Hmm. i seem to be shifting around POVs a bit more than average. The tournament setting sets up too many variables lol. Also Announcer Guy is a really convenient POV to use. We'll get back to normal soon, promise
also a shorter chapter oops, didn't realize it was this short sorry
arkon3321: lol, technically yeah. Their mom tried to sell Goten and Trunks out when Babidi was looking for them
OnTheTidesOfEvermore: I know! Such a nice guy!
magamari (Guest): that would certainly be the easiest solution lol.
thewittywhy: thanks ^.^ i am also still very amused by the socks. I would not be surprised if i manage to make more of those jokes in the future, despite him no longer wearing the socks (unlike in canon where he absolutely was wearing the socks at this point)
(Guest): 80 is really impressive when you're considering the average for humans is 2-5
Qinlongfei: i dont think i made him that much worse than in canon, he was pretty bratty there too lol. Of course he could never live up standard Future Trunks left by merit of not having the worst childhood. though having an extra source of validation orobably didnt help, I like to think he learned his lesson with Vegeta lol
Probably also helps that Bulma's there to keep them align
JCINNABAR: no worries lol, I hope you have a great year too!
Videl
Videl had no words for what she just witnessed.
She knew. She knew, that these guys were leagues above her and her dad, but those little kids?
Gohan didn't look at all surprised so this was apparently just, normal. And Gohan's dad and that guy who destroyed the punching machine were bantering over which of their kids would win, and then by the end, Gohan had joined, arguing with the guy that his kid had cheated.
And by cheated, she means also turning their hair blond.
Gohan said it was genetic so it kinda makes sense that Goten could, but what about that other kid? She didn't think they were related.
She still didn't really know what the blond thing was, she was pretty sure it made them stronger though.
Every single thing that happened with this group seemed to raise the bar higher and higher in strength.
She knew she was now leagues stronger than she ever would have been if she'd never begun learning from Gohan, but the more she learned the more she realized how out of her depth she was here.
And the thing she really couldn't get over, was just how normal it was for them. They just talked as if all of it was completely expected. The short guy even took back his initial "do your best" for a "do ok" because he didn't want them to hurt any other kids. None of them even blinked at the literal toddler in the ring.
Fine then. She probably can't beat anyone in this group if she were to face up against them, so she'd just have to prove herself against anyone else! It doesn't matter who, she was going to prove that she deserved her place!
…
Pigero
Pigero was glad he'd managed to get the day off. Chico and Rom were excited and it'd be nice to see Goh fighting and not have to worry about her getting hurt.
Still, it didn't matter how many times he told himself he was used to it, seeing kids fight in a way that'd kill most adults would always be, unnerving, to him.
But they seemed fine with it, so it was probably ok.
It's not like he could do anything about it anyway. He'd accepted that years ago with Goh, and those kids seemed to have it better than she did.
That being said, Goh's newer friends seemed even more out of the loop than they were, still completely shocked by the abilities of the children.
Oh well. They'd get used to it eventually. Or maybe they wouldn't and would drift away with time. That wasn't for him to decide.
…
Goten
Goten sat by a wall next to Trunks. They didn't really want to go up to their parents just yet since they'd probably get in trouble for using Ki and being Super Sayains when they weren't supposed to.
"Don't forget Trunks. You said you'd give me three of your toys since you cheated to win."
"I did. But for now, we have more important things to be worried about."
"Huh? Like what?"
"Think about it Goten. Wouldn't it be cool to fight in the big championship?"
"Well yeah. But I thought we weren't allowed to do that."
"I've got the perfect plan for that."
"Really?" Goten stood to begin to follow after Trunks, "wait, shouldn't we get Clover?" He asked.
"No way, she'd probably tell on us if she's still upset that I cheated or whatever.
"-But you did cheat-"
"-Besides, there's no way we'd be able to go up to get her without our parents noticing. Also, my plan would only work for two people anyway."
…Goten guessed that made sense. He couldn't think of any way to get her without alerting their parents anyway.
…
Announcer Guy
He oversaw the finishing preparations as the Tenkaichi Budokai was set to begin.
The Junior's competition was such a hit! He could hardly imagine what the Adult's division was going to bring.
He looked around at those who made it through the qualifiers. A nice setup they seemed to have, a good variety.
He told himself he wasn't being biased as he had coincidentally ended up closest to Krillin to speak.
"Oh, hey man," the shorter man greeted him as he noticed.
"Are you ready for the tournament?" He asked, "think you're going to do well?"
"Oh yeah sure," he rubbed his hand through his hair. Which was still odd to see, "I'll do great…as long as I don't go up against Goku…or Piccolo, or my wife or brother-in-law, or Go- sorry, Anonymous. And if it's Vegeta, I can tell you right now I forfeit."
The slip in the Superhero's name hardly registered to him. What he found more interesting was that he referred to the King Piccolo look alike as Piccolo. And the fact that he said it without realizing it, he supposed the lot of them must be fairly close. Not that it was much of his business, of course, it was just interesting.
He didn't mention it in any case, "not worried about getting matched with Mr. Satan then?" He asked.
"Oh I could only dream of getting that lucky."
He laughed. It was nice to see how despite having changed somewhat over the years, he still very much seemed the same. Though he wasn't quite sure if Krillin was more or less confident in his abilities.
Soon enough he was called off to set up the order lots. Once that was up he called all the contestants up to the stage.
Contestants were then called up by the order that they were enlisted. One by one contestants pulled their lots until it put, in order of lot numbers, Shin at 4, Spopovich at 6, Kibito at 7, Killa at 14, Jewel at 15, and Yamu at 16.
Mighty Mask walked up, strangely awkwardly, next. He pulled slot number 13.
Next was Krillin. He reached in and grabbed the number 1 slot.
"Hey, maybe this means I'll get lucky," he laughed.
Son Goku was next, pulling the eight. He glanced over at his opponent, the tallest of the lot with pale red skin.
He greeted his next opponent who nodded impassively.
The angry man came up next, Vegeta, he was listed as. He pulled the number eight slot.
Majunior came and pulled the number three spot.
The young woman, Miss 18, stepped up and pulled the ten.
The young man, 17, stepped up and pulled his number next. He smirked, "well then, I get to beat up my brother-in-law. How fun."
He showed off his number of 2.
"Aw man…" Krillin lamented.
Anonymous stepped up next and pulled their number, holding up the number so that only they could see it.
And then they cackled.
They turned to show off the number to the rest of the contestants.
"Oh, no…" Krillin seemed nervous. Even Majunior looked concerned.
He ducked around to read the number. Seven.
"Square up, Prince of Nothing," they declared, grinning wide enough that he could see their sharper than average canines.
He might have been concerned if rivalries weren't so common in these tournaments. The only thing particularly out of the usual was the age difference.
He wrote the name, or rather lack thereof, in the slot.
"Say goodbye to your ring now," Krillin warned.
To be honest, he couldn't tell if he should be worried or excited by that warning.
He cleared his throat.
Miss Videl pulled her number, five.
Which left Mr. Satan for number nine.
Quickly he reviewed the listings for them and the crowd.
Krillin vs 17.
Majunior vs Shin.
Videl vs Spopovich.
Son Goku vs Kibito.
Mr Satan vs 18.
Anonymous vs Vegeta.
Mighty Mask vs Killa
And Jewel vs Yamu.
This was going to be quite the tournament. He could feel it.
…
Seventeen.
Seventeen glanced over the crowd as the rounds began. What to do, what to do?
He liked his brother-in-law well enough, his sister could have certainly done worse. But it didn't take much of a genius to know this match wasn't exactly fair.
Oh well. Sucks for him.
His gaze roamed over the crowd. Eventually, it landed on his niece. The little girl was sitting on Sixteen's lap, he was too far to tell for certain, but he'd be willing to bet she was cheering for her father.
He sighed.
"Hey, could you at least pretend to take this seriously?" Krillin asked.
He refocused his gaze, "sure, I can pretend," he said as his hands fell to his sides.
Krillin was still taking the fight seriously despite the obvious odds, which he could respect. So, if he didn't immediately go all out that was the reason.
Besides, it'd be no fun if he just won right away.
He was still planning on winning in the end anyway. He was well overdue for that rematch with Piccolo.
But, just because he was going to win that didn't necessarily mean he had to make his brother look bad.
Besides, even he could admit at Krillin was more, technically skilled, than he was. He was just a lot stronger. If they had fought on an even level, Krillin would probably have won.
Not that he'd ever admit that out loud of course.
That wasn't the case though, so he rather effortlessly clocked and dodged the various blows, sending his own, but not with enough strength that would cause too much issue right away.
It was kinda fun. Obviously not in the way it would have been if he was fighting someone on an even level, but still.
He probably didn't spend as much time around his sister and brother-in-law anyway. He saw Sixteen more often because the big guy loved to visit his work.
It's not like he could have any serious fights here anyway. Not without messing up the ring.
He leapt away, those kids had already broke the barrier of using energy, so he leapt further than what would have been considered normal.
He landed and looked forward again to plan his next-
Krillin blinked and lowered his guard.
What?
Seventeen glanced down. He had landed on the wall outside of the ring.
"Well. Shit."
He should have been more upset than he was really. Sure he was a bit annoyed that he lost because he forgot about some arbitrary rule, but his niece looked happy.
Also his brother-in-law, but whatever.
So, he was only mildly miffed as he went back to the side.
"What was that? Did you throw the fight?" Eighteen asked with clear amusement in her voice.
Still, what a convenient out he'd been given, "ah, yes. Threw the fight. That's what I did."
"Holy shit you actually lost."
"No. It's not my fault there are so many meaningless rules to keep track of."
"Don't step out of the ring seems pretty simple to me."
Seventeen huffed. He didn't have a defense. But it was still a stupid rule.
Still, Krillin greeted him again once he too returned to the waiting room.
Apparently, he noticed his annoyance, "hey man, this is your first tournament right? Makes sense you wouldn't be thinking about the ring when you're used to fighting in wider spaces."
And that was probably the most annoying part actually. That it was fundamentally impossible to actually be angry at the shorter man.
So instead he sighed, "whatever man. It's just some dumb competition."
He strolled out of the room. Maybe he'd grab a snack before heading up to see Sixteen and his niece.
…
Clover
Clover frowned.
Trunks and Goten should have gotten back by now. Their moms were starting to notice.
She'd bet they were up to something. That'd just figure after the stunt he pulled during the tournament.
She volunteered to look for them.