A/N: Final word count- 5.7k Pre-A/N's
Hey gang! Hope everyone's having a happy new years so far! As you can see from the title alone, I mentioned last time the next time I get to 5k or more words for a flash back i was going to post it as a separate chapter due to the length of the episode, the current one im working on being no different. Also given it's New year's, i thought I'd treat the fans of this fic with the first "Flashback Episode" to date- I want people to let me know if they prefer getting separate chapters for these flashbacks or if they prefer sticking to the main episodes despite the length ^^
Also in other good news, I think I finally figured out why I feel so jumbled when writing the episodes compared to my past fanfics. In the past, whenever I wrote a episode or chapter, it was because they were always contained within some form of "episodic nature"; in other words, they always had a "begin, mid, and end" to everything, right? But here, things don't necessarily end by the end of the episode. They indefinitely continue on until the very end of the saga, and that takes forever (even longer if you go by the original version :/). Because of that, I think after my next episode posting, I'm gonna start focusing on just making the episodes as I planned them, not directly off the episodes themselves. If it works, i'll feel like my old self and be back to writing good ol' classics like I used to ^^ If not... well then i just go back to the way they were before XP lol.
Anyway, enjoy!
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"This is gonna be fun!"
"I can't believe she's my first opponent..." Krillin had dreaded this day would come but never thought it would be this soon. The two fighters waited patiently within the stadium behind the arena outside, waiting to be called.
It was the first day of the very first Tenkaichi for the students of Master Roshi. Krillin, Caulifla, and Goku. All of them were more than excited to experience their first ever Martial Arts Tournament, a chance to prove all their mettle and showcase the intense training they've all been through over the last several months.
Thanks to Roshi's intense, abnormal, method of training, the students were more than prepared when it came to the entry competition. All of them donned their orange gi with the symbol of the Turtle school of teaching on the back to symbolize their respect and tutelage. It was something that took a little convincing on Caulifla's end, given how important the purple gi was to her, but eventually Goku managed to talk her into it to wear it just for the tournament.
Every student displayed their own creative and unique methods of fighting, from Krillin's strategizing, Goku's carefree and fun-filled nature, and Caulifla's obsession with downing her opponents as quickly as possible as a show of strength. There were more than a few opponents she knocked out cold, and far more she ended up smacking into the walls of the building. Each and every one of them blew through their opponents like it was nothing, making it up to the preliminary qualifier rounds and, eventually, the tournament bracket itself!
That's where everything went downhill for Krillin's sake.
Out of all the people, all the fighters he could've gone up against, the very first opponent on his list was none other than Caulifla herself, the spritely monkey girl that was somehow more rambunctious and battle hungry than Goku was. Throughout all their training, she displayed a willingness to get stronger through whatever means, from carrying extra crates of milk to trying to clear fields for farmers even during the night. And while many of these fiascos ended in disaster, that didn't deter the young girl's eagerness to train and grow stronger.
And now, that small bundle of craziness was going to end up being his first opponent.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The blonde announcer spoke into his microphone as he stood on stage, pumping a fist into the air. "Thank you and welcome to the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament!" Expectantly, the crowd was in an uproar of cheer and excitement, the city practically booming from the first announcement of what would be a grand spectacle. "The first match between Caulifla and Krillin will begin momentarily, so don't go to the lemonade stand!"
"My heart won't stop pounding! This is so exciting!" Caulifla squealed, barely able to contain her joy as she squeezed her fists.
"Mine either for entirely different reasons..." The bald headed student moaned. "I can't believe you gave Jackie Chun your position instead of me."
"Hey, what can I say? He made me an offer that was impossible to refuse."
"20 Zeni isn't an offer! And I would've given you 30!"
"Well you should've said something when we picked numbers!" Caulifla tilted her head a little as she thought back to placements to begin with. "I wonder why he wanted to fight that purple-haired lady so badly?" Seriously, what was the reason? She was a very attractive slender lady with gorgeous lips and a decent chest who looked like the kind of girl that would let a man do anything in exchange for a favor. So what was Jackie drawn to?
Krillin nearly dropped to the ground at the girl's obliviousness. "Are you SURE you're not Goku's sister?"
"Cauli! Krillin!" Goku ran up to the two of them with the same look of enthusiasm as Caulifla. "I can't believe you two get to fight together in your very first match! Talk about lucky!"
"You call me having to fight Cauli in our first match lucky?!" Krillin felt like the only sane person in this tournament thus far. "I'd rather fight that giant guy with the bad smell Cauli knocked out in the qualifiers!"
"He didn't smell so bad." Cauli commented with a shrug.
"Flowers physically died as he walked passed them, Cauli! How did the smell not bother you?!"
"Beats me." The girl would never know how fortunate she was that her upbringing gave her a surprising tolerance for bad smells. "I just focused on taking him down, I didn't care about how he smelled."
"Haha, I thought the look on his face was hilarious when you toppled him." Goku chuckled, throwing his hands behind his head.
"And don't forget, Goku!" Caulifla shot a finger at the young boy. "After I rip Krillin's head off, you owe me a fight in the next round!"
"Deal!"
"You're gonna let her kill me in the next fight!?" The young monk stammered, trembling.
It was enough to earn another laugh out of Goku. "Oh relax, it's just a figure of speech Krillin. Cauli knows there's no killing in the tournament. Right, Cauli?"
Instead of giving him the definitive answer Krillin needed to be relieved, she just blinked curiously to the young warrior. "Wait. Really? Hah, that would've been a funny misunderstanding!"
*thud*
"I'm officially dead."
...
The fighters walked out of the room as they were called to the square arena, Krillin's nerves continuing to tremble at the idea of fighting Cauli. As if to signify the impending doom upon him, the clouds were thick with grey as they covered most of the sky. It was anyone's guess as to whether or not they were going to get rained on, not that they would care. The crowd was packed with people from around the world, from the farthest reaches of the desert to the snowiest tundras, all with the intent of watching the grand spectacle that took place every several years.
Among the crowd stood the favored friends who came to support the trio. Well, friends and a slightly still-bitter Oolong. For the other two, Bulma was there to support her good friends as well as potential new boyfriend, Yamcha, who Puar was also there to support as she floated at Bulma's side. They haven't seen the crew for several months, and were excited to see what sort of bizarre training they've endured until now.
"I really hope we don't get rained on, I didn't think to bring an umbrella." Bulma knew she should've brought a bag for any emergency.
"Gee, what a shocker. You didn't think." Oolong snorted.
"Can it, pig!"
"Guys, can we put the anger on hold until after the tournament?" Puar pleaded. "You might distract Cauli or Goku while they're fighting."
"Mmmmh... Fine." She relented. "But just for them."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together as we get our very first match underway!" The announcer began as Caulifla and Krillin walked to their respective sides.
"Good luck you two!" Goku cheered for the both of them, looking over the wall that stood behind the arena. "This'll be fun to watch. I wonder who's gonna win?"
As he pondered, the mysterious Jackie Chun viewed the area from the entryway near Goku, stroking his beard as he tried to piece together the potential outcome. 'It really is hard to say, my boy. Cauli's strong but she gets ahead of herself and is too distracted. On the other hand, Krillin can keep his head clear but his strength definitely doesn't compare to Cauli's.'
"Knock 'em dead, Cauli!" Bulma cheered from the front of the crowd, unknowingly fueling Krillin's fear.
"You bet!" Caulifla grinned giving her two thumbs up. "I won't show any mercy!"
"Please, do NOT encourage her!" He still couldn't tell how dangerous this girl was and had no intentions of finding out.
"Today's match will be a very interesting spectacle!" The announcer continued as the crowd roared. "We have two of our youngest fighters taking stage today between Cauli and Krillin! But don't let their size fool you folks- they blew through the qualifier rounds like it was nothing! I expect nothing short of a fantastic bout from our young go-getters!"
"And one funeral later~" Caulifla joked taking a stance.
"J-Just remember! There's no killing!" Krillin yelled back, taking his own stance. He shook his head fiercely to drown out the potential danger, knowing his defeat was assured if he didn't t least try to win. "I won't let her psyche me out like this."
"Alrighty, everyone" Scooting over to the back of the stage, the announcer looked between both fighters with anticipation. "Let's get those punches flying! And without further away... BEGIN!"
*BWONG*
The instant the sound of the battle gong went off was the instant Caulifla made the first move. In the blink of an eye, the young monk saw the girl practically teleport in front of him without delay as she attempted to deliver the first strike. Already anticipating her move, the young Krillin leapt backwards in a small spin, narrowly dodging the incoming punch. However, the girl didn't show any signs of relent as the moment Krillin landed on his feet, the girl was already out of his sight again.
"Huh? Hey, where'd she go?"
"Over here!" The terrifying sound of the exciting Caulifla announced from behind. No sooner did he turn his head around did he feel a direct kick across this left cheek, tossing him halfway across the arena with a single blow. Just from the one strike alone, Krillin was feeling his head rattle. "Come on, I'm going easy on ya!" She was jumping on her feet patiently. She hadn't had this much excitement since the day she met Goku, or the handful of times she got to rematch with him. "I don't plan to knock ya out of the ring yet!"
"Grrrrrr fine!" If she was so insistent on it then Krillin was going to deliver on his end!
With a shout, the young monk charged head first into one of his two monkey-tailed friends as he began swiping at the girl in a flurry of punches the audience struggled to keep up with. To them, it was like watching a blur of arms move this way and that as they tried to keep up with the fight. Fighters like Master Ro- I mean Jackie Chun and Goku, on the other hand, were watching with great interest, seeing the blows being thrown as easily as they were being delivered.
Goku was on the edge of his invisible seat as he watched the fight from over the wall, while Jackie Chun took note of their every move and strike, on the off chance that he ended up fighting either of the two as well. 'They definitely have the spirit for it, I'll give them that. However...' It was easy to see who had the advantage here. While Krillin definitely had the spirit and stamina to keep up with her, Caulifla was barely giving his attacks any mind, dodging a handful of them while blocking the occasional one that always slipped through.
"Wow! Amazing!" Goku struggled to contain himself as he watched. He couldn't wait for the chance to fight either one of the two!
Following the next bout of fisticuffs, the young girl cheekily grinned as she decided to spice things up a little. Catching one of the flying fists towards her, seeing the split second look of fear on Krillin's face, Caulifla threw her back into it as she hurled the young nose-less monk off into the air behind her, right for the edge of the arena. "Wahhhhh!" The young boy panicked, swimming his arms through the air in order to give himself any leeway towards the stage as possible.
While pointless in many other respects, possibly as a result of his increased strength and training, right when the boy was about to land, the young monk just barely managed to grab on to the edge of the arena. He hastily scurried his left leg over the edge as he panted heavily, feeling like he was going to have a heart attack with how close his defeat came. One of the few judges of the fight ran over to the edge to inspect it for themselves. Much to Krillin's relief, the judge ruled in his favor as his other leg was barely 2 inches above the grass.
"T-That... was close..." He gulped, breathing heavily after he managed to pull himself over the arena, lying on his back.
"Hehehe! Nice save there, baldy~" Caulifla congratulated again, referring to his nickname as usual.
"My name's not baldy!"
"Sheesh, talk about a close call." Yamcha commented, watching from the same opening as Jackie was.
"Yes, it was." Jackie nodded in agreement. "Fighting against the wind is a hard thing to do, but fortunately, that boy developed some impressive muscle work over the last few months."
Yamcha gave him a confused look. "How would you know about his training?"
"Oh- er... well..." He nearly panicked as he slipped up, scratching the back of his head as if he didn't have a single clue. "I don't know! I'm just an old man! Just calling it like I see it, ya know? Heh heh... heh..." There were a load of questions filling Yamcha's mind right now, but he decided to put them on hold as he continued to watch his former boss's match.
Said match Caulifla continued to refuse to take seriously as she casually sat upon her tail in the air, acting as if she was propped up on a chair she was leaning back on as she wobbled up and down. "Come on, Baldy, don't be out of breath now. I'm just getting warmed up!"
It was hard to keep the girl's words out of his mind as Krillin got back to his feet. He knew she was just taunting him to make another mistake he couldn't afford, but he also couldn't just stand there all day without a plan. The moment Caulifla took the fight seriously, he knew it was over for him. He needed some sort of way to knock her out of the way, preferably from a distance, but what could be do?
The answer came to him as he looked at the sky, then grinned as an idea formed in his mind.
"Alright then... Let's see you dodge this!" He roared again as he charged. The girl was excited to see the boy up in fighting shape again as he charged at her. With ease, she easily dodged the oncoming kick to her as he lunged straight for her, taking high into the sky probably a good 60 feet off the ground. Needless to say, many in the audience were in shock at what the young girl could do, not realizing the same skill was feat was shared with Goku and Krillin.
"Are you kidding? That was way too easy to dodge!" She chuckled. At long last, her overconfident attitude came to a grind as she noticed Krillin smirking at the same time.
"That's what I was hoping for!" He yelled up. In a movement that would one day be iconic in the far future, Krillin put his hands together at the side as he began to chant. "Kaaaaa... Meeeeeee..."
"Oh wow! He's gonna use the Kamehameha!" Goku's tail spun with excitement, wondering if he would get the chance to use it against him in the future.
"Good thing he took the liberty to clear the way." Jackie commented looking around. "Any normal person could get seriously hurt or worse from a blast at his level."
"Huh?" Caulifla was surprised at the sudden attempt. She knew exactly what he was doing and still found it weird he was trying to do it at all in the first place. "Are you kidding me? You're too slow with that attack! I can dodge that easily-!" She froze. Her pupils shrank with great realization as she looked all around herself. "Oh crud..." She had completely forgotten and realized her mistake.
She was in the air.
The place she had no bounds to that could get her out of the way.
What little she could do to flail her legs or wave her arms would do nothing to avoid the oncoming blast that he was charging up.
She was a sitting duck.
"W-Wait! Time out!" She yelled down, watching as Krillin's smile widened with every second.
"Haaaaaaaa..." The ball of light brightened greatly as he continued, growing wider as the orb nearly encompassed his hands. "Meeeeee..."
It didn't matter how futile it was. Caulifla did everything she could to flap or move out of the way, even by an inch. She was stuck in the air with the only direction moveable being the way down, and that's if she didn't slow her descent like she was now. "What do I do... what do I do... what..." She mumbled to herself panicking. Either she tried to descend faster and ended up being hit with it at point blank range, or she fell slowly like she was now and still be shot down like a bird.
Either scenario would result in her getting easily knocked out of the ring.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaa!"
*shooooooooom!*
"Wow! What an incredible attack!" The announcer yelled into the microphone as he watched the mysterious burst of energy. "I don't know what we're witnessing folks, but it it's making a bee line straight for the young Caulifla!"
In one glorious burst, the crowd watched awestruck at the shining light as it blasted from Krillin's hands, being almost the same size as his head, as it shot towards Caulifla. Every inch it got closer made Caulifla's pupils shrink more and more, the young girl now at a total loss on what she could do. She couldn't dodge it, she couldn't deflect it, unless she didn't mind accidentally flinging it towards the crowd, and she couldn't blow it back with her own Kamehameha. There was only one course of action she could take at a time like this.
"Well... better than nothing!" She braced for impact as she held both her hands in front of herself. She was going to get hit anyway and there was no means of shielding herself otherwise, so she might as well take it as best she could and hope for the best, right?
*spzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
"Ghhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut as she screamed to herself. The very moment the blast made impact with her hands, she instantly regretted it. It felt like her hand was being forced onto a hot burning stove while being drilled into the palm of her hands at the same time, like sandpaper being scraped against them at ultra high speeds. The blast was small but the impact was painful as she felt herself being pushed up higher in the air, all while the audience gasped in amazement at the light show.
"Ooooh!"
"Ahhhh." And the likes were being scattered across the audience at the performance.
As painful as it was for Caulifla, it was more exhausting on Krillin's end as he continued to channel more and more power into the stream. He expected the girl to get pushed out of the way at this point, not be riding it like some foreign elevator or something! Things got worse for the young monk as Caulifla adapted to this little dilemma. Knowing nothing was going to be done at this rate, the young girl forcefully pushed herself out of he blasts way as best she could, nudging the stream off into the sky where it made a single hole in the dark grey clouds.
"Oh no!" Krillin panicked, bringing the stream to an end as he saw Caulifla fall from the air. The young girl flipped a half dozen times on the way down, and landing somewhat painfully on her feet on the other end of the arena.
"What a remarkable recovery!" The announcer roared again. "Against all odds, it appears Caulifla successfully managed to push away the attack and has landed safely back in the ring!"
And unsurprisingly, she didn't take things very well.
"OOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, hopping on one foot to the next repeatedly. "OWIE OWIE OWIE OWIE OWIE OWIE OWWWWWWW!" She nearly teared up as she shook her hands furiously, both her palms beating red with a slight sizzle to them.
"Whoa, that's gotta hurt..." Goku muttered, noticing the slight steam coming off her hands.
"I can't believe she blocked that with her own hands!" Yamcha didn't know what to make of it. He knew his boss was strong, but this was something else!
"It was a bit risky, but it seemed that she pulled through." Jackie added, looking at the girl's hands from his position. "I'm actually amazed she managed to control Krillin's energy as she did."
"What do you mean? Didn't she just block it?" The master of the Wolf Fang Fist questioned.
"In a sense. Ordinarily, if she took the hit head on, she could've been blasted into the clouds themselves, or it would've exploded on impact. She must've channeled a great source of ki to the front of her palms without knowing it, and it helped her divert the trajectory to her side instead." He stroked his beard again as he pictured everything in his mind. 'That girl's control over energy is really something...' And it wouldn't be till years later when he learned the reason behind her incredible power.
She blew rapidly on her palms as fast as she could, squeezing them between the armpits as she tried to cool them off. "Owwwwwww..." She shook.
"Uhh... H-Hey, you okay?" Krillin asked, wondering if his plan had worked a little too well there.
His answer came with the horrifying gaze of the young Caulifla glaring back at him, a mound of fire burning in her eyes. "GRRRRRRRRRRRR! What the heck, Baldy! That really hurt!" She sniffled. "If I'm not allowed to use the Kamehameha then you shouldn't be either!"
"R-Roshi only said you weren't allowed to! Remember?" He reminded.
Hearing it just made Caulifla angrier. It wasn't fair! Just because her Kamehamehas were slightly larger in size and stronger than Goku's or Krillin's didn't mean she shouldn't be allowed to use the technique if the other two were allowed to use it! She could've defended herself just fine, she knows she could! But no. Just because someone might get hurt, and the slight possibility of completely decimating the entire ring in the explosion, SHE wasn't allowed to use the move?!
"Ooooh, I can't imagine how that feels." Bulma commented, feeling squeamish from hearing Caulifla's cries of pain alone. "We should definitely find an ice pack for her after this."
"It can't hurt that bad, can it?" Oolong asked. "I mean, she just fell from over fifty feet. Her feet have got to be in more pain than her hands right now."
"Cauli's always hopped around the warehouse just fine when we worked for her." Puar explained. "Fifty feet is nothing."
The announcer looked at the two in a bit of confusion before leaning over to the young girl. "Um, excuse me? Young miss? Are you going to be alright? Your hands look really red there."
"Grrrrr I'm fine!" Her nostrils flared as she puffed her chest. Krillin freaked out at the sight of her wrapping her tail around herself. Over the course of their training, he came to learn that Caulifla only does it whenever she was getting serious. "You are so dead..."
"Well... if you say so." Getting back into position, the announcer proudly raised his fist. "It looks like the young fighter is ready to continue!" And, naturally, the crowd followed with a cheer.
And no sooner did they cheer did Krillin's world of pain commence. The very instant it died down the girl was over the young fighter in less than a minute. If he wanted to take the fight seriously, to the point of hurting her hands so much, then she was going to enjoy herself and give him a proper match. She didn't hold back anything from her speed, agility, or strength as she overwhelmed the young fighter faster than he could see.
One second she was ahead of the announcer, the next she had a foot diving right into Krillin's stomach, and the following he felt it kick the back of his head, knocking him further into the ring and away from the edge. Before he could get to his own knees he felt a hand grab the back of his gi, which promptly tossed him into the air for all to see. With a simple leap, the young girl was already above him as she clapped both her hands together into a single fist, and slammed it down on the back of Krillin's shiny head back onto the stadium.
Following this was a near minute of an endless cat and mouse game as Krillin tried and failed to outrun her while Caulifla kept toe to toe with him, sprinting and jumping across the stadium wherever he went, landing an attack, then repeating the process several more times. To Goku, it was fun to see how far their training had come, and couldn't wait to fight his first opponent in the ring. To the others, they could only see a blur of movement hop across one spot of the stage to the next until Krillin finally slowed down.
When they saw the young warrior, they were baffled. There were scrapes, scratches, and bruises across Krillin's small frame and his right eye. Caulifla clearly wasn't showing any mercy to the person who burned her hands so thoroughly. The young monk was completely out of breath, just doing everything he could to keep pace with her and avoid what little of her attacks he could. As for the other, she was huffing from her own exhaustion, though still had boundless energy to pursue the hand-hater.
And, as it stood, the injured warrior found himself at the edge of the arena.
"Wow! What an intense performance! I hope you people were keeping track of what we've witnessed because I sure couldn't!" The announcer said as the audience were mixed with cheer and suspense.
"H-H-Hey, let's take it easy here!" Krillin waved his hands frantically. "I said I was sorry!"
"If you're sorry then jump off the edge before I knock you off!" Caulifla clearly hadn't forgiven the hand abuser yet.
Krillin turned around to see how close he was to the edge of the ring. A single foot. That was all. If it meant living he would've gladly done so, but he couldn't do it like this. He was only five minutes into his match, it would've been humiliating to leave this soon! "What say we take a quick breather, how about?" He suggested, mostly prayed, to her.
"Fat Chance!" And with another shout, she leaped, and dove straight at the young warrior from above.
"Nnnnnngh! Please! I'm sorry!" He begged, getting on his knees with his hands together pleadingly.
The existence of a god has yet to be proven on this planet. Some people were common believers, hence the formation of religion. Others believed there really was a god somewhere in this world, watching over the planet. Though, those were commonly considered a pure myth or a fairytale compared to other religious stories about god. Whatever the case may be, no one could deny or prove the possibility that such a god could exist.
Yet, it was a simple act that gave way to people believing in such things. Because, as if a divine act of favor from the almighty himself, a miracle was performed right when the monk needed it most.
*shiiiiim*
"Ahhhhhh!" Caulifla suddenly screamed, stopping her attack.
Krillin raised his head up in confusion as he looked back. There, not ten feet away from him, was the girl who was mere moments away from knocking him out of the ring. As if blessed with the protection of the almighty, or perhaps an immense moment of coincidental timing, the small hole in the clouds gave Krillin the victory he needed.
Through the small opening, a small beam of sunlight from above managed to penetrate the slightly darkened city. It could've landed anywhere, a car, a building, even a simple blade of grass. Instead, through an incredible amount of luck, it landed on the one thing that sealed Caulifla's fate: Krillin's shiny bald held. The small trickle of light reflected perfectly off his chrome dome as the girl suddenly found a searing blinding light from the sun filling her vision, blinding the poor girl who couldn't see anything more than greyish blurs everywhere.
She couldn't help but rub her eyes frantically, somehow stinging more than the burning feeling on her hands.
And leaving herself completely open and defenseless.
It was truly a matter of pure luck.
"Uhh... What's wrong?" Krillin asked, still unsure what to make of this.
"Krillin!" Goku called out. "The light from your shiny head blinded her!"
"It did?" He didn't know what to make of this as the girl sheepishly continued rubbing.
"Agh, it's like looking into a sun for ten hours straight!" She complained, still seeing nothing but blurs and white smudges when she tried to open her eyes.
"...It did!" Seeing the opportunity he needed, Krillin made his final move.
*Bam*
"Wahhhhh-!"
*Wham!*
The next thing she knew, Caulifla felt a hard kick to her chest, one that sent her flying off her feet.
And her back into the wall of the audience stands.
Outside of the ring.
*Ding-Ding*
The announcement bell went off, signaling the end of the round.
"Oooooh, and we have our first winner!" The announcer yelled, filling the entire audience with applause and cheer, save for a few individuals. "The first match of the quarter finals goes to... KRILLIN!"
"Woooooo!"
"Way to go!"
"Awesome!"
"I won! I won!" Krillin jumped in the air and waved his fists repeatedly. He couldn't believe it. He actually could NOT believe it. He actually defeated the girl who slightly scared him all this time in their very first round together! Him! HE ACTUALLY WON!
"Huh... When I said he had a clear head, that's not exactly what I had in mind, but..." Jackie shrugged to himself. "Close enough, I guess."
"Awww that's too bad..." Goku was really looking forward to the chance of having a full-fledged rematch with his good friend. "I was rooting for both of them, but Cauli really wanted to fight me in the tournament." He guessed he would have to wait till the next tournament.
"Ugh... What... What's going...?" Caulifla mumbled as her vision slowly returned. When she could see again, she saw Krillin jumping for joy on the stadium, and realized her feet were planted firmly in the ground. "Wait... I lost?!"
"Aww, poor girl." Bulma sighed.
"Yeah! I won 100 zeni!"
*WHACK*
"OW!"
"I said cram it, pig! Or I'll shout you-know-what repeatedly!" Bulma repeatedly threatened to Oolong.
"Go ahead! That stuff's been through my system weeks ago!" He grumbled back.
"I... I actually lost to Krillin?!" It was all coming back to her. Her attack, the blinding light, the intense pain from his kick hitting her chest. Only now did it all make sense. "Hey! That's no fair, you cheated!" Caulifla grumbled, leaning onto the stage. This couldn't be happening! She was supposed to win then get a rematch with Goku! Sure, they could practice and spar at any time, but this was the only legitimate way they could think of to make it official!
By being in the tournament full of witnesses!
"Awwww, too bad!" Krillin teased, sticking out a tongue as he pulled the skin under his eye down. "But don't worry, Cauli. I'll be sure to mention you in my victory speech! Nyeeeeeeh!"
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Krillin made his last mistake as he could've sworn her hair caught fire for a split second. "YOU'RE DEAD, KRILLIN!" Without any hesitation or care, the young girl climbed onto the ring and made a mad dash for the now-panicking monk.
"WAIT! WAIT! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! IT WAS JUST A JOKE! I SWEAR! AHHHHHHHH!" Krillin panicked as he ran in circles, the girl hot on her heels as they began running around the announcer. He was the only shield Krillin had at this point to be spared from Cauli's wrath, and even he knew that wouldn't last forever.
The chase would continue until Jackie Chun cleared the arena himself, grabbing the back of the girl's outfit and lifting her off her feet. To many, it just seemed like children playing around on a playground, but it was still an intense match for sure! It was packed with the action and thrill any audience member could dream of. There were laughs, cheers, and praises for both fighters, more so when Caulifla finally stopped choking the life out of Krillin which Goku had to assist with.
And while the bald-headed warrior would never know it, he had earned Caulifla's respect that day, not that she cared to admit it. Because until that day, she had never referred to him by his first name~
...
...
...
A/N: Yeah... Cauli's not gonna let that slide for a couple years, is she XP? Lucky for krillin's sake a lot of time passes throughout the series XP Lol.
Anyway, once again, hope everyone's having a great New Year's. I'm really hoping I solved the dilemma to my writing because i want to push out the same quality people came to love in my Cat-Ra fanfics- unless i'm already doing that in which case let me know XP
With that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, Fave, Follow, and review (in which case i'll be happy to take flash back requests from Dragon Ball if you leave said requests after reviewing) and hope to see you soon ^^!