--- Disturbance, Book 1: Convergence ---
Chapter C07 - Dare To Be Stupid
Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.
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-Put down the chainsaw and listen to me-
As the two fighters strode towards the concrete stage, the announcer declared, "These two fighters seem like complete opposites." That was indeed true, from appearances if nothing else: whereas Goku wore his traditional orange and blue gi, Pi wore a green and red one of similar design, albeit in a female cut; whereas Goku had sort, spiky hair, Pi had almost waist-length, straight hair; whereas Goku had a childish way about him, Pi was entirely too serious, almost aged beyond her years; and, most obviously, they were opposite sexes.
-It's time for us to join in the fight-
"Now, I'm sure to all you hard-core Tournament fans out there, a man of Son Goku's qualifications needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway. When he first hit the tournament stage during the Twenty-First Budokai, when, at the age of twelve, he stunned fans by being the youngest entrant ever, before the formation of the Junior Division, and further amazed people by making it all the way through to the finals on his first try, being defeated in the end by Jackie Chun."
"During the twenty-second, he returned, and again made it all the way to the finals. On his third try, he was actually crowned champion, after an intense battle with Ma Junior, that levelled the entire stadium. Now, after a brief hiatus during the Twenty-Fourth, he has returned to the tournament stage for another shot at the title. Pi, on the other hand, is a newcomer to our stage, and about all I can tell you is that, if her prelim score is anything to go by, she packs a mean left hook, and, judging by the symbol on the back of her gi, her sensei was, or perhaps still is, another entrant in this tournament."
-It's time to let your babies grow up to be cowboys-
Pi smiled to herself, impressed that the announcer had managed to piece together, in the short while she'd been on the island, that the symbol on her back indicated that Kaen was her sensei. 'Then again,' she mused to herself, 'He's probably been doing this since Goku's time, so no doubt he's seen it all before.' The two fighters stopped in the centre of the ring, bowing formally to each other, before they fell into stance, awaiting the gong that signified the start of the match.
-It's time to let the bedbugs bite-
"You're quite a famous fighter around these parts, aren't you Goku?" Pi asked rhetorically, starting the pre-fight banter before the fight began.
The younger-but-older Saiyan let out a quick laugh, "Guess so. I never was one to really pay attention to things like that."
She smirked, "Probably didn't understand a word of it, did you?"
He grinned, "Probably not, no."
As the gong sounded, her smirk widened, before she commented, "Well, guess I'm going to be quite famous when I defeat you then won't I?"
-You better put all your eggs in one basket-
"Thousand zenni says Roc throws him out of the ring within five minutes," Eagle commented offhandedly.
"Thousand five says it takes over five minutes," Raptor replied.
"Two thousand says she uses some kind of sleeper hold or pressure points to KO him in under five," Oz wagered.
-You better count your chickens before they hatch-
Harrier upped the stakes further, "Two five says Oz's right, but it'll take longer then five."
"Three thousand says she stuns him with a blow to the ribs, before sending him out of the ring with an uppercut," Condor continued.
"Three five says it's a series of punches that drives him to, and over, the edge," Hawk added.
Falcon placed the final bet; "Four says she takes him out with a kick to the spine, followed by an elbow drop."
-You better sell some wine before it's time-
Yamcha gave the group a weird look, commenting, "You guys do know this is Goku she's fighting, right? And that he's almost certainly stronger than her?"
"Of course we do," Hawk replied dismissively, "We've heard all about Goku. However, this is Roc we're talking about; she's a crafty little thing, and Goku, we've been told... wasn't the brightest of fighters."
-You better find yourself an itch to scratch-
"Okay, I'll grant you that point," Yamcha conceded, "But why are all of you so confident Pi'll win?"
"It's simple, really," Eagle replied with a shrug, "There are two reasons."
"One: Pi is probably the smartest person this side of geniuses like Bulma and Gohan, and she's more manipulative to boot," Harrier continued, "She's been dealing with Phoenix all these years, and getting her way too, so outsmarting Goku won't be too hard."
"And the second reason?" The retired fighter prodded.
Falcon just grinned, "Goku treats every fight like a game, but Pi plays every game to win."
-You better squeeze all the Charmin you can while Mr. Wimpole's not around-
The second the gong was struck, Pi wasted no time, speeding forward with a flurry of attacks, and immediately forcing Goku on the defensive. She wasn't surprised to find him blocking every attack, but then, the purpose of the attacks wasn't to connect; it was to drive him backwards. There were two things Pi knew, without a doubt, that would need to happen for her to win this fight: she'd need to send Goku out of the ring, and she'd need to do it fast.
After almost half a minute of attacks, one of her punches finally connected, sending the younger-but-older fighter skidding back, and making him realise that he was near the edge of the arena. With a sudden burst of ki, he leapt into the air, flying in an arc over his opponent, and narrowly missing the kick that would have connected with his ribs. He didn't get away Scott-free, however, as, leg still extended, Pi similarly leapt, spinning her other leg around to drive her knee into his back, before swinging her extended leg back and landing on it.
-Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan-
Rolling with the blow, Goku quickly landed on his feet, but let out a yelp as he was quickly forced to lean backwards, as a ki blast, extending from Pi's right hand, sailed through the air his head had occupied moments ago. Before he could recover, she swept his legs out from under him, and as he fell backwards, she continued her spin and again drove her knee into his back, ironically in the exact same spot as the first blow, before, continuing the motion, she leapt into the air slightly, raising her other leg near vertical to her body, and sending him towards the ground again with a punishing axe kick.
As soon as Goku struck floor, he quickly rolled to the side and up on to his feet, again narrowly missing an attack, as Pi's right knee drove into the tile his face had been resting on, shattering it. Quickly taking advantage of her position, he threw a hard left hook at her head, but with lightning speed she reached back and grabbed his hand, using his momentum to not only throw him over her shoulder, but in a feat that should have been impossible, also dug her knee out of the tile and swung it around to connect with his temple as she swung up to an upright position.
-Talk with your mouth full-
As Goku staggered around dazedly for a moment, having rolled to his feet after the throw, Pi took a moment to rub her raised knee, muttering sourly, "What the hell is that head of yours made of? Titanium?"
As his vision cleared, the two charged at one another again, locking arms in a classic power struggle. Grinning despite the strain, Goku quipped back, "Well, it didn't exactly feel too good on this end either."
-Bite the hand that feeds you-
After a silent, subconscious agreement between the two, they broke apart again, falling into stance after putting a few metres between them. Smiling slightly, Pi commented, "You know Goku, you're as good as everyone says you are. I honestly expected to have you out of the ring by this point."
"You won't get me out of the ring that..." Goku began, only to trail off as he sniffed the air, adding, "Hey, do you smell that?"
-Bite on more than you chew-
"Smell what?" she asked.
Taking a moment to sniff the air again, he replied, "It smells like... roast pork... and deep-fried chicken... and-"
"Oh, right," Pi replied, cutting him off, "That's probably because I was cooking earlier; must've got the smell on my gi or something."
-What can you do?-
Goku felt his stomach rumbling at the memory of all the food he had consumed less than an hour ago. Once again, Goku defied all medical logic, finding himself hungry again already, despite the army's worth of food he'd consumed; or, at the very least, feeling phantom hunger pains. Not that he wouldn't eat to satisfy phantom pains anyway.
To Pi, the sound of Goku's stomach sounded like victory; she had found her opportunity. "You know Goku," she commented casually, "I think there are still some left-overs that haven't been eaten yet."
"Really!" He exclaimed, spinning around. It wasn't until he had finished turning his back on her that he realised his mistake - of course there wouldn't be left-overs, he would've eaten them already - but by then, it was far too late.
-Dare to be stupid-
Pi dashed forward the second Goku turned away from her, arriving in time to mule-kick him in the back a split second after he completed the turn. Springing off her hands, she leapt over him, driving her knee into his back as he neared the edge of the arena, and sending him sprawling on the grass, before she gracefully landed on her feet, balanced precariously on the concrete edge.
Shaking himself from his stupor, the announcer shouted, "Amazing! In a stunning upset, the newcomer Pi has won the match, sending three-time finalist Goku out of the ring, and the competition, in the first round. Let's hear it for this up-and-coming fighter!"
As she bowed to the applause of the audience, she heard Goku whine, albeit in a good-natured tone, "That's not fair! You cheated!"
She just grinned at him, "I play to win Goku; you'd do well to remember that next time."
-Take some wooden nickels-
"Pay up!" Falcon crowed triumphantly, to much grumbling from her friends as they dug out the money.
"How the hell did you know she was going to do that?" Eagle asked incredulously.
The redhead just grinned to herself as she counted her winnings, replying cryptically, "I have my ways."
-Look for Mr. Goodbar-
"And Chichi drops out of the standings!" Cherri exclaimed childishly, to the smiles of her mate and his family.
Chichi just moped to herself, "I just can't believe my Goku lost..."
"Neither can I Chi," Bulma added with a shrug, "I expected him to get to the quarter finals at least."
"I can believe it," Raene commented.
-Get your mojo working now-
"What do you mean?" Chichi queried.
Raene smiled, "I do believe I told you Kaen and Pi have a few tricks up their sleeves; one of Pi's is that she's very good at finding people's weaknesses, and, of all people Chichi, you should know what Goku's biggest weakness is."
It didn't take Chichi all that long to figure it out. "Food," she commented, watching Raene's smile widen, "She distracted him with thoughts of food."
-I'll show you how-
"That seems pretty underhanded," Bulma commented, sounding disgusted at the notion.
"You have to remember Bulma," April argued, "Those two grew up in the era with Frieza breathing down our necks, where every fight had to be treated as a life-or-death battle if you were going to be prepared, and nothing is too underhanded to ensure your own survival. I'm sure you will have noticed some of these characteristics in Vegeta, but by then, the worst had already happened, so Vegeta's instincts are geared more towards survival than victory."
-You can dare to be stupid-
Bulma nodded to herself, as did the other Z-Fighters who had overheard April's argument. She had to admit, even if only to herself, that she had seen those sort of things in Vegeta's character; his never-ending quest for more power, for one. She realised now though, having heard from the other side, that, to Vegeta, beating Goku wasn't the ultimate goal of the rivalry; what was important to Vegeta was being the strongest, being the top of the food chain, because the top of the food chain is the one that always survives.
"So, can we expect the same sort of thing from Kaen then?" Chichi asked, her opinion of the 'ruffian' her son associated with steadily declining; she always knew there was something she didn't like about him, and in her mind, using underhanded tactics vindicated her opinion.
"No, not really," April replied with a shrug, "Finding weaknesses was always Pi's strength, not Kaen's. To be honest, the only thing I can predict about him is that he's unpredictable." Avarrdo just smiled to himself at his mate's comment; it was indeed true what she said, that even Avarrdo's best machines couldn't predict his son's reactions. His bout with Gohan would be quite interesting...
-You can turn the other cheek-
"I can't believe Kakarott lost like that," Vegeta grumbled to himself.
"As much as it pains me, I've gotta agree with you there Vegeta," Gohan added, "That was pretty cheap."
Kaen just grinned at the pair of them, as his mate and Goku walked back into the fighter's lounge, "Hey, I'll be the first to admit that, without the ring out rule, there's almost no way Pi or I could win this thing."
-You can just give up the ship-
"If you know we're stronger than you, why bother with the song and dance?" Vegeta asked derisively.
"Because Vegeta," Kaen lectured, "As Pi has just proven, strength of body is not the only strength needed to win. What won that battle was strength of mind."
"Um, what?" Krillin asked, confused.
Gohan just sighed, "He means she outsmarted him Krill."
The short monk nodded, "Oh, right. Why didn't you just say so?"
-You can eat a bunch of sushi and forget to leave a tip-
Krillin was saved a throttling at the now-irate Saiyan's hands by the timely arrival of said Saiyan's mate. "You tryin' to kill the competition?" Pi asked amusedly, wrapping an arm around her mate's waist.
Kaen just shrugged, "I was considering it, yeah, but I figure Vegeta'll do a good enough job of it. Speaking of which, isn't it your match now?"
At the smirk on Vegeta's face, Krillin gulped, asking rhetorically, "I'm gonna die again aren't I?"
Vegeta just nodded, "Of that, midget, you can be certain." With that, he headed off towards the arena, Krillin hot on his heels.
-Dare to be stupid-
"This is another fighter I'm sure I don't need to introduce to you hardcore fans, but nonetheless, I will," the announcer declared, "In a similar match to the one previously, we have a three-time entrant versus a first-timer. Our returnee this time is Krillin, who has competed in every tournament Goku has, although not as successfully, having made it to the semi-finals once, before being caught by the quarter-finals curse."
-Come on and dare to be stupid-
"His opponent in this match is a man known only as Vegeta, having given no other details about himself. He did, however, manage to destroy one of the punch machines during the preliminaries however, so Krillin may be in trouble." He paused listening to something through his headpiece, before continuing, "This should be an interesting match folks. If my sources are correct, we have Goku's best friend, versus his heated rival, and the winner goes on to fight the woman who defeated him. What a line-up!"
-It's so easy to do-
"So, you guys gonna make a wager on this fight too?" Yamcha asked curiously.
"Hell no!" Eagle exclaimed, waving his arms around for good measure, "We already know Vegeta's gonna pound the midget into the ground, no use losing money over it."
Yamcha gave him a raised eyebrow, "You don't have very much confidence in Krillin's abilities do you?"
The boyish teen just grinned cheekily and shook his head, "Nope."
-Dare to be stupid-
"You know, I really hope Vegeta doesn't hurt Krillin too much," Bulma muttered to herself.
"Well," Truniz offered with a smirk, "If it makes you feel any better, killing him would disqualify Vegeta from the competition, so he won't do that."
Bulma just glared up at the longhaired Saiyan, replying, "That doesn't make me feel better at all."
-We're all waiting for you-
As Vegeta and Krillin strode up to the arena, Kaen asked aloud, "So, how badly do you think Vegeta's going to hurt Krillin?"
"Let me put it this way," Gohan replied, "I'm glad we brought a few senzu beans." He paused, looking at Piccolo for a moment, before saying, "You did bring the senzu beans, right?"
Piccolo just smirked slightly, before holding up the bag. When Gohan breathed a sigh in relief, Piccolo added, "There aren't many; just five. Korin said the last batch didn't take, or something."
Gohan nodded, replying "We'd better be careful with them then."
-Let's go-
As Vegeta walked out to the concrete arena, he purposefully shut out the pointless blathering of the blonde human with the microphone, and the wordless roar of the crowd. Instead, he cast his mind to Kakarott; or, more accurately, on why Kakarott lost his match. Part of him wanted to believe that Pi truly had outsmarted him - an act that was surely as difficult as shooting fish in a barrel - but his pride refused to accept that.
-It's time to make a mountain out of a molehill-
Kakarott was afraid of him, his pride reasoned; he was terrified of him, of the power he now possessed, so he threw the fight so he could avoid facing him on the battlefield. To Vegeta, his pride had never steered him wrong before, so, as outlandish as this theory was, he chose to believe it, and with this theory came anger. Anger that the rematch he was due was denied him. With an evil smirk, Vegeta decided that first he would take his anger out on his midget opponent.
-So can I have a volunteer?-
Folding his arms as he glared down at his midget opponent, and subconsciously registering the sound of the gong, Vegeta barked, "Alright runt, I suggest you jump out of the ring so I'm not forced to hurt you. I'd rather save my energy for-" He cut off abruptly as he was struck in the face by a ki blast.
Grinning, Krillin replied, "Then maybe you should stop talking. You're wasting enough energy making hot air as it is."
-There's no more time for crying over spilled milk-
Smoking slightly, Vegeta growled, "You wretched, honourless piece of-" He cut off again as another ki blast flew towards his head, although this time he was fast enough to bat it away. A vein bulging in his forehead, he snarled, "Do you honestly think you can do tha-" He was cut off again by having to deflect a third blast. Steam almost visibly coming out of his ears, he screamed, "Stop doing that!"
-Now it's time for crying in your beer-
"Then stop flapping your gums and fight Vegeta," Krillin replied, already powering up another blast, "Nothing you say can scare me off, so put up or shut up."
Vegeta just scowled again, muttering, "Fine."
-Settle down, raise a family, join the PTA-
Krillin had no delusions that he could win this fight. He knew it was only a matter of time before Vegeta defeated him, and probably in a very painful fashion, but if there was one thing Krillin was not, he was not a quitter. He may not be able to win, but he would make his family proud by going down kicking. As Vegeta charged towards him, he hurled the blast in his hand, forcing Vegeta to pause again to swat it away, and giving him the time he needed.
-Buy some sensible shoes and a Chevrolet-
Fanning his hands on either side of his face, he closed his eyes, focusing ki into his forehead before shouting, "Solar Flare!" With this exclamation, a brilliant white light burst forth, and Vegeta, by then, was close enough to cop the light at point blank range. Taking a moment to grin in triumph, he quickly dove out of the way as Vegeta blindly lashed out at where he'd been, lowering his ki enough to give Vegeta a hard time finding him without the use of his eyes.
-Then party 'till you're broke and they drive you away-
"What the hell is Krillin doing?" Gohan asked incredulously.
"Signing his own death certificate apparently," Kaen replied.
Gohan just shook her head, "He knows he has no chance of winning."
"Maybe so Gohan," Pi cut in, "But answer me this: as a warrior, would you give up, even if you knew you couldn't win the fight?"
-It's OK, you can dare to be stupid-
Before the younger Saiyan could answer, there was a fairly loud explosion, followed by a lot of smoke. Jumping a little at the noise, Kaen quickly pushed Pi behind him, charging a blast in his other hand, and Gohan moved to protect Videl from whatever it was, but neither need have bothered. Out of the smoke stepped first a white cape, which was soon revealed to be wrapped around a brown gi, topped by a massive black Afro.
-It's like spitting on a fish-
Throwing the cape behind him, the man, revealed to be none other than Hercule Satan, threw up his hands, giving his traditional 'V for victory' pose, and bellowing, "Oh yeah, who's the man?"
-It's like barking up a tree-
The sound of silence was deafening; a veritable cone of silence descended on all those assembled, even drowning out the sound of the crowd. In the end, it was Videl that spoke first, groaning, "Dad, you are such an embarrassment..."
Tossing an idea around in his head, and, subconsciously tossing and catching the red ball of ki in his hand, Kaen finally broke into a grin, sending the fireball Hercule's way with a flick of his wrist, and catching the corner of his cape on fire.
-It's like I said you gotta buy one if you wanna get one free-
Quickly tearing the cape off from around his shoulders and hurling it as far away as he could, Hercule shouted, "What did you do that for you little punk?"
An eyebrow twitching in irritation, he was spared Kaen's wrath by Videl muttering, "You looked like an idiot with the cape anyway..." as she turned her attention back to the fight.
-Dare to be stupid (yes)-
Vegeta swung wildly again, trying to make contact with the annoying pest of a human that dared blind him. When that venture failed, he growled out, "When my vision returns, I am going to RIP YOUR EYES OUT!" He lashed out blindly again, his anger getting the better of him for a moment, before he heard something.
-Why don't you dare to be stupid?-
Ducking under another of Vegeta's punches, Krillin had to fight back a snicker; the situation was just too funny. Here, before him, was one of the strongest beings in existence, yet Krillin had kept this fight going for several minutes now; an amazing feat, to be sure.
-It's so easy to do / Dare to be stupid-
Vegeta fought the urge to smirk. In his anger, he had almost forgotten that he didn't need his eyes to find his opponent; he still had his ears. That damnable human runt was still being too quiet though, so he opted to try something new; he was going to make him laugh. Stealing a line he'd read somewhere - Kami alone knew where he'd picked it up - he shouted, "You are annoying, like shit-eating horsefly!" (1)
It had the desired effect.
-We're all waiting for you / Dare to be stupid-
Hearing Vegeta scream that line, Krillin couldn't help it. Even slapping both hands over his mouth, he couldn't help the series of laughs that escaped, and the second he started laughing, he noticed Vegeta whip around in his direction, before he was neatly folded around Vegeta's fist, the flesh-wrapped steel slamming into his stomach. His breath leaving him in a rush, he flew through the air for a moment before landing harshly on the grass outside of the ring. Vegeta had won, as the announcer declared, with a single punch.
-Burn your candle at both ends-
Hercule Satan didn't notice that the match outside had been concluded. He didn't even notice there was a match going on outside. He only noticed one thing, and he didn't like it, a fact he made known by bellowing, "What are you doing around my daughter you punk? Videl, I thought I've told you that you can't have a boyfriend unless he's stronger than me, and no one's stronger than me."
He was about to burst into one of his annoying horse-laughs when Pi commented casually, "Actually Herk, I think everyone in this room scored higher than you, 'cept maybe that Jewel guy."
-Look a gift horse in the mouth-
Steam could almost be seen coming out of Videl's ears, as she started to say, "Dad, Gohan in not-"
Before she could finish, the boy in question placed a hand on her shoulder, commenting, "Vi, let me handle it." When she didn't object he walked forward, his normally peaceful features contorting into a vicious glare the second Videl could no longer see his face; he grinned coldly as he noticed Hercule fighting the urge to flee like a rabbit that's just laid eyes on the wolf.
-Mashed potatoes can be your friends-
Gohan didn't stop his walk forward until he and Hercule were almost nose-to-nose. Leaning in to whisper in his ear, and angling his voice low, so that Videl didn't hear what he said, he growled out, "You listen here Satan, and you listen well. I know all your dirty little secrets, including the truth about how you've treated Videl, and I'm not impressed. You better prey to any Kami that will listen to you that we don't meet in the ring. I have seven years worth of repressed aggression to work out." Taking a step back, he made his eyes flash teal briefly, but not so briefly that Hercule missed it, before turning on his heel and striding away.
-You can be a coffee achiever-
While normally watching Hercule splutter and gape like a fish would have amused Kaen greatly, he knew that what the blowhard was trying to say was something along the lines of 'You're the boy that beat Cell,' and as much as he wanted Videl to know the truth - and as soon as possible - he knew said truth had to come from Gohan, so he decided to change the subject, knowing Hercule's pea-sized brain could only process so much at once. "Hey Jerkule," Kaen jibbed, "You're up; time to make a mockery of yourself. You wouldn't want to let your bleating sheep down."
-You can sit around the house and watch Leave It To Beaver-
His mouth snapping shut, Hercule spun in Kaen's direction, ready to give the 'young punk' a few choice words, but a sudden flash in the flame-haired teen's eyes changed his mind. Instead, he drew himself up, puffing out his chest and replying, "Yeah, I better get out there. The people came here to see a real champ." With that, 'the champ' strode off as fast as he could without looking like he was fleeing in terror, to get ready for his 'grand entrance'.
-The future's up to you / So what you gonna do?-
"Thanks man," Gohan said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Kaen just shrugged, "No prob. I know she needs to hear it from you." He paused, giving Gohan a pointed look, before adding, "You are going to tell her soon aren't you?"
He nodded, "As soon as the tournament's over."
"Well it can't come soon enough," Pi muttered a touch bitterly.
-Dare to be stupid / Dare to be stupid-
There was another series of explosions, as more pyrotechnics went off, heralding Hercule's arrival on stage. Piccolo just spat sourly, "This tournament's really gone downhill."
-What did I say/ Dare to be stupid-
"It has a bit hasn't it?" Goku mused. "It never used to have all the press. And cameras. And advertising. And..."
-Tell me, what did I say/ Dare to be stupid-
"Oh yeah! Who's the man?" Hercule shouted, to the roar of the crowd. He continued posturing and posing for several more minutes, much to the disgust of the fighters backstage.
-It's alright / Dare to be stupid-
"Well, I'm done," Kaen muttered, walking away to sit down against the wall, ironically winding up where Trunks had whiled away Goten's first match, "That's more than enough hot air for one day."
-We can be stupid all night / Dare to be stupid-
"I couldn't agree more," Pi commented, walking over to where he sat, and flopping down in his lap. Resting her head against his chest, she yawned, "Wake me up when something good comes on."
-Come on, join the crowd / Dare to be stupid-
"Aren't you even going to watch the match?" Videl asked disbelievingly, "I mean, you might learn... some..." She trailed off as she realised both what she was going to say, and who she was saying it to. 'Damn, this is taking a lot of effort to get used to,' Pi groused to herself.
-Shout it out loud / Dare to be stupid-
Despite the fact she hadn't finished the thought, Kaen snorted, "Girl, the day I learn any moves from Hercule is the day I give up fighting forever."
-I can't hear you / Dare to be stupid-
"Don't worry Videl," Gohan said soothingly, laying a hand on her shoulder, "I know how hard it is getting used to the fact your father isn't the strongest person alive." He finished by giving his own father a pointed look.
-OK, I can hear you now / Dare to be stupid-
Goku just rubbed the back of his head, letting out a nervous laugh as he said, "Hey, come on. I know I could have chosen a better way to do it and all, but..."
-Let's go, dare to be stupid / Dare to be stupid-
"No Goku," Piccolo drawled sarcastically, "You don't say? There was a better way you could have told your, at the time, only son that all our hope rested on his shoulders?"
-Dare to be stupid / Dare to be stupid-
"Look, just give it a rest you two," Gohan sighed exasperatedly, "It was seven years ago, I'm sorry I brought it up." Even now, Piccolo still harboured ill will towards his father for what happened at the Cell Games
-Dare to be stupid / Dare to be stupid-
"What are they talking about Gohan?" Videl asked curiously, completely ignoring the debacle of a fight going on in the arena.
-Dare to be stupid-
"Just... an old grudge Videl," Gohan sighed; he really didn't want to have to explain this to her just yet. He heard a roar from the crowd outside; Hercules match was over.
-Dare to be stupid!-
To be continued...
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Author's notes:
I honestly never expected this chapter to turn out so long... All I wanted was to have it contain 2 short fights, and the commencement of a third I had no plans of writing about, and it turned into this...
In other news, this update almost didn't happen today, due to a series of personal delays, but I managed to get it done. However, I have now run out of pre-written chapters, so I've got to pull my finger out and finish the next few chapters. Rest assured though, they will be done on time, come hell or high water.
(1) This line is lifted from Sinfest