Chapter Two - I Swear One Day I Will Beat You Fair And Square

(Trunks)

Since West City was so much closer to the where the Budokai Tournament was taking place, the Son family had taken the Goku Instant Transmission Express to get them to Capsule Corp in the morning before they all took one of the large jets to the Tournament grounds.

The place was a lot more crowded and had more fanfare than Trunks recalled from the last time he'd gone. Both the place and the tournament had been built up in more recent years with Buu being a star of the ring. Between his playful demeanor and bizarre powers had made him a darling of the fans and a ratings juggernaut. But of course at the end of an incredible series of matches, he'd always somehow lose to the undefeated World Champion Hercule Satan.

As they walked into the grounds Trunks savored the short period of anonymity the large crowds granted them, most people weren't even giving them a second look as they walked past the food stalls and the people hawking merchandise with Buu and Satan's faces all over it. They were just another two families here to enjoy the day watching the tournament, nothing special or notable about them. Certainly not a group that contained nearly all of this universe's entire population of an old alien race, and would be making up half the roster of the finalists all on their own.

Of course this illusion was broken when they finally heard a familiar voice.

"GOKU!" Krillin called out, and when they looked in the direction it came from there were a bunch of familiar faces. Oh wow, Trunks was surprised his mom was able to get such a good turnout on short notice, maybe everyone else just didn't have anything better to do with their time. Krillin of course came with No 18 and Marron, but next to them was Roshi and Oolong, Yamcha and Puar. Piccolo was also here of course, but even Dende had taken the day off of being God of Earth to come watch their match.

"Hey guys! Goku called back as they walked over. "You're all looking good. Nice to see you!"

Krillin's wide smile dimmed slightly, "Don't you start that again! Do you know how long it's been since we last saw each other, it was over a year ago!"

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Goku said and dropped his arm he'd been waving to scratching the back of his head. "You know how it gets, sometimes I just sort of forget that we haven't talked lately."

Krillin sighed, "You know you're lucky to have a best friend who is so understanding."

Goku smiled, "Yeah, you really are the best Krillin." Then he turned to look at the rest of the assembled faces, "Oh Piccolo, you entering?"

"Please, and put myself through that," Piccolo scoffed. "I'm perfectly happy being a spectator today."

Pan ran up and jumped at him to get her mandatory hug, "Will you watch me Uncle Piccolo!"

Piccolo caught her reflexively and once he saw her his stoicism melted like a marshmallow in the sun. "Of course Pan, I'll be cheering for you."

"We all will, I can't wait to see what such a tiny whipper snapper like you is capable of," Roshi said and Pan beamed at him.

"You guys might want to hustle, registration isn't going to be open for much longer." Yamcha warned.

"Oh yeah, we better hurry," Goku said. Trunks was filled with the sudden desire to drag his feet on principal now.

Gohan crotched down to talk to his daughter, "Now Pan, make sure you always stay where someone can see you. Don't go running off on your own now."

Vegeta scoffed, "That's hardly necessary, there isn't anyone here who could pose an actual threat to her." The "and if there is they won't be alive much longer" went unsaid but Trunks could make it out easily, and so could Gohan.

"It's not Pan I'm worried about being in danger, it's everyone and everything else, she always has a way to find mischief wherever she goes, and that's only if she's not making it herself."

Goten rolled his eyes, "Don't worry Gohan, we'll keep an eye on her and prevent her from destroying anything beyond her opponent's dignity."

"Thanks Goten. Alright have a good tournament everyone!"

The preliminaries were an absolute cake-walk, no surprises there. There were 114 participants this year, and they'd gone back to the preliminary matches which Goku said was the norm back in the days he fought in every tournament. Trunks had vague recollections of punch machines being used for the adult competition from when he was a kid, but for some reason they'd retired that practice. Thankfully the five of them and Buu were spread out across the brackets that none of them were going to face off till the actual tournament.

Trunks had finished up with his matches first when he saw he'd gotten a text from Calcula that she was waiting outside the Contestant's Courtyard, and went to meet her.

"Trunks!" She yelled, and glared at the guard who was trying to keep her back. Trunks waved him off after reassuring him he wasn't going to take off, just talk to a friend.

"What are you doing here?" He asked trying to not let the panic he was feeling slip into his voice. He didn't want her seeing any fight that he had to be serious about.

"Well I was going to try to get seats for the Tournament, but you only told me yesterday you were fighting and people have been camping out for tickets for days." Oh thank Dende. "So I guess I'm just going to be wishing you and Goten luck, where is he?"

"Still doing prelims, he was in the last bracket of them."

"Well phooey, I'm going to be leaving soon, if I make it back home quick enough I can still catch Inka's drawing stream. But I heard you guys brought your families with you, anyone you can introduce me too real quick?"

Trunks looked around, their families had already left the area, but out of the corner of his eye a familiar head of hair poked his head out of the doors he'd just walked through, probably looking to see where Trunks had gone.

"Well here's one of them! Hey Goku! Get over here!"

Goku obliged and wandered over.

"Oh you must be Goten's older brother, he's talked a lot about you, and Pan is your little girl! I've seen pictures of her, she's adorable!"

Goku laughed, "Nope, that's Gohan, he's my oldest son, I'm their dad, which makes Pan my granddaughter!"

"Really, you don't look more than a few years older than Goten, and you have a granddaughter?" Calcula sounded suspicious, and not without good reason, Goku really didn't look, or act, his age.

Goku of course picked up none of it, instead just laughing and scratching the back of his head, "Just good genes I guess."

Please don't say we're aliens, Trunks prayed with a fervor he usually reserved for when he was trying to send messages to Dende. And hey maybe Dende was listening because two loud yells echoed through the courtyard at that moment.

"Kakarot!""Dad!"

"Oh gotta go, Pan's last match is about to start." Goku took off back into the building.

Just as he was leaving, Marron came walking over from the spectator's side of the park. "Hey Trunks, you guys done cleaning out the prelims yet? Oh who's your friend?"

"Yeah Trunks, introduce me!" Calcula elbowed him.

"Marron this is Calcula, she's a friend from school," he punctuated the greeting with a pointed look to warn her not to say too much. "Calcula this is Marron, and old family friend."

"Marron, if you're a friend of the family then surely you know that man who was just talking to us, the one who went back into the building?" Before Marron could respond Calcula barreled on, eager to catch Trunk in his deception, "Was that actually Goten's dad or was it his older brother trying to pull a prank on me?"

"Nope, I can confirm, that is the one and only Son Goku. And I would know, my dad has been best friends with him since they were kids. He really just is that youthful."

"Oh, is your father a fighter too?"

"Retired now, but yeah. They actually attended the same martial arts school together when they were teenagers. And the first time my mom and Trunks's dad met they fought. I'm told she broke his arms." Marron had the exact same smile on her face and cheerful tone no matter what she was talking about, and she'd learned to weaponize it over the years.

Trunks sighed, "And you are never going to let that go, are you?" Marron hadn't even be alive during the whole thing with Cell.

"Never."

"Wow, you guys really are martial arts fanatics," Calcula said. "I thought Goten was exaggerating a bit."

Marron shrugged, "It's kind of our group's thing. I mean geez, Trunks does Goten even have any relatives that aren't current or former martial artists?"

"Yeah," Trunks said defensively and before he could think better of it.

"Oh yeah, who?" Marron challenged with a gleam in her eye and Trunks only just realized he'd walked into a trap.

"Uh." Trunks said as he frantically rolled through his mental index. Goku and Gohan were obviously out. He knew ChiChi had helped train Goten when he was little and had even fought Goku in one of these tournaments, which oh no that was a train of thought for a different day. Hadn't Ox-King trained under Kame school when he was younger, so had Goku's Grandpa Gohan actually. Fuck, this was hard, Trunks was starting to panic as he stared down Calcula's increasingly incredulous gaze and Marron's growing grin. Videl? Satan? Piccolo? Buu?

"Um...my mom?" He offered. Marron started cackling with laughter.

Calcula was much less amused, "Really, that's what you're going with?"

"Shut up." Trunks glared at her. Marron finally stopped laughing long enough to add, "I mean, he's not wrong, that is probably the closest Goten has."

Calcula's phone alert went and she glanced down at it, "And my ride is here, so I'm heading out now. Have a good tournament! Give my best to Goten, and however many members of your families that are fighting. Bye, see you at WaterWorld!"

"She seems nice. For a normie."

"Stop it," Trunks groaned. Calcula was probably going to talk to Stapular and Inka about just how young Goten's dad was. Great, that was going to be a fun topic when they met up at the waterpark.

The doors to the building slammed open and out came a tiny Pan running at them at full speed.

"Trunks! Trunks! I finished the pre-luminaries!" Pan yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Preliminaries," Goten corrected as he followed behind her a few moments later, their dads not much further behind. Looks like Goku had told them all where Trunks was.

"Yeah those! Oh hi Marron! I like your pigtails!" Pan volume still hadn't dropped a single register, oh boy was she excited.

"Thanks, but only Oolong is allowed to call them pigtails, everyone else calls them twin-tails, Pan."

"Is it because he's a piggy?"

"Yes, it makes him feel special and like he's among friends. How did the prelims go Pan?"

Pan stuck out her tongue, "I won but it was dumb."

Goten, smiled and ruffled her hair, "Her last guy apparently decided he was going to forfeit because his vow of fighting wouldn't allow him to hurt a defenseless child. You know after having watched her wipe the floor with the rest of her competition."

Marron laughed again, "Oh taking the moral highroad that also prevents him from getting his shit kicked in by the Saiyan child. So the Hercule Satan method, nice. Oh! Speaking of which," she rounded on Goten. "I was elected messenger to deliver the news that all the seats are taken, apparently it's a big turnout. Use your charms and get us decent seats from Satan."

"Why Goten?" Trunks asked, she'd been talking to him first and hadn't brought it up.

"Because he's actually got the charm needed to actually get us seats," she snarked back just as quick before turning to Goten. "Go. Talk. With. Satan." She punctuated each word with a prod to his chest, which Goten allowed.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna go say hi to Grandpa Satan!"

"I never get tired of hearing her say those words," Trunks said wistfully.

"Hercule encourages her to call him like that in public," Goten sighed. "Something about it being better for branding purposes."

"It's just a shame Piccolo won't let her call him Uncle Demon King, or we could really cause a ruckus here," Marron laughed.

Goku was at least amused "I don't think that would be a good idea, I remember the last time we were here he was specifically asked to not blow up the stadium again."

"Huh, so I guess Vegeta just missed that memo?" Oh shit, too far Marron. Vegeta agreed and gave a warning noise in her direction that could be best described as a growl.

"And that's my cue to leave, save the aggression for each other!" She gave a cheeky wave and took off running in the opposite direction.

"Come on Dad, don't you want to go see Hercule's face when he hears there's five Saiyans entering?" Trunks bartered to keep his dad's mood from souring quicker. Vegeta didn't give a verbal response, but his glower ticked up into an angry smirk, which was good enough.

Backstage Satan greeted them warmly when they interrupted his pre-tournament lounging, and cooed over Pan. "Did you come all the way just to cheer on your Grandfather?"

"Nope I'm fightin'!" Hercule's eyes widened but they got bigger as she continued, "And so is Grandpa Goku, an' Goten, an' Trunks, an' Uncle Vegeta too." She rattled them off as if she was naming all the flavors of ice cream she wanted on her cone. Hercule's face of despair was not unlike the ice cream vendors too come to think of it as they tried to figure out how to fit 15 scoops on one cone.

"Obviously the five of us made it through the prelims," Goku added and Hercule looked down the hall at them.

He and Goten were dorking around while Vegeta just sulked against the walls like an antisocial weirdo, which he was. "Hey dude!" They yelled in unison and oh yeah that face fault from Hercule was amazing to witness.

"Oh don't worry," Goku reassured the World Champion, "If any of us make it to the finals we have no problem letting you win." Hercule was ecstatic at the concession, which Trunks wasn't sure why, not like any of them cared about the title or wanted that much attention.

"Though it's always possible someone besides us or Buu makes it to the end," Goku added.

"Oh you, you're such a kidder. There's no way that could happen! I mean between you and Vegeta! I mean I saw you at that Zeno Expo, no way anyone here could come close to those foxes."

"Excuse me, Mr. Satan," Goten interrupted. "Our friends and family are here to see us, but there's no more seats, and we wanted to know if you could do something?"

"Oh sure, I can do that!" Hercule just seemed happy to be contributing, "I'll give them the best seats in the house!"

With that taken care of, they went back downstairs to the green room where some of the other finalists were milling around until things started. There was some luxury couches and a spread of food which was probably very expensive and impressive for an Earthling but was barely a snack counter for one of them. Regardless Goku pulled Vegeta over to investigate the offerings, Pan darting ahead going straight for the sweets.

Which meant they were distracted enough that Trunks was able to pull Goten out into a secluded alcove of the hallway where no one could see or overhear them.

"You know it's funny," Goten said as he was still looking around the hall, "This place sure seems smaller than it did last time I was here."

Trunks shrugged, "I mean makes sense we're a lot bigger than we were then, don't even have to steal a costume to compete with the adults this time. But still today could be fun, who knows how it will turn out."

Goten sighed, "I don't know, I don't see anything really that special about it. I mean the only reason we're here is because Dad wants to try to meet someone new. Our only competition is going to be the same people we came here with, and if I wanted to make the mistake of fighting with your Dad I can do that away from onlookers."

"Well now, maybe we'll get lucky and you and I square off, maybe a little repeat of last time we were here." Trunks grinned.

Goten glared. "I think it'll end a bit differently this time. After all you only won cause you're an unrepentant cheater."

"It's not cheating, it's playing smart. Not my fault you don't take all the advantages you can get. But if it makes you more agreeable I'll agree to a fair fight with you if you agree to my terms."

"Which are?"

"Private wager."

Goten, eyes narrowed with suspicion, because he wasn't stupid. "What for, you don't need the money from the tournament prizes."

"One night where Loser has to do anything the winner wants." Trunks made sure to use his seductive voice, the one he knew Goten reacted to, and sure enough he could see the shiver go down Goten's spine.

"Anything?" Goten clarified, voice already a little husky at the thought.

Trunks leaned in closer so he could say whisper the next part directly into Goten's pinkening ears.

"I always thought you'd look great in a maid outfit," Trunks said with a shit-eating grin that Goten couldn't see. "What do you think Ten, you could call me Master and everything."

Goten's breath hitched and the next words were whispered back with venom, "That's an awfully bold claim, Trunks, you sure you would be okay with losing. I mean what if I want you to dress up if I win?"

"I'd do it, I'd do anything for my master." Trunks tried his best to imitate the breathy voice acting he'd heard once come from one of Stapular's games.

"Right, because you have no sense of shame," Goten sighed. "Besides why would that be an incentive for you to play fair, I'd think it would make you all the more eager to cheat. Because you're a cheating cheater."

Trunks shrugged, "I can take anything you dish out, Ten even without playing smart. And besides the bet is already rigged in my favor, even ifI lose I still win the long game. Now come on, are you gonna agree or not."

"Well aren't the two of you just the most adorable sight, can anyone get in on this wager?"

At the new voice they sprang apart, fuck Trunks hadn't sensed anyone coming. But then again, he wasn't used to trying to keep his senses tuned to such low levels of ki. It was one of the other finalists, he was shirtless but had leather pants and a leather cap. And he was looking at them with a hungry gaze.

Oh right, because Trunks had just been pinning Goten against the wall.

"Uh," Trunks said as he was frantically scrambling to come up with some explanation.

"Will all finalists please gather at the entrance, we're about to enter the stadium." The Tournament Announcer's voice rang out through the building's intercom system. Oh thank fuck. Goten practically flash-stepped around Trunks and the guy in leather as he fled the scene, with Trunks not that far behind him.

They joined the assembled fighters who were gathered near the Announcer as he began reading off their names to confirm the contestants. The old man was beaming when he read off Goku's name and was practically giddy when he realized Goku had brought some familiar faces. He paused when he saw that Son Pan was a tiny girl and looked back at Goku for an explanation.

"She's my grand-daughter!" Like that was explanation enough and he wasn't wrong.

"Say no more! I see you're starting her young, I'm sure she'll be a star. Ah and speaking of which, the finalists of the 25th Junior division are here, you boys will try to keep the rules in mind this time, won't you?" He gave them both a look over the tops of his sunglasses. Announcer was alright.

"We'll try." Goten promised.

As they all walked out to the main stage where the tournament drawing would take place Trunks noticed how many of Buu's fans in the audience were female, that was… unexpected.

Announcer was getting the crowd geared up, "And now time for the drawing of names, it's a single-elimination match-ups where the winner will then go on to face Mr. Satan!?

Trunks noticed Goten looking around at the other finalists, "You see anyone here that matches what your Dad was talking about? Unearthly strong for an Earthling?"

"Nah. Not yet."

Since half of the finalists where either related to them by blood, or where just Hercule's perpetual freeloader and houseguest, there weren't that many possible contenders.

There was a tall guy with a ponytail who was doing his best to look intimidating, an arrogant guy who thought wearing a bandana on his head was a good fashion choice, and a blonde dude who looked pretty composed and had a sizable amount of ki but nothing that noteworthy about him.

There was also a man in a giant chicken costume. Which, enough said, that man was already well aware of how much a joke he was and was leaning into it.

The man in leather they'd bumped into backstage was still watching them, and Goten was getting flustered by the attention. Great, last thing Goten needed when he was trying to stay in the closet around their families was this attention.

Finally there was a little boy with dark skin, guess Pan wasn't the only kid competing. Hopefully he put up a good show, if Trunks was matched against him he'd go easy on him, wouldn't want to discourage the kid after all.

During the drawing of numbers, Trunks noticed Goku and Vegeta whispering furiously to each other before pulling Buu into their conversation. Huh wonder what that was about.

And Goten was the first to draw and ended up with an 8. That meant Trunks needed a 7 to face him, or maybe the 5 or 6 to do it in the second round. Instead he ended up with a 9. Fuck. His second match would now be against his father and that meant he'd never get to fight Goten today.

Goten was not happy either, "This is so unfair! I have to fight Buu in the first round!"

Trunks laughed, "Luck of the draw I guess!" before leaning in and whispering a lot quieter into Goten's ear, "Guess we'll be modifying our private wager, first one to lose a match loses. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll both have a fun victory party." The despair in Goten's face was incredible.

Goku was also in agreement, "Serves you right for blowing off your training to go have fun with Trunks." Trunks rolled his eyes at Goku, he was just like his father, refusing to call the sparring he and Goten did as anything but "playing around" just because they weren't as serious about it as their dads.

"If anyone should be upset it's me!" The big guy who went by Mo Kekko said as he approached them. Oh so the other half of the fighters were coming to gather around to check out their competition."I'm supposed to get in a ring with that little brat! I didn't come here to sing nursery songs!"

Pan clung to Goku's leg at the waves of hostility from the big guy before sticking out her tongue at him. The giant oaf continued, "How did a kid like you even make it through the preliminaries, I'll never know."

If he had an inkling of what any of them were capable of, he'd be probably the bravest man in the universe for trying to intimidate Pan in front of the rest of them. Not that she wasn't completely capable of handling herself against a weak-ass Earthling like him.

But then Trunks's first competitor had to come and open his mouth, "Oh how wonderful, you look like a nice strong young man, I can tell we'll just have the best time together."

Goten, delight in his eyes, "Oh man, you're so lucky, can we trade?" Clearly enjoying Trunks's discomfort. Hah hah, Goten would be singing a different tune if he had to face Otokosuki, Trunks had seen for himself how anxious Goten got when people he didn't know tried to flirt with him, much less a shirtless dude in leather who was twice their age.

Then again if Otokosuki had tried hitting on Goten, Trunks would probably end up disqualified from the whole tournament. He didn't come here today with the intention of killing a man but he was not going to rule it out. Besides, not like his dad wouldn't back him up.

But of course none of this pre-tournament talk could compare to bandana-head himself Nok coming over and thinking the best course of action was to try to yell trash talk at Vegeta, who completely ignored him.

"Hey old man! I'm talking to you gramps!" Oh he was trying to get a rise, Vegeta did look a bit older than Goku, but not my that much, more in his 20s then a possible teenager. Maybe it was the widows peak. "What are you trying to ignore me, well you won't be able to ignore me when I'm kicking your ass!"

And then he leaned over to laugh into Vegeta's face. Trunks cringed, there was no one as touchy about his personal space as his Dad was. And sure enough Vegeta's response to his personal space being violated was to offhandedly slap him so he went flying back 10 yards and off the stage.

The rest of them burst into laughter, while Vegeta casually told their wide-eyed competition,"Tell the officials we've had the first forfeit."

After that, the rest of the fighters gave their group a wider berth when they went back to the locker rooms, and Trunks didn't know if it was the death glare Vegeta sent at any of them who approached their corner of changing rooms or the blasé reaction his punch garnered from the rest of them.

Trunks wasn't oblivious to how they sometimes came across. A strange little group of people who were outsiders to the Earth's Professional Martial Arts scene but were unsurprised by phenomenal feats of strength that put the whole scene to shame, and all very familiar with each other. They practically screamed, "We're secretive and cloistered because we know something you don't.''

But Trunks didn't want any of that attention, Satan could have the credit for saving the world and everything that fame brought him, the good and the bad. Trunks came here because it was somehow a family bonding thing for his dad.

The staring only increased when the reclusive and camera-shy daughter of Hercule Satan, Videl Satan knocked at the door with her husband. "Is everyone decent in there? I'd like to wish my daughter luck before her first fight." Trunks could see the cogs turning in the other competitor's heads as she and her even rarer seen husband entered and walked right past Vegeta giving him a friendly greeting and getting an acknowledging grunt in return. It couldn't have been clearer that she was "with them."

Well except for that little boy who looked worried and off in his own little head. Poor kid.

Pan jumped up when her name was called. "Oh boy! It's my turn!"

Videl gave her one last hug, "You'll do great sweetie! You give him a good punch for mommy, we'll be watching from the box with everyone else."

"Of course!"

The Announcer was hyping up the crowd by billing her as the "Grand-Daughter of the Savior of Earth, Mr. Satan!"

Whatever big match Mo Kekko was expecting was denied him when Pan got the first hit of the match, a slap that sent him careening across the stage. By the time he'd staggered to his feet, she'd already delivered a kick to his legs which sent him flying into the wall. Literally into it, as he left a sizable impression in the stonework.

And after Announcer gave a quick check to make sure he wasn't dead, "Pan is the winner!"

The crowd was dead silent before it came to life and roared their appreciation of the match as Pan skipped back into the building. Satan himself showed up moments later, staggering in behind her, "You sure you're alright?"

"Yup-Yup! Easy as pie!"

Trunks sighed, "Of course she's fine."

"Now it's my turn!" Goku announced, and he turned to the terrified kid to shake his hand, "Best of luck out there, don't hold back!" The boy was apprehensive but shook Goku's hand politely.

After the two of them walked out, Goten climbed up on top of the big sign that blocked the doorway, hanging off it to get a good look at the match.

"Geez, my dad sure is eager to fight the kid, what gives?"

"Kakarot believes the boy to be the reincarnation of the malevolent form of Buu."

Wait what. Trunks immediately hoisted himself up next to Goten to get a look for himself. If that was true then this was a fight he had to see.

(Marron)

Well, the second try worked out. After the embarrassing first option of seats put them squarely in the line of view of the entire stadium, Videl was able to rearrange their seating to get them a private box.

Much better.

Everyone relaxed in the room, away from the prying eyes of strangers.

"At least we're not the only ones having problems getting seats, I saw a bunch of people turned away at the entrance because they were out of space," said Yamcha.

Marron piped up, "Yeah I talked to one of Trunks's classmates who couldn't get in, so she settled for just wishing Trunks and Goten luck and left. Trunks was so relieved."

"Oh, who was she?" Bulma asked with far too much interest in the answer, ChiChi had also perked up and listened, so of course Marron's only choice was to obfuscate. She shrugged. "I don't know, a girl."

Then, quickly changing the topic to deny them a chance to ask further questions, Marron continued, "She thought Goku was Pan's dad at first, asked me if Trunks was trying to pull one over on her."

"Can't blame them," Krillin groaned, "Goku looks like he could pass for a teenager. Curse those Saiyan genes."

Gohan groaned, "Tell me about it, my colleagues keep confusing me with freshman at the university. I think official nickname among the students is Professor Babyface."

Videl patted his shoulder, "Don't worry honey, I think you can manage to pull off the look rather well."

"Just wait till Pan hits her teens and people assume all four of you are siblings," Marron said through her giggles.

At that both Chichi and Gohan made the same loud noise that was less words and more a deep grumbling from their very souls.

"It's not funny," Gohan scowled at Marron when she burst into full laughter.

"Oh stop complaining, Gohan," No 18 said, her bored tone never changing a beat as she spoke. "You're not the only ones who have extended youth. At least you didn't have your body torn down and rebuilt on the cellular level by Dr. Gero to get it."

Marron watched with delight how many more of the Dragon gang clamored shut at her mother's words, not comfortable with the reminder of just what becoming an Android had entailed. Only her father and herself were used to her mother's blunt nature and disregard for social etiquette and thus unaffected.

"That's why you got the mom haircut, right Mom? So people would stop calling you my older sister?" She asked, knowing full well the answer to why her mother had cut her hair so short, but also knowing that no one else was going to have a decent follow up to No 18's last statement and wanted to take it easy on them.

"Yes. That and it's easier to intimidate the sales clerks, they already know I'm prepared to talk to their managers if their assistance is subpar. It's much more efficient this way and I don't have to break any bones."

There was an awkward pause as before some halting titters followed. Yamcha was the only one who actually said anything, "You know 18, I can never tell if you're joking or not."

"Good."

Krillin sighed loudly and Marron giggled again. She loved her parents.

"Oh hey they're coming out now!" Ox-King said and everyone sat up to look at the parade of contestants walking to the main stage.

"Is that a man in a chicken costume?" Gohan asked.

Puar sighed, "Oh Tenkaichi Budokai, never change you crazy collection of weirdos."

Oolong elbowed him, "Hopefully we won't have to blow up the moon when someone grows a tail back this time. Roshi, Piccolo, you guys on standby?"

"Please don't," Dende asked, no small amount of pleading in his voice, "It would really cause a lot of problems for me, the tide ecosystem is fragile enough as it is."

Gohan laughed awkwardly, "I don't think that's likely, it's been years and years since Dad and Vegeta had theirs and I mean the boys and Pan weren't even born with tails. I think it was because it had been so long since any of us had tails before they were born. My current theory is that Saiyans actually have an evolutionary tract that's more similar to the style of Lamarckian-"

Bulma groaned and waved a hand at Gohan while not taking her eyes off the stage. "Gohan not now, we can talk about evolutionary theories later. I came here to see my husband and son make ridiculous fools out of themselves." Then looking over the competition her attention settled on the big dude who answered to Mo Kekko, "He looks pretty big."

No 18 scoffed, "Oh please, he's all show, sure he's big but I doubt he could back it up."

"I don't know," Bulma sing-songed but didn't try to argue her point more than that.

No 18 turned to her husband, "Krillin why didn't you sign up, you had to know the field was going to be this weak right?"

"Are you joking, sure some of these guys are jokes, but there's no way I could win against Goku!" Krillin retorted.

No 18 sighed, "All I know is I won when I entered, even if I did let Satan claim the ultimate title. Least I got paid for taking the dive."

Marron interrupted them before they really got going on that topic, "Oh hey! It's Pan's turn to get a ball!" That got everyone's attention and everyone watched as Pan drew her number and she was facing off against Mo Kekko. Ooh that would be fun to watch.

The rest of the matchups were much less promising in their entertainment value until Trunks pulled his ball.

"Oh hey, Trunks gets to fight the Leather Daddy," Marron commented.

That got a reaction,

"Marron, why are you calling that… gentleman by that name." Yamcha said, stammering out around his own embarrassment.

"Well I mean," she gestured to the leather clad man with a hat and whose attention was laser focused on Trunks and Goten, "what else would I call him? You know I'm right."

"He's just, um," Yamcha attempted to respond but No 18 interrupted him before he could get out anything cognizant, "He probably thinks Trunks is a twink, or what's the muscular version called? A twunk?"

"Mommy stop it, clearly Trunks would be a jock."

Bulma glowered at them, "Both of you stop it. My little boy is just fine the way he is."

"I'm not saying he's not, I'm just saying his lavender hair is probably why the Leather Daddy has him confused for a twink right now," Marron responded. Well, that or the fact that he hadn't taken his hand off of Goten's shoulder this entire time, but Marron had enough tact not to point it out directly to Bulma's face.

Krillin was apologetic, "I'm sorry Bulma, it's someone's edgy teenager phase right now."

No 18 huffed, "Marron's fine, my edgy teenager phase involved much more car theft and wanton destruction and she hasn't gotten to that yet."

"Maybe I just haven't found the right car yet," Marron countered.

Their conversation was interrupted when Vegeta decided to backhanded his opponent clear off the stage and into a sign ten yards behind them.

"Yep, that's Vegeta," Bulma sighed, completely unsurprised. "Mmhmm," murmured half the box, equally unsurprised, in fact Marron was sure they were all impressed that he was able to resist for this long. The only exception for Bulla who was loudly cheering, "That was awesome! Do it again!"

Videl stood up when the fighters began to walk back into the building, "Gohan, let's go down and talk to Pan before her match."

"Oh, that's a good idea."

As the two of them slipped out Marron moved over to give Bulla some advice, "Bulla, when you order people around you should always say, 'By order of your princess'. After all you are one, you want people to pay their proper respects."

"I am a princess." Bulla was having a revelation, and if it was possible for a four year old to sound moments away from going mad with power, that was it.

Bulma glared, "Don't give her ideas, she might actually listen to you. Krillin, control your daughter!"

"What makes you think I have any ability to do that? Do you not remember my track record with getting teenage girls to listen to me, or have you completely forgotten the pirate caves?"

Bulma made a face, clearly annoyed Krillin had a point, "That was different, I could bully Goku into listening to me."

"Got it, to do what I want, I need to make a Saiyan listen to me and do my dirty work."

"No!" Bulma and Krillin both yelled, but Marron ignored them.

"I don't know, I think that strategy is pretty sound," said No 18, completely uncaring about the several withering glares directed her way.

Chatter in the box continued until Gohan and Videl made it back to the box just in time for Pan's match to start up.

"Pan! Don't break him!" Bulla yelled to her best friend as she walked out, "By orders of your princess!"

Pan's match ended moments after starting with an easy victory for the girl and a wonderfully dramatic response from the crowd.

"Goku is up next!" Krillin shouted happily as everyone else jostled to get a good view.

Piccolo was more brusque with his response, "This will be the only fight of this tournament that matters."

"I'd say so." Dende agreed.

Marron perked up, that sounded ominous, so both the Earth-Namekians thought the little boy was special? Marron focused all her attention on the boy, trying to get a read on his ki. It was definitely odd, it wasn't just that he was suppressing his energy, that was a common enough but there was something else about it.

Despite not doing much fighting herself Marron always had an uncanny ability to sense ki, maybe it was just growing up surrounded by people with ridiculous amounts of it or something about the fact that she spent her time as a fetus gestating 9 inches away from an infinite energy core. Either way growing up she got a lot of practice at being able to track the various notable ki levels of the gang and she was fairly experienced at knowing how to read people now.

But Uub's felt different. There certainly seemed like there was a large reserve there but it also felt a little evanescent, not completely there. Was it just because he was suppressing it differently? Or maybe he didn't have full access to it. Strange.

He looked terrified of Goku and the match was off to a slow start as Goku got a few blows in before finally something must have clicked on and the boy took a running dash and landed a blow that Goku blocked but Marron could see Goku's ki field around his forearm where the hit landed was smarting. Oh man that kid was strong. And that wasn't even his only move as he and Goku darted around and started to wreck the stage with their speed and strength.

"Where has this kid hiding?" Krillin yelled as the entire box was stunned by the site of a young boy managing to keep up with Goku in base.

But then suddenly the fight was over and Goku was just talking to the kid for a bit before they seemed to have reached some understanding. Goku then turned and flew up to their box.

Gohan leaned out to meet him, "What's up, Dad?"

"Not much. I'm just going to have to go live with this kid in his village for a while, so I can train him to use his powers to protect the Earth."

Oh just that then, yeah nothing much about that. But judging by the loud and frustrated protests from Krillin, Bulma, and ChiChi it sounded like they didn't agree.

ChiChi was in hysterics "Not again!"

"GOKU!" Bulma yelled, in the voice that Marron would forever remember hearing a drunken Oolong once described as, "Oh great, the monkey boy is groping people in public again" voice.

"I don't know how long this training will take, might be a few years, hold down the fort till I get back!" Goku said, either completely oblivious to how distressed he was making everyone, or more likely just not caring.

"You're leaving? For years!? Dad!" Gohan yelled, like this was suddenly a new experience for him. Which Marron didn't know why she'd heard more than enough stories to prove the contrary. Maybe it was just for effect.

Goku ignored them and then flew down to where Trunks and Goten were in front of the building. Marron leaned out the window to try to get a better view but it was hard to make out what was being said.

Pan came running over to Goku in tears, and oh no how was Goku going to resist this. Marron focused all her attention on their energy signatures below and after a moment the angry grumblings of the box's spectators faded into the background and she was able to make out what was being said.

"...it won't be that long, and I'll only be on the other side of the Earth, and I'll come and visit."

"You swear?" Pan choked out around her tears.

"Yeah, it's a promise. Besides, there's no need to cry, you're a warrior. One of the strongest kind there is."

"Okay," Pan wasn't happy about it but her tears had at least stopped.

Goku turned his attention to the boys and Marron widened her focus to their energy to hear their voices too.

"You two need to keep up your training too, like I told Uub, it's going to be up to you guys to protect the Earth in the future. I won't be around forever. And take care of each other."

Trunks and Goten exchanged a glance and nodded voiced their agreement.

"I'll train too, Grandpa!" Pan added, "I'll get stronger and stronger so I can protect the Earth just like the boys!"

"Great, that's the spirit."

Goku looked over at Vegeta, oh boy how was this going to go? Marron had to hear this. "Hey Vegeta, sorry I'm taking off now, I know I dragged you all the way out here for nothing."

"Doesn't matter, Vegeta snorted, "not like we could have tested our real strength, we'd have destroyed this entire stadium before we got warmed up."

Then they did their stupid they they sometimes did where held a telepathic conversation with their locked gazes which unfortunately Marron couldn't overhear. They broke after a moment with Goku laughing, "Hey that's the truth. See ya around, buddy."

Goku went back to the ring and took off flying with Uub and if Marron hadn't still been keyed into Vegeta's energy she wouldn't have picked up what he added under his breath, "Yeah right, this isn't about protecting the Earth at all, you're just eager for a good fight." And she couldn't be certain, but she was pretty sure his last words, even softer than the rest, were a very fond "I swear, you'll be the death of me Kakarot."

Wait was that like a sweet nothing for kismesis? Oh no, that was both hilarious and somewhat adorable. Thank the gods she had such an amazing poker face, otherwise Marron wouldn't be able to look at him without cracking up next time she saw Vegeta.

But still, that Earthling nobody sure had been packing some real power, and at such a young age. Marron grinned over the din of the noise of the box around her. Looked like things were finally getting interesting around here. She couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.