New chapter, folks! Nothing more to say about it. Enjoy!


"Yo, Piccol-oh."

Piccolo opened an eye, as he sat against a wall. Yamcha was standing in front of him, with his hands on his hips.

"Guess you and I are gonna be up next. After all that you pulled yesterday, you've got me a little excited." He started stretching his arms. "Goku told me you're really strong, but I didn't think you were that strong."

Piccolo nodded and closed his eye, once more.

"Oh, I see: you're the stoic, brooding type. I get ya, I get ya. Well, good luck out there. I'll see you in a bit." He punched him in the arm once, before walking away.

Piccolo glanced at him, as he walked off. Out of all of Goku's friend, he was the one he would have suspected to treat him differently: what with his dashing good looks and all. Instead, he was acting just as friendly as Goku. He reminded him a little bit of Bulma, for some reason. It was probably the relaxed and casual attitude.

Why could he easily picture them together? He shook his head, at the thought.


When the Day 1 recaps finished playing, the tournament announcer came on stage, once more. "And that was all that you missed, yesterday. While that was quite exciting, today is going to be even more thrilling than the last! Today, our contestants will duke it out and only two will be moving onto the finals!

"Now, will our next contestants please come onstage?"

Yamcha came out first. The crowd whooped, upon seeing him, again.

"Ah, Yamcha! It's great to see you again, this year! If you remember, he made it all the way to the finals, once. What do you say, man? You hear to claim what is rightfully yours?"

He flipped his hair back. "You know it. I might have been caught off guard, last time, but that won't happen, again."

"You've done it once, and I'm sure you can do it, again!"

While the announcer was talking to Yamcha, Piccolo walked on stage, hoping to go by unnoticed.

"And here comes our other competitor: Junior! Many believe him to be the dark horse of this tournament. A first timer making it this far? This hasn't happened since the 22nd! With a seasoned vet going up against a newcomer, who knows what will happen?"

Piccolo and Yamcha stood opposite of each other, on different sides of the stage. They got into their fighting stances. Yamcha's was quite unique: he had all of his weight on one foot, while his other leg was sticking out straight. His arms were bent at different angles, reminding him a bit of animal paws. Maybe this fight would be a bit interesting.

The gong sounded and the fight began.

Yamcha jumped right towards him, ready to kick him in the face. Piccolo blocked the attack, but the force was much more than he anticipated. Piccolo shot his fist out towards him, and Yamcha blocked the attack, still in mid-air. He jumped backwards, somersaulting back onto his feet.

Piccolo jumped back towards him. Yamcha jumped into the air, and he followed him up. However, Yamcha shifted just to the right and dropped back onto the stage, sliding underneath him.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

Yamcha fired a bright blue energy wave above him. Piccolo skirted out of the way, the energy scorching the bottom of his cape.

If that was how this was going to play out, he could match it with an attack of his own. He pulled his fist back and threw an energy ball at him. As he stood up, he saw the ball hurdling towards him.

Yamcha held out his hand in front of it, and it stopped. He rolled his wrist, and it hovered over his palm. He pointed his finger at Piccolo, and it went flying back up towards him. Piccolo dodged it, but Yamcha sent it flying at him, once more. When he turned around, it hit him square under his chin, knocking the wind out of him.

"What an amazing technique! If you recall, this is very similar to the technique he used against Tien Shinhan. That comeback was enough to knock him right out of the ring in a stunning upset! Will this be enough to take down Junior? Let's see!"

Piccolo remained in the air for several moments and floated back down to the stage. He wiped the side of his mouth: a small bit of purple stained the back of his hand.

"Man, you just won't stay down, will you," Yamcha said. Piccolo could tell that he was beginning to look winded.

"You're not bad," Piccolo said. "Your technique is impressive, but your endurance leaves more to be desire. I can tell you've already had enough."

He laughed. "We'll see about that. I've got one more trick under my sleeve: it's a classic."

Yamcha leaned backwards, getting back into his earlier stance. Then, he started running towards him. His speed gradually picked up, as he made his way across the stage. As he got closer, his image shifted into that of a wolf.

"WOLF FANG FIST!"

He kicked Piccolo in the face. He quickly followed up by punching him in rapid-fire movements. He brought both of his hands back and went to finish the deal with one more punch. Then, he would be out of the ring.

Piccolo blinked and flashed a bright light in his face, blinding him. Piccolo jumped behind him and kicked him off of the stage, landing on the ground below.

"Amazing! It appears that Yamcha has been rung-out! Junior will be moving onto the finals!"

The crowd went wild, amazed by the incredible comeback. It appeared that the dark horse was the one to root for, this year. Piccolo left the stage, without looking back.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder. Yamcha was climbing back onto the stage, hobbling over to him, holding onto his side. When he reached him, he smirked and held out his hand. "That was a good fight."

Piccolo grabbed his hand and shook it, in affirmation.

From the sidelines, Goku, Tien, and Krillin were all watching the fight go down. Both Tien and Krillin looked on in shock and awe. In contrast, Goku was nodding, in approval.

"That Piccolo sure is something," Tien said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Tell me about it," Krillin agreed. "Neither of us could stand against Yamcha's Wolf Fang Fist, when we were training with Roshi."

"I told you he's amazing! I haven't been this excited in a while!"


"And for our next fight, we have our second rematch for this tournament – Son Goku against Krillin! Both tournament veterans and both students of the Turtle Hermit. If you recall, they fought against each other in the twenty-second tournament as young boys, with Goku coming out on top. What will happen next? As far as we're concerned, anything goes!"

"Just like old times, huh," Goku asked.

Krillin laughed. "You can say that again. Honestly, I didn't think I'd get the chance you fight you a second time."

"As long as you haven't been slacking, then this will be fun!"

"Goku," Chi-Chi yelled from the audience. "If you win, I'll take you out to your favorite restaurant!"

"Really?" Chi-Chi winked at him, and Goku grinned.

The gong chimed, and the two fighters immediately went at each other. Goku pulled his fist back and punched Krillin square in the face, sending him careening towards the wall. Krillin flipped around and pushed his feet against it, propelling him back towards Goku. He threw an energy ball at him, which he dodged. However, Goku did not get out of the way in time, and Krillin kicked him in the face, knocking him off his feet.

Krillin pulled his hands back, doing the same move that Goku and Yamcha had done, before. Not to be outdone, Goku quickly followed suit.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

They called their attacks in unison and fired at each other, their beams clashing in the middle. The beams pushed against each other, but neither fighter was willing to stand down. The crowd stared at the light show with oos and ahs.

Goku and Krillin stared each other down, each illuminated by the light of their attacks. They nodded at each other, and the attack disintegrated. Though the audience groaned, they quickly got back into their fighting stances.

"What's this," the announcer said. "It appears that both of our fighters agreed to pause their clashing. Ladies and gentlemen, could we be dealing with two opponents who are equally matched?"

As Piccolo watched from the sidelines, he knew that wasn't the case. Though Krillin was strong, his power didn't match Goku's. No, instead, they weren't looking to expend their energy this early in the match. Continuing with that clash would have been wasteful.

"You've sure gotten strong, Krillin! You've really been keeping up with your training."

"I'm still nothing compared to you, Goku. But don't think that I'll be going down easily."

"I wouldn't want it any other way!"

Krillin phased out of view, reappearing above. Goku jumped backwards, and he punched the tournament stage, turning the stones into dust. As Krillin's punches and kicks kept coming, Goku dodged them, while moving backwards.

Goku jumped into the air, and Krillin swiftly followed. They exchanged blows at a rapid pace, as they slowly descended towards the ground.

The announcer came equipped with binoculars, today. "What stunning déjà vu! Goku and Krillin are still fighting with all their might, even high into the sky! Perhaps earlier was just a show of restraint from both of the fighters. But they're still going at it! You do not want to count them out just yet!"

Goku punched Krillin hard in the air, sending him falling back onto the stage. He crashed into the hard stone tiles, landing on his head.

The crowd watched the fallen fighter with baited breath and suspense, waiting to see what would happen, next. A referee jumped on stage and started counting. If he were not up by the tenth count, then the match would be over.

"Krillin!" Goku immediately fell back down and ran up to him. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, Krillin began to stand up, once more. As he stood with his legs shaking for several moments, he slumped back down to the ground. He looked up at Goku and laughed. "I guess I'm done for. I give up."

"Oh! Krillin has forfeited the match! Despite showing more tenacity and strength than many fighters could ever possess, he seems to know his limits. Regardless, this is certainly an epic match that will be remembered for years! Son Goku will be moving forward to the finals!"

The crowd erupted into cheering and applause for both fighters. Goku knelt down next to Krillin and helped him stand back up. "Wow, you really have gotten stronger! I never knew!"

Krillin shook his head. "So what, if you still end up losing…"

"Hey, don't talk like that. It was still a really fun fight!"

Paramedics ran over to help Krillin, as well. After the fall he had done, they wanted to make sure he didn't suffer a concussion or anything serious. Krillin reassured Goku that he would be okay, as he was trying to apologize for knocking him down so hard.

Goku walked backstage, where Piccolo was waiting for him. He had been quite impressed by the Earth fighters' performances, during this tournament. They truly were capable. "That was some fight," he said.

"Yeah. Krillin's really gotten strong!" As they started to walk out, Goku suddenly stopped. "I guess this means I get to fight you, tomorrow!"

"Indeed."

"That's gonna be great! You did amazing, up against Yamcha! Now, let's go find Chi-Chi and get something to eat. Sound good?"

Piccolo nodded and the two of them left the tournament area.


The semi-finals proved to be even more exciting than the quarterfinals. Only the best of the best got through and it truly showed. The fights were intense, exciting, and energetic. All of this would be leading up to the most exciting fight of them all: the finals.

It was anybody's guess who would win. Both Ma Junior and Goku had proven themselves strong and capable fighters: well up for any challenge that could face them. Tomorrow, they would finally clash.

Only one would go home a champion.