6 The 22nd World Martial Arts Tournamen (1/2)

I was waiting in line to sign up for the martial arts tournament. Bulma was successful with the favor I asked her. There were Capsule Corp. logos all over the place. The stadium and arena had been tripled in size along with the addition of giant monitors.

I am definitely going to have to thank her. She went above and beyond to pull this off. I think I also saw television film crews, too. The added publicity really increased the contestant turn out.

It took me over thirty minutes to get signed up for the tournament. Several people gave me aggressive stares as I walked into the locker room. I didn't recognize any of them, but it looked like they knew of me.

”Raditz!?” I turned to see Kakarot and his friends Krillin and Yamcha sporting a surprised look. ”You got a lot taller.” Krillin said.

”I did.” I answered. ”But doesn't look like you did, Krillin.” Over the course of my training I had reached my full adult height.

Two fighters approached our group. I immediately recognized the pair as Tien Shinhan the three eyed man and Chiaotzu the...

Honestly, I never knew what Chiaotzu was exactly. His childlike doll form and voice always did creep me out, though.

The two newcomers taunted my brother and his friends over the inferiority of the Kame School compared too the superior Crane School. I remembered that in the original story the same thing happened.

I wondered if Tien would still end up fighting Yamcha this time. Originally, Tien used Chiaotzu to rig the lots drawn to ensure his fight with the desert bandit. This time the lots were drawn digitally.

All the fighters participating in the preliminaries headed out to the arena. I was informed when I signed up that I could wait until the drawing for the quarter finals to go to the arena. It was a reward for attaining victory in the last tournament.

”Mr. Raditz its time!” a cheerful attendant holding a clipboard called out.

I nodded my head in acknowledgment and followed her to the arena. When we exited the doors leading to the waiting area near the ring I could hear the excited commotion from the crowd.

There were seven fighters excluding me waiting to take part in the quarter finals. To my surprise one of the fighters was a short mysterious person in a hooded red cloak. I could sense the person under the cloak was really strong.

After a few words of introduction from the announcer, he drew everyone's attention to the giant monitor built above the fighter entrance. The monitor flashed our names and pictures across the screen until it settled on two, Chiaotzu and King Chappa. Everyone could see all of this happen on the screens set-up in the waiting area.

The pair exited out to roaring cheers of the excited martial arts fans.

During the fight King Chappa managed to keep the pressure on Chiaotzu. However his opponent managed to fire off two Dodon Rays. The curly haired monk was able to dodge one of the rays, but the other injured his right leg. Afterwards Chiaotzu made use of his flying ability to overwhelm slowed Chappa.

”Was that the Dodon Ray?” Kakarot looked over to Krillin and Yamcha. His friends nodded back in confirmation.

”Yeah, I think it was.” Krillin answered.

”What YOU three know about it?” Tien asked through gritted teeth.

”We ran into this guy Hitman Tao, while we were traveling to train. He was attacking a village so I offered the services of the Kakarot Corps. They didn't have zenni so I let them pay in food. He was a pretty tough guy.” Kakarot answered.

Tien looked incredulous as though such a suggestion was laughable.

”Are you saying you three killed Hitman Tao?” Tien looked for clarification.

”No, I fought him myself since we were in the area to climb a tower I let the other guys get started while I fought Tao. He got blasted away by a Kamehameha wave on top of his other injuries, he probably didn't survive. I didn't go check cause I wanted to get up that tower as soon as possible.” my brother was being very casual. I wasn't sure if he could read the atmosphere or not. It was possible he knew Tien was getting mad and didn't care.

I was enjoying the show.

Chiatozu had opened the door to the waiting room when the monitor showed Tien vs Kakarot. A furious Tien stalked past his friend without saying a word. Kakarot followed behind him with a grin on his face.

”So you guys met Korin?” I asked Krillin and Yamcha after Tien and my brother left.

”Yeah we did.” Krillin answered.

”Don't make the mistake of think we are the same people we were last time.” Yamcha added.

”Good.” I replied and focused my attention back on the monitors.

Kakarot started stretching his legs as soon as he entered the ring. The announcer was more fired up than in the previous tournament. He probably increased his performance because the tournament is now televised. An increase in pay probably helped, too.

When they were told to start my brother dropped into his fighting stance. Tien being driven by anger took the initiative of moving first. Kakarot had a look that said he was prepared for anything.

Thunderous boom was heard when the fighter's shins impacted each other from dual high kicks. My brother quickly changed tactics elbowing his opponent in his extended leg.

Tien was quick witted enough to mitigate some of the force by spinning with the momentum and firing off a Dodon Ray. The beam passed through Kakarot's chest but luckily it was a after image.

After realizing his mistake Tien tried to turn around but it was too late his foe was already behind him. Kakarot drove a fist into straight into Tien's right kidney, or at least he wanted to. It turned out his opponent was quick enough to take to the air.

By knowing how to fly Tien felt he held the advantage. The crowd was shocked into silence by the sight of a person standing in midair. Well at least the ones that didn't see me do the same thing last tournament. They recovered their collective voices when the announcer gave them some background information on the technique.

Tien was preparing to fire a Dodon Ray, but was caught off guard again when my brother also took to the air. I guessed my brother was motivated to learn after he saw that I could fly. I don't think even the announcer was prepared to see a full on aerial battle.

The pair were exchanging punches and kicks midair when Tien used his multi-arm technique to gain an extra set of arms. This time it was my brother who was caught unaware. He was sent to the floor of the ring by an overhead hammer blow from Tien.

CRASH!

The gasps from the crowd could be heard. They were all trying to see what had become of the fifteen year old. When the dust settled everyone could see my brother standing in a small crater. Kakarot was staring up at his target. Normally it would be wise to keep an eye on your opponent, but this time it was a mistake.

”SOLAR FLARE!” Tien shouted with his hands spread near his eyes, palms facing his torso. A blinding lit radiated in the arena. The bald triclops quickly landed a began attacking a blinded Kakarot in hand-to-hand combat.

Taking the only logical approach the young Saiyan huddle up to block the strikes until he could recover his sight. I did notice from time to time Kakarot would use his elbows to lash out at Tien's knees. When mt brother recovered his sight a final elbow dropped Tien to his knees.

Kakarot jumped back and charged his Ki.

”Kame...” an orb of blue energy formed in his hands, ”Hame...”

”Woah, Kakarot is going all out!” Yamcha shouted.

”Ha!” the blast fired towards Tien who just managed to stand in time.