"Dragonball AS: 32nd Budokai Saga"

Chapter 48- "Lizards and Monkeys"

By- Tiny

The arena was in shambles that would take at least a six hours to fix and by then it would be dark, so the remainder of the tournament was rescheduled for the next day at about nine o'clock. All of the fighters were staying at a hotel on the island, as were many of the spectators, much to the distress of the house chef. Between the Son and Briefs families, there wasn't a scrap of food in the whole place!

"Man, that was great!!!" Goku sighed, "I don't think I could eat another bite if I wanted to!"

"You said it Dad," Goten stretched, "The food they serve here is almost as good as Mom's! Maybe even better!"

Out of the blue a giant pan slammed down on Goten's head, rattling what little brains the Saiya-jin hybrid had left. Everybody else stayed a good distance away from Chi-Chi as she brought the pan back up, none of them wanting to fall victim to the infamous weapon of mass destruction. The human woman was still going off at her youngest son when a cart of food wheeled by, catching the attention of the angry woman's husband.

"Well, maybe one more bite...."

The next morning at nine o'clock, right when the officials had said it would happen, the stadium opened up to the public. It was packed with even more spectators than the day before, not a single seat in the house empty, and they were already cheering their lungs out as they awaited the upcoming fights. Bardock was pleased by the outturn, and it clearly showed on his face as he stood up in the center of the ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for turning out on this the second day of the 32nd Budokai!" Bardock announced, "Today our fighters are fully refreshed and ready for another day of intense competition, so let's get things started. Our first match, the cold as ice warrior....Ice against the heiress of Capsule Corp., Nijam Bra!"

Bardock continued on with his introduction as the two fighters stepped out into the open sunlight of the stadium, both waving politely to the crowd. Ice was clad only in a pair of loose-fitting black jeans, the top of his body completely uncovered and exposed to the open air around him. Bra was a little more covered, dressed in a pair of white pants and a blue Capsule Corp. tanktop, her aqua hair tied up high on her head to keep it out of her face.

When they finally reached the middle of the ring, the two fighters dropped into their respective stances and smirked at each other. People could see the fire dancing in their eyes, looks of unbridled excitement and anxiety budding within them. Ice's muscles flexed as he raised his power for the start of the fight, just as Bra flashed into the first form of SSJ.

"Okay guys, let's keep this from getting too messy," Bardock cautioned, "FIGHT!!!"

In an instant Bra's power shot all the way to her absolute maximum, her now knee length blonde hair waving wildly behind her as she moved towards her prey. Ice jumped into the air just before Bra would've hit him, sending a swift kick into the back of the Saiya-jin princess's head. The hybrid warrior skidded hard across the tiled floor from the blow, but was on her feet again quickly as she fired a small ki blast at her opponent.

Ice moved out of the way of the attack, which ricocheted of the energy shield over the stands, and then turned his eyes back to the ring to find....nothing. Bra had phased completely from sight while the Kurudo-jin was distracted and was somehow masking her energy signature, so Ice couldn't find her even if he wanted to. He was just about to scream to vent his frustration when a red blur phased in front of him and drove a fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of the Kurudo-jin warrior.

"Did that hurt you?" Ice heard a feminine voice chuckle, "I hope it did. It'll make your defeat all that much more satisfying!"

Ice glanced down just in time to see a leg come up to his face, smashing the large fighter down to the ring...hard! A small trickle of purple blood was running from the side of the Kurudo-jin's mouth, but he ignored it for the time being. Bra finally landed in front of Ice, in the Super Kaio-Ken form, with a small, yet cocky smirk plastered on her smooth features.

"Do all of these Saiya-jin know how to do that!?!" Ice growled, "Well, if she wants to up the stakes, then far be it for me to disappoint her!"

Bra looked confused for a second, but her eyes widened in shock when she saw the Kurudo-jin warrior transform quickly to his most powerful form and come straight at her with a purple ki wave in his hand. The Saiya-jin warrior braced herself for the impact of Ice's attack, but was even more surprised when he shot straight up into the air out of everyone's line of sight. Bra scanned the air frantically for her opponent and finally spotted his purple energy wave coming at her, which she deflected with relative ease only to find a pair of muscular arms come up from under her shoulders.

Ice smirked triumphantly at his sneak attack, tightening his grip on the Saiya-jin princess as she struggled against his hold. The Kurudo-jin had her trapped, and he was enjoying every last second of his advantage.

"Let's see you escape this one, monkey...."

In the stands, Ubuu looked on the verge of charging in after Ice, but was held back cautiously by the older Saiya-jin warriors and the a few of the human fighters.

"Let go of me!" Ubuu growled, "That's my wife in there!"

"I know that Ubuu, but we can't interrupt the match or she'll try to kill all of us afterwards!" Krillin gulped, "Do you really want an angry Saiya-jin on your hands?"

"I don't care!" the Majin snapped, "Now let go of me before I..."

The Majin was cut off by an eerie blue glow that came around his body, shutting down his body almost instantly. Krillin breathed a sigh of relief as he looked over at the smaller warrior sitting next to him, who had a small smile playing over his pale features.

"Thanks a lot Chautzu," Krillin breathed out, "I owe you for that one!"

"You have no idea," the small human grumbled, "That kid has one complex mind!"

"You'd better let go of me, lizard-boy," Bra growled, struggling against her opponent's vice-like grip, "Unless you want to die, that is!"

"You won't kill me, just beat me to a bloody pulp," Ice chuckled, "You Saiya-jin can't resist a good challenge and, since you would be facing another of your kind in the next round, you won't disqualify yourself."

"What do you mean by 'my kind'?" Bra inquired, "I'd better get an answer..."

"I mean another super-charged, half-breed monkey..."

All the Kurudo-jin had to say was monkey and half the Saiya-jin in the stadium tensed up, but the one in the ring with him went wild, breaking his hold instantly. The people in the stands had never seen someone get beat up so badly so quickly in their lives, making Bra's savageness towards Ice almost unbelievable. Purple blood trickled down onto the stadium floor in small pools, spreading over the tile as the two fighter's moved around the ring.

Ice managed to finally pull away from his Saiya-jin attacker long enough to get a few good hits in, but it wasn't enough to even phase the princess of all Saiya-jin. Bra sent a swift kick to the Kurudo-jin's groin, immobilizing him for quite some time, and followed up on the move by a knee to the chin on his way down. Ice was now flat on his back, his pants torn to almost nothing as his purple blood oozed out of several open wounds.

"It looks like Ice is down for the count, ladies and gentlemen!" Bardock gulped, "I'll start the count! 1...2....3...."

"I can't go down like this!" Ice grunted, "But I can't move!"

"4...5...6..."

"What would my people thinks?" the Kurudo-jin mused, "Beaten by a Saiya-jin."

"7....8...."

"Pah, let the old bastards think what they want!" Ice finally groaned, "I'm in pain, for goodness sakes!"

"9....10! That's it folks, that decides, the match!" Bardock smirked, "Bra is the winner of match by ten-count and will move on to the semi-finals! Let's hear it for this great warrior!"

The crowd went wild with cheering as the aqua-haired Saiya-jin walked over to her battered opponent, who flinched when she bent down to examine him. He really was in bad shape, probably on the borderline of needing a transfusion, so Bra reached into her back pocket and stuck a small, white bean into his mouth. Instantly all damage was healed, save his clothing, and the Kurudo-jin warrior stood up to smile at his shorter opponent.

"Not bad for a shrimp," Ice chuckled, "I wish you luck in the semi's."

"Thanks a lot, Ice," Bra nodded, walking off, "And I hope you learned a very valuable lesson from this little fight."

"What might that be?"

"Never call us Saiya-jin monkeys..."

NEXT TIME: Bra has defeated the Kurudo-jin warrior Ice in the quarter-finals and will now move on to face the winner of the next match between Goten and Gohan. Gohan has always been the stronger of the two brothers, but Goten is in much better control of his immense power. Who will win in this test of not only strength and skill, but a test of their control? Find out in the next installment of Dragonball AS!!!!!