The rounds of the Junior Division plowed along at a faster rate following Gohan's effortless victory over his opponent. The young batch of fighters went into the ring with more vigor and determination than ever, the audience cheering them on every step of the way and applauding each of their successes. It was only a matter of time before the seeded fighters of the lineup were decided, with Gohan and Videl taking the top spot, while being closely followed by Paprika. Though the spectators had a fun time watching all of the kids battle each other, they soon began rooting for these three fighters in particular, all of whom had shown the most composure and the most promise in every round.
While the highlight for the Videl fans was watching their favorite girl toss her opponent out of the ring, for the Gohan club it was seeing the young man spin his opponent like a windmill before setting him down, by which point in time he'd been knocked unconscious at the sheer velocity he'd been turned. They were the two who showed the most physical use of their skills.
Paprika on the other hand was a wild card. The mysterious cloaked fighter, throughout all of her matches, didn't let a single one of their opponents lay a finger on them. While this definitely provided some physics bending entertainment for the crowd, all it did was raise a bunch of alarm bells for the Z-fighters in attendance. No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't piece together who this newcomer was or why the name sounded so familiar.
It was certainly familiar to Piccolo and Gohan, as was the ki signature. But without a face or any other information to go by, they were just about as much in the dark about the hooded fighter as Zangya and Videl were.
After being kept in a constant state of question for an entire hour, it soon came to the semi-final round of the Junior Division. When the Champ's daughter wowed the audience with a stellar victory by effortlessly blowing her opponent out of the ring with a quick burst of wind from her fist, it was then the turn of her more experienced counterpart.
"And now we will decide who will be facing Videl Satan in the finals!" the announcer exclaimed, earning a mighty roar from the crowds in the stadium. Tossing his microphone in the air, the man then caught it all stylish like and brought it to his lips, "It's time for our two other favorites to step out onto the ring! The seeded Son Gohan and the mysterious Paprika! Come on out you two!"
The moment the call was made, the two youngsters exited the waiting room together and began making their way down the footpath at an even pace. While the other contestants of the Junior Division that were also in the room spilled out of the entrance and crowded by the wall to watch the match between the two ridiculously strong fighters, Videl found herself a comfortable spot further along the grass and stood there with her arms folded.
Just like Piccolo and Zangya, both of whom were also watching closely from above, she too wanted to see why this mysterious fighter was making her skin crawl.
"I'm sure you've all been waiting for this match. Throughout this entire tournament, both fighters have displayed incredible levels of skill and collectedness. And now, finally, after breaking through a great wave of competition, the two are finally meeting for the first time in center stage!" the announcer cried out, being sure to exit the ring the instant he saw the two of them walk onto it. Sensing the vibe of an all-out-war brimming on the horizon, the excited voice of the World Martial Arts Tournament grinned as he then gestured to the youngsters now taking their spots."Let's see who will move on to the finals! Fighters, let the match begin!"
While on one hand the announcer was hoping for an awesome fight, on the other hand he was hoping the arena would remain intact from it. If memory served him correctly, the last battle between martial artists who displayed super-human levels of ability reduced the entire area to rubble.
Hopefully this match would deliver the results he was hoping for with minimal losses.
Videl, watching carefully from the sidelines, frowned nervously. "Gohan… be careful."
The cheers of the crowd reducing to a clamor, the two young warriors faced each other with serious looks in play and eyes set firmly on the other.
From his new distance, the demi-Saiyan could make out a few more details about his opponent. Not only was the child shorter than him, he also noticed the skin coloration of their lower jaw and mouth. Instead of seeing a human pink or dark brown, he instead saw a sickly shade of green with white locks of hair poking out from the hood. The shawl did well in concealing most of the person's features, something that he was now determined to unmask.
Taking a steady breath, the boy turned side on with his adversary who then lowered themselves into what he guessed was a fighting stance.
The half-Saiyan frowned, "Alright. Let's do this."
Paprika frowned, "Shut up… murderer."
Giving a surprised blink at the mystery competitor's sudden retort, Gohan was unable to react in time when he suddenly saw his foe vanish in a blur before, with a deafening clap, a fist crashed across his face. The impact of the blow echoed throughout the entire stadium and saw spittle fly out of the Saiyan's mouth, the boy stumbling backwards for several yards, only to then receive an elbow to the cheek that knocked him flying across the arena.
Zangya, Piccolo, Videl, hell… even Hercule, all gawked in shock at what just happened.
His flight across the ring being marked by the sound of a jet soaring at low altitude, Gohan gritted his teeth and recovered with a quick back flip, slamming his feet into the floor and stopping him in his tracks. The instant he did, he suddenly felt a presence appear behind him and, eyes cutting to the side, ducked to avoid a chopping right from his six-o-clock. He retaliated with a back kick, missing when his opponent swayed and countered with a left hook.
Spinning around and slipping it at the same time, the half-Saiyan and the mysterious cloaked fighter began viciously attacking each other with a series of lightning fast punches and hooks. When Gohan attempted to nail them with a rapid fire chain of jabs, his opponent head slipped them effortlessly before unleashing a vicious barrage of punches on him, all of which he dodged and attempted to counter. But Paprika moved just as quickly and every lightning fast blow they threw at close range was effectively avoided.
After a fierce exchange of punches, Gohan broke the engagement with a swift roundhouse kick. However, the second his leg snapped towards the figure's head, the shorter fighter deftly caught it and with a shout, tossed him across the ring.
Yelling out in shock as he spiraled through the air, the demi-Saiyan quickly fell into a spin. Flipping several times, the boy landed on the very edge of the arena before, with a mighty bellow, launched himself across the ring and towards his opponent with a flying side kick.
However, the moment he came within two feet of them, Paprika vanished in a blur of movement, leaving the boy to slam his foot into the tiled surface. Skidding to a dusty stop, Gohan gritted his teeth and, with a gasp, began looking around the ring in wild paranoia.
"Damn it! This one is definitely something else!" They were quick. Even with his speed, the demi-Saiyan could barely keep track of them. Hell, even their ki signature had completely vanished."Shit. Where the heck did he go?"
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