Vegeta and the rest of his group, now heavy Shin and Kibito, made their way to the changing room, giving Rainbow and Applejack some time to speak with the Supreme Kai, where they had to ask about their parents. From what he heard Shin told them that their father was still sleeping and that their mother was actually busy in the Time Nest, because something was happening and needed her full attention. He actually had to wonder if Chronoa had told Shin the truth or if she had lied, but there was no way for him to determine what the Supreme Kai of Time was doing or even thinking... to which he decided that it was best for the girls to make their own decisions on the information that Shin gave them. Vegeta also noticed that Shin went to great effort to not mention Beerus' name or titles while in the presence of the Z Warriors, which immediately told him that Shin was trying to keep it a secret for as long as he could.
Vegeta had to wonder how long he and the girls could continue to lie to the others about who their father was, because he was sure that Beerus was going to show up someday and reveal himself to them... but for how he simply focused his mind on finding Nappa and his allies, trail them back to wherever Babidi was hiding, and then stop Majin Buu from awakening from his slumber.
When they arrived outside the changing room, however, Rainbow and Applejack bid the group farewell for the moment and headed off to join the group that would be watching the tournament, though the Z Warriors knew that they would be looking for signs of Nappa while they were at it. After the pony girls left Goku finally noticed that Krillin actually had hair on his head, where Krillin had to laugh and tell him that he had stopped shaving his head years ago, though Goku was quick to point out that it had to have been because of 18, causing the pair to blush and say nothing more. Videl was slightly harassed by someone who wanted to take her picture and was clearly madly in love with her, passed on the advances he made, but Videl shot him down and told him to get lost.
Piccolo, on the other hand, knew that the young man was going to be trouble for Gohan in the future, as it appeared that he recognized the 'Great Saiyaman' costume and was likely thinking up a plan to reveal his identity... to which he simply used some of his ki to silently break all the cameras in their area, and he was sure that the ones around the ring were affected as well. He thought it was best if Gohan kept his identity a secret for as long as he could, because he had the feeling that he'd be found out eventually and chose to keep his mouth shut.
Fortunately they didn't have to change most of their clothing, as everyone came prepared to do battle with some sort of enemy, so they were able to move into the actual area where the contestants were gathering... where they discovered a fair amount of people preparing themselves for the preliminaries, as well as someone from Goku's past.
"It's you!" a man, who happened to be wearing a black suit and a pair of sunglasses, exclaimed, to which he walked over to where Goku and his friends were standing, with a smile on his face no less, "Today is going to be a great day, especially since you and your friends have arrived. To tell you the truth I never thought I would actually see you again, not after what happened the last time you attended a tournament, but this is one of those times where I am glad to be mistaken."
"It is good to see you again as well," Goku replied, to which he turned to his friends, as most of them had no idea who the man was and were merely smiling at him, "Guys, this is the announcer for the World Martial Arts Tournament. He was there when I beat Piccolo a few tournaments back and, well, he knows more about ki than the entirety of the contestants."
"Don't worry, I'm not about to rat anyone out," the announcer said, knowing who Piccolo was the moment he laid eyes on him, but when he considered that he was a part of Goku's group he knew that he had to be an ally this time around, "and I already know that it was one of you guys that beat Cell, not Mr. Satan... but again, that will be our little secret. Oh, there is one thing I should mention, please don't destroy the ring this time."
"That won't be a problem this time around," Piccolo commented, knowing exactly what the man was referring to, though at the same time he also marveled about how long it took for them to rebuild everything, "we're saving our ki for someone else... though that does make me ask; has anyone named Nappa registered for the tournament?"
Vegeta glanced over at Piccolo for a moment, knowing that the announcer might know who was in the area around them and could easily tell them whether the bald Saiyan was even here. He would have cursed himself for not thinking about that sooner, but at the same time he had to remember that Nappa was much smarter than he had originally given him credit for. If Nappa was here at the tournament, like they all believed him to be, than he was likely using a false name and some sort of costume... though even as he thought about that he didn't see anyone that fit the body type that Nappa had before his death.
"Sorry, that name doesn't ring any bells," the announcer replied, but he had a look in his eyes that told the group that he would be keeping his eyes and ears open, just in case he found something, "but I will let you know the moment I find anything out."
It was at that point that Mr. Satan walked out of one of the buildings and proclaimed that he would give away free autographs to the first fifty people that approached him, to which the Z Warriors merely laughed and moved away from the entrance they had been standing near. They all patiently waited near one of the walls and kept their eyes open, as they were sure that their enemies were close at hand, while at the same time waiting for the staff to announce what the elimination tests would be this year. Goku already knew that there were too many fighters at the moment, based on the number of people around them, so he was sure that the staff would be cutting their numbers down to the normal sixteen fighters that would take part in the tournament itself... though seeing how Mr. Satan was the champ it was more like only fifteen of them would make it.
Goku's thoughts were interrupted as Shin tugged on both his arm and Vegeta's arm, to which the two of them glanced over at the entrance, as they had been the only ones to take their eyes off of it for a few seconds... though a few seconds later two men, matching the description Shin gave them earlier, walked into the area.
"That's them," Shin said, lowering his voice so only the Z Warriors could hear him, though at the same time they all watched as the two fighters walked over to an area where they could be left alone and patiently wait for the preliminaries to get started, "Yamu and Spopovich."
"Babidi's minions." Kibito commented, though not a few seconds later he turned his head back to the entrance, where he noticed that the last fighter had arrived, "And it seems that Mighty Mask, the last fighter to arrive for the tournament, is making his entrance as well."
Vegeta glanced over at the fighter known as Mighty Mask, who stood as tall as Nappa and possessed muscles that could have rivaled the ones that the bald Saiyan had, walked into the area and stopped when he came parallel to where their group was standing. Vegeta watched as the fighter turned in their direction and stared at them, though he noticed that the fighter's eyes burned with an intense hatred, which seemed out of place with all of the fighters that were around them. A few seconds later Mighty Mask turned his head forward and kept moving, to which he walked away from where the Z Warriors were and came to a stop near the two men they had been looking for... which caused the group to raise some eyebrows.
"Is it possible that Mighty Mask is in league with Babidi's minions?" Piccolo asked, because that would make things a little harder for them, if there were three enemies instead of two, but he knew that it was better than finding out that Nappa was here.
"As long as there is evil in your heart, Babidi can exploit it, and that person, for his own gain," Shin commented, knowing that the last thing the Z Warriors needed to hear was the possibility that Nappa might be in league with the person that was trying to awaken Majin Buu, "Mighty Mask's skin tone is slightly lighter than Yamu's and Spopovich's skin, and, from what little we can see, it doesn't appear that he has the same veins as they do. It is possible that this is a random accident, where he's stopping next to someone he knows... but until we know more we cannot ignore the possibility."
"Just looking at him is pissing me off," Vegeta said, taking some deep breaths while he looked away from Mighty Mask, as he knew that there was no way the fighter could be the bald Saiyan, "His body type nearly matches Nappa's body... and all that is doing is making my anger resurface again."
"Attention everyone," a voice said, to which all of the fighters turned their attention to the trio of men that had walked out of the same building that Mr. Satan had disappeared into a few moments ago, "we will now begin the elimination process. With the exception of the Junior Division, there are one hundred and ninety-four people signed up for the tournament this year. Of those people only sixteen will be able to enter the tournament itself, and one of those sixteen will be the World Champion, Mr. Satan. This year we will use a punching machine to determine who gets to take the remaining fifteen spots and enter the tournament... and Mr. Satan has agreed to demonstrate how the machine works, for those that are unfamiliar with the machine."
It was at that point that Mr. Satan emerged from the building he had disappeared into, raised a hand to his neck, and undid the cloak he had been wearing, to which he tossed it behind him and raised his championship belt into the air, causing his fans to cheer him on. Before he punched the machine, and demonstrated how it worked, he declared that the people could take as many pictures as they wanted, to which a number of people raised their cameras and started to position themselves. Piccolo, on the other hand, repeated the process he had used earlier and damaged all of the cameras that were around them, as well as making sure that it truly extended to the ones in the arena. The Z Warriors knew that it was so they could get the show on the road and find their enemies quicker, so they said nothing and waited for Mr. Satan to do what he had come to do.
Without the cameras to capture what he was about to do, and with nothing else to do, Mr. Satan approached the punching machine and prepared himself... though a few seconds later he slammed his fist into the machine, which came up with a score of 137. With that done Mr. Satan walked back towards the building and declared that everyone should do their best, because he was waiting for a good challenger to come his way, before he disappeared. Once Mr. Satan was gone the trio of men started going over how the eliminations were going to work, as they would pull out a number and line up according to the number they had pulled. One of them told the kids that had signed up for the Junior Division should gather near him, indicating that they would be starting their tournament soon... to which Goten and Trunks told everyone to be careful as they followed the other kids to the area they were supposed to be gathering in.
Luck wasn't on their side for drawing numbers, as 18 was the first one of them to actually punch the machine and she had pulled number 84 from the container, though she did pull her strength back in order to make a more reasonable score, which ended up being 203... which shocked the staff members. Krillin, who was right after his wife, ended up getting 192 for his score, while Goku came up behind him in the number he had pulled and scored 186. Piccolo, having drawn number 87, scored 210 on the punching machine, which seemed to concern the people that were writing everything down, and Vegeta matched him by scoring the exact same thing. Shin was three numbers behind Vegeta and Kibito was right behind him, though they both scored 196's on their punches, which meant that they were safe as well.
Yamu was two numbers behind Kibito, with Spopovich being right behind him, though they both scored perfect 200's when they took their turn on the machine, though the Z Warriors raised their eyebrows as Mighty Mask approached the machine. At this point none of them were sure whether he was a minion of Babidi's or some random stranger, to which they watched as the man raised his first into the air and slammed it into the machine... to which the machine blew apart before their eyes, much to the shock of the staff members, who proclaimed that he had to have gotten incredibly strong since the last tournament. That also meant that they would have to ready the second punching machine, which left Gohan and Videl as the only members of their group that would have to wait for their turn... and that meant that they were likely going to miss the majority of the Junior Division by the time they got to the replacement machine.
The group bid the two unlucky fighters farewell for the moment and headed to the spectator stands, where they found their way to the section that their families were sitting in and stood at the top area of the seats, where they would have a better view of the action. As they settled down to watch the Junior Division, however, Rainbow and Applejack walked up to where they were standing, knowing that something had to have happened based on the expression that was on Vegeta's face.
"What happened in the elimination round?" Applejack asked, because she and her sister knew that it had to have been important to piss off their best friend like this.
"Mighty Mask shattered the punching machine with a single punch," Kibito replied, though at the same time he noticed that Rainbow was trying to sooth Vegeta's anger, which seemed to be working at the moment, "Either he is a mortal warrior that has gotten much stronger since the last tournament, or he's Nappa in disguise and couldn't resist showing us that he's improved."
"But if Nappa is pretending to be Mighty Mask, wouldn't doing something like that blow his cover?" Rainbow inquired, as they all knew that the evil Saiyan was much smarter than they had originally thought and knew that this wasn't something he would have done.
"Maybe doing something like that was intentional to make us think that it isn't him," Shin commented, but at the same time he glanced down at the arena in front of them, knowing that one wrong move could easily bring Babidi closer to releasing Majin Buu, "Unfortunately we're just guessing at the moment, so we should focus on the enemies that we know about; Yamu and Spopovich. They'll lead us to Babidi... and then we can stop Majin Buu from being revived."
Before anyone could say anything else the announcer they had bumped into earlier walked out of the building that the fighters gathered in, tapped his microphone for a moment, and then started talking, to which he announced that the reopening of the tournament was about to begin at last. He told them that the kids that had signed up for the Junior Division, all of which were under fifteen years old, would be competing for victory first, allowing those competing in the Senior Division to finish the preliminaries. Once the Junior Division was over, however, they would determine who the fifteen chosen competitors would be and call them up to determine the order of the Senior Division... which was what the Z Warriors were waiting for, as that was when Babidi's minions would likely make their move.
The announcer also explained that the winner of the Junior Division would also get a chance to fight with Mr. Satan as a special prize, which made the group sigh for a moment, as they all knew that the man would be biting off more than he could chew, as either Goten or Trunks would be the winner of this division. When Mr. Satan came out of the building, and hurt himself when he jumped onto the stage, he brushed it off as a joke, to which his fans in the stands cheered him on, though the Z Warriors simply tuned him out as they looked around for any signs of their targets. They found that Yamu and Spopovich were resting in the shade, keeping their eyes on the ring, while Mighty Mask seemed to be doing the same thing on the other side of the ring.
Vegeta, for some reason, found himself compelled to watch Mighty Mask more than the two minions they knew about, because there was something about him that screamed that he was the evil Saiyan in disguise... though his friends let him watch the masked fighter, just in case his suspicions were right.
Instead of starting the Junior Division, however, the announcer explained that there was something that the people who put the tournament together wanted them to see, to which a blimp moved into the area and positioned itself so that everyone could see the screen that was the side of it. What they ended up seeing was a recreation of the Cell Games, with people wearing heads that resembled Cell and the Z Warriors, where Cell easily defeated everyone and proclaimed himself as the winner. That was when Mr. Satan moved in and dispatched all of Cell's 'tricks' and brought him down, though the Z Warriors decided not to pay too much attention too it... especially when neither Rainbow, Applejack, or the future Gale were even mentioned, nor were their powers.
When the movie was over, and Mr. Satan had disappeared while everyone was distracted, the announcer got the Junior Division underway and explained that the rules were the same as the Senior Division... where the first match was between a kid named Bart and another kid named Peppero. Nothing exciting happened during the matches, not until Trunks and his opponent Idasa were called into the area, though as they walked onto the ring the group noticed that something must have happened in the waiting room, because Trunks looked annoyed about something. They were sure that Idasa had done something to annoy him, but at the same time they hoped that Trunks could contain himself until it was time to follow their enemies to where Babidi was hiding.
When the announcer declared that they could start Trunks let his opponent move first, to which Idasa started throwing punches at him, going as fast as his arms would allow him to, while at the same time Trunks used his arms to block the attacks and made no effort to hit his foe yet. Trunks did the smart thing and forced his opponent to follow him towards the edge of the ring, though when they got close to the edge Trunks rolled under Idasa's body, sprung up behind him, and kicked him in the back... knocking him out of the ring and causing the crowd to cheer as Idasa looked confused over what had just happened.
The less exciting battles continued for a few minutes before they came to Goten's fight, as he was up against a kid named Ikose, who appeared to be Idasa's younger brother. Goten, despite having fought the Saiyans of Asgard and had many of them as spectators, seemed nervous about fighting someone that wasn't Trunks or Gale, though at the same time Chi Chi and the others cheered him on. When the announcer called for them to start the match, however, Goten bowed to his opponent and waited for Ikose to come at him, to which he started blocking the punches and kicks that were coming his way. The battle went the same way that Trunks' battle went, with Goten pulling his foe back towards the edge of the ring, but Ikose seemed to be smarter than his brother... but Goten managed to deliver a punch to his chest and knocked him out, allowing him to claim victory.
With Ikose defeated, and Goten bowed to him, the announcer proclaimed Goten's victory and got the matches going again, though they waited for a few minutes to collect Ikose and take him to the infirmary. From that point on the matches proceeded as the Z Warriors expected them to, where Trunks and Goten, who were actually fighting on the level of their opponents, won their matches after knocking out or ringing out their opponents. Eventually the two of them reached the final level of the Junior Division, which was what they had been expecting the entire time they had been fighting the other kids, though they waited for the announcer to tell them to start before they even moved.
"Remember what our fathers told us earlier," Trunks said, lowering himself into his battle stance, which Goten mimicked a few seconds later, "No ki attacks, no flying in the air, and make sure you don't turn Super Saiyan."
"Yeah, I remember." Goten replied, though at the same time he smiled, because despite the fact that they couldn't show their true power they would put on quite a show for everyone.
The instant the announcer declared that the final round of the Junior Division was starting the two of them charged at each other, where they swung their right arms at each other and tried to push the other back. A few seconds later Trunks pushed Goten back a little more and used the change to his advantage, to which the two of them started throwing punches at each other, though some were purely for attacks and some were purely for defense. They did that for a few seconds before they pushed each other back, where they immediately raced back towards each other and resumed throwing punches... while at the same time making sure that they didn't go into the air.
Eventually the two of them managed to actually punch each other square in the jaw, to which they staggered back for a few seconds before resuming the fight... while at the same time they both noticed that Gohan and Videl were running up to where the rest of the fighters in their group were standing. They then separated and charged at each other again, though that was when they both started using the afterimage technique they had learned to avoid taking hits and moved around each other. A few moments later Goten tried to trap Trunks' arms behind his back and force him to yield, though Trunks slammed the back of his head into his friend and separated them once more... to which they backed away from the middle of the ring and stared at each other.
After a few seconds they charged at each other and slammed their fists into the others face, to which they resumed throwing punches at each other, where they stunned the spectators by their speed and endurance. They continued with the pattern that they had established so far, hitting each other and backing away before dancing around the area and charging forward again. The spectators seemed pleased with what they were seeing, as they heard the people cheering them on, though they paused for a few seconds and made it appear that they were taking a breather before they continued their match.
"They're staring at us," Trunks commented, as he didn't need to look behind him to know that Yamu and Spopovich were staring at him, though as he looked passed his friend he noticed something else, "and so is Mighty Mask."
"I noticed." Goten replied, huffing for a moment, though at the same time he already knew that their fathers and their friends had already noticed what the three of them were doing, "So, how do we finish this?"
"Like we did with our earlier opponents," Trunks said, to which the two of them smiled for a few seconds, as they knew how to end this fight where the two of them would be satisfied, "with a ring out."
Goten nodded as the two of them charged back at each other and slammed their fists into the others face, knocking both of them back a few steps, to which they rubbed their faces and resumed the match. They then repeated their earlier pattern they had used, though this time they added in moving closer to the edges of the ring, trying to force the other off so they could bring an end to the match. The end of the match came when they neared the edge of the ring, closer than they had been before, and Trunks tripped Goten before kicking him out of the ring... to which the announcer declared him the winner, where he hopped out and helped his friend back to his feet.
As Trunks and Goten did that, however, they both noticed that Yamu and Spopovich were walking out of the area they had been sitting in... as well as Mighty Mask. The two of them found it odd that the three people would move at the same time like that, which meant that there had to be something between them that none of their group knew about. As the announcer declared what Trunks had won, and the special event match with Mr. Satan among them, Trunks and Goten watched the trio disappear into the building they had been waiting in earlier... knowing that they had to be planning something bad.
"Nappa-sama, might I suggest we go someplace else for the energy?" Yamu asked, as he knew to use their companion's name when none of the people he was trying to hide from were in the area around them, while at the same time looking at something that was hiding in his bag, "At the rate this is going we won't be able to get any pure energy from any of the contestants."
"Those kids were smarter than I imagined, I'll give them that." Nappa commented, as he was actually surprised to find that neither of the two kids, who appeared to be spitting images of their fathers, had been able to hide their energies so well, "But in the Senior Division we'll be able to force our targets to reveal their energy for us... and if we can grab the energy of just one of them, as they all have pure hearts, we should be able to get a good amount of energy. With just one of them we should be able to cover half of the amount that Majin Buu needs to awaken, though I would have enjoyed taking the energy of either Rainbow Dash or Applejack."
"Why them?" Yamu inquired, though at the same time Spopovich grunted for a second, echoing his partner's question, as the power that their master had given them made it harder for the brute of a man to speak.
"I felt their power years ago, when they brought about my death." Nappa explained, remembering the day well, as there was something special he had discovered at that moment and never shared it with anyone else, "Both of them are as pure of heart as their Saiyan friends, but their energy is slightly different than the others... so much so that the pure energy of just one of them might be able to awaken Majin Buu completely. Unfortunately we won't be able to get at them at the moment... so we'll just have to wait for the start of the Senior Division and then force the other fighters to reveal their energy to us."
Nappa knew that it would take some doing to make one of the Z Warriors release their power, as they seemed to know that Yamu and Spopovich were here for energy, but he had seen how the one girl was talking with someone that was dressed up as a hero of some kind. He suspected that there might be something between the two of them and was intending on using that connection to his advantage, because if they hurt the girl enough than her friend was bound to reveal what energy he had. One of the Z Warriors was bound to slip up, whether it be because of something they did or whether it was whatever Nappa and his accomplices planned, but either way they would end up at the same ending... the revival of the dreaded Majin Buu.
Nappa grinned as he walked down the hallway they were in, because it was only a matter of time until he ruined everything that Vegeta had built over the years... and he already knew that he was going to enjoy every second of the pain and torment that he inflicted on the prince.