PART SEVEN: THE LUNCH BREAK WE'VE ALL WAITED FOR!

Chapter 35

Translated by Jake Devaro

In the space for Universe 16, Son Goten and Trunks had plenty of time to predict what would happen later in the tournament. With big smiles they shared with their family and friends as they finished their meal:

"Our victory is assured" they proclaimed mischievously. "Everything is going according to plan, the second part of the round is ours!"

Piccolo opened his eyes wide. What would follow would certainly be silly and totally illogical as usual. The great Namekian sometimes wondered how one could be the president of an international company with such a temperament. In their Universe, they never battled Vegetto and Bra. Yet they thought they would remain...

"Explain your logic, microbe" the favorite sister said to Trunks, "I need a laugh right now."

Trunks, used to being called a "germ" by his sister, ignored the remark and explained:

"So, it's very simple. Papa's gonna put a spanking on you and you'll be removed. Then the only adversary left to fear will be Gotenks. Although I think we're stronger than you, sis, it's no matter because fate has spoken against you and you will lose to dad."

"Well then, you have access to the old fortune teller Baba?" said the girl as she crossed her arms.

"Exactly, and it cost us a premium. I can't even tell you the price of an inter-universe call! I had to sell a subsidiary to pay for it!" Trunks joked.

"Absolutely" Goten added seriously, "but he was losing money anyway, the factories were at a deficit. They tried to sell anti-capsules. Giant capsules that can hold only one or two items inside. A resounding failure!"

Gohan managed to smile despite his grief.

"So if I understand correctly," said Vegetto, "you must have the presence of mind to know that you can not beat me, but Buu from Universe 4, Broly from Universe 20, the Super Namekian from Universe 7, and your double from 18? None of them scare you?"

"Ha, ha," said Goten, "I can already see them imprinted on the sole of the great Gotenks' shoe."

"Sure... and if you expect to win the tournament, how do you expect to win against me?" again asked their father, interested in their response.

"Well, this is where fate and the God's have already intervened against you, we are sorry for you, but they are totally biased. They've decided to pass an order that you should be defeated early, perhaps in your first fight. It is against one of the prettiest girls from Universe 6."

"Yes, the redhead" Goten added.

"No you idiot! The redhead, she's with that bastard Bojack. Did you not notice the color of her skin? No, it's another one.. She will use her charms like the one did against Kakarotto, and you'll kindly give up."

"Yes, initially, we would say it was because you don't hit girls but we know it doesn't bother you..." added the brother of Gohan.

The mood suddenly got heavy. Goten knew he had not been very subtle, and lowered his head, pretending to be interested in his food.

"Anyway," Trunks said, trying to change the mood, "you won't lose by force, but by magical powers on behalf of the moon or something."

"You obviously haven't watched "The Adventures of Vegetto" on TV, son. I am also immunized against all kinds of magic. I crushed the most powerful magician of all, Babibi."

"I don't watch cartoons. Besides, 3D aliens aren't compatible with the TV in the house. And I'm not even in your cartoon. It sucks." Trunks replied.

"Oh, sorry, the show had to be about a hero. On top of that, since you do nothing but sit around all day, you couldn't even play a younger version of yourself."

"It's certainly not because I'm locked in an office all day that I do nothing..." Trunks retorted.

"No physical movement anyway. Your arms are as soft as caramel and Gotenks will be crushed by Uncle Krillin or a moron from the Ginyu squad" added Bra, who rarely gave up a chance to make fun of her brothers.

"Who's left from that squad anyway?" asked Gohan. I think I remember... the little guy that can stop time, and Ginyu himself right?

"The rest of them I haven't seen. I even feel that they aren't there" said his father.

"Someone had to stay and guard the empire, I guess..." concluded Son Gohan.

"Eh-hem!" Trunks cleared his throat. Quit getting away from the more interested topics... namely, us. Once Vegetto has lost, the lady will meet an insensible brute in the next round. She we be defeated by the guy with the big hair from Universe 13, one of the perverts."

"That's Raditz, the brother of Go... Kakarotto" specified the Namekian.

"And voila! Insensible to the charms like his brother, he will win. Then in the next round he will meet Gotenks, who will avenge the damsel in distress!"

"You're not supposed to avenge damsels in distress you're supposed to save them" intervened Videl who had only half been listening to what they said.

"Oh yea! But then the wrong person would be eliminated."

"So, then you win. And what is your wish?" Vegetto asked.

"Uh..." said Trunks.

"Well..." said Goten.

"I think we're going to ask Shenron to shave Bra's head" replied the purple-haired boy.

"It's Porunga" muttered Piccolo without being fully heard.

"Bald... for life!" specified Goten.

Bra kept her calm for the time being. She knew that these two buffoons could get away with making fun of her in the presence of Vegetto who could protect them from her... nonverbal response. Since she had no reply, she remained silent.

"No, actually... I have one wish to ask," Goten said, suddenly serious, "and it's not Shenron I'll ask.

"Porunga" said Piccolo between his teeth.

"I'll ask the organizers permission to take a walk through the Universe 6 area, after the tournament."

The others remained silent for a moment.

"We won't stay long. A few minutes, yes, just a few minutes..."

Son Goten had finally broken the atmosphere... They all returned to their meals and ate in silence. Vegetto felt the ki of each person sitting at the table increase... anger and hatred had caused it to rise. This eventually passed, but it was true that this charming family, except Gohan, had never really experienced the horrors of war, and even though everyone knew that the death of Pan was temporary, they still found it difficult to accept.

What was making them all crazy over it was the sadistic laughter of the monster Bojack. If Pan had died to a strike or a major attack they would have certainly accepted it, but this way... No, Bojack should pay one way or another.

Bra knew that if she turned into a Super Saiyan she could crush this idiot in a few strikes. Oh yes, his size was no match for her anger. At that moment she hated that her brother and father had paused to follow the rules of this idiotic tournament when a real mission loomed before them. Who cared about the tournament?

That's what she thought: "Do you really believe that a bunch of sparrows could prevent us from acting? Hell we have Vegetto with us... He has traversed dimensions, made and unmade governments. He had defeated intangible beings and awoken evil Gods simply for the purpose of eliminating them. How can a remote control contain him? Oh no, if he wanted to he could crush Bojack, the organizers, and the other fighters. A massive free for all would break out and they would have fun! It would be fast, they would annihilate those other baffoons that called themselves competitors. Then Bra could finally unleash her rage on somebody with a high power level other than her family. If the luck of the rounds gave her a weak opponent it would not do at all. Since she didn't have the right to kill an opponent she must let them leave the ring in one piece. She had to let go of her anger.

Gohan felt his sister's hostility. He was thinking...

"Your anger is justified, but don't forget Bra, that your anger is your worst weakness... As a father I would never want this evil to happen to my only daughter, but as a teacher, I know how much suffering is a part of learning. Moreover, I suspect that during your and Vegetto's mission in the world, you have had to handle things that are disreputable for a child barely entering adolescence... I feel that Pan is like my father... and so are you. I know that you will die many times in your life. How can I believe otherwise? Some time a danger will come, perhaps even during this tournament, that you will not always be able to match. Your adventures are just beginning, I just hope mine are over."

The tension was gradually fading. Piccolo looked out of the corner of his eye at the Super Namekian of Universe 7 who was drinking through a straw. Piccolo had exceeded the power of all Namekians long ago, but this one surely must be even more powerful. Silent as a grave and solid as a rock, that Namekian, the last of it's kind in the world, had not come to test his abilities. No, he had to win the tournament. He was determined, but did he have the necessary strength? For once, Piccolo regretted not taking part in the tournament because he wanted to fight this enemy. As for the small Pan... the daughter of his protege... He felt his sadness, but he was not the kind to give a pat on the shoulder.

The meal contidued. The Vargas came to the door with a tray to fill with all their dishes. The frustration did not last long however.

"So who do you think will win?"

This time the question was serious, it was Piccolo who had asked after all.

"Duh, me" said Vegetto with a full mouth.

"Nobody here worries you? Not even this Super Majin Buu? continued the Namekian.

"Oh him... He'll be by far my most dangerous opponent. Pure power is not a question, I place him as one of the strongest, plus he has all the powers of the Buu we know: unlimited energy, regeneration, endless magical powers... If we add all the other mysterious warriors he could have absorbed, you can count on new techniques, a keen intelligence, in short, an amazing opponent certainly. But still... Against me..."

The answer seemed obvious... Is Vegetto too sure of himself?

"And Broly?" asked Bra, "You're making a big fuss about him..."

"Um, Broly is a special case. His power must have been growing constantly for years... Producing a terrifying result. And then he is still in the Legendary Super Saiyan form so insensitive to blows. Eventually the ice he is in will break from his high power level. I think he is the one with the biggest power here. One brutal and enormous strength" he said, resuming a big bowl of noodles, "An indestructible monster growing more dangerous every second... But he will get eliminated and sent back to his Universe" he added, "He will attack the audience for sure".

"So you can't beat him?" asked Goten, who had a grain of rice at the corner of his mouth, noticing that his father had avoided a direct answer.

"Of course I can. But unless I am his first opponent, he will get sent back for non-compliance because he'll attack the crowd before his opponent can get his attention. If it was me I'd run directly in front of him. Ha ha!

"This would only be possible if Buu agreed to cheat for me..." he thought, then an announcement was heard at the same time.

"Your attention please, dear fighters and spectators! Please finish your meal quickly! The tournament will resume in ten minutes... The next fight will be with Vegetto from Universe 16 against the unknown participant of Universe 20!"

This unexpected announcement caused almost every member of universe 16 to choke. Especially Trunks, he had to bang on his chest to unblock his airway. Goten's bowl had slipped from his hand and he had hit his hand on the table while trying to recover it. Son Gohan spit out everything in his mouth while Bra fell back out of her chair. Only Piccolo, who had his arms crossed, seemed to not react... only he knew that he was just as shocked as the others. But he also understood immediately... All of this was a result of a plan that Vegetto had set up with Buu of Universe 4... He had acquiesced to the request of the merged Saiyan... but why? The Namekian thought about it for a moment... then his gaze fell on the space to the right.

The space reserved for Universe 17 was the quietest in the building. Unlike the Universes with many participants and spectators such as 2 and 8 of the Cold empire, 16 and 18 or 10 before they left, Universe 17 included just two creatures. They did not move much, and they did not eat anything, unlike Universe 4 for example who's only participant sat eating a huge pile of candy.

Cell stood patiently, arms crossed, and staring hard. Only his eyes were active, moving in all directions to effectively observe everything around him. Standing next to him was his son, who looked around at the people in the stands, and moved around a bit, but still remained on good behavior. What excited him was the thought of a fight, but it was taking far too long. Cell hope he would have the chance to fight an unknown opponent who would take his little creation for granted. The small blue Cell was very strong, fast, and agile; possessing a destructive potential that his small stature did not reveal in the least. He would have a good chance of winning his next fight.

Cell had but one desire for himself: to win his next fight against Bojack. He had gotten a good look at him in his fight against Pan, the daughter of Gohan. In the beginning there was nothing impressive, but due to his small transformation he proved to be much more interesting. The daughter of Son Gohan was not strong enough, unsurprisingly, even as a Super Saiyan. Bojack killed her with one hand... she had not been able to survive. Therefore it promised to be a good fight! He should be almost as strong as Dabra!

In any case, Cell had no doubt about his next victory. And in the third round, he would meet the winner of the battle between Krillin and Tapion... For the former, no problem even if he did seem different from the one he knew, and not just his age... About Tapion... he didn't know anything about him, and since he had not yet fought, there was nothing to be deduced about him... not until the second round anyway... But he didn't look too impressive... no doubt that Cell would win against him.

In the next round, he would have to fight against Trunks from Universe 12 or Vegeta from Universe 18... Or maybe even the Son Goku of Universe 13 who was called Kakarotto... Trunk had 10 years to increase his power, Vegeta had more than thirty years, and Kakarotto was very different from the past's Son Goku... "Definitely weaker than him" thought Cell, who would enjoy the chance to fight any counterpart of Son Goku's.

In any case, Cell looked forward to seeing all these fights to get a more complete picture of his opponents... and he hoped to fight Son Goku himself in the semifinals! With luck, his Cell Junior would make it to the final from the other half of the draw, which would make him an easy winner of the tournament... and then he could make his wish... because Cell had become far more powerful than before, an incredible force that Son Goku and his friends could never have imagined!