All in the Technique
By Moonraker One
2. Late Dragonball
Chapter Two – The Actual Tournament
The initial round was between Kuririn and the Masked One. Kuririn knew, as he walked toward the ring, that his opponent was an arrogant piece of work that did not understand what he was up against. Kuririn normally was quite humble, but this guy, who was almost seven and a half feet of stupid, was weak and pathetic. Even the viewers did not have high expectations for him against a student of Kame-sen'nin; especially after they saw his performance last time at the previous tournament.
"I hope you've got your affairs in order," announced the overly-proud masked fighter. "I'm going to crush you so badly!"
Kuririn shook his head; this did not even warrant a proper response. He simply lowered his stance by an inch, and waited for the gong to tone. When it did, he impulsively flew forward and threw his elbow into Masked One's stomach. The crowd held their breath, then let it out as Masked One fell unconscious in the center of the ring. Victoriously, Kuririn threw an arm in the air, which signaled the crowd's yells. The announcer put the microphone up to his mouth and announced Kuririn's victory, although his input was quite unnecessary.
In the back, Panpoot was throwing fists at an invisible target in preparation for his match. Goku, eager to size up his foe, cheerfully approached his soon-to-be adversary. "Hey," he said. "You're my opponent next, right?"
Panpoot ceased his flurry and looked down at this interference. "Yeah," he indifferently replied. "I'm going to show you why I was victorious in my last two tournaments!"
Just then, the two of them left for the ring to begin their own match against each other. The announcer, who had seen quite a few matches in his career, knew that this was going to be quite a lineup with these two against each other. Goku, who was already in the ring by the time the announcer began telling the crowd about the match, looked up to see Kuririn cheering him on. "You be careful, Goku!" His friend's vote of confidence was good but useless in this battle.
"Begin!" The announcer's yell into his microphone signaled the beginning of the end for Panpoot.
Panpoot, expecting to win easily, threw a punch aimed at Goku's forehead. In the brief instant before Panpoot's fist would have struck, Goku hurled three knee-shots at his gut in rapid succession. The surprised Panpoot took two heavy footsteps forward, then dropped unconsciously on the tiled ring. The announcer raised his microphone and announced a Goku victory for this match. What he said incorrectly, though, was that it was a single strike.
That was NO single shot, Maron thought. That was three gut shots in less than the time it takes a person to blink. This is going to be interesting.
Next up, was one of the biggies of the tournament. This was the point where the real warriors fought each other. Whereas the previous matches were decided in less than an instant, this one between Tenshinhan and Jackie Chun would obviously be drawn out and extreme. The announcer casually drew up his microphone and asked the audience if they were ready for such an intense match. Maron, Goku, and everyone else who was still in this one knew they were not.
Tenshinhan did not wait for the gong; he was half way over to Chun's position by the time it had rung. Jackie instinctively prepared his defense for a major assault, which was to be expected. Tenshinhan, who was expecting to end this easily, was quite astonished when an old man caught his knee attack in midair and delivered a punch then a straight side kick directly to Ten's chest. Tenshinhan then threw a rapid kick to Jackie's head which actually caught its target, staggering the old man temporarily. Chun followed this up with a fake to the head then a knee to the gut followed by a sweep, which missed.
"You're quite good for an old man," Ten said in response to the counterattack. "I wasn't expecting this."
"You'd be far better if you weren't evil," Chun announced.
Tenshinhan threw the attack that would become one of his greatest: the Taiyo-ken. This attack blinded almost everyone who wasn't expecting a sudden burst of light, which was just about everyone. Jackie threw a punch blindly which missed, but was responded to by knee to the back of his head. He was thrown forward a bit, but got up and delivered a powerful kick straight to Ten's head.
Both of them knew that this match was not really going anywhere because both of them were too equal. Jackie, who was not in this for the money, decided that he was no longer needed, and so, jumped out of the ring by his own choice. Of all the people there, only Maron and her master Hebi-sen'nin knew the reasoning behind his decision to lose the match on purpose.
But, as they all got going in their proper places, they all knew that this next one was a doosie. This was the one that would show, at least partially, what this new girl at the tournament was all about. Chaozu, who was preparing for his match up, walked up to Maron with the intent of learning some of her fighting style. He was psychic, so he was going to try and read her mind to learn her strategy. He began a conversation to distract her.
"Um, Hello," he said. "I hope you do well in your fight against me!"
Maron, who was leaning against the wall, looked down at the doll-like fighter, and then telepathically said, I know what you are trying to do. GET OUT OF MY MIND OR I'LL KILL YOU!
Chaozu blinked and walked away. It was time for him to go to the ring anyway. Maron, who was preparing herself mentally and physically, tilted her head to the left then right, and began walking towards her first major match of the Tenkai. Chaozu, who had rolled through his matches easily, was now beginning to let the ease of his previous lineups get to him; he was assured, by his own volition, of his victory. Maron, who was a whole three feet taller than him, decided to give him a warning.
"Chaozu," she said, loud enough to have everyone hear, "I know you're weaker then me. I'd advise you to surrender."
Tsuru-sen'nin looked over from the crowd. "HE'LL NEVER SURRENDER!"
Maron looked over, shot him a look, and then shook her head. She knew what she was capable of. The announcer drew his mic, announced the match, and then the action began. It was Chaozu that tried for the first move. Needless to say, it was quite futile.
And it was also quite interesting. He threw forward his palms in attempt to paralyze her with his telekinesis. It seemed to be working, so he went to deliver a kick to her forehead, which hit its target, sending her down to the floor. When she got back up, he paralyzed her again, and once again delivered a kick. This time, however, she caught his foot in midair.
What? Chaozu thought. How could she not be paralyzed for real?
She smiled a menacing smile. I'll tell you, she replied telepathically. I'm far too powerful to be petrified by such a weak display of telekinesis!
She threw in his direction a standing sidekick that sent him out of the ring into the far wall, giving her the victory by a ring-out. Tsuru-sen'nin blinked; he was not expecting one of his best pupils to be defeated by a female. Goku and Kuririn were discussing how each one of them thought they would handle this new threat, which no one had seen before this tournament. Goku, a great warrior who normally knew how to handle strong opponents quite well, knew that even he would have quite a bit of trouble with this one. As they were talking, and Maron was proceeding back into the locker room, the announcer reminded them both of what they both were dreading; they'd have to fight each other next.
Goku was not sure how much his partner had improved since the last tournament, but he was assured that he would more than likely have the advantage. Kuririn, however, knew clear to his heart that he would be defeated in the first few minutes. What could he possibly do to even the odds?