Dragon Ball Z: the Next Generation

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Who would've expected that just a few changes could have such a major impact. Read as Gohan and Kai journey through life and across the universe in this exciting retelling of DBZ, with changes and surprises around every corner. Yamcha x Bulma, Raditz x Android 18, Gohan x Erasa later on. Other pairings undecided at the moment.

39. Junior Division, Clash Between Cousins

Scotty: I'm glad to hear it. It's always nice to meet someone who shares my love of Avatar.

xSonallyGirl129x: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yeah, Scarlet's reunion with her brother, son and niece was something I really enjoyed doing. The term Crimson Dragon was something I came up with for Kai awhile back, and it really grew on me as time went on. As for Dragon Prince, Kai's opinion on it was based on my own. I was introduced to it by a friend of mine, and I found it pretty good, especially after I learned that the guy who made it was the same guy who made Avatar the Last Airbender. As for Shen and Tao being reintroduced, you did have the right idea of following through with that idea, seeing how the original series never did, but I wanted to put a unique spin on it. Plus I was never fond of Spopovich and Yamu for a few reasons, the most notable of which being what they did to Videl, so that's another benefit of having Shen and Tao act as their replacements. Yes, with Vegeta out of the picture, Kai was the best candidate to destroy the punching machine, and him being a certified sociopath should be pretty clear to everyone by this point. As for Goten and Ranch, they'll certainly be stealing the show for the next chapter, at least before the actual tournament ends up getting underway. Overall, I'm glad to see you liked the chapter, and I hope you like the next one.

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The Junior Division of the World Martial Arts Tournament was about to begin.

"There are no preliminary rounds necessary for the Junior Division, in this case we get straight down to business. These 35 young warriors under 15 years of age have come here to leave all of you in awe of their precocious, pugilistic and prepubescent tendencies! These young ones will be fighting under the same rules as the adults, meaning that giving up, leaving the ring or getting pinned for a count of 10 or losing consciousness will all result in a loss. Without any further ado, I say we let the Junior Division matches begin! Up first is (insert kid no one cares about) going up against (insert kid no one cares about)."

Gohan cringed slightly at the sound of the matches being started "Oh man, I can't believe the matches are being started already."

"I don't see the problem, you're here already so enjoy it while you can." Kai told him flatly.

"Well sure I'm up here, but the problem is that dad is still stuck in the line back there. I know he wouldn't want to miss Goten."

"What's there to miss, you know as well as I do most of these runts aren't even worth sparing a glance at. It's gonna be your brother and cousin in the finals beating the crap out of each other and demonstrating gender equality. So in the meantime, you hear how they're gonna end up making Doctor Strange the MCU version of a horror movie?"

"And I hear how they're hinting for the Tobey Macguire version of Spider Man to make an appearance of some kind. Speaking of which though, am I the only one who didn't actually like his version of Spider Man?"

"Nope, I didn't think he did that good of a job with it either. Playing Peter Parker is one thing, he does a decent job with that, but I think it's pretty obvious that his quips and jokes and other snarky stuff, if you can really call them that, were not only really poorly timed, but also way too downright cringy."

"What about Andrew Garfield?"

"He's got the same problem in a sense, but the exact opposite in another sense. He does a good job being snarky and laying out the quips, jokes and one liners, but he's way too suave, smug and confident to be Peter Parker. Those movies aren't worthy of being called Amazing."

"They've got the best version of Flash Thompson though."

"Almost every movie has at least one good thing going for it."

"What about the Last Airbender movie?"

"I said almost every movie."

"Fair enough. What about Tom Holland?"

"He's the perfect balance of both, he's got the witty, snarky and young sounding side of Spider Man down flat, but he's also a loveable nerdy little bastard and he's nowhere near the same level of cringeworthyness as Tobey Macqguire. Plus he's british and they've got that charm going for them, just look at Malcolm McDowell." then they looked down to see Mr Satan standing in the ring with a kid hoisted onto his shoulder "Okay what did we miss, why the hell are they cheering for this assclown?"

"Apparently he hoisted a kid on his shoulders after he got knocked out and stopped him from crying." Yamcha told him dryly, then let out a chuckle "You've gotta give it to the big blowhard, if there's one thing he's good at it's working a crowd to his advantage."

"That's the only thing he's good at, and even then it's not a good thing. I mean for the love of fuck, everything that bastard says and does is more ridiculous than the way Disney has handled the entire Star Wars franchise about 95% of the time!"

"What's the other 5% of it?" asked Gohan.

"The time they made that one Phineas and Ferb Star Wars movie, which is better than about ⅔ of all of the other Star Wars movies combined."

"...Okay yeah that's fair."

"You're damn right it's fair, that show is the best thing to come out of Disney in god only knows how long."

"And that's it, (insert kid no one cares about) wins with a quick ringout! Moving on to the 9th match of the Junior Division, we have Ranch age 6 fighting against agains Idasa age 15!"

"And on that note we finally get to something entertaining, to which I say, it's about mother fucking time!"

"At least I know that Ranch can show some restraint." Gohan commented dryly "You on the other hand are another story."

"I can show restraint, I just choose not to."

"I know, but my point still stands."

"Sure it does, it's just not relevant."

"...You have an answer for everything don't you?"

"Not really, you're just predictable. Like how I know your mom is getting into a fist fight with some fat chick in the stands."

"Oh come on, my mom wouldn't get in a fight with some random woman in a public setting like that." he was met with dry looks from almost everyone present "Yeah I know, I realized it as soon as I set it."

"Well you know what they say: It's not over until the fat lady sings. Or in this case, until the fat lady with way too much makeup on starts bitching like a rabid animal."

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Meanwhile, down in the ring…

By this point, Ranch was making her way into the ring alongside Idasa, only she was trying to tune him out 'Honestly, why is it the blondes that are always loud? Well except for mom anyway, at least she doesn't embody that stereotype, whether it be male or female.'

"Well how about it little missy?" Idasa wasted no time in acting as smug as ever, annoying the crap out of anyone who had to listen to him "Are you ready to cry?"

"That depends, are you ready to shut up?"

"What was that? You know what, now I'm gonna be sure to hit you extra hard for that one."

"Why don't you just save your breath for when this actually gets started."

"Fine by me, but you can't say I never warned you."

"I think that depends on your definition of warning someone, but right now I think it counts as just rubbing your muscles in their face, if you can actually call them that."

"Why you little c-"

"Alright, let the match begin!"

"Take my advice little missy, come at me and take your best shot while you can."

"I would, but there's one glaring problem with that." Ranch told him flatly "You're nowhere near strong enough to take my best shot without getting your head ripped off your body like a gigantic golfball."

"Why don't we find out then?"

"If you say so." on that note, Ranch swept Idasa's legs out from underneath with a kick, and with a second kick she sent him flying into the air and crashing down into the ring in front of her in an unconscious heap, leaving almost all of the normal people in the audience (those who aren't associated with the Z fighters) absolutely speechless, and then she just started making her way back out of the ring "Well I did try to warn him, it's not my fault he didn't listen. That's what you get for being so arrogant."

"Well… that was a clean knockout, Ranch is the winner!"

"Of course I am."

"You know my match is coming up right after yours." Goten told her.

"Just go easy on them, even if they are insanely arrogant we don't want to maim these jerks for life or anything. I mean Kai probably would."

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Meanwhile, back with the competent fighters…
Kai just let out a sigh at the sight in the ring "Yeah that's why I don't get my hopes up too much, shit like this turns out to be a major letdown. It's gonna be about as entertaining as the Last Airbender movie until we get to the finals. Any objections?" he received no reply "I didn't think so."

"I've heard nothing but negative things about that movie." Cooler commented "Is it truly as bad as you make it out to be?"

"Oh god no, it's worse."

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Several pointless matches that weren't even worth watching or writing about later…

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, next up is match 16, and it looks like we've got ourselves another mismatch. We have Ikose age 14 going up against Son Goten age 7, let's make sure to make some noise for them!" this announcement was met with various cheers.

"About time I get to do something." being as smug as they come, Ikose made his way into the ring brimming with arrogance, with a nervous looking Goten following right behind him "This is gonna be a quick one, I won't even need a minute."

"Oh man… woah…" Goten on the other hand, he was looking around in awe at the sight of the stadium filled with so many people.

"Yeah just check it out now you little brat, all of those people up there are about to see you get beaten down like a damn dirty dog."

"Huh?"

"Wait a second, that kid… Goten was it?" the announcer was quick to pick up on a few subtle hints with Goten, and the realization quickly dawned on him 'Yeah that has to be it, that kid must be Goku's son! He looks just the way his dad did back in the day, back when Goku fought in his first tournament! Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's get this match started!"

"Oh, so we're starting? Okay."

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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

"Ikose honey, don't let yourself get caught off guard by that other little brat like your older brother was!"

"Hey Goten, try not to hurt him too badly!"

Gohan just let out a sigh at the sight of Chichi getting into a screaming match with the ill-tempered mother of both Ikose and Idasa "Okay you were right Kai, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened."

"The fact that I had to tell you that is kind of sad." Kai pointed out dryly "Still though, I've never actually seen Goku Jr down there fight before, so this might turn out to be mildly interesting for us. Either that or he oneshots his opponent."

"I personally think the latter is more likely." Tarble told him.

"How do you figure?"

"Because I actually spent some time training Goten in the month leading up to today, considering the fact that sensei was so busy with his own training. It's sort of my way of repaying sensei for everything he's done for me over the years."

"Well we'll have to see soon enough if it actually pays off, when we finally get through all of the boring shit and get to the finals."

"Well the way things are looking, dad is going to miss that too." Gohan muttered "If he doesn't get through the qualifiers soon then he's going to miss the whole thing."

"So what the fuck is the holdup?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh yeah, I shattered that thing worse than Lori Loughlin's credibility."

"...Was that jab really necessary?"

"Are any of them?"

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Meanwhile, back in the ring…

"You ready you little shit? Well you'd better be, cause here it comes!" Ikose started throwing a series of punches in failed attempt to intimidate Goten, but it quickly left him winded, and yet he still gave a smirk despite this "You got some seriously bad luck by getting paired with me, this one is gonna be done real quick. Lights out you little shit! Killer punch!" he let a fist fly forward.

Goten proceeded to block it, along with the series of follow up attacks, with ease "Hey come on, stop going easy on my already and hit me for real okay?"

"S-So maybe you're not as much of a wuss as I gave you credit for, but it doesn't matter. I'm still gonna rip you a new one before the day is done!"

"Rip me a new what?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you? You know what, this is gonna be even easier than I first thought!" he let a rapid barrage of attacks fly forward.

"So this is it then? Oh man I'm so bored already." Goten blocked every attack Ikose threw at him with ease, and then he let a simply punch hit Ikose square in the jaw, which proved to be enough to knock him out cold in an instant "So, thanks for the fight." he bowed to him, earning cheers from the audience.

"Okay… I doubt anyone was expecting that, but it would seem that Ikose has had more than enough fighting for one day, and he's out cold now. So that means Goten is the winner, and he'll be advancing to the next round."

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Meanwhile, back with the competent fighters…

Kai rolled his eyes at the sight in the ring and just spared at glance over at Gohan "See it's just like I told you, it's not over until the fat lady starts screaming like a wild animal, only to get puched out by your mom."

"That seems like an oddly specific phrase to use." Gohan pointed out.

"It's exactly what happened in the stands, I can see it from here. It makes more sense than what Disney is doing with Star Wars."

"Is that you bashing the sequel trilogy or just you mocking people bashing the sequel trilogy?"

"I'm just mocking the people who bash the sequel trilogy, the prequel trilogy and pretty much anything related to Star Wars. Seriously, the only thing that pisses me off more than fans whining about the current state of the franchise is people who whine about how Spongebob is now."

"Come on Kai, you don't have to be like that. I would probably be like that too if they made a lot of senseless changes to something that I enjoyed when I was a kid."

"Of course I understand that, it's yet another reasons on the ridiculously long list of reasons why I fucking hate Mr Satan. Besides, stuff like that is probably why fans are so divided over the Last Jedi, or the newer seasons of Spongebob."

"Didn't you say they have a lot of great episodes now?"

"Well yeah sure, Mimic Madness, Plankton's Pet and Pull Up a Barrel are the first ones that I can think of, but my point still stands."

"And that point is?"

"The point that the thing Star Wars and the Spongebob franchise have in common is how willing they are to change, because they know that they have to cater to new fans so that they can keep going, even if they do become huge as fuck cash cows."

"I understand that, but you can't alienate the old ones."

"That's the biggest pain in the ass of any massive franchise, being able to strike a balance between the old and the new."

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From the first round, the two young Son cousins continued working their way through the ranks, beating the crap out of one arrogant kid after another, until the time finally came for the main event of the Junior Division, in the form of the championship round.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, it's been a fairly long one but the time has finally come for the championship round of the Junior Division! Let's bring out our two contenders, here we have two cousins battling it out for the tittle, Ranch age 6 and Goten age 7!"

Sure enough, Goten and Ranch made their way into the ring "So this Dragon Prince show is kind of like Avatar?"

"In some ways yeah, they're both made by the same guy." Ranch told him "But putting that aside for now, it's nice to know I have a fight where I actually have to try in order to win. Just for the record though, I do plan to win this."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"And now we finally get to the highlight of the Junior Division, in the form of the championship match in all of its glory! Will Ranch here be the one to taste sweet victory, or will Goten end up carrying the day himself? Both of these young ones have made it this far by shutting out their opponents with bursts of unrivaled strength, and in a twist that defies belief these two kids just so happen to be cousins as well! Have a good fight you two, and I wish you the best of luck in this fight. I can feel the excitement ringing through the air, at long last the championship round of the Junior Division of the World Martial Arts Tournament is finally underway."

Goten was quick to drop into a stance "Hey Ranch sorry about this, but it's only fair to warn you that I'm not gonna hold back on you just because you're a girl."

"I'd be insulted if you did." Ranch dropped into a stance of her own "I plan on coming at you with everything I've got, so you'd better be sure to do the same."

"Someone fucking punch someone already!" Kai barked from the stands "The only reason I stuck around to watch this was to see some good old fashioned gender equality, now get the fuck to it already!"

"...Yeah we should've known that was going to happen eventually."

"He's kind of funny like that though." Goten glanced over to see Mr Satan staring in his direction with what appeared to be fear "What's up with him?"

"I don't know, but you shouldn't let yourself get distracted like that. Let's get started."

"Right, let's go!" and then the battle began as both of them charged forward and clashed their forearms together, before the two of them began trading even blows in mid air a short distance above the ring, leaving the majority of the spectators in absolute disbelief at the sight of their speed and power.

The finals were at last underway.

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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

Kai let out a low whistle "Okay I've gotta give them credit, that gets some points."

"For how strong they are at such a young age?" asked Raditz.

"Fuck no, Gohan and I could wreck either one of them back when we were that age. Keep in mind that we were at that age during the whole thing with Slug, and that was before he learned how to go Super Saiyan. I mean that we finally get to see some gender equality in action, and in my eyes chivalry can go straight to hell."

"...I don't know how to respond to that."

"What, I'm calling it like it is. Chivalry is about as meaningful in martial arts as Kevin Spacey's credibility. Ask Videl, she can back me up on this."

"He's not wrong either." this was when Videl and Goku finally showed up on the scene to meet up with the rest of the group "Man or woman it doesn't matter, the fact is we're all martial artists aiming for the top. Sorry we're late by the way, the line for the punch machine wasn't moving at all… and Goku ended up getting tackled by the security guards a few times."

"Did it have anything to do over that traffic jam he caused in West City?"

"I swear it was an accident!" Goku protested "How the heck was I supposed to know spinning a sign while wearing a hoagie suit would cause the biggest car wreck in history?"

"A combination of common sense and understand that stupidity is the nature of pretty much any species. Anyway it's about fucking time you got here, the finals of the Junior Division just got started."

"Yeah I can see that." Videl looked up at where Goten and Ranch were trading even blows in mid air, and she was left in awe at the sight "Oh man they're incredible, I've never seen anything like it before!"

"Who the fuck are you trying to kid, even you could take them if you pushed your Kaioken high enough."

"I know, but the fact that they're that strong when they're that young just really makes you wonder though."

"Gohan and I were that tough at that age, that was around when Slug showed up and tried to turn Earth into some kind of Death Star or something."

"...Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Anyway though, you two are one thing but those two are still pretty incredible themselves."

"They're entertaining enough I'll give them that, but neither of them have come even close to getting serious yet. It's only a matter of time before both things happen."

"What do you mean both things?"

"One, the two of them finally decide to get serious. Two, before some idiots in the audience decide to start screaming like a bunch of assholes about how they're using lightshows and tricks or some bullshit like that.

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Meanwhile, back with the actual fight…

"Come on, come at me with all you've got!" Goten dodged an attempted punch from mid air and charged at Ranch at full speed.

"Keep your eye on the birdie!" with a flash, Ranch blitzed behind Goten and dealt him a swift kick to the back.

Goten rebounded and charged towards Ranch, dealing her a brutal headbutt and then following up with a rapid barrage of attacks that forced her on the defensive "You said that you wanted me to come at you with everything I've got!"

"I know, and I love it!" Ranch broke away from Goten's assault by leaping into the air, only to find herself, but she quickly broke free of it and dealt Goten a brutal kick to the face, followed by a kick to the spine, and then the two of them returned to the ring and charged at each other, exchanging swift simultaneous punches to the face, before returning to trading even blows with each other, taking their clash higher and higher above the ring as they did so. It was after they clashed forearms and they were enveloped in a brief golden light that the two of them returned to the ring, smirking at each other all the while "Looks like you're even tougher than I gave you credit for."

"Uncle Tarble was a really good teacher."

"My mom and dad did a pretty good job too, but just think for a second, if we're fighting like this, imagine how our dads and the others are gonna do in the tournament. They're way stronger than us right now, but I want to surpass them someday."

"Your mom is really scary though, so I guess she taught you a lot about how to fight."

"More or less, but I spent most of my training under my dad. He taught me a lot, but I can guess there are a few things you didn't learn how to handle." Ranch promptly held out her right hand and began charging a pink energy blast.

"Wait, you mean you can-"

"Yep, if you can use it then there's no real reason not to use it. It's not like I'm going to plow through the stands with it or anything, and it's not like I could either. My mom mostly taught me about how to keep my cool, so I know my own limits. Check it out. Saturday CRUSH!" she fired forward a pink colored energy blast from one hand.

"Woah, that's awesome!" thinking quick, Goten leapt into the air and had the blast swerve to avoid the crowd, leaving it to detonate in the upper atmosphere, and he breathed a quick sigh of relief as a result "Woah, that was a close one."

"So what do you think, pretty good right?"

"Pretty good, but I can do one of those too. I mean I haven't had a ton of practice with this, but I can still do it. Check it out" Goten cupped his hands at his side and let blue Ki build in between his palms "Ka… Me… Ha… Me…"

"You know a lot of people know that move, I actually caught my dad trying that move once just to see if he could."

"HA!" Goten fired forward a small Kamehameha blast at full speed.

Ranch had to leap out of the way of the blast before it could hit her, leaving it to blow off part of the roof of the stadium "Uh… okay, this just went from being fun to fearing for my life, but live and learn I guess."

"Are you alright? You're kind of shaking after that."

"Yeah I'm fine, just seeing my life flash before my eyes a lot faster than I happen to be comfortable with."

"Oh really, what did you see?"

"Mostly cartoons and anime. I have no regrets."

"Uh yeah… Uncle Tarble told me that my aim needs a lot of work."

"Yeah no kidding, but in the meantime we might want to dial back on the Ki blasts just to be on the safe side, so that way neither of us end up burning down the stadium. I won't use them if you don't okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

"So what do you say you let me finish this before the people watching start to get bored."

"Works for me."

"Good, this fight is mine!"

"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you!" the two of them charged forward and caught each other in a power struggle, only for Goten to get hurled over Ranch's shoulder and into the air, but he managed to stop himself, though when he looked around he couldn't see her 'What the- Where did she go? No calm down, remember what Uncle Tarble said, sense her Ki.'

"Gotcha!" Ranch suddenly blitzed behind Goten and caught him in a full nelson "So what was it that Kai was saying about gender equality? Oh yeah, he means girls can do this just as much as boys can. You might as well go ahead and give up now, because I'm not letting go of you until you do."

'Come on Goten think, what do I do?'

"I don't see why you're stalling this, you might as well just go ahead and give up now before I end up squeezing you so tight you pop like a grape."

"I… I won't give up! My dad and my brother are watching, they're counting on me to win this, and I won't let them down!" gritting his teeth furiously, Goten raised one arm as close to Ranch's face as he could, and then he nailed her with a Ki blast to the temple, disarming her enough to allow him to escape and return to the ground "Gender equality can go both ways, at least I think it can. It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl or my cousin or whatever, I'm coming at you with everything I've got!"

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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

Cooler's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the match going on down below "It would seem that you were right to show such confidence in their capabilities, they're both so young but their physical prowess is quite impressive."

"I've taught Goten almost everything that I can given his age." Tarble told him "Unfortunately, that means I had to stop before I could show him certain techniques, but he's still capable enough to give most of your men a hard time."

"The daughter of Raditz is far from being incapable as well, both of them will prove to be massive assets to yourself and your comrades, if given enough time to develop properly."

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It should come as no surprise to anyone that the sight of Goten and Ranch's battle had left pretty much everyone in the stands, with the exception of the Z fighters and their allies, dumbstruck and speechless, and Mr Satan absolutely terrified once he recognized their abilities and appearances from what he had seen during the Cell Games.

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Ranch had managed to stop herself before she hit the ground, but she was less than thrilled when she returned to the ring and shot a glare at Goten "Hey that's not cool man, we both agreed less than two minutes ago that we were gonna dial back on the Ki blasts."

"Yeah I know, sorry about that." Goten let out a chuckle "I kind of got carried away there for a little bit."

"Well it could've been worse I guess, at least no one got blown up. But in the meantime, what do you say we make this interesting? You see I think we both know I'm winning, but now I'm going to do it without even using my left hand."

"Okay, so then I'll fight without using this shirt!" he pulled off the orange top part of his gi and threw it to the side, leaving only his long sleeve blue undershirt.

"I think you're missing the point-"

"Fight time now, and you know what I'm not gonna use my left hand either!"

"If you think you can, but don't go back on your word again!" Ranch charged at Goten and let a fist fly from her right arm.

Goten blocked the fist with his left knee, which led to the two of them trading even blows across the ring faster than the eye could see 'Not using my left hand is tougher than I thought.'

'To be completely honest, this seemed like a better idea in my head, but I'm stuck with it now. I guess I'll have to make do then.' they continued clashing across the arena, but this came to an end when Ranch was dealt a fist across the face "You know what, screw it already! Saturday Crush!" she fired a pink Ki blast forward.

"Kamehameha!" Goten weaved around the blast and tried to hit Ranch with a Kamehameha blast at point blank range.

"What the-!" without any other options, Ranch took to the air to avoid the blast 'Well this isn't good, now what the heck am I supposed to do? Well I don't really have any other choices, so divebomb like the ratings of Doctor Who it is then. I hope you're ready for this Goten, because I'm coming for you!" and so she dove down towards Goten at full speed.

'She's probably trying to scope out my next move, she thinks that she can use how fast she's coming back down to put more power and charge into whatever attack he's going to be using against me. It's not a bad idea, but thanks to Uncle Tarble's teachings it's not that hard to figure out. You're not the only one with a few tricks up your sleeve though, so you'd better make sure you're ready… now!' he leapt out of the way of Ranch's charge a split second before she came near him.

"I'm not done yet!" Ranch used a Ki blast to push herself before she could hit the ground and sent her flying towards Goten.

"Not yet! Final Shine ATTACK!" Goten leapt over Ranch's charge and unleashed a a green colored Ki wave from his left hand, striking Ranch square in the back and sending her flying across the ring, until she crash landed on the grass outside the ring, leaving her out of bounds as a result.

"Wait a second, am I- Oh you've gotta be kidding me!"

"That one was something that Uncle Tarble created for himself, and he taught it to me as sort of a trump card." Goten turned back to where the Z fighters were and gave Tarble a thumbs up and the classic Son grin, earning a wave in return.

"Well ladies and gentlemen it would seem that the battle is over! Ranch has landed right outside of the ring, and means Goten is the winner!"

"Yay I did it, I really did it!" Goten gave the classic Son grin, only to find himself on the receiving end of a dirty look from Ranch "What?"

"Don't play dumb, you know exactly what." Ranch told him flatly "You used your left arm when you said you wouldn't, you went back on your word again."

"I did?"

"I said don't play dumb with me, even if that is kind of stretching it for you."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I got kind of carried away there for a second."

"...We're settling this after the tournament, you and me one on one. No cheap tricks, no stupid wagers, just you and me settling it fair and square."

"Fine but lighten up, you had fun right?"

"It would be a lot more fun if you stuck to your word."

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Meanwhile, with the adult fighters…

"Well that's over and done with, now I say it's about time we go get some snacks." Kai glanced over to see Videl still looking gobsmacked from the sight of the battle "Oh yeah I forgot, she's still more or less in the threshold of normal people so it kind of make sense she has no idea what the fuck is going on."

"No I get what the hell that was about, it's just surprising is all." Videl told him "How the hell do kids that age get to be that powerful?"

"Saiyan biology is bullshit, pretty much the same rule that applies to power levels."

"It could've been a lot worse though." Gohan pointed out "It's not like they could go Super Saiyan or anything."

"But if they could then they sure as hell would've, we're talking about kids who ride on the backs of fucking dinosaurs because it's fun."

"This coming from the guy who pins them to the ground because it's fun, and eating the tails of them too."

"You never objected to that even when we were kids."

"I never said I had a problem with it, I'm just making an observation."

"Well then ladies and gentlemen, I don't know about all of you, but after a nail biter like that last battle, I could use a little bit of fluff. How about as a prelude to the main event, we pit our main champion of the Junior Division, Son Goten himself, head to head with none other than the great Mr Satan himself?" this announcement was met with a massive number of cheers from the audience, and a metrick fuckton of dread from Mr Satan.

"You think he has an exit plan?"

"I'm hoping not, I want to see him get splattered all over the wall like a balloon filled with rotten meat." Kai told him flatly "The fact is that your brother is gonna rip him a new one without even realizing what the fuck he's doing."

"Don't you think you're blowing this a bit out of proportion?"

"Who the fuck do you think we're talking about? Besides, in a just world he would get that fat head of his caught in a helicopter door that flies him out over the ocean where it drops him straight into a pod of ravenous orca that rip him apart, leaving nothing but his bones for the hungry crabs in the inky depths at the bottom of the ocean." Kai was met with various disturbed looks from pretty much everyone except for Gohan and Videl.

"...So what exactly is that quoting?"

"Milo Murphy's law, it's by the same guys who made Phineas and Ferb, only it's set in the same universe. It's not that bad."

"Huh. Nice."

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Meanwhile, down in the ring…

The announcer turned over to where Goten was stretching in the ring "So congrats on the win, but do you want to take a small break or something before we get this show on the road?"

"No thanks, I'm okay." Goten gave the classic Son grin.

"Alright then, if you're sure. Alright ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for us to bring out the champion of the World Martial Arts Tournament, along with our lord and savior in all of his so-called glory, Mr Satan!"

"YEAH!" on that note, Mr Satan promptly burst out into the open area of the stadium, well truth be told he was pushed out of there by a monk, but he would never admit that, anyway he did his signature pose once he got out there "So what the hell is this I hear about some whiny no good little punk who think he's got what it takes to take on the champ himself?" he barked out an arrogant laugh at the sight of Goten standing before him "There's no way in hell this could be the guy, I've got toenails that are a hell of a lot bigger than you are kid! I'm dead! I. Am. Dead! I'm dead! I'm gonna die! A dead man be me! A cornucopia of pain and despair is coming my way to ensure my demise! I am so going to die! WHY?! No wait get a grip man, this has to be some kind of bad dream. Yeah a dream that's it, any minute now I'm going to wake up.'

'So… this is the guy?' unfortunately for the lord and savior, Goten wasn't as impressed as he was confused as all hell 'Kai always says all sorts of bad things about him that I don't understand most of the time, and daddy and Gohan always said that I shouldn't judge a book by his cover, so is this what he meant, or was that actually about Kai?'

'Okay, waking up in 3… 2… 1… and nothing is happening. I'm gonna fucking die.'

"Alright Goten, show this guy what you're made of!" Ranch called out to him from the sidelines, which earned her a dirty look from Mr Satan.

"Hey for crying out loud kid, cool it with all of the encouragement. The kid doesn't need a cheerleader or something."

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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

Goku let out a sigh at the sight of Mr Satan entering the ring "Well it looks like things are just about wrapped up here, you guys wanna head down and start getting ready for the actual tournament now?"

"Might as well." Raditz gave a shrug "After all it's not like we have anything to stick around for that's really important, and it's better you stay on the move if anything actually happened with security."

"I said I was sorry!" and yet they all walked off nonchalantly, or at least most of them.

Gohan stuck around for a moment to see Kai just staying where he was, along with Videl "The two of you aren't coming?"

"I want to see for myself how my dad compares to your brother." Videl told him simply.

"Fair enough, and Kai I've already got a pretty good idea for you."

"I've spent years holding back a burning hatred for this assclown, so frankly seeing him get ripped apart is some much needed indirect catharsis." Kai told him dryly.

"Should I wait here to make sure that you don't jump down there and try to beat him within an inch of his life and then hang him up by his entrails?"

"Don't think I'm not thinking about it."

"And that's my cue to stick around." Scarlet noted dryly.

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Meanwhile, down in the ring…

"Oh yeah!" with his false confidence building with every second that passed, Mr Satan threw off his cape and his championship belt, and he started throwing a series of punches as if to demonstrate his skill "YEAH!" and then he did a pose to make the audience start cheering for him.

Goten could only blink at the sight before him 'Okay… so why did he do that exactly? I thought they said he was the world champion but he was moving like a slug. Is he putting on some sort of act to try and make me lower my guard. I'd better get ready.' he started throwing a series of punches and kicks himself, which did little to please Mr Satan.

"Hey what the hell kid, what's up with all the gymnastics? It's not like this is gonna be a real fight or anything, you see in the business we call this kind of thing filler. We don't want to risk boring the fans or anything like that."

"Well a fight is a fight, so why shouldn't I try?"

"Oh come on kid, work with me and stop acting like some little kid already!"

"But I am a kid."

"Why you stubborn little- I'm serious about this, work with me and stop messing around with me already!"

"I am too."

"Um, hey you guys?" this was when the announcer got their attention "I hate to be that guy right about now, but these people are waiting to see a show. We should probably think about giving them one before they start getting worked up. Need I remind you guys of what happened during the last tournament?"

"What happened?"

"There was such a long intermission after the Junior Division that we had to stall for time by playing the entire final season of Game of Thrones, and I don't think I need to explain why people weren't too thrilled about that."

"Oh."

"Oh god no, not again!" Mr Satan promptly started having another panic attack.

"Hey Goten, show this idiot what you're made of!" Chichi called out to Goten from her place in the stands.

'I'm dead! I. Am. Dead! I'm dead! I'm gonna die! A dead man be me! A cornucopia of pain and despair is coming my way to ensure my demise! I am so going to die! WHY?! Wait a second that's it, I know how I can get out of this!' he hunched over and grabbed his knee in fake pain.

"Oh wow it looks like something is amyss with Mr Satan! What's the matter, did some sort of old sports injury come back to haunt you?"

"Take my word for it buddy, you said a mouthful. I haven't been the same since the huge fight against Cell."

"Oh the humanity, I had absolutely no idea about this!"

"I've been keeping it a secret, but the truth is that Cell did some kind of hardcore number on my knee and it flares up every now and then."

"Have no fear my good man, we have a specialist on staff, so let's bring him out~"

"Wait what?" he bolted upright "Well what do you know, it was just a false alarm. That's the funny thing about this knee, it ends up fixing itself almost as often as it flares up. No need to worry about it, I think it should be good to go now."

"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"Am I the guy who saved the world from Cell?"

'Not on your fucking life. Well if you're sure. There you have it ladies and gentlemen, there's no way you can keep a good man down!"

"YEAH!" then Mr Satan looked over to see Goten throwing punches 'So this is it then, this is really happening. The entire world is about to see their hero get beaten within an inch of his life by a snot nosed little kid. I'm gonna be a laughing stock, so what the hell do I- Wait a second that's it, he's a kid right? No one really expects me to fight a little kid with everything I've got, so all I have to do is spin it so it looks like I let him win!'

"Alright then, are you ready for this?"

"Give me just a second!" and so he rushed over to Goten as he made sure to put on his best fake happy face "Hey listen here's the deal kid, just forget about what I said before. The thing is that I forgot to tell you before about the special salutation that we're supposed to give each other before we go into this match."

"But why is it special?" asked Goten.

"Well the thing is that it's different from what you would give before a normal match, when the ref gives the word you've gotta stick out a fist and give me a little nudge, you got it? Now for the record, when I say a little nudge that's exactly what I mean, so it's not even supposed to tickle me if you take my meaning. Now listen when I tell you it's very important that you understand all of this, it's not a punch, it's just a salutation."

"I think I get it, you want me to just tap you or something."

"Yeah exactly. Alright there blondie, let's get this show on the road! Sorry about holding this little shindig up, but the kid was begging for an autograph and I told him that he would get one after he cleaned my clock."

"...Yeah okay, whatever you need to tell yourself." the announcer let out a sigh "Alright then, why don't we get this show underway? Ladies and gentlemen you had best prepare yourselves to witness the next David & Goliath showdown, Mr Satan himself vs the champion of the Junior Division!"

"Yeah that's right boy, go ahead and do your worst!" he got into a stance and left his cheek wide open for a punch.

"And what do we have here? It would seem that Mr Satan is throwing caution to the wind and actually allowing his opponent to take the first swing! This is absolutely unbelievable, his level of composure can only boggle the mind!"

"Come on kid, go ahead and show me what you've got. No need to be shy now, just let that little sucker swing and-"

"Okay." Goten let a fist fly and slam straight into Mr Satan's face, the force proving to be enough to send him flying straight into a nearby wall "Um…. sorry about that, I didn't mean to hit you so hard." he was met with deafening silence… with the exception of comically loud barking laughter from Kai on the sidelines.

"S-Son of a…" a heavily bruised and battered Mr Satan picked himself up from within the rubble and quickly tried to laugh it off in order to save face "Yeah way to go kid, you've got some pretty good technique there. I think we've got ourselves a winner!"

"Uh… thanks I think."

"Oh wow, this is so… astounding. Ladies and gentlemen I think we have ourselves a winner, so let's give it up for Goten!" this announcement was met with lots of cheering for Mr Satan and his good sportsmanship.

"Wait a second I don't get it, did he really let me win, or did he just lie or something? Adults can be really confusing."

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Mr Satan left the stadium with his head supposedly held high, giving people the impression that he let Goten win just to be a nice guy, but the very second he returned to his quarters he started writing around on the floor in pain and agony.

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"Alright then ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be having a 30 minute break before we get things started with the main event, so take my advice and save those voices, and be ready to have all of it hang out. You heard me right, the title of the champion of the adult division is about to be up for grabs, staring at 1:40 pm, so don't touch that dial!"

Goku and the others heard this from where they were heading over the lounging area "Sounds like kind of an awkward way to start it don't you think?"

"Maybe it is, but at least this way we get a chance to have something to eat first, so it's not all bad." Raditz pointed out.

"Yeah that's true." they came up to the lounging area.

"Woah hold that thought there you guys." one of the monks was quick to stop them "Sorry about this guys, but this area is reserved only for those who qualified in the preliminary round."

"What do you think we're doing here then?" 17 pointed out dryly "Just take a look at that list you're clutching there, I think you'll find that our names are on there."

"Just a moment if you would, I need to verify such a claim." the monk pulled out a list stashed away in his robes "Okay here's the list, I just need you to give me your names so that I could verify for you. Names please."

"Son Goku."

"17."

"18."

"Yamcha Sapien."

"Cooler."

"Son Raditz."

"Krillin."

"Tien Shinhan."

"Tarble."

"Majunior."

"Majunior?" 17 shot a raised eyebrow at Piccolo when he heard this "That's what you chose to go with?"

"There will be a cold day in hell before I give them my real name." Piccolo told him flatly.

"Because you basically nuked this island the last time you were here?"

"And because I don't need people cowering before me in terror."

"Fair enough, can't argue with that."

"Oh dear there you are, right on the list." the monk stepped to the side to let them through "So there you are, please accept my apologies. You've all passed the preliminaries and then some, so all of you feel free to go on in. The drawings in order to determine the brackets for the first round are going to begin at 1:30."

"1:30 huh? Works for me, that gives us about 20 minutes." Goku promptly made his way through to the lounging area, with the others following right behind him "Man this whole thing really takes me back, we had a lot of great times her fighting in these tournaments. I mean it was how I met a lot of people here for the first time, like Tien and Piccolo."

"I'm not proud of the person I used to be." Tien let out a sigh "I'd like to believe I've changed a lot since those days, but the things I did back then still haunt me, and seeing Master Shen here after all these years brings some of those memories back."

"Whatever happens you can't let him get in your head, you're more than strong enough to stop whatever he and Tao are plotting."

"I know Goku, you don't have to remind me. Still though, part of me is looking forward to the fact that we might get to fight again."

"We did fight again a few weeks ago."

"I know, but I've been training since then just as hard as you, and I have no intention of letting you beat me so easily again."

"I'll be holding you to that. The same with the rest of you, if we fight then I want you to come at me with everything you've got."

"In case you forgot Goku, you agreed not to transform in the tournament." Yamcha pointed out dryly.

"...Oh yeah. That. Crapbaskets."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with the other competitors…

At the same time, Kai and the others were walking through the tournament stadium plaza to meet up with the others, and as they did so he was discussing with Scarlet about a certain piece of film history "So yeah that's about what happened in Endgame, and when I'm right I'm right."

"I thought I should get some credit for that." Scarlet pointed out "Keep in mind that I was the one who predicted the Hulk would put on the Infinity Gauntlet."

"You also guessed that he would make the ultimate sacrifice and die for the greater good, the one major Avenger that hasn't had his own trilogy before Infinity War or Endgame. He didn't end up dying, Iron Man did, the guy who started the MCU in the first place. Not only did Yamcha and I predict that, but I also guessed that Pepper Potts was pregnant."

"Okay, that part I have to give you credit for. But there are two things that neither of us would've been able to predict."

"The fact that Black Widow ended up dying the way that she did, and the fact that Thor got so fat and depressed he went from Point Break to the big Lebowski? The second one was something that no one could've predicted."

"You might want to be careful about what you say." Gohan told him "Chances are people are going to get mad about spoilers."

"It's been years since Endgame came out, so as far as I'm concerned, if they haven't seen it yet then that's their problem."

"Well yeah but you shouldn't go around saying-" Gohan cut himself short and his eyes hardened as he looked in a certain direction.

"Did you stop talking because you noticed something or because you realized that trying to reason with me about pretty much anything is pointless?"

"Both." he gestured to where Shen was walking away from the area, with Tao following right behind him.

"Uh huh. Mom, Videl, you two go on up ahead and meet up with the others. Gohan and I have to go check something, we'll catch up with you in a few minutes." and so the two of them promptly took their leave of the group.

Videl watched the two of them follow after Shen and Tao, and she turned to Scarlet "Do you think we should follow them?"

"There's no need." Scarlet assured her "Kai may have his moments, but he's rational and intelligent, and he knows what he can and can't handle. If he feels that things are out of control, then they'll come to us."

"I hope you're right about that."

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Meanwhile, with the two Crane brothers…

Shen leaned against a wall and looked over to where Tao (also sporting a large M mark on his forehead) was gritting his teeth "Eagerness is one thing, you're shaking like you're about to have an accident."

"It's nothing like that you fool, I'm just restless is all." Tao's voice was laced with bitterness and venom "This is taking too long, the longer this takes the longer I have to wait before we can get our revenge on those pieces of filth."

"Patience my brother, I want to rid this world of them just as much as you do, but the difference there is that I understand that if we're going to get our revenge on them, we need to collect their energy first, and in order to do that, we need to go about it properly. These kinds of thing take a lot of time and planning."

"Which is why it's all the sweeter when our goals are finally within our grasp." a shrill and grating noise rang through both of their minds.

"Believe me Babidi, I'm well aware of such a fact. But don't think either myself or my brother have agreed to become your servants, we're only cooperating with you for the time being so that we can get our revenge on Son Goku, Tien Shinhan and their friends, nothing more and nothing less than that."

"What you do with your own time is your own business, it doesn't mean anything to me. Just be sure you don't forget about your main objective at this tournament, and you know what to do for that don't you?"

"Both of us are well aware of our objective, and the power that you lent to us is going to make it that much easier. Just make sure that you never forget about your end of our agreement, or we have no intention of letting you live it down."

"I've never broken my word, so while I release my most powerful servant to do my bidding, you two can go ahead and finish off whoever you want in whatever way you please." and then the mental connection cut out.

"I wonder about that."

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What they hadn't noticed was that Gohan and Kai had both been watching the mental exchange from behind a nearby wall, suppressing their Ki so they wouldn't attract any attention to themselves "So what do you think?"

"Based on that little exchange, I'm guessing it's some form of telepathy." Kai told him "So that's their game then, Crane rejects 1 and 2 allied with that imp with a Napoleon complex (Babidi) that Shin told us about, so they could get some good old fashioned payback, as if it was actually going to happen."

"Not exactly what the Supreme Kai was hoping for."

"But it's pretty close to what you and I guessed would happen."

"Maybe we should consider telling the others what's going on."

"Not until Shin is ready to make his move, we can't risk drawing any suspicion from them or anyone else they might have working for them. It's too much of a risk."

"I know that his entire plan right now is predicated on secrecy, but even he has to understand that the minute they make any big moves on our group, the word "covert" isn't going to mean much, or anything really."

"The higher ups in any context have a really bad habit of remaining ignorant, even in the face of overwhelming facts."

"So what then, are we supposed to just let this play out?"

"For the time being we don't have any other choice, let's just keep calm and survey the situation for now. With any luck, we can keep the others from getting suspicious until Shin is ready to make his move."

"I think we've really got our work cut out for us this time."

"When do we not? Anyway let's head over to the others for now, like I said we don't want to raise any suspicion."

"Alright, I guess." and so they took their leave of the scene.

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Meanwhile, with the others…

By this point, Goku and the others were pigging out in the waiting area "Oh yeah that hits the spot, the food here is always awesome!"

"So I've heard." Piccolo muttered "Honestly, the sight of Saiyans eating is something I don't think I'll ever get used to."

"If it's any consolation to you, no one ever does." Cooler told him dryly "But it's just natural for Saiyans to have high levels of metabolism, as it comes with their lust for combat, which burns off energy continuously."

"I understand the reason for it, but that doesn't mean I want to look at it."

"And you're one of the people here used to that sort of thing." Videl pointed out "Kai was right about what he said, Saiyans really are an anomaly, at least that's the nicest way of saying that out loud."

"Which pretty much makes it the opposite of what Kai would say."

"And saying his name makes him pop up out of nowhere just in time to make all of you lose your fucking minds." this was when Kai and Gohan showed up on the scene.

"So did everything turn out okay with those two?"

"It wasn't anything serious, just the two of them brooding about revenge and all of that typical bullshit. So did you tell them about the fight as you call it?"

"I was actually just about to, Goten won against my dad and it only took about one punch for him to do it."

"Big shocker." note the sarcasm.

"But the word going around with the fans is that my dad took a dive to make Goten feel good about himself."

"Why the fuck am I not surprised, and for his next trick he's gonna become the biggest running gag since Team Rocket, constantly blasting off yet always coming back just to annoy the ever loving fuck out of people."

"Oh come on Kai, I know how you feel about him but he's not that bad."

"No you're right, he's a metric fuckton worse."

"Well he's my dad and I love him either way, but anyway since you and Gohan took so long getting here we already ordered for the two of you. You might as well get something in your stomach before you fight."

"Works for me, I'd rather have a full stomach when I take the win."

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About 10 minutes passed, and the Saiyans continued eating and eating and eating, and you pretty much get the idea.

"Oh man, this stuff is absolutely amazing!" like the other Saiyans, Gohan was promptly scarfing down food in a very unsettling way "Hey excuse me, can we get another order of egg rolls over here place?"

Needless to say, Videl was mortified by the sight of the Saiyans eating "Seriously, what the hell is with you guys? Do Saiyan stomachs even have some kind of cutoff point or something?"

"Based on previous experience, no they don't." Kai told her dryly without looking up from the sandwich he was eating himself "And do yourself a favor and don't look directly at it, I did once and I ended up seeing spots for like a week afterwards. And I couldn't eat either, the only thing I could stomach were Senzu Beans, and just barely for that matter."

"I know the feeling." Scarlet let out a sigh "I watched Bardock pig out in the big theater at the Check In Station back in Otherworld while we were watching all of you fight against Frieza back on Namek, and I couldn't even look at food for days afterwards."

"I feel your pain mom."

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A few more minutes passed, and lunch had ended, even for the Saiyans.

"Oh man that was incredible, what a feast!" Goku and the others were now heading out of the lounging area and heading towards the main plaza for the drawings "I can't remember the last time I ate that well, if I end up fighting one of you guys please don't punch me in the gut."

"Then I'll be sure to do just that." Kai told him dryly.

"No mercy huh?"

"Not for your spiky ass."

"Putting his clear sadism aside, they should be a few minutes away from the drawing for the main tournament." Videl pointed out "You know chances are that a lot of us are going to end up fighting each other."

"And let me guess, you're concerned that you're gonna end up getting wrecked by one of these fucking lunatics?"

"You said it, not me."

"Forget about hat, just keep your cool and think the situation though, and be sure to hit them hard enough, fast enough and close enough, and you'll do fine. Besides, most of these guys are moro"ns anyway." he was met with dirty looks from all of the morons "I stand by it, if you wanna challenge it then come at me."

"I think most of us planned to do that anyway." 18 pointed out dryly, earning various nods of agreement from the likes of Raditz, Cooler and 17.

"Yeah but the difference is that I can take on pretty much all of you if I wanted to."

"You guys might want to put that little discussion on hold for the time being, mainly because we've got company." Gohan pointed to where Shin and Kibito were lined up in front of the group, the former having his usual creepy smile and floating a few inches above the ground, which quickly attracted everyone's attention.

"And shit gets interesting right about now. Is it bad that I kind of wanted to see the Toguro brothers from Yu Yu Hakusho instead of these two?"

With his creepy smile widening, Shin floated towards the group and addressed Goku "Good day to you, would I have the pleasure of addressing the great Son Goku?"

"Um, yeah that's me, but how did you know who I was?" asked Goku.

"Oh your reputation proceeds you, I've heard of the many stories circulating about your prowess in battle, whether it be in the ring or out of it. The main reason I came here was actually so that I would be able to satisfy my curiosity. Unfortunately I was unable to pass the preliminaries, but even so I hope to be able to see what you're capable of in the heat of battle. You don't have to worry though, I'm not foolish enough to think I would be able to defeat you. All I wish to know is whether or not all of the legends I heard about you are true. Come now, let us shake hands, if that's alright with you." he held out his hand.

"Oh yeah sure, it's really nice to meet you." Goku accepted the hand, which caused Shin's creepy smile to widen even further, and for Goku to notice something unsettling.

"Excellent, from your grip alone I can tell that you possess a spirit worthy of the legends being told about you. Good day to you." Shin returned to the ground, bowed to Goku and the others, and then he and Kibito both took their leave.

"Well… that happened."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Piccolo muttered quietly "The two of them are hiding a lot of power."

"Yeah I could tell too, but at the same time, meeting someone like that gives me a strange way of thinking that maybe this tournament isn't a sure win after all."

"It never was a sure win, not for you at least." Kai pointed out dryly "As far as I'm concerned almost all of us are more than capable of ripping you a new one."

"Because I'm not going Super Saiyan?"

"Even with that I could rip you a new one, and I really want to."

"Those two, they're definitely not from around here." Piccolo muttered "That is to say, they're not from Earth."

"What gave that away, the fact that he was floating, the pointy ears or the purple skin?"

"Well whoever they are, I don't see what reason they could have to travel to an out of the way cosmic outpost like Earth in the first place? And for that matter, why is it one of you seems so calm, but the other one seems so nervous?" Piccolo looked over at Gohan and Kai, his gaze hardening slightly "Do either of you know something?"

"Cool it on the interrogation Big Green, it's gonna make sense soon enough."

"...Fine, I'll take your word for it. For now at least."

"Well we can all agree that was a new level of weird, even for this group." 17 pointed out "But it doesn't matter, I say we get to the drawing before we get shuffled to the bottom."

"Might as well." so the group continued onwards.

"So how does this work, there are 16 contestants in the tournament this time? Not a bad number all things considered."

"But all of us take up most of the slots, which leave Mr Satan and Shen. Satan is a complete joke, but Shen is someone you might want to watch out for, especially with Tao running around on the loose somewhere around here." and then they arrived at the drawing station.

"Oh there they are, the real deal shows themselves!" the announcer lit up at the sight of the group approaching "Alright I think that's everyone, we should go ahead and get on with the drawing before the crowd becomes restless. I take it Mr Satan is on his way as we speak?"

"Actually we received word that Mr Satan is feeling a little bit under the weather, if it's alright with you then he would like us to draw his spot for him." one of the monks told him.

"Oh I see, well that makes sense more or less. If I can have your attention contestants, we're about to begin the drawing. Once your name has been called please come up here and take a number, and that will tell us who and when you're going to be fighting."

Once the drawing started, Kai actually started praying "I know I've never asked you for anything before so throw me a solid, let me go up against someone that really annoys me, Goku is the first one that comes to mind."

"In case you didn't notice, praying for luck isn't going to help you." Piccolo pointed out, his tone dry "Besides, you're strong enough to beat almost any one of us."

"Yeah but I've voiced my contempt for Goku time and time again, I say the universe owes me a freebie."

"We already know how you feel about Goku, none of us have forgotten about what you did to him during the Cell Games."

"Pull your head out of your ass Big Green, if I didn't do it to him back then you sure as hell would've."

"I'm not denying that or disagreeing with you, I'm saying act like a professional and not some arrogant punk."

"I am a professional, but I'm also a teenager in case you forgot, and for that matter aren't you one too?"

"I'm 20."

"Either way you get my point. I know what you've got the stick up your ass about, and I'll tell you what you want to know later, so drop it already."

"I said fine, for now at least."

"Alright then, let's get this underway." the announcer promptly started the drawings "The first name on the list is Cooler."

"That would be me." Cooler stepped forward and drew a ball with a number on it, and then he held it up "It would seem that I'm number 5."

"Number 5 it is, that would put you as the first participant of the third match."

"Very well then." and so Cooler promptly took his leave.

"Alright then, who's next? It looks like Yamcha."

"Right here." Yamcha promptly made his way up to the scene and drew a ball "Looks to me like I'm at number 11."

"And that will put you in the sixth match. Krillin you're up."

"Well here goes nothing I guess." Krillin made his way up and drew a number, and his eyes widened at what it was "I'm… number 6."

"So that puts you in the third match, paired up against Cooler."

"...I'm gonna fucking die."

"Casualties are strictly prohibited. Next up is Son Gohan."

"Looks like I'm up already." Gohan made his way up to the front and pulled a number "I'm at number 13."

"And that puts you in the seventh match. Next up is going to be contestant… #18 apparently."

"That's me." 18 made her way up to the front and pulled a number.

"So you don't care to give us another name?"

"Not really no, is there some kind of problem with that?"

"Nope."

"Good. I'm at #9."

"And that places you in the fifth match. Do we have a Raditz here?"

"That would be me." Raditz made his way up to the front and pulled a number "Looks like I'm at #7."

"And that puts you in the fourth match. Next up is going to be Shen, do we have a Shen here."

"Indeed you do good sir." with a menacing smirk plastered across his face, Shen made his way up to the stand and drew a ball "And worry not, unlike my brother I have no intention of acting outside the rules of the tournament in any way, shape or form."

"That's… really good to know."

"Indeed, and I'm number 3."

"So… that puts you in the second match then. Next up we have Tien Shinhan."

"I'm here." Tien promptly stepped forward and drew a number "I'm number 2."

"Okay good, so that puts you in the first match. Okay Goku, the one I've been waiting for, you're up next."

"Okay I guess it's my turn now, so which one am I going to be?" Goku made is way up and promptly pulled out a ball "Looks like I'm gonna be number 7."

"And that's gonna put you in the fourth match against Raditz. A showdown between brothers, that will be a sight to behold."

"Yeah tell me about it, I'm looking forward to it. Looks like I don't have an opponent lined up yet though, actually the only fights lined up for sure are Krillin against Cooler, and Raditz going against me. That's gonna turn out to be pretty interesting to watch, I can't wait to see how it turns out. Me and Raditz though, I'm pretty excited just thinking about it.'

"Videl Satan, we're gonna need you to come on up."

"I'm right here." Videl stepped forward and started drawing a ball "So correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't my dad be in charge of this?"

"Oh your father is taking a little bit of personal time at the moment, so he asked us draw his spot for him."

"...So he's writing around in agony in his room after Goku's son oneshotted him?"

"Pretty much yeah."

"Just checking, and… it looks like I'm going to be in the first match."

"And that will put you up against Tien Shinhan, that should be interesting."

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"So how about it?" Yamcha shot a sly grin over in Kai's direction "Didn't expect that, she's going to be going up against Tien in the first match."

"She can handle herself when it comes down to it." Kai told him flatly "She's nothing like her father I can tell you that much."

"Which explains the way you act around her."

"You mean why I don't want to blast her through the skull."

"And so much more." Krillin gave him a sly grin of his own "Just give me a few minutes to work my magic and I guarantee that you and her are going to be on your honeymoon in no time."

"Keep that up and you'll be getting that free sundae, courtesy of a Nail Gun being shot clear through your skull."

"Next up we have Tarble at #10!" the announcer made the call "That puts him in the fifth match against 18!"

"That's gonna be interesting to watch, the student of the best friend against what I view as a hardcore dominatrix." Kai was met with a few looks "What, tell me I'm wrong."

"Next up is Kai Sapien."

"About fucking time I get to do something." Kai made his way up and drew a ball, and a massive shit eating grin spread across his face "Oh this is gona be good. Number 14 for me." he promptly held it up to the others, earning various jaw droppings as a result "Yeah that's right assholes, better hurry and get out of the splashzone while you can. No you were right Gohan, it doesn't work with emotions."

"So long story short, that puts you in the seventh match, against Son Gohan."

"Oh this is gonna be good."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Piccolo muttered "If I didn't know any better, then I would say that this is a sign that something really bad is about to happen."

'Let me tell you know Big Green, you don't have a fucking clue about that. Still though, the fact that I'm going up against Gohan is just what I wanted. I was hoping to see Goku get beaten within an inch of his life, but this is so much better. This is a fight I've been waiting to go with for a damn long time. Well actually we spar on a regular basis, but my point still stands.

"Alright, we've still got a few more contestants that need to draw." the announcer was quick to attract everyone's attention "Ms Scarlet Sapien you're next, we need you to come up here and draw a number, and the clock is ticking, so…"

"I'm right here, no need to worry." Scarlet promptly made her way up and drew a ball with a number on it from the box "I'm at #15, that puts me in the last match of the first round."

"That's right, but if it's all the same to you, I would appreciate it if you didn't do our jobs for us, seeing how we still need something to do after all."

"Fair enough, and if it makes you feel any better you still have a few more people that need to draw in the first place."

"Yeah that's true. Anyway we need Majunior, you're up next."

"Right." Piccolo promptly made his way up to the stands and drew a number "I just drew a number 4."

"And that's going to put you in the second match against Shen."

'Against the Crane hermit, Tien's old teacher? Fine that actually works, maybe this way I'll be able to learn more about this sinister Ki I'm feeling from him. It's too powerful and malicious, especially by the standards of earthlings.'

"And next we have the reigning world champion himself, Mr Satan. Unfortunately our reigning champ as people call him is feeling a little bit under the weather so I'm gonna go ahead and draw on his behalf while he gets some rest." the announcer drew the ball "And it looks like he's at #16, which puts him in the last round of the tournament."

"So I'm fighting the champ himself." Scarlet let out a chuckle "I have to admit, this is going to be interesting."

"Because knowing what you're like, you're probably gonna end up trying to find a way not to grind him into a bloody meatsack." Kai noted dryly "Whereas I wouldn't hesitate to do that myself, but getting to fight you next is gonna be a lot of fun. Just promise me you won't hold back against me, mama bear instincts be damned."

"Holding back in the ring means you're guaranteed to lose, so even if you do find a way to win, I'm going to be sure I make you work for it."

"That's all I ask."

"We have one more contestant who needs to draw." the announcer made the call "The last one on the list is #17, please come up and draw."

"Right here, no need to have a stroke." 17 promptly made his way up and drew the last ball from the box "And surprise surprise, I'm at #12 because there isn't any others left."

"Yeah you pretty much summed it up. Anyway contestants, here is your official starting lineup for the first round! In the first match, we have Mr Satan's daughter Videl facing off against former world champion Tien Shinhan. In the second match, have Shen facing off against the likes of Majunior. In the third match, we have Krillin facing off against Cooler. In the fourth match, we have former champion Son Goku facing off against Son Raditz, a showdown between brothers by the looks of it. In the fifth match, we have #18 facing off against Tarble. In the sixth match, we're going to have Yamcha Sapien facing off against #17. In the seventh match, we'll have Son Gohan facing off against Kai Sapien. The final match of round one is going to see former world champion Scarlet Sapien vs our reigning champ himself, Mr Satan. The time has come for us to start the show ladies and gentlemen, so if you would be so kind, follow me to the lobby for the contestants please, and just to be clear I assume everyone knows the rules for the tournament. If you should decide to give up, be pinned for a count of 10 or otherwise be incapaciated for that long, be knocked out of the ring and land out of bounds, or accidentally kill your opponent, you'll be disqualified from the tournament. Also, due to the sheer number of matches we have for the tournament the time limit for each match is set for 30 minutes, and if any fight goes over that designated limit then it will be decided by our panel of judges. Now then everyone, if there are no further questions, we have a tournament to conduct, so we'd better get moving."

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Son Gohan and Kai Sapien are scheduled to face each other in the first round of the World Martial Arts Tournament, along with many other surprising matchups for the first round, but these do leave one massive question: Will the arena still be left standing for the second round? The competition iself is about to commence, next time on Dragon Ball Z: the Next Generation!

A/N:

With this chapter, the World Martial Arts Tournament looms ever closer in all of its nostalgic glory, just after with the Junior Division, which really only has one good fight, which comes in the form of Ranch vs Goten in the finals, with Goten taking home the gold, only with one big twist: Neither of them can go Super Saiyan. You can complain about the back tingles all you want, but as far as I'm concerned, that's a debate for another day, and the original Super Saiyan form itself stopped being special when Trunks and Goten showcased getting it just because. It was supposed to be something special attained through a pure heart and lots of strenuous training, but they basically made a joke out of it. As far as I'm concerned, like a lot of problems people claim to have with Super, it actually started with Z, but Super did little more than make it a lot more noticeable.

So yeah, Shin and Kibito aren't going to be participating in the tournament, but they're still present, and their role hasn't changed very much. Believe it or not, this choice was not one I made intentionally. I had been so excited with the lineup that I had forgotten about the two of them until the moment they actually appeared in the arc, and since it was a bad idea to backtrack and write them back into the story, mainly because it would involve writing a few characters out of it, I decided to have them abstain from the tournament this time, especially since Gohan, Kai, Cooler and Scarlet (to an extent) all know about his identity and goals.

Now then, this will be rather grim but it's necessary. In order to close out this chapter, I want to say that it's dedicated to the unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer just a few days before this was uploaded. I only really knew him as Black Panther (which was in my top 3 favorite MCU movies by the way), but knowing that he worked on that and the other MCU movies while he was battling cancer… It shatters you. Rest in peace you great man, the best to your family, and Wakanda Forever!

Power levels:

Kai: 1 billion

Scarlet: 1.8 billion

Gohan: 4 billion

Goku: 3.8 billion

Tarble: 3.4 billion

Raditz: 3.8 billion

Yamcha: 200 million

Tien: 200 million

Krillin: 175 million

Cooler: 45 billion

Android 17: 2 billion

Android 18: 2 billion

Weighted Piccolo: 60 billion

Videl: 7.5 million

Mr Satan: 25

Goten: 9.8 million

Ranch: 9.5 million

Majin Mercenary Tao: 20 million

Majin Shen: 20 million