After the difficult pregnancy and birth, Chi-Chi was in no condition to go home to Mt Paozu. Left weakened it was all she could do just to nurse Goten with what little milk she could produce. Gohan helped whenever he could, feeding his little brother and changing diapers. It was almost his birthday when a new problem came up. Because Chi-Chi had been bedridden for so long, Gohan had taken up the duty of balancing the family's finances.
Putting his pencil down and scooting his chair back from the table, Gohan sighed in frustrated acceptance. 'Mom did a good job investing dad's tournament winnings, but the dividends just aren't going to be enough anymore.' Gohan sighed again. "We need some new income to keep a float."
Gohan flipped on the television just as someone knocked on the front door. He was surprised to see a familiar lavender haired teen standing in his entry. "Trunks!" Gohan was suddenly apprehensive. "You're not here to tell us about some impending calamity, are you?"
Trunks laughed. "No, nothing like that. I just came to tell everyone that I was finally able to defeat the androids in my time. I also found and killed Cell."
"That's great! Hopefully that is the last we will have to deal with him." Gohan exclaimed. "Do you want to come in?"
"Sure. Mom and dad are currently…. Umm…. Preoccupied at the moment." Trunks said blushing.
Gohan instantly understood what he meant and blushed a little himself. He had walked into the Brief's living room one day and found Vegeta with Bulma bent over the back of the sofa. He thought he had slipped out without being noticed, but every time he saw Vegeta over the next two weeks, the prince would shoot him a knowing smirk.
An instantly recognizable laugh coming from the tv drew the boys from mental images they would rather not think about. Sure enough, the "Savior of the World" was on the screen.
"Haha! Yeah! Who thinks they have what it takes to challenge the Champ? Satan Fighting Entertainment Productions extends a challenge to all that dare. Through the secrets of science, a portal to another world has been opened and a challenge has been issued. Bring your strongest fighters to face earth's champion. It all goes down April First, 768!"
Gohan looked at Trunks and a smirk slowly formed on his face. Trunks returned the smirk as the possibilities raced through their minds. "You thinking what I am?"
"I may have to postpone my return home." Trunks responded with an excited gleam in his eye.
Gohan moved over to his computer and pulled up the browser to find out more information. He scowled in irritation when he saw that it required participants to be at least eighteen years old. "What! Dad was allowed to compete when he was twelve, that's only a year older than me. I'm going to call them to see if they could make an exception." Gohan said reaching for the phone.
"Satan Fighting Entertainment Productions, how may I direct your call?" A friendly sounding receptionist answered.
"Good morning, I would like to speak to someone about registering for the intergalactic tournament coming up." Gohan requested.
"One moment please." She put him on hold to transfer his call.
"This is Jack Hoff, who am I talking with?" An inpatient voice answered.
"Mr Hoff, I am Son Gohan. I…." Gohan started before he was cut off.
"Listen, kid. I don't have time for your stupid questions about the 'aliens'. I'm a very busy man." With that he hung up on the young demi-saiyan. The phone shattered in Gohan's hand. Gohan spun around and started for the door till a hand grasped his shoulder.
"Let it go, Gohan. It's not worth it." Trunks said in a sympathetic tone.
"Ugh! This is so unfair. I have the strength to destroy worlds but I'm not allowed to even enter a stupid tournament of weaklings." Gohan groused.
"It says here that they have a junior championship, and the grand prize is still pretty considerable." Trunks pointed at the computer screen.
Gohan looked at where he indicated. "That could cover us for a couple of years, but we'd eventually have to find another source of income." Gohan considered. Making a decision, he went ahead and registered for the junior championship while Trunks signed up for the adult tournament.
"I'll share my winnings with you. That should set you till you can start working for Mom, if that's still the plan." Trunks offered.
"She can't put me on the payroll till I'm sixteen, but yeah, I still plan on working for her in the future." Gohan confirmed.
-Line Break-
"Hey Dad." A young raven haired girl called out.
"Yeah Sweetpea?" Her father responded without taking his eyes off the mirror in front of him. Here turned side to side a couple of times and frowned at his expanding waistline.
"You think there will be anyone at the tournament that might give me a good fight?" She asked in a bored tone.
"Huh? Oh, I doubt it Sweetpea, you're the daughter of The Champ after all. Hahaha!" Hercule Satan laughed. Videl wasn't surprised by his boisterous outburst, but she was a bit disappointed by the lack of a challenge all the kids her age provided.
"I wish I could fight the adults.". She said wistfully. "Hey Dad, you're the Champ, can't you pull some strings and let me fight in the adult category?"
"Sorry Sweetpea, but rules are rules. And we can't have you embarrassing the older competitors, now can we?" Hercule patted her on the head.
Just then the doorbell rang. A few moments later a blonde blur shot into the room and almost tackled Videl. "Vi! Oh my gosh! I'm so excited! What do you think the aliens are going to be like?"
"Erasa, calm down. I hate to disappoint you, but there aren't any real aliens. It's just a couple of Dad's students dressed up in tacky costumes." Videl said pushing her friend away gently.
"Well poo. I wanted to meet a real live alien." Erasa pouted.
Videl chuckled at her friend's disappointment. "Who knows, maybe you'll meet one one day."
"You really think so?" Erasa asked hopefully.
"Sure, anything is possible." Videl shrugged noncommittally.
"Hey! Let's go so we can score the best seats to watch Videl and her dad kick butt." Sharpner said impatiently from the door. Erasa and Videl both rolled their eyes as Videl grabbed her bag with a change of clothes for after the junior tournament.
"Hey Sharpner, why don't you compete?" Erasa asked the blonde male.
"Yeah, dad says you are one of his best up and coming students and that you have a lot of potential." Videl added.
"No way, I like my ass where it is and in one piece thank you very much."
"Whatever. Alright, let's go." Videl announced.
-Line Break-
"Hey Mom! We're off. You're sure you're going to be okay?" Gohan announced.
"Go on, sweetie, I'll be fine. I've got Bulma here if I need anything." Chi-Chi responded from her bed. While she still spent most of her time in bed, she was slowly regaining her strength to where she could get around to a limited capacity. "Be careful. I'll be watching and cheering you on from here."
"Thanks Mom, I love you." Gohan walked over and hugged her.
"I love you too, now get out of here and win us some money." Chi-Chi laughed and shooed him out the door.
Trunks was waiting in the living room when Gohan walked in with a small smile on his face. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Let's go." Gohan nodded. The two demi-saiyans went outside and took to the skies flying toward the private island that the tournament was being held on. As the island came into view, Gohan was able to pick up on a few ki signatures. "Hey! Krillin is there along with Piccolo and Yamcha!" Gohan shouted excitedly.
On the island three heads turned in the direction of the newcomers. "Damn, it's Gohan and Trunks." Krillin cursed under his breath.
"Well, there go our chances for the top three." Yamcha sighed.
"Hey guys." Gohan greeted as he and Trunks landed.
"Hey Gohan, Trunks." Krillin and Yamcha both responded slightly dejectedly. Piccolo just nodded in their direction.
"Hey Trunks, what brings you back to our time?" Krillin had to ask.
"Oh, I just came back to let everyone know that my timeline is now free from the tyranny of the Androids. I was also able to locate and destroy my timeline's version of Cell." Trunks announced proudly.
"That's awesome, great job man!" Yamcha said clapping him on the shoulder. "But what brings you to the tournament here?"
"I heard about it while I was talking to Gohan and decided it sounded like fun, so I stuck around for a little while." Trunks shrugged.
"Well damn, just our luck." Yamcha groaned.
"At least we'll still make the top five." Krillin reasoned which drew a sour expression from Gohan. "What's wrong?"
"They won't let him compete in the adult tournament. New rules state that all competitors must be at least eighteen years old." Trunks explained.
"That suck man." Krillin said trying to keep the relieved smile off his face. He still had a chance to place in the top three now. The same thought was going through Yamcha's mind. A huge commotion on the other side of the island drew their attention. Flying over and landing on the top of a nearby building, they could see a large gaudy jet rolling to a stop on the runway.
"Oh great, the sideshow is here." Krillin scoffed. It rubbed him the wrong way that Hercule Satan took credit for Cell's defeat and wrote off all their abilities as just tricks, but he knew that Gohan had no intention of taking the credit for himself. He lost so much that day, they all did, and Gohan just wanted to put that all behind him.
Following Hercule off the jet were a well dressed business man and his family. Then the moment that many in the crowd were waiting for, four oddly dressed individuals descended the steps. Upon seeing the "aliens" the Z Fighters burst out laughing.
Piccolo looked on in disgust at the display. "I don't have time for this shit. See you, kid." Levitating of the roof, Piccolo took flight to return to the lookout.
On a separate section of runway Videl had just capsulized her jet car when she heard the ruckus coming from the VIP tarmac. She rolled her eyes at the spectacle that was her father. *Sigh* "Let's go before we get caught in that circus."
Leading her friends toward the food court, Videl paused when she thought she saw a group of people standing on a nearby roof. When she looked again they were gone.
"Hey V, what's up?" Erasa asked when she noticed her friend had stopped.
Shaking her head, Videl answered. "Nothing, thought I saw something, but I guess I imagined it."
"Look at those losers." Sharpner scoffed seeing Gohan and the Z Fighters entering the food court from another entrance.
"I don't know, I think a couple of them are kinda cute." Erasa giggled looking at Gohan and Trunks.
Videl eyed them suspiciously. They seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen them before. Seeing Gohan in his gi, she assumed he was one of her opponents in the junior division. 'Hmm, he has some decent muscle, but he looks too carefree to be that serious. I can take him no sweat.'
Videl felt a chill run down her spine when the young boy suddenly turned to her and caught her gaze. He had the look of someone who would not hesitate to defend himself or his friends. As suddenly as the look appeared it vanished to be replaced by a goofy grin as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Videl had to reevaluate her previous assumptions about this boy.
Gohan stopped walking suddenly and searched the courtyard when his senses picked up someone watching him intently. He caught the gaze of a young girl, probably about his age, starting at him as if she were sizing him up. Mentally kicking himself for overreacting he smiled at her as he took in her features. She was very petite with long black hair done up in twintails and brilliant blue eyes. Her friend suddenly stepped between them to say something to her and Gohan almost felt his heart stop. He was looking at one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on. She had shoulder length blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that just drew him in. She saw him looking at her and she giggled and waved coyly.
Gohan felt a punch to his shoulder as Krillin spoke up. "Gohan, you dog."
"What's up?" Yamcha asked having noticed Gohan and Krillin stopped.
"Gohan was checking out the cuties over there." Krillin teased.
"Not bad little man. Go on, talk to them." Yamcha have the young demi-saiyan a shove.
Gohan sighed reluctantly, but still made his way over to the two girls. "Umm…. Hi, I'm Gohan." He introduced himself nervously.
"Hi! I'm Erasa. And this is my bestie, Videl." Erasa introduced herself and Videl. When she had first seen Gohan she hoped he would say something. 'What a cutie, I wonder if he is fighting today?'
Before the preteens could say anything else, Sharpner came up and wrapped his arms around the two girls. "Beat it pipsqueak, these are my girls." Suddenly the blonde boy doubled over gasping for air when Videl elbowed him hard in the gut.
"How many times to I have to tell you, Sharpner, I am not and never will be your girl."
"Come on, Videl, you know I'm there only guy that your father is going to approve of." Sharpner wheezed.
Unsure of what to do, Gohan just excused himself. "Hehe, sorry, but I have to go catch up with my friends." He said rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe we will meet again sometime."
Erasa watched Gohan head of to rejoin his group then turned and kicked Sharpner in the shin sending him to the ground in pain again.
"What did I do?" He complained.
"You lunkhead, I didn't even get to find out if he was competing or not." She pouted before chasing after Videl who had already started for the changing rooms.
"So…? You score any digits?" Yamcha asked with a smirk when Gohan caught up with them. He almost face palmed at the confused look Gohan have him. "Of course not. We need to help you step up your game."
"Like you have any better luck with the ladies." Krillin teased.
"Hey! I have plenty of luck…." Yamcha started to defend himself.
"Yeah, all bad." Krillin interrupted.
Gohan decided to slip away while those two were preoccupied. Wandering about, he soon found himself in the competitor's staging room. There were several competitors warming up with various pieces of equipment. Ignoring them for now, he went over to the entrance to the arena and looked on in amazement at the setup. Just outside the staging room was a standard tournament ring, but jutting out over the water was a four tiered fighting platform. Off in the distance he could see an island with a dormant volcano.
"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" A young woman's voice said behind him. "It's just not fair, I should be able to compete up there with the adults, but instead I have to settle for the standard ring with the youth for now."
Gohan turned to see Videl standing next to him admiring the view as well. He took a moment to assess her ki level and was slightly surprised at how high it was for a normal human. "I know what you mean, my dad was allowed to compete at the age of twelve. Just doesn't seem right that we have to be separated by age now."
Videl looked at him in shock. "Twelve! Who is your dad?"
Videl noticed the way his eyes lost focus as he stared out toward the horizon. Suddenly she realized that he must be gone. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Gohan answered. "No, it's alright, I'm learning to cope with him being gone."
"If it's any consolation, I lost my mom too. It's hard. I miss her so much, but I know she wouldn't want me to dwell on the past." Videl revealed without meaning to. She didn't know why, but she felt a certain kinship with this young man.
Gohan reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Videl smiled and nodded her thanks. "Gohan, right?"
"Yes, and it was Videl if I'm not mistaken." Gohan confirmed.
"That's right. I figured you were competing today when I saw you earlier, glad I was right. Well, I hope to see you in the ring. Later." Videl turned to leave before things turned awkward. Finding the match listings, she saw that they were on opposite ends of the pyramid. Hopefully they could meet in the finals and actually have a decent match.
Shortly after Videl left the announcer came over the loudspeaker to call the junior contestants to the ring. This also drew the attention of the spectators alerting them to the start of the festivities.
"Welcome to the first ever Intergalactic Tournament of Power! We have a stunning event for you today. In another first, we will have four simultaneous battle royals. Then each of the winners will take on one of our special guests from another planet. After a thrilling race to the finish, the winner will get the privilege of facing Mr Satan himself for the chance to win ten million zeni!"
"But first, please direct your attention to the ring in front of you as 16 talented youth fight it out in our youth tournament."
Gohan entered the ring in the first round followed by his opponent. He stood 6 foot 3 with a fair bit of muscle. "Hey runt, I sure hope you brought a body bag because I'm about to kill you.". He stated as he threw a series of fast punches and a kick in an attempt to intimidate Gohan.
The announcer entered the ring to lay out the rules. "I want a good clean fight. The fight will be over when one contestant leaves the ring, gives up, or is knocked out. Let's get it on!"
Gohan offered a slight how l bow out of courtesy which his opponent ignored, instead taking up his stance. Videl was curious why he didn't take a stance of his own. Gohan just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest and observed his opponent. This irritated the older boy to no end.
Charging in he launched a powerful right hook that just barely missed its target. A flurry of punches flew from then, all timing empty air. Videl watched on as Gohan used the minimum amount of movement needed to avoid any of the strikes. She gasped when she noticed that even though his opponent was dancing all around him, Gohan's feet had not moved an inch.
The older boy was getting frustrated by this short upstart. Losing out to his anger, he threw a wild haymaker that caused him to overextend when it too missed. Suddenly his world shifted as Gohan finally made a move. Grabbing his arm, Gohan rolled backward and planted a foot into the taller boy's midsection and launched him out of the ring. Continuing the roll till he was on his feet, Gohan bowed to the audience and made his way off the ring.
The next two fights lasted a bit longer, one ending in a submission tap out and the other with a knock out.
Videl felt the excitement as she climbed the steps for her first bout. From the audience she could hear Erasa cheering and spotted her and Sharpner on the front toe in the center. 'He certainly got some great seats.' She saw they had also reserved a seat for her for which she was grateful.
Her opponent was an absolute disappointment. He had obviously ordered her dad's correspondence courses and thought that he was ready for the real deal. She had knocked the poor fool out in less than five seconds. With her match over, so was the first round.
The next two rounds were utterly boring for the two seasoned martial artists. Finally the moment Videl had been anticipating arrived. She stood across from Gohan in the final round.
Gohan smiled at the young woman in front of him. He had been looking forward to seeing what she could do. He knew he still had to hold back, but hopefully she could let him at least stretch his muscles a little. The same thoughts were going through Videl's mind as well.
"Yahoo! Go Videl! Good luck Gohan!" Erasa cheered from the stands.
"Is she always like that?" Gohan couldn't help but ask.
"Annoyingly so." Videl answered with a fond smile. The anticipation inside her building, Videl slipped into the fighting stance she had learned from her father. To her surprise Gohan assumed a stance for the first time in any of his matches. 'Good. He's taking me seriously.' Videl studied his form. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, or was it? Somehow a vague feeling came over her as she could have sworn she had seen this stance before…. but where?
As soon as the announcer called for the start of the match Videl rushed forward with a plan in the making. She feigned with a right to his face then pivoted on her heel dropping into a sweep. Gohan hopped over her leg and twisted in midair to avoid a jab to his chest.
Videl quickly maneuvered away to give herself some distance as she evaluated his skill. Gohan was impressed by her combination.
Videl charged in again, this time with a right cross followed by a spinning backhand to a roundhouse kick, none of which found their mark. She was starting to get frustrated, how was this kid so agile? Suddenly a new plan stuck her.
Remembering the look he had given Erasa in the food court, Videl tried a tactic that she would normally never resort to. She smiled brightly and batted her eyelashes a few times. Inside she was cringing, but the tactic had the desired effect.
Gohan was really enjoying his fight against Videl. She was quite skilled for a human with no concept of ki. He was looking forward to seeing what else she could do when she paused and smiled at him. The way that she batted her eyes at him had him mesmerized. Suddenly his world shifted as his legs were swept from under him and an elbow found its mark on the center of his chest. Landing awkwardly, Gohan rolled and sprang to his feet.
Videl, while impressed by his agility, couldn't help but laugh at the incredulous look he gave her. Rushing him again she planted her hands on the ring floor and brought her legs up in a handstand before spinning into a helicopter kick. Gohan caught her leg and was about to throw her when she folded her arms so she could roll and possibly offset his balance. Gohan released her leg and allowed her to roll away before he moved to intercept her.
While Gohan was moving very slowly in his opinion, to Videl it was as if he teleported in front of her. Unable to stop her momentum she rolled right into his grip and felt herself flying out of bounds. She don't know how she did it, but she was about to catch herself just before flying past the edge of the ring.
Gohan had a look of absolute surprise when he felt her ki spike and she was able to catch the the of a floor tile saving herself from the ring out. 'Amazing, she was able to subconsciously tap into her ki just now.'
Videl stood panting. She had not had this difficult of a fight since she sparred with her father, and even then she had been at least able to land a few blows on him. 'Who in the HFIL is this kid?' Looking at Gohan again, she could see the smile that only comes from enjoying a good fight. Soon a similar smile graced her lips
Slowly the smile faded from Gohan's lips, replaced by a look of sadness and regret. "I'm really sorry, but my family really needs the money."
"Wha…." Videl was cut off when Gohan suddenly appeared right in front of her and thrust his hand forward for a palm strike to her chest. He stopped his hand a millimeter from actually striking her, but the pressure from the speed of his attack hit her like a sledge hammer knocking her off her feet and to the ground outside the ring.
"And in an incredible display of skill, the winner of the Junior Championship is Son Gohan! Let's hear it for this talented young man! And let's not forget his opponent, the daughter of our savior and world's strongest man, Videl Satan!" The announcer yelled over the cheers and whistles from the crowd.
Videl looked up to see Gohan standing over her with his hand extended and the goofy grin on his face. Scowling, she accepted his hand and stood up. "You fought really good out there. You really surprised me a couple of times." Gohan complimented.
"Look here, you might have beat me this time, but I will take you down next time." She turned away from him in a huff and stormed off to assuage her wounded pride. Gohan watched her leave feeling a little guilty that she never had a chance to win. Hoping that in time she would forgive him, he hoped to meet her and her friend someday in the future.
"Alright! It is now the time that everyone has been waiting for! Martial artists please make your way to your assigned platforms! It's time to start the Main Event!
It's finally here. Thank you to all my readers out there for your patience. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next chapter will start the Intergalactic Championship and lead into the battle with Bojack and the Heras. I had debated whether to include this or not, but I decided that I could use it for a couple of plot points in the future. See you soon.