For the first time in some time, I do not believe I have anything to say. Given this, I will not say anything.

-

On the balcony, Goku allowed the cold wind to sweep across him and cool him down. For the few minutes he just ran over the past months, and they were some of his few happy memories. It didn't take very long until fatigue and minor injury from the last training session were gone for good, and he relaxed and just stood there, seeking something he couldn't quite describe.

Looking out into the starry night, Goku searched among the stars for the star that had once sheltered the planet Vegita. In an instant he found it, without explanation. He stared at that star, so far away and seeming so small. Everything he had known about them had been erased from his mind when he was only a baby, leaving him with nothing. He had to wonder.

Who really were the saiyans? Did they have artists, poets, dreamers? Were they all nothing but fighting machines, as the three others he had seen were? When they saw the same starscape that he did now, did they ever see the beauty, the majesty? Or did they only think of new planets to conquer? Even then, did they dream? Part of what it meant to be alive was that. Did they ever fall in love? This race he was a part of, who were they?

Pondering the thoughts while still staring upward, Goku smiled to himself. He'd proven that he could be all of those. But did he really count anymore? He wasn't too sure. Whatever was happening to him had changed enough that he might not technically be a saiyan. Then again, maybe it was pointless speculation.

"What's this?" He felt something interesting flow through the world's data stream. Holding out a hand, he pulled what he wanted from it. A puff of smoke drifted away, revealing a poster beneath. Goku read it over instantly, and realized what it was. Amazing that they were having another one so soon after the whole mess with Cell. But that was the way humanity was, bouncing back every time. This had definite possibilities.

Moving inside, Goku sat down and looked at it closer. Maybe.... maybe.

18 walked into the door, seeking out the traces of Goku's ki. He was sitting in the chair, looking over something, looking interested. Walking beside him, she looked over at what it was. Handing it to her, he leaned back and cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you make of it?" She looked down at the poster. On it was proclaimed another tournament, the newest of an order of world tournaments. Her files mentioned the tournaments of the past, in which all of the planet's strongest warriors met together to battle for the title of World Champion. Scanning over the fine print, she saw that Hercule would not be participating, and would just keep his title. Just like him to avoid the match entirely. Still, 18 found herself becoming interested.

"Are you thinking of going?"

"Yes." Goku nodded. "Not as us of course, but I'm sure a disguise shouldn't be too difficult. You know I've been working on magic for a while, and I'm sure I'm at the point where I could cast an illusion that would protect our identities. This could be a whole lot of fun."

"If you're going to go, I definitely want to," 18 agreed. "Can we expect tough competition?"

"We usually have something weird come up, and I hear that we could have some visitors from planets other than Earth. But were you going to ask me something before we got into this?"

"Yeah." She had to think a second as to why she had been looking for him. "Could you cut my hair?"

Goku blinked once, quickly. He looked at her slightly oddly. 18 held up a mangled scissors, the blades snapped off. Smiling knowingly, he nodded and go to his feet. Being a saiyan, his hair never grew, and hers grew only very slowly; still, after years it had grown to past her shoulders.

"Any particular reason?"

"I just realized that by growing it I was only trying to be a different person, trying to leave behind the old. But I figured out that I don't need to do that, and things are fine as I am. I figured I'd get rid of a self-deception, at least until the scissors broke."

"Fine by me. Hold still." Taking her hair in his hands he carefully gathered ki. Two solid beams of energy sliced from his eyes through the hair. Sweeping his gaze quickly, he shut off the energy as golden locks hit the floor. The result was another razor sharp cut, almost identical to when he had first met her.

"Thanks," she said. "When can we head for the tournament?"

"Are you ready?" he asked, "there's nothing wrong with coming early."

"I'll be with you in a minute."

Entering her room, 18 rummaged through a drawer and found the original outfit she had worn, shortly after Dr. Gero had activated her. Putting it on, she smiled and brushed her hair quickly. Leaving the room, she found Goku standing with his hands out before him. He was softly chanting something, and energy was growing before him. His eyes were closed, but after a short while they opened and the energy flooded from its tight ball and infused in everything around them.

Having finished his spell, Goku turned to her. He raised an eyebrow at her new, or rather, old, appearance.

"If you were trying to go back to your old look, you certainly succeeded."

"So you like it?"

"Well, given that both of us are covered in an illusion, it really doesn't matter, but sure, I do."

"Good. Will this spell of yours hold?"

"I hope so. I don't know about such large crowds, but it will work, so we're set. Anything else we need?"

"Not that I can think of."

Both of them teleported from the building, and Goku activated the dome. Both of them took a second to feel the energies within the city, then warped there in a fraction of a second. Landing just outside of limits, 18 followed Goku, as he seemed to know where the tournament was. It wasn't far, and 18 was glad for it, because they were walking through the dark tunnels that crisscrossed the city and blocked out the deadly radiation. The overall effect was decidedly depressed, especially since she had been used to being in completely open areas before.

Eventually they came to an opening, and they found themselves in a green field. Over the area was a clear blue sky. 18 was a bit puzzled.

"This area is covered by a force field," Goku explained. "They don't have enough power to cover the entire city, but I guess they decided that the tournament was important enough for them to use some of their energy."

Nodding, 18 enjoyed the ordinary sunlight and a bit fresher air. Goku paused, as if unsure where to go next.

"There are three ways it could be," he muttered, "and this new arena was built after my time. I'm not sure."

Linking into the city's computer system, 18 quickly uploaded all information on the tournament to herself. Browsing through it, she finally found what they were looking for.

"The left arch is the populace entrance, and beside it is the one for entrants. I believe the other one is for signing up or getting tickets."

"Thanks," Goku nodded. "In that case, I suppose we should go about this fairly quickly."

It didn't take them long to make their way to the counter, where a bored looking clerk marked their names down on the list. The illusion seemed to be effectively in place, because he didn't seem to recognize them and merely marked them down on the list under the fake names Goku made.

"You fill up slots beyond the normal tournament set," he intoned. "You will first battle for your place within the tournament brackets. Losing will expel you from the tournament. Any personal injuries that result from the tournament must be viewed as consequences of entering and we cannot be held responsible. Do you agree to these terms?"

Both nodded, and he put their names into the computer, then sat back in his chair and gazed lazily at the ceiling. A while later he seemed to realize they were still there.

"Oh, do you need maps and schedules?"

"I'd appreciate that." Goku's dry tone was lost on the clerk, who was already printing something out.

"Here ya go," he stabbed some papers towards them. "This should be your fights and their locations. If you make it through four rounds and nothing else comes up, you'll finish the prelims and go onto the finals. In that case, go into the big entrance a bit to the west of here. Have a nice day."

The citation rolled off his lips easily, and he returned to staring at the ceiling. Shrugging, Goku turned and went through the main entrance. 18 followed, eyes flickering over the sheet of paper she had been given.

"I'm scheduled for a match in room 24," 18 said, glancing up briefly. "Where are you?"

"11. I'll see you at the finals."

"Of course."

Parting ways, both headed down their respective corridors. Finding his room relatively close, Goku entered and glanced around briefly. He had to brush aside a few feelings of nostalgia, as the preliminary room had been recreated in a near replica of those he had seen in tournaments from his past. Stepping up onto the large platform in the center of the room, Goku crossed his legs and began looking over the area. As usual, the fighting area was unobscured. Currently, the only other person in the room was a tournament official glancing at a clipboard, apparently not having heard him.

"Excuse me," Goku asked, startling the official slightly. "Where's my opponent?"

"Well," the official took off his glasses and wiped them slowly, "this tournament is a bit of a problem, due to the number of contestants. This is one of the elimination matches, so things are a bit sketchy. Someone will get pulled into this, but it was only decided recently, so he isn't here yet."

"What do you know about him?" Goku glanced down at the paper he held. Kag. His opponent's name was Kag.

"Not a lot, sir," the official shook his head, "and I can't fairly tell you very much anyway. He has some sort of power that apparently wins him matches. You'll see that for yourself."

"Alright," Goku nodded. Not that the attendant's vague description meant anything, but maybe this could be interesting. He didn't really expect much from an elimination match, but stranger things had been known to happen.

"You see," eager to fill the silence, the official spoke up again, "there were 67 warriors who applied for this tournament. 64 is the closest working number."

"So you're doing 3 elimination matches to narrow it down."

"Precisely."

"How did you choose who would be involved in these matches?"

"Random, with those who arrived last with the greatest probability." The official shrugged. "We did try to put the strongest fighters as far away from each other on the brackets as possible to make the finals the most interesting. There, of course, things will be different."

"How so?"

"Well-"

"You don't need to worry about that, you'll never actually make it that far," a different voice cut into the conversation. Inclining his head, Goku glanced toward the door, where his opponent stood. Kag strode forward to his own side of the arena, barely glancing at Goku. Turning, his skintight garb shining briefly, Kag smirked at him.

"Let's get this on."

"Alright."

Flipping to his feet, Goku silently glanced toward the official, who cleared his throat, then shouted.

"Go!"

Deciding to wait, Goku watched his opponent carefully. He didn't feel any particular power coming from him, nor any inclination to power up. In fact, he felt no particular ki of any sort. Both of Kag's hands began to glow as he raised them, and Goku was briefly interested. No ki appeared to be collecting, nor did it appear to be a threat. The seconds dragged on as the glow intensified, and Goku began idylly wondering what possessed people to wear such tight clothing.

Suddenly Kag's hands clapped together. While Goku could have sworn he saw sound waves coming from them, and the official clutched his ears in pain, Goku himself felt almost nothing. For a while he half-wondered if he was deaf, but then Kag spoke.

"What happened?" He looked incredibly confused. Goku smiled.

"Was that it? Was that your attack?"

"Yes!" Kag was immediately defensive, and Goku stopped himself from shaking his head as Kag went on, "That should have taken you out easily!"

"I've protected myself against dangerous levels of sound. My turn now. We'll see how you do against this."

Throwing out a hand, Goku gently pushed a wall of ki forward. It slammed into Kag, who flew through the air, out of the arena, and hit the opposite wall. Jumping over to the opposite side of the arena, Goku checked on him, but he was out cold.

"So, where's my next match?"

"Not so loud!" the official screamed, covering his ears.

"Sorry," Goku whispered. "Ehere now?"

"Room 43. Versus Ginar."

"Thanks."

Picking up his sheet of paper while leaving the room, Goku glanced at the map briefly, then headed down another of the corridors. One fight down, six to go.

Arriving in room 24, 18 found her opponent already within. Ignoring him, she moved over to the official watching the round.

"What round is this?"

"Elimination C."

She glanced down at her sheet. The fighter's name was Qual. "Okay."

Stepping onto the arena, 18 closed her eyes and waited. The tournament environment felt strange to her, but she was pretty sure the official would start off the match somehow. Feeling ki shifting across the arena, 18 opened her eyes enough to see her opponent. He had been sitting before with arms folded, but now he rose to the awe-inspiring height of nearly three feet. Probing the ki flow around him, 18 found nearly none, and apparently no hidden potential. She smiled slightly, this would be all too easy. Apparently, her opponent saw this.

"Oh, laugh at the short guy, will you?"

"That isn't why I was smiling."

"I'll show you! You'll regret the day your match was against me! You haven't seen-"

"Ahem!" the official broke in before further words were traded. "We're short on time, so we can't just exchange pleasantries. Go!"

While 18 wasn't sure if that was the signal to start, Qual was. Instantly he began spinning in a circle, slowly moving faster and faster until a whirlwind began to fly around him. The wind in the room began circling around her, and 18 waited patiently for him to make a move. Unless this was some sort of trick, she thought she had his fighting style pegged. Still whirling, Qual began spinning in a large circle around her.

Suddenly Qual angled toward her, parts of the arena floor chipping as the whirlwind around him sped toward her. Pivoting on her heel, 18 blocked his nearest arm and leg, stopping his spin abruptly and completely. Before he could even begin to respond, 18 reversed the direction of her hand and hit him lightly on the side of the head. Qual dropped instantly, dust floating up from his point of landing.

Straightening, 18 turned to the astonished attendant.

"So, where do I go next?"

Raising an eyebrow once more, Goku glanced at the yellow blob across the ring from him.

"So that's my opponent, Ginar?"

The official nodded, and the blob shifted, a mouth appearing.

"You'd better believe it, punk!"

"Right. I bet you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve."

"I don't have a sleeve! Ready to get creamed?"

"We'll see."

"No! I'll crush you easily!"

"Perhaps I can make this simple for you: less talk, more fight."

"Sounds good to me!"

"Well, in that case," the official hesitantly intervened, "Go!"

Waiting a brief second, Goku realized with a start that his opponent was simply gone. Feeling the area, he found Ginar's ki, then glanced toward the location. He barely noticed a shift in the ground, heading toward him. So that was it. Apparently, Ginar had somehow gone into the floor itself. Leaping as Ginar neared him, Goku avoided the attack that struck the air where he had been and landed across the arena.

Again Ginar attacked, charging through the floor toward him. Slamming a hand on the ground, Goku sent shockwaves throughout the arena. As he had suspected, Ginar suffered from it, and was knocked out of the ground. Before Goku could attack, however, he vanished again. Trying to sense him, Goku moved by instinct and barely avoided a blow that came for his head. Flipping away and dodge a few more strikes, Goku figured it out. Apparently his opponent was now shifting into the air itself.

Gathering air, Goku blew forward, aiming vaguely towards where his opponent's ki resided. With almost no substance, Ginar was blown backward by the mighty gust of wind. Transforming back just before he was blown from the arena, Ginar landed, then shifted back into the ground. Considering strategy as he avoided his opponent's attacks, Goku glanced around the area. Apparently Ginar could shift into any nearby material.

Stomping the ground, Goku forced Ginar out into the air. This time he shifted into the ceiling. Ginar saw Goku gesture to the ceiling and realized his opponent was about to use a bit of ki to jar the ceiling. To avoid damage, he shifted to the metal pipe on the ceiling to escape the shock waves. What he didn't know was that he was playing into Goku's hand. Leaping up, Goku grabbed the pipe. Electricity arced from his hand and sped across the pipe instantly. Soon after, Ginar fell to the ground, smoking slightly.

Medics rushed in from another door Goku hadn't seen to attend to the wounded fighter. Goku turned to find the official looking at him strangely.

"Was that even a fight?"

"Yes."

"Strangest thing I've ever seen."

"Where am I next?"

"Well, you've gotten through Round 1. Actually, your next match isn't scheduled begin for ten minutes."

"Who will I be facing?"

"Don't know. You'll fight in room 8."

Goku considered a moment, then nodded. "Who is my opponent?"

"Either Saurian or Lorelli, whoever wins the fight."

"Where are they?"

"Room 63."

"Thanks."

"But why?"

Goku didn't answer, and was already down the corridor. Extra time, that was perfect. With any luck, he could see a bit about his opponents' strategy. That knowledge could easily make the difference in a fight. Ginar had been significantly more difficult than Kag, and had a better trick up his sleeve. He hadn't taken a hit this tournament yet, but if the fights kept getting harder, then things could get interesting when he got to the Final 8. With a slight smile, he continued down the corridor.