Upa and Videl both stood in battle stance, each eyeing the other warily. Videl was trying to figure out how strong the man really was. From the way he knocked out Tra from the stage just now, she knew the man had a solid training. He would be a tough opponent to beat. And he wouldn't give her any slack either. Videl smiled slightly. Just the way I like it.

She moved forward and delivered a kick to him, which he easily dodged. He's fast, Videl thought just before she felt her breath knocked out of her and a dull pain in her chest. She 'oof'ed, and staggered back but recovered quickly. Still watching him warily, she decided not to give him a chance to attack further so she attacked first. She sent him a flurry of kicks and punches. He managed to block and counter each and everyone of them. Finally Videl jumped back away from him. She wiped the sweat from her slightly bruised face while she tried to take stock of the situation. It's hard to believe she thought. Not only could he block every one of my attacks, but he could hit me back each and every time too! She, the daughter of Mr. Satan the former world champion of the Tenkaichi Boudukai and the best fighter in unarmed combat in her unit, was now being beaten quite badly by this man. But of course, she thought again. There are better fighters in this world and this is my chance to test my skills against them. And anyway, her eyes sparkled, finally the Boudukai is getting interesting.

Upa was as serious as ever. "My turn to attack." he said solemnly. Swiftly he moved toward her. In a blink of an eye he was directly in front of Videl. She barely saw his fist out of the corner of her eye and dodged just in time. But Upa was fast. When he saw that he missed his punch he quickly spun around and hit her in back with his elbow. He finished with a powerful kick which sent Videl flying to the other end of the stage.

In the background, the crowd cheered loudly as they watched the exciting and very engrossing fight. Only one person in the crowd watched quietly. The expression on his young face was that of anxiety. And Tea was anxious. He was anxious to get the fight over with as soon as possible, so that he could get hold of Videl. As soon as his fight with Videl had ended, he rushed to the infirmary to make sure that his sister was all right. But he couldn't find her anywhere. Nor could he find the man who had hurt her, TaoPaiPai. So he rushed to the crowd, trying to look for either of them. But they were nowhere to be found. He got even more worried when TaoPaiPai failed to show up for his next fight. He put two and two together and came up with the conclusion that his sister's disappearance and TaoPaiPai's abandoning his fight must be related. But what does he want with her? As a hostage? But neither of them had ever seen the man before, and they had nothing of importance to him, he was sure of that. More importantly, where is Supper now? Is she safe? How is he going to save her if he doesn't even know where to look? Helplessly he looked at the crowd around him and decided that his only option was to ask for Videl' s help. So he waited anxiously while Videl and the one eyed man fought, not really paying attention, just wanting it to be over as soon as possible.

Videl crashed unceremoniously to the floor. She tried to get up quickly but her whole body was aching badly and her head started to feel a little dizzy. She panted hard while willing the aches and the dizziness to go away. Above her, Upa looked down. "Are you ready to surrender now?" he asked.

"Not on your life!" Videl was on her knees now. This is it she thought. It's all or nothing. In a flash she made her move. "Rolling Attack!" Upa's eye grew wide in surprise as Videl suddenly rolled straight into him, causing him to lose balance. Two flips in front him, she turned round and gave him her most powerful flying kick which succeeded in knocking the surprised man off the edge of the stage. "Yes!!!!" Videl screamed. Victory! All around them, the crowd cheered loudly. But something wasn't right. Out of the corner of her eye, she barely had time to notice Upa jump up again and something slamming hard right into her. This time it was Videl who was too surprised to do anything as Upa's powerful kick threw her right across the stage into the wall behind it. She sat there stunned, as Upa stood in the center of the stage and the referee announced, "Upa wins!"

I don't believe it, Videl thought. I knocked him right off the stage. How did he get back up without touching the ground? And did his hand seem to glow a little just now? She blinked and shook her head. I must be seeing things.

On the stage, the announcer announced, "It's official, ladies and gentlemen! The champion of this year's Tenkaichi Boudukai is Upa!" The crowd cheered again. Upa bowed to the crowd. The announcer shook hands with him and handed him an envelope. "This is the prize money, 50 000 zenis." Upa bowed to him and thanked him. The announcer looked as if he wanted to ask Upa something, but hesitated. Upa looked at him solemnly. "I think I know what you wanted to ask. No, it wasn't me who saved us all from the cyborgs. And I do not know who our mysterious savior is."

Some of crowd looked disappointed, but they cheered him nevertheless. Upa walked down the stage and went towards Videl, who was now up on her feet again. "I'm sorry I knocked you out like that," he said. "You got me surprised and I lost control."

Videl smiled. "You're the better fighter, Mr. Upa. Next time I'll work harder to defeat you."

Upa smiled, for the first time. "I'll work hard too. I hope our next match will be even better." They shook hands.

The two fighters were interrupted by a worried voice. "Videl! Help me, please. Supper's gone, kidnapped by TaoPaiPai!" Tea cried out.

The official result of the Tenkaichi Boudukai:

                            Champion (Upa)
                ________________|________________
                |                                |
          ______|______                    ______|______
          |            |                   |            |
       ___|___      ___|___             ___|___      ___|___
       |      |     |      |            |      |     |      |
     Arbi    Tra    Ry    Upa          Tao   Supper Tea    Videl
      1       2     3      4          PaiPai   6     7      8
                                        5

Chapter 14
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