Chapter 15
"It's... it's not possible," stammered Goten as he watched his brother's battle. "No human could keep up with Gohan when he's going all out... Hell, I couldn't even do it for very long!"
"It would appear that at least one can," Master Roshi said sagely as he leaned on his cane and watched the fight through his ever-present sunglasses.
Pan was intensely aware that everyone was glancing at her out of the corners of their eyes every few seconds. She wished they'd stop, it was really annoying. Besides, it wasn't like she'd known Akira was capable of this. It was weird for her to watch this fight. She'd thought she was starting to get to know the real Akira, especially after the moment they'd shared on the beach, but obviously she had barely scratched the surface.
"Pan?" Videl was no longer bothering to hide that she was staring at her daughter.
"What?" Pan's eyes didn't move from the fight.
"Well, I think we're all just wondering...um..." Videl broke off, not sure how to put it.
"We want to hear what you know about this guy." Yamcha said bluntly.
"I didn't know he was this strong, if that's what you mean." Pan answered defensively.
"Then what do you know about him?" Yamcha demanded, "I mean, let's face it, when ridiculously strong people have shown up out of the blue in the past they were usually evil!" Bulma, Chi-chi and Videl glared angrily at him.
Pan frowned, but did not answer. After all, what did she know about him? Was she rejecting the idea of him being evil just because he was cute and had nearly kissed her?
~It would be just my luck that the first guy I almost kiss ends up being some evil monster intent on destroying the planet,~ she thought to herself.
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Gohan and Akira were both moving so fast through the air that even the Jumbo-Screen was beginning to seem like it was playing in fast forward as it tried to keep up with the action. Both seemed to be fighting at their max and yet neither could gain any noticeable advantage over the other.
After nearly five minutes of this a change began to come over Akira. He was no longer the cocky kid that he had been at the beginning of the match; his face became harder, more angry, veins began to push out from his forehead and biceps. His eyes seemed to cloud over and his attacks became full of rage. The once friendly match quickly turned into an all out brawl.
"What's wrong with you Akira?" Gohan asked as he frantically dodged and blocked Akira's punches and kicks. The young man didn't answer; he just arched his back, threw back his head and screamed. Suddenly whatever it was that kept Akira's power from being felt fell away and Gohan's eyes went wide. "No... it... it can't be..." the powerful Saiyan said a split second before Akira's fist smashed into the side of his face sending him tumbling end over end towards the ring.
Akira beat him to the ground first and with a mighty kick sent Gohan flying back into the sky. Before Gohan could regain control of himself, Akira was there again, this time sending the Saiyan back to earth with a spinning kick. Gohan hit the ring hard and lay still for a moment before slowly climbing to his feet. He looked up just in time to see Akira's fist slam into his eye, it swelled shut almost instantly. The Saiyan warrior stumbled back a few steps and then bumped into something, he turned and through his one good eye he saw Akira's knee rise into his gut. Gohan doubled over and was promptly sent flying by a savage uppercut. Again Akira met him at the peak of his ascent, this time with a powerful ki blast that sent him crashing into the ring. Blood was gushing from the numerous gashes that now covered Gohan's body as he lay very still at the bottom of the crater his landing had formed.
The announcer began the ten-count and was at seven when Gohan suddenly shot into the air again. He attacked Akira with everything he had, but the young man easily blocked all of the attacks. Finally Akira's hand shot up and caught one of Gohan's punches; the two fighters stared at each other for a moment.
~His eyes...~ Gohan thought, but before he could even finish his thought Akira had once again sent him to the ground with a vicious kick.
~I've got to finish this match before he ends up killing me!~ thought Gohan as he wearily pulled himself to his feet. Blood was running down his face, mixing with his sweat and stinging his eyes, he could feel his energy draining away with each passing second.
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"I knew that guy was trouble," Yamcha said as he watched the match. Everyone in Bulma's suite was out on the balcony watching the fight progress. Chi-chi and Videl were alternating between screaming at Akira and cheering for Gohan. Master Roshi was leaning on his cane and looking out through his sunglasses, a look of concern on his face. Yamcha, Goten, and Tien were talking about Akira as if they had expected him to be the worst kind of evil from the start.
Pan's hands were clenching the railing so hard she was crushing the steel bars. She wasn't sure what to feel. Part of her was beginning to hate Akira and never wanted to speak to him again, but another part made her feel like she would die if that happened, and a third part just wanted to wake up and have this all be just a bad dream. Tears were softly falling from her eyes and she was working very hard to fight down the sobs that were rising in her throat. She was aware that most of the room was watching her again, but she refused to look at them or do anything that would take her attention away from the ring.
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"Only three minutes remain in this amazing match," the announcer called out over the loud speaker.
Gohan took to the air as he brought his hands back, charging a ki blast, and called out, "Ka Me Ha Me Ha!" A gigantic, blue beam erupted from his hands and a split second later exploded where Akira was standing.
Gohan smiled, breathing heavily and wiped the blood and sweat from his eyes, waiting for the smoke to clear. Suddenly a golden light flashed into existence in a cloud of smoke directly to his left. He turned just in time to see Akira, hair standing straight up and eyes blazing, throw his arms forward and call out, "Sei Kaze!"
"It's not possible," breathed Gohan as the red blast hit him, throwing him out of the ring. He landed hard in the grass and did not move.
"Akira wins!"
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Akira landed at the edge of the ring and looked around, he seemed confused until he saw Gohan; the young man immediately rushed to the injured warrior. The Saiyan's breathing was shallow and erratic, clearly unconscious. The medics arrived shortly and moments later had Gohan on a stretcher, heading back to the infirmary.
The boy stood where Gohan had landed, watching them go and then glanced up at the balcony that Pan was standing on. ~What have I done?~ he thought.
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Pan stared down at the young man as he watched her father getting carried to the infirmary; her feelings still in turmoil.
~Does this mean he's evil,~ she asked herself, ~He just put my father in the infirmary... but the rest of us have put several people in there also and we're not evil...the way he fought though, it was like he was trying to hurt dad.~ Her mind went round and round, but never came up with a good answer. Eventually she gave up and headed down with her mom and the others to see how her father was.
Akira made his way through the waiting room and out the back door, he barely noticed the glares Uubu and Trunks gave him, nor the look of fear and hatred from Sike. All he cared about was getting to the infirmary to see how Gohan was and to try and explain things to Pan.
As he walked down the hallway leading to the infirmary, his way was suddenly blocked by Goten.
"I don't think you should be here right now Akira," he said, his voice full of unspoken threats.
"I understand, but before I go can you tell me..." Akira's voice dropped to just above a whisper, "is he going to be okay?"
Goten's anger seemed to dissipate slightly at the sight of the humbled fighter. "The doctors think so... I know he'll be okay though, he's been hurt way worse than this and still pulled through, he'll be fine."
Akira nodded and turned to leave, his head hung low. Goten fidgeted for a second, trying to decide what to do, then he called out, "Wait, Akira, come back."
Akira stopped and turned back around, "Yeah?" he asked.
"Are you..." Goten paused not believing he was asking this, "are you...evil?"
Akira gazed at him sadly and shook his head, "I don't know... I don't think so, but after what I did to your brother I can see why everyone would think I am. Please tell Pan... and everyone else, that...that I'm sorry. As weird as it sounds, I really didn't want to hurt him like that." And with that he walked away.
Goten watched him go, and then went into the room to deliver the message to Pan and check on his brother.
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Trunks and Uubu's match got underway a little while later (the ring was being repaired again). Both warriors fought hard in an exciting match, but in the end, Uubu managed to change Trunks into a gumball and then dropped him onto the grass before changing him back. The announcer and audience were quite shocked, but Uubu was never-the-less declared the winner.
A/N: Uubu changing Trunks into food to win the match came from Dragon Ball Next.
"It's... it's not possible," stammered Goten as he watched his brother's battle. "No human could keep up with Gohan when he's going all out... Hell, I couldn't even do it for very long!"
"It would appear that at least one can," Master Roshi said sagely as he leaned on his cane and watched the fight through his ever-present sunglasses.
Pan was intensely aware that everyone was glancing at her out of the corners of their eyes every few seconds. She wished they'd stop, it was really annoying. Besides, it wasn't like she'd known Akira was capable of this. It was weird for her to watch this fight. She'd thought she was starting to get to know the real Akira, especially after the moment they'd shared on the beach, but obviously she had barely scratched the surface.
"Pan?" Videl was no longer bothering to hide that she was staring at her daughter.
"What?" Pan's eyes didn't move from the fight.
"Well, I think we're all just wondering...um..." Videl broke off, not sure how to put it.
"We want to hear what you know about this guy." Yamcha said bluntly.
"I didn't know he was this strong, if that's what you mean." Pan answered defensively.
"Then what do you know about him?" Yamcha demanded, "I mean, let's face it, when ridiculously strong people have shown up out of the blue in the past they were usually evil!" Bulma, Chi-chi and Videl glared angrily at him.
Pan frowned, but did not answer. After all, what did she know about him? Was she rejecting the idea of him being evil just because he was cute and had nearly kissed her?
~It would be just my luck that the first guy I almost kiss ends up being some evil monster intent on destroying the planet,~ she thought to herself.
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Gohan and Akira were both moving so fast through the air that even the Jumbo-Screen was beginning to seem like it was playing in fast forward as it tried to keep up with the action. Both seemed to be fighting at their max and yet neither could gain any noticeable advantage over the other.
After nearly five minutes of this a change began to come over Akira. He was no longer the cocky kid that he had been at the beginning of the match; his face became harder, more angry, veins began to push out from his forehead and biceps. His eyes seemed to cloud over and his attacks became full of rage. The once friendly match quickly turned into an all out brawl.
"What's wrong with you Akira?" Gohan asked as he frantically dodged and blocked Akira's punches and kicks. The young man didn't answer; he just arched his back, threw back his head and screamed. Suddenly whatever it was that kept Akira's power from being felt fell away and Gohan's eyes went wide. "No... it... it can't be..." the powerful Saiyan said a split second before Akira's fist smashed into the side of his face sending him tumbling end over end towards the ring.
Akira beat him to the ground first and with a mighty kick sent Gohan flying back into the sky. Before Gohan could regain control of himself, Akira was there again, this time sending the Saiyan back to earth with a spinning kick. Gohan hit the ring hard and lay still for a moment before slowly climbing to his feet. He looked up just in time to see Akira's fist slam into his eye, it swelled shut almost instantly. The Saiyan warrior stumbled back a few steps and then bumped into something, he turned and through his one good eye he saw Akira's knee rise into his gut. Gohan doubled over and was promptly sent flying by a savage uppercut. Again Akira met him at the peak of his ascent, this time with a powerful ki blast that sent him crashing into the ring. Blood was gushing from the numerous gashes that now covered Gohan's body as he lay very still at the bottom of the crater his landing had formed.
The announcer began the ten-count and was at seven when Gohan suddenly shot into the air again. He attacked Akira with everything he had, but the young man easily blocked all of the attacks. Finally Akira's hand shot up and caught one of Gohan's punches; the two fighters stared at each other for a moment.
~His eyes...~ Gohan thought, but before he could even finish his thought Akira had once again sent him to the ground with a vicious kick.
~I've got to finish this match before he ends up killing me!~ thought Gohan as he wearily pulled himself to his feet. Blood was running down his face, mixing with his sweat and stinging his eyes, he could feel his energy draining away with each passing second.
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"I knew that guy was trouble," Yamcha said as he watched the match. Everyone in Bulma's suite was out on the balcony watching the fight progress. Chi-chi and Videl were alternating between screaming at Akira and cheering for Gohan. Master Roshi was leaning on his cane and looking out through his sunglasses, a look of concern on his face. Yamcha, Goten, and Tien were talking about Akira as if they had expected him to be the worst kind of evil from the start.
Pan's hands were clenching the railing so hard she was crushing the steel bars. She wasn't sure what to feel. Part of her was beginning to hate Akira and never wanted to speak to him again, but another part made her feel like she would die if that happened, and a third part just wanted to wake up and have this all be just a bad dream. Tears were softly falling from her eyes and she was working very hard to fight down the sobs that were rising in her throat. She was aware that most of the room was watching her again, but she refused to look at them or do anything that would take her attention away from the ring.
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"Only three minutes remain in this amazing match," the announcer called out over the loud speaker.
Gohan took to the air as he brought his hands back, charging a ki blast, and called out, "Ka Me Ha Me Ha!" A gigantic, blue beam erupted from his hands and a split second later exploded where Akira was standing.
Gohan smiled, breathing heavily and wiped the blood and sweat from his eyes, waiting for the smoke to clear. Suddenly a golden light flashed into existence in a cloud of smoke directly to his left. He turned just in time to see Akira, hair standing straight up and eyes blazing, throw his arms forward and call out, "Sei Kaze!"
"It's not possible," breathed Gohan as the red blast hit him, throwing him out of the ring. He landed hard in the grass and did not move.
"Akira wins!"
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Akira landed at the edge of the ring and looked around, he seemed confused until he saw Gohan; the young man immediately rushed to the injured warrior. The Saiyan's breathing was shallow and erratic, clearly unconscious. The medics arrived shortly and moments later had Gohan on a stretcher, heading back to the infirmary.
The boy stood where Gohan had landed, watching them go and then glanced up at the balcony that Pan was standing on. ~What have I done?~ he thought.
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Pan stared down at the young man as he watched her father getting carried to the infirmary; her feelings still in turmoil.
~Does this mean he's evil,~ she asked herself, ~He just put my father in the infirmary... but the rest of us have put several people in there also and we're not evil...the way he fought though, it was like he was trying to hurt dad.~ Her mind went round and round, but never came up with a good answer. Eventually she gave up and headed down with her mom and the others to see how her father was.
Akira made his way through the waiting room and out the back door, he barely noticed the glares Uubu and Trunks gave him, nor the look of fear and hatred from Sike. All he cared about was getting to the infirmary to see how Gohan was and to try and explain things to Pan.
As he walked down the hallway leading to the infirmary, his way was suddenly blocked by Goten.
"I don't think you should be here right now Akira," he said, his voice full of unspoken threats.
"I understand, but before I go can you tell me..." Akira's voice dropped to just above a whisper, "is he going to be okay?"
Goten's anger seemed to dissipate slightly at the sight of the humbled fighter. "The doctors think so... I know he'll be okay though, he's been hurt way worse than this and still pulled through, he'll be fine."
Akira nodded and turned to leave, his head hung low. Goten fidgeted for a second, trying to decide what to do, then he called out, "Wait, Akira, come back."
Akira stopped and turned back around, "Yeah?" he asked.
"Are you..." Goten paused not believing he was asking this, "are you...evil?"
Akira gazed at him sadly and shook his head, "I don't know... I don't think so, but after what I did to your brother I can see why everyone would think I am. Please tell Pan... and everyone else, that...that I'm sorry. As weird as it sounds, I really didn't want to hurt him like that." And with that he walked away.
Goten watched him go, and then went into the room to deliver the message to Pan and check on his brother.
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Trunks and Uubu's match got underway a little while later (the ring was being repaired again). Both warriors fought hard in an exciting match, but in the end, Uubu managed to change Trunks into a gumball and then dropped him onto the grass before changing him back. The announcer and audience were quite shocked, but Uubu was never-the-less declared the winner.
A/N: Uubu changing Trunks into food to win the match came from Dragon Ball Next.