Vegeta:

Vegeta suppressed an annoyed sigh. How much longer was this going to take? The referee had introduced himself, then a penguin-like creature had sung a ridiculous anthem and nothing else had happened yet.

The friends and family they had brought with them had made themselves comfortable on the platform that hovered a little above the ring and resembled a patch of meadow. Kakarrot's mate had already unpacked lots of food and was feeding everyone around her. Where on earth did she hide all the supplies?

"Come on, Goku. You start." Beerus nodded towards the fighting ring.

"See you in a minute!"

Grinning broadly, he jumped off the platform directly into the fighting ring. Tensely they watched to see who from the Sixth Universe would enter the ring first.

"Is that ... a bear?" sceptically Vegeta looked down.

"Looks like an overgrown stuffed animal," Kera muttered.

"That's Botamo," Whis enlightened them. "Don't let his appearance fool you. His race is very strong."

Vegeta looked more closely at Kakarrot's opponent. Botamo towered over Kakarrot by quite a bit and scowled down at him. Everything about the bear appeared rounded. Its skin was yellow and shiny. It even seemed to reflect the light in some places. He wore red gloves, a red shirt and red boots.

"What is Kakarrot doing?" Vegeta faltered as his gaze fell back on the Saiyan who was calmly doing stretches in the ring.

"Warming up. He's sluggish after dinner." Kera grinned.

"He could have done that up here, couldn't he?" Vegeta shook his head at such carelessness.

Botamo seemed to have had enough of waiting now too, for he opened his mouth and to Vegeta's surprise, shot beams of energy from it. Kakarrot dodged the beams, getting closer and closer to Botamo until he could hit him with kicks and punches.

"Damn it," Kera cursed. "Botamo doesn't mind the hits. His body just cushions everything."

"Kakarrot, use your head for once! Even if it's hard," Vegeta shouted, hoping that Kakarrot would quickly come up with a strategy on how to defeat this huge pillow.

Kakarott looked up at them, thought for a moment, and then ran towards Botamo. Head first, he jumped off and rammed it into the centre of his opponent's body.

Vegeta held his hands in front of his face while Kera laughed out loud. "He always takes everything so literally."

No sooner had Kakarrot's feet touched the floor of the ring again than he bent down and grabbed Botamo's right leg. He pulled so hard that the bear lost his balance and landed crashing on the ground. Instead of letting go of the leg, Kakarrot dragged the slightly dazed Botamo to the edge of the ring and dropped him outside.

"Goku wins the match against Botamo," the ring judge announced. On the oval scoreboard, Botamo's image turned grey, indicating that he had been out.

"Okay, that wasn't so bad," said Kera, nodding happily at Kakarrot.

Champa was already standing by the referee, apparently complaining that Kakarrot had used unfair means, but the referee did not take up the complaint and reached for his microphone again.

"Goku goes into the second round for the Seventh Universe. His opponent from the Sixth Universe is named Frost."

Vegeta felt, more than heard, Kera suck in a sharp breath of air. Then she reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly. Now he too realised what had made her so uneasy.

"Frieza," she whispered, and her grip tightened even more.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at Kakarrot's opponent. Then his eyes wandered to the scoreboard. Yes, he looked confusingly like Frieza in his first form, but it wasn't him. His skin seemed more bluish and the places where Frieza was purple were blue on Frost.

Vegeta squeezed Kera's hand and took a deep breath. "It's not Frieza," he whispered to her, hoping she would relax again.

Piccolo stepped close behind Kera and put a hand on her shoulder. Her tension slowly fell from her.

"What are they talking about?" asked Vegeta Piccolo.

"Frost introduced himself and explained that he is a pacifist and usually avoids fighting," Piccolo replied.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I can't imagine that at all."

"We'll be surprised. It's not Frieza, that much is certain. We'll wait and see if his words are matched by his actions," Piccolo said, pulling Kera to him, who sank back gratefully.

Silently they watched the scene below them. Kakarrot and Frost shook hands and then jumped a few steps apart. Frost barely touched the ground before he dashed at Kakarrot. Kakarrot dodged and fired an energy ball in Frost's direction, which he dodged with a spin and countered at the same time.

"They're both really fast," Kera remarked. Her eyes jumped seemingly uncontrollably from one corner to the other, following the movements of the two opponents.

The back and forth between the two opponents ended abruptly when Kakarrot caught Frost in the stomach with his fist from below, sending him dangerously close to the edge of the ring.

"It didn't take much," Kera said, folding his arms.

"Kakarrot did that on purpose again, didn't he? He wants to tease everything out of that Frost."

Surprised, Kera stared at her twin brother. "Do you really think he would risk defeat just so he could fight longer?"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Vegeta. They're discussing right now that they're going to continue fighting at full power and Frost is supposed to transform into his final form."

Annoyed, Kera groaned. "When is this guy going to learn?"

Frost seemed to ponder Kakarrot's suggestion for a moment longer, then finally transformed and attacked immediately.

"That's not Frost's final form," Vegeta said, tapping his thumbnail against his front teeth.

Kera nodded and looked at Frost, whose head was now pulled long back. His shoulders were noticeably broader.

"Do you think he's reached one more level than Frieza?"

Confused, Vegeta looked to Kera, then to Piccolo, who faltered briefly, but then realisation shimmered across his features.

"Kera and Kakarrot did not see this form back on Namek. This form of Frost bears a resemblance to one of the transformations Frieza had taken."

"So this probably isn't his final form?"

Vegeta shook his head. "Probably not. Maybe he's using it to rattle Kakarrot so he can strike later."

"Well, Kakarrot isn't fighting that super fair right now either, is he?" Kera pointed downwards to the fighting ring. Kakarrot had gone down briefly after an energy beam had hit him at chest level and he had picked himself up again. "He's only now transformed into a Super Saiyan."

"Or maybe he guessed Frost was just playing him," Piccolo said.

Kakarrot charged at Frost, who clearly had surprise written all over his face at his opponent's transformation. Frost dodged, transforming again in the process.

"You were right!" exclaimed Kera in surprise as she looked at Frost's final transformation, which was very similar to Freezer's.

"Kakarrot doesn't seem too surprised either." Vegeta still wasn't sure sometimes, after all these years, if Kakarrot just wasn't the most intelligent person or if maybe he was even brilliant.

"He definitely has the advantage now," Kera commented.

Vegeta silently agreed with her. Frost was still able to dodge or at least block the first few attacks, but he was visibly becoming more long-suffering. Kakarrot pushed him further and further towards the edge of the platform.

Kera next to him bounced restlessly on her pads and couldn't wait for Frost to finally fall out of the ring. Frost staggered and threw his arms up and to the side in a desperate attempt to regain his balance. It looked as if he had forgotten how to move his arms during a fight.

Vegeta had not been able to tell if Kakarrots had dodged this strange blow, for Frost followed up with his other arm. Kakarrot ducked, stumbled and found it difficult to regain his footing.

Frost took the chance and moved away from the edge of the ring. His lips curled into a mean grin, reminding Vegeta very much of Frieza. I wonder if Frost was just playing the nice guy from Universe Six after all and was really as cunning as Frieza?

"Something's not right." Alarmed by Kakarrot's uncharacteristic behaviour, Kera had stepped to the edge of the platform.

Kakarrot was wavering. He seemed to have trouble finding his bearings, for he tried to turn to face Frost, but instead staggered ever closer to the edge of the ring. Frost did not hesitate any further and gave Kakarrot a shove that sent him falling backwards and finally out of the ring.

Kakarrot hit the ground with a thud. The referee's announcement of Frost's victory was lost in a yell. Vegeta saw out of the corner of his eye Chi-Chi jump down from the other platform and kneel beside her mate. Carefully, she lifted his head and spoke softly to him.

"What happened there?" Kera looked as if she had been struck.

"Good question. Kakarrot didn't look like he flew out of the ring willingly."

Piccolo shook his head. "Something's not right."