A/N: Thanks, ppl! You motivated me greatly to finish another chapter soon (in my opinion^^). Keep me motivated^^



Marshmellow13Dragon: Well, here you go...

btw: if I don't manage to update as often as you (or I would like), then it's due to the fact that I am planning and writing other stories. I'll soon publish a Hercule torture fic that you might like. But enough of my excuses^^...



animeprincess1452: Good to be back! Whoah, I will never use A/Ns or RRs again! And I am glad that you liked it! Your guess was very good...  



DBZ Chick1: Sometimes suspense can't be helped... I'll try to update as often as possible, but as said above, I've some more stories ongoing and do write other stories too...      



Digi fan: For the test, read and find out...



Candy the Duck: If it's okay then it's a good sign! *Wipessweatfrombrows*^^



chris: Thank you! Which level of SSJ Goku and Vegeta have reached will be displayed soon. As to your question if they will be wished back: that one is answered in one of my other stories, 'Setting things right'.       




Welcome to the afterlife, son!




Chapter Four: The test



Last time...

It became obvious quite fast that King Kai, the North Kai as Gohan knew by now, and this other Kai, the West Kai, did not like each other overly. No, there was definitely no love lost between those two...

They gnashed their teeth and glared at each other.

"That's what you said last time. And the time before!" King Kai exclaimed.

"Hah! Pikhan has improved, and this time he will beat all of your fighters!" West Kai exclaimed.

King Kai found that hardly believable, and his facial expression made this all too clear.

However, before things could get out of hand the Grand Kai stepped in.

"Dudes, we will soon see who the best is. But before we will see if Son Gohan will be able to qualify himself for the tournament!"

Gohan was curious what this test would be. And he was also curious when he would see the other Z-Fighters again...




Now the continuation...

To distract himself a bit he asked his dad if he could tell him some details of the 'life' in the afterlife and Goku agreed all too gladly. He only hoped that he remembered all the information that was important...
"Sure, Gohan, ask!" he said and grinned.

Gohan nodded.

"Okay, dad. How many Kais are there?"

That was easy!

"Only these four." he said, and chose to explain the whole afterlife order to his son as good as he remembered it. "Well at least on their level. Think of it as a latter, son. On the bottom run is all of space. Higher is the Home for Infinite Losers and then Snake Way. At the next level are the planets of the four Kais who oversee their parts of the universe. And higher still, above the four Kais and all the rest is the planet of the Grand Kai. He is the highest as far as we know."

Gohan looked really impressed.

"Wow, I never thought something like this could exist. Intriguing."

His father nodded.

"Yeah, it is." he said, smiling.



By now all the other fighter who had before trained were assembled, and they were awaiting the Grand Kais speech.

The Grand Kai cleared his throat and addressed the audience. He flashed a peace sign and began with his speech.

"You all know what awaits the winner of the 28th Afterlife Tournament... a gold medal and a private trainings lesson with me!" he announced.

The complete audience cheered. Wait, the complete audience?

"Hah! As if he could teach me anything!" a voice Gohan had not heard in a long time proclaimed. He turned around to look at the owner of this particular voice, and he was right! It really was Vegeta! And the complete rest of the Z-Gang! They were making their way over to Gohan and his father, and the assembled crowd hurried to give way to them.



Gohan grinned. Vegeta had kept his reputation, even up here...

He looked around and was more than glad to see his old mentor Piccolo again. And it was quite hard for him to restrain the tears of joy in the face of this reunion, but he was a warrior and had to remain strong. His encounters and battles with the Androids had made that all too clear to him.

So he only allowed a smile to cross his features, as the Z-Gang draw near. They were all smiling (except Vegeta), and even Piccolo managed a smirk. Now the dead Z-Gang was standing before Goku and Gohan, and a spontaneous welcome party was being held. After all the 'Hellos' and 'Good to see you again, even if we are all dead' were exchanged, Gohan could not help but notice the increased power level of Piccolo, Vegeta and the others.

The humans had not grown as much stronger as the Namek and the Saiyans, but it was still very impressive. Apparently the training possibilities up here were not bad...

Vegeta surveyed Gohan in a way only another warrior would do. Naturally he was gauging Gohan's power level.

The prince of all Saiyans nodded some seconds later.

"You've become strong, brat. But apparently it was not enough!" he stated.

Gohan nodded, becoming slightly angry at the reminder of what he considered as his failures.

"Yeah. I was strong enough to deal with one of them, but I never managed to fight them alone, one on one. And Trunks had not become a Super Saiyan yet, so he could not help me either. And I would never have sacrificed him. Never!"



Vegeta nodded. He understood. And he was glad that Kakkarots' son had done it this way. His son should train and become stronger, and who knew, maybe he would be the one to beat those darn tin cans...

"You did what you thought right, brat. A warrior must do that." he said and crossed his arms.

Gohan managed a semi-smile.

"Trunks will find a way to deal with those two. He is smart, and he has a warrior's spirit. Sadly I can't train and guide him any more, but maybe that what I could teach him will be enough..."

Vegeta smirked.

"If my son manages this it will be a proud day for all of us." he said, and this statement surprised the others greatly. Vegeta was showing pride in someone other than himself? His stay up here seemed to begin taking its toll on him...

Now Gohan had the time to talk with his old mentor, and he hugged Piccolo in a warriors hug. The Namek surveyed him.

"You've grown up into a fine warrior, Gohan, I can see that." he said, and a proud smile formed in his face.

Gohan nodded.

"Yeah, I became strong, but sadly it was not enough. Those two Androids together were simply too much for me alone to handle. And once they had had enough of me they did way of me. And I could do nothing to stop them. Damn it!" he said, and his KI began to react to his anger.

Already other fighters turned their heads towards him as they sensed his growing KI, and not few were surprised at the strength of this newcomer. But Gohan managed to bring himself under control again and took in some deep breaths.



Now that this 'crisis' was over the Grand Kai chose to continue. He quickly wiped the sweat from his brows while thinking

~ Ooff, that was close! If he had released his true power he could have pulverized my beautiful house! ~

Then he spoke again.

"Okay, follow the leader!" he said and got up from his throne. The assembled fighters did as ordered, but let the Z-Gang enter first. Yeah, apparently they had a reputation up here...

The Grand Kai hopped through the building until they came to a large door.

"And stop!" he ordered, and Vegeta and Goku rolled their eyes. Like last time...

Seconds later he turned towards the door and waved his hands. The doors opened and he motioned them to follow.



His father and the others might have seen this before, but for Gohan it was breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking. The room they had entered seemed to open into the universe itself. Everywhere one looked planets, suns, asteroids and all different kinds of celestial bodies could be seen.

Gohan voiced his opinion of this sight.

"Wow!" he said.

The Grand Kai smiled. Goku had reacted in the same way.

"Okay, Gohan Son, if you want to participate in this tournament then you will have to pass the test." he said.

Gohan nodded.

"And what is this 'test'?" he asked.

"The same test your father and the others had to do, young man. Because you're so young and have not trained at all up here you have to proof that you are up to the challenge. You see, our East Kai here is a racing fan, and she uses every occasion she gets to race guys. If she wins, well, no tournament for ya, dude. If you win... well, that should be clear. Are you up to the challenge, dude?" he asked grinning.



Gohan nodded. That sounded easy enough.

"Sure!" he exclaimed, and suddenly he heard noises coming from his left side someone would have expected from a motorbike.

And really, to his left side, sitting on a red space-motorbike with Kai-symbols on it... sat East Kai!

The other Kais however shook their heads, and comments like

'Here she goes again...' or 'Must she do this every time?' could be heard.

Gohan cracked his knuckles. He was ready...

East Kai let the motor howl, and Gohan readied himself for start. But before the start the Grand Kai explained the rules.

"First one to pass the finishing line wins!" he exclaimed and fetched a pistol from his pocket. He stuck one finger into his left ear and counted.

"Ready..." the participants readied themselves, "Set..." Gohan prepared himself to start and East Kai let the motor howl again, "GO!" Grand Kai exclaimed and gave the starting shot.

East Kai darted of like the devil on the run, and coursed through the asteroids like a starfish. Gohan followed suit and evaded the celestial bodies with ease. He was able to keep up with her until she pushed a certain button at her bike and disappeared. This startled Gohan and he began to zanzoken too. Soon they were even, but Gohan decided to take it up a notch. He raised his power level (not to Super Saiyan, he would spare this one for tournament), but high enough to go ahead of her.

And seconds later he was the first to cross the gate! He had won!

Mere seconds later the Grand Kai appeared before them.

"Congratulations, Gohan Son, you are the winner and are allowed to participate in the tournament." he said and hung a medal around Gohans neck.



Gohan smiled his first real smile in what he though an eternity, and thanked the Grand Kai.

The East Kai also congratulated him, but very reluctantly.

"And again beaten..." she muttered and strutted away.

Gohan returned to his father and the other Z-Fighters, and they congratulated him to his victory.

Goku patted his son on the back and told him

"Well done, son! Ya know, I had to race her too, but in my case the Grand Kai used this occasion to show off. And when the others came to the afterlife East Kai raced each and everyone, but each time she lost. That was a sight! Especially Vegetas race against her! She used this speed-up trick on him she used on you some minutes ago, and he simply had enough and turned Super Saiyan! In a sec he had passed the gate and waited there smirking for a very baffled East Kai! That was really something else! And very funny!" he said with his patented goofy grin.

Gohan smirked. Yeah, he could imagine...




to be continued...



Thanks for reading! Please review!



Note: another new story of mine will be published tomorrow. It's a Hercule torture fic (I know there must be billions, but I was in the mood^^), and maybe you'll like it...