A young lavender haired man flew through the crisp mountain air. He hadn't been here in years, but, just as he had thought, the young warrior still knew the landscape here like the back of his hand from playing here many times as a child. He had many memories of that time, the perils of Majin Buu and the subsequent battles, as well as the peace that began soon after. lost in memories, the young man almost missed his destination, only noticing just after he passed it. The youth touched down on a cobblestone pathway that lead up to a windowed magenta door.
"Goten!" The half-saiyan yelled as he walked by a white picket fence that surrounded a garden. As the man reached the door he began knocking on it, continuing to shout, "Goten! Gohan!"
After a moment the door opened, "What do you want n…" Then the voice cut off as a middle aged black-haired woman opened the door, "Oh, Trunks! What a surprise! What brings you here?"
"Hey Chichi, it's been awhile," Began Trunks, "is Goten or Gohan around?"
"Yeah, it's only been what, five years?" she joked, causing a smirk to sneak itself onto Trunks' face. "Goten is out training with his father," The former martial artists began, "But Gohan is in his study working, I'll take you to him." Chichi finished as she turned, waving her hand for trunks to follow. The young saiyan followed his elder around the house to a second building in back, somewhat larger than the first.
"Wow, is this Gohan's house?" asked the warrior as a young black haired woman opened the door. "Hi, Videl!" called out Trunks as he jogged up to greet his old friend.
"Oh, hello Trunks," Videl replied with a bit of a start, "how have you been?"
"I've been busy," began Trunks, "My mom has been training me to take over Capsule Corp when she eventually retires." With the wave of a hand, Videl welcomed the two in. Trunks entered first, and he saw that half the walls were covered in bookshelves. "Seems like you guys have been busy too," The youth continued as he took his surroundings in, "what are you doing with all these books?"
"They're Gohan's of course," Videl exclaimed, "he's always got his nose in a book."
"Hey, did I hear my name?" Asked a voice from the next room. A couple seconds later a tall man with jet black hair walked into the room from the direction the voice came from. "Hey Trunks," Gohan exclaimed at seeing his old friend, "it's good to see you. It's been awhile."
Trunks smiled right back, "yeah it has," he replied, "What have you been up to all these years?"
Gohan smiled, sticking his arms out to the sides, "isn't it obvious?" he chuckled, "I've been doing a lot of learning theses last ten years." Putting his arms down he turned back to Trunks, "So, what brings you here today?"
"Oh, I was actually looking for Goten, but I wanted to see you too. Do you have any idea where he might be?" inquired the lavender haired saiyan.
"Sure," answered the older saiyan, "He's out training with my dad on the next mountain. They invited me to come out too, but I was busy. I might go see what their up to later, though."
Trunks smiled as he began to turn, "Awesome!" he exclaimed, "I wanted to see what he's been up to all these years." The young warrior started for the door, "It was nice to see you all again, see ya later!" Trunks heard their goodbyes behind him as he took to the sky, Now... where do I sense some power levels? Oh, there! he thought to himself, using his Ki sense. The saiyan then took off towards one of the mountains.
A teenage saiyan stood, hands locked with a larger warrior. Both saiyans pushed, trying to overpower the other. Suddenly the older saiyan let go and fell onto his back, kicking up, landing his foot squarely in his opponent's jaw. The younger fighter flipped back with the kick, recovering on the ground behind him, then shot at his counterpart. His messy hair flowed in the wind as he began to spin, flying at his enemy as he twisted in the air. Just as he reached his ready opponent he stuck out his leg ready to land a kick with all the momentum he had built up. The older Warrior held out his arms in an "X" shape, prepared for the impact. The two collided with a loud thud that shook the ground in their immediate vicinity.
The older saiyan jumped back, "Good job, Goten, I see you've been working hard."
"Thanks, dad," came the reply as sweat dripped down Goten's face, "But were not finished yet."
"That's right," Goku continued with a grin, "let's see how you do when I turn up the power a bit." The experienced warrior flew at his opponent, throwing a hard right. Goten barely got his defense up in time, as the power of the attack shook his body and he had to struggle to not be thrown back. The younger saiyan returned with a feinted right, but his father saw right through the deception, and as the young warrior prepared his kick his father brought up one leg to block. "You're way to slow," Goku grinned as he grabbed the stopped leg with one hand. The powerful saiyan pulled his son closer and punched him is the stomach,
Goten landed in a heap some 30 feet away. "One of these days the shoe's gonna be on the other foot," he jokingly promised as he got up and dusted his green and white tee-shirt off. Goku just chuckled and rubbed his finger under his nose jokingly.
At that moment Trunks landed a few feet from the beaten warrior, "Hey Goten, having fun?" He joked as he took a step towards his friend.
"Very funny," retorted the young black haired saiyan, "Just wait until the tournament tomorrow, I'll show you just how strong I've become." Goten grinned as he finished his reply.
Trunks looked at him quizzically, "Tournament? Oh, you're going to compete in the world martial arts tournament tomorrow?"
Goten continued to grin, "Yep," he happily replied as he put his hands on his hips, clenched into fists. "At first I didn't want to because I had a date that day," He continued, "but the more that I think about it what better way to show off to my girlfriend than to fight in the tournament. I invited her to watch me fight tomorrow."
The two young saiyans continued to catch up, when a noise was heard behind them. The three warriors turned to see an airship land close by in the clearing behind them. The side door to the yellow vehicle opened and two figures emerged from within. One was a short muscular man with black spiked hair and the other was a taller middle-aged woman with blue hair. A smile instantly appeared on Goku's face, "Hey! Bulma, Vegeta, How have you been?" the messy haired saiyan waved.
The couple walked towards their friend, Bulma replied, "We are doing fine, not that you would know. You never call and you never come visit. If we didn't come to see you, we would probably never see you again," When she reached earth's hero she crossed her arms and scowled.
Goku smiled back at her, "Oh, don't say that, didn't we see each other not too long ago?" inquired earth's hero as he hovered towards the new arrivals.
Bulma put up her hand, extending all its digits, "Five years!" she exclaimed," it's been five years since we've last seen each other!"
Goku scratched his head, "What? No way!" he retorted, smiling all the while, "there's no way it's been that long."
"Really? How old is Trunks, then?" Bulma challenged. The blue-haired woman continued when goku failed to reply, "Exactly! Every time we get together with everyone you say you have to train!"
"Well, I do need to train," The taller saiyan countered, "you never know when a new threat could appear."
Just as Bulma was about to reply, her husband cut in, earning a glare from the older woman, "By the way, Kakarot, is it true that you plan on entering the tournament tomorrow?" he asked his long time rival.
"Yep!" Goku replied as he grinned gaily, "you just can't beat those stadium hot dogs!"
"Hot dogs?" the spiky haired saiyan responded quizzically, "Kakarot, what is the real reason you are entering?" he finished sternly.
"Ok," relented the earth-raised warrior, "There is this one guy who is going to sign up, and I think he may be really good. We may even have a challenge," He finished hopefully.
"What, really?" Vegeta responded, "I don't believe it, I would have sensed his power if that were true."
"Well, I guess we'll see…" finished Goku hopefully, "By the way, how has your training been going?"
"Why?" smirked the prince of saiyans, "do you want me to give away any surprises I might have in store for you tomorrow?"
"That means you're entering!?" Exclaimed the taller warrior, "Alright!" Goku grinned widely, imagining what tomorrow might hold.
"Another thing, Kakarot," Vegeta continued, changing the subject, " How has the training of your sons been going?"
Goku began with a grin, "Actually, pretty good, Goten here trains hard when he's not busy with school or girls, I've even gotten Gohan out here a few times, but the one I'm really proud of is.." He was interrupted by the sound of flight in the distance. The sound rapidly grew until a small black-haired girl landed on the ground behind them, "...Pan! She trains harder than even me!"
"Grandpa!" squealed the four-year-old happily, "I just flew around the world again. Good, huh?" She ran up to the group and hugged her grandfather's leg.
"That's awesome, Pan!" Exclaimed the old fighter, "I think that was your fastest time yet!"
"Do you think I'll be ready for tomorrow, Grandpa?" The eager child asked expectantly.
"Wait, hold on a minute," Trunks interjected, "Pan's not going to compete is she? That's crazy, she's so young and I heard there won't be a children's division this year."
Goku put his hands on the child's shoulders, "Don't you worry about little Pan, she works hard and gives it her all. She'll be fine. She might not win the championship, but she'll give anyone a run for their money," Goku assured them.
After a moment Vegeta added, "I think Pan's got the right idea, I can't wait to see how she does. Guess what," the saiyan continued with a smirk, "Trunks is entering too."
Trunks smiled back, "That's okay, dad, I had already decided to enter when I heard Goten was going to."
Hearing this, Goten grinned, "Alright! Trunks is gonna enter! This is gonna be awesome!"
The next morning the Z-fighters gathered to sign-up for the tournament. Together they walked up to the booth. There was a small line of people signing up for the tournament. As the line moved forward goku studied the group of fighters in front of them. The standard martial artists, he surmised, strong, but not as good as the fighters he had fought when he was young. He sighed, The world tournament sure had lost a lot of it's strong fighters since he fought with piccolo all those years ago.
They were second in line now, as much as a group their size can be called second, with only a small child in front of them. Vegeta studied the child. He was young, though obviously much older than Pan. maybe around 10, he had brown skin, a tall black mohawk, and wore a brown cloth over his shoulder with white pants. Feeling for his ki, the saiyan prince was interested to notice he has a large ki for an adult human, let alone for a child his age.
"Next!" Called the official. As the group approached the man continued, " I assume everyone in this group is not competing, so just have the contestants come forward."
"Ok, I'll go first," Goku quickly spoke up, he stepped forward and filled out the paperwork quickly. Next Vegeta Stepped up, then Trunks and Goten.
"Anyone else?" asked the official, when Pan stepped man looked at her for a moment then burst out with laughter. "Thanks, kid, I've had a long day and I needed that."
"But I wanna fight!" Pan cried out.
"Calm down, Pan, I'll talk to the man for you," Goku reassured his granddaughter. The messy haired saiyan approached the official and persuaded him to allow Pan to fight. After Pan filled out the paperwork, with the help of her mother, goku turned to her, "See, nothing to worry about!" He smiled at her as she shot into his arms, embracing him with a huge grin of her own.
"Anyone else?" The official asked again.
"I would like to enter," everyone turned as a short, medium-length haired man stepped forward, "I mean, why not?"
Goku's grin widened, "Really, Krillin?!" the saiyan exclaimed, "It's gonna be like old times."
"Yeah," the human fighter continued, "I've been doing a bit of training with 18 lately in preparation for this tournament." As if on cue, the blond android stepped forward to sign up herself.
"It would be a shame if a runner up from a previous tournament did not participate," She explained, "besides, I could win another large sum of money."
When the couple had finished with their sign up, Pan tugged at her father's pant leg, "Come on, daddy, you promised."
"Alright , alright," Gohan replied as pan nearly ripped his pant leg. The tall saiyan stepped forward, "I'm going to sign up as well, I told Pan I would," he announced. He walked up and began signing his papers.
"Well, if Krillin is entering, then I have no excuse not to myself," A gruff voice stated as Piccolo walked to stand behind Gohan, a smile on his face.
"Wow," exclaimed Goku, "This is gonna be so awesome!" After all the paperwork was finished, the group moved on to the next order of business, food. They sat at a large table near a hamburger stand and ate. They all, save for piccolo, ate large portions, but none more so than the six saiyans. Pan ate just as much a her grandfather, astonishing everyone.
"How much time do we have before the tournament starts?" Goku asked his eldest son,
Gohan looked at his watch, "about an hour, why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Pan and I are going to go have some fun," the older warrior told his son, "we'll be back in time for the tournament." He turned to his smiling granddaughter, "ready?"
"Ready!" beamed back the little girl, and the two dashed off towards the carnival style booths.
Chichi watched as they disappeared, "that Goku will never grow up, will he?" she asked rhetorically, affectionately shaking her head slightly.
The two played at basketball, darts, and Hammer booths. Then they went to get ice cream. Pan got five scoops of assorted flavors, when a young boy ran into her, knocking her ice cream to the ground. "You killed my cone!" the young girl yelled at her accidental assailant. The brown-haired boy staggered back as an unseen force radiated around the tiny fighter.
On the other side of the crowd Krillin turned his head suddenly, "Who is that?" he asked as he felt a power rise nearby.
"That's Pan!" Gohan said with a start, "but, what's happening?" Suddenly the power shrank down to almost nothing.
"Phew," The old monk sighed in relief, "glad that's over, but what power! She was stronger than the ginyu force, and it was still rising! What a powerful little tike!"
Goku wiped the sweat from his brow. Having given his ice cream cone to Pan, he had averted what could have been a bit of a crisis. "Pan, you need to have more restraint," he scolded, "you can't start lashing out every time something bad happens."
"Ok" the three-year-old replied begrudgingly, a tear in her eye.
The older warrior's face softened, "Are you ok?" he asked as he put the tiny red-gi girl on his shoulder. Pan nodded her head and smiled back at him.
Later the group met outside the preliminary round entrance. "Okay, you guys go get seats before the whole stadium is filled," Krillin urged those not entering the tournament.
"Okay, dad," Replied Marron, "you and mom fight your hardest!" 18 smiled and Krillin held up his fist in affirmation. The group split, one group heading towards the spectator section, and the other heading into preliminary round building.
"Here we go!" Exclaimed the old monk as the group entered.
This is the first chapter of a story I hope to continue for a long time. I hope you all like it. Feel free to leave a review. I will try to upload once a week on Friday.