~Tournament Saga~

Chapter 33 – GO!

"So Gohan...you're really gonna fight with those sun glasses on?"

The sixteen that had passed the preliminaries were slowly making their way from the locker rooms towards the main fighting stage in the stadium. Gohan glanced over to his father, who was dressed in his orange gi.

"They're called shades dad. And ya, I don't want anyone from school to find out who I am."

Goku tilted his head slightly to the side, confused to as why it would matter if his classmates knew who he really was. Gohan had his Saiyaman outfit on, minus the cape and helmet. Instead, he wore the pare of sunglasses that Konkichi had given him.

"But wont it be hard to see?" Now Krillin put his two cents in. Krillin had dug into his closet and dug out his old turtle school orange gi, and it still fit him well. Gohan had to admit he had a point, but it shouldn't be that big of deal. Heck, if any of these fights got serious they probably would fall off anyway. So might as well have them on till he transformed.

"It'll be fine. Hey, when do we figure out who we fight?"

Tien, in his standard green gi decided to take that question. "Probably as soon as we get out there."

"Hopefully they'll put all the saiyans on one side and us normal people on the other. Heh. It'd be nice if I could make it out of the first round for once." Yamcha chuckled in his orange turtle gi.

Goten in his fathers gi and Trunks in a blue gi with an orange wrap at the base walked towards the front of the group. "So Trunks, how is this going to work again?"

"Weren't you listening to the announcer guy? We all draw numbers again and fight who we are pared up with. And then the last person left fights that Champ guy...Mr Satan."

"Wow, he must be strong to be the champ! I hope I get to fight him!"

"Heh, I'll tell you how good he is, cause there's no way you're gonna get past me."

"Oh ya?"

Vegeta in a slightly looser fitting blue saiyan outfit watched the two youngsters go back and forth. His mind was elsewhere however. The only reason he was here was to fight Goku...the sooner the better. His patience was starting to run very very thin.

The androids were in their normal clothing who were towards the back of the group. Jacki Chung in his standard black and white attire was behind them, followed by Konkichi in an orange fighting outfit he had based off of Goku's, Upa in his homelands standard Indian clothing, and Videl who had her same clothing as before still on. She wanted to be up by Gohan, but she was to nervous with all his friends here for some reason to go up there next to him.

The entire group made their way out into the blinding light. As their eyes adjusted, they found themselves walking towards the large stage where their fighting would take place. The blond haired announcer quickly made his way towards the group of people.

"Long time no see! About time you guys showed up again."

The new additions looked at the man in confusion, but the old tournament veterans smiled. This guy was one of the few people who knew what they did was no trick.

"Goku, ba-by! Its been dull around here since you stopped coming. Let me ask ya something, it was you who beat Cell not Hercule right ba-by? Ha-ha! Well, lets give these people a show! Ah, and try not to blow up the stage this time."

Goku rubbed the back of his head and chuckled along with Piccolo. The announcer jumped back onto the stage and whipped out his microphone as the group followed.

"Welcome to the 25th World Martial Art's Tournament! Fighters from around the globe have come to partake today, but standing before you are the top sixteen! The best of the best! Who will be this year's hero? Who will get the chance to take on the World Savior, our Champ, Mr Hercule? Lets find out!"

An official wheeled out a board with the tree diagram for the tournament while another brought out a box with balls with numbers on them for the draw.

"The first to draw a number will be Blast! This is her first tournament, and she has all ready made it this far! If that doesn't speak for how good she is, her age certainly will. This 17, that's right, 17 year old girl beat out quite a few people, man and beast alike for the right to be here. Please, step forward and draw a number Blast!"

As the girl, with blue hair and a red ribbon covering her forehead and tied in the back walked up to draw, Krillin nudged Tien. "Hey Tien, I've been meaning to ask, how come Chiaotzu didn't take her spot?"

Tien's face flushed slightly as he glanced up at the sky. "Well...er...cause me and Chiaotzu know her too..."

Krillin blinked, glancing back at the girl. She had a green shirt on, tight black fighting shorts, and she actually looked pretty good, almost familiar. "Who is she?"

"She's...well...my daughter."

The entire group who had known Tien personally was taken back. Even Piccolo looked as he he had been caught off guard. Yamcha pointed at the girl. "Y-you have a kid? And she's 17? How come we've never seen her before?"

"Well...her mother didn't want her to get into fighting..."

Everyone got on edge, nearly getting on their toes. Yamcha gulped. "Uh...who's the mother?"

-DBZ-

Chi-Chi and Bulma were playing with Marron as the rest watched the introductions on tv for the tournament. It was that moment when the door opened and a blond woman walked through the door.

"I figured I'd find you guys here."

The few left in the house looked up to find a slightly battered and bruised Chiaotzu floating next to Launch, who was smirking just like she always did when she was in her more aggressive form.

"When I couldn't find you guys there, I had Chiaotzu fly me here. You's guys really should tell me when you gather together."

The white mime sighed, thankful that he made it here in one piece. To be honest, most of his bruises he now sported were from her, and not Tien.

-DBZ-

"Launch is her mother!" Krillin yelled it probably a little to loudly, but still. The hell? Why hadn't he heard of this? And why was she here now?

The girl in question put her hand into the box and pulled out the 2. The announcer pulled up his microphone as she walked back to call up the next fighter. As she walked back, she shot her father a nasty look, and then whipped her head around as if she couldn't look at him. Tien stretched his arm out like he wanted to say something, but he just let it fall and stayed silent. The group looked back and forth a few times. Family issues?

"Blast has pulled out number 2! The next fighter to come up is Goku! That's right, those rumors you've heard are not false! This one time legendary champion has come out of his retirement for another tournament! Could he go the distance again? Come up and draw!"

The stadium was instantly thrown into the buzz of people talking, mostly about how they couldn't believe that the mysterious Goku had returned and how he got his hair to do...well...what it was doing. Not to mention how he got that halo to stay there as well. Goku walked towards the officials, ignoring the praise he was getting. Gohan smiled happily, enjoying the praise his father was getting far more than Goku was. It was nice to see at least a few people knew how great his dad really was.

-DBZ-

The announcer threw his mic into the air, catching it behind his back as the sun reflected off his shades. "OK! We now have the lineup for the tournament. First we will have Krillin up against Blast! Second we'll have Goten vs Trunks! Third will be Vegeta Vs the ever popular 17! Next will be Goku vs The Great Saiyaman! After that will be our champs own daughter, Videl vs the baseball legend Yamcha! Sixth will be Jacki Chung vs Upa! Seventh will be the battle of the greens, Ma-Jr vs Konkichi! And finally will be the fight of an ex-champion Tien vs the beautiful 18!"

Krillin was on his hands and knees, nearly crying. "I-its not fair...why am I in the bracket with all the saiyans...?"

"Just lucky I guess." Yamcha chuckled. Krillin just felt like leaving.

Gohan glanced at his father. To not only be able to see his father fight again, but to be the one fighting his father...even he was getting excited. Videl glanced around as the fighters got ready. There would be a small intermission and then the tournament would start. Time for people to make their bets or something. Taking it as a chance, she made her way over to Gohan. "Hey Gohan, I'll be seeing you in the finals,. Right?"

"Hmm? Ah, ya. We both got our work cut out for us though. Its not going to be easy."

Videl crossed her arms and looked around at the fighters getting ready in their own way. "Ya, but I get the feeling I got it easier than you."

"Heh, ya. A little bit." Gohan smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

Gong!

All the fighters glanced outside the waiting area, towards the middle of the arena. "Will the first to fighters, Krillin and Blast please come out!"

Blast quickly and silently stood up, making her way towards the stage. Tien quickly grabbed Krillin's shoulder however, stopping him. "Hey Krillin...could you please go easy on her?"

"Sure, I'll hold back. Don't worry so much Tien."

"N-no, you don't understand...if she gets hurt, her mother will have both our heads..."

Krillin gulped, nodding that he understood. Slowly he made his way out after Blast, the crowd cheering as the tournament finally was about to get underway. Yamcha worked his way over to Tien, who was watching his daughter walk out to the stage, and gave him a slight nudge. "Hey, how come we never heard of your daughter till now?"

Tien was snapped back to reality, a slight blush crossing his face. "W-well, Launch didn't want her getting involved like Gohan did in our fights. Remember when we died and I asked to talk to King Kai along? It was to talk to Launch. I was in pretty big trouble for dieing."

"So that's why we didn't see you for a long time after we got back." Yamcha blinked as he started to put the pieces together.

Tien gave a slow nod as his attention was once again drawn back to his daughter.

Krillin and Blast reached the announcer in the middle of the large stage. Krillin looked around at all the people. The WMA Tournament sure had grown since the last one he had been in. Blast turned to face Krillin, her blue curly hair bouncing from the sudden movement.

"You're one of dad's friends right? I'm sorry, but I have to beat you so I can fight Tien. I have to get back at my parents.."

Krillin felt a cold sweat build up on his neck. Her voice was the same as Launch. If he didn't know any better, he could swear it really was her. Childhood fears were working their way back to the surface again. Clearing his throat, he tried to push for some more info. As creeped out as he was, he was just as curious about Tien's kid.

"What'd they do? Why do ya have to beat Tien?"

"My best friend is a deer that likes to eat apples from a tree near my house. You tell me."

Krillin blinked. Ah, a case like Gohan. Except it seems she didn't like nature as much as the Son's did.

The announcer lifted his hand up, and then in one fluid motion, brought it down in between the fighters. "Begin!"

Blast dropped into her fighting position, but all Krillin could do was look at the girl. She looked just like Launch, but instead of her red ribbon in her hair, it covered her forehead. When Krillin didn't make a move, the blue haired girl charged him. Krillin was just able to bring his wandering mind back in time to start blocking punches. For her age, she was quite good.

Blast was taken back at first. Here was this tiny funny looking guy who looked like he didn't know what a comb was, but he was blocking everything without giving any ground. Jumping back, she caught her breath. In a burst of white energy, she flew up into the sky and then dove back down at him. Krillin fazed out of the girls view just as she was about to hit him. Blinking in surprise, she skidded to a halt.

The stadium was dead silent. To the Z-fighters, they were moving in slow motion. However to the crowd...this put every single fight they had ever seen Mr Satan in to shame. Since when could people jump like that? It almost looked like she was...flying? And where did the other guy go?

The announcer smiled almost childlike. "WoooOOOoooW! We've started this tournament off with a really good one! Blast is once again proving why she deserves to be here, but our tournament veteran Krillin is showing her youth isn't everything!"

"Hey, I'm not that old."

The announcer along with the crowd looked up to find Krillin...floating? A good twenty feed above the stage hung Krillin. Blast grit her teeth.

"Well, if I can't beat you, then I'll have to let my super saiyan self do it. Sorry, but your not going to win now." Blast pulled out a small jar from her shirt and popped the top off. Taking a deep breath, she breathed in whatever was in the jar through her nose. Krillin blinked leaning over while he tired to figure out what she was doing. Blast's nose twitched, and Krillin got a foreboding feeling.

Tien sighed. "I keep telling her that she isn't a saiyan."

"She thinks she's a saiyan." Gohan looked at the bald fighter. Tien nodded.

"Ya, when I told her about super saiyans, she confused her transformation with a super saiyans."

"Why's that?"

Goku put his hand to his chin. "Heh, I guess Launches other side did kinda look like a super saiyan."

"Achoo!"

The fighter's attention were drawn back to the fight. The once blue haired brown eyed girl had just changed to blond with green colored eyes. They all noticed a sudden spike of her energy as well. For a human, it was a sizable amount. The girl looked around, but then up to Krillin. "Hey! Loser! What round is this?"

"Loser? Its the first round." Krillin grumbled. Yup, just like her mother.

"Tch, she needed my help already? Whatever, hey! You gonna come down here or am I gonna have ta come up there ta get ya. Running from a girl?"

Krillin narrowed his eyes. Just like her mother, for sure. Fazing out of view, Krillin reappeared just behind her. "Hey, you shouldn't talk like that to your elders."

Smiling, Krillin crossed his arms. Totally bad a- Bringing his arm up to block a kick, Krillin grumbled. She was stronger in this personality, but not strong enough. Dropping to the ground, the monk swung a low kick towards her feet.

His speed caught Blast off guard, and her feet were kicked out from under her. Catching herself with her hands before she hit the white tiles below, she pushed off the ground and flipped back and away from Krillin. Pushing off his hand, Krillin got back to his feet.

"How are you moving so fast?" Blast caught her breath. Trying to keep up with this guy was hard.

Krillin just shrugged. Him being in the saiyan side of the bracket killed his mood. "I'm actually pretty slow."

Gritting her teeth, Blast reached up for the red ribbon covering her forehead. "I don't care how fast you are. With this, you'll never escape my site. The other me doesn't like to use it, but I'll use it if I have to in order to win!"

With one swift pull, she undid the ribbon. As it slowly fell to the ground, the crowd gasped. Blast closed her eyes, and then opened them back up. All three of them. Krillin blinked. As much as she looked like her mother, she did get one thing from her father. Just like Tien, she had a third eye above her other two. As it opened, Krillin could feel the rest of her energy come to the surface.

"I don't care if people think I'm a freak. As long as I win I'll be fi-!"

"You're not a freak." Krillin said it so matter of factly, it caught Blast off guard.

"Huh?"

"I said you're not a freak." Pointing his thumb behind him to where the rest of the Z-fighters were waiting, he smiled. "Have you not seen you father's friends? We're all a bunch of misfits. It's what makes us who we are."

In an instant, Krillin fazed just to Blast's side. "It's not that big of deal."

In a flash, Krillin chopped the back of her neck. Blast wasn't able to move and her eyes rolled back as she fell to the ground. After a few moments of silence, the crowd went wild. None of them had any idea how he had moved so fast, but it had been an incredible fight. The announcer quickly rushed on stage and put his hand on her shoulder.

"That's it! She's out! Krillin is the winner!"

Krillin just turned around and started to walk back. Totally...bad ass...to bad I'll be fighting saiyans next...

Krillin held his head high, even though his legs were slightly shaking.

Officials quickly ran out there with a stretcher and picked up the out cold Blast. Tien gave Krillin a nod as a silent thank you as he walked off to be with his daughter as they took her back to the medical building to just make sure she was ok.

"What a great fight to start off this tournament! Hopefully that will keep rolling into our next fight! Speaking of which, we have something truly special for you're viewing pleasure! We all had a good time watching the Junior division, but these two next fighters were so good we had to put them with the adults! And you know what? They made it though the preliminaries! The youngest fighter to beat the preliminaries had previously been 12 years of age, the legendary Goku himself! But these two fighters are 7 and 8 years old! Can you believe that? They sure earned their spots, and they are now here to prove that to you! Next up, Goten and Trunks!"

The two chibi's calmly walked out of the waiting area, both taking in how many people had shown up. Both would have been lying if they said they weren't nervous. The crowd went silent again. Had these kids really made it this far?

Taking opposite sides on the stage, both boys bowed to each other. Both Goku and Vegeta stood up and walked towards the entrance of the waiting area, both wanting to get a good view of this next fight. Gohan and Videl stood on some boxes so they could see out one of the windows. "So who do you think is going to win, Gohan?"

"Hmm...well, Trunks is a whole year older than Goten...it'll be close though."

"And...Begin!"

The announcer barely had enough time to get off the stage before a sonic boom rocked the area. Goten and Trunks had both charged at one another, and had hit ether's forearm with their own. Both had forgotten their nervousness, and were grinning.

"So Goten...it's been a while since we've gone all out. Do you think you'll be ok? I've gotten a lot stronger."

"I'll be fine. I've been training with Gohan." In a blur very few people could see, the boys started to throw punch after punch at the other. Videl had to squint her eyes just to get a good idea of what was going on, and even then she couldn't help but feel she couldn't see some of the punches the boys were throwing.

Dust was blown up from the tiles as the chibi's started to float up, never once letting up on their attacks. The crowd watched in stunned silence as the boys started to incorporate kicks into their blurred movement, not to mention they were literally rising up into the sky.

In another sonic boom, the boys separated from one another and came back to the ground. As soon as their toes touched the tiles, they shot forward yet again and locked fingers with one another. Both tried to push the other back in a power struggle. Gritting their teeth together, their white auroras burst from both of them. Even the announcer was baffled by this. He could by no means sense energy, but his senses as an entertainer were telling him that this was going to be a fight that even he was yet to see.

Vegeta huffed, a smirk covering his face. "Kakarrot, get ready to watch your son be defeated. There's no way he can beat Trunks."

"We'll just have to watch and see I guess." Goku sported a grin of his own as he watched his son fight.

Trunks suddenly leaned back and thrust a foot towards Goten's stomach. Acting quickly, Goten placed his own foot on the incoming one and pushed off as it came up to meet him. Trunks flipped forward back onto his feet while Goten twisted through the air to land on his feet as well.

"Well, I think that's a good warm up." Trunks smiled, getting back down into his fighting stance.

"Ya, you ready to get serious?" Goten grinned just as much as Trunks, falling into his own stance.

The announcer nearly dropped his microphone. They were just warming up?

At the same time, both Trunks and Goten roared out as the golden aura consumed them. With a flash of light, both became super saiyans. Goku blinked with amazement. "Wow! Both of them can already go super saiyan? That's incredible!"

In a blur only the Z-fighters could make out, the two super saiyans collided with each other. A sonic boom shook the stadium to its core, but the wish to the dragon held true and so the stadium held together. The boys were throwing punches and swinging kicks at each other, only for the other to block. To the audience and the announcer however, there were random sonic booms exploding all over the stage while the boys were not even visible.

The boys came back into view floating above the stage, glaring the other down. Flaring their energies out, they shot towards each other. Trunks charged two ki balls in his hands, throwing them at Goten while he charged head long towards his friend. Swatting both away, Goten continued on through the smoke that was created from both of the explosions to find Trunks waiting for him. His eyes widened in shock, but only for a moment. With his face glaring down in concentration, Goten blocked the incoming punch from Trunks. The attack created a shock wave which cleared off the rest of the smoke.

Trunks wound up and thrust another punch towards Goten. Then another, and another. Goten was on the defensive. Slowly he flew backwards while Trunks kept the pressure on, throwing punch after punch. Powering up, Trunks let loose an extra powerful blow that broke through Goten's guard. The small Saiyan's eyes bulged out as the powerful punch hit his stomach. Not giving his friend time to recover, Trunks twisted around and implanted the back of his foot into Goten's back. The golden blur quickly descended towards the ground, and Trunks took pursuit. Just before crashing into the tiles below Goten recovered, landing on all fours. As Trunks came crashing down, Goten flipped out of the way.

Trunks created a decent sized crater on the stage. As looked towards where Goten had dodged, he was met with a fist to his jaw. The saiyan twisted in the air, landing near the edge of the arena. Turning his head, he spit out some blood that was starting to pool in his mouth. Goten emerged from the crater, smiling smugly. Both boys were breathing heavily as they looked over their opponent.

The crowd, along with the announcer was speechless. This fight...was amazing. It took all your concentration just to remember to keep breathing, cause the fight was taking the rest of it. They were to afraid to blink because they for sure would miss something. And even more amazing was that these kids weren't even ten!

The announcer gulped down the lump in his throat and licked his dry lips. "W-WHOOOOAAAA!" The crowd came to and cheered along with the announcer. This fight was great! This was the same kind of fight as from the Cell games, and they got to watch this live! The though of being in harms way never entered their minds however. This is what they payed their money for!

Oblivious to the cheering, the boys continued to stare each other down. Trunks smiled. "I think its time to finish this."

"Why? Getting tired already?" Goten smiled back.

"Please, I just don't want to embarrass you."

Goten dropped down and started to charge a Kamehameha. Trunks arched his back, two blue orbs forming in his outstretched hands. Their golden aurora's flared up as they both gave out their battle cries.

"Kamehame-HA!"

"Buster-CANNON!"

Goten thrust his arms forward and Trunks pulled his arms together in front of him. Both beams few forward, connecting in the middle. The wind the attack gave off shocked the audience. A few of them blinked in realization. If this was just a light trick with mirrors...those attacks wouldn't give off any wind...and yet they had to hold onto their hats for dear life! That meant...that meant...this was real?

For the rest of the crowd that wasn't that quick, they just looked on in amazement. This was truly something they would tell their kids about. The ball in the middle of the attack would ebb one way, but then back in the other way. It was a total deadlock, and the loser would be the first one to ease up for just a second.

For what seemed like an eternity, the boys held their ground. The stage that they were fighting on had seen better days, and this was only the second fight. Goten and Trunks were about as evenly matched as they could be. The smallest think would be the decider and unfortunately for Goten, he was a year younger. Goten couldn't believe it but he feet were slowly sliding back, the tiles giving way as his feet cut through them. Gritting his teeth the boy tried with all he had to dig deeper and push Trunks back, but he had already put everything he had into this attack.

Goten reached the edge of the stage, and tried with all the will power he had to make that his last stand. His back arched backwards as his feet held their place near the very edge. Crying out, pulled his arms back and then thrust forward. Now it was Trunk's turn to be forced back. Not waiting, Trunks did the same. Pulling his arms back, and then thrusting them forward with all the energy he had. Goten couldn't hold on any longer and was forced off the stage. Without the ground to slow him down and not being able to find the energy to start flying, Goten flew back as the beam consumed him.

The beam crashed into the wall that separated the ground from the audience. A golden film appeared in front of the people, protecting the spectators from the blast. As the light faded, it relieved a normal Goten imbedded into the wall. His body and clothes looked pretty bruised and torn up, but he had held onto consciousness. Smiling, he winced in pain as he laughed. "Hehe...I lost..."

Trunks collapsed backwards onto the stage, panting heavily. His hair fell from its super saiyan state to his normal due along with his eyes. The boy was to tired to move or cheer, that had taken a lot out of him. The announcer quickly ran up to him. "And winner by ring out is Trunks!"

The medical officials quickly made their way toward the two tired fighters. Trunks waved off the attention, so all of the officials made their way to try and pull Goten out of the wall. It took all 5 of them, but them managed to free the boy.

"Told you Kakarrot. Maybe next time, but for now Trunks is the strongest of the brats."

"Looks like it. I'm gonna go make sure Goten is ok. See ya guys soon!"

Gohan turned his head to watch his father walk out. "Don't forget about our match! Its soon!"

Goku nodded, and quickly made his way to follow after the medical officials who were now taking Goten to where Blast had gone.

Videl gulped, still dazed from how good that fight was. "Man...saiyans really are something else."

"Don't remind me..."

The two looked to find Krillin, slightly shaking. "I have to fight Trunks next..."

Gohan and Videl chuckled, amused at how intimidated Krillin was by an 8 year old. But to be fair, he was a saiyan 8 year old who's father was the prince of all saiyans.

More officials quickly made their way out to the fighting stage to try and make as many repairs as they possibly could. Meanwhile, the announcer whipped out his microphone.

"Well well well! Our first fight was good, but that last one truly was something to write home about! I hope you're all taping this back home! So, are you all ready for the next match! I know all you ladies out there are! That's right! Next the world famous rocker 17 will be making his fighting day-beau vs a man simply named Vegeta! If 17 fights as hard as he sings, Vegeta may have some trouble!"

Glancing back, the announcer found the stage had been repaired as well as it could be for now. "So with out further adieu, I give you 17 vs Vegeta!"

Author's Annotations:

Well, there are the first two fights! Ah, its good to be fighting again. Please remember to review!