"Dam!? Am I this unlucky?," Alaric mumbled. "Well honestly, I'm just glad I didn't get Goku or Krillin this early."
"Hmph. A worthless Turtle School brat," Tao Pai Pai sneered. "I'll deal with you first, then clean up the rest."
Alaric returned the glare without flinching. This wasn't just a match. It was a battle to defend his school's honor.
"Don't waste your breath. Let's settle this."
"Haha! Eager to die, are we?"
Tao Pai Pai lunged with a growl, blurring forward in a streak of speed. Alaric barely had time to brace before their fists collided mid-air, a sharp crack echoed across the ring, followed by a gust of wind that kicked up dust all around them.
Alaric skidded back a few feet, the impact ringing through his bones. This was it, his first real fight. He grinned, letting his ki settle and rise again like a steady flame. He wasn't afraid, he was ready.
Instead of committing to a fixed stance, Alaric moved between forms: a Crane strike here, a Turtle block there, even a bit of his own unorthodox style. He was adapting with every clash, testing his own growth and keeping Tao Pai Pai guessing.
"You little punk," Tao spat. "Is that all you've got?"
"Just getting started," Alaric shot back with a smirk.
Tao jumped back and raised two fingers, a telltale sign.
Alaric's eyes sharpened. 'Dodonpa incoming.'
"You'll regret that. I'll end this now!" Tao shouted, his fingers glowing as he locked on.
But Alaric wasn't about to give him the chance.
"Solar Flare!"
He thrust two fingers toward the sky. A blinding surge of light exploded outward like a miniature sun, bathing the entire arena in white. The crowd gasped and shielded their eyes. Tao Pai Pai shrieked, staggering back, temporarily blinded.
Alaric didn't waste a moment. He shot forward like a bullet, his fists blurring into motion. One crushing punch to the gut, boom! Tao doubled over.
Another, crack!, to the ribs.
A third to the side of his neck. Then Alaric twisted his body low and launched upward, a clean uppercut that connected squarely with Tao's jaw, launching the assassin into the air with a grunt. But Tao wasn't finished.
Mid-air, Tao snarled and spun, flipping to land on his feet, albeit unsteady. "You dare humiliate me?!" he roared. "I've fought warriors across the world! You're nothing but a child!"
With a furious roar, Tao Pai Pai unleashed a barrage of razor-sharp kicks, each one aimed at his vital part. Alaric parried the first few, ducked under one, and blocked another with his forearm, skidding backward.
Then, Tao's fingers flashed again, another Dodonpa beam, this time fired in close range.
"Too slow!" Alaric shouted. He somersaulted over it, the beam grazing his boot, and twisted in the air.
"Twin Palm Burst!"
He clapped his hands forward, releasing a compressed shockwave of ki that blasted Tao backward.
Tao hit the ground hard, tumbling through the arena and smashing into one of the outer pillars. The structure cracked and crumbled behind him.
Groaning, Tao rose again, but slower now, his shades shattered, his smirk gone.
Alaric stood tall, chest rising and falling, sweat clinging to his brow. "I thought you were an assassin. Was that it?"
"Don't get cocky, brat!" Tao charged again with a flurry of jabs, but Alaric saw it coming. He ducked low and drove a ki-charged elbow into Tao's stomach.
BAM!
Tao's eyes bulged as spit flew from his mouth. Before he could recover, Alaric twisted behind him, raised one palm to the sky, and summoned a blinding sphere of light.
"Solar Flare!"
A second, stronger flash detonated at close range, searing Tao's vision completely.
Then, with a calm breath, Alaric clenched his fist.
"Let me return the favor from earlier."
With explosive speed, he shot forward, one final punch to the chest, empowered by all the ki he could muster.
BOOM.
Tao Pai Pai was launched from the ring like a missile , crashing off the edge of the ring.
Cheers erupted.
"Hey, isn't that the Solar Flare from last year's champion?!"
"Yeah, that was the famous move!"
Even Alaric's senior brothers, Krillin watching from the stands, looked stunned. None of them had seen him pull off the Solar Flare before.
His next opponent stepped into the arena with a casual movement, clad in a baggy outfit and a strange, comically oversized mask. He mumbled to himself as he entered, muttering phrases like, "No one'll recognize me," and "I'm just a background character... yeah, totally forgettable."
Alaric raised an eyebrow. 'Who the hell is this clown?'
But the moment the gong sounded, the masked figure exploded into motion, fast, fluid, heavy-handed.
Alaric was caught off guard as a powerful palm strike nearly crushed his forearm. He slid back, boots scraping across the tiles. His eyes narrowed. 'That weight... that strength... This guy's not some pushover.'
They clashed again.
Fist to forearm. Elbow to knee. A blur of clash erupted in the center of the ring as the crowd gasped. For someone dressed like a walking joke, this guy fought like a warrior.
Alaric ducked under a wild spinning kick and countered with a short-range burst of ki, only for the masked fighter to slap it away like a fly.
"Hmph," the man grunted through his mask. "Too slow."
Now Alaric was grinning. "You're good. Real good."
But as he darted back in, throwing a triple palm combo followed by a low sweep, something clicked.
The movement. The way the guy leaned when throwing hooks. The lazy, half-hearted posture before a sudden devastating burst of speed.
He'd seen this style before, back at Karin Tower.
"...Yajirobe?" Alaric said aloud, squinting.
The masked fighter froze mid-step like he'd been caught stealing food.
"Shh!! Don't say my name out loud!" he hissed, whispering so hard it was practically a scream. "If I lose now, I'll never hear the end of it from Karin!"
Alaric wiped the sweat from his brow, grinning. "Then why not just admit defeat before you embarrass yourself?"
There was a pause.
"…Alright, I surrender," Yajirobe said, raising his hand.
Alaric blinked in disbelief. "You're actually giving up?"
"I'm hungry. You owe me dinner. And don't forget, Master Roshi's still waiting for those treats you promised three years ago."
'Oh right…' Alaric groaned inwardly. He had promised to bring snacks to Master Roshi ages ago.
With Yajirobe out, Alaric faced no real threats in the next few rounds, advancing smoothly to the quarterfinals.
The final eight were: Piccolo, Chi-Chi, Goku, Krillin, Tien, the mysterious fighter known as Shen who defeated Hero, Yamcha, and Alaric.