Crossroads

Chapter 3

It was past one in the afternoon when they called for the second round to commence and explained that the subcategories of color no longer applied. This time they would fight, again in free-for-all-style, 150 to a platform, on all ten platforms until the last remaining 30 fighters per ring are tallied, and only then will they be allowed to proceed. Still no ki techniques would be accepted, and there is one kicker: this fight will be timed. They will have 90 minutes to knock out as many opponents as they can. The mediators would be watching and counting. If, in the event one platform held 10 Saiyans and one held 40 at the end of the time, the regulators would allow it. So, essentially, it's a true "last-man-standing" type of fight. The numbers simply had to match 300 and the fighters simply had to follow the rules and win. Nothing else mattered.

The battle had already begun by the time Raditz got the time to ask his father if he still thought this whole thing was a little odd.

Bardock glanced at his son and gave a look of affirmation, but neither of them said anything else to one another about it. Not in this crowd. It was difficult to tell who was working for the castle and who wasn't, and some of the remaining spectators didn't even have any ties to the fighters, they were simply there to see a good show.

"Goku!" A young man called out from across the way. Raditz turned to see who it was, but as he ran up Raditz didn't recognize him and he looked him up and down defensively. It wasn't until Bardock turned around that the person realized he wasn't who he thought, and he apologized.

"Ah, don't worry about it- happens sometimes back home- Goku's my son..." Bardock replied and the kid nodded back as Bardock asked, "How do you know him?" Raditz put his hands on his hips as he listened to the young man talk, wondering the same.

"We were in the army together! Is he here? I bet he's joined to competition, hasn't he?" the young man smiled, "Not many of us heard about the opportunity in time, but Goku loved the army and he's one hell of a fighter. I certainly don't have the guts he does though."

Bardock told him that Goku was indeed fighting and pointed to the stage he's currently on. "Did you want to stay and say hello to him?"

"If I get the chance I will! I have an older brother," he pointed to a different platform, "who is also competing. We'll just have to see how it goes! I'll text him either way! Nice talking to you!" and with that he ran off.

Raditz crossed his arms and huffed and thought about how widely spread the Saiyans that Goku knows must be by now. He hadn't thought about the fact that other army brats might be in this competition and it seems his whole family does a good job of making a name for themselves. He turned his focus to the fights.

Goku was holding his own quite well on his plateau, but he was getting knocked around more than Raditz would have liked to see, but not more than he would have guessed. Still, he hadn't fallen off, yet, and he certainly wasn't giving up. Men and women alike seemed to be thrown off the platform at least twice a minute. The spectacle went on, and time seemed to fly.

The PA voice came over them again and explained that there were only 30 minutes remaining and that they would give a 5-minute warning. There had to be less than half of how many had started left, but that was still a good amount of Saiyans, and the fighters on the platforms amped it up tenfold, desperately trying to make their mark and secure their place. It was like watching a better visible rerun of what had gone on before, and each fighter was more resilient than the last.

Goku was not backing down, but he also wasn't exactly giving it everything he had. By now, someone had busted his left eyebrow, and his legs were sore like hell from being kicked and his own quick maneuvers, but he knew better than to let it get to him. He eyed everyone who swung at him and reverted to defensive strikes more than offensive blows.