47 Child’s Play

It didn't take long for time to pass, and the day of the World Martial Arts Tournament finally arrived. Unlike in the past, the tournament was being held on an island converted specifically to host the event. This change was to mitigate any collateral damage potentially caused by fighters of extreme strengths.

Kakarot was gathered with his friends near the entrance of the tournament grounds. Everyone was happily chatting about the potential fights they would experience. It had been many years since any of them fought in front of an audience. The number of spectators was vastly superior to the crowds that came to the older tournaments, they had Raditz to thank for that.

"I still can't believe you have hair." Kakarot commented to his long time friend, Krillin. The short man had allowed his hair to grow out because he hadn't encountered any life or deaths fights over the last seven years.

"I always shaved my head by choice." Krillin laughed, "Besides, Maron likes my hair."

Krillin was attending the event with his girlfriend he met while out with Yamcha. He had long contemplated breaking up with the younger woman. She was beautiful and fun to be around, but was severely lacking when it came to intelligence. Maron was wearing her signature red dress with low straps and white and blue sneakers. She had long blue hair, which stopped right below her shoulders.

"This really brings me back." Tien said, "It seems like a lifetime ago since we competed."

Everyone understood what the three eyed human was talking about. They all had fond memories of competing against each other. This was a good opportunity for them to relive the excitement of the old days. The sudden arrival of Reiss caused the group's conversation to be but on pause.

"Hey, guys." the teen greeted the group. "It's been awhile since I've seen some of you."

"Oh wow!" Maron exclaimed running over to the prince. She grabbed his hair while staring in amazement. "It's so spiky and the same color as mine! Have you seen this, Krillin?"

"Who is this person?" Reiss asked in confusion. The teen was ready for any number of attacks, but never experience anything like someone petting his hair.

"Maron, Krillin's girlfriend." Kakarot answered.

"Is she alright?" the teen asked. Maron released the teen's hair after she realized her actions probably were inappropriate.

"Hey, its Gohan!" Krillin saw Gohan approaching the group. He was with his mother and younger brother.

Reiss took another look at Krillin's odd girlfriend and notice she looked a lot like his mother. He shuddered internally at the thought of Krillin and his mother before refocusing his thoughts on the tournament.

"We should go sign in before it gets too crowded." Reiss suggested.

The group met Vegeta and his family on the way to the registration area. They collectively froze when Maron had the audacity to ask who exactly the "old ladies" were. As everyone thought, Chi-chi and Tights gained an instant dislike for the younger woman.

Luckily, the rest of the trip passed without incident, even with the constant challenges between Kakarot and Vegeta. They wanted to use the tournament as the perfect chance to test their skills against each other. After registering for the tournament, the applicants would need to travel to the examination area for a test of strength.

There were almost twenty rows of people lined up in front of sophisticated machines designed to measure the level of striking force the competitors could deliver. The fighters would be chosen from the applicants that scored the highest.

Videl was waiting in the testing area for Gohan and his friends to arrive. She already finished her test and was confident she would be chosen as a fighter. Thanks to her training with Gohan, she was able to score higher than her father's last test.

When it was Reiss's turn he walked up and examined the machine. Looking at the base he could see that the device was housed on tracks allowing it to easily move if needed. After breaking the school's machine, he didn't want to break another.

The force of Reiss's hit caused the machine to slide back all the way to the end of its tracks before safely stopping. The post next to him beeped several times and printed a slip for the blue haired teen listing his results.

"All nines." Reiss thought to himself. The readout showed his name and tournament id number along with his strength level of 999999.

The other applicants looked on horrified by the level of power the teen displayed against the machine. Many of them thought about dropping out all together. If they knew Reiss was holding way back, many more would have thought about quitting. Videl would have been as shocked as the others if she hadn't already experienced the sight of Gohan and his brother sparring on multiple occasions.

"Oops." Kakarot apologized after completely destroying the machine he hit. He still was able to get his printout from the dispenser.

Several applicants silently started to make their way back out of the testing area. For them, the tournament already ended. Videl saw the arrogant blue haired prince walking towards her. From the performance of his group, she might not make it into the tournament after all.

"Did you get all nine's on your test?" he asked making conversation. "I think 999,999 is the max."

"No, I didn't max out the machine." Videl answered, she wasn't even close to maxing out the machine.

One by one, the rest of the superior martial artists either destroyed or nearly destroyed the testing machines. Reiss and Videl walked to the waiting area where the names of the chosen applicants would be displayed.It was almost another hour before everyone finished the strength test and gathered to see the results.

The giant display screen read: Congratulations chosen warriorsGohan, Jewel, Kakarot, Kibito, Killa, Krillin, Mr. Satan, Piccolo, Reiss, Shin, Spopovich, Tien, Vegeta, Videl, Yamcha, Yamu. Please proceed to the waiting room.

"Father!" Reiss was surprised to see Raditz already in the waiting room. "What are you doing in here, I didn't see your name listed."

"I will fight the winner as a special reward." Raditz looked at the other fighters as they entered.

He was making sure Spopovich and Yamu were participating. He didn't know if Majin Buu would be an issue or not, but if Yamu and Spopovich were here with big "M's" on their foreheads, it meant time was mostly on track.

"I think there is something up about that guy." Piccolo whispered to Raditz. He nodded in the direction of the fighters named Shin and Kibito.

"Good eye, as always." Raditz praised Piccolo for noticing the Kaio. "But they aren't the real problem, and if they become a problem, I'll handle it."

Piccolo accepted Raditz's opinion on the subject wondering what the real problem was. The fighters rested in the waiting room while the junior division for the tournament got under way. It goes without saying, Eschalot and Goten were upset about being made to compete against children.

The junior division moved along quicker than everyone expected. Even though many children were trained in the basics of martial arts, they had never competed before. Their lack of experience caused them to make mistakes that more experienced children could capitalize on and end the battle quickly. To top it off, the tournament organizers never in a million years would have thought monsters like Eschalot and Goten would appear. Their matches would be over in less than a second each time they stepped into the ring.

The final match of the junior division saw Eschalot and Goten facing off in the ring. The children looked happier than they did in their previous fights. The shaded tournament announcer could tell this fight would be memorable. Even if he didn't have the registration information, he could tell by Goten's appearance that he was Kakarot's son.

"I hope you are ready to lose again, Goten." Eschalot confidently declared.

"Not this time, I've been training with my brother." Goten countered. "This time you're gonna lose."

"Hoh hoh, ladies and gentlemen it seems our two young competitors have a history!" the announcer shouted playfully.

"You sound confident." Eschalot straightened her back. "If you do a good job, I might let you become my disciple."

"No, you become my disciple if you lose." the small Kakarot look-alike said.

"N-no way. Plus, I wouldn't lose anyway!" the small blonde Saiyans cheeks turned pink. There is no way Goten should even think he could defeat her. She was older and always won in their past fights.

"Kakarot, your son is fool if he thinks he stands a chance." Vegeta taunted the Saiyan. They were watching the fight on the displays in the fighter waiting room.

"I haven't seen him fight lately, but I'm sure Gohan did a good job training him." Kakarot shrugged.

"I was away helping King Kai with a problem."

"Too busy to train your son. Sounds like an excuse for his loss." Vegeta smirked, "After Eschalot wins, I'll be proven the superior parent, and then I can defeat you in the tournament proving I'm the superior fighter."

The audience needed to rely on the high speed displays to keep track of the two children as they clashed around the arena. The recording drones used the latest technology, and they still had trouble capturing the images. Their seats vibrated from the force of the blows the children were attacking with. If it were not for the specialized protective glass, the audience would have had their snacks and hats blown off long ago.

"You did get stronger!" Eschalot was surprised by Goten's improvements. "Ok then, let's go to the next level."

Wind violently swirled around the arena as the children cried out, raising their Ki. After the bright flash, the audience could see the children had a golden glow around them. Not on that, but Goten's black hair had become golden and spiked up. Eschalot's already short blonde hair was also spiked. The eyes of both children became a blue green color.

Explosions rang out around the arena more violently than before as the children chased each other around the ring and through the air. Kakarot was greatly impressed by Goten's skills during the fight.

"They're Super Saiyans?"Kakarot asked his current rival.

"You didn't know?" Vegeta was amazed. "Do you notice nothing about your children?"

"They pretty much take care of themselves, nobody said anything." he countered look at his oldest son. "Gohan, am I away too much?"

Shin was impressed by the level of energy the Earth had risen to since last he checked the planet. His enemies would be able to gathered the energy they required to resurrect Majin Buu much faster than anticipated. However, he now knew that there were mortals around that had enough power to assist him in his mission.