Disclaimer: I do not own Kikaider, Dragonball Z, Lupin the 3rd, or any other Anime, Magna, or Video Game mentioned in this fic.

Jiro's Baltimore Adventure by Red Ninja1

Chapter 7: The Budokai Tournament

Jiro entered and gazed at the arena before him as more and more spectators came to watch the battles. Jiro walked the stands and walked the fighting ground and then to a waiting room for competitors. As he went inside Jiro saw some familiar faces and some he had not, he recognized Videl, The Great Sayiaman, Lupin, Jigen and a few others. Jiro walked around and went back outside when he heard a familiar voice.....

"Hey, Jiro!!!!" Jiro looked towards the direction of the voice and saw one of his new best friends, Asuka.

"Asuka, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Jiro. So are you ready to compete?"

"I am a bit nervous, but I am as ready as I'll ever be."

"Listen Jiro, I want to give you a point of advice for this. Even if you are afraid, even the slightest bit, do not show it, even if you aren't brave on the inside, you have to be face brave, and you shouldn't show your fear to your opponents."

"Thank you, Asuka. I will not show any fear."

"That's what I wanted to hear, Jiro."

"Asuka, did you make things up with Shinji?"

"Yeah, I did. We both apologized to each other and it went well."

"Good to hear, Asuka." Then at Asuka's suggestion they sat down on a nearby bench. They looked out a nearby window and looked at the sunset, then Jiro was surprised by Asuka when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Asuka, I was wondering did you ever show up at the Jewelry Show?"

"I did, I was calling you trying to see if you were there but then I saw some guy in black with your guitar and he told me that you went after Lupin."

"That must have been Roger, I asked him to take my guitar to my motorcycle, while I chased after Lupin."

"Did you get him?"

"Well, not exactly, I did manage to strike a deal with him to get the panther back. I ended up making friends with Lupin and company."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm not. See there was a huge fight for the panther and if I didn't strike a deal with Lupin someone might have died and I didn't want someone to die over a mere piece of jewelry."

"Well, I guess it's not as bad, then. I heard about that fight 6 people were hospitalized for that incident."

"I tried to avoid that out come but I couldn't."

"Its okay, Jiro, at least you tried to do so, now don't start blaming yourself for all of it like Shinji."

"Sorry, Asuka. Hey, Asuka, what's this suit you're wearing, it looks like the one you were wearing at the mech trials."

"Oh, this thing, it's my plug suit, it allows me to link mentally to my Eva."

"You do look nice in it, Asuka."

"Why, thank you, Jiro."

"Hey, Asuka, there was something I wanted to ask you about something I might encounter in this tournament."

"What is it, Jiro?"

"I might end up fighting some girls here at this tournament; I mean I'm trying to be a gentleman so I'm not sure if it would be right or not to strike a girl in this kind of situation?"

"Jiro, for one I'm glad to hear that there are going to be some girls fighting. Second, I'm sure they know that they are going to fight with guys and they don't mind too much that there getting hit by a guy, I mean it's all part of the tournament, people get hit regardless of gender, so I don't think it's too overly bad if you hit a girl in this tournament. Don't let something like that get in your way, Jiro, don't hold back."

"Thank you, Asuka." Then a message was read over a speaker system.

"Will all competitors report to the waiting room at this time, Repeat, all competitors to waiting room at this time."

"Well, Asuka, that's my call, I better get going."

"Wait, Jiro, I'm going to come with you. I want a better view of the action then the stands."

Then Jiro and Asuka ran into the waiting room and they saw a man with black spiked hair and Kota standing there with a box on a table and a pair of brackets. Then Kota ran to the center of the fighting arena and pulled out and turned on her microphone....

"Ladies, Gentleman, Robots, Demons and all things in-between, welcome to the Tenkai Budokai Tournament, tonight you will witness many great fighters vying for the title of champion. Now before we select the fights I want to introduce the chairman of the tournament, Vegeta!!!!" The crowd went wild at Vegeta's presence he came up to the ring and Kota handed Vegeta the microphone......

"Well, quite a turn out, Welcome to all. The rules for this tournament are simple, be the first to knock out your opponent or knock him out of the ring and you advance. Now, I will call up the competitors, one at a time to draw there number, that number will represent where you will be on the bracket." 'Just be thankful I'm not competing or I would blow all of you away.' "First up, Alucard." Then a man dressed in a red and black suit with a red hat and coat came up and drew number 15. "Next, Yusuke Urameshi." A teenager wearing a green jumpsuit walked up and drew number 9. Vegeta kept going down the list until he hit number 18 on the list,

"Next up, Jiro." Jiro came up and took a ball from the box it had number 29 on it. Then a few numbers later Vegeta called up a certain orange haired ninja...

"Let's see next up is Naruto." Naruto came up and drew his number from the box and drew number 30.

"Naruto you will face Jiro in the first round of the singles tournament." The rest of the pairings were made and then they brought out another box for the drawings for the tag team tournament. Teams were called up and the match pairings were made but then Jiro heard something that he was not expecting.

"Okay, and the Final team, Jiro and Jigen." Jiro and a man in a black suit and hat came up with him. Jiro reached in and got number 9. The final pairing was made and Jiro and Jigen walked back to the waiting room. Asuka came up to them first and spoke to Jiro and Jigen.....

"Jiro you're teamed up with him?"

"Jigen, that's your name right? Lupin got you to be my partner?"

"Yeah, I'm Jigen. But Lupin not only got me to be your partner but I'm also taking his place in the singles tournament because he's off at the hunter's final exam."

"Asuka, this is the partner Lupin got for me."

"Jiro, you are one unpredictable android. Hey, you, you better be able to watch Jiro's back."

"We'll be fine, little girl." Jigen, then picked up a small bottle of an alcoholic drink and took a drink, Asuka noticing this began to have a talk with Jigen about meeting with her and Shinji's guardian Misato, who Asuka knew could down drinks as well as any man. Jiro loosing track of the talk began to watch as the matches began, it was before the beginning of the first match that the entire tournament arena was raised and the ceiling was opened revealing the breathtaking starlit night upon which the tournament was to take place. The first match was in the singles division pitting, Yusuke vs. an opponent Jiro failed to catch the name of, Yusuke using a powerful technique that launched a single blast of energy, won the bout, more bouts followed but then Kota called Jiro and Jigen up for their first battle of the tag tournament.

"Jigen are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be, kid. Let's go."

Jigen and Jiro walked out with the crowd cheering them on, especially Asuka for Jiro. When Jigen and Jiro got to the ring, Jigen pulled out two guns, and Jiro transformed into his Kikaider form and prepared for battle. Across from the ring two pirate looking men drew knives and a small version of cannon.

"All right folks, here we go, Tag team tournament match.........BEGIN!!!!!!!"

Kota jumped out of the way after starting the match, then Jiro began to run at the two while Jigen took aim. Jigen aimed for the one with the cannon and hit with two shots to the arms with special bullets made for the tournament only that hit like a fast baseball bat instead of piercing skin. Jiro seeing the opportunity struck with a two fisted combo taking out the cannon holder.

"And that's one down with Jiro taking the pirate down with a devastating one-two punch."

Asuka cheered even louder with the announcement and knew that this would not take much longer. However, the tide turned when remaining pirate used Hypnotism to make Jigen aim and fire on Jiro. The bullets hit head on and Jiro was knocked to the ground with some good damage. Jiro then got back to his feet and used a powerful thrust kick to knock the pirate all the way to the edge of the arena. The loss of concentration caused Jigen to fire once on Jiro, barely missing him and then snap out of it and fire on the pirate hitting him in the gut, knocking him out cold, giving the match to him and Jiro.....

"And that's the match, the winners moving on are, Jigen and Jiro!!!!"

When Jigen and Jiro came back, Asuka ran up and out of excitement gave Jiro a big squeezing hug. Soon realizing what she was doing, she quickly removed herself and gave a high five to Jiro, and to Jigen. Jiro was happy that he and Jigen won their first round match. Then in the singles division, Jigen advanced to the next round, then Jiro was called to fight. Jiro was surprised at his opponent he was only a teenager, but seeing what he had so far from the last fights Jiro was not ready to take him lightly.

"Hey, bucket head, I'm going to give you a beating on my way to becoming this tournament's champion."

"After what I saw at the study session I'm afraid I cannot be to overly sure about your chances."

"That doesn't matter to me, because I, Naruto, will claim victory here and become the tournament's Hokage (Champion)." Then Kota came up to begin the match....

"Now this match in the first round will feature the Android Wonder, Jiro vs. The Shinobi, Naruto. Now, ready?????? FIGHT!!!!!"

Then Jiro came in and began to throw punches and kicks at Naruto surprisingly Naruto was able to dodge everyone of them, then Naruto came back with an attack string similar to Jiro's but much like himself, Jiro effortlessly dodged all of Naruto's strikes.

"Not bad, it seems were even."

"That's what you think, Tin can. Try to get by this, MULTI-FORM!!!!!!" Naruto tried but to no avail as he soon found out he did not have enough Chakra energy to create the technique. But then Jiro charged energy into his hands and charged in for his ultimate attack....

"Sorry, but I must end this, ELECTRO END!!!!!" Jiro leaped in but just in the nick of time, Naruto dodged the electrical shot and began to focus what Chakra he had left to make his own version of Jiro's technique.

"So you like, Thunder, huh. Well, try this, LIGHTNING GOD SLASH!!!!!"

Jiro seeing it also dodged in the nick of time, the barrier taking the blast before the crowd was harmed.

Both Jiro and Naruto both saw that this battle was turning out to be a too evenly matched fight. At the same time Vegeta also recognized this and knew that neither would give in easily, he also didn't want this to take all night so he prepared to tell Kota to try to bargain with the two of them if neither was making any head way. Normally, Vegeta would love to watch them continue fighting but not feeling like dealing with Bulma's nagging all night, Vegeta, called over to Kota and informed her to try to bargain with the two to try to get one of them to bow out of this fight. Meanwhile, Jiro and Naruto continued their fighting; the crowd could easily see their fighting spirits and cheered as the two evenly matched warriors continued to battle.

"Hey, Jiro, Naruto can you come here a sec?" asked Kota. The crowd was baffled by the request and the fact that Jiro and Naruto came over to her.

"What gives announcer lady?" asked Naruto

"Yes, Kota, why did you stop us?" asked Jiro.

"Well, it goes like this as much as this crowd would love to see you guys go at it all night, Vegeta, is unfortunately for him and all of us, asked that I offer one of you something in exchange of stepping down from this battle."

"What????? Forget it lady, I'm not backing down."

"I'm sorry, Kota, but I cannot step down either."

"Ohh, Come on, Jiro. Their must be something I can offer you? How about free drinks at 7th Heaven tonight? Or maybe, I could give you a....a.....Ohhh, I don't know, just please step down, Jiro, I'm begging you, it's my job if I can't get one of you to step down."

"Well, if it means that much to you Kota, I have my own reasons but all right I'll take your offer and bow out of this battle. Hey, Naruto wasn't it, it was great fighting with you but I'm afraid I'll have to cut it short I still have a tag tournament to fight in." Then Jiro walked away, with some regret in himself he felt as if he had let Asuka down a bit, and realized also that if it had gone on much longer he would not have been able to fight in the tag tourney due to loss of energy. When Jiro returned to the waiting room Jiro saw that Asuka was gone. Jiro asked Jigen and he said that she had left for something during Jiro's match.

"Jiro you're not planning to bow out of our fights are you?"

"Trust me, Jigen, that was only a one time thing, I wont surrender in the next fights."

"Good, because it's about time for our next fight." Jiro and Jigen heard the call and approached the ring. This time they faced a man in a large green cloak and another shinobi named, Kakashi. But then something strange happened, the team decided to step down and give the match to Jiro and Jigen. Jiro and Jigen was shocked by the decision and as they walked away, Kakashi, thought to himself.....

'If that android was able to keep up with Naruto and be even with him in almost every way, both he and Naruto may have much more potential than I originally thought and I wanted to quit because I have no desire to fight them due to me being one of the people behind this entire Gathering in the first place. It just wouldn't be fair.'

Then as Kakashi and his partner vanished Kota announced the Semi-Final match for Jigen and Jiro, and all that was needed was the arrival of the second team, Jiro recognized the two from the battle earlier for the pink panther. It was the Blue haired swords man and his friend. As soon as they were ready, Jiro and Jigen began to fight Jigen took shots at the Blue haired swordsman and both hit dead on, Jiro, struck with a strong punch to the head of the swordsman, his friend then swung his sword at Jiro but Jiro was able to dodge the shot. The swordsman then used his instant knock out technique trying to take out Jigen, but due to lack of concentration from Jiro's punch, the magic missed. Jigen then used one of his shots to take a hit on the swordsman's friend. But then Jigen, was knocked out by a powerful strike from the remaining fighter. Jiro then began to fight with this remaining swords man. The man tried to swing at him but Jiro dodged it and tried to kick the swordsman but to no avail as he dodged the kick. Then the man hit him with a two slash combo making Jiro, fall to one knee. The man then swung his sword down at Jiro but then Jiro got his hands up and with a powerful clash of metal, Jiro caught the sword, between his hands and held it as he got up. Jiro then landed a strong punch, then a quick left jab, followed by powerful spinning thrust kick. The man was injured but he got up and then caught Jiro off guard with a powerful shot with the sword knocking Jiro down and out of action........

Jiro woke up in a hospital room, with Jigen and Lupin sitting in his room.

"You okay, Jiro?" asked Lupin.

"I'm fine, but I lost the match for us."

"You and Jigen did fine, Jiro."

"Where are we?"

"In the Infirmary here at the tournament arena. The doc just cleared you for release, so you can be on your way."

"Where are you and Jigen, going Lupin?"

"Were heading back to The Going Merry, and going to bed, see you tomorrow Jiro."

"See ya, Lupin." Then as Lupin and Jigen left, Jiro got up and changed back to human form. Jiro picked up his guitar and walked out of the arena. Jiro, then remembered a promise he made and made his way to 7th Heaven, which was set up in a large room next to Central. Jiro walked through the door and seeing Tifa made his way to the bar....

"Hello, Tifa, I'm here to repay you for the sake."

"Oh, Jiro, great timing, before you get started have a seat and talk to me. I saw the tournament are you sure you are alright, Jiro?"

"I'm okay, Tifa."

"Well, alright, I'm just glad to see you're alright." Then someone came up to the bar wanting a drink, Jiro thinking about what had happened, Jiro, told Tifa to let him pay for it since he got free drinks tonight. Jiro then told Tifa that everyone here got one drink from him when they wanted it, if she didn't mind of course. Jiro then prepared himself as Tifa went to the stage to introduce him.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentleman to 7th Heaven, I am Tifa Lockheart your host for this evening. I would like to introduce someone who will be performing for us tonight, please welcome, Jiro." The crowd clapped as Jiro walked up to the stage. When the crowd calmed down Jiro began to play a song he had heard before and liked. (The Ending Theme to Android Kikaider: The Animation, "Destiny")

The crowd could feel the sad yet soothing music Jiro began to play. As Jiro played many thoughts went through the minds of the crowd bringing back to them memories of the past, not all pleasant thought. Tifa was entranced by the music and thought how nice it was that an Android could create such a moving beat as she closed her eyes and just let herself listen. For Jiro this song brought him solace from his sometimes lonely life, he thought about Mitsko, Masaru, his late brothers Ichiro and Rei, Then to some of his current friends Lupin, Jigen, Roger, and Asuka. It was then that Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko came into 7th Heaven, and was quickly moved by the music being played by Jiro.

"Hey, Lupin, that song Jiro's playing; don't you think it's kind of sad yet romantic?"

"Well, if you put it that way Fuji-Cakes....."

Lupin went into give Fujiko a kiss but she stepped to the side and let the leaning Lupin fall. The Four of them took a seat in a booth and listen to the music a Jiro came to the ending of his song. When he stopped, the entire room either clapped or raised their glasses to Jiro. Then as Jiro was about to step down a woman with short purple hair and yellow clothes came up to Jiro as the house band began to play....

"Hey, Jiro, that was pretty good, I was wondering if you knew as song called......." Then she whispered the title in Jiro's ear and Jiro nodded yes and then the lady asked the house band and they gave a nod. The band leader asked Tifa and she gave her approval, and grabbed the small mic and went up to introduce the act.....

"Ladies and Gentleman, I would like to present, The 7th Heaven band, Joined by Jiro and Faye Valentine, performing the song, "The Real Folk Blues"

Then the band began and Jiro began to play the notes, after the intro Faye began to sing the words. As Faye let the notes ring, Asuka was walking by 7th Heaven and heard the music and walked in as the refrain was let out.........

"The Real Folk Blues. I only want to know....What true sadness is. Sitting in muddy water....maybe isn't such a bad life. If it ends.....After the First time.........."

Asuka saw Jiro on stage as the song continued she felt the music in her very core as the words continued. To Jiro the Real Folk Blues was another song he had heard that he enjoyed because of how it felt to him. The music moved his very core, helping him to come to terms with his sadness. When they were finished Faye thanked everyone as did Jiro and he went to Asuka and placed his hand on her shoulder from behind catching her by surprise.....

"Jiro, that was beautiful, the music it was soothing and reminded me that I'm not alone in sadness but others that feel it and those that find a way to forget or come to terms with it."

"I'm glad you liked it, Asuka. The Real Folk Blues is a song that's helped me through some tough times after a certain time of my life. I heard it for the first time when I got here to the States from Japan."

"Jiro, you keep amazing me at every turn, first you understand me, and then you help me with some of my problems, now you play music that soothes my soul. Are you sure you're an android, Jiro?"

"Yes, I'm positive, Asuka."

"Funny, you seem human to me."

"It's getting late, Asuka. Would you like for me to take you to your hotel?"

"Well, Why not, Jiro, my hotel is not too far from here."

Then Jiro and Asuka walked to the hotel Asuka was staying at. Jiro said good night and walked to his hotel room. However, unknown to Jiro and Asuka, they were being watched and watched carefully by an unknown entity, preparing to fulfill his dark desire.....

"Ha, ha, ha. Now isn't that cute, Kikaider making friends with the eva pilot. I have waited so long for my chance at revenge. Tomorrow is the day, Kikaider, the day I will break you in every way, then destroy you and your cute little red headed human, Asuka, is going to be the instrument, I use to destroy you. Soon, Kikaider, you and your pathetic human friends will perish, and this time there won't be a Dr. Komioji here to take control of my head to save you."

Who is this entity? How does he know Jiro? What dangers lie in wait for, Jiro and his friends? What will the next day bring? Everything will come to light, tomorrow.........................

.........................................

Hey, Shinji Ikari, here. Next time on Jiro's Baltimore adventure, we hit the books because our final exam is coming up, and what??? Something called the Gundam Epyon is attacking???? I'm not sure what's going on but I mustn't run, I must stand with Asuka and Jiro and fight. Something called Big Duo is attacking a prison to get a prisoner?? Next time on Jiro's Baltimore Adventure.....

The Final Exam, The Gundam Epyon Attacks

I will not run from this fight.............

......................................

Finally, I finished this chapter. Sorry if it's kind of long and some people are out of character. Can you guess who the bad guy I mentioned at the end of this chapter is??? For the refrain Lyrics to "The Real Folk Blues", I knew the English translation so I used it, instead of the Japanese Lyrics, no offense to those who might take offense. Please Review and tell me what you think. Until Next Time, See Ya!!!!

Red Ninja1