Hello, everyone! It's Dragoncat again.

I'm sorry it's taken so long, but here it is...

Chapter Three

"He… HE'S GONE? What do you mean he's gone?"

Chi-Chi hugged a crying Goten while Krillin, Yamcha, Puar, Oolong and Trunks could only lower their heads, as none of them could fully explain exactly what happened to Goku. Even they could not believe what had happened.

Krillin tried to make the first attempt. "Well, everything started out okay, but then…"

Then Yamcha cut in. "Pilaf happened. I never thought I'd see that little imp again, but…"

THREE DAYS EARLIER…

Emperor Pilaf was at it again.

That annoying blue imp was not going to give up until he became the ruler of the world. His determination was only overshadowed by his stroke of bad luck. Every time he came close to his goal, there was always something that would ruin everything…

…And that something was Goku. It was always Goku.

But this time, it was going to be different. This time he had the perfect plan, and nothing was going to get in his way; not Goku, not his friends, not anyone!

After doing a lot of research, he had discovered the key to ultimate power; even more powerful than the dragonballs. No wish Shenlong, the eternal dragon could grant could stop him, once he had the ultimate power in his hands.

He tracked it down to a small jewelry store in a village south of West City. To anyone else, it was a pendant made from a cherry amber stone wrapped in silver. But Pilaf knew better; it was a piece of an enchanted stone. He waited in the car while Mai and Chow, his loyal – and only – lackeys went inside the store to buy it for him. Normally, he would have no problem with them stealing what he wanted, but this time he wasn't taking any chances. It wasn't such a bad deal, really. The jeweler obviously didn't know its true value, or he never would have sold it.

It was a small price to pay for world domination.

MEANWHILE…

"Please, Mom? Can I go? Pleeeeaaaasssseeee?"

"Please, Chi-Chi? Can he go? Pleeeeaaaassseeee?"

There they were…Goku and Goten, father and son, identical in every way except for Goten being much smaller. They shared the same hairstyle, same outfit, even the same facial expressions. Therefore, there was just no resisting the double-sad-puppy-face-on-bended-knee attack.

"Okay, okay! I give up! Goten can go on the camping trip – Hey!" Suddenly she was caught in the father-son-group-hug maneuver. That's when Goku hugs her chest and arms, while Goten hugs her legs. There was no escaping that, either; not even if she wanted to. "Alright, you two. All I ask is that Goten gets his homework out of the way first, okay?"

"Thanks, Mom. You're the best!" Goten released her legs and hurried upstairs to deal with his homework. Goku, however, had no intention of releasing his wife.

"Uh… Goku? I need to start making dinner."

"He's right, you know…" Goku whispered into her ear, "…you are the best."

It took a good fifteen minutes, but Chi-Chi somehow managed to pry herself out of Goku's loving grip. "Now, Goku," she giggled, "it's time for you to wash up. The sooner we have dinner, the sooner we can go to bed, and have the rest of the night to ourselves. Okay?"

Goku's stomach could no longer be ignored. Goku sighed and said, "Okay." Then he dragged his feet outside.

Chi-Chi wasn't fooled for one minute. He went outside to wash up. Even though the house had a bathroom, complete with a marble tub, Goku always preferred to use the washtub conveniently located just outside the kitchen window. Once he had the fire under the tub heating the water, he undressed and climbed into the tub ever so slowly. He knew Chi-Chi would watch from the kitchen window, and Chi-Chi enjoyed the show. Her muscular saiyan husband was a sight to behold, and sleeping with him after dinner gave her even greater pleasure.

THE NEXT MORNING…

Chi-Chi had just finished packing lunches as Goku waited at the bottom of the stairs.

"Goten! Hurry up! The others will be here soon!"

"Okay, Dad!" Goten's voice sounded a little strained.

Chi-Chi could not see the look on her husband's face as Goten came down the stairs hauling a backpack twice his size on his back.

"I'm all packed."

"Wow! You must have packed your whole room in there. Are you sure you want to take all that?"

"You said I should only pack what I need, and I did."

Goku decided to inspect the backpack. As soon as he undid the first strap, the backpack exploded. Seconds later, father and son were swamped in a sea of comic books. Goten had enough copies of Spiderman, Captain America and Superman to run his own store.

Chi-Chi still hid in the kitchen, so she didn't feel the full force of the explosion. Nevertheless, it took everything she had not to keel over laughing. (Now why can't he be this eager with his schoolbooks?)

Goten was the first to come up for air. "Aww, Dad! Now look what you've done. And I had them all in order, too."

And then Goku found his way to the surface. After brushing a Spiderman comic off his face he asked, "Why would you need to bring all of these along?"

"Trunks and I are gonna need them for reading in our tent at night, and in case we get bored."

"Bored! There's nothing boring about camping." Goku finally managed to stand up. "Trust me, son. You won't need all this."

"But, Dad…" Goten does not hide his disappointment.

Goku knew that sad look all too well. Goten and Trunks had that same look when they wanted to see him become Super Saiyan Three. In the end, he gave in, and it cost him dearly. The transformation took up a lot of energy; energy he needed for his one-day pass on Earth. He had to leave early. But it was worth it, as well. The boys learned from it. Their fused form Gotenks transformed into Super Saiyan Three, just from watching him.

Goku knew next to nothing about comic books. Master Roshi had magazines, but the pictures were a lot different from these picture books his son collected. But if Chi-Chi said he could read them, then they must be okay. "Okay, you can take a few. Now let's get this mess cleaned up. The others will be here soon."

Chi-Chi remained in the kitchen. He did not want to interrupt this father-and-son moment, nor did she want him to see her trying not to laugh. For so long she had to deal with Goku being dead, while Goten had to grow up without a father until he turned eight. It's been two years since Goku destroyed that Majin Buu monster, and now she finally had her husband back. Gohan was in college now, so he was busy with his studies. So why should she have a problem with Goten going on the occasional camping trip with his father?

What could possibly go wrong?

THIRTY MINUTES LATER…

Yamcha, Puar Krillin, Trunks and Oolong arrived just as Goku and Goten had finished cleaning up the mess and re-packing Goten's considerably smaller backpack. Chi-Chi finally emerged from the kitchen with their lunches.

"Now, Goten… You do what your father tells you to, and don't get into any mischief, okay?"

"Okay, Mom."

As the camping party flew off, with Krillin hauling Oolong since he could not fly, Chi-Chi went back into the house and thought about last night. For all of his phenomenal strength and incredible muscles, he knew to be gentle when it came to sleeping with her. There was no doubt in her mind that her husband loved her and wanted to stay with her. She wouldn't mind having a third child with him…except that there was always that lingering feeling that something would happen to take him away from her. He's already died twice before from battling one monster after another. If he died again, the dragonballs would not be able to bring him back. Her first-born, Gohan, was a college man now. But Goten was still a child. She did her best to raise him alone, even teaching him martial arts, knowing that's what his father would have wanted. Besides, with Goten being part-saiyan, the fighting instincts were naturally in his blood. But now, Goku was back, and he loved playing with his new son.

Things were peaceful now, and she wanted them to stay that way. So she was content with what she had, and she prayed that this lingering feeling would soon fade away.

It was a long flight – just over an hour at normal flight speed – but the Z-gang had finally arrived at the campsite. Usually camping involves a short trip to the other side of Mount Pao, but Yamcha had found a new campsite. He came across it while taking the long way home after being dumped by a wanna-be supermodel. It was a large island with a mountain surrounded by lush vegetation, located about twenty miles away from the island where the World Tournament was held. It looked like the perfect island getaway. So when Goku invited him to go on the next camping trip, Yamcha showed him the island and sold him the idea of camping there for a change.

It didn't take long for the campers to get their tents set up, except for Goten and Trunks who insisted on trying to pitch their tent all by themselves. The others made it look so easy; even Oolong was an expert on the subject. The others respected the boys' wishes and observed at a distance, stifling their laughter as the tent kept collapsing. After the tenth time, Goku intervened to make sure the tent finally stayed in place.

With the campsite finally set up, the Z-gang went about exploring the rest of the island. Oolong and Puar searched for sticks to use for firewood. There were fruit trees and shrubs with berries, and Goku wasted no time showing Goten and Trunks which were safe to eat. Yamcha and Krillin found a beach with plenty of fish, so they stripped off their clothes and tried their luck at fishing. Why should Goku be the only expert fisherman?

As the day drew to a close, everyone was surrounding the campfire. Dinner was a buffet of fish, fruit and berries…mostly fruit and berries. Yamcha's and Krillin's noble efforts resulted in hauling a total of ten giant fish. Goku forced himself to settle for only four while everyone else had one each. Fortunately, there were plenty of fruit and berries to go around.

Later that night, everyone turned in early. Everything was dark, but a while later, one tent had its light on. The young boys decided this was the best time to check out their comic collections.

"I though you were gonna bring more than this," Trunks said.

"I did, but Dad opened my backpack and spilled everything. I was lucky he let me bring these."

Trunks sighed. "Well, at least your dad lets you read comics. My dad says comic books are a waste."

"I guess he didn't have comic books when he was a kid. Here, try this one."

So everything is more-or-less quiet on the campsite. None of them were aware that on the other side of the island, a large yacht had sailed in, and a party of three embarked on a rowboat toward the nearest beach.

"But, sire…" Chow said as he and Mai did all the rowing, "…Why didn't we use the airship to come here?"

"Because…" Emperor Pilaf answered, "…The power source might interfere with the airship's technology. Even if it shorts out the yacht's motor, we can still use the sails. And besides, I don't want to attract unwanted attention…especially from that Goku."

Chow and Mai kept silent as they kept rowing. Pilaf, however, snickered silently as he opened the tiny box from the jewelry store. It looked like a regular cherry amber silver pendant, but Pilaf knew better.

"You see, my loyal lackeys, thousands of years ago a meteor crashed into the planet. Centuries later, an old man discovered the meteor, and when he tried to examine it, it gave him incredible magical powers. He was almost legendary. To keep his secret, he took the meteor, which he called the spellstone, and hid it away where no one would find it. To keep his powers, he chipped a piece off it and had it made it into this very pendant. It only looks like regular cherry amber, but a genius like me can detect its true properties, and see it for the spellstone that it is."

"Excuse me, sire…" Mai asked, "…If that pendant is indeed spellstone, why don't you just use that to become ruler?"

"Since the pendant is only a tiny piece of the spellstone, it contains only a fraction of its true power. That's why the old man could only become a wizard, not a world leader. The spellstone was too big for him to lug about secretly, and the pendant had to be recharged now and then for him to maintain his magic. That's why it's important to get the original spellstone meteor. Once I have the entire spellstone in my possession, my position as ruler of the world will be secure. Now keep rowing, you two. The Pilaf Dynasty has been delayed long enough."

Mai and Chow sighed in unison, "Yes, sire…" and continued their rowing.

MEANWHILE…

Oolong had no choice but to wake up when he did; nature was calling him with a bullhorn. He was careful not to wake up his tent-mate, Krillin as he hurried into the jungle to get his business out of harm's way. Once he was done, he followed what he thought was the light from Goten's and Trunk's tent light.

But as he came closer, he shuddered to hear the familiar voice of Emperor Pilaf. (No way. Not Pilaf again. What's he doing here?)

While the loyal lackeys were 'having the time of their lives' blazing a trail with machetes through the jungle, Emperor Pilaf had the most important job of wearing the spellstone pendant. It gave off a bright glow and levitated as they headed toward the center of the island.

"You see? The pendant is pointing the way to the main chunk of spellstone. We just keep going forward to the mountain. At this rate, I'll be ruler of the world by morning."

"But sire…" whined Chow. "It's dark now. Shouldn't we wait until morning when it's safer to do this?"

"Idiot! If we wait any longer, Goku might come out of nowhere and ruin everything. I'm NOT giving him the chance to spoil my plans! Not this time! Besides, this pendant is giving us all the light we need. Even I can see the cave entrance just ahead. Now quit whining and keep going!"

Oolong was a coward; that was no secret. Sure, he could shape-shift, but only for a few minutes. And there was that one time when Pilaf had all the dragonballs, and was about to wish to be ruler of the world, when something possessed Oolong to jump in his way and wish for underwear. On one hand, it was a stupid wish, but on the other, he saved the world.

But now Pilaf is after something called a spellstone. There's no guarantee he'd have the same kind of luck this time. Oolong's only option was to find his way back to camp as quietly as possible, and he did…at least until he stepped on a twig which snapped under his foot...

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TO BE CONTINUTED

There's more to come. I promise.