Chapter 14: Long-Awaited Rematch
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ
Goku sent forth lightning fast punches and kicks, cutting the air.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" He rhythmically chanted, pacing his exercise. He wore massive red training weights, unbelievably heavy. Sweat rolled off his brow as he continued exerting himself without his super saiyan power.
"King kai said I'm having some visitors soon. I wonder who they are? Maybe Baba? I can't think of anyone else who can travel between the earth and otherworld." He thought.
He continued striking the air, adding a jump every once in a while to mix things up. He was panting and wheezing from exertion, but continued pushing himself.
"I know I can still get a lot stronger! Even if I am dead, I don't want to fall behind Vegeta and Gohan!" He smiled as he thought of his son and his rival, "I wonder how they're doing right now? I WONDER HOW STRONG THEY'VE GOTTEN?!" He thought, drooling at the idea of fighting either of them. Or maybe both at the same time? "Oh man! That would be so much fun!"
He inadvertently transformed in his excitement, his punches and kicks hitting the air so hard it caused shockwaves. "If I ever want to do that, I'll have to become WAY stronger! Man, I can't wait to see them again! ...Chichi and Bulma and Krillin and the others, too." he amended.
He stopped his shadow boxing, noticing he had transformed, "Whoopsy!" He looked at the torn up ground, ripped up trees, and craters that had been caused by his careless attacks.
"Hehe! Big whoops!" He laughed, nervously.
Chichi sang happily as she cooked breakfast for her two little black holes. She seemed to have a sparkling aura surrounding her; demonstrating her overwhelming joy,
"La la la, I'll finally get to see my husband after four years!" She exulted. "La la la, I finished with that stupid gravity training so I won't be incapacitated on Kin kei's planet!" She sang, completely butchering a certain deity's name.
They were going to visit Otherworld in a week, and she couldn't contain her excitement. She could just hug Dende; he was obviously not a delinquent like that Piccolo. She twirled as she set food on the table, humming loudly.
"Those two should smell the food in three… two… one!" The sound of a door bursting open and little feet tapping rang out. Goten ran into the dining room, already drooling,
"BREAKFAST!" he yelled, jumping into a high chair; he still wasn't tall enough to use the regular chairs. He grabbed his utensils, but didn't start eating; grudgingly waiting for the 'ok' from his mother. He looked at her pitifully.
Chichi smiled warmly at her adorable baby, "Not yet, Goten. We have to wait for Gohan!" She chided.
"Aww! But I'm hungry!" He whined. At the same time the door opened, revealing a tall and tired young man; trying futilely to put his hair in order. He yawned as he took a seat,
"G'morning, mom, Goten," he greeted, sleepily. Goten had begun eating the moment Gohan's butt touched the seat,
"Mwouring!" He said. Chichi huffed,
"Goten, don't talk with your mouth full!" she scolded him. Goten swallowed and apologized. Gohan chuckled and began eating. After they had finished, Gohan eyed his little brother speculatively.
"Lately, I've been spending less time with Goten. I've been so preoccupied with training and helping Eighteen that I kinda overlooked the little guy. I need to make it up to him! Maybe we can start on that light training?" He called to his brother,
"Hey, Goten!" The near four year old looked up, curiously, "You want to spend today with me?" he asked. Goten face lit up,
"YEAH! We can play! And chase lizards! And fish! And… ," Goten continued listing fun activities. Gohan laughed at his enthusiasm,
"Alright, let's go have fun!" He said.
They played together for several hours before Goten finally ran out of steam. Now, Gohan lay on the grass near a crystal clear lake, head laying in his hands; Goten sleeping sprawled on his chest.
"Just one more week, and you'll finally get to meet dad!" Gohan thought. He was excited to see his father, but also a little hesitant. He didn't know what he would say to him. Even if he knew it wasn't his fault, it still hurt knowing that his actions led to his father's death. It still hurt that Goku didn't come back.
"I wish Eighteen were here," He sighed. "She always makes me feel better."
He was beginning to notice that he felt differently about her than anyone else. He didn't quite understand what the feeling was, but he knew that he liked being around her. He knew he liked the way she looked, the way she acted, her scent, her voice. But what did that mean?
"She's been busy with work, lately. I guess they're wrapping up the final shots for this new movie." Despite her desire to grow stronger, they hadn't had a training session for a while. He knew she was frustrated, because she called occasionally and told him so; but, he hadn't expected to feel so much frustration himself. He shook his head,
"My thoughts have turned to Eighteen, again. That keeps happening! I was supposed to be thinking about the visit to otherworld!" He thought. He carefully set Goten on the ground, trying not to wake him, "I should get some training in! It might clear my head."
He walked to the edge of the lake, and focused on his core; reaching for mystic ki. He grasped onto it, and drew out as much as he could. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he quietly struggled to control this strange energy. Carefully, he pulled it to the surface; causing it to surround his body in a film.
"That's my limit! I know there's more of this ki, but I can't control any more of it! What would happen if I could fully access it? My battle with Piccolo showed me how powerful this energy is; I just need to gain control of it!" He grated. He stood there, trying to maintain the weak aura as long as he could. It was only a few minutes before it dispersed, and Gohan fell to a knee; panting from exertion.
"Whoa!" Gohan heard a small voice. Goten had awoken and seen the moment before the aura dispersed. "THAT WAS SO COOL!" Goten exclaimed. "Do it again!"
Gohan shook his head, "Sorry, little bro, I'm all out of steam. Maybe I'll show you some other time." He smiled, still sweating. He motioned Goten over,
"It's about time to go home. Come on, I'll give you a piggyback ride." He offered. Goten perked up,
"Yayyy! Piggyback!" He shouted in glee. He climbed on Gohan's back.
Gohan turned back to him, "Hang on tight! We're going superspeed!" He took off into the forest much faster than before.
Gohan held his hands out in front of him, catching Eighteen's punches easily. He had been teaching her a proper fighting form, seeing as she didn't really have one. With her inexhaustible energy, she could rely on simple punches and kicks without any real technique. However, ki wasn't limitless; so she couldn't use her haphazard style anymore.
Eighteen panted with exertion. She was not used to being tired. Especially not after the pitiful amount of exertion she had put forth.
"I don't get how they do it! Being so low on energy feels awful!" She complained, mentally. Her energy reactor was off so she could access her ki. "If only I could use my ki and energy together. It'll take forever for my ki to catch up to the amount of energy my reactor can produce! Until it has, it won't really be useful." She thought.
She persevered, trying to pierce Gohan's formidable guard. She internally raised her ki, trying to catch him off guard with a sudden speed increase. However, he just danced out of the way. Her eye twitched in annoyance. While she was attacking, Gohan took the time to leisurely chat with her,
"Hey, Eighteen, how come you have a habit of keeping your energy internal?" he asked, deflecting an uppercut. Eighteen didn't stop her attack as she answered,
"It's more efficient! Why waste energy creating an aura, when you could use every last drop of it for your attack!" She grunted. Gohan's eyes widened,
"Well, raising your ki externally is faster!" he defended. His group of friends always raised their ki externally. He had never considered the merits of doing otherwise. It was like wondering if you walked correctly; most wouldn't give it a second's thought. He pondered this new idea as Eighteen's attack continued. Then he remembered something he hadn't told her yet.
"Next week, I may not be available for a few days," he said, "I'm going to otherworld to visit my dad."
Eighteen stopped, and stared at him, "You're going to the afterlife to visit your dead father?" she asked.
Gohan nodded, "Yeah! Goten, mom, and I get to spend a few days visiting him. It'll be great to see him again!"
Eighteen sighed, "Nothing about your life is normal, Gohan." The incredibly powerful cyborg said. Gohan chuckled at her reaction.
He smirked at her, "Too tired to keep going?"
She snorted, "As if!"
It was three days to departure, when Vegeta showed up on their doorstep.
"Gohan, You and I are going to fight. I know you're going to visit the overworld soon. You'll end up sparring with Kakarot. I'm going to defeat you now! That way when you crush Kakarot, I'll know for sure that I'm stronger!" He shouted.
Gohan had had enough of Vegeta's arrogance, "Fine! If you're so desperate to be knocked down a peg or two, I'll help you out!" he said, uncharacteristically brash, "Hell, why don't we invite an audience!" He continued.
He reached out mentally for Dende, "Hey Dende, do you think you can contact everyone and ask them to come to the lookout?" he asked.
"Gohan, if you're going to beat up Vegeta, I'll gladly broadcast it to the entire universe!" Dende replied, enthusiastically.
Vegeta snorted, "Go ahead and invite all the weaklings, we'll show them the power they'll never have!" He took to the air, flying towards the lookout. Gohan followed, after calling the nimbus for Goten and his mother.
"Hey, mom, are Gohan and Trunks' dad fighting?" Goten asked.
"It seems so, sweetie," Chichi sighed.
"Cool!" he exclaimed. Chichi sighed more deeply.
"Can't we go to otherworld peacefully?" She dismayed.
They had all gathered on the platform above a vast desert. Even Tien had shown up. However, Krillin was more surprised by a certain android's presence.
"What is Eighteen doing here!? Oh man, my gi is all roughed up from training! She'll think I'm some kind of slob!" He slapped his face a few times, working up courage to approach the beautiful woman, "Just act natural, Krillin! She turned you down last time, but it's been years! Maybe she'll change her mind?"
He walked up to her nonchalantly, "Hey there, Eighteen! Fancy meeting you here!" He started, "uh, why are you here anyway?" he asked. Eighteen wore a blank expression, except for a small frown. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes,
"I'm here to watch Gohan's fight." She said, turning her eyes back to the figure far below on the sand. Krillin's eyes widened at her answer,
"Gohan's fight? Why would she be interested in that? They hardly even know each other, right?" he wondered.
"Uh, if you don't mind my asking, why are you interested in Gohan's fight?" he questioned. Eighteen shut her eyes in annoyance,
"Because, he's my friend and I want to show my support." She admitted. Krillin gaped,
"Gohan is friends with Eighteen! When did this happen!" he thought.
"Now hold on just a second!" A new voice entered the conversation, "Since when is my little boy friends with the harlot that tried to kill my Goku!" Chichi fumed. Eighteen's eye twitched,
"Who are you calling a harlot," She asked, icily. The slightly taller blonde woman stared Gohan's mother down. However, Chichi didn't give an inch; glaring back intensely.
"The woman who is obviously trying to seduce my son! You're only interested in him because he's the strongest man on the planet!" She accused.
Eighteen's teeth grit, but she held her cool. She flipped her hair, ignoring the lasers Chichi was shooting at her with her eyes and dropped off the platform; coming to rest in the air a few hundred meters above the desert. She knew Chichi couldn't follow her there. A scream of frustration rang out from the platform.
Krillin lay spread eagle on the platform, tears rolling down the side of his face,
"I should have known! That time Gohan joked that he would ask her out; it was an omen! Damn it, there's no way I can compete with him. He's stronger than me, AND more handsome!" he despaired. Yamcha was kneeling next to him, patting his shoulder sympathetically.
"Y'know, this kind of reminds me of when Bulma chose Vegeta over me!" he said, not realizing he was causing more damage.
"Ahhhhahahaaa! Does this mean I'm on the same level as Yamcha! How can life be so cruel?!" He cried.
Master Roshi was also lying on the ground, having laughed so hard he passed out. He would make sure to congratulate Gohan later.
Tien and Piccolo stood by the edge of the platform, arms crossed, waiting for the fight to start; Chiaotzu was playing with Puar; Goten and Trunks were arguing over who would win the fight; Bulma was trying to decide who to root for; Chichi was still fuming.
Dende stepped forward, gaining everyone's attention. He cleared his throat,
"Welcome everyone, to the room of Life and Desolation!" He began his speech, "In this room there is no need to hold your power back; it can take anything you throw at it!" He explained for those who had never been there, "Now, some of you must be worried that you won't be able to keep up with the fight! However there is no need for that; As the creator of this room I can broadcast all events that occur as they happen!"
He waved his arm sending forth a ball of crystal clear ki. It stopped in the air above the platform, stretching and flattening into a transparent circular screen. Slowly, an image of Gohan and Vegeta, miles below, appeared on the screen! The crowd gasped and clapped. Dende preened a little at their awe.
"Finally, I get to show off my incredible powers!" He thought. Piccolo smirked, proud of his student's skillful use of his abilities. "Not only that, but it also transmits sound!" There was a chorus of 'oohs' and 'ahs'. Dende soaked up the attention… until Gohan started to speak.
"Are you ready for this, Vegeta? I'm going all out from the start; I don't want to bore everyone." He asked.
Vegeta scowled, "I was born ready for battle! Show me everything you have; I don't like meaningless victories."
Gohan snorted, his confidence in his abilities was apparent, "Vegeta's strong, but I have a trump card; mystic ki. He can't sense it at all, and he doesn't even know I have it! On the plus side, he's probably strong enough not to die if I overdo it. Mystic ki is really powerful, after all!"
Gohan reflected on the past year of avoiding Vegeta's challenges, "I kind of regret that now. I should have taken the opportunity for a powerful sparring partner! Maybe I would already have a handle on my mystic ki?" He thought. "If I act this lax in the future, Vegeta may just surpass me! I won't let that happen! I mean… what would Eighteen think if I lost to Vegeta?" That last thought was a bit different than the others. He shook his head, preparing for the fight ahead.
Gohan prepared to power up, until he remembered what Eighteen had said,
"Keep your ki internal to reduce waste. Should I give that a try?" He wondered. Vegeta interrupted his thoughts,
"HAAAAAHHH!" Golden light exploded from his body, bringing with it a shower of electricity. Gohan could feel the depths of his ki,
"As I would expect from Vegeta! He hasn't been slacking off! And the power of Super Saiyan 2 is incredible! I'll be hard pressed to match it... but I can do it." He thought, impressed by Vegeta's strength.
Gohan clenched his fists, and closed his eyes. He reached for the familiar power of a Super Saiyan, "Maybe I should show off, too? I can worry about keeping my ki internal afterward." He thought, subconsciously desiring to impress a certain person.
Instead of showing sheer power, Gohan demonstrated control. A film of white aura wrapped it's way up his body. He opened eyes that had already turned blue,
"Haa!" he grunted. The white aura flashed and became golden, swirling serenely around him in comparison to Vegeta's violent display. His hair had taken on the golden hue as well, spiking more than usual. He faced Vegeta with resolve.
"Alright, Let's go!"
Eighteen watched in rapture as Gohan transformed, "I've never actually seen him in that form. It's quite something." She thought, cheeks tinged with pink, "And his power is incredible!" She continued, using her newly acquired ki sense. She had turned off her reactor in anticipation of this battle, "Even though Vegeta ascended one step further, they're nearly even."
She thought back to her battle with Vegeta after she first awakened, and smirked, "It'd be funny if Gohan breaks his arm!"
The fight began, both fighters ramping up to high-speed in an instant. Gohan was doing his best to keep his ki internal, despite being at max power. They exchanged powerful blows, over and over. Finally, Vegeta broke through Gohan's defense; taking the chance to pummel him across the landscape.
"Damn! My concentration slipped." Gohan thought, preparing a ki blast to halt Vegeta's charge, "If I can't stop his momentum, I'll lose the battle right here!" He fired the blast at Vegeta, forcing him to deflect it. However, the blast miraculously dodged around his arm and slammed into his face; interrupting his flight and providing Gohan an opening for a comeback!
"Haha! Thank you Master Roshi; for all those ki control exercises! And thank you Piccolo for showing me the Hellzone Grenade! Utilizing ki blasts you can control after firing is incredibly useful!" Gohan exulted. He charged in, to return the beating Vegeta had just given him, "Focus on keeping your ki internal! Vegeta has more raw power than me, so I have to beat him in efficiency!" He reminded himself.
He slammed a fist into the still stunned Vegeta's face, knocking him through the air. Gohan vanished, reappearing in Vegeta's flight path; stopping his momentum with a knee to the back. He prepared an elbow to slam him into the desert floor, but Vegeta recovered before he could; letting out a burst of ki to knock Gohan away from him. Gohan stabilized himself in the air.
"AAAHHH!" Vegeta yelled in frustration, charging at his opponent. Gohan met his fist with his own, causing the air around them to burst violently. They exchanged more of these powerful blows, shaking the atmosphere. Vegeta's aura flared violently while Gohan passively concentrated his energy inside his body. Slowly Gohan began to overpower him,
"What's this? I feel like I'm getting stronger!" He thought, incredulously. He blocked a right from Vegeta, batting it out of the way and delivering a devastating blow to the stomach. Vegeta hunched over in pain; Gohan slammed a knee into his face, knocking him up a meter before spin kicking him into a floating island.
He took a moment during the lull in battle to examine his own body, "Is that mystic ki? It's spreading through my body on it's own! What's going on!"
He didn't have long to think about it. The crater Vegeta had been lodged in exploded,
"Haaaah!" Vegeta screamed, bringing his power to the limit, "I won't go on about how I'm destined to win," Vegeta said, surprisingly calm. "I've realized that my own overconfidence has been the reason for my many failures. Gohan! You are a powerful warrior! As one who holds Saiyan blood, you should be proud of yourself! Now quit holding back! Show me your pride as a Saiyan warrior!" Vegeta commanded.
Gohan had heard Vegeta give speeches about Saiyan pride before, but never really understood what he meant, "I think I understand now, Vegeta! The stirring in my blood, the desire to go all out against a suitable opponent!" He circulated the mystic ki through his body feeling his strength grow and his fatigue fade. He raised his ki, struggling to keep all the power contained within him.
Vegeta watched as Gohan drew out all his power, "That's the way, Gohan. I can accept defeat at your hands, but only if you give everything you have to this fight. I'll measure myself against you, and use that to become even stronger! Win or lose; this is a battle worth fighting!"
He noticed Gohan had finished powering up, and took his stance. He raised a hand in front of him, beckoning to Gohan, "Let's finish this!"
As the battle had taken itself far away from the realm's entrance, Eighteen had ascended back to the platform to watch it on the screen Dende had created. She watched as her teacher and friend demonstrated power of which she had never seen the like.
"So this is Gohan's strength? Will I ever reach that level?" She wondered. Her thoughts were interrupted by some rather noisy spectators.
"Oh, man! How could those two get so strong! This is totally unfair!" A recovered Krillin shouted. "How are we supposed to keep up with monsters like them?," He asked, rhetorically.
Eighteen's eye twitched, "Gohan isn't a monster. He's the sweetest guy I know!" She defended, internally. She didn't bother commenting on Vegeta's monster status.
Krillin felt a chill crawl up his spine; he looked around for the source, noticing that Eighteen was glaring at him, "Oh, lord! She looks angry! What did I do?" He suddenly remembered that Eighteen was 'friends' with Gohan, "She's that upset because I implied Gohan is a monster! She really does like him!" The despair he had finally overcome was back.
Bulma was staring at the screen with tears in her eyes, "Oh, Vegeta! You've really changed, haven't you!" She had been worried when Dende had told her about their fight. Maybe Vegeta was going back to his old violent ways? But, his speech just now had put her worries to rest, "I'm so proud of you, dear! You've finally overcome your massive ego!"
Vegeta and Gohan stood poised for battle in the air. Both were using all of their power, ready to finish the battle. Silence spread out as they took stock of the other. Finally, Vegeta moved,
"Haaa!" He threw forward a fist pulsing with electricity...
A/N: Cliffhanger! I don't like doing this, but the chapter is long enough; I think this is a good point to end. So, Vegeta seems to have grown during these two years; strength and spirit. Gohan is slowly learning how to control his mystic ki. The next chapter should come out over the weekend, so look forward to the fight's conclusion!