Chapter 5: Conversations
Tien found them in the concessionaires' area.
If he was like them, he'll acknowledge that it's a strategic location. It was near a takoyaki stand so they won't get hungry or thirsty. But most importantly, it's near the stairs to the upper level of the audience seats. A small but well timed ki wave disguised as a sudden gust of wind will send girls' skirts up for the viewing pleasure of a lecherous old man, and a lewd talking pig. The old man's former student was the only one watching the match currently showing in the humongous widescreen TV high up the concessionaires' area - it was Gohan versus some gigantic moustached fighter. Yamcha looked bored though, and discreetly glanced up with the old man and the pig when a deliberate rush of air hiked a blonde girl's skirt up. Tien made a sound halfway between a snort of disgust and an amused laugh.
''Hey Tien," Yamcha greeted the tall bald man. "Sucks to get matched with Trunks, but that man, that was a great fight! You should have seen the opened months from the people here, and they weren't even eating." Yamcha chuckled. Roshi nodded vigorously and Oolong grinned and a thumbs up.
Tien smiled. "Yeah well, I still lost. But thanks."
"Gohan wins! He moves on to the finals!" the announcer blared. "The next and last semifinals match is between Krillin and Ma Junior." This caught the Z fighters' attention. The screen showed a nervous looking short bald guy and a tall scowling green man.
"Piccolo looks annoyed," Oolong observed.
"Piccolo always looks annoyed," Tien answered.
"Well, he looks more annoyed than usual."
"Probably because he wasn't matched with either Trunks or Gohan," Roshi surmised. "Unless Krillin gives him a good fight, he's probably thinking this is all just a waste of time."
"Sheesh, if he weren't so green, I could've sworn he's a saiyan," Yamcha said.
"While we wait for the go signal from the referees, we'll now go to our panelists for their thoughts." The view on the screen now showed a studio set with three people siting on sofas. "Master Fung, your thoughts on the last three semifinal bouts?"
The beefy man puts a finger on his chin and scratched thoughtfully. "They were fairly decent matches, sure, but I've seen better ones. The first one was okay but relied too much on gimmickry. Flying and energy blasts are overly dramatic, don't you think? The second fight was so much better. Sky Dragon has decent martial arts skills. I'll single out the new one - I believe he calls it, hmm, the afterimage technique - is quite innovative. But in the end, strength trumps technique. And Doskoi had spades of strength." Master Fung, his arms crossed, slides back on the sofa.
"Master Fung, how about the last one. Between this boy," Mr. Kerr checks his notes, "Son Gohan and the brawler Bruno. That was such an upset, don't you think?"
"That was not a match. That was a terrible blunder by Bruno," Master Fung scoffed. "Didn't you see? The big guy tripped on his own feet. What poor body coordination! The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and all of that."
Mr. Kerr blinked. "I see."
The announcer cleared his throat and then shifted his attention to Videl.
"Ms. Videl, with your vast knowledge of tournament history, do you have any information you can share about the next two fighters?"
"A bit," the black haired girl replied. "They were contestants in previous World Martial Arts tournaments. The small man, Krillin, had been a consistent finalist from the twenty first up to the twenty third tournaments. Ma Junior, on the other hand, was in the final match at the twenty third tournament. He lost, of course, to the champion at that time, Son Goku." Videl paused. Wait a minute, didn't Mr. Kerr say that the kid's name was Son Gohan? I wonder if he's related to Son Goku...
"I don't know about you, Ms. Videl, but there's something about Mr. Junior that's awfully familiar. I can't put my finger on it though..."
"Really?" The girl studied the image in the screen more closely. "Sorry, nothing registers in my mind. Whatever it is, it must be non-tournament related. Or maybe it happened before I was born, and you're just too old, Mr. Kerr," Videl teased.
At the concessionaires' area, the Z fighters chuckled.
"Cheeky girl," Roshi said. "If she were a bit older, I would date her."
Laughter quickly died around the table, and the rest of the gang stared at Roshi, aghast.
"I said if she were a bit older! I'm not that disgusting, jeez!"
"Besides, the thing I like about her is that she knows a lot about tournament history,"Roshi continued, trying to salvage what little left of his dignity. "That shows respect not only of the art of fighting but also to what came before."
"Translation, you just want to know if the kids nowadays remember that old geezer, the turtle hermit Master Roshi,"Oolong said, giving the old man a smirk.
The fighters gave another round of laugher.
"Ok fine, I'll admit that," the hermit said, cackling.
"Who is she, anyway?" Tien asked.
Oolong smirked. "Can you believe, she's Videl Satan. The daughter of the one, the only, champion of the World, Hercule Satan! Boo yeah!"
"No way!" Yamcha was flabbergasted. "Aside from the color of the hair and eyes, she looks nothing like her old man, lucky her."
"The announcer guy also said she won the kid's division in the last world tournament. Which doesn't prove anything, really."
Tien looked at the slip of a girl, who Iooked frail looking compared to the burly men beside her. The warrior, by habit and by training, knew not to judge strength by appearances, but he does agree with the pig. There doesn't seem to be anything special about this Videl Satan.
''Oh, I think the last match's about to start," Yamcha said, as the view on the screen shifted back to the arena and to their two friends. Piccolo was still scowling and Krillin still looked nervous.
"Hey guys, you want to know something juicy?" Oolong said conspirationally. "Our man, Krillin would probably claim he joined for pride and glory, but let me tell you, he's in for the sweet zenis. 'Cause he need the cash to keep his girlfriend!" Except for raised eyebrows, no one reacted to his supposed bomb of a news, so the pig continued.
"I noticed just the other day that our short friend there keeps having appointments to the mainland practically everyday. You'll say, so what, right? Well, just the other day, I woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, and boom, I see the Krill-dog sneaking upstairs to his room, smelling like women's perfume, and lipstick on his cheeks!"
Tien rolled his eyes and tuned out the conversation.
Videl took off the second the director said that they're done. Trying to anyway, as people keep trying to get her attention.
"Hey girlie," Master Fung slid his arm on her shoulders. "Mr. Kerr and I are going to join your dad and Mr. Cash upstairs. Let's go."
Videl pasted on a fake smile while she removed Master Fung's arm. "Maybe later, sir. I need to go somewhere else first. Could you tell dad I'll see him later? Thanks!"
"Ms. Videl! You were great!"
"A drink, Ms. Videl? Or maybe something to eat?"
"Ms. Videl, can I get your autograph?"
''Hey Videl, you're so cute! Can I show you some moves? Martial art moves, of course."
Waving them off, she quickly escaped. Ducking to a less crowded corridor, she weaved left and right the maze-like passageways, until she found herself outside. She narrowed her eyes to ward off some of the sunlight's assault. The girl then breathe in the fresh air she didn't realize she'd been wanting so badly, having been cooped up inside the main building since arriving at the Battle Island this morning.
Despite the difference of decors, the lack of coconut palms, and orange robed monks, the girl can almost imagine that she's at a World Martial Arts tournament. The first and only time had been last year. Her dad said that last year's tournament was bigger and better than all the previous versions combined. She also heard when he muttered to himself that it's safer too.
She couldn't actually compare, of course, as she was born after the twenty third world tournament. And they've allowed video recording of the matches only last year. But judging from the pictures in the books and the rare and very short archival footages, she thought the tournaments were more intimate and serious, with the strict preliminary round, and a smaller stage. Not to mention that there was only one division, a contest with no age limit. A tournament where an adult can legally beat up a kid to an inch of her life.
Videl wondered, with that kind of competition, will she even have a fighting chance?
The delicious smell of umami and the answering rumbles of her stomach told her that there are food stalls nearby. She skipped happily down the stairs and went to the nearest one, a takoyaki stand. Luckily, there was only one customer, a scar faced guy in an orange gi. Videl bought a batch of six and a can of juice. But when she turned around, she saw that the dining area was packed, and all tables were occupied.
''Hey, kid," the scar faced nudged her, noticing her frown. "If you don't mind sharing a table with a bunch of dudes, we have a free seat at our table. Don't worry, we're harmless, and we'll be leaving in a few, anyway."
Videl hesitated for a bit and then shrugged. They were in an open space with lots of security personnel roaming around. And besides, she knew how to defend herself. That's the whole point of martial arts training, right?
Three steps from the takoyaki stand, the girl found herself in front of an old man, a pig, and -
"Hey, wait a minute, you're Tien Shinhan!"
Roshi laughed. "Would you look at that, Tien. You have a fan."
Oolong narrowed his eyes. Then they became round as saucers. "Guys, it's that girl!"
"Girl? Which girl?" This kid is too young to be one of those ladies in his favorite exercise show, Roshi thought.
"You know, that Satan girl, Videl!"
"The one we were talking about earlier?" Tien asked.
"You were talking about me?"
Yamcha laughed, scratching his hand on the back of his neck. "Nothing to worry about, Videl. After all, you were on that TV," pointing to the wide screen on the wall above them, "Just an hour ago, right?"
Videl nodded slowly."Oh, right. And I know Mr. Tien Shinhan because, among other things, I was a panelist during his match. Which, by the way, was awesome," the girl said shyly at the bald man.
"Thanks," Tien answered with a smile.
"Just call him Tien," the scar faced guy said. "This is Oolong, the old man is Master Roshi, and my name's Yamcha."
"Hello, I'm Videl," the girl said, bowing. "Nice to meet all of you."
"Likewise," the old man replied. "And I'm guessing that 'among other things' mean you being a martial arts tournament afficionado."
Videl blushed. "Well, yeah."
Oolong gave the turtle hermit a side eye. "Let's cut to the chase. What the old man wants to know is if you read him, being a martial arts nerd and all of that."
Roshi coughed and gave the pig a glare (he didn't deny it though).
"Well, the only Roshi I remember is someone called Muten Roshi from an old list of past winners. It said that he's the grandfather or something of Jackie Chun, the winner of the twenty first tournament. Hmm, I wonder what happened to that guy?"
"Grandfather? We have the same age! No, young lady, he's my cousin," the peeved hermit said. Tien snorted, while Yamcha scratched his cheeks, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Oh sorry, my mistake."
"Don't worry about it, kid," the pig waved a hand. "I have it on good authority that Jackie Chun is now a senile old man whose favorite hobbies are reading dirty magazines and watching women in leotards exercise."
"Huh?" Videl exclaimed, clueless as to why Tien and Yamcha laughed wholeheartedly while a ticked off Master Roshi placed the pig on a headlock and proceeded to give him vicious head bumps.