Hey, in case you missed it, I posted an update yesterday! Go check that out too, while you're here. There's also some info about the future of the stories in this universe that you can read there, as well. Enjoy!
Also this chapter was brought to you by the phrase "Read the Damn Manga"
"ARE YOU READY FOR THIS YEAR'S EXCITING TOURNAMENT?!" In response to the announcer's question, the crowd cheered and cried, in ecstasy and hype. "I hope you are, because our first match is about to begin! Will the contestants please come on stage?"
The mysterious Shen entered first, taking his place on the announcer's right. Piccolo followed him, soon afterwards, standing to his left.
"We have not one, but two newcomers in this first match! To my right is Shen – standing at 158 pounds and sporting some mighty-fine specs! And to my left is a green man with a serious scowl – Ma Junior!"
Piccolo heard a "psst", behind him. Goku was sitting on the edge of the wall, and pointing towards the crowd. When he looked in that direction, he saw Chi-Chi with Gohan, standing right in the front. She gave him thumbs up, as Gohan bounced up and down, in her arms.
"Alright, gentlemen! Let's keep this a good and clean fight! When the gong sounds, you may begin."
Piccolo stared down his opponent. Nothing about this Shen person led him to think that he was a particularly gifted fighter. He just seemed like an ordinary man. It made Piccolo surprisingly anxious, about this fight – he had to be hiding something. He knew that he would have to keep his guard up.
The gong chimed, and the match began. Piccolo took a guarded stance, but Shen had not moved a muscle. He kept his hands behind his back, just staring at him. He wasn't even making a move.
Thinking he could use this to his advantage, Piccolo pulled his hand back, and slid towards him, swiping at him. However, he only swiped at thin air. Shen had jumped over him, and landed on the other side of the stage, keeping his back to him.
Piccolo spun on his heel and charged at him, once more. Shen ducked his head, swaying from side to side to avoid his barrage of blows. He was at a loss, for words. Though he was not fighting at his full power, this man was still dodging all of his attacks. Any other normal human wouldn't have stood a chance.
He pulled back his fists, and jumped away. This fight was not going to be as easy as he would have thought. He had to rethink his strategy, if he were going to win.
But first, he needed answers.
"Alright," he said. "You are clearly not as feeble as I was lead to believe. Who are you?"
Shen turned around, still keeping his hands behind his back. "I'll leave it for you to figure out, Piccolo."
His eyes widened. How did he know his name? No one has spoken it, since the tournament had begun. He had chosen a pseudonym for this reason. There was no way that he could have found out; it was just impossible.
Piccolo growled. "Fine. You want to play games? Then I'll finish you off!"
He lunged out towards him, once more. And once more, he disappeared, before he could hit him. Suddenly, he was kicked into the hard tiles of the tournament stage. Not to be outdone, he came out on the other end, breaking through the other side.
"Unbelievable," the tournament announcer exclaimed. "It appears that Junior has practically swum through the stage, coming out the other end! What force and strength our fighters have! What will happen next?!" The audience grew more excited, from the announcer's commentary.
"You can do it," Goku shouted, from on the wall. "You can take him out!"
Piccolo glanced up at him and nodded. He knew he could. He was only trying to figure out how.
Shen shook his head, lowering his gaze. "I don't understand how I could have doubted you before. Since then, all you have done is proven me wrong. I guess I truly was blind to who you are."
He raised his brow. "What are you talking about? Start talking sense."
He looked back up at him. "You surely understand now: I wasn't even speaking out loud."
Piccolo blinked. That was right. But how was he able to hear that? His telepathy wasn't nearly that advanced.
Unless…
Shen smirked. "I believe you've figured it out, haven't you?"
He balled his fists and charged at Shen, once more. This time, he actually fought back, with as much insistence and viciousness as Piccolo did. Now that all had been made clear, the fight could continue, as intended.
"Wow! Neither fighter wants to back down! Junior and Shen are going hard at each other! If this is a sign of things to come, then this might be the best tournament, yet!" The crowd erupted into cheering and applause, wanting to see more.
However, though the fight appeared to be vicious and unrelenting, there was no true animosity or competitiveness between the two fighters. As their brawl reached its climax, they were silently discussing matters pertaining to these circumstances.
Piccolo threw a punch at Shen, which he ducked to avoid. "Any reason you came down here? I thought you were supposed to be neutral."
"I only wanted to check up on you, and see how you were. It's not as if I've abandoned the Lookout entirely, for this." Shen crouched down and swung his leg out underneath Piccolo. He just jumped up and away from him.
"What are you: my father?"
Shen charged at him, and Piccolo followed suit. They pushed against each other, digging their heels into the hard stole of the tournament stage. "No, of course not. Is it so wrong to want to know how your other half is doing?"
Piccolo couldn't suppress a smirk. "I suppose not. For your information, I've been fine."
"That's exactly what I was hoping to hear, Piccolo." Shen smiled at him.
Piccolo took his broken guard as an opportunity to uppercut him, sending him flying up into the air. The crowd whooped.
The tournament announcer took off his sunglasses, wiped them on his jacket, and put them back on. "Unbelievable! Both contestants are fighting high in the air! I can tell you, in my decade long tenure of announcing at these tournaments, I have never seen anything like this!"
Chi-Chi was waving her fist in the air, screaming over everyone else in the crowd. "COME ON! YOU CAN TAKE OUT THIS SENILE OLD COOT!" Gohan was just looking up at the fight in awe, not paying his screaming mother any mind.
Goku narrowed his eyes. There was something different about this guy. How had he not heard of him or felt him, before this fight? Not unlike Piccolo, he noticed how different his appearance was from his actual skills. And his fighting style looked so familiar. He had only seen it once, before.
Like a bolt of lightning, it hit Goku. Shen… like Shenron… Shen meant God...
Shen was Kami!
But that didn't explain why he was here. He didn't do this, before; he always told him that he liked to stay out of everyone else's business. Was he having second thoughts about Piccolo? What would he do to him, if he ended up losing? Goku didn't want to see his friend get hurt.
"You can do it, Piccolo! Knock him out!"
He heard both cries of encouragement loud and clear. It filled him with more determination to win. As he flew up to catch up to him, he disappeared. Shen reappeared behind him and attempted to kick him, but Piccolo caught his fist without looking in his direction.
"All that time on the Lookout and you haven't kept up with your training. Some kind of guardian you are, old man."
Kami chuckled, in his head. "I suppose I've fallen behind, in my old age. You've shot far ahead of me. In every conceivable way."
Piccolo's jaw dropped. Shen could have used that moment to attack, while his guard was down, but he only turned around. "I've never been happier to be proven wrong in my entire life. I'm proud of you, Piccolo. Thank you for all you've taught me." He smiled at him.
He responded with a smile of his own. Quickly followed by a punch to the face, knocking him down to the ground, landing just outside of the ring.
"Aaaaand Shen has been knocked out of the ring, ladies and gentlemen! Junior will be moving onto the next round!"
Piccolo lowered himself to the ground, as the crowds were cheering his name. He crossed his arms, and landed gracefully back onto the stage. He looked down at Shen once more, and they locked eyes. Shen winked at him and promptly passed out. Piccolo could see vapors leave his mouth, as he did so. Paramedics rushed over to the unconscious man, desperately attempting to rouse him awake.
When he started to wake up, the announcer shoved a microphone in his face. "Shen, my good man! You're finally awake! Great work out there, regardless! You'll surely go down in tournament history for an exciting match!"
The man sat up, rubbing his head, blinking at the tournament announcer. He pushed the microphone out of his face. "What's going on?"
A little boy jumped over the barrier. "Man, my dad is the coolest guy ever!"
The man looked up at the tournament stage then back at his son. "Oh. I guess I am…" He looked hopelessly confused, but appeared to be trying to run with it.
The announcer jumped back on stage, and shoved the microphone into Piccolo's face. "So, Junior, this is your first year at the tournament, isn't it? How does your first victory feel?"
He just looked down at the microphone, in confusion. "Fine," he said, hoping that would satisfy him.
"And he's humble, too! Well, welcome to the tournament, Junior! I wish you best of luck, in the remaining fights!" He patted him on the back twice, pushing him towards the backstage area. Piccolo turned on his heel and left the way he came in.
When he glanced out at the crowd, Chi-Chi and Gohan were cheering for him. A small smile formed on his face, as he walked out of sight.
Goku jumped off of the wall and ran over to him. "Wow! That was amazing! You did awesome, Piccolo! Kami must not have known what hit him!"
Piccolo looked over at Goku. "You knew that was Kami."
"I sort of figured it out. I was worried he might try to hurt you, but I should have known you would have taken care of it."
Now, he was a bit curious. "What would you have done, if he did try something?"
"I probably would have jumped in to help you. Tournament or not, I'd still help my family."
He flinched and his eyes opened, when he heard that word. Had he just called him 'family'? Did he truly see him the same way he saw his wife and son? No one had ever done that, before. His head was spinning, trying to comprehend that revelation. He hadn't even registered that he was willing to fight the Earth's guardian just for his sake.
"Hey, let's head back. We can watch the rest of the fights, there."
He nodded; glad to be distracted from his momentary crisis. He could mull over this, later.
The remainder of the quarterfinal fights went off without a hitch.
Yamcha's fight against Ranfan was more than interesting. She was a woman infamous for distracting her opponents with her sexuality rather than by her skills. And she had the good luck of being put up against a man who was still nervous around women. However, that anxiety proved to be his secret weapon. As soon as she started coming onto him, he accidently knocked her out, just trying to get her away from her.
Krillin went up against another newcomer: some guy named Mark. It turned out that he was nothing but talk. He went on and on about how he was the greatest fighter in the world. It did wonders to hype up the crowd in his favor, but Krillin easily KO'd him. Even that did little to stop the hype train, as they booed Krillin while he walked off-stage.
The last fight of the quarterfinals was Goku up against Tien Shinhan: their rematch after the twenty-second tournament. The last fight had ended with Tien as the victor. Once a member of the Turtle School's rivals, the Crane School, he had wanted to prove that his master was the strongest; of course, his master had his own murkier motivations but he had rebelled against them. By the end of the tournament, they parted as unlikely friends. Both had wanted a rematch at the last tournament, but Tien was knocked out by Yamcha right before the finals.
"I hope you've been training, Goku," Tien said. "I've been preparing for this moment for the past five years. You better not let me down."
"I promise you that I won't!"
The gong sounded, and Tien went rushing towards Goku. However, he disappeared right as he came up to him. The crowd gasped, but Tien did not look phased. When Goku reappeared behind him, Tien quickly spun around and blocked his incoming fist.
"Not even gonna take off the weights like last time? That might improve your speed."
"Don't need to!"
"I see. Then I probably shouldn't be holding back."
Tien jumped backwards. As he did, three other Tiens came out of him. They were identical to what they were copying. It was hard to tell what was the copy and what was the original.
"I believe this is what Tien Shinhan calls his Multi-Form technique," the announcer said. "How exciting!"
"Man, that takes me back. I've got something cool, too! Wanna see it?"
"If you can make it worth my while, then sure. Go ahead."
Goku hunched forward, clutching his fists tightly. His image began to waver, as something transparent was moving over his form. The images grew clearer as time went on. Soon, there were four distinct images of Goku standing next to each other.
Piccolo's jaw dropped, as he watched from the sidelines. Since when could he do that? They had been training for months together, and he hadn't shown that off once.
Tien looked equally shocked. "How…?"
Goku pointed up. "I've been practicing! Piccolo likes using that technique a lot, so I thought I should learn how to do it."
Piccolo just blinked. He never taught him how to create those copies. He only showed it to him once or twice. And yet, he learned how to do it entirely by watching him. That was absolutely incredible. Even the strongest beings he encountered didn't have that skill.
"Impressive," Tien said in awe. "You always find ways to surprise me, Goku." Goku just laughed.
The shadow clones attacked each other, each one trying to find the real fighter. Only the actual fighter could be truly harmed – attacking a clone was pointless and a complete waste of energy. It made it confusing for those watching from below.
It did not take long for Piccolo to spot which one was the real Goku. Multi-form techniques involved splitting one's energy into equal parts for each copy. While it was impressive to show, the attacks of each copy were individually weaker than the whole fighter. However, one of the copies had the smallest amount of energy that was greater than the others had. It was only noticeable to those who were looking for it. He was smart enough not to divide his energy equally among the copies, and saved a bit for himself. It appeared that Tien was not wise enough to do the same. While that made it harder to track down the real Tien, it also made him more vulnerable on the off chance that Goku succeeded.
One of the Goku clones went from one clone to the next, attempting to find a weak-point. When he confronted one, he'd punch them in the gut, looking at the other Tiens for a sign of something. When nothing happened, he'd kick them away and move onto the next. The real Goku would keep the last clone busy, while he went through them one-by-one. He would remain close so that he could attack the moment they figured it out.
Then, when he hit the next clone, all of the other Tien clones flickered. The real Goku pulled his hands back, keeping his wrists together, and formed a bright blue ball of energy in his hands.
"KAMEHAMEHA!"
Tien barely ducked his head under his arms, as the blast hit him. All of the clones disappeared, as he fell and crashed onto the tournament stage. Goku's clones returned to his body, as he lowered himself to the ground.
Tien staggered back up, once more. He was breathing hard. "Amazing. I haven't been bested like that in a long time."
"Well, you probably shouldn't have split up your energy like that. It made you weaker to the attacks."
He shook his head. "You really are something, Goku… but you made a mistake, yourself."
Goku blinked. "Huh? What is it?"
"By not knocking me out of the ring when you had the chance."
Tien lifted his hands up, creating a triangle shape. The space between his hands began to glow gold, and sparks lit up his hands.
"TRI-BEAM, HA!"
A large pulse of light and wind pushed from his hands. Goku lifted up his arms, shutting his eyes, as he braced himself against the force. In short bursts, the pulses repeated, pushing Goku back just a little further. The patrons shielded their eyes from the blinding light, squinting to get a look at what was going on.
As Piccolo watched what was going on, he was trying to figure out what he was trying to do. Just based on his stance and screams, these attacks were taking a large toll on his body. Why was he risking it in a move that was just pushing Goku backwards?
Then, he quickly realized his plans.
"Goku," Piccolo yelled. "He's pushing you towards the edge!"
Goku opened one eye, and looked down. When he saw how close he was to the edge, his eyes widened. He trudged forward, marching through the heavy blasts. He dug his feet into the hard stone of the stage.
Tien hunched over, looking fatigued and desperately trying to catch his breath. The stance left him completely unguarded. Goku ran forward, and hit Tien in the gut. He kicked him into the air and grabbed him by his ankle. He spun him around in a circle and threw him out of the ring.
"Tien Shinhan has been thrown out of the ring, ladies and gentlemen! The champion of old has been surpassed! Son Goku will be moving onto the Semi-Finals!"
Goku looked back at Piccolo and gave him thumbs up.
"I'm so proud of you, Goku!"
His eyes widened and he blushed. He looked over into the crowd, where Chi-Chi and Gohan were cheering him on. He laughed awkwardly, and bashfully put his head down.
Tien climbed back onto the ring. "You've really outdone yourself, Goku," he said, as he finally managed to get back onto the stage. He walked over to him. "Just when I think you couldn't get any stronger, you surprise me."
"You didn't do too bad, either. I don't think there's a limit to how strong both of us can get."
Tien nodded, and held out his hand. "I'll make you follow-through on that, one day."
"It's a deal." Goku took his hand and they shook.
The first day proved itself a very exciting and eventful one. The crowds were on the edge of their seats during every fight, with nary a dull moment. Hundreds more would rush to the islands for a last-minute trip; word of mouth travelled fast, and they desperately wanted to see the remaining fights in person.
The Semi-Finals would go as followed:
1. Ma Junior VS Yamcha
2. Goku VS Krillin
