Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū Tenka'ichi Budōkai

By: JaquiK

Chapter 4: The Final Eight

Akane could not believe how much her fortune was turning around. When the day started, even the fact she would finally be participating in this prestigious once every half decade event couldn't fully lift her spirits after the horrendous announcement she got the night before. It was bad enough how much her dad's annoying friend kept bragging about how his son Ranma was soooo much better than everyone else (including her specifically), but then she got hit with the bombshell that this boy would be marrying her and taking over the dojo. Her dojo. As if things couldn't get any worse, Tatewaki of all people showed up at the tournament. She was in absolutely no mood to deal with his stupid poetic-ish attempts if they ended up in the ring together, even if that meant she got to kick his ass once more.

But then, it turned out she didn't even need to. An angel showed up to her rescue. An amazing, powerful, drop dead gorgeous, red haired angel who kicked that annoying Tatewaki right out of the arena. And then, just as she was gearing up to the idea of them working together to take care of her so-called fiancé, she got the stunning news that it wouldn't even be needed. Because it turned out that this super cool girl was actually Ranma. And now there was the very likely possibility that one of them would be victorious as the Number One Under the Heavens. Heck, maybe their match with each other would be the finals. Now wouldn't that just be the perfect way to stick it to her dad.

Her grin continued as she led Ranma along, not dropping until she entered the martial arts hall. The other six finalists were already there, and they were all guys. On top of that, almost all of them looked to be about her age or younger. Well, it was a little hard to tell with the one guy wearing the tiger striped half mask, but he seemed to be close to her age. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she scanned the group. She had plenty of experience dealing with boys like this, Tatewaki especially, to know what they're all like. Absolutely no consideration of her as a martial artist and barely as a person, basically just treating her as a prize to be won. That one guy with the ridiculous sideburns wearing what looked to be a weird cross between a gi and a gakuran definitely appeared to be extra trouble. In fact, based on her experience training under several martial arts masters and having to deal with how their students considered her, the only one of the group with even the possibility of not being a pervert was the old man in the corner.

Well, there was a chance that the two younger kids walking up, both wearing gis very similar to Ranma's, wouldn't be so bad. One of them even had a shaved head with the markings of a Buddhist monk, so he couldn't actually be a pervert, right?

"Hey, Ranma!" the young monk said with a bit of a grin on his face. "Who's the babe? I should have figured you'd be the one to find a hottie like this, you total stud."

Okay, scratch that then. Well, the spiky haired kid was at least bowing politely to her, so maybe-

"Hi there! So, are you a boy, a girl, or somethin' else?"

Akane could feel her eye start to twitch slightly. "Excuse me?!"

"Oh, don't mind Goku," Ranma said with a laugh. "Poor kid was raised in the woods and is still getting used to talking to people. Hey you two, this is my new friend, Akane. She's also made it into the main tournament group. Akane, these are my friends and fellow training buddies, Goku and Kuririn."

"Nice to meet you both," Akane politely said before narrowing her eyes slightly. "You're not going to have any issues about facing off against a girl, are you?"

"Nah," Goku replied. "I already practiced with Ranma a buncha times and a lotta those woulda counted as fighting with a girl."

"Yeah," Kuririn added. "And Goku already faced off against a couple of girls in the preliminaries too."

"Oh really?" Akane said with a raised eyebrow. "Did one of them have brown hair in a helmet cut and a green gi?"

"Oh yeah!" Goku said with a big smile. "So she was a girl, then. Wow, she sure got real mad when I asked her. It ended up being a really fun fight. Prob'ly woulda been more fun if my tail didn't run away on me."

Akane looked over to Ranma who only gave a shrug.

"Hey, you two!"

Akane turned to see the weird boy with the ridiculous sideburns marching up to her and Ranma, stopping just short of them and trying to stare them down. "What do you want?" Akane asked with a scowl.

"Just so you know," the boy said with a glare of his own, "this is meant to be a hot-blooded shonen action tournament. I better not see you try to pull any shoujo romance crap and screw it all up!"

"Oh you don't have to worry about anything like that," Akane answered, crossing her arms. "In fact, Ranma and I already took care of any potential engagement nonsense. Isn't that right, Ranma?"

"Oh yeah, we most certainly did. Definitely no engagement stuff to worry about here," Ranma said with a noticeable nervousness in her voice, which confused Akane a bit. Is she actually being intimidated by this loser?

"Engagement?" Goku asked. "What's that taste like?"

"Sickeningly sweet, enough to make your teeth rot," the sideburned boy responded. "So you better hope you never have to run into it." He looked back to Akane. "Alright, I'll hold you to that for now. Just remember that this is meant to be hard hitting action and not any of that lovey dovey junk." He then turned around and power walked away from the group.

Akane stared in bewilderment for a few moments until she remembered something she wanted to bring up. "Hey, I noticed your uniforms all have 'turtle' on it."

"Yep! It's cause we were all trained by the turtle guy," Goku responded.

"The turtle guy?"

"Goku's talking about our master, the Turtle Hermit," Kuririn explained with a big grin. "Although you probably know him better as Muten Roshi."

"I…wait, hold on. You mean The Muten Roshi? The Invincible Old Master?"

The three gave a collective nod towards her.

"The man who's considered one of the greatest martial artists of all time?"

Another set of nods.

"You all actually trained under him?"

One more set of nods, this time with big smiles on each of their faces.

"Oh wow, that's amazing! I can't believe he's still alive!"

A loud crash drew their attention and the four turned to find the old man from before had apparently tripped and fallen hard on the ground.

"The heck is up with that guy?" Ranma asked.

Akane gave a shrug. "Eh, I've trained under a lot of old martial artists. Most of them had a weird quirk or two. They were still amazing teachers so you just had to get used to it."

"Huh," Kuririn said. "Hey, does that guy seem familiar at all to you?"

"Not sure," Ranma answered. "Old dudes tend to look all alike to me. What about you, Goku?"

Goku gave a couple of deep sniffs in the old man's direction. "Nah, he doesn't smell like anyone I know."

"Wait, smell?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, like I said, Goku was raised in the woods, so they have a really good sense of smell."

"Oh, I see." Akane looked down at the spiky haired kid with slight trepidation. "Well, try to avoid doing stuff like that around me, okay? Uh, no offense, but I'd prefer not having any backwoods boys sniffing me up."

"Huh?" Goku looked up at Akane. "But I'm not-"

"Alright, everyone listen up! Will the finalists please assemble over here now!" The call came from a thin man with slicked back blond hair who was wearing a suit and dark sunglasses. As everyone walked up to him, he gestured to a poster on the wall with an eight person bracket on it. "Greetings, I am the announcer for the 21st Tenka'ichi Budōkai. We will now determine the matchups for the tournament."

"Ahem, if you don't mind," said the old man stepping up next to Ranma. "I would like to fight the young red haired lady first."

As Akane debated if it would be worth it to get disqualified for doing what she was about to do, the man in the suit responded.

"I-I'm sorry, but no. You don't get to choose your own opponents. Instead, you will be drawing lots to determine your positions. When I call your name, please come up and draw a number. First up, in no particular order, Kuririn."

The small bald kid went up and reached into the box being held by a monk from the temple, pulling out a slip of paper. "I got 2," he said, reading from the slip.

"Okay, Number 2 in Match 1," The tournament announcer declared while writing the boy's name on the tournament bracket. "Okay, next up is Tendo Akane."

Akane took a nervous gulp as she stepped forward and drew her number. "It's 5."

"Okay, Number 5 in Match 3."

As she stepped back, Ranma leaned forward and whispered to her, "So, what was that whole thing about family names again?"

She groaned at the jab from her new friend. "Look, my dad was the one that handled the registration, alright?"

"Next up is Saotome Ranma."

Before Akane could get in her own jab, a different voice suddenly spoke up.

"Aha, I just knew you'd be at this tournament!" yelled out the boy in the tiger striped mask, pointing an accusatory finger. "You thought you could get away by changing your appearance, but now there is nowhere for you to run. Finally, I will have my vengeance!"

"The hell are you on about," said the boy with the sideburns who was currently being pointed at. "I ain't this Ranma person."

"Oh," the masked boy said with slight embarrassment before steeling himself again and pointing at the other teenage boy in the group. "Dammit, Ranma, how dare you try and hide behind some random guy instead of facing me directly like a man!"

"Actually, I'm Ranma," the redhead in question responded, raising her hand.

The mask boy spun around to face her, only for his anger to quickly evaporate into confusion. "Wait, you're that girl that was in my group. Your name is Ranma?"

"Heh heh, yup," Ranma said with a nervous laugh. "Weird coincidence, huh?"

The strange boy stared down Ranma for a few more seconds before turning around and looking towards the ceiling, his fist clenched in rage. "Dammit, Ranma! You may have avoided me this day, but mark my words. I will be coming for my vengeance!"

"Wow, what do you think that other Ranma did to this guy?" Akane whispered to the red haired girl, who just gave a shrug.

"Can we please move this along now?" the announcer said, slightly exacerbated.

"Oh yeah, sure," Ranma said, stepping up. She rummaged in the box a bit, finally pulling out the number 4.

"Alright, Number 4 in Match 2."

"Huh, looks like we really will be meeting in the finals then," Akane noted as Ranma walked back up to her. She then took a look around at everyone else again. "Well, if we both make it that far at least."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do great," Ranma said with a grin. "I know for sure I will."

"Next up is…" The announcer furrowed his brow as he looked at his clipboard. "Uh, Sun…Wukong? Is there a Sun Wukong here?"

Everyone looked around the room in confusion as no one stepped up. Finally Ranma went over and checked the announcer's list. "I'm pretty sure that it says 'Son Goku' there."

"Oh," the announcer noted. "Okay, is there a Son Goku here?"

"Yup, right here!" Goku loudly proclaimed as he rushed up and drew his number.

"That is Number 8 in Match 4. Next is Gekijiro."

The boy with the absurd sideburns marched up and drew his number.

"Okay, Number 7 also in Match 4. Looks like we have our first matchup determined.

As the boy, Gekijiro, walked back, he paused a moment to address his upcoming opponent. "Hey, I trust we will have a good fight with none of that Shojo crap?"

"What's a shojo?" Goku asked.

"Alright, good," Gekijiro said with a nod.

"Next up, we have Jackie Chun. Who will be his opponent in the first round?" the announcer said while trying to invoke an ominous tone.

The old man dramatically stepped forward and pulled out a number from the box. He carefully looked at his result, brows furled for several seconds, before he turned back to everyone.

"Could I possibly get a do over, please?"

The announcer quickly picked himself off the ground. "There are no do overs in this tournament! I can see you got Number 1, so you'll be in Match 1 against Kuririn."

Jackie looked over at the brackets for a few moments, then muttered to himself, "I suppose that still works." He then turned and addressed Ranma. "Be sure to do well in your match. I expect great things from you."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Ranma said with a grin. "Right now, I think you should be more concerned about facing off with my friend."

"Don't worry," Jackie said, his face a stoic mask once again as he looked towards the young boy. "I look forward to that fight as well."

"Moving on," the announcer continued, "our next person is…" He adjusted his sunglasses and looked at his sheet again. "Uh, The Masked Avenger of Vengeance?"

"Huh?" The boy in the tiger striped mask finally stopped his quiet rantings to the heavens above and turned back around to face the group. "Oh, I guess it's my turn then." He stepped forward and drew his number.

"Okay, that's Number 3 for Match 2. He'll be facing off against Saotome Ranma in the first round."

The masked boy gave a nod, then turned and pointed at Ranma. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a girl," he declared. "You may not be the one I'm looking for, but I'll still be happy to use you as practice for when I can finally achieve my ultimate vengeance."

"Don't you worry," Ranma said with a smirk, "I'm not going to hold back anything either…uh…" The smirk dropped as she looked the boy in the mask over. "Hey, could you maybe tell me your name, or why you're mad at this…um…other Ranma?"

"That's none of your business. I will only reveal myself once I finally have the chance to confront that coward Ranma!"

"Hey! Who are you calling a coward?!"

Akane gently elbowed Ranma's side. "He's talking about that other Ranma, not you."

"Oh…um, yeah…right."

"Okay, save it for the tournament proper everyone," the announcer called out. "Anyway, our final contestant is Yamcha." As the boy in question started to step forward and speak up, he was cut off. "Of course, since there is only one number left, we already know that he is Number 6 in Match 3. So now we have the completed bracket."

Round 1 of the 21st Tenka'ichi Budōkai:

Match 1
Jackie Chun vs Kuririn

Match 2
The Masked Avenger of Vengeance vs Saotome Ranma

Match 3
Tendo Akane vs Yamcha

Match 4
Son Goku vs Gekijiro

"Here are the rules," the announcer continued. "Each match is a single round bout with no time limits. If you are knocked down for a 10-count, fall onto the ground outside the fighting stage, or declare "mercy", you will lose. The use of weapons or lethal force against your opponent is against the rules and grounds for immediate disqualification. Are there any questions?

"Yeah," Goku spoke up. "What about lunch?"

"Huh?" the announcer asked, looking down at Goku. "The matches are about to start. You can have some food after-"

"I'm hungry now!" Goku protested.

"Yeah, actually a pre-fight meal sounds pretty good," Ranma said. "What do you think, Kuririn?"

"Ugh, no way," Kuririn responded. "I'm way too nervous to even think about food right now."

Ranma gave a shrug. "Okay then. How 'bout you, Akane?"

"Actually, yeah. I'm up for some food right now," Akane admitted. "Oh, there's something I need to take care of really quick first. Save something for me, I'll be right back."

"Will do," Ranma said with a smile.

Akane gave her own smile right back before racing off. She hurried over to the audience, quickly finding her dad, her sisters, and the lazy freeloader. "Hey, everyone!" she cheerfully called out as she approached them.

"Ah, Akane," Kasumi said with a smile. "I take it the preliminaries went well for you?"

"Absolutely!" Akane responded. "I made it into the tournament. I'll be fighting in the third match."

"Oh, that's wonderful, Daughter." Her father said, giving a supportive smile. "I just knew you could do it."

"Hey, you didn't happen to see how amazing my son performed, did you?" Genma asked with a smug grin on his face.

Akane was sorely tempted to expose Genma's ruse right then and there, but fought it off, knowing the perfect time would be later. "Oh, Ranma qualified as well and is going to be in the second match."

"You hear that Tendo, it's just like we predicted. Oh I can't wait for the schools to be reunited at last!"

"Now now, Saotome," her father said while nervously glancing over her way. "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves right now. Akane, dear, I know you were upset last night, but please understand…"

"I accept!"

"...that this is about the honor of the schools and…what? What did you say?"

"I said I accept the engagement with Ranma," Akane repeated with a big grin.

"You…you really mean it? Oh, daughter, you make me so happy," her father exclaimed, now on the verge of tears."

"Okay, what's going on here?" Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow. "I've never even heard of you getting along with any boys, much less wanting to actually marry one."

"Well, let's just say Ranma's not like any boy I've ever met," Akane said with a smirk. "I better get going, though. Wish me luck."

"Of course, my darling daughter," cried out her father, who was now fully weeping tears of joy. "Do not worry, we will make sure to have all the preparations completed for your glorious wedding. Oh, finally I'll will have the heir to my dojo!"

As Akane rushed back to the training hall, she had a huge grin on her face. Her dad wanted his dojo heir? He'll get it once Ranma takes the stage for her fight.

Oh, she couldn't wait to see the truth finally revealed!