Chapter 13
The next morning everyone still hadn't properly processed the events of the previous day. The effect that the death of Gohan had on Vegeta and Goku was massive and the two saiyans had been very anti-social towards everyone.
This wasn't an entirely uncommon thing for Vegeta, but Goku was almost never quiet, and his lack of energy and enthusiasm was quite troubling for everyone. No one had ever seen Goku look so lifeless. It was almost like he had become another person.
Vegeta and Goku had spent the entire night together grieving the loss of their adoptive grandfather. It was a new feeling for Vegeta and honestly, one that he never wanted to feel again if he could help it. When morning came, they both looked like emotionless hollow shells of their former selves. The change in atmosphere was instantly noticed by everyone.
No amount of teasing from Turles and Krillin could get Goku to show his normally bubbly personality and bright smile, and not even the combined effort of Bulma and Raditz was not enough to break Vegeta out of his sour mood. They were simply mobile corpses now.
No one knew quite what to do but everyone was growing restless, and it was Raditz that snapped at the two after they refused to participate in their lunchtime discussion. The tournament resumed at 12:30 pm and he'd like to snap them out of their funk before the fighting started so that he could enjoy the matches without the gloom brothers bringing everyone down. He stood up and took a deep breath while preparing himself if they attacked him.
"Alright you two, I've had enough! Listen to me!" The long haired saiyan commanded causing Vegeta and Goku to look up at him with blank expressions.
Everyone stopped eating and talking before looking at the scene before them. They saw Raditz look at the two with an angry face. They were grateful that Raditz had the guts to say what's been on their mind, however, they also knew that Vegeta and Goku were in a vulnerable state of mind. They all tensed as Raditz began to scold the two saiyans.
"Vegeta, you are a Saiyan prince and have dealt with death before in your life. You've never grieved this much for the loss of a life, let alone a temporary loss of life if what Bulma said about these dragon balls are true. Get a grip and focus on the present. Grieving about the loss doesn't help anything" he said to his closest friend before turning his attention to his youngest brother.
"Kakarot, I understand that this is your first experience with the loss of a loved one, but you have to learn how to embrace the fact that we are all mortal and eventually we all die. With the upcoming conflict with Frieza it is very possible that there will be casualties and we can't afford you to shut down during battle" Raditz said unknowingly creating a tense atmosphere.
Every warrior in the room froze as they were reminded that they could all be killed in the war with Frieza. Being reminded of their mortality was chilling, but what Raditz said was true. They couldn't afford to be distracted by anything during the battle, so they had to be prepared for the death of friends and family at any moment.
Vegeta and Goku looked at Raditz, then to each other, then back to Raditz and nodded. Goku's bright smile returned though it didn't quite reach his eyes and Vegeta mustered up a small genuine smile. It wasn't nice or sensitive, but Saiyans were never a people known for those qualities.
"Thanks for bringing us back to reality Raditz. One positive thing about your time with Frieza is that you can think clearly regardless of the situation you're in" Vegeta said taking a deep breath, trying to clear his mind.
"Yeah, thanks for making me feel better Ditz" Goku said teasing Raditz with the nickname he and Turles had come up with for their brother.
Raditz rolled his eyes and nodded at the two before continuing to eat. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw the other two saiyans were now back to being social with the group. Well, Goku was anyway, Vegeta was locked in a conversation with Bulma but he could see the amusement in Vegeta's eyes showing that he was more or less back to normal.
He smirked to himself before feeling someone nudge his arm. He looked over to see Launch in her blue haired form smiling brightly at him.
"You did a good job with those two. Thank you for doing what everyone else was too afraid to do" she started before she sneezed mid-sentence.
"And it was hot seeing you be all authoritative and getting those two in line" the blond-haired Launch said winking. Watching Raditz put his foot down always turned her on, but that was something that she would address later.
Raditz blushed lightly and turned his head away from the bipolar girl so that she couldn't see his blush. She was still an enigma to him at times, but he couldn't deny that he enjoyed her praise.
Later in the day the tournament was about to start again. The altercation with Tao was all but forgotten as the lone tournament official was credited with ending the scene. They commenced with the tournament as the 8 winners of the matches all assembled in front of a blond-haired man.
"Okay so you 8 talented fighters have earned the right to participate in the World Martial Arts tournament. Here we have a box with numbers in them, each of you are to walk up here and select a number so we can determine who fights who in the first round" he said.
Tien looked at Chiaotzu and telepathically communicated with his longtime friend.
"Chiaotzu, I want you to make sure I fight Yamcha in the first round. That way we're both fresh so we can determine who the strongest human in the group is. Put Jackie Chun in the next match so that if he wins, I can face him in the semi-final round. Also make it so I don't face Turles until the championships, so that I have a day to heal in a healing chamber back at Capsule Corp." Tien mentally spoke to Chiaotzu.
Chiaotzu nodded and lifted his finger when it was Yamcha's turn to pick his number.
"I got #3" the ex-bandit said showing the announcer his number, and so the whole drawing continued as Chiaotzu changed people's numbers per Tien's request. Once everyone had finished drawing cards the announcer stepped center stage to announce the matches.
"Okay in Match #1 we have Nam vs. Jackie Chun."
Nam, the mysterious man nodded and looked toward Jackie Chun who was too busy ogling the only female competitor to notice the man's serious stare.
"In Match #2 we have Yamcha vs. Tien"
Both males looked at each other and smirked. This was the match they'd both been waiting for. It was the perfect time for one of them to establish dominance and find who the strongest human really was. It was also a great opportunity for them to show the Saiyans that they weren't pushovers.
"The third match will be Krillin vs. Chiaotzu."
The two youngest participants of the tournament looked at each other and nodded in anticipation. They didn't really want to hurt each other, but they were excited to show what they were made of.
"In the fourth and final match Turles will face Ran fan"
Turles smirked at the purple haired woman who smiled back a winked causing Turles' smirk to disappear and a blush to adorn his face much to the amusement of his friends.
"Alright the matches will now commence, so will Jackie Chun and Nam please report to the arena" The blond haired announcer said walking out to the stage ready to start the show.
Vegeta and the others were in the front row of the arena and were now waiting patiently for the matches to begin. They were equipped with scouters to measure the overall battle power of the fighters. Vegeta didn't think anyone was going to be worth recruiting but he still wanted to be sure.
They all looked up to see a blond-haired man with sunglasses start to announce the tournament. The first fight was to be between Jackie Chun and Nam. When the fighters walked out Bulma clicked her scouter to see the power levels of Jackie Chun and Nam. Nam's power was semi-impressive at 104 but Jackie Chun's was even higher at 650.
Bulma knew that Jackie Chun was Master Roshi in disguise and was fully expecting him to win this match. However, she wouldn't be mad if this Nam guy was able to give the old pervert a few bumps and bruises along the way.
As the match began, Nam fiercely attacked him with everything he had. He was sending punch after punch and kick after kick only to be blocked or dodged by Jackie Chun every time. After about 2 minutes of the same thing, Nam was starting to grow restless and unleashed his ultimate attack.
"I'm sorry that I have to do this to you Jackie, but I need to win this prize money for my village, for my family. I can't afford to return empty handed as we need it, my people are suffering" Nam said as he jumped high into the air.
Jackie strained his eyes to try to see Nam. 'Man, I really would be nice if I had my sunglasses right now' He thought but soon he was snapped out of musings as he saw Nam rocketing down towards him with his arms crossed. Thinking quickly, he moved a few steps from where Nam was going to land and threw a punch that caught Nam in the stomach sending the main sailing out of bounds onto the grass.
"And the winner is… JACKIE CHUN" the announcer said causing the arena to erupt in cheers.
Nam just got up with a defeated expression, but before he could leave the arena, he heard the voice of the man that just doomed his village.
"Hey, can you hold on for a second young man?" Jackie Chun asked.
Seeing that he didn't really have anywhere to go as he still needed to find a way to bring food and water back to his family he nodded and waited for what the man had to say, but the man wasn't even heading towards him. He was walking towards a blue haired girl with a green device covering her left eye.
"Bulma, do you have any storage capsules?" The old man asked.
"Yeah, I have 4 of them on me, why do you ask?" Bulma replied.
"I'd like to take all 4 of those capsules and about 10,000 zeni to give to my opponent. That young man's village is suffering from thirst and starvation. He was going to use the prize money to get food and water for his people and I feel bad that he has to go back empty handed, so I think that helping him is the right thing to do" 'Jackie' said smiling.
Bulma looked at Nam whose eyes had gone wide as saucers at Jackie's words. She didn't know the guy, but she guessed that she did feel a little bad about the situation that he was in. As the heiress of the richest company on the planet; she could afford to give a little bit of money to people that needed it more than her.
"Yeah, okay that's fine" Bulma said shrugging casually taking out 10,000 zeni in a way that only a heiress could along with her 4 storage capsules and giving them to Jackie.
He thanked her and turned to the bugged eyed Nam and handed him the zeni and capsules with no hesitation.
"With this you should be able to return to your village with plenty of food and water." Jackie said smiling. Nam was shocked, but slowly he reached his hands out towards the man he perceived as the savior of his people.
Nam took the items with tears in his eyes as he smiled and thanked Jackie and Bulma for their kindness. He vowed to one day return the favor before turning away and leaving tournament grounds, eager to gather the free water and return to his Village.
After this, the announcer entered the ring again to announce the next fight.
"In the second fight of the first welcome please welcome Yamcha and Tien!" The announcer said, earning another cheer from the crowd.
Vegeta, Raditz, and Goku all smirked and Tarble smiled a little. This was one of the battles that they'd be waiting for. It was time for them to see who the strongest human amongst them was.
"Okay let's place our bets now who do you expect to win" Bulma said to the smirking Saiyans.
Vegeta and Raditz went for Tien while Goku and Tarble voted for Yamcha. Raditz and Vegeta felt betrayed that Tarble had sided with Goku, but the other Saiyan simply shrugged saying that he didn't want Goku to be outnumbered. Besides, he loved going for the underdog.
Bulma and Launch took Tien's side as well and Oolong and Puar were Yamcha supporters. Soon there were two groups of 4 people that separated themselves from one another to show their support to their respective fighters.
Tien and Yamcha didn't notice any of this however, as they locked eyes in the center of the ring. Neither one looked away as their ki swirled around the arena. The audience was on the edge of their seats as the two fighters lowered into their fighting stances. Soon they heard the announcer yell to start the match.
As soon as they heard the gong, they both sprang into action. The fight was a blur to most of the crowd, but the fighters in their group were watching every move. Tien had the edge in technique and the slight edge in power while Yamcha was more aggressive and more creative with his fighting style. During their first exchange of blows, punches and kicks were thrown in perfect sync with neither one being able to break through the other's defenses.
Then they sprang apart. After the first bout of fighting had ceased both fighters stood in the center of the ring with twin looks of determination adorning their faces. They were both a little winded, but it was clear to everyone watching that they were just getting warmed up.
Vegeta felt a vain growing on his forehead as he witnessed the two stare each other down. He was confused as to why they weren't taking this fight seriously. It was angering him as he was anxious to see the true strength of Humanity. As much as he didn't want to admit it, their growth would be instrumental in the battle against Frieza. He was losing his temper waiting for them.
"When will you two cease playing around and fight each other for real? You're wasting everyone's time with this pathetic display sizing each other up. Hurry up and show me your full power" Vegeta yelled irritably causing Goku, Raditz, and Turles to laugh while Bulma, Krillin and Tarble just shook their heads.
The eldest prince was not a patient man, and this low-level fighting was getting on his nerves. If they didn't want to fight seriously, then he'd be more than happy to teach them both a lesson.
The other spectators were surprised that the man had made such a claim, but even though they didn't know why the man was so angry, but they were looking towards the two fighters expectantly knowing that they were in for a show.
Tien just shook his head and turned to Yamcha.
"Well, you heard the prince. Let's get serious" Tien said as he vanished from sight surprising Yamcha.
Yamcha barely had time to dodge an elbow aimed at his sternum as Tien reappeared a second later. Yamcha could tell that his friend was now taking the fight seriously so he would honor him by doing the same. This was the part of the battle that he'd been waiting for.
Yamcha kicked Tien in the back of the head sending the triclops to the ground for moment before he got back up and punched Yamcha right in the nose in one fluid motion.
The two exchanged blows more intensely than before and the crowd was starting to understand what Vegeta had said. It was as if they could feel the intensity of each blow as they landed. The wind was starting to pick up speed and flashes of aura could be seen around the two fighters throughout the exchange.
"Wolf Fang…" Yamcha spoke while cupping his hands. Being familiar with the technique, Tien prepared himself to counterattack but he was caught off guard as a blue light formed in Yamcha's cupped hands.
"…KAMEHAMEHA!" Yamcha shouted as a bright blue light took the form of a wolf and charged towards Tien who wasn't fully prepared to block the foreign attack. The glowing blue wolf launched full speed at the triclops displaying the full fruits of Yamcha's creative mind.
There was a crash, and a thick cloud of smoke covered the fighters. Tien had taken a good bit of damage from the attack, and he knew he couldn't let himself get hit with another attack of that magnitude. Seeing no other choice than an all-out frontal attack, Tien used his multi form technique creating 4 copies of himself.
Two of his copies then grew 2 more arms and began to charge his Tri-beam attack. The other two Tien's were cupping their hands both filling with purple energy but taking different shapes between them.
As the smoke cleared, Yamcha noticed that he was surrounded by 4 Tien's and each one had a devastating attack charged up ready to be launched at him. With no time to do anything else, Yamcha charged up all his energy and sent a sphere of ki into the sky as a last-ditch effort.
Everyone was shocked at the appearance of 4 Tien's, but they were too locked in on the match to question it. Even the announcer had gone quiet as he didn't know any words that could accurately describe what they were witnessing.
Tien saw Yamcha send energy in the air, but he didn't pay it any mind as he fired his attacks at Yamcha capitalizing on his advantage.
"TRI-BEAM HA!" Two of them said.
"GALICK GUN FIRE!" "DOUBLE SUNDAY" the other two shouted watching as the 3 attacks all merged and struck Yamcha.
The smoke cleared to reveal Yamcha's slightly charred form in a huge hole in the ground. He was battered and his clothes were all burnt but he was still standing albeit swaying back and forth and his finger was outstretched slightly as if to point at something behind Tien.
Assured of his victory, Tien charged Yamcha, but when he was merely inches away from the ex-bandit, he heard in an extremely small voice the words 'Spirit Ball'. He then saw Yamcha's weak smirk as fingers pointed down. Ignoring this, Tien struck Yamcha in the face rendering him unconscious.
Tien barely had time to confirm his win, however, as he soon felt the burning pressure of raw energy striking his back. Yamcha's spirit ball attack had struck the unprepared Tien and with no defenses to help shield the attack, Tien was soon unconscious due to the pain he felt.
Everyone in the arena stood there in shock at the events that had just transpired. Even Vegeta and Goku were speechless at this climatic conclusion to this blockbuster fight. Jackie Chun even admitted to himself that both men were much stronger than he was at the moment.
Then after 3 minutes of silence the announcer was knocked out of his dazed state.
"Wow! What a match we have here folks and both contestants are down. The countdown begins. 1, 2," the announcer said beginning his count.
Neither Yamcha nor Tien moved an inch as the announcer counted to 10. They were completely unconscious and drained of their energy. They truly gave it everything they had.
"Because of both fighters' inability to continue to match, the rule is that both have been eliminated" the announcer said solemnly, and everyone voiced their disagreement with the rule as they thought that both fighters deserved to move on in the tournament.
Vegeta and the gang entered the ring to check on their friends. No one stopped them as their faces were well remembered by most of the crowd after what happened the previous day.
Vegeta and Raditz picked up the two unconscious teens and started their flight to West City. Bulma had already called ahead to tell her father to prepare 2 healing tanks for Yamcha and Tien.
Their fight was incredible and both older Saiyans were highly impressed by the two unconscious warriors' display of power and technique. They were much more innovative than they gave them credit for. Tien's multiform ability was invaluable, but it was risky as it splits the user's abilities between the number of copies they make. The spirit ball and wolf fang Kamehameha were also nice, powerful techniques that would benefit them on the battlefield. Who knew what techniques Yamcha's ingenuity could lead him to in the future.
Back at the tournament, the stage was shattered after the explosive battle between Yamcha and Tien. Many tiles were destroyed and there was a large hole right in the center of the right where Tien's attacks collided.
Knowing that it would take at least a day to fix all the damage the tournament officials decided to postpone the rest of the first round until the ring was fixed. Krillin, Chiaotzu and Turles were disappointed, but they understood why it was necessary to postpone their matches.
With the matches being over for the day the remaining members, including Master Roshi who had 'mysteriously' reappeared, all decided to fly to West City to check on the progress of Yamcha and Tien. With the healing chamber Bulma devised, it was well known that the two warriors would make a speedy recovery, they just wanted to be there for support.
A few hours later everyone heard a beeping sound that alerted them of Yamcha and Tien's time in the healing chamber being complete.
Everyone gave them a few minutes to get dressed before flooding into the room. Tien and Yamcha had basically no time to prepare as they were bombarded with praises and questions.
"That was so cool! How did you make copies of yourself?"
"You combined 2 techniques!? Very impressive"
"Those arms looked real. Can you teach me how to grow some?"
"That spirit ball is controlled by your will isn't it? How else was it able to hit Tien after you'd been knocked unconscious?"
Tien and Yamcha sweat dropped at the inquires of Goku, Raditz, Turles and Vegeta. Fortunately, they were saved buy Bulma who smacked all of them in back of the head, instantly quieting the curious warriors.
They both looked at Bulma with a sense of gratitude before looking at each other smiling. Turning to each other, they both pouted before smirking seemingly thinking the same thing. They turned to group before asking simultaneously.
"Who's the strongest human?"
That simple question caused an uproar in the room with everyone divided. Vegeta, Raditz, Tarble and Chiaotzu claimed that it was Tien, while Goku, Krillin, Turles and Master Roshi argued for Yamcha. Oolong and Puar stayed out of it since they weren't strong enough to argue with this group.
Scouters went off as power levels were raised and insults were thrown between the two sides, and at one point in the argument it was almost escalated to actual fighting with Vegeta and Goku butting heads.
When Bulma had had enough of the arguing she screamed at the top of her lungs leaving the humans dizzy and the saiyans thinking they went deaf.
"I've had enough, both of them did good, but they were both knocked out so neither of them is the strongest right now. They both must continue training so that there can be a clear winner. Until then I'm the strongest human on earth" Bulma said.
"Hey that's not…" Yamcha started to whine but didn't finish his statement as fierce blue eyes shut him up. Tien was also silent as he was aware of Bulma's tantrums after spending the last 10 months living with her.
"Good now that we're agreed let's head back to the hotel and get ready for tomorrow" Bulma said walking over to Vegeta and jumping into his arms surprising the prince.
"Fly" she ordered; her tone not really giving the prince much of an option to argue with her.
Vegeta scoffed and looked away from her but walked outside to do as she said. Not because he feared her, but because he wanted to enjoy the festivities. At least that's what he told himself.
The remainder of the group all stood there after watching Vegeta leave with Bulma. Launch laughed to herself and walked up to Raditz.
"I like her spunk. Alright everyone you heard the woman lets go" she said jumping into Raditz' arms making the long haired saiyan blush slightly before he walked out and took off after the prince.
Soon all the Saiyans had left the room leaving only the human fighters, Puar and Oolong.
"Guys I don't think it's Tien and Yamcha who's the strongest humans on Earth" Krillin said nervously.
Tien and Yamcha looked at him with twin faces of confusion, and before he could elaborate on what he said, Master Roshi spoke.
"Krillin's right the strongest out of any of us is Bulma and Launch. They alone control the 2 strongest beings on the planet and can make them do anything they want. Those two girls are easily the strongest humans. I for one wouldn't want to get on their bad side" he said with certainty.
The group couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Then Yamcha suddenly looked as if he turned blue. The others looked at him in shock, their faces urging Yamcha to fill them in on his revelation. Yamcha sweat dropped before saying what troubled him.
"Guys I just realized if Vegeta and Raditz continue to get stronger, then one day Bulma and Launch could rule the galaxy, and no one would be able to stop them."
That sure was a troubling thought as everyone had the image of Bulma and the blond-haired Launch sitting on thrones bossing random aliens around.
A few minutes after that, the group took off back towards Papaya Island and their hotel all thinking the same thought with fear in their hearts.
'We must be careful not to anger Bulma and Launch or we're all toast!'
TBC
Thank you for reading this fic! No power levels this chapter but If any of you guys have questions, then feel free to ask them. I'll answer them at the end of every chapter! Until next time please read and review! :)