A/N: Hey hey! I'm back after quite a relaxing weekend! Boy did I need that! I must say that I'm impressed with the support I've gotten from you all with these past couple of chapters, so I would like to once again thank each and every one of you!
Now I'm not going to lie, this chapter is LONG! I mean over 14,000 words long! There's a lot of stuff that goes on in this chapter that will be explained later in the story, mostly having to do with Pan and Goken. As a side thought though, I worked extremely hard on the battle scenes in this chapter, so I really hope that you like them!
As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated and vital to the overall quality of the story. On with it then!
"dialogue"
thoughts
"telepathic communication"
~change in setting~
*action*
flashback
Chapter 7: And Then There Were Four
~Main Arena, Intergalactic Tournament Grounds, Yahoi Island, Age 768~
"Attention fans!" The announcers voice booms through the arena. Upon hearing this, the majority of people in the stands quiet down to hear what the announcement will be, everyone hoping for the start of the semifinals. "The matches for the semifinals have been set!" The crowd erupts in cheers at this statement. Everyone who won their respective blocks looked like they hardly even tried, so they are excited to see all of them fight each other.
"In match #1, we have Goku pitted against Vegeta!"
There are cheers from the stands, but a few gasps are there as well.
"Woah! Goku and Vegeta right off the bat!" Yamcha exclaims, surprised that the two are fighting each other in the semifinals. "This is going to get intense quick!" Yamcha is genuinely excited about watching the fight between these two. He knows that they are rivals and that Vegeta still has genuine hatred towards Goku. He knows that this will be the most exciting match he's ever seen.
Bulma and Chichi are in a heated argument over whose husband will win. "Goku will kick Vegeta's butt!" shouts Chichi indignantly. Amazingly, the little infant barely a week old in her arms doesn't stir from his slumber. The child is an incredibly deep sleeper apparently. Either that or he's already used to the dramatics of his mother.
"Ha! You wish!" Bulma replies with a Vegeta like arrogance. "Vegeta has been training ever since the Cell Games ended almost nonstop! He will crush Goku!"
As the two wives continue to argue who will win between the two, Goku and Vegeta are walking out onto the central platform, which is a 25' x 25' foot square platform in the center of the whole arena. Vegeta is wearing his usual smirk and Goku is just grinning in anticipation of the upcoming battle. He knows Vegeta will go all out in this spar; he would be vastly disappointed if he didn't.
"Time to show you the true power of your prince Kakarot!" Vegeta taunts his rival. "I will wipe the floor with your third-class ass!"
Goku just continues to grin at the saiyan prince, now facing him as they are on opposite sides of the arena. "We'll just have to see Vegeta. Just so you know I'm not holding back!"
"Doesn't matter Kakarot, you wouldn't be able to anyways since I am now much more powerful than you!" Vegeta spat back. "If anything, you should worry about me holding back, although I have no intention of doing that. I will humiliate you just like you and your brat have humiliated me!" At his last words, the announcer announced the beginning of the match.
Vegeta immediately goes on the offensive, throwing a punch to Goku's side, anticipating him to block. Goku makes the move to block his right side by dropping his right arm while aiming a kick at Vegeta's unprotected left abdomen, only to be met with Vegeta's shin. Vegeta had expected him to counter so he fakes the punch to Goku's right side, instead going for his now unguarded face. This punch sends Goku across the platform, giving the first strike to Vegeta.
The sayian prince wastes no time in capitalizing on Goku's lapse and immediately dashes towards Earth's hero. He sends a flurry of punches Goku's way, forcing the younger saiyan on the defensive quickly. Of course fighting his son while he's an ascended super sayian had trained him well for this kind of defense and he parries Vegeta's onslaught with relative ease.
Noticing that his offensive is failing to break Goku's impenetrable defense, Vegeta breaks off, panting slightly. He wastes no time in powering up. The winds start to swirl around the saiyan prince and they increase in intensity as Vegeta draws out more of his ki. His hair starts to flicker gold and falls back to black, his eyes flickering from black to teal. Finally, he lets off a yell and his hair and eye color permanently stay gold and teal respectively, but his ki continues to increase past the limits of a normal super saiyan as he is engulfed in an incredibly bright golden aura. The winds continue to increase in intensity, making the crowd shield their eyes under the typhoon winds that the saiyan prince is causing. Finally his ki levels off as the winds diminish and his aura settles down around his body. Vegeta is now sporting his very characteristic smirk that he is known well for.
From the fighter's lounge, the Z-fighters that are competing are watching this battle in awe of the power of the saiyan prince.
"Wow!" Krillin comments. "I can't believe how much stronger Vegeta got since the Cell Games. He really wasn't kidding about all of the training he's been doing."
"I know I shouldn't be, but I'm surprised as well!" Trunks adds, wide eyed. "One thing's for sure, he's stronger than I am now!"
"Are you serious Uncle Trunks?" Goken inquires his adoptive father. "Wowee! He must be incredibly strong!"
"Do you think gra-father can win d-niisan?" Pan asks her chibi father, quickly covering up her slips. She's worried that since Vegeta is so strong that he might lose, and she heard that her grandpa never lost! NEVER!
Gohan however doesn't look the least bit worried as he wears a knowing smirk on his face, He figured Vegeta would have gotten stronger, but he knows his dad did also. He takes a quick glance towards his long time sensei and Piccolo returns the knowing smirk before returning his attention back to the battle. Finally, Gohan acknowledges his daughter's question. "Just watch and see Panny!"
"HAHAHA!" Vegeta cockily laughs, confident that his new power far surpasses that of his rival. "Now you know the true power of your prince. I should make you bow down before me you third-class slug!"
Goku however looks on at Vegeta with a look of amusement, grinning ear to ear. "Wow Vegeta! I'm impressed! You're stronger than Gohan was when he fought Cell as a super saiyan! I really will have to try!" Suddenly, Goku transforms into a super saiyan in less than a second. His hair changes from black to blond and his eyes from onyx to teal almost instantly, no aura or wind accompanying the transformation. He makes it look like it didn't take any effort at all, and to those who can't sense ki, it appears as if he didn't do anything other than change his hair and eye color.
Those who can sense ki however know how powerful Goku has just become. Everyone except Piccolo and Gohan are in awe at not only how much power radiating off of the long time hero, but also at how easy it came to him. His ki level is already higher than Vegeta's, yet it looks like he didn't do anything at all. He seems completely calm and at ease, yet the power he is holding is absolutely phenomenal.
Gohan holds a smirk on his face. He knew his father was more powerful than Vegeta. The saiyan prince thought that Goku was taking a break from his training in order to teach Gohan how to control his power, but in reality, he has been getting stronger all along by continuously pushing his limits against his son while training him. While Vegeta may have been training intensely by himself for the past nine months, nothing compares hours of sparring against a more powerful opponent.
Vegeta however ignores the blatant power difference and still believes that he is the superior fighter. He immediately flares his aura around him and charges Goku once again. He jumps in the air right in front of the younger saiyan and does an eagle dive only for his legs to be caught, holding him in a defenseless position in midair. Goku uses this advantage and starts spinning his body, still holding onto Vegeta. After about thirty rotations, Goku releases Vegeta, the momentum sending the prince flying for miles.
However, Vegeta has never been one to be defeated so easily. He used his ki to eventually stop his momentum before he could fall into the raging waters below. He floats back up to the platform where He is greeted by a grinning Goku.
"Wow Vegeta! Again, I'm impressed!" Goku praises the scowling saiyan. "I thought I had disoriented you enough that you wouldn't be able to recover in time. I guess you are stronger than I thought!"
Though Goku is genuinely impressed with Vegeta and the tone he says his remark in isn't mocking, the saiyan prince takes it that way as he answers Goku by once again charging him. He is blinded by rage, not accepting that fact that Kakarot has surpassed him again. He has lost his sense of calm and is now attacking Goku recklessly. The prince of all saiyans throws a blind entourage of punches and kicks at Earth's hero with Goku dodging all of them. He doesn't even try to block the attack; Vegeta's technique is so sloppy that he gives away each punch well in advance, giving Goku the ability to just simply dodge.
Seeing as he will not get too much of a challenge anymore from his rival (who Goku considers a close friend), Goku takes charge. Digging into the well of ki that he has kept hidden the whole battle, his aura flashes for the first time in the battle. He catches a wayward punch of Vegeta's and sends the prince a ki enhanced punch straight into the solar plexus. The force of the blow causes Vegeta to cough up blood and drop back to his base form, exhausted from his unsuccessful tirade. Goku then mercifully kicks Vegeta off of the platform and the prince doesn't even make an attempt to stop himself from plummeting into the depths of the ocean below.
"Ring out!" the tournament announcer enthusiastically announces over the roaring crowd. "Goku advances to the finals!"
"BOOYAH!" Chichi gloats to Bulma. " I knew my Goku would win!"
Bulma, despite her faith in her husband, expected Goku to win as well. "I'm just so astounded at how easily he beat him! Vegeta's done nothing but train the past nine months in that damned gravity room!" Although he was spending time with Trunks as well. Bulma adds mentally.
"What do you think Goku's been doing all this time?" Chichi counters. "While Gohan was studying, he would always go off sparring with that Piccolo. He probably was training just as hard as Vegeta has."
Goku looked down at the water in which Vegeta fell, contemplating whether or not he should help him up. Naw! He will be incredibly furious after that defeat. He silently reasons. I'll just let him cool down a little. No doubt he'll take off to explode somewhere.
As if on cue, Vegeta bursts out of the water, sporting a death glare that could actually kill, sending it at his rival before grunting, flaring his aura and taking off in the opposite direction going Dende knows where to take out his fury.
Goku just shrugs at his rivals predicted reaction and drops his transformation. He flies over to the fighter's lounge where the rest of the Z-fighters are currently waiting for their matches to be announced.
~Hercule's Private Suite, Intergalactic Tournament Grounds~
At this point, everyone in the crowd has recognized Goku and Vegeta as two of the fighters from the Cell games, Goku being the blond man who fought Cell after Hercule 'lost his balance' and was defeated by Cell. This crowd included a certain raven haired eleven year old daughter of the champ himself.
How do they do that?! She silently muses in her mind. She is completely astonished by what just took place in front of her. Those had to be tricks! No one can fly or change their hair color by yelling!
However, after seeing them in person once again, she sees how real they appeared to be. Despite being told by her father almost constantly that they are only tricks using smoke and mirrors, she can't deny that they are still powerful. Heck! She could pretty much feel the power from all of the blows radiating through the air, not to mention each punch sounded like a bomb going off.
She inwardly smirks. The mystery fighters from the Cell Games are here and at least one of them has made it to the finals. She is looking forward to the championship match with her father now more than ever! Videl has no doubt that one of the mystery fighters will be the one to make it to the championship match. She will finally get the full truth from that match; either her father will defeat them and prove that he was right about their "tricks," or he will lose and everything Videl has understood for the past nine months since Cell will have been a lie, including her father's claim of the defeat of Cell.
Videl has no clue what she wants to believe anymore. Some part of her wants her father to lose because he has let the fame get to his head, boasting all over the world and "graciously accepting" all of the gifts and money thrown his way, not to mention all of the random women he's been flouncing around with. If the man were to lose against one of the mystery fighters, all of that would perish as the world would see him for what he truly is, a coward, a moocher, and most of all, a fraud. That would put him in his place, and hopefully he would become the man that she remembers fondly as her father with all of that fame gone.
At the same time though, if he indeed loses, that would mean that he was lying to her the entire time as well! No matter how much of a buffoon her father has become, he still is her father. It would hurt her very deeply if she were to find out that her father would lie to even her, his own daughter about such a matter. What does she care if he actually defeated Cell or not? She still would love the man if he told her that he didn't. Heck! Maybe she'd love him even more because she could help him find away out of the situation he put them in, and even if it turned out for the worst, she still would have a lot of respect for her father for admitting such a big thing to her. But if she were to find out from him losing a fight to one of the mystery warriors, she wouldn't know if she would have the heart to forgive him.
Videl is now very anxious for the championship match, where she will learn the truth about her father once and for all!
~Intergalactic Tournament Fighter's Lounge~
As Goku enters the fighter's lounge after his match, he is immediately questioned by the Z-fighters besides Gohan and Piccolo.
"WOW! That was amazing!" Goken enthusiastically cries to his grandfather. "I thought Uncle Vegeta was strong but you made him look like he was nothing!" The Goku clone emphasizes his point but enthusiastically throwing his arms back at the word 'nothing.'
"Yeah Goku! Vegeta seemed stronger than Gohan when he started fighting Cell, yet somehow you became that much stronger!" Krillin adds to the praise of his long time best friend. "How do you do it?"
Goku subconsciously rubs the back of his head while grinning at his son. "Well pushing your limits against a super saiyan 2 Gohan constantly really helps out a lot ha ha!" Goku cheerfully replies.
As everyone continues to praise and measure Goku's strength, Gohan thinks through his father's improvement. Dad, you've improved so much; much more than I anticipated. I knew that you were stronger than Vegeta, but I never would have suspected that! You're ready to make the jump to the next level, but you need the right trigger. I'm not sure how to give you that; you're so naturally happy that it may not be possible to get you that angry, but I will try my hardest for you dad! I really don't want you to have to experience such a thing dad; it is extremely unbearable and it makes the normal transformation look like a cute kitten in comparison, but I know that you may need the power later on, plus you'll stop progressing really soon if you can't transform. I'll try my hardest dad, to help you ascend!
"Now wasn't that a match for the ages everyone?" The voice of the announcer cuts off Gohan's thoughts and everyone else's praise. "We have quite the matchup for the next match as well! Match #2 features a battle between siblings! Would Gohan and Pan please enter the arena?"
Gohan looks up and blinks. He was so caught up with everything that has been going on that he forgot to check the matchups for the semifinals. He didn't know he would be fighting his future daughter. At this thought, Gohan grins and looks over to his daughter, who returns the grin enthusiastically.
"Are you ready Pan?" Gohan inquires his daughter. His response is eager nodding from the female chibi as she grabs Gohan's hand and drags him to the entrance of the fighter's lounge. The barely older father chuckles at the girls antics as he allows himself to be pulled until they get to the entrance.
~Main Arena, Intergalactic Tournament Grounds~
As Pan and Gohan make their way to the arena, a certain prince makes his way to the outskirts of the arena. As much as he hates that he lost to Kakarot once again, he is genuinely interested in how strong Gohan's future daughter is so he doesn't want to miss this fight. He of course will never admit interest in anything that has to do with his rival, so he watches from a distance in the background, close enough where he can see with his enhanced vision, yet far enough away where he will not get spotted by anyone else.
So, under the watchful eye of the saiyan prince, the two chibis in question make their way to the main arena. The crowd is still amazed at how two chibis could make it to the semifinals even though they saw how both chibis made it. Both Gohan and Pan ignore the gawking expressions from the audience, as both are still grinning madly at the prospect of fighting each other, albeit for different reasons.
Pan is excited to fight against her father that she's heard so much about. Sure, she's sparred against him a couple of times, but she's never fought him when there are actual stakes. She has never got to see the extent of his power, and seeing Goku display the amount of power that he did, yet knowing that her father is even stronger than that, she is very excited to see the extent of his power. She also has the desire to show her father what she can do in order to make him truly proud of her.
Gohan's intentions are to measure his daughter's power. He has a good idea of her skill from her spars with him, but even though he's seen her transform before, he knows that she has much more power than she's displayed. He is planning on taking this match seriously in order to push her to her limits. "Pan, don't hold back okay?" He tells his daughter as they make their way to the platform. "I want to get a true measure of your strength."
"As long as you don't hold back either!" is Pan's reply. "I think you'll find that you need to try to beat me." She adds as she faces her future father.
Gohan just smiles back at his daughter as the announcer announces the start of the fight. Pan immediately starts building her ki, not wasting any time with a warm up. Winds start building around her as her shoulder length hair starts standing on end. For a brief moment, her eyes change to teal and her hair to gold as her ki continues to rise. The wind intensifies and her hair starts flashing from raven to gold and her eyes from onyx to teal more frequently until finally she gives off a yell and her transformation complete. She is now surrounded by the familiar golden aura, her long hair now spiked up and glowing golden with her eyes a shimmering teal. Her ki makes a huge leap as this transformation becomes complete and eventually levels off.
Gohan smirks at his daughter. "Interesting. I guess we'll start with a warm up then." He crouches in a power up stance and throws his arms back, creating a burst of wind as he is surrounded by a white aura, raising his ki to as high as it will go in his base form. "Well then, let's get started, imouto!"
Pan frowns at her father, noticing that he didn't transform. This annoys her as she feels like he doesn't think of her as a challenge if he won't even transform. Her ki rises subconsciously because of this as she charges her father at breakneck speeds. She sends a punch right as his face which he dodges by the slimmest of margins, catching him off guard somewhat.
Little did Pan know that he didn't transform on purpose to see how she reacted, and he notices that she came at him with more force than he originally thought. She has improved a ton even within this last week. He silently praises as he continues to attempt to dodge and block her attacks, but is having a great amount of difficulty in doing so.
Eventually, Pan gets in a good blow to Gohan's chest, causing him to dry heave as well as sending him across the platform. Eventually, he has enough of this and he yells out to the now smirking Pan. "Okay, the warm up is over. Time to get serious." Gohan gets up from where he was knocked down, showing absolutely no damage. He then casually snaps his fingers and his hair instantly changes from dark onyx to an almost bleached yellow as it spikes up a little and his eyes change from deep onyx to light teal. As nonchalant that transformation is however, his ki explodes and is now as high as his father's max was at the Cell games. This causes everyone (including his daughter and the on looking Vegeta) to gape at how easy that transformation was. It looked like he could do that in his sleep, which those who can actually transform know is incredibly difficult to do.
Eventually, Gohan's nonchalant expression turns to a smirk as he looks at his gaping opponent across the platform. "Okay Panny. Let me see your real power. I know you're hiding it."
The comment by Gohan snaps her out of her trance she was in as she hardens her expression, and nods in response. Now completely serious, she flares her golden aura and the winds pick up again as she yells at the top of her lungs, drawing out her power that she has kept hidden her entire visit from the future. To everyone's astonishment, her ki shoots up once again, as it continues to increase with no indication of stopping soon. She continues to yell as her aura engulfs her into a bright golden sphere, making the chibi look as bright as the sun on Earth. The whole audience, minus the Z-fighters, needs to shield their eyes as the bright light only gets brighter and the winds intensify to hurricane force. Finally, the bright star that is Pan explodes and the wind dies down as her golden aura now radiates brighter than before around the young girl. Her ki level plateaus at her absolute max, which is about as high as Gohan's max was as a super saiyan nine months ago at the Cell games. If one were to look into her viridian eyes, they would see a look of pure determination and concentration.
If everyone was gaping before, they now are completely and absolutely fully stunned. At least with Gohan they expected this kind of power, but they had no clue what to expect from Pan. Vegeta looks at the platform with complete and utter surprise. His eyes are wide and his jaw dropped. How is this possible?! He inwardly seethes. I am the saiyan prince and I have been fighting my whole life, yet this brat of that brat of that third class piece of rubbish Kakarot is as powerful as I am! And worse yet, she a female! Females aren't supposed to be as powerful as male saiyans. His gaping expression turns into one of rage and he blasts off to parts unknown once again, not even bothering to see the ensuing battle now.
Trunks also watches on with a gaping expression. He had no clue how much of her real power she was hiding. Since when did Pan get stronger than me?! I thought for sure that when we came to this timeline that I was stronger. I know she's done some training with Gohan and Goku, but to gain this much power in one week in absolutely ridiculous! She must have been either holding it back this entire time or she had no clue she even had this much ki. Huh, like father like daughter I guess.
"Yay Pan!" Goken shouts from the fighter's lounge. Unlike the others who are showing genuine surprise at Pan's power, the little chibi shows only pure excitement and anticipation. "Show niisan what you can really do!"
As he watches his little girl power up, Gohan's smug expression turns to one of surprise then to a genuine grin of pride. He feels Pan's ki as he nears the end of her power up and he feels that it is a little higher than his own when he fought Cell. He can't help the beaming expression that makes its way to his face. He is immensely proud of the girl he's facing off against and he has no trouble showing it.
"Okay niisan, is this good enough for you?" A determined Pan cries at her father. She attempts to maintain a serious demeanor but takes one look at the expression on her father's face and can't help the smile that makes its way to her face.
"Pan," Gohan calmly replies, pride lacing his voice with his grin never leaving his face. "This is better than good enough! You don't know how proud I am at the moment!"
That last comment makes Pan drop her serious attitude and blush slightly at her father's praise. Strangely enough though instead of lowering her ki, her ki actually increases a little from her calmer demeanor. She isn't aware of it, but Pan is subconsciously controlling her power better, wasting less energy in her emotions, and in turn giving her a bigger well to fish from. Now with a grin on her face, Pan initiates the battle anew, giving her chibi father a brief warning before she charges him at full power.
Pan starts her assault the same as she did earlier: she goes for a solid hit right in his face. This time however, she gets the blow, causing Gohan to fly backwards, nearly off the platform. Pan doesn't let up on her attack as she sends a flurry of punches and kicks towards the chibi she calls her father. He struggles mightily to parry the attack but that initial punch hurt a lot more than he initially thought. He therefore is being completely overwhelmed with his daughter's entourage. Knowing that if things continue this way for much longer that he will actually lose, he knows he needs to raise his ki.
And that is exactly what he does. After successfully blocking a particular punch that left Pan off balance, he sends a ki enhanced punch to her side, sending her across the platform, not expecting the punch to be quite that strong. He uses this moment to start gathering ki. He summons a golden aura around him as the winds start to pick up. His ki starts to sky rocket, and little Pan can't help but gulp at the power that starts to radiate off of her chibi father. She knew he was strong, but she never expected this! His ki climbs to the max it can be while in the first super saiyan stage. This ki level is the strongest that the chibi has ever felt and looking at the suddenly very serious expression coming from her father, she admits to herself that it scares her a little.
At the same time however, she can't help but feel a sense of pride overwhelm her. She was strong enough to push her father this far. He did this in response to their battle, showing her that he thinks high enough of her to take her seriously. This also brings about a sense of excitement in her, the saiyan cells to blame for that. The thrill of fighting an opponent who she can go all out on really pumps the epinephrine through her body. This sense of excitement also causes a slight increase in her ki, the hormones of excitement washing over her.
Goku watches from the stands, now sitting by his wife and infant son along with the other non-fighting Z-gang, with great interest. He knows that his son only has used this kind of power against him and Piccolo, and to tell the truth, he is very excited to finally see it again on someone that is not himself. He knows that the circumstances that would make him use this amount of strength so he knows how much respect he has for Pan if he is willing to unveil it on her. The father knows that this is the pinnacle of super saiyan strength without going to the next level, so he is going to thoroughly enjoy seeing what his future granddaughter can do against the ultimate warrior that he is extremely proud to call his son.
Gohan is now taking this match completely seriously. He looks across the platform at the young girl and only sees another opponent; gone is his daughter from the future. Being naturally nice and trusting, he finds that it is necessary to lose all ties to the opponent in the middle of a real battle in order to fight at full strength. He constantly practices this against his father when they spar so that it doesn't affect him when it matters most.
Pan yelps in surprise as her father takes initiative this time and charges her. He moves at a speed that no one but Goku can follow and before she can even blink, Gohan is in her face. She tries her best to defend herself, but he is too quick. Gohan goes in with a fake punch to the left side of Pan's abdomen, which Pan buys by throwing her left arm down in defense, and bringing her right arm up to defend her face. In doing so however, she leaves the right side of her torso completely open for attack, which Gohan takes complete advantage of. He stops his right arm short of Pan's left side and instead throws his left fist into Pan's unguarded side, sending her flying across the platform. To the young chibi's credit though, she somehow keeps her balance and doesn't fall to the ground.
Gohan presses the advantage. As Pan is attempting to recover, Gohan fazes right behind where the poor girl stopped her momentum and delivers a devastating, full-power roundhouse kick to the chibi right in the opposite side of where she was previously hit, causing a booming crack to echo throughout the arena. This attack makes the girl cough up blood as she flies across the platform once again and right over the edge and heading for the water below. Before she can get her bearing straight she plunges through the depths of the ocean, barely conscious.
"Ring out!" The announcer cries excitedly. "Gohan advances to the finals where he will join Goku!"
The audience is dead silent as they never even saw what had transpired. One minute Gohan was glowing, standing on the opposite side of the platform as Pan, and the next thing they see is Pan go flying one direction, and then the other and splashing into the blue ocean below. Gohan had completely disappeared until he was standing where the girl had been previously.
Goku cringes at the blow that Gohan gave Pan. He knows from experience that those kind of blows from Gohan hurt, a lot more than most do. Even if you're powered up as much as Pan was, those blows can still be crippling. That just goes to show you how powerful Gohan is. That's not even the full extent if his power either. Goku mentally adds. He can go many times higher than that at the next level!
Goken is truly stunned at the display of power his father showed. To him, that was the largest ki he has ever felt by far! However, instead of being stunned silent, in typical Goken fashion, he is excited as ever.
"WOW DADDY! That was super-incredibly-spectacularly-amazingly-fantastically awesome!" he shouts, breaking the silence that plagues the arena. He is so excited that he forgot about the fact that Gohan's supposed to be his brother and not his dad. This makes every one of the Z-fighters cringe as the arena was silent at the time of his outburst so everyone in the audience could hear the eight-year-old call an eleven-year-old his father.
After listening to a couple of comments by some of the audience members however, the Z-gang realizes that they somehow didn't catch the obvious abnormality in the chibi's exclamation. They figure that everyone else was still in the trance that the display on the platform put them in. This makes everyone mentally sigh in relief.
Gohan however hadn't even heard his son's words at all. As soon as he heard Pan's splash he came out of his 'serious' mode and immediately felt deep concern for his daughter. Crap! I overdid it! He scolds himself. I really hope she's alright. I know that there's really nothing that I did to her that a senzu or Dende can't heal, but still… she's my daughter, even if she's from another timeline.
With his worries on hand, Gohan forgets to power down and instead jumps off of the platform and into the waters below in hopes of rescuing his little girl that's only a few months younger than he is.
Cette girl is still sinking downward into the depths of the ocean, although not for reasons that one would assume. She's not knocked out; in fact, she's still a super saiyan, although her aura is gone so she can't see. No the reason she hasn't surfaced yet is because she is still in awe at what happened and is thinking through what just transpired. Although normally one would have a right to be concerned about her not surfacing after a couple of minutes, her saiyan blood allows her to hold her breath for extended periods of time; she could be underwater for an hour and still be able to hold onto consciousness.
Pan continues thinking as she sinks deeper. It still amazes her what kind of power her father has. After he went full power, he beat me in two blows… She winces at the finishing blow she took subconsciously rubbing her side where she took it. Dang I was at full power too and that blow still hurts like heck! And yet… it still felt like he was holding back. Dad… you truly are amazing.
Pan now has a newfound respect for her father. Sure she had respect for him before; after all, he's her dad and had saved the planet in this timeline, but after fighting him firsthand, she realizes just how special he really is. She heard stories of how powerful he was from Uncle Trunks, but she never expected that much power! It's just mindboggling how much ki the boy of not even twelve years of age has stored in that small body of his.
Pan is brought out of her musings by the subject of her thoughts. After he dove in the water, Gohan locked on to his daughter's ki and was relieved to find that it was stable and still very strong. Still though, he wanders why she never resurfaced if she's perfectly fine and his curiosity leads to concern.
Since he never powered down, his golden aura is still radiating off of his body and making a small cyclone of water around him. Pan immediately notices this since the warm glow of her father's aura stands out greatly in the darkness that is the deep ocean depths. Coming to the conclusion that the only reason he's here is because he's worried about her like usual, she can't help but feel a little guilty. She starts swimming towards him, only to wince as pain shoots through her at the movement of her sensitive side. Still though, she pursues through the pain towards her father.
Eventually, father and daughter meet up underwater. A relieved look crosses Gohan's face as he spots Pan. He immediately grabs her hand and puts two fingers to his forehead, instant transmissioning them to the fighter's lounge.
~Intergalactic Tournament Fighter's Lounge~
Everyone who can sense ki tenses up for a second as soon as they feel an incredibly strong ki and a smaller, but still very strong ki pop into the room. They all are relieved once they remember that those two kis are only Gohan and Pan, both in their super sayian states. As soon as they just pop back into existence right in front of them, they are immediately met with the gusty winds and bright glowing light that Gohan has around him in his powered up state. After a couple of seconds of making sure Pan is alright, he finally notices the rest of the Z-fighters in the lounge and the fact that he basically scared the crap out of them when he made his sudden reappearance. He scratches the back of his head sheepishly and powers down back to his base form, suppressing his ki from obvious detection once again. Pan also takes this time to power down as well, although her attention is still on her father.
"He he, sorry about that guys," Gohan finally apologizes, a sheepish grin forming on his face. "I didn't mean to startle you all."
At that moment however, Goken decides to run up to Gohan and tell him how awesome he is. "Da-n-niisan!" Gohan inwardly rolls his eyes at Goken's partial slip. "You were incredible! Pan is ridiculously strong yet you still beat her! I don't even think Uncle Trunks could beat her anymore!" Goken is beaming at his father, rocking back and forth on his heals waiting for a response from his chibi father.
Gohan responds by looking down and his slightly shorter son, and giving him a classic Son grin. "I'm glad you think so Goken." He gives his son a small hug before he returns his attention to his eldest child. "And I think you're right about your sister too! She can go head to head with anyone!"
Pan blushes at the praise she receives once again. She definitely is Gohan's kid. "I don't know about that," she says unsure of herself.
"I believe they're both right about you Pan!" A new voice comes into the conversation. "I know you would definitely give me a run for my money! Don't let the fight you had with Gohan fool you. Heck! Even I don't stand a chance against him anymore!" His voice however is laced with great pride as he speaks these words.
"Dad…" Gohan replies, now sporting a sheepish smile and a small blush of his own. "What are you talking about? You know you can beat me just fine. You do every time we spar."
Goku actually chuckles at Gohan's statement. "Gohan," he says, still chuckling. "You know that whenever we spar I'm going all out right?"
Gohan's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. "Are you serious?" Gohan doesn't know what to think. This is the second time that he thought his father was holding back when he truly wasn't, the first being at the Cell Games.
"Dead serious son, it's the only way I can keep up with you." Goku replies, giving his son a look that says that he's being honest with him. "And I know for a fact from your reaction that you haven't been. What I saw today from you against Pan was the strongest you've ever fought one on one. And even though you don't go all out in our spars, they are still very close."
He then looks at Pan and smiles. "See what I mean Pan? He is so far above everyone else that nobody stands a chance against him when he actually tries." He emphasizes the last point, making Gohan look down in embarrassment. "If you would have gone up against anyone else in your match, myself included, you probably would have either won, or given your opponent a run for his money. I'm extremely impressed with what you displayed today! You pushed Gohan further than I've ever been able to on my own."
Pan eyes are slightly shimmering and she has a big grin on her face as she looks up at her grandfather that she never got to meet before this week. "Thanks g-father!" Pan's expression then changes to one of curiosity as she processes the exact words her grandfather spoke. "Wait, you said that when Gohan fought me that that was the strongest he's ever fought someone one-on-one. You also said that I pushed him farther than you've ever been able to on your own. Are you saying that he's was still holding back some power against me? You said it like he's gone higher than that before if he's faced more than one person."
However, before Goku can answer his future granddaughter's question, the voice of the announcer cuts him off. "Alrighty folks! Now that match was something else! This next match however looks to be a great one as well. Semifinal match #3 features Piccolo and Goken! Would these two contestants please make their way to the central platform."
Goken jumps up and down in anticipation of his match. According to his daddy, Piccolo has been training with him a lot! He should be a great opponent! "D-niisan! Will you cheer for me when I fight?" He looks up into Gohan's matching onyx eyes with a slight pout on his face, giving him an incredibly cute appearance.
Gohan looks down and ruffles the chibi's hair making him giggle. "Of course I will, little man. I'm your biggest fan in the universe!" It's true; Gohan loves the little tyke and only wants him to do well. He then looks up to Piccolo who was listening to the conversation between father and son. "He he sorry Piccolo."
Piccolo merely smirks. "Heh, I see where your loyalties lie." Gohan laughs good naturedly, knowing that he is joking. "Common Goken," Piccolo finally says after a few moments, addressing the slightly smaller chibi standing next to his chibi father. "I want to see how much Trunks has taught you." And with that, he heads towards the exit of the fighter's lounge.
Goken turns back to Gohan and gives him hug before he excitedly makes his way to the exit as well, skipping the entire time. Gohan watches his son as he skips away in his state of eternal bliss. He smiles warmly as his son makes his way out to the platform, making his way out of the fighter's lounge to sit in the stands to cheer him on with his mother and infant brother.
"So, father," Pan inquires Goku once Gohan is out of hearing range. "Was Gohan seriously holding back his real power in our fight?" She asks this question with innocent eyes that display genuine curiosity.
Goku sighs, not knowing if Gohan wants her to know this information. He knows that lately, his son has been deeply ashamed of his super saiyan 2 power, and he knows that's it's a sensitive subject for his son at the moment. Goku figures that his son doesn't want to tell her because he is scared that she will ask him to show her that transformation. Knowing his son, that is the last thing he wants to do at the moment.
She's just like Gohan; so observant. I really have to watch what I say in front of her. He scratches the back of his head in nervousness. He decides to answer her truthfully. "Yeah Pan, he was. Now's not the time to discuss it though. I honestly don't know if he wanted you to find out if he didn't tell you himself so just keep this between us okay? At least until he's ready to tell you himself." Goku puts on a serious expression while discussing this with her in order to make it clear that she should listen to him.
Pan now sighs. "Okay father," her voice is laced with disappointment as he looks down to the floor, defeated. Inside though, she's completely in awe. Daddy's even stronger than that?! Trunks really wasn't kidding about him being the strongest in the universe!
Seeing Pan's outward disappointment makes Goku frown as well. "Say Pan," Goku gets the attention of the chibi he calls his granddaughter. "Let's catch up to Gohan and watch Goken from the stands. He's going to be starting soon and I bet your presence would really give him a boost." He gives Pan a soft smile as he says this in an effort for her to cheer up a little.
Goku's ploy seems to do the trick as Pan perks up once again, making Goku internally sigh in relief. "Yeah! I want to see how otouto does against someone like Piccolo! I really hope he can transform again. He's only done it twice so far." She is genuinely interested in how her little brother does against Piccolo. From the stories she's heard from both Trunks and Gohan, she knows that he is much stronger than he looks, and he looks strong to begin with.
"Well Pan, Piccolo's an incredibly smart guy." Goku answers. "He's probably aware that he can't transform at will yet so he'll probably antagonize the little guy until he does. Trust me, he's had tons of practice on Gohan so he should be able to, especially if Goken's anything like his father."
"Alright! Hopefully he can learn to control it soon, although it took me a month." She adds sheepishly. "Still though, he's a fast learner so he probably will be able to do it faster! Let's go watch him! Common father!"
Pan literally drags Goku to the stands where she sense her father and grandmother's kis, eager to see the upcoming match featuring her little brother.
~Main Arena, Intergalactic Tournament Grounds~
"Hi niisan! Mother!" Pan excitedly shouts to her past family as she makes her way through the grandstands with Goku in tow.
Gohan, who once again is holding his baby brother, takes his attention off of his brother and acknowledges his daughter. "Hey Pan! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I overdid it a little. I–"
"Gohan, its fine! I'm okay." She cuts him off, a little exasperated. While Pan appreciates the fact that her father cares enough to worry about her, she's getting tired of the constant worrying. It seemed like whenever she or Goken did anything even slightly risky, Gohan would always worry himself sick and blame himself if something happened. Looking at grandma, I can see where he got that from. She internally comments.
Gohan saddens a little at his daughter's tone. "I'm sorry Pan. I just remember that you didn't come out if the water right away after you fell in and I thought I might have seriously hurt you with that last blow…"
Pan sighs at her father's sadder demeanor, trying to reassure him that she's perfectly fine. "I didn't realize that you were that worried. You know I can hold my breath a long time, but I'm sorry I worried you. I'm fine, really! I mean yeah, that last blow hurt but that's part of martial arts! It'll heal fine." She tries to be more cheerful in her tone to prove to Gohan that it really isn't a big deal.
Gohan, although admittedly still somewhat concerned about Pan, accepts her plea and stops outwardly showing concern for her. "Okay Pan, I'll stop worrying. So, how strong is Goken? What he showed earlier made me curious, but what you showed me makes me now even more curious about how strong he really is."
"Well to be honest, I'm not actually sure." She replies chuckling and rubbing the back of her head. "I mean I've only seen him go super saiyan twice, and those two times I really haven't had a good opportunity to feel his full potential." She then notices the giggling infant in Gohan's arms looking her. "Say niisan, can I hold Goten?"
Gohan grins at Pan and then looks at Goten. "I don't know, what do you think Goten?" he asks his infant brother, rubbing his head against the infant's, making him giggle in delight. Amazingly, it seems like he understands the question as after he stops giggling, he looks at Pan, and then at Gohan and then back at Pan, reaching his arms out for Pan. Gohan chuckles at the baby's actions. "Well I think he has decided. Be careful with him okay?"
Gohan then proceeds to gently hand Goten to Pan who cradles the chibi with great care. Goten takes comfort in Pan's arms by snuggling closer to the girl's chest, contentment showing on his face. "Wow he's such a happy baby!" Pan comments with a smile, never taking her eyes off of the cheery child in her arms. "A lot like Goken was actually."
As Gohan and Pan continue to discuss the similarities between Goten and Goken, Piccolo and Goken finally make their way to the platform and now are facing each other on opposite ends.
"I don't want you holding back Goken, I'm going to be coming at you full force." Piccolo tells his gakusei's son.
"Yes Mr. Piccolo," Goken respectfully answers, taking a bow and grinning ear to ear. Boy is he going to be surprised! I know daddy will love this too! Goken looks to the stands to see if Gohan is watching him, and sees that he is laughing and talking to Pan about something funny. However, Gohan does take a glance at the platform and sees the boy looking at him, so he grins and enthusiastically waves to Goken, who returns the wave even more enthusiastically.
Piccolo, watching this from across the ring has his arms in his normal crossed position and is trying to keep a neutral expression, although the sight of Goken makes him smirk a little. Damn that kid! Only Gohan or his kids could make me lose my serious composition. He internally scolds himself for getting too soft.
"Alright!" The announcer finally booms. "Both contestants are ready, Match #3 of the semifinals begin!"
As soon as the announcer finishes, Goken immediately puts on a serious composition. He starts powering up, bringing a white aura around him, but that's not all. He starts thinking about the androids once again; starts thinking about how helpless he felt every time they attacked; thinks about how many people got hurt or killed because he was so helpless. Through this, he feels the familiar rage and the need to protect everyone else, pushing his ki higher.
The winds that he created from initially powering up all of a sudden start gusting much stronger and his aura takes a golden hue. His hair starts flickering from pitch black to golden and his eyes start flickering from onyx to teal as his ki increases dramatically. With one last scream, the very familiar transformation into the legendary warrior of the saiyan race is complete, his hair now spiked upwards and glowing golden, his eyes a glistening teal, and his ki makes a giant leap. He doesn't stop powering up though as the winds continue to get stronger and his ki continues to climb. Finally, his ki levels off at the level that Trunks was at during the Cell Games as the winds die down and his aura settles to a steadier glow.
If they weren't paying attention to the fight at this point, everyone who can sense ki is paying attention now. They all know that this is only the third time that the chibi has transformed, yet he has somehow mastered the transformation already and can transform at will! Nobody, not even Pan expected this!
Piccolo can't help the slack jawed expression he has at the moment. This is insane! How are these kids so strong?! I guess they really are Gohan's kids after all, but to master a transformation that took Gohan three months in the time chamber to master in a week is ridiculous! It's a good thing I've been training with Goku and Gohan these past couple of months otherwise he would be stronger than me for sure!
Piccolo smirks at Goken. "Well kid, you really have impressed me. You know it took your father three months to master that transformation. I guess I will have to go all out right from the start."
Piccolo wastes no time in powering up, letting out a yell and bring a flaming white aura around him. His ki starts to skyrocket as his aura flares uncontrollably and the winds pickup. He keeps this up for a good minute or so until his ki levels off at a level a little above Goken's own. "Okay kid, come at me with all you got!" The Namekian shouts across the ring.
Goken only nods in confirmation as he charges Piccolo at full speed, bringing a fist up as he charges. Piccolo prepares to parry the punch, but instead of going through with the attack, Goken disappears from sight at the last moment.
"What!" Piccolo shouts in confusion as he looks around for the boy, finding nothing. Finally, after a split second, he feels a great pain in the top of his head courtesy of a Goken ax handle from above. This makes Piccolo create a crater in the platform.
"Yeah!" Goken shouts in glee. "It worked!"
"Never take your eyes off of your opponent kid!" is what Goken hears from the crater before a green and pink arm comes flying out of the crater, looking like it was stretched like a rubber band. The fist that is connected to it upper cuts Goken straight in the jaw. This sends the chibi flying through the air towards the other side of the platform as Piccolo charges out from the crater and continues his offensive.
Goken however, recovers quickly from the punch and starts attempting to dodge and block Piccolo's onslaught, albeit with incredible effort. Piccolo, who's used to trying to punch a super saiyan 2 Gohan is used to trying to keep up with the quickness that is Goku's son, so needless to say he is having a much easier time trying to hit Goken, although the chibi is proving himself very quick as well.
Goken, who is already at full power is quickly tiring from this onslaught, so he decides to do a risky move. After figuring out Piccolo's attack pattern, he quickly dodges one of Piccolo's kicks and makes an escape to the air, where he quickly holds his right hand out in front of him with his fingers spread out. He immediately starts gathering ki and each individual finger starts glowing. After a few seconds, he unleashes his signature attack that he created on his own.
"BRIGHT BEAM!" the chibi shouts at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, five thin, white laser like beams burst from his hand, one from each finger. These beams of thin ki start a corkscrew motion around each other and this continues on its way to Piccolo. The Namekian's eyes bulge from his head at this move that he's never seen before. As it comes towards him, he starts to prepare to deflect the attack.
Goken however suddenly closes his hand into a fist and the five thin lasers of ki suddenly combine, making a blinding flash in the process. This blinds everyone in the whole arena expect for Goken, who unleashed the attack, and Pan, Gohan, Goku, and Trunks, who all closed their eyes before Goken brought the beams together. The five beams are now a single wave of bright white ki that has the power of a super saiyan in it.
Piccolo, not expecting that in the slightest, is completely blinded by the attack, and immediately drops his guard to shield his eyes, forcing him to take the full brunt of the attack as a result. There's an incredible explosion on the platform which drowns out the screams of panic from the crowd.
The aftermath of Goken's technique is a charred and bloody Piccolo and a completely beat up, yet miraculously still intact platform. Thankfully, Gohan, Goku and Trunks all put up ki shields around the stands in order to keep the damage to the arena and the audience to a minimum.
Piccolo however is still conscious and standing, much to Goken's surprise. Panting in great exhaustion, Goken loses his transformation and falls from the sky, landing on the platform unconscious. The poor chibi put all of his ki into that last attack, and combining that with the physical strain of the super saiyan transformation on his small, eight-year-old body, the toll of the attack was too much for him to handle.
It's a few moments until Piccolo and the rest of the audience, including the judges, are able to see once again. However, once they see Piccolo still standing and Goken on the platform lying unconscious, the finally declare Piccolo the winner.
Piccolo grunts in pain as he is declared the winner, taking a look at the unconscious eight-year-old that put him in this state. He notices that Goken has a slight smile on his face, despite being unconscious. Heh, just like your father. Piccolo silently muses. He looked the same way after he beat Cell. I guess that took too much out of you kid, but that attack really packed a wallop, and it surprised me when you combined your ki beams. You've really exceeded expectations, again like your father time and time again. I'm proud of you kid…
After letting off another grunt, Piccolo finally collapses as well, the full brunt of Goken's attack finally taking its toll on the Namekian.
Gohan watched the battle incessantly, and couldn't believe his eyes when Goken brought on the super saiyan transformation on his own. He didn't know if he ever felt prouder of the boy than in that moment, but when he initiated the fight with Piccolo with his flawless strategy, and then when he unleashed his signature attack that he made up all by himself, he felt even more pride in his son. Even though he had to shield the crowd from the blast and even though his son passed out because of it, he still felt an overwhelming sense of pride overtake his smaller fear for his son's safety and anger at him for being so reckless with so many innocent people present. He watched as Piccolo was declared the winner and then when he collapsed as well. Gohan knows that it takes a great deal to knock out the Namekian he calls his sensei and that in itself makes him well up with pride as well.
"You know, he may look like me, but he reminds me so much of you that it would be absolutely impossible to tell that he is not your son."
Gohan turns his head to look up at his father speaking to him, the pride still present in his eyes. "I mean did you see how he fought?" Goku continues. "He mastered a legendary transformation that took me almost a year in a week's time! And that's not it; it's the way he carried himself throughout the battle. After he became off guard, he used his speed to recover and fend off the majority of Piccolo's attacks, and then he used logic, knowing that he wasn't going to win if that kept up and tried to end the fight with a bang. I've fought you so many times Gohan, and I know that you are the exact same way, using speed to your advantage and logic instead of just brute strength, even though you have that as well."
"Dad…" Gohan responds to his dad sheepishly.
"I'm serious Gohan!" Goku continues. "During the match I had to blink twice and make sure you were still sitting next to me to make sure that you weren't the one fighting Piccolo! And just look at the expression on his face now, he looks just like you did right after you beat Cell."
"SHH! Dad!" Gohan snaps at his father, looking around to see if anyone had heard what Goku said. After seeing that no one noticed, he continues in a whisper, "Hercule beat Cell, remember? No one's supposed to know I did. And Goken's my otoutosan, not my son."
"Eek! I forgot!" Goku says, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, a classic gesture for him.
Gohan chuckles. "Now I know where Goken got his forgetful nature from." Gohan says, a smirk in his face as he looks at his father.
As if on cue, the sound of innocent laughter fills the air beside the father and son. Both turn to face the source of the laughter, a giggling chibi in the arms of Pan. The little tyke is giggling like mad, as if he just heard a funny joke. As soon as he stops, he notices that Gohan is looking at him and smiles up at him, holding his arms out towards his older brother in a signal that he knows all too well. Gohan grins as he takes the little guy from the arms his future daughter with great care and plants a gentle kiss on his forehead, causing the infant to giggle once again. As Goten starts getting comfortable in his brother's arms, Gohan addresses Pan. "How was he during the fight? Did he get scared at all when Goken used his bright beam?"
Pan tries to remember if she ever remembers Goten getting upset at all during the fight. "No not really. He whimpered a little when Goken clashed the beams together, but other than that he was perfectly fine."
After thinking this over some more, she realizes that her future uncle is something else. She remembers when she saw Uncle Trunks using ki blasts when he didn't know that they were there when Goken was only a few months old, and Goken had been scared crazy! He wouldn't stop crying for another ten minutes or so.
Goten however hadn't made a noise other than giggle. She could have sworn that he actually was enjoying the fight! No, she muses. That's crazy! He's only a week old! He couldn't be enjoying that. She comes to the conclusion that her Uncle Goten is a much braver baby than most and that he probably will be a great fighter someday.
Gohan looks back down at his brother lovingly, who is now fighting sleep in his arms. "Yeah, it's strange, but I don't think I've ever seen Goten cry. At least not when I'm around. I mean I've heard him crying before, but by the time I get to him, he's already stopped. I don't know what it is."
Gohan eventually looks away from Goten and towards the platform to see that they are now carrying Goken and Piccolo off on stretchers. "I think I'm going to go give your brother and Piccolo a senzu and congratulate them. It looks like they will have to repair the platform before they can start Krillin and Trunks' match anyways. You wanna come?"
Pan looks a little astonished. "Of course I wanna come! I want to see Goken so I can tell him that he was incredible! I never thought in a million years he was already that strong!"
Gohan chuckles at her enthusiasm. He then turns to his father and mother. "Are you guys coming?"
"You three go ahead," Chichi responds. "As much as I want to see him, I don't know if I could handle seeing him in that beat up of a state. I still hate seeing you in that kind of state, let alone my eight-year-old grandson."
Goku thinks this over and realizes that she is right. She probably would faint. Goku reasons. "Alright Chi, if you think that's best. Don't worry, once we give him a senzu and clean him up, we'll come back here to watch Trunks and Krillin. You can smother him then!" He shares a laugh with Gohan and Pan after this comment. "Alright I'm in! Let's go guys!"
Gohan gently hands his now sleeping brother in the arms to his mother before he heads off towards the Medical Ward on the tournament grounds, his father and daughter in tow.
~Medical Ward, Intergalactic Tournament Grounds~
Goken and Piccolo are currently lying in two separate hospital beds on opposite sides of the room. Despite losing the match, Goken is in much better physical shape than his counterpart across the room. Goken has multiple bruises and a few bruised ribs from where Piccolo's punches and kicks connected, but nothing too serious.
Piccolo on the other hand, is a bloody mess. His purple Namekian blood covers his being, multiple burns lining the majority of his exposed body from the ki attack that Goken used, not to mention the minor concussion that Goken gave him from his initial 'surprise assault.' Piccolo collapsed from blood loss and the searing pain and needs to seriously be healed in order to recover; Goken collapsed out of pure exhaustion, and really only needs to regain his energy.
This is the state the three representing three generations of Sons find their comrades in. Pan and Goku make their way over to Goken, the former very anxious for her brother to wake up. Gohan recognizes the two similar, yet drastically different states that the two hospitalized are in and decides to pay his sensei a visit first, deciding that he is in the worse state of the two, carrying a senzu with him.
A frown appears on Gohan's face as he looks at his sensei. The state that he's in reminds him so much of the way he looked after he sacrificed himself for him against Nappa. He momentarily recalls how his sensei sacrificed himself to protect him.
He starts to feel a little guilty all over again, but immediately shakes off the feeling. He remembers that the key differences are that this time, Piccolo's alive and the person who put him in this state was not the former general of the saiyan army trying to kill him, but his son in an intense match that tested his limits. Gohan shakes off the old memories of when he was just five and puts the senzu in Piccolo's mouth.
"Mr. Piccolo," Gohan says to the Namek. "This is a senzu bean. Eat it" Even though he's isn't in the greatest condition, Piccolo recognizes the voice and the gesture and starts chewing the bean, much to Gohan's relief.
It was at this moment that one of the attending nurses comes into the room in order to check up on the two patients. She sees the extra people and is first shocked by their presence, but the shock quickly turns to anger.
"Who are you people?!" She shrieks, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain. "What are you doing here?! These patients need rest! You can visit them later!"
"I need no rest!" a gruff voice cuts in, making the nurse jump. She turns around to see a fully healed Piccolo with a new set of his trademark clothes scowling at her. Now Piccolo may be friendly to Gohan and his children, and decent to the rest of the Z-gang, but to outsiders, he is still short tempered and curt.
"Th-th-that's im-impo-oss-ssible! You were–" she is cut off as her shock overtakes her and she promptly faints. Piccolo sighs and picks up the poor nurse and puts her on the bed he was just laying on. After the whole situation transpires, innocent giggling rings through the room. Everyone turns towards the source and they find that it is none other than Goken, giggling at the whole scene.
'Ha ha Mr. Piccolo!" Goken tries to say in between giggles. "That was so funny haha! She was so shocked!"
"Goken!" cry both Pan and Gohan in unison, excited to see the chibi awake. Gohan rushes over to the chibi's bedside to join Pan who was already right next to the boy. Upon seeing the grinning faces of the two people that mean the most to the little boy, his giggling stops and his expression turns into one of shame for some reason. He looks down towards the sheets of the bed as he softly speaks. "Sorry daddy, neesan…"
To say that both Gohan and Pan are shocked is an understatement. Goku however has a grinning expression and for some reason is trying to hold in a laugh. "Goken," Pan replies to her injured brother. "What do you have to be sorry for?"
Goken's expression changes to one of puzzlement as he looks up at his sister. "You mean you're not disappointed in me for not winning the match?"
Before Gohan or Pan can respond however, Goku finally loses hold of his laughter, causing everyone to turn to him with looks of confusion. Finally after calming himself down a bit, Goku explains himself. "Wow, are you sure that your name is not Gohan?! He does that all of the time! Of course they're not disappointed in you Goken!"
Gohan returns his attention to his son, "Exactly Goken!" he quickly reassures his son. He ignores Goku's comment about himself but makes a mental note to ask him about it later. "In fact it's the complete opposite. I don't think I've ever been prouder of anything before, well maybe besides your sister when she went up against me. You were so impressive little man! I still can't believe that you mastered the super saiyan transformation so easily, plus the way you started the match was great strategy. The way you countered Piccolo's strikes showed off your excellent quickness, but what made me the most proud was the way you realized you wouldn't win if you continued to fight that way. You had a great strategy using your bright beam on Piccolo and the execution was flawless! If Piccolo wasn't as strong as he was, that would have knocked him out on impact instead of a minute later. I'm extremely proud of you; there's a lot to be proud of!"
As Gohan continued to talk about each component of the match he was impressed with, Goken began to smile wider and wider until the end when his face turned into one of pure joy. "Really? Wow! Thank you daddy! You don't know how much that means to me!" He reached out to give his father a hug when he retreats a bit, wincing at a pain in his ribs. "Oww, Mr. Piccolo's punches hurt more than I thought."
Gohan chuckles a little and hands his son a senzu. "Here Goken. Eat this and you will feel better. Then I'll give you the hug you deserve."
Goken peers at the bean with curiosity and doubt. He's never seen this kind of thing before! In his timeline, the senzu plant failed before he was born, Trunks being the last one to receive one. He's somewhat skeptical about the healing powers, but if his daddy says it will make him feel better then he trusts his daddy. Goken eats the bean and the effects are immediate. There are a few popping sounds as bones fix themselves (apparently some of those ribs were actually broken) and the skin clears to its normal tone where bruises were once apparent. Goken's ki is also recovered and his stomach actually feels full, an impressive feat for someone with saiyan blood. Something Goken finds strange though is that he now feels even stronger than before!
"You feel better Goken?" Gohan inquires the chibi who is currently inspecting his body in awe. The excited expression on the chibi's face when he looks back up at Gohan melts Gohan's heart as Goken lunges out of his bed and at his father, now completely pain free. Gohan returns his son's hug enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear.
"Daddy I feel even stronger!" Goken excitedly replies. "Thank you for everything! You're the best daddy in the whole wide world!"
Gohan feels a sensation he never felt before at his son's words. He has no clue how to describe it, but it was definitely a good sensation nonetheless. After a few moments, Gohan releases his son from the embrace, keeping one arm around his shoulders and brings Pan into the embrace with his freed up arm. "Well it sure helps to have the best kids in the whole wide world! I love you both so much!"
Both chibis respond by hugging their father once more. Goku looks onto the situation with a soft smile and eyes filled with both pride in his son and happiness for the two future chibis. Piccolo watches the scene with a look of indifference; he never understood the need to such sentimental rubbish.
The little family moment between the three chibi's is interrupted when the five Z-fighters feel the presence of two very strong kis in the area of the arena.
"Well it seems like Krillin and Trunks' match has finally started," Goku points out.
"OOH!" Pan replies excitedly. "I really want to see Uncle Trunks in action! I'll race you to the stands Goken!"
Goken replies with a smirk at his sister. "Oh you're so on!" he then bolts out of the room without warning.
"HEY!" Pan shouts with a pout. "NO FAIR!" she then proceeds to run out of the room after Goken.
Goku and Gohan both chuckle at their antics, while Piccolo looks on impatiently. The trio was about to make their exit when they suddenly feel another ki. It quickly disappears as soon as it comes, but they all felt it nonetheless. It was extremely powerful and it felt strangely familiar to all three. However, this ki felt extremely dark and worse, it was close!
Piccolo is the first to comment. "Did you guys feel that?"
"Yeah," Gohan answers apprehensively. Just the memory of that ki gives him the chills. "It was close! But that's so weird! The last time I felt that ki it was in Other World! How can it be here if it's dead?!"
Goku remains silent as he has no explanation to give his son. Piccolo on the other hand has a theory. "I'm not exactly sure Gohan. You're right, it's impossible for a dead soul to pass from the plane of the dead to the plane of the living. The case when you and your father fought off the rebellion in Hell was an exception granted by the kais. The only explanation is that it's either an immortal kai or a being that is still alive but was trapped in Other World somehow. If that is the case, then when the being was set free, it was immediately jettisoned into the living plane as it didn't belong in Other World. I have a feeling that judging by the darkness in the ki that the being was locked away by the kais themselves, but something happened on the day that we first felt it that set the being free."
After thinking through the situation a little, Goku realizes something important. "That was the same day of the rebellion in Hell! I remember now! We felt it while we were sparring and then minutes later King Kai contacted us telepathically! There's something else I remembered about that day too. King Kai's planet was gone! He told me Cell destroyed it!"
Gohan adds in his two cents. "Hey Mr. Piccolo, do you think that whatever has that ki signature was trapped in King Kai's planet?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking Gohan." Piccolo grimly replies. "I don't know who or what that is, but if it was indeed trapped inside of King Kai's planet, then whatever it is must be extremely dangerous!"
"No kidding," Goku comments with a grim look on his normally perpetually happy face. "We better watch out for it! It's definitely on Earth now, but I couldn't tell exactly where it was. Did you guys catch anything?"
Both Gohan and Piccolo shake their heads. "It disappeared too quickly for me to get a good reading." Piccolo replies. "It must be extremely good at masking its ki because now I can't feel a thing. For now let's notify the rest of the warriors of this as the kis of Trunks and Krillin probably masked the ki to everyone else. We can only wait at this point until we can get a better reading on this ki."
Both Gohan and Goku nod their heads in response and then exit the Medical ward with Piccolo to catch the ending of the last semifinal and inform the rest of the group of the new danger ahead. They find out that they missed the whole match, with Trunks winning, but not without putting a good deal of effort in. Krillin fought the half-saiyan from the future valiantly, and only when Trunks transformed into a super saiyan did he win the match.
They also find out that the finals are taking place in a whole new stadium on another island just south of Yahoi Island. The group then transports there where Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, and Trunks head to the new fighter's lounge while everyone else heads for the stands, all awaiting what looks to be an interesting finale to the Intergalactic Tournament.
A little after Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo exit the Medical Ward, the attending physician makes his way in to check on his patients. The sight that he sees however makes his eyes bulge.
The only person in the room is the attending nurse from this shift, who is passed out on one of the hospital beds that is stained in purple blood. The doctor remembers that that bed belonged to the semifinalist Piccolo who, if he remembers correctly, was in very critical condition when he came in. In fact, the blood stains on the bed that he was supposed to be in confirm that very suspicion.
The other bed that was supposed to belong to Piccolo's opponent in the semifinals, a young boy named Goken the doctor recalls, is empty, although the ruffled sheets suggest that someone was in it at some point. If he remembers correctly, that boy had several broken ribs and many bruises, including bruises on internal organs and he was also unconscious from pure exhaustion.
The doctor wonders how in the world two patients in such bad shape not even an hour ago could have not only recovered so quickly, but had enough energy to break their respective states of comatose that they were in and magically walk out of the ward. He also wonders what happened to the poor nurse that rendered her unconscious and wonders how she even got in the hospital bed.
After assessing the situation at hand, the doctor takes off his glasses, wipes them on his white coat, and puts them back on his ears. After seeing that nothing has changed, He promptly walks out of the room, extremely confused and not knowing what to make of the situation.
Translations:
chibi- cute child, dwarf
ki- energy
kai- god
niisan- older brother (informal)
neesan- older sister (informal)
imouto- younger sister (informal)
otoutosan- younger brother (formal)
otouto- younger brother (informal)
sensei- master, teacher
gakusei- student
