Sins of the Father
Chapter 32: Old and New
Yamcha didn't want to miss anything- he woke up at the crack of dawn, a big, goofy smile plastered to his face. After a few minutes of careful dressing he stood in front of the room's person-length mirror.
Orange thread was woven gracefully up and down his entire body, not betraying a hint of its damage or age. The fabric around his chest, legs, and arms had been added to slightly to compensate for his increased muscle mass. Overall, however, because he himself hadn't grown that much since the last tournament, the gi had remained fundamentally unchanged.
Which is good. I doubt I'll be able to get another one of these any time soon…
He turned around and looked over his shoulder at his back in the mirror. The Turtle symbol was emblazoned in black on a white background and was encircled by a black circle. It was a larger version of the identical symbol on the front of his gi.
He turned his attention to his face. It was framed by long black hair, jagging around his face like lightning and rolling down to his shoulders. An X-shaped scar was healing nicely on his left cheek. I barely recognize myself.
A knock rang against the room door- it was time to check out. Alright. Let's go!
0o0o0
'Now remember Suno; your teacher isn't very well-liked at the moment…'
'Why's that?'
Chi-Chi glanced back at Suno for a second before pressing on with moving through the crowd. Just like the previous tournaments, the main pavilion closer to the actual tournament was crowded with prospective competitors. 'I've done a few things in the past that have upset some people.' Chi-Chi elaborated while leading Suno forward. 'Just don't defend me if they say anything. In a way, I deserve it.'
'Are you talking about the other people who trained with Master Roshi? You never told me their names, you know.'
'Yes, I am. And when you meet them, I'll introduce you-' While glancing back at Suno again, Chi-Chi walked straight into the back of another person. 'Oh! I'm sorry- uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-'
The person turned. Blue-green hair was pulled back and tied into a ponytail. A brown, dirt-splotched t-shirt rolled down past her waist and over the top of a faded pair of ripped, blue jeans.
'oh… Rayne…' Chi-Chi's was clutching at her chest, like she was about to have a heart attack.
'Chi-Chi... you look taller.' Rayne stared at Chi-Chi cooly.
'Same for you... guess we've both grown up, huh?'
'It has been three years.'
'Right…'
Suno peaked her head out from behind Chi-Chi, catching Rayne's attention. 'Who's this?' Suno asked, looking up and down Rayne.
Chi-Chi carefully turned to Suno and guided her to stand alongside her. 'This, Suno, is one of my peers under Master Roshi, Rayne. Rayne, this is my student, Suno.'
One of Rayne's eyebrows arched, but she extended her hand to Suno to shake all the same. 'Suno. Nice to meet you.' She turned to Chi-Chi as Suno shook her hand. 'You have… a student?'
'Yea… I made a promise, that kind of thing…'
'Hmm.'
While Chi-Chi and Rayne were looking incredibly lost as to what to do or say, Suno's mind was racing. This is her. One of them. I've been waiting so freakin' long to get to the root of this- one way or another, I'm going to figure out who's at fault...
'You know- it's kinda uncomfortable to talk here,' Chi-Chi managed as a hippopotamus person squeezed past her. 'Can we resume… whatever this is, once we're inside?'
Rayne nodded, a small smile bending into shape on her face. 'C'mon. We have a lot to catch up on.' Together, the two of them resumed elbowing their way through the crowd.
Suno squinted suspiciously at Rayne's back before hurrying after them.
0o0o0
Chiaotzu abruptly stopped in front of Tien and Launch, bringing them to a stop. 'Do you think we cut a weird look? A pale, short kid walking with a tall, bald man with a third eye on his forehead and a woman with nearly perfect and symmetrical blue streaks running through her yellow hair. Any of that look strange, you think?'
'Hush,' Launch said bluntly, 'and keep walking, I don't want to spend any more time around these meatheads than I have to.' She "politely" shoved a bodybuilder out of her way. 'They ooze self-importance.'
'Sure you're not afraid of any of them?' Tien joked, pushing his way to the front of the group. 'They do, to their credit, look pretty tough.'
Launch snorted. 'Please. If any of these jabronis should be afraid of me,' she said while turning and jabbing Tien in the chest, 'it should be you.'
'Unfortunately, I know you too well.'
'Is that a compliment or an insult?'
Tien shrugged.
'You know…' Launch glared at him. 'You're usually so stoic around other people, but for whatever reason you really seem to enjoy continually poking fun at me. Why's that?'
'Who knows? Maybe I've become accustomed to your craziness,' Tien said.
'In my defense, I'm not very crazy anymore,' she gestured to her hair, 'or did you forget?'
'You're still a little bit crazy.'
'Oh, please…'
As Tien and Launch's quasi-argument kicked into gear, Chiaotzu took the opportunity to scan the grounds. So many… fools? That isn't a kind thing to think. All these people, they're just… unintentionally ignorant. How could they even know about ki? Hmm... speaking of… Chiaotzu closed his eyes and focused on the life energy of everyone in the area. Yep, just like I thought. Very few of them have a noticeable ki. Everyone's pretty… wait… Chiaotzu opened his eyes, his sight darting between faces at rapid speed. Who is-
Chiaotzu caught sight of a tall figure in a long, purple gi- and thought for a moment that he saw green skin hidden beneath a loose white cape and cowl. The next moment, however, the figure moved out of sight.
Belatedly, he realized Tien was tapping him on the shoulder. 'Chiaotzu?' he asked, 'is everything alright? You've been standing there for a few minutes.'
'Yea… sorry, thought I saw something. Probably nothing, though.'
'"Probably" nothing? That sounds like there was something.'
'Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough.' He fully turned to Tien. 'Where'd Launch go?'
'She stormed off to register.'
'Something you said?'
'Probably.'
'Stop that.'
0o0o0
Far above the heads of the many would-be competitors, something like a vessel floated unseen through the fabric of the universe, weaving across the tournament sky like a piece of paper swirling in the wind. Guided by an unseen hand, this entity glided, searching.
I must be sure to choose someone inconspicuous… otherwise, it will become readily apparent as to what is happening...
Most of the fighters were far too showy for the vessel's taste. Too much ridiculous clothing or even more ridiculous posing.
But in the far corner of the tournament grounds, sitting underneath a palm tree, was a thin, wiry man. He seemed to be reading a magazine. This… could work.
The vessel drew closer- it could see now that the man was fanning himself with the paper.
This will work.
0o0o0
Krillin took a big breath of air before diving forward into the crowd. This tournament is never going to stop attracting idealists, huh? It didn't help that Krillin was shorter than a vast majority of his competitors. Not… super short, though. I just think contestants are taller than the average person, he sullenly tried to rationalize to himself.
He couldn't even tell if he was still going in the right direction- he wasn't tall enough to see over the heads of the people around him. To make himself smaller as he passed through, he pressed his arms to his chest. I guess there's one good thing about not growing. I didn't have to buy any new clothes.
No one around Krillin was really paying him any attention, but if they had, they would have noticed how proud he was to walk in the clothes of the Turtle school. Krillin still remembered the look on Kami's face when he had told him he didn't want to wear a gi with his symbol on it- it was the first and only time he had ever seen Kami blanch and his face turn pale green.
I probably committed some sort of spiritual crime by refusing to do that.
Eh.
Another few minutes of slow progress and, amazingly, Krillin emerged in front of what he was aiming for: the registration desk.
'Hi,' he greeted one of the officials behind the desk, 'I'd like to register?'
'Here,' she handed him a few pages to fill out. 'We've run out of pens, unfortunately. Do you have one?'
'Uhh... ' Krillin half-heartedly patted his pockets, even though he was 100% sure he didn't have a pen on him. 'Are you sure you don't have one?'
'People like you take them.' She said it so inflectionless that Krillin didn't know if she was being serious or joking. 'We have someone running to get some more,' she continued. 'It'll be a few minutes before they come back, though.'
'Alright…' Krillin was about to sigh when something jabbed into his left shoulder.
'Here.'
Krillin looked over.
Yamcha. Yamcha was holding a pen towards him with a big, goofy smile on his face. 'I just finished filling out mine,' he explained. 'Take it, Krillin.'
Krillin dumbly accepted the pen. He looked at it, then back at Yamcha, and then wrapped Yamcha in his arms. 'Yamcha! How long were you there?'
'The entire time you were,' he responded, laughing. 'I was wondering if you'd ever notice me. You're pretty zoned in, huh?'
'No! No, it's- well, I never thought I'd see you here-'
'Excuse me,' the woman behind the desk interrupted their hugging, 'if you're not filling out the application, please move to the side so others may do so.'
Krillin and Yamcha both blinked at her, then decoupled from each other and moved off to the side. They found a space to talk next to the perimeter wall; Krillin began filling out his application against it. 'Were you going to say something, Yamcha?' he asked.
'No- what were you saying earlier? About me?'
Krillin paused from writing for a moment, then resumed, sighing. 'I don't want to bring this up if you don't want to talk about it, but the last time we talked… you basically told me you weren't going to train anymore. And then… well, you know what happened next.' Krillin glanced at Yamcha out of the corner of his eyes. 'You seemed like a defeated person. It was sad to see you like that.' Once he finished, he quickly turned his attention back to filling out his form.
As he was listening, Yamcha's eyes wandered in thought. 'I guess I was a bit down, huh?' Yamcha replied, chewing his cheek. 'You were that concerned for me?'
Krillin looked straight-on at Yamcha. 'The entire time between this tournament and last,' he stated sincerely.
Yamcha's eyebrows bunched. 'Sorry.'
'You don't need to apologize.' Krillin's pen strayed a bit too far on the paper; a moment later, Yamcha saw Krillin cross something out. 'You had a rough time of things…'
'Yea, I guess you could say that,' Yamcha chuckled, scratching the back of his head. 'Everyone has their lows, right?'
'Not everyone dies Yamcha- err, or at least, not die and live through it.'
'Mmm… I won't lie Krillin, it was tough to live through the tournament and its aftermath. A lot of pain- all the types. But I don't think I'd be where I am now without that pain and the change that came with it.'
'And where are you right now, exactly?'
'Better. Not perfect, but better.' Yamcha noticed Krillin was stuck on a part of the form. 'That's where you put your age,' he clarified.
'My age? Why do they need my age?'
'Probably to make sure you're not a 12-year-old kid fighting grown adults.'
'But we were 12-year-old kids fighting adults!'
'Maybe you, but not me.'
Krillin shot a gauging look at Yamcha. 'How old are you?'
'20. You?'
'Huh.' Krillin wrote down "18". 'You see the number?'
'Yea. You really thought we were the same age?'
'Yea, why not? I bet all our other friends are my age.'
'Wanna make a bet?' Yamcha eyed Krillin with a grin.
Krillin finished filling out his form and sized up Yamcha. They shook hands. 'You're on.'
As they were walking back to the registration desk, Yamcha said, 'Did I mention I stopped the Neo Red Ribbon Army?'
'Really?'
'Yep. Defeated General Blue and everything. They're gone for good.'
'Well done.' Krillin handed in his form to the woman behind the desk he had spoken to earlier. 'Is that how you got that scar?' he asked as they walked into the tournament grounds.
'A story for another time, my friend,' Yamcha said with a smug smile on his face. 'A story for another time.'
0o0o0
'Where'd Suno go?'
'Hmm?' Rayne was getting a good look at all the faces passing by. Scrutinizing all the new faces… searching for some old ones. 'What'd you say?'
'Suno. Where'd she go?'
Rayne stopped and turned around. The space behind them in the hallway was ominously empty.. 'Uhh… not sure. She came in here with us, right?'
'I don't know… It's not like her to just run off.' Chi-Chi nervously ran her fingers through her hair. 'She's usually a very responsible student. I hope she's not doing something stupid.'
'Ah, c'mon. She just wants to spread her wings like us when we were younger.'
'We're not that old. And she's not that young.'
'Chi-Chi, we're kind of old.'
'Age is relative,' Chi-Chi muttered.
'Right, and we're older than Suno. That makes her the young, adventurous one.'
'You're not helping.'
Rayne cracked a smile at Chi-Chi. 'There's nothing for you to worry about. I'm sure, on top of us, all of our other capable friends are competing, too. Between us and them, we'll easily trump whoever pokes their head up.'
'What about-' Chi-Chi bit her tongue, hoping she hadn't said too much. Shouldn't have, shouldn't have…
Rayne wasn't dumb. She knew what Chi-Chi was about to say. 'Kakarot? What about Kakarot? That's what you were asking, right?'
Chi-Chi frowned, then nodded guiltily.
'Alright Chi-Chi,' Rayne led her to a nearby wooden bench flush against a wall. 'Let's sit for a moment.'
Once they were settled, Rayne went on. 'I overreacted. About Kakarot, back then in West City. I was wrong to act that way.'
Totally consumed with what Rayne was saying, Chi-Chi didn't speak up in the slightest.
'A long time after our fight, I held onto my anger- anger about not doing what I thought needed to be done, anger at other people not seeing the danger of not doing so- but after a while, I realized that anger was probably self-directed. I was angry with myself for throwing away my friendships with you guys. Especially after we had lost so much. Especially over something so stupid as Kakarot…'
'You're not still worried about Kakarot?' Chi-Chi couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'Even after everything he's done?'
'I was wary for a while,' Rayne admitted. 'I was constantly tuned in, trying to sense even the tiniest disturbance out in the world that I could pin on Kakarot. But there was… nothing. Three years, and he did nothing. That wasn't just me, right?'
Chi-Chi's eyes roamed in recollection. 'No, you're right… I haven't sensed or heard of anything that could be traced back to him. The past three years were probably the most peaceful years of our lives since we got into this business.'
'Right. So that's what I was working with. Eventually, I began to observe, and finally believe, that Kakarot had stopped his reckless and careless killing. And when that happened, I realized I had grievously overreacted. It made me doubt that he had ever done horrible things to begin things with- though, I'm not that crazy.'
'That's a big shift for you,' Chi-Chi commented, 'in such a short period of time.'
'I had a lot of time to think. About all the bad things, all the good things in my life. I decided my obsession with Kakarot was a bad thing. From there, it was relatively easy to sort everything else out.'
'Huh…' Chi-Chi coughed. 'I feel like you've just done a lot of nice, wonderful talking, and I haven't said anything good in return.'
Rayne raised an eyebrow.
'I'm sorry, too,' Chi-Chi continued. 'I was... well… I was really worried about one of us doing something rash.'
'Yeah, I don't think any of us contributed to a calm environment,' Rayne said, feeling a bit responsible for what Chi-Chi was describing. 'Chalk it up to the moment?'
'Agreed.'
Rayne thought on something before speaking again. 'Hey, things turned out for the better, though, right? You've got a student just like-'
'Master Roshi?' Chi-Chi cut in. She smiled sadly.
'Yeah. Like Master Roshi.'
'We all find ways to cope, I guess. Consciously or unconsciously.' Chi-Chi stood. 'Thanks for the talk. We should get back to looking for Suno now, though.'
Rayne rolled her eyes good-naturedly. 'If you insist, O old one…'
0o0o0
'Oh, so you adjusted your clothes yourself?' Krillin and Yamcha were walking down one of the long corridors towards where they remembered the prelim hall was. 'Is that why your Turtle gi fits you?'
'Ehh… kind of. A woman I met actually taught me how to do some of it.'
'"A woman?" Sounds like she has a name,' Krillin said knowingly.
For the first time since they had reunited, Yamcha looked genuinely uncomfortable. 'Yea… she did… look, I don't want to talk about it.' His cheeks burned red. 'I… didn't like how it made me feel. About Bulma.'
'Oh… oh.' Krillin's face drooped. 'Yeah, you're still a thing with Bulma, aren't you…'
'No, we're not- we basically broke up. But spending time with that other person still made me feel dirty.'
'You two broke up?'
'Yea, when I went on my own for a while. It's wasn't on bad terms or anything. It was actually pretty amicable…'
Krillin seemed to consider this. 'Is Bulma even here?'
'I don't know. Maybe? Probably?' Yamcha took a deep breath, calming himself. 'I don't even know what I'm going to say to her if I do see her. I can't just forget about the other person… I'm literally wearing her work…'
'That's… yea, I don't know, Yamcha.' Krillin was a genuine loss for words. 'Wish I could say something to make you feel better…'
'It's alright,' Yamcha said, dismissing the conversation topic. 'I just realized that you basically know everything I did since the last tourney. What about you? What have you been up to?'
'Oh, you know-'
'He's been training with God,' someone said from behind them.
They turned- an immediately recognizable pair greeted them. Weirdly enough, Tien and Chiaotzu looked virtually identical to what they looked like at the last tournament- save for Tien's muscles poking through his white undershirt a bit more prominently than they remembered. 'Nice to see you guys,' Chiaotzu said, waving to them. 'Were you two chatting about who's going to win the tournament? I hope you weren't forgetting about us.'
'Oh yeah?' Yamcha puffed out his chest; his bravado was coming out in full force. 'And makes you think you Crane students can take on us Turtle students, huh?'
'Please,' Tien stepped closer to Yamcha, 'like you two are going to pose any threat to us.'
Krillin noticed that, despite their language, Tien and Chiaotzu's attention was solely focused on Yamcha. 'You're... talking about me too, right?'
Tien glanced over at Krillin, smiling. 'I am, Krillin. It's good to see you again.'
'The feeling's mutual.'
Something flashed across Yamcha's face. 'What?' He turned to Krillin, confusion evident in his eyes. 'You're friends with these Crane bastards, Krillin?'
'Oh!' Krillin smiled sheepishly. 'I forgot that you're not totally up to date. These guys are cool! They helped us take down King Piccolo- honestly, if weren't for those two, none of us would be here right now.'
Yamcha swung his gaze back to the Crane fighters, guarded suspicion in his eyes. 'That much of a help, huh? Bulma was vague about what happened but I never thought that would be the case…'
'Yamcha,' Chiaotzu spoke up, 'I died, just like you, fighting against King Piccolo. We're not enemies.'
'So you went to the place, then?' Yamcha asked. 'With the-'
'You don't have to say anymore.' Chiaotzu looked into Yamcha's eyes- a wave of unease seemed to pass between them, then left as soon as it came.
Krillin and Tien, respectfully, kept silent through this brief pause. 'Are you two going anywhere in particular right now, Tien?' Krillin asked as Yamcha and Chiaotzu were coming out of it.
'Not really. I think I still have time before I need to show up for my prelim matches.'
'Want to watch some matches then?'
'Sure!' Chiaotzu moved in between Tien and Krillin, grabbing Krillin's attention. 'I've got to learn some new tricks to beat you with, right?' He shot a playful look at Krillin.
The Turtle student shook his head and padded down the hallway, Chiaotzu elbowing him at his side. 'How… old are you Chiaotzu, if you don't mind me asking.'
'About 18. Why?'
'Hah!' Krillin shot a glance to Yamcha over his shoulder. 'One point for me!'
Just as Yamcha was going to set off after them, Tien grabbed his arm. 'If it means anything,' he said earnestly, 'we're sorry for what we did to Retu. We'll never be able to live that down.'
Yamcha half-smiled. 'I guess we all make mistakes. But thank you for saying that. Let's catch-up with them, yea?'
'Sure.'
0o0o0
'I give up,' Chi-Chi said, throwing her hands up in the air. 'I can't find her anywhere.'
'It's like I said,' Rayne talked as she fiddled with her shirt, 'you need to give the girl some space to do her thing. It probably doesn't help that you're going to compete in the tournament with her.'
Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes at Rayne. 'How is that a problem?'
'Master Roshi never competed, remember?'
'Rayne-'
'Directly, that is. He always assumed a persona!' she finished.
'So what? You're saying I should put on a ridiculous outfit and try to test-slash-fool her? I don't think she's that dumb...'
'Hey, I'm just throwing out some ideas.'
'Pass. Don't you have a fight to be getting to?'
'Don't you?'
'Yes, but I want to see your fight first.'
'Why?'
'Just because.'
'Alright, alright,' Rayne relented. 'Let's go to my fight. The hall should be right over here...'
They rounded a corner, expecting to see the entrance to the wide-open preliminary hall be crowded to the brim with people. Instead, they were greeted by a long hallway, numerous doors on the left and right of it opening and closing as people passed through them. Competitors idly walked along the length of the hallway, peeking their heads into the side rooms every once and while.
Rayne blinked. 'This is different. Where'd the giant hall go?'
'They got rid of it,' a tournament official who was passing by and carrying a stack of scrolls said, 'something about a fighter at the last tournament scaring everyone else in the open hall.'
'Wait, do you mean-'
But the lady moved on, continuing her delicate balancing act down the hallway.
'That must be Kakarot- who she's referring to, that is,' Chi-Chi guessed.
'Scaring the other competitors? What was that about, though?' Rayne asked.
'We never watched all of Kakarot's matches- maybe a lot of his opponents conceded when they saw what he did to the people he defeated. Can't blame them, honestly…'
Rayne checked her preliminary group number. 'So I'm in one of these rooms? What a pain…'
'What's your number?'
Rayne showed the slip of paper to Chi-Chi. 'Oh.' Chi-Chi pointed to the door directly to the right of Rayne. 'Isn't that it?'
Frowning, Rayne looked at the room number, back at her slip, then back at the room. 'Alright, c'mon,' she grumbled.
The room was small to the point of being just large enough to fit a preliminary ring inside it. Spectators could only stand on the side of the room where the door was- there was barely enough space for a ring-out in every other direction.
'This seems like a crappy design job,' Chi-Chi commented as her eyes roamed across the room. 'You can't even fully fall over out-of-bounds with the walls this close to the ring! It's like someone slapped up some dividers and called it a day.'
Rayne shot a weird look at Chi-Chi. 'Didn't know you cared about the professionalism of the World Tournament so much.'
'I respect the tradition,' Chi-Chi said begrudgingly, crossing her arms and purposefully looking away.
The room, Rayne quickly felt, was a bit more intimate than the preliminary matches at the previous tournaments; those matches then had the "meat being processed on the factory line" type of feel.
There were only two other people in the room aside from Chi-Chi and Rayne. One was a bored-looking tournament official, staring at Rayne expectantly. The other one was hopping side-to-side in the ring, her brilliant red hair jostling with momentum. She too looked at Rayne expectantly.
My opponent, then. There was something oddly familiar about the girl in the ring, like Rayne had seen her before.
'SUNO!' Chi-Chi practically screamed next to Rayne, causing her to cringe and cover her ears, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?'
'What does it look like I'm doing?' For added effect, Suno gestured to the ring beneath her feet. 'I'm competing.'
A thousand emotions at once blasted across Chi-Chi's face. When she seemed to regain a semblance of control, she said slowly, 'Why… after what we said, after what we agreed on, are you fighting?'
Suno didn't respond, instead choosing to stare at Rayne.
Picking up on this, Chi-Chi asked Suno, 'Did you intend to fight Rayne?'
'Uh, yea.'
Now it was Rayne's turn to react. 'What? Why?'
'Because I think you don't like Chi-Chi,' Suno accused, narrowing her eyes at Rayne. 'I think she did something that you didn't like. My teacher may be too polite to defend herself, but I'm not! We're going to settle this dispute, right here, right now!'
Wide-eyed, Chi-Chi sandwiched her head between her hands, equally horrified and embarrassed. 'Rayne-' she begged, '- you can't accept-'
'No, no; I think,' she cast a look at Chi-Chi, 'I will.'
'Oh,' the tournament official said, seeming to wake up, 'you're the second opponent? Why didn't you say so?'
Rayne smiled politely. 'Sorry. Are we ready to start?'
'Once you step into the ring, yes.'
Mortified, Chi-Chi watched Rayne calmly enter into the ring, stopping and turning towards Suno after a few moments. Suno kept herself crouched, ready to explode forward at any moment.
'You know the rules, right?' The tournament official asked in a monotone voice. Once Rayne and Suno nodded "yes", he lifted his arm vertical into the air and swung it down undramatically. 'You can begin.'
'Hrrrah!' Suno charged forward in an instant, leading and lashing out with her right leg. Rayne sidestepped the attack and kneed the leg upwards, wrenching Suno off her other foot and down to the ground. As she was falling, Suno tried to strike again with her leg by thrusting it back down to the ground, but Rayne casually hopped back. The kick passed by harmlessly inches from her face.
When Suno's backside thudded against the ground, Rayne shot a look Chi-Chi. At the official's side, she had her arms crossed in concern.
'Keep your eyes on me!' Rayne swung her head back to Suno- her opponent exploded off the ground, aiming a fist for Rayne's jaw. Rayne brought her forearm up and absorbed it and further attacks as Suno tried to seize the initiative. After a few moments, however, Suno overextended and leaned forward too far, letting herself be gently patted on the back by Rayne back towards the ground. She stopped herself at the last second with her arms like she was about to do a push-up.
'Are you done?' Rayne asked.
Seething, Suno hopped up once more and set one foot behind her, twisting it into the tiles. 'This is serious!' Suno formed a concave bowl with her hands and pointed it at Rayne. 'And if you don't take me seriously, then I'll force you to!'
The energy in the room changed immediately- a static shock jumped between the tournament official and Chi-Chi, causing them both to yelp.
Oh, Suno… Rayne wasn't going to let the girl cause any major property damage- so in one quick movement, Rayne stepped forwards and delivered a clean hit to Suno's chest, propelling her with just enough force to make her step out of bounds.
The tournament official raised a tiny flag. 'Suno is out-of-bounds! Rayne wins!'
Stunned, Suno found that she had raised her guard after Rayne had delivered her attack. She dropped her arms to her sides, muttering.
A hand gripped her on the shoulder. 'There's no bad blood between me and Chi-Chi.' Rayne used one finger to lift Suno's head to meet her gaze, 'I promise. And you've got talent, Suno.'
'...Really?'
'Really.' Rayne shot a quick wink to Chi-Chi, who had finally allowed herself to uncross her arms. She smiled in response. Chi-Chi felt… something well up inside her. Just enjoy the moment, Chi-Chi- a moment you thought you would never see again. Welcome to the fold, Suno.
0o0o0
'Is this the room?' Krillin briefly walked down and back up the hall, looking at the numbers on the nearby doors. 'The next door down on this side says "19," but this door-'
'Oh, just pick one,' Yamcha quieted him, as he opened and walked through the door in question. After a moment, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Krillin followed him in.
'What are you guys doing here?' a voice called from across the room.
Krillin and Yamcha both squinted at the speaker. 'Launch?' Yamcha asked hesitantly, 'is that you?'
Their eyes followed the blue curls of hair that bounced in and out of sight of her more traditional yellow hair. 'Who else would it be?' She walked up to them, punching each one of them in the shoulder. 'We'll catch up later-' Just as she was moving past them, however, she made eye contact with Tien and her nostrils flared. '...but I just realized my match isn't in this room. See ya.' She briskly moved past them and into the hallway outside.
Barely a second after the door closed, Tien walked out after her.
'What's… that about, Chiaotzu?' Krillin asked, his eyes glued to the closing door.
'Not my business,' he replied, 'and not any of yours, either. It'd be best if we didn't pry.'
Yamcha hmmphed, and turned his attention back to the ring, 'So, who's match is in here again?'
'Well, it's supposed to be mine,' Chiaotzu said, 'but I don't see anyone else in here. There's not even a ref.'
'So it's the wrong room, like I thought,' Krillin reminded them. 'Must be further down the hall-'
The door creaked open behind them.
They all turned in mild interest. What could only be described as an average man stepped into the room, glasses pushed up to the very top of his nose. 'Hi,' he said, waving, 'is this my room?'
A tournament official entered after the man. 'Yes, as I've already explained, this is your room,' she quickly closed the door behind her and pushed the man into the ring. 'Can we please get this over with?' she pleaded.
'Fine by me.' Chiaotzu followed the man into the ring. As the tournament official rummaged her bag to retrieve something, Yamcha and Krillin exchanged a look between each other that approximately said, 'really? this guy?'
After a moment the tournament official produced a paper form attached to a clipboard. 'This is… the match between Hero and Chiaotzu, okay…' she said to herself, checking off boxes talked.
'Hero?' Chiaotzu asked, tilting his head towards the man. 'What kind of name is that?'
The man did a strange gesture- something seemed to flash over his eyes, like a second pair of eyelids rapidly opening and closing. The moment passed as quickly as it came, however, and the man smiled amicably. 'The name my parents gave me, of course. Haha!'
An immediate jolt shot through Chiaotzu's body; he unwillingly fell to one knee, suddenly out of breath. Hero frowned, looking at his opponent from below the bottom of his glasses.
'I concede!' Chiaotzu called out, before breaking into a ragged series of coughs.
The tournament official arched an eyebrow. 'You can't concede until the match has begun, technically.'
'Then I resign! Forfeit! Withdraw!' More coughing. He seemed to calm down, pressing one hand to the ring in an effort to steady himself. 'Okay?'
'Fine, fine.' The tournament official casually checked off the box. 'Hero moves on, amazingly.'
The posture of Hero changed instantaneously, his back slouching back to a relaxed position. 'Wow, I won!' He turned to the tournament official. 'Will my next fight be in here, too?'
She seemed to mouth something, then said, 'I... how would I know… nevermind. Just follow me and I'll sort you out.' She gripped Hero's hand and led him out of the room, much like a parent leading a child.
While these events were happening, Krillin and Yamcha were silent, paralyzed by their own confusion. Once the two had left, however, they immediately rushed over to Chiaotzu and helped him to his feet. '-I- what just happened?' Yamcha asked, flummoxed.
'Are you okay?' Krillin probed as Chiaotzu gripped his shoulder to stand. 'Are you hurt?'
Once he was up, Chiaotzu waved away their concern. 'I'm not hurt, don't worry.'
'Then what just happened?' Yamcha questioned. 'You know, when you dropped to the ground and started coughing like you were dying.'
Chiaotzu shot his gaze towards the door, then back to both of them. 'I'm… not entirely sure. It's almost like… my body reacted to him, or something he did, and my mind went into a panic.'
'That guy?' Krillin asked skeptically. 'The one that looked like a middle-aged dad? We're talking about the same person, right?'
'Yes. I think….' Chiaotzu shook his head. 'I really don't know. His energy felt weird.'
'He felt pretty normal to me…' Yamcha said, trailing off.
'He did… except for a brief moment in the ring- when I asked about his name. I felt something then… I'm not sure what, though.'
'Hmm.' Krillin considered this. 'Well, either way, it's a shame that your tournament had to end at the hands of the bizarro guy.'
'It's not a big deal. I knew I wasn't going to win the tournament, anyway.'
'Huh?' Yamcha shot a quizzical look at Chiaotzu. 'How'd you figure that?'
'Because I'm not in the same league as Tien and you guys anymore, sad to say it. Seems like I don't improve as fast physically compared to my psychic powers.'
'Are you hinting at...?' Krillin tried to clarify.
Chiaotzu gave him a sly smile. 'Don't you two have matches to be getting to?'
0o0o0
Launch had barely taken a step away from the door when Tien burst into the hallway behind her. 'Launch, wait!' He tried to grab her arm, but she shook out of his grip. 'Slow down! What you alluded to in there-'
'I thought I made myself clear.' She turned to him, her displeasure evident. 'I have to get to my match.'
Tien's look hardened. 'You were obviously implying something else.'
'Well, aren't you an observant one.' She moved closer to him- her face creased more harshly with every step. 'So you should know what I'm angry about, right? You see that, of course.'
Tien frowned. 'Launch, if would just you tell me-'
'Fine,' she interrupted him, 'I'll tell you. I wasn't in a very joking mood earlier. You know, right before I stormed away from you and Chiaotzu? Which makes sense, considering-' She paused, puffing out her cheeks in consternation.
'Considering what?' Tien pressed.
'Considering how you treated me the last time we were all together. Remember your whole schtick of throwing me out of your house under the pretense of helping me? Letting me fend with my issues all by myself? I thought that, at some point since meeting up for this tournament, you would have acknowledged that… but no.' She glared at him. 'Never once did it cross your mind to even discuss what happened- not even to see if things had worked out for me. Too focused on the tournament, or whatever your mind is obsessed with…' She sighed. 'Stuff like that makes jokes you make about me feel more real, true.'
Tien struggled for a moment, his mouth stretching wide with gloomy recollection. 'I... tried to help you with- with you and you-' He gestured to her hair, 'and it worked out, right? My advice-'
Launch loudly snorted, cutting him off. 'All you said to me was "find a balance between the two cleaven halves of your soul", or something like that. You didn't show me how to do that, or-'
'-That's because I couldn't do that for you!' Tien exclaimed, 'I could only point you in the right direction!. Beyond that-'
'-Beyond that, you didn't have to kick me out and force me to handle it on my own! Don't you think I would have wanted to sort this out with- with-' she caught on an unsaid word, then shook her head. 'Nevermind, It's not worth getting angry about this.' She regarded with him deep-set, darkened eyes. 'I'll see you in the main tournament.' She walked past Tien and butted shoulders with him.
Tien's body faced her as she left- but his eyes were stuck looking downcast at the floor.
0o0o0
Yamcha faced what seemed like a never-ending parade of embarrassing opponents in his preliminary group. The number of times he had needed to close his eyes to ignore the ridiculous pre-match posturing of his opponent was unbearable. I don't understand the increasing prevalence of all these theatrical types in the World Tournament, he mused as he smacked another would-be victor out of bounds with the back of his hand. It's almost like I'm competing in a professional wrestling tournament…
It was towards the blessed end of this process that a large, beefy man entered his ring. Unlike Yamcha's previous opponents, the man remained motionless as the tournament official prepared to start the match, electing to silently stare at Yamcha. Yamcha's mind was wrapped up in the uniqueness of this event until the other person gave him an eminently recognizable wink. Ahh, I see… As the countdown to the match ran down, both fighters tilted back, preparing to pounce.
When the referee officially began the match, both of them ran forward and crashed against each other, locking themselves in a headlock. They put on a show of struggling against each other.
'Nice to see you remember our little system,' the man whispered furtively.
Yamcha grinned, before remembering to grunt. 'How could I forget such a useful system?' Yamcha replied, faux-trying to lift the man off his legs. 'What's the occasion for the get-up?'
'I'm trying to- HAAAH!' The man broke out of the grapple and tried to grip Yamcha from a different direction. Yamcha adapted in between the man's attacks and caught the grip with another headlock .'-sorry, I don't know who could be watching. Basically, I'm trying to track down a crime lord. They're disguised, just like me, but luckily I've got Oolong making the rounds among the spectators. We're going to comb both sides of the tournament.'
'So you found the pig, eh? How hard was that?'
'Not very.'
'Figures.' Yamcha groaned, shifting his footing again. 'Does this mean you need me to lose so you have more time in the competitors' area to snoop around?'
'Who do you take me for, Yamcha?' Puar asked, offended. 'Oolong? Do you really think I looked like this guy before I walked in here? I'll simply shapeshift into another person once I'm defeated. Speaking of which…' Puar sidestepped around Yamcha, in the process pretending to lose his footing and fall. The man fell out-of-bounds on his right arm, groaning from the pain.
'Out-of-bounds! Yamcha moves on!'
'See you soon,' Puar said softly while Yamcha helped her up. 'I'm excited for then- you seem a lot better nowadays.' She brushed herself off and gave a small wave behind the referee's back as she exited the room.
Huh. Yamcha turned over the last thing Puar had said. I didn't really notice it before… but a lot has changed since the tournament. For the better.
Just a few moments after the door swung closed behind the man, the same person entered the room, swagger showing with every step. 'Alright, who's ready to fight!' He announced, holding up his fist.
'Uh, sir, you just lost,' the referee informed him.
'What!?'
Yamcha made a hasty exit.
0o0o0
Trance-like, Rayne systematically dispatched every single one of her opponents. It was only when she accidentally flung someone to the ground, cracking the tiles of the small ring in the process, did she snap back to reality. Curious, Rayne examined the man she had clocked senseless. The referee came up behind her. 'That was your last fight in the prelim group. Congratulations; you qualified.' She stuck a sticker to Rayne's shirt. 'This is your grounds pass to the area around the main ring.'
'Huh,' she expressed. 'Would you look at that. Can I leave now?'
'You can leave.'
A few moments later, Rayne was wandering through the halls looking for something to pass the time before- in her mind- the real tournament began. Aimlessly, she stumbled upon a prelim room that tournament officials were crowding into. Guess there's not a lot of matches left to officiate. She followed them inside.
As it turns out, the only competitors inside where the people who had already qualified for the quarterfinals- which mostly comprised of her friends. Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chi-Chi and Launch all had matching stickers on the fronts of their clothes. Besides from Launch- who was standing apart from everyone else- they were huddled in a group together and so wrapped up in something that they failed to notice Rayne enter.
She stepped further into the room. In the corner, a nerdy-looking dad with a white button-down shirt looked confused-but surprisingly, he had a sticker like Rayne's on his shirt. That guy qualified? Weird.
The tournament officials were also bunched up, apparently discussing whether to disqualify the two competitors for the final match of the prelim group because neither of them had shown up. Who would they send to the quarters if they did that, though? Rayne wondered. Judging from the heated conversation between the officials, Rayne assumed they were talking about that very issue.
'Hey…' an immediately familiar voice whispered from behind her, causing Rayne's blood to boil.
She spun. 'Yajirobe!' she hollered. 'Did you follow me here!'
The man behind Rayne was dressed head to toe in a ridiculous full-body masked costume, making him look more like a mysterious wrestler than a martial artist. 'I wanted to know where you were going,' he explained dully.
'How- how did you even follow me!' Rayne did her best to keep calm. 'We're halfway across the world! I spent months making my way here!'
'Well, I followed you for months very closely.'
Fuming, Rayne drew back one first, ready to knock Yajirobe senseless. Before she could do anything, however, a tournament official rushed in between them. 'Are you…' she looked up and down Yajirobe, '... Masked Man?'
'Yep! That's me!'
'Thank Kami. Please, follow me.' Smiling, Yajirobe followed the official towards the other organizers gathered in the room. After some gesticulating, the others collectively breathed a sigh of relief and prodded him onto the ring. Rayne noticed a number of them had pulled out stopwatches- probably counting down until when they could disqualify the other competitor and finally begin to prepare for the quarterfinals.
The supposed referee had just begun raising her hand with finality when the door to the room swung open behind Rayne.
She took one look at who had entered before backpedaling and nearly stumbling over backward if she hadn't been caught by someone. 'Holy shit…' she heard someone mutter behind her.
What could only be described as the… sibling- or maybe a cousin- of the Demon King Piccolo stepped into the room. Despite the large, loose purple gi that encompassed most of their body and their white cowl and cape, their green skin, pointed ears, and pink, flesh-colored forearms screamed to the world their lineage. At his height, the newcomer stood as tall as any one of them, if not taller. His eyes roamed across the room, stopping on every staring face for a brief moment. If he had recognized any of them like they had vaguely recognized them, he didn't show it.
'Majunior!' the same person who had grabbed Yajirobe now did the same to the newcomer. 'It's about time! We were about to disqualify you!' Majunior looked uncomfortable being led by his arm, but he went along with it regardless.
The other tournament officials clicked and pocketed their stopwatches, and then began filtering out of the room.
Rayne calmed down enough to remember that someone was still holding her up. 'Sorry,' she said, lifting herself up. She turned around. 'I- Krillin?'
He shot her a look. 'What?'
'You… I thought…' she shut her mouth.
'What?' He asked, suspicious, 'what is it?'
'I… I'm just surprised how little you've changed.'
A dangerous film slid over Krillin's eyes. 'You're talking about my gi, right?' He suggested, not disguising what we wanted to hear.
'Yes!' Rayne laughed nervously. Nothing else! Nothing else…'
Krillin narrowed his eyes at her, but after a moment he nodded, satisfied. 'I know what you're referring to,' he said, much more jovially than before. His eyes had to dart out to the top corner of his vision to make eye contact with her. 'Just… don't remind me. Okay?'
'Okay,' she said, smiling.
'I certainly can't say the same for you,' he said after a moment, 'about not changing, that is. What's with the new outfit?'
She ran her fingers through her ponytail. 'I dunno. I felt like changing it. Wanted to make my fighting clothes something comfortable.'
'It… looks good,' he said, trying to maintain eye contact with her and holding his small grin steady.
'Hmm?' She raised an eyebrow- this, however, gave way to a small smile. '...Thanks.' Remembering where she was, she shifted her eyes towards everyone else in the group. 'Can I ask you a question, Krillin?' Her expression tightened with concern. 'Is there any reason why you're not freaking out right now?'
'What do you mean?'
She was now looking towards the ring. 'That is… literally King Piccolo.'
Krillin faced the ring like everyone else. The facial structure of Majunior was all wrong, he wasn't tall enough- Krillin wasn't convinced. 'He looks nothing like King Piccolo,' Krillin declared to the group.
'Are you sure, Krillin?' Yamcha said skeptically. 'Granted, I never actually saw the guy, but from how he was described to me...'
'Trust me,' Krillin insisted. 'Not every person with green skin and pointed ears is Piccolo, and by extension, evil. I met a pretty nice guy who looked like that.'
'Who?' Tien questioned from the side.
'God.'
Tien stared at Krillin. 'Huh.'
Once situated within the ring, Majunior spent some time windmilling his arms, testing the flexibility of his fabric. Across the ring, Yajirobe seemed to be picking his nose.
'Fighters! You may begin!' The referee swung their arm down.
In an instant, Yajirobe sprung into action, closing the gap between them with his stubby legs in the blink of an eye.
Next thing anyone knew, a resounding SMAAACCKKK filled the room, so sharp-pitched that everyone present winced and covered their ears. When eyes inevitably began to open, everyone's attention was drawn to a Yajirobe's sized hole in the left wall. The referee ran over to confirm he had gone out- her eyes seemed to bulge out of her skull when she peered through. 'That's… out, alright. Majunior is the winner.'
No sooner had the "r" in "winner" finished being pronounced than the door to the room suddenly swing close. Everyone looked around- Majunior had left.
'I… did you see that?' Chi-Chi asked, distressed.
No-one hurried to answer her. In the corner of the room, Hero adjusted his glasses.
0o0o0
A few rooms over, Yajirobe started to come to. He tried to move his body- but he was pressed into a pile of rubble like he was putty. He groaned. 'Shows what I get for coming to this stupid tournament,' he grumbled. Roughly a minute later the door to the room swung open; Rayne and who Yajirobe though to be her friends rushed in. They all seemed to relax once they glimpsed the relatively good condition he was in. Launch crouched down next to him. 'Here,' she produced a green bean, pressing it into his hand that wasn't trapped, 'eat this.'
'Huh? What's this?' Yajirobe fingered the bean between two fingers.
'Hey…' Krillin's eyes flickered with recognition at the small bean, 'isn't that a senzu?'
'Yep,' Launch replied casually. 'Got 'em from Korin myself.'
Tien looked at Krillin suspiciously. 'Senzus? Wait- you know what that thing is?'
'Yea. They're healing beans.' Krillin explained. 'I had some when I fought King Piccolo.'
'You did?' Tien's face twisted into a grimace. 'Then why didn't you use them?'
'What do you mean? I ate one to heal between my first and second fight with him.'
'No- you don't understand- I mean for me! Or the others! Why didn't you give any of us senzus!? You know, anyone not you!'
'Oh! Oh.' Krillin's expression shifted, heavy with realization. 'Wow. That was a major fuck-up.'
'Remind me never to trust you with my life again,' Tien said scornfully.
Towards the end of this conversation, Yajirobe finished examining the bean and popped it into his mouth. Almost instantaneously, the nascent bruises forming across his body disappeared. Without any effort, he removed himself from the rubble. 'Woah!' He held out his arms, checking every inch of my body. 'I'm fully healed!'
Launch nodded. 'That's their deal-'
'And I'm so full!' Yajirobe nearly screamed with joy. 'I've never felt this full in my entire life!'
Consumed as much as they were with Yajirobe's bizarre outburst, no one noticed Rayne facepalm.
0o0o0
After confirming with an errant official that the preliminaries were over, the group started walking towards the main ring. On the way there they were greeted by a few familiar faces. Chiaotzu and Suno were waiting for them to pass by in the hall.
'We can't stay here now that we're out,' Chiaotzu told them, 'so I'm going to take Suno and Yajirobe to the stands. Hopefully, we can find a spot for all of us later on. From there, we'll be rooting for you the whole way.'
Everyone exchanged various utterances of "good luck" to each other and parted. Just as Rayne was about to follow after everyone, however, Suno gripped her arm. Chiaotzu and Yajirobe had already left.
'Hey,' she leaned in to whisper in Rayne's ear, 'just so you know, I wasn't really mad about stuff before. That whole thing was Chi-Chi's idea.'
Rayne blinked. 'What?'
She clapped Rayne on the back. 'Okay, good luck!' With that, she ran off.
...
Chi-Chi?… that bastard...
0o0o0
Chiaotzu was wandering by himself aimlessly through the stands- Suno had managed to immediately disappear, and Yajirobe had been distracted by and ran off after a hot dog salesman. Chiaotzu was on the verge of pulling out the non-existent hair on his head when he sighted a vaguely familiar turquoise-haired woman bent over to his left. He stared at her for a moment, dredging her name to the surface of his mind. Err... that's it. He approached her.
'Hey… Bulma? That's your name, right?'
'Huh?...' Bulma lifted her head- bags were present underneath her eyes. Her hair fell down her face in greasy clumps. She looked utterly exhausted. 'Chiaotzu?...'
Chiaotzu frowned, his face creasing from concern. 'Bulma? You look… like you haven't had a lot of sleep.'
She gazed at him as if through a haze. Noticeably, she didn't take her hands off an object in her lap. 'That's right,' she answered weakly, 'I haven't.' She smiled. 'Hi, Chiaotzu.'
'Are… you okay, Bulma? Any reason why you're not sleeping right now?'
She tapped the object in her hands with one finger. 'This. I need to keep an eye on this.'
Chiaotzu sat down next to Bulma, trying to get a good view of what Bulma was talking about. 'What is it?'
'A little prototype I've been working on.' Abruptly, Bulma's facial expression changed from one of weariness to alertness. She leaned in. 'Chiaotzu, I'm very tired right now.'
Patiently, Chiaotzu waited for Bulma to continue. Ten seconds passed in silence. Her eyes seemed to drift off. '... And?...'
Bulma refocused- her eyes darted to him. 'Watch this,' she said, handing the object to Chiaotzu, 'and write down everything that happens. Do you have a pen?'
'Uhh… no.'
'Okay. I have one in my bag.' She leaned over to her right, away from Chiaotzu, and started combing through a bag at her feet. In the space of a few seconds, she passed out, draped over her legs.
Chiaotzu frowned at Bulma, then at the object she had handed to him. She could have told me how this works before zonking out… The object, which clearly seemed to be a measurement device of some kind, had its screen divided in half. On the right side of the screen, vertical bar graphs seemed poised to measure some unknown variable. On the screen's left, Chiaotzu found himself looking at a web of yellow light, some spots glowing brighter than others. There was one particular splotch somewhere nearby. Hmph. Guessing that the device was some sort of radar, Chiaotzu stood and rotated his body and the device, trying to figure out where the cluster of readings was originating from. Eventually, he determined the device was illuminating a measurement of something in the competitors' section of the tournament. I wonder what this thing is picking up on... The streaks of light on the screen there are so large…
He sat back down, wracking his brain. Before he could think any further, however, the crowd around him burst into standing cheers, whooping and hollering. Feeling a headache coming on, Chiaotzu had forgotten how overwhelmingly loud the crowd could be. A moment later, even though he was surrounded by a mass of cheering fans, a familiar voice boomed above them all.
'Ladies and Gentlemen!...'
A/N: Hype! Hype it up! It's gonna be a ride!
Reviews:
OneofTen: You would have been amazed at how fast I corrected the mistake you pointed out. Holy cow. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Also, I hope you get some sweet character attachment from this chapter with everyone together!
LWexe: Retu wasn't a purposeless character! I promise!
Guest #1: The chapter was short because I didn't plan/ think of anything else for the in-between times. This chapter turned out much longer. The next chapter will be even longer than this one. Long chapters are coming your way.
Guest #2: Confession time. When I started this story I didn't have any idea of what to do for a picture, but I kinda wanted to have some sort of visual primer for the idea of it. So I googled pictures of Kakarot and ripped this picture from wherever it came from. It's entirely not my own. The scar is there due to the author's intent, not mine (and if the author ever asks me to remove the picture, I will). Kakarot within this story does not have a scar on his forehead. He is, however, heavily scarred over most of his body.
And yeah, it would seem Krillin is the strongest at the tournament besides Majunior. It would seem...
