My shirt was a wreck from my battle with Roshi. My leg, though better, still felt a bit strange. I could move it, but there was a bit of a weird feeling. Not 100% quite yet.
But, as I strode up to the stage, my body bulking up with SSJP power just so that the announcer would recognize me, I found that I honestly couldn't bring myself to care.
Ignoring the announcer's words, I strode past Tater's hulking form, to the far end of the arena, before pulling my torn shirt off, balling it up, and tossing it to Lynn's figure in the crowd. With how much stronger Tater was than he'd been four years ago, I was preparing to take a few hits, and there wasn't any point in leaving the shirt on when it'd get ripped to shreds later, anyway.
As I watched Lynn snatch my shirt from the air, my eyes locked with Pepper's.
After a moment, the teenage girl gave me a nod in affirmation.
Everything was set for my battle with Tater. I could beat on my former teammate without reservation.
"Look at these two titans, sizing each other up! You've all seen what this Tarble character can do, during his last match with our previous winner, Jackie Chun, but let's not forget, Tater has been sweeping through the bracket without even bothering to touch any of his opponents so far! Will he keep at it? For some reason, I have my doubts! Let's watch and see what happens when these two hulking behemoths clash in an all-out brawl!" The announcer hyped. "BEGIN!"
We didn't start our battle at the behest of the announcer, though.
This fight wasn't for some tournament prize. It wasn't about the tournament at all, in fact.
This was a fight of beliefs, between two of the strongest Saiyans in the universe. The only rules that we cared to follow were our own.
So, I made a rule for myself on the spot.
"Whoa! Tarble has deflated! And changed his hair color, too! Is this a trick, or is there something else going on?!"
Tater's expression soured, but I'd made my statement, and I wasn't backing down.
If he wanted my full power, my SSJP form, then he'd need to force it out of me. Using my SSJP on earthlings was a way to test my control, speed up my perceptions so that I could fine tune my movements better. Using it on Tater was an acknowledgement that I wasn't willing to give him yet.
"You know, Tarble, I'm not the same weakling I was back then." Tater warned me.
I grinned. I already knew that. After breaking his bottleneck in battle, getting a massive Zenkai boost on top of that, then having almost four years to adjust and grow, he was nothing like the eleven year old kid who'd attacked me all those years ago.
But… was it enough to push me?
"You'll have to prove it, Tater."
And the next moment, he vanished from sight.
…
By the time Tater and I reappeared, a mere moment later, the concrete of the stage had been completely rearranged. Dozens of massive holes had simply sprouted into existence, pockmarking the ground as a result of our fists clashing.
But the shocking part, to anyone who watched, was the position that we ended up in, when we reappeared.
We were at the very edge of the stage. My foot was on Tater's backside, one of my hands holding the behemoth of a man by the hair, his tail wrapped around my other hand.
For a long moment, neither of us moved. We both knew that, if I let go and pushed, Tater would stumble out of the arena and lose the match before it'd even really gotten started. You could hear a pin drop, from the tension on stage.
I couldn't even tell whether Tater wanted me to let him go or not.
Not that it mattered.
Yanking Tater's body back onto the stage by his mane, I tossed the older Saiyan, letting him roll across the concrete with a detached glare.
This battle wouldn't end so easily. A ring out before he'd thrown everything he had at me wouldn't prove a thing.
He sneered at me, taking his time to pull himself to his feet. Part of the reason that getting Tater into that position had been so effortless was because he'd known that I wouldn't end the match that easily. Otherwise, the Saiyan wouldn't have had the gall to hold back any bit of his strength during a fist-to-fist clash with me.
"I thought you'd learned your lesson about underestimating me, Tater."
"Screw you, Tarble." I just raised an eyebrow, my body still completely relaxed.
Then, I raised a hand and pointed upward. "Fine. Ready for round two?"
Considering my gesture, Tater looked around. A casual clash from us had completely upended the arena floor. Realizing the same thing that I'd realized instantly, that the arena couldn't take our full power, his feet lifted from the ground without another word.
I followed him into the sky, my body still relaxed.
I'd been prepared for this battle for four years now.
I just really hoped that it'd be half as fun as my fight with Roshi. I knew that there was some version of Tater that could at least bring that much to the table.