Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Love Beyond Hope ❯ The 27th Tenkaichi Budoukai – Day 1 ( Chapter 2 )

DragonBall Z: A Love Beyond Hope

Author's Note: Author's note? I don't need no steeking author's note! The story speaks for itself this. Teehee

Required Disclaimer: I don't own the DB franchise, I've never worked for them, I'm not making any money off this, and I'm dead sexxy baby! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 2: The 27th Tenkaichi Budoukai - Day 1

6th May 768 A.D.

Chichi frowned when she saw the look of dismay on Gohan's face, misinterpreting it as meaning he hadn't qualified for the martial arts tournament. "Oh, my sweet Gohan! It's ok, I know you did your best!"

Gohan blinked and glanced up at his father before inquiring, "What do you mean, mom?"

His mother frowned in confusion and looked at Goku for some hidden message so she knew how to proceed but was frustrated when he seemed to be staring at someone in the distance. She glanced over and saw a pretty blonde woman giving her husband a look as intense as she was getting. <What the hell?> "Goku! Why are you staring at that woman?!"

"She's one of the competitors in the tournament. But I can't sense anything from her… it's like she isn't even there…" Son replied, oblivious to the real reason why Chichi was concerned.

"Oh…" Goku's wife frowned in thought then decided to drop the subject of the beautiful blonde for now. If she could get used to the attention that her husband gave Bulma, his best friend, she could get accustomed to him looking at strange blonde bombshells as well. She hoped. "So how did you do, Gohan?"

The young demi-Saiyan seemed distracted by the blonde as well.

<Oh Kami-sama… he can't be old enough to notice women already, can he? He's only 10…> Chichi wondered in dismay.

"I'm in the tournament too." Gohan finally replied, still distracted. He and his father had agreed not to tell Chichi about the decapitation that they had witnessed, figuring it would give the woman undue distress.

"Good going, kiddo!" Bulma cried as she approached, overhearing the last part. "Are you going to be fighting your dad?"

Gohan shrugged. "If we both win our first matches, yes."

"Well try to take it easy on your old man… he's not as young as he used to be." Bulma teased, elbowing Goku in the ribs. Chichi fought valiantly to suppress both the growl and the scowl at Bulma's flirtation, and Goku's blush and laugh reaction.

"But Bulma…" Goku began. (Stupid reply incoming in 3, 2, 1…) "You're older than I am."

Bulma paled visibly, dismayed her best friend in the whole world would bring up her age like that. <I should have known better… Chichi still hasn't taught that man any tact…>

Yamcha approached then, before Bulma managed to bite Goku's head off. "Hey, they're having a banquet for the Budoukai contestants!"

Despite his ignorance at most 'fancy' words, banquet was one word that Goku knew, or at least associated with lots of good food. "I'm there!" Goku cried, rushing off without awaiting a reply.

"Me too!" Gohan added, rushing after his father.

Chichi clenched her fists and whacked Oolong on the head, who happened to be standing next to her at the time (trying discretely to look up her skirt of course.) "Those boys! They're going to be the death of me!" She cried.

Puar laughed at Oolong as he stumbled away, muttering about the "pretty stars". Yamcha smirked and they all went after the Sons to have dinner and relax before the tournament the next day.

******************************

7th May 768 A.D.

The Tournament begins - Introductions

The blonde announcer guy (you know the one) waved at the crowd and spoke into his microphone. "Welcome one and all to the 27th Tenkaichi Budoukai! We have a great tournament ahead of us. First, allow me to introduce all the competitors! Our first participant is a man who needs no introduction! He placed second in the 23rd Budoukai at the tender age of 13! In the 24th Budoukai, he placed second once again, and at the 25th and 26th tournaments, he came in first! He is the odds-on favorite for this tournament, folks! Son Goku! Let's hear some cheers!"

Goku blushed in embarrassment and gave the crowd a goofy grin and a short wave. He flashed a smile at Chichi and Bulma who were both whistling at him.

The announcer continued the introductions. "Next, also from the Turtle Hermit school is Krillin! You all know him. Some of you even love him! He's placed highly in the last several tournaments, and he came in second place in the last tournament! Give it up for Krillin!"

Krillin smiled and waved as cheers poured in. Several ladies shouted their "love" for him, which made him blush. He glanced over and noticed that the mysterious blonde woman was discretely looking him over. <Is she already trying to spot weaknesses?> The bald monk wondered.

"Next, yet another entrant from the Turtle Hermit school is Yamcha! Though he hasn't yet won a Budoukai tournament, he's vowed to make this year his year! Let's hear it for Yamcha!" The announcer cried, riling the crowd up.

Yamcha waved and gave the ladies flirtatious grins as they cheered and swooned for him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bulma glaring at him for his shameless actions. He gave his girlfriend an apologetic shrug and stepped back as the announcer moved on.

"One of the three new contestants in this year's Budoukai is none other than Goku's very own son, Son Gohan! Naturally, he is also wearing the colors of the Turtle Hermit school, giving Master Roshi an unprecedented 4 students in the tournament! Half the challengers are from the same school, so you know they know each other well and will give us a good fight! Let's hear some cheers for the young Gohan, whom I'm told is only 10 years old!" The announcer indicated the young demi-Saiyan who blushed and waved.

"The first of our independent competitors is none other than a former champion himself, Tien Shinhan! (It's kind of funny that in the FUNimation cartoon, they went the entire span of DBZ calling him simply Tien but then for the Dragonball episodes, they tacked on the 'shinhan. Though as a last name… so whatever.) Formally of the Crane Hermit school he has since parted ways with his former master. Those of you wagering on the fights this year already know that Tien is one of the top picks for winner this year!" The announcer shouted. Tien simply nodded to the crowd and stepped back into place, focused on the fight ahead and paying the fanfare only token attention.

The announcer continued with Piccolo who scowled at the audience and didn't even step forward. "Next, a competitor we haven't seen since the 25th Budoukai, where he placed second after he and Son Goku demolished the ring in their fight, Ma Junior! Little is known about him, other than his accomplishments here in this ring."

The blonde man began to sweat at Piccolo's refusal to even acknowledge the crowd so moved on. "Next we have the second of our first-timers. This behemoth is a man known as Mondo, who almost literally crushed his competition in the preliminary competition! We're expected a great fight from this one, folks!"

Mondo waved an arm and smiled, looking very relaxed and mellow.

The announcer indicated Android 18 with his hand and looked at the crowd. "Finally, last but certainly not least, we have the mysterious woman known only as Number 18! She's beautiful, but don't let her looks fool you! She's a terrific fighter and she can certainly give the boys a run for their money! Let's hear those cheers!"

18 looked perturbed for a moment then gave the crowd a half-smile, seeming to warm up slightly to the adoration of the crowd. She then turned to fix Goku and all trace of amusement vanished from her face as she gave the man a deadly serious look.

Goku's smile also vanished and he looked back at the blonde android. He almost didn't hear it as his name was announced to take part in the first match.

******************************

Match 1 - Goku vs. Piccolo

Goku and Piccolo moved into the ring and faced each other, eyeing each other warily. "Let's try not to destroy the ring this time, ok Piccolo?"

Piccolo smirked and glanced at the spectators. "Fine with me. I'd prefer we fought somewhere more private, but I'm not one to turn down a chance to knock that stupid grin off your face, Son."

Goku grinned. "You're welcome to try, Piccolo.

"Begin the match!" The announcer cried.

Both Goku and Piccolo remained still, watching each other. After several minutes, the crowd was getting restless. "Uh… I said to begin the match. So… start any time, guys." The announcer states, sweating nervously.

"We heard you. Shut up, little man." Piccolo growled, not even looking away from Goku as he chastised the announcer. The Namek frowned in concentration, a myriad of moves flashing through his mind and he knew the same was going through Goku's mind. They knew each other so well by now that their normal methods of starting a match could very well be their last move. <His defense has improved even more since the last time we fought… he used to have the slightest of openings on his low on his left side… but it's not there anymore.>

Mentally the fight continued, but no matter what they both considered, the fight ended in a stalemate. <So that leaves only one option.> "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Goku inquired.

"That you should give up now? Sure." Piccolo smirked then grew serious again after his all-too-rare dry wit had managed to surface. "Let's do it."

Without another word, they both launched forward at the same time and clasped hands. They both gritted their teeth in exertion as they pressed forward, seeking to force the other back. Energy began to crackle around the fighters as they gave their all to the shoving match. After several minutes of struggling, Piccolo felt his feet sliding back. He redoubled his efforts, but they were proving for naught. <He's… slightly stronger than I am! Impossible…> The Namek glanced back and frowned as his feet drew nearer to the edge of the ring. He suddenly brought his feet up and planted them on the Saiyan's stomach and used his momentum as leverage to flip the man towards the outside of the ring. <But sometimes it's the smarter fighter that wins the match.>

Goku flailed into the air and cried out in surprise but managed to turn mid-flight so that his legs were towards the outside of the ring. He rebounded off the wall that kept the spectators away from the ring and jumped forward to kick Piccolo in the chin just as the green man was turning to see if he had won the match. The strike was like a thunderclap and everyone in the stadium covered their ears and winced in pain, both from the noise and from sympathy for Piccolo whom was drooling purple blood and clutching his wounded mouth.

"You surprised me with that one, Son. It serves me right for underestimating you, though." Piccolo grumbled. Then he suddenly lashed out with his arm as it grew to an impossible length and whacked the other man upside the head, dazing him. The Namek rushed forward and kicked at Goku, but was surprised when the man grabbed his still lengthened arm and flipped him. Piccolo rebounded and jumped at Goku and was about to drive his fist deep into the man's gut when he heard the last thing he had expected this early in the fight.

"Ring out! Son Goku is the winner!" The announcer cried.

Piccolo spun and glared at the blonde man. "Ring out!? What in the blue hells are you talking about!? I landed on the corner of the ring!"

"The tip of your left leg dropped down and touched the ground outside the ring. You know the rules… if any part of your body touches the ground outside the ring, you're eliminated." The announcer informed the alien, backing away nervously and hoping he wasn't blasted by the eye-beams he had witnessed from the man 6 years before.

Goku frowned and walked over to the edge and glanced down. "Whoa… he's right. I can see the indention that your foot made. I didn't think you had gone out either."

Piccolo scowled. <I was just about to punch him and follow it with an eye-beam blast then a kick… I probably would have knocked him out of the ring… or at least made him a little dizzy… damn it.> He felt tempted to knock Goku out anyway and fly off in a dramatic display of outrage but he happened to glance over and saw Gohan looking at him. <Damn that kid… why does he always make me feel this way?> After staring down his adversary for several long moments, he put his hand out.

Goku stared at him in shock then gave him a goofy smile. "Hey, all right Pic… uh… Ma Junior!" He shook the Namek's hand and clapped him on the shoulder.

The green man shook the hand off and crossed his arms before making his way to the sidelines, pulling on his cape and turban. "Don't read too much into it. We're still not friends."

Goku shrugged and waved at the cheering crowd before making his way back over to the competitors' area to watch the rest of the fights.

******************************

Match 2 - Gohan vs. Yamcha

Gohan shook his head in wonder. He had once watched his father and Piccolo spar for hours and come to a stalemate, and to see a fight between them end so abruptly and soon was quite a shock. And he knew it was disappointing to both men. <I'm fighting Mr. Yamcha… I haven't sparred him in over a year. I wonder how much he has improved?>

The fighters took their marks and Yamcha gave the boy a friendly grin. "Don't worry, Gohan. Just do your best and don't be nervous. Just imagine us in our Fight Club ring, if it helps."

Gohan nodded, concentrating fully on the match ahead and ignoring the cheering fans, even the voices of his mother and friends. <I want to win… I know it doesn't matter… but to me it does.>

"Begin the match!" The announcer cried.

Gohan almost blinked and was glad he didn't because Yamcha didn't stand there and watch him like Goku and Piccolo had done, instead he launched forward with a powerful punch aimed straight for the boy's head. Acting on instinct, Gohan jumped into the air and kicked.

A thunderous boom was heard and most of the spectators covered their ears and looked away, grimacing in pain before looking back to see what happened. They saw Yamcha lying near the edge of the ring flat on his back and Gohan on the other side of the ring flat on his stomach. Neither of the fighters were moving.

The announcer blinked a few times then realized neither of the challengers was about to get up so he started to count. He reached 7 before Gohan slowly climbed to his feet and shook his head. He felt a trickle on his lip and reached up and frowned as his hand was stained red with blood dripping from his nose. <Ow… that was a hell of a punch.>

The demi-Saiyan began to approached Yamcha warily and paused when the man started climbing up to his feet. The former desert bandit shook his had and spat out some blood that had pooled in his mouth and looked at Gohan. <The kid's gotten a lot better. I feel like I was hit by a big rig truck…>

Both fighters walked to the center of the ring and slowly started to circle, looking for openings more carefully this time. Yamcha suddenly lashed out with a kick and felt a shock run straight up to his spine as Gohan brought an arm up to block the kick and faster than the man could react, he felt the boy's fist slam into his left thigh. "AH!" Yamcha cried, falling on his face and clutching the wounded leg. <That's gunna bruise…>

Gohan moved into strike again and out of desperation, Yamcha lashed out with a backhand strike and caught the boy across the nose. Blood sprayed across the ring as the demi-Saiyan stumbled back and clutched at his bloody nose, eyes watering from the strike. He looked up just in time to see Yamcha kick off his good leg to throw a punch at the boy's face again.

Yamcha punched straight through Gohan's after-image and quickly spun to bring his arms up to block the strike he sensed, just in time to keep the boy's feet from striking his neck. The force of the kick was enough to cause the former desert bandit to stumble backwards, however. He took a step forward and gasped as an arm was buried into his gut.

The dark-haired man stumbled back and fell onto his back. He stared before him and saw an upside-down crowd including Master Roshi watching him. <They're moving so fast…> The man thought.

"8!" The announcers voice suddenly pierced through the dazed Yamcha's thoughts.

<Did he say 8? Can't be, I didn't hear 1 through 7… crap he said 9!> Yamcha jumped up to his feet and stumbled back, fighting to keep his balance. He felt his foot hit air suddenly and felt himself falling back and out of the ring and instinctively rolled forward and to the side, banging his elbow and hitting a nerve but staying inside the ring. He struggled up to his feet again as the count resumed and finally stood as the announcer hit 6. "Holy shit, Gohan…"

"YAMCHA! DON'T USE THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE AROUND MY BOY!" The former desert bandit heard Chichi yell.

Yamcha winced and said, "Sorry, Gohan. It slipped out." The boy nodded and resumed a fighting stance, watching his opponent warily.

Bulma's boyfriend stalked forward carefully, knowing he couldn't afford another mistake. He could feel every eye in the stadium on him and he felt a bit nervous, realizing that Gohan had improved much more than he had realized. <And he hasn't even trained that much in the last few years…>

Gohan rushed forward suddenly and threw a punch at Yamcha's gut but the man sidestepped and lashed a foot out to kick the back of the boy's leg so that he stumbled forward. "Kamehame… ha!" Yamcha blasted a beam of pure energy and struck the boy solidly in the back. <He still falls for that one.>

The demi-Saiyan was knocked off his feet and tumbled forward at an alarming speed. Acting on pure instinct he grabbed onto the stone tiles of the Budoukai ring and halted his uncontrolled movement. He felt air under his right leg and glanced down to realize he was hanging off the ring edge and his foot was dangling a mere centimeter from the grass below and that his left arm and leg were all that were keeping him from falling. He couldn't reach down for leverage to push back up as that would disqualify him. He glanced into the ring and saw Yamcha approaching to knock him the rest of the way onto the ground and he had to act. He started pulling up but lost balance for a moment and out of desperation shot a ki blast from his right hand and flew into the air and landed in the ring with a painful thud.

Gohan struggled up to his feet and saw Yamcha approaching him again with a frown of concentration on his scarred face. <That was close…> He waited until Yamcha was closer then suddenly leapt into the air and floated there.

Yamcha stared up at the boy nervously. He knew how to fly now, but that wasn't why he was nervous. One of his main advantages thus far was his height and reach and being in the air, Gohan would now eliminate that advantage. Had he been in the boy's place, he would have done the same thing. <Last time we fought, he was much more maneuverable in the air than I was… and I wouldn't be surprised if that's still true. Well, I can't win from down here…> Yamcha floated up, not even noticing the murmur of the crowd as they watched this amazing fight.

Yamcha suddenly brought his hands back again and cried "Kamehameha!" And shot energy at the boy. He watched for the dodge and readied himself to go after the boy but instead of dodging, Gohan stayed still. <Oh crap… what's he doing?>

"Masenko… ha!" Gohan brought his hands over his head and then forward, blasting ki energy out of his hands. The two beams of energy collided and both fighters found themselves in an energy tug of war.

<Whoa… that's one of Piccolo's moves! Has the green man been tutoring him!?> Yamcha grimaced in exertion, not having expected to have to turn the kamehameha wave into anything more than a minor energy blast to force the boy into a dodge and open him up to an attack by his opponent, but instead was now sweating in exertion. <Shit… shit shit shit shit… he's getting closer!>

Gohan was indeed floating towards him, still blasting blue energy out of his hands. He suddenly shot straight up into the air, directly into the path of the sun.

Yamcha cut off his energy attack and looked up and winced as the sun blinded him. <What the->

"-meha!" Gohan's voice floated down a moment before a kamehameha wave collided with the former desert bandit's chest.

"Oh cra-OOF!" Yamcha cried out in pain as his back impacted the ground. A moment later, dirt and grass fell on his face and body and he coughed as some landed in his mouth and nose. "What the hell?"

"Ring out! A hell of a match, folks! Son Gohan is the winner!" The announcer cried.

Yamcha wheezed and rolled over and winced in pain, clutching his chest. He coughed and winced in pain as blood stained the grass. He felt dizzy for a few moments then felt himself moving. It took him several moments to realize that medics were carrying him away on a stretcher. "I can walk." Yamcha gasped out, attempting to sit up and crying out as pain lanced through his ribs and back. <Broken ribs… several it feels like. I think my arm is broken too… damn.>

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Yamcha!" He heard Gohan say near his head.

"Don't sweat it, kiddo. I just let myself land funny… I'll be all right in a few days. You'll see." Yamcha gave the boy a reassuring smile as he was carried off. "Good luck, Gohan! And congratulations!"

Gohan smiled and waved as the man was carried off to the be taken to the hospital. <Bulma's going to kill me…> The young Son walked over to stand next to his father who beamed at him with pride.

"Good going, son. I'm proud of you." Goku informed him, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Gohan smiled and turned to watch the last two preliminary matches.

******************************

Match 3 - Tien vs. Android 18

Tien and Android 18 took their marks and a moment later the start of the match was called. 18 stood with her arms crossed, watching her opponent with a nonchalant expression on her pretty face.

"Don't underestimate me, 18, or whatever your real name is." Tien growled out.

"Get her, Tien!" The three-eyed man heard his lover Lunch call. Just by the sound of her voice he knew she had sneezed again and was now in her blonde, aggressive persona. He didn't spare the glance to look at her though, thinking it likely that he'd get a fist to the jaw as soon as he looked away from his opponent.

"You don't stand a chance. Save yourself the pain and step out now." The android stated coldly.

Tien snorted and started circling the woman warily. <She's not turning… she's not moving at all! How foolish.> The tri-clops rushed forward and shot a fist at the back of the blonde's head and blinked in surprise as she vanished. "Where did sh-" The man cried out as a knee was driven into his spine from behind. He fell onto his hands and knees and felt his whole body go numb. <Oh Kami-sama… did she just paralyze me like her brother did that other guy before he killed him?!> He fell flat and gasped in pain.

"Stay down. You are of no concern to me." 18 stated.

Tien felt his limbs tingling and he realized the blow had just temporarily shocked his nervous system and his spine was still intact… for now. <Don't make that mistake again… be more careful.> The three-eyed man stood as the count hit 7 and shook his arms to return feeling to them. "I'll not be that easy to defeat." The man stated firmly.

The slightest of smiles touched the blonde woman's lips and she quirked an eyebrow up, her arms were still crossed.

Taking the unspoken challenge, Tien started to strike forward in an offensive barrage, throwing punches and kicks faster than a normal human could follow. 18, unfortunately for Tien, was not a normal human. She dodged to the side and weaved between his strikes with the barest of effort necessary to avoid the strikes, her arms still crossed. "Damn it… why can't I hit you?!" Tien growled out.

"Because I'm not letting you." 18 replied easily.

Tien followed her with all three eyes and thought he saw a pattern in her dodging to struck where he thought she would be with all his strength behind the blow. Sure enough, his fist impacted her forehead with enough force to cause the tiles at the android's feet to shatter. However, the beautiful android didn't even wince. "Is that the best you've got?" 18 inquired in a bored tone.

The tri-clops stumbled back and shook his arm to get the feeling back into it and frowned. Had he been even slightly weaker than he was, he likely would have shattered his wrist from that blow.

"I can do better. Why don't you stand still and see if you can take it?" Tien suggested with a sly grin.

Android 18 looked over at Goku as she replied. "Go for it." Then she turned back to fix Tien with a deadly serious look.

Tien looked over at his girlfriend and whispered "I love you" softly before turning back to look at the android. He took a step back and concentrated on putting the full force of his body and spirit behind his punch, throwing his willpower into the strike as he punched forward. Had he punched a small mountain with that blow, it would have shattered, or at the very least had a nasty crack in it. Had he punched steel, it would have had one hell of a dent in it. Had he punched a normal fighter with that blow, there would have been a good chance of him crushing the person's face, and possibly even knocking the head clean off the person's body. But, he was punching Dr. Gero's finest creation, Android 18.

There was a reaction this time. The android fell flat onto her shapely posterior and blinked in surprise. She reached up and rubbed her left cheek where the man had punched her and felt perfect flesh beneath her touch and only the slightest of soreness. "Wow… I'm impressed. I even felt that." She stood up before the announcer could begin to count and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Tien. "What are you doing?"

Tien scowled and kept rubbing his arm, wincing in pain. <Crap… I broke it. She barely even felt it… unreal.> "You're telling me you're completely fine?"

"A little dusty." 18 affirmed.

The three-eyed man turned to look at Goku and the others, seeing the disbelief on their faces as well. He looked back at the android. "I admit… you're a lot stronger than you look."

The blonde android smirked. "Indeed. Are you ready to give up?"

"I don't know the meaning of the words." The tri-clops stated bravely.

Before the man could even blink, the android's hand was clasped on his broken arm and was squeezing firmly. "I suggest you buy a dictionary." 18 stated dryly.

Tien howled in pain and fell to his knees, tears of pain dripping from his eyes. He struggled, but couldn't pry his arm loose. "Let me go!" He cried.

"Give up and walk away. The doctors can still splint this arm and it'll heal up just fine." The android said.

Tien started slamming left fist into 18's chest and stomach, attempting to get her to release his arm. "I'll never quit!"

The blonde woman frowned and looked over at Goku, seeing the nervous tension on the man's face. She knew he would like nothing better than to rush to his friend's aid but for now he was respecting the man's choice to stay in the fight and respecting the tournament's rules. She could simply toss the three-eyed man out of the ring, but she was a bit frustrated and wanted the man to submit, simply because he was being so pig-headed about it. "If I squeeze any harder, there's a good chance this arm will have to be amputated. Just submit and save your arm." The woman growled out.

Tien glanced over and saw the helpless worry on his lover's face and saw her fingering a tommy-gun that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He looked back up at the android, shaking his head stubbornly. He lashed out with his foot and connected solidly with the woman's shin and was relieved when she released her death-grip on his shattered arm and took a step back. He stumbled backwards and clutched his wounded arm as pain throbbed in the limb with every heartbeat. He rushed forward, using every scrap of his willpower to suppress the pain in his arm to kick the woman savagely in the solar plexus and hoped it would make her stumble backwards.

She took a few steps back and rubbed her chest and scowled. "You are upsetting me, Tien Shinhan." 18 stated emotionlessly.

"Sorry to be a bother." Tien muttered darkly.

18 glanced at Goku again then shot her hand out to grab the three-eyed man's shattered forearm again, clutching the fracture with even more force than she had used before. She felt the bones shift and the man's howl of pain made her eardrums ache, but she didn't relent. "Submit."

"For the love of Kami-sama, Tien! Give up!" Lunch shouted.

"Tien! It's not worth it!" Goku cried.

Tien looked over at Goku and gritted his teeth in pain and forced out a statement. "It is to me." He savagely drove his left elbow into the android's solar plexus, hoping it was bruised from his last strike there. He barely felt the pain in his elbow as it felt like he hit solid steel.

18 stared down at the man, conflicting emotions in her eyes. She released him suddenly and stepped back as the man collapsed to the ground. She looked over at Goku and frowned. The android saw the concern in the man's eyes and shrugged slightly when his eyes turned to look at her. Confusion crossed the Saiyan's features as 18 looked down at Tien, who was at a count of 8.

Mustering up willpower that he didn't even know he had, Tien climbed up to his feet and stumbled for a moment before settling into a crouching stance. "Why didn't you just stay down?" 18 inquired, frustration evident in her tone.

"Because I didn't want to." Tien muttered, playing on his opponent's earlier words in a half-hearted joke. Humor wasn't exactly his strong suit, but at the moment it was better than thinking about the pain shooting through his body and focused on his arm.

18 frowned and started walking towards the competitor's area, which was towards the edge of the ring.

Tien stared at her back in shock. <Is she… giving up?! This isn't right...>

18 turned suddenly and leveled her hand, palm facing outwards. A small blue-white energy ball streaked out and impacted Tien's scarred chest and knocked him backwards so hard and fast he slammed into the wall partition separating the spectators from the ring area. He struck with such force, in fact, that for several seconds he hovered there in midair then finally slumped downwards onto his butt, on the grass. His head dropped and he fell into a semi-conscious state. He barely noticed the paramedics carrying him away and to the hospital, nor did he notice the crumbled stone of the wall where he had struck it.

"Thank you for showing him mercy." Goku stated, approaching the android warily.

"Hmph." 18 snorted and casually leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, ignoring Goku for now.

Goku scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously then stepped away to leave her alone. He turned to watch the final match of the day.

******************************

Match 4 - Mondo vs. Krillin

Krillin shook his head and walked into the ring, his own emotions conflicted. On the one hand, he was scared for and concerned for his friend as he suffered in the ring. It had taken every drop of his resolve to stay out of the fight and not rush to his friend's aid. On the other hand… he couldn't get it out of his mind how beautiful the girl was and how her calm confidence spoke to a portion of his heart that he had long thought was going to be empty forever. <Oh Kami-sama… she's so wonderful. I shouldn't think that… I can't think that! But… I do. Tien… forgive me.>

"Let the match begin!" The announcer cried.

Krillin glanced over at the android, not hearing the announcement. <She's looking at me… Kami-sama… she's so beautiful. She looks intelligent too… oh man. Did she just smile at me?! WOW!>

The short man stumbled back as he felt himself being pushed. The monk's attention turned back to his opponent and he realized the match had been called and he had been shoved. "Get off me, you big oaf!" Krillin growled and shoved the man back. Or, at least he tried. He couldn't seem to budge the pudgy man. "What the hell?"

Mondo raised a ham-sized fist up and brought it down towards the monk's head with amazing speed for his bulk, but Krillin was faster and ducked to the side. The bald man retaliated by driving his fist forward and yelped in surprise when his arm buried itself to the shoulder in the behemoth's gut and stayed there. "Ah! Lemme go!"

Mondo laughed and started bashing down on Krillin with his ham-fists, not surprised in the least that Krillin was stuck. "I've got you now, little man!" The monstrous man laughed as he continued raining blows down on the bald man, causing small wounds to open up and blood to start flowing.

"Damn… that's it!" Krillin released a ki blast from his right hand, the one that was buried in his adversary's gut. He felt the burning energy of the blast surround his hand and it gave him the force necessary to pry his arm out. <I won't make that mistake again.>

He rolled backwards and frowned as Mondo didn't seem too disturbed by the ki blast directly into his gut. The monk ran forward and leaped into the air to drive a foot into the other man's chest, hitting solidly against the breastbone and knocking the behemoth back.

Krillin bounced away then kicked off the ground as he landed to fly into the air again and lashed out with a viscous spin kick to the gargantuan man's face. Mondo stumbled back and shook his head and then rushed forward to grab at the smaller man. The monk was too fast for him and jumped up to land on the other man's arm and crouched, perfectly balanced there just long enough to rain several hard punches to his opponent's face then jumped up and over. He landed lightly on the ground and kicked off again, driving a foot into Mondo's back.

The behemoth stumbled forward then halted his movement and spun around to rush at Krillin again.

The monk jumped up and continued using his smaller size and superior speed to punch and kick the monster of a man in his face and chest and jumping away before he was grabbed. After over a half hour of this repeated exchange, the injuries and exhaustion finally overcame Mondo and he fell first to his knees, then as Krillin jumped forward to kick him in the face again, he slumped forward and lay still, too exhausted to even get up and was counted out.

Krillin collapsed to his knees and clutched his bruised ribs, feeling the tenderness from where he had been clipped a few minutes before as he had a moment of being too slow to avoid a hit. He had to give the behemoth credit… he wasn't that fast but he was as strong and as sturdy as an ox. The thought brought a touch of a smile to his face as he thought about the Ox King. The man he had just fought could have been the Ox King's brother or long lost son...

"You won." Krillin heard a soft, dry voice state. He looked up to see Android 18 looking at him.

"Yeah." The monk agreed with a nod.

"So it's you against me tomorrow." The lovely blonde stated.

Krillin nodded. "Yeah."

18 stared at him for a few moments then turned away. She glanced over her shoulder after taking a few steps away. "I hope you're a bit more articulate than that. You're too cute to waste a sub-standard brain on." She walked away casually, her hips swaying gently with her movements.

Krillin stared at her shapely bum and felt a stupefied grin on his face. "She said I was cute…"

"Krillin! We're going to get some food. Come on!" The monk heard Goku call. He hurried after his friend, still smiling.

"That was one hot girl… did you see those lips?" Roshi inquired, bubbling over the blonde beauty. "I bet she gives great head."

"Yeah, she did look pretty smart." Gohan replied, misunderstanding since he didn't know what the crass term meant.

"ROSHI! SHUT UP!" Chichi cried, whacking the old man over the head with a frying pan that was pulled from Kami knows where.

"To hell with her lips… did you see that ass? I'd love to do her from behind." Oolong foamed at the mouth at the thought of violating the android.

Krillin growled and whacked the pig over the head, knocking him silly. "Don't talk about her that way!"

Oolong cried in pain and rubbed his head. "What the hell!? You sweet on her? Geez. She looked easy, what can I say?" The shape-shifting pig had evidently either not noticed the woman crushing Tien's arm or he was having a moment of selective amnesia.

Bulma scowled and glanced at Gohan who was looking at Oolong with confusion evident on his face. <Damn pig! Hey… that reminds me…> "Oh Oolong." The blue-haired beauty called in her sweetest tone. When the shape-shifter turned to look at her she smiled sweetly and said, "Piggy piggy piggy!"

"Oh crap!" Oolong cried, grabbing the back of his pants and running for the bathrooms.

Everyone burst into laughter and continued their way to go get dinner and relax. None of them noticed 18 watching them from a distance in the air, frowning. She watched Oolong run away and was tempted to blast him for his comments but decided to grant him mercy, for now. She turned to look towards the south where her brother was relaxing on an island with a native girl and smirked, feeling somewhere inside her what he was up to without actually knowing for sure. <At least he's staying out of trouble.>

She turned her attention back to the Z warriors and the others and touched down on the ground and followed after them, deciding to have a bit of food and watch them from a distant table. Her attention was mostly focused on Goku, but occasionally she found herself glancing at Krillin, though she was unsure what it was about the man that drew her interest.

******************************

End of Chapter 2. Next chapter: The final day of the 27th Tenkaichi Budoukai! Goku vs. Gohan and Krillin vs. #18! Stay tuned. Zai jian!