Goku appeared, scaring the hell out of Vegeta who fell over and began wheezing uncontrollably, clutching his heart.
"Hey, guys!" said Goku, waving his sensu bean triumphantly. "I got the sensu bean!"
"Can't... breathe..." rasped Vegeta. "Crept up on me... Kakarotto... bastard...."
"Welcome back, Goku," said Piccolo sternly. "You just killed Vegeta."
"Who?" Goku shrugged. "Anyway, Gohan, take this bean to Videl!"
"Right!" Gohan reached out to Goku's hand, which wrapped protectively around the bean. "C'mon, dad," he said, tugging at Goku's fist. "Hand it over."
Sweat poured down Goku's forehead. He was holding food. Food. Why would he surrender food? He could eat it. Yes. The delicious food in his hand. But what about Videl? She needed the bean. But was she as hungry as Goku? No! Goku was the hungriest. Yes, that's right. Goku was hungry. It was that simple. It was his bean, after all.
He bit hungrily into the palm of his hand, then yelped. "Where'd the bean go?"
"Gohan pried it out of your fingers while you were drooling and muttering to yourself." Piccolo nodded at the corridor. "I'm guessing he ran back there to give it to Videl."
"The lights..." said Vegeta. "Growing... dim... heart... can't... fading..."
--------
Gohan ran through the corridors, then bashed through the door of the infirmary to see Mr. Satan hunched over his daughter, wildly ranting about how he was going to find that Spopovich and rip his head off, and then beat him to death with his own head.
"Is that even possible?"
Mr. Satan leapt to his feet. "It's you! Kid, I thought I told you that Videl needs her space!"
"Gohan!" Videl's face lit up.
"Videl!" Gohan's face lit up.
Mr. Satan groaned. When people's faces start to light up like that, it was a bad sign. They were either in love or they'd just been exposed to a near-lethal dose of radiation. And he was sensible enough to know which one it was.
"Doctor," he hissed. "Get everybody out of the building. There's been a radiation leak!" He was interrupted by Gohan who brushed by him to reach Videl's bedside.
"I brought you this apparently insignificant bean, Videl," said Gohan, holding it out to her. "Eat it."
"Oh, Gohan! It's the most wonderful apparently insignificant bean I've ever seen!"
"Don't you eat that bean! Why, it's a demon bean! That's right!" Mr. Satan shook a Finger of Warning. "And if you eat that bean, young lady, you'll probably get SICK and DIE!"
Gohan gently placed the bean into Videl's mouth. She chewed it hesitantly, and then swallowed. Mr. Satan covered his eyes and moaned. "Oh, the tragedy. My daughter has eaten the sinister bean! I'll get you, kid! I'll get you for killing my daughter with your tricky bean of tragedy!"
Videl's eyes opened wide. She sat upright, and tore the bandages off her arm - the skin was completely healed. "I'm cured! I feel great!"
"That's right!" Gohan glanced his watch. "Wow, I'm late for my fight. I've gotta run. Wish me luck!"
"Good luck, Gohan!"
"Er," said Mr. Satan pathetically. "Doctor, that was because of your medicine, right?"
"Yes," said the doctor. "Yes, it was. Can we talk about my medical fee now?"
--------
"So," said the announcer. "Heard any good jokes lately?"
Kibito stared down at him, his wrinkled face expressionless. The announcer stepped back a metre or so.
"Not the joking type, eh? Well, okay." He sighed, tapping his foot on the ring. "The crowd's getting ugly. What sort of super hero shows up late for his match? What if we were all trapped in a burning building, huh? He's as late as my Great Uncle-Henry!"
"Ah!" Kibito nodded, understanding. "This is one of your analogies, yes? I have been studying them. May I try one out?"
"Er... okay."
Kibito cleared his throat. "Good morning. The weather is as fine as a rhinocerous today, I see. How is your lunch? Mine is as delicious as a papercut."
Kaioshin, standing with the Z Fighters near the ring, shook his head sadly. "Poor Kibito. He tries so hard, but he just can't master basics of human conversation."
"Yes," said Vegeta, sneering. "He's as stupid as a chandelier."
"Hey." Piccolo frowned. "I thought you were dying."
"Like all Saiyajin, I am simply too stupid to die!"
Piccolo nodded. "I figured it was something like that."
"It's Gohan!" Goku waved. "Gohan, is Videl okay?"
"Yeah, she's better than ever! And I'm ready for my fight." He began to walk towards the ring. As he neared it, the announcer turned, saw him, and grinned. He raised his microphone to his mouth.
"Finally! The Great Saiyaman has arrived for his first-round match with Kibito! Ladies and gentlemen, it's the hero of the people VS... er... this guy! This will be a match to watch!"
Gohan stepped up onto the ring. In his haste to return to his battle, he'd forgotten to put his scarf back on, and it was with incredible shock that he heard shouting from the stands far above him.
"Gohan!" Sharpner was shouting. "Hey, Gohan!"
Oh, no... Gohan's eyes closed. He'd blown his secret identity! Now he had no way of protecting his family from the inevitable interest his superpowers would bring. What a fool he was!
"I had no idea that the Great Saiyaman's secret identity was Gohan," said Eraser, amazed.
"It's too bad," said Sharpner. "He's a nice kid, but how he's going to beat this guy? I mean, he's big. And mysterious."
Gohan stared up at Kibito. Kibito stared down at him.
"Gohan," said Kibito. "Show me the power of the Super Saiyajin."
Gohan blinked. "What?"
"You heard me. Show me your power."
Gohan glanced to his father for support. Goku yelled encouragingly: "Gohan! Watch out for his tail! He might absorb you with it!"
Forget that. He glanced to Piccolo for support. Piccolo nodded, so Gohan clenched his fists and returned his steely gaze to Kibito's face. "Fine. You asked for it."
"No matter what happens," said Kaioshin quietly. "You must not interfere or help Gohan in any way."
Vegeta frowned. "What is this 'help'?"
"It's when you assist others."
Vegeta clutched his head. "Assist? What?"
"You know! You mustn't try to save Gohan, even if something terrible happens!"
"Gnargh!" Vegeta rubbed his forehead. "It hurts. Explain 'save'!"
"Don't do anything!"
"Oh," said Vegeta, relieved. "That. I can do that."
Gohan took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Inside him he could feel the power of the Super Saiyajin, ready to be unleashed. Yellow energy coursed over his body like molten gold as he began the transformation. The tips of his hair quivered, and began to rise. They formed into glowing spikes as his aura spiked up above his body and finally erupted outwards in a shockwave of yellow ki. The sound of his aura became audible; his body filled with energy. Gohan met Kibito's stunned face with a smirk.
"Is that all you want?" Gohan grinned. "Or shall I take it to the next level?"
"There's another level?" Kibito gasped. "I'm as stunned as a cardboard box."
Feeling the rage burning underneath his skin, Gohan let it out. His power exploded. Electricity ripped through his aura and slashed the air around him, and the tiles of the arena tore from the ground to hover above the air, held by his latent power. His aura thickened and his hair grew again as the sound of his power tearing the air intensified, and Gohan screamed the last of his power forth, bringing it from deep within, his aura growing steadily as Super Saiyajin 2 took hold.
Vegeta laughed. "Such a long descriptive paragraph, and he's still weaker than he was as a child! Pathetic!"
"All the same," said Kaioshin grimly, "He's stronger than I had anticipated. Far stronger. I may not be able to restrain him."
"Restrain him?" Goku shrieked. "You're Dr. Gero, working with Cell to kill poor Gohan!"
"We had our long talk, Goku! He's the Kaioshin of all the Heavens!"
"That's what you say, Piccolo," said Goku suspiciously. "How do I know you're not Android #19?"
This is incredible, thought Kibito. All this power and he's but a mortal. It's as amazing as a rotating bandstand.
Gohan relaxed. The tiles fell from the sky, thudding into the ring, and the electricity rampaging around his body calmed to steadily crackle around him. His turqouise eyes meet Kibito's wide ones. "You got what you asked for."
The crowd was silent, too shocked by what they were seeing. Only one other person could understand the spectacle, and that was Mr. Satan, clinging fearfully to a stone pillar as he watched the scene. "They're back," he said. "They're back to get their revenge! The horrible gold-haired mutants!"
"This is the one," said Yamu. Spopovich hefted a large bone-white needle with a bulbous dialled handle. "It's time."
They leapt. They flew through the air, immediately attracting Gohan's attention as they made their clumsy aerial approach. The young SSJ2 began to turn to fight off his attackers - and froze. His muscles strained as though they were being clamped down by ropes.
Kaioshin stood, ten metres away, his hands in front of his chest, his face twitching with concentration. "What's he doing?" shouted Krillin. "We have to help Gohan!"
"No," said Piccolo, catching hold of his gi and pulling him back. "We watch."
"Those two guys," said Goku. "They must be... yes... they're CELL JUNIORS! They've come to help Cell!"
Spopovich laughed as his needle plunged deeply into Gohan's shoulder. Gohan screamed in absolute agony as his life was torn from inside him, flowing into the devilish contraption.
"Gohan!" screamed Videl, running forward. Goku caught her arm.
"No! Don't you see? Cell will absorb humans like you and become even stronger!"
"Piccolo," said Vegeta, exasperated, "Does it seem to you that Kakarotto is stupider than he normally is?"
The Namek nodded. "Yeah. But do you get the feeling that nothing is like it really should be, Vegeta? That strange sensation in the air that the very destiny given to us has gone wrong?"
Vegeta shrugged. "Sort of. But I thought that was just the spandex." He smiled and caressed his torso. "Mmm, spandex. So tight and clingy."
Piccolo shuddered.
--------
Pui-Pui punched again. And again.
"You can do it!" shouted Dabura. "Fight, Pui-Pui! Fight!"
"But Dabura," panted Pui-Pui, dodging a wild punch from his opponent. "It's hard!"
"That's good! The harder it is, the more it'll hurt when you screw it up!"
"But that's not good!" Pui-Pui ducked a kick. "That's actually really, really bad!"
Dabura considered this. "Yes, you're right. But hard is much more fun to watch."
Pui-Pui weaved around another attack from the giant ice-breathing spider dragon with the jetpack and the ten thousand razor-tipped tentacles. "Where the hell do you come up with these opponents, anyway, Dabura?"
"I just make it up as I go along," said Dabura. "Watch out for that left hook - well, you should have listened to me, shouldn't you? Now, you put your organs back inside your body and then do two thousand pushups!"
Dabura nodded as Pui-Pui returned to his training. Pui-Pui had the potential to be a mighty warrior. Perhaps he could even hope to be the Super Pui of Legend...
--------
"Yakon! Don't eat Colonel Mustard!" Babidi slammed his hairy little head into the game board, unsettling the dice. "You idiot! How will we know if he did it in the library with the revolver?"
Yakon shrugged. "Great Lord Babidi, I tire of these tedious games."
"What?" Babidi frowned. "You're talking."
"Of course I can talk, Master. I have done so on several occassions. You simply weren't listening."
"Eh?" Babidi frowned. "You're talking."
Yakon sighed. It was so hard to live the life of a giant green beetle. He sucked in light, but not even all the light in the world could fill the dark, empty place in his lonely, lonely heart.
"So," said Babidi. "Up for a game of Snakes and Ladders?" He sighed. "If only you could talk. Where IS Dabura?"
"Hey, guys!" said Goku, waving his sensu bean triumphantly. "I got the sensu bean!"
"Can't... breathe..." rasped Vegeta. "Crept up on me... Kakarotto... bastard...."
"Welcome back, Goku," said Piccolo sternly. "You just killed Vegeta."
"Who?" Goku shrugged. "Anyway, Gohan, take this bean to Videl!"
"Right!" Gohan reached out to Goku's hand, which wrapped protectively around the bean. "C'mon, dad," he said, tugging at Goku's fist. "Hand it over."
Sweat poured down Goku's forehead. He was holding food. Food. Why would he surrender food? He could eat it. Yes. The delicious food in his hand. But what about Videl? She needed the bean. But was she as hungry as Goku? No! Goku was the hungriest. Yes, that's right. Goku was hungry. It was that simple. It was his bean, after all.
He bit hungrily into the palm of his hand, then yelped. "Where'd the bean go?"
"Gohan pried it out of your fingers while you were drooling and muttering to yourself." Piccolo nodded at the corridor. "I'm guessing he ran back there to give it to Videl."
"The lights..." said Vegeta. "Growing... dim... heart... can't... fading..."
--------
Gohan ran through the corridors, then bashed through the door of the infirmary to see Mr. Satan hunched over his daughter, wildly ranting about how he was going to find that Spopovich and rip his head off, and then beat him to death with his own head.
"Is that even possible?"
Mr. Satan leapt to his feet. "It's you! Kid, I thought I told you that Videl needs her space!"
"Gohan!" Videl's face lit up.
"Videl!" Gohan's face lit up.
Mr. Satan groaned. When people's faces start to light up like that, it was a bad sign. They were either in love or they'd just been exposed to a near-lethal dose of radiation. And he was sensible enough to know which one it was.
"Doctor," he hissed. "Get everybody out of the building. There's been a radiation leak!" He was interrupted by Gohan who brushed by him to reach Videl's bedside.
"I brought you this apparently insignificant bean, Videl," said Gohan, holding it out to her. "Eat it."
"Oh, Gohan! It's the most wonderful apparently insignificant bean I've ever seen!"
"Don't you eat that bean! Why, it's a demon bean! That's right!" Mr. Satan shook a Finger of Warning. "And if you eat that bean, young lady, you'll probably get SICK and DIE!"
Gohan gently placed the bean into Videl's mouth. She chewed it hesitantly, and then swallowed. Mr. Satan covered his eyes and moaned. "Oh, the tragedy. My daughter has eaten the sinister bean! I'll get you, kid! I'll get you for killing my daughter with your tricky bean of tragedy!"
Videl's eyes opened wide. She sat upright, and tore the bandages off her arm - the skin was completely healed. "I'm cured! I feel great!"
"That's right!" Gohan glanced his watch. "Wow, I'm late for my fight. I've gotta run. Wish me luck!"
"Good luck, Gohan!"
"Er," said Mr. Satan pathetically. "Doctor, that was because of your medicine, right?"
"Yes," said the doctor. "Yes, it was. Can we talk about my medical fee now?"
--------
"So," said the announcer. "Heard any good jokes lately?"
Kibito stared down at him, his wrinkled face expressionless. The announcer stepped back a metre or so.
"Not the joking type, eh? Well, okay." He sighed, tapping his foot on the ring. "The crowd's getting ugly. What sort of super hero shows up late for his match? What if we were all trapped in a burning building, huh? He's as late as my Great Uncle-Henry!"
"Ah!" Kibito nodded, understanding. "This is one of your analogies, yes? I have been studying them. May I try one out?"
"Er... okay."
Kibito cleared his throat. "Good morning. The weather is as fine as a rhinocerous today, I see. How is your lunch? Mine is as delicious as a papercut."
Kaioshin, standing with the Z Fighters near the ring, shook his head sadly. "Poor Kibito. He tries so hard, but he just can't master basics of human conversation."
"Yes," said Vegeta, sneering. "He's as stupid as a chandelier."
"Hey." Piccolo frowned. "I thought you were dying."
"Like all Saiyajin, I am simply too stupid to die!"
Piccolo nodded. "I figured it was something like that."
"It's Gohan!" Goku waved. "Gohan, is Videl okay?"
"Yeah, she's better than ever! And I'm ready for my fight." He began to walk towards the ring. As he neared it, the announcer turned, saw him, and grinned. He raised his microphone to his mouth.
"Finally! The Great Saiyaman has arrived for his first-round match with Kibito! Ladies and gentlemen, it's the hero of the people VS... er... this guy! This will be a match to watch!"
Gohan stepped up onto the ring. In his haste to return to his battle, he'd forgotten to put his scarf back on, and it was with incredible shock that he heard shouting from the stands far above him.
"Gohan!" Sharpner was shouting. "Hey, Gohan!"
Oh, no... Gohan's eyes closed. He'd blown his secret identity! Now he had no way of protecting his family from the inevitable interest his superpowers would bring. What a fool he was!
"I had no idea that the Great Saiyaman's secret identity was Gohan," said Eraser, amazed.
"It's too bad," said Sharpner. "He's a nice kid, but how he's going to beat this guy? I mean, he's big. And mysterious."
Gohan stared up at Kibito. Kibito stared down at him.
"Gohan," said Kibito. "Show me the power of the Super Saiyajin."
Gohan blinked. "What?"
"You heard me. Show me your power."
Gohan glanced to his father for support. Goku yelled encouragingly: "Gohan! Watch out for his tail! He might absorb you with it!"
Forget that. He glanced to Piccolo for support. Piccolo nodded, so Gohan clenched his fists and returned his steely gaze to Kibito's face. "Fine. You asked for it."
"No matter what happens," said Kaioshin quietly. "You must not interfere or help Gohan in any way."
Vegeta frowned. "What is this 'help'?"
"It's when you assist others."
Vegeta clutched his head. "Assist? What?"
"You know! You mustn't try to save Gohan, even if something terrible happens!"
"Gnargh!" Vegeta rubbed his forehead. "It hurts. Explain 'save'!"
"Don't do anything!"
"Oh," said Vegeta, relieved. "That. I can do that."
Gohan took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Inside him he could feel the power of the Super Saiyajin, ready to be unleashed. Yellow energy coursed over his body like molten gold as he began the transformation. The tips of his hair quivered, and began to rise. They formed into glowing spikes as his aura spiked up above his body and finally erupted outwards in a shockwave of yellow ki. The sound of his aura became audible; his body filled with energy. Gohan met Kibito's stunned face with a smirk.
"Is that all you want?" Gohan grinned. "Or shall I take it to the next level?"
"There's another level?" Kibito gasped. "I'm as stunned as a cardboard box."
Feeling the rage burning underneath his skin, Gohan let it out. His power exploded. Electricity ripped through his aura and slashed the air around him, and the tiles of the arena tore from the ground to hover above the air, held by his latent power. His aura thickened and his hair grew again as the sound of his power tearing the air intensified, and Gohan screamed the last of his power forth, bringing it from deep within, his aura growing steadily as Super Saiyajin 2 took hold.
Vegeta laughed. "Such a long descriptive paragraph, and he's still weaker than he was as a child! Pathetic!"
"All the same," said Kaioshin grimly, "He's stronger than I had anticipated. Far stronger. I may not be able to restrain him."
"Restrain him?" Goku shrieked. "You're Dr. Gero, working with Cell to kill poor Gohan!"
"We had our long talk, Goku! He's the Kaioshin of all the Heavens!"
"That's what you say, Piccolo," said Goku suspiciously. "How do I know you're not Android #19?"
This is incredible, thought Kibito. All this power and he's but a mortal. It's as amazing as a rotating bandstand.
Gohan relaxed. The tiles fell from the sky, thudding into the ring, and the electricity rampaging around his body calmed to steadily crackle around him. His turqouise eyes meet Kibito's wide ones. "You got what you asked for."
The crowd was silent, too shocked by what they were seeing. Only one other person could understand the spectacle, and that was Mr. Satan, clinging fearfully to a stone pillar as he watched the scene. "They're back," he said. "They're back to get their revenge! The horrible gold-haired mutants!"
"This is the one," said Yamu. Spopovich hefted a large bone-white needle with a bulbous dialled handle. "It's time."
They leapt. They flew through the air, immediately attracting Gohan's attention as they made their clumsy aerial approach. The young SSJ2 began to turn to fight off his attackers - and froze. His muscles strained as though they were being clamped down by ropes.
Kaioshin stood, ten metres away, his hands in front of his chest, his face twitching with concentration. "What's he doing?" shouted Krillin. "We have to help Gohan!"
"No," said Piccolo, catching hold of his gi and pulling him back. "We watch."
"Those two guys," said Goku. "They must be... yes... they're CELL JUNIORS! They've come to help Cell!"
Spopovich laughed as his needle plunged deeply into Gohan's shoulder. Gohan screamed in absolute agony as his life was torn from inside him, flowing into the devilish contraption.
"Gohan!" screamed Videl, running forward. Goku caught her arm.
"No! Don't you see? Cell will absorb humans like you and become even stronger!"
"Piccolo," said Vegeta, exasperated, "Does it seem to you that Kakarotto is stupider than he normally is?"
The Namek nodded. "Yeah. But do you get the feeling that nothing is like it really should be, Vegeta? That strange sensation in the air that the very destiny given to us has gone wrong?"
Vegeta shrugged. "Sort of. But I thought that was just the spandex." He smiled and caressed his torso. "Mmm, spandex. So tight and clingy."
Piccolo shuddered.
--------
Pui-Pui punched again. And again.
"You can do it!" shouted Dabura. "Fight, Pui-Pui! Fight!"
"But Dabura," panted Pui-Pui, dodging a wild punch from his opponent. "It's hard!"
"That's good! The harder it is, the more it'll hurt when you screw it up!"
"But that's not good!" Pui-Pui ducked a kick. "That's actually really, really bad!"
Dabura considered this. "Yes, you're right. But hard is much more fun to watch."
Pui-Pui weaved around another attack from the giant ice-breathing spider dragon with the jetpack and the ten thousand razor-tipped tentacles. "Where the hell do you come up with these opponents, anyway, Dabura?"
"I just make it up as I go along," said Dabura. "Watch out for that left hook - well, you should have listened to me, shouldn't you? Now, you put your organs back inside your body and then do two thousand pushups!"
Dabura nodded as Pui-Pui returned to his training. Pui-Pui had the potential to be a mighty warrior. Perhaps he could even hope to be the Super Pui of Legend...
--------
"Yakon! Don't eat Colonel Mustard!" Babidi slammed his hairy little head into the game board, unsettling the dice. "You idiot! How will we know if he did it in the library with the revolver?"
Yakon shrugged. "Great Lord Babidi, I tire of these tedious games."
"What?" Babidi frowned. "You're talking."
"Of course I can talk, Master. I have done so on several occassions. You simply weren't listening."
"Eh?" Babidi frowned. "You're talking."
Yakon sighed. It was so hard to live the life of a giant green beetle. He sucked in light, but not even all the light in the world could fill the dark, empty place in his lonely, lonely heart.
"So," said Babidi. "Up for a game of Snakes and Ladders?" He sighed. "If only you could talk. Where IS Dabura?"