23rd WMA part 3

"Good luck, Krillin.", said Yamcha and then looked at Piccolo.

"Urgh, this is going to be really something. I am all nervous. Why did Darc even have to tell me? I didn't recognize him at first. It would have been better that way.", said Krillin with a grumble while walking to the stage.

Piccolo also landed on the stage after he was already there.

"Damn show-off. Can't even walk normally to the stage? Are you ready?", commented Krillin on that action.

"Whenever, wimpy worm.", answered Piccolo.

"Wimpy worm? You are quite unrespectful but that probably just goes to show who you are.", said Krillin to him.

"Hmpf, weaklings like you don't even deserve any respect. Are you starting now or what?", asked Piccolo with a somewhat annoyed tone now and prepared himself.

Krillin didn't wait long after that and as soon as the round began he fired two small Kamehameha waves at Piccolo. Even though they were small ones these waves were a lot stronger than they were in the canon.

Piccolo made big eyes by the amount of ki he felt from them and gritted his teeth. Looks like he will have a harder time than he thought. Trying to avoid those waves he jumped upwards but Krillin could control them and bend them towards the air where Piccolo was.

Not even trying to use his eye laser this time because the strength of the waves was too great he sends out ki blasts of his own towards them to explode them.

Krillin used that time to close in on Piccolo and smacked him with his fist nearly outside the ring. But Piccolo used his flight technique to stop and returned back to the stage.

"You are stronger than you look.", said Piccolo and whipped away a little bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Well, knowing you were trained by him I can't really go easy.", he added and pulled all his heavy clothing away and threw it to the side of the stage. He cracked his neck and smiled. "Let's see how you fare with this amount of my strength when I up the speed"

This time the fight became somewhat one-sided and the only real advantage Krillin had was his own developed technique and his resilience against damage. But against the speed Piccolo showed now, Krillin couldn't land even a single hit. Goku also watched attentively from the sides until Krillin got beat up enough until he forfeited.

"Fighting against a demon really is still really hard but now I know where I stand at. Just a little bit more training and I will be just as strong.", said Krillin. He actually found motivation in this fight. That let Darc smile. The purpose of him telling Piccolo´s identity was exactly that. So that he may not fear whatever comes in front of him.

Everyone smiled after Krillin returned back and patted him for his effort. The one being shocked most was Kami right now. His face became really nervous because both Krillin and Piccolo were already beyond his reach.

*Kami, looking at this, you won't even win against Yamcha*, said Darc with a telepathic message to him. That surprised Kami somewhat and he looked around at first.

*Darc? Why do you know that I am Kami?*, he asked back.

*You can hide your appearance but your ki will always feel very much the same. No matter what body. And as you know, I can sense divine ki just the same as normal ki. Anyway, I know what you are up to but let me say this. You don't need to intervene. The guys will handle this. You already saw that even Krillin forced Piccolo to go all out to win the round fast.*, explained Darc to him.

*But I can't. I need to take responsibility for my other halve.*, rebuked Kami.

*Kami, let me ask you this. Do you actually let your emotions cloud your judgment? Just feel the ki that Piccolo was emitting just now. It is by far not as malicious as it used to be. Or else Krillin would have become paralyzed by his past after feeling the same killing intent as Tambourine´s. Just let them handle it. And if something happens you should know that I won't tolerate that. Or did you forget about me?*

*Fine...*, agreed Kami after thinking about his words. They were true in a way.

So the next round was Kami against Yamcha.

At first, it was the same comic relief as always but this time around Yamcha noticed that this guy was hiding his strength and only playing a fool. So Yamcha didn't hold back anything and went all out. And he didn't even use his spirit ball technique.

Just as Darc foretold. Even with Kami his experience he couldn't handle the raw strength that Yamcha showed now. Kami lost in the end and had to give back this body to his owner. Just like in the canon the child from that body was amazed at his father being so strong.

After leaving the body Kami joined Darc and the others to spectate the rest of the tournament.

"This is Kami? He looks a lot like Piccolo. Just older. Don't you think?", asked Bulma after she saw him and the others nodded in agreement.

"That is because Kami and Piccolo were once the same person. That is why they called each other God and Demon. A little bit childish if you think about it.", said Darc and Kami caughed lighty to that.

"It´s nice to meet you all.", said Kami to the others.

"Likewise...", answered the others

Then it was time for the fight Goku against Tien. Unlike in the canon, Tien had a lot more stamina now and could keep up to Goku pretty easily after he took off his heavy clothing. Yes, Darc actually still gave Goku 250 pounds of weight to his clothing. He even increased it to 300 just out of fun.

And some point Tien split into four parts and te fight was as good as over with that.

"That was a useless move. Now Goku will win easily.", commented Darc while watching.

"Why do you say that?", asked Bulma while still watching. "I see a 4 vs 1 now. Isn't that good for Tien?"

"It would be good if those numbers were at least not just numbers. Did you notice that Tien became slower?", he asked her out of curiosity if she actually can follow the fight. Not even Chi-Chi could do that.

"Now that you mention it. I can see his movements a little bit better now.", said Bulma with a smile. Not that she can remotely tell what really happens.

"Good eyes. Tien basically split his power into 4 equal parts. That makes each part a lot weaker than Goku and Goku only needs to pummel him out now...", explained Darc and right at that moment when he did explain, Goku went on and executed that tactic. Throwing every Tien outside the ring.

"There he goes. The multiform is a very unique technique that can show immense power but for that to happen you need to invest a lot of time to perfect it. I doubt Tien had that time.", said Darc.

"Wait, now that I think about it. Isn't that the same technique you can use?", remembered Bulma now.

Darc smiled "That is exactly the same technique. Alright, let's get something to eat while those other uninteresting fights happen.", he said and stood up form the chair and moved to the canteen. The others agreed and followed.

----

Later after those fights were over and Yamcha lost against Piccolo it was about time for the final. Just like in the canon it was no other than Goku vs Piccolo.

Their fight this time around was much fiercer than what it was in the original.

"These guys are destroying the stage...Also, wasn't Piccolo basically already out of the ring when he was thrown to the ground and created that crater?", asked Bulma with big eyes.

"That is still nothing. If they really went ahead they could explode the earth with some effort. Just remember the old man detonating the moon...", said Darc with a smile and followed the fight. He saw some similarities in their techniques. And by the looks of it, both did somewhat implement his teachings into their forms.

"Scary, you are like walking time bombs.", she said back.

"No, not even I can do so much damage.", added Roshi.

Just as he said that Piccolo used an extremely large blast that went straight to the spectators. They all panicked.

"Oh no! That blast will hit the people!", shouted Kami.

Darc only moved his finger upwards and the blast was reflected by his barrier into the same direction he pointed toward. That is into the cosmos leaving the earth.

All the people were surprised by that and some people touched the barrier.

"Gotta be something from Capsule Corp.", they said and a sigh of relief appeared on their faces.

Darc chuckled. "Looks like you will have to finish up your defense matrix sooner than planned, Bulma."

"Urgh, such a headache. Why do they think it is our doing? Oh well, its nearly finished anyway. At least some progress in that research."

Piccolo was flabbergasted that his attack was reflected just like that.

"Hey, you two. Don't go overboard or I will disqualify you for endangering the people around you.", shouted Darc to Goku and Piccolo.

Both of them looked at him. Goku grinned "Its not my fault. He shot it.", said Goku. Piccolo gritted his teeth. "Oh yeah, and where was that Kamehameha a while ago aimed at!?", rebuked Piccolo.

"Stop arguing and finish up!", scolded Darc them. Its as if he had two little children in front of himself. He sighed and sat back down. Then he looked to the others. "What?", he asked because they looked at him somewhat strange. Only Arkis was still occupied with Trunks and didn't bother doing the same.

Not long after that Piccolo and Goku beat themselves up without using any more blasts and it somewhat looked like a fight which of them had the stronger endurance.

But because of Goku his body he was somewhat more resilient than Piccolo and won with a headbutt against Piccolo that destroyed his headgear and knocked him to the ground.

"Hey! Isn't that demon Piccolo!?" "Yes, it is! But look. He was beaten by Goku!" "Yay!" "GOKU! GOKU! GOKU!" The crowd got loud again but didn't panic as much as before.

Piccolo lay on the ground and the announcer counted to 10. Officially declaring Goku the winner after he couldn't stand up anymore.

Right at that moment Kami appeared near Piccolo and wanted to kill him. Goku wanted to react and stop him but was already beaten up too much to do anything.

At the last second Darc appeared beside Kami and stopped him.

"What did I tell you, Kami?", he said in a low voice.

"What are you doing? He needs to die!", shouted Kami back and tried to resist his grasp but couldn't.

"He does not. Let him live. The sins of one's father are not the sins of the child. Piccolo, stand up and leave.", said Darc and gave Piccolo some of his ki so that he could move again. He did the same to Goku. It healed them a little after all.

Piccolo stood up and looked at Darc in a somewhat confused matter.

"What? You want to stay and get killed?", asked Darc now.

"You know I will get stronger and get my revenge, right?", asked Piccolo.

"Sure, then we have Goku here that will again stop you. Isn't that right?", answered Darc and looked at Goku.

Goku smiled with a grin. " I really enjoyed that fight. I will also train and become stronger and beat you again."

"Hmpf.", snorted Piccolo after hearing that and flew away. A small smile was placed on his face.

"It will be both your fault if he destroys the planet.", said Kami to them both.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, let's celebrate the winner!", said Darc, as if he didn't hear his words and got everyone together to celebrate at a restaurant again-

Kami only sighed and teleported back to his lookout.