fate 42

Gohan smiled as he heard his friends and family cheer him on as he left the waiting area after hearing his name called. Finally. The moment he had been waiting for all day: a chance to kick Mr. Satan’s ass. Gohan stood, watching the entrance to the arena for the arrival of his opponent.

Mr. Satan, at the moment, was making his sweet time down to the arena. He wanted to keep the audience in anticipation for he felt that he was going to be the victor and his fans would love his victory even more if he kept them in suspense. For all of his thoughts of winning, Mr. Satan hadn’t bothered to stay and watch the other matches in the first round so he had no idea what he would be going up against when he fought against Son Gohan. He intended on making that scrawny runt pay for touching his daughter. He didn’t know that his pride would get the beating of a lifetime.

After making his way to the arena at a very slow pace, Mr. Satan finally arrived in the stadium, his fans cheering his arrival. They were expecting a good show. The champion of the 24th Tenkaichi Budoukai fighting against the son of the champion of the 23rd Tenkaichi was definitely not a fight to miss. They weren’t going to be disappointed, but their favored hero was not going to be the victor…but only a select few knew the true outcome of the battle.

Mr. Satan finally ascended the steps of the ring, facing Gohan, who had an almost animalistic look on his face as he anticipated his fight against the pompous man in front of him.

“Well, looks like Mr. Satan finally made it out here! And after keeping all of his fans in suspense! What was keeping you so long, Mr. Satan?” the announcer asked, holding the microphone up to Mr. Satan’s face. The look on Hercule Satan’s face turned smug and arrogant as he spoke.

“I was preparing vigorously for this match and lost track of time. A true martial artist is always ready and at his best for fighting any opponent. My training regime prevented me from arriving here on time,” Mr. Satan said into the microphone, his voice echoing throughout the entire stadium.

“Did you hear that folks? Mr. Satan is the ultimate martial artist,” the announcer said, “His training comes after nothing! Including his matches in the highly esteemed Tenkaichi Budoukai! Let’s give him some applause!” At the announcer’s words, the entire stadium burst into raucous applause, cheering and whistling wildly, the sound deafening, especially to the Saiya-jin and Namekian ears that were present. Gohan winced at the sound of the crowd’s avid support for their “hero” and was happy when the noise died down to a tolerable level.

“Ok, I think we’ve stalled the beginning of this great match long enough!” the announcer said, “Gentlemen, begin your fight!” Both men lowered themselves into fighting stances, Gohan’s simple and fierce, Mr. Satan’s flashy and practically unguarded. Gohan stood still, waiting for Mr. Satan to go on the offensive. But, instead of attack with punches and kicks, Mr. Satan chose to attack with words.

“You pansy, sissy boy, you’ll never be able to beat me! I am going to take you down and make you pay for touching my daughter! You think you can take her away from me without my permission? Well, you’re wrong!” Gohan smirked.

“Well, Mr. Satan, you’re the one who’s wrong. I didn’t take your daughter away from you. She fell in love with me on her own free will. Yes, I love your daughter, but I won’t say that I took her away from you. She’s not yours to give, Mr. Satan. She’s an 18-year old woman who’s more than capable of taking care of herself.” Mr. Satan fumed with anger at Gohan’s words and charged at him.

“You’re going to pay for those words!” Mr. Satan yelled as he shoved his fist forward in a punch, his fist heading straight for Gohan’s face. The punch impacted on Gohan’s face. The crowd gasped. Mr. Satan looked triumphant. Gohan was unfazed. With Mr. Satan’s fist still planted in his face, Gohan just smirked.

“Nice try,” Gohan said, “But you’re going to have to do way better than that if you want to beat me.” With that, Gohan jumped back a few feet, now intending to put fear into the heart of the older man in front of him. The crowd was very surprised at what had just happened. Had Mr. Satan’s opponent just received a powerful punch from the “strongest man in the world” himself and is still standing? The crowd didn’t understand what was going on and was helpless to do anything other than watch.

* My…my…my punch d-didn’t d-do anyt-thing… * Mr. Satan thought, his eyes wide as saucers. He had punched Gohan with his hardest punch, yet the kid was unaffected.

“Now, pay attention, Mr. Satan,” Gohan said loud enough for Mr. Satan to hear, “I’m going to show you something I bet you have seen in a long time.” Mr. Satan watched, unable to do anything else, as Gohan powered up, transforming into a Super Saiya-jin. The audience was slightly less affected than last time, seeing how it was the 5th time they had seen the transformation.

But Mr. Satan recognized the transformation from when he was at the Cell Games and he realized that this boy was one of the fighters who had been there. Needless to say, Mr. Satan was scared.

“It’s you!” Mr. Satan stuttered, “The one with the powers. But…but how?” Gohan smirked even more, loving the scared expression on the older man’s face.

“Remember me, Mr. Satan? The one who you stole the credit of beating Cell from?” Gohan said, still only loud enough for Mr. Satan to hear. Gohan didn’t want to announce to the whole world that Mr. Satan was a farce. He only wanted to humiliate him a bit.

“People grow in 7 years,” Gohan countered, “And I haven’t forgotten how you stole the credit for my hard work and made what I take very seriously seem like nothing more than a magic show. You can have your fame. But know that all of what you call ‘fancy lights and tricks’ is more real than you can imagine. I’ll show you just how real it is.” Gohan held out his palm and created a small ki blast in it, the first ki blast used in the Tenkaichi so far. Mr. Satan, if it was even possible, looked even more scared, as much as he tried to deny it.

“Ha…you think you can scare me?” Mr. Satan said, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to contain his fear, “That little light can’t do anything to me!” Gohan’s smirk grew wider.

“If you say so,” Gohan said, “But you’ll be singing a different tune in about three seconds.” Gohan sent the small, weak ki blast towards Mr. Satan, the ki blast impacting with Mr. Satan, burning him slightly, and causing him to be singed around the edges. Mr. Satan cried out in pain as the ki blast burned his skin just slightly.

“Now, Mr. Satan, it’s time to finish this match,” Gohan said as he walked up to Mr. Satan. The older man jumped at Gohan’s sudden movement and, cowering, moved backwards a few steps to get away from him, but to no avail. Gohan stood right in front of him and, raising his hand, flicked Mr. Satan, causing him to fly out of the ring. Mr. Satan hit the wall, as so many of the other fighters did, the impact knocking him into unconsciousness.

There was a collective gasp from the audience as their hero was forced out of the ring and onto the arena floor. The announcer, suddenly very concerned for Mr. Satan’s safety, walked over to the big man and, nervously, looked down.

“Uh, folks, I don’t know how to say this, but our hero has been knocked out! That means that Son Gohan is the winner of this fight!” the announcer shouted out, moving away so the monks could, once again, take another fighter away on a stretcher. The monks were slightly apprehensive at taking away the “great” Mr. Satan, but soon realized that the man needed medical attention and carried him off to the infirmary.

The crowd was silent for several seconds as they stared at Gohan, amazement reflected on their faces at the fact that this young man, who was no older than 20 years old, had beaten Mr. Satan, before breaking out into raucous applause, Gohan obviously now the crowd’s favorite. He gave a small bow before walking off of the ring, the crowd cheering his name as he made his way into the waiting area. As he walked back into the spacious waiting room, he saw Mirai and Krillin both getting ready for their match against each other, both were performing stretches and warm-ups, smiling and talking to each other at the same time.

Gohan smiled slightly at the irony in front of him. Those two were going to be up against each other soon, fighting to advance in the Tenkaichi, yet both were talking as if their impeding match wasn’t about to start. When Krillin and Mirai heard their names called, both of them stopped with their stretches and made their way out into the arena, eventually stepping up onto the ring for a second time.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen! We have our next match, which is about to begin! Mirai is an outstanding fighter, amazing considering that this is his first time in the Tenkaichi Budoukai! And against him we have Krillin, an old favorite who is finally returning to the Tenkaichi Budoukai to compete again. This match is going to be another interesting one, folks, so be prepared!” The announcer turned to Mirai and Krillin, both of them facing each other, their bodies lowered into fighting stances.

“On my word, gentlemen, you may begin your match. Fight!” At the announcer’s word, both Krillin and Mirai both leapt apart, Mirai turning Super Saiya-jin almost immediately. Krillin was stronger than Tien and would prove to be a harder opponent, their strengths now almost equal. Krillin, while Trunks was turning into a Super Saiya-jin, was preparing a ki attack of his own. His hand held above his head, Krillin allowed his ki to gather there, forming into a bright, flat disc. Once it was prepared, which didn’t take long, Krillin released it.

“KIENZAN!” he shouted out, releasing the attack, going straight for Mirai. The audience gasped at the spectacle, seeing a bright flash head straight for Mirai. Mirai, who wasn’t quite ready to dodge the attack, barely did so, the sharp-edged, ki disc slicing through the skin on his upper right arm, blood soaking through the combat suit that he was wearing. Mirai winced as the attack hit him, but nothing else. Sure, it hurt, but he had been through much worse in his lifetime.

* But, it does make this arm kinda hard to move, * Mirai thought, grimacing at the thought. Krillin smirked; he may not have stopped Mirai, but he slowed him down a little. * Maybe I’ll actually have a chance at winning this thing, * Krillin thought gleefully as he moved to attack Mirai. Mirai was prepared for it, though, and brought up his leg to block Krillin’s punch, which was aimed for his stomach. With great Herculean (AN: And when I say Herculean, I mean as referring to Hercules (or Heracles as he’s known in the Greek myth), so it’s no reference to Hercule) effort, Mirai raised his right arm and leaned forward to punch Krillin. Krillin blocked it with his own clenched hand, fist meeting fist. Mirai then tried again with his stronger arm, managing to land a blow on Krillin’s shoulder.

* Oh, that’ll leave a bruise, * Krillin thought as Mirai’s fist impacted with his shoulder. Krillin retaliated with a powerful kick that hit Mirai on the side of his ribcage, but not powerful enough to do anything more than bruise the bone. The fighting continued, both competitors delivering powerful blows, ones that caused bruises and lacerations to cover the skin, including the skin hidden by their clothing. But, regardless of their injuries, neither Mirai nor Krillin’s ki had depleted very much. Since they both had incredible ki reserves, both fighters could go in for the long haul.

But, the fight wasn’t to last for very much longer. Mirai’s Saiya-jin side was beginning to arise and was demanding a quick and efficient victory over his opponent. Mirai moved to kick Krillin, his foot impacting with the shorter man’s head, causing Krillin to fly through the air, eventually landing on the floor of the ring. Krillin’s head was ringing as he struggled to his feet, but he managed to stand once again and looked at Mirai as the demi-Saiya-jin moved his arms in strange motions.

Krillin could sense the ki coming from that region of Mirai’s body and knew that he had lost the match. Krillin was going to call out that he had given up, but before he could do so, Mirai sent his infamous Burning Attack at Krillin, the ki blast hitting Krillin dead on, causing him to fly out of the ring, landing harshly on the ground that surrounded the stone edifice.

It was several moments before Krillin could rise to his feet again, in the meantime Mirai being declared the winner. But, when Krillin was able to get to his feet, he went over to Mirai and clapped a hand to Mirai’s shoulder.

“That was a good match,” Krillin said, “We were pretty evenly matched. I was going to do another Kienzan, but I didn’t have enough time to prepare it before you kicked me in the head. I would have won, though, if I had finished preparing for the attack.” Mirai smiled, nodding his head.

“Well, at least this way I won’t have to face Gohan in the next round. You do know that you’re going to get your ass handed to you on a silver platter, don’t you?” Krillin asked. Mirai grimaced.

“I know,” Mirai said, “Gohan was stronger than me when he defeated Cell and he’s had seven years to get stronger since while I’ve only had one. It’s going to be one lopsided fight.” Krillin gave a small chuckle.

“Yes it is, my friend, oh yes it is,” Krillin said as the two walked side by side off of the ring and out of the arena. When they re-joined the ranks of their fellow Z-senshi, they were greeted by Gohan and Goku, both of them wearing big smiles on their faces.

“Gohan, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for this fight. You know you’re going to win,” Mirai said. Gohan only smirked as Piccolo (who was still going by Ma Junior) and Goku were called to the ring, their fight the one up next. Gohan’s smirk disappeared as he found himself faced with a dilemma.

* Who to root for? My father, or Piccolo? * Gohan wondered mentally, not knowing whether to root for his father or his first sensei. It was a tough choice and Gohan decided to not make one, being impartial to both sides, watching the fight ultimately for the entertainment value. He stepped up to the entrance of the arena, Videl at his side. Videl, having heard Gohan’s mental question, looked up at him.

“Isn’t that kinda the same thing as not rooting for either of them?” Gohan questioned, forcing Videl to think about Gohan’s words. Videl finally shrugged her shoulders.

“Oh, shut up,” Videl said, looking at the ring in front of her and, more importantly, the fighters standing in it. It was now time for the fight between Goku and Piccolo. While the two warriors in the ring may have had a rough relationship in the past, it wasn’t so anymore. But, still, there was a certain level of competition between the two warriors to see who would come up on top and even though Piccolo knew he didn’t have a chance, he wasn’t going to go down without giving it his all.

As with all of the other fighters, once Goku and Piccolo were given the word that it was the start of their match, they immediately began fighting each other. Almost as in respect for the old ways of fighting, Goku and Piccolo decided to leave ki blasts and attacks out of their match, preferring to do battle with good, old-fashioned brawn, both of them employing only kicks, punches, and various other physical attacks. Goku, early on in the match, had transformed into a Super Saiya-jin, making his ki almost the exact equal of Piccolo’s, his ki only a little higher than the Namek’s. Goku was determined to make his match against Piccolo a fair one and was going to try his hardest not to let his Saiya-jin need to win take over.

After several minutes of fighting, the match had been taken into the air. Once up there, Goku shoved his fist roughly into Piccolo’s stomach, causing the Namek to double over. Goku, taking advantage of Piccolo’s position, brought his knee up into Piccolo’s stomach, knocking the wind out of Piccolo, before slamming his elbow into Piccolo’s back.

Piccolo flew through the air and landed roughly on the ring’s surface, the force of his fall damaging the tiles on the ring, cracking several of them. Piccolo stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his lip having been split from one of Goku’s punches. He looked up and smirked at Goku before taking to the air again, launching another attack against the Saiya-jin.

The two continued to fight, much to the amazement of the audience, who couldn’t seem to stop being amazed by most of the fighters who had participated in the Tenkaichi Budoukai so far. The crowd was desperately trying to keep up with the movements of Piccolo and Goku, for they moved so fast that the audience normally couldn’t see anything but after-images of the two aliens. They were shocked out of their gazes by seeing Goku flying through the air, heading towards the stands. The crowd saw Goku’s approaching body and was expecting him to hit the stands, so they moved out of the way.

But, Goku wasn’t going to lose that easily. Using his ki, Goku stopped his movement mere centimeters away from the edge of the seats in the stands. He looked over at Piccolo, who still had his leg extended from the powerful kick that had hit Goku. Smirking, Goku rushed for Piccolo, charging him, head-butting him in the stomach. The force of Goku’s whole body hit caused Piccolo’s body to make a downward arc, hitting the ground outside of the ring, the match now over. The announcer, who was finally getting used to the amazing displays of strength and skill at the Tenkaichi Budoukai, leapt onto the ring and bellowed into the microphone.

“And, ladies and gentlemen, after that spectacular match, Goku is the winner! Let’s give him a round of applause!!” Goku landed on the ring and put his hand behind his head, scratching the back of it, an innocent smile on his face, Goku’s characteristic gesture, one that he had passed onto his sons. Having won the match, Goku found that he really couldn’t care about the praise that he was getting; he just liked fighting. That was why he ever entered the Tenkaichi Budoukai all four times; being a Saiya-jin, Goku had a natural urge to fight and leapt at the opportunity every chance he got. Goku just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly at the crowd in response to their applause before moving off of the ring to where Piccolo was.

“You ok, Piccolo?” Goku asked as the Namek got off of the ground, fine in every way with the exception of his pride, which had taken a small beating in his fight against Goku.

“Yeah,” Piccolo replied, “I’m fine.” Together, Piccolo and Goku made their way into the waiting area, where they were greeted by the rest of the Z-senshi, who congratulated both Goku and Piccolo on their match…or all except for Vegeta, who was preparing to move out to the ring for his next match against Yamcha, one he was sure he was going to win. After all, Vegeta was much stronger than that “weakling human”.

* There is no way I can lose and, in the next round, I will prove to that third-class baka that I am not one to be taken lightly, * Vegeta thought with an evil smirk on his face as he heard his name called in succession with Yamcha’s. Together, both fighters, human and Saiya-jin, moved out onto the ring, both of them ready for their fight. Gohan was the only one of the Z-senshi not to watch Yamcha and Vegeta’s fight, sitting down, mentally preparing himself for his next fight against Mirai, using the short amount of time that Vegeta and Yamcha’s match would endure for.

Needless to say, Yamcha’s match against Vegeta didn’t last long. With his seemingly unexplainable vendetta against Yamcha, Vegeta had wasted no time in defeating Yamcha. Despite Yamcha’s best efforts to stay in the match, Vegeta easily overwhelmed Yamcha and knocked him into unconsciousness. Yamcha had to be carried off by the medics, but regained consciousness soon after his body left the arena, complaining of nothing more than a slight headache. Apparently Vegeta had gone easy on Yamcha.

Gohan was given 10 extra minutes to prepare himself after the end of Yamcha and Vegeta’s match for there was to be a break in between the rounds. Gohan allowed himself a small mental smirk to interrupt his preparation before resuming it.

The ten minutes seemed to pass by in a second to Gohan because before he knew it, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a voice telling him that the announcer had just called out his name and that it was time for his match against Mirai. Gohan opened his eyes and looked up to see the source of the voice, spotting his lovely mate looking down at him with gentle eyes and a small smile.

“Thanks for letting me know,” Gohan said as he stood up and made his way over to the ring after thanking Videl for wishing him luck, Mirai walking next to him as they walked down the pathway leading to the ring.

“You know, as much as I like you and respect you, I am not looking forward to this,” Mirai said, nodding his head in the direction of the ring. Gohan looked over at Mirai and smiled slyly.

“Sure,” he drawled, “Whatever you say, Mirai. Personally speaking, though, denial doesn’t suit you well.” Mirai fumed at Gohan’s teasing, trying his best not to let it get to him. But, Mirai was too much his father’s son to let Gohan’s words pass by him lightly.

“Right,” Gohan said as they faced each other, both of them ready to fight, “I’d like to see you try.” The two lowered themselves into fighting stances as the announcer introduced the match. Once the introductions were over, the announcer turned to the fighters and yelled one word: