37 Tournament Saga[4]

After making sure that there was nothing left of Cell, Vegeta went back to the group. Most of them looked at him with a strange look.

"What?" Vegeta looked at each of them with a bit of scorn on his face.

"Vegeta... You were eliminated since you killed Cell," Goku was the one who said it since he was the more relaxed one.

"...Huh?!" For a moment, Vegeta was confused, but then he remembered about the tournament.

"...Oh..."

He shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead. Sure, the tournament could be fun, but killing Cell was a necessity for him. He knew that it was not the same as in his memory, and he also knew that he was not the original Vegeta, so getting tangled in these emotions was useless.

But yet, he couldn't stop himself when he remembered that Cell had killed his son, twice, and humiliated him even more. It kind of pissed him off.

"Though I may have gone a bit far. I just lost a bit of temper there. Was that my ego...?"

He shook his head and crossed his arms. Watching his surroundings, he noticed that they would continue the tournament.

It seemed that the reward for the winner would be 1 billion zeni, and the second place would be 500 million. This would probably come from his pocket since he was the one who proposed it in the first place.

"Well, now it's my time." Goku rolled his shoulders and went to the place where the ring was supposed to be. There was still Android 21 there; no one knew what she would do now that Dr. Gero's plan had failed.

"...Eh? I still have to fight?" She pointed to herself with a confused face. "I mean, I can do it since I want some data, but..."

"Yeah, it's fine. I don't think you agree with Dr. Gero's plan, so I doubt you want to kill me. But even if you did, you would have to fight against me, right?" Goku reasoned. There were some roles there, but he wasn't totally wrong.

Nodding her head, 21 jumped in front of him, and soon they started their fight...

They both went up on the stage. Goku was confident as always, while 21 was somewhat unwilling, but she still had that curiosity in her eyes.

No matter how much she wants to be a simple scientist, the Saiyan DNA that she acquired compels her to fight stronger opponents.

Not only the Saiyan DNA but also the Namekian and Demon Frost DNA. She is just suppressing it at this moment.

Goku entered his SSJ2 state. He already had an understanding of N21's power and judged that if he goes too easy, he will lose without having time to fight.

Both of them entered their battle poses and soon enough started.

Goku charged first with a powerful punch, but 21 blocked it, and he followed with a quick kick to the side.

She ducked, leaving behind an afterimage. When Goku noticed, he had already been punched in the gut, sending him into the sky. He tried to recover, but by the time he could, 21 was already charging an energy sphere in her hands and shooting it directly at him.

His only response was a quick Kamehameha. When both energies touched, a big explosion occurred.

Amid the dust, Goku used his teleportation to appear behind 21, kicking her back out of the stage.

"Did he just...?" 21 tried her best to recover before falling to the ground, stopping herself in the air.

"Hehe~ Only a few people know about this technique." Goku smiled and let his feet touch the arena.

21 became even more cautious. She had the upper hand in this battle due to her power, but a little distraction could cause her to lose since there were rules in place.

She still moved forward, and both of them started to exchange blows. 21 had absolute superiority in this.

'Kakarot does not have his SSJ3 yet. Will he use godly ki then... It's his only advantage in this.'

"Gunnj!" Goku received another blow to his stomach, causing him to cough up blood. 21 did not stop there.

Increasing the frequency of her combo on him, she landed one punch on his side, followed by a kick to counterbalance. When she was going for an uppercut, Goku recovered and stopped it with his forehead.

It surprised 21 for a moment.

"Hehe~ You are strong, 21. That's for sure. But thanks to it, I think I can see the road ahead of me."

Goku stepped back from 21 and undid his transformation. Everyone thought that Goku was giving up the match.

Only Vegeta could see what he was going to do, and soon enough, Piccolo could feel it too.

21 became confused and cautious. She entered a defensive position.

But then she stopped feeling his ki. From now on, she could only feel a slighty pressure emanating from him. The same pressure was similar but far smaller than Vegeta possesses.

"This is...?!! He disappears!"

21's eyes went dark for a brief moment as her consciousness left her body and returned.

Gasp!

Goku had buried his feet in 21's gut, causing her to spill blood and sending her flying through the arena and the deserted place. Her body hit and tumbled on the ground from the sheer strength of the impact.

He quickly noticed this and teleported to catch her before she sustained more wounds.

"Ah! I went a bit far... Man, she's out," he said, scratching his head. He still didn't know how to control his strength well when using God Ki.

It's a significant increase in one's power, but with that comes a clumsy way of using it.

"Incredible. Goku did the same thing as Vegeta, right? That pressure was incredible," Krillin said while looking at his friend.

"Hmph. He's still clumsy with it. He needs more training," Vegeta said, shaking his head. At least he was able to hold back enough to not kill the girl in one blow.

It was easy for him to predict the outcome of this fight. Unfortunately for him, 21 didn't have her Majin form yet.

Sure, one might think that Goku didn't give her enough time to transform, but the fact is she was very cautious of him, even though she was mostly stronger in battle.

If she had it, she would have used it from the start. Playing around was not her style. She was cautious and maybe a bit cowardly, but not an idiot with her good personality.

Though in the end, it cost her the fight too.

Goku placed 21 beside Vegeta and 18, letting her rest there.

Looking at her, Vegeta wondered how much his cells would influence her growth. She had a lot of potential, after all.

In a hidden lab...

The purple man continued to look at his numerous screens, pondering what he should do.

"I was able to absorb a lot of energy from this, yet I know that he can generate even more for me." He had a confused expression on his face, mixed with a hint of regret.

"I should have intervened and meddled a bit. Maybe it would have been even more amusing and yielded better results..." He quickly shook his head, dismissing that notion. "If I had done that, I would have become an easy target for the Time Patrol... However, this timeline has so much potential. I was only able to provide Dr. Gero with a few schematics, and he accomplished so much with little effort."

"Truly a genius, although it was more his upgraded version that Android 21 made in the future."

He had a smile on his face, one filled with interest and a sense of adventure. He stood up from his chair and walked to the side of his lab.

There stood a figure resembling Cooler, now with wires attached to his body and a metallic skin.

"Using you will be quite enjoyable, Cooler. Hehehehe." His laughter echoed through the room, accompanied by the sounds of computers and machines repairing the broken body of the former Emperor.

"Now, I need to make some preparations for that future timeline too... Or should I release them in this timeline? I have some use for that group of pirates. And considering what they are, they can wreak havoc anywhere they go."

Returning to his chair, he changed the image on the screen, observing the struggles of warriors from another time.

"That's the beauty of exploring timelines. You never expect things to always be the same." He adjusted his glasses and smiled at the screen, locking his hands behind his back once again.

Thinking about what kind of scheme would result in his victory and success.

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-Back to Vegeta...-

"And with that blow, it is Goku's victory. Man, he is really strong." Krillin nodded while observing the final match of the "Tournament."

It was already over. Goku emerged as the champion this time. He managed to defeat 21 after using his Godly Ki to enhance his base form. He still couldn't fuse it with his Super Saiyan form, but the boost it provided in his base form was sufficient.

It was a risky technique since he could only sustain it for a few minutes, but it was enough to secure the win. Trunks, on the other hand, defeated Gohan. Both of them put up a tough fight, but unfortunately, Gohan was still a few steps away from unlocking his Super Saiyan 2 form, while Trunks had already achieved it, making it an easy victory.

Piccolo won by default since Vegeta was disqualified, and Goku triumphed over Trunks. The final match was between Goku and Piccolo.

It was a great battle, and Piccolo proved himself to be a formidable opponent, but Goku ultimately emerged as the victor.

The matches were being broadcasted online again, with some drones returning to retrieve the coverage. Some of them were destroyed during Vegeta and Cell's fight. Chi-Chi was relieved that Goku won a substantial amount of money and that Gohan remained unharmed.

Vegeta didn't pay much attention to the remainder of the tournament. Unfortunately, Android 21 was somewhat weak at the moment since she didn't possess her Majin cells either.

She probably had a significant portion of his cells within her, but Vegeta would have to wait for her to develop her strength. Goku didn't give her a chance to do so in their fight, as he was unaware of her true potential.

"Well, it's over. Let's head back. Bulma will probably throw a party or something," Vegeta said as he stood up.

"Not so fast, Vegeta. We still have one more fight here." When Vegeta turned to see who was speaking to him, he realized it was 18. He was momentarily confused.

"Kakarrot won, it's over."

Pointing at herself, 18 said, "Me, you. 1vs1 Right now, a rematch." A smirk appeared on her face. She had been waiting for this opportunity. When no one was looking, she had entered the Chamber to train for a while, increasing her power.

She had never been someone who trained to become stronger. Her power was naturally bestowed upon her, but she wondered what would happen if she actually did train. Perhaps she could defeat this Saiyan.

Vegeta chuckled and crossed his arms, while the others found it slightly interesting but didn't intervene. One of the few who shook his head was 17, knowing how stubborn his sister could be.

"Fine by me. I can take you anytime," 18 grinned and charged at him.

...

...

"That was easy," Krillin remarked.

"Yeah, I almost feel bad for her," Gohan added.

"Poor 18..." 21, with her soft heart, also expressed sympathy. She had woken up before the end of the tournament.

It wasn't even a match. Vegeta effortlessly defeated 18 within a few seconds after transforming into Super Saiyan. Though she was stronger, she wasn't at his level yet.

Vegeta stood towering over a sprawled-out 18 on the ground. She opened one eye to look at him and said, "Seriously, you don't hold back, huh... It's going to hurt again, dammit."

"Why would I do that? You're strong, you can take it," he teased her, thoroughly enjoying it.

18 found it amusing how these past few days had been so much fun for her. There wasn't much action, but it was one of those days she would like to remember, even when she was the one lying on the ground right now.

Vegeta knelt beside her and grabbed her by the collar. "And have you given up already? I thought you had since you didn't show any reaction earlier. But now I see you were just biding your time, waiting for the right moment to strike."

She tilted her head and smiled. "Never. I'll defeat you someday."

Vegeta inclined his head and stole a kiss from her. She was taken aback, and her face turned red.

"Well, good luck with that then," he said, releasing her and standing up again. He saw her blinking rapidly from the surprise.

"...W-W-Who's the vixen now, huh?!" she exclaimed, raising her voice a little.

"Let's go. I promised to take you shopping later, right?" Vegeta began to walk away, while she stayed there for a few moments, contemplating how she ended up in this situation and why she was liking it.

"...Maybe I'm broken... Nah, who am I kidding? It's obvious what's happening here..." She got up and followed him, eagerly anticipating the day they would go out together.

"Seriously, how many more will he take?" Krillin wore an incredulous expression.

Trunks could only shake his head and follow his father, while the others did the same. They were all returning alive this time; no one had died except for those who had orchestrated the plan. Even 21 was with them this time.

Now, a time of peace began for most of them.