champ when they see one! Let's go do this announcer guy!"
"Umm… Sure thing Hercule, but my name is…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's get moving okay," Hercule cut him off, then quickly jabbed his hand into the draw box. He stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth, as his hand searched around inside the box before pulling his arm back out. "Okay, I'm number 15! Now, who does that put me up against?"
Hercule walked over to the big board to examine it more closely.
1.
2. Taro
3. Vegeta
4.
5.
6. Spopovich
7. Gohan
8.
9. Krillen
10. Hail
11.
12. Yamu
13. Eighteen
14.
15. Hercule
16. Kabito
"Hum… Kabito huh?" Hercule said, as he scratched underneath his chin. "So, that's my first victim? He sounds like a wimp! Who is this guy anyway announcer gu… Whoa…"
Hercule turned around sharply, and smacked right into a very large and rather menacing looking man with a pinkish complexion. A small bead of sweat trickled down Hercule's cheek as he looked up at him. A small smirk crossed the MC's lips, as he pointed his cupped hand towards Kabito even though Hercule couldn't see it. "Hercule, meet Kabito."
"Oh… Hey, there big guy. I was just kidding about the wimp crack you know?… Your looking kind of pink there aren't you? You sick or something?" Hercule gulped, as Kabito looked down and growled at him. Hercule just stood there nervously until Kabito finally got tired of looking at him and turned away.
"Yeah, that's right! You better walk away!" Hercule jeered as soon as Kabito's back was turned. Kabito stopped in his tracks, turning his head around to glare at Hercule one more time. Hercule sweat dropped, and immediately turned tailed and walked off quickly. "Hey announcer guy, I'm headed to my dressing room! Let me know when it's time for my match okay?"
"Sure thing Hercule, but my name is…" the MC stopped, as Hercule had already retreated indoors. "Never mind… Forget I said anything. Okay, next to draw is Piccolo!"
Piccolo strolled over to the table casually, not even bothering to uncross his arms before dipping his hand into the draw box.
"Hey, it's good to see you here again," the MC said to him. "Try not to blow up the place this time okay?"
"I'll try," Piccolo smirked, as he pulled a ball out of the box. His smirk instantly faded, and his face tightened up as he read his number. "Number 1..."
"Number 1 hey? So that would match you up against…"
"Taro," Piccolo mumbled, as he looked back at the strange newcomer. Taro smirked fiendishly, and even had the nerve to wave at him. Piccolo sneered back at him, taking this new development very seriously. Well… At least I'll get to see just how powerful this guy is… Whatever he is…
"Man, look at the way they're staring each other down!" the MC whispered to himself. "This is looking to be like one heck of an opening match!"
"Hmm… Not many spots left," Videl observed, as the flow of the tournament became clearer with each drawing. "At least one bracket in every pairing has been filled now… Everyone else who draws from here on out will have to be paired with someone."
"Yeah…" Gohan agreed, just thinking about the exact same thing. "I wonder who'll I'll end up fighting?"
Videl raised her eyebrow, and smiled at him. "Could be me you know? What are you going to then Gohan?"
"Well… I'll just have to kick your pretty butt then, I guess." Gohan returned a smile of his own.
"You kick my butt?! Ha! Not a chance buddy! I don't care if you can fly, and know how to change your hair color at will! I can still mop the ring with you!"
"We'll see about that…"
Ryo was standing directly in back of the young couple giggling slightly. He wasn't amused by Gohan and Videl's little argument, but more by their hands… And the fact that Videl's hand was firmly placed inside of Gohan's. Ryo had noticed this as early as when Krillen was drawing, and doubted that the two kids even noticed what they were doing. He didn't fancy either one of them would do that kind of thing in public on purpose, not at this point and time anyway. He was waiting to see how they'd react when they realized what they were doing, and trying not to die laughing in the process. He'd even alerted Krillen to the fact, who was also giggling and trying hard not to make some smart ass comment and ruin the moment.
"I can't take this anymore, I have to say something before I explode!" Ryo giggled, and tapped Videl on the shoulder. Videl inched her head around slightly, looking quit content. "Yes? Something wrong Ryo?"
"No, I just wanted to ask you something…"
"What is it?" Videl asked, as now Gohan turned his head around to see what the two were talking about. What they saw was Ryo and Krillen trying hard not to bust a gut.
"Well, you do know that you have to go up there and draw eventually, don't you Videl?" Ryo snickered.
Videl frowned. "Yeah I know. Why did you bring that up?"
"Well, I was just wondering…" Gohan and Videl went pale as that all too familiar evil grin crossed Ryo's lips. The one he always flashed whenever he was about to say something to embarrass the hell out of one of them. They just didn't know why he was wearing it just yet. "Videl are… Are you going to let go of Gohan when you go up there to draw, or do you plan and taking him with you?"
"Huh?" Gohan and Videl both said, and then looked at each other confused. They then looked back towards Ryo, who pointed down. Of course they looked, and saw they were holding hands. Of course they both freaked, and pulled their hands away both blushing shades of red humans were never intended to turn. Of course, this sent Krillen and Ryo into fits of hysterical laughter at the way they reacted.
"Shut up guy's, it's not funny!" Gohan cried, with a blood red face. "We didn't even notice we were doing it… Um, did you?"
"No!" Videl replied when he looked at her.
"Oh come on!" Krillen jeered. "What's the problem guys? I thought you looked cute!"
"Okay, next up for the drawing is Videl!"
Videl sighed with relief, seeing her course for escape form this embarrassing situation. "Well, that's me guys! I better go draw!"
"Good luck Videl!" Gohan wished, as she walked rather fast towards the podium.
Ryo smirked. "Are you wishing her luck, or are you just wishing you'll get lucky?"
"Shut up Ryo!"
"Say Videl… I've noticed you and that Gohan boy seem rather chummy," the MC said to her rather slyly. "There isn't anything going on behind the scenes that might well… You know…"
Videl frowned at him, her hand already sticking in the box. "Something that might add an interesting side story for your tournament you mean? Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but he's just a friend from school! Even if he was anything more I certainly wouldn't tell you, just so you can air my personal life out in the open just to make an extra buck or two!"
"Of course not, I never expected you too, but I had to try," the MC replied coolly. His demeanor then changed to that of a more personal nature, rather then the promoter trying to package an entertaining product. "Still, I think there's something you're not telling me Videl. I've know you since you were eye-level with your father's knees, and I know how particular you can get with the people you associate yourself with. Not to mention that I've never seen you smile this much in all the years I've know you. There has to be some sort of reason for it doesn't there? I just assumed that it might be a potentially romantic and conveniently profitable one… Considering the two youngsters involved just happen to be the children of the last two Tenkaichi Budokai winners…"
Videl blushed a bit, and then grinned with her eyebrows in their usual position right above her eyelids. "You never give up do you? I'm sorry, but there's still nothing going on between us… Yet anyway. If you're a good boy, and something does happen then maybe I'll tell you. Until then, we're just friends, so I better not hear of any rumors starting up or I'll know who started them."
"Hey, I promise I won't say a word! I guess it does make sense though…" the blond man, scratched under his chin thoughtfully. "Hercule would be going ballistic if he even thought you were seeing a boy…"
Videl sweat dropped. "He already has assumed the wrong thing once already, and I'm sure he will again probably before this night's over. In the meantime, I'm number 5." Videl handed the MC the ball she drew.
The MC looked down at his clipboard and smiled. "Well, I have to say that this feels really good to say after all these years, but up next is Goku!"
Goku smiled, then stretched a little before walking over to the draw box.
"Why did your dad stretch when all he has to do is draw?" Videl asked Gohan, as she walked up beside him.
"That's just his way of focusing I guess. Get the adrenaline pumping you know?"
"Either that, or he's worried about pulling a hamstring walking up to the table or something," Ryo commented. Gohan didn't say anything, just gave him a funny look through the corner of his eye.
"It's been a long time Goku. Are you ready for this?" The MC asked him.
"I'm always ready for a good fight," Goku smiled, and dipped his hand in the box. He searched around until he found a ball that felt right. He pulled it out and gasped at first when he read his number, but that soon turned into a confident smirk.
"Interesting reaction," the MC noted. "And now if you'll give that to me I'll…"
"Hold on a second," Goku said, closing his hand on the ball. "I don't want to ruin the surprise."
Before the MC could protest, Goku had already turned his back to him and headed straight for Vegeta. He stopped in front of him, giving Vegeta that all to familiar grin of his. A wave of adrenaline rushed through the prince's veins as to what that look meant. A fight with Kakarott was just what he was looking for to prove his true power as the Prince of the Sayian race. Getting a hold of him in the first round would've been as good a time as any.
"Check this out," Goku said, as he opened up his hand for Vegeta to see the number he drew. Vegeta gasped at first, but snickered slightly soon afterward.
"What?! Not those two…" Piccolo gaped, unsure of what else to say.
"No way! You mean it's you and Vegeta right off the bat dad!" Gohan asked, hardly able to believe what he heard.
"Not exactly son," Goku said, and tossed his boy the ball. Gohan caught it, and the ball landed in perfect position for him to see the number stamped onto it. "Number 8..."
Piccolo and Ryo both jumped. "Number 8!" Ryo screeched.
Piccolo would add. "But that means you have to fight…"
Krillen laughed in excitement over this. "Whoa-ho! Gohan and Goku in the first round! Wow, this is going to awesome!"
"Yeah… Awesome…" Gohan mumbled, not sure if he thought that way or not.
"Hey, don't look so nervous about it son," Gohan told him. "Cut lose and enjoy yourself! This might be the last time in a long time you'll get a chance to fight with your old man. I don't want you holding anything back, because I sure don't intend to."
"Sure thing dad…" Gohan smiled, as the realization of what was to come finally set in. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Humph, Kakarott and his brat hey?" Vegeta whispered to himself. "This ridiculous sideshow might just prove to be a bit interesting after all."
"Wow, what an interesting turn of events this year!" the MC raved. You could almost see little dollar signs ring up behind his sunglasses. "The winner of a past Tenkaichi facing off against his own son in the first found! The ratings are going to fly through the roof!"
"Gee Gohan, you have to fight your own dad," Videl whispered to him, unable to imagine what kind of internal struggles he must have been going through right then. "This is serious stuff… I know I wouldn't want to be going into that ring with my father.. . At least not right off the bat…"
"Yeah well… I don't have much of a choice, so there's no need in worrying about it I guess…"
"Okay, let's get this show rolling! Next we have Ryo!"
Ryo jumped, feeling a bit of nervous anxiety creep through his body. "Don't be nervous Ryo," Gohan told his friend, noticing he seemed a bit edgy. "Just walk up there and draw a number. You've got nothing to be nervous about yet."
"Maybe… I guess I should just get this over with…"
Ryo walked toward the table, and immediately felt Vegeta's eyes piercing into him. He turned towards the Sayian prince who smirked at him. "There aren't a lot of slots left on that board boy. Yet, one of them just happens to be mine. If I were you I might be careful what you draw."
"Umm… Right." Ryo played with the neck of his Gi, and continued towards the podium. "Nothing to be nervous about huh Gohan?"
"Anything but number 4, anything but number 4, please Kami anything but number 4," Ryo rambled quietly to himself, as he stuck his hand into the box. "Oh gee… I wonder what I'm going to draw now?"
"Hmm… Ryo seems to be a little afraid of Vegeta doesn't he?" Goku observed.
"Afraid isn't the word," Piccolo began to explain for Goku. "He isn't afraid of Vegeta. It's just that Vegeta's been giving him a hard time about being human, and Ryo would rather not have to deal with him."
"I see… So, tell me Piccolo. Is Ryo human? Fully human anyway?"
"As far as I know," Piccolo replied. "I do, however, know there are a few things he still hides from even me."
Ryo pulled his hand out of the box slowly, his hand clutching the ball tightly. He opened his hand slowly, and sighed in relief when he found the number '11' staring back at him. "Whew… Eleven always has been my lucky number…" Ryo looked up at the board.
11.
12. Yamu
"Yamu huh? Great, I get the other spaz case…"
"Alright folks, next to draw is Shin! Will Shin please step forward?"
"Ready," the little purple man said excitedly, and walked over to the podium.
The Z-senshi watched with interest as he made his way, Goku and Piccolo in particular. Piccolo for one, was still shaking from his very presence.
"Man Piccolo, does this guy really bother you that much?" Gohan asked him.
"Yes… I don't know what it is about him but… His energy just isn't normal… He's strong, but it's a different type of strong…"
"Humph! If you ask me I think the little Namek here is afraid," Vegeta sneered.
"I'm number 4," Shin announced, as he read the number on his ball.
Vegeta's head immediately snapped up. "Well, well… You see there Piccolo. You have nothing to worry to about, I'll handle this little problem for you. Maybe little Shin over there, will show me just why he has you so worried."
"Don't take him lightly Vegeta!" Piccolo practically growled at him. "I don't know what it is yet, but there's something very different about him! You'd be a fool to underestimate him! He's strong… Very strong… I know I know him from somewhere… I just can't remember where or how…"
"Spare me your ramblings Namek! You have your own problems to worry about," Vegeta commented, while shooting a suspicious eye over towards Taro. "You worry about your opponent, and I'll worry about mine."
"Okay then, last but not least we have Rain!" the MC announced.
Rain walked over to the box, but it was all jus for show at that time. There was only one spot left on the board, meaning there was only one ball left to draw in the box. Rain reached in, and pulled it out.
"I think it's safe to say that's number 14." The MC waited for the monk to scribble Rain's name on the board, before announcing the completion of the drawing. "Alright everybody! We now have a full board of fighters! The pairings go as follows!"
Our first match pits Piccolo vs. Taro!
Our second match features Vegeta vs. Shin!
Match number three is Videl vs. Spopovich!
Match number four features Gohan vs. Goku!
Bout number five will pit Krillen vs. Hail!
Match number six will be Ryo vs. Yamu!
Bout number seven is Eighteen vs. Rain
And our final bout of the first round will feature Hercule vs. Kabito!
"Okay then fighters, the fighting will commence immediately. Before I escort you to the waiting area, the rules are as follows. You lose if you're knocked out of the ring, give up, fall unconscious, are unable to answer a ten-count, for any other reason you are deemed unable to continue in a match, or if you unfortunately kill your opponent. Okay folks, without any further delay let's begin the twenty-fifth annual Tenkaichi Budokai!"
The MC led the fighters into the waiting room, where they quite conveniently waited as the Tenkaichi promoter warmed up the crowd. Chichi, Bulma, Yamcha, Ox King, Roshi, and the kids all cheered from their seats. Well… Everyone expect Yamcha who was still moping slightly. Even Erasa and Sharpner had bought tickets to view the action, sitting in a section on the other side of the arena from Chichi's group… Of course Sharpner had tricked Erasa into buying his ticket for him. Ryo's friend Takura didn't even bother to take a seat. He found a secluded hallway to stand in that gave him a clear view of the ring, and the entryway where the fighters would walk down to enter the ring.
Various emotions ran through the fighters as the time drew near to begin the tournament. The older veteran fighters stood back patiently, waiting for the fighting to being. The young newcomers looked out at the scene unfolding outside the waiting room in awe, butterflies floating around in their stomachs in anticipation of their first performance on the big stage. Even one of the shorter, formally bald, old veterans was nervous about his return to the ring after all those years. Several others weren't even thinking about fighting, but ulterior motives complete contrary to what the Tenkaichi was all about. All those questions about them would become clear within the next several hours, along with one final pressing question. Who would become the champion of the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai?
End.
-Wow… I'm not sure what it was, but I really got into this chapter, especially the drawing section towards the end. I know that little Gohan and Videl scene right after the qualifying round was a bit sudden, but I literally thought that scene up right then and there.
Chapter Fifteen Preview! I'm not sure exactly how far into the tournament chapter 15 will go yet. At least Piccolo vs. Taro and Vegeta and Shin should be featured. Maybe more depending on how long the those two matches take. I'm trying to cut each chapter off at twenty pages. It makes it easier for me on editing, and prevents me taking three weeks in between postings as what happened with this chapter!
