/*
Disclaimer: DBZ isn't mine, Gohan is, well in my dreams he is at any rate.
Anything between /* and */ is just me budding in, so is anything after // up until the next hard return.
For those of you that realised, I'm trying to learn to program in C++ as a hobby, that's the origin of the commentary codes.
*/
/*
Shameless self-advertisement:
At the same time as updating this story. I'm also posting another Gohan and Videl, mostly Humor, but with probably some romance in the sidelines.
Takes place during Gohan and Videl's highschool days.
It's called, for lack of a better name, Gohan Goes To Highschool.
*/
/*
Response to reviews:
To JessIchi:
Thanks and I did.
To Frozenflower:
Yes you got to be the 100th. Congratulations.
To Lady Queen:
Triaxular, means having three axes, no, not of evil. I tried to get this finished by Thursday, but just couldn't sorry. If you do sent your little sister, I'll send her on to one of my friends, his little sister could use some help in making his life hell, he's getting way to happy. And yes she probably would love to get back at you, so be careful, sisters are way sneakier about that sort of thing than brothers.
To Caliko:
Sorry to torture you, here's the relief, and this Chapter doesn't really have a cliffhanger.
To Materian:
I know the numbers, I also know they're flawed. Frieza has a max power of 25,000,000. Shin says the Supreme-Kais were each a thousand times more powerful, so his power should be 25,000,000,000. The Saiyans are stronger than Shin, so if you look at it like that 300,000,000 can't be accurate. But that's just me ranting about those inaccurate power level lists.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
To everyone:
Thanks, here's the next chapter.
*/
Life Is Strange
Saga: The Heir Of The Cold-Empire
Chapter 11: Death and Life
Gohan watched at the dark silhouette ascended against the sky. The sun setting behind it in the west making it impossible to identify any sort of colour or for that matter anything other than the basic shape of the creature. Which looked vaguely, almost ominously familiar.
Great, he thought as it came slowly floating down towards them, why do all villains have to have a flair for making dramatic entrances.
When the creature finally landed in the shadows besides the space ship, he could finally see it clearly. All of a sudden he realised why it had looked so familiar, this was almost like Frieza's second from. The only real difference being that some of the pink seemed to have been replaced with a slightly greenish tint.
// The second for is the tall one with the long black horns, in case you didn't know. If you're still not sure, the one that made Krillin-shish-kebab.
"Well, well." Gohan said, surveying his enemy and for the first time sensing his Ki. "You definitely aren't what you seem. You look like Frieza in his second form, but you're a lot stronger. Also I think there are some colour-differences."
"True." The alien said. "I am the heir of the Cold-empire, as a special onetime favour you may call me the heir."
"Oh joy." Gohan said sarcasm clearly evident in his voice. "I think I'll just name you Thoce, if you don't mind, or for that matter if you do mind. It's your initials, The Heir Of the Cold Empire. So why do you look like Frieza."
"I was made to look like him, in the highest form anybody had ever seen."
"You mean nobody had ever seen his third and fourth form?" Gohan wondered. "Gee, everybody out there must be pretty weak, I was just a kid when I fought him twelve years ago, but even I could knock his third form to the floor back then."
"What? You fought the great lord Frieza?"
"Only in his second and third stage. I wasn't ready to face his final form then, though it would be easy for me now.
You see, how shall I put this? The great lord Frieza, as you call him, wasn't all that great. He wouldn't, and didn't, even stand a chance against a normal level one Super-Saiyan. Let alone an advanced level one, or a level two."
"Why are you talking about that ridiculous monkey legend?"
Gohan growled but remained falsely polite. "I'll try to explain. It's not ridiculous, nor is it limited to legend." He powered down back to normal. "You see this is my normal form, just an normal Saiyan. In case you were wondering why you don't see it, my tail was removed when I was younger." He charged up again. "Now this is my Super-Saiyan form." He continued the charge up finally bursting into level 2 with a yell. "And this is my level 2 Super-Saiyan form."
He looked around to see the results of his last transformation and the Ki-storm that had accompanied it. Goten and Trunks were just standing there, next to Videl who had her hands in a blocking position and had been shielded some by Goten. All of the dozen or so remaining alien warriors had been destroyed however, only Thoce remained.
"Now I have two questions for you." Gohan said hoping that like all villain's this guy's ego would be so big he'd be more than happy to tell Gohan everything. "You said you were created, why and by whom? And secondly, what do you want the Dragon Balls for?"
"Oh, why not, though if you separate the why and by whom that's three questions, but I am perfection, the ultimate weapon, so why not tell you about myself. The process of my creation began years ago, shortly after Frieza and King Cold were somehow killed. Thanks to a new device we've invented the toughest warriors of a number of species could be fused together. Combining their strength. Then the DNA of Lord Frieza, which we still had left from his reconstruction, was added. Finally the DNA of a young half-Saiyan boy was used to give me the strength of the Saiyan race. It was really a stroke of luck that we ran across that last bit of monkey DNA, we went to find Lord-Frieza's ship, among the rubble of what was once the planet Namek. It was wrecked, but not beyond repair, we towed it to port and started repairs, during which we found the clothes of this boy aboard, his DNA was confirmed to be half Saiyan, and half of another unknown origin."
"Dende." Gohan muttered. "Why does my DNA have to end up in every genetically engineered super villain?"
"What was that?" Thoce enquired.
"Never mind, the Saiyan DNA you're talking about is mine so I was just having a bit of déjà vu."
"Ah, you should be honoured to have contributed to such a great project for now you know how I was created. As for the other questions, the who was quite simply the remaining loyal warriors of the Cold-empire, and their scientists.
As for why, I'll take you back to the time after Frieza's fall on Namek, he was still a live, but just barely. Already then Vegeta, whom you know, or so I'm told, was travelling through our space openly defying us.
And with Frieza out of commission, and King Cold spending all of his time at his son's side, non of us were a match for him, but it didn't matter, it would all change when Frieza was well again.
When Frieza was finally reconstructed as the even more powerful Frieza-bot, he went to Earth for revenge. But due to the Earths position relative to our comm-network, communications with his ship seized after he'd landed, and he was never heard from again. An unmanned scout probe send to Earth about a year later, could tell us little, but from what little information we gained we could gather that he had died, together with his father.
That's when the panic started to sweep those of us who remained. Some worlds tried to break away from the empire, and we were engaged in a civil war. Vegeta was once again in space, training and often defying us by entering our territory. And even though we were no match for him, we knew that his power wasn't enough to defeat Frieza, which meant there had to be even stronger warriors out there.
To combat that situation a group of the highest elite fighters and a group of scientists came together. Thanks to scientific progress the fighters were fused into one, creating my first stage, a powerful warrior to defend the empire from its enemies.
With me as the new leader, peace was soon restored to the empire. My strength was great enough to ensure the loyalty of the worlds that had at first tried to break away, and Vegeta had disappeared from space.
Then the final process of my creation began. Every night I spend hours in a regeneration tank, filled with the genetic-material that was to be incorporated into me. It took years but finally the, sometimes manipulated DNA, was integrated into mine, and after a two month stay in another type of regeneration tank, the DNA took over the way that had been intended and I took on this form. The form that symbolised my mission. To find these so-called Dragon Balls and bring back lord Frieza. It took us a year of searching to find this place, but finally we did. And so I came here to resurrect him."
Hmm. Gohan thought. His character still seems to be dominated by a certain submissiveness, probably a result of his past as a group of Frieza's servants.
"So you want to bring back Frieza, why?"
"Well like you said I'm probably stronger than he was, but think of the power we'll have once on just his DNA but his body has been integrated into me."
That would probably allow him to completely take over and with such a powerful body that would be bad. Gohan thought.
"I see." He said. "Well if you want that to ever happen, you'll have to go through me. And I assure you, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you can have your little reunion with him, just not in this dimension."
"So you're going to stop me? I dare say you must be delusional dear boy, I am far, far stronger than Frieza ever was."
"I know." Gohan said. "This will probably be my first challenging fight in years, but we'll see who is victorious. You see I too have grown far beyond the level needed to fight Frieza."
He turned to his three companions for a moment.
"You guys back off a bit, this is going to be pretty intense. This jerk is about the Cold-empire equivalent of Cell and this might just turn into another Cell fight. Not something I'm looking forward to, but it can't be avoided, I just hope we don't wreck the planet in the process."
They all nodded, though Gohan thought Videl looked rather wistful as she did, and flew back, landing on a cliff a few hundred yards away.
Why do people always stand on cliffs to watch fights? Gohan wondered. Krillin and I did when watching dad fight Frieza on Namek, we all stood on a cliff during the Cell-games, except for dad and me when we fought. What is it with fights and cliffs?
He dropped into his fighting stance and powered up as far as he could go. He was almost reaching the top of this level, but he couldn't quite make the jump to the next level just yet.
He could see his adversary doing the same, he too apparently didn't show his full power all the time, his opponent's power was great and seemed equal to his own.
As he prepared for the first mutual attack he let his memory replay something his father had told him during their training in the hyperbolic time chamber.
'Gohan, there's one thing you need to always remember before going into battle, you're a Saiyan, your instincts can do the fighting for you, almost without thought, but it's up to you to keep them in check. Saiyan instinct is great at fighting, but it can also be ruthless and unthinking, a Saiyan in the heat of battle may even fail to notice when a move will not only finish his opponent but also destroy the planet.'
This seemed to him to be one of those battles. The real fighting could be done from the heart, but he needed to keep a cool head to make sure he didn't do too much damage to his surroundings.
Videl looked as Gohan and Thoce prepared for their fight. Their Ki's were tremendous, both of them were stronger than she'd thought possible. Yet there didn't seem to be the slightest difference between the two of them.
When the launched into battle she could barely follow their movement, she know that only a few weeks ago she wouldn't have been able to at all. Now most of what she could see were streaks of colour rushing all over the place sometimes meeting in violent crashes that send out explosions of light and energy and momentarily slowed the two fighters enough to allow her to see them.
Suddenly the two of them stopped for a while. Apparently getting ready to charge again when suddenly the large horned fighter shot a beam of Ki towards the spectators.
It travelled so fast she couldn't move, nor could the two little guys beside her. When it hit she felt like she'd come into contact with a steamroller, she was pushed down and every part of her body was hurting. She was wondering if she was still a live and how much time she had left. From the field below she heard Gohan yell something but the world was fading. The last thing she felt was something being pushed to the back of the throat forcing her to swallow before blacking out.
Gohan came to a halt in his fight as his opponent did the same, they'd been going at it for a few minutes, but for a normal fighter the moves would have taken hours. He launched into battle with a kick, while his opponent had started with a punch. They'd both easily dodged as expected, this was just the first stage of the fight. The first few blows exchanged were always just to test the enemy. He'd only been using half of his power in that attack and by his best estimate the same was true for Thoce.
Without stopping they engaged in battle again. This time Gohan used about seventy-five percent of his power. Thoce had increased his power too, but not by as much. Which gave Gohan the chance to score the first real blow of the fight as his fist connected with his opponents jaw.
Gohan knew he couldn't stop increasing power however. This warm up part of the match wasn't going to last too much longer. He was proven right in the next exchange where Thoce managed to land a blow.
Four more exchanges had followed before Gohan started fighting at his maximum, Thoce seemed to have reached his peak as well and there was barely a difference between their Ki levels.
The exchange of blows had continued for a few minutes, neither fighter managing to gain the upper hand. Most blows were dodged and those that connected were immediately avenged.
When they came to a halt and Gohan prepared to attack again he suddenly noticed a Ki-blast shooting from Thoce left hand to the ridge behind him. Before he could react the blast hit Videl, Goten and Trunks.
Goten and Trunks managed to deflect the blast after a while, but Gohan could see that Videl was down.
A cry began to from in his soul, echoing out through his body and into the air with a power that seemed to fill the entire atmosphere.
"NO!"
As his yell of anger filled the atmosphere, seeming to shake the world by the power of his voice alone, Gohan felt the familiar unleashing of his power. It seemed to start at his feet, crawling up his body, and in the end finding his hair. In a manner similar to the level two transformation his hair became longer, so long that even with his Ki it could not stand on end anymore, but hung down his back almost to his butt.
He could feel some changes around his face as well, his features slightly modified by the power that was now running through him. He didn't really know what he looked like now, except for his eyes. He could feel the fire of anger and pain that must be burning in them. On the cliff he saw Trunks push something into Videl's throat, probably a senzu bean, even if she was just barely alive that should be enough.
But he had another problem now. He turned back to face Thoce.
"You hurt her." He said, softly and yet threateningly. "And for that you're going to die."
He'd barely finished the sentence when he attacked, there almost seemed to be too much power in this form, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep it. The attack was simple, he knocked Thoce back before throwing him into the air. As his opponent was shot up helplessly Gohan gathered his energy.
"Ma...Sen...Ko...Ha!" He yelled shooting out his trademark Ki attack, with a force unlike any he'd ever encountered.
Above him, even through the bright light of the Masenko he could see Thoce's face twist in panic. A typical Saiyan smirk came to his lips as his enemy was vaporised. Again someone had pushed the limits of the Saiyan race, and as always the limits had expanded and pushed back.
Without waiting he fired another blast to gain access to the space ship by blowing a hole in its side.
He could sense the Dragon Ball, being so close he didn't even need the Radar. Soon he found it where he'd expected it, on the bridge.
After grabbing it he rushed out again, still not powering down.
When Videl started to come to her senses again she noticed two things. First of all Gohan's Ki seemed to be a lot larger than it had been before, though that seemed impossible, and secondly Thoce's Ki seemed to be gone completely.
Just then a golden blur rushed towards her.
"Videl?" Gohan asked as he stopped. "Are you all right?"
"I think so." She replied. "The last thing I remember was being hit by that beam and then someone pushed something down my throat."
"That was me." Trunks said. "I gave you a senzu bean after you got hit and then Gohan went to the next level, cause he was so angry."
She looked closely at Gohan noticing the difference, his hair was longer, and hanging down his back, and his facial features lacked some of their softness.
"You really made it to another level?" She asked, though the answer was obvious.
"Yeah," Gohan said, "but I don't know how long I can hold it, it seems to be impossible to power down inside the level."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well, when I go to level one or level two my hair will go a bit lighter after a while, and the level will become more like my natural Ki level, in this level I can't seem to do that, every time I try to relax my Ki I just about drop to level 2, so this is taking a massive effort to keep up, the only reason I haven't dropped out yet is because I want to know how long I can make it last."
She nodded. "Did you find the Dragon Ball?"
"Yeah, I've got it, we can make the wish as soon as I confirm that Piccolo has the Dragon Balls on Earth. Just give me a second."
Gohan closed his eyes and concentrated on his mentor.
'Piccolo, can you hear me?'
'Yes Gohan, do you have the Dragon Balls?'
'Yes, do you?'
'Of course they are easy to find now a days.'
'Yeah, it hasn't been much of a challenge since we all got super fast. I've got the Namekian balls here now, I'll wish dad back first and then contact you for the second wish okay.'
'Okay, I'll see you soon Gohan.'
'Bye Piccolo, and thanks.'
'You're welcome kid, just call when you need me.'
Gohan send a mind nod, to close the conversation and turned back to his friends.
"I'm powering down now guys, then we'll call the dragon."
It wasn't a moment too soon for the power down either. He'd held this form for nearly ten minutes and that seemed to be about it. He'd already been close to slipping several times in the last few minutes and now it was time to power down before staying charged up started to hurt.
Slowly he let go of the power, his hair retreated to just a bit above it's normal length for the Super-Saiyan-2 and then even further as he went back to level 1. Finally he even dropped out of that level, his hair loosing the little bit of extra length that even level 1 gave and returning to black together with his eyes. Beside him he could see Goten and Trunks coming out of Super-Saiyan as well.
He let out a sigh as he sat down. The level three form consumed incredible energy, the way he felt now reminded him of how he'd felt after the Cell-games when he'd fainted from exhaustion after that last Kamehameha.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his energy return to normal.
"Are you okay?" It was Videl's voice, sounding concerned.
"I'm fine." He replied without opening his eyes. "I just need a few seconds to get back to normal, the level three takes a lot of power."
He sat there for only a few more seconds before deciding it had been enough. He still wasn't feeling quite normal again, but he had to get up and get on with it.
"Okay guys." He said getting up. "I suggest we had back to the village before summoning the Dragon. I should be able to handle making the wish in Namek, but it would be good to have Mori on hand just in case."
I can barely believe it. Gohan thought as they took off. He's really going to be back in a few more minutes.
Videl was surprised when a cheering crowd on Nameks greeted them as they entered the village. She certainly didn't feel like she deserved any such treatment, though Gohan, in her opinion, did.
"That was some fight Gohan." Mori said as they landed in front of him.
"I know." Gohan replied. "I got the seventh Ball, so we'll be making our wishes in a minute."
"You know, you still haven't told me what the second wish is."
"Oh, that." Gohan said. "I'm going to use both Dragons for that wish, Porunga and Shen Long, I'll have to contact Piccolo for that, but if all goes well the two Dragons together should be able to make a permanent connection between Dende's lookout on Earth and someplace here on New-Namek, so he can come visit you guys and vice versa."
"Great wish Gohan." Mori said. "And thanks, we all miss Dende, it would be great to see him again, not just speak telepathically."
"He misses you too." Gohan said. "He tries to hide it and being God of Earth is a busy job, but he does miss you, I know him well enough to be able to tell."
"I hadn't expected anything different. When he was here he missed you and his other friends from Earth, it's only natural that being there he'd miss us."
Gohan nodded. "Hopefully that's going to change as soon as I make the second wish, but first wishes first."
He closed his eyes for a moment and Videl could sense him talking to someone telepathically.
"Okay. Dad knows we're going to wish him back so he's saying good-bye to everyone there. I've told him to use the instant transmission to get here when we've wished him back."
"You mean he's not going to be here automatically?" Videl asked, surprised.
"Oh, you wouldn't know. The Dragon Balls bring a person back to life at the location he died. Which in my dad's case is King Kai's planet in otherworld."
"Otherworld?"
"The next dimension."
"Okay. Now what's the instant transmission?"
"It's a trick my dad learned from an alien race called the Yardrat. It allows him to travel instantly from one place to another."
Videl nodded. She didn't really understand, but she couldn't keep them waiting any longer, she'd ask Gohan about it later.
Gohan got out the Dragon Balls and placed them on the ground in front of them.
He called out a strange sentence in what Videl assumed was the Nameks native language.
After a few seconds the Dragon Balls began to glow and the sky went black. And a flash of light erupted from the Dragon Balls, making its way up into the dark sky. Where it took the shape of a large lizard like Dragon.
To Videl's surprise the Dragon spoke in English, though perhaps it was more a universal language that everyone could understand as if it were their own.
"You have summoned me, so as it was written I will now grant you any three wishes within my power."
Gohan started to speak in the Namek language again and though Videl only understood one two word phrase, "Son Goku" she knew perfectly what he was saying, bring Goku back to life.
The Dragon closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, and then spoke again.
"It is done, the one you call Son Goku has been brought back to life."
Gohan nodded and turned to Mori.
"I'm not sure on all the terminology for the second-wish, at least not off the Namek for it, could you do the honours."
"Of course." The Namek elder stated. "But if you want both Dragons to work together you should contact your friends on Earth."
"Of course." Gohan said.
Gohan concentrated his thoughts on Piccolo to contact his former mentor telepathically.
'Are you there Piccolo.'
'Yes Gohan, are you ready for the wish?'
'Yes, now after you've summoned the Dragon it's important that you designate a precise location for the portal to be.'
'Okay, I can handle it, I'll summon the Dragon and contact you, so you can give me a countdown before we make the wish, I'm not sure if it's needed but I'd like to get it as simultaneous as is possible.'
'Okay.'
"Mori." Gohan said out loud. "Shen Long is being summoned on Earth. I'll give you a countdown to the wish when both Dragons are waiting, now you'll have to pick a place for the portal to the passage on this side to be."
The Namek nodded. "I've already give thought to it. Don't worry Gohan."
Gohan nodded as Piccolo's mind voice came back. 'Shen Long is ready and waiting Gohan.'
"Okay," Gohan said both aloud and in his mind, "now both of you remember to tell the Dragons to work together to make a passage with two portals and the designate the portal on your end. On my mark, five, four, three, two, one, mark."
Gohan could hear Piccolo's mind speaking the wish on Earth, designating a room in Dende's palace and Mori made the wish on New-Namek, giving a cave as the location.
Gohan watched Porunga anxiously as the Dragon seemed to be concentrating all of his power.
Finally after several minutes of waiting that had seemed more like hours or days, Porunga gave a grunt. "Your wish has been fulfilled. State your last wish."
"Hmm." Gohan said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't really have a third wish." He looked at the Nameks. "Do you have any use for this wish?" He asked.
"Not really." Mori said. "If we did we'd have gathered the Dragon Balls long ago."
"Then I'll give it some thought." Gohan said. Scratching the back of his head as he pondered.
"I am waiting." Porunga stated after a while, sounding a bit ticked.
"I forgot about that." Gohan said. "The god of love has an attitude problem."
"God of love?" Videl enquired.
"Well he is, though being Namekian that doesn't really include romantic love. But now I think I've got it." Gohan said. "Here it goes." He continued switching to the Nameks' native tongue to make the wish. "Undo any damage done to otherworld and it's inhabitants by Cell's explosion."
Gohan smiled as Porunga granted the wish and then disappeared letting the balls scatter.
"What did you wish for?" Videl asked.
"For all the damage Cell's explosion did to otherworld and it's people to be undone." Gohan stated. "That should bring King-Kai back to life, as well as Gregory and Bubbles, his assistants, and it should also have returned his planet."
"Okay. Uhm Gohan, where is your dad, you did tell him to come here but I don't see him anywhere."
Gohan looked around puzzled, he'd been too busy with the other wishes to notice it but Goku hadn't arrived yet.
He concentrated and felt his father's Ki, moving towards him fast.
"Dad!" He exclaimed as Goku landed about ten feet in front of him. "You're really back."
He ran to his father and hugged him. He just couldn't stop himself, part of him felt like a little boy again, and the rest of him was so emotional he didn't care.
"Wow Gohan, you've gotten so big." Goku remarked smiling. "I've been watching from other world of course, but now that I see it myself, you're as tall as me now."
"Why did you take so long getting here?" Gohan asked as he let go off his dad.
"Ah well." Goku scratched the back of his head in the classic Son gesture. "It's been a while since I used the instant transmission so I was a little off target, I ended up halfway around the planet."
"I see." Gohan looked around to see Trunks with unruly black hair sticking out from behind his head. "Come on out Goten, it's okay."
Goten little face slowly appeared of Trunks' shoulder as he moved his head out from behind the other boy.
"I'm Goten." He said in a small voice, his eyes locked with Goku's.
"I'm Goku." The older Saiyan stated.
"Daddy." Goten suddenly seemed to conquer his nerves and jumped over Trunks and into his father's arms.
"You are a strong one, aren't you son?" Goku said. "I can hardly believe you and Trunks are Super-Saiyans already."
Gohan smiled as he watched the reunion between a father and son that had never met before. His smiling even turned to chuckling when Goten, to prove that he was a Super-Saiyan, since his dad could barely believe it, transformed while still hugging Goku. The energy of the transformation knocking the tall Saiyan down though he managed to take his young son down with him.
Trunks never one to be outdone by his friend, transformed as well and joined Goten and the now also transformed Goku in a little play wrestling.
Gohan continued to watch the three of them for a while. His dad could be so much like a kid himself. He had those moments too, but not as many, that's one reason he'd really missed Goku, he knew he could never really be what his dad had been for him for Goten, even though he'd tried.
After witching and smiling for a while longer, with an arm around Videl he decided it was time to take up some of his dad's attention.
"Dad." He called. "Do you think you could leave the kids for a few seconds so I can introduce my fiancée."
"What's a fiancée?" Goku asked as he temporarily left the play-wrestling match.
"I forgot how poorly you understand marriage." Gohan said.
"What do you mean?" Videl asked.
"Let's just say he thought it was a food at first." Gohan replied. "Now dad, a fiancée is someone you've promised to marry but haven't married yet."
"Oh you mean when you're engaged to someone."
"Exactly."
"Then you must be Videl." Goku said turning to Videl and taking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Videl managed to get out. She just couldn't believe she was shaking hands with Son Goku, the martial arts legend, even though she'd know he would be her father in law for a while now.
"So do you have a frying pan yet?" Goku asked.
What do I need a frying pan for? Videl wondered as Gohan next to her let out a scream.
"Dad, don't give her any ideas."
"What?" Goku asked. "I know from being your dad that your mom's frying pan was the only way to control you."
"That was a long time ago, it's Goten who's living in fear of the wretched thing now."
"Well you never really outgrow it. I remember Chi-Chi got Bulma one when we found out she'd married Vegeta, and believe me, from my occasional looking in on things in the living world, I can assure you it's still being used. It's just something any woman married to a Saiyan should have."
"Why is that?" Videl asked. "And how do you control Gohan with a frying pan?"
"Well you should have one, firstly to keep Gohan in line, and second for when you have kids. So you can keep them in line as well. As for controlling Gohan with it, an occasional whack in the back of the head should do the trick." Goku rubbed the back of his own head seemingly remembering something.
"Dad. Stop it now." Gohan said. "Or I'm going to get a needle."
"Needle!"
Videl was surprised at Goku's scared yell. Here was one of the toughest fighters in the universe and he was scared of needles.
Well, she thought, you can't say Saiyans aren't an interesting race. They're harder to blow up than planets, yet they can be scared of frying pans and needles.
"You're dad's really one of a kind." She told Gohan as Goku rushed of to rejoining the play-wrestling boys.
"I suppose. He's just so innocent, just like a kid really. It's not that surprising he grew up more or less on his own. And really sheltered. Bulma is the second human being, and the first woman he ever met, and they met when he was eleven." [1]
"I guess that would make you a little different." Videl stated.
Gohan stood beside Videl a while longer. He had an arm around her waist and occasionally they would have a little kiss, all the time watching the other three wrestling playing and laughing. Some of the Nameks were watching too, though most had gone back to their daily efforts to grow Adjassa plant.
When he felt it was time to go Gohan turned to Mori who was standing next to them.
"Where exactly is that cave you made the portal in?" He asked. "I think we should be getting back to Earth soon, people are gonna want to meet my dad."
"See that mountain?" Mori asked, pointing.
"Kind of hard to miss." Gohan replied, looking at the mountain that was within a mile of the village.
"Well the cave is in the slope on this side, about half way up."
"Okay, thanks again for everything."
"We should be thanking you, without you those guys would have killed us."
"You're welcome." Gohan said. "But we should be going." He raised his voice so the others could hear him. "Guys, we should be going home, let's head for the passage."
"Passage?" Goku asked.
"Oh of course you weren't here. I succeeded in making that permanent passage between New-Namek and Earth I was talking about. So we can just use that to go back."
"Okay, lead the way son."
Gohan waved to the Nameks as he took off and the others did the same. In just a few minutes they reached the cave. As Gohan stepped inside he couldn't help but wonder what the portal would look like.
It wasn't difficult to spot. A circular opening in the back wall, through which he could see a white wall and a brown door in the typical style of the lookout.
A bit nervous he stepped forward, and walked through the arch. There seemed to be a type of energy field or something exactly in the middle of it, giving him a tingly feeling as he stepped through.
A moment later he was in the lookout. He turned around and saw the other's looking at him through the portal.
"Can you hear me?" He asked, curious to know the full nature of this link. His dad on the other side just shrugged in a confused gesture. Gohan nodded and then gave a sign with his hand for them to follow him.
Goku was the next to come through followed by Goten and Trunks and finally Videl.
Soon they left the room walking into the main hall of the palace and exiting that to find only mister Popo, standing near the edge of the lookout
"Hi mister Popo." Goku said as he spotted the little man. "Where are Dende and Piccolo?"
"Well." Mister Popo said in his usual calm voice. "When everyone sensed you were back alive Bulma decided to throw a party over at Capsule Corporation, so they headed down there. They're all waiting for you now."
"Let's go then." Gohan said, jumping over the edge of the lookout and heading for Capsule Corporation while the other's followed.
[1] This is the age I calculated myself. Goku says he's twelve during the tournament. Which takes place 8 months after he started training with Roshi, so 8 months and a couple of weeks after the start of the series. The official website gives his age as 8, but that doesn't add up.
Both my sister and I think he looks younger, but this is the best I could do, as I wanted to stay as close to the series as possible.
/*
Next time in life is strange. Everybody is celebrating the return of Goku, but when they're through celebrating there's a world tournament on the horizon. Who will enter, and how will the training go? Will mister Satan keep his title?
On the last question above, yeah right. This story is going into its final phase now. All I have left to do is to write my own version of the tournament and the Buu-saga (a somewhat shorter version).
Anyway please review. I'll get withdrawal symptoms otherwise. :)
*/
Disclaimer: DBZ isn't mine, Gohan is, well in my dreams he is at any rate.
Anything between /* and */ is just me budding in, so is anything after // up until the next hard return.
For those of you that realised, I'm trying to learn to program in C++ as a hobby, that's the origin of the commentary codes.
*/
/*
Shameless self-advertisement:
At the same time as updating this story. I'm also posting another Gohan and Videl, mostly Humor, but with probably some romance in the sidelines.
Takes place during Gohan and Videl's highschool days.
It's called, for lack of a better name, Gohan Goes To Highschool.
*/
/*
Response to reviews:
To JessIchi:
Thanks and I did.
To Frozenflower:
Yes you got to be the 100th. Congratulations.
To Lady Queen:
Triaxular, means having three axes, no, not of evil. I tried to get this finished by Thursday, but just couldn't sorry. If you do sent your little sister, I'll send her on to one of my friends, his little sister could use some help in making his life hell, he's getting way to happy. And yes she probably would love to get back at you, so be careful, sisters are way sneakier about that sort of thing than brothers.
To Caliko:
Sorry to torture you, here's the relief, and this Chapter doesn't really have a cliffhanger.
To Materian:
I know the numbers, I also know they're flawed. Frieza has a max power of 25,000,000. Shin says the Supreme-Kais were each a thousand times more powerful, so his power should be 25,000,000,000. The Saiyans are stronger than Shin, so if you look at it like that 300,000,000 can't be accurate. But that's just me ranting about those inaccurate power level lists.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
To everyone:
Thanks, here's the next chapter.
*/
Life Is Strange
Saga: The Heir Of The Cold-Empire
Chapter 11: Death and Life
Gohan watched at the dark silhouette ascended against the sky. The sun setting behind it in the west making it impossible to identify any sort of colour or for that matter anything other than the basic shape of the creature. Which looked vaguely, almost ominously familiar.
Great, he thought as it came slowly floating down towards them, why do all villains have to have a flair for making dramatic entrances.
When the creature finally landed in the shadows besides the space ship, he could finally see it clearly. All of a sudden he realised why it had looked so familiar, this was almost like Frieza's second from. The only real difference being that some of the pink seemed to have been replaced with a slightly greenish tint.
// The second for is the tall one with the long black horns, in case you didn't know. If you're still not sure, the one that made Krillin-shish-kebab.
"Well, well." Gohan said, surveying his enemy and for the first time sensing his Ki. "You definitely aren't what you seem. You look like Frieza in his second form, but you're a lot stronger. Also I think there are some colour-differences."
"True." The alien said. "I am the heir of the Cold-empire, as a special onetime favour you may call me the heir."
"Oh joy." Gohan said sarcasm clearly evident in his voice. "I think I'll just name you Thoce, if you don't mind, or for that matter if you do mind. It's your initials, The Heir Of the Cold Empire. So why do you look like Frieza."
"I was made to look like him, in the highest form anybody had ever seen."
"You mean nobody had ever seen his third and fourth form?" Gohan wondered. "Gee, everybody out there must be pretty weak, I was just a kid when I fought him twelve years ago, but even I could knock his third form to the floor back then."
"What? You fought the great lord Frieza?"
"Only in his second and third stage. I wasn't ready to face his final form then, though it would be easy for me now.
You see, how shall I put this? The great lord Frieza, as you call him, wasn't all that great. He wouldn't, and didn't, even stand a chance against a normal level one Super-Saiyan. Let alone an advanced level one, or a level two."
"Why are you talking about that ridiculous monkey legend?"
Gohan growled but remained falsely polite. "I'll try to explain. It's not ridiculous, nor is it limited to legend." He powered down back to normal. "You see this is my normal form, just an normal Saiyan. In case you were wondering why you don't see it, my tail was removed when I was younger." He charged up again. "Now this is my Super-Saiyan form." He continued the charge up finally bursting into level 2 with a yell. "And this is my level 2 Super-Saiyan form."
He looked around to see the results of his last transformation and the Ki-storm that had accompanied it. Goten and Trunks were just standing there, next to Videl who had her hands in a blocking position and had been shielded some by Goten. All of the dozen or so remaining alien warriors had been destroyed however, only Thoce remained.
"Now I have two questions for you." Gohan said hoping that like all villain's this guy's ego would be so big he'd be more than happy to tell Gohan everything. "You said you were created, why and by whom? And secondly, what do you want the Dragon Balls for?"
"Oh, why not, though if you separate the why and by whom that's three questions, but I am perfection, the ultimate weapon, so why not tell you about myself. The process of my creation began years ago, shortly after Frieza and King Cold were somehow killed. Thanks to a new device we've invented the toughest warriors of a number of species could be fused together. Combining their strength. Then the DNA of Lord Frieza, which we still had left from his reconstruction, was added. Finally the DNA of a young half-Saiyan boy was used to give me the strength of the Saiyan race. It was really a stroke of luck that we ran across that last bit of monkey DNA, we went to find Lord-Frieza's ship, among the rubble of what was once the planet Namek. It was wrecked, but not beyond repair, we towed it to port and started repairs, during which we found the clothes of this boy aboard, his DNA was confirmed to be half Saiyan, and half of another unknown origin."
"Dende." Gohan muttered. "Why does my DNA have to end up in every genetically engineered super villain?"
"What was that?" Thoce enquired.
"Never mind, the Saiyan DNA you're talking about is mine so I was just having a bit of déjà vu."
"Ah, you should be honoured to have contributed to such a great project for now you know how I was created. As for the other questions, the who was quite simply the remaining loyal warriors of the Cold-empire, and their scientists.
As for why, I'll take you back to the time after Frieza's fall on Namek, he was still a live, but just barely. Already then Vegeta, whom you know, or so I'm told, was travelling through our space openly defying us.
And with Frieza out of commission, and King Cold spending all of his time at his son's side, non of us were a match for him, but it didn't matter, it would all change when Frieza was well again.
When Frieza was finally reconstructed as the even more powerful Frieza-bot, he went to Earth for revenge. But due to the Earths position relative to our comm-network, communications with his ship seized after he'd landed, and he was never heard from again. An unmanned scout probe send to Earth about a year later, could tell us little, but from what little information we gained we could gather that he had died, together with his father.
That's when the panic started to sweep those of us who remained. Some worlds tried to break away from the empire, and we were engaged in a civil war. Vegeta was once again in space, training and often defying us by entering our territory. And even though we were no match for him, we knew that his power wasn't enough to defeat Frieza, which meant there had to be even stronger warriors out there.
To combat that situation a group of the highest elite fighters and a group of scientists came together. Thanks to scientific progress the fighters were fused into one, creating my first stage, a powerful warrior to defend the empire from its enemies.
With me as the new leader, peace was soon restored to the empire. My strength was great enough to ensure the loyalty of the worlds that had at first tried to break away, and Vegeta had disappeared from space.
Then the final process of my creation began. Every night I spend hours in a regeneration tank, filled with the genetic-material that was to be incorporated into me. It took years but finally the, sometimes manipulated DNA, was integrated into mine, and after a two month stay in another type of regeneration tank, the DNA took over the way that had been intended and I took on this form. The form that symbolised my mission. To find these so-called Dragon Balls and bring back lord Frieza. It took us a year of searching to find this place, but finally we did. And so I came here to resurrect him."
Hmm. Gohan thought. His character still seems to be dominated by a certain submissiveness, probably a result of his past as a group of Frieza's servants.
"So you want to bring back Frieza, why?"
"Well like you said I'm probably stronger than he was, but think of the power we'll have once on just his DNA but his body has been integrated into me."
That would probably allow him to completely take over and with such a powerful body that would be bad. Gohan thought.
"I see." He said. "Well if you want that to ever happen, you'll have to go through me. And I assure you, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you can have your little reunion with him, just not in this dimension."
"So you're going to stop me? I dare say you must be delusional dear boy, I am far, far stronger than Frieza ever was."
"I know." Gohan said. "This will probably be my first challenging fight in years, but we'll see who is victorious. You see I too have grown far beyond the level needed to fight Frieza."
He turned to his three companions for a moment.
"You guys back off a bit, this is going to be pretty intense. This jerk is about the Cold-empire equivalent of Cell and this might just turn into another Cell fight. Not something I'm looking forward to, but it can't be avoided, I just hope we don't wreck the planet in the process."
They all nodded, though Gohan thought Videl looked rather wistful as she did, and flew back, landing on a cliff a few hundred yards away.
Why do people always stand on cliffs to watch fights? Gohan wondered. Krillin and I did when watching dad fight Frieza on Namek, we all stood on a cliff during the Cell-games, except for dad and me when we fought. What is it with fights and cliffs?
He dropped into his fighting stance and powered up as far as he could go. He was almost reaching the top of this level, but he couldn't quite make the jump to the next level just yet.
He could see his adversary doing the same, he too apparently didn't show his full power all the time, his opponent's power was great and seemed equal to his own.
As he prepared for the first mutual attack he let his memory replay something his father had told him during their training in the hyperbolic time chamber.
'Gohan, there's one thing you need to always remember before going into battle, you're a Saiyan, your instincts can do the fighting for you, almost without thought, but it's up to you to keep them in check. Saiyan instinct is great at fighting, but it can also be ruthless and unthinking, a Saiyan in the heat of battle may even fail to notice when a move will not only finish his opponent but also destroy the planet.'
This seemed to him to be one of those battles. The real fighting could be done from the heart, but he needed to keep a cool head to make sure he didn't do too much damage to his surroundings.
Videl looked as Gohan and Thoce prepared for their fight. Their Ki's were tremendous, both of them were stronger than she'd thought possible. Yet there didn't seem to be the slightest difference between the two of them.
When the launched into battle she could barely follow their movement, she know that only a few weeks ago she wouldn't have been able to at all. Now most of what she could see were streaks of colour rushing all over the place sometimes meeting in violent crashes that send out explosions of light and energy and momentarily slowed the two fighters enough to allow her to see them.
Suddenly the two of them stopped for a while. Apparently getting ready to charge again when suddenly the large horned fighter shot a beam of Ki towards the spectators.
It travelled so fast she couldn't move, nor could the two little guys beside her. When it hit she felt like she'd come into contact with a steamroller, she was pushed down and every part of her body was hurting. She was wondering if she was still a live and how much time she had left. From the field below she heard Gohan yell something but the world was fading. The last thing she felt was something being pushed to the back of the throat forcing her to swallow before blacking out.
Gohan came to a halt in his fight as his opponent did the same, they'd been going at it for a few minutes, but for a normal fighter the moves would have taken hours. He launched into battle with a kick, while his opponent had started with a punch. They'd both easily dodged as expected, this was just the first stage of the fight. The first few blows exchanged were always just to test the enemy. He'd only been using half of his power in that attack and by his best estimate the same was true for Thoce.
Without stopping they engaged in battle again. This time Gohan used about seventy-five percent of his power. Thoce had increased his power too, but not by as much. Which gave Gohan the chance to score the first real blow of the fight as his fist connected with his opponents jaw.
Gohan knew he couldn't stop increasing power however. This warm up part of the match wasn't going to last too much longer. He was proven right in the next exchange where Thoce managed to land a blow.
Four more exchanges had followed before Gohan started fighting at his maximum, Thoce seemed to have reached his peak as well and there was barely a difference between their Ki levels.
The exchange of blows had continued for a few minutes, neither fighter managing to gain the upper hand. Most blows were dodged and those that connected were immediately avenged.
When they came to a halt and Gohan prepared to attack again he suddenly noticed a Ki-blast shooting from Thoce left hand to the ridge behind him. Before he could react the blast hit Videl, Goten and Trunks.
Goten and Trunks managed to deflect the blast after a while, but Gohan could see that Videl was down.
A cry began to from in his soul, echoing out through his body and into the air with a power that seemed to fill the entire atmosphere.
"NO!"
As his yell of anger filled the atmosphere, seeming to shake the world by the power of his voice alone, Gohan felt the familiar unleashing of his power. It seemed to start at his feet, crawling up his body, and in the end finding his hair. In a manner similar to the level two transformation his hair became longer, so long that even with his Ki it could not stand on end anymore, but hung down his back almost to his butt.
He could feel some changes around his face as well, his features slightly modified by the power that was now running through him. He didn't really know what he looked like now, except for his eyes. He could feel the fire of anger and pain that must be burning in them. On the cliff he saw Trunks push something into Videl's throat, probably a senzu bean, even if she was just barely alive that should be enough.
But he had another problem now. He turned back to face Thoce.
"You hurt her." He said, softly and yet threateningly. "And for that you're going to die."
He'd barely finished the sentence when he attacked, there almost seemed to be too much power in this form, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep it. The attack was simple, he knocked Thoce back before throwing him into the air. As his opponent was shot up helplessly Gohan gathered his energy.
"Ma...Sen...Ko...Ha!" He yelled shooting out his trademark Ki attack, with a force unlike any he'd ever encountered.
Above him, even through the bright light of the Masenko he could see Thoce's face twist in panic. A typical Saiyan smirk came to his lips as his enemy was vaporised. Again someone had pushed the limits of the Saiyan race, and as always the limits had expanded and pushed back.
Without waiting he fired another blast to gain access to the space ship by blowing a hole in its side.
He could sense the Dragon Ball, being so close he didn't even need the Radar. Soon he found it where he'd expected it, on the bridge.
After grabbing it he rushed out again, still not powering down.
When Videl started to come to her senses again she noticed two things. First of all Gohan's Ki seemed to be a lot larger than it had been before, though that seemed impossible, and secondly Thoce's Ki seemed to be gone completely.
Just then a golden blur rushed towards her.
"Videl?" Gohan asked as he stopped. "Are you all right?"
"I think so." She replied. "The last thing I remember was being hit by that beam and then someone pushed something down my throat."
"That was me." Trunks said. "I gave you a senzu bean after you got hit and then Gohan went to the next level, cause he was so angry."
She looked closely at Gohan noticing the difference, his hair was longer, and hanging down his back, and his facial features lacked some of their softness.
"You really made it to another level?" She asked, though the answer was obvious.
"Yeah," Gohan said, "but I don't know how long I can hold it, it seems to be impossible to power down inside the level."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well, when I go to level one or level two my hair will go a bit lighter after a while, and the level will become more like my natural Ki level, in this level I can't seem to do that, every time I try to relax my Ki I just about drop to level 2, so this is taking a massive effort to keep up, the only reason I haven't dropped out yet is because I want to know how long I can make it last."
She nodded. "Did you find the Dragon Ball?"
"Yeah, I've got it, we can make the wish as soon as I confirm that Piccolo has the Dragon Balls on Earth. Just give me a second."
Gohan closed his eyes and concentrated on his mentor.
'Piccolo, can you hear me?'
'Yes Gohan, do you have the Dragon Balls?'
'Yes, do you?'
'Of course they are easy to find now a days.'
'Yeah, it hasn't been much of a challenge since we all got super fast. I've got the Namekian balls here now, I'll wish dad back first and then contact you for the second wish okay.'
'Okay, I'll see you soon Gohan.'
'Bye Piccolo, and thanks.'
'You're welcome kid, just call when you need me.'
Gohan send a mind nod, to close the conversation and turned back to his friends.
"I'm powering down now guys, then we'll call the dragon."
It wasn't a moment too soon for the power down either. He'd held this form for nearly ten minutes and that seemed to be about it. He'd already been close to slipping several times in the last few minutes and now it was time to power down before staying charged up started to hurt.
Slowly he let go of the power, his hair retreated to just a bit above it's normal length for the Super-Saiyan-2 and then even further as he went back to level 1. Finally he even dropped out of that level, his hair loosing the little bit of extra length that even level 1 gave and returning to black together with his eyes. Beside him he could see Goten and Trunks coming out of Super-Saiyan as well.
He let out a sigh as he sat down. The level three form consumed incredible energy, the way he felt now reminded him of how he'd felt after the Cell-games when he'd fainted from exhaustion after that last Kamehameha.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his energy return to normal.
"Are you okay?" It was Videl's voice, sounding concerned.
"I'm fine." He replied without opening his eyes. "I just need a few seconds to get back to normal, the level three takes a lot of power."
He sat there for only a few more seconds before deciding it had been enough. He still wasn't feeling quite normal again, but he had to get up and get on with it.
"Okay guys." He said getting up. "I suggest we had back to the village before summoning the Dragon. I should be able to handle making the wish in Namek, but it would be good to have Mori on hand just in case."
I can barely believe it. Gohan thought as they took off. He's really going to be back in a few more minutes.
Videl was surprised when a cheering crowd on Nameks greeted them as they entered the village. She certainly didn't feel like she deserved any such treatment, though Gohan, in her opinion, did.
"That was some fight Gohan." Mori said as they landed in front of him.
"I know." Gohan replied. "I got the seventh Ball, so we'll be making our wishes in a minute."
"You know, you still haven't told me what the second wish is."
"Oh, that." Gohan said. "I'm going to use both Dragons for that wish, Porunga and Shen Long, I'll have to contact Piccolo for that, but if all goes well the two Dragons together should be able to make a permanent connection between Dende's lookout on Earth and someplace here on New-Namek, so he can come visit you guys and vice versa."
"Great wish Gohan." Mori said. "And thanks, we all miss Dende, it would be great to see him again, not just speak telepathically."
"He misses you too." Gohan said. "He tries to hide it and being God of Earth is a busy job, but he does miss you, I know him well enough to be able to tell."
"I hadn't expected anything different. When he was here he missed you and his other friends from Earth, it's only natural that being there he'd miss us."
Gohan nodded. "Hopefully that's going to change as soon as I make the second wish, but first wishes first."
He closed his eyes for a moment and Videl could sense him talking to someone telepathically.
"Okay. Dad knows we're going to wish him back so he's saying good-bye to everyone there. I've told him to use the instant transmission to get here when we've wished him back."
"You mean he's not going to be here automatically?" Videl asked, surprised.
"Oh, you wouldn't know. The Dragon Balls bring a person back to life at the location he died. Which in my dad's case is King Kai's planet in otherworld."
"Otherworld?"
"The next dimension."
"Okay. Now what's the instant transmission?"
"It's a trick my dad learned from an alien race called the Yardrat. It allows him to travel instantly from one place to another."
Videl nodded. She didn't really understand, but she couldn't keep them waiting any longer, she'd ask Gohan about it later.
Gohan got out the Dragon Balls and placed them on the ground in front of them.
He called out a strange sentence in what Videl assumed was the Nameks native language.
After a few seconds the Dragon Balls began to glow and the sky went black. And a flash of light erupted from the Dragon Balls, making its way up into the dark sky. Where it took the shape of a large lizard like Dragon.
To Videl's surprise the Dragon spoke in English, though perhaps it was more a universal language that everyone could understand as if it were their own.
"You have summoned me, so as it was written I will now grant you any three wishes within my power."
Gohan started to speak in the Namek language again and though Videl only understood one two word phrase, "Son Goku" she knew perfectly what he was saying, bring Goku back to life.
The Dragon closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, and then spoke again.
"It is done, the one you call Son Goku has been brought back to life."
Gohan nodded and turned to Mori.
"I'm not sure on all the terminology for the second-wish, at least not off the Namek for it, could you do the honours."
"Of course." The Namek elder stated. "But if you want both Dragons to work together you should contact your friends on Earth."
"Of course." Gohan said.
Gohan concentrated his thoughts on Piccolo to contact his former mentor telepathically.
'Are you there Piccolo.'
'Yes Gohan, are you ready for the wish?'
'Yes, now after you've summoned the Dragon it's important that you designate a precise location for the portal to be.'
'Okay, I can handle it, I'll summon the Dragon and contact you, so you can give me a countdown before we make the wish, I'm not sure if it's needed but I'd like to get it as simultaneous as is possible.'
'Okay.'
"Mori." Gohan said out loud. "Shen Long is being summoned on Earth. I'll give you a countdown to the wish when both Dragons are waiting, now you'll have to pick a place for the portal to the passage on this side to be."
The Namek nodded. "I've already give thought to it. Don't worry Gohan."
Gohan nodded as Piccolo's mind voice came back. 'Shen Long is ready and waiting Gohan.'
"Okay," Gohan said both aloud and in his mind, "now both of you remember to tell the Dragons to work together to make a passage with two portals and the designate the portal on your end. On my mark, five, four, three, two, one, mark."
Gohan could hear Piccolo's mind speaking the wish on Earth, designating a room in Dende's palace and Mori made the wish on New-Namek, giving a cave as the location.
Gohan watched Porunga anxiously as the Dragon seemed to be concentrating all of his power.
Finally after several minutes of waiting that had seemed more like hours or days, Porunga gave a grunt. "Your wish has been fulfilled. State your last wish."
"Hmm." Gohan said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't really have a third wish." He looked at the Nameks. "Do you have any use for this wish?" He asked.
"Not really." Mori said. "If we did we'd have gathered the Dragon Balls long ago."
"Then I'll give it some thought." Gohan said. Scratching the back of his head as he pondered.
"I am waiting." Porunga stated after a while, sounding a bit ticked.
"I forgot about that." Gohan said. "The god of love has an attitude problem."
"God of love?" Videl enquired.
"Well he is, though being Namekian that doesn't really include romantic love. But now I think I've got it." Gohan said. "Here it goes." He continued switching to the Nameks' native tongue to make the wish. "Undo any damage done to otherworld and it's inhabitants by Cell's explosion."
Gohan smiled as Porunga granted the wish and then disappeared letting the balls scatter.
"What did you wish for?" Videl asked.
"For all the damage Cell's explosion did to otherworld and it's people to be undone." Gohan stated. "That should bring King-Kai back to life, as well as Gregory and Bubbles, his assistants, and it should also have returned his planet."
"Okay. Uhm Gohan, where is your dad, you did tell him to come here but I don't see him anywhere."
Gohan looked around puzzled, he'd been too busy with the other wishes to notice it but Goku hadn't arrived yet.
He concentrated and felt his father's Ki, moving towards him fast.
"Dad!" He exclaimed as Goku landed about ten feet in front of him. "You're really back."
He ran to his father and hugged him. He just couldn't stop himself, part of him felt like a little boy again, and the rest of him was so emotional he didn't care.
"Wow Gohan, you've gotten so big." Goku remarked smiling. "I've been watching from other world of course, but now that I see it myself, you're as tall as me now."
"Why did you take so long getting here?" Gohan asked as he let go off his dad.
"Ah well." Goku scratched the back of his head in the classic Son gesture. "It's been a while since I used the instant transmission so I was a little off target, I ended up halfway around the planet."
"I see." Gohan looked around to see Trunks with unruly black hair sticking out from behind his head. "Come on out Goten, it's okay."
Goten little face slowly appeared of Trunks' shoulder as he moved his head out from behind the other boy.
"I'm Goten." He said in a small voice, his eyes locked with Goku's.
"I'm Goku." The older Saiyan stated.
"Daddy." Goten suddenly seemed to conquer his nerves and jumped over Trunks and into his father's arms.
"You are a strong one, aren't you son?" Goku said. "I can hardly believe you and Trunks are Super-Saiyans already."
Gohan smiled as he watched the reunion between a father and son that had never met before. His smiling even turned to chuckling when Goten, to prove that he was a Super-Saiyan, since his dad could barely believe it, transformed while still hugging Goku. The energy of the transformation knocking the tall Saiyan down though he managed to take his young son down with him.
Trunks never one to be outdone by his friend, transformed as well and joined Goten and the now also transformed Goku in a little play wrestling.
Gohan continued to watch the three of them for a while. His dad could be so much like a kid himself. He had those moments too, but not as many, that's one reason he'd really missed Goku, he knew he could never really be what his dad had been for him for Goten, even though he'd tried.
After witching and smiling for a while longer, with an arm around Videl he decided it was time to take up some of his dad's attention.
"Dad." He called. "Do you think you could leave the kids for a few seconds so I can introduce my fiancée."
"What's a fiancée?" Goku asked as he temporarily left the play-wrestling match.
"I forgot how poorly you understand marriage." Gohan said.
"What do you mean?" Videl asked.
"Let's just say he thought it was a food at first." Gohan replied. "Now dad, a fiancée is someone you've promised to marry but haven't married yet."
"Oh you mean when you're engaged to someone."
"Exactly."
"Then you must be Videl." Goku said turning to Videl and taking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Videl managed to get out. She just couldn't believe she was shaking hands with Son Goku, the martial arts legend, even though she'd know he would be her father in law for a while now.
"So do you have a frying pan yet?" Goku asked.
What do I need a frying pan for? Videl wondered as Gohan next to her let out a scream.
"Dad, don't give her any ideas."
"What?" Goku asked. "I know from being your dad that your mom's frying pan was the only way to control you."
"That was a long time ago, it's Goten who's living in fear of the wretched thing now."
"Well you never really outgrow it. I remember Chi-Chi got Bulma one when we found out she'd married Vegeta, and believe me, from my occasional looking in on things in the living world, I can assure you it's still being used. It's just something any woman married to a Saiyan should have."
"Why is that?" Videl asked. "And how do you control Gohan with a frying pan?"
"Well you should have one, firstly to keep Gohan in line, and second for when you have kids. So you can keep them in line as well. As for controlling Gohan with it, an occasional whack in the back of the head should do the trick." Goku rubbed the back of his own head seemingly remembering something.
"Dad. Stop it now." Gohan said. "Or I'm going to get a needle."
"Needle!"
Videl was surprised at Goku's scared yell. Here was one of the toughest fighters in the universe and he was scared of needles.
Well, she thought, you can't say Saiyans aren't an interesting race. They're harder to blow up than planets, yet they can be scared of frying pans and needles.
"You're dad's really one of a kind." She told Gohan as Goku rushed of to rejoining the play-wrestling boys.
"I suppose. He's just so innocent, just like a kid really. It's not that surprising he grew up more or less on his own. And really sheltered. Bulma is the second human being, and the first woman he ever met, and they met when he was eleven." [1]
"I guess that would make you a little different." Videl stated.
Gohan stood beside Videl a while longer. He had an arm around her waist and occasionally they would have a little kiss, all the time watching the other three wrestling playing and laughing. Some of the Nameks were watching too, though most had gone back to their daily efforts to grow Adjassa plant.
When he felt it was time to go Gohan turned to Mori who was standing next to them.
"Where exactly is that cave you made the portal in?" He asked. "I think we should be getting back to Earth soon, people are gonna want to meet my dad."
"See that mountain?" Mori asked, pointing.
"Kind of hard to miss." Gohan replied, looking at the mountain that was within a mile of the village.
"Well the cave is in the slope on this side, about half way up."
"Okay, thanks again for everything."
"We should be thanking you, without you those guys would have killed us."
"You're welcome." Gohan said. "But we should be going." He raised his voice so the others could hear him. "Guys, we should be going home, let's head for the passage."
"Passage?" Goku asked.
"Oh of course you weren't here. I succeeded in making that permanent passage between New-Namek and Earth I was talking about. So we can just use that to go back."
"Okay, lead the way son."
Gohan waved to the Nameks as he took off and the others did the same. In just a few minutes they reached the cave. As Gohan stepped inside he couldn't help but wonder what the portal would look like.
It wasn't difficult to spot. A circular opening in the back wall, through which he could see a white wall and a brown door in the typical style of the lookout.
A bit nervous he stepped forward, and walked through the arch. There seemed to be a type of energy field or something exactly in the middle of it, giving him a tingly feeling as he stepped through.
A moment later he was in the lookout. He turned around and saw the other's looking at him through the portal.
"Can you hear me?" He asked, curious to know the full nature of this link. His dad on the other side just shrugged in a confused gesture. Gohan nodded and then gave a sign with his hand for them to follow him.
Goku was the next to come through followed by Goten and Trunks and finally Videl.
Soon they left the room walking into the main hall of the palace and exiting that to find only mister Popo, standing near the edge of the lookout
"Hi mister Popo." Goku said as he spotted the little man. "Where are Dende and Piccolo?"
"Well." Mister Popo said in his usual calm voice. "When everyone sensed you were back alive Bulma decided to throw a party over at Capsule Corporation, so they headed down there. They're all waiting for you now."
"Let's go then." Gohan said, jumping over the edge of the lookout and heading for Capsule Corporation while the other's followed.
[1] This is the age I calculated myself. Goku says he's twelve during the tournament. Which takes place 8 months after he started training with Roshi, so 8 months and a couple of weeks after the start of the series. The official website gives his age as 8, but that doesn't add up.
Both my sister and I think he looks younger, but this is the best I could do, as I wanted to stay as close to the series as possible.
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Next time in life is strange. Everybody is celebrating the return of Goku, but when they're through celebrating there's a world tournament on the horizon. Who will enter, and how will the training go? Will mister Satan keep his title?
On the last question above, yeah right. This story is going into its final phase now. All I have left to do is to write my own version of the tournament and the Buu-saga (a somewhat shorter version).
Anyway please review. I'll get withdrawal symptoms otherwise. :)
*/