Chapter 4: Smoke and Mirrors
"Sheesh, you could've waited until the guy finished telling me his name, you know," an annoyed Videl said.
"But Ms. Satan," the harried man whined, "the producer said he's going to fire me if I didn't bring you to the interview room in five minutes. Please understand, miss."
Videl and the assistant arrived at some sort of studio. She could see a nook where a set of sofas, tables, and ferns are tastefully arranged. In front of the fake living room, there are multiple large cameras, lights and some other TV equipments, manned by at least a dozen personnel.
"Yeah fine, whatever," the girl said with a huff. "I'm just going to give my expert opinion on the eight semi-finalists and their chances against my dad, is that right? But we all know the answer to that is a big fat zero."
"I know, I know. We still need to create excitement on the other contestants. Our sponsors are live checking the ratings pretty closely, you see."
The producer, who had been listening to their conversation, butted in.
"That's where you come in, Ms. Videl. Mr. Satan mentioned you're some kind of martial arts nerd. Maybe you have some info about the eight semi-finalists? I heard some of them fought in past World Martial Arts tournaments. Just give some spicy background stuff, enough to make our viewers believe that they have some sort of fighting chance against the champ."
"Oh, there you are, Videl sweetheart," a frazzled Mr. Satan approached them from the vicinity of the complementary buffet table. "Mr. Producer here want some expert opinion on the semi-final bouts. I'd like to do it, of course, but the problem is, Mr. Cash wants me to join him in the command center upstairs. Please be a darling and help your old man out, okay?"
The girl frowned slightly. "Are yor alright, dad? You're sweating buckets." What's making him so nervous?
"Of course, sweetie!" he said loudly, while wiping his forehead with an already damp handkerchief." It's this running back and forth, interview here, wave to the crowds there. Then socialize with Mr. Cash and his family in between. Your dad is a busy man today, ahahaha!"
But then Videl saw his eyes grazed on a large TV screen with the head shot pictures of Gohan, Tien Shinhan, Piccolo, Trunks, and Krillin. She heard her dad made some sort of strangled sound, making her look at the screen closely. Hey, isn't that the boy...? Naah, it can't be. That kid looked too harmless to be a fighter…
Before Videl can ponder any further, she felt the producer tap her shoulders. With a large grin, he guided Videl into one of the sofa. She looked around to find her father and saw him backing to an open lift and giving her an ok sign.
''Thanks for helping me out, honey! Mwah!" Mr. Satan sent a flying kiss to his resigned daughter.
The girl knew she had no choice. Her dad's media commitment must be fulfilled or else those same media is going to tear out her dad. She knew that a lot of her dad's new business ventures rely on his stellar reputation and the public's goodwill.
Young as she is, she knew, they needed the money. For her mom's sake.
Putting a smile to signal her acquiesce, she accepts the handshake from the other panelist, a beefy red-faced man with a receding hairline. Rounding off their trio is the tournament main announcer. In front of them, the director signals - 3, 2, 1, and 0.
"Welcome back folks, to the Intergalactic Martial Arts tournament! As always, I'm your host, S. P. Kerr. While they are preparing the arenas for the semi-finals round, let me introduce you to our commentary panel.
On my right is no stranger for those who had watched the last World Martial Arts Tournament. It was a such a narrow final match between our panelist and our beloved Mr. Satan, wouldn't you agree, folks?" The burly man on his side nods vigorously. "The second strongest man in the world and the master of the Rolling Panda School of Martial Arts, I give you Master Din Tai Fung!" The TV crew clapped warmly.
"On my left is a young lady substituting for her father, who in turn is currently at the command center helping Mr. X. S. Cash with last minute tournament preparations. Totally obliterating all her competitors, she had quickly gained the World Martial Arts Tournament Junior Division championship belt. The top student at her dad's dojo at the very young age of twelve, all pundits had placed her as the number one rising star of the martial arts world. Folks, give a warm welcome to Ms. Videl Satan!" The crew, now joined by more than a dozen of the defeated contestants (who conveniently lost their way out of the backstage area), again clapped enthusiastically.
The director then gives a thumb up signal to the announcer.
"I believe the first semifinal bout is about to begin in a few minutes. First up, it's the match between -" Mr. Kerr reads his notes,"- Tien Shinhan and... huh, no last name, I wonder why?... a guy named Trunks!"
Master Fung snorts derisively. "A couple of amateur no names."
"I beg to differ, Master Fung," Videl asserts calmly. "Mr. Tien Shinhan was a former champion. He won at the twenty-second World Martial Arts Tournament."
Mr. Kerr nods vigorously. "That is interesting. Mr. Shinhan might be a formidable one, someone we should watch out for. What about his opponent, the young man, Trunks?"
Videl narrows her eyes, scrutinizing the lavender haired guy more closely. "Hmm, I don't think I know him."
Master Fung snorts again."Let me correct myself. An amateur no name, and an old has-been."
Before the girl can give her response, a chime rang and the director pointed to a widescreen screen in front of them. She saw a handsome guy with light purple hair (he looked like one of those idols in Erasa's teenybopper magazines, Videl thought) casually talking to a heavily muscled bald man who was doing some final stretches.
"The way they regard each other, I wonder if they're friends?" Videl didn't realize she mused aloud until she saw Mr. Kerr shrugged.
"The bout between Tien Shinhan and Trunks is about to begin in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" Mr. Kerr exclaimed. And with that, the match bell rang.
Mr. Kerr's statement was the last one heard in the studio in the next few minutes. The panel can barely see the fighters' movements, let alone give comments about them. But when the two took off to the air, everyone's jaws simply dropped, from those in front of the camera, to those behind it.
"Tri beam, Ha!" Tien Shinhan shouted and a large white blast swifly barraged its way to the purple haired youth. The younger man dodged and the blast hit a cliff instead, blowing the humongous rock to smithereens.
With a laugh and a smirk, the young man powered up. A blinding yellow aura enveloped the teen and astonishingly, his limp purple hair turned to yellow spikes and his blue eyes into green.
Videl wished her dad was there. She'd like to ask if he knew this fellow. Because this Trunks looks like the blonde guy from the Cell games. Okay, so maybe that man was a bit bulkier and older, but the hair and the eyes? Totally him.
Mr. Kerr shook himself and saw the director signaling him to say something. He cleared his throat. "Master Fung." The big man didn't respond, his bulging eyes still glued to the screen. "Master Fung!"
''Huh?"
''Er, care to comment about what's happening in the match? Any idea why the two are floating in the air like that? How about the lights?"
"That's easy. They've using wires. As for the lights, why those are merely pyrotechnics and special bulbs. Smoke and mirrors, as my esteemed rival Mr. Satan would say. Those two probably arranged this stuff to hype up their match. Isn't that right, Ms. Videl?''
"Uh huh," the distracted girl agreed. That seemed like the most logical explanation. But to be honest, Videl isn't entirely convinced.
Tien Shinhan sent another energy blast to the young man. Amazingly, the teen merely punches the attack away, dissipating it into smoke. Trunks seemingly vanishes, which took the bald warrior by surprise. This gave the blond-haired youth the chance to quickly get behind Tien. He then chops the older warrior on the neck, sending him careening to the sea.
"Trunks wins the match!" the announcer shouts, and the crowd outside roars in appreciation. "He advances to the finals!
The next match will be Doskoi versus Sky Dragon. But first, some words from our sponsors."
The large screen in their front then cut to a commercial break. The director took these few minutes to scold the panel for their lackluster performance. But Videl barely noticed the ranting man.
That last match reminded her so much of matches from the previous World Martial Arts Tournaments, the ones she avidly read in books and watched from archived footages at the Orange Star Public Library. They were so different from the one that she and her dad participated last year. Those matches looked vastly more exciting and dangerous. Videl wondered why those old fighters didn't join up in the last World Martial Arts Tournament. Maybe those old fighters found the twenty fourth tournament too tame? Or maybe they thought that the contestants who joined were so below their skills that they refused to join?
There's only one way to find out, Videl told herself. That is, to finish this damn interview and ask Mr. Tien Shihan himself.