Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū Tenka'ichi Budōkai
By: JaquiK
Chapter 5: The Quarterfinals Part 1
Goku quickly headed into the small dining area provided, complete with an assortment of food options, which the young spiky haired kid immediately got to work devouring. It was around the time they were asking for seconds that Ranma finally caught up after taking a brief moment for a private chat with Kuririn. She took her own seat and started to dig in as well, albeit not quite as ravenous as her training buddy, but only just.
"Hey Goku," Ranma said after a bit while she was waiting on her seconds and they were waiting on fourths. "I need you to make sure not to tell anyone here that I'm also a boy."
"Why not?" Goku asked.
The redhead hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with something her friend would understand. "Well…um…it's a secret, okay?"
Goku paused and tilted their head in confusion, before a big grin grew on their face. "Oh! Like a special secret technique?"
"Yeah, exactly," Ranma said with a relieved smile of her own.
"That's really cool!" Goku exclaimed. "So are you gonna transform when you're fighting against that masked guy to surprise him? I guess you gotta do that then, cause it's not gonna work against Kuririn or me cause we know about it."
"Uh, I guess we'll just have to see." The smile on Ranma's face then shifted into a little smirk. "Although, I seem to remember the number of times a little dip in the lake would throw you off during one of our spars."
"Oh yeah, that was so fun! I hope we get to fight again today."
"Me too," Ranma agreed. "I'm really itching to see how I do against you with nothing weighing us down."
"Oh really, and what happened to the two girls taking on the world, or did you already forget about little ol' me?" called out the new voice of the person just walking in.
"Oh, Akane!" Ranma blurted out. "Of course I didn't forget. It's just…you know…Goku is…"
"Yeah, yeah, your training partner. Don't worry, I get it," Akane said with a dismissive wave as she sat down at the table and eyed the number of used dishes present. "Did you at least leave something for me?"
"Maybe," Goku said before turning towards the kitchen door. "Hey, d'ya got any more food?"
"Oh, y-yes, of course," the monk providing the meals stammered as he brought the next courses for Ranma and Goku. "Would you like anything as well, miss?"
"Yes, I think I'll just have a light meal since I'll be fighting soon," Akane responded as she pondered her order. "A bowl of eel ramen would be nice. Also, a few pork buns on the side, one, or maybe two plates of takoyaki…oh, do you have t-rex tail steaks? I would love a couple of those right now too."
"Um, yes miss. Of course," the monk said, glancing between the three at the table.
Gekijirou let out another grumble as he leaned against a wall. "Can we get started already? How much longer do we gotta wait?"
"Patience, m'boy," the old bearded man said from his spot on a nearby bench. "Make sure to save your energy for the fights themselves."
"Yeah, if we ever actually get to them today." Gekijirou gave a scoff, then turned to the weird masked guy. "So I know you did that big shonen vengeance speech, which was cool and all, don't get me wrong, but what's the real reason you're here?"
"Huh?" Masked guy looked over at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, now, everyone's got their own reasons, y'know? Fame, power, heck, I'm sure a whole bunch of those guys-" He tilted his head in the direction of the building where the preliminaries were held. "-were just looking to score some nice cash. A few of them were not even for greedy reasons. Heck, one guy I fought back there only wanted to buy a bunch of water for his village that's having a bad drought or something. Had to tell the dude that it don't cost nothin' over here and he could just grab as much water as he needed. So then, what's the real reason you're here right now?"
"I told you," the masked boy growled out. "I came to finally enact my vengeance against the wretched Saotome Ranma for the hells that I've been through! Um, the male Ranma I mean," he quickly amended.
"Yeah, and this 'guy Ranma' ain't here," Gekijirou pointed out, "so why are you sticking around here instead of bowing out and giving a bye to that redhead chick you clearly got a crush on." He then raised an eyebrow. "You better not be planning some kind of shojo romance crap with her."
"Hey! I don't have any kind of crush on this girl Ranma," masked boy weakly denied. "It's, um, there's just something about her. Something familiar. I don't know, I just get this weird feeling that I need to fight her. That if I do, it will somehow lead me to my true enemy. Uh, does that make any sense to you?"
"I guess," Gekijirou flatley answered, while internally suspecting his theory about 'girl Ranma' and 'guy Ranma' were indeed true. He also decided to keep his mouth shut about it. While he was sure the information could lead to an interesting shonen type conflict, there was absolutely no way he would be the type of jerk that would out someone else like that. Besides, the Ranma girl would probably do it herself after they got their big battle out of the way, leading to an enemies turned rivals/friends situation, which was also pretty good in his opinion.
"What about you?"
"Huh?" He turned and blinked at the old man's inquiry. "Whatdya mean?"
"As you said," Jackie Chun continued, "everyone has their own reason for being at this tournament. So then, what's yours?"
"Oh, that's easy," Gekijirou said with a smirk. "Places like this are the best for hard hitting shonen action!" The smirk then dropped as he directed his gaze away. "Uh, plus I thought I could use the prize money for, um, some surgeries I need to get."
"Surgeries?" Masked guy asked, surprised. "Wait, you're not trying to fight while hurt, are you?"
"Nah, I'm perfectly good to fight," Gekijirou responded. "It's, um, a different kind of surgery."
"Ah, I see," Jackie Chun said with a nod, although there was a definite tone of disappointment in his voice.
"Hey, ya got a problem with that, old man!" Gekijirou challenged.
"No, no. It's your choice and your life after all. It should be respected."
Gekijirou gave a huff and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, you haven't said what your past-your-prime ass is doing here? What, hoping to see if you still got what it takes against those 50 years your junior?"
"You have to go a bit higher than that, m'boy," Jackie Chun admitted. "It is pretty nice to see exactly how this new generation is cutting it. My actual reason for being here though?" He turned to look at the three martial artists just coming back from their impromptu meal. "Quite frankly, that's my own business."
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The tournament announcer declared as he stepped up on the elevated fighting stage. "We thank you very much for your patience as we handled some…minor delays. Now we officially welcome you to the start of the 21st Tenka'ichi Budōkai!"
As the crowd cheered, a few heads peeked around the door of the temple building the stage was attached to. "Woah, there's so many people out there," Ranma said with awe.
"I know, and the arena looks so amazing," Akane added. "You'd never even know a freak typhoon passed through last week."
"Huh, really?" Goku asked.
"Yep. The reschedule was a bit annoying, but I guess I shouldn't complain too much about the extra practice."
"Oh yeah, an extra week with the turtle shell. So wonderful," Ranma deadpanned to Akane's confusion.
"And now," the announcer continued, "I'd like to introduce you all to the eight finalists who will be competing today for the coveted honor of being Number One Under The Heavens!"
From the crowd, Nabiki gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, finally! I thought we were never getting past those stupid speeches."
"Oh, I don't know," Kasumi commented. "I thought the wan of wisdom from the lead monk was quite beautiful."
As the contestants were led onto the fighting stage, a loud roar came from the crowd along with a few isolated cheers of various names. Nabiki however only provided a grunt of annoyance. "Oh great, the little weird one made it in."
"Weird one?" Kasumi asked. "Oh, you mean the bald child that doesn't have a nose?"
"No! I…okay, that is a little weird…but I meant the kid with the really spiky hair. There's just something off about him."
"Hmmm," Kasumi pondered. "I wonder. Would not having a nose be more of a help or a hindrance in a fight?"
"Hey now, girls," Soun said. "Your sister is up there right now. We should be cheering for her. Along with…um, Saotome, which one of those boys is Ranma?"
He turned to his friend, only to find the man had a look of absolute fury on his face. "What the hell is that boy thinking? I'm going to straighten this out right now. Out of my way!" Genma started to push his way through the crowd, his friend following behind, confused.
"Oh, Akane does look so amazing up there," Kasumi said, paying no mind to the two men in the slightest. "Hmm, which one of those boys do you think is Ranma? Perhaps the taller one with the headband? I suppose he could be considered handsome."
"WHOOO! GO YAMCHA!"
"You can do it Lord Yamcha!"
The two sisters saw the boy in question wave at a girl with indigo colored hair and a floating blue cat that were cheering in the front row. "Doesn't look like it," Nabiki noted. "My guess is on the guy with the gakuran and freaky sideburns. He seems to be exactly the type of manly that Genma would never shut up about."
"Don't screw this up, Jirou! I got a lot riding on you!"
Gakuran boy flinched slightly and looked over to the crowd where a blonde girl was yelling out to him.
"Oh, that would just leave the boy in the mask," Kasumi said. "Huh, I suppose that does also match up with someone raised by Genma." She looked again at the boy who had a deep scowl on his face. "I wonder why Akane agreed to the engagement with him."
"I think our sister is up to something." Nabiki's eyes narrowed slightly. "She's not even standing next to Ranma, and do you see how close she's hanging out next to that red-haired girl? This could be trouble."
"Why? That girl looks really nice, and very pretty as well." Kasumi gave a wistful sigh. "She seems to be a bit younger than me, though. That's unfortunate."
"Did you also notice that she's wearing the same type of gi as those two kids?" Nabiki pointed out. "Yeah, I'd put actual money on her being nothing but trouble."
Kasumi looked closer at the reddish orange gi the girl was wearing, specifically the patch with a certain martial arts school logo on it. "Oh my!"
"Is everyone excited? Come on. Let's give it up for our competitors," the announcer continued, trying to rile the crowd up as much as possible. "Alright, let's kick things off with the first bout of the day." With an extra wave of his arm, he finished his announcement with a big flourish. "Jackie Chun VS Kuririn!"
"Good luck, buddy," Ranma said to her fellow martial arts student.
"You got this!" Goku cheerfully added.
Akane had a big smile on her face as the six contestants not currently fighting went back into the prestage area. Oh, she was positively beaming from seeing the look on Genma's face the moment he realized his stupid scheme had fallen apart. It was so great she almost went and grabbed Ranma to plant a huge kiss on the girl then and there for both Genma and her father to see. Instead, she decided to save that for when the tournament was over. A nice consolation prize to the runner up from the winner.
"Wow, you're sure excited to see this fight, Akane," Ranma said. "You're practically drooling over there."
"Huh?" Akane snapped out her daydream. "Oh no. Well, I mean I am. Excited about the fight of course. But I was also just thinking about what our fight will be like."
"Oh. Oh yeah." Ranma gave a chuckle and looked away slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sure it's gonna be all wonderful and stuff."
Off to the side, Gekijirou gave a scoff. "Figures you two would be getting distracted over some cutesy little shojo fantasies…"
"Um, I've read a bunch of shojo stuff," Ranma noted, "and it can actually get really violent."
"...when what you should be doing," Gekijirou continued unabated, "is focusing on hard hitting, knuckle grinding, shonen action, like what they're doing right now."
The two looked out to the battle area to see that the fight had indeed begun, and in full force no less. Kuririn was going all out with his attacks, not letting up for a moment, keeping Jackie Chun completely on defense. However, even with this assault, the young monk had not been able to connect a single strike as the older martial artist managed to avoid each attack, just barely in some cases.
Akane's eyes narrowed as she watched the proceedings. "I don't like this."
"Eh, Kuririn's just warming up," Goku said with a smile. "No way he's getting tired out from just that."
"No, not that," Ranma said. "There's something up with the old guy."
"Exactly! He's not even taking this fight seriously. All he's doing is dodging." Akane gave a huff and crossed her arms. "Honestly, that's so disrespectful. Who kind of jerk even does something like that, right Ranma?"
"There's something else, too. Ranma's brow furled as the action continued before her. "Something about him that seems…I'm not sure."
The battle continued on, seemingly starting to lead in Kuririn's favor as continued to push back the older fighter. Finally, one of his swings, although still not connecting, managed to catch Jackie Chun off balance. He immediately followed up by putting his full force into a straight punch, hoping to make it the finishing blow. However, it was not meant to be as the older martial artist quickly recovered and effortlessly caught the fist in his hand.
"Impressive," Jackie noted. "Perhaps I'll need to put a little effort into all of my matches after all." The two separated, ending up slightly apart from each other. Jackie then went into a slightly crouching stance with one hand held out loosely in front of him. "How about…" With a quick yell, the elder martial artist's arm suddenly blurred and Kuririn went flying back, crashing hard against the temple wall.
"Woah! What the heck even was that?" Gekijirou cried out in astonishment.
"A pretty damn good punch is what that was," Ranma answered, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"No kidding," Akane agreed. "Your friend got really lucky there. If he was knocked in any other direction, it would have been a ring out for sure."
"This…this can't be happening," Kuririn stammered out as he slowly dragged himself up into a sitting position against the wall. "I couldn't even see the punch!"
"What do ya mean?" Goku asked in confusion as they leaned over the wall. "I saw the punch just fine."
"Wait, you did?" The battered monk looked up at his friend and training companion as he slowly got to his feet.
"Yeah, you should be able to too!" Ranma called out. "Just focus closely."
"And Kuririn is back on his feet, folks!" The announcer called out as he intensely watched the action on display. "What an amazing display of fortitude from the young fighter after…um…does anyone know what happened there?"
"Yeah, what the hell did that old guy even do?" Nabiki grumbled out as she leaned around while pushing down the head of the person in front of her to get a better look.
"Now, now, dear sister," Kasumi admonished, "I know you have been somewhat lax in your training as of late, but you still should be able to follow the movement if you make sure to pay attention."
As Kuririn slowly moved back over to him, Jackie Chun adopted the same stance as before. "Your determination is commendable," he said. "However, this time I won't go easy on you."
Kuririn didn't respond, instead going into his own low stance while he watched carefully. With another loud yell, Jackie blurred once more. However, this time, Kuririn also blurred in kind. Immediately, there was a loud bang sound as both fighters backed away from each other by about a meter.
'Hmmm, very impressive indeed.' The elder martial artist quietly noted, a tiny bit of admiration peeking out from beneath his stone serious expression.
"Great block there, buddy!" Ranma said, a big grin on her face. "I knew you could do it!"
"See, I told ya so!" Goku added in their usual cheerful way.
"Yeah, I totally got this now!" Kuririn said with a big grin towards his friends.
"Folks, this first contest of the 21st Tenka'ichi Budōkai is truly shaping up to be one for the ages," the announcer boldly called out before scratching his head. "Um, I think."
"You know, it's been quite some time since I've met someone that could match my speed," Jackie Chun said as he took up a much tighter defensive stance than before.
"Yeah, too bad for you," Kuririn responded while going into his own stance, "my master trained me well."
"Is that so?" Jackie's eyes narrowed slightly. "Perhaps it's time to see just how well then."
After a couple of beats, the two contestants charged straight at each other. As they met, there was another quick blurring between them and an extra loud noise almost like a thunderclap. Then, almost as quickly as it started, they both separated and made dramatic landings facing away from each other.
"Awww, darnit," Goku grumbled out.
The two held their poses for a few seconds until Kuririn fell face forward onto the ground.
"Kuririn has been knocked down, everyone!" the announcer called out as the ten count started.
"Come one, Kuririn, get up!" Goku called out to their friend.
"I can't believe he actually fell for that," Ranma said with a sigh.
"I know," Akane agreed. "You should definitely go with 'rock' in that situation." She then gave a light glare towards the girl next to her. "And I better not see you fling any snot during our bout, you hear me?"
Ranma decided to give a cheeky little grin in return. "Hey, Anything Goes, remember? Boogers and licking are totally legal in this tournament, and I do what I need to win."
"Well…you better not try to…to lick me either!" Akane responded as she looked away, a slight redness now on her cheeks.
Goku kept encouraging the young monk to get up, and Kuririn managed to get back to his feet before the ten count completed, although he was also holding the back of his head in obvious pain.
"I knew you could do it!" Goku cheered. "Go get him!"
"Owwww…" was the only response Kuririn could give at the moment.
"And Kuririn is on his feet once again!" The announcer declared. "What amazing fortitude he is showing, especially after…um…"
'Yes indeed, getting up from that blow,' Jackie Chun thought as the crowd cheered. 'It seems you did take your training seriously after all.'
"Um, excuse me," the announcer said as he walked up. "Could you maybe explain to everyone currently watching what exactly just happened there?"
"Hmm?" Jackie raised an eyebrow at this request. "Well, I don't normally do recaps, but I suppose if it's for the audience." He glanced over to the staging area with an expectant look. "So, did anyone manage to catch our moves there?"
"Oh, I did, Mr. Jackie!" called out a cheerful voice in the crowd.
"Kasumi, what are you doing?" Nabiki whispered to her sister as everyone's focus turned towards them.
"Well, he did ask, and it would be rude not to respond," Kasumi explained. "You were able to see what happened this time as well, correct?"
"I mean, yeah I did, but-"
"We both saw, Mr. Jackie!" Kasumi called out again, waving a hand into the air.
"Is that so?" the older martial artist said with a sudden enthusiasm as he spotted the two young women in the crowd. "In that case, how about you two lovely ladies come up here for a little demonstration."
"Oh my," Kasumi beamed. "That sounds like it would be quite fun. Let's go, Nabiki."
"Actually, I think I'll–hey!" Nabiki's casual dismissal was cut short as she was suddenly dragged by the hand.
"Now now, little sister," Kasumi said as she weaved through the crowd. "This is our chance to be on the stage of The World Tournament, and without any risk of accidentally injuring anyone. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Yeah, and without the 'risk' of getting the prize money," Nabiki muttered under her breath.
Kasumi didn't react to her sister's comment, instead pulling the girl into her arms and taking a leap into the air, over the remainder of the crowd. She momentarily landed on the short brick wall that separated the audience from the fighting area, then jumped again, making a graceful landing right in the middle of the fighting stage. "Okay, we're here, Mr. Jackie," she said as she set Nabiki down. "What do you need us to do?"
Jackie just stared for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Right, right. We need to show just what happened in that previous exchange, so we'll have you two ladies demonstrate for the crowd step by step. Here, let me help get you into position." He reached over to directly guide Kasumi into the correct starting pose, but the young woman effortlessly dodged his attempts as she took Nabiki over to the center of the stage.
"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Jackie," Kasumi cheerfully said. "I paid close attention and can explain everything by myself. Ready to help, Nabiki?"
"Yeah, yeah," Nabiki grumbled out as she got into position.
Kasumi went into a ready stance that perfectly matched Jackie Chun's. "Okay, I'll take the part of Mr. Jackie and my sister will be Mr. Kuririn. So first off, the two charged towards each other like so." Kasumi proceeded to go at about one tenth speed towards her sister who was mirroring the action with a constant roll of her eyes. "Then, Mr. Jackie proceeded with a straight kick," Kasumi continued as she slowly mirrored the action, then froze in place. "Nabiki, do you remember what Mr. Kuririn did next, or should I help direct you?"
"No, I got it," Nabiki deadpanned as she mimicked the moves. "Shorty managed to duck under the kick, then threw a punch, but the geezer stuck out his tongue to spit on his fist and…ew, Sis, you don't have to actually do that part!"
"But Nabiki, it's important to be as accurate as possible. Right, so that caused Mr. Kuririn to pull back his punch, which then left an opening for Mr. Jackie to perform a left jab. However, Mr. Kuririn proceeded to expel the contents of…um…what I mean is that he shot out some mucus towards Mr. Jackie somehow, which…Nabiki that was your cue to–"
"I'm not doing that part!" Nabiki interrupted. "Look, the point is that caused the old guy to pull back also. I guess it caused them to both rethink their strategy." Both sisters mimed a thinking pose. "This was about a quarter of a second into their exchange."
"I think it was closer to a fifth," Kasumi corrected, "but either way, at this point they both agreed to try a roshambo." Kasumi and Nabiki then copied the rock-paper-scissor game that was done. "Mr. Jackie won with scissors over Mr. Kuririn's paper. For the second part of the game, he pointed to his left."
"Yep, but baldie managed to avoid it and looked the other way," Nabiki continued as she turned her head the opposite direction from where Kasumi was pointing.
"Ah, but that was actually a trap, isn't that right, Mr. Jackie?" Kasumi asked.
Jackie Chun nodded in agreement. "That's correct. By turning away, he left himself wide open for-oh, you'll need a boost for this next part. Here, let me help you."
"That's alright, Mr. Jackie, I can handle this. Are you ready, Sis? I'll make sure to be gentle."
"Just hurry up so we can get this over with," Nabiki growled out.
"Okay, so Mr. Jackie took advantage of the opening and jumped up to strike Mr. Kuririn from behind." Kasumi then took a graceful leap and proceeded to slowly float over her sister. As she did so, she very lightly tapped her right foot against the back of Nabiki's head. The younger sister then immediately shot forward, performed a flip and landed hard a couple of meters away as the elder sister settled softly on the ground.
"Yup, the little guy managed to land on his feet, but the kick did its damage and he flopped on the ground right after," Nabiki finished while skipping the demonstration of the last part.
"You mean to say that all that happened in less than a second?" asked the very flummoxed narrator. Jackie Chan and Kurin both responded with a simple nod. "That's amazing!" he called out over the roar of the now cheering crowd. "It looks like this year's Tenka'ichi Budōkai has been elevated to a whole other level! Let's hear it for these outstanding competitors, and let's also make sure to give a big thanks for the wonderful recap done by…oh, what is your name, miss?"
The tall brunette flashed a big smile and waved to the crowd. "It was a pleasure to help out. My name is Kasumi and this is my little sister Nabiki. Oh, and our baby sister Akane is actually competing in this very tournament." She turned towards the staging area and gave another big wave. "Good luck in your fights, Little Sister, and also congratulations on your new girlfriend. She's quite pretty."
"Kasumi! She…she's not actually my girlfriend!" Akane stammered out.
"Wait, I'm not?" Ranma asked with both surprise and hurt. "But, I thought we were, you know…"
"Huh?" Akane looked over to the redhead. "You mean, you want to be my girlfriend?"
"Of course I do. Don't you wanna be my girl friend?" Ranma felt a little confused by Akane's hesitancy. They were getting along so well, and girl friends was meant to be the next level above regular friends. Sure, she hadn't spent a lot of time around other girls before, but she was pretty sure that's how it went. Heck, she managed to become good girl friends with Lunch and even had a sort of weird aggressive respect girl friend thing going on with the other Lunch. Shouldn't that be the same with Akane then?
"I…I'd like that," Akane quietly muttered while turning her head away.
"Hey! What did I say about cutesy Shojo crap?" Gekijirou glared as he crossed his arms.
"Right, we should talk after the tournament," Akane said before a tiny smirk appeared on her face. "Although I guess you'll be having the conversation on the ground after I'm done pounding your little behind."
"Yeah sorry to break it to ya," Ranma countered, "but in the finals, I'm taking you down all the way and I won't even break a sweat doing it!"
"There. That's better," Gekijirou said. "...I think."
"Folks, it seems we may have an interesting development happening between two of our contestants," The announcer declared. "Could it be that alongside all the strife and hardened combat, something else may be blooming on this battlefield?"
"Hey, speaking of combat, can you get off the stage and let us get back to our fight already?" Jackie Chun called out with annoyance.
"Oh. Oh yes of course." The announcer nervously fidgeted with his sunglasses, then turned towards Kasumi and Nabiki. "We thank you again, ladies. If you could return…huh?" He stopped as one of the temple monks came up and whispered something in his ear. "Oh, that's…okay then. I've just been informed that the higher ups were very impressed by your explanation and would like you to stay and perform extra commentary for the fights."
"Oh my, it would be an honor," Kasumi smiled and turned towards Nabiki. "Wouldn't you agree, Little Sister."
"Nah, I'm fine, but you go have fun," Nabiki said with a dismissive wave as she looked over the crowd, stopping on a recognized face. "Although I will happily take a spot in the front row as alternate compensation."
"Yes, I suppose that's alright," the announcer said.
"Cool." Nabiki then made a quick beeline towards the direction of an indigo haired girl, leaping the dividing wall and pushing away some pig guy in one smooth motion. "Hey there," she said with a big smile. "Is this seat taken?"
"Uh, I guess not," the girl responded.
"Perfect. Hi, I'm Nabiki."
"Yeah, I heard. That was some impressive stuff you did up there. Oh, by the way, I'm Bulma."
"Yes, you certainly are," Nabiki said, her smile growing just a bit wider at the heir to the Capsule Corporation.
"Foks, we are ready to continue the fight," the announcer declared, "and as a special treat, my I present our new color commentator, Kasumi!"
"I am very grateful for this opportunity," Kasumi said into the additional microphone that was handed to her. "I will do my best to provide any details on the new and exciting martial arts maneuvers we will see today."
The two competitors squared off once more, Jackie Chun once more giving a calm expression while Kuririn was clearly nervous. Although, there was also a little bit of determination showing on the young monk's face. 'Man, this guy is really tough,' Kuririn thought. 'Although, if he is anything like the old master…'
"It looks like Kuririn is reaching into his gi for something," the announcer observed. "I would just like to remind everyone that weapons are illegal in this…panties?" He blinked at the women's underwear that was tossed onto the ground.
"Oh my, this is the infamous and risky Dirty Old Man Trap," Kasumi added. "Although, would a martial arts master like Jackie Chun really-"
"Oh, panties!"
"...I guess he would," she continued with a bit of disappointment in her voice.
"Huh? Wait a second," Ranma muttered as she looked closer at the object on the ground before a look of fury appeared on her face. "Kuririn, you jerk, that's my underwear!"
Jackie Chun immediately froze, his hands centimeters away from the garment and with an expression of sudden terror. However, that didn't last long and Kuririn took the opportunity to deliver a strong rising kick that lifted the old martial artist high in the air and far away from the arena.
"I…I did it!" Kuririn exclaimed as he watched his opponent sailing off into the distance.
"Wow, that was a…rather anticlimactic and quite humiliating way to end our first match," the announcer said. "Nevertheless, once Jackie Chun lands, it will be a loss for the elder martial artist."
"Dammit, Kuririn," Ranma grumbled out as she marched across the fighting stage to retrieve her underwear. "Didn't I tell you not to go through my stuff?"
Ka…Me…
"I…I didn't know," Kuririn stammered out. "I mean, you didn't figure out until after…"
Ha…Me…
"Yeah, and I had to get it mail ordered to the island when I did. Do you know how much it cost me to…wait, do you hear that?"
HA!
Everyone looked over to the horizon to find a rapidly approaching Jackie Chun, a bright blue blast of ki being projected from his outstretched hands which served to rocket him backwards into the tournament arena. He finished the blast, then performed a couple of flips in the air, landing right in the middle of the fighting stage with a wave and a simple, "Yo!"
Kuririn's eyes practically bugged out of his head upon seeing his opponent landing safely back in. "What…what…what the…what…?"
Ranma as well had a stunned look, although for a slightly different reason. "Wait, was that…did you just use the…"
"Kamehameha," Goku exclaimed. "Right? That was the Kamehameha."
"Oh, well if you say so," Jackie Chun said casually.
"You…no way…" Kuririn said, a sudden shudder in his voice.
"Unbelievable, folks!" the announcer called out. "It seems we have, for the first time ever, been witness to the legendary Kamehameha!"
"Yes, indeed," Kasumi added. "The technique created by the great Muten Roshi, who was thought to be the one capable of performing it. I think we can all figure out what this says about our Mr. Jackie."
"Hey, wait just a second there!" said fighter protested.
"That's right," Kasumi continued. "He's clearly an old rival of Roshi's and has now come to this tournament today for the specific purpose of challenging the old master's very own students!"
"Oh." Jackie Chun blinked, then stoically nodded his head. "Yes, of course. That's it exactly. Carry on then."
"Students?" The announcer asked Kasumi.
"Yes, didn't you notice the very distinct reddish dogi they're wearing?" Kasumi pointed towards Kuririn and the redhead.
"I don't know," the announcer said, leaning forward slightly. "They look more orangish to me.
"Well, either way, the important thing is the logo on the gis. That is most definitely the symbol of the Turtle Hermit, also known as the great Muten Roshi."
"Wait really?" The announcer then jumped onto the stage and ran towards Kuririn and Ranma. "Is this true?! Were you really trained by the legendary Turtle Master who is also known as the God of Martial Arts?!"
"That's right," Ranma confirmed. "I guess he doesn't take on students anymore, but he did make exceptions for us." She turned towards Jackie Chun. "Is that why you wanted to fight against me?"
"Pretty much," Jackie confirmed, although Ranma could help but feel like there was something more to it. "That may very likely still be the case. Although I do have this match to finish, so if you don't mind…"
"Oh, right. Sorry, Sir." Ranma gave a quick bow then rushed out of the fighting stage.
"I'm looking forward to our fight," Jackie noted as he turned to once more face Kuririn.
Ranma halted at the top of the steps to the staging area, looking down at her hand to find it slightly trembling.
"Hey, come on, you're not gonna let that guy get to you, right?" Akane said encouragingly. "Remember, we still have that promise to complete, and no one's gonna get in our way."
Ranma looked up to the long haired girl's smiling face and ended up giving a smile of her own. "Yeah, definitely."
The announcer quickly rushed back to his position. "Folks, it looks like several new developments have made themselves known for this year's tournament. Not only do we have not one, not two, but three disciples of the legendary Muten Roshi participating today, but we also have an old rival of the great master who is determined to put these students to the test!"
"Oh yes," Kasumi added, "and Mr. Kuririn has certainly shown how effective his training was. However, if Mr. Jackie is anywhere near as strong as the great Muten Roshi himself, does he truly have a chance of winning?"
"Gee, thanks for the encouragement," Kuririn muttered out before turning to Goku in desperation. "What am I supposed to do now?!"
"What do ya mean? Ya fight and ya win!" Goku replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"As fun as this was, I think it's time to wrap things up," Jackie stated while getting into a new ready position with both hands up in knife edge positions. "I'll need to save some energy for my next two matches."
"Dammit! Guess I got no choice but to go all out!" Kuririn yelled out in frustration as he ran full bore towards his opponent. Jackie Chun for his part calmly jumped straight up, allowing the young monk to continue charging blindly right into the building wall.
"Desperation like that will just play right into your opponent's hands," Jackie Chun noted as Kuririn slowly got back up again. "Although that would have been a really effective attack…if your opponent was the wall that is." He gave a small laugh as Kuririn grew furious.
"Shut up!" Kuririn yelled as he charged once more. However, he ended up stopping just short of his attack as the old man suddenly blurred and started to fade away. "What?"
"Kuririn! He's behind ya!" Unfortunately Goku's warning was for nought as Kuririn received two simultaneous chops to the neck and collapsed to the ground.
"Good fight," Jackie Chun finished while flashing the victory sign to his fallen opponent.
"And Kuririn is down once more!" the announcer declared.
"Oh my, that was the fabled after image technique," Kasumi noted while the count began. Mr. Jackie is certainly a well versed fighter. Hmm, I wonder if he would agree to a friendly spar after the tournament with all the injury-free rules included."
"Whelp, this one's over," Nabiki casually stated before turning back towards Bulma. "So, what's a nice girl like you doing at a place like this anyway?"
"Oh, my boyfriend Yamcha is also fighting in the tournament. He's a really great fighter, and so wonderful," Bulma responded with a somewhat dreamy expression.
"That so." Nabiki's expression deflated the slightest bit before perking right up again. "You know, I'm a pretty darn good martial artist as well. Really dedicated and all that. I would have made it in myself if it weren't for that little spiky haired boy over there. I swear, that kid…"
"Oh, you mean my friend Goku?"
"Yeah that Goku, such a great guy. Hey, if I couldn't make it in, I'm sure glad he managed to."
"Uh, right…"
"And ten!" the announcer called out. "Kuririn has been counted out! The winner of the first match of the 21st Tenka'ichi Budōkai goes to Jackie Chun!"
'This is getting really intense,' Ranma thought as she observed the temple monks putting a passed out Kuririn onto a stretcher. A small chill then went down her spine as Jackie Chun walked by her on the way back to the staging area, giving a single comment as he passed.
"I hope you're looking forward to our upcoming fight just as much, m'girl."
