"Hello, everyone! And welcome to the World Martial Arts Tournament!" introduced the announcer to the thousands of people in attendance and to the millions watching at home. In response, the crowd cheered wildly as everyone was excited for the event to get started. "Now, just a quick reminder that registration will be open in approximately one hour for any fighter that is interested in participating. Once registered, everyone who signed up will be separated into fifteen different arenas where they will have to battle it out in an every-one for themselves battle royal where only the best fighter from each group will advance. The tournament will begin as soon as the brackets have been set up.

In the meantime, there are plenty of activities and food stands outside of the arena that anyone can try. I hope everyone has a good time and I will see you again real soon." The announcer waved to the crowd before stepping out of the arena. Even the cheers of people outside of the stadium could be heard inside. No doubt everyone was excited for the action that was to come.


Near the coast of the Island, Zangya arrived along with a few hundred more visitors. Entering the market, she walked around the area observing all the activities that were taking place. There was some curiosity as to how Earthlings could find such enjoyment in games such as: bobbing for apples, racing with a sack, or tossing a ring. She had never seen the appeal in them. Despite this, she was rather fascinated by the diversity of cultures that were present.

Admittedly, being surrounded by so many people made her feel a little uneasy. All it took was one person to recognize her from the last tournament and things may get somewhat complicated. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with that attention. Upon walking, her senses caught a whiff of donburi, one of her favorite dishes. She observed the line movement for the stand and mentally debated if she should eat something before the tournament or just wait after. Deciding to wait, she turned around to walk away before accidentally being bumped by a little girl with an opened cup of soda in her hand that spilled all over the Hera's attire.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" barked Zangya. She was completely livid by the large stain on her outfit.

The young girl's petite frame began to tremble as she immediately apologized for her clumsiness.

"Don't just stand there. Get me something to clean this!"

The girl quickly did as she was told and grabbed a pile of napkins from one of the stands. Seeing all the people around looking at her only increased her embarrassment which caused tears to swell up around her blue eyes. "Here you go." The older woman yanked the napkins from her hand and began drying her shirt. "Honest, I was just wal-"

"Shut up," ordered Zangya.

"What's going on here?" asked another girl with black pigtails and blue eyes. A ping of concern showed in her expression when realizing the frightened look on her best friend's face. "Erasa, what happened?"

"I… I accidentally spilled some soda on her," responded the blonde-haired girl. "I already apologized and everything, but she's still mad at me."

Videl turned to Zangya who was still focused on cleaning up the stain. "What's your problem?" she questioned. "It's just a stain."

The Hera stopped what she was doing and glared at her. "Just who do you think you are…? This is none of your business child."

The black-haired girl matched her look and stepped in front of Erasa. "My name is Videl, and it is my business because Erasa is my best friend and anything that affects her, affects me. So, if I were you, I would take the apology and leave."

Zangya could not believe that she was being confronted by a little girl. "Listen brat, if it wasn't because I want to enter this tournament, I wouldn't have any problem smacking you upside the head. Now take that crybaby of a girl that you call friend and scram."

"I'm not afraid of people like you," countered Videl. "I am more than capable of holding my own. You should know that I am the daughter of Earth's savior, Hercule."

The Hera took a moment to process what she said. "Hercule…? The one who defeated Cell?"

Videl's confidence grew exponentially after seeing the surprised look on the older woman's face; but quickly changed when she saw a smirk. "What's so funny?" she questioned with a look of anger.

"I pity you," responded Zangya. "Having that weakling for a father."

Videl's blood began to boil after hearing her accusation. "How dare you speak such a lie?"

Before Zangya could respond, the speakers began to sound throughout the whole island. "Attention fighters, registrations are now open. Please come to the front desk and sign up for the tournament. I repeat, please come to the front desk to register for the tournament. Thank you."

"Well," began the Hera. "I would love to stay and continue this little thing we have going on right now; but lucky for you, I have better things to do right now." Not bothering to wait for a response, she walked away from the child.

"Hey! Get back here. I'm not done with you!" shouted the thirteen-year-old.

"Let her go," pleaded Erasa as she grabbed her best friend's arm.

Videl was completely frustrated with what the woman said. How much she would have like to wipe that smirk she had. "My dad will teach her."


As the Hera arrived, she sighed at the long line of people who were waiting to sign up for the tournament. She eventually made her way to the end of the line and waited. A short time later, a semi-tall, very lean, and muscular ginger-haired man got in line behind the woman.

For a few minutes, all was calm for Zangya. The line barely moved but at least she was unbothered. But then, she felt a finger gazing at the lower end of her hair. "10..9…8…"

The man furrowed his brow as he pulled back his arm. "Why the countdown?"

"Was giving you to the count of one before taking you out of this tournament before it even began."

"Is that so…?" asked the fighter with an amused expression. "Were you going to skip your way to the administrators and ask them to disqualify me?"

"I don't have the patience for this, just leave me alone."

"Oh, come on babe, is that any way to treat an admirer? Why don't you do yourself a favor and go sit with the rest of the crowd and cheer me on? Perhaps later, I will use the prize money to buy you some dinner."

"Pretty confident, aren't you?" asked Zangya as she finally turned around to face him. "Why don't you do yourself a favor and shut up before I break every bone in your body."

"Ouch," mocked the fighter as he made a gesture by placing both his hands on his chest. "Maybe after I win, you will change your mind."

Not interested in continuing this sad excuse of a conversation, the Hera turned back around continued to wait.


Around an hour later, Zangya was at the center of the line. Frustration had become a very real thing for her. The waiting game had already taken a strong toll on her legs. Never had she had to wait for something this long... Well, besides the imprisonment on King Kai's planet. All of a sudden, most of the fighters turned around and started cheering. Zangya too turned to where they were looking at and immediately saw what the whole commotion was about.

"Please make way for the champ," ordered one of the four bodyguards.

The fighter in front of the line immediately stepped back so Hercule could cut in front of them. Upon that, a few people within the line started groaning, but overall, everyone was still cheering. At this point, the Hera was highly itching to fight him later.

As soon as he had finally registered, he turned around and struck a cocky pose with the championship belt in hand. "Best of luck to each and every one of you. I hope there is someone here that can give me at least one decent fight." Upon receiving more cheers from the group, he turned to his guards who quickly lead him away from the area. Another hour went by before Zangya was finally at the front of the line.

"Good luck with your participation, since this is your first time entering here are a few details you should know. One, Preliminaries will begin in roughly two hours. Make sure to report here on time or you will be disqualified. Two, if you are one of the fifteen that manage to advance to the tournament brackets then you will be taken to a photo shoot and media room. I'm sure you don't need me to explain what you will be doing there. And lastly, keep the fights honorable. Any questions?"

"Are the photoshoot and media necessary?" asked Zangya calmly.

"Well, you have to at least get your photo taken since it's needed for the big screens around the island. But you can turn down the interviews if you like. Most rookies do them since it gives them an opportunity to gain a fanbase. I mean who doesn't love to be adored by other people?"

"Got it, That's all." Zangya walked away and headed for the exit. All this waiting only increased her craving for that 'donburi' from the food stand earlier.


Two hours later, all the registered fighters had gathered around the waiting area as they were ready for further instructions. Most everyone was anxious to get up in one of the many arenas nearby and start throwing hands.

"Welcome everyone," greeted one of the referees. "All right, so as you know, the preliminaries are always changed in every edition. For those who don't know yet, this year we are doing a rumble. We are separating all of you into fifteen groups to face off in a battle royal where the goal is to ring out everyone in the arena and be the last one standing. As you all know, there are sixteen spots in the brackets, but only fifteen groups, that is because the current champion, Hercule automatically qualifies for the televised rounds. Best of luck to everyone and if there aren't any questions then please go ahead and get in line for your number.

Everyone including Zangya did as they were told and eventually received her number. The Hera was given the number eight. She threw away the paper and stepped into her assigned arena. She studied all the fighters as they joined. Not even one of them looked to be a threat to her plans.


Hercule sat next to a few of the higher-ups. The matches were about to begin and he was rather excited to see if there would be any surprises. He recognized many of the faces as they had already entered one of the previous editions. To be honest, He wasn't worried about losing his title this year at all. His biggest threat would probably have to be Draco. A powerhouse fighter who is known for bullying his opponents into submission. A foe he had already beaten in the semi-finals four years ago.


There was a referee outside of each ring. "Is everyone ready…? Then begin. Without a moment to waste, fighters began grabbing each other in an attempt to knock them out of the arena. It wasn't long before one-by-one, fighters started to get thrown out and eliminated.

At first, Zangya was at the edge just isolated from everyone. Pretty soon, one fighter noticed her and charged. The Hera simply stepped aside and allowed the momentum of the fighter to cause him to fall outside the arena. "I should probably take a while before winning this," she thought to herself. "Would it be believable if I won in five minutes… Perhaps I should take a few punches… Or I could-"

She was unable to finish her thought process when she felt a punch make contact with her jaw. For a moment, she just stared at the fighter as if shocked that he hit her. Even more surprised was the fighter who couldn't believe she hadn't even flinched.

Within seconds, her confusion shifted to anger, and she grabbed the fighter and tossed him to the outside. "Screw this." She started eliminating her opponents within seconds of each other and soon, she was the last one standing.

"And we have our second entrant into the next round," announced the referee for Arena Eight.


Hercule, along with the higher-up turned to the ring in surprise. "No one had ever finished a preliminary match in under five minutes. At first, he just stared at her in amazement. But soon, he felt a sense of familiarity toward her. "Where have I seen her before?" he thought to himself.

Suddenly, as if a light bulb just flickered on in his head, the memories of the Intergalactic Space Tournament came to mind. "I…I'ts her…!" he mentally screamed. How could he ever forget the faces of those space pirates that attacked them? "It can't be…" He was unable to believe what his eyes were looking at. Much to his unfortunate luck, the Hera turned to him while stepping out of the arena and for a moment, their eyes met.

Zangya smirked when noticing that all too familiar look of fear that she used to instill. No doubt the recognition was mutual.

Hercule had no idea what he was going to do. Sweat was beginning to form in his forehead attracting the attention of the suits.

"Are you ok, Mr. Hercule?" asked one of them.

"Of course, I am," fired the champion quickly. "I just gotta… go to the bathroom." He stood up and nearly ran to the restrooms. "Oh man…" he said as he locked the door. Turning to the mirror, he saw a man that was in danger of seeing his entire charade go up in flames. "What am I going to do now…?"