Note: I've decided to move the review answers to the bottom, so that you readers can read the story first. That purifies the chapters more in my opinion.

The next updates will take a while, for I am on vacation from 30th April to 16th May. But as I've posted updates to all my ongoing stories feel free to read and review them too. I've been told that they are not too bad...




Welcome to the afterlife, son!




Chapter Five: Tournament begins




Last time...

Gohan returned to his father and the other Z-Fighters, and they congratulated him to his victory.

Goku patted his son on the back and told him

"Well done, son! Ya know, I had to race her too, but in my case the Grand Kai used this occasion to show off. And when the others came to the afterlife East Kai raced each and everyone, but each time she lost. That was a sight! Especially Vegetas race against her! She used this speed-up trick on him she used on you some minutes ago, and he simply had enough and turned Super Saiyan! In a sec he had passed the gate and waited there smirking for a very baffled East Kai! That was really something else! And very funny!" he said with his patented goofy grin.

Gohan smirked. Yeah, he could imagine...




Now the continuation...

Finally it was time! The 28th afterlife tournament was to be held. And the place where it should be held was really strange: a weird shaped asteroid near the Grand Kais planet.

It rather looked like a giant stalactite than anything else, but due to its enormous size it had more than enough space to host a tournament of the upcoming dimensions.

The surface had been turned into an arena not unlike the ones that had been used in the Tenekaichi Budokais down on Earth. It was a giant coliseum, and thousands of spectators could not wait for the begin of the tournament.

The different Kais had their fighters assembled around them. East Kai was holding her usual speech of 'We must win! Or all of you will be grounded for another millennium of training!', while the South Kai said 'Remember what we talked about? Slow and steady!" to his assembled fighters, a strange looking crowd full of beings Gohan had never seen before.

For example a giant bear, several strange looking humanoids and even a giant inchworm. Yeah, that would be interesting...



Gohan looked around and saw also some humans among the spectators. Good, some homelike spectators too...

Well, what he did not know was the fact, that among these humans were the former martial artist Hercule Satan, who had been brutally killed by the Androids, and his daughter Videl, who had died trying to avenge her dad.

She did not know what it was, but something urged her to turn her attention towards this totally uninteresting and seemingly worn-out young man, who was assumingly two years older than she was.

There was something about him she could not yet grasp...

"Videl!" her father boasted, "are you looking at this scrawny punk?" he asked, following his daughters gaze.

~ Oh no! Here he goes again... ~ she thought, rolling her eyes.

"Dad, am I not allowed looking at who- or whatever I want? I am old enough to decide on my own!" she admonished him.

Well, that was something she should not have said...

"What! So you are looking at this scrawny punk! I forbid you to so ever again! He is a weakling, one can see that!" he exclaimed.

Videl shook her head. Now it did not matter to her any more that he would start a rant, for she would do so first.

"Dad, have you learned nothing up here? Looks are not everything and are in most cases deceiving! Did those Androids who killed you and me look any impressive? No, they didn't!! But they killed us with ease! So don't judge a person because of his or her looks!! And now shut up!" she exclaimed.

The baffled Hercule Satan sank back into his seat, and all around him the other spectators snickered. Well, he had not seen it coming...



Down in the tournament grounds Gohan smirked. Due to his excellent Saiyan sense of hearing he had heard the entire conversation of this 'Videl' and her dad, and he was impressed by the fire this young woman possessed. Yeah, she was cute...

~ Damn it Son Gohan, concentrate on this tournament! ~ he admonished himself, but he had harsh difficulties to get the picture of this beautiful black-haired and blue-eyed woman out of his mind...

Exactly at this moment a little guy, who looked like a mushroom with a human body, started the announcement.

"Ladies, gentleman and everything in between... the tournament will now begin. In celebration of the Grand Kais 10 billionth birthday!" he exclaimed.

The audience clapped, and the Grand Kai winked.

"Thanks, dudes! Remember, I want you all to fight clean, but above all, fight like the furies and give us something to cheer for!" he exclaimed, and the assembled audience hailed their approvement.

The mushroom-guy continued.

"Thank you, Grand Kai. And now to the rules of the tournament!" he said, while two strange beings brought in a blackboard. "Due to the fact that this time a large amount of fighters will participate preliminaries will be held to select those fighters who will fight in the main tournament. Each of the four quadrants will be allowed to send in four fighters into the main tournament. Who these fighters will be is to be determined now! But now to the rules: if you fall out of the ring, start to cry or give up you lose the match! And poking in the eye or hitting below the belt are playing mean and not allowed. The winner of the main tournament will receive a gold medal and a private training lesson with the Grand Kai! Each Kai is allowed to select eight fighters, among which the four strongest will be determined who will then represent their quadrants during the tournament!"



Cheers could be heard from the crowd, and after they abated the announce guy continued.

"Last times finales participants, Son Goku from the North quadrant and Pikkon from the West quadrant are already qualified. The rest of you guys still have to. Now to the first fight! The North quadrant is to start. First match is Gohan Son versus Ulibu!" the announcer exclaimed.

King Kai had already chosen the four strongest fighters of his, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan and a very tall human named Ulibu. Now they had to determine which two fighters would be the strongest...

Gohan nodded and cracked his knuckles. He had not fought humans in a long time, but he had gotten a lot stronger since the days he had back then.

Gohan stepped into the ring, and Ulibu did the same from the opposite site. The smile he wore told Gohan 'I will not be an easy victim!', and Gohan nodded. He had understood...



They got into fighting stance, and seconds later the Grand Kai gave the signal. The battle had begun...

Ulibu launched himself straight at Gohan and aimed a punch for his nose, but Gohan had his guard up and blocked this punch easily. He decided not to go Super unless he needed, but he however decided to end this match as quickly as possible. After all, he wanted to commence with the real thing...

So he zanzokened out of sight and reappeared behind Ulibu.

This move coming from the 'weakling' startled a certain human spectator very much, and his daughter gave him a look that said 'See, didn't I tell you?'

Gohan aimed an elbow-check for Ulibus neck, but the tall human fighter had his guard up, too.

He blocked the punch that would most probably have rendered him unconscious and upped the anti by hitting Gohan as hard as he could into the stomach.

He penetrated Gohans defences, but it seemed as if he had hit a solid steel wall. And it had as much effect. None whatsoever.

~ Man, just how strong is he? ~ Ulibu managed to think before he felt a sharp pain in the jaw and was sent flying up into the air.

Unnoticed to the human fighter Gohan had moved a fast uppercut (too fast for him to see) and sent him flying.



Ulibu recovered fast, for he had obviously thought that this newcomer would be an easy victim. So he concentrated an augmented his power level with this strange young man.

He roared and aimed a fast punch for Gohans face, but the young man simply caught his fist and waved his hand away. Gohan then countered Ulibus attack with a punch of his own, but Ulibu blocked this one with ease.

They exchanged blows and kicks at jackhammer speed, and none of them was able to gain the upper hand.

The combatatns were moving so fast that they seemed to become blurs to the audience, and only very few people were able to keep track of them.

Goku, who was standing besides King Kai, smiled proudly. Yeah, his son was strong...



The shockwaves from the blows that were being dealt by Ulibu and Gohan made the whole coliseum shake, and their power was enormous.

Quite a few fighters from the other quadrants asked themselves what they had gotten themselves into...

From time to time either Gohan or Ulibu reappeared in the 'real time', and on one occasion Gohan managed to land a hard blow to Ulibus chest.

Ulibu staggered back and chose to use one of his favourite attacks on this newcomer. A homing KI-blast...

He gathered the necessary energy within seconds and launched the KI-blast at Gohan. The young Saiyan saw it coming and managed to avoid the blast by blasting high up into the air and the 'space' above.

However, the blast followed him suit, and Gohan recognized it as what it was: a homing blast!

Gohan managed to evade the blast another time, and it destroyed one of the celestial bodies instead.

But the blast kept coming, and Gohan had no other choice but to show how strong he really was. He raised his KI to the full power he had in his normal Saiyan state and created a KI-shield.

Ulibus eyes widened once he witnessed the extent of this young fighters powers, and silently he wondered if he would be able to win against this young man.

Meanwhile the blast had impacted into Gohans KI-shield and exploded there harmlessly.

After the light from the explosion had cleared one could see a smoking but smiling Gohan. Yeah, that was fun!

But he decided to take the fight up a notch...



Ulibu however did not give up that easily and flew straight at him with a battle cry. He aimed his punch for Gohans stomach, but Gohan blocked this one with ease.

And again the fighters began to disappear. Seconds later however Ulibu reappeared, but not the way he had planned.

Gohan had punched him very hard in the face, faster than he had seen it coming and this punch send him straight towards another celestial body and pushed him right trough.

Gohan then raised his KI and reappeared in Ulibus flight path. A quick double fisted blow at full strength sent the human back to the ring down below again where he created a nice impact crater.

The crowd cheered its approval, and by now a certain Hercule Satan was buy-eyed. He had seen before what this tall guy could do (he had challenged him unwisely and paid big time) but this scrawny punk made short work of him! What was he??!



Ulibu managed to stagger to his feet and pulled all of his remaining strength together.

~ Time to show off my new move... ~ he thought and then he glowed golden. Suddenly two Ulibus stood where before only one had stood.

Gohan smirked.

~ Ahh, the good old body duplication trick... ~ he thought, before he took a look at the Ulibus KIs. ~ What! They are the same! ~ he thought startled. ~ Just how in the world... ~ Gohan managed to think before the Ulibus launched themselves at him and decked him with a barrage of kicks and punches.

The crowd cheered at this display of the Ulibus, but Gohan managed to block each attack thrown at him with ease.

Sure, one of the two Ulibus separated were as strong as the original, but they were still no match for him. Not even in his basic Saiyan level.

He began to put more energy into his punches, and soon he was able to overwhelm the defences of the tall human fighters.

Gohan zanzokened behind one of them and punched him right into the other that came flying at him. They collided with full force and were sent flying backwards.

Gohan cut back and overtook them with ease. Then he kicked one Ulibu down to the ground and punched the other straight after. The Ulibus crashed into the ground and remained lying in the impact crater they had created.

To be on the safe site Gohan fired a KI-blast into the crater that was strong enough to render them unconscious.

None of them managed to stagger back to their feet this time, and seconds later they merged into one unconscious Ulibu.

Gohan touched down besides the other North quadrant fighter.

"Sorry I had to put you lights out, comrade." he said.

Then he was declared winner by the alien announcer guy. Yeah, he would participate in the main tournament. Suddenly he had a strange feeling in the back of his head, as if someone was watching him intently. Odd...



And really, someone had watched him with more intensity than all the others, and this person was a young human woman named Videl Satan, who could simply not believe what she had seen during the past minutes. Not only was this guy cute, but he was also very strong! Unbelievably strong!

~ Hmm, I guess I'm falling for this Son Gohan... ~ she thought, while her father was still bug-eyed from what he had just seen. This was the first time he had seen a fight like that, for he had only been allowed to watch the tournament now for the first time. But seeing something like that was something else. And he had thought he was the best martial artist...



to be continued...



Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading, and please review!

---*---



REVIEWERS RESPONSES:



chris: Glad you liked it! There will be a lot of fighting in the tournament; that is for sure! As for your suggestion of a heaven vs. hell tournament: I did not plan on that one, but it's a good suggestion! Maybe I'll write a fic heaven vs. hell, and the prize will be one day on Earth or something like that...          



animeprincess1452: Yeah, East Kai really is annoying, and in difference to the series I wanted Gohan to beat her, to show her her limits. As for the update, here you go^^         



Goten's Girl12: You're right, this story focuses a lot on Gohan, but there will be more Z-Gang action later on.



Z-Man: Yeah, and Gohan misses his mother a lot, too. But you're right; she's in a better place...   



DBZ Chick1: Thanks! Here you go!



Marshmellow13Dragon: That he did. And being as good as he is, the test was no problem for him. And now... the tournament begins!



Digi fan: Glad you liked it! Here you go...



Candy the Duck: *blush* thanks! I try to keep the story original and interesting, and I like to think I succeed in doing so...