Prologue! Excitement in Conton!

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…mrrRRRH-"

The small, twitchy-tailed woman in armor jumped from her seat in a huff.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Her droopy-eyed male counterpart sighed woefully.

"Yeah…"

"IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE SOMETHING'S GONE 'BOOM!' I'VE FOUGHT THE SAME VILLAINS TIME AFTER TIME, PARALLELS ARE SO STUPID! IF I SEE THAT STUPID ALBINO LIZARDFACE ONE MORE TIME I'LL EXPLODE! I'M SO DAMN BORED!"

"Yeah…"

"W-what are you insinuating?" the plump pink fellow previously digging into a chocolate mount beside the two sputtered. "We've worked so hard to keep things peaceful, and now that it's played off, you want things to go 'BOOM?' And why aren't YOU saying anything about this, Sunato?" he scolded, turning attention from the hot-blooded woman to the crestfallen man.

"Don't make me feel bad for wanting a little action, bro…"

"But you SHOULD feel bad! The both of you should be ashamed!"

The Saiyan's tail tucked between her legs.

"When you put it like that…"

The Majin huffed. "I should feel ashamed for sympathizing even a little…"

The three heard footsteps, turned to their left, and immediately fell into a formation.

"SIR!"

"SIR!"

"SIR!"

"At ease, oddballs. Just taking a walk."

The black-coated swordsman gave the three a warm smile.

"You've all known me long enough to call me by my name, after all."

The female Saiyan readjusted her greeting, tripping on her words in a fluster.

"Y-YES, TRUNKS!"

[BGM: Sengoku BASARA OST - A Retainer's Dream Projected in Water]

So long, yet he still failed to understand it.

Seemed everywhere he walked, he saw the same thing; for every five smiles, a sullen neutral, for every 2 bouts of laughter, a longing sigh of boredom.

Speaking of sighs, a frustrated one of his own escaped from him.

"What's so wrong with peace?" he asked to no one, lounging into his chair back within his office.

Saiyan blood ran through his veins. But not once in his life had he ever known that "burning" which his father, or any Saiyan for that matter, seemed to cherish in the heat of the fight. Hell, even some full-blooded humans knew it better than he ever did.

"What's got you down?" a shrill female voice sounded from within a hallway lined with glowing scrolls.

"Oh-"

He paused. Trunks had picked up a bad habit of thinking aloud.

"It's nothing."

.

"…No, I lied. There's this issue I've got concerning the Time Patrol."

"An ACTUAL issue?"

"Come on… we've talked about this. Mortals depend on emotion to work, too."

A barely-audible huff escaped the hall.

"Explain."

"It's morale. I've never seen it so low. It's due to how quiet things have been in recent times; less action, less missions, less… thrill, I guess."

"Morale… less of that means less diligence, right?"

"You're still so cold!"

"Yeah, yeah. So what's stumping you?"

"…"

"It's been so long since something's gone 'BOOM!'"

"I understand the importance of getting stronger, but fighting for the sake of fighting… just never been my forte. Apparently, half the force doesn't share that vision. Some of them are just itching for action, action I KNOW they'll regret asking for when it comes full-swing and starts taking what they value. But… I dunno, it just seems so… bleak around here, now."

In the dark hall, a scroll atop one of the highest shelves fell unprovoked, pulled forth by an invisible outside force.

"I swear, every time I think I have you people figured out…"

A scene danced along the scroll's unfolded page:

"Thank you all for your patience! We will now begin the 21st '#1 Below The Heavens' Martial Arts Gathering!"

Warriors of all shapes and sizes passionately battled each other. Not over world-shaking ambitions or destruction of all that was good. Some fought for the sake of a greater cause. Some fought purely for money.

But there were fighters – including the palm-tree-headed monkey boy and star player in time's grand scheme – who fought for the sake of their arts. To test them against the world over, and give their mind, body, and spirit in a battle with someone with a similar goal.

A fight.

The voice in the hall hatched an idea.

"Trunks. How are time patrollers graduated from the Academy?"

"Huh? Standard exam testing historic and barebones-academic knowledge, followed by a final combat initiation test held by me."

"Hah?" the voice shouted with an ever-present sass. "No wonder everyone's bored out of their minds, having to fight someone as sour as you! Who came up with such a bland system in the first plaaaaa…ce…"

.

.

.

"a-"

"I suggest a tournament."

Trunks raised a brow.

"As a 'Final Exam.' That's what you call them, right?"

"well-"

"Of course I'm right, that was a test. Speaking of tests, this new-and-improved system will give your veterans their action fix, while making the rookies show us what they're really made of against one another in a red-hot battle to the finish!"

"Since when were you ever this pugnaci-"

The glowing scroll was suddenly thrusted skyward.

"SINCE FOREVER! All I needed was a reminder of what a fight looked like, and not the same struggle I find myself checking time-after-time! Maybe you could use the same. What do you think?"

.

.

.

"EXACTLY! Now, this tournament calls for a name…"

[BGM: Sengoku BASARA OST: Edge of a §word_Final_Version (1:25)]

"ATTENTION, ALL PROUD WARRIORS!"

"The hell? How's he doin' that?"

"ARE YOU NEW TO CONTON CITY?"

"Hmm? Wha's this about?"

"ITCHING TO PROVE YOURSELF WORTHY OF THE TITLE 'TIME PATROLLER' UNDER THE EYES OF VETERANS AND FELLOW ROOKIES ALIKE?"

"Not really! I just took a bath! I'm clean now, I promi-"

"WELL, GOOD NEWS! YOUR MOANS OF BOREDOM HAVE BEEN HEARD LOUD-AND-CLEAR!"

"Oh… oh no…"

"STARTING TODAY, YOUR TIME IN THE ACADEMY HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR THE EQUIVALENT OF 365 EARTH DAYS! BUT DON'T FRET… TRUST ME, YOU'LL NEED EVERY SECOND!"

"Errth? 'itty bastard can' ven… speak right!"

"FOR COME THE END OF YOUR TERM, A WHITE-HOT BATTLE OF WIT, DETERMINATION, SKILL, AND POWER AWAITS YOU!"

"Ba…tttle…"

"IN ONE YEAR'S TIME, BEGINS THE FIRST-EVER TOURNAMENT OF ITS KIND…"

"Just spill it, grape-head! Suspense is killing me!"

"THE WORTHY OF HEAVEN'S EYE MARTIAL ARTS EXAM!"

"..."

.

.

"… Tournament."

The last time Trunks had felt such raw joy and excitement erupting from so many people at once, his timeline had previously addressed an infestation involving A pair of rambunctious cyborgs. The walls of the Time Nest rumbled – it resided in a separate dimension at all times – with the collective enthusiasm of thousands upon thousands of hyper warriors, whose cries for help had finally been answered.

Friends and rivals alike were quite literally dancing in the streets. Enemies consoled each other as tears of joy poured from glinting eyes. It was rather absurd.

As for Trunks…

"Good grief. Still, looks like your idea was a smash hi-"

"EXACTLY! Who else knows mortals better than a god, after all?"

"maybe someone who's actually held a conversation with more than 5 on a good day-"

"WHAT'S THAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OUTSIDE MY 'THROTTLE RELENTLESSLY' RANGE, TRUNKS!"

He gave a nervous chuckle.

"I said no one but you…"

"Supreme Kai of Time."

"Tournament, huh?"

A tail swayed impatiently as a palm-tree-headed man in a red robe hung from the top of a giant crimson pole.

"I'm already gettin' antsy!"

Yo! OP here!

Yee, I decided on this being the first occurrence of this exam idea. Help make it a bit more special, or something.

This takes place about 2 days after the oncoming chapter(s?) involving Neo and Dina's training, as well as being the prelude to this new arc: The WoHE MAE-T saga! (Kinda sounds like WOAH, HE MIGHTY if you say it in a certain way, nice.) Before the actual tournament, this arc'll focus on fleshing out characters whom I plan to be relevant in said exam; motivations, personal troubles, growth, etc. etc.

As you probably noticed, I tweaked SKoT's personality. Reason being, I wanted to have fun with her character. As for why I'm keeping her in the dark, I don't want a proper introduction until the gang go on their first real mission, hype her up a fair amount as the GOD OF TIME and shizz. She's a god who knows that she's a god, and, while a LOT better with mortals than she used to be (story takes place about 7-12 years after Conton's con(s)t(ructi)on), her moral compass still holds time's safety over anything else. Rightfully so? Probably.

But uh, yeah. Wanted to get this one out in a jiffy, make up for the 3-week absence. Hoping you're all doing well and hopping for the best. Not a typo, I'm physically doing jumping jacks in order to ensure you guys's futures are great.

p.s. Notice how I used nothing but SB tracks in this chapter. There's a reason for that. They're good. SB is good. Watch it. Listen to it. Yes.

That's about it. See ya.