Chapter Six - The Tanarian Budokai!

The first couple days after the coronation and the wedding had been hectic to say the least. The party had gone well into the night, so much so it was still going when Yamcha and Hotaru got up at dawn of the following morning. That first day, what everyone had simply referred to as 'the day after', was spent cleaning up after the festivites and making final preparations around the palace. One of which included the royal painter dragging Yamcha off to a dark and dusty corner of the palace to make a royal portrait of him. But finally everything had begun to die down. And as it had died down Sora, Yamcha, and Hotaru had set to work preparing for the Tanarian Budokai.

"Wait, why do we need to have two seperate tournaments?" Yamcha asked confused as he looked at the tournament Time-line and the adjustments Hotaru said needed to be made.

"You haven't explained that to him yet?" Sora asked Hotaru.

Hotaru sighed. "No, it keeps slipping my mind. I forget that we're different than the rest of the races."

"What are you guys talking about."

"Well..." Hotaru began. "A Tanarian under the age of 18 can't control their Ki, so there's a much lower limit to their power. At the exact insant we turn 18 our Ki becomes... unblocked for lack of a better term, and we can start using it."

"Wait... You'd only turned 18 a few months before coming to Earth." Yamcha said. "You mean you'd become that strong that fast?"

"It's not that simple." Sora said. "A Tanarian's power shoots up the instant it's unblocked. Not much, usually only two or three times more than before. During that first month is when a Tanarian can increase their strength the easiest, kind of like compensation. And then it all tapers off, our increases in power come more slowly, more naturally. That is why a Tanarian's 18th Birthday is known as the 'Day of Awakening' because it is when their powers awake."

"Oh... I see, that is different. And I can see why we'd need two tournaments then. A first division for those under 18 and another for those over. Well, we can extend the tournament to last longer into the year then, put the other tournament second." Yamcha said thougthfully. "And we should bar people from entering both."

"Entering both?" Hotaru asked.

"Ya. Well. If a person's 18th birthday falls between the two tournaments they could conceivably enter both of them."

"Why not just run them at the same time then?"

"Too much hassle to manage two tournaments at once. Besides, I'm sure the people would rather not have to choose which tournament to watch. How about this, anyone whose 18th birthday falls after the end of the first tournament, probably the end of July, has to enter the first tournament."

Sora nodded. "That makes sense."

The three of them continued to work out the plans for the tournament for the next few days, establishing all the needed details. For this year they would simply use an island that rested in the ocean about a hundred miles to the east. It was about ten miles across and nearly deviod of vegetation and animal life. The entire island would be the ring for the second divison. The first division would be held on the beach.

It was soon obvious that while the first division ring could be the same size and design as the one on Earth, the second ring for the following tournament would need to be much larger. Building a stadium the size of the island being used this year was out of the question, something that big would take forever and use up a lot of resources. They finally decided that the island itself would be fine for a stadium, they'd just get some high end TVs and Hover Cams from Capsule Corp to keep track of the action.

With all the specifics set the announcement was made across the planet. The First Annual Tanarian Budokai would begin in two months! It was also decided that to keep things fair, Hotaru wouldn't compete in the tournament itself but would fight the winner of the tournament as an extra match. While Yamcha, Sango, Akira, and even Kavar all signed up for the second division, Sora decided not to enter. Two months later Tanaria City was packed with Tanarians from around the world drawn to the city to watch or compete. Those from the further cities were all excited to see the power of the Crowned Princess and the alien that was their Prince.

"Wow, would you look at that crowd." Hotaru breathed as she gazed down from the palace window at the beach off in the distance. The only place not covered by milling people was the areas reserved for the tournament. "Such a crowd..."

Sora nodded. "The Tanarian fighting spirit is coming back. Thanks to you Hotaru. It actually feels like we're returning to our former selves again."

"Come on, let's get down there." Yamcha said stepping through the door off to the side and out onto the balcony. "Everyone's waiting for the show to start." With that he lifted off and flew down to the beach, Akira, Sora, Sango, Hotaru, and Kavar following. A moment later they landed at the water's edge of the clearing and the people all went quiet. Yamcha smiled as he gazed out at the crowds.

The previous day had established the process for the preliminaries. All those competing, a good five hundred and twelve, had been assigned numbers. There numbers would be called two at a time over the next several days. The winner of each preliminary match would move on to the next until only eight remained. Those eight would be the competitors in the actual tournament.

To make it go faster the area of the beach set aside for the tournament 'ring' had been sectioned off into eight parts, each only about a quarter the size of the ring on Earth. Eight preliminary matches would go at the same time so they'd cut through the ranks rather quickly. "Alright!" Yamcha called out. "Let the preliminary rounds of the First Division begin! One and Two are in ring one, Three and Four in ring two, Five and Six in ring three, Seven and Eight in ring four, Nine and Ten in ring five, Eleven and Twelve in six, Thirteen and Fourteen in seven, and Fifteen and Sixteen in eight! Remember, you only have five minutes. If you don't get a ring out or knock out by then we'll be watching and make a decision call."

They watched as everyone squared up in their ring. Hotaru raised an arm above her head and smiled. "Ready! Set!" A golden orb of Ki shot into the air and exploded. "GO!" And so, for almost two weeks, the preliminaries moved along. Yamcha was rather impressed by the level of skill a lot of the fighters showed, even if none of their powers surpassed what his had been way back at the 21st Budokai on Earth. And then, finally, the preliminaries ended and the tournament itself began. Those matches had been even more impressive as they moved along.

As the finals were about to begin, Yamcha settled into his chair for what he knew would be an amazing match. The first competitor was being called a fighting progidy by the crowds. With powers this close it truely came down to skill to win and he'd certainly displayed that. He was only 14 years old and wore an outfit that reminded Yamcha of a grey Yukuta. He also had a grey headband that held his shoulder length silver hair against his head. His eyes were a vibrant almost glowing blue. Acording to the others of his village that had come he was the most skilled figther they had, even though not the strongest. And Yamcha agreed with them too, he was probably the most skilled fighter on the planet period.

His opponent was a 17 year old girl with short cut hair and red eyes. She wore a white and black Gi that Hotaru had explained marked her as a member of the Light Order. They had come about a few hundred years ago and had been the driving force in re-establishing the old life, the returning of the old power. All the elites that had stayed and fought the Ginyu Force had been trained by the Order. Even Akira had been part of the Order before that assualt. The Order had even mastered a few moves that made use of energies other than Ki, like Hotaru's own Kuro Omoi Seichuu technique, which made use of spirit and mental energy. He'd also learned one last piece of information from Akira. The two were brother and sister.

"Alright..." the announcer for the tournament called out. "It's time for the first division finals! Kazuki versus Yuki!"

The two took up fighting stances across from each other, their feet digging into the sand. And then they pushed off and ran across the beach toward one another. A few feet apart Yuki leapt into the air, spun, and shot out a kick for Kazuki's head. The boy used his shorter height, even if it was only by a few inches, to his advantage and slipped beneath her foot. He thrust an arm down into the sand as he ducked and pushed himself under her and back up behind her. As he stood his elbow lanced backwards at her back and slammed dead into the center of it knocking her forward. Yamcha heard the crack from where he sat but had also seen the boy pull the blow at the last second, probably the only thing that had stopped it from shattering her back.

Yuki used the momentum to do a flip roll on the beach putting her back up on her feet and facing her brother. She moved her right arm quickly passing it by her face and then putting it completely horizontal in front of her chest. "Thunder Whip!" she cried straightening out her arm. There was a loud crack as it reached full extension, her finger pointing toward Kazuki. The air rippled and the sand blew away on a straight path for the boy.

Kazuki brought his arms up quickly and there was another crack as the rippling air slammed into his arms and drove him backward. "What was that?" Yamcha asked glancing over to Hotaru.

"The Thunder Whip takes a small amount of spirit energy to create a vaccum out of the high speed motion when the arm is moved." Hotaru explained. "The amount of spirit energy used determines the power of the vaccum created. It's one of the more powerful techniques the Order has developed. Used by someone with enough skill it could do a lot of damage."

Yamcha nodded as the boy lowered his visably bruised arms. He heard gasps from the crowd as Kazuki crossed both arms at a 45 degree angle in front of him, so that the outside of his arm faced Yuki. Even the girl looked shocked by the position. "Cross Wind!" the boy yelled whipping his arms through the air and down at his sides. The sand was thrown away violently as the air rippled savagely.

Yuki brought her arms up quickly but the rushing vaccum slammed into her before she had the chance to brace herself and she was flung backward and onto her back near the edge of the combat area. "Amazing..." Akira breathed from where he stood beside Yamcha.

"What was that one?"

Akira glanced down at him. "The Cross Wind is an advanced version of the Thunder whip. Dual vacums so close together they generate a third between them. The impact of the attack causes them to merge adding even greater force. It's an advanced move, without proper training it can backfire easily."

Yuki rolled onto her stomach and pulled herself unsteadily to her feet, a little blood running down her chin. She brushed it off with the back of her hand and then ran across the sand again toward her little brother. As she neared she moved her hands quickly before her in an unusual pattern. "Shika-Shidou." Akira said softly. "These two are quite good." Yamcha glanced up at him wondering what 'Shika-Shidou' was but then looked back down at the fight to see. A few feet away from Kazuki she stopped the motions with her hands and then launched a punch toward his stomach.

Kazuki jumped backwards to dodge and she thrust her left arm forward, palm open. Kazuki's eyes widened as something invisible slammed into his stomach and flung him backwards out over the lake which he then fell into. Cheers filled the area from the crowd as Yuki pulled herself to a stop and stood there hunched over and panting. As Kazuki's head popped up out of the water Yamcha looked over to Hotaru. "And what's the 'Shika-Shidou'?" he asked.

"The most advanced of mental techniques." Hotaru replied. "You channel spirit energy into your hands and encase it in mental energy. The hand movements are used to physically wrap the energies together. The pattern used determines the overall outcome, which can be almost anything. I've even used it to create water before. Yuki, however, used it to create an air pocket. Her first punch was a fake, the open palm had the energy. Thrusting her arm forward released the encased air forcing it forward. That's what hit Kazuki.

"The reason Yuki is so tired is that the Shika-Shidou, named after it's two inventors, uses up a great deal of mental energy. Physically she's just fine, but her mind thinks she's worn out." With that she stood up and raised an arm above her head to call for silence. "And with that last display of skill!" she called after the crowd went quiet. "Yuki is our first Champion of the Tanarian Budokai 1st Division!" Once more the crowd cheered.