[ OP: Granrodeo ‒ Remember Your Passion ]

The Stage is Set! Ready Up, Patrollers of Tomorrow!

A few minutes after the unbridled chaos that was the last match, the rest of the preliminaries flew by at mach speed. The difference was being made between those who were demotivated, and those who were pumped beyond belief by the unimaginable power previously presented.

"Deadass thought you had that shit wrapped up, Locard," a Saiyan said by Block 8. "Then she just kinda… kinda smacked you cross the chin. Like, got out a whole mattress, pulled out the bedtime stories, poured you some milk and put your ass to sleep. Like… real shit, she tucked you in and you went night ni-"

"Man shut your wonky ass up and take me outta here, I got training to do."

"You did great, Luka!" Feneral congratulated his bested friend near Block 7. "I'm still hung on how he managed to get you out of the ring, though…"

Luka laughed gently. "I think I'm gonna lay off the Donken for a while, if I want to improve..."

"Looks like you're going it alone from here," Mashii half-sulked, Katlij nodding in acknowledgement. Neoru's head fell a bit at the sentiment.

"... Nope."

"Huh? What's that mean?"

With a snap, he pointed toward both former contestants.

"'Cus both of you are gonna be out there in the ring with me. I've spent way too much time 'round you knuckleheads for that not to be the case, y'know?"

Mashii maintained her weird stare, but Katlij started chuckling.

"Oh, I understand."

"wait, you do-"

The Brench-jin placed a hand on the human's shoulder.

"You'll show us something spectacular out there, yes?"

With a confident smirk, Neo bumped the side of his fist onto Katlij's chest.

"Damn right."

"... now kiss"

"I'll kiss you, ya damn weirdo."

The Hera girl playfully backed up. "I'll pass." She motioned Katlij along, and he followed.

"We'll be in the stands, obviously. Let us see how far you've come, m'kay smartass?"

With a peace sign from Neoru, they both left. His eyes drifted toward his struggling companion's position.

"C-C'mon, Devi, you're causing a scene!" Dina stressed, trying to console her suddenly-emotional ex-contestant.

"OH MY GAWDS, THIS IS SO UNFAI~R! ALL I DID WAS STEP OUT FOR LIKE A STUPID LITTLE SECOND, AND NOW YOU'RE LEAVING ME BEHIII~ND!"

"C'mon, mate, you did well on the virtual test, you'll be a patroller in… I dunno, a month or two?"

"AUUUUGH IALREADYHATEWAITINGANDNOWIGOTTAWATCHYOUPASSMEBYIALREADYMISSYOUBESTIIIIII~E!" Devine wailed.

"Devine, I'm going to Donny Warheads." Baubi suddenly interrupted. "You want anything?"

The lace-shirt Saiyan detached from Dina.

"Oh my gawds, yaa~s! I'm, like, SO starving after all that punching we just did, let's bounce already!"

"(bloody hell, and I thought I had mood swings...)"

The hybrid met a sudden gaze with Baubi.

"Uh…"

"... I lost, anyhow, but… I'm happy with where I got. Thanks."

A heartfelt smile crept up Dina's face. "What? For clobberin' you? If so, then… I guess I should say thanks for pointing out my tacky choice of clothes that day. Should've glanced at a mirror before waltzing out the door, yeah?"

Baubi smiled back. "We'll be right back. You've got this."

"GOOD LUCK, BEST'D'! WHOOP SOME ASS!" Devine yelled as they strolled off.

Dina gave a toothy grin and thumbs-up. She turned to Neoru's position and nodded.

"Now then…"

Neoru sighed, nodding back.

"The Big One."

And then, there were 16.

Now in front of them, 2 boxes filled with thick wooden cuts etched with numbers.

"Here is the box from which you shall draw lots to decide your opponent," The bio armor-clad instructor beside it explained. "Each has been made from the Aadibul Trees of Planet Klamor, and thus, any attempt to tamper with lots via telekinesis and the like will be caught and, subsequently, lead to disqualification. Their ward-like properties also negate the use of any magecraft, should you dare try THAT. Single-file line, draw the first lot you grab hold of and step to the side, now begin."

A line was formed. In the back,

"(Howdidigetherehowdidigetherehowdidigetherewhyididigetherewhydidigetherewhydidigethere-)"

Kaza.

She stomped a foot down and huffed in fresh air, despite her lack of a nose.

"(No, no, I don't need to think like that right now! If I'm here, I've got to be here for a reason! Just put your mind somewhere else!)"

With a desperate sigh, Kaza looked forward to the front.

And she began noticing fun things about the other contestants.

"(That boy in the hood… his outfit looks similar to that meanie who orbits Zinco…)"

"(Hm… that Zinco-haired girl has the same accent as the one in the red jacket… but even fancier!)"

"(Wo~w! The guy in the tight suit is just as big as the scary one with the black and yellow-coppery eyes… I wonder who'd win if they fought?)"

"(Those two Saiyans have such scary eyes… and the boy with the furry getup has been eyeing the long-haired girl for a while now… does he have a crush?)"

"(That guy in the big, dreary robes looks so sad… if only he had someone like Zinco to cheer him up...)"

"(That guy's suit looks so shiny! And he's using even more gadgets than the small guy in the visor... hm…)"

"(Mei probably doesn't want anything to do with me ever again… but if she has to fight someone like that big guy over there, if he's anything like me, then I'd still root for her all the way!)"

"(That small kid's smile kinda reminds me of Zinco, but… no, that's ALSO why he gives me the creeps!)"

Sufficiently cheered up, she drew the final lot.

"Match One: Neoru Orojia vs Tenganosu Grafia!"

"(Wow! They got assigned to each other!)"

"Match Two: Xiǎo Méi vs Dumdum!"

"(Them, too!? I should pick up a gacha after this!)"

"Match Three: Zinco vs Konus!"

"(hah…)"

"Match Four: Kaza vs Aisu no Bukyu!"

"(...)"

"Match… Five… Dina Spaurk vs Selaine Seraumics…"

"(... heh?)"

One of the refs began looking around in suspicion. The fighters were all being matched with one from their block, even though the odds of that were absurdly low, yet not so much as a rattle had occurred within the box.

"Match Six: Archi vs Kazikum."

"(d-did i… no, of... course…)"

The ref calling numbers shrugged, considering hitting a slot somewhere as they finished.

"Match Seven: Kora vs Rentil."

"(WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?)"

"And Match Eight: LIITA-MAN vs Akaki."

"(I DON'T GET ANY OF THIS!)"

Shortly after announcing the fights, a break was issued. The finalists were allotted 30 minutes of rest, ensuring peak performance in the tournament.

"Kh-he~eh!"

Neoru gulped down some more water, leaning on the back of his chair instead of sitting in it like a civilized human. Dina, behind 25 emptied plates, looked on in mild confusion.

"I'm lost, is there something that's adding a certain flavor you like, or…"

Neo briefly sucked his lips. "Nope, nothin' at all, so, best kind."

Dina began eating one of her 10 sweet rolls. " 'o 'lain wa'er… how have you not gotten used to that yet?"

The ponytailed boy shrugged. "Same way you're scarfin' down weeks worth'a food in minutes, ya damn freak."

Dina finished up her 9th hamburger, pointing. "Mh… Oi. I need this. Saiyans are walking power generators and whatnot, this is my fuel. Humans only NEED so much food and water, so with YOU, it'll be a miracle if you don't go wetting yourself all over the arena. Speaking of, I plan on using every square of it, so DO mind your drinking, yeah?"

Neoru looked away for a moment, letting out a refreshed sigh. "Feel free to make me, asshole…"

He looked back.

"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP GETTING ALL THAT!?"

Dina's eyes angrily looked back over her alfredo armada.

"... ya mum."

"Water's a rarity, where he comes from."

Both curiously turned to the new voice.

Fruits-and-Nuts yogurt granola bar in one hand stood the kid in the fancy tribal hoodie from Neoru's block. Tenganosu, Neo's first opponent.

"His homeland's aridness is likely why he enjoys water so much."

"... I mean, I'd've clapped if you'd just left it on the first half. Then you kept talkin', aaaand now I know you're making shit up."

He raised an eyebrow.

"You're an Orojia, right?"

It was Neo's turn to furrow a brow.

"... Good going, now I give a rat's ass. Yeah. Now who are you?"

The hooded young man shrugged. "If you couldn't tell by my jaqueta's pattern, then it's nothing for you to worry about. I'm just making small talk before we all tear each other to pieces."

"And now ya pissed me off again. What, we got history or some shit I don't know about?"

Undeterred, Tenganosu simply patted Neoru's shoulder.

Though it felt like something much larger had set its paw down on him.

"Like I said, it doesn't concern you. If you don't know, don't worry."

"OH COME THE- KNOW WHAT!?"

He swirled around in a rage, only for Tenganosu to have covered several meters in a spans he couldn't keep up with.

More so because of the spontaneous cryptic bullshit than the intimidation tactic, Neo felt like punching the air.

"... I could've been doing so fuckin' much right now."

Dina downed another scoop of ice cream. "He's hot."

Neoru aggressively walked off, resigning himself to calisthenics in a quiet corner.

"Pfft. Shame that you ain't."

"I CAN SMELL THE ENVY FROM HERE, COWARD!" Dina mocked, getting a middle finger in return.

Neo gone, Dina's smug smirk slowly sunk.

"... How is he not tense at all?" she muttered after a sigh, rising from her seat. "Gonna eat this sodding place barren at this point… whatever, need something crunchy now."

Not long later, the hybrid ravaged the granola-heavy vendors, walking off with a pile before noticing a raisin variant, making an icky face, and tossing it.

"Kuchen Kӓse."

It, along with a chocolate/peanut butter one that she personally sought out, proceeded to fly away.

"O-oi! Oi! OI!"

Both landed into the hand of a girl about Dina's age. A fancy silk shirt adorned her, alongside long strawberry-blonde hair, demeaning azure eyes, a short and wyvern- decorated robe over her shoulders, and a skirt that no one in their right minds would actually fight in. Apparently, she'd be Dina's first hurdle to the top, Selaine Seraumics.

"Oh, stop it, you," she spoke in a regal tone. "You've had far more than anyone's fill, regardless. Anymore, and you may very well pop."

Dina instantly became hostile. "Not my problem, ya prick, now toss back the goods or I'll break ye fuckin' arms!"

Selaine whooshed her hair, unwrapping a bar to the hybrid's immense chagrin.

"Hmph. Work on those filthy mannerisms of yours, and maybe I'll dignify your plea with a 'No Thank You'."

The clatter of a few dozen wrapped goods onto the ground drew eyes.

"Now I'M pissed, you uptight, cloud-huffing bastard."

Selaine took a bite. "That's MY line, you barbaric, bottom-feeding stain."

Dina was now in her face.

"Just how much do you think I value this tournament, love?"

"About as much as you do mouthwash, you stray?"

"Another 'clever' remark, an' I'll bash that overdone mug'a yours in, right in front of everyone, yeah?"

"Ah yes, irrational violence, how else would you 'people' solve your problems? Abscond, dullard."

With a borderline feral expression, Dina prepared a punch.

"PRISSY PIECE OF-"

"nO DUMBASS-"

Kora caught Dina in a nelson.

"YOU WANNA DIE, TOO!?"

"Idiot! Are you seriously gonna throw away an entire tournament over your FIRST OPPONENT? For just a SECOND, think about how stupid that is!"

The pugnacious half-blood slowly calmed down after the reminder, fanged grimace slowly settling into a frown.

[ BGM: Tsuneo Imahori ‒ Silent Eyes ]

"... OH YEAH."

And then it sharpened into a frenzied grin.

"Oh, yeah."

Hearing that, Kora cautiously released.

"Make no mistake, you snide posh shithead, I'm gonna take my time shoving each and every one of your words down your throat."

With a scoff and a wave of her golden hair, Selaine walked off.

"Keep dreaming, lowlife."

Dina's eyes drifted down toward a floorbound granola bar, another raisin one that she'd missed in her original pile. Devious intent seeped from her.

Kora glared. "DinaaA…"

"What? She seems to like these! I'm just trying to make aMENDS!"

The snack hurdled toward Selaine, only to smack into a transparent hex-wall.

"!?"

"...?"

The blonde girl smugly smirked, and kept walking away.

"What was…"

Kora shrugged. "Myou'll mind ou' in mhe me'c ma'ch."

"... those were-"

"On the ground? Unattended? Fair game? All of the above."

"... make it to the finals," Dina smiled.

"I'd better see you there," Kora smiled back, taking a piece of granola off her face before making her way.

"(So she'll be fighting that odd, frowny bloke Rentil, then… just seems like another brute, a gorilla like Kora won't lose to 'im.)"

Dina determinedly bit into an apple.

"(So in the meantime, I'll stop worrying and enjoy the party with all I've got.)"

An otherwise pitch-black void was illuminated by violet flames, resembling a feathered, winged serpent. Within a massive bubble that gradually expanded, it lay dormant for a time.

Then it began to uncoil. Its size soon began outpacing the growing bubble, and its agitated bellowing followed as the dragon began trying to break free, until it slipped through the bubble all together. From there, with its inflamed mass, it began coiling around the bubble, as vapor surrounded the inadequate, delicate holding space. It squeezed harder, and harder, until finally, no longer able to take such stress,

Neoru's eyes shot open.

"(... shit)" he wheezed, hand over his chest. The smoky, deep-lilac aura around him dissipated as he gasped, sweat no longer evaporating and simply dripping.

The boy broke from his "meditative," forearm-over-raised-knee sitting posture, rising up. Once his heavy breathing subsided, an uncontrollable smile creased up his face.

"What's that, 10 minutes now?" he said to himself, starting to giggle. "Alright, alright."

A tad hyper now, he moved on to high kick warm ups, getting a bit higher each time.

"(That means I'll be able to pop out whatever the hell this is for about… maybe ten seconds, now! Just in time for the tournament, too! If I just keep this up, then-)"

He suddenly paused, leg at highest elevation.

Someone else had met his high kick with her own, perfectly perpendicular off the ground.

"... that's a pressure point, ain't it?"

"Kunlun," Mei responded in kind.

"It's even got a stupid fuckin' name- the hell are you doin'?"

Mei lowered her leg, taking the sharp point of her shoe off of Neoru's ankle. His leg followed suit. He hadn't paid her much mind, but now that he was up close, she'd (somewhat) grown; subtracting the bun that led into her dual-ponytail, she now came up to his shoulder.

"I wanted to gauge you. After all, I have not seen your progress up close in some time, and we will be facing each other soon."

Her opponent didn't have much too them, and besides, they weren't done eating. Would be rude.

"Well aren't you full of it? You're dealin' with some lardass who counters everything you can throw at 'im, so unless you've got some way to tap the ground's pressure points or some shit, and get it to toss him off the arena, I doubt I'll be seein' ya from anywhere but the stands."

A chuckle escaped Mei's lips.

"What?"

An ominous aura loomed over the small anti-assassin.

"I am now far beyond reliance on a single art."

"Look, if you try and pull that loopy cryptic bullshit today, I'm just gonna walk off, I've had it up to here with that at this point."

Mei shrugged, and then presented her right hand; it was MUCH nicer than what he'd remembered.

"I can now cut anything. Even that which is not."

Neo stared. Mei's confidence persisted.

"You will see that even with your hidden ability, you are no longer of any material to match where are you going?"

The dark-redhead was now talking to the dark-brunette's back.

"i tolja didn' i"

"Was I not blunt?"

"'Bubuh dat wuhich iz na~at, buhbuhbuhbuh' like you even know what the hell 'blunt' means, buzz off."

Dead-eyed, Mei watched him go to another corner to warm up.

"... xiǎo niǎo."

"HEH? HELL'D YOU JUST SAY!?"

"I recited a mantra." Mei's stupid teeny smile said otherwise. She turned her head before the boy could confirm its existence.

"Gh- Just get lost already!"

Mei blew a raspberry and did what she was told.

Neoru began punching the air. He was definitely shadow boxing.

"(Geez, and I thought Kora's opponent looked like a tough customer…)"

Archi eyed his first adversary on the way to the top, lounged back and crunching away at the thigh bone of a distant planet's apex herbivore. His resting bitch-face was lost on him.

"(He's looking pretty conceited, too… well, it's high-time he found out what he's up against!)"

With a surefire grin, Archi kicked up a seat and, reversing it, popped a squat.

Kazikum was unfazed.

"So you're my opponent, huh?"

"..."

"I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm pretty far out of your league right now."

"..."

"I mean, bar one, that's the case with everyone here, but… you're gonna be the first to go down, so uh, let's just get our 'no hard feelings' crap out of the way now and finish on good terms, m'kay?"

"..."

Archi sighed. "(Nothing, huh? Well he's got guts, if nothing else.)" He took note of Kazikum's incessant bone gnawing, and took it as a chance to crack wise.

"I know it's been a rough few minutes, but the meat's gone, dude. It's time to let it go."

Apparently, it was good enough to rouse a low chuckle from Kazikum.

Though it was an awfully sinister laugh, Archi gave one of his own glad to lighten up the-

A fist suddenly and violently crashed down, and iron-like bone fragments scattered across the area.

"I'm gonna cave in your fucking skull."

His words issued "threat," but his eyes screamed "goal."

"... Well, aren't you cocky?" Archi taunted, after his initial startle had settled.

Kazikum's hardened glare spoke for him as he began eating the bone, marrow and all.

"Jeez, you're boring. Welp, see ya in the ring, 'Kazikum.'"

He saw the arrogant Saiyan off, only to see him flirt with the Kora girl and Dina. His glare softened a bit in the process, but he reinforced and redirected it elsewhere once the plucky girl in red pointed toward him. She looked inexplicably pissed while she did it, too, before Archi said something that pissed both girls off. Apparently, the rules didn't apply if the punch was slapstick against a guy. That's fair.

And then something green, white, yellow, and stupid briefly passed him.

"Oh! You made it too, Akaki!" Zinco waved, having just finished his literal-hundred meals and starting to make greetings. The prior-mentioned young man stared at him for a while. He'd grown a fair bit, apparently.

"... Ah… Shin… Zin… Zinco!" Akaki gleefully exclaimed, not phoning in anything at all. "It's been weeks since we've seen each other!"

"It has? I don't remember seeing you in 1… 2… 4 months, though!"

"That's because you're stupid, stupid!"

"You hurt my feelings, but it was still nice seeing you!" Zinco happily concluded, moving on to his next stop.

"Hi, Kaz-"

"GAAH!"

Zinco stood in place, as if confronting a startled fawn, as Kaza slowly dropped her arms from over her face.

"... hi."

"... hi."

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

Kaza giggled a bit. "Don't be. I'm just nervous."

Zinco raised a brow. "How come?"

"It looks like everyone's introducing themselves to their opponents right now, and… no one's exactly been friendly about it… so my guard's up."

"Akaki's getting along with his, though."

"Yeah, but they're the only ones. And the armor guy's just nice."

The blonde put on a determined look, as his head slowly fell to the side. Kaza instinctively knew what he was going to do next.

"Zinco…"

"I know!"

"Zinco please-"

"We should-"

"Greetings, thing!"

In less than a millisecond, Kaza went from in front of, to behind Zinco.

Taking her place was a tiny, pitch black and grey-carapaced Musai that came up to Kaza's waist, maybe. His fancy, crown-like head had 5 small protrusions each side, longest at the top and shrinking from there, stemming around a pure white, jewelish orb; similar gem-like body parts served as bio-shoulder pads and a large core in the center of his chest. Small, mandible-esque horns curved down off his chin, and a proud, wide-eyed smile across his purple-marked face struck Kaza as exceptionally weird. Apparently, that was Aisu no Bukyu.

"... Hi! I'm Zinc-"

"Hahaha! Silly tailed thing! You're not my opponent yet! The tall thing is!"

Kaza could only crouch so low. However, determined to help out Kaza, he stepped to the side to introduce the two, much to her dismay.

"Mh… Mh! This is Kaza! She's kind of shy, but she's also really, really strong!"

The Saiyan caught wind of Kaza's desperate signs to stop.

"And, uh… most of all, she's really, really, really nice, and doesn't like hurting others, so please go easy on her."

Kaza wiped off a bead of sweat.

"Hah-hah-hah! No, absolutely not!"

Kaza became a running faucet.

Bukyu's unchanging smile and tone persisted. "I'm going to win against her, and that's all that matters! I'm going all-out from the start!"

"But what if you hurt her?"

"Who cares? If she didn't want to be hurt, she wouldn't be here!" the Musai heartily laughed, redirecting attention toward the fuchsia girl.

"Yes! I can tell from here that I'm going to beat you! I just wanted to make sure! Soon, pathetic tall thing!" his hearty, boastful and uncannily-innocent laughter carried on as he left.

Zinco, stumped by the penultimate statement, looked over to a now-dejected Kaza.

"... he's… why am I…"

"... Kaza, you're strong. And you don't like to hurt people. But I… erm…" Zinco began straining.

"I… no, I don't really know why you're here, either."

"Oh."

And then Zinco realized something.

"But if you're sad that I don't know, and you're sad that YOU don't know, but you never walked away, even when you could've... that means there's something here that you want!"

Kaza's eyes widened a bit. "There is?"

Zinco nodded frantically. "Why else would you be sad!? And no matter what, you'll be able to win against that guy and find that thing! Because I don't know what it is, and my head's spinney now thinking about it!"

Gripping the cloth by the right of her chest, Kaza ultimately straightened up and nodded.

"... Ok. O… osu."

"Osu!" Zinco giddily nodded, walking off. "I know you can do it!"

Not long after, he waved toward two others.

"Hi Mei! Hi Neo!"

"Cao ni-" Mei began, only to see Neoru's simple flipping-off and following suit.

Zinco got the memo. The wrong memo. And Kaza had to sprint over to stop him from dual-flipping and causing something.

Mei's gaze briefly drifted over to Kaza in that instance, and catching each other off guard, they locked eyes.

They quickly looked away, sure that one would've glared at the other.

The exchange further imprinted the question onto Kaza.

"(I didn't walk away, and I could have… so why didn't I?)"

Briefly confused, Zinco turned to Neoru, and shot a confident smile and nod. Neoru simply scoffed, as the blonde walked off.

Zinco still had to introduce himself to his tournament buddy.

[ BGM: Takafumi Wada ‒ Di Kong ]

Surprisingly, there wasn't anything abnormal or antagonizing with the dreary, black and brown-robed competitor at first glance; he simply sat, tea in hand. Waiting.

"Hi! I-I mean hello. My name is Zinco."

The pale namekian nodded.

"If I may ask, why did you hesitate just now?"

"Er, I thought you were just lonely, but I started wondering if you just liked being alone."

Konus nodded. "Thank you for your consideration."

"Mh…"

Zinco insisted on making small-talk with the person he'd be facing off against, like everyone else, but felt lost on words. Everything about the figure seemed hopelessly hollow.

"You're um, you're very mature for your age, Konus."

"I am? What age would that be?"

He looked young, but his mannerisms seemed like those of an old, perpetually-tired old man.

"I, uh… never mind."

"Forgive my asking, but was there a reason you sparked conversation with me?"

"I wanted to meet the person I was… gonna face… I guess..."

A light bulb went off inside Zinco's head.

"OH! I KNOW!"

In his excitement, the hybrid stood from his chair.

"Why are you here in the tournament?"

The wearily-dressed boy merely shrugged and shook his head.

"Because I am strong."

Zinco raised a brow. "So you wanna compete?"

"No."

"... I don't get what you're saying."

Konus nodded in response.

"I was 'born' strong. So I feel compelled to use my strength. To what ends, I do not care. If I do not use this strength, then my existence serves no point. Should I win this bout, those above me will see fit to use my strength for higher means. And I will oblige."

"So... you don't like to fight? Why not just do another thing?"

"Futile. From what I have experienced, nothing else serves a purpose. I am strong, so my point of being must be to use my strength. Nothing more."

"... But that's sad. There's gotta be something out there that you like!"

Konus stared into his cup.

"... Sadness, anger, joy… such emotion is lost on me. Apologies."

Zinco looked like he wanted to say something more, but nothing came out.

"I am boorish, from what I have been told. I apologize for such, but I have said my peace. If you wish to continue talking to me, feel free, though I lack the words to respond."

The depressing aura around the leek-green namekian was starting to rub off on the cream yellow-haired hybrid.

"No, it's fine. Nice talking to you."

Konus did another stoic nod as Zinco left.

In spite of the dull discussion recently held, however...

"(I'll show him… no, everyone, something that surpasses fighting.)"

Zinco's resolve only hardened.

"(And after that, no one'll see it as something that needs to happen!)"

"(... ow.)"

He then lost all sight, and bumped into a wall.

In fact, everyone was suddenly plunged into darkness.

Soon, the only source of light in… quite literally the world… was a singular spot outside, in the center of the arena.

Within it stood a dapper silhouette. High and slicked-back hair, a navy-blue over a faded yellow two-piece suit adorned with a red tie, he dynamically spun and twirled a microphone before tossing it into the air, and it fell into the hands of the stylish man, now turned as his glossy sunglasses gave off a brief, dazzling shine.

He then cleared his throat.

Again.

Once more.

[ BGM: Hiroshi Takaki ‒ Adventurous Spirit (Start-0:53)]

"... weeeeeeEEEELCOME, TO THE FIRST ANNUAL 'WORTHY OF HEAVEN'S EYE' MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT!" Trunks roared.

The sleek, seamless flash of activated force fields, in tandem with the slow building of shouts, revealed a massive crowd surrounding the sides of the arena.

Going on, Trunks's usually-raspy voice was nigh-unrecognizable; smooth, charismatic and carrying infectious levels of enthusiasm, it was like hearing a different person all-together.

"IN THIS EVENT, ABOUT 16 NEW RECRUITS BRIMMING WITH POTENTIAL, ALL HAILING FROM DIFFERENT PATHS ACROSS THE SANDS OF TIME AND PACKING MAJOR AMOUNTS OF POWER, WILL DUKE IT OUT TO DISCOVER WHO AMONG THEM IS THE STRONGEST!"

Giant holograms detailing rules and the template for "Health Bars" sparked the air and lit up the area behind him.

"THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT, ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF FATAL WEAPONS IS VALID, AND VICTORY IS ATTAINED BY A 10-SECOND KNOCKOUT, A DEFINITIVE EMPTYING OF A CONTESTANT'S HEALTH METER, A RING OUT, OR A SURRENDER! THOSE WHO ARE DEEMED WORTHY WILL BE GRANTED AN IMMEDIATE LICENSE AS A TIME PATROLLER… AND WHO ELSE TO PASS THESE VERDICTS THAN OUR 3 HONORED JUDGES!"

A heavenly spotlight shined down upon a special tri-seated booth to the side of the arena, just below the stands.

All 3 were empty.

"... huh. Well, it looks like our judges are running a bit la-"

And as quickly as Trunks spoke, a gate-borne portal opened in the air.

"-AND HOLD THAT THOUGHT!"

[ BGM: Nash Music Library ‒ Lethal Blow ]

Speeding through it, the illuminated figure of a white-cloaked figure. Upward-spiked ruby hair, an emerald scouter over the left of his onyx eyes, bagged pants neatly tucked into orange modern boots, and a yellow shirt layered under a berry-blue Capsule Corp jacket.

"MANY OF YOU KNOW HIM AS THE MAN WHO WATCHED OVER THE LATE TOKITOKI CITY, FOILED THE PLOTS OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS CRIMINALS KNOWN TO SPACE-TIME, AND EVEN SLAYED THE DEMON GOD AMONG DEMON GODS! EVEN NOW, HE NEVER PAUSES HIS ENDLESS QUEST TO PRESERVE TIME, BAR THIS MOMENT! EVERYONE, GIVE IT UP FOR THE FIRST TIME PATROLLER IN HISTORY, ACE!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the stands. Proudly, Ace touched down to the spotlighted seat, wiped off a stray bit of sweat from his brow, and then blood from his cheek, and grabbed the commentary mic.

"Hhhh..."

With a sincere, bright smile, Ace then gave a thumbs up. He was happy to be there.

Glad his old friend could make it, and gathering hope that she didn't, Trunks prepared his next speech.

"Unfortunately, it looks like our second guest of honor was unable to make it here to judge, so it is with a heavy heart that I-"

"INTRODUCE OUR NEXT GUEST STAR!"

"GAHAHUA-"

The part-time announcer nearly fell onto his backside, but the blue wind of professionalism kept him on his feet.

[ BGM: Yoshihisa Hirano ‒ Dirge From Dark Side ]

Now spontaneously before him was a grey-skinned Majin with a mouth perpetually curled into that of a cartoon cat's, vibrant eyes as blue as the deep sea's abyss, donning a tendril-composed ponytail draping down to her back, and a pink-yellow-green outfit unlike any seen on Earth that could only be described as harem pants stopped at the knee via high boots, under a jacket with high, puffy black highlights around her neck and over her shoulders, and a heart-shaped design over her chest as a void-black belt wrapped around her waist.

Trunks proceeded to do as he was told.

"O-our next judge is a pillar of the New Time Patrol and the daughter of, ironically enough, a demon god who decided to lend us his aid in the days of Tokitoki City. During Conton's development, she played a vital role in defending the Patrol while we were otherwise at our weakest, and even restored the sanity of brainwashed elites via… necessary force... as Ace slowly recovered. In spite of her heritage and upbringing, she's a bona fide force of good-"

"Chaotic Neutral!" she winked in an innocent, cheery tone.

"... she's decided to stick with the good guys for now. Putting aside that, the immense good she's done can by no-means be ignored! Give it up for Conton City's Pearl, Puddin!"

The applause this time-around was a tad more frantic, as if everyone watching had a gun to their heads.

"I hope everyone does their bestest-best! Nya~!" She dynamically held up two peace signs, as glitter, confetti, and stars shot from thin air.

She then reappeared in her illuminated seat.

"Oh, Trunks you meddling incompetent piece of shsilly billy, you forgot my last name!"

"Oh, that jokester Puddin! Anyone who attempts to say that word in this plane of existence goes mad!"

"D'aww! You got me again!"

Ace slowly scooted away from her.

Trunks wiped off a bead of sweat. "(Well, there's two of three… but dammit, Father told me he'd show! He probably forgot about all this thanks to a bowl of putty or something...)"

He sighed away from the mic. "(No choice, I can't hold this up forever.)"

"YO! IS THIS THE PLACE!?"

[ BGM: Takayoshi Tanimoto ‒ Super Dragon Soul (Instrumental) ]

"(Nh!?)"

A light in the distance neared the arena. It then shot upward, leaving a luminescent streak in the sky; and moments after, a red, impossibly-long pole plunged from the dark into the ring, only a meter from where Trunks stood.

But despite that, Trunks chuckled in relief.

"Our next guest needs no introduction."

The pole began contracting.

"Old or new, if you've stayed in Conton City for more than a day, you know of this man, and everything he's accomplished. So without any further delay:"

A spotlight revealed a man with spiked, black and palm tree-ish hair, a red cross between a gi and a robe held around his waist with a blue belt, a tight black undershirt, and a curious expression as he held onto his nyoibo.

"PLEASE WELCOME, SON GOKU!"

Amidst thunderous applause that shook the island, Goku grinned.

"Took a while, but I finally found it."

"Eh- a while?"

"Hn? Yeah, I got here after the preliminaries were supposed to end, but then the entire island went dark. Wait a minute… Hehe, I coulda just used Instant Transmission to find you all! Sorry!"

"... huh. Well, you're here now. That's all that matters."

With a nod and a use of that very technique, Goku arrived in his seat.

"IN SPITE OF THE CLOSE-CUT TIMING, ALL 3 JUDGES HAVE MADE THEIR ENTRANCE! AND WITH THAT…"

Sparks flew over a spot far-left of the arena, revealing an entrance not too dissimilar from the No. 1 Under Heaven's original arena gateway ‒ thatched roof, statue of an oriental demon head atop it, the small pair of doors with the Tenkaichi Budokai kanji etched across their shared middle, and all ‒ albeit less wide, and taller, now protruding from the stands. Accompanying it were 2 pillars on each side, and each detailed with a Shenron design that wrapped around until rearing their heads at the top; the source of the sparks being their golden maws.

The same happened on the arena's opposite side, illuminating two paths leading from them, to the steps of the ring.

And just like that, the blue sky shined back down upon the world.

"THE WORTHY OF HEAVEN'S EYE MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT BEGINS!"

On both sides, a health bar whirred into existence, filling from red, to orange, to yellow, to green, and finally, to blue. Two headshots of the upcoming fighters filled the empty parallelogram behind them.

Fierce purple irises pierced the right side's dark and gradually brightened.

Trunks kicked off the arena, twirled his mic for effect, and announced the fighters.

"THE FIRST MATCH OF THE DAY…."

Neoru stepped up to the plate.

"NEORU OROJIA! VERSUS! TENGANOSU GRAFIA!"

Tenganosu shot back a glare, nothing like the laid-back vibes he'd given off in their first meeting.

But that feeling of an opponent's contempt, if anything, was nostalgic for the boy.

"Ooo~kay…" he murmured, whipping his hands out of his pockets and getting into a light stance.

"How strong am I, right now…"

Trunks raised, and hammered down, his hand.

"BATTLE! ON!"

[ ED: Pay Money To My Pain ‒ Weight of My Pride ]

6/4/2023 Patch Notes: Switched Kora and LITTA-MAN's round order, for consistency. Corrected OP's stupid ass regarding LITTA-MAN's genre; Tokusatsu, not Sentai.

Yo! OP Here!

Looks like I JUST made my End of Month deadline. I don't ‒ I REALLY don't ‒ want this to become a monthly thing, but work just ramped up a bit and I have less time when I get home to work on the story. I just need to go a bit harder and actually commit to shit instead of letting myself stray, is all. Oh, and I had to rebuild a bit of my WHE MAE-T notes from scratch, that was fun. And that statement's like 50/50 on sarcasm, it gave me a bit more time to reflect on core concepts.

I changed a bit of things concerning the story as a whole, too: Neoru's new clan name is Orojia. Yeah, it's Oroji in katakana for -Ology, I was being a presumptuous dumbass. The -a is to bring it closer to its Latin root, is all.

But anyway, on with the 50TH CHAPTER BABYYYY! THAT'S 50 WHOLE CHAPTERS IN 2 AND A HALF... years... oh. I mean It's better than most but- fun things. Gotta talk about fun things.

Here's some info about the secondary fighters in this chapter:

Tenganosu Grafia: Steganography/Steganographia. (His name has been Tenosu for like 2 weeks, but I JUST fact-checked and Stenography is NOT what I was going for. At all. Fuck me.) (Future OP changed his name, but I'm leaving the bad OG one to piss Future Future OP off.) He's gonna serve as Neoru's introduction to something I've elected to call Tlatla, as well as the "South Stretch," the name I chose for the islands he and Tenganosu's people hail from.

Selaine Seraumics: Porcelain, Ceramic. Nod to Harry Potter. She's how Dina's gonna learn about the magus shit Yarg has had going on, and how her old friendo Luna got so batshit dangerous out of nowhere. She's centered around spellcasting magic since that's a pretty interesting-yet-underrepresented system in the mesh that is Dragon Ball, and she comes from that Caelum Civitatis place Dina seems so fond of.

Aisu no Bukyu: You know this one. His naming scheme is loosely based on Seimei no Abe who, if I know my history, got bodied by Ryoma Nagare and friends using their giant eldritch robot in the early 2000s, before founding the Drifters. Anime sucks. Anyway, he's got a centipede motif going on, he doesn't know what he's doing to other people due to poor empathic skills, and I'm planning on making him stupid strong. Other than that, nothing special; his effect on Kaza and her two drastically-different friends is what'll make him something.

Konus: Scientific name for certain genus of Cone Snails, including stuff like Conus Geographus. They can end you. He's based primarily off the nihilistic monk and soon-to-be sword cuddler from Thunderbolt Fantasy, Di Kong, and his skillset involves Wuxia-y stuff, so he'll be fun for Zinco to battle. Also, his origins involve what can go wrong in a Namekian-style fusion. Just spoiling it now.

Dumdum: Dum-Dum suckers. A fat Majin. Look, I was creatively bankrupt, leave me alone.

LIITA-MAN: A tokusatsu love letter who can alter his mass. He's fighting Akaki. Should be an easy body for LIITA-MAN. I'm not mentally screaming his name every time I say it, no, but feel free to.

Rentil: Lentil veggies. Nothing special power-wise, he's a caveman. It's his ideals that I've got plans for; he just doesn't like the idea of Saiyans bending to authority in general, ESPECIALLY not Frieza. RIT armor's an extension of that, in his eyes.

So I thought about how I was gonna get these guys to fight each other without it seeming contrived, and while there were no-doubt much better options, I settled on Kaza doing shit behind her own back because that's funnier than anything else. I just would not let that shit go.

... so Puddin from TFS is canon to STEP... in some ways...

Screw you, It'll be fun.

Next chapter will be, yes, Neoru vs Tenganosu. All of it. Next should be Mei vs Dumdum and another example of my endless bias for humans and incessant jacking off of Xianxia absurdity. Somewhat linear from there.

If you care about Thunderbolt Fantasy spoilers, then peace out my G. Stay safe, and see ya.

...You gone?

Alright then,

BAN GUNHA!
BAN GUNHA!
BAN GUNHA!
BAN GUNHA!

HOLY SHIT, BEST CHARACTER OF 2021. GOD, I ALREADY MISS HIM, HE WAS TAKEN TOO DAMN SOON. Seriously, I dunno how I'm gonna carry on without TBolt Saturdays... like man. What a ride, this season.

Other than that, I got into Getter Robo, I finally watched Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and uh, yeah.

That's about it.

See ya next match.