The Fox
"Aaaand next up… KRILLIN VERSUS THE MYSTERIOUS FOX!"
A grin split Goku's face as he reached over and smacked his bald friend on the back. "Alright man, your time to shine!"
Stumbling a bit from the force of what he knew was Goku being gentle –the man was a juggernaut in every sense of the word—Krillin shot back a cheeky smile and clenched his fists in anticipation.
"Haha yeah let's do this! I'm ready!" He snapped his vision forward toward the large white stadium that he'd become accustomed to over the years. Despite the years of horrors they had suffered through, no matter how many times it had been destroyed and rebuilt, the gleaming white stone always had a way of grounding him. Of grounding them all. A home that fighters like them could never really find anywhere else. It was a comforting constant through the years.
A glint of pink broke him out of his reverie. His silent, hooded opponent had quickly jumped onto the stage and a single lock of what was definitely pink hair floated free from the shadows of the garishly orange cloth covering the rest of his face.
If not for the many, many odd hair colors he'd been exposed to throughout his life, he would've snickered. A dude with pink hair. Wow.
He knew the moment the rest of their group caught sight of it when he heard Vegeta growl not-so-subtly under his breath about 'weak pathetic whelps.'
Suddenly feeling cocky, his grin widened as he jumped onto the pearlescent stage.
"Pink hair, huh?" he shot at his opponent, words dripping in self-assurance. Far be it from him to underestimate an opponent just for hair, the guy was also almost as short as he was, and even through the thick orange hoodie that nearly swallowed him, it was clear he was much less muscular. The word slender immediately came to mind.
Hmph. One of those, again.
It happened pretty much every year now. After the Cell games, the popularity of martial arts had basically exploded, drawing in more casual hobbyists to what had previously been a lifelong, all-consuming niche of a dedicated few. It was good for the sport, good for the fighters like him and Goku who trained and practically lived for the years when the World Tournament came around as it brought with it greater notoriety and a much larger cash prize for winners.
What was not so great were the…posers. He grimaced internally, hearing himself use a word he'd only heard come out of Goten and Trunks's mouths. But it was an apt description.
People who thought they could put in minimal work and achieve maximum results in a tournament meant only for the best.
'They're usually pretty flashy too,' he groused, eyeing the horrendous orange color of his opponent's "gear." He used that term broadly as it looked like the guy was basically wearing a straight up cotton hoodie available at any major box store instead of legitimate gear designed for the extreme demands of their level of martial arts. The color was so grating it put his orange Turtle School gi to shame. Its only redeeming quality was the pretty cool fox insignia he caught sight of painted on the back…but even that looked almost…hand drawn?
The man in front of him said nothing and slid into a wider stance. Krillin's brows furrowed, surprised the obvious jab hadn't roused a reaction. Usually these types were pretty loud and obnoxious, their egos much more developed than their skills.
The stance was interesting as well. It wasn't a form he recognized, and he prided himself on thoroughly understanding as many forms as he could—jujitsu, judo, muy thai, even some of Vajita's weird Saiyan katas. Even if he didn't necessarily know a form, he had usually seen it. His insane intergalactic adventures with Goku kept him on his toes like that.
'Maybe…maybe it's not even a real form?' he thought, remembering the level of fighter he was encountering. With how inexperienced this guy probably was, he could've easy just mashed together a fake form based solely on the moves he'd seen in action movies or something. Truth be told, it had happened before.
Shrugging off the iota of unease he'd initially felt at the unfamiliar stance, Krillin grinned and slid into the first form of the Turtle school. "Nothing to say, huh? Well, fine by me!"
"Alright folks, Krillin versus the mysterious Fox! Let's have a good clean match, guys! THREE-"
His muscles tightened, calves contracting in anticipation of the strong leap he was planning to start with.
"TWO—" His fists clenched as he began cycling ki through his forearms. A quick punch packed with power would knock this loser out right from the start and save him the trouble of wasting energy on an unworthy match.
"Yeah Krillin! Kick this guy's ass!" Yamcha screamed from the sidelines, the rest of their friends chorusing in. Except… why was Goku making that face?
"ONE – BEGIN!"
He didn't have time to think about the frown marring his best friend's features and immediately sprang into action. Screaming loudly, he launched himself at the petite man and swung a punch right at the kid's chest. He hadn't sunk that much ki into it, he didn't want to kill this kid no matter how annoying these poser-types were, but it would be enough to knock him out cold if not also totally out of the ring.
His fist connected with air and in his surprise he stumbled.
"W-wha?" he stuttered, his surprise echoed by the crowd. "What the f—"
Krillin eyes darted around, searching frantically for garish orange hoodie and some explanation of what the fuck had just happened.
"KRILLIN!" Goku's voice cut through the confused chorus of the crowd. "KRILLIN BEHIND YOU!"
His necked whipped to the side, eyes zeroing in on his hooded opponent, who had somehow ended up on the other side of the stage. "H-How?" He stuttered again, trying to understand how the man had moved so fast he hadn't even known where he'd gone.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE HIM, KRILLIN!" Goku yelled, voice piercing through the shock he was feeling. "There's something… there's something off about him! He's much stronger than he looks!"
Growling and feeling more centered after hearing Goku's warning, he decided it was time to take it up a notch.
His opponent had made no move to close the distance between them, hadn't even bothered to close the gap between them when his back had been turned, and remained in that strange stance he'd first fallen into.
Grunting, Krillin fell into another form, pushing ki into his thighs. The guy was fast, but he had fought faster. He knew what to do with quick opponents.
Channeling more of his energy, Krillin flew from one side of the arena to the other, his speed increased 10-fold from what it had been. He heard a faint sharp intake of breath and smirked. The guy must've thought he'd already been fighting at full power.
This time his fist hit its mark, and the guy slid to the side, grunting at the impact.
Krillin growled. That punch should have knocked the idiot over, if not flat-out broken his arm, but the guy was still standing. Aside from the grunt he'd heard, the dude looked totally unperturbed by the punch he'd just taken. One even Goku would've felt.
"Grr…what the fuck?!" He snarled, rearing his fist back again and swiftly closing the gap between him and the hooded asshole. This time, the man exploded upwards, jumping well over Krillin and his powerful jab.
Slightly stunned, Krillin couldn't react fast enough to block as the hooded form suddenly descended rapidly on him, fists clasped together, and he took the full brunt of them slamming right into his skull.
The last thing he saw before everything went black was Goku's slack-jawed face staring at him in horror.
The crowd went totally silent as Krillin crumpled to the floor, clearly unconscious. The announcer stared in shock for a moment before he remembered himself and began counting.
"Uh…ONE!"
Goku and Vegeta shared a sharp glance, equally perturbed by the abrupt turn the fight had taken.
"TWO!"
18 growled, teeth clenching her together. "KRILLIN! GET UP! GET UP NOW!" Her fists were clenched at her sides, her concern for her unconscious husband practically vibrating off of her.
Trunks and Goten whispered to each other, their eyes wide as they took in the unexpected scene. It had been a long time since any of their group had faced anyone outside of their group that gave them any kind of fight.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes on the still-hooded figure. How the hood had remained in place he wasn't sure, but more of those ridiculous pink locks were sticking out now. Aside from the slightly ruffled hair though, the puny man showed zero signs of exertion. How was it that someone with such a low power level and shrimpy build was so unbothered by the fight?
Granted, he found Krillin to be nothing more than a mere warm up, but he was the exceptional one. Compared to normal humans, Krillin was more than a match.
He studied the smaller man, noting the crossed arms and what seemed to be totally relaxed posture. His eyes narrowed further, searching for something he couldn't place.
Goku grit his teeth when the announcer went through the third, fourth, and fifth count and Krillin hadn't so much as twitched. It was only the first round of the tournament and his friend should've easily risen through the ranks without much trouble.
18 kept screaming at her husband, and Goku snapped his eyes over to the mysterious fighter.
"SIX!"
Something had felt off to him about this guy since the moment he'd stepped into the ring. Initially he'd written them off as a lower level fighter, but then the guy had practically flashed to the other side of the arena in a split second, something similar to but not quite the same as his instant transmission, and he'd realized his gut was warning about something he couldn't see. Some hidden strength this man was hiding.
And then, to take that punch… he could feel the amount of power his friend had channeled into his fist. The guy didn't even try to dodge – it should've easily broken his arm. It was a direct hit.
But much to his surprise, the mysterious "Fox" had moved seamlessly into a counter…one so strong he was worried Krillin might actually have sustained some permanent damage.
Who was this man?
"NINE!"
Their entire group tensed, their screams for Krillin to stand up and fight falling on deaf ears. The man remained immobile on the white stone.
"TEN! Wow what a shock! Krillin is out and the Fox advances to the next round!"
The hooded fighter jumped off the platform without so much as a word and started immediately walking away from the arena, the crowd parting in stunned silence around him.
From the corner of his eye, Goku noticed 18 jump to Krillin's side and, satisfied his friend would receive adequate treatment, he beelined toward the fighter rapidly disappearing from his line of sight. Vegeta and Piccolo flanked him almost immediately, and he was sure they were just as curious as he was to investigate this dark horse further.
"Hey- hey! Fox! Mr. Fox! Hey, wait!" He yelled, noticing the smaller man's shoulders hunching over and his pacing increasing. Was he running away?
Vegeta growled viciously and suddenly flew right up to the smaller man, gripping his arm tightly.
"HEY, FOX! WHERE EXACTLY ARE YOU GOING?!"
The man's arm was limp in his grasp, but he also didn't turn. Goku and Piccolo caught up to the scene, noting the crowd had shifted focus back to the arena where the next match was likely about to start.
Sharing a glance with the better tempered Saiyan, Piccolo moved forward, attempting to calm Vegeta. After all, the other man hadn't actually done anything wrong. The fight had been clean and fair; this was just to slake their own curiosity.
"Vegeta stop—" but his warning came too late as Vegeta's legendary temper reached its max and he snarled a curse.
"STOP IGNORING ME YOU FOOL," he raged and yanked on the arm in his grasp. The Fox whipped around from the force and the hood flew off his head from the motion.
It was like a bomb went off.
Vegeta felt his hearing cut out and all his energy, all his focus zeroed in on the image his eyes was feeding him. Vaguely aware of the stiffened postures of Kakarot and Piccolo beside him, he realized he wasn't imagining things.
A woman. It was a woman.
Pink hair, olive green eyes and two plump pink lips pulled into a snarl, she was definitely a woman.
The Fox was a woman.
"FUCK OFF," she snapped, ripping her arm out of his grasp. Whatever force had kept her prone previously had clearly released her as she fell into another stance before them, eyes hardening as she took the three of them in.
Piccolo flushed from his neck to his…well. The attraction had been instant the second he saw her face. He was a man. He had needs he attended to and he wasn't a monk by any means. But he'd never…never reacted to a woman before. Not like this.
Suddenly very aware of the two other males with him, he scanned their faces from his peripheral. Vegeta looked completely stunned, his hand limply hanging where the woman had ripped her arm away. And Goku…his eyes slid to his friend and narrowed on the man's red face.
Filing that information away for another time, Piccolo redirected his attention back to the woman snarling in front of him. The wild look in her eyes sent a thrill through him and took a moment to compose himself before he addressed her.
"Uh...," the words died in his throat as soon as her attention snapped to him and his heart thudded in his chest at the full force of her gaze.
Thankfully, Goku seemed to snap out of his suspiciously quiet demeanor and took over.
"Uh hey there!" He chirped, heat racing up the back of his neck when the woman redirected her irate eyes at him. "Sorry, don't mind Vegeta! He's just grumpy like that."
Hearing his name jolted the Prince out of his apparent stupor and he scowled, crossing his arms, offering a mumbled "tch." when the woman cut her eyes over to him.
Goku's bubbly grin seemed to placate her somewhat, and she straightened out of the stance she'd been in. She nodded at Goku, acknowledging his apology, but kept a wary eye on Vegeta sulking off to the side.
"I'm Goku and this is Piccolo and that's Vegeta," the dark-haired man grinned, extending a hand to the pink-haired fighter. She raised an eyebrow before reached out and clasping her hand in his.
"Sakura. Haruno Sakura."
END 01.