Dragon Ball Fusion
Episode 21:
Time for Change – A New Generation

"What's he doing? Can't he see that leaving himself open like that is foolish?"

"By Kami! He should at least attempt to prepare himself while just standing there! It's obvious that Silos was trying to get hit – the man's not going to be beaten that easily!"

"But his Ghost Kamikazes hit him head on! There's no way that creepy guy could've taken a hit like that without being seriously hurt!"

"Don't let yourself be fooled, Trunks. Gotenks's attack may have hit Silos head on, but Silos knew exactly what he was doing when he let himself get hit. If anything, Gotenks should be more wary than ever now that Silos has the added cover of the ki dust to hide himself in."

The spectators, watching the battle from below, had been shifting their attention back and forth between Goton and Gotenks, taking in every aspect of the battle that had yet to be as spectacular as they had originally hoped. Now, they had taken to making comments on how the battle was being fought, and the manner in which the two fighters were fighting. At the current moment, Gotenks was the one receiving all of the negative comments, while Goton's serious fighting earned him the praise.

"That Karen lady is really strong!" Goten commented. "She's easily matching Goton's strength, and he's already a Super Saiyan Two!"

"And that's why I'm glad that it's Goton fighting her, and not Gotenks," Gohan replied with a sigh. "She's both strong and thoughtful – a combination that Gotenks wouldn't be able to handle unless he started acting seriously."

"Hopefully he'll grow up soon," Piccolo said with a small grin. "If he does that, then he'll be a force to be reckoned with. Until then, though..."

"Until then he's just going to keep making foolish mistakes that only a kid would make," Gohan finished. "I just hope that he can learn to grow up a little while he fights Silos..."

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Without any warning, an explosion of enormous proportions sounded throughout the land, emitting a light so blinding that all within its radius had no choice but to shield their eyes. Those around the explosion were immediately forced backwards, and felt effects of the blast on their bodies. Goton was one of two of those near the blast, the other being Karen. What had caused the massive explosion was the completely equal distribution of power between the two fighters, which had become unstable from the constant output of energy by both fighters.

Goton grimaced as he felt the aftereffects of the blast, especially where it had burned him on his left arm. Karen felt similar results, though on her right leg instead of her arm. Generally speaking, though, the two had received next to no damage from the explosion, which meant more fighting would ensue at any given moment.

Hesitantly, Karen jumped forward, striking at Goton with a combination of punches to his gut, but had little chance to make contact before Goton was striking back. The back of Goton's fist met with Karen's forehead, while Karen's hand sneakily found its way into her target's chin. Both fighters were thrown in the direction opposite from each other – that, however, was not the end of the fight for the two.

As if thinking the same thing, the two fighters rushed at their opponent at the same time, their fists outstretched to look like they were ready to strike. Both fighters, however, cleverly moved out of their opponents reach, resulting in nothing happening. Goton used this opportunity to grab Karen from behind, tightly bounding her in order to keep her from moving. Karen was smarter than that, though, and began striking at his knees with her high heeled Saiyan boots. The tides were changed instantly, with Karen pummeling Goton in the stomach with punch after punch.

Goton retaliated as soon as he regained his senses, throwing his own fury of various strikes at the woman. None of the attacks were strong, but enough to cause the woman to back away from him. The opportunity present, Goton's hand glowed a green color before he threw continuous waves of ki blasts at Karen. But Karen was quick as well, and only felt the shock of the first few ki blasts before she began expertly tossing the attacks aside with a simple swipe of her hand.

When the blasts finally ceased, Karen looked up at her opponent with a bored expression that seemed to ask the question: are you done yet? As if the question had been answered, Karen disappeared from sight, reappearing below a surprised Goton with her hands raised above her head. It was at that moment that she released a wave of red, plasma-like energy at Goton.

Once he saw the oncoming ki blast, Goton acted with as much speed as he could muster, but still could not manage to completely avoid the entire attack. He winced in pain as he dashed to the side, the entire left side of his body burning unbearably from the blast that was in fact just like plasma, only to a lesser extent. A few more hits from that same attack, though, and Goton was sure he wouldn't be able to fight against Karen or Silos anymore. In fact, he was already sure that his ability to fight wouldn't be as good as normal just from being hit once. But now wasn't the time to be worrying about that – he needed to end this fight as soon as possible.

His eyes shifted down to make sure that Karen was still where she had originally been, when this was confirmed, Goton disappeared and then reappeared next to Karen, sending a hammer fist easily down on her collarbone. The attack was so precise and accurate, that Goton was sure he must have broken or cracked something, especially after he heard the sound of cracking bone.

"She seems to have gotten a little slower after that attack... Somehow I think that maybe that attack of hers has some pricey drawback to it like losing her energy, even if only for a second." That meant one thing: strike his opponent as much as he could until her strength and speed returned – assuming it did return, that is.

Acting fully with the thought of taking advantage of the situation, Goton grabbed Karen by the arm, and swung her over his shoulder, throwing her towards the ground below them. He immediately followed up by slamming his elbow into her gut, not stopping until he had her pinned to the ground in a rocky crater that the two of them had formed. Though slightly hesitant, Goton began punching at Karen's face fiercely to the point where her face seemed to be swelling up.

Karen eventually wrapped her legs around Goton's body, and forcefully threw him off her. She touched her face lightly once, and removed it just as quickly for fear of feeling what she already knew. "My face...I can't believe a brat like you would dare to even touch my flawless face! I WILL make you pay!!!"

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Gotenks fooled around as he happily floated in the air, flexing his muscles as if to show off his strength while he laughed excessively. The dust from the explosion had yet to settle at all, but this was of no concern to the young boy. In his mind, he had won the battle without so much as trying on his part and that was that. Sure, he was disappointed that the battle had been so short and boring, but he couldn't help but gloat now that he had proven his strength to the others – especially after his loss to Majin Buu.

"One major attack from the mighty Gotenks and the weak Silos goes down without a fight! How pathetic is that? Guess my awesomeness was too mu-"

His small speech cut off before he knew what was happening, Gotenks found himself on the receiving end of a powerful punch to the face, followed with an equally powerful kick to his side. The strength of the attacks were enough to send Gotenks flying in the opposite direction, and would have sent him farther if not for the fact that he managed to stop himself. His gaze quickly followed the trail he had unwillingly taken, and ended up where he had once stood – where Silos now stood, virtually unharmed.

"Those ghosts of yours could turn out to be a nuisance if I let you use that attack again," Silos said casually, ignoring the gaps of disbelief from Gotenks. "I must admit that your exploding ghosts completely took me by surprise. Quite strong, too. Yes, much stronger than I thought they'd be. Lucky for me that I let those creatures so blindly attack me – I may have actually gotten more than a few scratches had I let you sneak one of those ghosts on me."

Gotenks bit his lip out of sheer frustration as the man continued to babble on, both complimenting and mocking the young Saiyan. What really hurt Gotenks's ego the most, though, was the fact that Silos had escaped one of his most powerful attack virtually unharmed. Just that was enough to send Gotenks into an angry fit that dictated he must fight to win at all costs, and at that very moment.

The Saiyan boy disappeared from view, just as quickly reappearing behind Silos, who was still talking as if Gotenks were still listening. Much to the surprise of both fighters, Gotenks's elbow strike to Silos's face made direct contact, twisting the large man's neck around uncomfortably in the process. Gotenks then swung his leg at Silos's body, intent on not letting the man regain his senses. What greeted Gotenks's leg wasn't a strike to a body, however, but an agonizingly tight grip.

"Taking me by surprise while I'm talking?" Silos's sounded too excited to be angry, though it was an enigma with this man. "I guess I should've realized earlier that talking is out of the question! And to think I was the one who ordered the end of all talking!"

While he talked, Silos's grip on Gotenks's leg only grew tighter, and the man slowly began twisting the young boy's leg around until Gotenks was forced to reveal his back to him. A predictable fist shot out at his exposed back, but ended up striking nothing as Gotenks, through sheer will alone, forced his way out of Silos's grasp.

Two fists then clashed into each other as the two warriors struck simultaneously at one another with the same attack. Bolts of lightning started sparkling from the impact, while the two fighters only increased the pressure their fists exerted on the other. Another fist from each fighter then shot out, making contact just like the fists before, and causing more sparks of electricity to fly out from the increasingly energized punches. It was as both fighters gritted their teeth that Gotenks flung his head outwards, bashing his head into Silos's with a shockingly disastrous result for both.

As the two heads met, both Gotenks and Silos went into a daze that left them completely vulnerable until they recovered. Unluckily for Gotenks, Silos's head was much harder than Gotenks's, allowing the man to regain his senses much quicker than Gotenks. With his wits regained, Silos grabbed Gotenks roughly by the hair, and dragged him forcibly towards him.

"You little shit! Resorting to using your head like that, eh? Think I'm just gonna let you do something like that without paying for it? Is that what you think you snot-nosed brat?!" Silos's free hand wrapped tightly around Gotenks's neck as he talked, and his grip continued to slowly increase as he talked to the now fully conscious Gotenks. "Well, I guess you weren't thinking when you decided to use a cheap attack like that on me, now were you? But I'll congratulate you – now I'll get to enjoy my time killing you."

When Silos had finally finished talking, the man finally began to tighten his grip on Gotenks's neck at a faster pace, causing the boy's face to begin turning a shade of deep blue. The boy's hands, meanwhile, were desperately clawing at the man's firm grip, while his legs simultaneously kicked indiscriminately at whatever part of Silos's body he could reach. The man's armor seemed to be more effective than Gotenks would have liked, however, and all his efforts to escape the grip of death were fruitless. Gotenks could feel the embrace of death upon him, and then...

Silos lurched unexpectedly away from Gotenks, his grip around the boy's neck completely gone, saving the boy's life. Not caring about what had caused the unexpected freedom, Gotenks ignored his opponent and instead immediately began gasping for breath. It was a gift from above that he had escaped the ordeal with his life, and Gotenks was humble enough to thank deities above for saving him.

"I can't believe she was knocked unconscious so easily..." Goton commented, shocking Gotenks as he suddenly flew next to the younger boy. "I swear...it's almost as if she willingly let me strike her unconscious. What's even stranger is what she said to me just before this happened. May she wasn't talking nonsense, after all..."

"Don't...think too much...about it," Gotenks spat out the words as quickly as he could, coughing and wheezing as he did so. "These Saiyans...were weird...the moment we...met them..."

"That is true..." Goton agreed.

An earsplitting yell abruptly filled the air for miles, silencing everything else, while garnering the attention of every living creature around. As expected from the sound of the yell, the screamer turned out to be Silos, who was mourning over the unconscious figure of his partner, Karen.

"KAREN!!! What have those brats done to you?! How could they have done this to you?! And your beautiful, beautiful face! There are traces of blood and scratches on it! What vile creatures those monsters must be to even think about harming perfection incarnate! I swear... I swear I'll avenge you! I swear that I'll rip out every last hair from the head of those scum!"

Gotenks and Goton immediately tensed up at Silos's words, even more so when he shot a look of absolute loathing in their direction. Silos then stood up erect in the air, and mercilessly threw Karen's unconscious form out of his arms, letting her fall at full speed towards the ground. Gapping in disbelief at his actions, the two boys set out to act against Silos, but were immediately stopped when the man let out a second earsplitting yell.

"I'LL GO STOP HER FROM FALLING!!!" Goton shouted over the roar of Silos, who had already increased his strength tenfold. "YOU TRY TO FIND A WAY TO STOP HIM FROM GETTING STRONGER!!!"

Goton wasted no time waiting for Gotenks to respond, and set off as fast as he could for the quickly descending body of Karen. He didn't get far, however, before a large blast of ki energy shot out in front of him, stopping him in his tracks, while Karen continued to fall to the ground. A quick glance up revealed the perpetrator as none other than Silos himself.

The Saiyan's eyes then darted to Gotenks, and found that he was doing nothing more than floating where he had been before. "Damn it... Why the hell is Gotenks just standing there like an idiot?! Is he trying to let her die like that?!"

He shifted his eyes once again, searching for the falling figure of Karen and hoping that she hadn't hit the ground yet. What he found allowed a sigh of relief to escape his mouth. Having been vigilantly watching the fight from below, Gohan now floated just a few feet from the ground, Karen securely held in his arms. When he saw that Goton had noticed him, Gohan gave the boy a friendly thumb up, as well as motioning with his head for the boy to take a look at Silos and Gotenks.

"Thanks, Gohan," Goton murmured while he turned his attention back to the real battle. The only thing to be seen, though, was the sight of Silos powering himself up beyond belief, and Gotenks standing dumbfounded as Silos did so. "Why's he still standing there?!" An instant later, and Goton was next to Gotenks. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?! We can't just let him power up like that!"

"I've...I've tried..." Gotenks responded with an uncommonly disheartened tone to his voice. "I just couldn't get near him... It's like he has some invisible force field around him. Like he's invincible or something..."

Goton opened his mouth to criticize Gotenks, but closed it before saying anything. What Gotenks had said had some merit to it. Goton could feel an unsettlingly strong and evil pressure on him, one that hadn't been there before he had flown to Gotenks's side. "Well, you should've at least started powering yourself up while he did too! At least then he wouldn't have such an advantage over us!"

"I tried that, too..." Gotenks admitted, his face slightly flushing. "But even that turned out to be useless. Every time I tried powering up, Silos stopped me with electric ki attacks..."

"Then cover me while I power up!" Goton ordered after thinking quickly. "You make sure he can't hit me, and then I'll do that same for you after I'm done powering up. Got that?"

Gotenks nodded, instinctively floating in front of Goton to keep his friend protected from any form of attack Silos might throw at him. But there was no one where Silos had once been – the entire area was as desolate as it had been before the Saiyan fighters had begun their fight. Before any type of reaction on Gotenks's part could be made, the boy found himself being pummeled by a fist to his face. The strength of the attack was enough to send the boy hurtling towards the ground, still completely unaware of the just what had happened.

Goton opened his mouth in surprise with the sudden, unseen attack on Gotenks. His eyes darted in every direction cautiously to avoid the same fate that had just befallen Gotenks, but couldn't see anything worth noting. That was when an elbow with fierce strength battered against the back of his neck, hurtling him to the ground right behind Gotenks. Neither boys made it to the ground; however, before another light speed attack caught them both in the stomach, one after the other.

"You two are much stronger than I ever thought ones your age could be - that's definitely an accomplishment to be proud of. But..." as he talked to them, Silos, now transformed into a Super Saiyan Three, twisted his fist continuously into their stomachs. "I think the two of you have outlived your usefulness. You may be strong, but it's time for me to wipe your existence out of the living world before you can become a threat to me later on."

Once he finished talking, both his hands blazed an intense shade of red, and, when he had gathered enough energy, he released a ki blast of indescribable strength directly at Gotenks and Goton's gut. The impact of the attack immediately sent the boys flying into the air, only for them to once again be caught my Silos's unrelenting fists.

"Now, now - don't tell me you two are just gonna give up this easily. If I had known that, then I might've saved some energy and stayed in my Super Saiyan Two state. Please tell me that this isn't the best you've got." As if he felt sorry for them, Silos threw the two boys from his grasp and let them fall to the ground until their collision brought forth another crater among the many already there.

Silos looked down at the boys without any emotion – no emotion but pure boredom. "I've had enough of this boring game of me beating you two to a pulp! It's time for me to take care of you, and then the rest of this miserable planet!" The man brought his hands above his head and let ki energy gather at the slowest rate possible. "Let's see if this is any incentive for you!!! Either you give me the fight I want, or I'll kill you and this entire area with one attack!!!"

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"Well?! Do you still think it was a good idea to leave the fate of the world in the hands of two inexperienced children like them?! That bastard's about to blow this entire area up and they aren't doing a thing about it! I may have agreed to stay out of their fight, but I'm not about to be blown to bits my some second-rate fighter!"

Avoiding any objections from the others, Vegeta rushed at the figure of Silos, only to be pushed forcefully away by an unseen force of incredible strength.

"What the hell?!" Vegeta flew down next to Gohan and the others, unlike before when he had been standing by himself. "How is he able to sustain such a strong force field-like ki around himself while simultaneously gathering such a large amount of energy? It's like he has an endless source of ki at his disposal."

"And I'm surprised that you expected any less of the man who's trying to completely erase this planet's existence," Gohan responded, his hands fidgeting out of worry of what was happening. "But you're right about one thing: we can't just idly stand here and wait for those two to make a move against Silos."

"Wait! They're getting up!"

Sure enough, just as Goten had pointed out, Goton and Gotenks were now weakly standing in the crater they had created. Their bodies and clothing looked rough and battered by constant battle, but determination still lingered in their eyes. The group fell into a silence of awe at the sight of the two boys' resolve, which was recognizable even with their distance from the two.

"Goten, we can't just sit here and do nothing! We've got to help them out somehow!"

"Right," Goten agreed, turning to his best friend, Trunks. "But what exactly can we do to help them?"

"Distract Silos," Piccolo suddenly entered the conversation, surprising the others. "If we can distract Silos long enough, we could give those two ample time to transform to Super Saiyan Three or do something else that would help."

Gohan, still vulnerable because of his leg injury, quickly agreed with their idea. "We'll rush Silos then. Like Piccolo said, if we take Silos's attention away from those two for enough time, they won't have to worry about him preventing their transformation."

"So we all start flying at Silos in different directions and he'll be unable to keep Gotenks and Goton from powering up!" Goten concluded. "There's five of us...we could all rush Silos from the front so he wouldn't be able to see what Gotenks and Goton are doing below."

"And what about the force field he's surrounding himself with?!" Vegeta, as skeptical as ever, questioned harshly. "How do you expect to distract a man who can easily keep you far enough away from him so that he always has a vigilant eye on his opponents?! "

"That doesn't matter, Vegeta," Gohan argued, speaking hurriedly because of how dire the situation was becoming. "We should at least try to help them. Right now anything we do will be beneficial to them. If you don't think rushing at Silos is a good idea, then do something else like fire a ki blast at him."

The King of Saiyans snorted in defiance, but it went unnoticed by the others. None of them paid any heed to Vegeta, nor heard him for that matter. With the situation calling for actions quickly, the four other fighters had left Vegeta by himself and soared off towards Silos. Their one hope was that they'd be of some use in saving the earth from entire annihilation. Vegeta, on the other hand, couldn't fathom the idea of putting his entire trust in two inexperience fighters like Gotenks and Goton.

"Fools..." Vegeta snubbed his nose at the figures closing in on Silos. "They're only wasting energy that could be put to better use. Relying entirely on those two boys...what a foolish notion, Kakarot. I hate to admit it, but I'd have more faith that we'd win if it were you fighting that man..."

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Now out of the water and with all seven mystical Dragon Balls in their possession, the large group of friends chatted idly on a deserted island. While they waited for was Goku's signal signifying that Silos had been defeated, and it was safe to use summon the dragon from the Dragon Balls. After all, if they summoned the dragon too soon and Silos killed more people, then they'd have to wait a longer period of time to revive those killed after the wish was made.

Chi-Chi sneaked up slowly on her husband, wrapping her arms around Goku's muscular arm when she was close enough. "Goku...what's bothering you? You've had a grave look about you ever since we left the water. Please tell me that everyone's all right."

"I don't know..." instead of stating it indirectly, Goku had decided that the best thing to do now was to be honest with his wife. "I mean...they're all still alive, but I don't know for how much longer. Silos is gathering an enormous amount of energy, and I don't think they'll be able to stand up against him if they continue to do nothing like they are."

"Then you should go help them!" What normally would've sounded like a suggestion now sounded like a plea of desperation from the emotional woman. "I know we can just wish them back with the Dragon Balls, but..."

"But you still can't bare the thought of them dying. I know – I feel the same way too, Chi-Chi."

"Then why don't you teleport there and help them out?" Though she would usually be yelling in a situation like this, Chi-Chi's remained soft and gentle. "I know they could use your help. Goku...you're always the one to save the earth..."

Goku's face grew stern at the last few words Chi-Chi said. "And that's why I can't go and help them. I've always been there for them. I've always been the one to save the earth from trouble. But how long will that last? How long will it take before my luck runs out? I've been thinking a lot these past four years of peace, and I've come to realize that I can't let the earth depend on me alone."

"So...what you're saying is..."

"Right. I want our children to learn to fight for themselves. What would happen if I died and another threat came? If our children were always used to me saving the world, then this planet would be doomed. I don't want that to happen. I'd rather that our children be constantly prepared for a fight than unprepared. Really, I wish Vegeta was here with us as well."

Chi-Chi bit her lip lightly, though she knew that every word Goku said was true. His logic made perfect sense. What would happen if Goku died and Earth was threatened by more of the monsters she detested so much? Yes, her children could hold their own for a while, but for how long? She had already seen Gohan's fighting ability slowly falter during the years of peace. Goten too had begun training less than he used to. What would happen if they all began to neglect their training and became weak?

"I understand... I don't like the idea of my children being fighters for the rest of their lives, but, at the same time, I can't allow the world to be unprotected and know that it was my fault because I prohibited my children from continuing their training." Her eyes, having dropped to the ground, quickly found their way back up to Goku's sincere face. "You and I are both getting older...so is everyone else... One day we'll all die and it will be our children and their children who will be protecting this world."

"I'm glad you understand," though a bit surprised that his wife had so willingly accepted what he had said, Goku kept this inside and instead embraced his wife tightly. "I know their studies come first, but I want our children to train as much as they can after studying."

"Don't push your luck," Chi-Chi said with a large smile on her face. "The only time Goten and Gohan won't be studying is when they're at school, eating, sleeping, or doing chores for me."

Goku chuckled lightly, "You never change, Chi-Chi, you never change."

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(07/06/07)