--- Disturbance, Book 3: Endurance ---

Chapter E20 - Adrenaline

Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.

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-You don't feel the pain-

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to this, the final day of the twenty-sixth Tenkaichi Budokai! First up today will be the semi-final and final rounds of the Heavyweight Division, before the start of the much-awaited Super-Heavyweight Division." There was a cheer from the crowd, before the announcer continued, "As many Budokai fans may already know, the Heavyweight Division is the new name given to last tournament's Adult Division, with the Lightweight Division replacing the Junior Division. And the new category, the Super-Heavyweight Division, is the home to the true powerhouses, like both last tournament's grant champion, and the man who aims to take that title away from him, Gohan Son and Kaen Avarrdo."

There was a massive roar of approval from the crowd, and the announcer decided to just let them cheer for the moment; there was enough time spare to permit it. A massive grin spread across his face as he thought of the profit they'd be bringing in this tear, to say nothing of the profit they had already made on the 'qualifier' tournaments they'd held, to ensure only the best of the best had the chance to compete for the title of 'Number One Under Heaven'.

As the crowd started to wind down, the announcer brought his microphone up again, continuing his intro. "And now, without further ado, let's get the first Heavyweight Semi-Final underway! Our first competitor needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway: Hercule Satan!" The crowd cheered their approval, as the announcer talked over them, "A former world champion of the twenty-fourth tournament, and the man who, with the help of our otherworldly allies, defeated the monster known as Cell, Hercule is back once more for one last shot at the title. For those who missed yesterday's matches, Hercule announced, here on this very stage, that, win, lose, or draw, this would be his final tournament before he retired from professional competition, and settled down to focus on his family, and his students. Can he catch this final shot of glory? His challenger today doesn't think so."

-Too much is not enough-
-Nobody said this stuff makes any sense-
-We're hooked again-

"I'm glad dad's retiring after this tournament," Videl remarked, reclining slightly against the comfortable chair, while glancing out through the nearby window to the arena floor; no daughter of Hercule Satan was going to be relegated to sitting in the stands, her father had made sure of that, which is why she and Pi now sat inside the main tournament building, on opposite sides of the tea table they'd dragged out of somewhere.

Lifting her teacup to her lips, Pi commented, "I'll be honest, I'm surprised he decided to compete again at all, after his crushing defeats at the last tournament."

Videl just laughed slightly. "To be fair," she replied, "Both you and Gohan are, under the new system, Super-Heavyweights, while dad is not, so he actually does have a chance of winning. Not to mention that, if he does win, and if you don't count his losses to people above his pay grade, he'll be retiring with a perfect record, and on a fresh win to boot; that's every professional fighter's dream." Taking a sip from her own teacup, she continued, "I expect a win will inflate his ego somewhat for a while, but no doubt the knowledge that his granddaughter has, on an off day, more power in her left hand than he has in his entire body on a good day, will probably sober him up quickly enough."

"Speaking of which, where is little Pan?" Pi asked curiously. "She's gotten better at hiding her ki."

Videl smiled, feeling a shot of pride at her daughter's progress. "She's with her other grandfather." Shrugging slightly, she added, "Even with how social we've been, she still hasn't met the whole gang, so Goku's introducing her to some of the more anti-social members, and hopefully encourage them to be a little less anti-social."

Pi smiled back. "She does have a knack for working her cute little charm, doesn't she?"

Feeding a little burst of ki into her hand to re-heat her tea, Videl opened her mouth to say something, possibly a reply to Pi's question, when she got cut off by a chipper voice calling out, "Sorry I'm late. Took forever to round the family up, and even longer to convince Aeris to baby-sit them."

"No problem Kat," Videl replied, picking up the third teacup they'd set to one side and pouring her friend a cup.

"Thanks," the youthful redhead smiled, accepting the offered cup and taking a sip before asking, "So, what'd I miss?"

-Point of no return-
-See how the buildings burn, light up the night-
-Such pretty sight-

"Why are you doing this? You know he's going to crush you right? And when he does, you're just going to spend the next month moping about it as you try and work out 'what went wrong' and how to win 'next time', just like you did the last three times you challenged him." When no reply was forthcoming, she rolled her eyes and asked, "Are you doing this to impress Faile?"

"Why would I need to impress her?" Ah! Finally, a reply. "She's my mate, remember sis?"

Lime just rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, like that stopped dad doing things to impress mum, or vice versa. And you didn't answer my question, any of them; why are you doing this?"

"Why are you?" Oran shot back, half-glaring at his younger-by-ten-seconds sister. "If this is such a waste of time, why are you competing? Are you trying to impress a certain lavender-haired Briefs?"

Lime gaped for a second, a slight embarrassed blush coming to her face as she watched her own words get turned back against her, before she shook it off and replied, "I'm only competing because it's better than sitting on the sidelines, and to get a reaction from the kids at school. And, maybe - just maybe - I'd like to mess up that smug face of Trunks'. But whatever my reason, at least I'm not competing for the express purpose of trying to defeat our dad in combat on a national stage. I mean, were the defeats he handed you at the qualifiers not enough for you? Do you like getting your ass kicked?"

"Yes, okay!" Oran snapped. "Yes, I do, because every time he beats me, I get one step closer to beating him next time. Remember what he told us, all those years ago? 'You can do anything you set your mind to, as long as you don't give up'? Well I've set my mind on beating him, so I'm not going to give up until I do."

"But why?"

"Because..." He sighed, sitting back down. "Because I'm tired of everyone comparing me to him. Because I'm tired of being in dad's shadow. Because I... I want him to see me as an equal, instead of just the little brother he adopted to give us a chance at a normal life." Standing up, determination burning in his eyes, he threw his right hand out, summoning his massive red-and-black tomahawk in a burst of ki. "Come hell or high water, I will make Kaen recognize my strength, one way or another."

-Adrenaline keeps me in the game-
-Adrenaline, you don't even feel the pain-
-Wilder than your wildest dreams-
-When you're going to extremes, it takes adrenaline-

"So how are the twins doing? Are Oran and Faile still together?" Kat asked around her teacup, smiling a little guiltily as she added, "With everything that's been happening, we haven't really had a chance to catch up like this for... uh... how many years had it been now?"

"Far too many," Pi replied with a smile for her adopted sister-in-law, stirring her drink before continuing, "As for your original questions, the twins are doing well; they're both in university now, though taking wildly different courses. And yes, Oran and Faile are very much still together; they've been bonded since the day he turned fifteen."

The two other women choked on this drinks momentarily, Kat recovering first and asking, "Fifteen? Isn't that a bit soon?"

Pi just shrugged. "Not really. That's the age when Saiyans start getting the urge to mate and bond, and had he gotten that urge in previous years no doubt they'd have been bonded sooner the way they went at it some days." Taking another sip of tea, she added almost too casually, "Some days I swear they were a heartbeat away from rutting on the table during dinner. He actually almost missed meals a few times, and probably would have if Faile hadn't been hungry too."

After a moment of awkward silence, Videl asked, "So how's Lime then? I remember her and Trunks having a thing together when they were younger."

Pi rolled her eyes and exhaled an annoyed sigh, "That girl... I swear, she had to have the most complicated relationship, as if just to spite how simple her brother's was. No, she and Trunks aren't together this week; actually, I think it's been a month they've been separated this time." She sighed again, setting her cup down on the table. "I swear, they've been doing this for Dende-only knows how long now. They're together, then he does something to piss him off and she breaks up with him, they'll spend some time apart, often dating other people in what is no doubt a sad attempt to make the other jealous, before one of them, usually Trunks, but occasionally Lime herself, goes back to the other, apologises, and begs for another chance. They'll be together for a while longer, and then the cycle will repeat again. I think the longest they've managed to stay together now for is... four months. Maybe five."

Blinking slightly, Kat commented, "Wow, and I thought Vegeta and Bulma had a weird relationship. So, this on-again off-again thing, what are the fights usually about?"

"Oh, they're always about more or less the same thing," Pi barked a dry laugh, "While Oran grew up wanting to be his brother, Lime grew up wanting her mate to be like her brother, and, for reasons even she can't explain - I asked - she's decided Trunks can fit that bill best; being Vegeta's son, that's not as much of a surprise as it sounds. Ergo, she wants a mate who is strong, decisive, and not afraid to knock her on her ass. Trunks, however, despite being Vegeta's son, is also Bulma's son, and has been raised with a lot of human standards that conflict with the Saiyan ones Lime wants."

"So she gets mad at him for treating her with kid gloves, like she's a princess, or some kind of porcelain doll?" Videl asked, mostly rhetorically.

"Pretty much," Pi replied with a shrug. "She wants him to treat her like a warrior and an equal, while he continues to treat her as though they were characters in a chick flick, and neither of them seem willing to meet the other in the middle somewhere. It's gotten to the point that Kaen has actually considered drugging the both of them with an aphrodisiac next full moon and locking them in a room together; either they'd bond, just have sex, or kill each other, but whatever the outcome, by morning the issue would be resolved once and for all."

Choking on her drink again, Kat spluttered, "He wouldn't really do that would he?"

Pi just grinned and shook her head. "No. But he does threaten them with it whenever one of them gets too uppity."

-You don't feel the pain!-

"So, Trunks, you ready for this?"

Pausing mid-sit-up, the haired-haired man turned to face his life-long friend, replying, "Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to? If I wasn't ready, dad would have made sure I was long before now. He's not about to let me embarrass him on the world stage." Resuming his workout, he continued between breaths, "I mean... I don't expect to reach the finals, and dad doesn't expect me to either, but I should at least get far enough to fight either Gohan or Kaen in the semi's, assuming I don't get matched up against my dad or yours before-" Before Trunks could finish, Goten burst out laughing, forcing Trunks to pause once more to glare at his friend. "What?"

Reigning in his laughter, but not the massive grin threatening to split his head in half, Goten asked amusedly, "You don't know? They've already done the match ups; it's not assigned by the competitors drawing this year. Well, not for our division anyway, I couldn't say about the others."

Groaning, Trunks collapsed against the ground, remarking tiredly, "Ugh... All right then, who have they got me paired against? You're obviously dying to tell me."

Goten took a moment to smirk as cruelly as his Son-descended features would allow before he said a single word that sent Trunks' blood running cold: "Lime."

Trunks bolted to his feet, eyes wide like he'd seen a ghost, as he exclaimed, "Oh FUCK no! Please, tell me you're joking. Tell me this is some cruel joke to get back at the many I pulled on you in years past."

"Nope; this time, the truth is more than cruel enough." Just to dig the knife in further, Goten added, "Looks like you won't even be getting past the elimination round."

Burying his face in his hands, Trunks' voice was muffled as he asked, "What about you?"

Grinning sheepishly, and rubbing his neck in true Son fashion, Goten replied, "Hehe... uh, well, I probably won't get past the elimination round either. I'm up against my dad." His expression brightening, the dark-haired youth added, "However, my dad won't kill me for not getting to the quarter-finals; he said he'd only punish me if I didn't compete. Plus, I know he won't hurt me too badly, because I've got a date tonight; my punishment for not competing would've been not being allowed to go on said date."

"Who's you're date tonight?" Trunks asked, relieved to have a new topic past his up-coming public spanking, and later private beat- err, training. "You still seeing Celine?"

"Nah, she and I split up a fortnight ago," Goten shook his head, "I'm seeing Sasha tonight."

Trunks quirked an eyebrow. "Sasha? The same Sasha I took to one of mum's public dinner's a month or so ago?"

Goten grinned sheepishly again. "Hey, I couldn't let her to go waste."

"Geez Goten," Trunks remarked with an exasperated eye roll, "You go through girlfriends like your father does meals. Have you ever dated a girl for more than two weeks? Hell, have you even managed to stick to a single species yet? Or are you still alternating between Saiyan and human?"

"So what if I am?" Goten retorted irately; this wasn't exactly a new topic, though it was a sore one. "At least I'm not trying to get a Saiyan girl to act human." All conversation between the two quickly descended into bickering over each other's love lives, but it was hardly the first time, and wouldn't be the last.

-Sail through an empty night-
-It's only you and I who understand-
-There is no plan-

"Oh, I just remembered," Kat exclaimed suddenly, "I saw the tournament ladder on the way in. Did you see that Gohan and Kaen are at opposite ends of the draw?"

"Mm hm," Videl nodded, "Deliberately so."

"Huh?"

"It's simple," Pi explained, "The organisers actually asked Gohan and Kaen if they'd mind being at opposite ends of the draw, leaving their match for last, and they approved." At Kat's shocked look, she added, "Let's face it, this 'Super-Heavyweight Division' exists for only two reasons: to give non-ki users a shot at the normal title, and to make the people who run these things an assload of money. As such, they've rigged the ladder to ensure all the matches are going to be as exciting, and thus money-earning, as possible."

"But... But what if the people they expect to win don't?" Kat stuttered.

"Even better," Videl remarked with a shrug, "If there's anything the crowd likes to see more than the 'long awaited match between Fred and Steve', it's the match between Fred, and the fighter who beat Steve, thus denying Fred his chance to defeat his rival, and so on."

"Uh huh," Pi agreed, "I mean, they asked me if I was okay with being number nine, leaving my fight with Kaen for the semi's, before I told them I wouldn't be competing."

"And I was to be number eight, for much the same reason, before I dropped out," Videl added, "I think they filled my spot with Goku, and I know Pi's spot was taken by Oran."

Pi sighed, "Kami, that boy's been chomping at the bit for another chance to beat Kaen. Had he any less pride, I think Kaen would probably have let him win by now, just to curb this obsession of his a bit. Even Faile agrees it's getting to be unhealthy."

Deciding to change the subject quickly as a thought occurred to her, the redhead asked, "Hey, how come you two aren't competing anyways? I mean, you fought at the qualifiers, and you obviously got in, so..."

In a display that, at any other time, may have been considered creepy, the two women set their teacups down, smiling slightly and replied, in almost perfect synch, "I'm pregnant." The two then burst into laughter as they realised that the other's tone had matched their completely; that mix of excitement and resignation of all expectant mothers who are happy to have another child, but less than happy with the timing of it.

Kat gasped, shooting to her feet, and almost upsetting all three cups in her haste. "Ohmygosh! How long-"

Videl smiled, "Gohan and I just found out a fortnight ago, when he picked up a second ki signature mixed with mine. We're not sure when it happened, exactly, as while we weren't trying, we weren't not trying either, but, at least four months now."

"We've known for a while," Pi continued, "But we decided to wait until the tournament to tell people. I'm far enough along that Kaen banned me from competing, not that I was planning on risking it once we found out anyways, but I couldn't give you a time frame; this time, we're leaving things to the whims of Fate."

"Why now?" Kat pondered curiously, "Why the big gap between?"

For that, Videl had no answer. Pi did though, shrugging and replying, "Genetics." At the inquisitive looks of the other two women, she explained, "We Saiyans live for a long time. If we had even one child every year, or every two years, our population would have ballooned out of control, so, at a genetic level, we seem to instinctively leave a decent gap between. Plus, it's also a society thing, not having another child until the previous one is old enough to assist in raising and training the new one."

Accepting this new information with a quick nod, Kat asked the all important question, almost exploding at the sheer excitement of it, despite having had more kids of her own than both of them combined. "So, boy or girl?"

"Well, I'm hoping for a boy," Videl remarked softly, resting one hand on her stomach, "But I wouldn't object to another girl. We're not planning to find out until the day."

Pi just grinned, replying, "Yes." She watched her sister's face as the thought filtered through, and just the redhead opened her mouth to comment, she nodded, adding, "Yes, twins. Again."

"Wow," Videl blinked, "What are the odds of that?"

"Pretty good, considering," Pi shrugged, "I had a talk with April the first time around, and apparently Korin was the only non-twin in at least the last five generations of her family. Kaen, it would seem, had a sister who didn't survive the birth."

"Speaking of," Kat interjected, "How have the younger... err, make that 'middle' twins handled the news?"

The older woman smiled. "Happy they're not going to be the 'babies' of the family for much longer."

-Get closer to the thrill-
-Only time cam kill, it's in your eyes-
-It's so alive-

"And there you have it folks!" The announcer declared, "The Champion of the Heavyweight Division is HERCULE!"

The crowd roared their approval as the announcer handed the microphone over to the Afro'd man, the (once again) champ waiting for the cheers to die down on their own before speaking. "First, let me say thank you to everyone who came here today. Every fighter dreams of being able to retire on a win, and today, I realise that dream, so, thank you, all of you." The crowd cheered once more, and again he let them finish before continuing. "I'd also like to thank my fans for never giving up on me, and for believing that I could bring home one more title."

As the crowd roared a third time, Hercule turned around the arena slowly, letting his gaze pass across every face, and a gentle smile came upon his face as he spotted both his daughter and his granddaughter watching, from the private booths he had set them up with. Turning to face the crowd once more, he added, in a more subdued tone. "Most of all, I'd like to thank my family, and close friends, for sticking by me."

He paused, taking a moment to collect this thoughts, before continuing, "In the past decade or so, many people have speculated that I had let my fame go to my head, especially after the Cell Games, and was just coasting along, expecting to win every competition I entered." He waited a moment, as his fans in the crowd began instantly denying that, before adding, "They were right. Despite knowing that, without my friends, I could never have defeated Cell, I let myself believe I was the strongest man alive, content in the knowledge that they didn't want the fame or fortune I craved. Then the next generation of fighters came along, and unseated me from my throne."

"My loss at the previous tournament inspired me to do better, to be better," the champ continued, "And seeing my daughter, and my son-in-law, drove me to push myself to my limits, and beyond. I entered this tournament because I wanted to prove, to myself, to my family, and to all of you, that I could win, and to show people the world over that, no matter how far gone you think you are, you can better yourself. All you need is someone to give you a chance, and the determination to use it." Pumping one fist into the air, he bellowed out one of his trademark roars, cutting off quickly as he felt a sharp flick of super-fast air against one ear, and quickly exiting the arena after one final "Thank you, everyone."

-Adrenaline keeps me in the game-
-Adrenaline, you don't even feel the pain-
-Wilder than your wildest dreams-
-When you're going to extremes, it takes adrenaline-

"Geez, gramps is such an embarrassment," remarked one of three girls relaxing in one of the so-called 'booths' Hercule had glanced at earlier. Leaning against the railing of the glorified balcony they were on, the girl absently juggled a small ball of ki over the back of her hand, musing on whether to send another the old man's way. "This is why we can't take him anywhere nice."

Another dark-haired girl, resting against the wall, shrugged slightly. "Well, at least the good part is starting soon and we get to see our dads in combat." Absently playing with the sleeve of her viridian fighting gi, she asked curiously, "How do you think your uncle's gonna fair against your grandpa?"

The first girl laughed, adjusting her bandana. "He's gonna get his butt kicked. Dad always jokes that grandpa Goku only does three things: eat, train, and spend time with grandma Chichi. Uncle Goten, however, spends too much time being a... uh... play... ee? No, that's not right... darn it, what did he call him?"

"A player?" The third girl offered, running a brush through her straight aqua hair as she adjusted her hairstyle for what had to be the third time today. "Or maybe a playboy? Either of those sound right to you Pan?"

"The first one. And it disturbs me that word comes to you so easily Bra," the first girl, Pan, replied.

Bra just shrugged, turning to the girl in green and asking, "Hey Tama, where are the boys?"

Tama just rolled her eyes. "My brother lost the Janken game, so he's bringing the snacks."

"And what about-"

"Don't say his name!" Tama hissed suddenly, "I remember mum saying 'to speak the name is to invoke the power', and the last thing I want is to 'invoke' him."

Nodding, Pan commented, "Agreed. Still, where is he, so we know where not to be?"

Tama rolled her eyes again. "Hopefully grandpa conned him into testing some invention and accidentally sent him to some dimension far away, but I doubt I'll be that lucky. He'll probably be along to harass us later."

"Hey, don't talk that way about him," Bra exclaimed, "He's not that bad, and he's kinda cute." She giggled slightly before adding, "But then, Rash is kinda cute too."

For a brief moment, Tama thought she was going to be sick. "EWW! That's my uncle and brother you're talking about!"

Pan couldn't cover up a shudder of her own as she said her piece. "You really are your mother's daughter aren't you?"

"Hey!" Bra shouted, snapping her pocket mirror closed, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Before either girl could answer, the nearby door slid open to herald a boy in a vermilion fighting gi, of similar cut to Tama's, who asked not nearly as nervously as he possibly should have, "Is this a bad time?"

"Depends on what you brought with you," Tama replied flippantly.

The boy grunted irritably, using one arm to direct the veritable Congo line of items he'd been using his ki to float along behind him. "Four large popcorns, four bags of assorted lollies, four choc-coated ice creams, and four drinks. The cashier nearly had a heart attack when I levitated all this stuff, never mind when I placed the order." Using his second arm to assist dividing everything up, he continued, "Lemonade for Bra, Sunkist for sis, Raspberry Fanta for Pan, and Coke for me; that right?" There was a stunned silence from the girls. "I take that as a 'yes'."

Glancing at the boy curiously, Pan asked, "Rash, how did..." She shook her head. "Never mind." Not giving the boy a chance to respond, she turned back to the stadium, as the announcer began the introduction for her father's match.

-Run through the speed of sound-
-Every thing slows you down-
-And all colours that surround you are bleeding to the walls-

"Okay, let's get the third elimination match under way!" The announcer declared, gesticulating wildly with the hand not holding the microphone. It came as no surprise to anyone involved that Gohan won his match easily, and the second match featured a pair of newcomers, one of whom would now have the chance to be beaten by Gohan in the quarter-finals. "Our first competitor is one of the two co-winners of the last Junior Division, Trunks Briefs. Trunks, along with his friend and co-champion Goten, were the first, at the last games, to demonstrate the powers that necessitated the formation of this, the Super-Heavyweight Division, and now he's back for a shot at the new title."

'Not bloody likely," Trunks groused to himself, rolling his eyes for a moment before plastering a huge grin on his face and striding out, waving to the crowd as he did.

"His opponent is making her debut in professional competition, having performed extremely well in the qualifiers. The daughter - excuse me, eldest daughter - of one of this year's favourites, she will no doubt be a formidable fighter. Welcome Lime Avarrdo!"

At her name, the young woman marched determinedly out to the arena, dressed in a viridian fighting gi, in the same style as her younger sister, only with the sleeves cut back to her shoulders. Unlike Trunks, she didn't waste time waving to the crowd, her mind already focused on her upcoming match."

"For those just joining us, I will explain the rules of the Super-Heavyweight Division again. There are just two of them: touching the grass, main building, or arena stands results in immediate disqualification, as does killing or maiming your opponent." Backing away from the arena slowly, he added, "Alright fighters, wait until the gong to begin." Instructions given, he fled as fast as he could without seeming panicked.

"So Trunks," Lime stated tonelessly, "Are you finally ready to man up and fight me? Or are you going to hide behind your mother's skirts again? Are you going to continue to be more of a girl than I am?"

Trunks snorted, folding his arms and replying in a not-quiet-enough voice, "Yeah, like it's hard to be more of a girl than a tomboy like you."

Unfortunately for Trunks, the gong had the unfortunate timing to sound before the angry-chemicals that statement produced had time to metabolise, resulting in Lime blurring forward and slamming a ki-coated fist into his unprotected stomach, wrapping the younger Saiyan around it as she snarled, "I'm sorry, what was that? Care to repeat it?"

"I said," Trunks coughed out, subtly gathering ki in his now-loose hands, "You're an uncute tomboy!" Declaration made, he threw his hands forward and fired, aiming to hit her in the stomach with enough force to put some distance between them.

The concussive force sent the girl flying back a good distance, before she back flipped to land in a crouch, half the mat away. "Oh Trunks," she remarked, dusting herself off as she stood upright again, "I was going to be nice about this, but-" she threw her arms out to either side, summoning her preferred weapons, her red spiked chakram, in a flare of ki, "-you just had to go and cross the line." If there was one thing Lime hated, it was being called a 'tomboy'; she was a warrior, damnit, and it wasn't her fault her hair was naturally short.

Trunks knew she was going to kick his ass - he'd known it long before their match even started - so, in true Trunks fashion, he decided that, if he was going to get his ass kicked regardless of what he did, he was going to make it worth it. "Bring it then, or are you all talk?" Trunks sneered, "After all, your daddy isn't going to bail you out this time." He could almost hear the aneurism pop as she leapt towards him, a wordless battle cry issuing forth.

-All the things you really need-
-Just wait to find the speed-
-Then you will achieve escape velocity-

"Well, I would definitely have to declare that experiment a success," Avarrdo declared, "The evidence speaks for itself."

Kellre, his long time friend-slash-rival-slash-partner-in-mad-science, replied, "You're particularly proud of that experiment aren't you?"

"Like you aren't as proud, if not more, of your latest," Avarrdo shot back.

Kellre just shrugged in acceptance. "That does bring to mind a question I've had for a while though: how come you haven't tried that experiment again with different conditions?"

"I have been through three iterations, with various success," Avarrdo remarked, "Compared to your two. That said, I have expressed an interest on attempting the process a fourth time."

Lounging nearby, beer in hand, the youngest of the three, Truniz, called out, "You know, normal parents call 'em 'kids', not 'experiments'."

"And what exactly is your definition of 'normal'?" Kellre grinned, "It's a strange universe out there."

"Hey! That's my line!" Truniz exclaimed, actually sitting upright.

"I don't need to re-invent the wheel," Kellre replied flippantly, "Besides, using your own words against you is half the fun of being brothers."

"Ain't that the truth," Truniz smirked for a moment, before adding, "But, you're a scientist - Re-inventing the wheel is all you do!"

"And? Just because I do something doesn't mean I have to when it doesn't suit me."

-Too much is not enough-
-Nobody gave it up-
-I'm not the kind to lay down and die!-

'Right, I just need to deliver this message to sis, and then I can get back to my primary assignment.' And let it never be said he didn't enjoy his primary assignment. Being the oldest of the current generation, his father had tasked him with part of the younglings' training; specifically, mental training, like psychological strengthening and enforcing emotional stability. Which basically meant it was his job to annoy them as much as possible.

Rash was exceptionally easy to set off, and was more explosive and volatile than a long-expired stick of TNT. Tama was a lot harder, but he had remarkably good results be setting up a feedback loop, by setting her brother off, leaving her to calm him down, then setting him off again before the dust could settle. Pan was somewhere in the middle, while Bra... Sometimes, he wasn't even sure she was paying attention, so she was a real challenge to set off.

Passing a mirror in the hall, he took a moment to glance over the fighting outfit he and his father had assembled. Fairly loose, unrestrictive pants, with traditional Saiyan-style boots, though in untraditional colours. A sleeveless muscle shirt, with an oriental-style coat over the top, split down the middle, with buttons he never bothered to do up, and held closed by a sash tied around his waist. Well, from the front it looked like a sash, but it actually hung a ways down his legs; it was more-or-less a cloak he wore by tying it around his waist, instead of draping it over his shoulders. This 'waist cloak' served two purposes: firstly, to cover the split in the back of his coat, ending at about waist height, that allowed him unrestricted use of his tail; and secondly, to be used as a distraction in combat, when combined with said freely usable tail.

Clearing his thoughts and continuing on, he dug the message he was to deliver out of his memory banks. 'Right, dad said it was import I get this message to Pi as soon as possible.' Approaching the entranceway to the viewing area she was in, she heard a few female voices drifting down the hall:

"You know, even after all this time, I still can't get used to the tail."

"It doesn't get in the way; just let it wrap around your waist. Besides, if it becomes a bother, you can always ask Gohan about it."

"No! Not after last time! He wouldn't stop-"

'On second thoughts,' he thought to himself, quickly hurrying away from the women lest he be caught overhearing something he should, or lest he overhear something he then couldn't un-hear, 'Dad would probably prefer I continue living, even if I have to give her the message later.' He grinned to himself. 'In the mean time... The others are all on the floor below. Time to work.'

-Adrenaline keeps me in the game-
-Adrenaline, you don't even feel the pain-
-Wilder than your wildest dreams-
-When you're going to extremes, it takes adrenaline-

The fight had been raging for some time. Scattered around the arena floor were the remains of six violet spears, two weapons that looks like the lovechild of a crossbow and a Tommy gun, both broken near the trigger, as well as countless pale blue ice-like shards of metal; no doubt the clean-up crew were already dreading having to prepare the arena for the next, and final, match of the day. Hefting his massive red-and-black tomahawk onto his right shoulder, and tightening his grip on the hilt of the massive white spiky claymore he held in his left, Oran stared down his opponent, falling back on old training to control his breathing.

His opponent merely grinned back at him, resting his own sword almost casually across both his shoulders, despite the weapon solid metal at least nine inches wide, and almost as tall as he himself was; taller, if you discounted the mass of hair atop his head. "So, you ready to give up yet?"

"Never!" He snarled, throwing himself forward almost through the momentum of his claymore alone, aiming to cut his opponent off at the ankles, before he simply leapt over it. Completing the spin, he planted the tip of his claymore in the ground, using the momentum to leap up and plant a boot in his opponent's back. "Not while there's a breath left in me, Kaen!"

Spinning rapidly to land, on his feet, in a crouching position, his sword still resting on his shoulders, Kaen remarked, "Well, I can arrange that." Leaping forward, he swung his sword forward, using it for a feint as he forced Oran on the defensive, the younger man bringing up his claymore to block it, and giving Kaen the opening he needed to drive his left fist into his brother's chest, just where his ribcage ended. Not giving him a moment's rest, he pivoted on his right heel, using his left hand to shove the claymore aside as he swung his sword around in a wide arc, leaving Oran only one defence from potential decapitation.

The young Saiyan quickly brought his tomahawk up, the clash of metal against metal ringing loudly through the arena, before Kaen's sword sheered through the black metal; fortunately, though, the force of the impact changed the direction of the cut, sending the blade over Oran's head. Discarding the now useless weapon, and realising with a wince that the broken tip had grazed his shoulder, he swung his claymore forward, gripping it with both hands as he dropped into a low stance, almost resembling a baseball player awaiting the pitch.

"You've got a lot of power, little brother, of that there can be no doubt," Kaen remarked dryly, lowering his sword to slowly cut a line into the tile about half a foot in front of him, before twisting his body away so his legs were almost in a perpendicular line from the one he'd cut, using both hands to hold his sword above his head. "But, the big question is, do you have the skill, and the speed, to use it?"

With a wordless roar Oran launched himself at his brother, the two lashing out, in true 'anime final showdown' fashion, just as Oran raced past, landing a good three feet behind his brother's position. There was a moment of total silence, before a thin red line began to form from Kaen's right shoulder, the majority of the down to just shy of his wrist. Half a heartbeat later, the two halves of Oran's weapon slid apart, the younger man's skin uncut, though he collapsed to his knees a moment later; by the terms they had set before the match, he had lost again.

Dismissing his sword with a thought, Kaen walked over to offer his brother a hand up, grinning as he remarked, "Wow, that really hurts."

Sighing ruefully, Oran accepted the hand up. "I almost had you that time."

"That you did, Oran," Kaen smirked at the astonished look on his little-brother-slash-adopted-son's face, "I'm going to have to train hard to make sure I stay ahead of you."

Laughing excitedly, the gloom gone from his eyes, Oran joked back, "I don't think so old man, next time, I will be the one ahead."

"Keep dreaming, boy, keep dreaming."

-Adrenaline, screaming out your name-
-Adrenaline, you don't even feel the pain-
-Wilder than your wildest dreams-
-When you're going to extremes, it takes adrenaline-

"My dad's gonna win you know." The finale, the fight between Gohan and Kaen was only so many minutes away, the monks working feverishly to get the arena cleaned up as quickly as possible; unfortunately, for the kids awaiting the showdown between their respective parents, 'as quickly as possible' was not soon enough. "It's simple fact. My dad is stronger than your dad."

"You're crazy," Rash shot back, "Did you forget that the last time out dads fought in the tournament, my dad kicked your dad's ass?"

"Please," Pan rolled her eyes, "Your dad only won because he cheated."

Jumping to his feet, Rash shouted, "You lie! You lie like the Gopher Devil! El Gophero Diablo!" [1]

"Actually," Tama shrugged, sitting against the railing, "She's quite right; dad did technically cheat."

"Judas!" Rash exclaimed, "Why do you side with the enemy?"

His sister rolled her eyes. "Look, just calm down."

He clenched his fist. "I will not calm down, not until you explain your actions heathen!"

"You should listen to your sister," Pan smirked knowingly.

The boy's eyes narrowed, anticipating what she was going to say. "Don't you say it."

Still smirking, the girl ignored his warning. "You need to calm down, before you do something-"

"Don't you fucking say it!" Rash was very much his father's son.

Pan's bastardly smirk held as she finished, "-rash."

"That's it!" Leaping towards the girl, he crash tackled her to the ground, and the two quickly began scuffling. Tama, however, just calmly floated over to the other side where Bra was, as the two quietly began placing bets on who would win this time; Pan and Rash fighting was hardly a new event, the girl delighted in pushing his buttons almost as much as-

"Alright you guys, break it up." Phasing through the open door, the older boy forcefully separated the two squabbling kids, his waist cloak fluttering slightly in the breeze.

Struggling to get free, Rash snarled, though it came across as something of a pout, "Aww, leave us alone Mason!"

"Uncle Mason," the older boy corrected.

Rash just snarled again, pulling his gi free. "I am not going to call you 'uncle'! You are only two-and-a-half years older than me!"

"Two years, eleven months, twenty-seven days, four hours, six minutes, and fifteen seconds older than you runt, now behave," Mason corrected again. [2]

"Oh, just get lost!"

"No way," Mason stated, "I'm both bigger and stronger than the lot of you, and I gotta keep you in line, or else dad will get angry with me."

Marching over to lean against the wall, placing him as far away from Mason as he could get without leaving the balcony, Rash remarked, "Grandpa Kellre never gets mad at you! You're his favourite."

"So what?" Mason retorted, "I still have an excuse to squash you guys like bugs."

Pan seemed to take offence to that statement, exclaiming, "Hey, no fair!" It wasn't that she expressly minded him hanging out with them when he wasn't being antagonistic, nor him breaking up the fight, as much fun as it had been; no, what she didn't like was the implication that he could boss them around. Pan Son took orders from a short list of people, and unless their surname was 'Son', they weren't on the list; heck, not even Uncle Goten was.

Mason just folded his arms. "Damn right, this is the Kingdom of Mason. I'm the Emperor, I'm the President, I'm the King, now settle down the both of you." He paused a moment, before grinning, "On second thought, Pan gets a 'Get out of Jail Free' card, 'cause she got a wicked burn on Rash." Still grinning, he gave the girl a thumbs-up, and Pan, her attitude shifting away from annoyed, grinned back and mimicked the gesture.

"You're mean, 'Uncle' Mason," Rash sneered, making to put as much sarcasm into the word 'uncle' as his small frame would allow.

"Only because you act like your dad," Mason grinned.

In true child-like fashion, Rash retorted with, "My dad is bigger than you!"

"So what?" Mason shrugged, "My sister can beat him up."

"That's only 'cause they're mates!"

"Doesn't change the fact he gets beat on by a girl." Giving Pan a quick glance, Mason grinned again, adding, "Well, like father, like son."

-Oh you don't even feel the pain-
-Oh you don't even feel the pain-
-'Coz I'm going to extremes-
-There is nothing in between-

"How much sugar has Rash had today?" Videl remarked amusedly, having overheard the kids' conversation; heck, half the building probably heard them, and quite possible the people in the western stands too.

Pi just sighed, holding her head in her hands. "Too much. Or not enough; it's hard to tell some times, the line seems to blur." Sighing again, she added, "It doesn't help that Mason goes out of his way to rile him up. That, plus the new location, plus the chance to see his father fighting, and I mean really fighting... Well, it's no wonder he's over-stimulated."

"He does seem to have it in for Rash doesn't he?" Kat commented, "And I thought he would've grown out if that by now."

"I think I know what the problem is," Pi sighed. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she remarked, "I think my father is up to something with Mason and Pan, it seems he's getting jealous of the time Pan spends with the twins; specifically, Rash."

"Well, I don't think that's the full story, but it's probably part of it," Videl replied, running her finger around the lip of her empty teacup. "For now, at least, they're all just friends, so we shouldn't push the issue in either direction, or we'll just make it awkward for all involved."

"Since when were you so good at giving parenting advice 'Del?" Pi grinned, "Why, I distinctly remember you coming to us for help when you found out you were pregnant, trying to learn everything we'd picked up from looking after the twins."

"So I was a little nervous; I was hardly the first mother-to-be to feel like that," Videl shrugged. "In any case, I know my daughter. She likes Mason because 'he's funny', but he also has a habit of getting on her nerves when he starts bossing everyone around. And Rash, well, I know she finds him fun to play with, what with their constant scuffles, but he does have a frequent habit of taking things too far." Shrugging slightly as Pi nodded at the younger woman's assessment of the two, Videl added, "In any case, there's no reason to get paranoid about silly matchmaking; Pan's way too young to worry about that."

Pi just grinned, shrugging helplessly. "This is my dad we're talking about here 'Del, you of all people should know how much of a sly manipulator he is, little miss 'I'm only borrowing the Dragon Ba-"

Blushing furiously, Videl steamrolled her words with, "Okay, okay I get it, but really, it's harmless for now. I'm sure they'll all grow out of it later maybe once they mature up some, but until then let's just leave it at that. I mean, it's not like you worried about that sort of thing when you were Pan's age did you?"

"No," Pi replied with a slight shake of her head, "Not really. Not until I turned ten, and our parents decided that whenever I slept over at Kaen's house I was to sleep in his bed. With him."

Videl opened her mouth to say something, quite possibly a derogatory remark about the other woman's parentage, before she was interrupted by Kat giggling to herself. When the redhead noticed she had the attention of both of the other women, she grinned and remarked, "I just realised, Rash and Tama's names were really prophetic weren't that? Rash is always hasty, and Tama is tamer." Giggling again, she added, "Oh Pi, why did you ever select those names?"

"I'll be honest with you," Pi replied, "We never once stopped to consider how their names might translate into Common; I mean, they're proper Saiyan names, that just happen to have a Common word spelt the same, or similar, that seems to describe their personality." She sighed, "I swear, Rash inherited both my temper and Kaen's."

"Poor kid," Videl remarked dryly.

Half-shrugging, Pi commented, "There was another reason we chose those name." A wistful smile flitting across her face, she added, "They were the names of our children in another life."

-Oh you don't even feel the pain-
-You don't even feel the pain-
-Oh, I'm going to extremes-

There was absolute silence in the arena as the two finalists stared each other down. Smirking, Kaen flourished out an exaggerated bow, remarking, "So, here we are again Gohan."

Gohan just smirked back, returning the mock bow. "So it would seem."

"Rules?"

"Hold nothing back."

Kaen's grin turned feral. "I like it. Simple, easy to remember. Together then?"

"On three. One... Two... Three!"

With a pair of wordless screams, an aura burst into life around each power, a veritable maelstrom of wind whipping up out of nowhere as the two dragged every ounce of power to the surface. Thick black storm clouds filled the sky, drawn to the intense aurora of blue, red, and gold. The audience watched in hushed awe as the two Saiyan powerhouses assumed their true battle forms, Capsule Corp brand energy shields snapping into place around the arena walls; they wouldn't protect against a straight shot for long, sure, but it would be long enough for the audience to flee.

As the winds settled, and the two Saiyans reached their respective plateaus, Gohan quirked an eyebrow as he observed his opponent, the younger Saiyan's short golden forelock flicking in front of his face in the wind. "Well, this is... interesting."

Kaen just smirked, running a hand through his mass of crimson hair. "This is Fate. It's time to settle, once and for all, who is the stronger: New Blood, or Pure Blood."

Grinning, Gohan dropped into his fighting stance, quipping, "You really think that debate will be settled here?"

"No," Kaen replied, slipping into his own stance with a grin of his own, "But it'll be fun to try."

"That it will old friend, that it will."

The gong sounded, and all Hell broke loose.

-You don't even feel the pain-

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Author's notes:

[1] - This quote comes from 'A Starship Destiny', the lesser of the two web comics on Squidi-dot-net, back in the day. I've been waiting for an excuse to use it for ages.

[2] - The time listed here is actually the exact time between when I finished writing Disturbance chapter 1 (Sons of Plunder) and when I wrote that line. When I'd first planned out that scene, I'd always intended on the age difference being exactly how long it had been from start to finish. However, by the time I thought to look, I couldn't find the exact start time, and I didn't feel like modifying the finishing time to include both the scenes after, and further edits for grammatical purposes, so... A compromise.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure how well the song fits this chapter, but I'd selected this song for this chapter ages ago, and I couldn't really care enough to try and find a more fitting one. If anyone knows of a song they think would fit better, they're free to let me know. I mean, I might not bother changing it, but it'd be nice to know anyway.

Well, that's it, this story is finally complete. It took me a handful of days shy of three full years to write, but now it's over, meaning I'll be able to give my full attention to writing Shades of Grey. Well, assuming I don't decide to start another story in the mean time.

For those who didn't notice, I actually uploaded three chapters at once, this being the third, so if you missed them, this chapter may not fit in particularly well.