Only Because I Like Living in Hell
By SariaSubi-kun
A/N: Well, I think this can be nominated for one of the most unread and un-reviewed stories in all of f-ing FFN.net. I only have one freaking review, and that's because I forced my friend to do that one. And then the second one is from a person who I flamed, therefore they found no other way to respond. And here I am on the fifth chapter. Some stories with only five chapters have over ten reviews. And what do I have? Not even one that really counts as a review. That makes me feel like shit. Why do I bother writing?
Eila- (ay-la) It's a term of endearment. It's like two best girl friends being real close and one of them calling the other babe (yet not in a lesbian way).
Chapter 5
Despite the huge crater on the side of the ring, and of course the large amount of rubble that had to be cleared, everyone was already getting ready for the second match. It was Gohan against the cherry-spiked human, C.
Gohan was stretching, getting ready for the match, which he had a feeling he was going to win, but he was still nervous. If he won this, that would mean his next opponent would be Trunks. His father, the greatest fighter in the universe fell within minutes to Trunks, who had brushed Goku off like he was nothing. What would happen to Gohan?
Goku saw his son out of the corner of his ebony eye and smiled lightly. Walking over to Gohan, he patted the thirteen-year-old on the shoulder. Gohan looked up at his father, but Goku just beamed at him. "Son, I know you're nervous, but you have to remember: you're stronger than me, now. You're the one who beat Cell, not me. I'm sure you'll do fine when you come up against Trunks." He glanced at Trunks for a second before turning back to his son. "But for now," he smiled confidently, "you have to beat that C!"
Gohan's face lit up. "Yeah!" he grinned, the enthusiasm making the nerves rest in his body.
His father gave one of his genuine smiles. "Now let's go!"
"Alright. Be there in a minute, dad." Goku nodded and walked off to join the others, but Gohan stayed and looked at the other end of the room. There was a stone bench carved into the wall, and seated on it were Saria and Hallie (well, Saria was standing on it and leaning against the wall, but Hallie was sitting.)
Saria was looking at him intently, and suddenly her purple eyes felt like the heaviest weights in all of the four galaxies. Gohan couldn't find the will to move away from that stare. He was so transfixed on this one woman. She was just…amazing.
From across the room, Trunks spotted what was going one. Frowning deeply, he grumbled and headed over towards Gohan.
"Gohan." His name jarred him from his trance. Gohan shook his head and looked up at Trunks, but Trunks had a grim expression on his face.
"What is it Trunks?"
Trunks looked down at Gohan. "The match will be starting soon. You should go over there."
Gohan was still uncertain about the dourness in Trunks' mood, but he nodded reluctantly and headed over towards the group, who was gathered around the gate to the outside ring.
Trunks whipped his attention back to Saria. She lifted an eyebrow, a cocky grin dancing its way onto her pale face. It made Trunks sick, and his blue eyes narrowed, the frown on his handsome visage only becoming deeper and darker.
"Looking at something?" Hallie giggled mischievously, curling her legs together. She was different in a way. She looked…almost seductive, but in a mischievous way that you knew she didn't really mean to make it look that way. Still, there was a devilish glint in her eyes that made Trunks feel uneasy.
"You should take a picture," Saria smiled slyly, her violet eyes glowing. "It will last longer."
Trunks scoffed. "I don't want to look at anyone like you."
"Then why the stares?" Hallie asked innocently, a childish pout coming to her face.
"Look," he narrowed his eyes dangerously, "I don't know who you are, or what you're here for, but I'll find out soon enough."
Saria laughed lightly. "We're here to win, just like the rest of you."
"You think you can win?"
She raised her brow. "Yeah." Then her expression grew humorless. "And I don't lie, especially about those things."
Hallie pouted and whipped her head up at Saria. "Hey, yeah, you lie! What about that time you wore my red shirt and told me you didn't? What do you call that?"
"I call that slipping out of a useless conversation."
Trunks grumbled. He turned his back on them and walked away, disgusted just by being around them.
He hadn't felt that way for a while. It had been when the Androids were still in existence. He hated them, and hated even confronting them because he felt so disgusted with just the sight of them. The way they smirked, the way they just looked and felt so relaxed when everything about them was just wrong. Trunks hated them because they looked so evil, and they were.
The only thing was, were these girls evil, or did they just have attitude problems?
He shook his head, trying to rid his thoughts of the girls. If he felt so disgusted with them, why was he thinking of them? Trunks looked back over to them. They both winked at him. He shuddered. He guessed Hallie was okay, but Saria…she just sent chills up his spine.
Then why do I keep looking at her?
In the end, he made himself think that it was just because she was beautiful. Unfortunately, it was true that she was so damn attractive and…yes, he admitted, sexy and-or hot.
"Alright now!" the blonde announcer threw his arm out and pointed to the lobby. "The second match is about to begin! Will C and Gohan please proceed to the ring!"
C smirked and winked self-assuredly at his friend Dan, who grinned in return, and he set out for the stage. Gohan turned around to everybody.
"Well, here I go, guys." He made a fist and flexed his arm, putting on a game face. All of the Z fighters, except for Vegeta who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, smiled proudly at Gohan and cheered him on as he walked towards the ring.
As soon as both fighters were on the stage, the fight began. Dan growled and lurched forward, but Gohan couldn't do much but bite his lip and sigh as he easily sidestepped the attack and kicked the gangster in the back to send him hurling out of the ring and into the wall, leaving the crowd stunned.
Chichi shot up in her seat. "YEAH GOHAN! THAT'S MY BOY! YOU GO SON!"
"Yeah, Gohan!" Ox King and Master Roshi cheered. Bulma smiled and held little Trunks' hands, clapping for him. From inside the lobby, the Z-Fighters smiled with victory. Gohan turned around, grinning, and gave them the signature Goku-peace-sign. Goku smiled lazily, seeing himself in his son already.
The announcer was full of energy. "Wow, folks! Look at that! The teenage rookie Gohan has smashed the infamous C out of the ring with one effortless kick! Give the boy a hand!" The crowd then, as if on cue, started cheering and clapping. A few random people booed C, a disgrace to tough guys and gangsters to be beaten by a kid. Dan, in the lobby, looked frantic.
Saria laughed sarcastically. "What did I tell you?"
Hallie looked up at her. "Aw, come on, Saria, even I knew that, and you know how far my intelligence goes."
Saria looked at her strangely. "You know, you don't realize how smart you really are." She fixed her eyes on Trunks again, a satisfied look coming to her face. She quickly glanced at Vegeta with a sour look, but grinned deviously when her gaze settled on Trunks again.
Don't worry, my little saiya-jin. I'll get you. But first I have to deal with your daddy. Then I'll have you all to myself, and I'll enjoy that.
The next match as well flew by. It was Yamcha against Master Zen. The old man hopped and flew at Yamcha, and he almost felt sorry for the old man, avoiding his blows. This guy was probably a good fighter as far as regular humans go. But he was going to be so embarrassed, falling here to Yamcha. But, as always, there was nothing else to do except sidestep him and chop him in the neck. That rendered old Zen unconscious and won the match for Yamcha. Now he just had to wait for Piccolo to win his match against Hercule, oops, I mean Mr. Asshole and then wait to loose against Piccolo in the second round. A fun day this had been.
Goku stepped up next to Piccolo. "So, how are you gonna take him out?" he asked him with a wily smirk.
The Namek only grunted and looked forward. "I want to end this quick," he grumbled. "I don't need a fucking idiot to be dancing around the ring, making an ass of himself, while those cameras flash in my face. It's a disgrace to the Martial Arts Tournament."
"Yeah," Tien frowned. "I know. This used to be such an enjoyable yet respectful event. Now it just all turns sour when he shows up."
Sure enough, Mr. Asshole was doing a cheesy victory run down the hall towards the lobby, reporters on his ass.
Hallie shivered with excitement. "Saria, my match is next!"
"I know, I know, Hallie."
"Isn't this so cool! I'll be the first to show them our real power!" She jumped off the stone bench, clenching her fists with a spirited feeling flowing around her. "This'll be so awesome!"
Saria jumped down and stood next to Hallie, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Yeah, eila, you'll be great." The two best friends stood together, malignant and mischievous grins playing on their beautiful faces.
Piccolo stood on one end of the ring, arms crossed and the frown on his green face growing deeper and darker. Hercule was jumping around doing flips, throwing punches to the air, and all the while, the cameras were flashing, just annoying the Namek even more.
"Oh yeah!" Hercule roared, "you're going down green man! I'm gonna pound you with my Ripping Wrestling Gory Mashing Smash!" Of course, the Ripping Wrestling Gory Mashing Smash was the same thing as the Super Wonderful Power Boosting Punch and the Foot Mashing Barrage Gory Blast Crushing Smasher. Still the same stupid flip, dance, a punch that couldn't even rip a piece of paper. And it's a shame people don't wonder just exactly why this guy is world champ.
"Get ready, green man, because here comes the Berserking Mashing Assault Smashing Blow!"
Hey, wait a minute. Wasn't it the Ripping Wrestling Gory Mashing Smash…thing?
Of course, even as Mr. Asshole charged towards Piccolo, he knew this was one of those guys from the Cell Games, and that he was doomed, but he couldn't show any fear. Not to his fans, not to the media. Not to those little kids who wanted to be him. Inside his head, he prayed that this guy would just go easy on him and let him win.
Of course, selfishness doesn't apply to some people (or beings, for the case that Piccolo is a Namek).
Piccolo grit his teeth. Idiot. Hercule lunged at him, but he was gone, and appeared at the other side of the ring. The whole crowd was shocked, the news reporters were going berserk, and Hercule's eyes were bulging out of his skull.
"Well, better try again," he murmured quietly to himself when he calmed down. "HAAAAAHHHH!" He started his charge again, and once more, Piccolo disappeared and nearly sent the charging Hercule flying out of the ring. With just a miracle, he regained his balance and stayed inside the ring.
Jeez! he thought, if I keep on going like this, I'll loose for sure. He looked up at Piccolo's eyes and yelped, leaping back frantically. Aw, who am I kidding? I'm gonna lose anyways. Piccolo frowned deeply and took about five steps before he unfolded his arms. Growling a little, he disappeared again.
Hercule looked around frantically for the tall green man, but couldn't find him. When he looked back in front of him again, first he saw a flash, but then the full image of Piccolo right in front of him. He didn't have much time to let out any sort of cry before Piccolo lodged his large elbow into Hercule's stomach, sending the human idiot out of the ring and into the wall.
As Piccolo stood up straight, the audience was in shock. Their champion that "beat Cell"(MAJOR COUGH COUGH HEART ATTACK) was thrown from the ring in a single blow!
"Hey!" one man got up and shouted, "that disappearin' was magic! Magic is illegal, ain't it!"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!"
The humans, except for the family and such, started shouting angrily at the announcer down in the ring. He looked a little frazzled for a minute, but he looked at Piccolo, then at Goku. He knew that it wasn't magic, because he had known both Piccolo and Goku since Goku was a kid. He shook his head and held the microphone to his mouth. "Sorry, folks, but I have been in this business long enough to know that wasn't magic. By ruling of being knocked out of the ring, Hercule loses and Piccolo is the victor." There were more shouts, but the announcer adjusted his sunglasses and put a smile on. "But hey! Now that we know Hercule is out, let's have the tension rise and let a new champion arise! You better all pick your favorite fighter and root them on!" This calmed the crowd down a little.
The announce looked back at the board that was behind the ring in front of the lobby. "Next," he announced, "We have the gangster Dan fighting the beauty Hallie. There's been strange talk about two lovely ladies being in the competition, folks. We'll just have to see for ourselves what they can do!"
When Piccolo walked into the lobby, he already found the rest of the Z fighters joking and laughing about Hercule's downfall. He got a clap on the shoulder from Goku and an admiring from Gohan, but everyone stopped when they heard a clap of hands from the corner of the room.
Hallie shot up from her seat with a wide smile on her brown-skinned face. "Aaaallllright!" she stretched her arms, "finally some excitement! I'm up!"
Dan stepped out from his end of the lobby and approached Hallie, putting his hand under her chin. Her smile faded. "Hey, honey, I know you think you're hot and all, which" he looked down at her chest which was right in front of him, "you most certainly are, but don't get your hopes up. But don't worry," he flashed a cheesy smile, "afterwards, I can heal your wounds."
Hallie stood rigid and tried not to break Dan's wrist as he walked away. An angry frown creased her pretty face and she bit her lip hard. Oooh, I'm am so going to hurt you in our match. And I was thinking of just letting you off easy. Oh, no fucking way now.
She felt a hand on the shoulder of her long black jacket. Hallie turned around and saw Saria looking at her seriously. "Don't go too far. Remember, killing them gets you disqualified."
Hallie nodded. "I know."
Saria agreed. "Alright then. Show them what you're made of." Then she added with a bit of a smirk. "Or at least what this very small portion of your power is made of."
Hallie grinned. "No fucking doubt."
"Fighters, come to the ring!" they heard the announcer shout from the ring.
Dan grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, then. Time to avenge C." He started walking out into the ring, confident in his stride.
Hallie pushed a small strand of her black hair behind her ear and strolled over to the gate of the lobby, where the Z Fighters hurriedly moved out of her war. She stopped and smiled sweetly at them. "So, boys, who will you be rooting for?" Hallie looked at Tien and winked with a giggle before stepping outside to meet the eyes of the crowd.
Tien felt the heat rise to his face as it turned a light shade of red.
Vegeta scoffed. "Oh, this should be good. Now we get to see what these bitches have been whining about."
"Yeah," Krillin added, "and I'm fighting the other in the next round over. I wonder if they're as strong as they may seem."
"Maybe not," Trunks looked out as Hallie walked out to the ring, unfortunately her attractive body holding his gaze. "She's fighting a regular human, so it might not be as easy as it will to see when Saria faces you, Krillin."
Saria snorted. "Well, you're actually right about that," she said quietly, but loud enough for Trunks to hear, "you won't be able to see anything she can do with this weakling. But don't get me wrong," she turned and started walking away, and soon he couldn't hear her anymore, but she said quietly to herself, "she won't be able to do anything with you either."
The crowd whistled and cheered as the two seemingly-normal fighters stood facing each other on the opposite ends of the arena. Hallie had her arms at her sides, and Dan with his on his hips, the same grin plastered on his face. Hallie snorted and rolled her eyes, looking back at the people behind her. I wonder, she thought, if maybe I became the champion. Would they cheer for me?
But she looked to the roof of the lobby and the rest of the fighters-only area. Saria was there, watching. Hallie shook her head. No, Saria's probably going to be the champ. It would be nice if I could beat her at something, though.
"Fighters, get in your positions!" the announcer held his hand in the air. He looked at Dan, who was in stance, and then Hallie, who hadn't moved an inch, and then back to the center and threw his arm down. "Fight!"
Hallie walked to the center of the arena as the announcer moved out of the way. When she got to the middle, she just stood there, falling back to just standing. It confused the watchers, Dan, the announcer, everyone. Then she didn't move. She just looked at Dan.
Dan wrinkled his nose. I wonder what she's doing. But Hallie didn't move. He shrugged. Might as well…He crouched slightly before shooting off, a fist in the air as he charged at Hallie.
She rolled her eyes. Are all fights going to start like this?
"Yah!" He threw a punch at her face, but she dodged it, moving next to him. He threw his leg out at her, but she flipped over him and landed on his other side. He threw a hook at her, but her head moved again. Dan continued with a series of punches, but her head moved and ducked out of the way each time. Then he threw a fake and then another punch at her. She frowned and sidestepped, dodging the kick he sent at her, then jumping over his leg when he attempted to sweep her.
Krillin blinked in amazement. "Hey, guys, she's pretty good. A little better then what I thought."
Goku nodded. "She probably had a little training." But then his eyes narrowed. "The thing is…notice how calm she is. She just moves like water, but her expression looks like she's waiting for something. I just can't tell what."
Piccolo folded his arms. "Well, whatever is going to come, it's going to come soon. That human seems to be spending his energy with all those attacks that he's missing. He hasn't landed one punch on her."
Trunks looked intently at Hallie. "Do you think that's her strategy?"
"Could be," Goku said.
Krillin looked around the lobby. "Hey guys, where do you think that girl Saria is? She didn't even stick around for her friend's fight?"
"She's on the roof, idiot," Vegeta growled, annoyed at the stupid questions and comments everyone was making. He himself wanted to know what this girl was made of. She doesn't seem to have a power level. The girl is avoiding all those attacks with the least of effort, and she seems to have the same amount of energy left than that fool. Well, at least she doesn't look tired, whether she has a power level or not. To Vegeta, this girl confused him, especially since she didn't even have a human power level.
Then his eyes widened: does that mean she isn't human?
Saria grinned evilly. "Okay, human. You just made mistake number one: attack Hallie head on with physical attacks." Then she leaned back and held two fingers up. "Mistake number two: spending all your energy on meaningless attacks." She rolled her head back and laughed lazily. "Ah, this is so amusing. And this is just a silly tournament. I wonder if my match will be as entertaining."
"Ayah!" Dan cried as he threw another punch. Hallie sidestepped again. Then, her hand shot out and took hold of Dan's head. He yelped as her fingers tightened their grip, slightly pulling on his jet black hair. Everyone looked on in interest what she was going to do yet.
Two minutes passed and nothing. The whole audience had quieted, except for some random shouts of "What's going on? Fight already!" but other than that, even crickets had started chirping. Dan looked nervously up at Hallie. Upon their eyes meeting, she grimaced, and then like a whip, faster than anyone could see, her leg flew out of nowhere right into Dan's stomach.
A hair-raising shout of pain flew out of Dan's mouth, along with a bit of blood. Before his hands could wrap around his stomach to try to stop the immense pain, Hallie frowned deeper, growling, "Oh, no you don't." Her free elbow came down hard on the summit of Dan's vertebra.
The crack could even be heard from the last row up in nosebleed heaven. Everyone cringed at the sickening SNAP, not even wanting to see what shape the fallen gangster was in.
As if she wasn't pleased with the results, Hallie grunted with her hands on her hips and kicked Dan out of the ring, his body falling to the ground like a dead carcass.
HALLIE YOU FOOL! she heard a voice scream inside her head. She almost screamed at the loud, eardrum cracking voice that filled her mind. Hallie's hands flew to her ears and she winced, her ears shutting tight.
Saria, don't scream so fucking loud!
You nearly fucking killed him!
I did not!
These are just humans, Haleroid Nasta, not eloises
on Tephron. They can't stand
the attacks.
Well, Sarya Machtensainalafortu—argh, your last name is too long! Anyways, he's not dead, I know he isn't. I hit him on top of the vertebra, not the neck. If I hit the neck, then he would have died.
She heard Saria grunt with disapproval. Hallie straightened and looked at Saria's perch on the roof. Just be more careful next time.
Yes, Miss I-Want-to-Kill-Every—
SHUT UP!
The announcer nearly trembled, shaking with nervousness as he watched the paramedics haul Dan away on a stretcher. Then he realized he still had a job to do. "Well, as Dan joins his pal C in the recovery room, Hallie is the winner! Raise your voices for this girl! She is one hot chica!" Then he looked apologetically at her and said away from the mic, "I meant that in a good way."
She nodded, speaking strongly with her accent. "As if should be." Hallie turned her heel and went down the steps back to the lobby.
The Z-Fighters gladly stepped out of her way as she entered the room. But she had a look of satisfaction on her face that she had left them in awe.
But she heard a stray thought saying Even though that was a regular human, it's still incredible how she pulled that off! I can't believe it! She scowled; Hallie didn't know all of their voices personally, so she couldn't trace it back to anyone. And it was too much of a risk raising her power too high to be sensed to let her find the owner of the voice. She shrugged, figuring that she could figure it out later.
"Hat than humandl thandli,*" she heard Saria's voice from the other side of the lobby. Hallie turned to see the short woman smiling with her hands in her coat pockets. Hallie smiled lightly and held a thumbs up. She walked over to her friend.
"Ir ment enth at ervhath,*" Hallie shrugged in response.
Saria had to look up to see Hallie. She hated being short. "Sa, eud givir rioral watamik sal dier?*"
Hallie looked at Tien and grinned. "Ets eud givir rioral.*"
Saria only looked at her strangely at her friend's sudden attitude. She shrugged and walked away, heading for the roof again.
[Translations for the conversations between Saria and Hallie. It goes in the order of the starring. That means the first sentence starred in the first translation, the second starred in the second translation, etc. This is how it will go for the rest of the story]
* "I assume otherwise the human wasn't hard to handle."
* "Besides the nerving part, no."
* "So, should we stick around or do something else?"
* "Let's stay/Let's stick around."