--- Disturbance, Book 1: Convergence ---

Chapter C15 - Rise

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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-Rise-

"You're certainly in a good mood Gohan," Kat commented, as both he and Videl returned to the fighter's lounge.

Setting Videl down again, Gohan grinned, "Hey, I just defeated the ogre, reclaimed the treasure, and rescued the princess. Why shouldn't I be in a good mood?"

"So," Pi began in a conversational tone, "How long have you known Videl remembered everything?"

Videl choked on her breath as Gohan replied in the same tone, "Since she started whining about it, after she buried her face into my chest."

"What?" the human girl shrieked.

-Throw away-

"Did I forget to mention Saiyans have almost preternatural hearing?" Gohan replied, a smile on his face.

She elbowed him in the stomach, growling, "Yes, you did."

Gohan just kept grinning, "Well we do."

"Wait a sec," Kat interjected, "You only did all that because she remembered?"

"Well no," Gohan replied with a shrug, "I probably would've done it anyway; this just gave me a good excuse."

Kaen grinned, "See, I'm friends with this guy for a reason."

-The charade of your life-

"Can I have a quick word?" Gohan asked his flame-haired friend.

Kaen just shrugged, "Sure." They moved far enough to be out of everyone's hearing, before Kaen asked, "What's this about?"

"You owe me one," Gohan stated without preamble.

One of Kaen's eyebrows rose, "For what?"

"Letting you win our match."

"Bullshit!" He hissed, making sure to keep his voice down, "Go fuck yourself! I know you were fighting your best."

-Let the flame of my heart-

Gohan shrugged, "Sure I was. Right up until the last few seconds." Gohan smiled, "You're correct that without style, strength means nothing, and on anyone else that move of yours would have been an almost guaranteed win. However, thanks to my father I have mastered the Super Saiyan transformation to the point that I had more than enough time to use it again to stop your blast after Soulfire ended."

"So why didn't you?"

"Simple," Gohan commented, "If I had, the match would have ended in a stalemate, and the judges would've been called in; hardly a fitting victory for a Saiyan. And, assuming I won, you would then probably have killed Hercule, disqualification rule or no. This way, you get to fight your mate, I got to beat up on Hercule, and no one suspects a thing; everybody wins. As I said earlier, this merely gave me the perfect excuse to do exactly what I wanted without being burdened with any of the blame."

-Burn away-

Kaen sighed; he didn't like where this was headed. "What's your point?"

Gohan smiled again, "My point is, you owe me a week of respectful attitude towards Vegeta."

"You're full of it," Kaen scowled.

Gohan's smile didn't waver, "Is that your final answer?"

Kaen, having dealt with his and Pi's fathers for years, had a bullshit-o-meter that could measure on an atomic level; while he may have been bad at it himself, he knew a bluff almost before he heard it, and Gohan's words made him uneasy. Gohan made a damn good point, and Kaen had heard much about the younger Saiyan's training before the Cell Games. If Gohan said anything, he knew he would be hard pressed to deny it; the proof was stacked against him, skill or not. Losing face to Vegeta was very much different to Gohan. Vegeta was Vegeta - they had an uneasy truce of sorts - but Gohan was his rival, so to lose face to him... Folding his arms, Kaen growled, "One day."

-Your complacence tonight-

"Five."

"Two."

"Three."

Kaen scowled again. "Fine. So Cellotto, when will I have to do this?"

Gohan just grinned, "Whenever I think it's most funny."

As the two began walking back, Piccolo's voice echoed in Gohan's mind. Nice bluff.

Gohan smiled. I learnt from the best.

-I command you to rise-

"What were you two talking about?" Videl asked curiously.

"Just celebrating my brutal defeat of Hercule," Gohan supplied, "Kaen wasn't too happy about me going easy on him like I did."

"And you used to be such a nice boy too," Pi commented mock-disapprovingly, "So innocent and polite, and now look at you; Kaen's corrupted you."

"Hey!" Kaen barked defensively, "I knew the kid a grand total of two weeks, and as much as I would like to claim otherwise, I can't corrupt anyone in that sort of time frame. Besides this smacks of Vegeta's handiwork, and a damn fine job of it to, turning an overly polite boy into a true Saiyan."

"Hey, shouldn't you guys be getting ready for your match?" Kat asked, ever the peacemaker.

-Wash away-

Glad for a new topic, Videl asked, "So Pi, what're you gonna do with the prize money; either one."

Pi just shrugged, replying disinterestedly, "Eh, probably throw it in the pile I guess."

"Why did you guys even enter this tournament?" Kat asked, having not had a chance to talk to her pseudo-sister since they made their decision.

"For the challenge," was Pi's simple reply.

Videl gaped. "Just how much money do you guys have anyway?"

Kaen just smiled wanly. "It... can no longer be expressed in numbers."

"So what can it be expressed in?"

-The decay of your life-

"Mathematical formulae," Pi shrugged, "We first invested our money some ten years ago, and we haven't touched it until recently, so... To be honest, I don't even know about half the accounts we have."

"Yes, and I plan to keep it that way," Kaen commented dryly, "If you knew just how much money we had, and where it was, you'd be a lot less restrained in your shopping sprees."

Pi just smiled, "Probably."

"What did you do to earn so much?" Videl asked; any job that resulted in this much financial security...

"Full-time mercenary-slash-bounty hunter, part-time treasure hunter."

Videl gave the other two girls a level stare. "So that's what Pi meant by 'you made a killing'." Having her memories of the conversation on the roof over a month ago, Videl was surprisingly desensitised by the idea of Kaen being a killer. "But what are you gonna do for work now? I can't imagine there's much need for a mercenary or a bounty hunter here on Earth."

-Feel the light of your eyes-

"You'd be surprised," Kaen replied seriously, "Besides, I severely doubt I'll ever need money enough to have to work, but it I wanted to work, I'd probably get a job working with dad."

"What's he do?"

"Researcher-slash-inventor," Kaen shrugged, "I know, I know, I don't seem like the type, but apparently I inherited dad's affinity for machines. Go figure."

"Where does he work then?" Videl asked curiously, "Capsule Corp?"

"Full Moon Industries." Pi replied. When Videl didn't seem to understand, she added, "Ever heard of FMI then?"

"Capsule Corp's main rival?" Videl cried, "They work there?"

"Kinda," Pi replied, "My dad, Kaen's dad, and my uncle founded the company. And the two companies aren't really rivals per say, as they field different technologies." Before anyone could question them further, two of the three in question walked up to them, their respective father's pulling the Saiyan couple away for a pre-fight pep talk.

-Find the way-

"So what did you want to tell me?" Kaen asked his father impatiently; he had little time for the man's lectures.

Avarrdo took a minute to glance over at his associate, as Kellre verbally ran through a series of katas he wanted his daughter to perform as an act of demoralisation, before replying, "This will be quite a match."

Kaen just shrugged, "We've sparred before, what's the big deal?"

"Because," the older man replied, "Unlike your spars, this match will beg a determined winner."

"So you and Kellre got bets down."

-Through the darkness tonight-

Avarrdo grinned a little bit, amused at how transparent he was in some ways. "There are stakes, but not only of that nature. I assure you that this battle will definitely be one to make you open your eyes."

"Are you saying I don't know my own mate?" Kaen felt his blood start to boil.

"I am saying," Avarrdo lectured, "That you should never face an opponent as if you know them."

"Cut the crap old man, what are you getting at?" Kaen barked.

Avarrdo just smirked. "Be prepared. And good luck. Now you should go, I think they're calling for you."

Tail lashing in anger, Kaen noticed that they were, indeed, being called, and Pi was already waiting for him at the entrance. Turning to glare at his father, he growled, "We'll finish this later," before heading off to his match.

-Fearing no one-

Noticing his old friend approaching, Avarrdo beat him to the punch, commenting, "I see you did not bother with any form of pleasantries with your daughter."

"She knows what is required," Kellre replied simply.

"Are you sure that she can understand it though?" Avarrdo countered, "Considering the circumstances of her disposition."

"I could say the same of you," Kellre shot back, "I, however, have no doubts that Pi understands; she is her mother's daughter after all." There was a minor hint of doubt in his voice. "And what did you ascertain? Is he as we believe?"

"Inconclusive," Avarrdo grimaced. "If he is not Kaen, he believes himself to be, and has all of his memories, as well as possibly a few more. However, his ki signature has changed slightly; I would need to use nanoscopic scanners to measure the exact change, but I can notice a change."

-Do you really think I covet like you do?-

"Hey, what're you guys talking about?" Gohan's voice interjected.

"The outcome of the match," Kellre replied smoothly.

"Oh? Who are you guys backing?" Videl asked.

"My son, of course," Avarrdo commented.

"Pi's always got my vote," Truniz added.

Gohan turned to the older of the two brothers, asking, "So Kellre, who are you supporting then?"

The man just smiled. "A tie."

-Come-

"So Kaen," Pi said conversationally, "Don't 'spose you're gonna tell me what the final test is?"

"Of course not," he replied in the same tone, "One of the conditions of the final test is working out what the test is about all on your own."

"Of course it is," she replied drolly.

-Take me away-

"What's the matter Pi?" Kaen mocked, "Don't think you can keep up with me?"

Pi just smirked, going through the routine her father told her to. "I seem to remember our fights being a little one-sided."

Kaen smirked back, dropping into his stance. "Yes they did, but this time, I won't be letting you win."

Finishing her kata, she fell into her own stance. "That's okay; you won't have to."

-Remove the fear from my eyes-

"Well folks, it looks like these two outstanding fighters are ready and raring to begin, so let's not waste any time!" The announcer shouted, signalling the monks nearby, and the gong was struck, but before the sound could register to the ears of the audience, the two fighters had sped forward, fists and feet colliding with thunderous force.

Grabbing her wrists as she tried to punch him, Kaen locked Pi's arms between them, but the two began trading blows, or attempting to at least, using only their feet, like some bizarre version of the Riverdance. Eventually, as Kaen forced her feet to the ground, she wrenched her arms free, throwing a punch to his midsection. Kaen simply folded his arms before the punch, allowing the blow to push him backwards a couple of feet.

-Feel the flame of my heart-

Pi was upon him again almost before he finished sliding, raining down a flurry of blows upon him, and Kaen was hard pressed to stop them all, being slowly forced to his knees. Growling, he grabbed her arm during her next attack, swinging himself up to kick at her head, but she raised her other arm to block, using his momentum to throw him over her shoulder.

Spinning to land on his feet, Kaen sent a burst of ki to his feet, vaulting backwards over her as she lunged towards his exposed back. She spun around and raised an arm to block as he returned the favour, grabbing his wrist and leaping into a cartwheel, both to attempt to kick him in the head - which she knew he'd dodge - as well as to twist his arm around painfully.

-Burning away-

Kaen, however, merely turned his back to her to 'unwind' his arm, kicking at her backwards to force her to let go, lest she receive his size ten boot to the face. As he spun back towards her, he lashed out with a kick, but she answered with a spin kick of her own, both avoiding his strike, and counter-attacking. He countered her kick, she retaliated, and the pair spun in place for a while, before the fact they were spinning at different speeds caught up to them, and their legs clashed like duelling swords, the taller Kaen forcing Pi's leg to the ground.

-All conversation tonight-

Glaring at her smirking mate, Pi threw him a hard left, but he just grabbed her wrist, locking it behind his to ensure she didn't have the leverage to attack with her right. Growling, Pi made use of one of the most unconventional weapons in a Saiyan's arsenal; her tail. Charging it with ki, she swung her tail up to shock the muscles in his wrist, forcing it to unclench and release her hand. At the same time, she twisted her wrist enough to grab that self-same arm, and while he was still off balance from the shock, swung him over her shoulder again; this time, however, she didn't release him.

-Hearing no one-

In a similarly unconventional style, Kaen coiled his tail like a spring, reinforcing it with ki, and using it to break his fall. Then, like a spring, he used it to bounce back up towards her, twisting slightly to lash out with his leg. It was an extremely unorthodox tactic, and it hurt his tail like all hell, but it did have the advantage of catching her off guard enough to land a good solid kick to the temple.

-Am I precious to you now?-

As Pi staggered backwards a few steps, a hand held to the side of her head, Kaen landed awkwardly on his back. Climbing back to his feet, Kaen held a hand to his back, as the two spent some time recovering from the first actual damage done to either of them. A smirk returning to his face, Kaen dropped into a new stance, one reminiscent of a kick boxer. "So Pi, ready for round two?"

Smirking back, Pi twisted her arms around, flowing into the stance she used to fight Vegeta, as she replied, "Whenever you are Sensei."

-Oooh, am I precious to you now?-

"Wow, they're really tearing it up," Faile commented excitedly.

"Nah, this is just the warm-up," Yamcha replied.

"How can you tell?" Vincent asked dryly; well, his voice was always dry.

-Now rise-

"Experience," the older man replied with an absent wave. "I've been in a couple of these tournaments myself, and the first few minutes are always a warm-up."

"Besides little sis," Falcon added, "You were there when Phoenix came crashing through the roof during his fight with Dragon, so you know they aren't fighting at their peak."

"He's showing her off," April commented. "He wants everyone to know how good a fighter his mate is."

-Turn away-

"They're good, I'll give them that," Chichi admitted begrudgingly, "But that doesn't mean I approve of their methods."

"Underhanded or not, they know what to do to get the job done," Raene replied.

"But the real question is," Cherri added, "What'll they do to beat each other, when they know each other's style as though it were their own?"

-From the shame of your life-

The two circled each other, Kaen taking short, efficient steps, and Pi taking wide, flowing motions, as they stared each other down. Kaen knew that Pi wouldn't break rank first and go on the attack; not only would she usually wait for his impatience to force him onto the offensive, but also the style she was using was primarily a counter-attack style. With this in mind, Kaen kept to the status quo, and went on the offensive.

Kaen swung at her head with his right hand - a simple jab - and as expected, Pi pushed his arm to the side harmlessly. Before she could retaliate, he continued the spin, backhanding her with his left forearm. When she ducked under the blow, he swung in again with his right, aiming to strike at her head with his elbow. Before the blow could land, Pi calmly reached back with her right hand, halting the blow, and swinging her right leg back to sweep his out from under him.

Leaping over her, Kaen spun back around with another forearm strike, forcing her to duck again, before he followed up with what would have been a gut punch were she standing up; as it was, it resulted in a punch to the face. Well, it would have, had she not rolled to the side. Smirking at each other as they returned to the ready stance, the Saiyan couple took a moment to catch their breath, before the fight resumed anew.

-Feel the light from my eyes-

"Hey, I think I recognize those styles," Videl commented suddenly.

"Of course you do," Vegeta spat, "It's the same style the girl beat me with before."

"No, I know that," she replied, "I meant I've seen both of those styles somewhere else, or at least, I think I have... Something's missing from this picture, but I can't place what."

"What do you mean Videl?" Gohan asked his now-girlfriend; he'd never officially asked her, but seeing as how she didn't exactly object to him kissing her in front of millions of people, he assumed the answer'd be 'yes' anyway.

-Offering-

With inspiration striking her like the proverbial lightning bolt, she blurted out, "Fans! That's what's missing; Pi should be holding a pair of war fans."

"Where'd you get that idea 'Del?" Kat asked, surprised at how... right, the human girl's idea sat with her.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Videl replied. "It was some weird dream I had a while back; well, dreams. It was some medieval, feudal thing, with swords and horses and archers, that sort of thing."

"Tell me more about these dreams," Gohan asked. For some reason, he could almost picture what she said.

-Consolation tonight-

She grinned playfully, "Sure thing, General Gohan. There was, like, this massive civil war going on between three kingdoms, lead by Avarrdo, Vegeta, and Goku." This comment put shit-eating grins on the three men in question's faces. "You, me, Pi, and Kat were, like, outside help, recruited by Kaen to fight with him, and both Pi and Kat used war fans as their weapon of choice." Putting a hand to her chin, she mused, "What's bizarre is that the dreams had people in it I'd never met before, like Krillin and Yamcha, as well as a bunch of people I've never heard of. I mean, High Priest Gero of the Android Alliance, Frieza, Radditz; what the hell kind of names are those."

-Fearing no one-

There was an awkward silence in the room, before Gohan replied, "Radditz is my deceased uncle, Frieza is the tyrant who destroyed the Saiyan's planet, and Gero is the man who created Cell."

After another moment of silence, Kat commented quietly, "I think I had that dream too..."

"Same," Gohan muttered.

Videl, quite frankly, was a little scared. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Gohan replied grimly, "But I'm pretty sure I know who does."

-Do you really think I want it like you do?-

Kaen charged towards her again, and she used his momentum to flip him over her shoulder, turning to face him as the older fighter flipped and spun in midair to land facing her. The two stared each other down for a moment, before a smile broke out upon Kaen's face, and he relaxed out of his stance, Pi following suit. "Not bad Pi, not bad at all."

-Come-

Pi smiled back, "Thanks. We done with the warm-up?"

"That we are." Clenching his fists, Kaen gave a short shout as, with a burst of energy, he was engulfed in flames. "It's time to turn up the heat!"

-Take me away-

As before, Pi followed suit in activating her elemental form, but she opted for the 'slow' activation, as the people watching had never seen her do it before. Green energy began covering her body, beginning from her chest and spreading out, but the form it outlined was definitely not her own. The shoulders of her new form were wider, her arms and legs thicker and bulkier; she was even a few inches taller. When the green energy finished outlining her new, larger form, her original body faded out, leaving the emerald green visage of her Earth Elemental Form, looking the world like a compact version of Nappa, albeit green.

-Remove the fear from my eyes-

These elemental forms were a double-edged sword; they gave, and they took away. Like this, she had much stronger physical attacks, but her ki attacks were weaker; Kaen's form had the reverse of this. Where Kaen's form had damage avoidance, in it's ability to go insubstantial, Pi had damage prevention, through natural armour. Both, obviously, could still be hurt, but it took more out of the attacker to do so. However, these forms burned energy very quickly, so they could only remain in them for so long before becoming exhausted.

-Feel the flame of my heart-

Her new form was triple, if not quadruple, her original weight, but she couldn't leave the ground for any longer than fifteen seconds, or she would be forced back to normal; air trumps earth. Similarly, Kaen was, at most, half his original weight when solid, but a large enough amount of water, equal to about fifteen seconds exposure to medium-heavy rain, would 'douse' him again; water trumps fire.

-Burning away-

Because of her increased mass, Pi was slower in this form than she was normally, but took less damage. Because of his decreased mass, a strong breeze could actually push him around, but he was harder to hit. In their current states, they each had no more advantages against the other than they had before the change; being on opposite ends of the element cycle, Earth and Fire had no strengths nor weaknesses against each other. Which is exactly the way they liked it.

While neither form had a face, it was obvious the pair were smirking at each other as they charged forward again; well, Kaen flared forward, and Pi lumbered forward, but the effect was the same. Round three had begun.

-All conversation tonight-

"Wow, they're really going at it now," Gohan commented.

Turning to the redhead beside her, Videl asked, "Hey Kat, how come Pi's form looks so much different to yours and Kaen's?"

The catgirl grinned. "Curious little thing aren't ya?"

"This is all new and interesting to me," Videl defended.

"Well, it's simple enough," Kat replied. "What you see there is merely the projection, or representation, of Pi's Earth energy, controlled by her will."

Videl blinked. "This is simple for you?"

-Hearing no one-

Kat just shrugged, "If you'd heard the theory behind it as much as I have... Okay, try this one. Kaen and Pi's physical bodies are gone, right? As such, their current form doesn't follow the same rules, hence why Kaen and I can extend our bodies, and twist them into what should be painful shapes. When we use these forms, what you see and interact with it more like a puppet, or golem, created from ki, while our physical forms rest 'elsewhere', and the bulky form you see for Pi is what an Earth spirit, or elemental, looks like. It's green instead of the usual dirt brown because it's constructed purely of Earth ki, which is green. In the same vein, a Lava elemental would be orange, when lava itself isn't really orange in the physical world."

Videl quirked her head to one side. "How do you know so much about this?"

Kat grinned again. "Because like you, this was all new and exciting to me a while back."

-Am I precious to you now?-

Both Kaen and Pi realised they were getting nowhere fast. Because of his speed, flexibility, and ability to go incorporeal, Kaen was taking no more than one in every ten of Pi's hits, whereas Kaen was getting in at least five hits for each one Pi managed to throw, but each only did a tiny bit of damage; in short, he was inching her health down, and every time she made contact, she evened them up again.

Jumping back, Kaen threw his hands forward, pelting Pi with a series of blasts, and she answered in kind; as Kaen was floating in the air, all her stray shots were slung over the arena, and all his impacted the tile. When the pair of barrages ended, Kaen's form was full of holes where her blasts had gone straight through, and her form was covered in scorch marks from where his blasts hit.

As the holes began to fill in, and the burn marks, revealed simply to be soot, fell away, Kaen commented dryly, "We're going to be at this all day."

-Oooh, am I precious to you now?-

"Not exactly," Pi countered, "You remember that stuff you did to Gohan before?"

"Yeah," he replied, "What about it?"

She smirked, fanning the fingers of her still-extended hands. "Caress of Ten-Thousand Hells!"

Kaen swore to himself, as a multitude of threads of ki shot out from her fingers towards him. Making full use of his flexibility, Kaen aimed to twist and contort out of the way of as many as he could; he knew he couldn't avoid all of them, as the attack always hit, but he could minimise the damage done. Each thread impacted him with the force of a fist, and, were he not made of fire, would've also burnt him. As the threads tapered off, Kaen swore again, "Fuck, I always hated your old man's attacks. So fucking cheap!"

-Fearing no one-

"Of course they are," Pi replied calmly. "They're efficient." Closing her fists, but keeping them both pointed at Kaen, she charged more ki for her uncle's technique of choice. "Havoc Cannon!"

Kaen reacted on instinct alone, hurling a deep red ball of ki her way with a cry of "Blast Burn!" It wasn't until after he'd thrown it, when it was far too late to stop it, did he realise what he'd done. Havoc Cannon was a sonic attack, designed to first knock the victim backwards - or at least send them off balance - before hitting them again from behind, rocketing them towards the shooter, and usually an awaiting fist. Blast Burn, when it exploded, sent out earthquake-like shockwaves. When the two attacks met, it would be like two earthquakes overlapping.

-Saviours of my soul-

Glancing up at each other, and giving a simultaneous "Oh shit!" the pair instantly dropped out of their elemental forms, leaping into the air to minimise the impact; in Kaen's fire form, he would've been too light to regain control over his free-flight, and in Pi's earth form, she would've been too heavy to avoid the shockwave sending her to the grass outside the ring.

The two attacks collided with predictable force, the massive sonic explosion sending both Kaen and Pi careening uncontrollably on an upward diagonal angle away from the ring, and the 'base' shockwave struck the arena walls with crushing impact; in a twist of irony, the shockwave underlined Gohan's name. The shockwave then rippled up over the crowd, sending several people flying back a row, and it was only Raene and April's quick reactions in erecting a ki barrier that prevented it affecting them too. Even the fighter's backstage were affected, the weaker ones, i.e. the humans, being knocked from their feet; well, Videl would have been knocked from her feet had Gohan not stood behind her and caught her.

-Am I precious to you now?-

Kaen and Pi's momentum wore off when they reached the top row of the stands, the pair finally managing to regain control over their flight before flying clear past the arena, at which point in time they floated back down to the brutalised ring; the concussive force had turned the flat ring into a rocky wasteland. Simultaneously, they looked at each other and said, "Don't ever do that again."

Rolling his shoulders, Kaen commented, "Well, looks like round three's over, even if it was a little premature." Grinning, he flared into Super Saiyan with a short rising shout, adding, "Time for the finals."

-Oooh, am I precious to you now?-

She grinned back at him, replying, "I couldn't agree more." Clenching her fists, she decided to give the viewers another show; after all, this would be the first time anyone had ever seen a female Super Saiyan. As the change began to take root, one noticeable difference between male and female Saiyans became obvious; their hair. Whereas males' hair tended to be short and spiky, females' hair tended to be longer and straighter. As such, while her hair turned gold and increased in size, it didn't break out of the braid she had it in; sure, the hair atop her head was a touch spikier, and sure, her braid was now almost thick enough to use as a weapon, but it was still tamer than a male's hair would be.

Smirking at each other, they fell into their respective 'default' stances, the style they'd used at the start of the fight, before they charged into battle together, shouting, "Let's finish this!"

-I cannot stop this-

"The first ever male and female Super Saiyans, of what could be dubbed the 'new' Saiyan race from Vegeta-Sei, locked in combat," Kellre commented, a strangely satisfied smile on his face.

Gohan spun to face him. "What do you mean 'first ever'? My dad was-"

"The first ever recorded Super Saiyan," Goku cut him off.

"While you and the boy were fighting, the girl informed us they'd ascended while they were still in the past," Vegeta explained; for some odd reason, he felt... happy, to know that Kakarott wasn't the first.

-Pure emotion-

"Excuse me," a new voice, Shin, interrupted, "I must ask all of you for a favour."

"Tell us what this favour is, and we'll consider it," Gohan replied diplomatically.

"Very well," Shin nodded, "I must ask you that, no matter what occurs out there in the ring, you do not interrupt."

"Why would any of us interrupt?" Videl asked.

-Falling from my eyes-

Shin's face turned grim. "Because if I am correct in my guess, upon conclusion of the fight one of those two will be attacked by an outside force, and this attack must succeed."

"And why should we even consider helping you in this?" Vegeta sneered.

Piccolo answered for the short purple man, "That's no way to talk to the Supreme Kai!"

-You are vindicating-

"Supreme Kai!" Goku exclaimed in shock, a sentiment felt by the rest of the Z-Fighters; the three older Saiyans watched on impassively.

The impassive viewing from the background lasted until a crash could be heard, as Kellre was tackled to the ground by Avarrdo and his brother, exclaiming, "I was right! Let me go, I must perform an autopsy!"

"They've gotta be dead to perform an autopsy," Truniz pointed out.

Kellre just smirked, "That can be arranged."

-Liberating-

"What's he talking about Gohan?" Videl asked, pointedly ignoring the goings on behind the purple midget man. "What's a Kai, and why is being the Supreme Kai such a big deal?"

"The Kais oversee the universe from Otherworld," Gohan replied on automatic. "Each galaxy has four Kais, which oversee a quadrant of the galaxy; North, South, East, and West, our planet being in the Northern Quadrant. They are, in turn, overseen by the Grand Kai, and assumedly, each galaxy in the universe has this same set-up. If my guess is correct, the Supreme Kai oversees the Grand Kais, meaning whole sections of the universe, if not the entire universe itself."

"So why, exactly, does this attack need to succeed?" Goku asked.

-Saviours of my soul-

The Supreme Kai just shook his head, "I will explain more in time. I just ask that you trust me."

"Whoever they attack won't die will they?" Truniz asked suddenly.

Turning around to face him, Shin shook his head. "No. Their attackers don't want their life, only their energy, and Kibito can heal whoever they attack."

Grim expressions on their faces, the three men nodded, signalling their acceptance, and the others couldn't do any less. Now, all that remained was to wait.

-Now rise-

For five minutes, the two gold-wreathed warriors duked it out, across both the ruined arena, and the sky above it. Kaen would punch, and Pi would grab his hand. She'd retaliate with a kick, and he'd raise his knee to intercept. For the whole five minutes, every single attack either fighter had thrown was either blocked, dodged, or otherwise negated completely, and retaliated against; this retaliation in return would also be negated, and so on.

After five minutes of fighting, Kaen was satisfied with what he'd seen. Jumping back, the two fighters currently on the ruined tile, he raised his hand up to indicate 'stop', and Pi stopped her attack on a dime. Before she could ask why he'd called time, he pre-empted her with, "I've seen enough."

She gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?" Inside, she was a little scared this was meant in a negative way, as if to say he wasn't satisfied with her level.

-Throw away-

He smiled reassuringly at her, as if he could pick up on her hidden nerves; well, given the bond between them, he probably could. With a shrug, he explained, "I can't see us ever reaching a victor, even if we each pull out all of the tricks we know. If not for the half an hour time limit, I truly believe we'd be here all day."

"Well then what do we do Kaen?" Pi asked, feeling a lot more relieved, and pleased, by what he'd said. "I know that I, for one, don't particularly want the title, especially if I win it through a tie."

"Why don't we quit then?" At Pi's shocked look, he continued, "Well, we entered for the challenge, and to see where we stood amongst the best of Earth, and we've done that. Why don't we just forfeit the title, grab the money we've won, and I'll take you shopping or something?"

No sooner had the word 'shopping' left his mouth, Pi had shot forward, tackling him to the ground in a massive hug, exclaiming, "You mean it?"

-The charade of your life-

"Oh, and look at that folks!" The announcer shouted, "Pi has tackled her opponent to the ground, and it looks like she's holding him in some kind of lock."

"It's called a 'glomp'!" Someone shouted out from the fighter's lounge; Gohan, of course. Despite the situation potentially about to unfold, he found the current situation quite amusing.

Climbing back to his feet, Pi still hanging onto him like a leech, Kaen commented suddenly, "I have no rite to call you 'student' any more."

"What do you mean Kaen?" She asked quickly, an irrational fear starting to well up in her.

-Let the flame of my heart-

He just smiled at her again. "Because calling you 'student' implies I'm better than you; today, we are equals." As she smiled back at him, he added, "Doesn't mean I'm going to stop teaching you of course; like any good teacher, I'm not going to be truly satisfied until you're better than me."

Blinking at the sight of one of the finalists hugging the other, the announcer asked, "So, uh, what's going on?"

The couple turned to the announcer, as if just remembering he was there, and Kaen replied simply, "Oh, we forfeit."

"What?" Needless to say, the announcer was a little... shocked by the statement.

-Burn away-

Pi just shrugged, "Neither one of us really wants the title, especially if we get it through a judge's verdict. So, we're forfeiting our rite to the title."

"Can they do that?" One of the tournament monks asked.

The announcer just blinked again. "I guess they just did." Raising the microphone again, he declared, "Well folks, after an amazing battle, the two finalists have decided that they will not be able to reach a satisfactory verdict, and have chosen to forfeit the title. Therefore, the title of World Champion falls to our third place winner, Son Gohan!"

"But then who wins second and third places?" The same monk asked.

-Your complacence tonight-

Thinking it over, the announcer replied, "Well, they forfeited the champion place, so I suppose they could fight Hercule for second and third."

The monk smiled. "An excellent idea!"

"Oh no!" The newly recovered Hercule shouted, having overheard their plan. "They can have second and third, just don't let 'em near me!"

The Saiyan couple smiled a little at the human buffoon's antics, allowing themselves to relax now that the fight was over, falling out of Super Saiyan. And that was when all hell broke loose.

-Fearing no one-

To be continued...

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Author's notes:

Well, what do ya think of that? Gohan deliberately lost the fight. I wish I could take credit for that idea, but I can't; I originally intended not to explain why Gohan lost at all, but my beta suggested adding this in, so I did.

With this chapter the tournament officially comes to a close. Who guessed from the start that Gohan would come out with the title?

Also: no, there will not be a lemon in this story, although probably not for the reason one would assume. While I already know of possibly the perfect place to include one, I couldn't write a lemon to save my life, so I'm not even going to try.

At this point in time, I have the next five chapters that close off this 'book' already written, as well as five random chapters out of the next set of twenty, so I'm effectively ten chapters ahead. Go me!