Chapter: 1

:Gather for the Tournament

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Dragon Ball Z. All rights are owned by their respective owners,Toei, Toriyama, etc. This is purely a fanfictional work done by a simple fan done for fun. I do no get profit from this in any way.

It had been three months since the incident at Bulma's lab, nine months since the end of their over two months long journey through space and nearly a full year less a week since The Cell Games and now it was finally time for the start of a new World Martial Arts Tournament. The tournament had been resurrected and organised by the media machine that backed Mr. Satan as a way to not only clamour to the public's increasing demand's for a martial arts tournament but to display their greatest moneymaker his dominance to the public. Mr. Satan himself had never won the famous World Martial Arts Tournament but he had been crowned the World Champion by winning a majority of the smaller local tournaments and culminating all of those wins as the representative World Champion. This tournament was designed just to give him the official title of the tournament and to feed his massive ego. The tournament ring was rebuilt bigger and better than the original in under a year just so that they could celebrate Mr. Satan's "victory" at The Cell Games at the same time. But nobody who'd organised this event could've predicted the return of the the true heroes of The Cell Games and the real greatest fighters in the world.

A lonely familiar little yellow transport plane was making its way across the skies above the ocean. Inside was the entire Son family clan along with a few family friends who were making their way to Papaya Island where the tournament was being held. In the cockpit at the controls was Yamcha along with Krillin right next to him, in the next row was the main Son family composed of Chi-Chi who sat at the far left of the seat along with little baby Goten who she was holding, Goku himself who was seated in the middle and right next to him on the far right was Gohan their eldest son who was wearing his old Piccolo style outfit with a white puffy neck for today. And in the back of the plane sat the massive figure of The Ox King because it was the only part of the plane which would fit him along with Master Roshi with whom he would talk about old times.

Gohan was busy staring out the window and just reflecting on things. He'd gone through so much during this last year, beating Cell, defeating Broly, brought back his father from having died a second time, making a very close friendship with a girl named Videl, gaining a new baby brother and then travelling through time and space meeting older versions of himself Videl and even his younger brother Goten! Yes, this last year had been something special alright and tomorrow was going to be his birthday! He would officially be 12 years old tomorrow since the month and a half he spent through Bulma's time and space portal in addition to the 10 1/2 months he'd spent training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with his father rounded up to a total of a full year extra than what he should be in this world. Gohan found it rather curious that the tournament was being held at the beginning of the week of the anniversary instead of on the day itself but he figured that Videl probably had something to do with it. She probably found out what his birthday was and made sure that the tournament would be held today as something of a tribute to him. Gohan didn't really care about it but he thought it was nice gesture of her if totally unnecessary. Anyway, this tournament promises to be an interesting one to say the least. Gohan had been training himself in secret for 9 months just for this day.

"Hey!? Did you hear me Gohan?" asked Goku with a raised voice that snapped Gohan out of his revery. "Oh! Yeah, I'm sorry dad, I was just thinking a little bit. What did you say again?" asked Gohan, looking up at his father. "I said we're there." said Goku as he pointed forward out the glass to Papaya Island down below which they were fast approaching. They landed on a parking lot close to the new stadium arena and had a clear view of the ocean behind them. They then disembarked from the vehicle, capsulized it and began making their way to the front entrance of the stadium. As they made their way to the front entrance those who had been to the tournaments before noticed how more people and concession stands there were than before. "Huh? It seems that there's a lot more people here than there were back in the old tournaments." commented Yamcha. "Yeah, no kidding. I guess that goof Mr. Satan really has his uses. More people are coming to see this because of his popularity." said Krillin and just as he said that they noticed the crowds of people beginning to scream and run towards the direction to their left. They looked off and saw that a crowd of people had gathered around a large red plane with the word SATAN plastered all over the sides that had just landed. "Well speak of the devil." Krillin said with a smile as they all realised that you-know-who had just arrived. Yes, the one and only Mr. Satan had arrived in all his agonising glory, yelling out like an idiot with his arms raised in the air before a throng of his fanatical worldwide fans and TV reporters as he disembarked from his plane.

"Hey! Guys!" yelled a familiar high pitched little voice coming from somewhere near the gathered crowd. Both Gohan and the rest of his family and friends recognized the voice as that of a small girl that they'd all come to know. Yes, there was Videl coming through from out of the crowd after apparently sneaking out from under both her father's and the crowds' nose and was now running forward towards them and in particular Gohan himself. "Hey Gohan." piped up Videl as she stood before Gohan with a cheerful smile. "H-Hey Videl." said Gohan, taken a little aback by the cheerfulness and forwardness as she'd gone straight for him, it felt almost like it was affectionate for him. But nonetheless he was overjoyed to see her again and his features subtly morphed into an almost identically cheerful smile to her's. "Hey Videl, it's great to see you, but aren't you supposed to be with your father right now?" asked a confused Goku. "What!? No way! Are you kidding? It was so embarrassing being with my dad back there. He has no idea how foolish he looks when he acts in front a crowd. I'd much rather hang out with you guys." said Videl as she looked up at Goku and then finishing by looking back down straight at Gohan as if to say that she really just wanted to hang out with him. Gohan nodded once to acknowledge what she said but missing the subtle hint she gave him when she looked at him. But then he looked surprised as he noticed something different about her. "Hey? You've grown taller than the last time I saw you." said Gohan in amazement as he realised that Videl was now almost exactly as tall as him and he then put his hand above his head to measure his height compared to her. "Huh? Why yes I think your right. I am as tall as you." said Videl as she did the same thing and checked her own height in comparison. It was true that Videl was undergoing a growth spurt as of late and was just as tall as Gohan himself now since Gohan's growth had now stopped for a brief time just like his father's had at nearly the same age.

From then on the gang moved back forward towards the front entrance with Videl now joining their group by walking next to Gohan and leaving Mr. Satan behind to his own devices. "Hey Videl, is your mother coming to the tournament or is she staying home?" asked Goku, eager to see Fasha or as she prefers he calls her Seripa due to the friendship they'd formed over the last nine months due to her connection to his father Bardock. "No, mom is here. She wouldn't miss this for the world. She just went on ahead of us and came alone to get some good seats. She's going to be watching from the audience. That and plus she doesn't really like being with my dad all that much." Videl explained as they walked along the grounds.

Then the gang finally walked past the front entrance and immediately many of those who'd been at the tournaments before were struck by how much bigger the stadium was now. "Gee, the stadium sure is bigger now than it used to be." exclaimed Goku in amazement as he saw the towering new seats which he was only voicing what many of the others were thinking. "Yeah, looks like they really rebuilt it after you and Piccolo blew it up in your match last time." commented Krillin, making it as a little fun at Goku. "Oops! Sorry..." Goku said sheepishly with a small blush of embarrassment on his face at being reminded of how they'd destroyed the entire surrounding area including the ring in that match. "Don't worry about it Goku sensei, it wasn't your fault. Besides, all the people living in the city had been already evacuated by then so luckily no one was hurt. The project to rebuild the arena has been going on for years as they rebuilt the city but they fell on delay after delay and it was eventually abandoned. It wasn't until this last year that renewed interest due to both my father's popularity and The Cell Games allowed for the project to be finished. So I guess you could say that thanks to you we now have a newer bigger stadium than before. Besides, if it wasn't for you guys there wouldn't even be an Earth left for the city and stadium to be rebuilt on at all." Videl explained, having overheard Goku's and Krillin's little conversation and wanting to cheer him up. Goku did cheer up after hearing that and gave Videl a small smile along with a nod of acknowledgement as they then resumed their walk.

The gang continued on to walk towards the front registration desk when they spotted that nearby the registry stood Vegeta in his usual Saiyan armor and along with Bulma who was holding baby Trunks. They also spotted that nearby, leaning on a palm tree was Piccolo. "Well it's about time you showed up Kakarot. I, the woman and the Namek have been waiting here for you for quite some time." greeted an agitated looking Vegeta. "Oh? So you were waiting on me huh Vegeta?" chided Goku with his "excited rival" look as they came up. "Of course, this whole little weakling tournament wouldn't be worth it if you didn't show up so you could be defeated by me." said Vegeta while shooting his own little competitive grin. "Well if you two aren't too busy playing "rival" then we'd better hurry and get registered before it closes." said Bulma, interrupting their little stare down.

Soon everyboby began walking to the registration desk except for Vegeta who was taking a long glance at Gohan and for Piccolo who was doing the same thing as he then came up next to him. "Hmph, it seems that the brat's power hasn't increased at all. Did he do any training this last year? I barely sensed any difference in his power." commented Vegeta. "It's true that his physical energy feels the same but I sense something else deeper in him. You don't know him like I do so your senses aren't as attuned to him as mine are. I can sense that he's much stronger than before but it goes far beyond mere fighting strength. It takes more than just strength and speed to win a fight and I think that Gohan has been training his technique more than his strength. In that way he's much stronger than before." said Piccolo with a serious analytical look in his eyes. "Well then he waisted his time. The strongest fastest man wins the fight and that's all." arrogantly dismissed Vegeta as he then walked off to join the others in registry.

Luckily the gang arrived just as the last person left. "Hey are we too late to register?" piped up Goku at the front of the pack. "No, you're lucky, you're just in time. We just about to close in a few minutes but I thing that we can squeeze you all in" said one of the two men at the desk. Everybody who was going to fight quickly registered one by one until the last in line (Gohan and Videl) came up to register. "Well, looks like two more for the Junior Division." said the official at the desk. "Huh? Junior Division? That's a new one." commented Krillin. "Junior Division? But I thought I would be fighting in the tournament with adults?" protested Gohan. "I'm sorry, but it's a new feature that we're introducing this year. Everyone from the ages of 5 to 15 are to participate. No exceptions." said the official. "This isn't fair, I'm more powerful than most adults but I still..." continued to protest Gohan until he was cut off by Videl yanking back on his arm. "Don't worry about it Gohan. You might still get to fight in the adult tournament." said Videl in trying to calm him down. "Really?" questioned Gohan. "Yeah, I asked for it as my father's daughter to have one of prizes if you win the junior tournament than you get the chance to fight in the adult tournament." explained Videl. "Oh? So all I have to do is win the junior tournament and I get to fight with my dad and the others?" asked Gohan. "Yup!" answered Videl. "Okay then, sign me up!" said Gohan as he then wrote his name on the registry and moved on to join with the rest of his friends. Videl finished up right after and then she too rejoined with the rest of the gang. When the last of the Z gang registered and then moved off, the registration desk made to close down for the day but just as a familiar throng of reporters and fans surrounding a familiar afro headed figure made its way to the desk.

Meanwhile, the Z gang had just gotten a fair distance away from the registry when all of a sudden they heard a loud boisterous voice screaming from behind them. "WHAAAAAAAAAATTT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN I FAILED TO REGISTER IN TIME? I'M THE MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!" screamed the ever annoying voice of Mr. Satan. When they heard this, the Z-Fighters laughed or chuckled to themselves. "Well well well, looks like the old goofball's done it again." laughed Krillin. "Oh man! This is so embarrassing! Dad must've been so wrapped up in working the crowd that he didn't register in time." said an embarrassed Videl while slapping herself in the head. "Well it seems that that goof's bad luck has finally come in handy. We won't have to suffer the "World Champion" in the the ring and he saves himself an embarrassing defeat at the tournament." said Krillin as he looked back gleefully with his hands on his hips. "Yeah, I guess so. But I really wanted one of us to beat up my dad and to get what was coming to him so he could learn a lesson for letting all this fame to go to his head." said Videl with slunken arms, but she soon got over it as the gang resumed their walk as if nothing had happened despite the screams of arguing going on in the distance.

The gang then reached the next entranceway to the next part of the stadium and that's when they met up with a very familiar person with purple hair standing in the middle of the doorway in front of the shadows. "Trunks!" exclaimed several people in the group simultaniously. "Hi guys." greeted Future Trunks in his laid back style. "Hey Trunks, you came back! But I thought that you went back to your future world?" said a confused Gohan. "Yeah, well I did, but I just had to come back for this tournament. I did some training for the eight months it took for my time machine to charge up and then came right here." explained Future Trunks. "That's great to hear Trunks. It just wouldn't be the tournament without you. It's great to have you back" said Goku. "Well actually, I didn't come back alone." said Future Trunks as he stepped back and revealed a figure who had been standing behind him in the shadows. The figure walked up to reveal himself as almost the mirror image of Goku except for much shorter hair and a scar going down the right side of his face along with a slightly broader build. "Hey guys... It's great to see you all again." said the man as everyone then instantly recognized who this must be. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my master Gohan." introduced Future Trunks as Future Gohan waved to a stunned audience.

Author's Final Thoughts: Well, now's the start of the new World Tournament Saga. The way I seen it, Mr. Satan was originally called the World's Champion Of All Combat Sports in the original japanese version, which meant that he wasn't yet the true World Tournament Champion which means he didn't win the tournament until after The Cell Games. Which means that the tournaments where he'd won at the tournament had to have been set up in the intervening years during the 7 year timeskip. This is going to be my version of what was the first of those tournaments hosted by the Mr. Satan backed system in the original anime and manga. Therefore this what would happen if the Z-Fighters, specifically after my version of events, decided to participate in the tournament.

I hope you enjoyed that little bit of Mr. Satan foolishly failing to register at the last minute due to the crowds. I thought that would be appropriate for his character and the fact that it leaves him unable to participate in the actual matches and therefore stink up the place. But don't worry, I've still got plans for him and he's still going to be a part of the tournament in some small way. And I also hope that you liked the little twist at the end where I brought in Future Gohan. The party just wouln't be complete without him. And really, would you expect him to have missed out on this if he were still alive like he is in my story? There'll be plenty of twists and turns and LOTS of EPIC action and emotions in this one, because is going to be my MASTERPIECE. Get ready for the third and final part of the story, it's going to be a hell of a ride!