Hello All! Well, this seems to be turning into a rather lengthy novel. Which I don't really mind. However, other than my core group of reviewers, I don't seem to be attracting new readers, or at least new readers that review. Is the story too long? Are people put off by the length of the fic? I personally love long fics. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Vaarj: Sorry I didn't e-mail right away on the last chapter, but right after I posted the chapter, Norton Firewall/Anti-Virus said that I had a virus. So I stopped e-mail going out and had to wait until the next day to do a full scan and clean up any problems. I didn't want to even accidentally send out anything that would infect someone else's system. Be patient with me! :c)
Now, on to the story!!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Piccolo was stunned. He had felt the power of the Super Saiyan Five, and wasn't particularly shocked. After all, that was Goku and Vegeta and if any two beings in this universe were capable of such powers and abilities, it was those two. Then he saw and felt Trunks make the same transformation, only more powerful, even if just slightly, than his father. Then, a few hours ago, he felt Vegeta's grandson, Trunks Jr. make the same transformation, and at such a young age! It was as if the entire Vegeta line had suddenly found their place in the universe. But these two… Roger and Yambia.. They have come out of nowhere and in just a few short weeks have attained levels of power that Piccolo, and the other Saiyans, took years to achieve.
Be careful Piccolo, you're looking at the new protectors of Earth you know. Rou Kaioshin's voice broke into Piccolo's thoughts.
"What do you mean?" Piccolo answered, obvious surprise in his voice.
"Look at the size of this planet. At one time it was home to hundreds of Supreme Kais. I am one such being from 15 generations before the current Supreme Kai. It was also home to hundreds, maybe thousands of beings such as Kabito. Lesser Kais they were, dedicated to serving the Supreme Kais. Over the millennia, these immortals were killed off as they repelled threat, after threat to the omniverse. They were in charge of protecting the universe that you know, and all of the alternate timelines and dimensions that sprang from this universe. Until finally, there was only five left, and Buu took the lives of four of them. By the sheerest stroke of luck, Kaioshin and Kabito survived and have managed against all odds to protect the universe from the worst of the dangers, with Goku's and sometimes the other Z-Warrior's help." Rou Kaioshin explained.
"Go on." Piccolo was definitely curious.
"Well, it has become painfully obvious to Kaioshin and myself that being the Supreme Kai over everything is more than one or two beings can handle. The Universe is vast, the Omniverse even larger. Things have fallen through the cracks that shouldn't have escaped the Supreme Kai's sight. The fact that Earth had warriors on it more powerful than the Supreme Kai was unknown to him before Buu was resurrected. The Supreme Kai had no idea that any Saiyans had survived. These types of oversights are inexcusable, and possibly costly in terms of sentient life. Had Goku not known the Spirit Bomb technique, then in all probability the Universe would have been purged years ago. Where does that lead us? Since you were once the Kami of Planet Earth, I will tell you where that leads us. But you must swear never to tell anyone else, at least for now." The Elder Kai asked.
"I swear never to tell anyone what you're about to tell me unless that knowledge is needed to save lives." Piccolo answered.
"Fair enough." The Elder Kai conceded. "After this business with the demons and Cordell is finished, the Supreme Kai plans on offering immortality and Kai-Hood to Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Videl, Bulma, Chi-Chi, Pan, and Bura to assist in monitoring and protecting the Omniverse. If they accept, they will be given homes here on Kaioshin's world, with their spouses if needed."
Robia was getting pretty impatient. She had fused expecting a battle, but then that old Kai walked up and started yapping at Piccolo.
"WOULD YOU BE MORE RESPECTFUL TO THE ELDER KAI!" Piccolo's voice boomed in Robia's head.
"Ouch! You don't have to yell!" Robia winced.
"Look, go find yourself something to do for a while. The Elder Kai and I are discussing something important." Piccolo said.
"Will do string bean." Robia said, and flew off seeking out ki levels.
"Let's see…." Robia said to him/herself. "Who's butt needs whipping today? Pan and Kirillin were sparing in Gravity Chamber 1, neither one of them offered Robia much challenge while fused, although they both had come a long way in their training. Pan is expected to break the Super Saiyan Three barrier any day now, and Kirillin is the absolute strongest human ever, dead or alive. Kaioshin, while merged with Kabito, is strong, but not strong enough to offer any serious challenge. That leaves Trunks, and Goten. Where are they at?"
Robia stretched out with her senses and found them on the other side of the planet. "Ah… This will be a good test of my abilities. First, I'll lower my ki and sneak up on them. Then I will attack!" Robia chuckled malevolently as she few off towards the powerful duo.
Piccolo watched as Robia flew off. "Stay out of trouble you two!" Piccolo mentally flung at them.
"Um.. I will!" Robia answered. "Ok, now were are they at…" Robia flew off towards the far side of the planet.
"Ok Elder Kai, please continue." Piccolo coaxed. "Do you mean that they will be Kais?"
"Yes, that is what the Supreme Kai and myself want." Rou Kaioshin said. "By the way Piccolo, now that I'm rested up, have you ever considered becoming a Mystic Super Namekian?" Rou Kaioshin smiled conspiratorially. "You could keep up with the Saiyans a bit."
Piccolo smiled widely. "Sounds like a plan Elder Kai. Let's wait until tonight after everyone turns in to start."
"See you then." Rou Kaioshin agreed.
++++++++++++++++++++++
"Did you feel that?" Goten smiled.
"Yes.. Is that Roger, or Yambia?" Trunks asked.
"Both. Father said that they learned the fusion technique on New Namek." Goten answered. "Do you believe that they are trying to sneak up on us?"
"Damned Rookies." Trunks smiled.
"Wait! That's it!" Trunks exclaimed.
"What's it?" Goten asked.
"Fusion! I've been trying to teach you to go Super Saiyan Five, but if we both fuse at Super Saiyan Four, and then Gotenks goes Super Saiyan Five, which he should be able to do, you can remember how that feels, and how to use your ki after the fusion is dissolved." Trunks looked excited.
"And we can give, what is it father said their fusion is called? Oh yeah, Robia. We can give Robia a bit of a shock." Goten's smile broadened.
"Let's do It!" Trunks yelled.
Trunks and Goten powered up to Super Saiyan Four, Goten powered up to his fullest, and Trunks adjusted to exactly match Goten's ki level.
"Ready?" Trunks asked.
"I'm there bro!" Goten answered.
"Fuuuuussion…. HA!!!!"
"What the hell is that?" Robia covered his/her eyes. "It looked like a fusion!"
Robia racked her brain… Vegeta's
story… Then the memory of how he/she
learned to fuse, the video clip…
"GOTENKS!! Damned! I forgot all about that!" Robia exclaimed.
"You need to work on your memory skills." A voice sounded from behind Robia.
"So much for stealth." Robia thought as he/she turned to face Super Saiyan Four Gotenks.
"So, you tried to sneak up on us eh? You really should know better than that! We were taught by the best!" Gotenks bragged.
"So a couple of nice people fuse to form one totally full of himself super warrior. Sounds familiar." Robia chuckled.
"What did you fly all this way for?" Gotenks smirked.
"Well, Umm.. To spar a bit? Everyone else is busy or wouldn't present much of a challenge." Robia said.
"Sounds good.. But I have to do something first." Gotenks said. "You might want to get back some."
Robia flew back about fifty yards and raised his/her blue deflection shield. "Ok, what's this guy up to?"
Gotenks clenched his fists and concentrated. His ki growing immense and flaring up around him. Suddenly he screamed and burst into Super Saiyan Five. But he didn't stop, his power soared as the Gohan part of Gotenks caught on to the transformation and added his own immense powers to the mix. Suddenly the planet rumbled, and shook hard enough to take everyone but Piccolo off his feet.
"What the Hell is going on now?" Piccolo exclaimed as another shock wave hit the planet, taking him off his feet.
Robia was struggling to maintain her place in the sky. "Holy crap! He's going to crack this planet in two! I gotta do something!"
Robia maneuvered his/her bubble below Gotenks and expanded the shield into a larger, flat shield in an attempt to redirect some of Gotenks energy away from the planet. Robia placed both his/her hands on the shield and directed all of his/her ki into the shield. "Ohhhh…… Dear Dendi! I can't keep this up for long!" Robia felt his/her control of the shield begin to slip.
Robia still didn't move. "I have to keep this shield up somehow!!" Just as that thought passed through his mind, the shield cracked. Still Robia poured everything he/she had into the shield.
Suddenly, the force was gone. Gotenks ki suddenly disappeared. Robia took a look up and saw nothing but vaporized water trails where clouds had been super heated. Robia vaguely noted that his/her hands were burned, and the sleeves of his/her workout shirt was burned away. Robia stretched out her senses as far as his/her waning energy would allow and found everyone on the planet but Gotenks, or even Trunks and/or Goten individually. It was as if they had completely disappeared. Robia let the shield drop and looked for Gotenks with no luck. Robia dropped closer to the ground, all of the trees were flattened, many turned into so many toothpicks. A crack had formed running about five miles where molten lava could be seen. Robia looked for Gotenks. Still no luck at all.
Piccolo and the rest of the Z-Warriors picked themselves off of the ground. They all felt the immense ki spike coming from Gotenks, then it just vanished. Instinctively they all reached out with their senses and found Robia's weakened ki, but no Gotenks. With a nod, they all flew towards the other side of the planet, including Kaioshin.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vegeta was sitting at the kitchen table at Capsule Corporation. His head was in his hands, his hands cupped one over each eye trying to escape his alcohol induced headache.
"Vegeta, Bura says that this is good for a hangover and says you need to swallow them." Bardock entered the kitchen with a glass of water and some pills.
Vegeta accepted the water and the pills and grumbled a curt thank you. Vegeta woke up with a headache, which wasn't made any better with that damned Kakkarot's insistence that the damned baka demon be kept alive.
"Tell me Bardock, why is your brat so damned stubborn?" Vegeta asked.
"Runs in the family I guess." Bardock said smiling broadly.
Goku came bounding into the room. "What's for lunch?"
Vegeta moaned.
That's when it hit. Gotenks out-of-control ki was felt by everyone in the room.
"Uugh!" Vegeta's hands clamped over his head. Sensing such and enormous ki had the unfortunate effect of severely intensifying Vegeta's headache.
"That's Gotenks!" Goku yelled.
Vegeta suddenly found himself being yanked from his chair just as Bardock found himself being pulled towards his son.
"Kakkarot! What are you…" Vegeta was cut off as the trio disappeared.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gotenks was floating through total blackness. He had lost all sense of orientation. There were no stars, or any other objects that Gotenks could see. He did get the vague sense of some life around him, but in which direction he couldn't tell. Additionally, Gotenks couldn't feel the limits of his own body. He felt like mist, he couldn't even feel one hand with the other, or that he had hands for that matter. Gotenks felt himself twist and turn as he floated. He could occasionally see wisps of red float past him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vegeta, Bardock, and Goku appeared in front of the Supreme Kai via Goku's instant transmission technique. Vegeta was too concerned about the disappearance of Gotenks's ki to chastise Goku on their sudden departure.
"What's happened?" Vegeta asked, his agitation apparent with every syllable.
"We don't know yet. We are headed there now." The Supreme Kai answered.
"Let's teleport there." Goku said.
The Supreme Kai made contact with those around him, and Goku put his hands on Vegeta and Bardock while Kirillin and Pan grabbed his shoulders and in an instant, they were next to Robia. Robia could no longer sustain Mystic Super Saiyan Two and had dropped back into his/her normal form.
"How is she.. Er.. he.. Um.. They.. " Goku stammered.
"Robia looks pretty beat." Kaioshin put his hand on Robia's forehead. "Oh my!"
Vegeta had fished out a senzu bean and placed it in Robia's mouth. "What is it?"
"From what I can see of Robia's memories, he/she probably saved this planet." Kaioshin said.
Robia chewed and swallowed the senzu bean regaining his/her energy as well as healing his/her burns almost instantly.
Robia stood up. "Gotenks! Has anyone found Gotenks?"
"No, we've all tried to sense Gotenks, but there isn't a single sign of him here, or on the mortal plane." Kaioshin stated.
"Did he die?" Robia said.
"No, or at least not in the traditional sense. If he had simply died he would be in King Emma's Castle being judged right now. We would be able to sense him there." Piccolo said.
"Then where is he?" Bardock said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gotenks became aware of some of the blackness taking a more solid form around him. Where there was nothing before, solid stonewalls rose up and a stone floor slowly formed beneath him. He wasn't walking as much as floating down the corridor. Gotenks became aware of a brilliant white light at the end of the hall. There were no doors, or windows to be seen. Along the wall there was vastly large suits of armor, and an occasional statue of what appeared to be beings very much like the Supreme Kai. Gotenks floated along, drawn towards the light until he came to an open courtyard. To his left was a large area with a huge throne from with the light was emanating from. To his right was the most beautiful garden Gotenks had ever seen. Suddenly, the light from the throne quivered and began to take shape. When it finished, there sat a Kai nearly 40 foot tall, emanating sheer power. He had a Mohawk, much like the Supreme Kai, but also sported a full beard and mustache. He wore body armor, similar to Saiyan armor, but far thicker.
"Welcome Gotenks. I've been expecting one of you Saiyans" the creature said. "If you concentrate a bit, you can obtain a solid form again."
Gotenks did just that. He found that it took a bit of concentration, but he eventually attained his stable solid form.
"W-who are you?" Gotenks asked.
"I am the Ultimate Kai." He answered.