As they were shuffling to her sides to hoist her onto the stretcher, everyone there got quite a start when the girl's eyes suddenly shot open and the Makyan bolted upright. The officials freaked out and backpedaled, whereas the Z-fighters remained in place, staring down at her in surprise. Watching the demon girl glance between them in wild paranoia, they then saw her eyes fix upon Gohan, drawing a surprised blink from the youngster.
Upon realizing where she was and exactly who was surrounding her, Paprika's expression became deathly serious and the Makyan girl stood where she'd fallen, gripping her shoulder at the same time. Despite being beaten to the point that she was in no condition to fight back, the group of people surrounding her still regarded her with caution, including Gohan who fixed his foe with a serious gaze.
Paprika's eyes filled with anger and frustration as she stared at the equally beaten half-Saiyan who'd knocked her out of the ring. When it looked as though she was about to lash out, she then cringed and looked away with a huff. "Why don't you just finish me off?"
Feeling Videl's grip tighten around his hand nervously, the young Gohan gave her a small smile, "Simple. I don't want to."
"Why?" the demon girl growled, turning on him with a fierce look on her face. "You didn't have any problems with doing that against my father. With that last attack, I could have destroyed this entire area just to try and take you out. So why not kill me?"
A serious look coming to his face, the demi-Saiyan frowned deeply, "Because… if I killed you… I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I took the life of someone who didn't deserve it." Gohan placed his hands on his hips and regarded the girl with nothing but his full and undivided attention. "I can see the grief on your face. You fight and suffer because you lost your family… and I know what it's like to experience that kind of loss." He then spared her a kind smile, "Taking the life of someone who is in so much pain and has fought so hard to get this far wouldn't be right. You're not a bad person. Not really. If you were… then you would have done worse to me than just barbeque my back."
His sincere response had Paprika blink in surprise. "You… were testing me?" When she saw him nod his head, the Makyan then frowned back at him. "Even so… this doesn't change anything between us… and it certainly doesn't change how I feel about you. I still think you're a deceitful, cold-hearted, ruthless scumbag."
Gohan chuckled and shrugged, "Maybe. But hey, like I said, just give it a couple of years. I'm sure I'll grow on you eventually." He then extended a hand to her and graced his adversary with a kind smile. "I want to try and make things right. If you'll let me, I'd… really like to help you out, Paprika." It was a gesture that had Piccolo, Zangya and Videl glance at him inquisitively, before then looking to see how the girl would respond.
As expected, the white haired alien threw off his offer by knocking his hand away. "Save it. I don't need your pity or your charity." She then raised a finger and pointed at him, her action causing everyone standing around the boy to recoil fearfully. "This thing isn't over between us. Not by a long shot. I suggest you watch your back from now on, Gohan, because sooner or later I'll be coming after you again." Her eyes flashed dangerously with the promise of pain. "I trained nonstop for five years to face you in battle. I don't mind training for another."
"Heh. If it makes you happy, then that sounds good to me," the demi-Saiyan replied with a grin. "To be honest, I could use with a rival. It'll give me something to look forward to in the future… and you seem to fit that role nicely." His response to the girl's statements had Piccolo and everyone else stare at the Saiyan as if he'd grown a second head.
Paprika glared right back at him before leering for the briefest of seconds, "I'll see you at the next tournament, trash." The moment she straightened up, her red aura burst up around her like a flame. A fierce wind bellowing outwards and ruffling the clothes of all those standing around her, the demon girl then gave one last snarl and, in a burst of dust and debris, took off into the sky, shooting over the horizon.
When they saw her aura vanish, Piccolo felt a wash of nostalgia flood through him.
"Déjà vu."
"Hm?" The demi-Saiyan looked across at the Namekian in surprise, "What do you mean by that, Piccolo?" Upon asking that question, he saw the man turn to face him and smile in his direction.
"Your father said something very similar to me after he gave me a Senzu Bean at the end of the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament," the green skinned warrior explained, earning the attention of all the others standing around him. "Even though I was set on destroying him, the man still found it in his heart to let me go. As strong as he was, your father always had enough room for a little bit of compassion and mercy… a trait you've definitely inherited from him."
Blinking a couple of times, the boy grinned and nodded, "Heh. I guess it's kind of a habit that runs in the family."
Zangya, turning to stare after the vapor trail the Makyan had left in her wake, gave a grunt of indifference, "You sure it was okay to let her go?" Considering how strong she was, the Hera wasn't all too sure about letting somebody like her go so easily.
"Ah, it'll be fine," Gohan replied with a megawatt smile. "She's only interested in beating me to a bloody pulp, so we don't have to worry about her destroying the planet or anything." His answer had everyone give him a deadpanned stare.
"If you say so," the orange haired fighter shrugged, before stepping away with her arms folded.
Videl, still hanging off of her trainer's arms, smiled across at the others before turning her attention to the half-Saiyan hero. "You fought an amazing battle, Gohan-kun. Both of you did."
The youngster grinned, "Thanks, Videl."
After hanging back for the past few minutes and listening to the interactions between the warriors, the announcer then felt it was time to intervene. Clearing his throat and stepping forward while adjusting his tie, the man regarded the group with a smile as he then moved on to his next order of business. "I think it's nearly time to get this show on the road. You two kids can head back to the waiting room and we'll… clean up for the final match."
"Sure. No problem," Gohan nodded.
With that said, both youngsters quickly marched back to the main building, where all the other Junior Division contenders were waiting and watching them fearfully. The audience applauded Gohan as he left the ring and as soon as he disappeared through the practically ruined barricade, Piccolo and Zangya flew back to the walkway, leaving the tournament's staff and officials to clear things up.
The ring was barely holding up at this point. With an entire corner gone and a massive crater sitting in its center, the best the officials could do was sweep it of all the debris and give the surface a patch job. And that was it…
XXX
Up in the stands somewhere in the front row, an elderly couple had just finished picking themselves up with the help of a fellow spectator sitting alongside them. Upon dusting themselves down and picking up his wife's purse, the portly old man with the white mustache, checker shirt and suspenders smiled towards the kind gentlemen that had shielded all of them from the explosions that'd taken place at ring side.
"Th-Thank you so much, sir."
"You're most welcome," the man with the orange and blue gi and spiky black hair replied cheerfully. He then helped another young man up from behind his seat and, after making sure he was sitting down comfortably, stood up to full height and watched as the officials cleared up the area.
"My gosh. What an amazing performance," the elderly man's wife exclaimed in an amazed tone of voice, at the same time adjusting her glasses. "They never used special effects in the last world tournament we saw. Incredible."
"Actually dear… I don't think those were special effects. They looked pretty real to me," the old man cut in, earning an inquisitive look from the woman. "I do not think they would rig explosives in the middle of a fighting match. That would be much too dangerous."
"Really? But… there's no way any of that could have been real," the woman murmured, pulling out a handkerchief to dab across her face. "All those loud thunder claps and beams of light… it was almost like those two youngins' were superhuman."
The man standing alongside them chuckled with his hands on his belt. "Actually, you're right. Those two were superhuman. All of that stuff you saw out there, the flashes of light, the explosions and the flying… those were all real."
Blinking a couple of times, the wife glanced back towards the ring and, considering it for a few moments, smiled, "Oh. Well isn't that something."
Her husband turned to look towards the tall, well-built Samaritan beside them, "You must know an awful lot about this stuff to know that it was all real."
The cheerful young man gave them a sun kissed smile, "I've been doing martial arts all my life. I guess you can say I'm an old hand at this sort of stuff." He then scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Flying too."
Tilting his head at the strangely chipper adult, the elderly man surveyed him for a few moments before a gentle smile formed on his face. "Well… one thing's for sure, you certainly know what you're talking about… and I can tell that what you're saying is the truth. You have that air about you." He then pointed up at the tall stranger. "It's quite funny actually, but you look like you're wearing the exact same uniform as that Son Gohan boy."
Perking up at this, the helpful adult then tugged at his undershirt's collar and spared it a glance. "Yeah. It's… sort of our family's color at this point." Beaming at the couple now assumed in their stadium's seats, the raven haired fighter then pulled up a space next to them as well and, getting comfortable, turned to reset his attention on the ring. "I have to say, my son's growing stronger and stronger every day."
"Oh. So that's your boy out there?" the old man asked with a happy smile. "It's so nice that you've come to watch him compete."
The Son father, not only adorned in the same uniform he'd passed away in but also sporting a noticeable halo above his head, gave the words a kind smile and a sagely nod. "Yeah. I'm really glad I came. There's no way I wanted to miss this…" His eyes shimmered after he said those words. "I'll be sure to congratulate him at the end of the tournament."
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