The Next Dimension
Chapter Fifteen
She was beginning to feel rather frustrated over the elusiveness of Namu, the final competitor in the tournament, and the one bearing something that looked like a very similar variant of the byakugou seal on his forehead. His might have been a circle, rather than a diamond, but this was an entirely separate dimension, and somehow involved Kaguya, a creature far older than the origin of the seal.
She hadn't had the opportunity to ask him, however, as either one of the boys or herself (or both) had been in a battle ever since she'd noticed the mark on his forehead. Once again, only a few minutes after her battle with Krillin, Goku trotted out onto the stage, this time with the very person she'd wanted to question.
She could only hope that he would linger like Ranfan and Yamcha had after their respective losses. (In fact, if he lingered and Yamcha left, she'd be perfectly fine with that, too)
"This is it, folks! This is the last match to determine who will be in the finals and compete for five hundred thousand zenni! The tournament has all but reached its climax! What an exciting day we've had so far! I can't wait!"
Maybe she'd have been more interested in five hundred thousand if she understood what five hundred thousand was worth. It had cost a few hundred (borrowed) zenni for her new outfit, but that wasn't much of a yardstick, nor did it compare to the money she was used to.
Maybe she'd have cared more if she actually intended to stay any longer than absolutely and strictly necessary, too. In the end, if she ended up winning (as was most likely), she'd just give it to Roshi to use as he wanted. She could hardly give it to the boys, after all. Even if they found out after, that would completely defeat the purpose of the lesson.
The two bowed to each other as the fight began.
"So..." Yamcha drawled next to her. "The thing is...I know my guess is wrong, but that doesn't change that you're more invested in these two kids than you should be."
"Am I?" She glanced up at him. "Because...there's a friend of mine, He likes to say that children are our future. They're much more important than we are."
Goku skidded across the ring, and Namu swept after him, longer legs and arms used to their fullest advantage against his compact form.
"In reality...they're our king."
(*)
Goku was really struggling against this Namu guy. "Come on, Goku! You said you'd get me revenge!"
The two spun through the air, bouncing off of each other like they were kicking into walls instead of people, sliding across one side of the stadium and then back to the other. Namu would jump over Goku's kicks, and then Goku would duck under his punches. Honestly, it was really impressive and a little mesmerizing.
But Goku kept ending up on the edge of the ring. It wasn't good for his health to keep seeing his friend knocked so close.
It also wasn't good for his health when one of Goku's backhanded punches knocked the big man almost into his face. The man's feet landed only a few inches away...and they were really big feet. Sheesh. If he didn't know Goku pretty well already, he'd suspect that Goku had actually batted the man toward him on purpose because he didn't approve of his commentary.
But that probably wasn't true.
The man's counter attacking chop sent Goku spiraling away and then onto his face. It looked like it hurt quite a bit.
The man charged at Goku's crumpled form with sudden desperation, and lifted his leg as if he were about to soccer ball kick him right out of the ring.
"Hey, Goku, look out!"
(*)
Krillin shouted just as Namu swung his leg in toward Goku's crumpled form, but the shout wasn't really necessary. From where she stood at a lower altitude, she had already seen him pushing himself up, bouncing away to the left and leaving the warrior unbalanced.
She could see his little grin from where she stood, and correctly guessed his next move: springing up and kicking the taller man in the shoulder.
It was a good fight, really. Although she expected Krillin to have slightly more skill, Goku was resourceful...and almost as unpredictable as Naruto himself when it came to unconventional attacks. But then...it wasn't completely fair to Krillin to compare their two battles. Krillin's own nervousness had been his downfall, if he'd kept up his calculated attacks like he'd started out, their battle would have looked much closer to this.
Namu's spin kick landed squarely in the back of Goku's head, and sent the small child bouncing right off of the tournament wall.
She winced slightly at the sound of the impact.
The small boy stumbled, dazed, and held his head. She couldn't see his face, but his words were slightly slurred as he spoke. "Aauuw...that...hurt."
She didn't catch the warrior's response, but his expression looked as unflappably serious as ever.
Once again, the boy dashed at the man. Unlike Krillin's many suicide strikes, just before he reached the man, it became a slide kick, and only a well-timed forward tumble saved the man from a very uncontrolled tumble.
When Goku pushed himself up to his feet...he slipped.
Namu's kick lifted him right off the ground and sent him flying toward the edge of the ring. The young boy bounced and rolled several feet, and sprawled out on the ground, expression dazed.
The man bowed slightly, hands clasped in front of him, as if greeting him once again. Or, perhaps, saying farewell. Goku pushed himself up to his feet again, and Namu charged at him, swift-footed as ever. Goku, in response, charged right back at him.
The small boy jumped through the air, arms outstretched, intent to grapple with the man and most likely flip him over with his momentum. Namu's own hands lifted up as well.
"Don't-!"
Dark hands clasped over Goku's pale wrists, and the tall man spun in a circle, stealing Goku's momentum for himself...and then Goku's hands grasped onto Namu's as well. The attempt to throw him out of the ring ultimately resulted in the tall man stumbling a few steps forward in confusion.
The small boy tucked his body inward, curled up, and then used the leverage of the man's arms to kick him in the rib cage and flip the both of them onto the ground.
For a few moments, both fighters lay on the ground, regaining their breath...and probably their respective senses of balance. She sighed, and leaned against the side of the ring entrance...where she must have moved at some point. Honestly. That boy was beginning to worry her.
"Hurry up and finish him off, Goku!" Krillin shouted from the sidelines.
The boy stumbled up to his feet again and resumed his odd little battle stance. The man shook his head slightly as he stood, and then...didn't turn back, hands clasped before him, head bowed, lips forming something she couldn't hear or read.
Goku leaped into the air again, and - nearly faster than sight - the man's leg struck him in the middle of the stomach.
The small boy collapsed onto the ring, clutching his stomach and rolled in to a ball.
This time, the older man showed no hesitation in his movements. His movement was swift and smooth. A step, and he kicked out once again. The instant before the kick contacted, small arms came up, caught it, and softened the blow.
It was barely enough to keep him on the outer corner of the ring. Whoever this person was...it seemed increasingly likely he did possess the seal. Regardless of Goku's tenacity, the better fighter was clear. Goku would need to use all of his strength and cunning to overcome Namu.
The man pounced, a powerful punch angled down at Goku's head, and the small child lifted his arms, crossing them over his head and redirecting the impact.
As the shock of the blow passed through his compact body, his foot slipped.
A moment later, he vanished from view.
For a few more moments, silence settled on the stadium, and she stared at the spot that Goku had been standing, waiting for him to reappear, or to have been an illusion all along, as...wouldn't have been unusual at all for ninja.
"Oh! That's it! It's decided! The battle was valiantly fought, and intense, but the victor of battle six is Namu!"
She sighed softly, and turned back toward the waiting room, wandering away from the ring.
Apparently, it wasn't really necessary to have her in the tournament at all. The boys were strong, fast, and durable. They...really weren't ready for real battle yet. Maybe when they got back...if she didn't find her way home during this stay, if two byakugou seals weren't enough, she'd see if she could find those two a real teacher.
God of martial arts, the coordinator had called him? Maybe the damn old man should have taught his students martial arts.
She huffed, arms loosely crossed, and settled down in the nearby bench.
Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha all shuffled into the room with dejected looks on their faces. As if the other two had lost with him. It...hurt a little that she couldn't just say she would win it for them.
She frowned, and glanced away at the far door of the tournament. The one she would just walk through now, if she didn't need to speak to Namu still. "...Don't be so depressed. You're the third, fourth, and sixth strongest people in the world."
She couldn't see their faces, and refused to actually look.
"But...I wanna be the best..." Goku sighed.
"Besides..." Krillin huffed. "It's not like you two were stronger, if only the ring were bigger-"
She glared at the both of them with enough intensity that Krillin immediately silenced, and Goku made no other sound. "It's not all about strength!"
She stood and advanced on the three, pointing at each in turn. "You, Krillin. You were careless! You gave up on strategy and kept trying to overpower me with brute force instead of using your head! You, Goku! You underestimated Namu! He'd been trying to throw you out of the ring from the beginning, and you kept giving him chances! And you." She settled a cool glare on the tallest, who seemed...put upon to be included. Well, if he were so put upon, he shouldn't have been contributing to Goku and Krillin's depression. "You underestimated me. This is the world tournament. Don't hold back against an opponent you've never seen before. If you led with your technique, you would have been able to catch me off guard, but instead you let me adapt to your style first!"
She shook her head and propped her hands on her hips, feeling...kind of good, actually. She felt a little like one of her teachers. "None of you deserve to win the tournament yet. Not until you take your training and your opponents seriously." Again, she frowned at Krillin, who seemed to just be...sulking again. "Go ahead. Keep making excuses for why you lost. Then, when you come back here, I'll beat you again, because you won't have improved."
She turned on her heel and marched back to her bench, crossing her arms and her legs.
Because she couldn't just tell them she'd win as their friend or fellow student, could she?
If she couldn't do that, at least she could teach them something important instead. Because, apparently, Roshi damn well wasn't going to do it.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the three of them look at each other in confusion, and then shrug. After a moment, Yamcha sighed, and then settled a hand on Goku's shoulder with a small smile. "You wanna go eat? Bulma said she's paying."
His eyes widened and he gave a sudden cheer, all of the previous depression apparently gone in the face of food. "Alright! I'm super hungry now, too!"
She watched the three disappear through the far door without another glance back toward her, and then turned her gaze up toward the ceiling of the roof of the building.
Maybe they were like Team Seven...
But they weren't her Team Seven.
Honestly, she didn't belong here at all.
AN: Man. You guys have no idea how disappointed I was when I realized that I couldn't have the monkey fight, or even the Goku/Sakura showdown. I was super jazzed to write it, and then I just cut out ten chapters of Dragonball.
The trouble, ultimately, is how strongly Goku relied on his tail to defeat Namu. The tail that he didn't need to regrow in Gilan's fight, because he broke out of the gum before regrowing it.