Krillin stretched his arms above his head as he slowly made his way out of bed. Master Roshi had left about an hour before to pick up Goku and ChiChi for the tournament. Walking into the bathroom, Krillin splashed some cold water on his face.
"Ah, finally some peace and quiet. I have the place all to myself."
He walked towards the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast. Searching through the cabinets he settled for some cereal. As he began to eat his mind drifted to 18. There was something about her that was drawing him in, besides her beauty. It was as if he could see an overwhelming sense of sadness in her eyes. She tried to hide it. She hadn't tried to become friends with any of their group, even though everyone had tried. For some reason she continued to distance herself from people. He couldn't help but wonder why. He desperately wanted to get to know the young girl. But how was he ever going to accomplish that?
"Let's go you two. We don't want to be late!" Master Roshi said as Goku placed the last of his bags into the trunk of Roshi's car.
"Alright, I think that's everything." Goku announced as he hoped into the front seat of the waiting car. He turned to glance in the back seat where ChiChi was sitting. "You ready?" He asked her. Nodding in reply the car pulled away from the driveway and out onto the open road.
"Today will probably be rather boring. A lot of waiting around. The Dragon tournament is divided into seven sections. After you check in you'll be assigned to one of the sections. You'll then fight against other competitors within your section. The top ten from each section will advance to the next phase of the tournament in a couple weeks." Roshi explained.
"How many people do you think will be there this weekend?" Goku asked.
"Hard to say. The Dragon tournament is open to everyone, no matter if they have martial arts experience or not. There could well be over a thousand people competing." Roshi answered.
"A thousand!" Goku exclaimed.
"Yep. Like I said, you'll probably be doing a lot of waiting around."
"Bummer." Goku replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"This sucks." Bulma complained as she tossed her magazine across the floor.
"Why don't you call one of your friends?" Her mother asked, not bothering to look up from painting her nails.
"Because, ChiChi went up to Soho to watch Goku compete in some tournament."
"What about your little bald friend, or Vegeta." Her mother persisted.
"My bald friend is Krillin Mom, and I already tried calling him. His phone is off."
"Well call Vegeta then."
Bulma grew quiet at the suggestion. She wondered if he was still mad at her. She wanted to talk to him, but she was afraid.
"Jeepers! Look at all these people! You weren't kidding Master Roshi. There must be over a thousand people here." Goku exclaimed as the car stopped in front of the arena where the tournament was being held.
"Why don't you go and get checked in. I'll park the car and meet you two inside." Master Roshi said.
"Sure." Goku said as he opened the passenger door and exited the car. ChiChi followed suit and helped Goku remove his bags from the trunk.
"Jeez Goku. How much stuff did you bring?" ChiChi complained as she lifted a rather heavy bag to carry.
"I dunno. This bag has all my gear in it." Goku said.
"And the other two?" ChiChi asked.
"Snacks."
ChiChi almost face vaulted.
"You brought two bags of food!"
"Yeah."
Goku grabbed her hand and began walking to the registration table set up in the entrance.
"Hi, I'm Son Goku."
"Ah yes, Mr. Son. Let's get you all checked in. There was a random drawing this morning to determine the sections for today. According to my list you've been assigned to section four. Section one is scheduled to start in about 15 minutes. Once they have finished section two will be up and so on. Because of the high number of competitors today it could be a while before your section is up. In an effort to help speed things up a bit, the matches have been condensed to 10 minutes. Once you get inside you are free to observe the other sections." The man at the table announced as he handed Goku some paperwork.
"Thanks." Goku replied.
The young couple entered the arena to wait for Master Roshi to return from the parking lot.
"Guess we're gonna be here for a while." Goku said as he set his bags down.
"At least you aren't in the last section. You would be waiting here all day." ChiChi said as she set down the bag she was carrying and sat down on the bleacher styled seats.
"Yeah, I guess your right."
"Why are we here?" 18 asked her brother as she followed him through the masses of people. 17 had dragged her along to some tournament all the way up in Soho and had yet to tell her why.
"Because, the winner of this tournament will get a lot of money, and besides, it's a chance for me to fight without getting in trouble." 17 announced.
"But there's so many people here."
"Would you stop your complaining. I'm in section three, so we won't have to wait around too long." 17 replied.
18 just sighed. It was going to be a long day.
"Ladies and gentleman welcome to the first stage of the Dragon Tournament!" The announcer's voice sounded throughout the arena. Cheers erupted from the stands from fighters and audience members.
"We will now start with our section one fighters. There are 25 scheduled matches in this section. The winner of each match will return tomorrow to determine the top 10. These 10 individuals will then compete in the second stage of the tournament in a couple weeks. The rules are simple, each match is scheduled for 10 minutes. To win, a competitor must be either knocked out of the ring, unable to continue the fight, or whoever scores the most points within the time limit will be the victor."
Again cheers flooded the packed arena.
"Let's get started!!"
"Ugh, this is so boring." 18 mumbled as she sat watching the last match of the second section. So far she hadn't seen anything too impressive. Most of the competitors lacked any real fighting skills. She could probably have done better than the majority of fighters so far. Luckily 17's section was up next, so she would soon be free from her boredom. She decided to get something to drink and hoisted herself up from her spot towards the concession stands.
"Just one more section to go and then you'll be up." Master Roshi smiled towards his protégé. "Why don't we head on down closer to the ring so we can get a better look at some of these fighters."
"Sure." Goku smiled.
"I think I'll go get something to drink and walk around for a while." ChiChi announced, starting to walk away from her companions.
"You'll be back to watch me fight right?" Goku called out.
"Of course!" ChiChi yelled back.
Goku smiled as he watched her retreating form blend into the masses of other people within the arena.
"Goku I want to ask you something." Master Roshi said.
Goku turned back to face his master.
"What is it?"
"Is there something going on regarding ChiChi that I should know about?"
Goku paled. In his heart he knew that Master Roshi was only concerned and wanted to help, but he couldn't get himself to tell the elder man the situation. He could protect ChiChi by himself, and he knew that she would never forgive him if he told anyone what she had confided in him. He couldn't risk losing her trust.
"Nah, she's fine. Just a little stressed out with school." Goku lied. "Now, lets go have a look at these fighters."
17 was waiting for his match to begin. The other competitors in his section were buzzing with excitement. 17 was more bored than anything. He had hoped to get a good fight, but so far the competition was severely lacking. His attention turned to focus on a group of fighters standing next to him.
"Did you guys hear?"
"What?"
"That Goku guy is competing here today! Ya know, the guy who wins all those tournaments."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, check it out. He's standing right over there watching the fights." The tall man told his friend as he pointed across the ring.
17 moved his gaze to follow the mans finger to land on a spiky haired teenager. So, that was the legendary Goku huh? Now that would be a great opportunity for a fight. 17 smirked at the mere thought of fighting the young martial artist. His thoughts were soon interrupted as he was called to the ring. Finally it was his turn to fight. He looked his opponent over. Some skinny kid with green hair. Hardly a challenge.
"Let's go gentleman!" The announcer said as the bell rang.
17 smiled. He was going to take his time with this skinny punk. The green haired challenger advanced quickly towards him throwing a left hook as hard as he could. 17 blocked the hit with his left arm and punched his opponent in the stomach with his right. The kid stumbled back a few steps from the blow, clutching his stomach in pain. 17 took this defenseless position to throw a roundhouse kick to the young man's jaw, causing blood to splatter from his mouth. 17 heard the sound of bones cracking and smiled. The young man fell on his side, struggling to get up. He had successfully pulled himself to his knees but was knocked back down as 17 kicked him hard on his back. The bloodied man tapped his hand on the ring, signaling he could not continue.
"Pathetic." 17 said as he spat upon his competitor.
From the sidelines Goku watched as the dark haired teen had brutally attacked the green-haired boy. He has shown zero mercy towards his opponent, and had struck him when he had been defenseless. Watching it unfold had been difficult. There was no honor in the victory, as far as he was concerned. Suddenly he heard his name being yelled out. He looked to the source, the dark haired teen was staring down at him from the ring.
"Goku! I wish to challenge you!" 17 said.
Goku stared back at his challenger. His arms crossed across his expansive chest and his eyes narrowed when he finally responded.
"You are not a worthy opponent to either challenge or fight me." Goku replied sternly.
17 gaped at the remark. Not a worthy opponent? How dare he! He could feel the anger rising up within him, but gained control and exited the ring silently. He stared at Goku from across the ring while the next fight started. Goku watched the fight intently, unaware of the icy stare directed upon him from a still angered 17. Suddenly a young women with raven hair approached the spiky haired warrior. 17 watched as Goku wrapped his arm protectively around the girl's shoulder.
17 smiled. He would get his fight with Goku, one way or another.
A/N: What do you think? This was a difficult chapter to write because there was so much that needed to happen. I know it focused heavily on Goku and 17 without much of the other characters coming into play, but they will!! Review please!!