It was loud, and it was crowded.
The special Tenkaichi Budokai had pulled in a bigger crowd than anyone had planned for, and the
concourse behind the registration desks was a wall of noise—families, fighters, vendors.
At the desk, Bulma had both hands on the counter.
"I WANT TO SEE HIM! I'M HIS WIFE!"
The two staff members behind it had backed up as far as possible.
"M-ma'am, we have orders. He doesn't want to see anyone until the finals—"
"I TOLD YOU—"
An arm hooked around her waist and hauled.
"We're very sorry, sir," said Mai, walking her away. "We'll wait."
"I can't believe this." Bulma was still being carried. "He doesn't want to be disturbed?!"
"Now, now, honey." Panchy patted her arm. "He probably has a surprise planned. That's why."
"MOM. A restaurant is a surprise. A trip is a surprise." She jabbed a finger at the arena. "A fighting
tournament full of sweaty, muscular people is NOT A SURPRISE."
"You're embarrassing yourself, Bulma," said Chi-Chi, scoffing.
Bulma's head turned very slowly.
"What did you say? You stuck-up CONTROL FREAK?!"
"FRE—YOU SELF-CENTERED PSYCHO!"
Krillin leaned toward the nearest child.
"…Shouldn't we separate them?"
"No need." Bra didn't look up. "It's always like this."
"…I see."
Then Bra's eyebrows went up.
"Oh. It's Videl." She nudged her sister. "Mina, look. Your friend."
Mina turned.
"Videl! What are you doing here?"
The girl with the twin low ponytails turned around.
"I'm here with my dad." She pointed across the concourse at a broad, heavily muscled man with a
tremendous afro, currently flexing for a group of strangers. "He's going to enter and win. He's the
strongest man on Earth, and he's going to prove it today."
She put her hands on her hips, proud.
"N-no, he's not!" Mina's fists came up in front of her chest, trembling slightly. "My papa is! And he—
he will!"
"Your dad's in it?" Videl looked around. "Where is he?"
Her eyes landed on Yamcha. 2
"Is it you?"
"NO," said every woman and girl related to Goku, simultaneously.
Yamcha's head dropped.
"You didn't have to deny it that hard," Yamcha said.
"Then who—"
"VIDEL! Don't go missing your old man's big win!"
The voice arrived a half-second before the man did.
"Ohh? Is this little one a friend of yours?"
"I guess," said Videl.
"HAHAHA! Nice to meet you!"
Mina vanished behind Mai's leg.
He leaned down toward Nappi instead, putting his enormous grinning face directly into her personal
space.
"And how about you, little lady? Here to cheer me on?"
Nappi looked at him.
"You're ugly, sir."
"You shouldn't say hurtful things to grown-ups."
"I'm sorry~"
"…It's fine."
"So where is your dad, Mina?" Videl pressed.
"His name," said Bra, arms folded, "is Son Goku."
Two pairs of eyes went wide at the same time.
"WHAT?!" Videl's father straightened up fast. "Your dad's the Papaya Savior?! Where is he?"
"…I don't know," said Mina.
"Hiding, huh." He crossed his arms and nodded to himself, satisfied. "Knew it. All those feats of his
were never real."
Every expression in the group changed at once.
"And who are you, exactly?" said Krillin.
"Me?"
He planted both fists on his hips and threw his chest out.
"I'm the next champion. The strongest man alive. MISTER SATAN!"
Silence.
"If you don't believe me, you'll see soon enough! HAHAHA!"
Rori stepped out from behind Gohana.
"Old man." She pointed at him and said flatly, "I can feel your ki. There's no way you're stronger than
Papa when you're weaker than me—"
She stopped. 3
Her eyes went wide.
"This ki…"
Her head turned.
"Mama…"
"—MAMAAAAA!"
She was already gone, tearing past Mr. Satan's legs.
Kakarot was walking toward them through the crowd.
"Been a while!"
Rori hit her at full speed and Kakarot caught her and lifted her, and Rori got both arms around her
neck and buried her face in her chest, crying.
"MAMAAAA, I MISSED YOU! PAPA WASN'T THERE AND YOU WEREN'T THERE
EITHER!"
Kakarot's hand came up and stroked the back of her head.
"You're a brave girl, Rori."
She closed her eyes for a second.
"And I can feel how strong you've gotten. I'm impressed."
Rori pulled back and looked up at her, eyes streaming.
"Yeah." She sniffed hard. "And that's not even all of it. I can go further."
"…Is that Rori's mom?" said Videl.
The entire group descended on Kakarot at once.
Over the top of it, Kakarot's eyes found Piccolo's.
"They're here," she said.
"I felt them." Piccolo hadn't moved. "Don't underestimate those two."
"Is Goku here?" Kakarot added.
"Welcome back, Aunt Kakarot," said Gohana. "Apparently, we're not allowed to see him," she added.
"FIVE MINUTES TO REGISTRATION CLOSE! Please hurry! Spectators and registered fighters,
inside, please!"
Krillin cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, guys. Let's do this." He grinned. "Let's show Goku how far we've come."
And then the sky went white.
Far away, over the sea, past the northern horizon, a column of light opened and burned, and for one
full second there were no shadows anywhere on Papaya Island.
The crowd froze mid-motion. Thousands of heads turned as one.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Bulma shouted.
On the far side of the tournament grounds, Nappa looked, and Vegeta stood beside her with her arms
crossed and her eyes narrowed.
Then the light was gone.
The sky was just sky again. 4
The crowd kept staring at the horizon for a few seconds longer.
"What was that?"
* * *
A thousand kilometers away, the light came down on Fortuneteller Baba's palace.
It struck the courtyard and everything went white.
Baba came out fast, floating on her crystal ball, her ghosts streaming out of the doorway behind her.
She stopped.
The light was fading. Something stood in the middle of it.
"What in the—?!" Her hands tightened. "What is that?!"
The glare thinned.
Baba's eyes went wide behind her glasses.
"You!"
Her voice cracked across the empty courtyard.
"What are you doing here?!"
* * *
"ONE MINUTE TO REGISTRATION CLOSE!"
Inside, the fighters were massing.
"Why'd they even change the rules?" Krillin asked, craning to see over the crowd.
"Too many entries this year." Chiaotzu floated up a little higher to see. "If they ran the preliminaries as
brackets, it would take three days. So they're measuring everyone on a punching machine instead. Top
sixteen scores go through."
"Huh."
"FIGHTERS! Over here, please! Everyone will be assigned a number for the order of passage!"
"Alright." Yamcha rolled his shoulders. "Time for us to shine."
They went as a group—Kakarot, Krillin, Raditz, Rori, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Chiaotzu—and joined
the line.
Twenty meters behind them, Nappa and Vegeta were already in it.
Waiting. Quietly. In a line.
Krillin stared.
"Okay, they're being weirdly cooperative for two people who came here to conquer us."
"It's because of Son," said Piccolo.
"They're here for him." Kakarot's eyes hadn't left the pair. "Mainly for him. And I think they know
exactly how strong he is."
"Damn." Yamcha let out a breath. "Just the mention of his name is the only thing keeping them from
wrecking the place."
"Yep!" Krillin puffed out his chest. "And that's my best buddy!"
"That's my PAPA!" Rori shouted, throwing both arms up. 5
Behind them, Raditz fell into step beside her younger sister.
"You've gotten stronger," she said, arms crossed, eyes forward. "And you're hiding something."
Kakarot glanced sideways at her.
She smirked.
"So are you."
"Tch."
Out in the spectator concourse, the rest of them found seats.
Nappi did not sit down. She stood in front of her mother, bouncing on the balls of her feet with her tail
whipping behind her.
"MAMA. I need to go to the BATHROOM."
"Oh my~" Panchy rose gracefully. "Well then, come along, dear."
They peeled off from the group and headed back into the arcade under the stands.
Nappi immediately got ahead and stayed ahead, running backward so she could yell at her mother to
hurry.
"HURRY UP, MAMA!"
"Watch your step, hun~"
She hit something.
"Bleh!"
She bounced straight off it and went over backward, arms windmilling.
A hand closed around her wrist and caught her before she hit the floor.
"Ouch…" Nappi got her feet under her. "Sorry, sir! Thank you, sir—"
She looked up.
And kept looking up.
The man standing over her was very tall.
He was dressed entirely in white: a long white tunic laced up the front, falling to the knee and split up
both sides, white trousers beneath it, a broad cloth belt wound twice around his waist. A headscarf.
And covering his face completely was a mask.
A fox.
White and lacquered, with sharp painted lines sweeping back from the narrow eyes and a long tapering
snout. Two black slits where the eyes should be.
Nappi stared up at it with her mouth slightly open.
"Nappi~" Panchy came up behind her. "Watch where you're going, sweetheart. I'm so sorry, sir~"
Nappi didn't move.
Her nose twitched.
Sniff.
Sniff sniff.
"This smell~" she said. "I like it~ It's like—" 6
"Shh." Panchy's hand landed on her shoulder immediately. "Sweetheart, you mustn't tell people how
they smell. Come along now~"
She steered her firmly away down the arcade.
Nappi twisted around in her mother's grip and kept her eyes on him the entire way, walking sideways,
nearly falling over.
The man in the fox mask stood where he was and watched her go.
Then he raised one hand and waved at her.
Small. Just the fingers.
He turned and walked in through the fighters' entrance.
* * *
"Father! I can't wait to see Goku!"
A young man came through the tournament gate. He wore Cherokee clothing, leather and beadwork,
his hair tied back, and he was scanning the crowd.
"Slow down, Upa." Bora came through the gate behind him, enormous, dressed in the same style,
looking at the noise and the crowd. "I'm not at ease this far from Korin Tower."
"Karin-sama gave us permission to come! I can't wait to see him!"
"Why aren't you entering the tournament?" Bora looked down at his son. "You've become quite
strong."
"Not at all." Upa shook his head. "Even back then, I don't think I could've beaten him, and by now
Goku-san must have become incredibly—"
"Goku?"
A young woman with long scarlet hair appeared in front of them so quickly Upa nearly walked into
her.
"You said Goku? You know him?!"
"Uh—yes?" Upa blinked. "He helped us a few years ago. Who are—"
She puffed out her chest.
"My name is Suno. Goku and I promised to be married when we got older!"
Upa stared at her.
Then his eyes drifted up.
Behind Suno, something very large was casting a shadow over all three of them.
"My name is Eight," said the shadow, in a gentle voice. "We are friends with Goku as well. He helped
us a few years ago too. Nice to meet you."
"…Nice to meet you. I'm Bora. This is my son Upa."
"Pleasure to meet you." Upa bowed to him.
A woman stepped out from behind Eight.
"Hello. I'm Suno's mother." She offered a small, composed smile. "A pleasure."
"Hello," said Upa. "You know Goku as well?"
Her eyes brightened. A flush climbed her cheeks. She pressed one hand to her face and tilted her head. 7
"Yes, I do know him~"
"STOP DOING THAT!" Suno grabbed her mother's arm. "YOU ARE MARRIED!"
"I was just being friendly, dear."
Upa turned back toward the fighters' area to escape the argument, and his eyes stopped moving.
"Father."
His voice changed.
"That fighter over there. The one wearing pink."
Bora followed his gaze. His entire body went rigid.
"That's…"
"Tao Pai Pai," Upa said.
"Who's Tao Pai Pai?" asked Suno.
"An assassin," said Bora. His voice had gone very flat. "He tried to kill us. Goku defeated him. We
thought Goku had killed him." His eyes stayed on the figure in pink. "Apparently not."
Eight looked over at the fighters' area with his brow furrowed.
"He doesn't seem very nice."
On the wall above them, two very different figures were having a very different conversation.
"More! More! I said HIGHER! Are those little legs at full extension?!"
"Yours are shorter."
"DID YOU SAY SOMETHING, SHU?!"
"No, Pilaf-sama!"
"I THOUGHT not."
Emperor Pilaf stood on Shu's shoulders, fingers hooked over the top of the perimeter wall, chin barely
clearing the edge. He squinted across the crowd.
"So where is that stupid monkey… My revenge takes place TODAY. Once Goku is defeated, it's only
a matter of time before I conquer the Earth! Hahaha!"
He scanned the concourse.
"So where is he… where is…"
His eyes passed over the family section.
Stopped.
Went back.
"Oh. That woman over there. Weird. She looks like—"
The blood drained out of his face.
"MAI?! She's HERE?!"
"Mai is here?!" Shu jerked sideways and Pilaf's chin slipped off the wall.
"SHU!" Pilaf dangled by his fingertips. "STAY STILL!"
Shu scrambled up the wall on his own, claws finding the gaps in the brick, and peeked over.
"That IS Mai, Pilaf-sama! But who's that little girl next to her?" 8
Pilaf hauled himself back up, rubbing his head.
"Weird. She does look like her." He squinted harder. "Wait. What's that behind her?"
"A tail!" Shu's eyes went round. "She has a tail, Pilaf-sama! Like Goku!"
Pilaf rubbed his chin.
"Curious. Have they discovered some kind of cloning method? A technology that mixes two DNA
samples to produce a—"
Shu looked at him.
"Pilaf-sama, no. That's not cloning. That's a—they—Mai and Goku, they—"
He leaned in and whispered into Pilaf's ear.
Slowly, by degrees, Pilaf's expression changed.
His eyes went wide. Then wider. Then his entire face went red, starting at the neck and climbing.
"DISGUSTING."
"Shh! Pilaf-sama—"
"REVOLTING. REPULSIVE. GROTESQUE. ABHORRENT. The very concept—that Mai, my Mai,
would allow that—that monkey to—"
"I know, Pilaf-sama."
"The INDECENCY."
"Yes, Pilaf-sama."
Both of them dropped off the wall at the same time and hit the ground.
They dusted themselves off and headed into the crowd.
"People really do heinous things," said Pilaf, adjusting his hat.
"People's madness," Shu agreed, shaking his head.
"EVERYONE, YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!"
The staff member's voice carried across the courtyard behind the arena, where a hundred fighters stood
in a line.
"You will each strike the machine as hard as you can. The sixteen highest scores will be selected for
the Tenkaichi Budokai! Number one, please advance and hit the machine!"
The first fighter stepped up, squared himself, and drove his fist into the pad.
"62!"
The crowd along the fence erupted.
"56!" for the second. "74!" for the third, and the man raised both arms and turned a full circle to accept
the applause.
Halfway down the line, Krillin stood on his toes trying to see the front.
"This is gonna take forever."
"Still shorter than the old preliminaries." Yamcha had his arms folded. "Remember those? Brackets.
All day. Fighting your way through forty guys just to get a number."
"Yeah." Krillin's face softened. "But it went by fast back then. We were still kids." He scratched the
back of his neck. "Me and Goku. It was so much fun." 9
He let his eyes drift back down the line while he was remembering.
They stopped.
"Eve's participating?!" he said.
Everyone turned to look.
Far back in the line, Eve stood with her hands in her pockets, looking at the sky.
"Well," said Yamcha. "It was a good run, guys."
"She's an odd one," Krillin said, still watching her.
Yamcha's head turned very slowly, and a grin spread across his face.
"You cheeky devil. You like her."
"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Krillin's face went red. "I respect her! As a fighter! And a
survivor! That's all."
"KRILLIN'S IN LOVE!"
The voice came from directly behind him at full volume.
"Kakarot!" Krillin spun. "Shh! SHH!"
"OY! EVE! KRILLIN SAYS HE LO—"
Krillin got both hands over her mouth and hung off her by the jaw.
"MMPH—"
Down the line, Eve's head came up. She spotted them, smiled, and started jogging up the queue.
Her route took her past two figures standing apart from everyone else.
For a second, as she passed, her eyes crossed Vegeta's.
Eve's expression didn't change at all. She kept jogging.
Vegeta's eyes went wide.
Only for an instant. Then her face smoothed over and she turned her head away.
"SEE?" Krillin hissed, still clamped onto Kakarot's face. "Now she's coming over here!"
He let go and frantically straightened his gi.
"Just be quiet, Kakarot. Don't say anything."
"What's up, guys!" Eve arrived at an easy lope. "You called?"
"Ye-yeah!" Krillin's voice cracked in the middle. "Let's—let's wait in line together! Ha ha!"
"78! INCREDIBLE!"
The crowd went up again.
"Tch." Raditz didn't bother lowering her voice. "Look at these weaklings. One tap and they're dead."
"NUMBER 14!"
The man who stepped up made the line go quiet.
He was enormous. Stacked with slabs of muscle. He rolled his neck. He rolled his shoulders. He took a
stance.
He struck.
The pad cracked. 10
"101!"
The courtyard exploded. People were on their feet along the whole length of the fence. The big man
raised both fists over his head and roared.
"A NEW HIGH SCORE! Ladies and gentlemen, ONE HUNDRED AND ONE!"
Krillin watched the celebration with a slightly pained expression.
"That's… genuinely impressive for a normal guy."
"Good point." He turned to the group, lowering his voice. "Okay. Listen. We need to go easy on this
thing. These people are gonna lose their minds if a little girl punches the machine into orbit." He held
up a hand. "Everybody keep it under a hundred and fifty."
There were nods all round.
"NUMBER 18!"
"That's me," said Krillin.
He walked out to the machine with his friends watching from the line and, in the stands, an entire
family section leaning forward.
He set himself in front of the pad. Brought his fist up slowly. Slowly.
Boom.
The punch was so fast his arm didn't appear to move. The pad barely shifted; it just bounced once.
The number climbed.
"Gah! One—114!!! INCREDIBLE!"
"I did my best," Krillin whispered, walking off.
Tien followed. 102.
Yamcha. 117.
Chiaotzu. 96.
The guy named Satan strode out to the machine like he was walking onto a stage.
"You're strong, boys!" He clapped Yamcha on the shoulder. "HAHAHA! Not bad at all!"
He turned to the crowd and threw his arms wide.
"I AM MISTER SATAN! YOUR FUTURE CHAMPION!"
The fence went wild.
He pointed dramatically at the sky.
"WATCH YOURSELF, SON GOKU!"
He wound up. He telegraphed it for a full three seconds. Then—
"SATAN PUNCH!"
Boom.
The number spun up and stopped.
"147!!!"
The courtyard lost its mind. Mr. Satan threw both arms up in double V-signs and turned in a slow
circle.
"I'M THE BEST!" 11
Up in the stands, Videl turned around in her seat.
"See?" She jabbed a thumb toward the ring. "My dad's the highest. Even your friends couldn't get
close."
Bra had her arms crossed and her legs crossed and was looking in the opposite direction.
"Idiot."
Videl's head snapped around. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"Bra." Gohana didn't look up. "Watch your language."
Down in the line, Rori tugged on Raditz's arm.
"Is that a lot? A hundred and forty-seven?"
"No." Raditz didn't even glance at the machine. "These weaklings are impressed by everything."
"Remember what you were told, Rori." Piccolo's voice came from behind them. "Under that number.
You too, Kakarot."
He walked out next.
He stopped in front of the pad, extended one finger, and flicked it.
"126! WHAT A LINEUP WE HAVE TODAY!"
Kakarot went after him. She set her feet, and every muscle in her body visibly locked as she tried to
deliver the weakest punch she was physically capable of.
"138!" The staff member stared at his readout. "Is—is something wrong with the machine?"
"NUMBER 26!"
Rori walked out.
The courtyard went quiet in a completely different way.
"…Are you lost, sweetheart?"
"No, sir!" She held up a paper square. "I'm registered. Here's my number."
He took it, examined it, and started laughing.
"Well, it looks legitimate! Somebody at the registration desk has played us a little prank." He crouched
down. "How old are you, sweetheart?"
Rori held up her hands and started counting fingers.
"One, two, three, four… I'm FOUR!"
"Four! I see." He straightened, grinning at the crowd. "Well then, go right ahead. Here, let me get you
a chair so you can reach—"
Aww, said the crowd at once.
"Isn't she cute, folks?"
Rori climbed up onto the chair. Now she was face to face with the pad.
She set her tiny fist against it and frowned in concentration.
"Just a little push," she muttered. "Just a little push…"
She jabbed.
The pad folded completely inward. The entire machine lifted off the ground. The chair went out from
under her and cartwheeled backward across the tiles. 12
The number climbed.
And climbed.
And stopped.
"7—789?!"
Absolute silence.
Rori landed on her feet and looked around at the frozen faces.
In the line, Piccolo put his hand over his face.
Beside him, Raditz was grinning.
"That," she said quietly, "is a Saiyan girl holding back."
The staff member was staring at his readout. He shook it. He looked at the machine. He looked at the
child.
"Th-the machine may have developed a malfunction, ladies and gentlemen! With all these powerful
strikes! We'll be back very shortly—"
Rori came back to the line with her head down and her tail dragging.
"I did my best," she mumbled.
"You've got nothing to worry about, squirt." Raditz didn't look down at her. She was watching the
stands, where Mina in the family section was waving with both arms.
Kakarot knelt in front of her daughter.
"Hey. Try it like this."
She leaned in and whispered.
Behind them, Nappa was shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"What's taking them so long? I hate lines." She glanced down. "Vegeta?"
Vegeta wasn't listening.
She was looking across the courtyard at Eve, who was standing near the back with her hands in her
pockets, waiting her turn, apparently at ease.
"Vegeta?!"
"Just wait." Vegeta's eyes didn't move. "You can go berserk after I've dealt with him."
Further back in the line, a man in a pink robe with a long braid down his back stood by himself.
His hand rested flat against the center of his own chest, fingers spread, feeling for something
underneath.
"Just wait, Son Goku." His mouth curved. "I'll show you what revenge looks like."
Behind him, silent, the man in the fox mask stood looking at nothing in particular.
At the public entrance, two figures came through the gate and stopped to survey the crowd.
One was very tall, dark-skinned, and wore a long coat despite the heat. The other was smaller, with
purple hair pinned up and an expression of profound distaste.
"Commander Black." Violet pinched her nose. "What exactly are we doing in the middle of all these
sweaty people?"
Black's eyes moved methodically across the courtyard. Left to right. Section by section. 13
"Gathering information."
"For Dr. Gero. Yes, I know that." She folded her arms. "What I don't understand is why you came.
You could have sent me. You could have sent anyone."
Black said nothing.
"…It's still the Goku thing, isn't it?"
His gaze stopped somewhere near the fighters' area.
"You or Dr. Gero, I don't understand it," Violet muttered. "What is this obsession with that one man?"
"SORRY FOR THE WAIT, EVERYBODY! We're ready to resume qualifications!"
The new machine gleamed in the sun.
"Number 26, please take your shot again!"
Rori looked back over her shoulder. At Kakarot. At Raditz.
Then she clenched both fists and marched out.
"Remember what Mama said, remember what Mama said, remember what Mama said."
"What's that, sweetheart? Here, here's your chair."
She climbed up and set herself in front of the pad. Same stance. Same tiny fist.
She threw the punch.
BOOM.
The pad caved inward with a concussion that rolled across the courtyard.
Rori screwed her eyes shut.
"One—one—111!"
Her eyes flew open.
"I DID IT!"
She leapt off the chair and hit the ground running, tail streaming behind her, and launched herself at
Kakarot.
"I DID IT, I DID IT, MAMA, I DID IT!"
The group closed around her.
"How'd you pull that off?" Krillin asked.
"Mama's trick!" Rori was still bouncing. "She said to punch with the smallest strength I can, and then
stop before I hit it! So the shockwave-thingy hits it instead of me!"
Krillin's smile stayed where it was.
Slowly, he turned to look at Yamcha.
Yamcha was already looking back at him.
"…She didn't touch it," Yamcha said.
"The air hit it."
"NUMBER 27!"
"Oh." Kakarot glanced over. "That's you, Raditz."
"I know." 14
She started walking.
"YOU CAN DO IT!" Rori bellowed after her, both hands cupped around her mouth.
Krillin sidled over to Piccolo.
"Hey. Are we actually sure she's gonna hold back? She's not exactly the cooperative type. If she puts
that thing through a wall—"
Piccolo didn't answer immediately.
He was watching Rori, who had climbed onto Kakarot's shoulders and was waving at Raditz with her
entire body.
And he was watching Raditz, who had glanced back over her shoulder on the way to the machine.
"I'd bet on it," Piccolo said.
"How can you possibly be that sure—"
BOOM.
"123! It doesn't stop! What an incredible field of competitors!"
Krillin looked at the readout. Then at Piccolo.
"…She complied."
The line kept moving. Average fighters. Numbers between thirty and eighty-five.
"Number 47, please—"
The staff member's voice trailed off.
Nappa was already walking toward the machine before he finished saying it. She was a wall of muscle
in armor, thighs like tree trunks.
"Finally." She rolled her neck. "My turn."
She stopped in front of the machine. Then she turned around, and her eyes went past it, down the line,
and landed on Raditz.
"You were alive." A grin spread across her face. "You worm. We thought you were dead."
Raditz stayed silent.
"Lost your tongue?" Nappa's grin widened. "After a bunch of weaklings beat you down? And what
was that back there, taking orders from the bald little man about how hard to hit a punching bag?" She
laughed. "You were always weak, Raditz. And now you've lost your spine too. Pathetic."
Raditz said nothing.
Nappa turned back to the machine, raised both arms over her head, and brought them down.
The fist crossed the last half-meter and the entire machine buckled inward and burst, sheet metal and
shattered plastic scattering in every direction.
Silence.
Then the crowd went wild.
"NAPPA, YOU IMBECILE!" Vegeta's voice cracked across the courtyard. "Now this is going to take
forever!"
Nappa didn't answer her. She turned toward the staff to demand a number.
"999."
She turned back toward Raditz instead, towering over her, close enough that Raditz had to look up. 15
Her eyes drifted past Raditz's shoulder. To Kakarot. To Rori, small and silent, watching.
Then back to Raditz.
"See you in the ring."
She walked off.
"…What is her problem?" Yamcha muttered.
Nobody answered. They were all looking at Raditz, who hadn't moved.
"48, please."
Vegeta stepped forward.
Beside Krillin, Raditz's whole body had gone rigid. A bead of sweat traced down her temple.
"…What's wrong?" Krillin asked quietly.
"That's Princess Vegeta." Raditz didn't take her eyes off her. "Like I said. She's a different kind of
animal entirely."
None of them had ever seen Raditz look like this. They went quiet along with her.
Vegeta reached the machine, lifted her fist without any preamble at all, and struck.
Boom.
"137! Wow! This tournament is shaping up to be quite something!"
A pause.
"…Kind of anticlimactic," Yamcha said.
"To think." Krillin shook his head. "She's supposed to be the strongest Saiyan alive."
Vegeta walked past Raditz without so much as a glance and took up a position beside Nappa, arms
crossed.
Eve went next. A small cheer went up from the family section as she struck the pad.
"130!"
"Finally! Last two," said Krillin.
"Number… 199. Tao Pai Pai."
The man in the pink robe stepped forward unhurriedly, his long braid swaying against his back.
Something in his shoulder gave a faint mechanical click as he rolled it.
He smirked at the machine.
He struck.
"899?! This is—this can't be right! Is there a defect in the machine?!"
Tao turned his head toward Nappa, entirely unbothered.
"That," he said, "is how one demonstrates strength without inconveniencing everyone around them."
"What did you say, you scrawny little—"
"Enough," said Vegeta.
Tao's mouth curled. "Savages."
His eyes drifted near the Z-team and stopped.
On a small girl with wild spiked hair and a tail curled around her: Rori. 16
"…She looks like him."
He said it so quietly that only the people directly beside him heard it at all.
"Never mind."
He turned and walked off toward the fighters who had already been measured, and did not look back.
"Number 200, please."
Every head in the courtyard turned.
He was tall, dressed entirely in white—tunic, sash, trousers—all of it moving faintly in a breeze
nobody else seemed to feel. A headscarf and, over his face, a fox mask.
He walked to the machine without a sound.
"Finally, the last one," said Krillin.
"Yeah." Yamcha rolled his shoulders. "After this, the real tournament starts."
"Kakarot?" Tien glanced sideways at her. "You look off."
"…It's probably nothing." Her eyes hadn't left the masked man. "His ki. I can't feel it. At all."
"Me neither," Krillin murmured.
Up in the stands, Master Roshi's sunglasses had slipped down his nose.
"Hey, old man." Bulma nudged him. "You're making a weird face. See a girl you like?"
"This man has no ki." Roshi didn't look away from him. "I can't sense a single thing."
"Is that strange?" Mai asked.
"…Yes."
Nappi, who had fallen asleep somewhere around the fortieth ordinary fighter, chose this exact moment
to wake up.
She looked at the masked man.
Her whole face lit up.
"Oh! It's the mister with the good smell!"
"Nappi." Panchy sighed. "I told you not to go around smelling people."
"But Mama, he smells really good. It's so comforting!"
"You don't even know what 'comforting' means," said Bra.
"Yes, I do! It means it feels good!"
Bra's eye twitched. "…You're weird."
The masked man reached the machine, set himself, and struck.
Boom.
"100!" The staff member blinked at the readout, checked it twice, and shrugged. "Round number,
folks!"
Nobody applauded very much.
He turned and walked back to the fighters' area without a word, without a glance at anyone, the hem of
his tunic settling as he went still. 17
"That concludes our qualification round!" The head of staff climbed a small platform, papers in hand,
beaming at the crowd. "Now that we have every score, we are proud to present your sixteen
competitors for the Tenkaichi Budokai!"
The spectators settled behind the wall.
Suno's mother found a seat in the family section and smiled at the woman beside her.
"Is this place free~?"
"Ara~ Of course~"
Panchy scooted over. Suno's mother sat down, smoothed her apron, and folded her hands in her lap.
Bora and Upa took the row behind them. Upa was craning his neck toward the fighters' entrance.
"I wonder where Goku is!"
"Patience, son." Bora put a hand on his shoulder. "He's the main event, after all."
"My~" Suno's mother tilted her head. "Son Goku must have grown since we last saw him~"
Panchy turned to look at her.
"You know Goku~?"
"Oh yes. He saved my husband and our village~" She pressed her hand to her cheek. "And you?"
"Oh my, yes~" Panchy smiled warmly. "He's the father of my little girl here."
She gestured at Nappi, who was hanging upside down off the back of her seat.
Two rows away, Suno's head snapped around.
"Fa-fa-fa-fa—?!"
The word would not come out.
"Oh!" Suno's mother's eyebrows went up. "He's married already?" She didn't seem particularly
disturbed by this. "Well, I'm not surprised. How could he possibly still be single?"
A blush crept up her neck.
"Such an energetic young man. And that tail of his too~"
Panchy's eyes lit up with recognition.
"Yes! His tail was so—"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'FATHER'?!"
Suno had shoved herself between them.
"Honey~" Her mother sighed. "It's not polite to cut people off."
"Shut up, Mom." Suno turned to Panchy. "Explain. What do you mean by that?"
"She means that he's married."
A voice from behind her. Suno spun around.
Bulma stood in the aisle with her arms folded.
"And who are you?" Suno straightened up to her full height.
"Rude." Bulma's chin came up. "Before asking someone's name, you should give yours first."
They stared at each other.
"I'm Goku's wife," Bulma added. 18
"I don't understand." Suno looked from Bulma to Panchy and back. "This woman just said she has a
child with him. Are you people playing with me?"
"Well…" Bulma examined her nails. "We're all his wives."
"We? You two?"
A hand went up behind Bulma.
"Me too," said Mai.
Chi-Chi stepped out from behind her. "I am as well."
Lunch leaned around the corner, baby against her shoulder. "Me too~"
Suno's eye twitched.
"Yeah. Okay. I get it." She folded her arms and nodded slowly. "Goku is famous and popular, and
you're all just stalkers. I understand the obsession, I really do, but you can't just make things up—"
She put her hand on Bulma's shoulder.
"Don't overdo it, sweetie."
Bulma looked down at the hand on her shoulder.
She slapped it off.
"I have nothing to prove to you."
Suno turned on her heel.
"Alright! Let's find our seats, Eight. Far away from these lunatics."
Eight rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, Suno… our seats are here." He gestured at the row they had already been sitting in. "Right next
to them. Hehe."
Suno stopped walking.
Silence.
She turned around and came back to her seat and sat down without looking at anyone.
"Back already~?" said Bulma.
"SHUT UP."
"NOW, DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
The announcer's voice rolled across the arena like thunder.
"HERE COME THE FIRST FIGHTS OF THE TOURNAMENT!"
A crystal ball drifted over the heads of the crowd and settled at the end of the family row.
The small old woman sitting on it adjusted her pointed hat and looked down at the ring.
Oolong nearly dropped his drink. "Isn't that…"
"Big Sis?!" Master Roshi's sunglasses slid down his nose. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"WHAT?!" Baba rounded on him. "Can't I come and watch my granddaughter and my great-
granddaughter participate?!"
Roshi shrank back in his seat.
Bulma leaned over, eyes narrowed.
"It's for the money too, isn't it?" 19
"WHO DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!"
"Besides… I'm not so sure one of them will be the one who wins."
"What do you mean?" said Bulma.
Baba didn't answer.
Her eyes had gone to the fighters' area. To a tall figure in white, standing apart from the others, fox
mask turned toward nothing.
She stared at him for a long time.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HERE ARE THE MATCHES!"
Mr. Satan vs Big Bongo
Vegeta vs Eve
Rori vs Tao Pai Pai
Tien Shinhan vs Mask-man
Yamcha vs Krillin
Kakarot vs Pintar
Nappa vs Chiaotzu
Raditz vs Piccolo
"THE WINNER WILL FACE THE SAVIOR OF PAPAYA ISLAND HIMSELF, SON GOKU!"