Piccolo:

He sighed inwardly. This waiting was annoying. He had forgotten about it.

"How's it looking?" Kera had come to stand beside him again, after disappearing briefly to demonstrate her power on the measuring instrument.

"The first round is through. Our four have progressed as expected."

He heard her bright laughter in his head as she leaned on the railing. "Who's next?"

"Menka will fight a fourteen-year-old boy."

No sooner had he finished the sentence than Menka and a blond boy entered the ring. The boy towered over her by two heads and looked down at her disparagingly. Piccolo's hands clung to the railing of the balustrade. He didn't like the way his daughter was being looked at.

"Hey, girl, do you always have that ugly green colour in your face or are you sick?"

Piccolo growled. Kera's hand rested reassuringly on his.

"What did he say?"

"He insulted her because of the colour of her skin."

"She's about to kick his ass."

Menka had ignored the older boy's comment and positioned herself at the edge of the ring in a fighting stance. The boy took up a position opposite her and hopped from one leg to the other. What did he want to achieve with that?

When the referee raised his arm, the crowd went quiet for a moment. Then he gave the start signal.

The boy jumped forward and wanted to land the first blow at all costs. But he did not even come close to Menka. Without changing her stance, she sent out a wave of energy that hit the boy and knocked him right out of the ring.

A murmur went through the crowd. Menka loosened her stance, narrowly tilted her head towards the referee and left the ring. It took the judge several seconds to recover his words and declare Menka the winner.

Piccolo grinned. That was his daughter. But he was distracted. Kera's hand clenched almost painfully in his.

'Did you teach her that attack?' Kera looked upset, almost panicked. She was breathing intermittently.

'No. Did you?'

She shook her head violently. 'You know I don't fight like that. That neither of us fights like this.'

'What's troubling you?'

She waited a moment before answering. 'Cell used that attack.'

'You mean that she already seen it then ... I can't think of it.' He pulled her close to him. 'It's all right. She has developed her own fighting style. She doesn't want to fight directly.' He felt her slowly calming down.

"And this is your cousin?!" Piccolo heard Videl's voice.

"Yes, that's her. Piccolo and Kera's daughter," Gohan replied.

"Wow, she's awesome. Do you guys keep in touch much?"

"Yeah, we see each other regularly. Piccolo and Kera are like my second parents to me," Gohan said.

Piccolo smirked and instantly got a questioning look from Kera. He quickly shared with her in his mind what Gohan had just said to Videl. As hoped, this lifted Kera's spirits considerably. Cautiously, she leaned against him. Even though all sorts of people could see them right now, Piccolo didn't care at that moment that she was showing her feelings so openly. He put his arm around her and pulled her even closer to him.

Kera:

The fights were not very exciting. Even the ones in which their children, Trunks or Goten took part were almost boring, because their opponents were finished with only one blow or even took flight before the fight started. Only the semi-final became really interesting.

Menka and Reyak faced each other in the ring and Kera didn't know which she thought was worse: That the siblings should now fight each other or that she wished that neither of them should lose. In fact, she knew that Reyak was stronger because he had shown his fighting talent early on. She hoped Menka would not be too disappointed.

Reyak barely waited for the starting signal and ran towards Menka. She deftly dodged and stretched her leg forward in a spin, causing Reyak to stumble. He reacted while still moving and jumped up. As he did so, he simultaneously fired a ball of energy hurtling down at her. She wrenched her arms above her head and formed a protective shield around herself.

Smiling, she looked up at her brother. Kera was amazed.

"She enjoys fighting," Piccolo remarked, sounding as amazed as Kera.

"I'm surprised right now too."

'Mum, Dad.' Menka had turned to Kera and Piccolo and was looking up at the spectator stands. Questioningly, she looked down at her daughter. 'Is it all right if I lose?'

Astonished, Kera looked at Piccolo, who shrugged his shoulders.

'Of course it is,' Piccolo replied.

'What are you going to do?" asked Kera.

'Fighting is fun, especially against Reyak. I just don't feel like doing it in front of so many spectators,' said Menka.

Kera looked at Reyak. Menka sent her conversation to him too, for he looked disappointed. Then he nodded. He understood his sister better than anyone.

Menka jumped up and formed an energy ball in her right hand. She hurled it at Reyak, who dived away under it and hit Menka in the chest with the flat of his hand. The impact was hard, but Reyak had controlled it well. Kera could see that well from her observation post. Menka spun in the air and then landed gracefully outside the ring. She bowed and left the court.

The referee sighed. He had certainly expected more in a sibling match. Quietly, he declared Reyak the winner. Kera heard the cheers from the audience. Bulma and Chi-Chi shouted the loudest. She looked over at them and waved.

"Who do you think will win in the next fight?" Kera asked the question to no one in particular. Kakarrot, Piccolo and Vegeta were all standing within earshot.

"I'm curious to see how Goten fights." Kakarrot looked excited.

"Ts, Trunks will win, that's for sure." Vegeta had his arms crossed in front of his chest and was staring at the ring.

"Goten has been training properly. The few times I've witnessed him do a practice fight against Trunks were impressive," Piccolo said quietly.

"Really? What do you think of him?"

"In what way?" Piccolo looked a little irritated by Kakarrot's question.

"Well, does he still have potential? Can he get stronger than me? Does he like fighting?"

"In Goten, the Saiyan genes seem to be stronger, at least so far. When I think of Gohan when he was little ..." Kera looked over at Gohan, who wasn't looking at her, but blushed slightly.

Back when Piccolo forced him to train to prepare him for the arrival of Nappa and Vegeta, Gohan had been young and had cried quickly. There had been no signs of a strong Saiyan. Chi-Chi had been very careful not to let him come into contact with any violence. Goten had been different from the beginning. He had always wanted to train and Chi-Chi had even taught him to do so.

"Your son doesn't stand a chance, Kakarrot."

"Why not? You can't know that."

"I was watching our sons train. You weren't there." Vegeta still didn't look at the other.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm dead, after all. It's not my fault either."

"You just shouldn't have sacrificed yourself. We could never determine who was the strongest of us. My revenge ..."

"Stop bickering for once!" shouted Kera to the two quarrelling males. "You've already missed part of the fight."

Immediately Vegeta and Kakarrot turned towards the ring. Hovering two steps above the ring, Trunks had just grabbed Goten from behind and was holding him tightly. Goten tried to break free of his grip, squirming violently back and forth.

"Goten, don't," Kera was still shouting. "Too late." Everyone drew in an audible breath. Goten had transformed into a Super Saiyan out of reflex. The audience in the stands all held their breath, spellbound. Kera could see it already working in some people's minds. Could they make a connection to the Cell games? Would what they had wanted to avoid happen now?

"Oh, no." Gohan groaned softly. Videl looked from him to Goten and back again.

"Why does he have blond hair now?"

"Uh, that ..." stuttered Gohan.

A murmur went through the crowd. Trunks had now transformed into a Super Saiyan as well.

Piccolo slapped the flat of his hand against his forehead. "Your sons are just as impulsive as you are," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vegeta reared up threateningly in front of Piccolo. He clenched his fists and looked up at him. Quick as a flash, Kera put herself between them.

"Hey, stop it. What are you doing now? You're not kids anymore."

"And with that, Trunks wins," the stadium announcer announced at that moment.

Again, all heads jerked to the ring.

"Well, Kakarrot, like father, like son."

"We'll see about that. I'm going to finish you both off and then you'll see that I'm the best of the three of us. So you needn't get your hopes up at all ..."

Piccolo cleared his throat audibly, pulling Kera back to reality. For a few seconds, her Saiyan blood had taken over again. She blushed slightly. She had made up her mind that she wasn't going to let that happen again.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"Reyak and Trunks are already lined up." Piccolo pointed to the ring.

Her son was facing his cousin. Both already in fighting stance and both with big grins on their faces. They were looking forward to the fight, there was no denying that.

Piccolo:

When the referee opened the fight, Reyak immediately charged forward. He moved so fast that he could not be seen with the naked eye. At least Videl and the audience made a disturbed impression, while Piccolo and the others could see very well where Reyak was.

He appeared directly in front of Trunks, ducked at the same moment and tried to sweep him off his feet, but Trunks was faster. He jumped up and in the downward movement executed a kick which Reyak dodged. They faced each other again and looked at each other.

"A fight like this without energy attacks is great again," Reyak said, grinning as broadly as Piccolo had rarely seen him do. Definitely Saiyan, he thought.

Trunks lunged forward and unleashed a continuous barrage of kicks at Reyak. Reyak parried, but was driven across the ring in the process.

"Wow, Trunks is really fast," Kakarrot said appreciatively.

"He was trained by me, after all."

Piccolo rolled his eyes at Vegeta's comment and refocused on the fight.

Reyak had managed to return Trunks' attacks just before the end of the ring, and was now in turn letting his fists pound away at his cousin without pause. Trunks pushed one of Reyak's fists aside at the right moment and lashed out with his right leg.

He hit Reyak in the head, causing Reyak to stumble. He caught himself just before he hit the ground and lashed out with both legs at the same time, sweeping Trunks off his feet.

Trunks lost his balance and Reyak immediately followed up with a fist punch, sending Trunks flying across the ring. Vegeta cursed as Trunks held on for the out.

Trunks spun in the air in time, pushed himself off the edge of the ring and this time used his whole body against Reyak. From the force of the impact, he hit the ground hard. Piccolo saw the air being forced from his lungs.

Trunks jumped back and waited in a fighting stance until Reyak was up again.

"That hurt," the latter grumbled, rubbing his stomach. "You'll get that back."

Reyak began to spin. He sped up as he did so, until his outline could no longer be made out.

"What - what is he doing?" asked Kera, looking down at her son with raised eyebrows.

"He calls it 'flying fists'." Piccolo would have liked to sink into the ground.

"I don't suppose you taught him that attack, did you?"

"Certainly not," Piccolo growled. "He invented it himself."

Kera sighed.

"Hey, I used an attack like that once," Goku exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Ts. It's not surprising with you either," Vegeta said snidely.

"But it does work!"

Goku was right in this case. The quick spin meant Trunks couldn't get any closer to Reyak, and was pushed back further and further in the process.

"You're almost there," Piccolo cheered his son on. "Just a little bit more!"

Trunks set to leaping to extricate himself from the predicament. At that moment, Reyak stopped his spinning motion and timed his move so precisely that he hit Trunks in the stomach with his fist.

Trunks let out a surprised sound and doubled over. Reyak followed up with his other fist, knocking Trunks off balance. He sought a foothold with one foot, stepped into the void and fell.

He landed dully outside the ring. Triumphantly, Reyak jerked his arms up and turned to Piccolo and Kera. Kera gave both thumbs up. Piccolo smiled at his son.

'Well done,' he praised him.

"That was a fight to watch. Reyak is the winner of the junior bouts. He will now have the honour of fighting Hercule."

On cue, Hercule entered the ring to cheers.

"Congratulations. There's a real Saiyan in your son," Vegeta muttered, not looking at Kera and Piccolo.

"Can we get something to eat? I'm hungry!"

"You're dead, aren't you? Why are you hungry?" Kera turned towards the exit.

"Hey, where are you guys going? Now comes the most exciting fight after all." Videl seemed completely distraught that they were now all leaving the spectator area.

"They'll definitely rename Satan City after this fight." Vegeta grinned and followed them.