Chapter 5: Fear, Unbound.
The all too familiar voice of the Tournament Announcer echoed throughout Battle Island, "Heeeeeello and welcome everyone to the first and only Intergalactic Martial Arts Toooooournameent! Our competitors have been divided into four groups, twenty on each stage! It may seem like a lot, but don't you worry, we have cameras all throughout the venue so you don't miss a second of the action!"
The stages were set, each at varying heights among the venue. The Z Fighters were divided amongst the four different preliminaries starting with Trunks on Stage One, opposed by Tien and eighteen other martial artists. Stage Two had Gohan and Krillin among the fray. None of the Z Fighters except Yamcha ended up on Stage 3, but Stage 4 included the two largest members of the group, Piccolo and Android 16.
"Okay Contestants and fans! Get reeeeeeeeeady….."
On Stage One, Trunks spoke to Tien, "No need to rush, let's give these people a show." Tien smiled and nodded in response.
On Stage Two, Krillin sighed and thought to himself, "Gohan? Really?! Just my luck."
Gohan was smiling ear to ear, "Don't take it easy on me, Krillin!"
"No need to worry about that.." Krillin thought to himself.
On Stage Three Yamcha couldn't hold in his excitement as he looked over the ragtag bunch of fighters in his group, there was only one really big guy, "This should guarantee my place in the semi-finals, and then it's a race! Man, I may have a chance!"
Stage Four wasn't quite as exciting for the contestants as the Third. The contestants here all seemed to be deathly afraid of the towering fighters among them, Piccolo and the even larger 16. They were whispering amongst themselves, "We need to team up on these guys, or we will be in trouble." Piccolo let out a bit of a smirk, his Namekian ears hearing everything the other contestants were saying.
"Begiiiiiiin!" The crowd erupted as the Tournament Announcer gave the official start, fighters launched into each other, fists flying.
On the first stage Trunks took a defensive stance, being careful not to severely hurt anyone who challenged him, easily dispatching them off the stage and into the water below. Tien mostly did the same, having a bit of fun with the weaker contestants, egging three or four of them on at once.
The second stage was easily more aggressive, Gohan was jumping around the stage, softly kicking contestant after contestant off the arena. "Sorry about that!" He apologized after nearly every elimination, "I just need to win!"
Krillin couldn't help but chuckle between dodging punches, "That sure is Goku's kid alright." Grabbing a fighters swinging leg, Krillin began using the poor man's body as a weapon to eliminate him and two other participants, all three sliding off the stage like they were bowling pins. "That's a strike!"
Yamcha was having a blast, he was finally in a position where he was the strongest in a fight. There were no Super Saiyans or Super Namekians or Androids on this stage. He was blocking, punching, kicking, but barely breaking a sweat against the competition. "This is great!" He shouted as he knocked nearly every other competitor off the stage. In just a few seconds, only one other competitor remained. He was a large, mountain of a man, easily double even Android 16's size in both height and width. Yamcha couldn't feel any Ki from him, he was just a normal fighter, no matter how big he was.
"Do you wanna just give up, little man?" The gigantic human laughed as he stepped toward the former desert pirate.
"Oh wow! Look at Stage Three everybody! There are already only two contestants left! It looks like the mountain of a man, Murdock, versus recent professional baseball star, Yamcha!"
Yamcha took his signature stance as the man approached, "Not a chance, tubby."
The crowd cheered, "Yamcha! Yamcha! Yamcha!" Bulma joined in on cheering for her friend, but was also watching the others, her son in particular. Chi-Chi and the others were right beside her, also joining in on the fun.
"Look at Gohan go! That's my boy!" The black haired woman screamed in excitement for her eldest son.
"I'm happy Mom and Dad agreed to watch Little Trunks and Goten for us, I would have hated to miss this!" Bulma shouted.
Not too far away, in his private suite, Mr. Satan watched the tournament and his heart sank…"Not these guys again…" He took a bottle of liquor out of the stand next to his bed, "I'm gonna need this." Pouring a shot and quickly swigging it down.
Out on Stage 4, the plan the gang up on Piccolo and Android 16 seemed to have miserably failed. Five contestants were literally hanging off of the hulking Android as he stood in the ring processing, "No threat detected." his computer had determined, but the weight was getting quite cumbersome.
Piccolo had begun to get a bit annoyed at the fighters, he hadn't actually thrown a single punch, but four had managed to fall off the stage throwing themselves at him. The Super Namek was standing on the edge of the ring, a contestant was holding onto Piccolo's trademark cape for dear life. The poor fighter's face went from relief to pure terror as Piccolo smiled back at him, beginning to take off the weighted garment, "If you want it so bad, you can have it." he said as he tossed the cape and shoulder pads into the ocean, the mere weight pulling the man underwater before he could even let go.
16 had been watching Piccolo intensely, analyzing the data he had. He noticed the spike in power as Piccolo removed his weighted clothing, "His power is very close to mine, it will be a good chance to test my abilities." 16 finally started to move his arms, throwing three of the fighters draped on him off the ring.
"Oh my! Look over at Stage Four everybody, it looks like a real showdown is about to take place!"
The Tournament Announcer ignited the crowd as Piccolo took notice of 16's movements, "Looks like he's finally ready to fight. This should be fun"
16 shook off the last of the remaining fighters into the water below, slowly approaching Piccolo until the two stood nearly eye to eye, though 16 a bit taller. "It will be a good test to fight against you, Piccolo." the Android coldly stated, without malcontent.
"Uh..yeah. You too." Piccolo stated as he stepped back, tossing his turban aside and began to rise his Ki. "Let's go!"
"Affirmative." 16 rushed Piccolo, his monstrous fist flying but the Namekian met it with his arm.
"What raw strength." Piccolo thought to himself, "I'm not gonna win a straight out fight with him." He dodged another punch from the hulking Android, "I gotta create some distance!" Piccolo raised his Ki violently, "Explosive Wave!" He shouted as a forcefield of energy blew 16 back.
16 was processing quickly as he righted himself back onto the ring, "He seems to want to fight me at long range, this is not suitable for me." He quickly rushed Piccolo again, but the Namekian was prepared, blasting off into the air.
Piccolo thought to himself as 16 took off after him, "Our speed seems to be relatively equal, I have the energy advantage as he can't use Ki, but his raw power is devastating. The only way I can see myself winning is with some sort of stunning blast or maybe a distraction, then knock him out of the ring." Piccolo turned to face 16, still flying in upward into the air, placed his hands in front of his chest, charging a bright yellow ball of Ki, "Light Grenade!" He shouted and shot the blast straight at his opponent.
16 put his arms in front of his face as he flew directly into the blast, it stopping him in his tracks. "Visual sensors impaired momentarily.." He put his arms down, but what was in front of him was no longer one opponent, but three.
"Oh my goodness! It looks like Contestant Ma Junior has split himself into three people! Is that even possible? What other marvels can this jolly green giant perform?"
16 was quickly put on the defensive as the now three Piccolo's charged him, punches and kicks landed, but with not nearly at the force 16 would have expected from a fighter of Piccolo's caliber. "Analyzing, it appears the split has reduced each of the Piccolo's power substantially, they should be much easier to take out now." 16 quickly retreated back to the ring, waiting on his charging opponents.
Without a hitch, the Piccolos darted after 16, but a linear fight did not suit their now split power. 16 quickly reacted, appearing behind the first Piccolo to arrive and landing a large elbow into his back, sending him hurtling into the water below.
The next Piccolo darted at 16 with a flurry of punches, but was quickly countered and thrown into the water just as the last. The third managed to land a hard punch on the surprised 16, pushing him back towards the edge of the ring. 16 extended his arm, "Rocket Punch!" His fist detached and shot straight into the unsuspecting Piccolo's chest, the rocket engine in 16's forearm kept pushing the struggling Namekian further towards the edge until finally stopping, but it was too late. 16 darted towards the last Piccolo, slamming into him shoulder first, knocking the clone into the water.
"Wow, what a fight! That large man, registered as 16, though he clearly looks older than that, literally shot his arm at his opponent! You'll only see that type of action here folks! It appears that this 16 has wo-"
"Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo's signature attacked whizzed through the sky, slamming right into an unsuspecting Android 16's back, pushing him right into the water. A fourth Piccolo quickly landed onto the ring.
16 pulled himself back out of the water, his systems were in what a human would call shock. He slowly levitated back up to the stage and approached Piccolo, a friendly hand held out "I concede defeat, but my computers had calculated that I should have won this match. I must know, how?"
Piccolo smirked at his larger comrade and shook his hand, "It's not always the strongest who wins the fight. While you were dazed by my Light Grenade, I split into four copies. I quickly hid one above our position in the clouds, knowing you couldn't sense my Ki. The other three were a diversion tactic to let me charge my Special Beam Cannon. It was the only attack I have that would have worked on someone as strong as you."
16 processed this concept, "Diversion. A strong strategy can certainly defeat a stronger opponent.."
"Wow. Just as we thought 16 had won, a fourth Ma Junior came out of nowhere and gave him a good thrashing. What a match! Ma Junior will advance to the Semi-Finals!" The crowd cheered as the first Semi-Finalist was congratulated by the Tournament Announcer.
Meanwhile on Stage One, Trunks and Tien were just eliminating the last of the lesser competitors, admittedly distracted by the fantastic show 16 and Piccolo had just put on. Tien looked over at the Half-Saiyan, "Well, are you ready to follow that up?"
Trunks smirked at his friend, "Let's go."
Trunks took a crouching, defensive stance as Tien took the offensive, the first blow easily blocked by the Half-Saiyan who threw a punch of his own. Tien took the blow purposely, using the momentum to spin around and kick Trunks in the side of his head, sending him back a few feet. "Ouch! We aren't sparring anymore are we?" Trunks joked as he threw a small blast at Tien.
"Not anymore, my friend." Tien shot straight up into the air, avoiding the blast as Trunks followed into the sky.
"Another spectacular light show on Stage One folks! Contestants Trunks and Tien are going at it as the last of their group! I can't wait to see the result!"
Bulma cheered her son on from the seats, "Come on Trunks! You got this!"
Chiaotzu was sitting beside them, "Go Tien!" He smiled at Bulma, "This is fun, but I'm glad I'm not fighting anymore. It seems intense."
Chi-Chi nodded, "Aliens, Androids, it's quite different from back in the old days…" She quietly observed her son's ring as he was easily eliminating contestant after contestant still. "I'm proud of you, Gohan."
Tien quickly threw his hands up in front of his face, "You better be ready for this!" He shouted to the approaching Trunks, "Solar Flare!"
Trunks quickly stopped and threw his arms up in front of his eyes, shading them from the blinding light. When he looked again, Tien was gone.
"Down here!" Tien shouted. Trunks looked back down at the ring, he quickly flashed his aura and shot down towards his opponent.
"I couldn't dare do this towards the ground.." Tien thought to himself as he sprouted his two extra arms, quickly forming a triangle facing Trunks with both sets of hands. "Double Tri-Beam Ha!" Large waves of Ki left both of his hands, straight into the air.
"How could I fall for that?" Trunks thought as he quickly tried to put up a defense before the blasts hit him straight on.
"That might have done it.." Tien thought to himself as smoke from the blast created a thin fog where Trunks had been.
"Oh my goodness, what an attack!" The Announcer shouted over the speakers, "That did some damage for sure, but where is contestant Trunks?"
"Trunks!" Bulma worriedly shouted from the stands.
"Don't worry Bulma, a blast like that was not enough to do lasting damage to some as strong as Trunks." Chiaotzu quickly assured her..
As the thin fog faded, a familiar golden aura came into view, Trunks had re-appeared in his Super Saiyan state, though he had lost the top half of his clothes. "Wow..if I hadn't transformed, I would have lost there.." Trunks thought to himself.
Tien laughed, "Wow, that's cheating!" He smiled at Trunks as the golden haired Half-Saiyan landed before him. "It's okay, I gave it my shot." Tien raised his voice, "I give up!"
"Wow. After such an attack, Contestant Trunks has gone through some sort of transformation! It appears to have caused Contestant Tien to realize he couldn't win, as he willingly gave up his chance to get to the semi-finals! Trunks is our second Semi-Finalist!"
Trunks reverted to his normal state as Tien quickly withdrew his two extra arms and walked over, "I thought I had you for a second."
"You would have, if I hadn't transformed." Trunks stuck out his hand, "Good match."
"Indeed." Tien happily shook Trunks' hand.
Back on Stage Three, Yamcha had been toying with his large opponent, Murdock, while distractingly watching the other stages. "Pay attention to me!" Murdock's booming voice shouted.
"Yeah yeah, be worth my attention first." Yamcha shrugged as he effortlessly dodged another slow swinging, gigantic fist. "I'm getting bored."
"What did you say to me!" Murdock joined his hands together and brought both down towards where Yamcha was standing. "Take this, pipsqueak!"
Yamcha playfully yawned and held one hand up, catching both of Murdock's. "Is that all? I'm done playing." He threw the man's hands back up into the air easily and took an all too familiar stance." It's time to end this. Wolf Fang Fist!"
The flurry of punches staggered the towering Murdock back, eventually finishing with a booming punch to the gut that sent even this gigantic man flying off the stage and into the water.
"What a punch! The Mountain of a Man, Murdock has been eliminated by our own Professional Athlete, Yamcha! Our third Semi-Finalist Ladies and Gentleman!"
Yamcha took to bowing to the crowd. "Thank you, thank you!"
Oolong scoffed in the crowd, "Look at him, taking it all in. You had the easy one, you bum!"
Puar smacked his pig friend in the back of the head, "Watch it, he still should be proud!"
"Proud of what? His hair?" Oolong rubbed the back of his head, "That hurt."
Meanwhile back on Stage Two, Gohan and Krillin were getting ready to face off.
"Come on Krillin, show me what you got! I won't go Super Saiyan, I promise." Gohan smiled.
"Well, then maybe I have a chance." He quickly raised his hand flat above his head, "Destructo Disc!" The flat, spinning blade of Ki flung towards Gohan.
Gohan stood as the trajectory of the disc took a weird turn and spun in front of him and across the ring, flying away. "What was that, did you miss on purpose?"
Krillin smiled, "Did I?" The side of the ring Gohan was standing on started to fall, cut off by the disc Krillin had just thrown.
"Woah!" Gohan shot up into the air as a good third of the ring fell into the water, "What a move, that was close." He looked at the ring shockingly.
"Now I got him." Krillin thought to himself, joining his hands quickly to one side, "Ka-me-ha-me-ha!" He shot it as fast as he could, almost before Gohan noticed.
The young Half-Saiyan threw up his arms as he took the full force of Krillin's blast, "Man, I really let my guard down.." Gohan thought to himself and he threw his arms to the side, diffusing the Kamehameha.
As soon as the blast was gone, Krillin shot up into the air, swinging a lunging fist at Gohan. The young hybrid was too quick and even in his startled state he easily blocked the monk's blow. "Man Krillin, you're being intense."
"Come on Gohan, put your guard up! This is a tournament, not a playful spar!" Chi-Chi yelled from the stands, surprised at how nonchalant her son was being about his fight with her late husband's best friend.
Gohan heard his mother's plea and smirked, "Time to turn it up a notch, Krillin." He rose his Ki sharply, sending the monk flying back.
Krillin regained his composure quickly, but not before Gohan had closed the gap between them, knocking him back to the ring with another swift kick. "Man, I have no chance at this." The bald headed monk took a defensive stance, "Might as well have fun with it. Like the old days.."
Gohan charged at Krillin again, this time his blow was met with a forearm block, "I'm not done yet, young one." Krillin shot a quick, point blank blast a Gohan, staggering the young Half-Saiyan.
Gohan quickly recovered in time to block a quick kick, reacting by grabbing Krillin's leg, "I got you now!" He threw his father's old friend as hard as he could, quickly cupping his hands at his forehead as Krillin flew through the air, "Masenko-HA!" Gohan extended his arms and shot the blast straight at Krillin.
The yellow Ki wave hit Krillin before he could recover, blasting him down into the water. "Man..I was just hitting my stride too." The monk thought to himself as he levitated back to the ring.
"Hey Krillin, good match!" Gohan smiled at him, running over.
Krillin smiled at the young teen, "Thanks Gohan, good luck in the Semi-Finals." He extended his hand.
Gohan took it, shaking it excitedly, "Thanks Krillin!"
"And there we have it folks! Our final Semi-Finalist, the young teen, Son Gohan!" The Tournament Announcer excitedly yelled, "Now that the preliminaries are over, we will take a short intermission as we travel over the Battle Island II for the finals!"
"All right Gohan!" Chi-Chi yelled from the stands, pumping her fist. "I knew you could do it!"
Gohan smiled as he met the others back in the fighters registration area, excited to go on to the next stage.
Meanwhile, on Battle Island Two…
"What are you doing? The Semi-Finalists aren't supposed to be here yet!" A man painted in all black, wearing spiked shoulder pads cowered away from a large shadowy figure. A hand emerged and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up in the air. The only remaining sound heard from the man was the crushing of his larynx and the snapping of his vertebrae.
"That felt good..it had been so long since I had snapped somebody's neck." A large, teal skinned figure emerged from the shadows. The creature wore a black bandana with a blue, puffy shouldered jacket covering the majority of his torso. The most defining feature was his bright orange hair which included even his eyebrows. He motioned for others to step out, there were four more teal skinned characters who emerged, "Zangya, Bujin, Bido, Kogu, you greet these Semi-Finalists when they get here. Make sure you leave Son Gohan to me. I have a special message for him."
All four responded in unison, "Yes, Master Bojack."
Author's Note: Wow! 350 views in these three short days. I am overwhelmed. I believe this is by far my best chapter yet, tons of action, but there's definitely more to come. Please let me know how you feel about this most recent chapter. I haven't written a lot of battle scenes before, so I am looking forward to come critique.
Thanks for reading!
