Strongest Under the Heavens!

Second Matches

The elimination round grinds on and Goku and Krillin push through their next scheduled fights at the Papaya Island arena. Krillin's bout gets off to a shaky start when Goku accidentally distracts him from across the hall, allowing his opponent to land a free opening hit that sends the small monk sprawling across the tiles. Krillin scrambles back to his feet almost immediately, squares up, and glares so fiercely that the stunned fighter turns pale and forfeits on the spot rather than trade another blow. Goku's own second match plays out across the way with easy precision, and he barely breaks a sweat while dismantling his opponent in front of an increasingly impressed crowd of onlookers.

A Familiar Face

As the last stretch of preliminaries winds down, Krillin pauses near the walkway to cheer Goku on. Standing right behind him is a figure with a messy scar across one cheek. Yamcha has made it through the preliminaries too and is watching Goku work with a quiet grin of approval. He pulls Goku aside between matches to share the news that he also survived the cut and will be fighting in the main bracket, then adds that Bulma, Oolong, and Puar have all traveled out to Papaya Island for the occasion and are somewhere in the stands waiting to see him.

Into the Top Eight

Krillin's final preliminary match is against a contestant marked only as Fighter 97. He handles the entire bout quickly and cleanly, locking in a spot among the eight remaining competitors who will advance to the main tournament. While the boys reunite near the ring, Master Roshi drifts through the crowd outside the hall and runs into Bulma, Oolong, and Puar, setting up a larger reunion of the old travel group before the real fighting starts.