I OWN NOTHING

The sixteen remaining contestants stood in the waiting room, listening to the announcer build anticipation for the matches. "Are you guys ready for some of the most-" The crowd interrupted him with impatient cheering. "I guess you are!" he said. "The matches for this round will be decided by our mysterious chairman of this event, the man who made this all possible, The Master!"

The crowds started cheering again. "Silence, fools!" a deep, booming voice shouted from an unknown location, silencing the people. "I am your ruler, master with nothing above but the infinite universe!"

"Shit," Piccolo said, listening to the Master speak.

"The matches you shall see today will not be of random chance," The Master said, "but a test of your fighters' limits! Those who have advanced this far, be humbled, for you serve a mighty power soon to be awakened, and for those who have received my blessing, awaken!"

Vegeta felt his head start to hurt. A loud, high-pitched ringing sound took his focus off of anything else and dark, disturbed thoughts filled his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment. A dry, mountain wind passed by him. The pain in his head was gone but he heard a familiar, bloodcurdling scream that made it come back just as fast. He looked up into the bright, blue sky. A dry wind blew through his spiky, black hair. He looked down at himself, shocked and confused as he wore an old Saiyan Elite uniform, one he hadn't worn in years. He looked around, seeing the familiar sights of the plateaus, mountains in the background, and the green carcasses laying around this battlefield. He felt dizzy by everything, every memory, hitting him all at once. He looked at his hands and at the red shards of glass in his gloves. He looked forward, seeing his tall, spiky-headed rival with a purple aura and onyx eyes staring at him while he held his mountainous partner over his head. Anger filled Vegeta to the brim. "Nappa!" he shouted. "What the hell are you doing? I told you to kill Kakarot! You're a disgrace!"

"I'm sorry, Vegeta," Nappa said. Vegeta's rival threw him to the ground at Vegeta's feet, bloody and broken. Nappa was a bald man with a thin, black mustache. His thick, brown tail was wrapped around his black underpants. "V-vegeta," Nappa said weakly. "Help me, p-please." Vegeta took Nappa by the hand. Nappa grinned a bloody smile. "Thank you, Vegeta."

"Where the fuck is your Saiyan pride?!" Vegeta barked, whipping him into the sky. "Thank you?! You deserve to die!" Lightning surged in his hands. He fired a thin, yellow beam into Nappa's chest. Nappa's body exploded, creating a blinding flash of light. When the light disappeared, Vegeta found himself in an even rockier area. He stood on a tall rock, breathing hard and heavy. His rival stood on a rock opposite of him with his purple aura. He too was fatigued along with Krillin and a very young Gohan. Vegeta looked around at the familiar scene, seeing rubble all around him, skid marks up the side of rock formations and bloodstains barely standing out from the red rocks. The sky was pinker than before and it shook with a deafening roar. Vegeta felt a hot, searing pain sting his backside. He felt where his tail used to be and looked at his hand, only seeing blood. He looked back at his rival, seeing him on the ground barely alive. His son had transformed into a giant ape with blood red eyes and a long tail. He threw a giant rock at Vegeta; the Saiyan prince's arms and legs were like lead, stopping him from evading it. He fell on his back in immense pain, feeling every bone and muscle crying out for help. He looked up in horror, watching the ape, now without a tail, land on him. Vegeta screamed in pain and closed his eyes, feeling the temperature suddenly get warmer. "That kid," Vegeta thought, "it wasn't Kakarot, it was-"

"Vegeta!" the voice of an older, adolescent Gohan shouted. "Look out!" Vegeta opened his eyes again, seeing the terrifying ruins of the Cell Games arena, the signature event that truly changed the lives of the Z-Fighters forever. A ten-year old Gohan tackled Vegeta to the ground, taking the full force of a yellow chi blast. Vegeta looked at the young Super Saiyan Two, jealousy turning his face green. Vegeta's eyes narrowed.

"It should have been me," he thought. Everything around him turned pitch black but he could see just fine. He felt a dark presence swirl around him, echoing his thought: it should have been him.

"All of your training," a deep, ominous voice said from nowhere. "All of your hard work," it continued, "and you always end up second best. How does that feel?"

"Who are you?" Vegeta asked, only receiving a booming laughter that shook him to the core. "Answer me!"

"I am Master Babidi," the voice said. "I am known as He Who Summons the Djinn, but ants across the dimensions refer to me as The Master."

"You're the one who has caused all of this?" Vegeta asked, looking around and still seeing no one.

"Yes," Master Babidi, "as a test to see who is truly capable."

"Capable of what?" Vegeta asked desperately, feeling whatever he was breathing turn cold.

"Becoming what you were truly meant to be," Babidi said. "A Saiyan god."

"What the hell are you blabbering on about?" Vegeta asked. "Show yourself!"

"Your planet was destroyed, as was your race, and the one chance you have at redemption, you are outdone by a traitor and his child," Babidi said. "My motives are not antagonistic; I'm only here to help."

"Bullshit," Vegeta snapped. "Kakarot is dead. I have no rival."

"Are you sure?" Babidi asked. "Gohan is more powerful than you now."

"Impossible," Vegeta said bluntly, "let me go and I will destroy you faster than I will defeat Kakarot's spawn."

"I handpicked you as I did Slade," Babidi said angrily. "Bend."

Vegeta's aura spiked and turned yellow. Vegeta's hair spiked and turned golden blonde. Vegeta's eyes widened and he screamed, feeling every muscle in his body twist and stretched. His eyes turned from black to red and he arched forward, his veins in his arms and forehead. He arched back and screamed again, feeling an "M" get carved into his forehead. He suddenly felt better as his new chi swirled around him. He looked at his hands, feeling his fingertips tingling with power. Lightning crackled around him and floated in his energy field as if he was a Super Saiyan Two. "What is this?" he said softly, shocked at the feeling of this new rush of power. "It's amazing... godlike!"

"Now you see, Prince Vegeta, what I have to offer?" Babidi hissed. "Try it out for yourself."

The scene around Vegeta changed to a dark, storming planet with blue grass, blue trees, and a dark green sky in the middle of a lightning storm. Lava geysers protruded from the ground and the ground rumbled every few seconds. Even the air was hot with disaster. Tornadoes raged and a hurricane swept a home on the side of a falling cliff into the ocean. "Planet Namek," Vegeta said, astonished at where he was again. He felt a huge explosion of energy nearby. He took off into the air and quickly found his battered rival in his Super Saiyan form, the first Super Saiyan form, a title that should have belonged to Vegeta. Kakarot stood over the pale upper-half of the space tyrant who destroyed his race. Kakarot stood there in tattered orange Gi pants and blue boots with a hateful glare coming from his emerald eyes. His long, spiky hair stood on all ends and a golden aura surrounded him, mixing in with his red blood that leaked from cuts all over his muscular upper body. The tyrant, a white-skinned being with shiny purple shell-like appendages on his head, shoulders, and stomach, looked up with his red eyes.

"Please..." the tyrant said. "Goku, let me live! I'll change my ways! I promise! Have mercy!"

Goku aimed his hand at the boulder Vegeta was watching the scene on and blew it to bits with a white phaser. "Look out, dumbass," Vegeta said quietly, hopping over the wave.

"I should end you right now, Frieza," Goku said venomously. "You have no right to ask for mercy after what you did to the people of this planet; it serves you right to bleed out right here. Killing you now would be a mercy-"

"I'm begging you!" Frieza cried. "I will kill my brother who is out for the same goal as I! I will liberate all planets under my siege! Please, save me!"

Goku fired a green ball of chi at Frieza, stopping the bleeding from his waist and giving him enough energy to float. "Pathetic, groveling pig," Goku spat. He turned around and slowly flew into the air. "Like you told me, we have five minutes. You better get out of here."

Frieza charged a black beam of chi on his finger.

"Kakarot!" Vegeta barked, flying into the scene. "You fool!"

"Vegeta?" Goku said, turning around and seeing the enhanced Super Saiyan Vegeta crush Frieza's head under hit foot, spreading blood and brains all over the floor and Vegeta's boot. "No! Vegeta, what the heck are you doing?! I thought Dende took you to Earth!"

"I'm doing something I should have done a very long time ago," Vegeta said with deep resentment. "You are going to die here, you clown! I will be the strongest! I am the Prince of Saiyans! It will be me!" Vegeta spiked his aura, blowing Goku back.

"Vegeta!" Goku shouted. "What's gotten into you?! What's on your forehead-"

Vegeta landed a punch into Goku's stomach before he could react. Goku flipped back, holding his stomach in immense pain. "Do you feel that, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked, sending a roundhouse into the side of Goku's head. Goku winced in pain and went barreling through a house. Vegeta fired a black energy ball into it, causing a huge explosion that shook the ground. Goku let out a battle cry and burst out of the fire, attacking Vegeta for all he was worth. Vegeta dodged all of his blows effortlessly and caught Goku's fist, squeezing it so hard that Goku's knuckles popped out of the skin. Vegeta used his free hand to blast Goku away with a yellow chi blast. "I have been behind you all of my life, always forced to be one step behind, striving to achieve your level and for what? Your son takes over and becomes stronger than both of us!"

Goku stood up weakly. "Vegeta, it's not my fault I had to see Krillin die in front of me, and I don't know what you're saying about Gohan, but if you touch him, I'll come back from the dead and beat you myself."

Vegeta charged two waves on his hands and let out a cry of rage, bathing Goku in yellow chi. Vegeta burst into space and aimed his hand at the planet. "I will destroy you, your son, and your entire planet!" He brought his hands by his face and charged a purple ball of chi in them. "Galick Gun: Fire!" He fired a giant, purple wave at the already dying planet and pushed it over the edge, turning the planet into space dust. The stars in space vanished as he returned to the black void. Vegeta laughed maniacally. "This is amazing! I love this!" His aura vanished and he reverted to his normal form in an instant. "What? No! Give it back!"

"I will give it back," Babidi said, "only if you complete a small task."

"What is it?" Vegeta asked.

"Kill Slade."

Vegeta blinked and found himself back in the waiting room of the tournament arena. His head was spinning and he felt extremely nauseated. He ran out of the room and to the nearest bathroom, emptying his breakfast into the toilet. He stood up and hurried to the sink, washing his face off with hand soap and some paper towel. He looked up into the mirror, seeing the faintest black "M" tattoo on his forehead. A tall, lanky man with brown hair and blue eyes walked into the bathroom. "Nice tats, man," he said.

An ominous grin spread across Vegeta's face. "You think so?"

"Totally," he said. "You might want to get back, Vegeta; you're fighting that Slade guy in a little while."

"Say, would you like to help me train?" Vegeta asked him.

"Dude, I really gotta pee," the man said.

"Sorry to hear that!" Vegeta said, whipping around and punching a hole through the man's chest. Vegeta let the man drop. His chuckles echoed through the room as he left the man in a pool of his own blood. Vegeta walked back into the waiting room and watched Starfire land the finishing blow on Wonder Girl, dropping her with one solid punch.

"Starfire is the victor!" the announcer exclaimed. "That was one tough fight, folks! Let's give them both another hand!"

Starfire walked back to the waiting room breathing heavily. Her face was scratched and bruised, just as badly as Wonder Girl's. She looked up at her fellow Titans and grinned. "Vegeta! Did you see it?"

"No," Vegeta said bluntly. "I had more important things to do."

Starfire's grin faded. "Oh." It returned more vibrant than the last one. "I will make the sure to not miss yours!"

"Tch." Vegeta leaned up against the wall.

"Yeah, Vegeta," Krillin said, "where were you? You missed an awesome fight! I fought too, and lost-"

"I got him with the cape-"

"Everybody here knows about the cape, Piccolo!" Krillin shouted. "I lost. Superboy and Robin also fought, but that didn't go too well for Robin." Robin sat in the corner with an ice pack over his eye, grumbling angrily under his breath. "I guess there's always-"

"Shut the hell up," Vegeta said sharply, drawing the attention of Gohan.

"What's your problem?" Gohan asked. "He was just telling you that he lost."

"I will show you what my problem is in the ring," Vegeta said.

"Is someone on his period?" Slade taunted. "You were gone for quite a while."

"I'm going to kill you," Vegeta said. The next two fighters were called. "Not now."

"Sweetie," Blackfire said, grabbing Trunks' hand. "It's time for you to lose. Make this easy on yourself and give up. I don't want to hurt your pretty face."

"I always thought you were funny," Trunks said dryly, following her onto the stage.

"Come on," Blackfire said, bouncing on her toes. "We both know I can beat you. You're a low level Tamaranean soldier at best."

Trunks straightened his posture, cracking his shoulders and knuckles. "What you saw in the last two rounds, even in training, was only a glimpse of what I can really do." Trunks performed a series of stances, ending with one that looked like his father's. Blackfire's smirk vanished. "See, I'm not just a super-powered engineer." He spiked his aura. "I'm a trained warrior well beyond my years."

Blackfire felt his power spike so much that it started to surprise her. "Your people value your strength," Trunks said. "My people values ours even more!"

Blackfire giggled. "How cute."

"Begin!" the announcer exclaimed.

Blackfire charged and threw a kick. Trunks ducked and fazed out, landing a punch into her stomach. Blackfire flipped back and looked forward, jumping over a barrage of yellow chi blasts. Trunks met her in the air and sparked a powerful clash, creating shock waves all around the arena. They both vanished, surprising the crowd with their speed "They're..." the announcer said, "Gone!"

"Nope!" Blackfire said, arching Trunks over her fist and driving him into the arena. When she hit the ground with her fist, she realized that she was only holding an image. She whipped around, taking a roundhouse kick to the cheek. She flipped back and landed in a fighting stance, gesturing at Trunks with her hand to continue. Trunks rushed at her and her aura spiked, raising the broken pieces of cement on the arena. She let out a battle cry and clashed with him again, throwing all of her might into him. She drove him to the other side of the arena, battering him all about his face and torso relentlessly. I warned you!" she shouted. She placed her hands on his chest. "Prepare to be blown away!" She let two large waves of purple chi wash over Trunks, making him disappear. Blackfire's eyes widened. "He dodged?!"

"Finish Buster!" Trunks barked behind her, his top completely burnt off. Blackfire turned around to take a large, crackling ball of yellow energy to her face. She fell to her feet, angrily growling at him. Trunks slowly descended to the stage. "I see you're ready to get serious." Trunks' aura spiked again.

"Don't make me hurt you," Blackfire said, whipping a purple ball of chi at him.

Trunks bounced it off his hand and sliced it in half with a beam of chi. "What you did there was pretty cheap," Trunks said. "If I didn't have training against point blank energy attacks, I could have been killed."

"That's only a fraction of what I can do," she scowled.

"You're getting sloppy," Trunks said. "You're regretting underestimating me and you're starting to think that your universal domination will end here."

"I will make you my slave!" Blackfire shouted, charging toward him again. Trunks caught her fists and took two eye beams to the forehead. She planted her fist into Trunks' cheek, knocking him to the ground. Trunks was back up before the announcer got to three.

Trunks chuckled, taking a barrage of blows to the face. Trunks hopped to the edge of the ring, fatigued, bloodied, bruised, and Blackfire wouldn't let up. "You are laughing at your own defeat? You are weak! Your powers keep you from being weaker!"

Trunks stood up again, laughing even louder this time. "You are so confident in your abilities and you have a right to be! In fact, you could defeat me right now!"

Blackfire charged toward him again with a malicious grin. "And I will!"

Trunks' aura bounced Blackfire away. "I have something to show you."

Gohan's eyes widened. "Step away from the glass," he warned.

"Why?" Superboy asked. "Is Trunks gonna squeal once his girlfriend finally beats him?"

"Every time anyone mocked Trunks will be eating their words," Gohan said.

Trunks' aura quickly changed from bluish-white to bright yellow. His hair started standing on all ends besides for a few strands in front of his face and started flickering between lavender and a very light blonde. His eyes turned from blue to emerald green. The arena started to shake. Blackfire stared at Trunks in awe and fear. "What- what exactly are you?!"

"My name is Trunks, Blackfire," Trunks said, "and I..." Trunks tilted his head back and screamed. "...am a Super Saiyan!" All the glass in the arena shattered and a powerful wind current surrounded the stage. Chunks of the arena swirled in Trunks' aura field.

"He can do that too?" Cyborg exclaimed. "No way!"

Trunks looked at Blackfire with a confident grin. "Are you ready?" Trunks asked. "Are you ready to see what I'm truly capable of?"

Blackfire let out another battle cry and charged him again, her emotions giving her far much more power than before. It wasn't enough, however, as Trunks easily parried her strikes. "You are getting careless, Blackfire."

"Shut up! I cannot lose! Not again!" Blackfire shouted, planting a chi ball slap into Trunks' cheek. Trunks whipped around and hit her in the temples, shaking her vision. Trunks sent a knee into her back and fazed out before she could retaliate. Trunks swept her off her feet with a kick and blew her away with two yellow waves of chi. She tumbled back and rolled to her feet, charging at him again. Trunks' expression showed indifference as he clashed with her, vanishing again. They reappeared seconds later with Trunks throwing a finishing punch into Blackfire's stomach. He followed with a wide chi blast, twice as wide as both of Blackfire's blasts. Blackfire fell out of bounds and Trunks landed in the center of the stage to a silent crowd. His aura died and his features changed back to their normal state.

"Trunks is the winner!" the announcer exclaimed, making the crowd go wild again. Trunks walked off the side of the stage and took the weakened, angry Tamaranean by the hand. He pulled her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Trunks asked, wiping some of the rubble off of her tattered clothing.

Blackfire glared into his eyes and grabbed the back of his head, angrily kissing him. She drew away quickly and pushed away from him, only to draw him in again moments later, this time lasting longer than before. They stood there for several minutes, Blackfire attacking Trunks with her mouth faster than the poor Saiyan from a future without girlfriends could react."Come with me," she growled. "I want you. Now."

Trunks was a tad frightened at her behavior. "What do you mean? I'm right-"

"I'm going to kill you," Blackfire said, nearly crushing his hand and dragging him out of the arena. She flew him to her hotel room and whipped him through the window. Trunks landed on his back on her bed.

"Blackfire!" Trunks said. "Stop this!"

"I love it when they squirm," Blackfire said, straddling him and leaning in again. "Try to hold out, okay? I know it's your first, but-"

"What in the hell are you blabbering on about?" Trunks said. "Get off of me!"

"You poor, poor thing," Blackfire said, locking lips with him once again. She traced his chest with her finger and slowly took off her top and bra, making Trunks nearly have a heart attack. She pressed her big chest up against his, making Trunks' pants feel extremely tight. "I think you're ready, big boy," she said sultrily, grabbing the sides of his pants.

Trunks had a feeling he wasn't going to be leaving this room any time soon.

Meanwhile, the announcer stood there, waiting for Trunks to come back. "It seems as if Trunks took the rest of the day off. No matter, because I have received word of our next fight!" The crowds fell silent. "Cyborg," the announcer said.

Cyborg looked at the seven remaining fighters: Gohan, Tien, Terra, Raven, Slade, Vegeta, even Beast Boy would give him a hard time. He hoped he would be fighting Beast Boy.

"You will be fighting Beast Boy!" the announcer exclaimed, followed by a roar from the audience.

The two Titans looked at each other and smirked. "What are you looking at?" Cyborg asked.

"I should be asking you that," Beast Boy answered.

"You ready to get thrashed, pipsqueak?" Cyborg said, pounding his fists together.

"Like I'm gonna get beaten by a giant talking I-Phone," Beast Boy said, following his best friend in laughter. They walked up to the center of the stage.

"Nature versus Technology," Cyborg said, raising his cannon arm.

"A battle for the ages," Beast Boy said, leaning into a Daimao stance.

"That I'm gonna win!" they both exclaimed, charging each other head on.