"Zarek?" Bardock paused, and his eyes softened a little. "I left Earth when he was two. He should be seven now, right?"
"Yeah," Ken said.
"Hard to believe it's been that long," Bardock said quietly.
"I heard your youngest is a real brat," Ken said. "If you don't discipline him properly, I'll do it myself."
"You're right," Bardock said with a serious nod. "Gine probably can't keep him under control."
"And Zarek has already figured out Hakai. That makes him rare talent. If nobody guides him properly and he turns out like Raditz, he's going to suffer for it one day," Ken said.
"Zarek learned Hakai? He's only seven!" Bardock said, stunned.
"It's not that surprising. He's the son of a God of Destruction. Learning Hakai makes sense," Ken replied.
Merus gave a dry little laugh beside him.
That was my line.
"Maybe," Bardock said thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, though, none of the current Gods of Destruction seem to have children, do they?"
"It's extremely hard for a God of Destruction to have children," Ken said, repeating what Merus had told him earlier. "You're an exception."
"Then Zarek being born really is something special," Bardock said. "I understand. I was planning to go back soon anyway, so I'll leave now."
"Good," Ken said with a nod.
After ending the call, Bardock went to speak with Mojito.
"Of course, Bardock," Mojito said. "You really haven't gone home in a long time. You should visit. You could even bring your wife and child to Universe 9's God of Destruction's Planet if you wanted."
"No. I think Earth suits them better," Bardock said, shaking his head.
"Oh my, I was only being polite," Mojito said with a smile.
Bardock went silent.
"I'm leaving," Bardock said, deciding not to continue the conversation.
"Safe travels, Bardock," Mojito said with a small nod.
Purple-red flames flickered around Bardock. In the next moment, he turned into a streak of purple-red light and shot into the sky.
Soon, Bardock broke into space and flew toward Universe 6.
…
Universe 6, Earth, World Martial Arts Tournament.
"O-Out of the ring…" The referee stood frozen for several seconds before finally shouting, "Trunks has fallen out of the ring! Zarek wins!"
The crowd burst into applause.
Zarek walked down from the ring with his arms crossed, looking like a proud little rooster.
"Trunks couldn't beat Zarek even after turning Super Saiyan?" Krillin finally snapped back to his senses.
"I think Trunks was thrown off because Zarek used Hakai," Gohan said.
Vegeta glanced at Gohan.
That sounded much better.
If Trunks had truly lost even after going Super Saiyan, that would have been too painful to accept.
"Gohan's right," Goku said with a nod. "But if they fought seriously, I think Zarek's power is about even with Trunks's Super Saiyan power. It's hard to say who would win."
"Tch!" Vegeta snorted, still not satisfied.
"Zarek really is something," Krillin said, impressed despite himself.
Zarek had already returned to the waiting room.
"Zarek, that was amazing! When did you learn Hakai?" Goten asked curiously.
"Hmph. Something that easy? I saw Vegeta use it once, and that was enough," Zarek said, looking even more smug than before.
"Huh? You learned it just from seeing it?" Goten said, amazed.
"Of course. I'm a genius," Zarek said proudly.
"You really are amazing, Zarek," Goten said. Then he lowered his voice and whispered, "I heard Vegeta took a really long time to learn Hakai."
As they spoke, Trunks walked back in with his head lowered.
"Well, Trunks? Hurry up and call me Dad," Zarek said, stepping over and patting Trunks on the shoulder.
"Zarek, you bastard! What are you talking about?" Trunks snapped, his face turning red with anger.
"Hehe. Wasn't the Hakai I used exactly like your dad's?" Zarek said with a grin.
Trunks stopped talking.
That still doesn't mean I should call you Dad.
"Next, let's move on to the following match!" the referee's voice rang out from the ring.
"My turn." Goten waved and calmly stepped into the ring.
Goten quickly eliminated his opponent.
A few more minutes passed.
At last, the Junior Division final began.
The finalists were naturally Goten and Zarek.
The two of them stood in the ring, with Zarek still wearing that face that made people want to smack him. His chin was lifted high, and he looked far too pleased with himself.
The referee stood between them with the microphone and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Junior Division final is about to begin! Will the champion be Zarek or Goten? Both of them reached the final after overwhelming their opponents. And apparently, these two are family!"
Goten scratched his head awkwardly.
"Let's ask them a few quick questions first." The referee smiled and held the microphone toward Zarek. "Zarek, are the two of you really uncle and nephew?"
"Obviously. Do you even need to ask?" Zarek gave the referee a sideways look.
"How does that relationship work?" the referee asked.
"Are you stupid?" Zarek said irritably. "I'm Goten's dad's younger brother. If he doesn't call me uncle, what else is he supposed to call me?"
The audience burst into laughter.
"Can we start already? You're taking forever," Zarek huffed, clearly annoyed.
"So you're Goku's younger brother!" The referee suddenly understood, then lowered his voice and asked, "Goku is already pretty old, right? Having a little brother at his age… are you half brothers?"
"You forgot to turn off the mic…" Zarek rolled his eyes, suddenly tempted to crush the referee.
"Ah… sorry," the referee said, quickly realizing his mistake.
"Keep talking and I'll throw you out," Zarek threatened.
The referee fell silent.
In Mr. Satan's room, Mr. Satan was enjoying an ice-cold drink when a staff member came in.
"What? There are two incredibly strong kids?" Mr. Satan asked, looking sideways at him.
"You may want to watch if you're interested," the staff member said. "It should be an incredible match. There were originally three kids like that, but one of them was eliminated."
"Well, I guess I have no choice," Mr. Satan said with a helpless sigh. "I'll have to fight the winner anyway."
The referee raised the microphone again. "Now, let's begin the final match! Goten versus Zarek!"
Goten bowed to Zarek.
Zarek accepted the bow with his arms crossed and, once again, did not bow back.
Both of them took their stances.
"Be careful, Goten," Zarek said with a small smile.
"I won't lose to you," Goten said, his expression becoming serious.
"You're my nephew, so I'll go easy on you. I won't treat you the way I treated Trunks," Zarek said, smiling.
"No! Fight me seriously. I don't want you holding back," Goten said stubbornly.
"Nope," Zarek huffed.
Goten went silent.
Mr. Satan had also come outside by then. He stood near the waiting room and looked toward Goten and Zarek in the ring.
"Those two?" Mr. Satan froze slightly. Goten looked strangely familiar to him.
I feel like I've seen that face before.
Was he one of the people who fought Cell back then?
But he's too small.
Is he that person's son?
The match began.
Goten and Zarek rushed at each other, their arms slamming together as both tried to overpower the other.
"Come on, Goten! Try harder!" Zarek said with a grin.
Goten clenched his teeth and pushed more strength into his arms.
"You're not strong enough, Goten." Zarek laughed, then slipped a punch through and struck Goten across the cheek.
Goten winced and quickly countered.
Zarek raised his hand and caught Goten's fist.
The two of them leapt back at almost the same time, flipping several times in midair before landing smoothly in the ring.
A second later, they charged again.
Their next exchange was faster and sharper than the first. Goten kept pressing forward, but Zarek's movements stayed loose and confident, and after several clashes, Zarek found another opening and punched Goten in the face.
Goten slid back and wiped his cheek.
"Well? You're not my match, Goten," Zarek said, growing even more smug.
Goten wiped his cheek and frowned. "I only let those two hits land because you're my uncle."
"Oh? Is that what happened?" Zarek immediately laughed.
"Now I'm going to fight for real," Goten said, then suddenly accelerated.
His fist shot forward and struck Zarek cleanly in the face.
Zarek's eyes widened slightly.
Goten did not stop there. He pushed in with another attack, but Zarek reacted just as fast, vanishing from the spot and reappearing behind him.
Just as Zarek was about to strike, Goten disappeared too.
He reappeared to Zarek's left and snapped a kick toward him.
Zarek had already expected it. He raised his hand and caught the kick.
Then both of them shot into the air.
The fight burst open above the ring, the two boys flashing from one position to the next as their blows cracked through the arena. The crowd could no longer follow each movement clearly. They could only hear the sharp impacts and see the blur of two small figures crossing again and again in midair.
No one spoke.
Even the wind seemed louder than the audience.
Bang!
Goten and Zarek finally met fist to fist, then slowly dropped back down onto the ring.
They faced each other and smiled.
Off to the side, Mr. Satan was terrified. Tears and snot streamed down his face.
This is bad.
They're going to beat me to death.
Videl, watching from another direction, was stunned speechless.
"That's incredible!"
"What an amazing match!"
"They're unbelievable!"
"They were floating in the air again!"
"Do we have any other cameras?" a middle-aged man shouted to his assistant.
"No! Every camera is broken! Even the TV station's cameras stopped working. I have no idea what happened. It's unbelievable!" the assistant said helplessly.
"What a shame. A fight this good, and we can't record it!" the middle-aged man said, full of regret.
After recovering from his own shock, the referee looked delighted.
Goku and the others are still just as amazing as they were back then.
This is the kind of match I wanted to see.
This is what I've been waiting for all these years.
This is what the World Martial Arts Tournament should be.
"Goten, you're not bad. At least you're not embarrassing our family," Zarek said with a smile.
"Hehe. Gohan and Kale taught me a lot of moves," Goten said.
"You make it sound like I never taught you anything," Zarek huffed.
"I learned a lot from you too," Goten said.
"Good. Then how about I teach you a new move?" Zarek suddenly asked.
"What move?" Goten asked curiously.
"Hakai." Zarek grinned.
Goten went silent.
"I don't want to learn that. It's too scary," Goten said, quickly shaking his head.
"Don't say that," Zarek huffed. "Only a God of Destruction can understand this technique."
Zarek lifted his right hand, and a ball of purple-red energy appeared in his palm.
Goten stopped talking.
"What is Zarek doing?" Gohan's face changed. "Is he trying to use Hakai on Goten?"
"He won't," Goku said, gently shaking his head.
Gohan froze slightly and looked at his father.
How can Dad be so sure?
He barely knows Zarek. He doesn't know how hard that brat is to deal with.
"Don't worry. Zarek is mischievous, but he isn't like Raditz," Goku said firmly.
Vegeta's face changed.
Kakarot's little brother can create that much destruction energy so easily?
It took me a long time to gather that much.
Damn it.
Why is a mixed-blood brat better at this than the Saiyan prince?
Vegeta felt deeply wounded again.
"How about it, Goten?" Zarek said with a smile. "This is the Hakai I just learned. It may not look big, but it could easily destroy a sun."
As he spoke, Zarek looked up at the sun.
"Zarek, don't do anything stupid," Goten said, alarmed. "If the sun disappears, we won't have daytime anymore!"
"What? Zarek is going to destroy the sun?" Gohan's face changed again, and he could not help shouting.
"Zarek shouldn't do something like that," Goku said thoughtfully. "He's not like Raditz."
"I hope you're right," Gohan prayed silently.
…
Universe 6, Planet Sadala, the Great Prison.
Raditz sneezed several times in a row.
Raditz froze.
What was that?
Is someone talking about me?
Also, Dad, did you forget something?
Didn't you say you were going to save me?
It's been seven years.
Another seven years, and I'm still locked up here.
And Kakarot, you bastard!
Last time, you came halfway to save me and then ran off.
Why didn't you ever follow up?
At least come visit your own brother once in a while.
You're a terrible younger brother.
Raditz looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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