Chapter 111 – Return to the Budokai
The craft finally set down in the back yard of Capsule Corp, Soba shutting off the engines briefly and opening the back hatch to let everyone else aboard. Despite his fear of heights he was content to flying large craft with walls surrounding him, much to his wife's confusion and amusement. As long as there were things to protect him from falling and he didn't have to directly face the ground, he was generally alright. Being in control of the craft also helped.
The family of four standing by the large building had been waiting and began to make their way into the craft settling themselves down. A teenage Trunks was the first to board with his mother and little sister Bra close behind, Vegeta bringing up the rear taking his own time and being as sociable as ever. "You're a little later than we thought you'd be," Bulma mumbled as she sat herself down.
"Sorry, a certain young madam forgot to brush her teeth," Corset apologised taking a quick glance over to her shy daughter before hugging her mother briefly. She turned to her younger siblings. "So, you still entering, Trunks?" She asked curiously.
"No thanks to Dad," Trunks muttered glumly as he sat down, Bra giggling as she slipped herself next to Chuka, both exchanging a small smile with each other before Bra turned back to face her older sister.
"Papa bribed him!" The young girl responded, her hair sitting on top of her head in a pony-tail bouncing around as she moved. Bra was the spitting image of their mother; it was hard to see any of her father's qualities physically speaking but word had it she had a terrible temper when angered.
"The boy needs to stop slacking off - as do you," Vegeta muttered, sending a sharp look at his oldest daughter who merely ignored him. He knew the only training she ever participated in now was during her lunch break with him, infuriated she'd seemingly lost all motivation and drive.
"Enough, Vegeta. Corset's learning to run the family business," Bulma growled at her mate. "Is it not enough she trains with you during her lunch break? I hope you realise the impact it's having on her work."
"Hello Nana Bulma!" Chuka slid off her seat and rushed to her grandmother, who welcomed her with open arms and a smile, a small twang in her head reminding her she was now a grandmother and therefore old! Still, Bulma did not show any outwardly agitation and merely hugged the small child.
"There's my granddaughter," She cooed. "So, are you looking forward to watching your uncle and grandfather fight?"
"Yeah, and Mama too," Chuka nodded breaking free from Bulma's arms. "Me and Mama are gonna fight."
"What?" Bulma gawked, head whirling straight towards her daughter with concern, ignoring the small smirk that had appeared on Vegeta's face. "You're entering?" She repeated baffled.
"If I didn't then Chuka wouldn't have," Corset replied defensively, knowing her mother was about to reel off many reasons why she shouldn't appear on national television battling in a martial arts tournament. It would ruin her reputation at the company for one thing, not to mention she'd be constantly asked questions by the employees which would deter focus away from company procedures. Not only that, if she had an injury she would need sufficient amount of time off work to make it seem like she'd made a recovery just like any other human, when in reality all she'd need to do was eat a senzu bean or see Dende, but to name a few. Still she'd been desperate to get Chuka to participate, if anything to give her daughter a little more self-belief.
"Here we go," Soba started the engines as Corset sat down in the front seat, the engines roaring into life as the ship shuddered and started to rise.
"You're entering the tournament, Chuka?" Bra asked inquisitively. "Why? I thought you didn't like fighting."
"I don't really but Mama's entering too and so is Pan so I thought I should enter, otherwise they'll be mad at me..." Chuka nodded nervously.
"No one would be mad," Bulma frowned with worry.
"No way, you're entering too?" Trunks hadn't been paying attention the first time and was flabbergasted. He leaned forward to speak to his older sister who sat beside her husband, "You haven't trained in so long, how do you expect to beat me and Dad?" He smiled with amusement.
"Hey, I have trained... just not as much as I used to." Corset pouted. "If I didn't enter than Chuka wouldn't have and I wanted her to get a taste of what an actual fight is."
"She'll never get a taste of a real battle at some silly tournament," Vegeta snorted. "I'll thoroughly enjoy reminding both of you who the strongest fighter in this family is!"
"Oh hush and stop scaring Chuka," Bulma snapped noticing the fear written across her granddaughter who was now flinching away from the aging Saiyan. She'd always been a bit nervous around Vegeta and for good reason – he was a harsh teacher and an even harsher grandparent and Chuka was timid. This naturally meant Chuka'd avoid her grandpa Vegeta as much as she could.
"She still thinks Dad has a scary face?" Trunks asked Corset quietly.
"She thinks you do too," Corset giggled, much to Trunks' mortification.
The Budokai grounds were just as busy as they'd been ten years ago. As usual it felt like a festival with stands of carnival games, food, drinks, and apparel being sold. The crowds were as big as ever and the group tried to pass through the wandering people as best they could without getting split up. Through it all Corset found herself being clung to tightly by her daughter so she wouldn't get lost or run off. She was a young girl of four after all; crowds like these were an easy thing to get lost in.
"Any sign of them?" Bulma asked trying her best to look through the hordes of people.
"Nope, just regular people," Trunks shook his head.
"Who are we looking for, Mama?" Bra asked, also clinging to her mother's hand to stick close by.
"Goku's family, or Krillin and the others," Bulma answered with a smile.
"We'll never find them like this, there're too many people," Corset frowned.
"Then use your brain and start sensing them out," Vegeta grunted annoyed, though it wasn't clear if this was because of the crowds or his children's lack of battle sense.
It didn't take long; Trunks finally spotted Goten amongst the crowds as the two families converged into one big group. It had been a few months since Corset'd seen Gohan and Videl and their daughter and even longer since she'd seen Goku, Chichi or Goten. The group quickly caught up on the latest news as they travelled through the crowds.
"You're participating as well?" Videl asked, her eyes widening.
"Yeah, otherwise Chuka wouldn't have entered," Corset nodded. "It's my duty as a mother to provide Chuka with all the support I can and if me entering the tournament is enough to convince her to, then so be it."
"Good plan. Pan's been looking forward to this," Gohan smiled. "Dad forced Goten to start training and cancel his date for today."
"Mama! Pan got to have an ice-cream," Chuka interrupted the adults, tugging on her mother's clothes. Just ahead of them, young Pan was holding onto her grandfather's hand finishing off her ice-cream. The little girl had dark hair just like every other member of her family, though her eyes clearly came from her father's side of the family. Her hair was short, just as her mother's had been in the last Budokai she'd participated in. She'd also come pre-dressed in her dogi as had the rest of her family; Pan seemed content clinging to her grandfather's hand and eating the rest of the ice-cream cone in her hand.
"You want one too?" Corset asked her daughter, trying to work out how much money she and her husband had bought along.
"Hey, there they are!" The loud voice distracted the mother from her daughter's demands, a smile sweeping over her face as the rest of the gang stood waiting for them.
"Hey, so how is everyone?" Goku asked approaching the large group. Krillin and his family were there, as was Master Roshi, Piccolo, Dende, Yamcha, Puar and Oolong. It had been ages since Corset'd seen many of these faces and it brought her back to old times to see them all once again. She couldn't help but notice in particular how tall Marron was now getting. How old was she now? Thirteen maybe?
"Well you wouldn't know!" Krillin replied sounding a little put out but a friendly smile ever present on his wrinkling face. "We haven't seen you in ages! Would it kill you to drop in or give us a call? We're your friends, aren't we a little more important than training?"
"Geez, Bulma had a go at me for the very same thing!" Goku chuckled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head before turning to Piccolo. "Are you gonna be competing?"
"And step into the ring with the likes of you? No, I'm getting too old for this, I think I'll just kick back and watch," Piccolo answered.
"You don't look a day older!" Gohan mused to his former mentor.
"I think he may be slacking off a little," Corset smirked.
"That's rich coming from you," Trunks muttered quietly though it wasn't quiet enough, earning an offended look from his older sister.
"Gran'pa," Pan began to tug on her grandfather's training shirt, "we're gonna be late!"
"You're right, we'd better get going," Goku nodded. "See you later!" He waved as he was pulled away by his excited granddaughter, the young girl apparently eager to get to the battles as soon as possible. She was definitely an eager, energetic and hard-working fighter from what Corset'd been told by Gohan, though she had yet to see the extent of it for herself. Compared to Pan, Chuka wasn't as outgoing or eager to train, instead she was rather withdrawn and shy though she was definitely full of life when it came to exploring and going to new places. Corset was uncertain where her daughter's interest lay but she was almost certain unlike Pan, Chuka would not take training so seriously. She just didn't seem to have the knack for it nor did she have the eagerness. Whether it was due to lack of experience or lack of interest Corset wasn't sure.
"Trunks, Corset and Chuka, do your best, alright?" Bulma smiled, not bothering to wish Vegeta luck as he was already making his way after Goku and Pan.
"Both of you hold back against the humans," Soba reminded them, hugging his daughter and wife. "We'll be watching and cheering you on!"
"Bye Daddy, bye Nana Bulma and Bra!" Chuka waved, pulling her mother away, leaving her to wave over her shoulder.
"Good luck!" Bra called waving back. "Don't kill them or you'll be thrown out, remember?"
The preliminary round once again relied on the punch machine, although this time Mr Satan was not here to show an example shot. Naturally the entire group passed with little difficulty and much to their relief, Vegeta did not break the machine this time! Afterwards they decided to pay an old friend a visit.
Corset leaned against the wall opposite her father, watching as Chuka and Pan bounded up to the door alongside Goku, knocking politely and waiting for a response. The door opened, Mr Satan popping an angry and balding head around; anger quickly dispersing as he realised it wasn't fans and in fact friends. "Goku! Hello!" He smiled in surprise.
"Hi!" Goku greeted in his usual cheerful tone.
"Gran'pa Satan!" Pan beamed.
"Well if it isn't my sweet little Pan," Mr Satan picked the small girl up and rubbed his stubbly cheek against hers affectionately. "Did you come here to cheer for your grandpa?" He cooed.
"Nope, I'm fightin'," Pan answered bluntly, much to Mr Satan's distress, "So's gran'pa Goku and Goten and Trunks and Corset and Chuka and uncle Vegeta too!"
"We all passed the prelims of course," Goku nudged a thumb towards the others; Trunks and Goten doing some sort of greeting they'd obviously practiced prior. The panic on Mr Satan's face made Corset giggle smugly; clearly the reigning champion hadn't bargained on this! "Don't worry, if any of us make it to the finals we'll let you win," Goku added before the poor man would have a panic attack.
"R-Really?" Mr Satan gasped relieved.
"Yeah but maybe someone other than Buu or us will win," Goku suggested.
Corset perked up at this comment, 'Someone else? That human Mama mentioned? Who else is there that could possibly win? It's just so hard to believe...'
"You're a strange one, Goku! Of course one of you guys or Buu will win!" Mr Satan laughed.
"Um, Mr Satan..." Goten stepped forward, "The others were saying all the seats in the stands were sold out. They were wondering if you could get them seats."
"Leave it to me!" Mr Satan grinned, rushing into his room and grabbing the phone.
Eventually after a small catch-up and ensuring their family and friends would have decent seats, Goku and the others decided to head for the main area for the competitors and leave Mr Satan in peace. As the small group of warriors wandered down the corridors and out into the open air and towards the match allocating area, they were briefly greeted by a flustered Videl.
"You guys did tell Dad to give us seats right?" She asked sounding a little breathless.
"Mama, we saw gran'pa Satan!" Pan cheered, oblivious to her mother's distress.
"Yeah, we told him there were no seats left," Goten nodded.
Videl pouted, a small flash of annoyance on her face, "They moved us onto benches right in front of the ring! It's ridiculous and embarrassing, everyone can see us, we really stand out in a bad way! Is Dad still with Buu in his room? We seriously need to move before Bulma finds him and does goodness knows what to him!"
Corset and Trunks both smiled nervously. "... Mama's not happy then." Corset mused.
"He's still there," Goku responded. "At least you'd have a good view of the matches!"
Videl rushed off into the building, easily getting past the officials once they realised who she was. The group continued their journey to the main waiting area and soon arrived. There were a few other fighters already present, stretching and practicing their warm-ups ready for the match-ups to begin.
"Goku, welcome back!" The announcer emerged walking towards the group – he was now showing signs of aging and hair loss as were many of the others Corset hadn't seen in a while.
"Hi," Goku greeted him with a smile.
Corset decided it was best to observe the competitors who were already here and started to look around at the group of fighters, feeling a small hand cling to her trouser leg. No surprise to find out it was her daughter, "You alright, Chuka?" She asked.
"... Uh huh..." Chuka's voice was slightly shaky, the young girl also observing the other fighters. Corset felt a little bad for her daughter; the nerves must have been getting to her. She was only four years old, five at the end of the year. Both her and Pan wouldn't have had any experience of battles such as these, not that they were as intense as the ones Corset'd fought at their age...
A small thud was heard to her right; Pan was rolling head over heels across the floor.
"Pan, are you hurt?" Chuka called, a little terrified of rushing over to her friend – and for good reason. A dark shadow had fallen over the five-year-old as a giant of a man approached her. Corset watched cautiously, a little on edge as the towering man peered down at the young girl.
"Were you the one that hit me?" The man grunted. "You think you can mess with Mo Kekko and get away with it? Stupid little baby!"
A teary eyed Pan scrambled to her feet and rushed over to Goku for safety, "Gran'pa!" She wailed.
Corset sent a venomous glare over to the man who seemed pleased with himself. "It was an accident you know, why don't you save your flaunting for the ring and stop picking on kids?" She jeered. Mo Kekko – if that was his name – glowered at the woman for a moment sizing her up. Chuka hid further behind her mother's leg, terrified of the large man who merely sneered and turned around.
"Don't worry Pan... it's just a game," Goku was heard saying, patting his granddaughter's head.
"Alright, it looks like everyone's here. We will draw lots to determine the order of the matches." The announcer cried over the small murmurings of the tiny crowd of fighters.
"So who's the amazing guy your dad was going on about?" Trunks asked Goten.
"Amazing guy?" Corset repeated. "The human guy?"
"Dad reckons some powerful fighter besides us is here," Goten explained. "I dunno who he is but there sure are some weirdoes here..."
Corset's eyes fell upon the board which was being wheeled out before them. '... Sixteen slots again...' Corset mumbled. 'Four matches in all.'
"Sixteen competitors will square off in one-on-one, elimination style matches. The winner of these sixteen fighters will then have the chance to face off against the world champion himself – Mr Satan!" The announcer then proceeded to running through the rules.
"Which one is it, Kakarrot?" Vegeta asked quietly observing the fighters around them.
"Yeah, what's this all about?" Corset was growing more and more curious. There was no one here besides them or Buu had a power level decent enough to speak of; none of the other competitors looked like much of a challenge. Surely she'd be able to sense this amazing fighter from so close – yet she couldn't sense anything significant! All of these fighters were regular humans from what she could sense. She was surprised to find another kid had made it through; the young boy looked tense and terrified and was a lot older than Pan and Chuka. Furthermore he didn't seem to have much muscle on him and looked a little underfed...
'Poor kid...' she frowned. 'I wonder what kinds of hardships he has to live in...'
"The first fighter to draw a lot is Goten."
"Here!" Goten called, walking forward towards the officials and drawing a ball.
"Hey Buu, could you do me a little favour? Could you change the numbers that come up?" Goku asked quietly. "You do it for Mr Satan all the time, right?"
"Goten has drawn number eight. The next fighter is Mo Kekko."
"Okay, Buu do," Buu nodded.
"... It's not like you to break the rules..." Vegeta muttered intrigued by his rival's behaviour.
"I know," Goku replied, "but I wanna fight this guy in the first round when we're both at our best."
"Mo Kekko is number two. Next up is Captain Chicken."
One by one the contestants were called up. Pan picked out slot number one, placing her against Mo Kekko. Chuka ended up with number ten, Corset number six. Throughout it all, Corset watched Goku and Buu's actions carefully as Goku was finally called up, asking Buu to give him slot number three. Buu deliberately kept slot four free as several more fighters had their slots fixed. Next to choose was the young boy, apparently named Uub.
"Now Buu, give him number four and that's all the cheating I need," Goku instructed.
Corset's eyes widened in disbelief as the boy made his way towards the balls. "That boy?" She repeated stunned.
"He's just a kid!" Vegeta protested baffled. "... You'd better explain this."
"Well, back when I was about to destroy Kid Buu, I made a request for him to be reincarnated as a good guy so I could fight him again," Goku explained. "Apparently King Yama heard my request and pulled some strings."
"So that kid is Buu reborn?" Vegeta gasped.
"Yeah, I can sense it's him," Goku nodded. "Plus there's a pretty big clue. His name is Uub, right? Spell it backwards and it says Buu!"
Finally the fights were decided, all sixteen slots filled. The first match was Pan vs. Mo Kekko; match two saw Goku face Uub, match three saw Captain Chicken fight Corset, match four was Mr Buu against Goten. Match five saw Chuka against Killerno, match six was Nuckul vs. Ponpon, match seven pit Trunks against Otokosuki, whilst match eight hosted Knock facing off against Vegeta.
"You're in the first match, Pan." Chuka still sounded nervous. "Aren't you scared?"
"No, not really," Pan shook her head though she made a quick glance over to the gigantic man who now seemed to be fuming.
"... He looks scary..." Chuka quivered.
"It's not fair! Why'd I end up against Buu in the first round?" Goten protested.
"That's the luck of the draw!" Trunks smirked patting his friend on the shoulder unsympathetically.
"That's what you get for slacking off on your training," Goku chuckled. "Although it looks like you'll be on that date a little sooner than you thought."
"Mama, you're against a chicken man," Chuka chortled unable to contain her amusement at the man's bizarre costume. "You like chickens!"
"Yeah..." Corset nodded, "He won't last long against me... Though I wish I'd gotten to fight you in the first round. At least I know you'd get some decent exercise!"
"What are you all whining about?" Mo Kekko snapped at the group stomping over towards them. "I've gotta face off against a little kid! I came here for combat, not kindergarten!"
Pan, who was clinging to her grandfather's leg, indignantly spat her tongue out at the towering man, much to Mo Kekko's fury.
"How is this even allowed? She should be at home nursing!" The man spat with disgust.
"You'll be at home nursing your wounds after the day is through..." Corset muttered a little annoyed with the man's attitude. '... and that doesn't mean they'd have been inflicted by Pan!'
"Well I'm happy with my match-up!" Otokosuki approached Trunks, sending shivers down the lavender-haired fighter's spine as he flinched away from the man's small tap on his shoulder. "I promise not to bruise your face!"
"Well Trunks, that's the luck of the draw!" Goten grinned with a snort.
"Well it looks like I'll be fighting the damsel," Captain Chicken approached the group, Corset glaring back at the caped hero. "No worries, Ma'am, I shall go easy on you, pull my punches and be a gentleman at all times! A hero must never hurt a lady."
"Well if that's your policy, whatever city you serve would be screwed if a female criminal appeared," Corset rolled her eyes; she would have made a much more violent threat had it not been for her daughter being present. Assumptions were dangerous, dangerous things and he was treading on thin ice. 'I guess equality means I should pull my punches too then... shame. I'd have loved to have slugged this guy just to make a point!'
The sound of a fist striking skull caught Corset's eye as Knock shot backwards, crashing to the floor in a dazed heap.
"... Tell the officials my opponent has decided to forfeit the match." Vegeta muttered lowering his fist.