Chapter 3: Brothers and Sisters
On one side of the stage stood the raven-haired Pan, wearing her red Gi, with the black belt and black wristbands. On the opposite side stood the red headed Holline, wearing a light blue Gi top with black leggings. They stood facing each other, both smiling. Although Pan had been worried about Noca's and Holline's relationship earlier on, she was now certain there was nothing more to worry about. Holline never had any doubts about Pan from the moment she met her, she was sure that Noca had found someone special.
The announcer stepped up, ready to grip the audience yet again.
"Hopefully this fight won't turn out as one-sided as the previous two. Up here we have Pan, someone descended from Martial Arts legends. Both her grandfathers have one this tournament in the past. Mr Satan, who is the longest running world champion, and Son Goku, a three-time finalist and the youngest person to ever win this competition."
There was a cheer from the crowd once the announcer had mentioned Mr Satan, as there always was, and it almost seemed like some people were cheering for Son Goku as well. People must have still remembered him. Holline, meanwhile, felt some nerves rush over her upon hearing that.
Not only was Pan a Saiyan, meaning she already had access to a power that was almost certainly out of Holline's reach, but she was descended from greatness. Pan, meanwhile, was doing her best to disassociate from everything that was being said.
"Facing off against Pan, we have Holline. A young girl from a small village called Rinjin, located in the southern mountain range," The announcer said, having far less information about Holline. "Without further ado, let's get on with the fight!"
Everyone cheered again as the fight was about to start, the bell-sounded and the girls remained in the same position. Pan sighed as she could hear people cheering for her to do well, but they weren't really cheering for her.
"What's up?" Holline asked, noticing the look on the Saiyan girl's face. She didn't want the girl to lose focus before their fight.
"They only know me because of my grandfather, it's just frustrating," Pan said, groaning and looking into the crowds. Holline smiled weakly.
"Well then, let's make this a great fight and hopefully they'll have a real reason to cheer for you," Holline said, and moved into her stance. Pan looked back to the red-head and saw the smile on her face was genuine, but it turned to a serious and focused look. Pan smirked and moved into a stance also.
The bell had already sounded, so they were more than ready to go ahead and start the fight. Both girls charged towards each other at the same time, with Pan aiming a punch for Holline's face first, but the red head dropped to the left and avoided the attempt. Holline then aimed her own punch in return but Pan also managed to avoid it by dodging forward. The Saiyan girl then spun around and at the same time aimed a kick towards Holline's ribs.
Holline lowered her left hand to block the kick, managing to hold the attack back. Pan then spun in Holline's grip and kicked her in the head with her loose foot. The red head felt that attack and slipped back, hitting the ground. This meant Pan could get free and landed back on the ground, standing straight, and waited for Holline to get up again.
She very quickly did so and charged towards Pan again, but the young Saiyan jumped back as Holline swung her fist, narrowly avoiding the red head's attempt. Pan returned the attempt with one of her own, aiming to hammer her fists down on Holline's head, but the human girl dropped to the ground and rolled to the left, just about managing to avoid another attempted attack.
Holline quickly got back to her feet and charged towards Pan again, managing to connect and tackle the Saiyan, causing them both to fall to the ground and roll. Holline ended up on top, with Pan on her back, and the red head aimed a fist for Pan's face. Pan just about managed to move her head to the side and Holline's fist cracked into the stage. The crack was clearly heard by Pan and she saw Holline wince in pain.
She moved back, gripping her hand, not comfortable with that pain, and Pan wasn't about to allow her too much of a chance to regain herself, so she pulled her opponent down and managed to pull off a headbutt. Holline was knocked back, getting to her feet and gripping her head with one hand. She was certainly being shown that it was tough to be in a real fight and need to remember the endurance lessons she had gone through with Android #17. She would need to ignore the pain and continue with her fight.
Pan had got back to her feet but was actually unprepared for what happened next as Holline pushed aside the pain and rushed towards Pan again. The red head charged and struck a punch into Pan's gut and followed up with a knee up into her face. Pan took a few steps back after the impact, shaking her head to try and regain herself, but Holline was already moving forward quickly again, coming forward with another punch. Pan was struck in the face and knocked down to the ground, but she quickly used her pace to push up and take flight.
The Saiyan hovered above the stage and smirked down, certain that Holline wouldn't know how to utilise her Ki enough to fly. But she was wrong as Holline slowly started to ascend. Pan cursed to herself and pulled further away in the air to great distance as Holline moved up to Pan's level. They hovered, looking towards one another, but they were both in different conditions. Holline was feeling quite tired out from all the energy she had been using, while Pan was still very much in the fight.
"You're a lot stronger than I thought, I underestimated you," Pan stated, using that time to rest up, knowing Holline was doing the same. "I'm sorry about that."
"Thanks," Holline said, chuckling. "You're definitely tough though…" Holline added, smiling.
"I'm surprised, I haven't had as much training as I would have liked the last few years," Pan said, looking at her hands and then back to Holline. They both realised they were feeling quite rested and it was time to return their attention to the fight.
The brief moment between them started to fade and the focus returned to the competition. Neither of the girls were smiling at each other anymore and they swiftly moved into charging attacks, flying right towards each other. They connected fists in the middle of the air, causing a small shock wave to ripple through.
They both then shot back away from each other, creating distance to get ready for another attack. Pan moved quicker than Holline and flew back in for another attack, smashing a fist against Holline's jaw, but she didn't stop there and followed up with a punch into the red head's gut. As Holline fell forward in pain Pan shot another punch right up into her face, knocking her up a little higher into the air, but she very quickly regained her composure and managed to throw a small Ki blast down towards her attacker.
Pan managed to easily block the Ki blast and used the smoke from the explosion to ready her next attack, she almost started to prepare a Kamehameha but decided against it, knowing the fight would end far too quickly.
Once the smoke dissipated Holline was shocked to see that Pan had vanished. No one was there. The red head gasped and started to look around frantically, but Pan was just nowhere to be found and Holline was beginning to truly worry about her chances in the fight.
Suddenly, she was attacked from behind and felt a Ki blast strike her in the back, it wasn't too powerful, but it was enough to distract her and knock her from the sky. She crashed down on the arena with a crack and squirmed from the pain. Pan had been moving around so fast that Holline wasn't able to see her at all. Almost everyone in the audience had winced when they saw Holline hit the stage, but they breathed sighs of relief when she began to move and push to her feet.
Noca was standing by the entrance at the waiting area and he was honestly pretty pleased by what he was watching. Holline had never truly seemed like the fighting type in all the time he had known her, so it was quite the shock to see how she had easily transitioned into such a lifestyle. He was proud of what he was seeing. He could see that his friend had learned how to grasp energy and fighting technique a little bit, just from training with Android #17.
Even though Noca could tell that Pan held the advantage over Holline and his red headed friend was certainly showing signs of exhaustion, but he could see that she wasn't going to give up so easily. Noca knew she wouldn't give up, that wasn't in her nature, she was always quite persistent, but it was starting to look like she wasn't going to get a choice.
Holline stood up straight and tried to move forward but as she did so a sharp pain shot up her leg and she fell to her knees. In that time Pan had descended to the ground and was wearing something of a sympathetic look.
"Are you ok?" Pan asked, not wanting to have caused her opponent too much damage, showing that she was a little worried.
"I don't think I'm gonna be able to continue…" Holline groaned, disappointed in herself. She looked at the ground and was breathing heavier than normal. Pan sighed and folded her arms.
"There's no shame in dropping out if you don't feel like you can keep going. You don't want to push yourself too hard and hurt yourself," Pan explained, hoping that her words would be helpful. Pan didn't want to win the fight that way, but she also wasn't too hung up on her pride to force her opponent to continue. "I don't want the fight to end yet, but it's totally your decision."
Holline looked up at Pan and nodded, accepting that Pan was right.
"I'm sorry," Holline said, sitting down and looking over to the announcer. He jumped up and approached the stage.
"Are you unable to continue?" He asked her. She nodded and sighed. The announcer stepped away, grabbing his microphone.
"And it appears that Holline has accepted defeat, this means that Pan will advance to the next round!" He called out, notifying the audience. They clapped and cheered as they saw the good sportsmanship that was Pan walking over to Holline and helping her up off the ground.
The two of them walked to the waiting area together. Noca was quick to rush to them and check on his oldest friend, although she wasn't in a bad condition and was probably just a little tired from using an energy that she hadn't typically shown before.
"Are you ok, Holline?" Noca asked, having that concerned older brother tone. It was the first time he had ever seen her fight and she certainly proved that she had made progress and earned herself some much-needed competitive experience.
"Yeah… I'll be fine," Holline said, smiling as she sat down on the bench so she could relax and regain some of her lost energy. Noca was surprised at how calm the girl seemed despite losing that fight, but he had seen something in her that he never knew was there in the past. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at his best friend.
A brief moment passed and Noca realised that Pan was standing beside him.
"What about you, Pan? Are you ok?" Noca asked, knowing that she was most likely fine.
"I'm ok, just happy to finally get a chance to stretch my legs on the stage," Pan said, smiling. They all sat down together, waiting for the announcer to call on the next fighters. As they sat there, Pan seemed to shift awkwardly and move closer to Noca, preparing to say something. Noca noticed and turned to look at her.
"How do you think I did?" Pan asked. Noca's brow furrowed and Pan looked away quickly. She seemed a little nervous upon asking the question, she honestly wanted to hear something positive and she weirdly wanted Noca to praise her.
"You were great, obviously you have more fighting experience than Holline and you're a Saiyan, so those things helped you," Noca explained, his answer not really what Pan was wanting to hear, but it was the truth. "But Holline has been training with Android #17 and I'm sure she would have been some sort of challenge."
Pan looked up and smiled back at Noca, blushing a little bit. She was somewhat satisfied with the response.
"Thanks, Noca. I was worried for a moment that she would be level with me, but I think my stamina helped me a lot," Pan explained, looking over to Holline to see if the red head agreed. Holline scoffed and nodded.
"I definitely need some more training, hopefully we'll get to fight again one day," Holline suggested, smiling at Pan. The raven-haired girl nodded and agreed with the suggestion. The moment was disturbed by the announcer's voice as he brought everyone's attention back to the stage.
"Okay! Let's get the next fight started. Welcome to the stage Son Goten and Son Gohan!" The announcer yelled to applause. Goten was just finishing up a small warm-up and Gohan stood up from a meditation. They both walked to the door together glancing at one another and smirking.
"These two fighters happen to be brothers and are the children of past champion Son Goku. Gohan is also Pan's father, so there are definitely a lot of family connections in this year's tournament," The announcer explained to the crowd as Gohan and Goten both walk up to the stage and took positions on opposite sides. "Once the bell rings you two will be free to begin."
"Goten, I'm gonna go easy on you today," Gohan said, much to Goten's surprise. The younger Saiyan was almost relieved but more confused. "I plan to keep us level, for a bit, at least."
"Why?" Goten asked.
"Well, look at the fights that have already taken place. I don't think there's been too much for the crowd to really sink into, so let's make this a good one," Gohan explained, understanding that the tournament was a form of entertainment as well as a show of skill and power. Goten scoffed and nodded, showing that he understood Gohan's reasoning.
The two of them moved into their stances, which happened to be quite similar, having spent a lot of time training together in their youth. Gohan made sure to keep his power level with Goten's, which meant that a small part of his focus was on that.
Once the bell sounded it was the younger Saiyan that opted to make the first move. Goten darted for Gohan and the older brother prepared for impact, sticking up both of his arms in a block in front of his body. Goten's first punch was successfully blocked but then he followed up with a barrage of rapid punches.
Due to his greater experience, Gohan didn't have any problems with blocking all the punches and withstanding the pain. Goten was growing frustrated quite quickly as he had expected to be able to inflict some damage early on, thus keeping Gohan on his level for much longer. He stopped the barrage and powered up a strong punch that broke through Gohan's block and connected with the older Saiyan's chest, knocking him back a little bit.
Gohan stumbled, losing balance, and presented Goten with another opening. The younger Saiyan swept his foot behind Gohan and managed to trip his older brother backwards. Goten followed in with a punch aimed for Gohan's face, but he rolled to the side to avoid it meaning that Goten only struck the stage. There was a cracking sound, but unlike the one heard during the fight with Pan and Holline, it was the sound of the stage cracking from the power of the punch.
Having rolled away enough to gain some good distance, Gohan jumped into the air but Goten followed in pursuit of his opponent. Goten was beginning to power up on the way after his brother, bringing out his aura. He caught up to Gohan and aimed a right footed kick towards him but found that it was easily caught in Gohan's left hand, and then the older Saiyan punched his brother in the stomach with his free hand.
He didn't let go of Goten's leg and instead threw him up further into the air. Gohan then used his pace to phase from view and reappeared above Goten, slamming him back down towards the ground. Goten soared down, but very quickly managed to regain his control and spotted Gohan following down after him. He waited for Gohan to get within a few feet of him before flying to the left quickly to trick Gohan.
The older sibling definitely fell for it and flew down a little too far and had to swiftly adjust his move and turn away to avoid hitting the stage. He cursed silently, annoyed at himself for falling for Goten's trick, which was made even worse when a fist struck his face and knocked him across the air, towards the outer edges of the stage. He looked back to see that Goten was hovering where he had been before and was powering up a Ki blast in each hand.
Gohan hardly had any time to react as Goten unleashed a Ki barrage. He stuck his arms up and powered out his aura in an attempt to create a sort of shield around his body so he could protect himself from any damage, and the blasts all exploded around him, creating a smoke cloud.
Once he recognised that Goten had stopped firing and the smoke cloud was dissipating he flew forward through it, aiming for Goten, and struck a punch in the centre of his younger brother's face. Goten recoiled, but Gohan immediately phased out, leaving the younger Saiyan to look around frantically hoping to spot his elder.
When Gohan reappeared, it was very sudden, and he managed to land a strong kick into Goten's lower back and watched him soar up through the air. Goten quickly twisted and regained control, throwing another Ki blast towards his brother. Gohan easily swatted the attack away and flew up towards Goten.
Both of them were flying right at each other, showcasing their pace and power, they both unleashed punches aimed upon each other. Gohan was struck in the face while Goten felt a strong punch in his gut.
They remained in that position and managed to look up and smirk at each other.
"This should definitely be entertaining for the audience," Gohan muttered, satisfied with how he and Goten seemed to be even, and enjoying themselves.
"Yeah, but I'm gonna give myself a better chance and take it up a notch," Goten said, clearly starting to feel confident in himself and his chances. He wanted to try and catch Gohan by surprise.
He pulled his fist away and dropped back to create some distance, before powering up and transforming into a Super Saiyan. He didn't want to stall anymore and shot back towards Gohan, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks. It was an overwhelming attempt and Gohan was unable to block against all the incoming attacks due to Goten's increased speed.
While being attacked, Gohan was trying to formulate some way to get out of the onslaught and continue to fight evenly against his younger brother but do so without using too much of his power so the fight could remain even. But in the long run, Gohan knew he had it in his locker to win the fight.
He powered up and managed to push Goten back with a pulse of his energy, knocking him off-guard. Gohan then followed up by shooting towards his brother and punched him in the face, knocking him back further, but he didn't stop his attack there and continued in with a rush. He knocked Goten around a couple of times and ended it by kicking him up into the air. Gohan followed up and grabbed Goten by the leg, swinging him around and throwing him back towards the ground.
As Goten soared down towards the stage Gohan darted down, kicking his brother in the back to propel him faster into the stage. He crashed down, causing the stage to crack and the ground to shake. People in the audience gasped but were shocked and pleased to see that Goten had returned to his feet, looking reasonably ok. He didn't get any time to prove it though, because Gohan shot down at the ground and quickly rushed at Goten, punched him in the gut, and propelled him off of the stage and onto the grass with a thud.
"And it all ends with a ring out!" The announcer yells. "Goten loses and Gohan will advance to the next round."
Goten groaned loudly as he returned to his feet.
"Damn, why did I lose?" The younger Saiyan complained as he walked towards the waiting area.
"Because you haven't trained properly in a long time, and you were against some stronger than you," Gohan said, sounding friendly and pleased, but speaking the truth.
"I guess you're right, just shows I need to keep at it. Maybe you and me can spar more often?" Goten suggested, looking back to his older brother and smiling, clearly remembering some of the times they had sparred together, long ago.
"I'd like that," Gohan agreed. The two of them headed back inside the waiting area together as the announcer was letting the crowd know that due to minor damages sustained to the stage, they would be taking a short break to sort things out for the next fight.
This meant that Noca and Holline were allowed the time to go and check up on Omar following his tough showing against Wun. Noca even made sure to ask Gohan for a Senzu bean. Pan tagged along with them as well, not liking the idea of being left behind by herself, but also because she wanted to stay with Noca.
The trio arrived at the hospital wing and asked the nurse if it was alright for them to go in and speak to Omar. She allowed them in.
"Are you ok?" Noca asked as soon as he entered, noticing that Omar was sitting up and looking good.
"Oh, Noca, Holline, it's nice of you to check on me," Omar said, smiling, genuinely surprised that anyone had come to visit him. He shifted slightly and winced in pain as he tried to readjust himself. "I should be fine; I just didn't expect him to be that strong."
"He definitely looked tough," Holline said, but Omar scoffed.
"Looks aren't everything," He replied, giving her the same look a teacher would but then he scoffed again, turning to Noca. "But in his case, he certainly had the power to back it up."
Omar kept his gaze on Noca, almost as if he could read what the boy was thinking about.
"He's not an opponent to be taken lightly, Noca," Omar stated, hoping to make the boy understand. "I don't know what it was, but when I was up against him it looked like he was impossible to beat."
"There's a lot of strong people here, I'm sure one of them can give it a good shot," Pan said, confidently, although she wasn't necessarily referring to herself, or Noca for that matter. Omar scoffed and smirked.
"I'm sure there are plenty of powerful fighters here this time," Omar replied, looking over to Noca again. "Just don't underestimate him."
Noca nodded and took the Senzu bean out of his pocket, handing it to Omar.
"This will make you feel better," He said, as Omar took it. He examined it for a second, with a raised eyebrow, and then glanced at the kids.
"If you say so," Omar said, setting it down on the bedside table. "The next fight should be beginning soon, you kids should head back down, I'll be fine."
Noca, Holline, and Pan said their goodbyes and walked back down to the waiting area slowly.
"Holline, do you think whatever is going on with this Wun has something to do with #17?" Noca asked the red head. Holline stopped, her brow furrowed, and she thought for a second trying to think back over everything #17 might have said. "You said he had something on his mind, or something he was trying to investigate, could this be it?"
"Maybe, but I don't know, what makes you think it could be something to do with Wun?" Holline asked.
Noca thought back to when he had first suspected something about Wun and #17 seemed to almost agree with him, without saying anything.
"It just makes me think about everything that happened with Omega in the mountains," Noca replied, "If you really look for it, Wun kinda resembles Delta, don't you think?"
"I don't know what you're on about, who's Delta?" Holline asked. Noca seemed surprised at first but then realisation dawned on him and he shook his head.
"That's right, you weren't there to see Delta…" Noca said, "Forget about it."
"What are you two talking about?" Pan asked, feeling a little left out.
"Androids," A voice said from the end of the hall. The kids all looked to the end and saw the black-haired Android #17 standing there, arms folded, blank expression on his face. "And yes, I think this has something to do with Omega."
"There are more Androids?" Pan asked. Her question was ignored as Noca finally spoke with #17.
"Why now?" Noca asked. #17 shrugged as he walked towards the trio.
"To make a scene, to kill you, could be anything," #17 said in such a nonchalant fashion that it took Pan a moment to really hear what he had said. Holline, on the other hand, wasn't pleased with the tone #17 was taking, especially when talking about the possibility of someone trying to kill Noca.
"You think he still wants me dead?" Noca asked. #17 scoffed.
"Wouldn't surprise me," #17 answered.
"Someone wants you dead?" Pan asked, finally drawing attention to herself. "Why?"
"It's nothing… just some stuff that happened in the mountains," Noca replied, also taking on a nonchalant stance on the topic, which frustrated both Pan and Holline.
"I don't know what he's been up to, I lost track on him a while ago," #17 replied, implying that even though he had been watching over Holline and training her he still found plenty of time to try and keep up his investigation into whatever Omega had been doing.
"I saw him again before I arrived at West City, I fought him and his android in a mansion," Noca said, realising he hadn't actually spoken about that event with anyone. "Well, I say a fight, I was already in a bad way and…" Noca paused as he came to a realisation about what happened to the mansion. "And I destroyed the mansion… he must have survived and rebuilt his android."
Pan looked at Noca, remembering the condition he had been in when he first showed up to Capsule Corp. all those months ago. Noca could tell something was bothering her and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
#17 was about to say something else but then the announcers voice sounded throughout the building.
"The next fight will be beginning soon!"
"We'll have to talk later," #17 said, folding his arms and walking away. Noca watched him go as he remained standing with the two girls. He could tell there was some sort of tension in the air between Holline and the android, but he couldn't be sure. He'd have to ask his friend later.
For the time being, they should head back down to the waiting area so they can watch what happened in the next fight, but as they were on the way down there, Pan seemed to think over something that was starting to annoy her.
She turned to Noca and grabbed his arm, stopping them from walking for a moment. Holline stopped abruptly and turned to see Pan glaring at Noca.
"We promised to be honest with each other, why didn't you tell me someone was trying to kill you?" She asked, sounding quite frustrated and betrayed. Noca opened his mouth but was speechless and started to stumble over his words.
"I... uh… didn't think it was important," He replied, realising how stupid that sounded. Pan took a deep breath.
"Not important? I think it is," Pan snapped back. "If someone were to come after you don't you think that could put all of us at risk?"
Noca's brow furrowed and he looked to the side, seemingly in thought, pondering Pan's words. She was right. If someone had decided to come after him and his new friends were to try and defend him, even if they were powerful, they could put themselves at risk.
"Sorry," Noca said, "I didn't think."
"Plus, don't you think there would be people to worry about you?" Pan questioned, looking into his eyes. Noca scoffed and smiled weakly.
Holline just watched the two of them have their moment, and she was starting to make sense of the kind of connection they seemed to have. It read like more than a friendship and it pleased her to see that Noca had something like that. It made her happy that Noca had someone like that.
The situation seemed to defuse itself and they continued on to the waiting area. Once they arrived, they saw that Majin Buu and the fighter named Coral were getting ready to head out for their fight. Coral was a man in his mid-twenties, he was wearing a yellow Gi top with some white bottoms. He also had short, flat brown hair.
"Good luck, Buu!" Pan said, as she passed by the pink monster. Buu turned to her, smiling and doing a little dance.
"Buu will win! Buu will win!" He yelled with immense confidence, in his childlike manner.
Coral was standing by the doorway that led out to the stage and he was looking very worried about his fight. He was shuffling on his feet as he waited for the moment he was called out. He wasn't worried before, but after seeing just how familiar his opponent was with the other strong fighters that were around, and he was friends with Mr. Satan, it just all started to heap on more concern.
"I hope everyone's ready!" The announcer's voice sounded. "Please welcome to the stage Mr Buu and Coral!"
Buu heard his name and he casually strolled towards the door, walking out into the area towards the stage. Coral was close behind.
"Let me tell you a little bit about our fighters," The announcer began, "Buu is great friends with the man himself, Mr. Satan, and he even lives with the champ. Coral was a student at the Haven Martial Arts school, the most well-known rival to Mr. Satan's own school. When the bell sounds you can start!"
The bell sounded butBuu stood in position on the stage, looking around at all the crowd, and waving at the people that were cheering him on. It certainly paid to be a friend of Mr. Satan, and Coral was starting to feel the pressure. He also grew more and more frustrated, especially as he saw that Buu was still wearing that ridiculous smile on his face.
"Why are you so calm about this?" Coral asked, yelling at Buu, trying to exert confidence. Buu turned and looked to Coral. He growled upon being disturbed.
"Because Buu will win. Buu will beat you!" The pink monster yelled, blowing off some steam, literally.
"Prove it!" Coral exclaimed, pointing forward. He then dropped into a stance and charged for Buu. He didn't want to waste any time and crashed a fist right into Buu's gut but found that his arm sunk right into his belly.
"Ah, what the Hell is this?" Coral questioned, beginning to panic and try to get himself free. Buu looked down, confused.
"Are you stuck? Do you need help?" Buu asked, innocently.
"Shut up! I don't need any help!" Coral yelled up at Buu, continuing to try and free his arm. Buu glared and him and groaned. "What are you made of?"
"Buu not like your voice!" Buu yelled and he stuck one of his arms up and pushed the fighter out of him, watching him bounce along the ground towards the end of the ring. He started to slow down and ended up sliding towards the edge but was lucky not to fall out.
Coral jumped back to his feet and rushed towards Buu again. He aimed another punch, and his arm was yet again absorbed into Buu's body. The pink Majin looked down and saw that Coral was having the same problem. He smiled and chuckled to himself. Buu sucked in his gut, trapping Coral some more, and then he unleashed letting Coral bounce out of him and fly through the air, crashing into a wall outside the ring.
Everyone watched what happened silently and eventually started cheering for Buu.
"So, Coral lost against Mr. Buu and it didn't even seem like a challenge for the loveable pink guy. Buu advances to the next round. And I think we can get the next fight started as soon as possible," The announcer said.
Buu turned around and sauntered on back to the waiting area, humming a happy tune to himself, but Coral had to be stretchered off because of his hard crash into that wall.
"Well done, Buu," Pan said, giving the pink blob a high five as he walked past her. He carried on walking, reaching a corner of the room where he dropped down and seemed to fall right to sleep. Pan chuckled to herself and then looked at Noca. He seemed to be looking in the direction of one of the other fighters.
"It's Uub next," Noca muttered, aware that Pan was looking at him. Pan followed his eyes and saw Uub sitting on the same bench as before, he just had his head down and seemed deep in thought.
"Well, let's see if he hasn't wasted my grandpa's time," Pan said, her tone still carrying that disapproval towards Uub, but Noca was the one there with her to make sure she remained calm, and focused on herself.
"Are you sure this fight will determine that?" Noca asked, turning to look at Uub's opponent, Shell. Pan looked to Noca again and then followed his eyes to Shell, who was busy punching the air and practically dancing on the spot as he did so. Pan scoffed. "If you want to worry about anyone wasting your grandfather's time…"
Noca's joke was obviously referencing that Shell was a student of Mr. Satan, and he clearly wasn't going to be much of a match for Uub, that much was certain.
"I guess you're right, it'll be his next fight against Buu that will show us for sure," Pan said as she turned back to Noca. Noca raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding the significance. Pan realised that immediately. "Oh, you don't know, Uub is technically the reincarnation of the Evil version of Majin Buu, at least that's what I was told."
Noca looked over to Majin Buu, sleeping in the corner. Peaceful. Harmless. And then he looked to Uub, also peaceful, but definitely strong.
"We can agree on one thing, this fight is just a formality," Noca said, chuckling and smiling at Pan.
Both Uub and Shell moved towards the entrance to the arena at the same time and stood patiently, waiting to be called out by the announcer. Uub wore a serious and focussed expression, even though he was quite certain that his fight was going to be very simple. Shell also carried himself with confidence, he was under the delusion that Mr. Satan was still the strongest in the world and he was excited to prove his strength.
"Okay, could Uub and Shell please come on out!" The announcer called out. The two fighters stepped out and walked towards the stage while the announcer continued with his usual introductions. "Uub is a fighter from a very small remote village, and this is only his second appearance in the world tournament. We also know he has been trained by the legendary Son Goku, so yet again more connections amongst our competitors in this tournament."
Shell was waving to the crowd as he walked to the stage, clearly having his fans in the audience.
"Now, Shell, this is his first time competing, but he is the top student of Mr. Satan himself, and he plans to make a big splash and show just how capable he is of carrying the mantle of World Champion!" The announcer continued, "Mr. Satan, what can you say about your student."
"Shell is one of the most committed fighters I have ever worked with, he trains a lot and he's never willing to back down from a challenge. But my last words to him would be not to get distracted by the attention and the expectation of being my student. Go out there and make a name for yourself, but also have fun!" Mr. Satan said, into the microphone, so everyone in the arena, including his student could hear him.
"Great words from a great man, the bell is about to ring, and the fight will begin shortly!" The announcer called out. As if on cue the bell sounded and Uub and Shell both knew they would need to get started. They moved into their stances and took a brief moment to see who was willing to make the first move.
Shell darted forward and threw the first punch, but Uub easily ducked underneath it and shot a fist up into Shell's gut, causing the fighting to drop away in pain, coughing. Uub then jumped forward and kicked Shell in the gut, lifting him up and causing him to just float out of the ring. He hit the grass with a thud and everyone in the stadium fell silent.
"Uh… so… that was a shocker. Uub has beaten Shell with just two moves and will advance to the next round," The announcer said, turning to Mr. Satan hoping for some words, but the champ just stared ahead wide-eyed with a nervous smile on his face. He couldn't say he was surprised; he knew that anyone trained by Goku was bound to be a tough foe.
"That was ruthless," Pan muttered to the Saiyan boy stood beside her. Noca nodded slowly.
"Yeah, he knew he had an easy fight and exploited that fact. He wasted no time. He knows he has a point to prove to you all," Noca replied, turning to Pan and looking back into the waiting room and the remaining fighters.
Uub walked back to the waiting area and he retained that same calm and relaxed composure as before.
"Who's next anyway?" Noca asked.
"#17 and Piccolo," Pan said, turning to her father, who had appeared behind them.
"Yep, and I'm sure that's going to be a great fight," Gohan said, smirking.
"Why's that?" Noca enquired,
"Because the last time they fought they were even, and they were enemies, so this time is going to be very different," Gohan explained, "but still just as interesting."
Noca turned around and looked to #17, someone he had come to call a friend and a mentor. He still wore that same blank expression as normal, while Piccolo was always wearing an intimidating look, but he made it seem effortless.
"I hope the experience isn't too emotional for them," Noca joked. Pan turned around to look at #17 and Piccolo, noticing that both of their expressions were basically plain, and didn't show much emotion. She chuckled at Noca's attempted joke, causing the Saiyan boy to smirk to himself.
Truth be told, Noca was eager to see just how their fight turned out. He was certain he could learn something from watching them.
