Immediately following the close of the First Division tournament preparations began for the Second Division. It only took them two days to get everything set up and ready and then the prelim battles began. It took several days to cut the almost two thousand who'd come to the capital for the tournament down to only eight and Yamcha was very much looking forward to the last two days of the tournament. Day one would cover the quarter and semi-finals and day two would be the finals and the match with Hotaru.
Yamcha sat in one of the many restaurants of Tanaria city with Hotaru, Sora, Sango, and Akira watching the large screen that had been set up inside. The place, like everywhere else with the monitors, was packed full of people. The ship from Earth with the cameras had arrived the day before, just in time for the main tournament. Right now everyone was watching as the cameras moved about the island, focusing on the first two fighters of the first match. Kavar and a rather large Tanarain named Takashi.
A large 'bang' sounded over the island as one of the large flash bang's went off to start the match. Kavar and the large Takashi launched in toward each other over the narrow but deep canyon between them. Takashi suddenly reversed direction only a few feet from Kavar and thrust his arms out. The blue skinned alien was caught off guard by the blast of energy the large man had shot at him and was knocked backward.
Flipping over in the air he dropped to the ground digging his feet and hands into the rock to stop his backwards momentum. As he came to a halt and began to stand he looked around for signs of his opponent. Takashi found him first and slammed his knee into his back flinging him forward and then shot after him. Kavar spun around quickly as he still hurtled backward and lashed out a kick that smashed into Takashi's face knocking him away and then pulled himself to a stop.
Kavar crossed his arms over his body and his white arua flared to life around him. With a loud roar he threw his arms and head back and a shockwave of power washed across the island forming a small crater below him. His muscles expanded to twice their size, his eyes narrowed, a horn emerged upon his forhead, and he grew an extra six inches. Relaxing he lowered his head and gazed across at Takashi again.
"A transformation?" Yamcha asked in shock.
Sango nodded. "Yep, that's Kavar for you. Pulls out all the stops soon as he has the slightest trouble."
Yamcha nodded. When the match had started Kavar had only had a slight advantage over Takashi. Now, however, the scales were tipped a bit more in the blue alien's favor. The transformation didn't really yield that much of an increase though, the Kinryoku would have given him more power.
Back on the island the two fighters shot in at each other again and began to trade blows a few feet above the island. Each landed blow, blocked or not, sent shockwaves across the area the two were in, cracking the rocky ground beneath them. Suddenly Kavar landed a hard right hook across Takashi's jaw and then kneed him in the stomach. He followed up with an uppercut to the man's jaw that lifted him into the air. Floating up over him he then slammed his knee into Takashi's chest and drove him down into the ground. Takashi's own blue aura sputtered and vanished as his power dropped. Sora activated the microphone she had with her and called an end to the fight declaring Kavar the winner by knock out.
Hotaru turned to Yamcha and Sango as the two stood up. "You two give us a good fight, got that?" she said with a playful smirk.
"Sure thing." Sango said grinning. "Let's go, Princey." she said casting a playful glance at Yamcha. The Human laughed and followed her outside and the two blasted off to the island for their match, second of the tournament. As they flew they passed Kavar and the small medical staff returning with Takashi. Yamcha doubted there was anything actually wrong with the large man but it had been decided that everyone who was knocked out would get a "Tomyu Flower Bath" after their match, just in case.
A moment later the two landed on the island down inside a large canyon. "Don't think I'm going to be easy on you just because you're the Prince now." Sango said slipping into a fighting stance.
"That's okay." Yamcha replied doing the same. "I'm here for a fight anyway."
Both grinned at each other as the sky was suddenly alight with brilliant green and a thunderous boom echoed around them, the match had begun. They sized each other up for a moment and then shot in at each other and up into the air at the same time. They met twenty feet above the island and began to exchange furious blows. Yamcha slipped around a kick and then pounded his left fist into Sango's stomach. She recovered quickly and attempted to backhand him away but he ducked under that only to recieve a knee in the face.
The blow caused him to flip over in the air and he used the momentum to kick Sango in the jaw knocking her up and away from him. He instantly charged after her and managed to land a punch to her stomach before she recovered. The two became little more than blurs as they moved around over the island exchanging blows. Hotaru couldn't help but grin as the crowds in the city continued to cheer louder and louder as they watched the match.
Sango defelected a punch from Yamcha and then slammed a fist into his chest knocking him backwards. In the seconds she had to think she quickly braced her body. "Nibai Kinryoku!" she shouted, a silver aura surging to life around her. She shot in at him quickly but he'd recovered and seen her coming just in time.
"Sanjuu Kinryoku!" he shouted. A bright silver aura exploded around him and he dodged around a shocked Sango before slamming his foot into her head and sending her crashing into the island almost fifty feet below them. She was knocked through a rock outcropping, down through the island itself, and then out one of the cliff faces around the island and into the water. Yamcha relaxed and powered down as Sango floated back up out of the water pouting and Sora announced him the winner.
"You got lucky!" she called over in mock dissapointment. Yamcha shrugged and laughed as he flew over to her. "Next time," she said as he reached her. "I'll beat you."
"We'll see about that." he replied as they started back toward the city. On the way back they passed two Tanarians that Yamcha didn't know as they proceeded out to the island for their match. A few mintues later the two were back at the restaurant again just as the third match began.
"You were great Yamcha." Hotaru said as the two of them walked in. "You too Sango."
Sango shrugged. "He just got lucky." she said rubbing her head. "If I'd jumped up to my max right away like that I'd have won instead. He just caught me by suprise."
Yamcha smiled. "Well, I know you're better at the Kinryoku than me so I had to make the fight quick before you were powered up completely. I've not won any of the Budokais back on Earth, so I don't intend to lose this one."
"Well, I'd say you've already won. With me out you're the strongest left in the tournament, with the Kinryoku anyway."
Yamcha shook his head. "I wont use it in the Finals if I get there. Wont use it against Kavar either. Like I said, I'm here for a fight. Wouldn't have used it on you either if you hadn't first." He looked up as he heard Sora announce the winner of the third round. Akira stood and walked from the room and then blasted off for the island.
Kavar saw Yamcha's eyes follow Akira out and shook his head. "Don't bother with him." he said causing Yamcha to look over to him. "Akira doesn't like anyone who isn't a Tanarian. I gave up trying years ago."
Sora nodded. "He's been like that ever since we were first attacked twenty years ago. He'd not trusted outsiders much before that, but it only intensified after. He'll come around in time, but Kavar's right Yamcha, it's not worth the effort to try and help it along."
"Ya, I suppose."
Everyone turned back to the monitor and a moment later Akira landed on the island where his opponent, a short female Tanarian by the name of Aiko, was already waiting. She wore an outfit that was distinctly familiar from the first division tournament. A white and black Gi. She was also a member of the Order. The others had watched her closely through the preliminary battles, since she was the only one from the Order in the second division. She'd displayed a lot of talent and skill so far and they were all expecting a rather good match out of this fight, even if her power was a good deal lower than Akira's.
Once more the loud explosion sounded and the match began. Aiko rooted her feet into the ground beneath her and took on what looked like a defensive stance. Almost instantly the ground beneath her began to vibrate and small pebbles lifted into the air. "What the..." Yamcha murmured as what looked like white mist began to float up from the ground and swirl around and flow into Aiko's body.
None of the others responded as they watched, for none of them knew what was happening either. Suddenly the girl's body jerked like she'd been shocked and she called out, "Wakusei Seiryoku!" Her voice echoed across the island as the swirling mist around her erupted into a shimmering blue aura unlike any Yamcha had ever seen before. It flowed up around her like a vapor and pulsed between blue and white slowly. And now that it was done, they all understood what Aiko had been doing, it was a strength increasing technique. And a rather impressive one at that, she'd gone from less than half his strength to just a little bit stronger.
As soon as her power had spiked up Aiko shot off across the island running full speed toward Akira. He went to launch into the air and she jumped up as well, spun around in the air, and slammed the heel of her foot into the side of his head knocking him back into the ground. She came back down and landed with a soft thud, her unusual aura trailing along behind her. Yamcha thought he'd felt something when she'd taken to the air but wasn't sure.
As soon as her feet touched the ground again she was running across the island for Akira once more. The man was pulling himself out of the small crater his impact had formed when she reached him and launched a kick at his head. He managed to dodge her kick at the last second and swept her feet out from under her. He then stood quickly and moved to drop his foot into her stomach but she rolled out of the way and launched an energy blast at him. Akira took to the air quickly to dodge the energy.
Aiko pulled herself to her feet and looked up at where Akira floated but didn't make to follow him. Instead she braced her body and the aura about her intensified. She clenched her fists and an odd sparking silver energy surrounded them, almost like her fists were shorting out. "Wakusei Taihou!" she cried thrusting her arms up into the air. The aura around her pulsed, it's base spreading out for a few feet around her like the energy was coming up from the very island itself, and then the sparking energy around her open palms exploded upward.
The energy surged at Akira quickly but the seasoned warrior was already prepared for the attack. Blue energy encased his hands as he reached out and caught the surging attack. The force of the blast drove him further into the air for a moment as he struggled to hold it off. And then, just as he was about to stop being pushed up, the blue energy around his hands exploded forth and shot down pushing Aiko's attack back at her and thrusting him higher in the air from the recoil.
As soon as she saw him deflect it back she stopped and jumped out of the way diving behind a rock. A second later the blast hit and a large chunk of the island exploded into a new crater. She stood and looked back up into the air again but Akira was gone. She suddenly felt him charging toward her from behind and turned just in time to get kicked in the stomach. He then grabbed one of her arms and pitched her into the air. As before her aura stretched down to meet the ground for a moment but as she went higher the thin stream of energy between her and the ground narrowed before breaking completely, the whole time her energy was dropping.
As soon as the connection to the ground broke her unusual aura blinked out of existence and her power returned to it's normal level. Before she even had the chance to react Akira was beside her and slamming his foot into her stomach and then he landed a hard left to her face that knocked her out cold where she floated. She began to fall toward the ground once more but Akira grabbed her before she hit and started back to the city as Sora declared him the winner.
"What.. was that?" Yamcha asked over the cheers.
Hotaru shook her head. "I've never seen that technique before, she must have invented it herself... I don't get why it gave out though..."
"I do." said Sora. "A very impressive skill. She was channeling energy from the planet to increase her strength. She could only control as much as her body can manage but, with that skill, she would have all of the planet's energy at her disposal. However, she needs to remain in contact with the ground for a perfect connection between her and the planet. Or at least close to keep a connection going. Akira must have realized this as well, that's why he threw her into the air, to break her connection."
