Thoughts

"Speech"

Disclaimer: DC and DBZ belong to their respective owners; I own nothing.

Chapter 9: Quest of the gods II

Papaya Island

"I proudly present to you the winner of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament...Jackie Chun!" An eruption of cheers and joyous screams followed as the blonde-haired announcer raised the elderly man's fist into the air. If you had told the announcer days earlier that a man such as this would win at the start of the tournament, he wouldn't have believed it. The MC wasn't alone in his disbelief. Frowning, with arms folded from the crowd, Diana was stunned at this turn of events.

She had worked so hard! Diana had trained until her bones had given out from exhaustion, until her energy had withered away like Cronus's heart, and she had still lost. Heck, she hadn't even made it to the final match. The disappointment was evident on her face.

Following the events at Emperor Pilaf's castle, Hippolyta's daughter had followed Goku to train with Master Roshi. She was, of course, hesitant, and rightfully so. The Sennin was a lecherous pervert who lived in isolation on a remote island. Who knew how depraved his mind had become in all those years? Her short interactions with him had made her weary enough. As soon as the duo arrived at his home, the Amazon set down ground rules for her stay. She would not be objectified or taken advantage of like her fellow sisters.

Their immediate lengthy 'conversation,' which in actuality involved Diana threatening Master Roshi with unbearable torture, all courtesy of her training with Philippus, let him know just how serious she was. The sage, of course, complied; Diana wasn't close to being of age and as perverted as he was, even he wouldn't go to those lengths. With ground rules firmly established, their training had gone well...for the most part. That was until another pupil, Krillin, had joined them. Their relationship had been rocky, to say the least. For someone who claimed to be a monk, his demeanor was the opposite of that.

The books Diana had read in Themyscira's library always described monks as virtuous, pious people. But Krillin was anything but that. The clean shaved adolescent had bribed Master Roshi to train him. Krillin had even gone as far as recruiting Launch and bringing her to the Kame House in attempts to please Master Roshi. The blonde-haired woman was a volatile enigma, transforming from a gentle antelope to a roaring lion in the span of a sneeze. Diana had recounted every spell she knew to see if she could break what she believed was a curse but to no avail.

Master Roshi's training had been...odd, to say the least. Milk deliveries, plowing farms, swimming in shark-infested waters, weighted turtle shells. None of the training seemed to serve a purpose. But there was indeed a method to his madness. At the end of their eight months, the results of their hard work finally materialized. Diana's strength increased dramatically. Her leaping ability now projected her far above the clouds. For all his eccentricity, Master Roshi actually did produce results. But there was one thing she had been unable to learn during the duration of her training; Ki. [1]

It was something that came naturally to Goku and Krillin but try as she may, she could not produce any. Ki was a force that existed in everything. Every living being on the Earth possessed some form of Ki. But as Master Roshi later explained, not everyone was able to access it. For the most part, only people who belonged to the Homo Magki, a sub-race of humans, could use Ki. This explained and alleviated Diana's concerns about being a failure but irritated her due to the fact it was something out of her control. But regardless, it made no difference to her training regimen in the end.

The discovery of a world's martial arts tournament had been a great surprise. The Amazons annually held Olympic games at their coliseum, and the contest involved all manner of sports, combat being the most beloved of them all. But nothing she had participated in sounded as grandiose as this. A fighting tournament involving people from all across the world? Themyscira's native population was barely in the millions; the prospect of fighting people from various nations tingled her warrior's blood.

Not everything about man's world was as awful as her sisters proclaimed it to be.

Preparations for the tournament had been short; their training had been enough. Outside of a new outfit, an orange Gi courtesy of Master Roshi, nothing new was done in anticipation of the competition. Once the day of the tournament finally arrived, the three pupils and their master left for Papaya island. The island's scenic background was reminiscent of Themyscira, evoking feelings of sadness that the princess had long tried to subdue. Her quest for the Dragonballs had been momentarily pushed aside for these past few months, but thoughts of her task once again began to flood her mind.

Diana had been happily surprised to run into Bulma again, this time on much more amicable terms. She was even slightly happy to see Yamcha, the lone wolf announcing his tournament participation at the gate. With Goku's rather unnecessary assistance, the scar-faced warrior had been trounced in the Diablo desert. Diana couldn't wait to get another crack at him, this time on her own terms. There would be no plausible excuses for him to give.

Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, and herself quickly steamrolled through the preliminary rounds as the competition finally began. She didn't even exert one-tenth of her power during the opening rounds. The quarter-finals had been a bit different though. The mysterious Jackie Chun had defeated Yamcha. The gray-haired man, who Diana suspected was Master Roshi, easily disposed of the lone wolf in seconds. Krillin would fall to him in the next round as well. Only Diana and Goku were left standing for the semi-finals, and ironically enough, they would have to face one another.

It was a rematch both adolescents had been anxiously waiting for. They hadn't been given a proper conclusion to their initial fight due to the meddling of her sisters. But here, they could fight to their heart's content, and they did. The ring was left in shambles as the two friends valiantly battled one another. The fruits of Master Roshi's training were on full display as they dazzled the crowd. But in the end, history repeated itself, as both fighters simultaneously collapsed in the end, giving no clear winner of their fight once more. Neither fighter advanced to the next round. The final match was between Nam and Jackie Chun.

Goku and Diana both watched in disappointment from the sidelines as Jackie Chun defeated Nam. The desert warrior gave Jackie Chun a hard-fought battle, but both pupils knew they could've done much better than him and could've possibly even won. Once again, her prize was so close but ended up out of reach. Her short time in man's world had brought about nothing but failures until this point.

"Diana, what's wrong?" Goku asked as he tapped the pouting Amazon on the shoulder.

"It's nothing, Goku." The princess quickly tried to reassure, but her tone was in conflict with the veracity of her words.

"Aww, c'mon, I know something's wrong. I can see it in your face." The spiky-haired boy contested, his face sliding into a slight frown. "Is my stomach growling too loud? I tried to buy some food earlier, but they wouldn't accept Master Roshi's magazines as money."

Diana couldn't help but chuckle at his last remark. Goku always knew how to elicit a smile from her. "No, that's not the problem, Goku."

"Then what is it? You can tell me. We're friends, right?"

"Yes...we are." Diana finally responded after a long pause. They had grown to become close friends, something she would've never imagined following their initial meeting.

"So what is then?" The Saiyan prodded once more, leaning forward with an attentive ear.

"It's just.." Hippolyta's daughter began, struggling to find the right words. "Ever since I left Themyscira, it feels like I've been failing at everything. I failed to stop Emperor Pilaf. If not for Oolong's fortunate timing, he would've succeeded. I failed to learn how to use Ki, though that's out of my power. And now, most recently, I failed to even advance to the tournament final. It just seems like nothing I do is enough." The young Amazon sighed as she hung her head in a defeated motion. Not to mention the quest the gods entrusted to me.

The usually energetic boy sat in silence as he momentarily pondered her words. Diana was far from a failure. She had accomplished so much in her short stay with him. Diana was fond of placing too much pressure on herself. She always felt as though she had to bear the weight of the world on her shoulders. They had discussed her Amazon heritage several times, and it was vividly clear how much she prided herself in upholding their legendary traditions.

"Do you remember that story you told me about that lightning bolt guy and that baby eater?"

"You mean the All-Father Zeus and Cronus?" Diana asked with a brow raised. Goku's memory was, at best, foggy, to say the least.

"Oh...yeah...them!" The boy quickly nodded in agreement.

"What about them?"

"The lightning guy's mom..."

"Zeus," Diana replied through grit teeth; she could feel a large tick mark slowly beginning to form.

"Had to go through failures with her other children before she had him." The princess's irritation subsided briefly as she listened to her friend's surprising words of wisdom. "Then there was something about someone eating a rock? Or was that a branch? Darn it; I'm getting hungry again." Hippolyta's daughter collapsed with a sweat drop as Goku completely lost focus on his train of thought.

Well, at least he somewhat almost had it?

Quickly composing herself as she rose to her feet, the princess mused over Goku's incomplete words. She understood the gist of what her friend was trying to say. Rhea, the mother of Zeus, had to suffer with her failures as a mother, watching Cronus devour all of her children. It took six attempts before Rhea was finally able to rescue at least one of her children. That one child would go on to redeem her, as well as save his siblings. There was something to learn from every failure.

Diana smiled, her lips stretching from ear to ear. Goku hadn't been the most articulate in expressing his words, but it had been enough to stir her from this downtrodden attitude she was slowly settling into.

"Thanks, Goku."

"Huh?" The orange-clad boy replied with a quizzical expression, still ruminating over what exactly had been swallowed.

"For helping keep me focused."

The Saiyan merely nodded, flashing Diana the infamous Son grin all the while completely clueless as to what she was referring to.

Dream Land, West City

The Dragonballs were truly a detriment to the world. The sheer lengths mankind would go to procure them was abominable. Was this the reason the gods had tasked her with their retrieval? Did they see the corruption in the hearts of humanity? The evil that man would do to have them in their grasps? Not only men but women as well. Scowling, Diana couldn't believe that one of her fellow sisters would partake in such evil.

The Red Ribbon Army had to be expunged from the face of the Earth!

The terrorist organization held no regard for life- human, mammal, or insect. They only cared about achieving their goals, furthering their plans, and capturing the Dragonballs. This was the wickedness her mother and the elder Amazons had warned her of. Nothing had truly changed in the millennia that the Amazons had spent in isolation. All the violence, fear, and destruction, for these little spherical orbs of magic? It was now more paramount than ever for Diana to succeed in her mission. She had once thought of it as possible betrayal, but in actuality, she would be saving humankind from itself.

Everything went downhill the moment Goku began his search for his grandfather's Dragonball. Diana, of course, assisted Goku on his quest. Her mission could start anew with the Dragonballs now being active. Locating the six-star ball, the duo once again crossed paths with Emperor Pilaf and the Ox-King. Chi-Chi, much to Diana's annoyance, had attempted to coerce Goku into marriage. Hippolyta's daughter had none of it and immediately shut down the idea of her friend proposing to Chi-Chi.

During the commotion of their rather ruckus argument, Emperor Pilaf managed to slip away with the Dragonball. Chasing him down, it was then that Goku and Diana ran into even more dubious foes; the Red Ribbon Army. A small battalion of soldiers, lead by Colonel Silver, attempted to strip the Kame Sennin students of their recently retrieved Dragonball. The battle was short, ending quickly as their combined might easily overpowered the Colonel.

Colonel Silver was a pushover, but the opponents they would encounter at Muscle Tower were anything but that. Major Metallitron required the efforts of an enormous Kamehameha along with Diana's enchanted blade to even be destroyed. Ninja Murasaki was a cold-blooded assassin. He was the first of several opponents they would face whose sole mission was murdering the duo. Diana sparred him no mercy once he was defeated, shaving his head clean off but not before he'd unleashed Android 8. But unlike the other mechanical creation, Android 8 refused to fight, which had been good news for them.

The pink abomination Buyon was the next monster they would face. Once again, Diana's sword proved useful. Every attack Goku threw at the pink beast simply bounced right off, but her sword sliced him to pieces. Their final confrontation at the tower was with General White, its leader. The battle was one-sided until General White, being the coward he was, had grabbed Goku's tail. With her furry-tailed friend incapacitated, it became a one-on-one battle that Diana won with a vengeance. It was one thing to simply harm her comrade, but harming a comrade in her presence was asking for death.

It was the third life Diana took that day, and she felt no remorse about her actions. She had been hesitant on Themyscira at the possibility of potentially having to take Goku's life. His trespassing had been innocent and unintentional, and he had meant no harm. But her opponents were monsters and criminal deviants who held no value for life; they deserved it. Goku wasn't as keen on bloodshed, but Amazon justice was clean and swift.

Following those events, the duo had traveled to West City in search of Bulma to repair the Dragon Radar. It was truly a sight to behold. That city alone possessed more residents than the entire island of Themyscira. The princess nearly got caught up in sightseeing until another one of the RRA's associates had made their presence known. Hasky, a blonde-haired thief, attempted to steal the Dragonballs as she explored the Dream Land amusement park. Diana was shocked and horrified at the discovery.

Of course, women were as capable of evil as men, but seeing a fellow sister align herself with a terrorist organization was disheartening. Hasky not only attempted to steal the Dragonballs, but she attempted to blow up the amusement park as well. Thousands of lives would have been needlessly taken if Goku hadn't acted in time. Her life, however, was spared as Bulma turned her over to the proper authorities. Amazon law would have called for her blood, but Diana complied with the decision.

The crew had been reunited following Hasky's capture. The hunt for the Dragonballs had begun, in full, once more. With Bulma joining their group, their travel time would at least be cut in half. But the eventual act of betrayal she would have to commit weighed heavy on Diana's mind. As much as she despised it, it was something the princess just had to do. Her nation and her gods were relying on her to succeed, and as much as Diana was beginning to like her friends, they would always come second to her duty.

May Athena help me.

Penguin Village

Another day, another Dragonball. The hunt for the Dragonballs was becoming increasingly tumultuous. The Red Ribbon Army had a seemingly endless slew of soldiers at their disposal. Every turn Bulma, Goku, Krillin, and Diana took ended in an encounter with the paramilitary criminal organization. Whoever or whatever was funding them had to have an enormous amount of money. They had access to technology that rivaled Bulma's own.

Their latest foe in the hunt for the Dragonballs had been a sandy-haired, vain General. General Blue, as he'd called himself, was the pinnacle of patriarchy. He was everything Hippolyta and Amazons had claimed mankind to be. Self-absorbed, arrogant, brutish, and misogynistic. He was a hate-filled being on all accounts. He had to be a descendant of foul Hercules.

Their first encounter with the high-ranking officer had been at an underwater cave. Unlike the previous two officials from the RRA, the General did not take their group lightly. With the combined might of Krillin and Goku, the trio managed to defeat General Blue, leaving him to his death as the cave collapsed, or so they thought. But as fate would have it, the commander was much more durable than any of the Sennin students could have imagined, and they would encounter him once more at the Kame house.

Emerging from the sea, relatively unscathed, the General managed to subdue their group. If not for Launch's timely arrival, they might have died from the bomb he attached to the house. Though they managed to escape with their lives, General Blue got away with the Dragonballs. Chasing him down to the extremely strange Penguin Village, they would engage in one last final battle. Diana had seen wondrous sights across the globe during her travels with Goku, but this hamlet easily held the crown for its peculiarity.

The General's telekinesis once again proved to be deadly. If not for his mental abilities Goku and Diana would have easily disposed of him. But maintaining a telekinetic grip on two people, especially one's as powerful as Master Roshi's pupils, wasn't something he could sustain for very long. Eventually, Diana broke out and attacked, breaking The General's concentration and releasing his grip on Goku. With spectacular teamwork, the army official was defeated. Diana would have delivered the finishing blow had it not been for Arale's interference in the matter.

The strange purple-haired girl possessed strength that surpassed Goku and Diana's own. Even with all the training, they had undergone, all it took was one punch from Arale to send the vain villain soaring into the sky, eventually rocketing away as a mere twinkle in the sky. Following the rather anti-climactic end to their battle, Arale's father helped create a new Dragon Radar, the previous one haven been stolen by General Blue. All in all, their mission had gone relatively well, and it could've been deemed a success. But as Diana and Goku soared into the sunset, the Amazon princess couldn't shake the ominous feeling rattling her bones.

There was something big looming on the horizon.

Eth Alth'eban (The Sacred city of the League of Assassins)

"Ninja Murasaki has been slain." A distinctly feminine voice announced as she entered a dimly lit bed-chamber.

"Good, that's what he deserved. All league failures deserve death," A non-nonchalant voice quickly responded. "But why is this of note though? He was one our weakest associates."

"Two children defeated him."

A pregnant pause followed as the masculine voice halted to ponder his next set of words.

"You're sure they were children?"

"Yes."

Silence echoed through the dark chamber, a sly grin creeping onto the man's face as he recounted a similar feat from his two star pupils.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Shiva; I'm sure my brother will find this tidbit of information useful."

"Grateful to be of service Master Shen." The teenage assassin bowed as she bid her farewell and exited the room as silently as she had arrived.

Athena's Temple, Themyscira

Wiping her tunic, Derinoe lowered herself to the ground as she silently began to pray. The elder Amazon couldn't help but stand in awe as she gazed at the fifty-foot statue in front of her. Athena was one of the most beloved deities on Olympus, but even more so on Themyscira. For centuries the daughter of Zeus had guided and aided the Amazons during their most dire times of need. Through whatever time of need, the goddess of wisdom was always there, which is why the gray-haired woman had turned to her today.

It had been over a year since the princess had left Themyscira. Derinoe was still staunchly against the idea, but it was the will of her gods. A mind as young as Diana's had yet to be truly carved, and with her newfound experiences dallying around man's world, who knew what effects it would have on her? Hippolyta tried to remain strong in her leadership role, but it was clear that her heart ached for Diana. Some of her more recent choices were steeped too far in emotion rather than in hard, cold logic. It was beginning to negatively affect her rule.

O great, Athena! Wisest of the gods, most auspicious of our patron deities, I pray you...

But before her thoughts could even be completed, a plume of purple smoke appeared before her. Squinting, Derinoe peered through the foggy haze, eyebrows rising as she saw who was behind it.

"Strife!"

"The one and only." The goddess of discord merrily replied as she dispersed the smog, stepping closer to her worshiper.

The Amazon's surprise quickly turned to confusion as her mind contemplated the situation at hand. She was praying to Athena; how in the world had Strife heard her prayers? What was she even doing here? More questions began to flood her mind as she glanced around the temple. Just what was going on? She opened her mouth to voice her concerns, but Strife's slender finger silenced her lips.

"All of your questions will be answered soon, Derinoe."

Those words seemed to calm down the curious Amazon, at least momentarily, and her posture relaxed slightly.

"You have been one of the most faithful Amazons, and I believe it's time for that loyalty to be returned in full." Derinoe's eyes narrowed at those words; just what was she getting at? "There's a secret you deserve to know."

A big thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 8!

[1]: As I previously mentioned in Chapter 2, the only humans who can use Ki are the Homo Magki. As far as alien races who use Ki, that will be explained later on. I didn't want everyone in the story to be able to use Ki, just the DBZ characters.

Q/A:

darkmist111: Yes, Kami will protect the Earth from the potential threats posed by other pantheons of gods. Currently, though, he hasn't deemed the Olympians a threat. Their actions have mostly been reserved to their own realm and Themyscira, which is outside his sight.

Moshe30350redstar: It's a possibility. She's going to be part of the Teen Titans, so that could happen.

Adam-TheCyborgVigilante-Jensen: Beerus is currently asleep and probably wouldn't even care if he were awake, lol. I'd have to go with Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Gogeta over SSJ4 Gogeta. In BOG, Goku stated that fusion wouldn't be enough to defeat Beerus, so the SSG transformations have to be more powerful based on that.

Keldeox: 1.) At a certain point, Goku and Superman will become equals. I hated death battle. The animation was nice, but there were so many inconsistencies, I'd never rely on that. Personally, I think Post-Crisis Superman would match Goku blow for blow at SSJ3, but above SSJ3? I believe Goku would win, especially with the new SSG transformations that have been introduced. Of course, this is all dependent on whether or not Superman sun dips, and for how long because if he does, all that could go out the window. 2.) Goku's already a superhero of sorts, just not the stop-a-bank-robber kind. 3.) Cell will most definitely be making an appearance in this story. He'll be an even greater threat because will have access to more DNA.

RecklessBaka: Yeah, I couldn't possibly cover all of Dragonball. That would have been excessively long. I hadn't considered that about Goku until you mentioned it; that's actually a really great idea.

Aztec 13: Forever Evil? Possibly. Blackest Night? Unlikely. Flashpoint? Unlikely. Batman Endgame? Haven't even read it. Ulysses? Haven't read it. Super Doom? Unlikely, considering I'm going with the Post-Crisis version of Doomsday for this story. If I do end up doing any of these storylines, they're probably going to be different from the comic versions, considering the completely different casts.

Breakawayfan: Yes, Goku will fight DC villains and vice versa, though Bane would get KO'd quickly.

NirvanaFrk97: Realistically, they should have, but since I'm following the plot of Dragonball, they can't really do that. Later on, they will spread across the entire Earth though.

ThatGuy brother of OtherGuy: Skipping till post-Namek would miss a lot of things. That's way too far.

Ultimate Black Ace: Admittedly, I could have included more scenes from Dragonball in the previous chapter, but I didn't due to partial laziness and personally feeling that they weren't really necessary. I don't intend for Gohan to be a wimp in this story. His personality will probably be altered but not too dramatically.

Guest: Because it's fan fiction.

Kabuto S. Inferno: I will try to keep the secondary Z-fighters relevant. I've already had some help coming up with creative ways on how to do it.

JKFallen: How are you writing a DBZ story if you never liked DBZ? Lol. Superman's already been implemented into the story. And yes, Superman will be a permanent character. He's one of the main characters listed besides Goku. I haven't really thought out what will happen after Dragonball. Other DC heroes and villains will be included.

Totong: Thanks for the kind words. We haven't seen the full extent of Whis' power in DBZ yet, but he's already far more powerful than Zeus just based on power scaling. Death battle was a complete mess, and I don't even want to discuss all its problems.