Chapter 4: Old Enemies
Piccolo and Android #17 were both stood in position on the ring opposite each other, and neither of them had attempted to move into any stances. The announcer had already introduced the fighters to the audience and the bell had sounded, now all that was remaining was for them to get it started.
"I'm ready whenever you are," #17 said, his semi-emotionless tone making him hard to read.
"Maybe I'll let you make the first move," Piccolo mentioned, removing his cape and turban, tossing them behind him. They landed on the grass with a thud, showing their weight, and the Namekian cracked his knuckles.
Android #17 simply moved into a slight stance, but it looked more offensive than defensive. He moved speedily towards his opponent and immediately went for a rush attack, and it was far too quick for the audience to follow properly. The Android had charged in with a punch to Piccolo's gut and then he threw his other fist into the Namekian's face. He then followed up by kicking Piccolo up into the air and he continued with another barrage of punches and kicks that pushed Piccolo further and further away, ending with one punch that knocked him further and then he threw a Ki ball towards his opponent.
Piccolo managed to spin and move quickly, and he was in a position to swat the energy ball away and then darted towards #17, punching him in the gut and as he bent over the Namekian elbowed his opponent back down towards the stage. #17 soared towards the ground but managed to stop himself and hovered just above the stage before there was any connection.
He looked back up to Piccolo, a smirk crawling across his face, breaking the emotionless façade he usually carried with him. He took a moment and then flew right up towards Piccolo, with a fist aimed right towards his opponent, but the green alien fighter phased out when #17 came within inches of the Namekian. Piccolo phased in behind #17 almost immediately and crashed a knee into his back. #17 was hardly affected by the attack and turned around to punch him square in the face. Piccolo jolted back but quickly composed himself to attack once again.
Piccolo swung a leg up into #17's face and the attack knocked the Android away, offering up a much large opening for Piccolo. The Namekian moved to take #17 into a headlock and he flew up further into the sky with him, still keeping the android in the lock. As they moved further into the sky #17 was starting to regain some of his composure and he was proving to be a nuisance to Piccolo. He knew that he would need to complete his attack before #17 broke out of the lock.
The Namekian finally came to a halt high up in the sky and kept his hold on #17. They both looked down and saw that the ground was really far away. The stage was barely visible to both of them.
"So, what's your plan here?" The Android asked, holding a slightly amused tone.
"Why would I tell you?" Piccolo questioned in a disgruntled tone.
Piccolo didn't allow the Android any time to follow up with any sort of retort, and the Namekian just powered up and bolted down towards the ring with #17 still tightly held in his grip. As he started to get closer and get a better sight of the stage Piccolo knew his time was coming. Just as he reached about fifteen metres above the stage, he threw Android #17 the rest of the way down.
#17 soared down towards the stage and crashed into it, creating a massive crack all the way down the middle of the stage as he smashed into it. The Android could barely move but managed to put the strength in to pull himself back to his feet, but he wasn't offered any time to react against Piccolo's incoming attack. A bright light was powering up in the sky and fired down towards Android #17 and at the last moment he realised it was Piccolo's Light Grenade.
The Android threw his hands up in front of him in a weak attempt to block against the attack, but the word grenade did have some meaning in the name of the attack. The blast exploded upon connection with #17's hands and he was thrown back towards the edge of the ring, but he slid across the stage and managed to avoid falling out.
He jumped back to his feet, but he wasn't angry or annoyed, he was actually quite impressed with how much stronger Piccolo seemed. In the years since they last fought, he had clearly carried on training and improving himself and it was all on show in this fight. Even though he was aware that there was still a chance for him to get back into the fight it was clear that Piccolo had the upper hand, but #17 was going to play on that fact.
The Namekian, confident and composed, slowly descended back to the stage and stood on the opposite side, arms folded, gaze fixed on Android #17. The cyborg man shook off any pain he was feeling and scoffed.
"That was a great idea Piccolo, but it failed. You didn't beat me," #17 said, trying to tease the Namekian.
"I didn't intend to beat you with that attack. If I were going to end it so soon, I would just throw you from the stage, think about it," Piccolo explained, showing that he too understood that he held the upper hand but was eager to keep the fight going.
"I suppose…" #17 muttered.
He didn't want to continue with a pleasant conversation and simply sprinted across the stage, running right for Piccolo. He jumped up and sunk his foot into Piccolo's gut. The Namekian coughed upon the impact, he hadn't been ready to defend against such a simple attack, but #17 had moved quite fast. He didn't waste time paying attention to his pain and grabbed a hold of #17's leg and swung the Android around in a circle before releasing him.
#17 was sent flying towards the wall of the stands, which if he hit would class as a ring out, but he managed to stop himself mere inches away and blasted back towards Piccolo and threw a fist for his opponent. Piccolo raised an arm, blocking the punch with relative ease. There was a small shockwave and the fighters remained in that position for about fifteen seconds before they broke the clash with a pop, and both leapt back to opposite sides of the stage.
Neither of them landed for very long and hopped towards each other again, but this time they broke out into a full-on fist fight, throwing punches at each other with intense pace and power. There were loads of little shockwaves as fists connected with arms. Neither were managing to land a lethal hit on each other with every attempted punch being blocked.
This went on for longer than what would be deemed normal and it caused everyone in the stadium to fall silent, with few people questioning what was going on. They were moving so fast that it was difficult for people to follow the action, they just had to trust that it was cool. The exchange of attacks stopped when Piccolo caught #17's punch and then twisted his arm. There was a small groan that escaped from #17 and he was caught with his guard down.
Piccolo had another chance to take an advantage and he punched the Android in the stomach, but instead of allowing #17 to bend over due to the momentum he instead picked him up by his shirt and pulled him in close. The Namekian smashed a fist into #17's face and repeated that action a few more times before deciding to change it up. He let go of #17 in the air but before the Android could hit the ground Piccolo kicked him across to the other side of the stage.
#17 bounced across the stage quickly but was lucky that he managed to regain control and stop himself from falling off.
"Crap!" He exclaimed as he came to a stop and quickly looked towards Piccolo, his gaze hardening as he focused up. "That's too many close calls. Maybe I should actually take this up a notch."
"What?" Piccolo questioned. #17 chuckled.
"Did you really think I was that weak? I was playing you. I'm an Android, remember. I have a never-ending well of energy, I just needed to keep training to be a stronger competitor for the likes of you," #17 explained.
"Prove it."
#17 didn't need to respond. He smirked and shot towards Piccolo with an intense pace but, instead of trying to attack head on, he phased out and tried to find a way to trick Piccolo.
Piccolo had thrown up a simple guard, but he had an idea that #17 would attempt something like that. He made sure to keep all his angles protected in case #17 shot in from one of them and he was expected to adjust quickly. The main problem was that he would never truly be sure of where #17 would come from because he couldn't sense the Android's energy.
#17 had phased in above Piccolo but made sure to descend quietly so that he didn't alert the Namekian to his position. The Android stopped just behind Piccolo and gently tapped him on the shoulder. As Piccolo turned around ready to attack #17 was a step ahead and he performed a swift roundhouse kick to the Namekian's face and that knocked him off of his feet. #17 charged on after Piccolo and kicked him further up into the air, but as he followed on expecting to have control of the situation, Piccolo regained composure and swiftly rolled in the air, slamming his fists down on #17's head as he came in close.
The Android was knocked back out of the sky and started falling towards the ground at a great pace. Piccolo shot back down towards him but as he got close to #17, the Android managed to take control of himself and twisted to throw a Ki blast into Piccolo's face. The blasted temporarily blinded him and #17 used this to regain his advantage so that he could fly up to him and get in another attack.
As #17 pushed through the smoke he saw that Piccolo had already disappeared. He quickly turned around trying to cover all the area and see where the Namekian had gotten too but was caught off-guard when Piccolo flew in towards him and smashed his head into the Android's gut.
He had been woefully unprepared for the attack and his hands immediately went to his stomach. He pulled back and tried to recover as quickly as possible, charging back in towards Piccolo, but the Namekian simply grabbed onto #17's arm and pulled him close to punch him in the face. He did this a few more times and the damage was starting to show.
#17 used his free hand to power up a Ki blast and pushed it into Piccolo's face. It exploded, blowing both of them away from one another and they both fell to the ground. Luckily, they were both still on the stage and quickly jumped back to their feet, but both accepted they needed a moment.
"This has certainly been fun," #17 mentioned.
"Yeah. A real challenge," Piccolo said, echoing the sentiment.
"This has been an astounding fight!" The announcer called out, finding a moment for some commentary, and letting everyone know he was still around.
The two fighters quickly returned to wearing determined expressions and dropped into their stances.
"See if you can beat this!" #17 yelled.
The Android pulled his arms back and powered up Ki energy in both of them. Piccolo dropped back and began to power up his own Ki attack as well, keeping his hands in front of his chest. They both drew in their power for some time, obviously intending to ensure that their attacks were match winners.
#17 was the first to unleash his attack as he slammed his hands together and let the wave of energy shoot towards his opponent. Piccolo thrust his energy forward and his energy wave sailed towards the one coming his way.
They collided with each other in spectacular fashion, creating a strong gust of wind that blew back over the audience and filled the arena with a new intensity. Both fighters had to maintain control over their attacks and make sure that theirs would push the other one back. It appeared to be a struggle as both seemed to be putting in an even amount of strength.
It seemed like one would push one away for a little bit, but then it would start to get pushed back the other way slightly.
"This looks like a stalemate but whatever happens after this attack it will certainly determine who advances to the next round!" The announcer called out, needing to have his input on such an intense match.
Piccolo pushed as much energy as he possibly could into the rest of the attack, and it was starting to overpower #17's. The Android didn't seem to be able to match the strength of the attack and he knew that he was going to lose.
The energy had all but pushed its way right to #17's face and suddenly exploded, flinging him back a couple of feet. That distance was all he needed to travel before he fell out of the ring, and due to the intensity and speed of the explosion and his movement he was unable to regain any control. He landed with a thud on the grass and let out a groan.
"And the one to progress to the next round is Ma Junior! We'll need to take a longer break than before as the stage has some more damages we need to repair," The announcer called out to the crowd, while they continued to cheer and applaud the display of power they had witnessed.
#17 slowly stood up and started to walk back towards the waiting area.
"Well done, that was fun," #17 said to Piccolo as the Namekian stepped down off of the stage, following back to the waiting area.
"Yeah, thanks," Piccolo grunted out a reply. He was certainly feeling tired out. In a different circumstance, where the restraints of the tournament weren't in place, who really would have come out on top in such a fight?
As #17 entered the waiting area again he immediately glanced at Holline, while walking through, and he motioned his head as if telling her to follow him. He clearly appeared eager to leave and Noca noticed that. #17 had continued walking, he expected that Holline would just follow, no questions asked, but when Noca looked to her he noticed how a scowl started to cross her face.
Ever since Holline had arrived at the tournament Noca to feel like there was some sort of tension around Holline and #17. Noca hadn't been there through Holline's training, so he started to assume that something may have happened, and it could have made things strenuous between them. The Saiyan boy decided he was going to make an attempt to figure things out.
"Hey, #17," Noca called out, walking on after the Android, trying to get his attention. The Android seemed to slow down and glance back over his shoulder, eventually coming to a halt. He turned to face Noca and folded his arms. "Why don't you stick here through the tournament, watch us all fight?" Noca asked.
"I got things to do, kid," #17 said, turning around again. Noca walked past the Android and stepped in front of him, stopping him from getting any further.
"What's the problem? What's going on?" Noca asked.
"Look, it's got nothing to do with you, ok? Don't worry yourself," #17 snapped back at Noca, sounding quite out of character, as far as Noca was aware. He furrowed a brow and readied himself to argue back but #17 was already looking past Noca at Holline. "Well, are you coming back with me?"
Noca looked back to Holline and saw she was still looking rather frustrated, continuing to wear that same scowl.
"I want to watch Noca fight," She replied, managing to sound very calm despite the look on her face. #17 seemed a little annoyed by that and unfolded his arms, placing his right hand on his hip.
"I'm not going to just sit here and wait around for you," #17 said, continuing to seem very eager to get out of there as quickly as he could.
"Fine. Don't," Holline said, folding her arms and standing her ground. #17 took a breath and released it.
"So, you're going to make your own way back?" #17 asked. Holline just shrugged her shoulders and glanced to Noca for help. He turned to face the Android.
"I don't mind her staying here with me, I'd actually really like to spend some more time catching up," Noca said, smiling back to Holline, and then he started to approach #17 again. "You can stay too."
"No," #17 snapped back, silencing Noca, who's fighting instinct was kicking in. The teenager was ready to argue with #17 but Holline had moved closer to him and just by feeling her presence he knew to calm himself. "I just need to deal with this stuff."
#17 turned around again and he continued to walk away, but it was someone else's voice and the mention of a certain person that forced #17 to halt himself, again.
"I'm pretty sure your sister and her daughter would love to see you," Pan spoke up. #17 froze on the spot. Noca kept his eyes on the Android while Holline turned to look back at Pan. The Android took a brief moment, but he said nothing more and walked away, exiting the waiting area.
The kids were just left to stand there awkwardly, unable to really figure out what to say or do in that scenario. #17 was an adult, meaning that he held some sort of authority over them, even if those kids decided they didn't want to listen. It didn't mean that they should expect the Android to listen to them. Even if Noca wanted to know what was bothering him, he had to just let it go for the moment. Maybe #17 would tell Noca in his own time.
"I'm sorry about that," Holline spoke up, drawing the attention of both Noca and Pan.
"What are you sorry for?" Noca questioned.
"I just… didn't really have the best time training with him… it was rough, he was harsh," Holline explained, sighing and taking a moment to sit down again. "I guess he felt like I wasn't good enough a lot of the time."
Noca sighed and took a seat next to Holline.
"It was also tough having to do it all without you as well," Holline continued, looking up at Noca and smiling weakly. Noca smiled back and put his arm around her.
"It was always hard without you as well," Noca said, pulling the girl closer and she lay her head on his shoulder. Pan was watching them and truly had a chance to see that the relationship between the two was very much like that of siblings, or lifelong friends. It was sweet. Both of them seemed to find peace with each other.
"You should definitely stay with us through the tournament," Pan spoke up, stepping forward. Both Noca and Holline looked to the raven haired Saiyan, both a little bit confused.
"Are you sure about that? I don't want to intrude," Holline replied. She looked to Noca again and he almost seemed to shrug his shoulders.
"Intrude? Don't be ridiculous, you can stay with me, Bra, and Kiera," Pan continued, sitting down on the other side of Holline and smiling at the red head, doing her best to make the younger girl feel comfortable. Noca smiled to himself and looked across the room, where he spotted the man he would be facing, in the very next fight.
Noca hadn't even been thinking about his own fight, but now he was mere moments away from the announcer calling his name. He would walk outside, in front of all those people, and he would finally have the chance to show the results of his months of training.
It all made the young teenager feel very, very nervous. Pan could tell that his breathing was becoming a little faster, and his heart rate was growing. Pan was sitting on the other side of Holline, but she desperately wanted to take a hold of his hand and hold him close. She had to repress those feelings and get through to him another way.
"Noca, are you ok?" She asked. Holline and Noca both looked to Pan, and the red head looked back to Noca.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" Noca mentioned, looking ahead to his opponent again.
"It's ok to be nervous," Pan mentioned, keeping herself in his head, making him aware that she wasn't going anywhere. She could feel something easing inside Noca and that helped relax her concerns.
"Would Chow and Noca get ready, please?" The announcer said through his microphone, his voice carrying into the waiting area. Noca tensed up again and Chow stepped away from the wall. "You will be required on the stage in five minutes."
Noca looked to the door, still struggling to push down the anxious feeling that was growing. He relaxed yet again when Holline placed a hand on his. Noca took a deep breath and slowly stood up.
"You can do it, Noca," Holline said, softly.
"Yeah, remember, I got to watch you train, you'll be amazing," Pan said, continuing to do her best to assure Noca that he had nothing to be so worried about. Noca looked to both of them and smiled, happy to see that two people he cared about a lot were there to support him, but there was a twinge in his mind and he quickly looked over to Chow, who was now standing by the door. Pan looked that way also.
"Why does his power feel familiar?" Noca asked, knowing that Pan was thinking the same thing.
"I know what you mean," Pan replied.
Their distraction was broken when Gohan approached and drew their attention.
"Remember everything you learned in your training and you'll do fine. You're very strong Noca, and we all believe in you," Gohan said, taking on his role of mentor and helping to motivate his student, but he carried a friendly tone that was there so Noca could relax.
"Good Luck," Holline said, letting go of Noca's hand.
"Have a great fight," Pan said.
Noca looked back at the three of them and smiled. He nodded and turned back to face the doorway, to face Chow. He started to walk towards it slowly. Pan watched as Noca walked over there, failing to notice that she was staring, almost with a look of longing. Holline looked at her and then at Noca and she started to smile to herself. She nudged Pan gently to bring her back to reality a little. Pan started to blush from embarrassment.
