Reda: (sighs) I don't own DBZ folks, ok? Jeez, I'm bored now.

Goku: Oh come on, Reda. Lighten up.

Vee: Don't even ask me to come, cause I won't

Goku: She didn't say anything!

Reda: I didn't say anything!

Vee: You did now.

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Chapter Twenty: Friendly Tournament

In almost every friendly get together, some kind of competition takes place. Sometimes big events occur, like a football game or race, and friends will bet over which team or player will win, mostly for fun and not for money. In the DBZ world, friends like to fight in a martial arts competition. In Dragonball the World Martial Arts Tournament occurred multiple times, and in DBZ it happened at least three times. It happened in the Cell games, sort of, until Cell blew up the arena and declared "no more rules." It occurred once again when Goku came back just before Buu where Trunks and Goten showed their strength and power at such a young age. Then, in one of the last episodes, the third Budokai occured, showing Pan's greatness for her very young age. (Yeah, I know about Ubuu, but he doesn't have to appear yet!) Each time the tournament rolled around the characters we all love got excited about it. So, what if Gohan got creative, and in his hyper ness (blame the coffee!) made up a small personal competition between family and friends. Now, there's only eight spots, so which lucky souls get to participate?

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"Vegeta, someone's here to see you!" Bulma shouted from the front door.

In the gravity room, Vegeta yelled back at her, "Unless it's someone important leave me alone!"

He went back to training, but Bulma's next words stopped him. "It's Goku! Is he important enough for you?"

Vegeta stopped his training and grunted. With his concentration off of the gravity training he could now sense Kakarot's ki. What did that clown want? Vegeta mopped his sweaty brow as he turned off the gravity mechanism. Then he used a nearby towel to wipe off his sweat as he walked out of the room. Once outside he dropped the wet towel and slowly walked down the hallway to the front door.

"Hey, Vegeta," Kakarot greeted cheerfully as the prince walked in.

Vegeta grunted in reply, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "What do you want, Kakarot? Is there another enemy that I don't know about?"

Kakarot put his hand behind his head in that goofy pose of his, that annoying smile plastered on his face yet again. "Well...not exactly..." Vegeta raised an eyebrow, and Kakarot chuckled still smiling. "Gohan's come up with a way for us to make our own tournament."

That sparked his interest. "Who all's coming?"

Vegeta watched as Kakarot began to think. The prince half smiled as his rival's very rare "thinking" pose surfaced. "Uh...Let's see. Gohan, Goten, Pan, Krillin, Piccolo, if he says yes, me, and you and Trunks if you want to come." He thought for a moment. "That's eight people right?"

Vegeta felt a drop of sweat form on the back of his head, and he scowled when he realized he couldn't remember how many people Kakarot had counted. "How do you expect me to remember? I wasn't the baka counting."

"Yes, that's eight people, Goku," Bulma called from the kitchen.

Vegeta scowled. Baka woman. She always had a way to make an insult he made account for her. Stupid baka woman. He didn't want to insult her like that, and she knew it too!

"Well, then we have enough. Please, Vegeta. Join the tournament," Kakarot pleaded.

The prince of the Saiyans regarded his rival with a curious eye. Something was different about Kakarot. Something of real importance was missing from the usual gleam in his eyes.

"What happened, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked, seeing the unusual gleam as something important to consider a thought.

The Saiyan in the orange gi wavered a moment. "What do you mean, Vegeta?"

"You're hiding something from me, Kakarot. What's missing?" Vegeta stared at his rival, staring him down to a point where he would confess.

Kakarot looked down at the floor. "Well, it's nothing important. I've just lost my...uh..." he gulped, "freedom." He squeaked out the last word still staring at the ground not meeting Vegeta's stare and not returning his gaze to look up at all.

"What!!!!!" Vegeta shouted out, causing one driver outside who stupidly had his window open, to skid across the road and cause a 50,000-car pile up.

Inside the Capsule Corporation, Trunks and Bra had their hands full keeping their enraged father from attacking Kakarot. He wanted to strangle Kakarot. He really was a disgrace to the Saiyan race.

Kakarot kept his head lowered, knowing the disgrace and not wanting to meet his "prince's" eye. Bulma came to his rescue. Otherwise, Vegeta would have broken the grip on him and mercilessly attacked Kakarot in his rampage.

"Vegeta, if what you say is a disgrace, then what were you considered under Frieza's rule?"

The prince scowled, "But that was different, woman! We had no choice! Kakarot here chose to be someone's slave! He is a disgrace!"

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"Yes, he is a disgrace, Vegeta. But you are a much bigger disgrace. To be a slave of Frieza is much worse than to be a slave of me," Psyfoam laughed.

Vee kept hidden in the darkness. He wasn't allowed over here, but he was here anyway. He loved to listen and watch what Psyfoam was doing in his spare time. And today he was enjoying his time with Vegeta and Kakarot.

Vegeta didn't sound much different. Sure, he actually had a family and was actually curious about Kakarot, but not much had changed. It was pretty clear to Vee that his brother and Kakarot were rivals. Well, at least Vegeta had a rival, and he deserved every loss against Kakarot he could get.

Vee stood in the dark, breathing slow so as not to be heard. He didn't want to be caught before this tournament got started. It sounded pretty interesting, and he was curious to see the winner. Too bad he wasn't down there now. Kakarot was having too much fun while he was stuck here doing nothing.

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"So, Piccolo, will you come? If Dad manages to get Vegeta and Trunks, we need someone else for this tournament to work. Besides, you were first on my list anyway."

The green Namek opened his eyes to answer Gohan. "I'll come, if you tell me why we're doing this."

Here Gohan hesitated. "Well...It's for my dad. You see...um..."

Piccolo smiled, seeing Gohan's inward fight. "All right, kid, I'll be there. At least this time we won't have to deal with Hercule."

"Uh...yeah..." Gohan said, gaining back his usual self and giving Piccolo a smile.

"Maybe I'll find out later what this is all about," Piccolo added as he walked to the edge of the Lookout.

Gohan scratched the side of his head with his index finger. "Well...it's not all good."

The Namek shot a glance toward his former student, but Gohan had already jumped off the Lookout. Piccolo followed after him, just a little excited about getting to fight in a Tournament without the annoying Hercule taking credit for Cell and Buu.

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Once they were all gathered in front of the two Son houses, Vegeta finally broke his cool. He was expecting a fight, and he was expecting a fight now. The proud Saiyan Prince waited just long enough for Goku to get in his immediate sight, and then he blasted out his complaint.

"Kakarot! I came here to fight not sit here and watch you people talk!"

Goku held out his hands in front of him to stop Vegeta's rampage. "I know, I know. It's just we forgot to make the tournament ring."

Vegeta stood up and rolled his eyes. "You don't plan very well do you?"

"Uh..." Goku drifted off in a sheepish grin, putting his hand behind his pointy hair.

The Saiyan Prince put up two fingers straight out, pointing toward the forest. "Stand aside!" He shouted, getting everyone's attention and making Krillin, Pan, Chi-Chi and Videl move out of the way.

Krillin barely made clear of the small, but powerful blast heading his way. Goku turned around as a part of the forest became leveled and the nearby trees fell down. When the smoke cleared, a nice version of the tournament ring stood where part of the forest once was.

"Nice aim," Goku commented. Vegeta smirked. "I just hope there weren't any animals in the way, or any of their homes."

Vegeta's smirk turned upside down as he groaned and looked at Goku in disbelief. Then he crossed his arms and walked toward the newly built ring. "If it makes you feel better, I made sure no innocent animals were in my way."

Goku smiled as Vegeta walked off. "Thanks, Vegeta."

The Saiyan Prince stopped and turned his head to see his rival out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his hands to his waist and grinned as Goku's thankful smile caught his gaze. "Let's just fight."

"Sure," Goku nodded, and Vegeta continued on his walk to the arena.

Gohan was next to get the attention, running out of his house with a box in his hand. "Okay, we got the contestants, and the arena. Now all we need is the places and we can battle. This is the fastest way I know of how to do this, and the safest," he added as he held the box out to Pan.

"I've got #7," Pan said, holding out the number for everyone to see.

Gohan was already running up to Krillin, clearly very excited and adrenaline packed. "At least I'm not first this time. #4," the short man said, holding up four fingers.

Trunks and Goten came up next. Trunks pulled out a one, and Goten's card revealed a two.

"Well, at least we get to finally find out who's better," Goten said, trying to agree with this somewhat surprising arrangement.

Goku's draw was next. He reached in and pulled out the paper with #6 written on it. Gohan went up to Piccolo next, who was leaning up against the house wall. The Namek got #8,last match with Pan.

Seeing this, Gohan whispered something to his old master. "Don't be too rough on her, Piccolo."

The Namek looked at Gohan with a kind of shocked look. "I don't think it's Pan you should worry about. She's got just as much stamina as Goten and Trunks. I'd much rather watch her fight one of them than be stuck in the ring with her myself."

Gohan looked at Pan, already stretching and warming up, even though her match was last. He began o agree with Piccolo as he reached into the box. What if she went up against his dad? He looked at his number. What if she went up against him?

"What'd you get, Gohan?" Goku asked, coming up to his son's side.

Gohan gulped, "I'm #5, against you, Dad."

Goku laughed, "That's great. This'll be a real fun tournament."

"It might be fun now, Kakarot, but not when we fight," Vegeta said from the sidelines of the arena.

Gohan was glad the Saiyan rival spoke, almost haven forgotten about the Saiyan Prince. "Oh yeah! Vegeta, you'd be #3. No way to avoid it."

Vegeta shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "Sure, what4ever, it doesn't matter. I shall face Kakarot sooner of later in this little tournament."

Krillin gulped, having realized he was first to fight Vegeta. "Yep, you're probably right about that, Vegeta."

"Mom, you wrote all the numbers down, right?" Gohan asked his mother.

Chi-Chi almost laughed, "Of course I did, Gohan, but I don't see why. It looks like you guys already know who's up against whom. But I'll read them out anyway."

Trunks vs. Goten

Vegeta vs. Krillin

Gohan vs. Goku

Pan vs. Piccolo

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Reda: Vee?

Vee: No!

Reda: But...it's the tournament

Vee: So?

Reda: Please

Vee: No!

Reda: Ok.

Goku: All right...now that that's over for now...

Reda: Reviews please!

Goku: Oh...Reda, I wanted to say that.

Reda: Maybe next time...