Let The Games Begin

“Welcome to the first annual Z Games!” Yelled the announcer. “I’m your game announcer Mick Luck, and it’s a beautiful day to play the games! Now, let’s meet our contestants! Once introduced, I’ll announce the teams the judges have made!” He turned on the makeshift stage and held out his arm to the right. “Now, for the contestants! First is the well known Goku and his son Gohan!” Goku and Gohan walked up onto the stage, waving to the crowd. “Next up are Tien, Piccolo, and Yamcha!” The three walk out. “Let’s not forget Krillin, Trunks, and Vegeta!” Krillin walks up the stage stairs with a big grin on his face followed by Trunks, and Vegeta follows with his eyes closed and arms crossed. The announcer begins again after the crowd calms down. “Now, for the villains! First we have Cell and Cell Jr.!” Cell comes out with a half grin, and Cell Jr. following close behind. “Next up are Frieza and his father King Cold! And also included are Androids 17 and 18!” All four walk out. “I thought I was considered a good guy now,” 18 asked. All the contestants are lined up in a straight line across the stage. The crowd is cheering. The announcer turns to the crowd again. “Now! Let’s read off the teams!!” He takes out an envelope from his jacket pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. He looks over it before reading it. “Come on already!” Cell yelled. “Hold your horses.” Mick cleared his throat. “Team number one is as follows: Goku, Piccolo, Yamcha, Cell, Android 17, King Cold, and Vegeta!” The seven look at each other…some liked their teammates others despised them. “Are you sure I’m on the same team as Kakkarot and Cell!?” Questioned Vegeta. “I’m positive,” Mick replied. “Hey Vegeta, looks like you and I are buddies for this one!” Goku laughed. Vegeta said something under his breath. Clearing his throat again, Mick yelled into the microphone, “And for team two: Tien, Krillin, Frieza, Cell Jr., Trunks, Gohan, and Android 18! And those are the teams folks!” “Haven’t you ever heard of ladies first?” Snickered 18. Cell Jr. giggled. “What are you laughing at you little freak,” 18 asked. The teams gathered, and tied a ribbon around their right arm. The blue ribbon represented team one and the red ribbon represented team two. “Now let’s here the rules!” Mick held out another piece of paper. “For these games there is absolutely no energy blasts, flying, or any other kind of fighting.” “That’s no fun,” Frieza commented. “If you violate these rules,” Mick continued, “you’ll be disqualified, and your team loses a game win! So its in your best interest to follow the rules!” “A whole game win!” 17 yelled in disagreement. “At the beginning of each game, I will announce that particular game’s own rules, though the rules I have already mention go for all games. Now, let the games begin! The first game to be played is softball!” “Softball?” King Cold repeated. The teams gathered at the softball field. “Team two won the coin toss, so they’re batting first!” Mick explained the basic rules of the game for those that didn’t know. Team two sat in the dugout and team one argued over what position they were playing. Trunks was first up to bat. He stretched out while Piccolo turned the ball in his hand; he was the pitcher. At first base was Cell, 17 was at second base, and King Cold was at third. Yamcha and Goku were in the outfield, and Vegeta was the catcher. Trunks came to the plate and held his bat in position. Piccolo smiled and got ready to pitch the first ball. “Try to hit this one,” he said. Trunks only smiled. Piccolo released at super fastball. Trunks swung and the ball went flying into the air. “I’ve got it!” Goku yelled looking up. The ball landed five feet in front of him. “I don’t got it!” “Kakkarot! Get the stupid ball!” Vegeta yelled from behind his mask. Goku scooped up the ball and threw it to third base as Trunks ran by. King Cold managed to catch the ball and ran after Trunks to tag him. However, Trunks made it home, scoring for team two. “That was just luck,” King Cold frowned. “Next time throw the ball to me!” Vegeta snapped. Batting second was Android 18. She walked up slowly to the plate. Piccolo laughed. “First out,” he said. “That’s what you think,” 18 said back with a smile. The ball was thrown and she swung. The ball went straight out past Piccolo towards second base. 17 dove down and caught the ball, getting the first out. “Traitor!” 18 yelled. “Sorry, sis,” 17 said. “But I intend to win.” Eventually team one was up to bat with the score of 0-8. Frieza pushed the dirt on the pitcher’s mound around with his foot. Android 18 stood at first base, Tien at second, Krillin at third, and Trunks as the catcher. In the outfield were Gohan and Cell Jr. Cell came up to bat first. He smiled. “I can see a homerun coming up,” he said. “Sure you do,” Frieza replied, getting ready to pitch the ball. “Let’s see you try.” He pitched a curve ball to Cell, which went over Cell’s head. Cell started laughing hysterically. “Shut your mouth!” Frieza yelled. It wasn’t long before Cell ended up on first base after Frieza pitched four balls. Vegeta was next up to bat. He smiled as he held the bat up. “Let’s go, Frieza.” Frieza threw the ball out of the batter’s box, and Vegeta still swung and missed. Cell laughed hysterically once again. “Quiet you!” Vegeta yelled. “You got to first base with luck! I bet you would’ve struck out faster!” “Whatever,” Cell said still laughing. Vegeta was determined to hit the next ball, which he did. However, it went into foul territory. Disgusted, he slammed the bat against the plate. The game finally ended in the ninth inning with a score of 16-23, team two winning. Vegeta had been the only one to strike out. Team two now led 0-1 for the overall game points. “The next game to be played is Badminton! Each team will choose two players to play this game,” Mick announced. Cell and Yamcha were up for team one, and 18 and Frieza played for team two. Mick explained the rules. “And don’t forget players, you can’t hit the birdie too hard, or it’ll go out,” he added. The game started with Cell making the first serve. He noticed a gap between 18 and Frieza. He aimed for that spot, but 18 was able to return the serve. The game went rather smoothly until Frieza hit the net. “Oh it looks like it’s team one’s serve!” Mick said. “Good job, Frieza,” said Cell. “If I make this serve, I win.” “Miss it, miss it,” Frieza chanted. Unfortunately for team two, Cell made the serve perfectly winning the game. The game score was now tied at one. “What a game!” Cried Mick. “Now, we have another full team game. Let’s go to the courts!” The two teams gathered at the basketball courts. After explaining the rules, Mick said, “Okay teams, choose who will jump for the ball.” “I say Cell should jump,” King Cold replied. Hearing this, 18 protested, “That’s not fair! Cell is the tallest player here! No one on our team would be able to jump higher!” “Then its our ball,” Cell said. “The lady has a point,” Mick said. “How about the shortest player on the team jumps for the ball.” Goku started laughing. “Vegeta…that would be you!” “Shut up, Kakkarot…” Vegeta said between his teeth. Vegeta met Cell Jr. in the center of the court to jump for the ball. “Ha!” Vegeta snickered. “This isn’t even worth it.” Cell Jr. stuck out his tongue. The referee threw the ball up between the two. Before Vegeta could react, Cell Jr. had already jumped up and passed the ball to his teammate. “Why you little!” Vegeta yelled. Cell Jr. stuck his tongue out again as he ran down the court. The game went on without any major problems. Tien was dropping threes every time the ball got into his hands. Piccolo, Cell, and King Cold had made some dunks. 17 was always challenging Cell Jr. when they raced down the court. Goku was trying to play fancy, but wasn’t too successful. The final score was 102-101; team one winning. The next game would prove to be a little bit more of a challenge. Tug-of-war. The teams lined up from shortest to tallest, shortest being right in front of the mud. Before they started, Vegeta said, “You people better not let go! If you do I’ll blast you all!” “What’s the matter, Vegeta?” Yamcha asked. “Afraid to get mud in your eye?” “I think that’s an appropriate spot for you,” Cell commented. “I think we should line up from tallest to shortest,” Vegeta said with an evil grin. On the other side of the mud pool, Frieza was looking over at the mud. “At least I’m not the shortest,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are or not,” Gohan said. “Everyone ends up in the mud. The person in front just has everyone else falling on top of him.” “Wonderful,” Cell Jr. said. The two teams lined up and took a hold of the rope. The referee positioned the teams so the scarf tied around the middle of the rope was directly in the center above the mud pool. He stepped back and blew his whistle. The two teams pulled as hard as they could. Team two started pulling team one a little closer to the mud. Vegeta’s hair started changing from black to blond, but he remembered the rules, no powering up. He didn’t want to be disqualified, for it would ruin his pride. Cell decided that he’d had enough. He started using all of his strength to pull the other team into the mud. His teammates followed his lead and pulled as hard as they could. Cell Jr. was centimeters away from falling into the mud. He tried to stop himself from falling in. Then he started pulling as hard as he could, which was almost the same amount Cell had. He started walking backwards, pulling team one closer to the mud. His teammates realized that they were regaining their chance of winning. Then it dawned on 18. If they lost, she’d fall into the mud and her clothes would be a total mess. She pulled harder than any of the other members of her team did. Vegeta had let go of the rope and tried to balance himself, but it was no use. He landed, face first, in the mud. The others landed on top or next to him. Vegeta cried out and tried sitting up. Cell, (who was on top), slid off the pile and fell on his back. 17 was on top of Vegeta, and every time he tried to get up, he slid back down. “Get off!” Vegeta yelled. He pushed 17 off and started to get up. At the same time, Goku was just getting to his feet when he slid on the mud and fell down on top of Vegeta. “Kakarrot!” “Oops, sorry Vegeta,” Goku said. The winning team was standing in front of the mud pool, laughing as hard as they possibly could. Frieza had his knees bent and was pointing his finger at Vegeta, whose face was completely covered with mud. “Look at you! The prince in the mud!” He laughed. Vegeta was furious. He splashed mud in Frieza’s face. Vegeta started laughing. “That’s what you needed! I can finally look at you without that throwing up feeling!” “How dare you!” Frieza yelled. Cell Jr. laid on his back, laughing, and pointing his finger. Frieza kicked him into the pool. “Hey!” Cell Jr. yelled. “Ladies and gentlemen, team two has won the tug-of-war! The currant games’ score is 9-9! The next and final game will determine the winner of the Z games!” Mick announced. The teams gathered at the starting line of an obstacle course. “You have got to be kidding me,” Vegeta said. “Awe, come on Vegeta,” Goku said. “This’ll be fun!” “For who?” Vegeta said crossing his arms. “This looks like fun,” 17 said. “Who’s going to race it?” Gohan asked. “Okay contestants! Here’s what you’ve got to do,” Mick said. “Every team member will participate in the obstacle course. Everybody has been assigned to a certain place.” “We can’t pick our own place?” King Cold asked. “No,” replied Mick. “Now each member will run through their particular part of the course carrying a baton. When you finish your part of the course, you’ll pass the baton to your teammate who’ll be waiting at their spot. The last person will go to the finish line and their team will be declared the winner of the Z Games. Does everybody understand what they need to do?” Everyone nodded. “Okay then, the chart is on the pole over there. That’ll tell you the spot of the course you’ve been assigned.” The group scurried over to the pole. They looked at it in search of their names. “I can’t find my name,” Cell Jr. said looking over Cell’s shoulder. “I have to swim?!” Vegeta declared. “Maybe you can wash off some of that mud,” Cell snickered. “Shut your trap, Cell,” Vegeta said back at him. “Contestants! Take your places!” Mick yelled into the microphone. They all found their appropriate spot, and waited. Piccolo and Gohan were at the starting line. They were each handed a baton and they got ready to start. The two smiled at the other and prepared. The signal sounded and the two took off like a rocket. They both entered at narrow path with wooden walls on both sides. Both Piccolo and Gohan exited the path at the same time, heading for the logs in front of them. They jumped over them and had to run a little farther to get to their waiting teammate. Piccolo reached out and passed the baton to Goku, and Gohan passed his baton to Krillin. Goku and Krillin ran as fast as they could to the balancing beams that lay over another pool of mud. They both carefully walked on the beam, trying not to fall in. Krillin was paying more attention to Goku getting ahead than he was watching what he was doing. His foot missed the beam and he fell into the mud below. Goku stopped and started laughing. He heard someone yelling for him to keep going so he left Krillin, who was getting up. Next came narrow trenches filled with water that they were to jump over. At the last trench, the next teammate was waiting. Goku leaped forward passing the baton to Yamcha, then landing on the ground. The waiting Tien waved Krillin on, and finally the baton was passed. Yamcha ran as fast as he could and came up to a wooden wall about twenty feet tall. He placed his foot on a notch and started climbing up. He looked back down to see Tien not far behind. The two continued to climb and once the reached the top, they had to climb over and make their way down until they could jump. Soon after jumping from the wall, they came to a long pipe-like tunnel. They got down on their stomachs and started crawling through the tunnels. Tien had gained speed and was the first one out of the tunnel. Yamcha darted out after him. Tien reached out and passed his baton to Trunks, who took off as soon as the baton touched his hand. “Hurry up, human!” Vegeta yelled. Yamcha passed the baton to Vegeta who took off like a rocket after Trunks. The two came to a large pool of water. They both dove in and started swimming to the other side. Trunks wasn’t paying any attention to his father, but Vegeta kept looking over to see where his son was. As Trunks was climbing out of the pool, Vegeta had just touched the edge and jumped out ahead of Trunks. They both ran up to a large ball that they were to roll down to their waiting teammates. Vegeta and Trunks rolled the ball like mad, Vegeta determined not to be beaten. At the same time the two reached their goal and passed on their batons. Now it was King Cold for team one and Frieza for team two. Their first challenge was climbing up a cargo net. Both of the warriors kept getting their feet caught between the ropes as the climbed up. When they reached the top, they ran along a platform and climbed down the ladder at the other end. Their next obstacle was a net that was raised about 2-3 feet off the ground. King Cold was continuously getting his horns stuck in the net above him, while Frieza took the lead. He jumped to his feet and sprinted to his waiting teammate, Android 18. As team two’s baton was passed, King Cold finished the obstacle and raced to Android 17. 17 soon caught up to 18 and they both faced their first obstacle at the same time. They both leapt off the ground and started inching their way across the monkey bars. Because he was pretty much a sore loser, 17 started skipping bars as he went. “Hey! That’s not fair!” 18 called after him. 17 laughed as he continued his way down the course. 17 climbed up a ladder to a platform with a rope hanging above the edge. He grabbed the rope, took a few steps back, and then ran off the edge swinging from rope to rope like Tarzan. 18 was on his tail. 17 came to the last rope, let go, and landed on the ground immediately taking off to his end point. As he neared the waiting Cell, 18 ran past him laughing. 17 sped up and both androids passed the batons on. Cell and Cell Jr. started the final race of the obstacle course. The winner of this would win it all. As they ran to the first obstacle of their section of the course, Cell squinted to see what was ahead. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said as he saw a three-wheeled object. Cell Jr. jumped into the air and landed on his tricycle and started peddling away. Cell paused for a moment and looked at the tricycle. “They want me to ride this?” He said as he sat on the small seat. Awkwardly, Cell peddled after Cell Jr. There were white lines sprayed on the ground where the two had to ride between. Cell Jr. came to a turn and turned the handlebars too sharply. The tricycle tipped over and he fell with it. As he was getting up, Cell peddled by laughing. “Eat my dust!” Cell said as he went by. Cell Jr. frantically peddled as fast as his little legs could. Cell came to the end of that obstacle and jumped over the handlebars. He dodged to a very long strip of tires lying on the ground. The tires where bunched together, and Cell had to step in every one of them in order to pass. He sighed and started. “How did I end up with the hardest part of the course?” He asked himself as he hopped in and out of tires. He peered over his shoulder. Cell Jr. wasn’t behind him…he was next to him! “Where did you come from!?” Cell yelled. Cell Jr. gave a devilish grin and looked back at the tires. Cell Jr. was starting to lead when his foot got caught in a tire, causing him to trip. Cell started laughing with his evil laugh, and then tripped himself. Eventually the two hopped out of the last pair of tires and made their last race to the finish line. They two were neck and neck; since they were equal in speed, it would be a photo finish. The white ribbon stretched across the finish line came into view. Cell Jr. closed his eyes as he ran. Cell started taking longer strides as he ran. Cell Jr. started getting a little bit ahead and was just about to cross the finish line. However, Cell took one final leap into the air, his knee touching the ribbon, and he crossed the finish line winning the race. Cell Jr. slowed down as he reached the finish line and looked on at Cell, who was hold his arms in the air as he declared victory. “I won!!” Cell cried. The other contestants met at the finish, team one running ahead team two. Goku started jumping in the air as he bid Cell a job well done. The whole team was excited. Even Vegeta allowed Goku to give him a victory hug. “Team one has won the Z Games! What a race folks! What a race!” Mick screamed into the microphone. Team two watched the others celebrating. Cell Jr. was sitting on his knees with a large look of disappointment on his face. “I was right there,” he said softly. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry,” Gohan said, “you did your best. You had Cell really working there. I think you were awesome with the tricycle. Cell was having a really hard time with that one.” Cell Jr. smiled at Gohan, and got up. Team one gathered on the stage and lined up to receive their medals. The referee put a medal over eac