The Finals Begin! Cruelty of the Crane!
As the day wore on, the one hundred eighty-two were whittled down to eight, just as Ken had promised. It finally came down to Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Jackie Chun, Launch, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Pamput. The eight were assembled in front of Ken for the random draw. Yamcha and Ten glared at each other as Ken reached into the box with eight numbered slips of paper inside it.
'Chaozu,' Ten spoke telepathically to his fellow student, 'Make sure I get a Turtle student. It doesn't matter which one. Just make sure Son Goku is on the opposite side of me so that I go to the finals.' Chaozu nodded and used his telepathic powers to guide slips of paper into people's hands as they reached into the box.
"Hi, Ken!" Goku said cheerfully to the announcer as she reached into the box. Ken smiled back and seemed genuinely happy that Goku had remembered him.
"Hello to you too, Goku," Ken said as he took the slip of paper from Goku's hand. "Good to see you again. But could you, uh, not destroy the stadium this time?" Goku blinked in confusion. What the heck did that mean? She hadn't done anything last year! "Y'know, when you…" Ken looked over Goku's shoulder and saw Jackie Chun waving his fingers across his throat, gesturing for him to drop the subject. "Uh… n-never mind. Good luck!" When every contestant had drawn their numbers, Ken led everyone out to the ring and the crowd roared with approval.
"Go, Goku!" Suno cheered as she cupped her hands around her mouth. Goku waved back to her eagerly with a big grin on her face. She hadn't seen Suno in forever!
"Come on, Yamcha!" Bulma and Puar cheered in unison. In the back of her mind, Bulma wondered where Roshi was but she figured he was probably just watching farther back. Shen watched silently and waited to see Tenshinhan destroy his enemies.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Ken crowed. "We welcome you once again to the Tenkaichi Budoukai! We've got no less than four return finalists this year so let's give them a big hand!" Like a true showman, he paused to let the crowd applaud Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, and Jackie Chun. "This year for the finals, it will be Pamput," the flashy, dark-skinned youth posed as the women squealed and whistled, "Against last year's Champion, Jackie Chun!" Jackie's sum total reaction to his cheers was to hold up a fist. "Tenshinhan," The crowd cheered while Bulma, Suno, and Puar booed vehemently, "Against Krillin!" Krillin smiled and waved to the crowd as they cheered. "Yamcha!" Yamcha flexed and posed as the crowd roared and Bulma whistled for her boyfriend, "Against Launch!" Launch flipped the crow off but that only made them cheer louder. Bulma booed.
"And finally, last year's runner up, Son Goku!" Goku jumped up and down and waved her arms as the crowed cheered louder than ever while Tenshinhan glowered at her with contempt, "Against Chaozu!" Tenshinhan whipped his head around to glare at his little friend as he screamed at him telepathically.
'I… wasn't paying attention.' Chaozu thought bashfully. Ten sighed. It was too late to do anything about it now and anything he said would cause suspicion. The six filed away to the competitors' viewing area as Jackie and Pamput took their places in the ring.
"I'll give you this chance to surrender," Pamput told Jackie with mock civility while he hopped from foot to foot. "An old man such as yourself can't defeat a young athlete of my caliber!"
"You… you did hear him say that I won last year, didn't you?" Jackie asked incredulously as he got into his stance. Pamput let out a dismissive "tsk" as he got into his own Taijutsu guard.
"A tournament with a stripper, children, a beggar, and a monster," he pounded a fist arrogantly against his chest. "I am the greatest, handsomest, most famous athlete the world has ever known!" Bulma whistled loudly while Puar and Suno rolled their eyes. "Surely you've seen one of my movies? Everyone has!" The next thing Pamput knew, Jackie was somehow in front of him. His hand was out in a flash and he grabbed one of Pamput's fingers and twisted it as Pamput howled in pain.
"I saw one," Jackie admitted almost shamefully. "They stink!" He twisted harder and Pamput let out a decidedly unimpressive squeal of pain.
"I give up!" he shrieked as he stamped his foot. "Owowowowowow! I give up, I give up, I give up!" Jackie released Pamput's finger and walked away calmly as Pamput rubbed his damaged finger.
"By submission, Jackie Chun is your winner!" Ken declared as the crowd roared while Bulma looked on… disappointed.
"He didn't even get to do anything," she muttered with her arms folded over her chest.
OoOoOoO
Krillin watched from the fighter's area as Tenshinhan walked into the ring. Despite his best efforts and all his training, he was still nervous. After all, the guy had said he was going to murder Goku. Krillin swallowed and took a few steps before Goku herself came up and grabbed his hand.
"Don't worry," she said encouragingly. "You can take him on!" Krillin's face flushed red as Goku let go of his hand and smiled. He bounded out to the ring with new confidence and smacked his fists together a few times before getting into his stance.
"Come on!" he declared defiantly. Tenshinhan only sneered as he got into his own stance. Krillin charged and Ten kept him at bay by using his longer limbs with a flurry of kicks. Krillin hopped back to avoid Ten's strikes and then dashed to the left. Ten threw a kick to the left before Krillin dashed to the right in an attempt to put him off-balance as he attacked with a jumping punch. Ten was ready, however, and caught Krillin's fist in his hand and slammed him hard to the ground.
"That kind of maneuvering might fool some Turtle Students," Ten said scornfully, "But you'll have to try harder to fool me!" Krillin hopped to his feet and was undeterred as he jumped into the air and pressed the attack with a barrage of punches. Ten blocked them all and attempted a headbutt but Krillin dropped down and drove his shoulder into Tenshinhan's stomach to drive the wind out of him and make him stagger back. Krillin followed up with a sweep to bring Ten to the ground and finished with a downward chop that would have caught Ten in his third eye if the Crane Student hadn't rolled out of the way and come up to a knee. Krillin came at Ten with a knee aimed at his face but Ten moved his head to the side at the last second and smashed his elbow into Krillin's face to send him sprawling.
"Come on, Krillin!" Goku cheered on as she, Yamcha, and Launch watched.
"Get him!" Yamcha added.
"Take his stupid extra eye out!" Launch encouraged. Ten got to his feet as Krillin got up and dashed forward with a knee. Krillin hopped up and away but this was a feint as Ten lunged forward and peppered Krillin's torso with two-fingered Spear Strikes and finished with an elbow down on top of Krillin's head that sends him to the ground. However, Krillin moves into a three-point stance before impact and bounces away, hitting the wall to the side of the ring and pushing off to kick Tenshinhan with a hard roundhouse kick to the jaw. Tenshinhan took a step back before driving an uppercut into Krillin's stomach and smashing him down with a double hamerfist blow that sent him skidding across the ring. Krillin staggered to his feet and wiped blood from his lip with a frustrated scowl.
'Darn it!' he thought. 'This guy is tough! I can't seem to get in a solid hit! Well,' he thought as he turned to one side and cupped his hands, 'I guess I'll take my best shot now!' Krillin brought his hands to his side as they filled with blue light. "Kaaaa meeee.."
"This is incredible!" Ken declared. "Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot believe my eyes! For the second year in a row, we are going to see the legendary Kamehameha!"
"Haaaa meeee…"
"This'll wipe that smug look off that guy's stupid three-eyed face!" Bulma declared confidently. Suno wasn't so sure. Meanwhile, Ten's only reaction was to plant his feet, bring his hands up to his chest, and lock his fingers together with the two index fingers held up.
"Haaaaa!" Krillin thrust his hands forward to release his cyclone of blue-white light at Tenshinhan. The beam of destructive ki barreled towards Ten like a freight train and hit him dead on… and then immediately reflected back at Krillin. Krillin squawked in disbelief before hopping to the side to avoid the blast which sailed over the audience's' heads and blew up a building in the distance. "What?!" Krillin cried out in shock.
"What?!" Yamcha shouted in dismay.
"What?!" Launch snapped.
"What?!" Suno said in astonishment.
"What?" Jackie muttered in stunned confusion.
"Krillin, look out!" Goku called out. Krillin turned just in time to see a purple-panted knee take up his entire field of vision as Ten kneed him hard in the face and sent him onto his back. Krillin laid back in a daze as he struggled to clear his head and stand up.
"Pathetic," Ten muttered with a villainous smirk. Then he raised one foot and smashed it down on Krillin's kneecap. There was a sickening "snap!" of shattering bone and Krillin howled in pain before blacking out. The audience screamed in horror as Bulma's face paled and Suno covered her mouth in shock.
"K-Krillin is in no state to continue!" Ken stammered numbly. "Th-th-therefore, Tenshinhan is your winner!" Ten gave a mocking bow to Krillin's unconscious form as the crowd booed before the paramedics carted Krillin off to take him to the hospital.
"That son of a–" Launch muttered as she balled up her fists. Goku ground her teeth and the two of them looked ready to charge before Yamcha put hands on their shoulders.
"Don't," he warned them despite his own obvious rage. "I know you're mad. I am, too. But if we attack this slimeball outside of a match, we'll get disqualified. Then we can't kick his ass and he wins. I know it sucks but you have to let it go. We'll kick his ass later." His fellow Turtle Students reluctantly relaxed and Jackie was surprised at Yamcha's maturity and control.
"Hey!" Bulma called from the stands as her fear gave way to fury. She climbed over the barrier before Suno or Puar could grab her and walked right into the ring and right in Tenshinhan's face. "Who do you think you are, huh?! Do you think this makes you a badass, hurting people? You think that makes you a real man?! Is that is?" Tenshinhan said nothing as he looked down at her contemptuously. Bulma fumed and balled up her fists. "You're sick!" Without a moment's hesitation, Bulma hauled back and punched Tenshinhan right in the mouth, making his head snap to the side. He slowly turned his head back and pushed Bulma's hand away as he did so. He gave her a derisive smirk before backhanding her in a blur that sent her hard into the barricade.
"You're fucking dead!" Yamcha roared at the top of his lungs with murder in his eyes, control forgotten as he barreled towards Tenshinhan. Security guards flung themselves on him to no avail and he was nearly on Tenshinhan before Goku and Launch tackled him to the ground. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch! You fucking hear me?!" Yamcha snapped as he practically foamed at the mouth while he kicked and struggled and looked up at Ten with all the hate a human being could have in their heart. Ten laughed and walked past him while Suno helped Bulma back up over the barricade.
"Yamcha!" Bulma called to try and get his attention. "I'm all right!" she assured him despite holding her shoulder.
"Calm down," Goku whispered to try and soothe her friend like he had calmed her. "Please, Yamcha. You've got to calm down! One of us will get him! I promise!" Gradually, Yamcha went slack as the rage went out of him. The security climbed off and Goku and Launch helped Yamcha up. Goku walked away to prepare for her match with Chaozu.
OoOoOoO
Yamcha was fuming before the match began. He was in his guard but his whole body was tensed up and stiff with fury. Launch could tell that his mind wasn't in the fight and took steps to fix that as she strode across the ring.
"Hey," Launch said while snapping her fingers in Yamcha's face, "Get it together. I know you're mad but I want you to focus. One of us will take care of these Crane dipshits. But I don't want any asterisks besides my name if I beat you." Yamcha smiled and nodded before he took a deep breath. He breathed in his anger and breathed it all out.
"Okay," Yamcha said as he opened his eyes, "Let's focus on you and me." Launch gave him a smirk and a waggle of her eyebrows and Yamcha rolled his eyes, already feeling a little better. "You know what I mean. May the best turtle win." Yamcha held out his fist and Launch bumped hers against it before jumping away from each other and got into their guards.
Launch charged towards Yamcha with a jumping knee that Yamcha pushed down before he followed up with a palm strike to the chin as soon as Launch touched down. Launch deflected the hit with her forearm to push Yamcha's arm away and went for an elbow to his exposed chest but he caught it in his other hand and shoved her away. This exchange of blocked and countered strikes continued for several seconds with neither person gaining an edge. Just as it had been with Goku and Krillin at the last tournament, the pair had sparred so often that it would be difficult for one to surprise the other.
The change came when Launch went for a sweep kick that Yamcha leaped over. This turned out to only be a feint by Launch as she swiped up at Yamcha and caught him full in the chest with a kiai. Yamcha dropped like a rock and landed in a crouch with a hand at his chest.
"When'd you finally figure out kiai?" Yamcha asked with a wince. Launch grinned and flicked a finger across her nose.
"Couple years ago. Kept that one close to my chest, along with a couple other secrets I was savin' for today." Yamcha grinned right back and got back into his guard.
"That makes both of us," he said as he charged Launch and pulled back his fist. She was prepared to block his telegraphed punch as was thinking about countering with an elbow to the ear when Yamcha's fist came surging forward faster than she'd anticipated, glowing with a blue-purple light as it rammed into her stomach and drove the wind out of her. Launch staggered back and Yamcha quickly grabbed her by the shoulder, jumping up before slamming her into the ground. He backflipped away a few times before jumping high into the air to bring his knee down onto her. Launch barely rolled away from the attack in time and came up on one knee, wiping spit from the corner of her mouth as the crowd cheered.
"C'mon, Yamcha!" Bulma called out as the crowd cheered, "Get her!"
"Are you cheering for Yamcha or against Launch?" Suno asked. Bulma smirked.
"Yes." she stated matter-of–factly Suno just rolled her eyes.
'Damn,' Launch thought as she got back to her feet. 'This might be a problem.' Launch didn't know to sense ki or anything like that but the power Yamcha had been able to put into that punch without seeming to use up too much of his energy did plenty to illustrate the difference between their power. 'I've got one good shot if I'm gonna make it to the next round.' Launch took a deep breath before suddenly surging forward and driving a flying kick into Yamcha's chest that sent him stumbling back. Launch pressed her advantage with a blur elbows, punches, knees and kicks in an all-out sprint that made Yamcha give ground with every blow, whether he blocked or not, as sweat flew off her body.
'She's putting all her energy into it,' Jackie realized. 'Working herself to exhaustion to knock Yamcha out of the ring and hoping she'll have enough time before her bout with Goku or Chaozu to catch her breath.' It was an admirable strategy, if incredibly shortsighted. Yamcha proved this when he blocked an elbow strike from Launch that was a little too slow and caught her just behind the ear when he countered with a spinning backfist. Launch staggered away on wobbly legs, gasping for breath and barely able to hold herself up.
"C'mon," Launch demanded when Yamcha hesitated. "If you wanna… wanna make it to the next round, you better hit me as… as hard as you can." Yamcha nodded and pulled back one hand for a palm strike even as Launch wearily pulled back her fist. Yamcha's blow caught her right under the chin and the blonde warrior collapsed like a house of cards.
"Nine… ten! Yamcha is the winner!" Ken declared. The crowd cheered as Yamcha held out a hand to help Launch up. She took it before pushing Yamcha away as soon as she was on her feet.
"N-next time," she told him shakily, "Next time your ass is mine." Yamcha smiled and shook his head as he watched Launch walk off. She stumbled, lurched, and almost fell over a few times but she made it to the fighter's area under her own power. She leaned against a wall to support herself before her legs gave out from under her and she slid to the floor. She sat there for a few moments, eyes closed, gasping for breath, more exhausted and more disappointed than she could remember being in her life.
"Hey." Launch slowly opened one eye to see Goku smiling at her and holding out a cup of water. Launch took it and gulped the water down gratefully, letting the cup slip from her tired fingers after she'd drained it. "You did really good," Goku assured her friend. Launch smiled wearily and reached up a hand to tousle Goku's hair.
"Thanks, kid."
OoOoOoO
Goku wore a stern expression on her face as Chaozu floated into the ring. The smug little imp only touched down when Ken informed him that the match couldn't begin until Chaozu was actually in the ring. Jackie reflected that he had never seen Goku so angry.
'I only hope it doesn't lead to her being careless,' he thought as he stroked his beard. Chaozu giggled to himself as Goku stood with her feet planted and neither fighter got into their guard.
"I bet you're really mad," Chaozu teased, "Aren't you?" Goku said nothing. "Mad that Tenshinhan broke your stupid bald friend's leg, huh? Well, guess what? There's nothing you can do about it!" Chaozu laughed louder. "Ten's going to beat that old man! He'll beat either of the other Turtle Students if they make it to the finals! But that's not going to happen because they're not getting past me and neither are you!" Chaozu thrust out his hands on "you!" and was clearly expecting something to happen. Goku took a step forward. Chaozu's eyes bugge even wider than normal and he thrust his hands forward more emphatically. Goku took another step forward. And another. Then she broke into a sprint and thundered towards Chaozu like a one-person stampede with such fury in each step that the ground shook under them. At the last second, Chaozu flew up into the air and across to the other side of the ring and stayed in the air as Goku turned slowly and glowered up at him. 'This is bad!' Chaozu thought. 'My psychokinesis doesn't work on her!'
"Well, this is bullshit," Launch muttered. "How's Goku supposed to knock him out if he can fly?" Jackie, however, could sense the Crane Student's panic and wasn't quite so worried about Goku's chances. Chaozu pointed a finger at Goku while being slightly unnerved by Goku's unchanging glower.
"D-Dodonpa!" Chaozu cried as he released a golden spear of light from his outstretched finger. It passed right through Goku and hit the grass behind her. She dissolved, proving to be nothing more than an afterimage, with the real Goku not even a foot away. "Dodonpa!" Chaozu repeated as he fired again. Once again it passed through with the real Goku back where she'd been originally. "Dodonpa! Dodonpa! Dodonpa!" Chaozu fired again and again but he might as well have been aiming at the sky for all the good it did in hitting his target. At one point, Goku's afterimages filled up the entire side of the ring she was standing on and Chaozu howled in impotent frustration. "Hold still!" he screamed as he fired blindly into the row of Gokus. They faded from sight instantly to leave only the true Goku who was standing right in the path of Chaozu's beam… and then she punched the Dodonpa, destroying it in a burst of light.
"Impossible!" Shen screamed as Goku rubbed her first. Chaozu broke into a cold sweat of terror as Goku leaped high into the air to catch Chaozu under the chin with a twisting uppercut that sent Chaozu sailing through the air and over the horizon.
"I'm soooorry, Teeeeeeeeeeee–" Chaozu called, his cry cut off by a splash. Everyone's eyes went wide with shock as they realized that Goku had knocked Chaozu off of the island.
"S-Son Goku is the winner!" Ken stammered as Goku walked out of the ring. She glowered at Tenshinhan who returned her gaze unblinking.