Here we go.... The tournament!!!
C-25
Tournament Beginning
The air of the coliseum was filled with excitement. He could almost taste it in the air. The place was absolutely crowded. He even saw the new kid there and he looked like he was competing, not that he stood a chance.
He looked over to his sister who was looking tensely around, as if Krad would just be standing amongst the people. It sure would be easier if that were the case. He doubted very much that he would make his appearance so early in the tournament. He would want to test the strength of the people on this planet first before he decided whether or not that he wanted to take it over or destroy it.
The boys were already bouncing with the excitement and asking if they could have cotton candy. They didn't really understand why their mother was so tense when all this excitement was going on around them.
Gohan was the one that they could wait to load themselves up with sugar until after lunch. It was too early for junk food. He knew that they would find a way to get some before then as they looked around the crowd of competing fighters.
He found himself following his sister glares. The uniforms of the 'officials' were that of Krad's men. He recognized the colors and style but he did not recognize any one in the uniforms. Not yet anyway. Goten didn't seem to recognize any one either and didn't acknowledge the uniforms until he mentioned it to him. "They didn't look like that when we met them, the colors were the same, but the must have changed the style."
Goten's gaze was concentrated on his sister not on his opponents. He didn't like that all that much. He wasn't sure what was going on between them too, but he was sure that if anyone else had ripped her shirt off in battle, he would have been dead.
............
Goten couldn't help but look at her. She walked so tensely and she was so alert. She had her new short hair tied back in a tight braid. She wasn't wearing her normal training clothes, which was another thing that shocked him.
She usually wore such baggy clothes or at least a baggy shirt over her tight green battle suit. Here, she was wearing the green battle suit with a snug black shirt tied off at the waist over top that left nothing to the imagination. He had never seen her wear anything like that before. Her feet were in a black pair of boots with golden tips and she wore a pair of snug gloves over her hands. She looked really nice. She looked like a fighter.
She was tense though. Her green eyes were narrow and she was examining the surroundings, wondering if there was going to be a sneak attack, he was sure of it. He knew that he should be looking out for similar things, but he found that he was so easily distracted by her.
It had been a couple of weeks since he had had a dream about her. He thought that part of his infatuation was over, but seeing her like this...
Of course, Vegeta was right beside her in his tight blue battle suit. He wasn't wearing the armor that went with it like he used to. He thought himself as too strong to deal with such a petty piece of armor anymore. He walked with his arms crossed and his eyes examining the crowd.
Goten caught a few glares off Vegeta and Goten quickly turned his attention away from Soyna when he saw that. He didn't want to get him mad. He didn't want to get in a scuffle before the tournament even began. He knew that Vegeta was entering the tournament now. He knew that he could probably match Vegeta in strength, but he was not as quick as he was. Vegeta had gotten a lot quicker than he remembered before. But then, that came from battling with Soyna all the time. He still couldn't match her level of speed.
He then saw Trunks and Pan arrive. Pan was registering and Trunks looked as if he was trying to stop her. He noticed that the two had been fighting a lot lately. He hoped nothing was wrong with between them. He hoped that their relationship would last longer than that. He could see his brother was happy with the disagreement though.
They found a spot to gather and waited for the announcement of who would be battling whom.
............
"She is here," Soyna said.
Junior looked at his sister. He knew whom she meant. He could tell by the tension in her voice and how the leather of her gloves creaked as she clutched them into fists.
"I will make sure that she does not advance."
He hoped that she would not kill her outright.
............
Trunks sat in silence beside Pan. She happily greeted Marron as she approached them. Krillen approached Gohan and they started to talk, but 18 stood a bit back.
Dad still didn't care for her but tolerated her, but he knew that Soyna's dislike was even more prominent. After all, she was raised on horrible android stories most of her life.
Trunks felt miserable. He had threatened to tell Gohan about her pregnancy so that she wouldn't fight. He knew that it would most likely mean that he would be hospitalized for a while but Gohan could make her stop. But she threatened right back, where it hurt the most. He made her promise to be careful and that afterward they would tell everyone that they were going to get married. She promised that. Then he made her promise that she would never do anything like this again and that he would never forgive her if the baby was hurt because she had to fight. She laughed. "Our family is to strong to worry about that," she said but he still made her promise.
He cancelled an out-of-town meeting that was rather important (and that he didn't tell his mother about) so that he could watch over her. He didn't want her to get hurt. He didn't want their child to get hurt. He knew that Gohan was glaring at him for touching her and standing close to her, but he didn't care. He felt that he had a lot at stake here, not just getting revenge on Krad for something that happened in another time, for a daughter that was not really his.
His life was on the line and it was all in Pan.
............
The first matches were announced.
Goten was one of the first to fight. None were really surprised. He won easily. No one thought that was going to be a problem. It was over rather quickly.
The morning matches went well, they were all matched with weaker opponents, which they took care of easily. Vegeta made a comment as he walked into the ring about being forced to fight someone who was not worthy of his time.
Soyna had yet to fight.
He was worried about her. She set to pacing and only Legen seemed to be able to calm her down enough to get her to sit down as long as he was with her. "Don't worry mom. Your turn will come soon." Legen said as he stuffed his mouth with cotton candy that he somehow acquired the money for.
She just ruffled his hair and watched the current match in her usual stoic manner.
............
Goten was done his second match by the time it was for Soyna's first. He didn't win as quickly, but he did that on purpose. He didn't want to get his opponents to scared of him; or else he would not be able to get a good fight out of anyone!
He anxiously was ready to watch Soyna fight. He knew this should be a really quick match until he saw how she was looking at her opponent. She looked like she was ready to kill her.
Junior looked worried too.
"I have never seen her look that way," Goten said. "What is with her?"
Junior bit his lip. "She resembles someone that she didn't care for back in our time."
Goten didn't need to be told anything else. He knew immediately who she was. She hoped that Soyna wouldn't kill her.
The referee announced the start.
The opponent was a tall thin woman, with very sharp features on her face and colorless eyes, her hair pulled sharply from her face in a pony tail. She didn't look that strong but she did look quick. Soyna would have no problems destroying her and that surely was the problem. They didn't want to escalate the tournament into a war to quickly. They wanted to know what Krad was up to before they let him know whom they were really against.
The thin woman attacked first and Soyna easily dodged, grabbed the back of her neck, and threw her out of the ring. Her opponent smashed into a pillar, which quickly crumbled on top of her. He could feel Soyna struggling to keep her energy in check as she took some deep breaths trying to calm herself. The referee announced the winner and Soyna walked out of the ring, ignoring the shocked look at such a small woman could do such a move.
She had certainly made a name for herself.
He went to her side and put a hand on her arm, which she quickly pulled away. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern.
"Fine," she hissed and looked over her shoulder at the woman. He could feel a wave of heat coming off her body. He grabbed her arm securely. She turned and looked as if she were about to yell at him but he was able to speak first. "This is not the time. Do you want to give yourself away so early?" She took a few more deep breaths and then seemed to calm down.
"You can let go now," Vegeta's voice rang behind him, causing him to jump and let go of her arm. He smiled at Vegeta who glared at him and then walked away.
When he turned back to Soyna, she was being attacked by her boys, who were calling that match 'cool' and could she teach them how to do that trick too.
............
Trunks could hardly watch Pan in the ring. She won, easily enough, but he still didn't like seeing her in the ring and the woman that she was fighting with looked awful strong and big compared to Pan.
He didn't know how he was going to handle tomorrow, when the winners would be eliminating each other from the tournament.
............
Junior was surprised. The new kid was fighting pretty well. He won all his matches with the same ease that they did. He did not expect that to happen at all. After all, he was so easy to push around in gym class.
He almost wished that he could enter the tournament just to see how strong he was, but he was sure that they would find out tomorrow. One of them would have to fight him eventually. Plus, his eyes would not let him advance that far. He had such a hard time following quick movements, he wouldn't last very long.
He went even to congratulate him and shook his hand. Goten joined him. He was after all, from their same school and they didn't even know that he was going to compete.
Then he saw his sister glaring at him. He was wondering what he did now or was it something Goten did. She then quickly turned away and went to join Pan and Trunks who were waiting for the next call.
............
The last fight of the day was Soyna and another fighter, a strong looking woman. Soyna walked into the ring unfazed and ready to humiliate another opponent.
Goten watched from opposite of Vegeta. It was just safer on the other side of the ring. He stood by his niece and Trunks who were whispering about something.
He concentrated on the two figures in the battle. The opponent looked like she was determined to win. He thought he heard her say, "You won't defeat me as easily as you defeated my sister."
Soyna just pulled her gloves tighter and waited for the referee to say the official go.
Soyna decided that she was going to strike the first blow in this fight. She lunged right at her, grabbing at her opponent's arm and trying to swing her around.
Soyna was not expecting her to be able to fight back from her attack and allowed her self to power up further to gain the upper hand. The fight finished in under five minutes, but that was the longest fight they any of them had in the day.
Soyna looked disgusted at herself as she walked out of the ring. He so wanted to talk to her, but Vegeta was already by her side. He didn't dare go near her with Vegeta there.
"She underestimated her," he heard Trunks say as he watched her walk out.
"She sure doesn't give off a normal strength signature," Goten said. She didn't feel that strong either that would cause Soyna a whole lot of problems in the battle.
"They never did," Trunks sighed and squeezed the hand of Pan a lot tighter. She didn't seem to notice.
He was going to ask her if they were doing okay together and if there was something wrong between them but then thought better of it. He had no right to poke in there or else Trunks would surely be poking in where he wasn't ready to talk about things yet.
"What went wrong?" Pan said more to herself. "How can they hide how strong they are?"
That must be it. They somehow were able to disguise their powers. None of them could be as strong as they were. When they were on the planet, they had no reason to disguise how strong they were. Did they?
............
Day one was over. No one was hurt. Everyone had won. Day two was coming way to quickly.
The boys were still overly hyped on sugar that they had been eating all day and were talking a mile a minute to each other as they ran around the park with a fresh supply of sugar in their hands - ice cream.
Soyna was sitting off by herself, looking like she was in deep thought about something. Trunks could see that Goten was thinking of approaching her and was slightly scared to do so. Did it still have to do with him tearing off her shirt? He didn't know. He looked over to Pan who was now talking to Bra who had joined them. Pan was starting to look tired and he was tempted to take her home, but little annoying Fry won out on the going to the park to get ice cream. Not that they needed the sugar. He knew the only reason that Soyna remained with them was because of her boys. She hadn't been far from them lately and he was pretty sure that she was worried about them. She didn't have to say it, he could see that much of her.
He turned back to looked at Soyna was surprised to see Goten sitting next to her. She wasn't looking at him, but he could see that she was listening to whatever he was saying.
Trunks ate his own ice cream and watched them.
Soyna ran her hands through her now loosened hair and looked at Goten who was now looking away from her. She said something and he looked up sharply. He wished he could hear them, but there was too much noise for him to hear.
"Trunks!"
He turned to see Pan shaking her head at him. She had a large grin on her face.
"Yeah?"
"Are we ready to go now? Tomorrow is going to be a much harder day than today," she said.
He nodded and was about to call Goten to help him round up the brats but stopped cold when he saw how they were looking at each other. Goten had his hand on her shoulder now and he looked like he was contemplating leaning into her... could he be going for a kiss?
She didn't seem to be upset by him being so close and they looked like nothing else in the world mattered. Goten was looking at her the way that he looked at Pan.
Goten and Soyna? Unbelievable. Hell, Soyna and anybody was unbelievable.
It was a quick moment that was quickly ruined by Benot, (what a kid) who charged between them and tackled his mother with a big hug. "Can't we stay out a little later!"
Goten looked really mad as he was forced to back off from her. Soyna took a moment to recover. "No. I need to get all that sugar off your face and we have to be back early in the morning to fight again." She wiped her son's face with a grin. She didn't look back at Goten and that seemed to upset him.
"You don't need to worry mom. I know you are going to win. You always do," Benot said. "I don't understand why everyone is so worried." He had such confidence in his mother.
They soon all went their separate ways. He would have to talk to Goten to see what his intentions were with his daughter... well, his OTHER selves daughter, but he wanted to know either way.
Maybe that was why dad was so mad lately?
He scooped up Fry under one arm who was protesting wildly as he did so. Pan just chuckled as he piled them into the car and took everyone home.
...............
Trunks never knew that being nervous could be so draining. The day with Pan fighting in the tournament had been nerve racking and he was exhausted as he walked in the door and was glad to hear quiet. The boys must be in bed and he didn't sense his dad anywhere. He must be sleeping or resting somewhere.
Quiet.
He didn't expect to see Soyna still awake. She was sitting in her usual chair where she usually looked at that photo album but she wasn't looking at the album, she was staring at the wall.
"Soyna?"
She jumped. Jumped! Her eyes quickly focused on him. "What?" A sharp response. He could guess what was bothering her.
"Why are you still up?" he asked.
She looked away and didn't respond. Typical. He was going to bring it up anyway. He wasn't going to let her off that easy.
"Is it about Goten?"
She visibly twitched, but tried to hide it.
"It is," he said and sat across from her. "I saw you two in the park together. You just about let him kiss you."
"I should never had let him get close," she whispered.
"What is wrong with that?" he said. She looked at his with an angered look. "He likes you obviously. You can give him a chance."
"I have to many other things to worry about than if he likes me or not," she said but seemed pleased to hear someone confirming it.
"I know. I know. Krad and making sure you get to kill him, blah, blah, blah," Trunks said. "You can't put your life on hold because of your past."
She glared at him. "What do you know of my past!"
"Not much," he confessed, "But it seems that you have talked a lot to Goten about yours." She tensed up. He guessed right. "Everyone needs somebody."
"I don't need anyone," she whispered. Her voice was not that convincing though.
"Everyone does. Hell, even my father finally realized that a long time ago. Why can't you admit it," Trunks said.
She sat there in silence for a bit.
"You don't want to regret not letting him in to your life later on, when it is to late," Trunks whispered. "I am lucky that I finally got Pan. I was blind to a lot of things before that. I know that not many people like it, but it is what makes me feel whole right now."
She nodded. She hugged herself. "I just... I have the boys," she said gently. "I have to worry about them too."
"Goten would never hurt you," Trunks said. He could see the pain etched in her face. Was that what she fearing. Loosing someone else.
"I know that he would never do that," she said sharply and stood. "I just don't want to hurt him." Then she walked out.
What did she mean by that?
...............
Well, there we go... I know you all hate me for dragging on the G/S thing. I can't help it. Soyna isd a tough one to crack and it doesn't help that I am an evil writer to boot. Day 2 of the tournament is coming next. A lot can happen in a day...
Soyna.