One month passes and on one morning, Roshi greets his students with Starswirl, an excited energy about him as the Unicorn hides a grin behind his luxurious beard.
"I am pleased to see the progress you've all been making. That's why you'll be graduating from Beginner Training and moving on to Advance Training!"
Goku and Krillin cheer hopping up and down.
"Yeah!~ This didn't take long at all!"
"We must be super impressive for him to graduate us!"
However Bikini looks concerned and speaks her worries.
"What exactly does Advance Training entail, sir? I-Is it more grueling than what we're already doing?"
That stops the two boys from celebrating any longer. All eyes fall on Roshi, who waves his hand in a dismissive gesture.
"Sorta? You'll be wearing these twenty kilo shells on your backs. After I see you mastering that, if there's time, we'll move up to one hundred kilos!"
Bikini and Krillin drop their jaws.
"T-Twenty kilos...?! T-That's almost forty-five pounds!"
"Forget about that, one hundred would crush me, I'm short enough as is!"
Goku rolls his shoulders and his head eager to move on.
"Master Roshi, Master Roshi! This means you'll be teaching us techniques and stuff now, right?"
Roshi scoffs with a sly smirk.
"When you can push that rock or break Starswirl's magic boulder? Sure! Until then, continue to work on building up your strength."
Goku glares to the side at the glowing boulder. For weeks he has tried to break it using every means he could, yet it never moved, nor did it ever so much as suffered a crack.
"Then we should get to training already! I'm gonna bust up that rock for sure!"
Starswirl rolls his eyes before his horn glows and flashes the area in a blinding light. As it dies down as quick as it came, the students could all feel the difference in their weight as large Turtle Shells appeared on them.
"Say that after you reach the hundred kilo shell. Let's start today like every other day, kids!"
One day of training their minds in the End-Morning Training, Starswirl gestures to a circle of flowers.
"Instead of racking our minds with numbers, today I want to teach you a new form of training, meditation."
Krillin grumbles at this.
"What? I've done plenty meditation. It's just an excuse to fall asleep!"
Starswirl shakes his head speaking in a patient tone.
"Perhaps at the Orion Temple! However, mediation can unlock the inner power of your bodies and spirits, and make those weights you carry feel as but a feather."
Goku tilts his head looking at the elder with skepticism.
"How can sitting around do all that? Grandpa and I would do it but I never got stronger!"
Starswirl strokes his beard chuckling.
"That's because you weren't doing it right. Goku, toss your Turtle Shell weight at me for a moment."
The students all look concerned at this request. They've seen Starswirl struggle to open jars, heard his bones creak when he sat still for too long, and even on stormy days watch him nearly be carried off into the harsh winds. Despite this, Goku unfastens the straps around his shoulders and tosses the weight right at Starswirl.
"Are you sure about-?"
Goku stops as all eyes fly wide upon Starswirl effortlessly catching, twirling, and even tossing the weight up and down all with one hand. His eyes closed and breathing steady, he brings things to an end by letting the shell fall, creating a sizeable indent in the ground from all the momentum.
"As you're all aware, I'm very weak physically, but with proper meditation even I can unlock my inner strength without magic. Do you see why Gohan would have you mediate now, Goku? You too Krillin."
The boys both nod with renewed respect for the Unicorn, with Bikini now relieved upon seeing such a weak man easily handle a weight that feels crushing to her, hope fills her heart as they all sit in a meditative form. Starswirl speaks softly as the students close their eyes.
"Remember, you aren't napping... You are emptying your mind... Deafen the world around you. Think not of the fight Goku, but of the power inside of you, power you know you have but can't yet use."
Goku nods, even though he doesn't quite understand, he thinks hard about himself. He knows he's strong, and he knows he can be stronger, it's why he is training in the first place! The strong desire for the strength and power he knows lies within him, that his Grandfather knew was in him, causes his entire being to tingle.
"Fear not the shame or ridicule of your peers, Krillin. You have more talent than any monk of that temple, and you know it, that's why you came here. Roshi accepted you not out of pity. He accepted you because you show immense promise. Put away your insecurity and let your power unleash itself."
Krillin struggles, yet it comes to him in time as the sounds of nature begins to deafen around him, the weight on his shoulders becomes barely noticeable.
"Bikini, even you can rival the largest mountain if you put your mind to it. Do not hide behind others, nor recklessly throw yourself into danger for others, be it out of love or fear... True strength is knowing your limits and accepting that there is something beyond. Strive to better yourself for others and for yourself. Magic isn't your only strength."
Bikini can feel it with each moment as a familiar energy flows through her. A power, not from her horn but from her chest, spreading throughout her entire body. She feels much lighter, far more energized, yet it vanishes as she jumps to her feet.
"I-I felt it! I felt that power! My power-! Why did it go away, Master Starswirl?!"
He looks up at her gesturing to the ground.
"You lost focus. These two have minor experience with meditation, I bet Goku barely noticed that he got it right since for him, the increase in power was pretty small."
Goku pipes up pouting.
"Small...? Is this all the power I have?"
Starswirl shakes his head.
"As if! You suck at meditation, monkey boy. That's why you only pulled out such a minor amount. However, the more we all do this, the better the energy flow you will have. The better your energy flow for your ki; the life energy we use for techniques such as the Kamehameha, the more effective and easier it is to use said techniques."
Krillin now hops to his feet with stars in his eyes.
"Ah! T-Then I'll be able to fire a Kamehameha myself if I keep meditating?!"
Starswirl nods smiling brightly at the hope in the young monk.
"You'll be able to maintain that power too if you continue to do this everyday... Think of this as replacing our school time."
Goku cheers for this with Krillin and Bikini hiding their shared elation behind smiles.
Three months pass and Roshi replaces their twenty kilo weights with the one hundred weights, and then four months pass. On the eve of the eighth month, Goku runs into Kame House shouting loudly.
"Master Roshi! Master Beardy! Come quick! We did it! We did it!"
Starswirl looks over before wincing from a gunshot sounding off. Launch in her violent form chases Roshi around with a submachine gun. The blonde wet with only a towel around her.
"Tryin' to get a peek!? I'll see ya to yer grave y'old bastard! Raaagh!"
"Ah! No! Hey! I just got lost! My eyes aren't what they used to be! Gah-!"
With little room to run within the small confines of the Kame House, Roshi's hands blur as he catches the bullets in mid-air, smiling in relief when Launch soon ran out of bullets.
"There! Now you can't shoot me. Can we calm down now?"
"I don't gotta shoot ya to kill ya, geezer!"
"HEY WHERE'D YOU GET THAT GRENADE FROM?!"
Launch holds up an unpinned grenade before throwing it at Roshi. It would quickly turn into an apple after Starswirl blasts it with magic from his horn. Before anyone can react, the same strange powder he would often use flies close to Launch's face, causing her to sneeze and return to normal. Starswirl grabs Roshi by the ear and yanks him along over to Goku.
"Sorry about that, my boy. What is it you wanted to show us?"
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Q-Quit pulling so hard!"
Goku laughs at their antics before gesturing them to follow.
"Adults are pretty silly! C'mon, this way, back at the lake!"
In time, the two elders stand before their beaming students, all three of them giddy in excitement, Goku runs over to a boulder roughly the size of a hill.
"We can finally move the rock now!"
The elders only tilt their heads until Roshi double takes upon seeing Goku push the gargantuan boulder a whole meter. Krillin hops up and down.
"Me too, me too! Watch!"
Roshi grabs his chest as his heart jumps seeing Krillin push the boulder half a meter. Starswirl only nods with a satisfied grin.
"Well done you two! Excellent performance."
Goku points at a very eager looking Bikini.
"But Master Beardy! You haven't seen what Bikini can do!"
Starswirl look to his prized pupil raising a brow.
"Oh? Can you lift even this with your magic?"
She nods but rolls her arms rather than prepare her magic.
"Yes sir! But... I can actually pick it up without magic!"
"You can what...?"
Bikini closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath before she digs her fingers into the stone. She then shouts loudly as she lifts the entire rock over her head. To the absolute shock of even the stoic Starswirl, she marches over to the edge of the lake and drops the huge boulder into it, sending the shark inside flying out and onto land.
Roshi looks to Starswirl utterly dumbfounded.
"What did you teach her to do that...?!"
The old Unicorn is speechless for a time. His breath stolen, skin paler than usual, and his eyes bug out of his sockets. Krillin then answers Roshi.
"It was the meditation! She's really good at it! So good, she can pull her inner strength out while moving, that's how she lifted it!"
Roshi nods having more than enough experience to know this.
"Aha... Your mind is certainly sharper than your peers, Bikini! You're young too, and full of potential, but I can already see a critical weakness in-"
Starswirl interrupts him with an exasperated shout.
"Y-Yo-You... That level of strength! That's!"
He stops himself upon seeing everyone's worried looks. No one has ever seen Starswirl so befuddled and even, scared, thus he composes himself quick as he can.
"That certainly is beyond my own physical strength I will admit this much. Your magic still leaves much to be desired though... But your body is just as important to condition. I'm very proud of you, Bikini. You too, Krillin, even you Goku."
The three students all smile at each other proudly. Goku then stares right into Roshi's eyes.
"So... You're gonna teach us some real techniques now, right?"
Roshi rubs his head huffing out a breath.
"You kids are something else... Well. I have some news for you... There is no new training or technique I can teach you."
The trio all nearly fall over by the answer, utterly stupefied by Roshi's statement, the Turtle Hermit continues with more confidence.
"Don't think this is the end! Tomorrow we'll be joining the Budokai Tenkaichi! A most prodigious martial arts tournament that attracts all kinds of warriors worldwide. Only the strongest can truly participate, and only the strongest among them can become champion, understand?"
Although underwhelmed by the reveal of their training, this new opportunity renews Goku's spirits in an instant!
"Heh! Count me in! I'll be winning that for sure!"
Krillin nods along.
"I doubt I can actually go far... But I do want to see just how much stronger I am against others!"
Even Bikini, who surprises Goku with this newfound excitement, holds a finger up in the air.
"Sorry Goku, but I think I'll be winning this one! I didn't like fighting before, really... But that was because I hated pain. Training like this has taught me so much more... Just like you have. I'll show you I can protect you just as well as you've been protecting me! You too Krillin! Think of this as payback for cheating all those months ago!"
Krillin blushes with a scowl rubbing his neck.
"I said I was sorry already, sheesh."
The group laugh mirthfully as they rest for the day. Tomorrow would mark the day of their graduation.
The group meets outside early in the morning, the students now well adapted to their schedule, but Roshi gestures to his own Turtle Shell weight and takes it off.
"Okay everyone. I want you to jump as high as you can after taking your shells off. Don't worry about the results."
The students take off their weights curious as to their master's request, but as they all take one leap together, they find themselves practically soaring far above the clouds. Stunned by this feat, Krillin looks at Goku in shared shock, then they look to Bikini who shrieks in fright first. However, as they fall, her fright turns to sheer delight as they land without any harm. Goku looks down at his body in awe.
"I... N-Never jumped so high before! I bet I could jump past the mountains at home!"
Krillin lands with a stumble before falling on his butt.
"Whoa! I thought I was gonna die, but I could survive a plane crash like this, this is crazy!"
Bikini falls flat on her back laughing away happily.
"That was so fun!~ Wait! Was this the purpose of our training, Master Roshi?"
Roshi nods feeling quite satisfied himself at their reactions.
"Indeed. Each and every day, you all built up your bodies to enhance your overall performance, reaching limits beyond human already. This is the secret of the Turtle School. Remember our motto?"
The three students all shout at once.
"Train hard, study well, and eat and sleep plenty!"
Starswirl huffs before he fires a magical bolt at them. In a bright flash of light, Goku and Krillin change out of their clothes into well-made tuxedos, and Bikini in an elegant sun dress.
"Yes, yes, all well and good but we need to hurry or else we'll be too late to sign you all in! Goku, weapons aren't allowed so I'll hold the Power Pole for you until the tournament is over!"
Bikini frowns confused by the notion.
"We can't just teleport there using magic?"
Starswirl waves his cane at her speaking candidly.
"Now if we did that, what fun would traveling the world be, not to mention teleporting isn't a magic one should use often! Even at my level you'll tire yourself out if you do it more than three times! I only used it for the Ox King cause it was an emergency."
Goku's eyes light up with realization.
"Oh! So that's why you use a car to bail Launch out of jail instead of teleporting to her!"
The old Unicorn nods before turning away. He holds up six tickets.
"Yes, yes, but we don't have anymore time for chitchat. We really need to hurry if we're to make it to our flight. It was quite expensive to book one beforehand for all of us, I even had to buy an extra for Ms. Launch when we decided she should stay with us."
With great haste, the party packs up and head for a bustling airport within the largest city on the island, barely making it on time to board their plane.
"Whoa!~ There's so many people!"
Goku looks around gawking at the crowd surrounding them. They make their way up to a stand in front of a grand building. A sign-in stand where every fighter would have to approach if they want to participate. Starswirl strolls up to the stand and gestures to the kids.
"We have three fighters here ready to test themselves!"
The event attendant looks at them with surprise.
"B-But these are just kids...! Are you lot sure about this?"
Goku, Bikini, and Krillin all nod confidently. They sign their names but before they leave for the tournament, Roshi hands them a capsule.
"In this are your fighting clothes. Starswirl and I worked hard on making these for you three. Wear it with pride as the Turtle School rests with you!"
Starswirl scratches his cheek looking to the side.
"It would have been easier to use magic, but I wanted these gifts to be special, especially with how hard you worked for all this time. Now hurry along! We'll see when you pass through the elimination rounds."
Roshi walks off with his old friend looking around nervously.
"Have you seen Launch by the way?"
"I gave her the keys to park the car we rented. She knows where we are."
"Okay, but which her?"
"... I'll go look for her."
The Turtle School Students all look ahead at the growing crowd of fighters before them before entering the Budokai Tenkaichi
"Wow! Look at these! I feel like a real martial artist now!"
Bikini looks herself over in her new gi. Krillin beams at his own brimming with pride.
"I know what you mean! I hope we can get far enough to make our masters proud..."
A boisterous shouting approaches the group.
"Bikini?! Is that you?! Great to see you again!"
Mark walks over with a huge smile. Bikini smiles back as Goku beams at an old ally.
"Mark! It's so good to see you again! Is that the Capsule Corp logo on your gi?"
"Look at how blue it is! You look like a big headed blueberry!"
Mark grows a tic mark on his head regarding Goku's remark.
"Shut it you monkey werewolf! I'm here sponsored by Capsule Corp! Bulma's pops actually took a liking to me and helped me train! I bet I'm stronger than even you now!"
Bikini lights up at the mention of her family.
"Daddy and Bulma! Are they here?! Did they bring Mom and Tights!?"
Mark leans back from Bikini's onslaught of questions.
"H-Huh?! Oh right, you two are sisters ... Hey, wait a second... Are you a participant? I thought you hated fighting, Bikini!"
The Unicorn shakes her head.
"I've learned the difference between fighting and violence. I abhor violence... But martial arts isn't about hurting anyone at all! This is what you told me when we first met!"
Mark blushes but doesn't quite recall. He may have said something of the sort when trying to impress her. He then looks around curiously.
"Hey wasn't Goku just here? I wonder how he keeps vanishing like that... Oh! Who's this?"
Krillin raises a hand greeting the fellow martial artist. However, as they banter, Goku wanders over to one man. Gebo, the Red Headed Giant, stands over Goku with the same stoic gaze from their first encounter.
"You really are still alive. I knew that if you were, you would be here."
Goku nods glaring up at him.
"That's right! And stronger too!"
Gebo narrows his eyes at the boy with his fist clenching.
"I know. I can already tell. Killing is not allowed in this event... But I still will do what must be done by me. Either during or after this tournament."
Goku smiles with determination.
"I don't know why you wanna kill me so much... But I won't back down!"
The tension between the two is palpable... Enough so that everyone in the room can feel it.
"Hey, I've heard of rivals, but who picks on a kid like that?"
"That guy must be real weak to bully some kid. Look at the size difference!"
"Did he say he'd kill him? Idiot. If he really does that he could go to jail."
"They have some history for sure... Gotta give the boy credit for not backing down. That guy is huge!"
Eventually the attendants lead them to a series of large rooms with mats . An elderly announcer then makes himself known with a speaker.
"For five years you have all trained and for this moment-"
Bikini tilts her head looking around before shrinking with Krillin.
"F-Five years...?"
"We only did eight months...!"
The announcer continues on.
"To compete for the title of 'The World's Strongest Under The Heavens'! You have come from all corners of the Earth! We have over a hundred masters, one hundred and thirty-seven to be exact, all here for the same goal. Only eight will be allowed to participate in the finals. Due to the number of participants, four blocks have been set up, with the two ultimate winners of each shall be allowed to move on!"
Krillin now pales as he looks around once more.
"S-Some of these guys look absolutely fierce...! There's beastmen! Giants! Even other schools of martial arts!"
Bikini didn't like these odds as it has occurred to her.
"I-I only ever copied you and Goku for form in sparring... I never actually learned to fight! Why did this just hit me now!?"
As the two began to wallow in their shared despair, Mark is torn between cheering them up, or letting them stew. It isn't out of malice, in fact he'd rather not face his friends, but he came here to win and finally be recognized. Regardless, it feels all too dirty to say nothing.
"You went training with Master Muten Roshi, right? I can tell by that gi you're wearing, it has his mark, and these tournaments haven't seen anyone in that school for decades! If the Strongest Man on Earth decided you could win, then he must know you can win, right?"
A part of him wishes he kept his mouth shut as he could already see the dirty leers and dismissive glances their way from fighters all around. Despite this, Bikini does brighten from his words, pumping herself up with renewed vigor. Krillin remains skeptical as they listen on to the announcer.
"Now listen well for I shall explain the rules."
The announcer gestures to one of the mats that he stands on.
"All fights shall occur right here on these mats for exactly one minute. Should you fall out, be thrown out, knocked out, cry or plead for mercy, you shall be eliminated. There is no killing allowed whatsoever, nor any weapons, and if neither fighter is defeated in time then the judges shall decide. One being myself."
He then points to a station of attendants holding out boxes.
"Now, one by one, please take out a single slip of paper with your number on it and compare it to the chart. From there on proceed to your assigned block and good luck!"
One by one each fighter would get their number. Goku holds his up to show his friends.
"Seventy! That's Block Three!"
Krillin gasps turning pale.
"I-I'm ninety-three...! I have to be in the same block as Goku!?"
Mark shows his off with pride.
"Heh heh! Looks like the Kami above is smiling down on me! Number One! Call it a sign from God above!~"
Although he meant it as a joke, his loud laughter only attracted the mass ire of those around him, and Mark soon found himself in the kind of attention he didn't want at all.
Bikini holds hers up with mild content.
"I'm sixty-eight... I'm in Block Two! I hope to see you all in the finals!"
The party split up, Goku's match being the first to start, he hops onto the mat where he meets an enormous man in spandex and a fancy moustache.
"A little ant is my opponent? How insulting!"
"I'm ready when you are!"
The judge brings his hand down to start the match, and Goku dives between the wrestler's legs, standing right behind him before playfully poking him from behind.
"Tee Hee! Over here!~"
The wrestler only saw the boy vanish before suddenly feeling a sharp pain in his back! He stumbles forward and falls right out of the arena with a defeated groan. The other contestants laugh this off, unaware.
"That guy must have been ticklish or something, look how hard he's trying to keep that laugh in!"
"Can he really be a wrestler if he is ticklish...? He must have lost his balance. Either way, it's a win for the kid."
Krillin congratulates Goku when he comes down from the mat.
"Whoa! What happened up there? I thought for sure that guy would've been trouble... Goku?"
"Hey, don't use your full strength, okay?"
Krillin blinks at that ready to ask why, but a familiar voice sends shivers down his body.
"Oh look! It's Krillin! What are you doing here, crybaby?"
A lanky man and stout fatty wearing the same monk outfits Krillin once wore approaches. The lanky one snickering as they continues to berate the small boy.
"I haven't seen you since you ran blubbering from Orion Temple. It must be a fluke that you even got this far in!"
Krillin only stands in silent fear, not having moved on from the unspoken bullying he suffered at his old school, the lanky monk pats Krillin's head.
"Hey, shrimp. Didn't I tell you that you've got no talent? What number you pull anyways?"
"... N-Ninety-three..."
"Ha! I got ninety-four. Get ready to lose, shrimp."
The two walk away laughing at a shivering Krillin, but Goku speaks his mind.
"Hey! Forget those guys! When your match comes up, hit him with all you got!"
"Huh!? B-But you just said-"
"Forget about that! Just get up there and fight!"
Eventually, the fated duel arrives, and Krillin faces off against his bully. Just as his opponent goes for jab, Krillin immediately reacts to it, moving like lighting to leap over the attack and counter with a kick upon landing. A kick with such force that it sends the monk past the wall and into the horizon! Krillin hops off the mat utterly dumbfounded, much like all those watching, yet Goku giggles at the results.
"See? Thanks to the old timers we're both crazy strong!"
"No fooling... Ah! Then that means...!"
Bikini leans out of every attack another female fighter sends. Ranfan stews in anger, a proficient fighter in all regards, but she uses her stellar good looks to lower her opponents. Sometimes even women that envy her can't help but blush looking her way.
Imagine the absolute shock and fury of it all when she finds herself facing another girl. A girl who's natural beauty is an entire league above her own, but not only that, one who can read her moves like a book!
Bikini however is caught in her own conundrum. She doesn't want to hurt anyone, yet she doesn't want to be hurt either, and she can't evade forever with such a strict time limit. Thinking back on the rules as she near dances in a graceful motion similar to ballet, it dawns on her that her opponent doesn't have to be harmed at all, she merely has to throw them off the mat!
Bikini nods to herself before catching on of Ranfan's kicks and throwing her away. She covers her mouth in pure awe and terror when seeing a Ranfan shaped hole in the wall followed by a sparkle in the sky.
"I-I... I'm way stronger now! I should be careful from now on... But... I wonder what else I can do."
A street boxer known for making hundreds for weeks tapping into his latent potential would be her next opponent. A man renowned for his unbreakable knuckles, denting through even steel, Bikini catches one of his punches and squeezes his fist.
"AIE! UNCLE! UNCLE! Y-YOU'RE GONNA BREAK MY HAND!"
She is quick to release him and sure enough, his fist suffered dark bruising with one finger even staying stiff, proving to the other contestants just how formidable she is. She looks to the doors leading to the other blocks.
"I know Goku and Krillin will make it... But I hope Mark is doing okay."
Mark would've been toast, this he knows, had it not been for the Briefs Family. His old training regimen was tough, yet lite. However, when he and Bulma explained Bikini's whereabouts regarding the end of their adventure to Dr. Briefs, the scientist found inspiration in martial arts with Mark being his guinea pig.
For months he suffered experiment after experiment, from testing strange vials, to dodging stun lasers that paralyzed him when they hit, to sparring with robotic A.I. that tested the human limit, and even a prototype project that nearly killed Mark. A chamber where gravity could be amplified.
With these grueling experiences day in and day out, even with the rising odds of veterans of this most exclusive event, Mark Hercule crushes the competition. Karate masters chop his neck only to hurt their hands, wrestlers out grappled and suplexed into dreamland, even trained assassins who were willing to give up everything to shut this loud mouthed fool up failed as Mark would counter them effortlessly.
Eventually, he found himself the second winner of his block, with the first being Gebo.
Gebo had only used one arm for all of his fights, and despite his malice towards Goku, he nearly left all of his opponents unscathed. Only two times did he ever truly hurt his foes.
Once is against a rotund man of similar height. A shaggy haired cretin who had never washed his hands, his hair, or even himself as a whole for his entire life! A foul master of Stink-Fu, Bacterian. He smells so foul, many fighters dropped out before they even started their matches due to his presence, and yet his touch is far worse.
Yet when the time comes for him to fight at last, he had expected Gebo to flee in terror or disgust, maybe even both. Instead, the stalwart giant merely stared at him with brows furrowing.
"Are you going to fight or shall I throw the first punch."
Bacterian has never met anyone willing to touch him, let alone ever been hurt save for his feelings, so he believes this to be a bluff.
"Geh-heh-heh! Try as you might! You may as well give up! Step any closer to me and you might die!"
"No. I do not think I will."
Gebo, seemingly taking one step, appears mere inches from Bacterian with a loud impact sounding throughout the room. Other fighters having their own matches in the block including Mark at the time stopped to see this inhuman display of physique.
Not only is Bacterian as tall as Gebo, he is far heavier and is well over three hundred pounds, yet Gebo lifted him up over head with no effort after punching him in the gut. His fist still inside the stomach of the now unconscious germ, he tosses the fat degenerate out of bounds.
"I would like to apologize to the staff for making this mess. I would clean it myself... But I left my sanitizer at home. I highly doubt deodorant will do."
The only other fighter to be struck by Gebo is a monster of the name, Giran. A terrible winged creature just humanoid enough in shape and intelligence to walk and talk like a human. All are terrified of him, quite a few refusing to fight him and handing him an easy victory, but Gebo smiles at him. Giran gleefully returns it baring his fangs in the process.
"You must be lost in the fear and went mad! That why you're grinning over there!?"
"Your species fascinates me. I would like to study you when this is all over. I have heard your kind is actually an endangered one."
Giran raises a fist ready to knock the red head's skull clean off.
"I'll make you extinct in my place then! Study well from Hell, chump!"
Gebo blocks with his right hand yet again, not even bothering to move his left arm at all, he pushes the fist back before backhanding Giran across the beak. Giran's eyes part ways before rolling into the back of his own skull as he falls unconscious.
"I hope we can get along after this."
Mark watched all of Gebo's matches with great worry. It then dawns on him then, that time he met a heavily injured Goku, this is the man that did such a thing. Now, victory seems far from certain, not just for him but for all participants.
Outside in the growing audience awaiting the eight contestants, Starswirl finds a most recognizable face, and a sight for sore eyes.
"Ah, Gero. You look terrible as always... The wheelchair is new."
A man looking rather old for his age turns to glare at the wizard with icy blue eyes. He scoffs at Starswirl speaking with great contempt.
"Oh my. If it isn't the man who refuses to aid mankind."
Starswirl lowers his head responding only in sympathy.
"What you asked of me then is something I simply could not do alone. I told you to seek out the Dragon Balls."
"Hogwash and bullcrap! Do you know what happened to me when I found one of those accursed things!? A giant monster did this to me!"
A third voice speaks up in a sagely yet carefree tone.
"Giant monster, eh? If it's you saying such a thing then it must have been a real menace."
Gero rolls his eyes as Dr. Briefs walks by with Bulma and Oolong in tow.
"Oh great. Now you're here... Ugh! With your daughter as well."
Bulma scowls back at the paraplegic doctor and whispers to her father.
"You know this old coot, Dad?"
Dr. Briefs chuckles with a nod.
"Have a bit more respect, dear! This is Dr. Gero, a brilliant and passionate man, and an old friend!"
Gero turns his head away from the Briefs, noticing Starswirl to have vanished, he decides to tolerate their presence.
"Friend he says... You never checked up on me after my near-death experience! Why are you even here in the first place?"
Dr. Briefs lets out a plume of smoke from his cigarette.
"Well as it turns out one of my daughters is participating. I can't exactly see her getting far, but I do want to show my support. What about you?"
Gero sneers upon this revelation.
"Oho? My own son is actually here as a fighter as well... The monster that attacked us is here and we used this event to find him. However, the cash reward is also a nice bonus... Either way things go, Gebo is sure to win."
Bulma shouts at him indignantly after that.
"As if! Bikini has magic on her side! She'll just send that poor sucker of yours to the moon without having to touch him!"
Gero merely ignores this until the name hits him... He knows Briefs, he knows Panchy because his late wife was friends with her, he knew Tights and even knew of Bulma through the grapevine before his wife's passing... He turns to face Briefs raising a brow.
"You have a third daughter? One that uses... Magic?"
Dr. Briefs rubs his neck knowing Gero far too well. However, he knows him well enough to trust how much the man of science distaste for the mystical and supernatural.
"Believe it or not... She just landed outside our garage! A really wonderful girl... I do wonder how she'll fare through this all."
Gero merely stares at him before rolling away in his wheelchair.
"I can't say I'm disinterested now. This event has grown more and more interesting by the moment."