Back at it again with the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Who will be facing Mercenary Tao? And what will be final lineup? Let's find out!
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.
Please support the official release!
Also, read and review!
CHAPTER 24: TAO'S VENDETTA
Kakarot won his preliminary round with a single blow. The tournament officials were carrying his opponent away on a stretcher, and everyone besides the gang were too stunned to applaud his victory. But Kakarot wasn't too concerned about them at the moment...
"What do you mean Tao is here?" He asked his mother and Chi-chi.
Gine pointed to the man in question, and Kakarot turned to look. Amidst the sea of faces, he picked out the metallic domed head and binocular eyes. At first, Kakarot didn't recognize him. But then he recognized the pink gi, and the ponytail...
"Ugh, no way!" Kakarot exclaimed. Tien and Chiaotzu laid their eyes on Tao as well, both gasping in horror.
"No! It can't be! HE'S DEAD!"
Krillin looked between his flabbergasted companions. "Uh, a little explanation here? Who's that Tao guy?"
Kakarot didn't take his eyes off of the assassin as he explained. Tao was just scanning the crowd, he had not noticed them yet.
"He's Mercenary Tao. He's a trained killer of the Crane school, and Shen's younger brother. And if I remember correctly, he would be your direct superior, right Tien?"
Uh, yeah." Tien confirmed, before Kakarot turned back angrily.
"That monster of his younger brother tried to kill some people in a village hiding a dragon ball."
Chi-chi stepped in. "He fought Kakarot and I until he tried to kill us both with a grenade, but we threw it back at him. There was a big explosion, and we thought he died!"
"Then, how is he still standing?!" Tien asked incredulously.
"Cybernetics, looks like it." Gine speculated from the looks of Tao. In her olden days in the Frieza Force, she recalled seeing warriors of all races, Saiyans included, who lost limbs in battle yet were "repaired" with mechanical prosthetics. With those, they could still serve his army and go back into battle. She didn't know Earth had similar technology, or at least as something as advanced as the Frieza Force did.
Tao's binocular eyes finally settled on the group, and his mustached lips curled into a sinister smile that made Gine's skin crawl. She remembered that sickening look from Crane. She wouldn't be surprised if that despicable old man was here at the tournament too somewhere.
"So what does he want?" Asked Yamcha, feeling uncomfortable from the stare Tao was giving them.
"I dunno. But whatever he's up to... let's be on our guard." Kakarot said, not backing down from starring back at Tao in anger.
"Right." They all agreed before walking away. Tao never took his eyes off of them...
The preliminaries preceded onwards from there. Like Kakarot, the rest of the group had no trouble with the competition they were pitted against. Krillin and Yamcha easily dispatched their much larger wrestler-type opponents that tried to squash them. Tien, being the most disciplined fighter of them all, amazed onlookers with just taking a single look at his opponent, a lean wolf-man, and simply made him fall to the floor asleep with a blur of pressure-point attacks that only the team was able to see. Chiaotzu had no trouble with taking advantage of his small stature and magical abilities to outwit his opponent and telepathically throw him out of bounds.
When it was Gine's turn, going up against a boxer, she ended it quickly with a chop to the back of the neck faster than he could even blink. She felt the horrified looks of the other fighters who watched, their jaws slack in astonishment. The referee was stunned too, but retained his senses just enough to inform her and everyone that she set a record for quickest knockout in the tournament's history. The second non-descript fighter she had to fight was met with the same undignified defeat when she easily tossed out said fighter with a flick of her finger when he tried to charge at her. She had to hold back considerably to not accidentally kill him, but that one flick was enough to leave a spider web of cracks in the wall he landed against. He was still breathing, but would be out cold for a while. Gine tried to act as if she was weaker than she really was and held up a fighting pose to make it look she was at least defending herself. But all that did was scare the living hell out of everyone watching, and conveyed that she wasn't to be messed with.
The pre-qualifiers were going smoothly...
"For this preliminary match, would numbers..." The referee of another ring called out. "Fifty-nine and sixty, please step forward into the ring!"
Chi-chi perked up, "That's me!"
She turned to Kakarot, "Wish me luck!" she said before kissing him.
"Go get 'em Chi-chi, I'll be rootin' for ya!" Kakarot cheered when they parted. Chi-chi's eyes glistened with hearts at hearing his support, and she looked back at him before hoping up onto the arena with a spring in her step.
Whatever jubilation she had was destroyed when she laid eyes on her next opponent.
"Ah, the daughter of the Ox-king. We meet again." Said Mercenary Tao.
Gine and everyone else felt the hairs on their necks stand up. Kakarot's face darkened.
Chi-chi felt more angry than surprised. Of all people here that she had to go up against...
"Mercenary Tao... I thought you died." She said coolly.
He smirked. "I nearly did. But you and your monkey boy friend still ruined my entire life as much as my body. I remember the explosion but nothing much after that until I woke up in a hospital one day in the burned and broken shell of my former self..." He gestured to himself with his mechanical arms out before continuing. The gang listened intently from the sidelines.
"It took a while and costed me a small fortune, but I got my body put back together. Not only that, these cybernetic replacements increased my strength beyond human potential. No one would be able to stand against me now!"
Gine was perturbed by the sight of Tao's mechanical limbs. To her they were no threat, but still looked strong enough to peel the delicate human flesh off of Chi-chi's bones.
Yet the young woman stood resolute. "So why are you here at the tournament?"
"The title of champion means little to me. I am here to take my revenge on you and Kakarot for the disfigurement you caused me. An eye for eye, if you get my meaning. And once I'm through with you both..." He then turned his gaze towards Tien and Chiaotzu. "...I will deal with my brother's former students." He added.
"But why?!" Tien asked angrily up at Tao.
"You may have been Shen's star pupil, but now you're a... what's the word?... a traitor." He spat with contempt in his voice.
Tien clenched his fist. "I did not betray Master Shen! I was loyal to his house until I discovered I did not share his ideals!"
"And so you felt the need to be Roshi's servant instead? Tsh, pathetic." Tao whipped his ponytail in disgust.
Krillin stepped up, "Now let's get one thing straight, you creep! Tien and Chiaotzu here passed their training under Master Roshi's, but they are not his servants. They are grown up adults like us, and are independent fighters that can do as they please. They're not murderers like you!"
"You seem to value your life. It would be a shame if I had to take it." Tao snarled down at Krillin, causing him to back away until Yamcha spoke out too.
"Hey, believe what you want! But Tien and Chiaotzu chose to honor the Turtle House, but they do not serve it. Because they are our friends!"
"That's right! Even though it may be hard for you to comprehend, we respect our master and our friends choices!" Krillin stepped up again.
During all this commotion, Gine stayed silent. She remembered the stories Kakarot told her of this man, how he slaughtered an entire village for the dragon ball, murdered the father of one of his friends, and the grief his cretin of a brother Shen put them all through at the last tournament. She was all for punching this monster's face through his skull, but the calm restraint that Kami had instilled in her through three years of training kept Gine from acting on that impulse.
The crowd was silent too, until the referee spoke up. "Uh, are you two going to start fighting?"
Tao shot a murderous look that made the poor man shrink beneath the rim of the stage in terror. He turned back to Chi-chi.
"So, Chi-chi, you can either fight me now and die as you should, or you could forfeit. In which case, I will kill you later on. It makes no difference to me."
"Oh, great. Why does trouble always have to happen at this tournament?" Krillin bemoaned from the side.
Chi-chi stood tall, looking Tao in the eye. "I will fight you."
Tao smiled evilly. "So be it then."
They got into their fighting poses, Chi-chi crouched into a defensive praying mantis form while Tao's was prepared for an offensive with the trademark Crane stance. The men of the gang gulped nervously for Chi-chi.
"Don't worry about her." Said Kakarot.
"HUH?!" They all turned to him aghast.
"Tao is the one at a disadvantage here. He doesn't know all of Chi-chi's fighting techniques, and she had gotten much stronger during her training with you guys and Roshi."
Gine looked back at Chi-chi. She could sense from her aura that the girl was indeed frightened, but she didn't falter or step away either. Gine wasn't sure if her son's faith in his... girlfriend, now?... was genuine or if it was hormones. She prayed that the girl had the strength to win against this man.
"You look nervous. Don't be. I'll go easy on you and make your defeat quick and painless." The cyborg taunted.
Chi-chi did not react, and just glared back. Gine had to give it to her that she had courage to face Tao despite the option to walk away.
That sense of hope spread to the rest of their friends too, "SMASH THE CYBORG CREEP'S CIRCUITS IN, CHI-CHI!" Cheered Krillin.
Tao heard them, "Enjoy the adulation from your friends, Chi-chi, for it will be your last. Then I'll deal with Kakarot afterwards."
"Hmph. You'll have to get past me first!" Said Chi-chi, "I'll be damned to let you get anywhere near my Kakarot, so I suggest you shut your mouth before I shut it for you!"
The girl's fiery spirit impressed Gine, and it gave her some pause too. Her Kakarot, did she say? She couldn't help but smile at that.
Tao laughed. "My, my. What defiance you have, especially for a woman. I will gladly put you in your place beneath my feet."
"Try me, creep. We've beaten you before, and I'll beat you here again."
Chi-chi and Tao stared each other off. The crowd was dead quiet, unable to breathe from the tension.
No one moved, all frozen like statues.
A minute passed, then two, then three, six, and ten.
"They... haven't moved." Yamcha quietly pointed out.
"It's like they can't move." Whispered Tien.
Gine saw it, though. It was Tao who couldn't move. He couldn't find an opening in Chi-chi's defense, and was left indecisive while Chi-chi stood there undaunted. She could wait as long as necessary, discipline she had learned from Tien Shinhan during her training...
But someone in the audience of fighters had enough. "Will one of you PLEASE throw a punch before we all fall asleep?!"
It broke Chi-chi out of her trance. Seeing the opening he needed, Tao charged.
But Chi-chi regained herself, phasing out of sight before Tao could punch through her with his mechanical arm.
"Hya!" In the blink of an eye, Chi-chi appeared beside him and delivered a neck chop, throwing Tao to the ground.
Everyone cheered. The group breathed in relief and joined the rest of the applause while Gine watched on in anticipation. Tao looked infuriated.
"That was a lucky shot." He spat in her direction.
Chi-chi shot back, "Or you're just sloppy."
That got him growling angrily, "Watch your tongue woman, or I'll rip it out!"
"Ha! What's the matter, Tao? Don't like having your butt kicked by a girl a second time?" Chi-chi taunted.
The surviving flesh of Tao's face turned red with rage. He wicked away his ponytail impatiently. "Well then, since you are so eager to die, I will no longer hold back!"
Tao screamed as he launched himself into the air to do a diving kick. Chi-chi was ready for it, and parried it effortlessly. She then countered with a front kick, hitting him square in the gut and sending him arching away. He landed painfully on his head, his binocular eyes conveyed his building fury.
"YOU WENCH! Charge at me like a true warrior, not try to keep away like a coward!" He shouted, preparing for another attack.
Chi-chi disappeared from where she stood, dazzling the audience.
"You're mistaken, Tao. I'm much stronger than you realize." Came Chi-chi's voice, sounding like an echo from her superspeed movements.
She reappeared behind Tao, the former assassin jumped away in fright. "Don't you dare talk behind my back, bitch! You think you're stronger than me? I'll enjoy taking you down!"
"You're the one whose acting like a wimp, not me!" Said Chi-chi.
Tao laughed evilly. "Very funny, girl. Hilarious! Your arrogance has just sealed your fate! NOW DIE!"
He charged after Chi-chi, launching a barrage of punches and swooping high kicks to take off her head. But she evaded each move with great efficiency and speed.
"Wow, Chi-chi moves so fast! She makes it look easy!" Whistled Krillin from the sidelines. The rest of the gang and the audience were very impressed too.
Gine could follow Chi-chi's every move, the girl was fast by the standards of Earthlings. She was ducking and sidestepping every attack Tao threw at her, and judging from how she wasn't preparing for an offensive, it seemed like her plan was to keep up the defense until Tao burned himself out. He may be half-machine, but he still had limits. It was a brilliant strategy. And as she watched, Gine couldn't help but be amazed with how much Chi-chi had improved since the last tournament. She almost fought like her son, feeling the movements of her foe and in total control of the fight. She would've made a great Saiyan warrior.
Kakarot could not take his eyes off of Chi-chi. The more he watched, the more his admiration grew for her and the way she fought. Gine saw him starring at Chi-chi with the same look of infatuation that Bardock gave her only once. Gine understood now, for aside from her kind heart and beauty, she was a very brave and competent fighter. It made sense to her now...
At that moment, Tao was at his patience's end that the girl was not letting up. Breathing was getting difficult, for she was wearing him down. He growled furiously, how could this insulant girl stand up against him despite all he had put into his cybernetics? How could she last against him?! He was Mercenary Tao! The greatest assassin the world had ever known!
Putting all of his energy into one leap, he flew towards Chi-chi. He threw out a punch with two fingers out. Chi-chi caught the strike, his extended fingers just inches away from gouging her eyes.
Tao gasped, looking frightened from the accusatory glare Chi-chi gave him.
"Really? Didn't your mother ever teach you not to pull dirty moves like that? Or was it your rotten brother?"
Chi-chi tightened her iron grip on his mechanical hand. He tried to wrestle free, but couldn't escape her grasp. Gine felt her worries of this man's cybernetic strength disappear. She also felt guilty for underestimating just how much stronger Chi-chi had gotten.
"Let me go, woman!" He barked while wriggling in the trap.
"You're doing yourself a disservice fighting like this in front of your old students. Tien told me he used to look up to you, and I don't want to beat you down in front of him. So please just give up already and leave!"
Tao barred his teeth in fury. "I'LL RIP YOUR EYES OUT!"
He tried to strike with his other hand, but Chi-chi quickly twisted the hand she held to whip Tao around. She pressed his twisted arm up into his shoulder blade, making him squeal in undignified pain.
"Fine! Then we'll do this the hard way!" Chi-chi said while she held Tao from behind. With a jerk of his contorted arm, Tao yelped as Chi-chi slowly forced him to walk towards the edge of the ring. All the while he squirmed and fought back feebly like a spoiled child being brought to a disciplinary spanking.
"That's new." Yamcha remarked.
Everyone watched as Chi-chi, a woman many decades junior and a head shorter to the legendary brother of Shen, escorted him out of the ring. Gine shook her head, bemused at the idea that this sniveling man was once the most feared killer for hire in the world. Tien and Chiaotzu couldn't bare to watch the humiliating scene.
Tao stood by the tip of his toes at the edge, fighting to push himself back. Chi-chi twisted his hand further to get him to lose his balance. Just one more shove and he would fall...
Tao's mechanical hand suddenly detached from his arm. Chi-chi stood there agape at the sight of holding his severed robotic limb. In that moment of shock, Tao ceased resisting, and he smirked at the opportunity presenting itself.
Before anyone knew it, Gine's tail bristled as a giant curved steel blade emerged from where Tao's hand was.
"CHI-CHI LOOK OUT!"
Chi-chi's pupils shrank to dots as Tao spun where he stood, holding out the blade in a long arc. She jumped back as hard as she could just as the blade swung at her...
A slash across her stomach, and a thin line of blood sprayed across the tiles of the ring from the blade's arc.
"NOOO!" Kakarot and the gang cried out. The entire audience gasped in horror.
"AHHHH!" Chi-chi screamed, doubling over and holding her midsection in agony. Her orange shirt soaked red and blood dripped between her clutched arms. Her knees buckled and her eyes stung from tears as the pain came in ice-cold waves. It hurt so bad she just wanted to collapse and cry. Tao stood there with the blade, drops of her blood dripping onto the floor.
"POSSESSION OF A KNIFE!" The referee screamed. "Tournament rules prohibit the use of weapons in the ring! Tao is disqualified! The winner by default is Chi-chi!"
Tao turned to the referee, "Oh be quiet! I don't care about this stupid tournament!" He laughed manically, "As long as I can kill Chi-chi."
Chi-chi held the bleeding gash still, the open wound made her stomach feel like it was on fire. But through the pain she glared up at Tao with gritted teeth and unbridled rage.
"You are defeated! Just admit it, and prepare to die!" Tao gloated, bringing the blade up and swaying it back and forth tauntingly.
Gine was enraged. "That's it!" She said in a deadly determined tone. Both she and Kakarot were just about to jump up there and blast the man into ashes until Chi-chi held out a bloody hand to them.
"No!" Chi-chi yelled.
Gine and Kakarot paused. "Huh?"
Chi-chi breathed deep to force the pain away. She then rightened herself, pressing one hand to her gash. The pain was excruciating still, but now Chi-chi stood tall and alert. She clutched her free hand lividly. "You...you monster! You pull a knife on an unarmed woman?! HAVE YOU NO SHAME?!""
Tao waved the polished knife. "No. I feel no shame in killing you!" He remarked coldly, then began walking towards Chi-chi threateningly.
The referee panicked, climbing onto the ring. "Hey, wait a minute! The match is over! You are not allowed to kill each other in the ring! Please put the knife down and leave!"
Gine thought that man was incredibly naïve or had a death wish.
Tao looked at the referee, "You're next just for standing in my way!"
"That's it! He's lost it, Tao needs to be stopped!" Krillin got ready to jump into the ring with Chi-chi.
"Yeah, I'd be happy to lend a hand too." Yamcha said, eagerly cracking his knuckles.
Tien looked horrified. How couldn't he? Tao was once a hero in his eyes. To see him fighting like this with no honor left him feeling like he had to do something, and was ready to jump into the ring with the group.
"Chi-chi, we can take him together!" Shouted Chiaotzu.
Chi-chi looked at them, "No, stay where you are. This is my fight. I'll take care of this."
Gine was exasperated that the girl was refusing help against an unruly opponent. But she felt a great swell of respect and pride for her at that moment too. Injured and bleeding, she was still going to see the fight to the end. She was indeed very brave. Quite a dramatic change from how she was wailing after being shot by that Pilaf Gang.
Tao didn't share those feelings, "Very brave, but foolish girl you are. Now they can watch you DIE!"
Chi-chi had left herself open. Gine saw this and felt alarmed. Wasn't Chi-chi going to do something?!
Before she could, Tao choose that moment to thrust the blade towards her heart.
"CHI-CHI!" They all screamed.
In the next moment, Chi-chi fell backwards and let the blade pass overhead. Then in quick succession, rolled onto her back and thrusted her legs upwards to catch the blade between the soles of her shoes. Using Tao's momentum and his shock from her surprise move, she flung him over herself and arched her own body over her head to land on her feet again.
In a jumble of limbs and acrobatic moves, Chi-chi had forced Tao to the ground and held her foot down on the flat end of the blade. The audience was stunned into silence at how she re-established dominance of the fight, and Tao was dumbfounded at what just happened.
Chi-chi bent down and grabbed the tip of the blade by the flat side while pressing her foot down on his arm. "I hope you didn't pay a lot for this toothpick."
With only some effort, Chi-chi snapped the blade in two. She tossed the severed tip away, and it clattered to the ground. Tao gasped in shock at where his blade was. Chi-chi glared down at Tao with deadly intent, he shivered on the ground in fear. He was now pinned and defenseless.
He stopped shuddering then, laughing knowingly. "You think I'd be so easily defeated?"
"Admit it Tao, this fight is over." Chi-chi declared.
Tao smiled, and she immediately knew something was wrong. Glancing at his other hand, it had detached itself, and the nub forming into the shape of a cannon.
"I've been dying to use this one all day." Tao declared, and aimed it up right at Chi-chi's face.
"SUPER DODON R-!"
He didn't get to finish his sentence before Chi-chi slammed her other foot into Tao's face with lightning speed, shattering the binocular lens goggles into shards of glass and plastic. Tao fell limp and silent, the cannon arm dropping to the floor like dead weight.
The auditorium erupted into cheers and applause.
"WAY TO GO, CHI-CHI!" Krillin and Yamcha yelled, while Chi-chi sighed in relief and stood there for a moment, basking in victory.
"I knew she could do it!" Kakarot exclaimed, his eyes filled with stars. Gine felt immense relief and pride in the girl, and gave a congratulatory whistle of her own. Tien and Chiaotzu simply applauded. The dishonorable sight of their old master disgracing himself with attempted murder and cheating left them shocked, but at least their friend survived.
The gang threaded their way through the crowd just as the medics did.
"He'll be out for awhile. I just hope he never shows his face around me again!" Said Chi-chi as Tao's unconscious form was dragged off the stage.
Kakarot came up to the ring edge to catch her as she jumped down. "That was amazing, Chi-chi! You improved so much since the last time I saw you. And you were so brave to keep fighting after an injury like that. I'm so proud of you!" He laughed and hugged her tightly.
So overcome with joy at how he praised her and held her, Chi-chi almost forgot her wound and laughed with him. "Oh, Kakarot!" She swooned.
But that euphoria and the adrenaline of the fight wore off as the pain returned. She winced and inhaled sharply. Kakarot, seeing her in pain, set her down on the floor and knelt to take a look at her. Gine, the gang, and the tournament medics crowded around her. Chi-chi laid back while Kakarot held her head on his lap, and lifted her arms to examine her wound. Some squeamish onlookers fainted at the sight.
Chi-chi was extremely lucky. A few inches closer and the blade would have disemboweled her. But it sliced her deep just above her belly button, leaving a long and deep red slice across her abdomen that bled profusely.
"Don't worry miss, we'll get you to a hospital quick." Said the lead medic, he waved behind him to call for a stretcher. Kakarot reached into his pocket and pulled out a senzu bean, holing to Chi-chi's mouth. "Here, take one of these Chi-chi."
The medic turned to Kakarot sternly. "Uhm, sir? This young lady here needs serious medical attention, not some voodoo herbal crap."
Chi-chi saw the bean and smiled. "Ah, thank Korin!"
She reached forward and ate the bean. After chewing and swallowing, the slash on Chi-chi's midsection suddenly began to close on it's own. In a matter of moments, the gash disappeared without any scar to mark where it was. Chi-chi sat upright and breathed a sigh of relief. The medic's eyes bulged from their sockets in disbelief.
"All better now!" She cheered, outstretching her arms. Everyone applauded her and Kakarot hugged her tightly.
"That was a close one!" He whispered in her ear above all the commotion half-jubilantly, but also half-chokingly. For as awestruck as he was at Chi-chi's bravery, he felt an odd sense of heart-clenching terror at the thought that he nearly lost the girl he cared so much for. He didn't like this feeling, and it made him want to hold Chi-chi tightly to himself for dear life.
Chi-chi heard the emotions in Kakarot's voice, and she too felt those exact same feelings. in a moment of shared understanding, Chi-chi released herself from his embrace to kiss him passionately, which he returned with equal measure.
The audience cheered again with some of the rowdier ones whistling and cat-calling at the romantic scene. Gine rolled her eyes at them as she let her son enjoy the victory and moment with Chi-chi. She just hoped the lovebirds wouldn't lose control of themselves here.
She looked around the crowd, Krillin and Yamcha singing Chi-chi's praises with everyone else. But she stopped when she spotted Tien walking off on his own.
"Uh, Tien?" Gine called back. She felt a hand placed on her shoulder. She glanced over to see Chiaotzu floating beside her, a sullen look on his face.
"He needs to be left alone for a bit."
Gine silently turned back to looking after Tien leaving. She understood. Tien's former greatest hero having turned into such a disgrace was a lot for the former Crane student to take in. She then wondered if Crane was around here or outside somewhere. Knowing the animosity and drama caused last time, he had to be here somewhere.
Wherever he was, she hoped word of Tao's defeat would reach him. By now he ought to know to never mess with them again, or else she worried what would happen afterwards would be too much for the emotional well-being of Tien and Chiaotzu more than her own...
Afterwards, they continued on. Kakarot, Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chi-chi breezed through the rest of the preliminaries without any more problems. The crowds of potential finalists withered down to barely over a dozen left as the morning went on.
Gine and the gang were currently gathered around the ring Chiaotzu was fighting in. Kakarot and Chi-chi were nowhere to be seen, but Gine could sense that they were off somewhere a little more private. After Chi-chi's near-fatal fight with Tao, she and Kakarot were inseparable. Always holding each other whenever there wasn't a match going on, and talking to each other non-stop. Gine was internally overjoyed at the sight of the two of them clearly falling madly in love, but wished they could at least wait until after the tournament before doing anymore frolicking.
She turned her attention back to Chiaotzu's match. Or more appropriately, yet-to-be match. The referee had been calling out his opponent for nearly a minute without anyone showing up.
"Number seventy! Number seventy! You have ten seconds to get to the ring or else you would be disqualified!" He called out one more time. A few more moments and the doll-like child fighter would advance to the semi-finals.
"WAIT! WAIT, I'M RIGHT HERE!" A voice shouted from the auditorium's bathroom. A toilet flush sounded.
Exactly nine seconds later, competitor number seventy came running frantically out of the bathroom and clambered up onto the ring. Gine raised an eyebrow upon seeing the "fighter", who did not seem like a fighter at all. He was just a mustached old man in a white button up shirt, sandals, black slacks, and large fishbowl-lensed glasses. He was shorter than Gine, had a round out-of-shape frame but his arms were rail-thin. He looked as if he had never thrown a punch in his life.
"S-sorry I'm late." The old man struggled to catch his breath from the rush to the stage, and sweated profusely.
Krillin snickered. "Seriously? I think someone made a mistake, this guy looks like someone's father!"
The old man did some basic stretches and let out a cringe-inducing "kyah" as he got into fighting stance. Chiaotzu blushed and pointed to his opponent's trousers. "Uh, sir? Your zipper?"
Everyone in the room laughed as the old man turned red in embarrassment and zipped up his fly. Gine just shook her head. This wasn't even going to be a fight at all, and just be a painfully embarrassing thing to watch.
Once the laughter died down, the referee spoke up. "You may begin!"
The old man looked at Chiaotzu seriously, then clumsily ran towards him with arms flung behind. The doll-like child fighter raised his finger tips to prepare a magical attack...
Gine felt a wave of something familiar and comforting wash over her. A sort of pulse of an aura emanating from... the old man?
"Ah!"
Chiaotzu screamed, and was flung out of the ring by an unseen force. The old man didn't even touch him as he was still feet away from ramming into Chiaotzu, and he skidded to a stop when he saw his opponent on the ground outside the ring.
Everyone had a hard time believing what they saw, even the referee, but he still had a job to do. "The winner by knockout is number seventy!"
"Chiaotzu!" Tien ran to his little friend's side and helped him back onto his feet.
"What happened?" Tien asked as the rest of the gang came to his side.
"I-I don't know." Chiaotzu said hesitantly. "That old man just looked at me weird and... I somehow got thrown out."
"Thrown out? How? He didn't even touch you!" Krillin spoke.
"You mean he used magic?" Yamcha asked in concern.
Chiaotzu frowned, "Maybe. But it's no magic like I've ever seen. It felt so weird..." He said, his voice trailing off.
The old man came to the edge of the ring, looking down on Chiaotzu. "I apologize if I've hurt you, little one."
Everyone looked up at him with suspicion, but Chiaotzu smiled back. "It's okay, sir. I'm alright."
The old man smiled in relief, he then bowed in respect and walked away off the ring.
"Who is that guy?" Krillin whispered harshly to everyone.
Gine watched the old man walking away. Whether by accident or not, he somehow threw out one of the most magically gifted combatants in the world out of the ring. Yet he certainly was no fighter at all, being a clumsy elder unlike Gohan or Roshi. She was certain he was going to turn the tournament into a comedy if he did try to fight, but Gine thought there was something...off about him. He bumbled about like a lost puppy, yet carried himself with an air of great dignity and grace. She sort of recalled the mental distraction from not just a few moments ago during the fight. That wave of pleasantness that she sensed from the old man's aura felt familiar somehow, like she had seen it before. But she didn't know the old man at all, or put her finger on that feeling's origin...
"I have no idea... but let's keep an eye on him." She said cautiously. As she said this, a ruckus erupted in another ring. Gine looked over to see a large burly man throwing a fire extinguisher at another fighter in a red leather mask with long hair poking out behind, angry that he had lost to the red masked man. This place was a circus.
Now, there was just eight of them left.
"Hello and congratulations to all of the semi-finalists! Please come forward at this time." Came a familiar voice.
At the far end of the auditorium, Gine saw the familiar face to match the voice. The blonde announcer from the last tournament, clad in his fine suit and now sporting a slim mustache. And he still wore those stylish shades.
"You will once again draw lots to determine the pairing for the next round. The same rules of the preliminaries apply here: No killing, and winning is only through knockouts, surrender, or falling out of the ring. And please remember, as a general note, check your costumes before you enter the ring. Now, without further ado... " He pulled out a box. "If you don't have any further questions, you may all draw lots..."
The gang filled towards the announcer's lottery box. Kakarot and Chi-chi even joined them in time after appearing out of wherever they were off to. The announcer's eyes set on Krillin, and all the color drained from his face.
"AH! I SAW YOU DIE AT THE HANDS OF THAT MONSTER! YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"
Krillin was startled by the man's outburst, but then remembered that day he was killed. Gine remembered too that this man was there.
The announcer knelt before Krillin. "Oh, please! Spirit from the afterworld-"
Krillin laughed, "Oh, stop it! I'm not a ghost. I just came back to life again."
That calmed the man down, but that answer still left him as disturbed as before.
"Don't you remember us?" Asked Yamcha, pointing a thumb at himself. "We were the ones that dealt with that monster, and King Piccolo who created him!"
The announcer looked at Yamcha and the rest of the gang as if they sprouted extra heads. "Uh..." Then he laid eyes on Gine, and a light went off.
"Oh, yeah! I remember you guys. And you!" He pointed towards Gine.
"Me?" Asked Gine uncomfortably.
The blonde man nodded eagerly. "Yeah! You were the one that kicked out Shen from the last tournament, and lead the group to find the monster!"
"Yep. She's my mom!" Said Kakarot. "She lead the fight to bring Krillin's killer to justice, and defeated King Piccolo!"
"Uh... who's King Piccolo?" Asked the confused announcer.
Gine closed her eyes. Why in the heavens did Kakarot had to announce who she was to this man, and all of their world-saving deeds?
Before the announcer could ask more questions, Gine coughed to get their attention off this line of conversation. Knowing Kakarot, next thing she knew, he may just go on to divulge onto this blonde man that she and her son were from another planet.
"Can we continue with drawing lots, please?"
"Oh...er, right." The announcer nodded. He still had so many questions, but decided to just go along with it. He held up the box and Gine drew the first number...
Once everyone drew their numbers, the final lineup was set:
The first match will be Chi-chi against the burly masked figure that made it earlier, going only by the name of Red Mask. Gine felt his punitive power and didn't think much of him, Chi-chi ought to handle him easy.
Second match was to be Kakarot versus Tien Shinhan. If not for the training they had completed in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gine was sure that Tien would put up a valiant defense of his title. But seemed forgone to lose, but Gine dared not to let what she thought be known. At least they were there with friends.
Her match will be the third one, up against Krillin. Part of her felt guilty that she would have to hold back so much against him. After having died and the trouble they all went through to bring him back he trained harder than he ever had. It would be a shame to have to outdo him so quickly in front of everyone, so she will humor him and try to put on a show.
The forth and final match, Gine had her eyes on. Yamcha up against the mysterious old man who effortlessly tossed aside Chiaotzu, who identified himself as Hero. Gine swore she had never met this human in her life, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of familiarity about him. It was like that she knew him somehow. But from where?
Whoever he was, she was eager to learn more about this 'Hero' when his turn to fight comes up...
There we go! Mercenary Tao dealt with and the lineup set! Also thought it would be nice to have this chapter a bit short than the bricks I've been writing previously.
Sorry it's taken me awhile, been overloaded with work recently (being in an essential service). But the next chapter is underway.
See you all then!