Gohan's Hidden Depths of Power - Chapter 8.
Author Note: Trying something a little different with using some Japanese words to add some flavour to the story. This will mostly be for Chianni as I feel it will make her sound even cuter saying "Onii-chan" in my opinion, as it captures more of her personality towards Gohan, who she looks up to a lot. Hope you all like it.
The Budokai fighters had left the ring and went to the waiting rooms to await their fights. But considering how long the preliminary fights took, it was already after lunch time, so Gohan and his father decided to have their food now. The announcer remembered from Goku's last time being there that food was very important to him so opted to try and stall the audience. No too sooner did they leave the waiting room did they meet up with the others, Chianni already greeting her father and brother on the way to the Dining Hall, giving her brother a now customary tackle-hug.
Goku and Gohan begun to dig into their lunches the moment they had arrived as they hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, which was already pushing it for them. Chianni chuckled at her brother as he had mimicked his fathers eating habits "You know mum doesn't like you eating like that, Onii-chan." She mused.
Gohan sweat dropped and began to chuckle but quickly got back into his meal, he had been starving for some food for a long while with the elimination matches, he wasn't going pass up the opportunity to eat as much as he could.
Bulma chuckled at the two siblings as she sat opposite them "Your kids get along great, Goku." She commented. Goku looked at her with his mouth filled to the brim with chicken and she gave him a disgusted look "Goku. Swallow." She ordered.
Goku shrugged and swallowed his mouthful "What's up, Bulma?" He asked.
Bulma relaxed after he swallowed his food before continuing "I was just saying your kids get along great." Bulma repeated.
"Why do you say that? Isn't it normal for siblings to get along?" Goku gave her confused look.
"Not always. My sister and I didn't get along very well. I mean... Not that we didn't like each other or anything, we just hardly know each other." Bulma mentioned, feeling a bit of jealousy as she rested her chin on her hand.
Goku blinked several times. Gohan had stopped eating as he overheard the conversation and blinked several times as well "You have a sister?!" Goku and Gohan said in unison in their sudden shock. Chianni simply looked between them all in confusion.
Bulma looked between the two of them and then she had a sudden realisation "Wow, I've never mentioned her, have I?" The two Saiyans just shook their heads.
"Where is she now?" Gohan asked in curiosity.
Bulma waved her hand around nonchalantly "Somewhere out in space with an alien named Jaco. Probably writing books still or something." She replied.
"Okay..." Gohan muttered, his father had already began to give back into his food. Gohan stared at his food as a thought came to him, his curiosity about what sorts of knowledge lay in wait to be discovered out there piquing his interest. He had already travelled through space and it wasn't so bad... It's something he could think about later, at least.
The announcer stormed into Dining Hall abruptly "Gohan?! Is Gohan here?" He called out.
Gohan looked up from his table, interrupted from his thoughts "I'm here. What's going on?" He asked.
"Your first match with Tien is up right now! You have to get out there to the ring!" He "announced".
"Oh, that's right!" Gohan exclaimed as he hoped out of his chair.
"Good luck, Onii-chan!" Chianni smiled at him and giving a hug.
Gohan hugged her back and gave her a thumbs up before he scarpered off with the announcer.
At the fighting ring, Piccolo was having his first match with a fighter named "Fury Fist". Piccolo simply stood at one side of the ring with his arms folded, looking bored. His opponent, a young man with trainers gloves on and gold boxer's shorts on, standing opposite him was sweating profusely and having a hard time catching his breath "You gonna start fighting me, or... Or are you too scared?" He questioned as he stared Piccolo down with his dukes drawn in front of him.
Piccolo merely humphed "Why should I? You look as though you've been fighting yourself this whole time." Piccolo shot back.
This took "Fury Fist" aback "W-What?" He asked, looking insulted.
"I've been stalling this match so that my pupil can make his first match on time." He finally admitted and then turned his head towards the waiting room "And he's here right now." Piccolo continued as he felt Gohan's Ki entering the waiting room.
"W-What do you mean?" Fury Fist questioned in frustration but he never got an answer as he found himself already on the ground, outside of the ring.
One of the referee Monks declared Piccolo the winner as he had already began exiting the ring and heading towards the waiting room.
The announcer passed by 'Majunior', thanking him for stalling the match in the most awkward way possible, trying not to anger him before quickly entering the ring himself "Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have your attention, please?!" He said trying to end the chatter amongst them "This next match will be between former champion, Tien Shinhan, and Son Gohan!" He turned to the waiting room "Tien Shinhan and Son Gohan, will you please come to the ring?!" He called out to them.
In the Waiting Room, Tien and Gohan stood at the exit towards the ring, Tien taking a few steps forward but stopping, noticing Gohan was staying put. "Just block out the audience and focus on the fight." He encouraged.
Gohan looked up at Tien and then nodded his head with determination as he tried to block out his anxious thoughts. The two of them began to walk out to the ring to the sound of cheers from the audience. Tien went ahead up the stairs and then Gohan shortly after as small legs carried him up the steps, trying to focus on how he would fight Tien. Gohan and Tien stood opposite each other as the announcer called for the countdown to begin.
Launch looked at the fight conflicted "I wanna cheer for Tien, but cheering against a kid doesn't feel right..." She admitted.
"You can win, Onii-chan!" Chianni called out as she waved to him.
Tien got into the Crane fighting stance and Gohan followed suit with his own Demon fighting stance as the Budokai monks began to beat the drums to prepare the fight, ending with the sound of gong and the two fighters lunged at each other. Tien began with swift jabs aiming for weak points as Gohan dodged them 'Never fought someone with this kind of fighting style. It's way different than what I'm used' Gohan thought as he decided to throw punches back, the Crane Master in his own right dodging and deflecting the attacks from the Student of the Demon School.
The two of them disappeared as they darted around the ring faster than any normal person could see. Abruptly, Tien jumped towards the sky and Gohan followed him as he gave pursuit. Gohan slowed down to a halt as Tien disappeared into the sun. "And they've taken to the sky! What could Tien be planning?!" The announcer called out.
"Solar Flare!" Tien yelled as he threw his hands in front of his face in a familiar pose. Being instantaneous, the Solar Flare hit Gohan's eyes before he could react, blinding him and then continuing to blond everyone else not fortunate enough to wear sunglasses. It was clear to Gohan that Tien was going to pull out every card to win this fight.
Gohan smirked as he sensed Tien come in from behind him, hoping to capitalise on him with a powerful kick but Gohan promptly disappeared, a look of shock on Tien's face, and roundhouse kicked him in the chest, followed by a double-fisted jackhammer to his stomach sending Tien back to the ring. Landing on his feet, Tien's Solar Flare wore out and Gohan came back down to the ring himself.
"How did you manage to get out of the one?" Tien questioned with a challenging smile as he placed his hands on his hips.
Gohan's eyes were still damaged from the attack but they slowly began to readjust "You lowered your Ki to avoid detection, but I was still able to detect you the moment you raised it again. That technique won't work on me unless you were trying to flee." Gohan explained as he rubbed his eyes to try and alleviate the pain.
"Heh. You're that sharp, are you? Impressive." Tien complimented. "Then try this one! Haaaaaaaaah!" Tien spread his arms out wide as he began to focus on his next technique.
Gohan put himself into a defensive stance as he waited for Tien's next move "Ready when you are." He said confidently.
Tien's body began to glow as he brought his hands down and balled them into fists in a horse-riding stance, his body beginning to glow. "Haaaaah!" He shouted one final time as a pair of arms bursted forth from his back, giving him a total of four.
Gohan looked at Tien in complete shock as he stared at the pair of arms now protruding from Tien's back "Four arms?!" Gohan exclaimed.
Goku smirked from the waiting the waiting room "Heh. Now that one brings back memories." He stated as he wondered how Gohan would tackle this one, for Goku he had to make use of his tail but Gohan didn't have one. Chianni looked horrified at what she was seeing, she never would have expected fighting to be quite like this.
Tien smirked as he fell back into his fighting stance, the two arms on his back also poised to strike "Get ready!" He shouted as he charged forward.
Gohan put his hands up in a defensive position as Tien approached him with increased speed. The attacks coming from Tien came at twice the ferocity as before, making Gohan lose some of his balance. Tien pushed Gohan back and forced him around the ring with his relentless strikes, causing no end of trouble for the young fighter, even an attack from behind wouldn't work. The two took to the air again as the fight escalated and they darted around the skies, a momentary slip up coming from Gohan gave Tien all he needed to unload his furious assault on Gohan's unguarded torso. Gohan was left floating in the air as Tien went to finish his combo, driving a solid knee to Gohan's gut that sent him careening towards the ground.
The announcer was ecstatic at the display of skill and power as he continued to commentate "Wow! Tien showed no mercy in his relentless assult on the young fighter, as we have come to expect from this former champion!"
Gohan crashed into the ring with so much force that his body broke through the tiles of the ring and created a hole underneath where he disappeared from view. The audience seemed to be in horror as the small boy crashed through the floor of the ring. Launch had a mixed expression at the predicament "Well... I suppose it was expected... Tien had this fight from the start... Still can't feel too good about it."
"Oh! Gohan hits the ground with an earth-shattering crash. It doesn't look good for our pint-sized warrior!" The announcer commented.
Chianni's small hands grasped the top of the barrier as she looked on horrified and worried for her big brother "Onii-chaaaan!" She called out as she was almost ready to jump barrier and fly to check up on him, but she was held back by Master Roshi grabbing her arm. Chianni gave him a look of confusion "Let me go!" She complained.
"Gohan's just fine." He reassured her.
Launch frowned "Hm. Come on, Old Man. He must at least be knocked out." Launch she said with some threatening in her tone, causing Master Roshi to cough in nervousness under her gaze, refusing to look at her in her angered state.
"Sorry to tell you, Launch, but Gohan had this fight won the moment they entered the ring. I'm certain Tien knew this, too." Master Roshi continued, Launch gritting her teeth in reply "Gohan's been holding back the bulk of his strength."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?! Why the hell would Gohan hold back when he could easily win?!" Launch shouted as she balled her hands into fists.
"A couple of reasons off the top of my head; He's learning from the more experienced fighter that is Tien. He wants to win based purely on skill-Out of respect..." Master Roshi then chuckled "Either that or they just want to put on a good show."
"My brother is fine, then?" Chianni asked, worry still on her face.
Master Roshi nodded his head "Watch." He said simply.
Back with the fight, Tien still floated above the ring, waiting patiently for Gohan to emerge. The announcer stood over the hole as he tried to see where Gohan was, but he backed up when the ring suddenly began to shake and then there was a small explosion as large rocks were tossed out from the hole, accompanied a few seconds later by the small figure of Gohan leaping out and doing several flips in the air before landing on his feet. Gohan was completely unscathed, much to the shock of the announcer and the audience, Gohan even had a smile on his face. "Whoa! What an amazing recovery! Gohan hasn't even taken a scratch from a fall that would leave most either hospitalised or worse! He certainly has his fathers endurance!" The announcer exclaimed in excitement as the audience began to cheer again. Chianni breathed a sigh of relief with air she didn't know she was holding in. The type of fighting was completely shocking as she had never seen Gohan actually fight before.
Tien smiled as he lowered himself to the ground "Hm. Were you thinking of a way to beat this technique down there?" Tien questioned challengingly.
"Yup. I can beat it now for sure!" He replied in confidence.
"Then go ahead." Tien stated before getting back into his fighting stance. Gohan brought his hands to his side then clenched his fists and immediately a thin blue aura surrounded his form, small blue sparks cracking from around him. Tien was suddenly taken aback by Gohan's brash movement of charging towards him, not expected to be taken on in a head-to-head assault, it wouldn't work. But as Tien went to lunge out with an attack of his own while gaining his composure back, he was surprised to have his hand go through an afterimage, then his extra pair of arms being held crossed over each other, bringing him down to his knees in front of the original one. "What the-?!" Tien questioned as his normal arms seemed to be pried apart, leaving his chest vulnerable to attack.
The rest of the Z-Fighters all looked stunned at Gohan's tactic as Tien struggled to stay balanced. Goku was equally as stunned as the rest of them as he stared wide-eyed "Unbelievable!" He exclaimed.
"Tien looks to be completely subdued by our pint-sized warrior in a bizarre manoeuvre splitting into two! Those who were here for the 23rd Budokai will surely remember Tien using a very similar technique where he split into four!" The announcer said over the microphone in excitement.
Tien was clearly in a lot of pain from the hold that Gohan's clone was forcing on him, Tien only had one option, to fly up but Gohan had predicted that and elbowed Tien in the gut before sending several punches one after the other at him. Tien was in too much pain to try and retaliate that he was forced to retract his extra pair of arms back into himself. Gohan and his clone paired back up next to each other to form back into one as Tien clutched his stomach, standing up. Gohan chuckled "Sorry, but I just had to take the opportunity that presented itself. The multiform does divide my power, but I simply made a compromise using your own body against yourself-Physics." Gohan explained, knowing Tien would want an answer.
Tien chuckled in return "I underestimated you." He stated. Gohan dropped into his fighting stance again with Tien following suit. Gohan immediately began attacking again as the two took to the air once more. Gohan kicked Tien in the chest and sent him flying backwards, Gohan pursuing him, only for Tien to recover quickly and place his hands together in front of him, making a diamond shape "Tri-Beam HAAAAAH!" He shouted as a bright yellow beam was rapidly sent toward Gohan. He dodged it and it careened passed him to harmlessly explode in the air. Tien fired off two more beams and Gohan dodged the next one before bracing himself as the third beam came into contact with him and exploded.
Smoke covered the area where Gohan was hit by the blast, obscuring him from view for some time, but his shadow soon began to appear from within the smoke and cleared completely to an unscathed Gohan.
Tien was taken aback, not by him being unharmed, but by the position Gohan held his hands in. "No way... He can't have-"
"Tri-beam HAAAAAH!" Gohan called out as a large yellow beam blasted from in front of his hands and ascended upon Tien. The attack was a direct hit and out of the explosion, Tien fell from the air landing just inside of the ring, facedown.
"Tien is down! After such a devastating attack by our young warrior, will he have the strength to continue?!" The announcer continued to yell into the microphone.
Gohan lowered himself so that he was adjacent to Tien in the ring, waiting for him to stand up. Gohan had to admit that he was having some fun in this kind of fight, it was a nice change from the usual fight-to-the-death scenario he usually found himself in. Tien was a skilled opponent, there was no doubt about it, and it made the fight that much more enjoyable.
Tien slowly got to his knees from where he lay and tried to catch his breath, that attack stung a lot. Tien smirked as he locked his eyes back onto his opponent "I'm surprised, learning that kind of technique so quickly. I commend you." Tien complimented.
Gohan blushed in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head "Heh-heh... Thanks, Mr Tien." Gohan replied.
Tien now stood to his full height "But... You're not the only one that can learn a wide range of techniques." Tien revealed as he crouched in a familiar stance and brought his hands forward, wrists locking with each other and his palms facing forward. Gohan stared shocked at the stance Tien took, he had no idea Tien knew that type of technique.
Bringing his hands back until they were locked at the right side of his waist, he began the all too familiar chant of the Turtle Schools legendary technique "Ka... Me... Ha..."
Goku smiled "Heh... I almost forgot he could do that." He noted.
Gohan braced himself, taking a wide stance, as he prepared to avoid the attack.
"Me..." A blue ball of Ki energy appeared between Tien's palms as he cupped them over each other "HAAAAAAH!" Tien let out a war cry as he brought his hands forward and a large blue beam of energy barrelled towards Gohan. Gohan had no choice but to take to the skies again so as to try and avoid damage to the area and jumped upwards out of the way. Tien's Kamehameha curved upwards and followed Gohan's trajectory. "Over here!" Tien yelled and caught Gohan's attention, much to the Saiyan boys surprise and began his assault once more, Gohan going on the defensive as he fended off Tien's assault.
Tien suddenly flew upward and pointed his finger at Gohan "DODON RAY!" Tien yelled and fired a yellow beam from his outstretched finger.
Gohan batted the beam away with the back of his hand and then dropped into the ring, Tien landing opposite him. Tien appeared to have trouble catching his breath, but Gohan was no worse for wear.
Gohan smiled "You're really skilled, Tien." He said respectfully.
Tien smirked "Heh. Why don't you just go ahead and show me some of that power you've been holding back." Tien goaded.
Gohan looked at him in surprise "Y-You sure...?" He questioned in confusion. Tien simply nodded in return before going into a defensive stance.
"Alright..." Gohan said apprehensively as he began to draw out some of his dormant power. He figured now would be a good time as any to finish the fight and powered up to where he could finish it in an instant. Gohan charged forward, aiming at Tien's abdomen, Tien brought his arms up to block but was taken aback as Gohan's image passed right through him, a moment later his feet were kicked out from under him and Gohan planted a firm kick to his gut that sent him flying from the ring to hit the barrier between them and the audience.
The audience and announcer were in complete astonishment as Gohan finished the fight in what appeared to be an instant to mostly everyone. "G-Gohan has won the fight!" The announcer declared and the crowd began to cheer. Gohan was startled a bit by the cheering before he walked to the edge of the ring as a recovering Tien slowly stood.
"Are you okay, Mr Tien?" Gohan asked in concern.
Tien simply chuckled "Yeah. I'm more hurt that I got beat by a kid, but you're no ordinary kid, I'll get over it." Tien smiled as he held out his hard for Gohan to shake. Gohan smiled sheepishly in return and shook his hand.
Gohan was suddenly caught off balance by Tien picking him up and sitting him on his shoulder, turning to the audience "W-What're you doing, Tien?" Gohan asked, confused by the jesture.
Tien chuckled "Start waving. You've got fans now." He responded simply and held his free hand up in cheer.
"What a guy, huh?" Launch said with a smile.
Gohan looked at the crowd as they cheered and raised has hand up to wave with a sheepish look on his face. The audience roared with new vigour as they cheered the young fighter on. Whilst the cheering did make him feel good, he couldn't really feel pride at the win and he was feeling embarrassed at having the spotlight on him. It was fun nonetheless for him, Tien was an exceptional fighter.
Once Gohan had enough of the cheer he hopped down off of Tien's shoulder in order to get back to the waiting room but he was taken off guard by one little girl who ran up to him and caught him in a tackle-hug. Gohan chuckled as he returned the hug. "I was really worried." She admitted, though Gohan saw it all over her face without her needing to say it.
"Sorry about that. I'm fine." Gohan apologised sheepishly, he understood all too well how intense these fights could be.
Chianni began to smile, though, knowing that he was alright "But you were amazing in there! I didn't realise you were so strong!" She said in awe and admiration. She had never actually seen him fight so it was likely a big shock to the system. No doubt the next fight with Piccolo was going to be all the more intense, he had been mentally preparing himself for the inevitable fight, a real one where he was determined to best his teacher. Gohan smiled warmly at his little sister.
"Hehe. Thanks!" He scratched the back of his head.
"And who might this little girl be?" The announcer questioned over the mic as he leaned over from the edge of the ring.
"Oh? This is my little sister, Chianni!" Gohan said proudly as patted her on the head.
Chianni noticed all the stares from the audience she was getting so she hid in front of her brother as his back was turned to them. There was yet another resounding "Awwwww" from the audience.
With the audience settling down, Gohan retired back into the fighters area for a brief intermission, Chianni quickly returning back to her spot at the front of the audience. It was likely that the next fight would be the last one before they had to continue the tournament tomorrow, seeing as the preliminaries took so long. Goku and Krillin congratulated the two on a fight well done before they got ready to watch the next ones.
Goku was up next against an average human fighter, so needless to say, the fight was over in an instant. Krillin's fight went much the same. So with the end of the quarterfinals, it was announced that Gohan and Piccolo would be fighting in the first round of the semifinals, with the second match being Goku and Krillin, much to Krillin's dismay. Though Goku kept an upbeat attitude about it being that it would be just like old times.
Gohan and Piccolo looked at each other with competitive smiles on their faces as their match was soon to start. "I won't go easy on you just because you're my pupil. I expect you to give it everything, too." Piccolo said.
Gohan would have expected nothing less from his mentor "You bet!" Gohan exclaimed happily. He had to admit, he was looking forward to this fight, all of his training would be put to the test if it was against someone like Piccolo. He hadn't beaten him yet, but today was the day he will get his first win against his mentor.
The announcer called out their names and the two proceeded out to the ring side by side.