Hello again! Back into the action! Previously, Master Shen and Tien Shinhan's grudge against Kakarot has now been extended to Gine after being humiliated by her in combat. What will they do and what about the outcome of the tournament? Let's find out!
Also, been doing some editing to previous chapters. Fixing typos and other grammar errors where I can find them. If I miss anything, let me know!
Based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but a retcon with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had Goku's mother escaped planet Vegeta with him.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
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CHAPTER 8: THE SEMI-FINALS
The next morning, Kakarot was scarfing down several meals-worth of food.
"Try not to choke, alright!" Krillin joked as he watched his best friend stuff his face. Kakarot kept eating as if he didn't listen.
"Geez, what manners you have!" Chi-chi said, looking away in disgust. "Hope your mother taught you to-"
Gine was also stuffing her face with a large breakfast, her mouth as full as Kakarot's. Chi-chi sighed in defeat.
Both mother and son set their last plates down, with Kakarot punctuating his with "Done!". Everyone else was too awestruck by the towers of bowls the two Saiyans went through to fully satiate their hunger. Kakarot almost fell over as his food coma set in.
Chi-chi scoffed, "Hope you'll be able to at least stand up during the fight!"
"Sorry," Kakarot burped, which gave him a good slap on the head from his mother. "Sorry..." He said again, meaning it this time.
"At least you feel quite well and full of spirit today." Gohan said as he helped Kakarot up to his feet, then turned to Gine who was still basking in the afterglow of a good meal.
"I talked to Yamcha this morning." Bulma said to them, "He said he saw Crane and his crony Tien at the hospital earlier this morning, getting checked in for a broken leg and broken rib too!" Bulma said almost gloating. "Yamcha said he was amazed to hear that Gine was so strong as to put both Tien and Crane in their places!"
"Hah!" Blonde launch said. "Looks like you guys might win afterall with those boozo's dealt with. And it's just that old geaser, Jackie, to beat!"
"Jackie Chun is not a geaser!" Roshi said indignantly. Then caught himself before he could give himself away more.
"I dunno." Kakarot said. "I don't think we'd seen the last of Tien and Crane."
Gine felt guilt at that. "And I'd hate to not get a chance to fight them."
"Even with all the injuries they sustained?" Oolong asked, hard to believe they'd be back for more after having their butts kicked.
"Yep." Gohan said sadly. "Someone like Crane won't give up so easily."
Gine was slightly worried by those possibiities, but felt secure they can deal with them. Roshi turned to her.
"And how are you feeling?" He asked her.
"Much, much better." Gine said. She went through a lot the previous night with fighting of Crane and being made mortal enemies of his school, but with her friends and a good breakfast, she felt like herself again.
"Good!" Roshi said as they all got up from the table. "Then are we ready to dive back into the action?"
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered, including Gine. She could feel this was going to be a good day somehow...
They all filed out and headed towards the arena for their usual spots, only to get sidetracked by Roshi using Kakarot and Krillin to try and pick up some girls. Chi-chi put a stop to that before Roshi embarrassed himself further.
It was now day four of the tournament, and Gine almost felt at home here now. Looking around and seeing all the spectators still made her irate with all the pushing and shoving and noises, but she felt she was getting used to it enough to make it through still sane. Crane was nowhere to be seen, she noticed. And she wondered if that was a good or bad thing...
The blonde-haired announcer stepped out onto the ring with his microphone, and a buzz erupted as the action was about to get underway.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, is about time we begin the fourth and final match of the quarterfinals! Let's welcome our fighters! First up, is the second place winner of the last tournament, Son Kakarot!"
They all cheered as her little boy stepped onto the ring. He looked wide-awake now that his food-induced coma was gone, and was taking in all the applause from his friends and feeling as if was just another day of training. Not timid or shy in front of crowds at all, Gine thought. She was so proud of him. Gine also realized that it was day four of the tournament and it took THIS long for her to actually see him compete. Took them long enough, but here he was. And she was going to cheer him on at last.
"Yay, Kakarot!" His friends cheered for him. Gine smiled and waved at him, and he did the same in return as he noticed her. Then the announcer waved towards Kakarot's competitor, Chi-chi, to step into the ring.
"Next, we have the young and feiry female warrior, Chi-chi! This lovely young lady may seem sweet and innocent folks, but she has proved in the preliminaries that she can hold her own against the boys!"
They all cheered for Chi-chi too, as she took in all the applause from the audience like she was on top of the world. Kakarot told Gine that Chi-chi still wore her battle bikini during their trips, which Gine found immodest. Here, Chi-chi finally traded all that in for a blue and red-trimmed fighting dress and kept her pink gloves and boots. She couldn't wear her helmet so her long ink-black hair flowed around her like water. Gine was curious to see how much of a fighter she was, and politely cheered for her too. From what Kakarot told her, Chi-chi had become quite a competent sparring partner over the course of their travels together and from some coaching here and there. At least she would be a better challenge than all the other human fighters she saw during the preliminaries.
Kakarot and Chi-chi starred each other down playfully.
"I can't wait to wipe that smirk off your face for good!" Chichi bantered.
"I'd like to see you try!" Kakarot retorted.
"Seems like Kakarot and Chi-chi have quite a history between them, and it's about to unfold here in the ring! You wanted a good fight, well here we go!"
The crowds went crazy, then silent in anticipation as the drums sounded slowly at first, then faster and faster until the gong.
"Ready fighters? And... begin!"
"YAAA!" Chi-chi went after him with everything she had, relentlessly sending jabbing strikes and kicks at Kakarot that he dodged expertly. He returned her attacks with punches of his own that she blocked just in time. He was much better than her at counter attacking, but Chi-chi was very fast and slipped out of his punching range and went after him again, pressing her offensive hard.
She kept up her attack for a good minute as Kakarot parried her barrage of jabbing strikes and jumped back out of her reach. He got into a stance readying to attack.
Chi-chi was surprised. Last time they fought, she used this same attack and she managed to constantly hit Kakarot until he was too dazed to defend himself. It was a series of moves she had put to good use against the Red Ribbon Army battle suits she and Kakarot went up against. They would literally fall apart after such an attack from them, and made quite a good sparring move against Kakarot if she wanted a quick win. But now it seemed like he had really gotten stronger in the last three years to last this long.
"Is that all you got?!" Chi-chi taunted, ready to launch herself again.
Kakarot chuckled, "I'm just getting warmed up!"
They jumped high up, clashing in the air and trading blows. From the flurry of movements and the force of blows, they looked evenly matched.
"Look at them go!" Bulma said in awe, the rest of the gang and audience captivated by the action.
But Gine could see that Kakarot's strikes were more painful to Chi-chi while he didn't seem affected at all by hers, let alone breaking a sweat from the effort. Chi-chi was using all of her energy at the start to get a quick knock out, but Kakarot was not tiring out as fast as she hoped to. And he conserved his energy and defended himself very well, anticipating her moves until Chi-chi tired herself out instead.
After a long midair fight to the ground, they kicked each other away and landed on the ring. Chi-chi looked worn down and out of breath, while Kakarot looked like he was having a good time. His tail twirling in excitement, and glad at himself that his defensive strategy and training worked.
"What's the matter, Chi-chi? Can't put me down as fast as you used to?" He poked back at her.
Chi-chi growled under her breath. She hated this, Kakarot had somehow adapted to her attacks so he couldn't be knocked out at all. Worse yet was she knew that she was now on the backfoot. She had went all out and didn't energy reserved to start another offense, and just barely defend herself. It seemed like she might mostly be knocked out if they went at it again.
But she still had one last ditch move she could do. It's a dirty trick, but with it she could win.
"Kakarot! You better prepare yourself for this!" Chi-chi declared, then cupped her hands.
"Kaaaaaa…..meeeeeee…."
Chi-chi knows it too now? Gine thought. She figured Kakarot must've taught her on their adventures.
"haaaaaa…...meeeeeee…" Chi-chi continued, a glow of blue energy shined in her hands.
"Chi-chi, don't do that. You'll just waste energy on me!" Kakarot said, trying to reason with her.
"HAAAAAAA!" She fired the Wave. A modest-sized but powerful energy beam flew from her hands directly at Kakarot.
He stopped it effortlessly with punching the beam head on, and the resulting explosion lit up the whole arena as everyone briefly turned away to shield their eyes.
The smoke cleared and Kakarot didn't look fazed at all, but Chichi had disappeared from her spot.
Kakarot looked around confused. Suddenly, he cried out.
Chi-chi was behind him, and had grabbed his tail. Kakarot realized too late that the attack was a distraction, and she got behind him before he could act.
"Let's face it Kakarot. Your tail is your weakness!" She squeezed hard, making him scream harder and fall to his hands and knees.
"Uh oh, folks! It looks like Chi-chi has Kakarot in a painful spot!" The announcer commentated.
Gine was aghast. Now that was a sneaky move on Chi-chi's part. But it's true that it was a critical weak point. Gine almost felt disappointed in her son for letting his guard down on it, and he fell right into a classic Saiyan trap that she watched in painful slow motion.
"NO FAIR!" Kakarot croaked out between gritted teeth, the pain looked so debilitating.
"Doesn't matter, you still have a weak spot that anyone else could've used!" Chi-chi said teasingly. She tightened her grip even harder, sending Kakarot writhing in agony on the ground on the brink of passing out.
"Say you give up and I'll let go!" Chi-chi demanded. Now that was low to ask of any Saiyan.
"NEVER!" Kakarot cried.
"Fine then!" Chi-chi said, and squeezed as hard as she could. Kakarot didn't even scream as he simply went limp, as if out cold from the shear shock of the pain.
The announcer began the countdown as Kakarot didn't get back up. Gine couldn't believe it, he was gonna lose the tournament just like that?!
"One!...Two!...Three!...Four!..."
Chi-chi giggled at the seemingly unconscious Kakarot, "I hope you're not mad at me, Kakarot, I did what I had to do, just like you!"
"Five!...Six!...Seven!..."
"Huh?" Chichi noticed Kakarot's lips curling into a mischevious grin.
"Eight!...Nine!..."
"Gotchya!" Kakarot shouted as he sprung up suddenly.
Chi-chi had no time to react as she was still holding onto Kakarot's tail when, in almost one swift motion, he flew right over and landed behind her, lifted her by his tail, and flung her with it as if thrown by a catapult straight out of the ring. She was screaming in surprise and landed with a hard thud on the grass surrounded the arena.
The announcer was utterly stunned, but quickly acted. "WHOA! Chi-chi is out! Kakarot is the winner! Chi-chi who appeared to be dominating Kakarot now appears completely flabbergasted after being literally thrown from the ring! A surprising end to yet another exciting match!"
Kakarot stepped down from the ring to help Chi-chi up. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly if he threw her too hard. She looked as furious as she looked confused.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! I GRABBED YOUR TAIL, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEFEND YOURSELF! LET ALONE STAND!" She demanded angrily.
Kakarot chuckled, "I've been training it while I was away! I was getting tired of it being a weakness so I toughened it up so it won't happen again."
Gine was amazed. It was a sneaky move on his part and cutting it real close with the countdown too, but what he did was ingenious!
"So he DID listen!" Roshi said aloud. Gine turned to him. "Huh?"
"I mentioned to him in passing that his tail was a weakness and should do something about it, but he seemed so carefree that he just went along with it."
"I did try to help him with that. He came to me and asked him to help toughen up his tail. I thought he didn't catch on since he passed out every time." Gine said, remembering all of the times she trained with him about how important it was to protect and toughen his extra limb.
Roshi hummed thoughtfully. "Ah, but you forget that you are quite possibly the strongest person on the planet, and if he could still stand up just a few seconds longer against you, then nothing us humans could do would cripple him with his tail."
"And to pretend being rendered helpless and passing out, and in turn making Chi-chi lower her guard instead?" Gohan gave his thoughts, "That was brilliant!"
"Indeed it is. Sneaky still, but in a life or death fight it could be invaluable." Gine said, thinking of how Kakarot kept surprising her every day with how much he could learn.
"His determination is his greatest strength. With it, he could accomplish anything he sets his mind to." Roshi remarked thoughtfully as Gine stared at her son with a swell of pride in her heart. It made her think of the conversion she had with Gohan so long ago.
"Everyone has the potential to be great if they set their minds to it." Gine rolled those words in her mind again, looking at Gohan knowingly. It almost sounded like something Bardock would say. How he tried to claw his way up the ranks through taking the most difficult jobs he could take, that he tried to be something better than what he was born for.
And now here was Kakarot. A child of a lower-than-low class warrior and already proving to be more than what he was given at birth. Just like his father.
Then she wondered. If he could do it, could she as well...
Gine automatically brushed that thought off with a 'like THAT's ever going to happen' remark in her head. She never dared entertain the idea that she could be better than what she was, thinking that her son and Bardock had the genes to improve their strenght but not her.
But...it wouldn't leave her mind either.
Meanwhile, Kakarot wiggled his tail in front of Chichi. "Go ahead, grab it as hard as you can and give it a try!" He challenged, but Chi-chi did not take kindly to this mocking from him, then looked really angry.
"THAT WAS REALLY SNEAKY OF YOU TO PRETEND PASSING OUT!"
Kakarot looked her in the eye in mock seriousness, "Is it any more sneakier than grabbing me by the tail?"
Chi-chi tried to say something, but stopped herself. She looked ashamed now.
"And no, I'm not mad at you. It was so much fun to fight with you, Chi-chi" He said reassuringly, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Chi-chi's face lit up again and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, Kakarot! You are the sweetest thing in the whole world!" She cooed, Kakarot was unsure what to make of it.
"I dunno, I always thought cinnamon rolls were the sweetest thing in the world." He said innocently.
At that, Chi-chi backed off, and slapped Kakarot hard across the face. "OW!"
"RUDE!" Chi-chi said as she huffed off before Kakarot could recover his wits. "I will beat you one day, Kakarot!" She yelled over her shoulder, then smiled flirtatiously at him as she disappeared behind into the fighter's temple. Leaving Kakarot where he stood, confused.
"What was that for?" He asked to no one in particular.
Later, they were having lunch in the food court with Jackie Chun.
"You two did very well today!" Gine said to her son and Chi-chi.
"Thanks mom!" Kakarot said.
"You almost gave us a scare with your tail being grabbed." Krillin quipped.
"Yeah, I know. But it was a neat trick I've been wanting to do for awhile since it's a lot stronger now." Kakarot said innocently, unaware of Chi-chi turning a furious red next to him.
"Bet you've been wanting to trick me into loosing!" Chi-chi spat.
"Hey! That's not true!" Kakarot defended himself. "It could've been Krillin I was up against and would've used it against him!"
"Not anymore you won't." Krillin said, looking as if he was thinking hard.
Chi-chi didn't look convinced and just pouted where she sat. Kakarot sat there unsure of how to appease her.
"I'm sorry about that, though." He said. That got Chi-chi to turn to him a lot softer this time, and smiled.
"It's okay, Kakarot. Next time though, I'll know not to use that and it'd be a fair fight next time. Deal?!" She said, her determination back.
"Deal!" He said, and and shook her hand but Chi-chi hugged him instead, surprising him.
"Get a room, you two!" Krillin quipped.
Gine chuckled to herself seeing them interact. Gine admired Chi-chi's fighting spirit even though she was way too strong willed. She guessed that's why Kakarot liked her besides her feistiness. And how close they had gotten during their adventures. She could see it now that Chi-chi would definitely have made a great mate if she was born a Saiyan. Gods help them if she ever fought as one.
Then they heard the call.
"THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SEMI-FINALS IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. JACKIE CHUN AGAINST TIEN SHINHAN!"
"It's time. Let's go." Said Chun.
They all knew what it meant, so they all wordlessly got up and went back to the arena. Gine wondered for a moment how anyone else around here didn't immediately figure out that Chun was indeed Roshi.
"It's now time to begin the fifth match, and the semi-finals of the tournament, just half way to the championship and determining who will become the next Master of martial arts!"
They got back to their spots and saw Jackie Chun took up his place to enter the ring. Tien was out of view from where they were. Gine scanned the audience and flinched when she saw that Master Shen was among them. But she saw that his leg was bandaged up in a cast like Yamcha's, and used a crutch for his bad leg's side. And he did not look like his conniving self, but was rather darkly mooded and scowling.
"Look who decided to show up!" Gine said as she directed everyone's attention towards him. He noticed that they were looking at him, and made eye contact with Gine.
She felt her Saiyan instincts flare up again as his scowl turned to pure hatred at the sight of her. Gine looked back at him unflinchingly and glanced at his broken leg, telepathically daring him to challenge her. After a long stare down, Crane turned away and back towards the ring even angrier than ever.
"Here they come! The one and only Jackie Chun, the current title holder of World Martial Arts Champion! Followed by Tien Shinhan of the Crane Hermit school!
Jackie Chun walked out onto the arena. A moment later, Tien Shinhan stepped out onto the ring as well. His bare chest was wrapped in bandages, and he winced in pain whenever the inside of his arm brushed against his chest.
Some in the audience gasped and the blonde haired announcer took a look at him and exclaimed, "My goodness, what happened to you, Mr. Shinhan?!"
Tien looked at him expressionlessly. "I...had an accident." He looked away, embarrassed and enraged. "I cracked a rib."
Gine was incredulous that Tien still came to the ring as if ready to fight anyway, no matter what she did to him the night before. The announcer looked just as baffled.
"Then why are you here?! You shouldn't even be thinking of fighting with injuries like that!"
Tien looked at him with great anger. "I'm here to fight, no matter what!" Tien said through winces. "I will not let some minor handicap stop me from winning this tournament!"
Gine couldn't believe this guy's tenacity. And if he wanted to he could've just blurted out that she, another contestants family member, had injured him outside the ring. And that would disqualify them for good. But he didn't. Why was he doing this?!
"Don't be too stupid!" Jackie Chun said from his spot. "No one should be fighting with a broken rib!"
"Er, he is right. And we at the Tournament Staff don't take responsibility for any injuries that happen from pre-existing conditions." The announcer said, trying to reason and clear himself.
Tien looked at him as if he had been insulted.
"Didn't you just hear me?! I said I'm going to fight no matter what! So lets get on with it!" He yelled at the announcer, making him step back frightened.
Jackie Chun just stood there and looked disconcerted at Tien, then shrugged. "Very well then, don't say I didn't warn you."
Gine was stunned that this guy was so stupid. Was he really going to fight with a cracked rib? And all the dangers that come with it? She immediately glanced towards Crane to see if he was up to something. She was sure he had to for something like this. But he still stood there as angry as before.
Well, this should be interesting, she thought. At least they had a chance at winning if a rib punctured his lung. Or if they take this out of the tournament, if that happened another day, that is.
The announcer was baffled by this turn of evens, but decided not to anger Tien further and get on with it as ordered.
"Very well, then. Despite the warnings, Tien Shinhan is going to proceed with the fight with a broken rib, folks. Let's hope he has a strategy to win, but we'll keep the medical staff on standby!"
The crowd murmured at this, and Gine felt somehow uncomfortable that these guys weren't giving up so easily.
"A quick reminder folks that flash photography is prohibited unless you catch my good side, hehe, but in all seriousness, get ready for a stellar fight!"
Tien starred Chun down, ignoring his pain.
"Champion or not, I will defeat you."
Chun waved him off. "Take it easy. You shouldn't stress yourself out, it'll make you loose your hair."
Tien did nothing that on that attack on his baldness. After a few tense moments, the gong rang out.
"Ready? You may begin!"
Chun took up a defensive position, while Tien charged. Almost immediately Chun paried every attack Tien threw. Then, Jackie Chun grabbed him by the arm and threw him high and out of the ring. It looked like a certain victory!
Tien suddenly stopped mid-air and turned around. Gine's heart sank momentarily. He too could fly.
Kakarot's head perked up from his observation spot on the participants, catching Gine's eye. She saw him watching Tien and his fingers snapped as if to say Ah-ha! Gine wondered what that was about.
When Tien landed he went after Chun again, they meet and flew up, exchanging evenly matched blows in swift and fluid moves. Tien put in extra care to block his broken rib, making him attack less. Jackie Chun looked like he wasn't putting any effort into his moves, Gine could sense that his breathing was calm and still.
Then Chun makes a charge, and suddenly splits into eight different apperations of himself around Tien, all spinning around and striking him as if separately.
"The mirror-image technique." Gohan called it. But Gine could see, that it was just Chun moving too fast for regular eyes to follow him to appear as if there were more than one of him. But her Saiyan eyes could see how fast he was moving.
Apparently Tien could too since he chose one of the mirror images as the real Chun to kick, and it was the real Chun as Tien's kick sent him flying into the wall.
The fight got more serious, trading equally vicious blows and punches that left both of them bruised and clutching themselves in pain. Gine noticed Chun hadn't gone for Tien's rib yet. At least that's what she would've done.
If Tien's pain tolerance was as high as Jackie Chun was strong, who would win was anyone's guess.
Tien launched into the air towards the sun, and tried to attack with it blinding Chun, but to no avail. Chun held his own until pushed to the edge of the ring, just barely holding on but gets in.
They get into a bodylock, clutching each other to crush or push away. The tension in the air was thick and leaving everyone on edge.
Chun crushed Tien's ribs in his grip, he cried and spat out some blood. It was enough to make Tien blinded by pain to let his guard down, and Chun headbutts him. The force of it sent Tien falling back and Chun easily stepped back into the center of the ring.
A huge breath of relief, Tien clutching his bloodied noise and rib, furious.
"You're very gifted, Tien." Chun said, panting. "But you squander your talent with rotten ethics."
Tien growled at him. "I'm only here to win, what else could I be?" Chun was confused, and watched unawares as Tien held both his opened hands in front of his face.
"SOLAR FLARE!"
The entire world went white. Gine shut her eyes too slowly as her retina and the retinas of everyone in the arena who wasn't wearing shades burned. Everyone cried out in shock and pain as they all clutched their eyes as if they were trying to claw them out, even seeing the light through their closed eyelids and adding to the spots in their vision.
Chun was no exception and was entirely incapacitated by the flash of blinding light. Unable to defend himself from the pain of blindness and letting his guard down, Tien rushed behind Chun and struck the back of his neck. Gine instinctively went for the shades in her pocket but still had to reluctantly open her eyes as her vision recovered. Through the spots and blurriness, she saw Chun on the ground and unconscious. Tien looked all too pleased with himself.
"One!...Two!...Three!..."
She couldn't believe it. The great Jackie Chun done in just like that? By that crony of Shen?!
"Come on! Get up, Jackie!" Bulma and the others cheered, but to no avail.
"Four!...Five!...Six!..."
That was a dirty trick, and even the announcer said as much even if there was no rule against it. But Gine had to admit that it's a very effective distraction.
Seven!...Eight!...Nine!..."
Just before reaching ten, Chun suddenly leapt back up to his feet. Tien's smug look was gone.
"How did you recover from that?!" Tien demanded.
Chun looked at him sternly. "I can't help you with that. That answer is beyond someone who follows a path of evil."
Tien looked even more enraged at that, but Chun's tone softened.
"Listen to me, Tien. Give up Master Shen. He's not the best teacher for you, or for anyone for that matter." Chun pleaded.
Tien responded by charging, "HYAAAAA!" The fight continued and Tien doubled down on his attacks. Chun blocked everything Tien sent his way, but Gine could see he wasn't taking the initiative on his own either, merely defending. What was he up to?
Tien threw another hard punch that Chun blocked a millisecond slower than he did a moment before. That caused him to lower his guard just enough for Tien to finally hit him across the face with another punch. Tien looked fired up from just that one blow, but Gine thought Chun's slow defense looked deliberate.
Chun taunted him. "You're getting weaker for losing focus, and for following Shen. You needn't have to put all your energy into just winning a silly competition."
Tien growled at him. "Are you kidding?! It's the ONLY thing that matters!" He yelled, then froze for a moment. Chun froze for a moment too, and Gine looked towards Crane at his spot. He looked to be gloating conspiratorially.
Chun suddenly wheeled around towards some human females in the audience, his seriousness replaced with the trademark perverted lust of Master Roshi. Then suddenly looked back at Tien, ashamed. What was that about?
Tien looked surprised, then laughed. "I get it now, so YOU are actually Master Roshi in disguise!"
Well, there goes that. Gine thought. Chun/Roshi looked like he had been caught, but reinserted himself into the character of Chun as if nothing happened.
"My words are still not less true." Was all he said.
Tien looked at him menacingly. "Well then, let me show you how true mine still are." Tien cupped his by his side.
"kaaaaa...meeeee...haaaaa...meeeee..." He chanted. Does EVERYBODY know that move?! Gine exclaimed mentally.
Tien suddenly angled his body away from Chun and towards the spectators.
Chun shouted, "WAIT, NO, NOT AT THEM!"
"HAAAAAAAA!" Tien fired the wave. Gine's mind was in shock that Tien was doing this, and instinctively she was already in the air to head towards the blast to deflect it from the innocent bystanders in-
Chun phased in front of the wave and caught in his hands, and with great difficulty deflected it upwards toward the sky. The beam disappeared from view rapidly and everyone in the audience was agape in awe that just happened, and that a contestant tried to murder them.
Seeing the situation handled, Gine lowered herself back to her spot before anyone looked at her questioningly. Gohan nodded in understanding.
Chun breathed heavily from the exertion of deflecting the wave.
"You could learn other moves instead of copying others." He said, his voice back it's softer tone. "Tien, you have so much potential, you just need to see the error of your ways if you learn a little humility."
Chun turned his back to Tien and walked to the edge of the ring. Then, he simply stepped off the arena.
Everyone gasped. Gine felt her mouth go agape in shock. Did Chun just give up?!
The announcer was just as baffled, but didn't miss a beat. "By accident or design, Chun is out of the ring folks. That means Tien Shinhan is the winner and now the new defending champion!"
Everyone was silent for a moment, then cheered loudly. Tien just stood there flabbergasted for a long while, unsure of how to feel. Then he got angry, as if he just been handed the title of world champion.
But why?! Gine asked internally and aloud as much as Tien demanded of Chun, who was simply walking towards the arena entrance without looking back.
"Why won't he fight?!" Gine asked aloud again. Thinking of everything that had occurred with Tien the night before. Weren't they all in on trying to defeat Crane and his school?
"Beats me!" Oolong said.
"He may have his reasons." Gohan said, "But knowing him, I'm sure his are good if he is trying to reach someone."
Gine wondered what in the gods names could that be. She knew Roshi was wise, but she was at a loss for what that could be. But whatever it was, it had better be damned good.
"The sixth match is about to begin. Both opponents are students of the turtle hermit school, Krillin and Kakarot. It's always thrilling to see teammates duke it out in the ring, and will get to see which one will go on to take on Tien Shinhan!"
Gine's attention went back to the ring following that announcement. Now her son was fighting again! This time against his own friend.
"So, who do we root for?" Oolong thought aloud for all of them.
"I just realized." Bulma said softly, "This is the first time they fought each other."
"Really?" Gine asked incredulously.
"It's a first alright. And could be their last if they are not careful." Oolong confirmed. "Who do you think is gonna win?"
Nobody answered, an uncomfortable air hung over them. How do you choose between two friends to fight each other to face Tien? It almost felt like sacrilege.
"It's going to be Kakarot." Gine said plainly.
"Well, that goes without saying since you're his mom an all." Oolong remarked.
"Well there's more to it than that, you know." Gine chuckled.
At that moment, Kakarot and Krillin entered the ring together as the audience cheered in anticipation. The rest of the gang betted it will be a draw, but was broken by Blonde Launch and Chi-chi. "It's gonna be Kakarot, alright." They both said, while Chi-chi added, "No one can beat my handsome hero!" Gine groaned at how dreamily Chi-chi sounded, but smiled at how much faith this girl had in her son.
The boys faced each other, and their looks showed that they now saw themselves as opponents rather than friends.
"Good luck to you, Krillin." Kakarot said sincerely. Krillin grinned something fierce. "You too, Kakarot. Cuz' you're gonna need it!"
"Hmph, we'll see!" Kakarot retorted.
The two entered a long and eager stare down before the gong rang.
"And begin!"
They held their stances for a long while, dragging the tension that fell on them from the audiences' silence.
"KYAAA!" Krillin made the first charge and met Kakarot in the middle of the ring, the shock of their fists colliding resounding through the air. Then their limbs became a blur and they bounced around the arena.
They traded punches for kicks evenly, both of them matching each others moves. Both blocking and attacking, and making no headway as they moved around the ring at increasingly fast speeds only trained eyes could keep up with.
"I'm getting dizzy, who's winning?" Oolong asked.
In the flurry of fists and feet, Kakarot phased behind Krillin and landed the first blow to his back. The bald boy stumbled, but recovered quickly and he leapt into the air. Kakarot followed with a high jump to meet him, and then the flurry of limbs continued all the down until they landed apart from one another.
"An attack from behind, didn't sense you." Krillin complemented. Kakarot did the same. "Thanks! And the way you dodged was good!"
Gine smiled at that. Even though she had seen this style of fighting countless times training with Gohan and Kakarot, it never made her feel happy to see fighting taken as a civil sport rather than a fight to the death.
Krillin tightened up his stance, and suddenly the low angle of the sun's rays on his head shined right into Kakarot's eyes. He blinked rapidly at the blinding light, but it was already a big mistake as Krillin used that distraction to pounce. He landed a kick into Kakarot's face and another on top of him to drive him into the ground.
"Didn't miss anything I hope!" Came Roshi's voice from behind Gine. She broke away from the action to see he had joined the gang again.
"Where've you been?" She asked.
Roshi turned to her, "I ran into Tien Shinhan backstage after changing back into myself." He said, his voice lowered so only the three of them could hear.
"Did you two take the fight there?" She asked.
"No. We merely talked about why I gave up the match."
Gine had to ask, "About that, why did you do that?"
"Because I sensed something within that young man."
Gine and Gohan looked confused, Gine more so. As if Roshi had just spoken gibberish, AND forgot about what happened the previous evening.
"What could you have possibly seen in him? He's in league with Crane! He's after our blood as much as his master!"
"I know it seems that way, and even he says a s much. But he's not a cold-blooded killer."
That got her attention. "What makes you think that? He break's people's bones for no reason and makes threats. Sounds like a killer to me."
Roshi looked irritated that Gine would jump to such conclusions, but stated his observations calmly. "He's in complete denial that he isn't as callous as Mercenary Tao, and never will be." Then he added, "He's a lot like you in many ways, Gine. He may come across as a protégée who will gleefully follow his master orders but he must hate it on some level."
Gine tried to speak, but Roshi's words struck a chord with her.
"I know it may seem strange to see someone else do something like you would have. To put on an act while actually wasting his true potential as a good fighter. He has that capacity, but he just needs to see that path."
Gohan decided to weigh in. "Like I used to say, we show those that follow a path of evil that there is always a better way through forgiveness and mercy."
Gine almost rolled her eyes at that. It was THAT conversation again. She didn't entirely believe that truly evil people could just turn good. It was just a fantasy. After all the horrible things they've done, would one think they deserve forgiveness?
"Much like you, my dear. You were never truly evil, were you?" Gohan asked.
"What? No!" Gine said as if insulted. Were they really going to have this talk right here in front of everyone?!
"I never! Even after all the things I've don-" She caught herself, the words she just rolled in her head a moment ago playing again. Gohan and Roshi looked at her as if they already knew the answer to this ethical conundrum.
No, she wasn't evil. She never was. She killed so many innocents, but under orders and threats of execution if she didn't comply.
Gine thought of Crane, then of Tien. Could he really be just like her in some similar way?
"He'll turn around hopefully. The circumstances may not be the same as yours, but people who have it in their hearts to better themselves will do so eventually." Roshi said, as if reading her thoughts. Gine starred at him as if he had discovered some sort of truth to the mystery of the universe. Could people really have that capacity after all? No matter what they've done?
She then shook her head, remembering the name of a certain galactic tyrant that would pose a problem with this argument.
No, not everyone. For there were some who were just unforgivable.
"Hey! You guys are missing the action!" Bulma said to them over her shoulder.
The three snapped out of their little debate and looked toward the ring. From the look of it, the fight was still going on as Kakarot was about to attack a freefalling Krillin who somehow ended up way in the air. Gine cursed herself for ignoring her duty to cheer on her son.
Krillin was wide open on his fall, and Kakarot jumped to finish him off. Krillin suddenly inflated like a balloon! Whatever that was, it delayed his fall enough for Kakarot to miss a kick.
"Sorry, we were distracted." Gine said aloud. "What did we miss?"
"They are neck-and-neck, so far." Bulma told her.
Gine took a good look at the boys as they stared each other down. She immediately saw that Kakarot was holding back. He wasn't sweating or exhausted, but just toying with Krillin.
Kakarot ran to the side, away from Krillin.
"What's he doing?" Gine asked.
"Kaaa...meee..." Kakarot chanted, cupping his hands as he ran. "haaa...meee..." He then jumpsed into the air, and pointed his hands away from Krillin.
"HAAAAA!" He fired the wave. In a flash, Kakarot used the attack to rocket towards Krillin with a drop kick. Krillin had no time to react as Kakarot's foot landed on his head and the boy was slammed into the ground. Everyone flinched at the force that Krillin was struck with as he had the wind knocked out of him, and didn't get back up.
"I wonder if they will still be friends when this is over." Oolong said.
The announcer began the countdown.
"One!...Two!...Three!...Four!...Five!...Six!..."
Krillin stirred, and stood up again. Gine was impressed this human boy could even stand after being hit like that.
"You're not going to win that easy!" He said to Kakarot, who only smirked in return.
"What is this play fighting?!" Crane shouted from his spot, Gine could sense his mood was as foul as ever. "This seems more like a bad reunion!"
The rest of the gang heard him too, with Bulma the one to respond, "If your pupils weren't maladjusted freaks, maybe they'd be happy too!"
Crane didn't offer a retort, just a weary glance at Gine then back towards the ring.
Krillin charged again to continue fight, and Kakarot met him in the ring's center exchanging punches or kicks. The blows got more intense as each fighter used more and more of their strength to inflict whatever damage they could. The shocks from the hits were felt throughout the audience as they grow louder and more painful. But eventually, a threshold was reached where Kakarot was landing more hits while Krillin struggled to catch up. Giving up on punches and kicks, Krillin leapt away to put some distance between himself and his friend.
"Try to counter this!" Krillin called out, and charged with his head bent over like a ram.
Kakarot just sidestepped and neck chopped him. Krillin lost steam and went down where with some forward momentum, skidding to a stop.
He didn't stay down for long, and looked up to see Kakarot smiling at him. Krillin yelped at seeing how vulnerable he was, and scurried away as fast as little legs would carry him.
Krillin was starting to look desperate. The fight had been going on for awhile and he was starting to get exhausted, while Kakarot didn't even break a sweat. As much as he hated to admit to himself, Krillin knew his friend was stronger and there was no way he could match his power. Krillin couldn't even go for Kakarot's tail anymore, after seeing his match with Chi-chi.
Whatever the case, Krillin was not about to give up just like that. He was no quitter, and he wasn't here to be nice!
"KYAAAAAH!" He charged again, this time as viciously as he could to at least try to wear Kakarot out before he wore himself out first. He will try to win anyway he could.
Gine really admired Krillin's tenacity, for he was almost just like Kakarot in a way. If he had been born a Saiyan, he would've been unstoppable. But alas, he was not. And she knew that Kakarot was just humoring Krillin now, and was wondering how long he was going to drag this out.
After a series of blows traded, Krillin landed a punch hard enough to send Kakarot flying backwards. Krillin looked to celebrate at this tiny victory of managing to land a blow on his now superior friend, but the look fell when Kakarot rebounded.
Kakarot looked at Krillin angrily, then phasing into translucent lines, and vanished into thin air.
"Kakarot?!" Krillin said, his eyes bulging at the feat.
"Where'd he go?!" Bulma said just as bewildered.
Everyone in the arena looked as perplexed, and scanned the arena. He just disappeared!
Gine could see though. As Roshi, Gohan, and no doubt Tien could also see. He didn't disappear, it was an illusion. Gine's eyes moved rapidly back and forth as she tracked his movements. He was moving so fast around the ring that everyone not keen enough couldn't see him, almost turning invisible.
Kakarot's superspeed running-in-circles closed around Krillin. He couldn't see Kakarot but knew that he was there somewhere. He looked around himself, feeling disoriented and like a trapped animal, starting to panic.
"BLAH!"
Kakarot suddenly apparated mere inches from Krillin's non-existent nose, making a funny face at him.
Krillin almost jumped out of his skin at that, but as he did so, Kakarot landed ten superfast punches and a powerkick that sent Krillin flying out of the ring, crashing into the brick spectator's wall. He slid down the side dazed but conscious to realize he was out of bounds.
"Krillin is out! Kakarot is the winner!" Said the announcer. The crowd was too stunned to respond, but cheers slowly erupted as the viewers came to their wits from the spectacle of Kakarot's movements.
"A surprising end to a sensational match! Well done you two! And with that, conclude's today's events and the semi-finals. Join us tomorrow to see who become the next World Martial Arts Champion!"
Bulma, Oolong, and the others chatted away about how anticlimactic such a fight between friends was. But Gine thought it was quite a special show. To see her son fight twice in the same day and see him advance to the championship bout against his friends. He once told her that the very same friends he fought today seemed like unreachable examples of strength. She could see how he would think that, since these humans were very clever, were far more durable than she thought, and had abilities she never would've imagined. Humans were so full of surprises.
And now he had made quick work of them as if they were easy pickings. It went to show just how much stronger her son had become.
All that was left now was that Tien Shinhan. Who seemed to be absent from the arena from her spot. But she didn't worry, he'll be here tomorrow...
Afterwards, they all met in the food court to get some dinner.
"Listen, I just wanna let you know that I think all three of you did an exceptional job out there." Bulma said.
Krillin looked down, uncomfortably scratching the back of his head. "I don't know about exceptional, but thanks."
Bulma laughed, "You're exceptional! Don't argue, I'm bigger than you."
Chi-chi didn't look too happy. "I didn't even make into the semi-finals." She said, on the verge of tears.
"Hey, hey. That doesn't matter!" Roshi offered. "You made it into a slot of eight out of a hundred and eighty two fighters. And you defeated almost all of them just to set foot in that ring. That in of itself is something to be proud of."
Chi-chi pondered those words. Then Kakarot put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, Chi-chi! Almost everyone who tries to get into the tournament proper ends up failing, and you kicked all their butts!"
Chi-Chi's face lit up from Kakarot's encouragement. "Thank you, Kakarot."
"You're welcome!" He said, then added "Just don't go for my tail next time." He winked.
Chi-chi scoffed at that. She was still rather mad that she fell into such a trap, but then again it was her dirty trick to begin with. But oh well, it was only a tournament. And they had much, MUCH better things to look forward to, in her wildest dreams.
Blonde Launch spoke up for them too. "Hey, you've got a great left hook, take it from someone who knows!"
"I rooted for all of you, mostly." Oolong added, slyly. Everyone laughed at that.
Krillin turned to Kakarot. "You did so well out there, Kakarot. You are by far the strongest fighter I've ever known!"
"Huh? Oh well, I wouldn't know about that." Kakarot said, then pointed up to Gine. "I have my mom to look up to for that. And you saw how strong she was!"
Gine felt uncomfortable for being put on the spot by her well meaning son, not to mention unsure how to take such a compliment. But she decided to just blush and wave it away with some humility.
"Oh please, I'm not the fighter like my son or Gohan is." She said, trying to deflect the attention.
Gohan chuckled at her sending the praise to him instead. "She's just being modest. But though we taught Kakarot a lot, it was he who has grown so much and is putting all this effort."
Kakarot nodded at his adoptive grandfather thankfully, then turned to his companions. "Now that today is over, let's go eat!"
"Yeah!" They all second that notion, Gine included.
As they started walking for the restaurant, Gine felt a familiar presence lurking in the shadows of a nearby corner. But it wasn't Crane...
She turned her head around to see Tien watching them leave. Gine tensed up momentarily, but released when she realized he wasn't going to ambush them here in broad daylight with people around. But he just starred at them as they went.
Gine starred back, into his contempt filled eyes. She saw his lips move, and with her Saiyan hearing she could faintly make out the words: "Enjoy it while it lasts."
She knew she could take him out right then and there. He meant to cause her son, and her, harm. But this puny human posed no threat, and seemed like the type would save such action for the ring for all to see.
And besides, this was her son's fight, not hers.
"You're gonna do good tomorrow, sweetheart." Gine said to Kakarot, squeezing his shoulder protectively while still starring at Tien.
"Huh?" Kakarot looked up to his mom, confused. She looked back down at him after Tien disappeared from view. He was not aware of the stare-down that happened moments ago. "Oh, yeah, I certainly will, Mom."
"I know you will." She said.
There we go! Now on to the final match of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament.
Just to give you a heads up that I will be on vacation in the coming week which means my next update will be within a month or so.
Thank you so much and I'll see you next chapter!