I boosted up the rating of this fic because of this chapter. I didn't want to take any chances. Enjoy, Read and Review!
Chapter 12
The next morning everyone woke up with a feeling of anticipation of the upcoming tournament. The group had made their way to the tournament ground together, but once they arrived Master Roshi 'mysteriously' disappeared. Bulma suggested to search for him, but Vegeta dismissed the idea claiming that he'll meet up with them to watch the fights
As the announcer called for all the fighters to enter the building, Vegeta and the other spectators were being pushed back. Bulma didn't appreciate the treatment and began complaining about wanting to see her friends fight
The tournament officials adamantly refused her demands and sent her back with the rest of the rowdy crowd
Feeling annoyed Vegeta grabbed Bulma and flew over the crowd to watch the fights through a window of the building leaving the tournament officials and much of the crowd speechless
Following the older Prince's example Raditz grabbed Launch, who had blond hair again, and took off towards the building. Goku and Tarble took off towards the building as well with Oolong and Puar following in bird form
Once the whole group was over there, Vegeta told Tarble to blow a hole in the wall big enough for everyone to look through. The younger prince did as instructed and soon the whole group landed on the ground to watch the fight through the hole
With the fighters, Chiaotzu had fixed it so nobody would fight each other in the preliminary rounds. He also made it so Jackie Chun wouldn't fight one of the group as well, he didn't know the reason, but he did what Tien requested
Yamcha's match was the first to be announced so everyone watched in anticipation for Yamcha to show a snippet of his power. His opponent was a former martial arts champion King Chappa. He was rumored to be one of the strongest martial artists in the world and Yamcha had heard all the rumors about his power
Chappa walked up to the former bandit with a smirk on his face
"Greetings young one. I have no intentions of hurting you, so lets make this quick" he said getting into his stance. Yamcha smirked at him and nodded doing the same
He looked over to see Vegeta and the others watching through a hole in the wall. He smirked before powering up about half way knowing the scouters would show them his power. His smirk increased when he saw the shocked faces of Bulma and Tarble and the semi impressed looks on the faces of Raditz and Vegeta
Goku just smiled as he knew what Yamcha was capable of after training nearly non stop with him for 10 months
Unfortunately for King Chappa, he didn't have the ability to measure opponents power levels. He charged Yamcha only to be knocked back by a quick kick to the face that left King Chappa dazed
Yamcha frowned at the legendary fighter's lack of power. He had to hold back a lot of power to refrain from killing him and that fact was somewhat disappointing to the ex bandit
In contrast, that kick had caused King Chappa the most pain he'd ever felt in his life. He knew right away that he'd have to use his full power to even stand a chance against this opponent. He focused all his power until it seemed like he had 8 arms
Of course Yamcha could see through the illusion, but it was still impressive that he could move his arms fast enough to make it look like he had 8 arms. Watching from the sidelines Tien smirked
Chappa once again charged Yamcha with all his might, but Yamcha had grown tired of the fight and back handed him knocking the King unconscious
The ref declared Yamcha the winner of the battle and the group all congratulated him on his victory
Their congrats were cut short as two bald adolescents bumped into Krillin knocking him back a few steps. Krillin looked up to see who had pushed him and his eyes widened when he saw the faces of his old Orin Temple bullies
"Well if it isn't little Krillin. What's a weak squirt like you doing at the tournament? Why don't you get lost and leave the fighting for the real martial artists" The small fat one asked causing Krillin to look down
"Aww don't be so hard on him buddy, let him stay. After all he is my first preliminary opponent and it'd be a shame if I couldn't get a warm up fight with my old punching bag" the taller one said laughing
They made their way towards Krillin again but they stopped when they saw a body in between them. Turles had put himself in between the bullies and Krillin and he did not look happy. He was glaring at the two teenagers and his tail lashed violently
"Get lost" Turles said menacingly causing the two monks to tremble. The little boy scared them and they didn't want to anger him anymore so they started walking away. However, before they left the taller one shouted
"Your friend can't save you when we're in the ring. I'll destroy you" leaving Krillin nervous
He stood in place shaking until he slapped hard by Turles' tail. He looked over to his friend in pain to ask for an explanation but Turles beat him to it
"You need to get it together. You spent the last 10 months training with two Saiyans and you stronger than all of these other earthlings. There's no need for you to be afraid of people like them. In your upcoming match you will destroy him is that understood?" Turles said scolding Krillin
Krillin looked at him in surprise before smiling and nodding at his friends words
"Thanks Turles, I needed that" Krillin said. Turles nodded and then entered the ring to participate in his match
He was facing off against a dragon type monster who looked down on him with laughter in his eyes
"I, the mighty Giran, has to fight a little monkey boy? This isn't fair at all" He said laughing loudly
Turles scoffed at the monsters attitude before smirking
"I agree with you Giran. This really isn't fair" Turles said causing Giran to stop his laughing and start frowning
He charged at Turles and punched him right in his face. Giran smirked as he heard his fist impact with the child's face. He felt a little bit of sympathy but the child had insulted him so he felt that Turles deserved it
However, he soon heard the sound of laughter. A loud booming laughter that echoed through the whole building causing almost everyone to freeze. Giran jumped back to see a teasing smirk on Turles face
"Please tell me that wasn't all the power that you could muster up. If that's the case than I'm very disappointed in you" the young Saiyan said
Giran had sweat dropped and was starting to back away from the boy. No one had ever with stood a full power punch from him before and this boy not only with stood, but laughed about it as well
Starting to lose his patience he fired a pink substance out of his mouth. Turles was curious so he allowed to substance to wrap around him. He soon felt a light pressure squeezing his body together
He raised his eyebrow as Giran began this long story about how this merry go round gum was the strongest substance on the planet. When Turles was sure that Giran was done explaining he lightly flexed his muscles and the gum completely broke freeing Turles who crossed his arms in boredom
"Anymore tricks Giran?" Turles asked but paled when he saw that Giran had given up the fight. Turles laughed at his incompetence before leaving the ring heading for his friends with all the competitors clearing a path for him
After seeing Turles' match, many of the fighters quit the tournament. Goku, Raditz and Vegeta all laughed at the amount of fear Turles produced out of the competitors, but they were silenced by attacks from Bulma and Launch. After seeing that Tarble chuckled quietly to himself
Chiaotzu and Krillin disposed of their preliminary match ups swiftly and easily and their opponents was no match for them in the slightest. Krillin was no longer afraid of his old Orin Temple bullies and he showed no mercy when attacking him. He had much more power than he thought and he only had to use a fraction of it to defeat the old bully. Chiaotzu had a very smelly opponent and after covering his nose he quickly dealt with him
Now it was Tien's turn but he froze when he saw the person he was facing
"It's been a long time Tienshinhan. Tell me, did you and Chiaotzu complete your assignment?" The familiar voice of Mercenary Tao said
"Don't just stand there and stare at me; tell me how your mission went, is the Ox King dead or not? Shen failed to eliminate Roshi and is currently in exile for his failure. Please tell me that I wasn't the only one to complete my assignment" Mercenary Tao said impatiently
Vegeta's eyes perked up as he heard what the man was saying
"Um no Master Tao. We didn't manage to kill the Ox King" Tien said truthfully to hid old master
Tao scoffed and shook his head
"I thought I taught you better than that Tienshinhan and you too Chiaotzu" the man said scolding both former crane students
"When I disposed of Gohan, I was under the impression that Roshi and the Ox King would be dead as well but clearly you are all incompetent. I'll deal with them myself after I win this tournament" Tao said casually
Goku and Vegeta both stiffened when they heard the man say that he 'disposed' of Gohan
Raditz, Tarble and Bulma's scouters all went off as they saw the power levels of the two Saiyans increasing tremendously and before anyone could do anything they both zoomed to the ring
Tao and Tien both stepped back in shock as to very angry powered up Saiyans arrived in the ring. It was a rare time that Mercenary Tao felt fear as he met two twin glares that sent shivers down his spine
"Hey no one is allowed to interrupt this match now please exit the ring" the ref said
Vegeta and Goku both sent looks of malice towards the ref that immediately silenced his complaints. In fact, the ref decided that it was in his best interests to leave the ring himself rather than be in the path of the two angry boys. Turning their attention back to Tao the two Saiyans frowned
"What do you mean by you disposed of Gohan?" Vegeta said while snarling
"Did you do something to my Grandpa?" Goku asked loudly
Before anyone could do anything Raditz, Tarble, Turles, Yamcha, Krillin, and Chiaotzu appeared in the ring. They all joined Tien and positioned themselves in between Tao and the two Saiyans
It took Tao a moment too shake himself out of his fearful trance, but when he did he began to smirk
"Oh I understand now. You're the two grandchildren he spoke off before he died. Well kids I sent your grandpa to the otherworld"
"I'm going to kill you" Goku snarled and launched himself towards Tao only to be stopped by the combined effort of his brothers and Krillin
Everyone else's attention was on Vegeta who's body shook in barely contained rage. He looked at the smirking face of Mercenary Tao
"How did a weak piece of trash like you manage to kill Gohan? Clearly you don't have enough power so how did you do it. This is all I want to know before I kill you" Vegeta said causing Tao to take a couple steps back
Everyone in the arena with the exception of Goku was fearful of Vegeta at the moment. Even Bulma, Tarble and Raditz who had the closest connection to the prince. Tao was fearful for his life but he decided to tempt fate even more by telling Vegeta what happened
"If you wanna know so badly how your Grandfather was defeated by the great Mercenary Tao then I'll be happy to tell you" Tao said recalling that day more than 10 months ago
Flashback
Mercenary Tao was defeated. Gohan had knocked him down time and time again. He had come to the realization that he was severely outclassed by the old turtle hermit student, but he had a mission to complete and he was determined not to lose
"Why don't you give up and go home Tao? It should be obvious by now that you'd never defeat me and I honestly don't want to kill you" Gohan said sympathetically
Gohan had grown tired of beating up the Mercenary and he felt that it wasn't his fault he was twisted. He was raised by his brother than Crane Hermit and that man had always had a nasty heart
"Just walk away now and no more harm will befall you Tao. Please hear my words and don't try to continue fighting when you're clearly tired and defeated" Gohan finished looking down at him
Tao looked at the older man incredulously surprised that he's showing him mercy. He smirked to himself knowing that he could take advantage of the man's generous nature and big heart
"Alright Gohan you're right and I give up, you win" Mercenary Tao said shocking Gohan. Secretly Tao had pulled the pin on a grenade he was carrying. He had 10 seconds to throw it and with Gohan's speed, he'd have to be perfect
Gohan was impressed. He'd didn't think the man would actually give up but he was glad that the fight was over
"Good. You may leave Gohan said turning his back to Tao causing him to smirk. With 3 seconds left before the grenade went off he threw it then jumped in the air yelling at Gohan
"DON'T FORGET THIS WHEN YOU LEAVE"
Gohan turned as he was caught in an explosion shook the area
When Tao landed and the smoke cleared he saw that Gohan was still alive but he was severely hurt
Smirking Tao began to laugh as he started charging the ki necessary for a Dodon Ray. His laughing stopped when he heard Gohan laughing weakly along with him
"You got me good *cough cough* my grandsons will be really upset… I hope your conscience can withstand the amount of pain you are putting on two young boys" Gohan said struggling to speak
"I couldn't care less about your grandchildren, I'll dispose of them myself after telling them how foolish their grandfather was" Tao declared
This caused Gohan's laugh to get even louder which angered Tao greatly
"Good luck with that one Tao. You know I actually feel bad for you because the pain I'm going through now is nothing compared to what they're going to put you through. Especially Vegeta… You know I've never really been able to control him and train him to not kill; and Goku with all his antics… he'll be the death of me" Gohan said offhandedly
Tao was getting tired of Gohan's constant babble about his Grandchildren. He fired the fully charged dodon ray and Gohan's head and with that the old master was dead
Tao thought about the old man's words about his grandchildren. Gohan really felt bad about what his grandchildren would do to him? Tao thought it was absurd that some kids could be a threat to him
With a light chuckle and a shake of the head he walked away from Gohan's dead body to reconvene with his brother, Tien and Chiaotzu to check on their mission success
End Flashback
Tao finished telling the story about how he defeated Gohan and looked to gauge the reactions of the multiple people in the ring
Goku was thrashing wildly in the grip of Raditz who even at full was having problems holding the young saiyan back
The others were fully powered up and all formed a barrier between Vegeta and Tao with Tien and Chiaotzu having solemn looks on their faces
By this time Bulma and Launch had entered the ring as well. Bulma tried to console the shaking prince
"Vegeta you can't stoop to his level and if you kill him right now they'll try to remove you from tournament grounds by force. Let Tien deal with him. I promise you that Gohan wouldn't want you too…" Bulma said before a glare from Vegeta stopped her from talking
"How would you know what Gohan wanted? You only knew him for 10 minutes and based of this bastards story it seems like Gohan knew that I'd vaporize this waste of life for what he did to him so why shouldn't I destroy him?" Vegeta said in a low menacing voice while powering up to his max
By this point every other person had ran out of the competition hall and all the people left were Tao, their group, Jackie Chun and the lone tournament ref that was scared out of the ring earlier. Even Puar and Oolong had ran away to take cover
When Tarble's scouter picked up Vegeta's full power he knew it would take everyone's full power to try and stop him especially with Raditz being unavailable as he's containing Goku
The only one who couldn't sense the increase in power was Tao himself as he sneered becoming irritated by the situation
"He's right girl now stick your nose in someone else's business before I send you where Gohan is. You know what never mind. I'm growing bored of this situation so I won't spare you. DODON RAY" Tao said firing the beam at Bulma
Everyones eyes widened with the exception of Vegeta who casually back handed the beam away. Even Goku stopped thrashing in Raditz' grip when he saw what Tao had done. Jackie Chun shook his head and turned away from the scene knowing that Tao had just signed his own death warrant
"Was that attack meant for her? You thought that you could take her from me like you did my adoptive grandfather" Vegeta asked in a tone that sent fear down everyone's spine
Tao couldn't even find the words to respond to him as he was filled with the same fear everyone else felt. He had never seen his Dodon ray being dealt with so easily and it made him truly realize the gap in power
Vegeta started walking towards Tao with slow deliberate steps. His friends all moved out of the way as he got into Tao's face
The mercenary looked at him with obvious fear in his eyes. He was petrified and couldn't find it in himself to move. It was as if Vegeta's glare locked him in place
Vegeta lifted a hand right above Tao's eyes and a blue light could be seen by everyone in the room
Tao felt his life flash before his eyes and he now understood why Gohan looked at him with pity as he lay on the ground dying. Vegeta was going to completely obliterate him and he felt his imminent death
"Bulma, Launch, Tarble, Kakarot, Turles, Chiaotzu, Krillin close your eyes. Raditz make sure their eyes stay closed until I'm done" Vegeta said and everyone did as instructed
Vegeta focused his energy in his fingertips. He sent one beam down Tao's throat to burn his vocal cords so he couldn't scream. Then he used his energy to cut off each of Tao's limbs before incinerating them as they hit the ground. Finally he pointed his hand at Tao's limbless body and simply said "Go to Hell" as he vaporized the Mercenary ending his misery
Jackie Chun, Yamcha and the tournament official were all shocked at what they just witnessed. Even Raditz and Tien, who were no strangers to murder and torture themselves, were a little perturbed by what they witnessed. Raditz instructed all those with their eyes closed to open them and to no ones surprise Tao was gone
Goku let out endless tears as he ran to Vegeta with Bulma not far behind. The two hugged the eldest Saiyan prince who had let a single tear fall from his eyes. He hugged the two back and everyone else looked on at the emotional display with solemn faces
Jackie Chun walked over to the tournament official.
"Tell no one about what transpired in here today. Tell them you settled the situation and advance the top 8 fighters. The fights will resume tomorrow" he instructed and the tournament official nodded before walking out to do as he was told
"Bulma we have to wish him back when the tournaments over" Vegeta said with slight desperation
"Of course we will. Gohan won't be gone forever" Bulma said determinedly as she continued to embrace Vegeta and Goku
The group grieved with their friends and everyone gave a moment of silence for Gohan the fallen Roshi. No one noticed Jackie Chun walk away
Once he was away from the group Roshi removed the wig and shed a tear for the lost of his first Pupil
"Rest in Peace Gohan. You will be missed" the turtle hermit said looking into the horizon
TBC
Power Levels
King Chappa: 67
Giran: 71
Gohan: 300
Tao: 145
Master Roshi/ Jackie Chun: 650 (He didn't really train as much he mainly taught the others and he's older so he only gained 350 in power)
Chiaotzu: 200
Krillin: 1600 (He had great sparring partners and he fought with them nearly everyday but his power was lower than everyone's to start so its only natural he still is lower than everyone who's a fighter
Yamcha: 2400 (same as Krillin but he started out stronger)
Turles: 14,000 (He and Goku get Zenkai boosts)
Goku: 19,500 (had to hold back a little for the others but still got stronger)
Tien: 2700
Tarble: 10,000 (He's not a prodigy or a naturally skilled fighter like the other saiyans)
Raditz: 21,000 (only stronger than Goku because of the healing tank and constant Zenkai boosts)
Vegeta: 27,000