(Half an hour later)
"Thank you for your patience ladies and gentlemen! We hope you've all had plenty of time to rest, because now it's time to begin the semi-finals!" the announcer hollered out over the mike, earning a loud cheer from all those present.
Inside the massive dome, all of the spectators had been arranged into a very large, yet very basic stadium setup. The steel structure inside the mountain wrapped around an enormous coliseum that circled an arena center that, unlike conventional rings, contained an enormous pyramid in the middle. At the very apex of the construct, leading off from each of the four corners, there sat four jet car tracks with four pods stationed at the beginning of each slide. These slides led into four completely different directions through tunnels that disappeared into the walls.
With spotlights focused completely on the center stage and enormous monitors set up throughout the entirety of the dome, the audience was guaranteed full and complete coverage of the next round of matches to come. The entire building was literally quivering with excitement.
Videl, who'd found a spot somewhere closest to the top of the coliseum, was rocking back and forth excitedly on her heels while she leaned against the railings. Having made her way up here after leaving the first battle island, the girl was obviously looking forward to the next series of events. After all, Gohan had made it into the finals, and if her instincts knew any better she was bound to see one hell of a show.
"I know you're going to do awesome, Gohan. If you were able to wipe the floor with that last guy, then I have no doubt you're going to kick butt in this one," the girl cheered inwardly, beaming brightly as she looked intently towards the center pyramid. "Show me what you can do!"
When the stage lit up, the crowds cheered as one after the other, hatches opened up beside each of the four rocket pods. As soon as they did, four figures were then elevated onto the stage under a chorus of shouts and applause. The sound the plus fifty thousand people made was almost deafening, but neither one of the four warriors were shaken up in the slightest.
That is… until a couple members in the audience decided to be more vocal than the people around them.
"GOHAN, I LOVE YOU SWEETIE!" the cry of Chi-Chi echoed throughout the chamber.
The shout out had Gohan look down and blush. "Mum… not so loud," he mumbled.
Seeing the boy's abashed face on the big screen after hearing the woman's yell drew a giggle from Videl.
"You own this, Trunks! Get em' and then we can go on vacation!" the call of Bulma followed shortly afterwards.
Mirai had the common sense to blush just as much as his fellow Saiyan did. "Tactful as always, mother."
"Krillin! Don't get yourself killed," the yell of Oolong echoed in from another part of the stadium, earning a deep scowl from the bald fighter.
"Oh, I'll survive. Then it's bacon time."
As soon as all four contestants had appeared, the spotlights overhead faded, and the mediator's voice one again rang true throughout the dome. "New island, new rules! We've got four tunnels running underground! They lead to specialized battle zones in each direction. Now that the qualifiers have been assigned a tunnel, they will each be transported to their decided battle zone via the rocket pods you see positioned beside them. There they will face our special guests; FIGHTERS FROM ACROSS THE GALAXIES!"
Overhead the television screens showed to the audience close up images of the tunnels and tracks, before then flipping over to a feed of the four 'space aliens' descending a set of escalators in the marketing stage of the main event. Once everyone had been informed of the opening proceedings, the speaker continued to read out the rules to the four fighters waiting patiently on the pyramid.
"Now pay attention, because here's where things get really spicy! Once a fight ends, the challenge isn't over. The victor must then find and take a special lift, and be the first to return to the center stage here inside this coliseum. The winner will then proceed to the final round against Mr. Satan!" The end of this statement drew an earsplitting cry and cheer from the collective audience.
Just like the other Z-fighters, Krillin sprouted a grin and clambered into his rocket pod, "Perfect! A race! That means I'll have the advantage." Snickering as he strapped himself in and pulled down the brace bar, the man then watched as the cockpit closed and the sound of the audience became muffled by the dividing glass. "After all, I do have the least wind resistance."
As soon as all the rules had been explained, the three other fighters leapt into their pods and buckled up. With Doskoi lagging behind due to being hampered by his immense size, soon each and every one of the competitors was strapped in and ready for action. Once the staff was certain that the fighters were locked down good and tight, they gave a thumbs-up to the chief commentator, who then shouted into the microphone once more.
"Let's begin the count down!"
A massive screen switched to a clock, which started to tick. With every second that flipped by, the audience started to chant in unison.
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
"Okay. Here we go!" Trunks thought, grinning as he took hold of the handle bars.
"Seven!"
"Six!"
"Five!"
"Let's do this!" Krillin shouted in his pod, licking his lips and tasting the sweetness of impending victory.
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Lift off!" Gohan smirked.
With a blast of fire and a sonic boom, the four shuttles took off down their tracks at breakneck speeds. Trailing smoke as they shot down their respective slides, the carts and their passengers vanished down the tunnels one after the other. Once they were gone, the reporters down on ground level, who were covering their part of the battle, waved away the fumes and turned to their cameramen to continue with their broadcasts.
"And they're off!"
The whole event was shooing to be an incredible hit and the audience was holding out for every second of it.
What the Z-fighters didn't know however, as they rocketed down their respective tunnels towards their assigned arenas, was that their greatest battle was just about to begin.