fate41

The first round against Mr. Satan and Jewel went by uneventfully with Mr. Satan winning against Jewel rather easily. Jewel, who was intimidated by Mr. Satan’s “superior” fighting skills, didn’t quite have his guard up and was flew out of the ring by means of a powerful punch delivered by Mr. Satan. Jewel seemed to put up a good fighting front, but Mr. Satan overwhelmed him in the end. The crowd ate it up lovingly; the Z-senshi, on the other hand, did not.

Krillin gave a slight yawn in boredom; in fact, all of the Z-senshi were bored. The sight of Mr. Satan fighting was not a particularly impressive sight. They had seen all he could do at the Cell games and what they saw was not very astounding. For a man that was famed as the strongest man in the world, he didn’t hold a candle to any of the Z-senshi. Hell, he didn’t even hold a candle to his own daughter.

Mr. Satan and Jewel both made their way to the waiting area, Jewel with his head hung in bitter defeat and Mr. Satan still wearing the same smug, contemptuous look on his face that he always wore. Jewel just shuffled past the Z-senshi and the other fighters, wanting to get away so he could hide in his shame, but Mr. Satan stopped in front of the group and looked straight at Gohan. Mr. Satan allowed the smallest of smiles to creep onto his face.

“I wish you luck in your next match, Son Gohan,” Mr. Satan said before waltzing off, his head high and shoulders back as he took great strides, obviously pleased with the results of his match. He looked like a man who delighted in winning, yet expected it to happen. The Z-senshi all hated him for it…even Goku, the most kind-hearted one of the group, was dreading the day that man became related to him through marriage.

They all hated his complete lack of regard for others, even his own daughter who he left by herself for 5 months. Although it wasn’t exactly abandonment, it was close enough to it that the Z-senshi had lost all respect for the man. What self-respecting man left his daughter alone for 5 months? Gohan looked at Mr. Satan as he walked away, wondering why Mr. Satan chose to wish him luck.

“Can I kick his ass?” Gohan said, needing permission before he put Mr. Satan and his so-called fighting abilities to shame. Videl looked up at him and smiled.

“You have my full and complete permission to beat him however badly you want to…just as long as you only seriously damage his pride. The man could use it.”

“Good luck, though I don’t think you’re going to need it. You’ll win against this Spopovitch guy no problem,” Videl said. Gohan nodded and moved to walkway that led to the arena.

“Our next match is going to be an exciting one, folks,” the announcer yelled into the microphone, “We have Spopovitch, who suffered a defeat against Mr. Satan in the last Tenkaichi Budoukai, against Son Gohan, the eldest son of Son Goku, the former champion of the Tenkaichi Budoukai! This should prove to be an interesting match.” As the announcer finished his introductions, Spopovitch and Gohan stepped up on to the ring, both of them facing each other.

Gohan looked at his opponent, thinking about how easy this win was going to be considering that Spopovitch had such a weak ki, nowhere near high enough to rival his. And Spopovitch…well Spopovitch wasn’t thinking much but what he was thinking about was his victory against the seemingly scrawny boy in front of him. Both men lowered themselves into a fighting stance, each of them different as a result of their different styles of martial arts.

As soon as the emcee announced the beginning of the match, Spopovitch immediately rushed for Gohan, hoping to overwhelm him and push him out of the ring. But, what Spopovitch didn’t know was that Gohan was expecting Spopovitch to act as such and as soon as Spopovitch was in reach, Gohan pushed his fist forward so that it connected with Spopovitch’s face. Spopovitch immediately flew out of the ring from the result of Gohan’s punch and connected with the wall of the arena, leaving a Spopovitch-sized dent in the wall.

Gohan looked slightly smug (he hadn’t liked the look of Spopovitch, but he couldn’t figure why), the rest of the Z-senshi didn’t look at all surprised, and the entire audience, with the exception of Bulma, Trunks, Chi-Chi, Goten, the Ox King, Marron, and Master Roshi were silent. The aforementioned seven members of the audience cheered loudly for Gohan, though there was no doubt that he was going to win. Gohan walked off of the ring and slowly made his way to the back, the slight smug look still on his face. As he entered the waiting area, he was greeted with a whole bunch of smirking faces.

“Hey guys, I just thought of a question…are there any limitations against turning into Super Saiya-jins?” The other Z-senshi seemed to be thinking about that before Goku spoke up.

“The only limitation that there should be is that you should only release as much of your strength to make the fight fair,” Goku said. The others nodded in agreement.

“Yeah,” Krillin spoke up, “You Saiya-jins better watch your strength around us humans…though I have a feeling that you Saiya-jins are going to be the ones competing in the final rounds of the Tenkaichi no matter what limitations you guys put on your strength.” The others only chuckled at Krillin’s comment before the announcer shouted out the names of the next two competitors, asking them to come out to the ring: Mirai and Tien.

Both men looked at each other, each giving each other a small nod, before walking out to where they would be competing against each other. They walked out onto the ring and faced each other as the announcer introduced the two competitors, but neither competitor was listening. Both men got down into fighting stances, each ready to fight each other as soon as they were given the word.

“Don’t try to make me feel better about myself, Mirai. I know that my strength doesn’t even compare to yours. Let’s just try to make this a good fight.” Mirai smirked.

“No problem,” Mirai said, jerking his head slightly to get his hair out of his eyes. At the insistence of his mother, Mirai had cut his hair short again. Mirai had no objections. One, he rather liked it short, and, two, it didn’t get in the way when he was fighting. The two men were quiet as the announcer finished introducing them, calling out the start of the match as soon as he was finished.

At the announcement of the beginning of the match, both men launched at each other, fists meeting fists as they fought each other in the ring, causing the majority of the crowd to freeze as their jaws dropped open in shock. In his normal form, Mirai was the equal of Tien and, with the time limit; the only way that Mirai could win was to turn into a Super Saiya-jin. Mirai grimaced internally; he wanted to keep the Super Saiya-jin transformation as a last resort.

* So, I guess I’ll give it my all in my normal form until the end. If one of us hasn’t one towards the end of the match, I’ll go Super Saiya-jin, * Mirai thought as he ducked his head to avoid one of Tien’s powerful kicks. Tien’s kick went straight over the top of Mirai’s head and Tien swore internally as the young half Saiya-jin took advantage of his lowered position and sent a strong punch into Tien’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Tien gasped for breath, his body lowering back to the ground. It was only when his feet touched the ring that he realized that he and Mirai had both been hovering in the air while fighting. Clutching his stomach, Tien sat still for a couple of moments to regain his breath before standing straight up again, looking at Mirai, who was still hovering above him, a small smile of satisfaction on his face.

“Not by a long shot,” Tien said before shouting, “AKA SHISHIN NO KEN!” his arms crossed over his chest as he did so. Suddenly, Tien split into four, exact replicas of his original self, all of them charging at Mirai. Mirai’s eyes widened and, although he knew that each replica possessed a power that was only a quarter of Tien’s actual strength, Mirai had never been in a battle that was four against one. As Mirai battled against the replicas, he found himself being overwhelmed. Tien had put all of his power into his speed, so the replicas were moving at a speed that was very incredible, confusing Mirai as to where exactly the replicas were.

Every once in a while, one of them would put all of their power into their strength, just long enough to get a solid, painful punch across to Mirai, before putting it all back into their speed. This went on for several minutes, Trunks growing weaker and dizzier by the minute, all the while, the onlookers were staring with a feeling of amazement. They had never seen a battle such as this one and it was very astounding to watch. Eventually, after a few minutes of frantically trying to beat the replicas with his cunning, Mirai decided to go all out and transformed into a Super Saiya-jin.

The shockwave of the transformation blew away all four replicas of Tien, causing all of them to land outside the ring. Three of them faded and Tien became whole once again. The announcer, too, looked on with amazement, as well as the crowd. But he shook off enough of his amazement to yell into the microphone.

“And it looks like all four parts of Tien have landed outside of the ring. That makes Mirai…THE WINNER!” The crowd cheered at the good show, wanting more similar action. The crowd was dismayed to see that was the end of the fight, but they would soon find out that they wouldn’t be disappointed with the rest of the tournament. Tien, ignoring the sounds of the crowd around him, stood up and stepped back into the ring, walking towards Mirai, a small smile on his face. Tien extended his hand towards Mirai, indicating for him to shake it. Mirai did just that and gingerly shook Tien’s hand.

“That was a good fight,” Mirai said, “Sorry about knocking you out of the ring.” Mirai looked slightly sheepish when he spoke. Tien shook his head slightly.

“Yes you did with that split form of yours. You almost drove me crazy enough to make a mistake. I should have turned into a Super Saiya-jin, though. That wasn’t very fair of me to do.” Tien chuckled.

“Well, in a tournament, you give it your all and you use whatever you can to win. If going Super Saiya-jin was what allowed you to win, then it was a fair move. Don’t worry yourself about it,” Tien said wisely. Mirai allowed a small smile to creep up onto his face.

“No problem,” Tien replied, a small smile on his face as well, “It was a good fight, though, wasn’t it?” Mirai nodded as the two walked off of the ring together and moved back into the waiting area. Once they got back into the waiting area, Goku clapped both hands onto each of their shoulders, smiling broadly.

“Thanks Goku,” Tien said, “Though we all knew who was going to win.” Before anyone had time to respond, the announcer called out the names of the next two contenders.

“Ok, for our next match, we have Krillin fighting against Mighty Mask! How will second-time contender Mighty Mask stand up against the seasoned veteran of the Martial Arts world, Krillin? Let’s find out! Will Krillin and Mighty Mask please come out to the ring?” At the beckoning of the announcer, both contenders walked out of the waiting area, the rest of the Z-senshi, with the exception of Vegeta, cheering energetically for Krillin.

The fact that his friends were behind him gave Krillin a big confidence boost. Even though he knew he was going to win against Mighty Mask, Krillin had serious doubts about his upcoming match afterwards. Krillin knew that he wasn’t the superior fighter of the Z-senshi, seeing how as all of the Saiya-jins had more strength individually than he could ever hope to achieve in his lifetime. But, knowing that his friends, which included all of the Saiya-jins (except for Vegeta), were rooting for him and still supported him even though he wasn’t as strong as several of his friends made him feel like he was an important asset to the Z-senshi.

So, with that feeling in his heart, Krillin walked proudly onto the ring, Mighty Mask trailing behind him, a sense of dread filling the big man. He knew about Krillin and his history as a Martial Artist in the Tenkaichi Budoukai. What self-respecting martial artist didn’t? The fact that Krillin had made it to the Tenkaichi and lasted until the semi-finals when he was only 13 years old could only mean that he had fighting skills superior to most of the fighters who competed in the Tenkaichi.

With that knowledge in mind, Mighty Mask knew he wasn’t going to be the victor of his upcoming match. All of the training that he had done to prepare for the illustrious event was going to be in vain.

* Might as well just forfeit seeing how as there is no way I’ll ever win this fight, * Mighty Mask thought as he ascended the stairs onto the ring. Both fighters faced each other in the ring, Krillin looking bored and Mighty Mask looking flighty. There was a brief introduction of the two fighters, seeing how the announcer had already introduced them earlier, before the announcer initiated the fight by saying the magic words. The moment the beginning of the fight was announced and before Krillin could even lower himself into a fighting stance, Mighty Mask called out three very cowardice words.

“Well,” the announcer bellowed, “Looks like Mighty Mask forfeits. That means, by default, Krillin is the winner!” Mighty Mask hung his head in shame as he walked off the ring and out of the stadium, while Krillin just walked back to the waiting area with disappointment on his face.

“Aww man, that sucks,” Krillin mumbled to himself as he joined the ranks of his friends in the waiting area. Goku, his Saiya-jin ears picking up Krillin’s words, walked up to his best friend and spoke.

“Yeah, I guess. But I still feel cheated out of my victory. I hate it when they forfeit! Don’t these warriors have any shame?” Krillin asked, slightly peeved at what had just happened out in the ring. Krillin realized that his anger was unjustified, took in a deep breath and calmed down.

“Well, it really doesn’t matter all that much. My victory would have been a cheap one anyway because I would have won against Mighty Mask with no problem. The fight wouldn’t have lasted for more than a minute.” Goku smiled, not quite sure that was the attitude Krillin should be taking, but he was pleased that his friend wasn’t quite so mad.

As Krillin let go of his anger, the next to fighters were called: Piccolo, going under the name of Ma Junior, and Zion, a cocky newcomer who thought he could make it to the finals and win the Tenkaichi Budoukai. He would soon find out that he wouldn’t be so lucky. Both Piccolo and Zion walked out into the area, Piccolo responding to his friends’ supporting words with nothing more than a few grunts as he proceeded forward with his arms crossed over his chest and his cape billowing behind him.

The two made their way onto the stage and, after another brief introduction by the announcer, commenced fighting at the word of the announcer. Zion, immediately going on the offence, charged at Piccolo, his arms ready deliver what he assumed to be lightning fast, powerful punches. Zion approached Piccolo and began frantically punching the giant green Namek.

As Zion rushed for his front, Piccolo extended his hand, which was formed into a fist, and Zion collided with it, the force of Piccolo’s effort sending him out of the ring and into the stadium wall. Zion slowly slid to the ground, almost literally seeing stars before he slipped into unconsciousness. The monks who were responsible for the upkeep of the stadium rushed out with a stretcher and took Zion away for immediate medical attention. Piccolo resumed his stance as the announcer called out his victory, nothing about his expression changing as he walked off of the stage and back to where the rest of the Z-senshi were standing.

“Wasn’t much of a victory to be enthusiastic about, kid. I’ll save my enthusiasm for when I feel it’s actually warranted,” Piccolo said, the smallest hint of a smirk on his face. Gohan, picking up on the small, almost unnoticeable smile, smirked back before tuning into the announcers words.

“Now, for our next fight,” the announcer said, “We have the former champion Son Goku verses the new arrival Bardock. And here they come now!” The audience all turned their heads to see Goku and Bardock walking out towards the ring together and there was a collective gasp as they got a good look at Goku and Bardock: they looked exactly the same!

“Well, if my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, I would say that Goku and Bardock are twin brothers!” Goku smiled broadly as he approached the announcer.

“Did you hear that ladies and gentlemen? Goku just confessed that his opponent is none other than his father!” The crowd gasped with surprise, looking even more forward to the upcoming match.

“It looks like we now have three generations of fighters competing in the Tenkaichi Budoukai: Son Goku, his eldest son, Son Gohan, and Goku’s father, Bardock! Grandfather, father, and son all competing for glory and victory!” Bardock and Goku stepped up onto the ring and faced each other, excited enough to fight each other to just begin the fight without any permission to begin, but their honor as warriors forbade them to do as such. So, each of them lowering themselves into fighting stances, they waited patiently for permission to begin their match.

They didn’t have to wait long until they were given the word that their match had begun and, the moment the words reached their ears, father and son charged at each other, the Saiya-jin blood that pounded through their veins demanding victory over the other. A complex and rapid volley of punches and kicks began between the two, their fight slowly moving into the air, the shockwaves from their fights spreading throughout the stadium, each member of the audience feeling the shockwaves ripple through them, each of their bodies vibrating from the effect of each punch and kick delivered by either Goku or Bardock. After about 5 minutes of delivering earth-shaking blows, the two warriors, separated and looked at each other, identical smirks on their faces.

“I think it’s time to move this fight up to the next level, son,” Bardock announced before powering up to the first level of Super Saiya-jin. The entire crowd gasped again as another fighter transformed into what they saw as a golden warrior, surprise written on almost every face in the audience. Only a little more than a handful of people remained unaffected by the second transformation of the Tenkaichi Budoukai.

“C’mon Goku! Are you going to stand by and let him transform into a Super Saiya-jin without doing anything?” Chi-Chi yelled, motivating her husband. Goku, hearing his wife’s words, decided that Chi-Chi was right.

“I knew you could do it, dad. You were just being stubborn. The fact that you didn’t seem to be disappointed with your treatment told me as much. I’m proud of you, dad, but I’m not going to let you be the only Super Saiya-jin in this fight. Now it’s my turn,” Goku said, his eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a smirk. There was a slight crackling that surrounded Goku’s body as his detectable ki increased before his hair turned golden and his eyes a deep turquoise color. Once again, there was a collective gasp from the crowd as yet another fighter managed to transform into a golden fighter. Bardock smirked.

“Now that’s more like it. Let’s resume our battle, Kakarot.” Goku complied and launched himself at his father again, their bodies moving faster than the normal human eyes could see. Of course, all of the Z-senshi, even Videl to a small extent, could see where Goku and his father were fighting in the air. The rest of the crowd had no idea where the two contenders were, all of them, including the announcer, looking up at the sky with blank, dumb looks as they tried to catch a glimpse of the faster-than-life movements of the fighters.

Suddenly, there was an explosion right outside the ring and a cloud of dust surrounded it, blocking the view of the audience who was looking at the ground expectantly. It took a couple of seconds, but, eventually, the cloud of dust settled, exposing a large crater with Bardock lying in the middle of it. The audience gasped as they spotted Bardock and immediately looked up in the air to see Goku, who had advanced to Super Saiya-jin 2, his breathing slightly labored as he looked down at the crater his father had landed in.

“Damn you, Kakarot,” Bardock swore softly, “You meant to do that.” Goku, picking up on his father’s words, detransformed and slowly lowered himself back down to the stadium floor, scratching his head sheepishly as his famous grin appeared on his face.

“Guess I can’t fool you there, father. You’re right: I did mean to do that. I’m a Saiya-jin; I like to win!” Bardock pulled himself to his feet and smirked at his son.

“And Son Goku is the winner!!” The crowd, shaken out of their stupor by the announcer’s words, cheered loudly for the former champion as he walked out of the arena with his father, who limped along ever so slightly next to his youngest son. Videl breathed in deeply as her brain registered the fight. She could barely sense ki, so she barely had an idea of the chances that Bardock had against his son.

“No it wasn’t; grandpa isn’t nearly as strong as my father. There was no doubt that grandpa would win. The only way that grandpa could have won is if he used his years of fighting experience to his advantage. But, my father’s strength won out over grandpa’s experience, as I knew it would.” Videl looked up at her mate and scowled slightly.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it! It’s amazing that you can even sense ki without being able to use it! I’m sure you can sense the ki inside of your own body, but you haven’t yet been able to utilize it! And no one even taught you how to do it. You learned how to sense ki through spending time with the other Z-senshi! You should feel very proud of that accomplishment. You’re a natural with ki, Videl,” Gohan said, telling her the honest truth, not just trying to make her feel better about herself. But, the end result was a much more self-confident Satan Videl, who was currently looking up at Gohan with an embarrassed smile.

“You really think so?” she asked her lover. Gohan smiled down at Videl and leaned over to give her a sweet kiss on the lips, his tongue brushing gently against hers.

“Now, there’s a fight that’s going to be close,” Gohan said, referring to the upcoming battle between Vegeta and #18. Videl’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“Well,” Gohan began to explain, “The last time they fought was when the androids were terrorizing the earth, right before the appearance of Cell. Vegeta, being the pompous ass that he is, had just become a Super Saiya-jin and, needless to say, thought he could take the androids all by himself. He fought against #18 and lost horribly, the battle resulting in a broken arm and his mangled pride.

"This battle is extremely important for Vegeta, I can tell. It gives him a chance to regain some of the pride that he lost in that battle…not that he needs to regain it back. He’d be better off losing a good portion of it.” Videl nodded in understanding and turned her head to focus on #18 and Vegeta, who had both assembled in the ring, both of them ready to fight. Neither of them was paying attention to the announcer’s introductions as the looked at each other.

“The last time I fought you, you arm ended up in pieces. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time, Veggie-head,” #18 taunted, causing Vegeta’s anger to increase. Not having the ability to sense ki, #18 had no idea how much Vegeta’s ki had increased with the reminder of their last battle and the taunting that went with it. As soon as the match began, Vegeta powered up as far as he could, causing the entire stadium to shake with the force of his transformation, the only thing changing about his appearance his hair and eye color, now golden and turquoise respectfully. He rushed for #18, crashing into her as his fist impacted with her stomach. She never had a chance against a vengeful Vegeta.

She flew out of the ring and straight into the stands, knocking out the supports underneath the stands, causing the audience members who were sitting there to flee as the stands collapsed in a heap on top of #18. Vegeta smirked as the battle was finished. He had given #18 his strongest punch, taking no mercy on her because she was female. He walked off of the ring and moved towards the waiting area, passing Krillin who rushed for his wife.

“#18!” he cried out as he reached the broken stands, moving huge piles of debris out of the way to get to #18. Finally, Krillin unearthed her, looking in dismay at her prone form lying among pieces of shattered cement. Taking her into his arms, Krillin looked at her with worry.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, sounding as if she had the wind knocked out of her, “I was expecting him to do something like that. I was ready for it. He didn’t hurt me too bad. I’ll have a bruise there for a couple of weeks, but I’ll live.” Krillin let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s going to take more than that to take me away from you, Krillin,” #18 said softly, leaning up to kiss him gently on the lips. Krillin returned the kiss eagerly, happy that she was alive in his arms. A few seconds later, they pulled apart and #18 smirked.

“Yes, Krillin. I’m not made of glass, you know. I’ll be fine. Just help me up!” Krillin nodded and helped his wife to her feet. Together, the two of them walked out of the rubble and into the arena, where the entire crowd cheered. They had thought that #18 had been killed by Vegeta’s super punch and were relieved (and amazed) that she was still alive. When Krillin and #18 walked back into the waiting area, Krillin glared at Vegeta, who had been declared the winner after the judges found out that #18 was still alive.

“You idiot! What about the rules about only using the Super Saiya-jin transformation to make the fight fair? You could have killed my wife!” Krillin yelled. Vegeta only smirked.

“Hey, fair is fair. She treated me as such in our first fight all those years ago. I’m just paying her back for what she gave me 7 years ago. Besides, she’s ok, isn’t she? I had no desire to kill her. If I did, she wouldn’t be standing there right now.” Goku walked up to Vegeta and clamped his hand down on the older Saiya-jin’s shoulder, a deep scowl on his face.

“Vegeta,” Goku growled, “That was uncalled for. In your next battle, remember the rule, ok?” Vegeta internally grimaced in pain from Goku’s grip on his shoulder, but showed no signs of it. He wrestled himself out of Goku’s grip and faced Goku.

“Fine, Kakarot. I’ll follow the rule from now on.” With that, Vegeta went to stand in the corner of the room, leaning against the spot where the two walls met at a 90 degree angle, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed. The next match was called for and both Yamcha and his opponent, Kyle, walked out towards the ring. Inwardly, Kyle was a mess. He wanted to win against Yamcha, but he didn’t want to face the crazy man who had won the match before his. His thoughts in turmoil as to what he wanted, Kyle tried to prepare for and concentrate on the fight ahead of him.

Yamcha had no doubts in his mind as to who the winner of the match was, but he wasn’t looking forward to his next match. He knew he wasn’t going to make it past the quarter-finals; he just didn’t have the strength to stand up against Vegeta and come out the victor.

* Might as well make this match a good one, * Yamcha thought, not knowing that it wouldn’t be possible. When the word was given, Yamcha and Kyle started their fight, but Kyle’s mind was too distracted over the skill Vegeta had displayed in the previous match to pay attention to what Yamcha was doing. It didn’t take long for Kyle to get knocked out by a blow to the head, surprising Yamcha.

* Hmm, I didn’t think I hit him that hard, * Yamcha thought, blinking in surprise as he looked down at his fallen opponent. The same pair of monks that had taken Zion out of the ring on a stretcher appeared once again, the same stretcher aiding them as they carried Kyle out of the stadium.

“And Yamcha is the winner! This concludes the first round of the 25th Tenkaichi Budoukai! The quarter-finals will be starting shortly, so don’t move, ladies and gentlemen!” the announcer yelled excitedly. The crowd cheered, almost unable to wait for the Tenkaichi to continue. Yamcha walked back to the waiting area to be greeted with several smiling faces, all of them congratulating him on his victory. Gohan, although he was happy for Yamcha, had his thoughts on something else besides Yamcha’s victory: his mind was thinking about his impeding battle with Mr. Satan. Gohan smirked.

* Finally, I’ll be able to pay back Mr. Satan for taking the credit for what I did…and for insulting my father all those months ago when I took Videl to the Winter Ball. I promised Videl that I wouldn’t hurt him too bad physically, but he’s going to have one extremely wounded ego by the time I’m finished with him, * Gohan thought, his smirk turning evil as he waited anxiously for the quarter-finals to begin.