Disclaimer: Once again, I OWN NOTHING!!!!!
A/N: I'm back! Did ya miss me? With all of the holiday stuff and shopping and family parties, I haven't had a whole lot of time to write. Plus I've had a little bit of writer's block. *shrill scream is heard in the back round* It was
very scary. But I got off my butt and started this. It's just a little part in the beginning of the tournament to tide you guys over until I get started on the final battles.
Thank you dlgsprincess105, for you are the ONLY person who gave me some clue as to what happened. I'm going on what you gave me, so I hope I get it right. I may be excluding some parts of the tournament anyway just to save time, though.
On with chapter 9.
{} = telepathy
() = me butting in
* = written sound
~*~ = scene change
[] = new scene
= time warp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep *SMASH*
Colleen brought her hand off the pile of smashed metal pieces on her dresser that used to be an alarm. She rolled over on the twin bed so she was on her back and she kicked the white bed spread off, her loose gray sweatpants flying around her
ankles. She brought her hands above her head and arched her back off the bed stretching her back muscles, her white T-shirt rising over her belly-button. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She yawned and rubbed her eyes
as she walked toward the window. She opened the dark red curtain and was met by the sight of a crescent moon and stars.
'I cannot wait until I can sleep in until 5 a.m.. getting up at 3 o'clock in the morning is just cruel.' She thought groggily. For the past month Piccolo had gotten her up at 3 a.m. to train, instead of the usual 5 a.m..
She looked out the window down into the back yard of C.C.. Piccolo was already doing push-ups. She yawned again and leaned her elbows on the windowsill, resting her head in her left hand.
{You don't have to train today, you know.} Colleen thought.
Piccolo looked up to the window where Colleen was looking out at him. {I know.}
Colleen's brows came down in a frown. {Okay, let me rephrase that. You _shouldn't_ be training today. You'll tire out and won't be at full potential for the tournament.}
{I know what I'm doing.} He stood up and faced her. He folded his arms over his chest and smirked. {You shouldn't be so worried about me and start worrying about your hair. You'll scare more people than I will.}
{Oh, ha ha. Very funny. You're a real hoot, Pic.} She rolled her eyes, stood up and closed the curtains.
Piccolo chuckled. He loved annoying her. She was so cute when she was aggravated.
Piccolo slapped his hand over his face and mentally kicked himself for thinking such a thing. What was wrong with him? Ever since Colleen made them stay in this accursed place he'd been thinking crazy things like how pretty her eyes were and
how much he loved her company. It was maddening! He shouldn't feel like this. He shouldn't _be able_ to feel like this!
'I'll feel a lot better once I get to the tournament. Just a few more hours.' He told himself. He sat down in a lotus position and started meditating.
Colleen looked out the large sliding glass door in the kitchen out at Piccolo. She leaned against the door frame and sighed. Piccolo had been avoiding her all month and she had no idea why. Had it been the fight?
"Nah. He wouldn't keep a grudge over that." She said. She sighed again.
'In any case,' she thought. 'He can't avoid me at the tournament.' She smiled. "I'm actually going tot fight in _the_ Word Martial Arts Tournament! I just hope I'm not royally screwing over their entire universe by entering this thing.
I've got a feeling I've already thrown enough out of whack to totally change some things around here."
She walked away from the door and headed for the stove. She turned the stove light on and took some bread out of the bread box and stuck it in the toaster. Shuffling her bare feet on the tiled floor, Colleen sat in a chair and laid her
head on her crossed arms on the table.
Piccolo opened the glass door, stepped in the kitchen and took his shirt off. He closed the door and wiped the sweat off his face using his gi top. He turned toward the refrigerator to get some water, but stopped when he saw Colleen.
She looked so peaceful and angel-like sleeping there.
'Stop it!!' He yelled in his head. He walked over to the frige and threw the door open. He grabbed a bottle of water out and turned around to go back outside.
"Mmmm......Piccolo?" Colleen mumbled.
He stopped and turned around to face Colleen yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked.
"Decided I'd take your advice of taking it easy until the tournament. And I was thirsty." He answered holding the bottle up.
"You actually _listened_ to me without question? It's a miracle!" she chuckled and laid her head on her hand.
"Yea, yea. Just don't get used to it." Piccolo said and took a drink of water and sat down across the table. He leaned to one side looking over Colleen's shoulder, quirked an eyeridge and smirked.
"What?" Colleen asked confused.
"I may not be very literate on how the human home is supposed to work, but I'm pretty sure the stove shouldn't be smoking and on fire."
"Oh crap!" Colleen jumped out of her seat and ran to the stove. The toaster had fallen over and was now nicely billowing smoke from the burnt pieces of bread. She picked up the toaster and tossed it from hand to hand whispering 'ow,ow',
for it was quite hot. She threw the toaster in the sink and began to blow on her hands.
"You'd think that getting by getting hit by ki blasts all the time, burns wouldn't hurt as much." She said and started sucking on the burn marks on her hands. Piccolo smirked.
"Well," Colleen said as she sat down next to Piccolo. "Breakfast is shot, cause I don't feel like cooking. I'll let Bulma do it when she gets up. Unless of course if you want to make me something." She then started to giggle, then chuckle
loudly, then she went into an all out belly laugh.
Piccolo frowned. "What's so funny?"
Colleen rubbed a tear off one of her eyes. "I'm just....hehe....imagining...you....hahaha......trying to cook." She said between giggles.
"What says I can't?" Piccolo said defiantly, folding his arms over his muscled chest. (Oo la la ^_^)
Colleen looked at him and burst out laughing seeing the seriousness in his face. She laughed so hard she fell out of her chair and laid on the floor holding her stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
Bulma walked into the kitchen in a pair of shorts and a white tank top with a teddy bear on it. She had her hair in a messy pony tail. She rubbed her eyes.
"*yawn* What's going on here?" she asked.
Colleen got up off the floor, still giggling, and walked over to Bulma. "Piccolo is going to make us breakfast." She said, trying to keep a straight face.
Bulma looked from Piccolo to Colleen, and back to Piccolo again. The corners of her mouth started to turn up and she began to chuckle. Then both she and Colleen laughed out loud holding their sides.
Piccolo looked less than amused. He was one of the most powerful beings on the planet, and he was being laughed at by two little human teenage females. They didn't believe he could do this trivial housewife act. He could do anything, and he'd prove it.
He walked up to the girls, now only giggling a little. "If you two would be kind enough to leave, I'll make you something."
The girls stopped giggling and just stared at him.
"Uh, Pic," Colleen started. "We weren't serious, you know. You don't have to."
"No, no. Let's let him try. I'd like to see the results. Or lack there of." Bulma said. She took Colleen by the arm and they walked out of the kitchen into the living room.
"Call us when you're done, Mr. Chef." Bulma called from the living room. More giggling could be heard from down the hall.
Piccolo 'hmphed' and walked over to the stove. He opened a cook book on the counter and began reading. He decided to try pancakes. He got the ingredients out and proper cooking utensils.
"Now then." He said. "If Bulma and Colleen can do this, it can't be _that_ hard. Let's see here." He looked in the book and began to read and throw ingredients into a bowl.
~*~*~[living room]~*~*~
"It's been 20 minutes and no explosions or smoke. That's a good sign." Bulma said flipping through a magazine.
"Still doesn't mean the kitchen's not in a mess." Colleen replied. She was on the couch next to Bulma with her legs pulled up and her upper body resting on the arm rest. She had the remote in her hand and was flipping through the channels.
Commercial after commercial after commercial. She flipped through a bunch of channels, then went back a channel at a familiar face on the screen.
"Today on Oprah we will be talking about the tragedies inflicted by the infamous Piccolo and the people who survived these horrific encounters."
'They have Oprah here?' Colleen thought. She turned the volume up as a red-haired woman in awful green clad came out and started talking about her horrible encounter with the 'demon'.
"......Then he came towards out house. My children and I were in a closet when an explosion blew the roof off our house. I grabbed the baby and my daughter and headed out the back, hoping he wouldn't see us. But, he did." The woman took
a shaky breath and Oprah took her hand.
"What's this?" Bulma asked putting her magazine down on the coffee table.
"Shhh!" Colleen hissed and waved her hand to keep Bulma quiet.
"He came towards us." The woman on screen said. "One of our neighbors, a man, came up to him and tried to fight him. The demon lifted his arm and a blinding light came out of his hand and hit the man. The light shone off his face. Oh,
I'll never forget that evil smile." She paused and took another breath. "When the light disappeared, all that was left of the man was ashes."
The crowd gasped and started mumbling amongst themselves. The camera went into a close-up of Oprah's face. "We'll be right back to hear the ending of that terrifying story when we come back." She said, and it went to commercial.
Colleen lifted the remote and turned the TV off.
"Wow." Bulma said. "You live with a guy a month and forget how bad he really is."
"Was." Colleen corrected her.
Bulma looked over to Colleen. "Yea. Any guy who'll cook us breakfast can't be all bad." Bulma chuckled. Colleen smiled.
"Food's done!" Piccolo yelled from the kitchen.
"Finally! I'm starving!" Colleen yelled back to him. The girls got off the couch and headed for the kitchen.
"_Dun_ _dun_ da _dun_, _dun_ _dun_ _dun_ _dun_ _dun_ _da_ _dun_." Bulma whispered. They both giggled.
They stepped into the kitchen and were met with the smell of pancakes.
'Smells edible.' Colleen thought.
Piccolo was seated at the table with his arms folded. On the table was two plates of pancakes, two glasses of orange juice, and a bottle of syrup.
'Looks edible.' Bulma thought. The girls sat down in front of their plates.
"Piccolo, could you get me some butter please?" Colleen asked. He got up and walked over to the counter.
Bulma leaned across the table and whispered to Colleen. "You think he'd poison us?" she asked.
Colleen's eyes went from Bulma's face to Piccolo's back, back to Bulma. "Not intentionally." She whispered back.
They both pulled apart as Piccolo came back from the counter with the butter in his hand. "Well," he said as he put the butter down on the table in front of Colleen. "Somebody try it."
Bulma and Colleen both looked at their food, then each other. Colleen mouthed a 'you try it', and Bulma mouthed a 'no, you'. So Colleen picked up her knife, got some butter and spread it on her pancakes. She squeezed the syrup on
top of them and cut a piece. She hesitantly put the piece of food in her mouth and began to chew. Bulma and Piccolo both looked at her while she chewed it and swallowed.
"You know, Piccolo." She said. "For someone who doesn't eat, you aren't a bad cook." Bulma dove into her plate. She'd missed dinner the night before and was very hungry.
"Glad you like it." Piccolo said. "I'm going outside, if anyone cares."
"Don't......train." Colleen said between chews. But Piccolo had already gone out the door.
"Well," Bulma said as she stood up and put her plate in the sink. "Only about 4 hours till the sign-up. We better get ready. What are you going to wear?" She leaned against the counter and twirled a loose strand of her bangs that
had fallen over her eyes.
Colleen shrugged and walked over to the sink with her plate. "Don't know. I was just ganna get Pic to materialize something for me."
Bulma stopped twirling her hair. "Not one of those hideous gi's?!" She made a disgusted face and pointed her finger at her mouth and stuck out her tongue.
"Nah. They're too baggy to really fight in, in my opinion. They're okay to spar, but not to all out fight." Colleen walked toward the glass sliding door leading outside. She sighed heavily and leaned her forehead against the glass.
Bulma hopped up on the counter and smirked. Colleen was looking out staring at Piccolo meditate. Bulma just couldn't help but to smile whenever one of them looked at the other. She knew what was going on, even if they didn't. She
was going to have so much fun setting them up and then spying on them.
'By the end of the month I'll have them together and happy.' She thought. She got down off the counter and left the kitchen to her bedroom upstairs to change.
Colleen opened the door and stepped out onto the patio. The cement was cold under her bare feet and it gave her goose bumps. She walked out onto the dew kissed grass toward Piccolo and took up a lotus position next to him.
{Only 4 hours before we leave. You excited?} Colleen said telepathically.
Piccolo opened his left eye to look at her and closed it again. {A little.}
Colleen's eyebrows went up. {Only a little? You're about to fight Son Goku, your arch rival since.....forever, and you're only a _little_ excited?}
{I have to keep focused.} he answered.
{My stomach is doing flip-flops I'm so nervous. I swear the whole flippin' three ring circus is in there, and the elephants have gotten loose.} Piccolo couldn't help but laugh a little.
{I mean, I know I won't win, but it's just the thrill of going. I have no idea how you can be so calm.}
Piccolo's face suddenly hardened. {Do you think I will win?} he asked.
Colleen was a bit taken back by his question. What should she say? She already knew who was going to win. She'd just have to give a win-loose answer.
"I have faith in you." She said aloud. She opened her eyes and looked at Piccolo sideways. He was looking back at her, smiling. She probably had no clue how much that meant to him. She was the only one he counted on, and
she was the only one he needed.
He stood up and faced her. "You need a new uniform. Stand up, I'll make you another gi."
Colleen did as she was told and stood in front of him. Piccolo extended his arm and placed his hand on her head.
"Wait." Colleen said. "I don't want to wear the red gi. Not the pants any ways."
Piccolo sighed. "Well, your Highness, what would you like." He said annoyed.
"I'll keep the gi shirt, but I want to wear shorts. They have to be tight, but easy to move in. Um...make them black. And I can borrow some boots from Bulma."
"You seem to have the dilution I'm your personal tailor, Colleen." He frowned.
She smiled sweetly. "Well, that's because you are P-chan."
"Yea, yea." A gold light surrounded Colleen, and in a split second she was dressed in a red tank top and black shorts. She did a practice round-house kick to test her new clothes out.
"Perfect. Thanks Pic. You're so sweet!" she reached up and pinched his cheek.
"Ugh, off all the adjectives in the human language to describe me, you just had to pick sweet." He grimaced.
"Well that's because you are. Sweet as apple pie." She smiled.
"Don't make me throw up." Piccolo said. Colleen laughed.
They both looked into each other's eyes and just stood there. Colleen was no longer pinching Piccolo's cheek, but her hand was just resting on it. She was lost in his dark, deep onyx eyes. If time would stand still, she could stare into
those eyes forever. She loved him so much.
Piccolo couldn't pull his gaze from those icy-blue eyes of hers. He wanted to do something, but didn't know what. This feeling he had for her, it was so different from anything he'd ever felt before. It scared him, but he
didn't want it to go away.
"Guys! The plane's ready! Haul butt!" Bulma yelled from the kitchen. She was wearing a white T-shirt, a blue mini skirt, and sneakers.
Colleen and Piccolo were snapped out of their daze. They both blinked and Colleen took her hand off of Piccolo's face.
"Coming!" Colleen yelled back and ran over to Bulma. She put both hands in front of her face in a praying position and faced Bulma. "Bulma-I-need-to-borrow-your-good-black-boots-for-the-tournament-okay-thanks-bye!" she
said very quickly and ran past Bulma into the house.
Bulma immediately turned around and ran after her yelling. "WAIT JUST A MINUTE!! Those were a Christmas present from Yamcha, you can't wear them to FIGHT IN!! Colleen?! COLLEEN, DO YOU HEAR ME??!!"
Bulma's yelling could be heard throughout the house and into the yard. Piccolo shook his head and walked inside were, from the sounds of it, Colleen and Bulma were wrestling upstairs. Two of the craziest women in the world,
and he lived with them.
He walked outside into the front yard where a big yellow plane was. He stepped inside the back into the large cargo holding area.
"Oh Bulma, you're back. Hey I bet those two will be a while so we can.......you're not Bulma." Yamcha said as he came into the back from the cockpit.
Piccolo sneered at him. "You figure that out all by yourself?"
"Look pal," Yamcha sighed. "I don't like you, you don't like me. But today we have to put up with each other, if only for the 2 and a half hour plane ride. So, do we have a truce until the tournament?" Yamcha extended his
hand to shake on the agreement.
Piccolo stared at his hand, turned around and sat on the floor. "Just stay away from me and we'll be fine, _pal_."
Both men looked towards the back entrance as Bulma stomped into the plane mumbling angrily. Colleen was soon to follow, wearing the knee high black boots she had "borrowed" from Bulma.
Colleen sat down next to Piccolo with a big grin on her face. "I always get what I want." She said happily.
"Just remember that they belong to ME! You _will_ return them in perfect condition after the tournament, or pay for their damage." Bulma yelled from the front of the plane.
"Don't worry your pretty little head off, Bulma." Colleen answered back. She finally noticed Yamcha standing in a corner. "Oh, hi Yamcha." She said and waved.
"Hi." He said flatly.
Bulma walked out of the cockpit then. "Now we have some ground rules for this whole thing. Colleen, care to start out?"
"I'd be delighted." She answered, stood up and walked next to Bulma. "Rule number one: You two boys will behave in an orderly manor whilst on this plane and at the tournament when not competing."
"Rule number two," Bulma said. "If you two should get into a situation where you are arguing or, Heaven help you, fighting, we will get complete control over you, your actions, your speech, and anything else we please."
"Rule number three," Colleen started again. "Should you break rules one and/or two, there will be Hell to pay."
"You boys think these rules fair?" Bulma asked.
Yamcha walked up to the two girls waving his hands and bowing his head. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. I have a problem with rule number two. You two....._you two_.....will get complete and total control over us, me and Piccolo, of we
act up in any way you two don't like? I don't like the sound of that."
"For once, I agree with the human." Piccolo said, standing up. "Change rule number two."
"Okay, okay." Bulma said.
"We'll only take control of you if you act totally out of control. You know, if homicidal attempts arise. Sound fair now?" Colleen said.
"I guess." Yamcha said. "Piccolo?"
Piccolo shrugged. "Whatever."
"All righty then. Let's go. We have about two hours to get there in time to sign up." Bulma said and went to the pilots seat.
Colleen sat down next to Piccolo again who'd taken up a meditation position. The engine roared and the plane lifted off the ground into the sky.
[World Martial Arts Tournament]
People were running around everywhere. There were food stands and gift carts everywhere you looked. Little kids pulling on their mothers or riding their father's shoulders were at every turn. It all had an exciting air
around it. And there were signs everywhere. In Japanese.
Colleen tapped Piccolo on the shoulder. He leaned down to her level as she whispered in his ear. "You can read all of the signs, right?"
"Of course I can." He said and looked at her confused.
"Good. Cause I can't." She said.
The group of fighters, with the exception of Bulma, walked up to the registration desk in front of an elaborate temple/stadium. Yamcha signed up and walked over to where Bulma was waiting. At the desk was an old man of
about 70. Colleen stepped up to his desk. He didn't pay any attention to her until she snapped her fingers in front of his face.
"What? Huh? Oh, I'm sorry deary. Just dozed off. You do that when you get old. So, what can I do for you?" he asked in a raspy old-man voice.
"I'm here to sign up to compete in the tournament." she said.
"Really? A young slip of a thing like you? Okay, but I think you should reconsider. That man before you looked pretty tough and he's not the biggest I've seen." He said, adjusting his glasses.
Colleen smiled and chuckled. "I think I'll be all right."
"Okay then, what's your name?" he asked.
"Colleen." She answered.
"Haylene." The old man said as he wrote it on the registration form.
"No, it's _Colleen_." She corrected him.
"Oh, terribly sorry. My ears aren't what they used to be." He laughed and scribbled out what he previously wrote down. "So K-a-l-e-n-e." He spelled out.
"No, it's C-o-l-l-e-e-n. Colleen." Colleen said in an annoyed voice.
"All right then. Age?"
"Fourteen."
{Fourteen? I thought you were thirteen.} Piccolo asked her telepathically.
{No. My birthday was last month. Didn't I tell you?} She thought back.
{No.}
{Oh, well, I'm fourteen! There, now you know.}
"Miss?" the old man asked. "I don't think I should allow you in the competition."
"What?! Why not?" she asked angry and surprised.
"You're only fourteen. We usually don't allow women under 17 to compete."
"What's the minimum age for men?" she asked.
"Twelve."
"Ha! I knew it!" she said and banged her hand on the table. "This is sexism, and I demand that you let me fight! Women can fight just as good as men!" she fumed.
"Well," the old man said. "Since you're such a firecracker, I'll let you in."
Colleen folded her arms and smirked in triumph. "Thank you."
The old man handed her a piece of paper. "Just go down that way," he said and pointed to his right. "And hand this to the man at the gate. He'll let you in and that will be where the Elimination Rounds will be held."
Colleen took the piece of paper and stepped to the side, letting Piccolo come into view.
The old man took out a new registration form. "And what can I do for..." he looked up and was met with only a chest. He looked up, way up, and finally saw Piccolo's face. "You! My, what are they feeding you young
people these days? I don't think I have to ask if you'll be competing." He said and laughed, then coughed a little. "What's your name?"
"MaJunior." Piccolo replied.
{MaJunior?} Colleen asked.
{So people won't know who I am.} he answered.
{Oh, yea. That's right.}
The man scribbled it down on the piece of paper. "Age?"
"Sixteen."
"You're kidding! You look a lot older than you are, sonny. I would've guessed you'd be somewhere in your twenties." He said. Piccolo didn't reply, just stared at the old man.
The old man turned to Colleen. "Ain't much of a talker, is he?"
Colleen giggled a little. "Only when he wants to, which isn't often."
"Here ya go." The man said, handing the form to Piccolo. "Follow her, give this to the man at the gate, yada yada."
Piccolo took the form and walked away, saying not even a 'thank you'. He walked past Colleen in the direction the man had directed them in. Colleen ran up to him and walked by his side.
"You could have at least thanked him. He was pretty nice." Colleen said.
"You think he would've been nice if he knew who I really am?" Piccolo asked staring straight ahead.
Colleen pinched the bridge of her nose. "Really Pic, you are _way_ too jaded."
"And you naive." He answered back coldly.
She looked at him surprised. She ran in front of him with her arms crossed and stopped him in his tracks. "Okay, what did I do?"
Piccolo looked at her with confusion. "Nothing. Why would you think you've done something?"
"Because you're being such a jerk. You've been acting like this towards me for a month now, and I think I have the right to know why." She took her hands down and put them at her sides. "Is it something I did,
said, didn't do, didn't say? You need to give me some clues here."
"*sigh* It's complicated. I swear I didn't mean to treat you that way. I'm sorry." He said.
Colleen smiled. "I'll forgive you. Just no more jerkiness, okay?"
"Okay." He replied.
"Scouts honor?"
Piccolo quirked an eyeridge. "What?"
Colleen face faulted and sweat dropped. "Oh, never mind. Come on." She said and grabbed Piccolo's arm.
They reached the back entrance to the temple where a large man with a turban and a beard was standing with a sword wrapped around his belt. He was big, very big. He stepped in front of Piccolo and Colleen as they tried to enter.
"And you want?" he asked in a low, harsh voice.
"We are competing." Piccolo answered.
The man eyed the two skeptically. "Registration forms." He said as a demand, not a question. They each handed the man their forms. He looked each one over. "Fine." He said and stepped aside.
Piccolo and Colleen walked through the open door. At least Piccolo got through. Colleen was stopped before she got a chance to step inside.
"Not you little girl." The man said as he grabbed her arm.
"Why not?" She asked, not struggling.
"Two reasons. One, you're only fourteen. Two, you're a girl. I am responsible for any competitor who comes through this gate. I do not need your blood all over the floor."
This made Colleen furious, but she didn't struggle. "Is everyone here a sexist moron? The man at the Registration desk said I could compete, and compete I will. Now get your hands off me."
The man gave no reply, he just simply turned her around and threw her into the street.
She looked into the door trying to spot Piccolo. "Piccolo?" She said. But he was nowhere in sight.
'He ditched me!!' she thought furiously. 'When I get my hands on him...'
But her thought was interrupted by the guards yelling. Piccolo had picked him up by the shoulders to his height and was looking very not nicely into his face.
"Let. Her. In." Piccolo said dangerously.
"Fine!" The man said frantically. Piccolo released him and Colleen walked by his side into the temple.
"Don't blame me for her getting killed!" The man yelled back.
"Thanks. For a minute there, I thought you had bailed on me." Colleen said.
The two walked down a long hall with paintings, stools with vases on them, and a statue of a gargoyle here and there. The stone was corroded and old, but beautifully carved with dragons, samurai and damsels in
distress. At the end of the hall was a large wooden door with purple curtains hanging over it. Colleen opened the door and was met with the sight of fighters everywhere.
Piccolo walked into the room first with Colleen following. There were so many different types of fighters in every corner, with many different colors. It was mesmerizing to Colleen. It was very different to
see everything up close and personal than watch it on TV.
There were karate experts of every belt, color and master. Sumo wrestlers with two sizes; big and bigger. There were boxers, kick boxers, wrestlers, monks, fighters of every martial arts style, and average old
Joe's who came just to punch people.
There were also many different species who had come. Dinosaur people, cat people, dog people, wolf people, rabbit people, even a bug person or two. The whole room was filled with anticipation of the days events.
And, of course with all the men, testosterone was all around and plentiful.
Piccolo went over by the wall and sat in a lotus position directly behind where Colleen was standing. She was about to sit next to him when she heard her name being called over the crowd.
"Colleen! Over here!" A voice yelled from across the room. A man pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Colleen, grinning like no tomorrow.
"Goku!" Colleen jumped up and hugged him tightly around the neck. This got Goku a death glare from a certain green fellow. "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"
Goku put Colleen down. "Great! And you?"
"Pretty good. Where is everybody?" she asked and started to look around.
"Everybody? Well, Yamcha and some other friends of ours are over there." He said and pointed behind him across the room.
"Hey Goku, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend besides ChiChi. You've been holding out on us my friend." A small bald man said.
"She's not my girlfriend, Krillin." Goku said.
"So that means she's up for grabs." Krillin said and faced Colleen. "Hello there, my name's Krillin. What's yours?" he said and kissed Colleen's hand.
"Colleen. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"As it is to meet you. So, you here alone?" he asked.
Piccolo stood up then with his arms folded. "She is with me."
Krillin's face turned a pale shade of white, then a pretty shade of blue. "O-o-h. I d-didn't real-lize, I mean I- I didn't-t kn-now-"
"Piccolo won't bite you, you know." Colleen said amused.
"Oh yea, how do you know?" Krillin asked nervously.
"I've been living with him for six months. He's a real kitten once you get to know him."
"Kitten. Yea. Sure. Whatever you say. I'll be way over there if anyone needs me." And before you could say scardey-cat, he was gone. Only a little shadowy puff of dust in his outline was standing where he once was.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!!" A loud voice came over the intercom. "WILL EVERYONE PLEASE COME TO THE WEST SIDE OF THE ROOM FOR NUMBER ASSIGHNMENTS. THAT IS ALL."
Everyone in the room crowded around a man in a business suit with yellow hair and sunglasses. He was standing on a podium with a clipboard in his hand.
Colleen and Piccolo were in the back, and Colleen was jumping up and down trying to see something. She was probably the shortest person there except for Krillin.
"What are you doing?" Piccolo asked staring at her acting like a jackrabbit.
"I can't see." She whined. "Can I sit on your shoulder pad?" Piccolo nodded in approval and she hopped up on his left shoulder pad and sat. "Ah, much better."
"I'll assume that everyone who wants to compete is here and start." The man in the business suit said. "We'll first go over the rules. One: You may not compete without proper registration. Two: Weapons
are not allowed. If you have claws, fangs, spikes, tail, or any other appendage that may be used as a weapon, use of these appendages _is_ permitted. Three: No hitting below the belt. Four: No fighting
in an unfair manor, such as poking your opponent in the eyes. Five: The biggest rule of the competition. NO KILLING! If you kill your opponent, you are disqualified."
'That could be a problem.' Piccolo thought.
"Disobedience of any of these rules will result in disqualification. Do you all understand?"
"YES!" was heard from everyone.
"All right. There are 213 people here, and we've randomly selected and divided, as equally as possible, you into 8 groups. Group One!" And he recited all the names of the people in their groups.
(I am totally guessing here) Goku was in group 5. Yamcha and Tien were in group 2. Chaitzu and Krillin were in group 8. Colleen was in group seven with Yajarobe and Piccolo in group three With ChiChi.
They all were standing in their numbered groups by poles with their numbers on them.
"Now the battling begins!" In all eight rings two fighter faced off. In the ring for group 5, Goku was to fight Tsuramagi. (I didn't get this guys name, so I'm making it up. Don't sue me, k?)
They both got into the ring at opposite ends. Goku recognized this man as one he'd fought before in an Elimination round in the last tournament. The gong rang and Tsuramagi charged Goku with his elbow
extended in front of him yelling a war cry. Goku dodged his elbow and tapped him on the shoulder. Normally this would be a fighter's downfall, but Goku is no normal fighter. The little tap sent Tsuramagi
flying out of the ring and into a wall.
Colleen and Piccolo's groups were next to each other, so they sat a foot apart from each other on the edge of their groups.
'Man this is boring waiting to fight. How can I pass the boredom?' Colleen thought. 'I know!'
"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall! 98 bottle of beer on the wall,"
Piccolo looked over to Colleen who was singing........heck he didn't know, she was going insane by the looks of it to him! "What...are you doing?" Piccolo asked her.
"Killing the boredom.....96 bottles of beer on the wall, 96 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 95 bottles of beer on the wall! 95 bottles of beer on the wall-"
"Stop it."
"No-95 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 94 bottles of beer on the wall! 94-" Her singing was suddenly stopped by a gag mysteriously materializing over her mouth. She looked over to
Piccolo who was smirking and glared at him.
"Fine." She said once she took the gag off. "I won't sing that."
"Thank you." Piccolo said.
".........I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes............I know a song that gets on
everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes.........I know a song"
"OH WILL YOU _SHUT_ UP_!!" Piccolo yelled. He was right in her face so she had to lean back to avoid being too close.
"Okay, okay. What would you like me to sing?" she asked.
"Colleen, you are this close," he held his index finger and thumb together very close. "This close to getting the crap beaten out of you. I don't want to hear you sing, hum, whistle, or breath a
melodic tune. Got it?" he asked and forcefully smiled.
"Got it." She said.
"Okay." Piccolo sighed and sat back down again.
"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town."
"Oh Kami." Piccolo groaned and slumped down.
"MaJunior and Marcus." A small monk man said by the ring.
"Yes. I get to hurt something." Piccolo said as he stood up.
In the ring was a man with black hair and stubble on his chin. He was wearing blue silk boxer-type shorts and boxing gloves. Piccolo stepped into the ring and stood with his arms crossed.
The gong sounded and the boxing man started to hop from one foot to the next around Piccolo.
"Come on, man. Fight me!" he said.
Piccolo didn't say anything, but reached out his arm and caught the boxers head in a choke hold. The poor boxer's oxygen was going fast as he squirmed trying futilely to escape Piccolo's grasp. Another
fighter ran to the man in the suit and whispered in his ear.
"Hey! You can't do that!" He yelled and ran over to the ring. "Release him at once!" he said through the ropes. "You've already won, let him go."
Piccolo let the now unconscious man go. He flopped onto the floor on his face. Piccolo walked out of the ring and took his position next to Colleen again, who'd stopped singing long enough to watch his
fight. Her mouth was open and she was staring at Piccolo, her eyes following him from the ring to his seat next to her.
"You could've killed him!" she said.
"Yes. But I didn't." He said back smirking.
Colleen looked at him dumfounded. "What?" he asked, seeing her look.
"I.....I have to fight now." She said and got up. Piccolo watched her stand and walk to her ring. When she was climbing the ropes, she looked back at him with worry and...
'Fear?' Piccolo thought. 'Why is she looking at me that way? It was just a fight.'
[in a room by the gate to the ring]
"Okay, we have out eight finalists!" The man in the suit said. "Please say 'here' when I call your name. Goku."
"Here."
"Krillin."
"Here."
"Colleen."
"Present."
"Princess ChiChi."
"I'm here."
"Yamcha."
"Here."
"MaJunior."
"Yea."
"Tien."
"Here."
"Shen."
"Here."
"All right then, let's begin. First up, Colleen and Tien." (I'm really going to be switching some of the fighters around, so don't be mad at me, please.)
"Awesome." Colleen said and punched her right fist into her open left palm.
All the fighters walked into a back stage area near the ring. The crowd was noisily talking and moving around. Colleen suddenly felt her stomach doing flip-flops
again. She hated performing in front
of people, it always made her really nervous. She started to bite her nails and tap her foot as she looked out onto the crowd. She turned her head around at
the feel of someone's hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry." Goku said. "You'll do fine."
She turned her head back out to the masses of people. "There are just so many people. I hate going in front of crowds."
"You don't really notice them after you start fighting." Goku began to laugh and grin widely. "You could always just imagine everyone out there in their underwear!"
"Thanks but no thanks." Colleen chuckled.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Welcome to the World Martial Arts Tournament!" the announcer in the suit yelled. The crowd began to cheer loudly. Like
a wave of thunder their voices passed over the stadium.
"For our first match we have the previous champion, Tien!"(I'm assuming that the last tournament is the one Tien won.) The crowd again went into an uproar, and
Tien walked into the ring with his arms folded.
"His competitor is a young, but spunky girl, Colleen!" Small cheers could be heard, but mostly the crowd was silent. When Colleen stepped into the ring, people started to mumble.
"Hey! She's just a kid! Get her out of the ring!" A man yelled somewhere in the crowd behind her. The rest of the crowd started booing and some threw straws and paper cups at the ring.
'Oh, I'm feeling the love in this place.' Colleen thought sarcastically.
"Shut up, jerk!" a female voice shouted. Colleen turned around and there was a ticked off Bulma beating a guy in the head with her purse. Standing by her was
Yajerobe, who'd gotten beaten by some karate guy, Oolong, Puar, and Master Roshi.
"Now, you all know the rules." The announcer said. "Take your positions!"
Both Tien and Colleen crouched down into fighting positions. They were staring at each other with scowls on their faces. Piccolo stepped up behind the stone door-like
structure leading out to the ring.(What is that??) This match wouldn't be all that exciting. He knew she'd wipe the floor with that wimp.
"BEGIN!!"
Colleen and Tien both lunged at each other and looked as if they'd collide. As Tien punched Colleen in the face, she suddenly disappeared. She reappeared behind him
and kicked him in the side. Tien went flying for the edge of the ring, and barely saved himself by floating just inches from the ground. He flew up high in the sky
and aimed a hand at Colleen's head below.
"I don't know who to root for." Bulma said.
"I'm rootin' for Tien. That way when she's hurt, I can rescue her." Oolong said with a perverted smile on his face.
"Ugh, you are the most disgusting man on the planet, Oolong." Bulma sneered.
In Tien's hand a ki ball had formed. He let it go and smirked to himself knowing a little girl would never be able to block that. As the ball raced for Colleen's
head, she just stood there unfazed. When it got within 5 inches of her face, her eyes glowed red and the ki ball stopped in it's tracks. Tien hovered in the air
with a baffled look on his face.
'How did she do that?!' he thought.
"Oh Tien!" Colleen shouted from the ring. The ki ball then changed it's form from a ball to a sharp spike. "I do believe this is yours!" she smirked and the ki
spike shot up at him.
Tien barely escaped the spike of energy as it flew by him in a rocket of light. He turned to the side quickly, but the edge of the spike hit his chest leaving a
long cut across it. Colleen then appeared out of thin air in front of him and punched him hard on the side of the face. Just as he was about to hit the ring from
the impact, Colleen grabbed his foot so he was upside down. He looked up at her and frowned. He brought his hand up quickly and fired a ki blast at her. She
just caught it in her hand and smiled.
"You're gonna have to do a _lot_ better than that, sugar." She said in a southern accent. She closed her fist holding the ki ball and it disintegrated.
"I will!!" Tien shouted and kicked her in the head with his free foot. He did a back flip in the air and faced her. Colleen's head was sideways from the kick.
She slowly turned her head to face him. The side of her mouth that the kick had been blown was red and her bottom lip was cut, blood trickling down her chin.
She smiled and rubbed her jaw. "Now that what I'm talking about." She flew at him with great speed and elbowed him in the gut. He doubled over in pain, spitting
up a little blood. She brought her hands up in a fist over her head and connected it to his back. He went plummeting towards the earth and landed outside of the
ring, a small crater forming where he hit the ground.
Colleen gracefully floated down in the center of the ring with her arms crossed. She would've smirked, but her mouth hurt too much.
The announcer stood there with a blank look on his face and the crowd was deadly silent. He then snapped out of it and ran over to Colleen and lifted her arm.
"The winner!!" He yelled into his microphone. The crowd roared and cheered. Colleen looked over to where Bulma was. She was jumping up and down, and gave Colleen
a thumbs up. She smiled, then winced as her cut made itself known again. She walked out of the ring and over to Piccolo. He was leaning on the wall smirking.
"Nice job. You could've gotten rid of him sooner, though."
Colleen wiped the blood from her chin. "Yea, well. I wanted to have a little fun with him first. I think I've been hanging around you too long."
"Just remember, it gets harder from here." He warned.
"I know." She smirked and took in a sharp breath. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find the first-aid kit. He's not very powerful, but it still hurts when he kicks you in the mouth."
Piccolo laughed quietly as she walked off. He looked over to the other end of the room where Goku was helping Tien into the room and smiled evilly.
'You're next Son Goku.' He thought. 'Nothing can stop me from killing you.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I forgot to include in the disclaimer; I do not own Oprah, those little annoying songs, or a southern accent.
This was my first time writing action, I hope I didn't suck too bad. And I hope I got everything right about scenery and everything so far. Like I said, I've never
seen those episodes before. Thanks again to dlgsprincess105. You're a life saver!
A/N: I'm back! Did ya miss me? With all of the holiday stuff and shopping and family parties, I haven't had a whole lot of time to write. Plus I've had a little bit of writer's block. *shrill scream is heard in the back round* It was
very scary. But I got off my butt and started this. It's just a little part in the beginning of the tournament to tide you guys over until I get started on the final battles.
Thank you dlgsprincess105, for you are the ONLY person who gave me some clue as to what happened. I'm going on what you gave me, so I hope I get it right. I may be excluding some parts of the tournament anyway just to save time, though.
On with chapter 9.
{} = telepathy
() = me butting in
* = written sound
~*~ = scene change
[] = new scene
= time warp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep *SMASH*
Colleen brought her hand off the pile of smashed metal pieces on her dresser that used to be an alarm. She rolled over on the twin bed so she was on her back and she kicked the white bed spread off, her loose gray sweatpants flying around her
ankles. She brought her hands above her head and arched her back off the bed stretching her back muscles, her white T-shirt rising over her belly-button. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She yawned and rubbed her eyes
as she walked toward the window. She opened the dark red curtain and was met by the sight of a crescent moon and stars.
'I cannot wait until I can sleep in until 5 a.m.. getting up at 3 o'clock in the morning is just cruel.' She thought groggily. For the past month Piccolo had gotten her up at 3 a.m. to train, instead of the usual 5 a.m..
She looked out the window down into the back yard of C.C.. Piccolo was already doing push-ups. She yawned again and leaned her elbows on the windowsill, resting her head in her left hand.
{You don't have to train today, you know.} Colleen thought.
Piccolo looked up to the window where Colleen was looking out at him. {I know.}
Colleen's brows came down in a frown. {Okay, let me rephrase that. You _shouldn't_ be training today. You'll tire out and won't be at full potential for the tournament.}
{I know what I'm doing.} He stood up and faced her. He folded his arms over his chest and smirked. {You shouldn't be so worried about me and start worrying about your hair. You'll scare more people than I will.}
{Oh, ha ha. Very funny. You're a real hoot, Pic.} She rolled her eyes, stood up and closed the curtains.
Piccolo chuckled. He loved annoying her. She was so cute when she was aggravated.
Piccolo slapped his hand over his face and mentally kicked himself for thinking such a thing. What was wrong with him? Ever since Colleen made them stay in this accursed place he'd been thinking crazy things like how pretty her eyes were and
how much he loved her company. It was maddening! He shouldn't feel like this. He shouldn't _be able_ to feel like this!
'I'll feel a lot better once I get to the tournament. Just a few more hours.' He told himself. He sat down in a lotus position and started meditating.
Colleen looked out the large sliding glass door in the kitchen out at Piccolo. She leaned against the door frame and sighed. Piccolo had been avoiding her all month and she had no idea why. Had it been the fight?
"Nah. He wouldn't keep a grudge over that." She said. She sighed again.
'In any case,' she thought. 'He can't avoid me at the tournament.' She smiled. "I'm actually going tot fight in _the_ Word Martial Arts Tournament! I just hope I'm not royally screwing over their entire universe by entering this thing.
I've got a feeling I've already thrown enough out of whack to totally change some things around here."
She walked away from the door and headed for the stove. She turned the stove light on and took some bread out of the bread box and stuck it in the toaster. Shuffling her bare feet on the tiled floor, Colleen sat in a chair and laid her
head on her crossed arms on the table.
Piccolo opened the glass door, stepped in the kitchen and took his shirt off. He closed the door and wiped the sweat off his face using his gi top. He turned toward the refrigerator to get some water, but stopped when he saw Colleen.
She looked so peaceful and angel-like sleeping there.
'Stop it!!' He yelled in his head. He walked over to the frige and threw the door open. He grabbed a bottle of water out and turned around to go back outside.
"Mmmm......Piccolo?" Colleen mumbled.
He stopped and turned around to face Colleen yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked.
"Decided I'd take your advice of taking it easy until the tournament. And I was thirsty." He answered holding the bottle up.
"You actually _listened_ to me without question? It's a miracle!" she chuckled and laid her head on her hand.
"Yea, yea. Just don't get used to it." Piccolo said and took a drink of water and sat down across the table. He leaned to one side looking over Colleen's shoulder, quirked an eyeridge and smirked.
"What?" Colleen asked confused.
"I may not be very literate on how the human home is supposed to work, but I'm pretty sure the stove shouldn't be smoking and on fire."
"Oh crap!" Colleen jumped out of her seat and ran to the stove. The toaster had fallen over and was now nicely billowing smoke from the burnt pieces of bread. She picked up the toaster and tossed it from hand to hand whispering 'ow,ow',
for it was quite hot. She threw the toaster in the sink and began to blow on her hands.
"You'd think that getting by getting hit by ki blasts all the time, burns wouldn't hurt as much." She said and started sucking on the burn marks on her hands. Piccolo smirked.
"Well," Colleen said as she sat down next to Piccolo. "Breakfast is shot, cause I don't feel like cooking. I'll let Bulma do it when she gets up. Unless of course if you want to make me something." She then started to giggle, then chuckle
loudly, then she went into an all out belly laugh.
Piccolo frowned. "What's so funny?"
Colleen rubbed a tear off one of her eyes. "I'm just....hehe....imagining...you....hahaha......trying to cook." She said between giggles.
"What says I can't?" Piccolo said defiantly, folding his arms over his muscled chest. (Oo la la ^_^)
Colleen looked at him and burst out laughing seeing the seriousness in his face. She laughed so hard she fell out of her chair and laid on the floor holding her stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
Bulma walked into the kitchen in a pair of shorts and a white tank top with a teddy bear on it. She had her hair in a messy pony tail. She rubbed her eyes.
"*yawn* What's going on here?" she asked.
Colleen got up off the floor, still giggling, and walked over to Bulma. "Piccolo is going to make us breakfast." She said, trying to keep a straight face.
Bulma looked from Piccolo to Colleen, and back to Piccolo again. The corners of her mouth started to turn up and she began to chuckle. Then both she and Colleen laughed out loud holding their sides.
Piccolo looked less than amused. He was one of the most powerful beings on the planet, and he was being laughed at by two little human teenage females. They didn't believe he could do this trivial housewife act. He could do anything, and he'd prove it.
He walked up to the girls, now only giggling a little. "If you two would be kind enough to leave, I'll make you something."
The girls stopped giggling and just stared at him.
"Uh, Pic," Colleen started. "We weren't serious, you know. You don't have to."
"No, no. Let's let him try. I'd like to see the results. Or lack there of." Bulma said. She took Colleen by the arm and they walked out of the kitchen into the living room.
"Call us when you're done, Mr. Chef." Bulma called from the living room. More giggling could be heard from down the hall.
Piccolo 'hmphed' and walked over to the stove. He opened a cook book on the counter and began reading. He decided to try pancakes. He got the ingredients out and proper cooking utensils.
"Now then." He said. "If Bulma and Colleen can do this, it can't be _that_ hard. Let's see here." He looked in the book and began to read and throw ingredients into a bowl.
~*~*~[living room]~*~*~
"It's been 20 minutes and no explosions or smoke. That's a good sign." Bulma said flipping through a magazine.
"Still doesn't mean the kitchen's not in a mess." Colleen replied. She was on the couch next to Bulma with her legs pulled up and her upper body resting on the arm rest. She had the remote in her hand and was flipping through the channels.
Commercial after commercial after commercial. She flipped through a bunch of channels, then went back a channel at a familiar face on the screen.
"Today on Oprah we will be talking about the tragedies inflicted by the infamous Piccolo and the people who survived these horrific encounters."
'They have Oprah here?' Colleen thought. She turned the volume up as a red-haired woman in awful green clad came out and started talking about her horrible encounter with the 'demon'.
"......Then he came towards out house. My children and I were in a closet when an explosion blew the roof off our house. I grabbed the baby and my daughter and headed out the back, hoping he wouldn't see us. But, he did." The woman took
a shaky breath and Oprah took her hand.
"What's this?" Bulma asked putting her magazine down on the coffee table.
"Shhh!" Colleen hissed and waved her hand to keep Bulma quiet.
"He came towards us." The woman on screen said. "One of our neighbors, a man, came up to him and tried to fight him. The demon lifted his arm and a blinding light came out of his hand and hit the man. The light shone off his face. Oh,
I'll never forget that evil smile." She paused and took another breath. "When the light disappeared, all that was left of the man was ashes."
The crowd gasped and started mumbling amongst themselves. The camera went into a close-up of Oprah's face. "We'll be right back to hear the ending of that terrifying story when we come back." She said, and it went to commercial.
Colleen lifted the remote and turned the TV off.
"Wow." Bulma said. "You live with a guy a month and forget how bad he really is."
"Was." Colleen corrected her.
Bulma looked over to Colleen. "Yea. Any guy who'll cook us breakfast can't be all bad." Bulma chuckled. Colleen smiled.
"Food's done!" Piccolo yelled from the kitchen.
"Finally! I'm starving!" Colleen yelled back to him. The girls got off the couch and headed for the kitchen.
"_Dun_ _dun_ da _dun_, _dun_ _dun_ _dun_ _dun_ _dun_ _da_ _dun_." Bulma whispered. They both giggled.
They stepped into the kitchen and were met with the smell of pancakes.
'Smells edible.' Colleen thought.
Piccolo was seated at the table with his arms folded. On the table was two plates of pancakes, two glasses of orange juice, and a bottle of syrup.
'Looks edible.' Bulma thought. The girls sat down in front of their plates.
"Piccolo, could you get me some butter please?" Colleen asked. He got up and walked over to the counter.
Bulma leaned across the table and whispered to Colleen. "You think he'd poison us?" she asked.
Colleen's eyes went from Bulma's face to Piccolo's back, back to Bulma. "Not intentionally." She whispered back.
They both pulled apart as Piccolo came back from the counter with the butter in his hand. "Well," he said as he put the butter down on the table in front of Colleen. "Somebody try it."
Bulma and Colleen both looked at their food, then each other. Colleen mouthed a 'you try it', and Bulma mouthed a 'no, you'. So Colleen picked up her knife, got some butter and spread it on her pancakes. She squeezed the syrup on
top of them and cut a piece. She hesitantly put the piece of food in her mouth and began to chew. Bulma and Piccolo both looked at her while she chewed it and swallowed.
"You know, Piccolo." She said. "For someone who doesn't eat, you aren't a bad cook." Bulma dove into her plate. She'd missed dinner the night before and was very hungry.
"Glad you like it." Piccolo said. "I'm going outside, if anyone cares."
"Don't......train." Colleen said between chews. But Piccolo had already gone out the door.
"Well," Bulma said as she stood up and put her plate in the sink. "Only about 4 hours till the sign-up. We better get ready. What are you going to wear?" She leaned against the counter and twirled a loose strand of her bangs that
had fallen over her eyes.
Colleen shrugged and walked over to the sink with her plate. "Don't know. I was just ganna get Pic to materialize something for me."
Bulma stopped twirling her hair. "Not one of those hideous gi's?!" She made a disgusted face and pointed her finger at her mouth and stuck out her tongue.
"Nah. They're too baggy to really fight in, in my opinion. They're okay to spar, but not to all out fight." Colleen walked toward the glass sliding door leading outside. She sighed heavily and leaned her forehead against the glass.
Bulma hopped up on the counter and smirked. Colleen was looking out staring at Piccolo meditate. Bulma just couldn't help but to smile whenever one of them looked at the other. She knew what was going on, even if they didn't. She
was going to have so much fun setting them up and then spying on them.
'By the end of the month I'll have them together and happy.' She thought. She got down off the counter and left the kitchen to her bedroom upstairs to change.
Colleen opened the door and stepped out onto the patio. The cement was cold under her bare feet and it gave her goose bumps. She walked out onto the dew kissed grass toward Piccolo and took up a lotus position next to him.
{Only 4 hours before we leave. You excited?} Colleen said telepathically.
Piccolo opened his left eye to look at her and closed it again. {A little.}
Colleen's eyebrows went up. {Only a little? You're about to fight Son Goku, your arch rival since.....forever, and you're only a _little_ excited?}
{I have to keep focused.} he answered.
{My stomach is doing flip-flops I'm so nervous. I swear the whole flippin' three ring circus is in there, and the elephants have gotten loose.} Piccolo couldn't help but laugh a little.
{I mean, I know I won't win, but it's just the thrill of going. I have no idea how you can be so calm.}
Piccolo's face suddenly hardened. {Do you think I will win?} he asked.
Colleen was a bit taken back by his question. What should she say? She already knew who was going to win. She'd just have to give a win-loose answer.
"I have faith in you." She said aloud. She opened her eyes and looked at Piccolo sideways. He was looking back at her, smiling. She probably had no clue how much that meant to him. She was the only one he counted on, and
she was the only one he needed.
He stood up and faced her. "You need a new uniform. Stand up, I'll make you another gi."
Colleen did as she was told and stood in front of him. Piccolo extended his arm and placed his hand on her head.
"Wait." Colleen said. "I don't want to wear the red gi. Not the pants any ways."
Piccolo sighed. "Well, your Highness, what would you like." He said annoyed.
"I'll keep the gi shirt, but I want to wear shorts. They have to be tight, but easy to move in. Um...make them black. And I can borrow some boots from Bulma."
"You seem to have the dilution I'm your personal tailor, Colleen." He frowned.
She smiled sweetly. "Well, that's because you are P-chan."
"Yea, yea." A gold light surrounded Colleen, and in a split second she was dressed in a red tank top and black shorts. She did a practice round-house kick to test her new clothes out.
"Perfect. Thanks Pic. You're so sweet!" she reached up and pinched his cheek.
"Ugh, off all the adjectives in the human language to describe me, you just had to pick sweet." He grimaced.
"Well that's because you are. Sweet as apple pie." She smiled.
"Don't make me throw up." Piccolo said. Colleen laughed.
They both looked into each other's eyes and just stood there. Colleen was no longer pinching Piccolo's cheek, but her hand was just resting on it. She was lost in his dark, deep onyx eyes. If time would stand still, she could stare into
those eyes forever. She loved him so much.
Piccolo couldn't pull his gaze from those icy-blue eyes of hers. He wanted to do something, but didn't know what. This feeling he had for her, it was so different from anything he'd ever felt before. It scared him, but he
didn't want it to go away.
"Guys! The plane's ready! Haul butt!" Bulma yelled from the kitchen. She was wearing a white T-shirt, a blue mini skirt, and sneakers.
Colleen and Piccolo were snapped out of their daze. They both blinked and Colleen took her hand off of Piccolo's face.
"Coming!" Colleen yelled back and ran over to Bulma. She put both hands in front of her face in a praying position and faced Bulma. "Bulma-I-need-to-borrow-your-good-black-boots-for-the-tournament-okay-thanks-bye!" she
said very quickly and ran past Bulma into the house.
Bulma immediately turned around and ran after her yelling. "WAIT JUST A MINUTE!! Those were a Christmas present from Yamcha, you can't wear them to FIGHT IN!! Colleen?! COLLEEN, DO YOU HEAR ME??!!"
Bulma's yelling could be heard throughout the house and into the yard. Piccolo shook his head and walked inside were, from the sounds of it, Colleen and Bulma were wrestling upstairs. Two of the craziest women in the world,
and he lived with them.
He walked outside into the front yard where a big yellow plane was. He stepped inside the back into the large cargo holding area.
"Oh Bulma, you're back. Hey I bet those two will be a while so we can.......you're not Bulma." Yamcha said as he came into the back from the cockpit.
Piccolo sneered at him. "You figure that out all by yourself?"
"Look pal," Yamcha sighed. "I don't like you, you don't like me. But today we have to put up with each other, if only for the 2 and a half hour plane ride. So, do we have a truce until the tournament?" Yamcha extended his
hand to shake on the agreement.
Piccolo stared at his hand, turned around and sat on the floor. "Just stay away from me and we'll be fine, _pal_."
Both men looked towards the back entrance as Bulma stomped into the plane mumbling angrily. Colleen was soon to follow, wearing the knee high black boots she had "borrowed" from Bulma.
Colleen sat down next to Piccolo with a big grin on her face. "I always get what I want." She said happily.
"Just remember that they belong to ME! You _will_ return them in perfect condition after the tournament, or pay for their damage." Bulma yelled from the front of the plane.
"Don't worry your pretty little head off, Bulma." Colleen answered back. She finally noticed Yamcha standing in a corner. "Oh, hi Yamcha." She said and waved.
"Hi." He said flatly.
Bulma walked out of the cockpit then. "Now we have some ground rules for this whole thing. Colleen, care to start out?"
"I'd be delighted." She answered, stood up and walked next to Bulma. "Rule number one: You two boys will behave in an orderly manor whilst on this plane and at the tournament when not competing."
"Rule number two," Bulma said. "If you two should get into a situation where you are arguing or, Heaven help you, fighting, we will get complete control over you, your actions, your speech, and anything else we please."
"Rule number three," Colleen started again. "Should you break rules one and/or two, there will be Hell to pay."
"You boys think these rules fair?" Bulma asked.
Yamcha walked up to the two girls waving his hands and bowing his head. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. I have a problem with rule number two. You two....._you two_.....will get complete and total control over us, me and Piccolo, of we
act up in any way you two don't like? I don't like the sound of that."
"For once, I agree with the human." Piccolo said, standing up. "Change rule number two."
"Okay, okay." Bulma said.
"We'll only take control of you if you act totally out of control. You know, if homicidal attempts arise. Sound fair now?" Colleen said.
"I guess." Yamcha said. "Piccolo?"
Piccolo shrugged. "Whatever."
"All righty then. Let's go. We have about two hours to get there in time to sign up." Bulma said and went to the pilots seat.
Colleen sat down next to Piccolo again who'd taken up a meditation position. The engine roared and the plane lifted off the ground into the sky.
[World Martial Arts Tournament]
People were running around everywhere. There were food stands and gift carts everywhere you looked. Little kids pulling on their mothers or riding their father's shoulders were at every turn. It all had an exciting air
around it. And there were signs everywhere. In Japanese.
Colleen tapped Piccolo on the shoulder. He leaned down to her level as she whispered in his ear. "You can read all of the signs, right?"
"Of course I can." He said and looked at her confused.
"Good. Cause I can't." She said.
The group of fighters, with the exception of Bulma, walked up to the registration desk in front of an elaborate temple/stadium. Yamcha signed up and walked over to where Bulma was waiting. At the desk was an old man of
about 70. Colleen stepped up to his desk. He didn't pay any attention to her until she snapped her fingers in front of his face.
"What? Huh? Oh, I'm sorry deary. Just dozed off. You do that when you get old. So, what can I do for you?" he asked in a raspy old-man voice.
"I'm here to sign up to compete in the tournament." she said.
"Really? A young slip of a thing like you? Okay, but I think you should reconsider. That man before you looked pretty tough and he's not the biggest I've seen." He said, adjusting his glasses.
Colleen smiled and chuckled. "I think I'll be all right."
"Okay then, what's your name?" he asked.
"Colleen." She answered.
"Haylene." The old man said as he wrote it on the registration form.
"No, it's _Colleen_." She corrected him.
"Oh, terribly sorry. My ears aren't what they used to be." He laughed and scribbled out what he previously wrote down. "So K-a-l-e-n-e." He spelled out.
"No, it's C-o-l-l-e-e-n. Colleen." Colleen said in an annoyed voice.
"All right then. Age?"
"Fourteen."
{Fourteen? I thought you were thirteen.} Piccolo asked her telepathically.
{No. My birthday was last month. Didn't I tell you?} She thought back.
{No.}
{Oh, well, I'm fourteen! There, now you know.}
"Miss?" the old man asked. "I don't think I should allow you in the competition."
"What?! Why not?" she asked angry and surprised.
"You're only fourteen. We usually don't allow women under 17 to compete."
"What's the minimum age for men?" she asked.
"Twelve."
"Ha! I knew it!" she said and banged her hand on the table. "This is sexism, and I demand that you let me fight! Women can fight just as good as men!" she fumed.
"Well," the old man said. "Since you're such a firecracker, I'll let you in."
Colleen folded her arms and smirked in triumph. "Thank you."
The old man handed her a piece of paper. "Just go down that way," he said and pointed to his right. "And hand this to the man at the gate. He'll let you in and that will be where the Elimination Rounds will be held."
Colleen took the piece of paper and stepped to the side, letting Piccolo come into view.
The old man took out a new registration form. "And what can I do for..." he looked up and was met with only a chest. He looked up, way up, and finally saw Piccolo's face. "You! My, what are they feeding you young
people these days? I don't think I have to ask if you'll be competing." He said and laughed, then coughed a little. "What's your name?"
"MaJunior." Piccolo replied.
{MaJunior?} Colleen asked.
{So people won't know who I am.} he answered.
{Oh, yea. That's right.}
The man scribbled it down on the piece of paper. "Age?"
"Sixteen."
"You're kidding! You look a lot older than you are, sonny. I would've guessed you'd be somewhere in your twenties." He said. Piccolo didn't reply, just stared at the old man.
The old man turned to Colleen. "Ain't much of a talker, is he?"
Colleen giggled a little. "Only when he wants to, which isn't often."
"Here ya go." The man said, handing the form to Piccolo. "Follow her, give this to the man at the gate, yada yada."
Piccolo took the form and walked away, saying not even a 'thank you'. He walked past Colleen in the direction the man had directed them in. Colleen ran up to him and walked by his side.
"You could have at least thanked him. He was pretty nice." Colleen said.
"You think he would've been nice if he knew who I really am?" Piccolo asked staring straight ahead.
Colleen pinched the bridge of her nose. "Really Pic, you are _way_ too jaded."
"And you naive." He answered back coldly.
She looked at him surprised. She ran in front of him with her arms crossed and stopped him in his tracks. "Okay, what did I do?"
Piccolo looked at her with confusion. "Nothing. Why would you think you've done something?"
"Because you're being such a jerk. You've been acting like this towards me for a month now, and I think I have the right to know why." She took her hands down and put them at her sides. "Is it something I did,
said, didn't do, didn't say? You need to give me some clues here."
"*sigh* It's complicated. I swear I didn't mean to treat you that way. I'm sorry." He said.
Colleen smiled. "I'll forgive you. Just no more jerkiness, okay?"
"Okay." He replied.
"Scouts honor?"
Piccolo quirked an eyeridge. "What?"
Colleen face faulted and sweat dropped. "Oh, never mind. Come on." She said and grabbed Piccolo's arm.
They reached the back entrance to the temple where a large man with a turban and a beard was standing with a sword wrapped around his belt. He was big, very big. He stepped in front of Piccolo and Colleen as they tried to enter.
"And you want?" he asked in a low, harsh voice.
"We are competing." Piccolo answered.
The man eyed the two skeptically. "Registration forms." He said as a demand, not a question. They each handed the man their forms. He looked each one over. "Fine." He said and stepped aside.
Piccolo and Colleen walked through the open door. At least Piccolo got through. Colleen was stopped before she got a chance to step inside.
"Not you little girl." The man said as he grabbed her arm.
"Why not?" She asked, not struggling.
"Two reasons. One, you're only fourteen. Two, you're a girl. I am responsible for any competitor who comes through this gate. I do not need your blood all over the floor."
This made Colleen furious, but she didn't struggle. "Is everyone here a sexist moron? The man at the Registration desk said I could compete, and compete I will. Now get your hands off me."
The man gave no reply, he just simply turned her around and threw her into the street.
She looked into the door trying to spot Piccolo. "Piccolo?" She said. But he was nowhere in sight.
'He ditched me!!' she thought furiously. 'When I get my hands on him...'
But her thought was interrupted by the guards yelling. Piccolo had picked him up by the shoulders to his height and was looking very not nicely into his face.
"Let. Her. In." Piccolo said dangerously.
"Fine!" The man said frantically. Piccolo released him and Colleen walked by his side into the temple.
"Don't blame me for her getting killed!" The man yelled back.
"Thanks. For a minute there, I thought you had bailed on me." Colleen said.
The two walked down a long hall with paintings, stools with vases on them, and a statue of a gargoyle here and there. The stone was corroded and old, but beautifully carved with dragons, samurai and damsels in
distress. At the end of the hall was a large wooden door with purple curtains hanging over it. Colleen opened the door and was met with the sight of fighters everywhere.
Piccolo walked into the room first with Colleen following. There were so many different types of fighters in every corner, with many different colors. It was mesmerizing to Colleen. It was very different to
see everything up close and personal than watch it on TV.
There were karate experts of every belt, color and master. Sumo wrestlers with two sizes; big and bigger. There were boxers, kick boxers, wrestlers, monks, fighters of every martial arts style, and average old
Joe's who came just to punch people.
There were also many different species who had come. Dinosaur people, cat people, dog people, wolf people, rabbit people, even a bug person or two. The whole room was filled with anticipation of the days events.
And, of course with all the men, testosterone was all around and plentiful.
Piccolo went over by the wall and sat in a lotus position directly behind where Colleen was standing. She was about to sit next to him when she heard her name being called over the crowd.
"Colleen! Over here!" A voice yelled from across the room. A man pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Colleen, grinning like no tomorrow.
"Goku!" Colleen jumped up and hugged him tightly around the neck. This got Goku a death glare from a certain green fellow. "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"
Goku put Colleen down. "Great! And you?"
"Pretty good. Where is everybody?" she asked and started to look around.
"Everybody? Well, Yamcha and some other friends of ours are over there." He said and pointed behind him across the room.
"Hey Goku, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend besides ChiChi. You've been holding out on us my friend." A small bald man said.
"She's not my girlfriend, Krillin." Goku said.
"So that means she's up for grabs." Krillin said and faced Colleen. "Hello there, my name's Krillin. What's yours?" he said and kissed Colleen's hand.
"Colleen. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"As it is to meet you. So, you here alone?" he asked.
Piccolo stood up then with his arms folded. "She is with me."
Krillin's face turned a pale shade of white, then a pretty shade of blue. "O-o-h. I d-didn't real-lize, I mean I- I didn't-t kn-now-"
"Piccolo won't bite you, you know." Colleen said amused.
"Oh yea, how do you know?" Krillin asked nervously.
"I've been living with him for six months. He's a real kitten once you get to know him."
"Kitten. Yea. Sure. Whatever you say. I'll be way over there if anyone needs me." And before you could say scardey-cat, he was gone. Only a little shadowy puff of dust in his outline was standing where he once was.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!!" A loud voice came over the intercom. "WILL EVERYONE PLEASE COME TO THE WEST SIDE OF THE ROOM FOR NUMBER ASSIGHNMENTS. THAT IS ALL."
Everyone in the room crowded around a man in a business suit with yellow hair and sunglasses. He was standing on a podium with a clipboard in his hand.
Colleen and Piccolo were in the back, and Colleen was jumping up and down trying to see something. She was probably the shortest person there except for Krillin.
"What are you doing?" Piccolo asked staring at her acting like a jackrabbit.
"I can't see." She whined. "Can I sit on your shoulder pad?" Piccolo nodded in approval and she hopped up on his left shoulder pad and sat. "Ah, much better."
"I'll assume that everyone who wants to compete is here and start." The man in the business suit said. "We'll first go over the rules. One: You may not compete without proper registration. Two: Weapons
are not allowed. If you have claws, fangs, spikes, tail, or any other appendage that may be used as a weapon, use of these appendages _is_ permitted. Three: No hitting below the belt. Four: No fighting
in an unfair manor, such as poking your opponent in the eyes. Five: The biggest rule of the competition. NO KILLING! If you kill your opponent, you are disqualified."
'That could be a problem.' Piccolo thought.
"Disobedience of any of these rules will result in disqualification. Do you all understand?"
"YES!" was heard from everyone.
"All right. There are 213 people here, and we've randomly selected and divided, as equally as possible, you into 8 groups. Group One!" And he recited all the names of the people in their groups.
(I am totally guessing here) Goku was in group 5. Yamcha and Tien were in group 2. Chaitzu and Krillin were in group 8. Colleen was in group seven with Yajarobe and Piccolo in group three With ChiChi.
They all were standing in their numbered groups by poles with their numbers on them.
"Now the battling begins!" In all eight rings two fighter faced off. In the ring for group 5, Goku was to fight Tsuramagi. (I didn't get this guys name, so I'm making it up. Don't sue me, k?)
They both got into the ring at opposite ends. Goku recognized this man as one he'd fought before in an Elimination round in the last tournament. The gong rang and Tsuramagi charged Goku with his elbow
extended in front of him yelling a war cry. Goku dodged his elbow and tapped him on the shoulder. Normally this would be a fighter's downfall, but Goku is no normal fighter. The little tap sent Tsuramagi
flying out of the ring and into a wall.
Colleen and Piccolo's groups were next to each other, so they sat a foot apart from each other on the edge of their groups.
'Man this is boring waiting to fight. How can I pass the boredom?' Colleen thought. 'I know!'
"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall! 98 bottle of beer on the wall,"
Piccolo looked over to Colleen who was singing........heck he didn't know, she was going insane by the looks of it to him! "What...are you doing?" Piccolo asked her.
"Killing the boredom.....96 bottles of beer on the wall, 96 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 95 bottles of beer on the wall! 95 bottles of beer on the wall-"
"Stop it."
"No-95 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 94 bottles of beer on the wall! 94-" Her singing was suddenly stopped by a gag mysteriously materializing over her mouth. She looked over to
Piccolo who was smirking and glared at him.
"Fine." She said once she took the gag off. "I won't sing that."
"Thank you." Piccolo said.
".........I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes............I know a song that gets on
everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes.........I know a song"
"OH WILL YOU _SHUT_ UP_!!" Piccolo yelled. He was right in her face so she had to lean back to avoid being too close.
"Okay, okay. What would you like me to sing?" she asked.
"Colleen, you are this close," he held his index finger and thumb together very close. "This close to getting the crap beaten out of you. I don't want to hear you sing, hum, whistle, or breath a
melodic tune. Got it?" he asked and forcefully smiled.
"Got it." She said.
"Okay." Piccolo sighed and sat back down again.
"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town."
"Oh Kami." Piccolo groaned and slumped down.
"MaJunior and Marcus." A small monk man said by the ring.
"Yes. I get to hurt something." Piccolo said as he stood up.
In the ring was a man with black hair and stubble on his chin. He was wearing blue silk boxer-type shorts and boxing gloves. Piccolo stepped into the ring and stood with his arms crossed.
The gong sounded and the boxing man started to hop from one foot to the next around Piccolo.
"Come on, man. Fight me!" he said.
Piccolo didn't say anything, but reached out his arm and caught the boxers head in a choke hold. The poor boxer's oxygen was going fast as he squirmed trying futilely to escape Piccolo's grasp. Another
fighter ran to the man in the suit and whispered in his ear.
"Hey! You can't do that!" He yelled and ran over to the ring. "Release him at once!" he said through the ropes. "You've already won, let him go."
Piccolo let the now unconscious man go. He flopped onto the floor on his face. Piccolo walked out of the ring and took his position next to Colleen again, who'd stopped singing long enough to watch his
fight. Her mouth was open and she was staring at Piccolo, her eyes following him from the ring to his seat next to her.
"You could've killed him!" she said.
"Yes. But I didn't." He said back smirking.
Colleen looked at him dumfounded. "What?" he asked, seeing her look.
"I.....I have to fight now." She said and got up. Piccolo watched her stand and walk to her ring. When she was climbing the ropes, she looked back at him with worry and...
'Fear?' Piccolo thought. 'Why is she looking at me that way? It was just a fight.'
[in a room by the gate to the ring]
"Okay, we have out eight finalists!" The man in the suit said. "Please say 'here' when I call your name. Goku."
"Here."
"Krillin."
"Here."
"Colleen."
"Present."
"Princess ChiChi."
"I'm here."
"Yamcha."
"Here."
"MaJunior."
"Yea."
"Tien."
"Here."
"Shen."
"Here."
"All right then, let's begin. First up, Colleen and Tien." (I'm really going to be switching some of the fighters around, so don't be mad at me, please.)
"Awesome." Colleen said and punched her right fist into her open left palm.
All the fighters walked into a back stage area near the ring. The crowd was noisily talking and moving around. Colleen suddenly felt her stomach doing flip-flops
again. She hated performing in front
of people, it always made her really nervous. She started to bite her nails and tap her foot as she looked out onto the crowd. She turned her head around at
the feel of someone's hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry." Goku said. "You'll do fine."
She turned her head back out to the masses of people. "There are just so many people. I hate going in front of crowds."
"You don't really notice them after you start fighting." Goku began to laugh and grin widely. "You could always just imagine everyone out there in their underwear!"
"Thanks but no thanks." Colleen chuckled.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Welcome to the World Martial Arts Tournament!" the announcer in the suit yelled. The crowd began to cheer loudly. Like
a wave of thunder their voices passed over the stadium.
"For our first match we have the previous champion, Tien!"(I'm assuming that the last tournament is the one Tien won.) The crowd again went into an uproar, and
Tien walked into the ring with his arms folded.
"His competitor is a young, but spunky girl, Colleen!" Small cheers could be heard, but mostly the crowd was silent. When Colleen stepped into the ring, people started to mumble.
"Hey! She's just a kid! Get her out of the ring!" A man yelled somewhere in the crowd behind her. The rest of the crowd started booing and some threw straws and paper cups at the ring.
'Oh, I'm feeling the love in this place.' Colleen thought sarcastically.
"Shut up, jerk!" a female voice shouted. Colleen turned around and there was a ticked off Bulma beating a guy in the head with her purse. Standing by her was
Yajerobe, who'd gotten beaten by some karate guy, Oolong, Puar, and Master Roshi.
"Now, you all know the rules." The announcer said. "Take your positions!"
Both Tien and Colleen crouched down into fighting positions. They were staring at each other with scowls on their faces. Piccolo stepped up behind the stone door-like
structure leading out to the ring.(What is that??) This match wouldn't be all that exciting. He knew she'd wipe the floor with that wimp.
"BEGIN!!"
Colleen and Tien both lunged at each other and looked as if they'd collide. As Tien punched Colleen in the face, she suddenly disappeared. She reappeared behind him
and kicked him in the side. Tien went flying for the edge of the ring, and barely saved himself by floating just inches from the ground. He flew up high in the sky
and aimed a hand at Colleen's head below.
"I don't know who to root for." Bulma said.
"I'm rootin' for Tien. That way when she's hurt, I can rescue her." Oolong said with a perverted smile on his face.
"Ugh, you are the most disgusting man on the planet, Oolong." Bulma sneered.
In Tien's hand a ki ball had formed. He let it go and smirked to himself knowing a little girl would never be able to block that. As the ball raced for Colleen's
head, she just stood there unfazed. When it got within 5 inches of her face, her eyes glowed red and the ki ball stopped in it's tracks. Tien hovered in the air
with a baffled look on his face.
'How did she do that?!' he thought.
"Oh Tien!" Colleen shouted from the ring. The ki ball then changed it's form from a ball to a sharp spike. "I do believe this is yours!" she smirked and the ki
spike shot up at him.
Tien barely escaped the spike of energy as it flew by him in a rocket of light. He turned to the side quickly, but the edge of the spike hit his chest leaving a
long cut across it. Colleen then appeared out of thin air in front of him and punched him hard on the side of the face. Just as he was about to hit the ring from
the impact, Colleen grabbed his foot so he was upside down. He looked up at her and frowned. He brought his hand up quickly and fired a ki blast at her. She
just caught it in her hand and smiled.
"You're gonna have to do a _lot_ better than that, sugar." She said in a southern accent. She closed her fist holding the ki ball and it disintegrated.
"I will!!" Tien shouted and kicked her in the head with his free foot. He did a back flip in the air and faced her. Colleen's head was sideways from the kick.
She slowly turned her head to face him. The side of her mouth that the kick had been blown was red and her bottom lip was cut, blood trickling down her chin.
She smiled and rubbed her jaw. "Now that what I'm talking about." She flew at him with great speed and elbowed him in the gut. He doubled over in pain, spitting
up a little blood. She brought her hands up in a fist over her head and connected it to his back. He went plummeting towards the earth and landed outside of the
ring, a small crater forming where he hit the ground.
Colleen gracefully floated down in the center of the ring with her arms crossed. She would've smirked, but her mouth hurt too much.
The announcer stood there with a blank look on his face and the crowd was deadly silent. He then snapped out of it and ran over to Colleen and lifted her arm.
"The winner!!" He yelled into his microphone. The crowd roared and cheered. Colleen looked over to where Bulma was. She was jumping up and down, and gave Colleen
a thumbs up. She smiled, then winced as her cut made itself known again. She walked out of the ring and over to Piccolo. He was leaning on the wall smirking.
"Nice job. You could've gotten rid of him sooner, though."
Colleen wiped the blood from her chin. "Yea, well. I wanted to have a little fun with him first. I think I've been hanging around you too long."
"Just remember, it gets harder from here." He warned.
"I know." She smirked and took in a sharp breath. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find the first-aid kit. He's not very powerful, but it still hurts when he kicks you in the mouth."
Piccolo laughed quietly as she walked off. He looked over to the other end of the room where Goku was helping Tien into the room and smiled evilly.
'You're next Son Goku.' He thought. 'Nothing can stop me from killing you.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I forgot to include in the disclaimer; I do not own Oprah, those little annoying songs, or a southern accent.
This was my first time writing action, I hope I didn't suck too bad. And I hope I got everything right about scenery and everything so far. Like I said, I've never
seen those episodes before. Thanks again to dlgsprincess105. You're a life saver!