"Oh, hello, you're in the Tournament, aren't you?" a nurse sitting in the reception smiled at Chayote and Yamcha, directing her eyes at the outfits that would have normally seemed odd had it not been for the most hectic season that Papaya Island saw once in every three years.

"Now isn't the time for that, Earthling healer, my friend needs a full body medical check-up to see if the fight didn't do more damage than we know." Chayote slammed her open palm at the reception desk and gestured at Yamcha who just smiled for the nurse in discomfort and waved his hands in front of him.

"Umm… Well…" the nurse chewed on words.

"Don't mind him behaving out of ordinary, he isn't comfortable around women, that's why he's being so weird." Chayote leaned over the reception table, imposing on the nurse to stop mumbling and start acting.

"I'm… Not the one who's being weird…" Yamcha laughed out before approaching Chayote and pulling her away from the reception table. His touch on her shoulders felt strangely soft. The Saiyan wondered if he was so intimidated by Chayote that physical comfort was still not a certainty he could have taken for granted.

"A full body examination…" the nurse began hammering at the keyboard with nervous taps. After a pair of clicks on the moving gadget on her right side, sheets of paper began coming out a remote end at the other side of the corridor. "I hope that this young man isn't a competitor… This will take a while."

"Of course, he's just been eliminated but he fought adequately for an Earthling." Chayote nodded a couple of times.

"You might wanna ease up on the Earthling talk…" Yamcha leaned up to Chayote's ear. "You don't have to lie but you don't have to give them details they don't care about that also make you stand out."

"So how long will the examination take? Time isn't of concern to my friend but I need to go back to the arena for my fight in an hour or so…" Chayote tapped her palm at the reception table again, something that appeared to unnerve the nurse and force Yamcha to lightly move her a little bit back again.

"Oh no… Something as extensive as that will take at least four to six hours." The nurse shrugged and ran off to return with a stack of blank forms for tests that measured up to around half her own size.

"See, Chayote, our technology isn't that advanced. Procedures take time, they'll need to test every body part and organ one at a time…" Yamcha shrugged. "Can we just stop this and go back? We might yet get to see Jackie Chun fight Man-Wolf if we hurry."

"Why are you asking me? If you don't want any tests done, just stand your ground and say so. Honestly, that is why Bulma dumped you." Chayote crossed her arms.

"Ummm… I thought it's been well established that I left her to train alone which caused a strain on our relationship." Yamcha blushed in front of the nurse who was now moving past the nervous phase and beginning to get engaged in the small-talk of the curious folks who were quite unlikely to even go through with the tests if the direction of their conversation was to be taken for granted.

"Trust me, your Earthling woman dumped you. Which is like… How does that even happen? If I wasn't more accustomed to your society, my mind would have been blown by such a concept…" Chayote sighed. She then waved her hand in front of the nurse woman, knocking the pile off of her table by accident. "I think we'll do with just testing Yamcha's arms, see if they're broken or if there's any permanent damage to his muscles. He'll never hold his woman steady if his hands got busted up."

"Will you be going through those tests?" the nurse woman looked up, she looked crushed in the beginning after seeing the forms scatter on the floor but by now she'd accepted that these two won't be giving her any chances of taking this day easy.

"Anything to get me out of here and stop Chayote from giving me relationship advice!" Yamcha took initiative just to have the nurse lady take him somewhere away from the reception area.

"Who could have anticipated such a wild ending for this grudge match!?" the announcer yelled into the microphone while an unsightly man ran his way past the crowd having just been hypnotized back to human form artificially. "There just won't be a dull moment in this tournament, it seems! Now for the next match, last year's finalist Son Goku from the Kame Sen'nin school of martial arts against Chiaotzu from the Tsuru Sen'nin school!"

The announcer jumped up and stumbled away from the unexpected appearance of Chiaotzu right behind him. The ghoulish boy had emitted a higher-pitched humming sound as if objecting to the way he was introduced.

"Umm… Oh… That's right, it seems I was mistaken, ladies and gentlemen, contestant Chiaotzu is actually self-taught. He trained with a fellow ex-student of the Tsuru Sen'nin and acquired his own uncanny strength that contestant Tenshinhan demonstrated in the first round!" the announcer corrected himself which caused Chiaotzu's bland face change into a creepy yet content smile. The little ghoul then changed his attention to his rival who was flexing right in front of him, doing stretches and handstand push-ups.

"Idiot." Chiaotzu pointed at Goku. The monkey boy lifted his head up and turned it to the right, curious as to why he was being verbally attacked. "That's not how you stand. You stand on your legs."

"Yeah, I know…" Goku pushed himself off with an explosive push-up and then landed on both feet, transitioning into waist stretches. "I'm just warming up for the fight!"

"Hmm…" Chiaotzu hummed while his face returned to the blank expression it carried before. When he was dissatisfied with the announcer's introduction. Upon the announcer declaring the start of the match and the gong ringing, Goku took his fighting stance as well.

"Have they started yet?" Yamcha wondered, walking up to Krillin and Jackie Chun.

"Just now. How was the hospital?" Krillin turned to Chayote and Yamcha who had just made their way to the fighters' area.

"Pointless…" Yamcha squinted. "Turns out the Senzu do exactly what they're supposed to…"

"That's not what I meant…" Krillin budged Yamcha's hip with his elbow with a sly squint of his own.

"I'm surprised they let you back in here." Tenshinhan declared levitating by the other wall. "Isn't this area meant for competitors only? Or did they feel so bad for you they made a one-time exception?"

Yamcha clenched his fists but before he could pour more fuel into the flame of their rivalry, the fight on the stage transitioned from the two martial artists just slowly moving around in their fighting poses to some actual combat. Chiaotzu extended his hands out. Goku twitched, still in his fighting pose. His training with his grandpa in the Otherworld really did help his concentration – before Goku would have broken his stance and dropped his guard in a heartbeat the moment something startled him.

"Nice one, Chiaotzu, don't hold back, this isn't an opponent you can defeat by fighting him on his terms…" Tenshinhan said.

Goku twitched out as if he had been smashed with a gigantic fly swatter. His entire body appeared to turn frozen in time, even his hair didn't move in the wind. His tail no longer waggled in a cautious manner it was before and he appeared to float in an unnatural manner in mid-air as his foot should not have been able to keep his body upright in the way Goku found it positioned.

Chiaotzu disappeared, appearing right up in Goku's face only to deliver a crushing kick to the boy's jaw and then disappear again. Upon getting kicked, the Saiyan regained control over his body but then found himself frozen again. The boy screamed out in pain as Chiaotzu flew right past him, hitting Goku in the back with his head, spinning like a drill. Chiaotzu threw a kick aimed backward but Goku caught it and spun Chiaotzu around in a mad Dragon Throw.

"You fool! You forgot to apply your Telekinesis that time!" Tenshinhan scolded Chiaotzu from the stands.

"S-Sorry, Ten-san…" Chiaotzu's mouth waggled as it appeared as if the little, pale fighter was about to break down crying.

"That move… What was that?" Goku coughed with his tongue sticking out. Chiaotzu's Telekinesis must have shortened his breath by paralyzing his chest as well.

"That's a bit like General Blue's move, isn't it?" Krillin wondered. "Though not as dangerous if the shrimp's gotta hold his hands up like that…"

"It's Psychokinesis." Chayote declared. "It is an advanced form of the ability to move objects with your mind. There are ample alien species that can use this ability."

"It's dirty, is what it is!" Yamcha clenched his fist, aiming his ire at Tenshinhan.

"Dirty? That's the way Chiaotzu fights. Would you tie your hand behind your back if I thought it was too filthy to protect against?" Tenshinhan glanced at Yamcha briefly, thinking himself and his friend a bit beyond such lowly criticism.

"No, it is a form of martial arts." Chayote shook her head. "Chiaotzu is still using his Ki to achieve this effect, you can overpower this technique or avoid it. If you time it right and avoid the user's perception and focus."

"You hear that, Goku!?" Krillin yelled out. "Just dodge it! Or overpower it!"

"Dodge what, exactly…" Goku mumbled to himself with a bit of a chuckle. He was not a fan of Chiaotzu's ability, as his facial expression clearly relayed, however, he didn't seem to consider it cheating either.

"Forget it, if Kakarot didn't learn to sense Ki in the Otherworld, it will be of no use trying to evade the Psychokinesis." Chayote taunted her fellow Saiyan, wondering if he would respond to such taunts the way a true Saiyan would – by going out of their way in the most reckless manner imaginable to prove those insults wrong.

Goku closed his eyes. He didn't break his stance but he did manage to calm himself down somewhat. Still, Chayote thought it was of no use. One couldn't just master something like sensing one's Ki in the middle of a battle, no matter how skilled a martial artist one was or how much innate talent they had.

Chiaotzu must have figured the same way as he extended his hands out again. He then launched himself in a mad spin, using his drilling headbutt attack for a frontal assault. The ghoulish fighter tripped over himself when he dived right through Goku's blurry afterimage and had to struggle to keep himself from fumbling outside of the ring. A thunderous crack signaled that Goku had finally landed a blow on his elusive opponent.

A black hat came flying off and landed somewhere in the audience while Chiaotzu used his flying technique to manipulate his trajectory to float up above the audience. In a whirling roll, the ghoulish one shot up and managed to regain some sense of balance in mid-air.

"Ouch!" Chiaotzu cried out as tears that seemed almost comically oversized for his head burst forth from under his eyes. There went his creepy façade.

"Heh, almost got you there…" Goku smirked.

"That was amazing! Kakarot managed to pick up sensing Ki on the fly just like that!" Chayote shook in her boots, struggling to believe something this wild. It took her so much time she considered wasted before she picked the basics of the concept up. How long was it, really? Days, weeks, certainly, maybe even a pair of months…

"No. He dodged by pure fighting instinct alone. He read his opponent." Jackie Chun disagreed with Chayote's assessment.

"Read him?" the female Saiyan wondered. "How? Did he see the future? That's even more amazing, I studied with Baba alongside Upa and I can barely see the present…"

"He did see the future…" Jackie Chun chuckled, stroking his beard. "However that future was only reserved for him and his opponent. By realizing that his opponent was his equal in terms of fighting skill, Goku managed to get into his opponent's head. He thought about what would he do in Chiaotzu's shoes, what technique he would use, how he would attack his opponent, most importantly – when would he strike?"

"I don't think I ever thought such a thing being possible…" Chayote mumbled to herself.

"That's right. Because you live in a world of superior strength, greater speed. That is the lesson the old crone wanted to teach you when she asked to attend this tournament as her student. Strength, speed and toughness are important but they are not absolute. Experience and skill sometimes also play a very important role." Jackie Chun postured.

"Beeeh!" Chiaotzu pressed his hands to his ears, bending them outward while he stuck his tongue out, teasing Goku. "You can hit as hard as you want, as long as I'm up here, you can't hit me!"

"Your hands are shorter than mine…" Goku smirked at his opponent, taking up a defensive stance and closing his eyes.

"Fool!" Chiaotzu smirked with a malicious smile as he thrust his finger out a streamlined beam of concentrated Ki flew off from his finger and hit Goku straight in the face, throwing the boy like a lifeless hunk over on his back. Judging from the disgusting cocking of Goku's head, he really felt the impact of that one.

"Of course… Reading your opponent's moves by synchronizing one's own heart with that of the enemy doesn't work if you don't know all of your opponent's moves." Jackie Chun mentioned with a solemn tone. "Goku might have gotten ahead of himself, assuming Chiaotzu would attack him the same way again."

"Nice work, Chiaotzu! Keep pressuring him! If he can even get up, that is!" Tenshinhan nodded.

"He will…" Chayote closed her eyes. With a mere pair of words and, more importantly, the confident tone in which they were delivered, she managed to psyche Tenshinhan out. "I doubt Kakarot even took that much damage from that. If he wasn't such a drama queen…"

"Damn!" Goku jumped back on his feet, shocking the entire audience. "You've ruined it! I needed some time to think…"

"You? Think?" Chayote rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Tsk. Chiaotzu's mastery over the Dodonpa dwarfs even that of Taopaipai-san, it surpasses even that of my own! Chiaotzu can fire his beams faster, he can also channel far more Ki in one beam. Stop acting like it was nothing!" Tenshinhan yelled out. Now Chayote understood a bit more about why it was so important for Tenshinhan to feel confident about the ability of a Dodonpa to bring one of the Saiyans down.

"Didn't really hurt…" Goku rubbed his forehead, feeling up a small bruise that the direct hit from the beam left. "It was way stronger than grandpa's attacks though…"

"Maybe this one didn't hurt…" Chiaotzu didn't let up his malicious smile. "But I've got plenty more to spare!"

The floating martial artist thrust his finger out and fired off another beam. Goku didn't move out of the way at all, whether it was because the beam was too fast or because he decided it wasn't worth the effort still remained a mystery. Chayote would have been disappointed if it was the first. The beams were incredibly fast though she'd have expected Goku to be able to move that fast if he was to rival her own strength as closely as she thought him to be able to.

Another thunderous crack made Goku's eyes blank out as the beam hit him straight in the chest and blasted the boy on the floor. Chiaotzu kept on making mean and funny faces alike from his position up above the crowd.

"What are you doing? Tell the announcer to start the count!" Tenshinhan scolded his friend.

"No need…" Goku stood up and dusted off his uniform. "This one hurt even less…"

"Of course it did…" Chayote smiled. "Didn't you say that Chiaotzu is capable of putting more juice in his beams? That means he'll be wearing himself out faster too…" she gave Tenshinhan a challenging look.

For all intents and purposes, this was as much a match between Chayote and Tenshinhan as it was between Goku and Chiaotzu. Each one of the second pair was as much of a pet project of the respective one from the first. Tenshinhan trained with Chiaotzu because the two were bonded over years of kinship and warmth from their time training with Tsuru Sen'nin and Chayote made sure to see Goku grow into a strong Saiyan, worthy being enrolled into Lord Frieza's army alongside her when the time came.

Though was that still the case? Did Chayote still cared about Goku's growth for the same reason? First, he was just a worthy challenger to help her own personal strength, someone whose difficulty could have been adjusted through Zenkai and who might have trained her the same way in the process. Then it was them leaving together, joining Lord Frieza's army, Chayote providing Lord Frieza with something concrete, a Saiyan for his forces like the one he asked King Vegeta for…

Why did she care now? There must have been a reason why she could no longer sit atop even the Dark Kinto. Those sorts of things… Ki control, the Kinto clouds… They all sensed the self-doubt, all the imperfections festering inside.

"If you won't be firing another beam at me, I'll come to you!" Goku pointed at Chiaotzu boldly.

"You? Come to me!? How!? You can't fly!" Chiaotzu pulled down his eyelid and stuck his tongue out while his right hand flipped Goku off.

"Ka-Me!" Goku placed his hands by his side. "Ha-Me!"

Tenshinhan crossed his arms over his chest and burst in laughter. "When the brat declared he'd be attacking Chiaotzu, I got worked up for a moment. If only I knew the worthless attack he'd pick to do so, I wouldn't have bothered worrying…"

Chayote could only wonder if what Goku had in mind was something inventive, something like Jackie Chun had described earlier, or if he was about to do something as profoundly stupid as only he could.