The fight between Trunks and Goten reminded me of something out of a cartoon. One minute they're laughing and teasing each other, the next they're almost so serious I'd be afraid they would kill the other had I not known them. The two seemed like fairly even opponents, but I didn't doubt that they were holding back.
"It's a shame they didn't know each other as kids," Gohan says, sighing, but with a grin on his face. I glanced at him, giving a confused look.
"What do you mean?" I asked him. He pointed out to where the boys were throwing casual punches, going back to teasing one another.
"Are you listening to what they're saying?" I shook my head, tilting it slightly and training my advanced hearing towards Trunks and Goten.
They were "insulting" each other, going between making up crazy phrases such as "you're a green acorn" and bringing up funny and embarrassing memories they have of the other. I giggled.
"See what I mean?" Gohan asked, laughing as well. "Now, imagine if they'd known each other their entire lives. This would be ten times funnier."
I giggled again, nodding in agreement. I had to admit that'd be pretty hilarious.
"Those two already act as if they've known each other their whole lives," Piccolo comments. "But that's what fighting a life and death war does to you."
I watched the two boys I loved fight each other. The namekian had a point I had found to be true multiple times in my short life. When faced with a nearly unbeatable adversary, you tended to become closer with your allies.
"I think Trunks has this one in the bag!" Uub's voice brought me out of my slight trance. I blinked, looking first to him, then back to where I had been and saw what he meant.
Goten appeared to be more worn out, their match having gone back into deadly serious mode. Trunks was hitting my brother with a relentless swarm of assaults, but Goten was able to block them. Well, most of them anyway. But he looked like he was growing tired quickly.
"C'mon, Go!" Bulla yells. "Kick his ass!" I thought I saw Trunks flash her an almost irritated look, but it was so quick, I couldn't tell for sure.
With a sudden burst of strength, Goten brought a fist up, bashing Trunks square in the face. The lavender haired saiyan skidded across the tiles, coming to a stop ten feet from the edge. Rubbing his face, Trunks stood up straight, giving Goten a look that was a mix of pleasant surprise and very slight anger.
Goten grinned at my fiance, placing his hands on his hips. "That was pretty decent, Trunks!"
Trunks smirked. "You think so?" Goten nodded.
"Oh yeah! But now it's my turn!" Suddenly, Goten wasn't on his side of the stage anymore. My eyes widened as my brother turned to the offensive, throwing his fists at Trunks with such energy, it caught the older saiyan off guard.
"Shit!" I hear Trunks curse as he's forced to do nothing but block Goten's attacks.
"Holy crap!" Krillin exclaimed. "Where did Goten get all this power from?!"
"He was storing it for later, obviously," 18 states. "He was just making Trunks think he was getting worn out." She glances over at Uub. "Looks like you spoke too soon, kid." Uub didn't reply as he watched in amazement at the abrupt turn of events.
"And it looks like young Goten has Trunks backed into a corner! Or, more accurately, backed to the edge of the arena!" The announcer yells. Hearing this, Trunks looks down quickly and curses when he sees that the announcer was right. If he didn't act, Goten would push him off the stage in a matter of moments.
Grunting, Trunks sends off a small energy wave, sliding Goten back far enough that he could take to the sky, moving more towards the center of the arena as he did so. As Goten turned and looked up at him, Trunks stared down with an expression worthy of his father.
"You coulda told me we weren't holding back anymore," Trunks huffs, crossing his arms.
Goten laughs, scratching behind his head. "Sorry, Trunks!" But before Trunks could answer, my brother transported to where he was flying. Trunks had enough time to flinch in surprise before Goten clipped him, sending him cascading towards the ground. Trunks slowed down enough that when he landed, it was only with an oof on his backside and not with enough momentum to take out half the complex.
There was a brief moment of silence before the announcer yelled into the mic that Goten was the winner of this match and the crowd went crazy cheering for him. Grinning, my little brother descended from the sky, landing in front of Trunks and holding out his hand for Trunks to take. The older saiyan took it, allowing Goten to pull him up.
"Jesus, where did you learn to hit like that?" Trunks joked, grinning at Goten, who in returned laughed.
"Oh y'know, I was involved in that crazy alien invasion a few years back." I rolled my eyes as the two of them started to walk towards us, laughing.
"That was friggin amazing!" Bulla says when Trunks and Goten are close enough. She captures both in a hug, kissing both on the side of the head. "Such a good fight!"
"I'll admit, I was really expecting Trunks to win that one!" Uub says. "But I'm equally as happy that you won, Goten!"
My brother rubbed the back of his head like he had earlier. "Thanks!"
"Next up we have Bulla and Krillin!" The announcer calls. "Would those two fighters please come to the stage?"
"Well, that's us!" Krillin says excitedly. "Wish us luck!"
"Good luck, Dad!" Mar says, hugging her father. Just like with everyone else, we hug the two and wish them luck, telling them that we'll be rooting for both of them.
Bulla and Krillin's match didn't last long. Both put up an awesome fight, but in the end the blue haired saiyan bested the bald human. I looked over at Ares as the two arrived back in the waiting room. His ebony eyes met my blue ones, a smile crossing over his lips.
"I will not lie, I've been looking forward to this all day, Rosamoona."
I felt my lips pull into a matching girn. "So have I." I held out a hand for Ares to take. "Best of luck to you."
The older saiyan took my hand, still smiling. "Best of luck to you as well. I have no doubt you will prove to be a worthy fighter."
"Would you two stop with the over dramatics and hurry up and get out there?" Nate says, jokingly. "I wanna see a fight!" Ares and I, along with everyone else, laughed at his remarks. I hugged my friends and family and stepped aside, waiting for them to finish doing the same to Ares.
Just as the announcer called for the next fighters, Ares and I stepped out from waiting building. We walked confidently along the tile path that led up to the arena stage, my bare feet making a quiet slapping sound as I walked.
As we mounted the stairs, I took this opportunity to look around and find the part of my family that was seated somewhere in the stadium. I felt around for their Ki, easily locating it. I looked up at them, grinning as I saw them all waving and cheering for both Ares and I. I raised a hand, happily waving back.
When I got to the top of the stairs, I give Ares a quick smile before going to one side of the arena, turning and facing him as he stood at the opposite side. While getting into my starting stance, I caught a hint of something red above his head. Focusing on it, I found that it was planet Vegeta.
Our wish had worked wonders. No one questioned why a red planet the size of the moon was suddenly filling up our sky, just like we wanted. Not that people weren't interested in it, mind you. But governments and scientists viewed it as if it had always been in solar system, which couldn't be farther from the truth. Just like the rest of the planets in the Milky Way, kids have learned what little science knows about it - which is nothing, aside that it's red and it's the closest planet to us. Next time I saw Shenron (which I had to admit I hoped wouldn't be for a long time, if ever again) I had to make sure to tell him he'd outdone himself with the whole fake memories thing. I was surprised when I found out that my ancestral home even had an "official" name! It was named after a Roman god, like all the others. Because it's deep red hue and the power it radiates, it earned the name Vulcan, who was the Roman god of the forge. I didn't know how I felt about the name change, but hey, as long as the planet fit in and no one questioned it, I wasn't complaining!
I smiled when I saw the planet. It seemed fit that we were fighting underneath it. As if somehow the celestial body would pass on it's strength to those of us who have or would have called it home. I suddenly felt very proud to be saiyan, even if I was only a hybrid.
My attention was drawn back to reality when the announcer started yelling into his microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, our next next contenders are Rosamoona and Ares! Some of your may remember Rosamoona from the tournament ten years ago! She was the junior division champion who went up against Mr. Satan! This will be interesting!" He turned to Ares and I, switching the mic off for a moment.
"And, if I may say, beat the crap out of him," he commented, grinning and laughing. I laughed as well, remembering very well my "fight" with Hercule.
"I know you'll both do well, so may the best fighter win!"
"Thanks!" I tell him, grinning back. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
"Hey, by the way, what is your name?" I asked the announcer quickly, before he turned the mic back on and started the fight. "No offence, but we always just call you announcer guy and whatnot. I feel bad that we don't know."
"Oh, it's no problem," he replied, waving it off. "My name is Eric. Eric Vale." I grinned again.
"It's nice to meet you, Eric. Sorry it's taken ten years to finally learn it."
Again, Eric waved it off. "No biggie! Now, you two ready?!" Ares and I nodded once, showing that we were ready. Beyond ready, in fact.
Jumping out of the way, Eric switched the microphone back on. "Alright! Get ready folks, this next fight is gonna be a wild one!"