THE VEGETA CHRONICLES
Chapter 4 - Let the Games Begin!
ROUND 1
Vegeta allowed himself a brief acrobatic jump onto the extended ring, before casually walking to the far side of the arena granted to his fight with the so-called World Champion. He had to look over his shoulder, to make sure that Hercule would follow. He promised himself that he'd make the sorry excuse of a warrior regret ever showing himself, if he forfeited the match before it even started.
But, true enough to his ego, Mr. Satan briefly shouted out to the crowd and gave a victory stance, trying to allow the echoes of his tens of thousands of present fans spur him on, to give him the courage he desperately needed in order to face his powerful adversary.
"GO GET HIM, DAD! KNOCK HIS LIGHTS OUT!" The shout of Videl, Hercule's 12 year old daughter from the rich stadium box in the stadium with X.S. Cash and his family, also gave him the resolve to try and find some way to come out the battle alive.
"I can't let my fans down! I can't let my daughter down! I am the World Martial Art Champion! There has to be a way to beat this guy!" Hercule gritted his teeth, doing his best to psych himself up as he hopped onto the extended walkway and head towards the biggest obstacle to his career in years.
As he reached the ring, the announcer's booming voice could be heard once again.
"LAAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GEEEEENTLEMAAAAAAAAN! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! FOR THE FIRST MATCH OF THE INTERGALACTIC TOURNAMENT, THIS WILL BE NOTHING SHORT OF AN AMAZING SPECTACLE FOR THE AGES! ON ONE END, WE HAVE THE LEGENDARY HERO OF EARTH, OUR WORLD CHAMPION, HERRRRRRRCUUUUUUULE SAAAAAATAAAAAAAN!"
The roar of the crowd echoed and thundered from the speakers of Battle Island, as the distant stadium shouted with joy and ecstatic glee. Taking a strong man's pose, with his fists to his hips, he wore a challenging grin at Vegeta, awaiting a response from his opponent.
Funnily enough, it appeared as if Vegeta's have closed, his own arms crossed over his chest, and seemed dead to the world around him.
"AND IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE A NEWCOMER OF BREATHTAKING SKILL AND STRENGTH, AND SHOULDN'T BE TAKEN LIGHTLY! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOOOOOOR VEGEEEEEETAAAAAA!"
While not as resoundingly loud as before, the crowd still cheered on this opponent for Hercule Satan, hoping to see a good fight against their invincible champion, before being defeated soundly by him.
How little did they know it would be an exact inverted outcome to what they are expecting.
Still not moving, Vegeta kept his eyes closed and his body completely still. It was eery, especially to Hercule's eyes. If he didn't know any better, he would almost think that he died on his feet, or was a statue, had it not been the slight audible breaths through his nose, showing his state of living to be all too real to the unfortunate opponent.
"WITH OUR TWO CONTESTANTS AT THEIR PLACES, WE WILL NOW START THE FIRST MATCH! BEGIIIIIIIIIIIN!"
Hercule immediately settled into a battle stance, holding his fists close to his sides and awaited his enemy to rush at him, yelling out a battle cry in beckoning to see the man make his first move.
Vegeta, however, despite being told to begin, didn't make a single gesture of acknowledgement the battle had started.
"W-What's he playing at? D-Does he think he's already won...and that its going to be over too quick for him to care? Or...is he finally understanding my genius of martial arts is too great for him to overcome with those fancy tricks of his?!" Hercule thought with a nervous gaze, travelling over the staunch and immovable Saiyan.
Vegeta, had very different thoughts at the forefront of his mind.
"...and if Trunks manages to use his Ultra Saiyan force at me in a split second, I'll make sure to counter that blow and strike him with maximum force. However, if the Namekian tries to use a fancy trick, I'll make sure to flank around him and hit him from his blind spots. Gohan will be tricky, seeing as his stature gives him a better dexterous advantage over me, making him a little harder to land a hit. But he's also impulsive, so it would be a simple matter of..."
"HEY! Freak Show!" Hercule yelled out, trying his best to shake up his opponent and get him to focus. Failing upon that, Hercule began to give his best threatening speech he could muster, balling his fist as he roars out, "you think you and your pals are all that, but you're not! Without that fancy energy of yours, I bet you couldn't even touch someone as distinguished as me! That's right! I think you and the rest are fakes! It doesn't matter what you showed me all those months ago! I still think you can't cut it! And for that matter-"
Vegeta's mind, however, continued to wander, even as his adversary began to vocally challenge him, "..if by some miracle I am paired up with the small bald man, (what was his name?), I'll just have to take him out quickly. It'd be a shame to my new fans, I know, but I rather not waste my efforts on someone so beneath me. In the end, I believe it will be either Trunks and Gohan to fight me at the final bout. I hope they give us a decent sized arena, cause I plan to cut loose. I'm sure the reward money should cover some of the damage that my power inflicts on the surroundings..."
"...YOU GOT THAT?!" Hercule finished, huffing and puffing, earning a few estranged looks from the whole audience. While not catching onto the whole conversation, as the battle cams were equipped to pick up the sounds of battle and not vocal remarks, they were a little confused by what he meant. Did their hero know this strange man from somewhere before?
"Hm?" Vegeta finally opened his eyes, realizing that Hercule had a outstretched hand extended towards him and a forced glare upon his face. The moment his eyes met his, he almost immediately retracted his hand, as his eyes briefly went wide with fear at what Vegeta would say. Bluntly, Vegeta would respond, "did you say something? My mind wandered off for a bit, was it important?"
Nearly falling onto his back from the shock of being ignored so blatantly, Hercule got back onto his feet with an angry look on his face, balling his outstretched fist once more, "How dare you mock me! I'll teach you a lesson you soon won't forget!"
"Funny, cause I was about to say the same to you," Vegeta darkly chuckled, letting his arms cross over his chest as he observed his opponent, "this really isn't your day. The fact that you've been randomly selected to face me, must mean that fate is being especially cruel. The irony, is that I can take back the honor that you so sorely stole from me."
"You won't win here!" Hercule stubbornly shouted, rushing towards Vegeta at his fastest speed, leaping forward to deliver a spinning kick directly into the side of his head, "I HAVE TO WIN!"
"Fool," Vegeta ducked with ease, causing the man to stumble a few meters before regaining his footing, "if anyone should win, it should be me. You claim you won fair in square in the past for your title, but all I see is a scumbag who weaseled his way by in life through deception, and stealing other people's well-earned glory. To me, this fight is the fruits of your so-called hard labor."
"SHUT UP!" Hercule growled, scampering to his feet, he rushed forward and launched a flurry of snap punches and kicks, each one not even connecting with Vegeta as he used expert footing to side-step or evade his attacks, "I WILL FIND A WAY!"
"You're sounding even worse than Cell, right now," Vegeta reprimanded, as he flipped over Hercule as another over-dramatic Dynamite Fist flies through the air where its target was moments ago. Landing just behind the stumbling Hercule, he turned his face to look over his shoulder, so he could allow Hercule to see a dark smile emerge onto his face. His left eye meeting the so-called World Champion's, he spoke tauntingly, "do you see it, fool? This is the gap of power that separates yourself from true warriors, who've bled and sweated for this kind of skill and strength. You don't deserve to be called a martial artist."
"Wow, Vegeta isn't even trying," Bulma murmured as she watched the screen with a humored grin on her face, "he's just toying with the guy, making him look ridiculous."
"The announcer must be stunned if he can't say anything at the moment," Chi-Chi nodded in concurrence, sighing as she looked expectantly at the screen, "either way, unless Vegeta is going to play with him all day, this fight isn't going to last long."
The Twins, just above the pair of women, had a different opinion than they did.
"What a bore!" 18 sighed with a roll of her eyes, leaning back against her seat as she crossed her arms over her chest, "can someone give Vegeta a clue and just finish off the bastard so I can see some real fights?!"
"Take it easy, sis," 17 encouraged his sister with a wink, gesturing to the screen in the distance, "Vegeta is just messing with the guy's head. When he finally gets serious, he'll make it a true spectacle for everyone to see."
"It better be, or otherwise this whole battle would've been a waste of time to watch," 18 grumbled, hoping her brother was right about there being a pay-off.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M SEEING FOLKS! MISTER SATAN CAN'T TOUCH VEGETA! NO MATTER HOW MUCH STRENGTH OR SPEED HE USES, HE CAN'T SEEM TO GET THE UPPER HAND! WHO IS THIS UNBELIEVABLY STRONG FIGHTER?!"
Videl found herself staring aghast, her earlier lingering suspicions being confirmed before her eyes. Being on the sole reinforced rich box, provided by X.S. Cash for him, his family, and Hercule's daughter to watch from above.
"Dad...what's going on? Is what Vegeta saying is true?" Videl felt her fists clenching against the window, feeling herself burn up with pent-up frustration her father wasn't even putting up a decent fight against the shorter man.
"What is Hercule doing?! When is he going to get serious and pummel this nobody?!" Mr. Cash asked with perplexity mingled with igndignation, wondering why the prized world champion wasn't doing as well as he hoped.
"Maybe he's messing with his opponent, making him believe his footing is sloppy, and that he can't hit the broad side of a building?" Mrs. Cash tried to comfort her husband, then realized her wording was a bit off and bit her tongue to keep herself quiet.
"Wow, Hercule sucks!" The Cash's child spoke bluntly, as he narrowed his eyes into a glare behind his glasses, still gripping the Mr. Satan doll with a dragon doll in the other hand.
"Watch what you say about my dad!" Videl growled as she stood to her feet and loomed over the much younger boy with a pair of angry eyes, resenting what the little boy said, "my dad is Hercule Satan, the strongest man in the world! He won't lose so easily!"
"I...uh...I," the little boy stared up wide-eyed with fear at the angry tomboy looming over his seat, only to be saved by a lightly reprimanding father.
"I'm disappointed in you son. Hercule Satan saved the world, and that's the kind of reaction to give him? Shame on you, you need to have more faith in him," X.S. Cash half-heartedly scolded his son, managing to silence his protests about the condition the fight was at. Turning over, he sincerely smiled in apology to the young daughter of Hercule Satan, "I'm terribly sorry about that, Videl. My son can sometimes forget where his manners are..."
"Its alright," Videl looked down, seeing his father angrily flail his arms while the man known as Vegeta continued to barely move, dodging each and every attack with ease, "I already know who's won this fight, anyways..."
"Hah...hah...hah...hah...hah..." Hercule heaved, feeling his stamina finally reaching its limit as he glared at the disappointed glare of his opponent. He knew he gave it his best, but his opposition was too strong. His muscles burned and his chest rose and fell, delivering much needed oxygen to his strained muscles, "dammit...I...can't...keep...this...up...much...lo nger!"
"Don't pass out on me, Hercule," Vegeta spoke with a taunting tone, allowing a smile to widen across his features, taking slow strides towards the man, "the fun has only now begun."
"What are yo-UUUUUUGH?!" Hercule couldn't complete his sentence, as he felt a pair of forefingers drive up into his mid-section, before propelling him nearly off the edge of the ring. He felt the wind leave his mouth, and could nearly taste the shock of his own blow as audibly as the gasps of his adoring fans. But his tumble didn't end...
"GOAL!" Vegeta shouted in a gleeful manner, laughing aloud as he appeared directly behind the sprawling body of Mr. Satan, before lightly tapping on his backside, propelling the man into the air.
"AAAAAAAA-GAUGH!" As he screamed aloud in pain and terror as he felt himself fly into the air, Vegeta reappeared above him, lightly tapping his back with breathtaking force to the inexperienced martial artist, sending him plummeting to the ground, face first into the arena.
The resounding crack could be heard within a deft echo, as the crowd watched in suspense as their hero twitched idly still. Tried as he might, Mr. Satan could barely move from the few beatings he was given by Vegeta. And not once did he see a flash of light erupt from his body or his hands, showing that the reality of the matter was that he was the real deal. He couldn't deny it any longer.
"Oh no you don't," Vegeta bent down on his left knee, grabbing Hercule by the collar, seeing the man cringe in pain, but no signs of substantial injury, "I've been keeping my gloves on, supposedly, so that my wife and those dear fans of yours don't think me some unnatural freak. For the moment. I just wanted to show you just how outclassed you were physically, before I made you confess."
"C-C-Confess?" Hercule opened his eyes, gulping audibly as he felt himself barely get onto his knees.
"Yes, dear Mister Satan, confess," Vegeta chuckled lowly, waving his hands towards the cameras surrounding him, "this is the moment to escape with a shred of dignity. Be honest with yourself, how long could you really hold onto this facade without being exposed? One year? Ten? You'll eventually slip up as you age, and show how much of a fraud you were in giving these people such a false hope to begin with. This is your chance, and I am graciously offering it to you without breaking every bone in your body, for all to see, including your precious daughter."
Hercule felt himself sweat profusely, paling at the meaning behind this fight. It wasn't a simple matter of saying he held back after being defeated. This was him literally telling the world what he was showing was the best he had to offer. He didn't defeat a monster like Cell, nor could hope to match people like Vegeta.
As he felt tears snake down his eyes, he inwardly hoped his daughter would find it in her heart to forgive him.
"Well?" Vegeta asked with an expectant tone, standing to his feet, "I'm going to count to three. If you don't confess, I'll cripple you. Sound fair?"
"W-Wait!" The World Champion stood to his feet, despite how much his legs protested. Raising his arms towards Vegeta, as the latter man gave him an impassive stare back, "just give me some time to ease them into it! This won't end well if-"
"This won't end well for your career if you leave on a stretcher, fool!" Vegeta crossed his arms, shouting out, "ONE!"
"B-B-But, I-!" Hercule stuttered, begging the man to have some decency to allow him a more eloquent speech to ease his fans into realization.
"TWO!" As Vegeta shouted a second time, an angry glare sent Hercule's way would declare any choice but what had been given to him was out of the question. As Vegeta reared his fists back, ready to charge after his last warning.
"ALRIGHT FINE!" Hercule shouted out, making sure his face was directed by the cameras, and that all attention was focused on him. Raising his arms to the crowd watching him, tears continued to snake down his face, "I AM SORRY...BUT I AM NOT THE WORLD CHAMPION YOU THINK I AM!"
An uproar of confusion became palpably clear across the distant stadium, as well as the observatory box. Videl, staring down from the glass, could only wonder what her father was going to say.
Feeling the piercing glare penetrate his being from Vegeta, Hercule continued in a grieving tone, "I was wrong! When I faced Cell, I thought I was facing a weird guy in a costume with weird tricks up his sleeve. When you saw me get back-handed, that wasn't me slipping. That was him hitting me dead center, as if it was nothing. And that's not all," locking his eyes at the silent twelve year old boy in the distance, he pointed to him, "that boy, stood up to Cell when I couldn't! He fought tooth and nail, and fought him at a level I never could! And then this guy," pointing to Vegeta, earning a grin of acceptance from the Saiyan, as he finished, "WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED CELL, WITH HIS OWN TWO HANDS!"
An uproar filled the stadium, the speakers, and across the docks. If Hercule had Piccolo's ears, he could tell how outraged they were. Some were in denial, almost feeling like he was blackmailed into saying such crazy things. But those in the majority, who were swayed by every word he spoke, couldn't help but feel betrayed. Their champion, the one they praised so much, was nothing but a hoax.
"I know you all are disappointed, and I know many of you may ever look at me the same way again. But I want to let you know that these aren't tricks. The flashing lights, the flying, the flickering movements they're doing...I can't explain it, but its VERY real! Ahhhh," he looked over at Vegeta, cringing at the pain he felt all over, knowing he couldn't last much longer against him. With a sigh, he raised his hand, saying aloud, "I, Hercule Satan, am forfeiting this match!"
As the man limped over to the walkway, heading away from the arena, Vegeta could be heard speaking frankly, "For a buffoon, it seems you do retain an ounce of intelligence. At least your sense of self preservation, outweighs your ego in the end, Hercule Satan," turning to face his back, Vegeta spoke aloud in a threatening tone, "but if you ever try to revoke what you said, or try to find a way to undermine my honor, rest assured, that being crippled will be the least of your worries!"
"I-I'll make a note of t-that," Hercule hung his head, already feeling the wave of guilt rise to the surface. He knew the repercussions were to be paid after this event, and most of all, even sooner when he would join Videl in the observatory box. As he raised his face to look up, he saw a knowing glare from his daughter, "right after I get a book written of how disappointing I am to my fans and my daughter..."
"A-ALRIGHT, HEHE, WOW! WHAT A REVELATION, HUH FOLKS?!" The announcer tried to settle the outraged cries developing from the crowds, from which Chi-Chi and Bulma saw coming from a mile away.
Despite this, the Cyborg Twins smirked respectively about how the con man had finally been exposed and how outraged the fans were.
"O-ONTO THE NEXT ROUND, WE HAVE TRUNKS VS TIEN SHINHAN!"
"Finally, some people who know how to fight," 17 muttered aloud with relief, with an audible sigh from 18 in agreement.
"GO TRUNKS!" Bulma stood up on her feet with her child in her spare arm, causing the other members in the audience to turn to look at them with startled expressions. Clearly, they didn't think one of the participants that moved up a round's mother stood right next to them, "SHOW THEM HOW ITS DONE!"
"Go Twunks!" Baby Trunks shouted as loud as he could, having looked up to the older counterpart as an elder brother.
"I heard Tien got some training at Kami's ontop of the last six months Krillin and Yamcha have," Chi-Chi tapped her chin thoughtfully, looking over to Bulma as she sat back down, "I wonder if it was enough to match Trunks?"
"Well, we're soon to find out," Bulma spoke with a challenging grin on her face, holding onto her child as she attentively stared at the screen ahead of her, getting into the fight as much as the disappointed crowd was.
ROUND 2
As Tien and Trunks got onto their respective spots on the extended arena, their eyes looked at each other with a sense of seriousness. Both of them didn't know the full extent of each other's abilities, and yet, they've seen each other enough in combat to know their physical habits and tell signs.
When they reached the opposing angles, the announcer began to speak, in sync with Tien's motion to strip himself of his muscle shirt, letting it fly off with the ocean's windy breeze, falling down into the ocean below, "MAY THE SECOND ROUND, BEGIIIIIIIIN!"
"Hey Trunks," Tien spoke first, rearing his arms back, "check this out," as he spoke, he gritted his teeth, flaring a white aura of ki from his body, encompassing him in a vivid manner. What followed, caused the young Saiyan-hybrid to widen his eyes with shock, "KAIO-KEN!"
With a mighty blast of red-white energy wrapping around his skin, veins protruded across the entirety of his muscular body, cracking the proximate tiles of the arena around him. After settling into a stance, Tien leaped towards Trunks, forcing the latter to defend himself from Tien's vicious onslaught.
Each swerve of Trunks head left Tien's arm extended, sending discharges of air pressure wherever the Kaio-ken empowered martial artist sent. Grappling one of Tien's arms and kicks he hurtled him over the edge of the arena, leaping off after him with a burst of energy in his wake in order to follow him.
"A-AMAZING! IT APPEARS THAT OUR FIGHTERS ARE CLOAKED IN SOME FORM OF AURA! IF IT WASN'T FOR MISTER SATAN CLEARING THINGS UP EARLIER, I COULD SWEAR IT WAS A FORM OF SPIRITUAL MEDITATION, BUT ITS CLEARLY A FORM OF ENERGY! AND THEY'RE FLYING, THEY'RE FLYING AROUND THE ARENA AS WE SPEAK!"
Swinging a series of palm-thrusts towards Trunks, the Saiyan-Hybrid found himself smiling at how skilled Tien had gotten. Every time he swung a kick when he found an opening, Tien would swerve or use his arms to block in return, all the while they leaped from surface to surface across the infrastructure of Battle Island.
Zooming up to the sky, Tien let loose his Kaio-ken aura to save his stamina, gaining distance high in the sky away from Trunks speeding form. Forming a triangle with his hand, Tien focused the energy within the space of his hands, magnifying the image for him to properly aim his technique at his opponent.
"TRI-BEAM...HAAAAAAA!" Tien shouted out, letting loose a stream of yellow energy towards Trunks, intending on ramming him head-on.
Trunks narrowly discharged a stream of Ki from his flank, barrel rolling in the air, as the diamond shaped projection of energy struck ocean below, causing a powerful uproar of moisture to erupt from the expanse of water below.
Moving up with a sudden burst of speed, Trunks appeared up above Tien, swinging his knee into the base of the bigger man's neck, barely being absorbed by the collaborative block of Tien's forearms, sending a reverberating shockwave to pop in the air.
Making good on the opportunity, Tien grabbed Trunks ankle and swung him over his head, swinging his leg to kick the younger man in the chest.
Using timing on par with reflexes, Trunks swung his right arm to catch the incoming shin of the three-eyed man's foot, deftly stopping in its tracks, allowing him to swing his own spare foot into the side of his temple, sending him careening across the air and down towards the ocean below.
VMMMM! With a well time burst of Ki from his backside, Tien kicked up the water's surface beneath him, and sent him up in the air a good ten meters. Allowed a moments respite, Tien felt his vision swim, but overall felt like he could go a little farther.
Rearing back his arms, veins protruded around his skin, his teeth ground tightly, as he stared up at Trunks, as he poured as much effort into exerting a higher level Kaio-ken than the last one he used, "KAIO...KEN...TIMES...TEN!"
KRAK-KOOM! With a sudden eruption of incredible energy, Trunks' eyes widened with surprise that his base form was surpassed at such a level. Powering up, his aura of white-blue looked calm in comparison to the raging flames of red energy exuding from Tien's being.
A high pitched whistle could be heard as Tien jettisoned towards Trunks position, ramming a fist into Trunks chest without any warning, before launching a series of high-powered punches across his person. Each one could be heard audibly, creating miniature shockwaves within the wake of Tien's relentless barrage of fists and kicks.
As one last kick sent Trunks careening into their designated arena, the young Saiyan-hybrid barely halted his crash with a discharge of energy from his front, righting himself up just in time to see Tien rush his way.
Trunks stood up to his feet, not one too worse for wear, readied himself as Tien closed the gap with incredible swift velocity. Upon Tien being a mere five meters away, Trunks ignited his Super Saiyan aura, catching Tien's fist with ease, pulling him close before slamming his fist directly into Tien's face, creating a deafening shockwave that shook the entirety of Battle Island, and sent Tien careening down into the ocean below.
"A-A-AMAZING! TRUNKS APPEARED TO BE ON THE ROPES FOR A FEW SECONDS, LOOKING AS IF HIS BACK WAS ON THE WALL, BUT HE SEEMED TO ERUPT A GOLDEN AURA OF LIGHT AROUND HIM, STRENGTHENING HIM ENOUGH TO LAND A ONE PUNCH KO TO TIEN! TRUNKS PASSES THIS ROUND AND INTO THE SEMI-FINALS!"
The crowd roared, getting over their disappointment quickly, as the fight was one of the best they've seen in any martial arts tournament in some time.
Trunks, however, relaxed his aura, smiling at how far he had been pushed to use his Super Saiyan form, despite all the training he went through. He also had a slight feeling Tien could go farther, but not without risking his body's health, so he concluded to end the fight quickly. Leaping off the edge, he stopped himself just above Tien's body as it emerged to the surface, offering a hand to help him up.
Taking it with a smile, Tien chuckled as he gradually allowed his body to levitate in the air, "That was some punch, Trunks. Ow, I'm going to feel that," he winced as he touched his left jaw, knowing it would swell up later as he flew up to the exit of the ring with Trunks in tow, "but I'm glad to know I could give you a run for your money, if even for a little bit."
"Yeah, you did good Tien. I haven't felt like my back was against the wall since the gravity training with my dad. Your Kaio-ken certainly did the trick," Trunks conversed as they landed on the ramp and towards the exit into the waiting compartment of the infrastructure.
Shaped like the private viewing box up above them where Hercule, his daughter, and the Cash family resided, Vegeta and Trunks got to sit in the temporary viewing space to give them a clear picture of the following fights outside. Currently, Vegeta was looking out the window with his arms crossed, smiling at the reflection as he met his son's mirrored gaze.
"I see you had little trouble handling that one, did you, son?" Vegeta spoke with approval, glad to see his Super Saiyan powers had increased in the manner it had.
"Ah, Tien has come a long ways in just a half year. Who knows? He might be as strong as Goku when he was a Super Saiyan with the Kaio-ken," Trunks responded optimistically.
"Hmph," Vegeta grunted as he slightly scowled at his son for mentioning the name of his rival. As his son came to stand next to his side, Vegeta nodded to the arena from which Piccolo and Gohan stood upon, "pay close attention, Trunks. Watch how far Kakarot's son has come since the Cell Games..."
Trunks nodded, his eyes peering down and his senses stretching out, paying attention to a lot more than what the audience would be capable of.
However, as the next round was about to begin, a fuming daughter was having a serious talk with her father, thankfully, outside of the sound proofed door to in the large spiral staircase of the interior of the main tower of Battle Island.
"Why?! What compelled you to lie to everyone, to me, about that, dad?!" Videl growled at her father, glaring as madly as any teenager would be to find out what their parent had said was exactly opposite of what was true.
"I-I'm sorry Videl," Hercule sighed sadly, already having spent all of his tears on the way up. Upon meeting X.S. Cash, he apologized personally about the announcement, and how he lied about the Cell Games. Videl had refused to make eye contact throughout it all, and when her father had finally finished easing the Cash Family into convincing them that the fights the newcomers would give would be a lot better than his own, Videl dragged him by the ear to the outside to talk to him privately, "when I came to from the blast that guy emitted from his hands...all of the camera equipment was broken, and the news reported asked me what happened. Seeing those guys out there gone, not caring about the publicity, I took an advantage...one now that I regret fully..."
"Ugh!" Videl groaned out, dragging her hands down her face as she paced at the top balcony step of where the Cash's box was before leaning over it, with her pigtails flowing down towards the endless spiraling stairs below, "and here I was so proud...so proud that I made black belt, that I was going to follow in my father's footsteps. I watched your tapes, memorized your moves, I felt so great being able to help people out while harnessing my martial arts to the peak of what you showed me was the best."
Turning around, Videl showed a look of understanding, no longer angry but more in awe, "Now...after seeing what that man was capable of, while you showing me at your best...made me realize that perhaps your best is the lowest of what normal training is cut out for. Maybe the fancy lights, the flying, all the stuff you once vouched as nonsense, really is something possible for people to achieve. I dunno..."
"Videl, uh, listen," Hercule tried to compose himself, sighing as he bent himself on his knees, while staring her in the eyes, "now I need to let you know something. I think, that if you tried hard enough, you could do what those guys could. Now I'm not condoning the use of flashy lights and whatnot, but that man used nothing but martial arts to beat me. If someone like that were to teach you how to reach a peak beyond my reach, I'd say why not go there. Try to be something greater than your old man could be, okay?"
"Okay," Videl nodded, trying to understand what he said, repeating what she translated in her head, "so find one of those guys after the Tournament, and ask them to teach me how to use the flashy lights to help improve my martial arts?"
"Y-Yeah...I guess," Hercule sighed, standing up to his feet, pointing his thumb back at the Cash's booth, "now, why don't we watch with the Cash family? I hear that the next fighter is a boy your age, and he knows all types of flashy light martial arts-"
"Oh, that's right!" Videl practically shoved her dad out of the way, remembering how enthusiastic she was in the first place to see such a young fighter passing the exhibition round and fighting with the adults.
Comically enough, Hercule found himself tumbling down each and every one of those steps, re-awakening his sore pains all over his body in addition to new ones, as he fell to the absolute bottom of the Battle Island's interior tower staircase.
"Oooooooow..." he weakly muttered from his fetal position, as the next round began.
ROUND 3
"ALRIGHT! AFTER AN EXCITING MATCH, ITS ONTO THE NEXT ONE, PITTING PICCOLO AGAINST SON GOHAN!"
As Videl peered from the box, she stared in awe how composed and calm he was in the face of such a large man in opposition to him. She practically glued her forehead against the glass as she saw him smile, and take his stance, while exchanging pleasantries with the man. The way they regarded each other, it was clear that the strange looking green man was his mentor.
"Perhaps if I talk to him, I can train to be as strong as him?" Videl humored a thought, but quickly dismissed it as she became engrossed into the fight's beginning.
"Go Gohan!" Chi-Chi cheered out from her section, not able to stand up as suddenly as Bulma had, but having enough vigor to match the young mother as well.
"This should be fun to watch," Bulma commented, having been witness to Gohan's previous sparring sessions with Piccolo before, "I hope they both do well."
"Tch, Gohan's already won this fight," 17 spoke analytically, as he flicked the front of his hat, though wore an intrigued smile, "it'd be nice to see my favorite Namekian sparring partner pull a few new tricks out of his sleeves, but Gohan is a league above him. In the end, he's the winner."
"Unless Piccolo finds a clever way to get Gohan out of the ring," 18 commented, shrugging as she stared impassively at the fight, "either way, it should be fun to watch."
"ALRIGHT, LET THE THIRD ROUND, BEGIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"
As the announcer bellowed out, Gohan had already assumed a fighting stance similar to Vegeta's, countering his prior stances he deferred using when having been previously taught by Piccolo.
"Brings back all sorts of memories for me, fighting you on the ring," Piccolo mused with a smile on his face, taking up his own fighting stance as he spoke, "back when I fought your father, during the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai Tournament. All those times we sparred to hone your strength. Its good to see how strong you've come since then..."
"I couldn't have done it without your help, Piccolo," Gohan smiled appreciatively, "I wouldn't have gotten this far without you pushing me harder every step of the way, and helping me when I had no one else to look out for me."
"You helped remind me there's more to living than conquest and mindless battle. I think its fair to say we've both come a long ways, huh kid?" Piccolo chuckled.
The two then lapsed into silence, as their expressions changed into stoic visages of concentration. The air grew thick with tension, as a gradual flow of ki exited and entered their bodies, before their auras mimicked each other in a show of blue-white. Crackling, the energy electrified the air as the two stared off, and drove the audience in suspense.
Then, they moved at once.
Rushing in, Gohan launched a fist simultaneously within grappling Piccolo's own incoming fist, as he did the same. The force sent a large gust of wind to blow the air down and push the surface of the ocean far below and towards the audience heralding at the docks in the distance.
As a few agonizingly long moments passed as they tried to overcome each other's grapples, Piccolo reared his head back, aiming to strike a headbutt towards Gohan's smaller frame, to break the lock and stun him momentarily to land his own attacks.
The only problem with this plan, as his shorter stature caused him to lean much lower down, giving Gohan the leverage he needed. As the Namekian's forehead rushed downward, Gohan grappled both of the bigger man's arm and hand as he slid underneath Piccolo, with his back to the arena floor. This gave him the pivoting motion to throw him over his shoulders, while launching a kick to his midsection, to further send him closer to the edge of the ring.
Grunting, the older and more experienced fighter skidded across the floor of the arena, before righting himself up, just as the young Saiyan-hybrid did as well. With a stretch of his left arm, it zoomed across the arena with an unnatural elasticity, common for all those within his species.
Having anticipated this, Gohan side-stepped the incoming fist, grappling it quickly as he pulled his mentor towards him with incredible strength. As he delivered a haymaker punch towards Piccolo's jaw, it met the forearm of his free arm, as he retracted his captive arm to its original size.
Twirling his body around, Piccolo swung Gohan in a ninety degree angle into the air, before taking off in a leap after him with a swift discharge of Ki in his wake.
Swinging his knee to catch the airborne Gohan in the ribs, he quickly followed up with a vicious elbow strike to his back, sending Gohan to his hands and knees to the arena floor once again.
Just as Piccolo was rushed down to follow up the initiative, Gohan handspring his legs up in a swift vertical kick, catching the Namekian by his jawline. The boy smirked as he jettisoned his body up from his hands, and launched a dual-handed Kiai straight into Piccolo's chest, sending him across the arena with enough force to smash into the main tower of the Battle Island's infrastructure, causing it to ring loud and audibly for all viewers.
The cheers roared loudly, as the boy had delivered such incredible strikes and held his own so well against the strange look adult, as he smiled confidently towards his mentor's location.
"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE YOUNG MAN! AFTER A SERIES OF TENSION-FILLED GRAPPLES, TAKING SOME HARD STRIKES, HE MANAGES TO PULL A QUICK AGILE STRIKE AND SEND PICCOLO FLYING! THIS IS REALLY INCREDIBLE FOLKS! JUST REAL AMAZING TO WATCH!"
"Whoah!" Videl found herself more and more impressed by the young man named Gohan as she bore witness to his actions in the heat of battle. Despite how weird a few of the moves this Piccolo used, Gohan had managed to take the punishment and respond in kind.
She wanted to know who this boy was and hopefully train under his master!
"Wow, Gohan is doing pretty well against Piccolo!" Bulma spoke with an admiring tone, as baby Trunks stared with silent awe at the spectacle before him and his mother, "he hasn't even transformed into a Super Saiyan and he's been doing so well."
"That's my Gohan, always quick on his feet," Chi-Chi nodded with a smile, proud to see her son have grown so strong.
"Heh, called it," 17 chuckled as he looked to his sister with a cocky grin, "when it comes to stamina, that kid's got no limits in comparison to Piccolo. They may be evenly matched at the moment, but Gohan's just too limber and too quick for him."
"Not that I care, but Piccolo hasn't taken off his weighted armor either," 18 spoke off-handedly, brushing her hair with a spare hand while the other rested on her lap, staring at the fight's screens, much too slow to her liking but better than nothing, "but like I said, anything can happen."
"Wow! Piccolo is fighting evenly with Gohan!" Trunks gaped with amazement, surprised to see the Namekian do so well against the teenager, despite him being only in his base form.
"Heh, that won't last for long," Vegeta scoffed, chuckling confidently at his student's ability to surpass his former teacher, "when they get real serious, I'll reconsider who's stronger than the other."
"That's some good force, kid," Piccolo complimented with a smile as he floated in the air, just above the ramp leading up to the arena from which Gohan currently stood upon. With an arched brow, the Namekian challenged, "care to take it up a notch?"
"If that's what you want, Mister Piccolo," Gohan spoke back with as much excitement as his former teacher did. Pulling back his arms, he concentrated, mentally pulling up the vast depths of his power hidden within his body.
Starting as a low growl, with flickering discharges of electricity dancing around from his skin, he let out a long-winded yell, as his body's muscular structure enhanced, his eyes changed to green, and his hair stood up with a golden hue. All the while, his entire body was wrapped in a golden, transparent flow of ki, giving him the appearance of a heavenly warrior in the form of a child.
Donning a smile of challenge towards his second father figure, Gohan raised a hand in beckoning, "Come on then, Mister Piccolo. I'm ready for you!"
"Just a sec, kid," Piccolo grabbed a hold of his cape-wrapped shoulder weights, hauling it off him, releasing a groan of relief as carefully let it drop next to the extended track holding the arena in place. Just as Piccolo would reach for his turban, the reason became obvious.
Within touching the surface of the ocean below, an immense shockwave rippled the water, sending a huge pillar of uproaring moisture that struck the infrastructure of the Battle Island, sending a brief wave crashing against it, and a downpour of moisture all over Gohan and Piccolo.
Gohan's eyes briefly blinked in shock, as the turban was let go, and preformed a repeat of the same phenomenon, despite it being physically smaller, causing the young Super Saiyan to stumble.
"W-What was that?!" Gohan cried out wonder and confusion. Had Piccolo's weights ever been that heavy?
"Well, I took a lot of thinking and realized that my training came from using weights a lot moreso than using gravity training like you Saiyans do. As I daily meditated, I sent a constant stream of Ki out of my body, into my weighted clothing, before pulling it back into myself. The process was excruciating, but the results, well," Piccolo smirked as he finished explaining, pulling back his arms in emphasis, as he let out a loud Kiai of his own, sending a reverberating shockwave as a vibrant light of blue-white energy enraptured his body, sending waves of air pressure and electricity flourishing wildly from his body.
The result was extraordinary.
Gohan looked on with fascination, as Piccolo was indeed as strong as his dad was when he fought Cell at maximum power in his Super Saiyan form. To think that Piccolo would find a method of training as swift as using the Chamber or go through Gravity training like he did with Vegeta and Trunks.
THUUM! As the two warriors, both cloaked in vibrant auras of light, stared at each other, their grins re-ignited as the two fighters charged back into the fray with a shimmer of movement. Their exodus of reappearance would thunder a powerful clash of two right fists, testing their power against each other, and sending a loud thunderous blast of excess pressure to rain down into the ocean to send large waves to lap at the docks and shores, while shaking the island itself.
"My goodness!" Mrs. Cash spoke aghast, seeing such projections of lights and noticing the box itself vibrating with intensity, "i-i-it seems your Mister Satan was right. This seems too fantastic to be anything but real!"
"I just hope they don't tear apart the island! I paid a lot of money on this event, and I never anticipated it possibly ruining my work!" Mr. Cash spoke with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation at the possible damage that might be wrought upon his precious Tournament.
While their son gawked and "ooh" and "aaaah" at the visual spectacle before him, Videl was visually endowed upon the spectacle. Despite the strange change in hair color, the boy looked so confident and sure of himself, and the other green man wore such heavy clothing that it made such a large splash in the ocean below. The yells, the energy ebbing from their bodies, looked dazzling to her eyes.
The audible shaking of the island she took residence within was concrete proof that they were solely responsible for generating the nigh unbelievable phenomena. And so, she anxiously waited and watched each movement as fast as she could, hoping to see what would transpire next and who would be the one to land the critical blow to finish the match.
"Incredible," Vegeta whispered out, his eyes wide as he saw the Namekian match Gohan's movements, blow for blow, thundering and shaking the complex man-made island as they zoomed across the air with great speed, dexterity, and power, "I can't believe the Namekian is matching Gohan so easily! How is he doing it? Were those weights of his really that heavy that they restricted enough energy for him to gain a boost that high?!"
"Whatever the case, Piccolo has revealed his trump card, and now its up to Gohan to see if he's willing to push himself to surpass Piccolo's new boost in strength," Trunks observed audibly, as he noted the continued flow of equal strength was apparent. He hoped Gohan would put aside his feelings for Piccolo in order to show the true results of his training after all these six months have wrought upon him.
"Whoa! That Piccolo got a helluva lot stronger!" 17's eyes widened and spoke with amazement, as the audible pops and streams of wind even reached the edges of the stadium. A few cameras winked out from the palpable force rushing to and fro across Battle Island's airspace.
18 nodded with silent agreement, noting the silence the two women below their seats have undergone. Knowing how awe-inspiring it was to see the two fight at such a level, must be breathtaking for the likes of them. For her, it was a power she had seen over and over again.
Now more than ever, she was anxious to see the conclusion of such a visual spectacle of a fight.
VOOM-VOOM-VOOM! Gohan felt his arm spasm from recoil each time his smaller fist struck the larger green-tinted one of his role model. So far they had been dead even in terms of strength and speed. Each time their fists flew, each was parried, dodged, or countered with equal force. The shockwaves repetitively lit up the air with blasts of lightning and powerful gusts of wind that penetrated the ocean's surface below and rocked Battle Island.
His only advantage was the stature difference, allowing him to zoom around and duck around Piccolo's strikes and grapples with much greater ease. As Piccolo struck another equally powerful punch towards him, met by Gohan's own hand, his eyes lit up with a sudden glow, before discharging a pair of piercing beams.
Reacting within the nick of time, Gohan bent his head to the side to avoid the cutting streams of energy, taking a few golden locks with it on the way.
This however left him open to a follow-up punch to his face, stunning him, allowing the Namekian to land a right knee thrust to his solar plexus, causing him to cough out a wad of spit as exhaled a lung full of air. Swinging an elbow to his chin, and then a follow-up spinning kick to his right midriff, he sent the boy reeling away.
Before he could be launched far, however, Piccolo grappled his ankle and descended down towards the ocean, intending on finishing the match within an instant.
Stopping but fifteen meters above the ocean, he threw him with immense strength, shouting aloud, "Its been fun, kid, but this ends now!"
Gohan's eyes widened with tension as his vision cleared, his senses told him exactly what was going to happen a few seconds from now. As his body descended faster and fasted towards the surface of the bucking tides of the water below him, he gathered as much energy as he could muster in order to push himself higher...and awaken his full power!
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" With a mighty yell, a magnanimous Kiai blast was sent beneath him, parting the ocean's waters in an awesome display of force, halting his descent in midair effectively. The flowing golden energy created a maelstrom within the ocean, raising the waves visibly around the mobile Battle Island, effectively obscuring it to those viewing from the distant audiences watching from the docks.
The flash of light and blistering winds caused Piccolo to raise his arms to cover himself from the force of Gohan's release. Sensing the energy being exuding by the young boy, he knew that the fight was over now, clearly outmatched at this point.
With a smile, he lowered his hand briefly enough to see a determined staring Gohan rush towards him with a discharge of golden Ki flowing around him. With mind-numbing speed, the young Saiyan warrior left a wake of force that gave him the audible and vibrant aura of a yellow rocket.
And then...that force struck him right in the gut...from a single right fist hook produced by the Saiyan prodigy.
KA-POOOOW! The follow-up aftershock sent a rippling shockwave that sent the raised water flying in all directions, drenching the custodians while knocking some of the stands, the audience over onto the backsides. The Battle Island itself rocked and keeled around as the imbalance level of water was quickly filled back up by the rest of the proximate waters, shaking all the viewers from within as they barely witnessed what happened.
As the announcer, the cameras, and the audience recollected themselves, they could see the golden haired boy calming his aura as he carried an unconscious Piccolo onto their designated ring, before relaxing his transformation back to base form entirely.
The silence that encroached the audiences within the stadium, the dockside, and globally was nothing short of awe-inspiring. What felt like hours was more like seconds, as when the response came, it was the roaring shouts of cheers that sang across the world.
Looking up Gohan felt his ears filled the chorus of celebration and delight in the match they saw, clearly very much loud or as high in volume when they were cheering the former hoax of a champion. Smiling, the boy waved back at the crowd as he entered the Island's main tower, to journey to the private box reserved for the Semi-Finalists.
"WOW! THAT WAS AN AMAZING CLIMAX TO SUCH AN AMAZING FIGHT! I'M TELLING YOU FOLKS THAT EVERYTHING YOU SAW WAS NOT PRE-PLANNED OR SET UP, THAT WAS THE REAL DEAL! GOHAN HAS MOVED ONTO THE SEMI-FINALS, AND ONLY ONE MATCH LEFT TO GO BEFORE THE NEXT ROUND OF CLIMACTIC BOUTS! WE'LL TAKE JUST A FEW MINUTES BREAK BEFORE THE FINAL FOURTH ROUND BEGINS, AS SOON AS ALL THE CAMERAS ARE RE-ALIGNED AND FIXED UP FROM THAT LAST EPIC CLASH! DO NOT TURN OFF THAT TV SET AND DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SEATS, FOR WE'LL HAVE MORE IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS!"
"Wow, Gohan," Bulma's eyes blinked with amazement, having settled down from clapping, with a giggling baby Trunks in her arms at seeing such a cool bout, "I can't believe he's gotten so strong. It looked as if Piccolo got the upper hand for a minute there, but that kid just bounced back up and took him out, just like that."
Chi-Chi giggled, holding a hand up to her mouth as she had saw the whole spectacle unfold before her eyes, "Oh that Gohan. He's so much like his father, always overdoing things and making an event much bigger than it usually is."
"You got that right," Bulma huffed, crossing her arms over her son, "I couldn't believe how many cameras malfunctioned from that last attack of his. I'm serious, if he's not compiling a list of these awesome moves and just winging it, I'M going to get on his back to make up names for these techniques that are making millions of people cheer!"
"You do that, while I worry that he's not going to get hurt," Chi-Chi rolling her eyes at her friend's insistance on compiling such an unnecessary list.
The Twins, however, were amusing themselves with the results of the last fight.
"Huh, well what do you know?" 17 cockily crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled wryly at his obviously annoyed sister, "it seems Gohan did win that last fight after all. Just like I thought."
"I never disagreed with you, 17, I merely said that Piccolo could win," 18 spoke in a blank tone, raising a hand towards the screen in the distance in emphasis, "he clearly almost did. It was just lucky for Gohan that he had so much reserves in power to keep him from touching the ocean's surface."
"You're just upset cause my old sparring partner lost to the obvious winner, 18," 17 concluded, leaning back in his seat as he looked on.
"Pffft, whatever," 18 rolled her eyes, acting bored despite how much she enjoyed watching the fights.
"WOW!" Videl shouted out ecstatically, her smile spread from ear to ear as she saw the amazing conclusion to the fight first hand.
It was breathtaking to watch from her perch with the Cash family, as the force exerted from the two fighters shook their box the heaviest, despite how much reinforcement was placed into it. Built to withstand the forces of a dangerous hurricane, but never had they expected to be at the front seats of a battle of such magnitudes.
"I-Incredible! Just simply astounding!" Mr. Cash spoke with reignited vigor, already feeling the disappointment of Mr. Satan's hoax reveal, as the fights of the century were being captured on camera and witnessed before thousands of eyewitnesses and millions of TV viewers, "this may be the single best recorded Tournament in the history of martial arts!"
"It certainly is flashy and fun to watch, but it almost feels a bit dangerous," Mrs. Cash spoke cautiously, knowing her husband's zeal for this new type of sport might dismiss anything she had to say on the matter. Leaning over to the standing billionaire, she smiled hesitantly, "are you sure your next arenas are built to withstand this kind of punishment?"
"Of course!" X.S. Cash spoke confidently, placing his cigar back into his mouth as he straightened his suit with his pudgy fingers, "after all, I do nothing but provide the best for entertainment for the masses!"
"Hey!" The son of the Cash's looked around, suddenly realized that Videl was no longer in sight, "where the tomboy go?"
"Oh, she's probably going to get her father back into the box," Mrs. Cash waved her hand nonchalantly to her son, nodding to Mr. Cash with inquiry, "after all, we did promise them to spend most of the time in the box when not participating, didn't we, honey?"
"Hmm? Oh sure, of course," Mr. Cash nodded with a hearty smile, chuckling as he felt he was in a good mood, all things considering, "after all, he IS the Martial Arts Champion! It'd be a shame if someone so charismatic had to be kicked out despite suffering such a public and personal blow."
"Gohan, you don't need to carry me anymore," Piccolo spoke suddenly, as his body righted itself as Gohan reached the door, bringing relief to the former student as the strong Namekian stood on his two feet.
"How are you feeling?" Gohan asked with a smile on his face, having been concerned how strong of a punch he hit the old mentor of his.
"I have to admit, I definitely felt that one, but it isn't something I can't recover from," Piccolo rubbed his gut, albeit a lot less sore than before thanks to his accelerated regenerative powers.
"Good to know," Gohan opened the door, glad to have measured the strength of his KO strike so effectively. He had Vegeta to thank, to harness the unbelievable strength his Super Saiyan form afforded him.
As they entered, they found Vegeta leaning on the far observatory window with a pensive look on his face, while Trunks was meeting them halfway with a complimentary grin of his own. Tien himself was taking a nap on the couch nearby, finding himself incredibly drained from the use of his Kaio-ken and the punch given to him in his own bout.
"Gohan! You did great out there!" The older Saiyan-hybrid applauded Gohan, reaching out to clasp the younger man's hand with approval.
"Thanks, Trunks," Gohan smiled brightly back, clasping Trunks hand back, nodding back to his older surrogate brother, "I didn't think I needed to fully power up until the last second. Piccolo really gave me a run for my money out there."
"Yes, we all saw that the Namekian could hold well enough against your power, Gohan, but it clearly wasn't up to snuff with it its absolute maximum," Vegeta spoke in a bored tone, clearly not as thrilled with Piccolo's rapid increase in power. He didn't even recall sensing any force that strong upon the Lookout, or knew of him taking trips to the chamber so readily available for vigorous training. All the more reason why he scowled with insistence towards the experienced green-skinned warrior, "tell me, did you find a way to enchant your armor so that your power would be put under greater pressure, or did you find a way to use your own energy to increase the density of the clothing you wore?"
"Something like that," Piccolo answered vaguely, issuing a challenging grin back at Vegeta, "what's the matter? Feel your position of Strongest in the Universe threatened by yours truly?"
"Hardly," Vegeta chuckled, grinning back with an equally challenging smile, "I just found it surprising that a Namekian could reach the level of what used to be the strongest level an ordinary Super Saiyan could reach. Your progress in strength is admirable, but futile, comparison to the strides my son and Gohan have made."
"If you say so," Piccolo shrugged nonchalantly as he walked to one of the opposing window views on the other side of the fighters' box, leaning against it and closing his eyes with a look of meditation.
"Don't let him bother you too much, dad," Trunks flexed his arm as he cockily grinned back at his pure-blooded Saiyan father with barely contained excitement, "your next fight after this could be against me, so you better keep on your toes!"
"That's the spirit, son," Vegeta nodded with an approving look reenter his eyes, taking his mind off the startling boost in power Piccolo had gained in such a short amount of time.
Before Gohan could add his own tidbits in, a rapid series of knocks banged upon their door to the exit. Walking up innocently to exit, he grabbed the handle and opened it, not knowing whom was on the other side.
"Oh!" Videl gasped as she was halfway to knock on the door when she came face to face with the boy in question, Son Gohan. Blinking a few times as much as the wide-eyed Saiyan-hybrid was, an awkward few seconds filled the air as they marveled at each other's attractive features. Clearing her throat, Videl reached out a hand as she put on her best winner's smile, "you must be the guy who fought last round. Name's Videl."
"Uh, yeah," taking her hand and shaking it with a smile, he blushed at the touch, despite how friendly and innocent it was. Blame his mother for not letting him socialize enough with other kids his age, but this was the first legitimate girl he had met and exchanged pleasantries in...well...ever, "my name is Gohan. What brings you to-"
"I'm sorry but I was really curious to see if I could watch the last round with you guys? You know, see how you handle seeing your friends go out and go crazy, you know?!" Videl stammered, twirling her right pigtail nervously as she cleared her throat, hoping she didn't look or act too intrusive.
"Uh, I don't see why not," Gohan scratched the back of his head with a smile, looking back at Trunks and Vegeta, before looking over at Piccolo and Tien. None of them seemed occupied at the present to mind another occupant entering, even if it was a girl not affiliated with them. Waving her on in, Gohan guided her to the viewing window next to Trunks, "hey Trunks, I have someone I want you to meet."
"Oh?" Trunks turned over, a brief look of surprise was quickly replaced with a smile of approval, seeing the girl clad in her own sleeveless shirt and a pair of black shorts, with a pair of black gloves and tennis shoes, "and you are?"
"Videl," the teenage girl reached out with her own gloved hand to exchange a handshake with the taller and older Saiyan-hybrid with a smile, "I'm the daughter of Hercule Satan, the guy who's the Martial Art Champion, NOT the World Champion."
"Oh, hehe, yeah that," Trunks chuckled sheepishly, as did Gohan, all the while Vegeta could only smirk at the mentioning of anything related to Mr. Satan as he looked out the window. Thankfully, any further dialogue was interrupted by the announcer, as the final match was about to begin.
"ALRIGHT! AFTER A BRIEF INTERMISSION WE ARE BACK! THE FOURTH AND FINAL MATCH WILL BEGIN NOW! TAKING UP THE DESIGNATED FOURTH RING IS NONE OTHER THAN KRILLIN AND YAMCHA! HOPEFULLY WE CAN EXPECT JUST AS GREAT THINGS FROM THIS MATCH AS THE LAST TWO!"
Round 4
The roar of the crowd felt overwhelming to the two martial artists.
As they took up spots, Krillin couldn't help but get cold sweat thinking that his fight with Yamcha would be anything but amazing. Then again, with the progress they've made, anything could happen. This would be more of a battle of tact and wits as it would be of speed and power.
"Hey, Krillin," Yamcha broke the silence first, garnering the attention of the bald dwarf back to the butch-hair-cut, scar-faced man, "let's do our best, okay?"
"Right!" Krillin nodded with a smile, settling into his own fighting stance, preparing to engage his friend and new opponent.
"AND MAY THE FOURTH AND FINAL MATCH OF THE SECOND ROUND BEGIIIIIIIIIIIN!"
And the two combatants charged, immediately launching themselves at each other with their own respective attacks.
"WOLF FANG FIST!" Yamcha called out as he took the initiative first, hailing a number of kicks, knife-hand swipes, jabs, finally swirling his body around to finish with a powerful dual palm-heel thrust strike.
"Ngh!" Krillin managed to absorb most of the blows on his forearms and shins, but felt pangs of pain crawl up and down his skin. The force was undeniable, and the bald fighter knew his enemy had practically evened out in terms of raw power with himself.
Jettisoning off the ground, Yamcha somersaulted in the air before bringing down a dual-ax kick strike, crying out in sync, "WOLF CLAW KICK!"
Darting to the side to avoid the attack, rather than block it head-on, Krillin rolled across the arena ground as the force of the kick indented the tiles. Leaping up into the air, Krillin flew towards Yamcha while charging a dual set of orange orbs of energy in each hand.
As Yamcha dodged to the side, hand-springing himself up into the air before preforming a sideways somersault maneuver to gain more distance from Krillin, the dwarf stopped dead in his tracks and then launched his ki attack.
"Double Tsuihikidan!" He uttered aloud, transforming the orange spheres into a pair of blue-white streams of volatile energy missiles, both of them homing in on Yamcha's position.
The scar-faced Bandit smiled at Krillin's choice of attack and immediately worked a plan to counter it. Cloaking himself in a aura of blue-white energy, he took off into the sky, allowing the energy rockets hurtle after him as he began soaring with high velocity and dexterity into the sky, high above the precipice of Battle Island.
As Yamcha began to flamboyantly do twirls and sudden shifts in direction, Krillin kept the dual missiles locked onto his every move, mostly without any movement from his hands. As Yamcha began to arc towards his direction, Krillin began charging a yellow orb in the middle of his two hands. With only twenty meters in between himself and the zooming Yamcha, as well as his towing streams of energy, Krillin let loose the slow-moving sphere of Ki into the air.
When Yamcha noted the slow-moving projectile, he felt as if he had been put into a trap. And in fact, his hunch was correct.
"SCATTERING BULLET!" Krillin called out dramatically, more for the audience's enjoyment than for greater affect for his technique, he launched a series of blinding yellow energy projectiles to head straight into the oncoming Yamcha.
"Oh man!" Yamcha's eyes widened to comical proportions as he skidded to a dramatic halt, as the two waves of energies came colliding towards him on either side. He only had one card up his sleeve, and he felt disappointed that he had to use it so soon into the match.
"KAIO-KEN!"
"Kaio-what?" Videl furrowed her eyes at the mention of the technique.
With a thunder-clap blast of crimson-white energy illuminating the bare space between the volley of attacks, screaming out with aura blazing Ki flowing around him. The colliding energies tumbled into each other to create a vibrant explosion, but the waves of pressurized air didn't bother the powered-up Yamcha as he smiled cockily down at Krillin.
"What do you think of me now, Krillin?" Yamcha boasted aloud.
"Not bad, you timed that pretty well," Krillin nodded with approval, pulling back his hands to his right hip, he decided to keep the Scar-Faced bandit talking, "though honestly, you looked kinda dumb when you were rushing towards it. Was that intentional?"
KA...ME...
"What?!" Defusing his Kaio-ken aura out of instinct, knowing he shouldn't waste his stamina needlessly, as he flailed his arms in comical protest, "no! I meant to run into it to give the audience suspense and make them THINK I was rushing to my imminent doom."
"So, you intentionally made yourself look dumb to get a laugh out of the audience?" Krillin remarked with a snicker.
HA...ME...
"Hey! That's not funny!" Yamcha angrily shook his fist at Krillin at the insult sent his way.
"Maybe...but do you know what is funny?" Krillin asked coyly, as a bright sphere of neon blue energy between his cupped hands.
"What?!"
"This!" Krillin shouted in emphasis, as he threw out his palms, shouting out the last syllable of the well known technique, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Oh crap!" Yamcha's eyes widened as he saw the bright pillar of energy rocket towards his stationary form, aiming to slam into him and possibly take him out of the fight right then and there.
With no time to think, Yamcha pulled back his right arm as the tell-tale crimson aura enveloped him, as he shouted out, "KAIO-KEN TIMES FOUR!"
KRAK-BOOM! With a crackling burst of energy, Yamcha enraptured his right fist with a great deal of focused energy and punched Krillin's Kamehameha directly into the horizon, thankfully missing the man-made island and the coast, as its explosion substantially caused a significant blast in the distance.
"I-I-INCREDIBLE!" The Announcer called out, as the winds briefly cascaded over the crowd and Battle Island as the bright explosion subsided, "KRILLIN LAUNCHED A BRIGHT LASER OF SOME-SORT, BUT YAMCHA MANAGED TO PUNCH IT AWAY, ALLOWING IT TO SAFELY EXPLODE IN THE HORIZON! BOY WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT POWER!"
"Whew, that was a close one," Yamcha wiped his brow, signifying that he felt as if he almost was taken out by the last blast. Glaring down at Krillin, he propelled his body towards him with incredible speed, all the while gathering a series of energy projections within his palms respectively, "let's see how you take this on for size!"
Krillin backpedaled, hoping to gain some distance from the charging, anger-filled ex-bandit. He found the distance to be irrelevant as Yamcha barely touched the edge of the ring before launching a quartet of baseball-sized orbs of orange energy at the short man's person.
"MULTI-SPIRIT BALL BARRAGE!" Yamcha called out, as he began to gesture with his hands rapidly, greatly sped up due to the augmentation of the Kaio-ken in check, while the series of rapidly speeding, concussive blazing orbs tried to ram Krillin from multiple directions.
"AH! EEK! OH! OOF!" Krillin began dancing around comically as the four balls flew to and fro, grazing him and striking him at multiple angles as he tried to avoid them with a desperation, running out of ideas in order to beat his enemy.
"You give up yet, Krillin, or should I keep pounding away at you till you drop?!" Yamcha asked aloud, an angry vein protruding on his forehead from the earlier insults and the trickery the bald dwarf used on him.
But despite the pounding and grazes the strafing runs of the orange balls gave him, they didn't hurt especially too bad. The one thing Krillin had to appreciate was despite the use of Kaio-ken to generate multiple Spirit Balls, it didn't increase their damage capacity when thrown in the manner it was.
As he continued to hop and tumble around, the balls falling into the ground before returning upwards, making the pattern of attacks dangerous to predict and hard to outmaneuver. Even as this occurred, Krillin found the control and poise to generate Ki at the bottom of his feet as he moved around.
After a good minute of comical hit and runs, Krillin shouted out, "REVERSE KAMEHAMEHA!" causing him to generate a powerful blast of white-blue energy to discharge from the soles of his feet, rocketing him up into the air and away from the spirit balls.
Sweating bullets at maintaining the x4 Kaio-ken for so long, Yamcha persisted and gestured his hands upwards, sending the four orange spheres of rotating power to strike him in the air.
But Krillin didn't waste his golden opportunity and immediately enacted his counterattack.
"Double Kienzan!" Krillin declared aloud, as a pair of destructo discs formed in each hand, allowing him to parry the first pair of orange spheres, slicing them in half, before hurtling the razor sharp projectiles at the balls, slicing them in half as well before cutting straight into the floor of the arena, kicking up a lot of dust and causing Yamcha to stumble back.
As Krillin pressed the advantage to the now-winded Yamcha, he deployed his next technique to begin the end of the match.
"Tri-Form!" Krillin split his body into two other copies, dropping his power level significantly even as he charged.
This at first, gave Yamcha hope, as he amped up Kaio-ken to a times five, raising his hands up in a martial art pose, "C'mon now, Krillin! Surely you can' think I'll fall for that-"
Then, Yamcha's grin dropped at what all three Krillins' voices shouted in unison,
"KAIO-KEN...TIMES...TEN!"
KRAK-KOOM! With a thunder crack projection of power, each of his third percent of his power gained a ten times boost, making them all suddenly rammed at full power into the worn-out Yamcha, each one punching a critical spot: the jaw, chest and the solar plexus.
The sudden enhancement of attacks sent Yamcha pinwheeling along with the flow of Krillin's triad of physical strikes, sending him off the edge of the edge of the arena and screaming in agony into the ocean's depths below.
Upon the dramatic finish, the crowds roared as Krillin re-formed back into his single body, panting with exertion, signaling this by wiping his bald brow line, "Phew...that was a close one. If I hadn't pulled that out, I think Yamcha would've pummeled me into the ground for sure. Who would've thought?"
"WOW! WHAT AN AMAZING FINISH BY...ER...KRILLIN! WITH YAMCHA FALLEN OUT OF BOUNDS, KRILLIN MOVES ONTO THE NEXT ROUND INTO THE SEMI-FINALS!"
Down below, Yamcha re-surfaced halfway, too embarrassed to show his face to the rest of the crowd. Sighing, with nothing but his butch-trimmed head and his eyes he moaned from underwater, creating a comical sounding affect, "Oh maaaaaaan...!"
"Wow! Way to go Krillin!" Gohan struck a fist into the air, as Videl had been equally enamored by the fight as he had.
"Well, well, even Krillin and Yamcha managed to use the Kaio-ken pretty well," Trunks nodded with affirmation of the fight, smiling with approval, "I'm glad to see they've made so much progress after all this time. It seems their ingenuity and their unique style of combat will be an invaluable asset rather than a liability in the future for us..."
"Wait," Videl squinted her eyes, trying to gauge what the conversation was, as she looked back at the older man and Gohan respectively, "you make it sound like they're weak or something. How much stronger are you guys than them?"
"Well," Gohan shrugged, scratching the back of his head with a tentative smile on his face, "to be fair, until recently, we were way stronger them. Now, we're probably only a little stronger than them at the point they are."
"Some more than others," Vegeta huffed, chuckling at his own joke as he briefly met his eyes with Videl, causing the girl to audibly gulp at his dark gaze, "of course, I am the strongest. Most of the fools around here pose no real threat, should this be a real battle, and not a tournament, bent on rules and restrictions."
"Oh...is that so?" Videl peered over at Vegeta, narrowing her eyes at the short yet intimidating looking man as she put her fists on her own hips, "well maybe if I trained to do the...stuff...that Gohan and you do, maybe I can give you a run for your money, couldn't I?"
"HAHAHAHA!" Vegeta laughed aloud, greatly humored by Videl's attitude and choice of words, enough so that he would walk away from the corner of the glass and step in front of her, giving the impression of just how much bigger he was in comparison to her, "you've got fire! I like that about you. Unlike your father, you also got some latent talent residing within your premature body. Get Trunks or that Namekian to train you, and you might be worth using one arm to spar with you."
Videl blinked her eyes a couple of times, looking up at the nice lavender-haired man and then at the far wall of the booth where the green man whom looked a little like a martian leaning against the viewing glass with his eyes closed, giving the impression he was dead to the world.
"Why can't you train me?" Videl asked with a curious, also challenging look in her eyes, having a desire to learn from the best, and wanting to know why she couldn't.
"Cause, little human, if you went at a tenth of my level of what I train by," Vegeta then added with a dark chuckle, coupled by a glint in his eyes as he smiled widely, "you'd be dead."
"Oh...ahaha...is that all?" Videl felt her knees shake, as she felt very real fear run up and down her spine, as she felt there was very real truth hidden in what the blunt boast Vegeta proclaimed to her.
"Don't worry, Videl," Gohan encouraged her with a thumb's up and a smile of his own that comforted her instantly, "Trunks and I can show you the ropes, at least on the basics. Once the Tournament is over, I promise we can start your training."
"Really? Awesome!" Videl fist-pumped in joy, causing Gohan to blush slightly at the giddy display of the mutually aged girl in front of him.
He wouldn't admit it, but it was cute to see her so happy and excited.
"Oh darn, poor Yamcha," Bulma sighed with genuine pity, leaning on the back of her seat with baby Trunks watching the screen with big eyes as his mom's ex had been soundly defeated yet again in a Tournament, "that poor guy can't catch a break. I'm glad he made it past the first round, but I guess he let his head get too hot for him to handle it."
"Yeah, well I doubt he would've lasted much longer, even if he caught a lucky break in the Semi-Finals," Chi-Chi spoke matter-of-fact, rubbing her bloated midsection thoughtfully as she nodded towards the four winners' names, "it will be a miracle if Krillin can last more than thirty seconds against any of them. Gohan might take it easy on him for a little while until Krillin gets tired, but Trunks and Vegeta might just end it before it drags out too long."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Bulma pouted her lips briefly, before smiling as she met Chi-Chi's eyes, "but hey, he did pretty well out there! I never thought he'd do so well with a technique like Kaio-ken!"
"You and me both," Chi-Chi laughed lightly, "to see Krillin using his brains to outwit Yamcha may seem like a small feat, but I'm glad he's still got his head on his shoulders. He always seemed to be the most tactful of our band of merry warriors..."
As the women conversed, 18 couldn't help but hold a warm smile of acknowledgement of Krillin's victory. She felt proud to have known such a chivalrous and smart man be the one who garnered the affection of her heart, even if she wouldn't admit it aloud, yet.
"Hm, the small fry got some moves too, I guess," 17 idly commented, having grabbed popcorn sometime during the match's progression and held some out to his sister, whom grabbed a handful for herself, "even that bald guy, Krillin, seemed to handle himself pretty well. Maybe with time, he could be as strong as you are."
"Unlikely," 18 rolled her eyes at 17's light verbal jab, but couldn't help but smirk at the thought, "but it would be interesting to have him fight our level, wouldn't it?"
"You're probably wanting him to go all Kaio-ken on your a-AH-OW-OW-OW-OW!" 17 began protesting after his smirk and wry smile vanished, replaced with gasps of pain as he found himself yet again at the mercy of his sister's fingers pulling on his earring, yanking it hard to force his head down on the bordering seat.
"As always, you talk too much, 17," 18 grumbled.
"Ooooooow," Hercule held onto his back, as he navigated the dark passageway of the underworks for the infrastructure of Battle Island. He knew running away, at a time like this, would be bad news considering the stunt he pulled and the tentative relationship he had with his daughter. From the sounds happening outside and the forces he was viewing, he knew better than to tempt fate. He wanted to get out alive!
"That blasted Vegeta and those damned stairs, ow-ow-ow!" Hercule moaned and swore under his breath as he walked towards the distant light on a casual, easy pace, due to the pains writhing underneath his muscles and bones, "if it wasn't for him, I would be still considered a hero, and I wouldn't have participated in this stupid Tournament! To hell with Mr. Cash and his schemes! I'm going to live-"
As he peered past the glare of the light beyond the exit, he saw something dreadful: The Battle Island was moving away from the harbor!
"NO!" Hercule fell to his knees in despair, comically elongating his jaw as he clawed out to the exit, seeing that the floating man-made island had already drifted out a good half mile away from the docks, making it almost impossible to return back home.
As he bent his head down onto the ground, he knew that it could only get worse from here on out.
A/N: Whoah! That was a lot of typing to do!
Normally I'd wait for a good week to write this out, but the ideas kept coming and I couldn't stop writing, so that's the reason for why this was released so early. XD
So what do you know? Hercule's treachery has come to light, but I hope it was done in a tasteful way. With the Tournament barely starting, I hoped Hercule's way of words would encourage the crowd to look beyond what they could understand, and just enjoy the unfathomable mystery of the super powers at work between the Martial Artists and their seemingly bizarre techniques being displayed for sport and their visual entertainment.
I hoped I did the minor characters right in this chapter. For the last fight I did a lot of research on the various techniques Yamcha and Krillin were known for, and tried to emphasize their unique flair in their last battle, trying to give them just as a dramatic ending as the other two were (excluding Vegeta's Epic One-sided battle with Hercule, lol).
I also would like to hear what you think of my style of using Teen Videl. Though we all know her of what she was like during the Pre-Buu Saga, we can all blame most of her skepticism heavily on her father's influence and how for over the course of seven years, had built up a natural disbelief to the DBZ style of martial arts in using Ki to increase one's own techniques and body to a higher limit. In this way, you can guess that development for a mutual relationship between Gohan and Videl will be a lot sweeter and a bit more satisfying overtime, than the rushed and partial-blackmailed one that was seen during the Pre-Buu Saga
If any of you have any questions regarding other parts of the chapter, how strong I've made the characters, or how great (or improperly) I handled certain scenes, battle sequences, or comic relief.
Until then, I'll write out another thrilling chapter as well as the follow-up chapter for the Other World Saga ^_^