Chapter 2: Father vs Son, and Friend vs Foe

Wednesday 11th July Age 792

The time was 10:30am and the group had already left the Capsule Corp. hotel and were making their way to the new stadium. They thought the crowds on the Monday were crazy, it was even more manic on this, the real first day of the tournament. It was like a herd of animals being shunted towards one location. Everyone was heading to the same place, that much was clear.

There were police on the streets to make sure that they filtered people through in a staggered form, so that they didn't overload the place right away, plus you either had to be working at the stadium, a competitor, or someone with a ticket to even get in. All the family and friends of the Z-Fighter group had special V.I.P. passes so they were able to get through and get to their perfect seats without too much trouble. Once they had pushed through the crowds that was.

As they rounded the corner onto the long road that led right up to big shiny new stadium, it was clear that some people were beginning to get frustrated by the sheer number of people.

"Why am I wasting my time?!" Vegeta exclaimed, shocking those around him and drawing a lot of weird looks.

"Calm down, Vegeta. Just keep calm," Bulma said, getting annoyed at her husband's embarrassing strop. Vegeta huffed and folded his arms, and without warning he began to ascend into the sky and flew over the crowds towards the stadium. Many people pointed up and gasped or made comments about the flying man, but a lot of people were distracted by where they were putting their feet to worry about it.

"That man doesn't understand subtlety," Gohan joked, shaking his head.

As they all continued on, to make sure people didn't get separated, Gohan grabbed Videl's hand, who then grabbed Pan's hand, so Pan made sure to grab Noca's hand as well. It was almost a weird moment when the two locked eyes and realised they were holding hands, but they knew it was for necessity and safety as opposed to anything else. However, both teens were blushing. Bra was standing with her mother, but she managed to spot Noca and Pan holding hands.

Soon enough, things seemed to become clear as they reached a spot where the police were holding people so stadium workers could check tickets and passes. All of the Z-Fighters that were competing presented their IDs for the competition and were let in and led off to the right, towards their specific entrance, while all the family and friends, with their VIP passes, were let through and led to the left towards the VIP entrance.

It was once they were in that clearing that Pan and Noca stopped holding hands, and they did so quick enough to avoid any comments about it. No one seemed to notice, at least as far as they were aware. Any more awkwardness had been avoided.

Everyone said their brief goodbyes and headed where they were required to go, it was time to get ready for the tournament proper to begin. As they headed towards the fighter's entrance Noca spotted a man with some sort of clipboard and he was watching as the fighters entered. Noca stopped and approached him.

"Hi, sir," Noca said, politely. "I was just wondering if Holline and #17 have arrived yet?" Noca asked. The man smiled and looked at his sheet very quickly.

"It appears that Holline has arrived, but Mr #17 hasn't shown up just yet," The man replied, looking back to Noca and smiling. Noca smiled and nodded and walked on through, following the others again.

They walked down a long hall, turned a corner into another hall and headed right to the end, and then walked through a set of double doors and found themselves in the fighter's waiting area. Immediately, Holline rushed over to say hello to Noca and Pan, while the others went to sit down, or do some exercises to keep warmed up and ready.

"Ready for today?" Holline asked, trying to keep enthusiastic and chipper, but the nerves were clearly written on her face. She smiled and looked at both Noca and Pan.

"I guess so," Noca answered, chuckling.

"I'm ready for anything," Pan said, confidently. Noca shook his head and smirked and then looked around. He saw that Omar was sitting by himself and seemed to be focussed within a meditative state. Noca knew not to bother him at that moment. It seemed that a few fighters were still left to arrive.

Noca was about to ask Holline about Android #17 but a large power level wandered through the door and it was enough to draw the attentions of anyone who could sense energy. Noca and Pan both looked to the door as it opened and saw Uub walk in. He seemed to freeze up for a moment upon seeing the eyes on him, but he did his best to relax and walk through to take a seat by himself. It was obvious that the atmosphere had changed, and not only that, but Noca could sense a change within Pan upon seeing that young man.

Without thinking, Noca raised his hand and placed it on Pan's shoulder, gently. There was definitely another small change as she did that, almost as if she started to relax a little. Just the comfort of Noca's touch and his presence was enough for her to feel at ease, but it didn't mean she was completely calm.

"Relax," Noca whispered softly. Pan took a breath and looked to him, smiling weakly.

"I'll be ok," Pan replied, but then she saw something move in the corner of her eye. It was Goten. "But what about my uncle?" Pan asked, motioning her head towards the older Saiyan man. Noca turned, following Pan's eyes and saw Goten moving towards Uub.

It was an awkward thing to witness. Uub remained still, sitting on a bench against the wall, and he slowly looked up as the Saiyan man approached him. Goten seemed to be walking with a certain confident swagger, it was almost intimidating. He stopped a few feet from Uub and just stared at him for a moment. Uub looked right at Goten, right at his face, right in the eyes. Goten looked back. Meanwhile, Gohan watched, waiting to see what might happen.

"You're Uub, right?" Goten asked, almost in an interrogative manner. It had been a while since they saw the young fighter, but it was almost certainly him. He had definitely grown up, but he maintained the black mohawk hairstyle, and there was a hardened yet inviting presence about him. Uub seemed to tense up but did his best to relax himself. He cleared his throat.

"Yes. You must be one of Goku's son's?" Uub questioned, looking over to see Gohan, and then he looked back to the one standing in front of him. "You must be Goten? You look so much like your father."

As Uub said that Pan seemed to react, moving forward slightly, as if wanting to go over and make herself known and voice her opinion. Noca managed to stop her, just by gently squeezing her shoulder, in a comforting way.

"Doesn't he know how we feel?" Pan questioned, in a whisper, so only Noca could hear her. Noca didn't say anything. Pan didn't need him to.

"Yeah, I get that all the time…" Goten stated, matter-of-factly, and he wasn't letting up on his confident and somewhat intimidating manner. Uub started to worry a little bit about where things might go, but Goten managed to settle everything with one simple question. "How is he?"

Uub froze and opened his mouth slightly. He was almost speechless, but he soon started to smile and saw the genuine look in Goten's eyes start to shine through. Uub looked down.

"He's fine… but…" Uub muttered.

"But what?" Goten questioned, becoming concerned.

"I'm so sorry," Uub said, sighing. "It's my fault that your father left you all way back then, I didn't intend to leave a hole in your lives like that," He continued, looking over to the others in the room, his gaze passing over Pan, who was radiating frustration. "You must all truly resent me?"

Goten scoffed and sat down next to Uub, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't be like that dude. I mean, yeah, we were upset, but that's exactly the kind of thing my dad does," Goten said, becoming a lot more energetic and happier, showcasing his true personality. "You can't blame yourself for my dad's inability to sit still," Goten said with a joke, nudging Uub. The young man smirked.

Watching the scene, Gohan realised that his brother was far more mature than he gave him credit for. Goten was so much like Goku in that regard. His innocence always shined through and made him seem a little simple, but he had an enthusiasm about the world that not many others did, despite the things he had seen, especially at a young age.

Gohan looked over to Noca and Pan, giving Noca a little nod so that he could let go of Pan. Noca did so and looked down to see that she was still rather tense and doing her best to hold back any sort of emotional outburst. Noca did something he didn't expect and took Pan's hand, gently, just to give her that extra comfort.

Uub stood up and cleared his throat louder, looking towards Gohan and also over at Pan.

"I feel like I should apologise to all of you. I didn't know things would happen as they did, but you must know that I am thankful every day for the opportunity that Goku offered me, I feel privileged to know what I know," Uub said, confidently, with a smile.

"Trust me, Uub," Gohan spoke up, "We don't have anything against you. Just make sure you show us that my dad didn't waste his time. Prove to us that he made the right decision to train you," Gohan said, smiling.

Uub nodded, enthusiastically.

"Yes, sir," He said, clenching his fist and holding it up in determination. Gohan scoffed and nodded to young man.

Over the next few minutes, the final people to arrive all showed up, at staggered times. First was Piccolo, followed by Mr Buu and Shell, then Coral who went straight to the opposite side of the room and seemed to have his sights set on Shell. It seemed that they were rivals in some capacity. Coral was wearing a yellow Gi top that went down to about his thighs, and it was tied at the middle with a purple belt. His Gi trousers were also purple. He had short brown hair that was slicked back.

The mysterious fighter known as Chow soon arrived, and only one person in the room knew the real identity of that strange man. Disguised behind a mask, Goku watched over everyone, silently. Android #17 arrived after him and quickly moved to the side of the room to keep to himself. Vegeta and Piccolo both kept their eyes on him, almost concerned that he may still hold some of his old ways. While, Noca had a different concern. He knew something was worrying his former ally, and he wanted to know, but it really seemed like he wanted to be left alone.

Wun was the last to arrive, and he just stood awkwardly to the side. And, right on cue, the announcer walked in to see that all his fighters were there, ready and waiting.

"Ok, great. Now that everyone is here, it is fifteen minutes to eleven and we can get this party started," The announcer said, enthusiastically. "I'll go out there to warm up the crowd and then when you hear your names, I want you to come out, ok?" He questioned, looking at everyone. The stoic and confident faces of all the fighters staring back at him. He just scoffed. "I'll take that as a yes."

With a small twirl he turned and sauntered out into the stadium and it was only then that everyone in the waiting room realised there was a crowd and a stage beyond those doors. They were yelling, cheering, screaming, singing, the crowd was ready and waiting for things to get going and the nerves were truly hitting the youngest of the fighters. Noca, Pan, and Holline all looked at each other, and then on the other side of the room, even Uub was starting to feel the nerves.

"This is gonna be rough," Trunks muttered to himself, taking a breath and letting out a heavy sigh. This was the first time he would ever face his father in an actual competitive form, and in front of so many people. Not to say that Vegeta wasn't always competitive either way, but Trunks had managed to avoid training with his father for so long.

"Don't worry, just go Super Saiyan and you'll do ok," Goten said, enthusiastically, patting his friend on the back at the same time, although when Trunks looked to Goten the younger Saiyan man was shaking his head and smirking.

Trunks pushed Goten off of him, but Goten just laughed. The friends still loved to tease each other, even as adults. Gohan, meanwhile, walked over to the two younger men.

"I would advise you don't go Super Saiyan unless you feel it absolutely necessary," Gohan said, calmly raising his eyebrows at them both. Goten scoffed and Trunks nodded.

Nothing else was said between the group as the announcer's voice echoed through the stadium.

"Welcome to the Twenty-Ninth World Martial Arts Tournament!" He yelled, causing the crowd to go wild. "I cannot wait for you all to see what we have in store for you throughout this competition where one of these sixteen fighters will come out on top as the brand-new World Champion, taking the place of the one and only, you know his name, Mister…"

"SATAN!" The crowd cheered in unison.

"That's right, and the man himself will be here with me to provide commentary on the fights as we witness them!" The announcer confirmed, with another cheer erupting. Mr Satan himself stepped forward from a door on the opposite side, raising both his hands to the air in a victory salute. He was wearing his white cape and champions belt over the top of his iconic brown Gi.

"I'm just as thrilled as all of you to be able to show you the greatest fighters in the world, yeah!" Mr Satan yelled, showing his showman's spirit had never dwindled. Everyone still ate up his words and loved every minute of it. "Now I don't think we should keep these fine folks waiting, who wants to see some fights?!" Mr Satan asked the crowd.

They all cheered and screamed.

"I can't hear you!" Mr Satan said, egging them on.

They all screamed again.

"OK!" The announcer said, "Please welcome to the arena Trunks and Vegeta!"

The crowd clapped and cheered as the two fighters stepped out. Trunks, the lavender haired man, wearing a dark blue Gi with an orange belt and orange wristbands, and Vegeta, was wearing a similar thing to what he wore at the tournament before Buu showed, with his white gloves and boots. Trunks waved to the crowd awkwardly while Vegeta kept his head forward and his arms folded in front of him.

Trunks was awestruck by all the people watching them, it was certainly more than in the past, but he tried to keep a cool and composed demeanour. Vegeta didn't care. As they continued towards the square stage, the announcer continued to talk to the crowd.

"Our first contestants, Trunks and Vegeta, are actually father and son, would you believe it? And not only that, but Trunks is also the son of the internationally known head of Capsule Corporation, Bulma Brief!" The announcer explained. "But the only thing we care about right now, is can the son defeat the father, or will he be put to bed early?"

Trunks groaned at the way he was presented in that scenario, while Vegeta couldn't help but crack the tiniest hint of a smirk. They finally stepped up onto the ring and walked to opposite sides. When they turned and faced each other the announcer stepped off.

"Once you hear the bell you will be free to begin at your leisure, there are no time limits here," The announcer confirmed. He looked to the big digital clock as the seconds ticked on towards 11am, the moment the first fight would begin. There wasn't long left. The clock struck 11am and the bell sounded. "You may begin!"

"Go easy on me, ok dad?" Trunks said, almost with the hint of amusement in his voice, but Vegeta was very much not amused. He was planning to use just as much strength as he saw necessary to use. Perhaps he could teach the boy a lesson.

The crowd roared as both Saiyans charged in to attack at the same time. Vegeta was definitely holding back, but not so he could give Trunks a chance, it was so he could tire out the young man, let him think he had a shot, but the Prince wasn't about to let that happen. The lavender haired Saiyan was throwing rapid punches as Vegeta stuck both of his arms up in a defensive block in front of him, stopping Trunk's punches from doing anything.

In that moment, the Prince could feel slight damage to his pride over his family. Trunks was the only one of his two children that had ever shown that fighting spirit, especially in his youth, but now he was only showing a lack of determination and strength. He was disappointed in Trunks' lack of strength. He sighed as he continued to let the punches slam against his block, before he ducked and threw his own fist up into his son's gut. Trunks dropped back, stumbling, and slightly bent over in pain. He looked up with a glare and shot towards his father again.

Trunks swung his right fist towards Vegeta's face but missed as Vegeta immediately phased out of view and attacked Trunks from his left, kicking him in the ribs. Trunks dropped to the side but managed to retain his composure before jumping up into the air, throwing a Ki blast down towards the Prince. The blast struck the ground and exploded creating a cloud of smoke that made it impossible for Trunks to see what happened to his father.

Once the smoke began to dissipate Trunks noticed that his father had vanished. He let out an annoyed grunt and started to look around him, unable to narrow his senses quick enough to track the older man, which meant he wasn't prepared when Vegeta reappeared behind Trunks.

"Pathetic," Vegeta uttered, causing Trunks to flinch and turn around, only to be met with a strong punch right into his face. Trunks was sent hurtling down towards the ground and struck it, hard. He certainly didn't seem too capable of moving right away. Vegeta kept his scowl focussed down on his son as he slowly descended. A part of him felt like it was necessary to just end the fight as soon as possible but he had to admit there actually was a part of him that wanted to give Trunks a chance.

Trunks slowly started to get back to his feet, and had a glare fixed on his father. He was being made well aware of the fact that he should have trained more and trained harder.

"You're acting like a disappointment, Trunks," Vegeta said, carefully choosing his words. He wanted to provoke his son, but he also didn't want to destroy his confidence. Getting an emotional response would perhaps lead to a better fight. "Every Saiyan is supposed to be a warrior, but you have strayed from that path," Vegeta continued, retaining a ferocious tone.

"I wanted to do something else with my life, why should I have to follow your path," Trunks questioned, clearly starting to be affected by Vegeta's words. He started returning to his feet.

"So, you like being a disappointment?" Vegeta asked. Trunks started to growl in anger.

"I am not a disappointment!" Trunks yelled, directing his anger towards his father. He couldn't handle those words and he was starting to feel like it was getting to his pride. He was beginning to feel a need to prove himself. His power was raising, and he had a plan to unleash something that would give him some sort of chance towards a victory.

He yelled out and unleashed some of his power, his lavender hair began to stand on edge and in a flash, Trunks turned into a Super Saiyan. His glare remained plastered on his face and shot right towards Vegeta, who now wore a smirk. But was it a smirk of approval or amusement? Trunks bolted towards his father but halted right in front of him, swinging his leg up into Vegeta's face.

The attack connected, with the Prince feeling some of the power, causing his smirk to widen. He was glad that his son was actually making a real attempt and trying to put some effort in, but he also knew that the younger man had no chance. Trunks shot towards Vegeta once again and this time punched him in the face and followed up with a low punch into Vegeta's gut. The Prince bent over but he wasn't about to shown up by his weak son.

Vegeta sent an uppercut into Trunks' chin, the strength was enough to life him up off of his feet. He then grabbed a hold of his son's ankle and launched him back into the ground. There was hardly any time for anyone to react as Trunks crashed down into the hard stage.

Vegeta very quickly dropped down next to Trunk, reached down and lifted him up by the throat.

"You need to start training harder," Vegeta said, sounding disappointed. "Even Noca could stay in the ring against me longer than you have," Vegeta added, almost trying to taunt him. He wasn't certain that Noca could manage such a feat, but he certainly had more fighting spirit than Trunks was showing.

Trunks tried to mumble something out but Vegeta just scoffed, closed his eyes and threw Trunks off of the stage before he even had a change to react. Trunks landed on the grass by the side of the stage and the crowd didn't seem to react too much. The announcer stood up and cleared his throat.

"And Trunks has been defeated by ring out. He isn't ready to become the man of the house just yet after losing against his own father. Vegeta will progress to the next round," The announcer yelled to the crowd as he declared the end of that fight.

Trunks stood up and dusted himself off, cursing under his breath. He was annoyed that he didn't remain focussed enough to actually act. He was disappointed in himself for having slacked with his training, but he honestly didn't believe he needed to in these times of peace. His father never rested. The younger Saiyan man did glare at his father but understood why the man had made the effort to show him up. Vegeta didn't even want to give his own son a chance to prove himself. He just ended it right away.

It only begged the question; how much stronger had Vegeta become that he looked at Trunks as someone not worth his time. Vegeta simply strolled back to the waiting area, but Trunks jogged to catch up with him.

"Dad, did you really mean what you said? Could Noca really last longer against you than me?" Trunks questioned, not wanting to believe that. His pride had been affected a little bit about that statement. Vegeta scoffed.

"Of course, he will, in fact he already did when he trained with me," Vegeta mentioned as he continued walking along with Trunks beside him. "Even when I became a Super Saiyan."

Trunks stopped walking upon hearing that. How could that be possible? Vegeta noticed that Trunks had stopped walking and realised that he probably shouldn't have said that, but more for Noca's sake. Everyone else thought Noca was a human, but Vegeta knew that wasn't the case.

"That's crap…" Trunks muttered to himself, clenching his fists. "If a human can deal with you as a Super Saiyan…" Trunks continued, looking down at his hands and having a think to himself. Vegeta didn't pay him any more attention and continued into the waiting area.

As soon as Trunks returned to the waiting area the announcer was already back to getting the crowd warmed up ready for the next fight.

"Okay! Can the next fighters please come on out?" The announcer asked, with the crowd beginning to get pretty riled up again. "Welcome to the stage, Omar and Wun!"

Wun remained standing right by the entrance to the waiting area, a blank expression plastered on his face. Omar stood up from the bench he was sitting on, did a couple of stretches, and started to walk towards the entrance. Noca looked from Omar over to Wun, almost as if he was studying the strange fighter that he didn't get any readings from. It almost seemed like he was just an ordinary human, but he earned the highest score on the punching machine and he certainly looked like he belonged there with them.

Noca couldn't explain why he was concerned. He walked over to Omar, as if ready to say something. Omar noticed Noca's approach and waited.

"Omar, you need to make sure you don't underestimate this guy, I'm not getting a great reading from him… but there's something familiar…" Noca said, trailing off, deep in thought. He looked over towards Wun again, and he still hadn't moved.

"Don't worry," Omar said, putting a hand on Noca's shoulder. He smirked at the boy. "I'm sure I'll be ok."

Noca nodded to the man and watched as Omar stepped out into the arena area. Wun didn't move straight away though, but as Noca turned around he noticed that Wun's gaze was fixed on him, and it had started to form into a glare. Noca looked around him but it was clear that Wun was looking at the teen. Pan, sitting to the side with Holline, noticed something was going on and she could sense a change in Noca.

She quickly stood up and walked over to him. She took a hold of his wrist, trying to get his attention.

"Hey, Noca. What's wrong?" She asked, quietly, but Noca didn't look away from Wun.

"I feel like I know him, but it doesn't put me at ease… I'm worried for Omar," Noca said, turning to look out into the arena as Omar moved towards the stage.

"It's ok, he's a fighter. He can handle himself, I'm sure," Pan said, smiling at Noca. He looked to the girl and nodded, smiling weakly, but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.

The mysterious man stopped looking at Noca and finally started to walk towards the door to enter the arena. He walked past the boy, paying him no mind, and headed towards the stage.

"So, in this fight, we have Omar, from a small village north from here, and he has his very own martial arts school, but this is his first competitive appearance. His opponent, Wun, is very much unknown to all of us. This is his first time competing also, but he provided very little information upon signing up," The announcer explained to the audience as Wun finally took his position on the stage opposite Omar. "Let's get started!"

The announcer jumped back off of the stage and the two fighters remained stationary. Omar looked forward at the towering fighter and definitely felt intimated by the stranger's size. Noca, Pan, and Holline were the only people in the waiting area actually paying attention to this fight, the others passed it off as two random people going up against each other.

Omar stepped back a little and then shifted into his stance, while the larger man just looked down on him, but didn't bother to move into any sort of stance. Omar was beginning to feel some slight anxiety but made the assumption that with his experience he would be able to hold himself well enough. Wun continued to wear a neutral expression, almost as if he was disinterested. The bell finally sounded for the fight to begin and Omar was the first to move. He ran towards the large fighter and jumped up to kick him in the face.

Omar's foot connected with the target, but nothing happened. Wun remained in the exact same position, unfazed, and the look on his face unchanged. Omar gasped and dropped back to his feet, clearly not expecting that.

Wun looked down slowly and started to move his arm. He swung it back slightly and then unleashed a powerful punch towards Omar's face. The punch connected swiftly and propelled Omar back across the stage, but the martial arts teacher was quick to put his hand down on the ground to slow his movement. He slowly got back to his feet and stared at his opponent.

"That was weird…" Noca muttered to himself, but it was loud enough that the two girls beside him heard it.

"What was?" Holline asked.

"I felt his energy sky-rocket before that punch but then it dropped right back to normal," Noca explained, looking past Holline at Pan, she turned and nodded.

"I felt it too," Pan said, looking back to the fight. Holline looked between them two and then back to the fight, unsure of what any of it meant.

"What does that mean?" The red head asked.

Noca looked to his friend and then to the back of the room where #17 was standing. The Android must have known what Noca was thinking about because he just shrugged his shoulder and made a facial expression as if to say 'maybe.'

"I'm not sure, Holline. We can only hope Omar doesn't get hurt too badly," Noca said, turning back to watch the fight.

Holline looked to Noca again and then slowly returned her gaze to the fight. Omar was just regaining his composure and taking a little thinking time as it seemed that Wun hadn't moved at all since his punch. Omar needed to think of something clever to do, or at least that's what he thought.

He darted towards his opponent once more, but before he got in close the teacher ducked to the left and moved around Wun before aiming a punch to the bottom of his towering opponent's spine. He half expected Wun to bend or arch in pain, or react in some way, but that didn't happen. He remained still and took the full brunt of the attack.

Omar straightened up and darted back, feeling rather perplexed about his opponent and their abilities. He had no idea what was going on. He had been training really hard to compete in this tournament and managed to get to the finals and was certain he could prove himself, but this wasn't looking very good and the fight had barely started.

Wun turned around slowly and looked down at Omar. He started to walk towards him at a slow but intimidating pace. Once he was standing right in front of Omar, he lifted his leg swiftly and sent his knee crunching into Omar's gut. The experienced man bent over in pain and coughed from being winded. He fell to his knees as Wun stood back and he felt like he couldn't move for a while.

"You are just an obstacle in the way of my master's goal," Wun said, his voice maintaining that monotone feeling.

Omar slowly looked up and wanted to question what that could possibly mean, but he couldn't find the breath to get any words out. He just coughed up some more and almost fell flat on the floor but managed to put a hand down to stop himself. He didn't know how long he could hold it though, he felt so weak.

"This was a waste of time," Wun said.

Omar looked up, but soon realised that he made a mistake as Wun swung his right arm across his body and released a lethal backhand on his opponent. Omar bounced across the stage and crashed into the wall. The whole thing cracked and started to collapse. Everyone in the audience felt silent and didn't know how to react.

"Uh… and it appears that Omar has been beaten, meaning that Wun will advance to the next round!" The announcer exclaimed, trying to keep his composure in his job, but that had been a lot to take in despite being a short fight.

The medical team were ready to respond and they were soon putting Omar on a stretcher and then rushed off towards the hospital wing. Noca and Holline both wanted to go and check on him and were about to rush off.

"Wait, you guys can't go now, we're fighting next," Pan reminded them. Holline turned around swiftly and looked to Pan, then Noca.

"Ah crap, that's right," Holline said, sighing and trying to compose herself. Noca put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok, we'll have to see him later," Noca said, smiling at his friend. Holline nodded to Noca and then turned to face the other girl.

"I guess this is it, Pan," Holline said, a friendly smirk appearing on her face. Pan had a smile as well.

"Yep, and may the best fighter win," Pan replied, holding her hand out for Holline. The two shook and Noca was feeling pleased with that interaction between two opponents.

The girls turned to face him, and both asked for him to wish them luck. Noca's smile vanished as he realised, he didn't know who he really wanted to win. He was certain Pan was the stronger fighter, but he also hadn't seen Holline's progress.

He just wished them both luck and watched as they turned to face the doorway. The was boy hopeful they would put on a good show no matter who ended up winning.