CHAPTER 38:
Flashback #4:
Mission: Save Goku

As they approached the usual spot, Ancient Kai was laughing and babbling on about more Kai history to both Piccolo and Kibito Kai. Apparently, during the millennia that Ancient Kai had been locked away in the Z Sword, a great deal of Kai trivia had been lost through time. One such thing, as Piccolo found out, was the origin of Kai Heaven.

"No, no, no! It's not an actual Heaven! It's a place where retired and dead Kais have the option to go," Ancient Kai waved his hands as if to prove his growing frustration with the Namek, "But it's in another dimension, and the only residents of Kai Heaven now are the Ancients. And I'm not even talking about me! They are Ancient even to me!"

"But how can there be another Other World? What do they do there?"

Kibito smiled and answered for Ancient Kai, "The answer to that is still unknown to people of this generation of Kais, since nobody has seen or heard of anyone coming back from the Kai Heaven. But it is rumored that –"

"–No! Stop interrupting me, Kibito! This is my story. You can tell your own when I'm done!"

Kibito laughed shyly and shook his head, "Sorry, Elder Kai. Please continue."

Ancient Kai cleared his throat and raised his hands again as they passed several thick trees. "It is said that the Mystic Kai himself was a creation of another even more powerful Kai, rumored to be 'Great Kai,' who resides in another dimension that overlooks this one like we overlook the living dimension. It's all a hypothesized hierarchy, and nobody knows our origins for sure. Only Mystic Kai; but since he's gone, in supposed Kai Heaven, one can only find out by journeying to Kai Heaven… But the two problems are that, one, nobody knows the location of the entrance to Kai Heaven, and, two, nobody knows how to pass the trials…"

Piccolo yawned as Ancient Kai danced around words in his stories. He was growing more and more impatient, feeling as if the Kais really had no actual concern for Earth. They treated everything as a favorite pastime, or just a potential story to babble about. Piccolo feared that they wouldn't even care that much if the Earth exploded. It'd be great entertainment either way, and they seemed to be starving for something to do here on this plain and simple planet. To them, their crystal ball was their only ticket out of this place. No wonder they were taking their time.

As Ancient Kai started a new story about the first Kai civil war that broke out 1.2 billion eras ago, they passed by several more thick trees and entered a wide clearing with picnic blankets, books, magazines, a giant coffee machine, and a round crystal ball.

Kibito Kai laughed and clapped his hands softly, "We're here. We're home, you two."

"Ahhh," Ancient Kai beamed and dropped out of his story to look around. "Yes, that we are." He walked over to the crystal ball and sat down on a blanket, staring at it blankly, "Now, uh…" he scratched his head, "what are we here for, again?"

"We're going to check up on Goku, Elder Kai." Kibito took a seat across from Ancient Kai to peer into the opaque ball. Piccolo sat down between them and also looked into the glass, but when he couldn't see anything, looked up with an unimpressed face.

"Ah yes," the old Kai coughed and placed his hands above the glass. "First let me concentrate on his face, let's see…"

A minute passed, and nothing happened. The ball was simply a ball sitting on the grass and the elder Kai was just an old man, mumbling something to himself under his breath. Piccolo raised his brow ridge and curled an antenna in impatience.

After another minute passed, Kibito Kai politely coughed and said lowly, "Please, I mean no disrespect, Venerable Elder, but…shouldn't we be seeing something right now?"

"Hush! I'm trying to concentrate on his face, here."

Piccolo rubbed the back of his head, "Whose face? Goku's?" He smirked slightly and tilted his face slightly, "Yeah," his nose crinkled somewhat, "that may not work."

"Why not?" Kibito turned to look at him.

His smirk widened somewhat as he shook his head, "He's a kid, now, thanks to my dragonballs. He doesn't have the same face."

"Oh… really?" Kibito looked to Ancient Kai and his vision dazed for a moment as he tried to think of a way around this. "Well, how about we focus on someone who would not have changed over the years?" There was a pause as he straightened a loose strand that fell across his forehead, "How about Vegeta?"

"Oh, that moron?!" Ancient Kai huffed, "He gave me no respect! No respect!" He shook his fist at the ball and said gruffly, "That baka messed up my whole planet and didn't do a single blow of damage to Majin Buu in the process!"

Kibito leaned forward with his hands clasped, "Yes, I know, Elder Kai, but please, just this once?"

The old Kai huffed, "Fine." He placed his hands on top of the ball and said aloud, "Vegeta… Vegeta… now what did that baka look like again? Oh yes…!"

An image formed in the crystal ball. At first, the focus was a bit blurry, but as it began to sharpen, Vegeta became clear. However, there was something odd about him.

Kibito Kai frowned slightly, "I don't remember him looking like that." He looked up, "Are you sure you've got the right guy?"

Ancient Kai huffed, "Of course I've got the right guy. I can't help it that people age over time and get gray hairs on that Earth planet." He fingered his mustache in thought, "That's something I don't understand. Why don't they all start off with gray? Honestly, aging is the most useless transformation that a species can have."

Piccolo shook his head, "That's Vegeta alright, but that's not Vegeta's hair. Vegeta still has dark hair." He peered closer and tried to make out his face, "Wait a minute… No, that's not Vegeta…!" His eyes widened as he was struck with a realization, "That means… Valese…!"

"Valese?" Ancient Kai narrowed his eyes. "But if that's Valese, then where's Vegeta??"

Piccolo leaned back and covered his face, "That means Valese is inside Vegeta…!"

Ancient Kai blinked, "But how can Valese be insi–"

"–Shhh!!" Kibito hushed them and put his hands on the ball to make it zoom outward, "Look guys! It looks like Vegeta is fighting someone. I wonder who?"

As the crystal ball expanded its view, it incorporated several other figures into the view. Piccolo's eyes went even wider as he recognized the people beside Vegeta: Gohan, Goten, and Trunks. But if Trunks was back, then that meant both Goku and Pan were back.

Piccolo blinked as a sudden thought jolted him. Why were Gohan, Goten and Trunks fighting alongside the parasite?! Did Valese mess with their heads? What could this mean? If this meant that everyone Valese touched became possessed long-term, then the whole world was at risk of falling under the parasite's reign.

Piccolo sighed at the irony of it all. Goku and company were back, meaning the world was saved, but only long enough to fall into danger again. When would it ever end?

Ancient Kai asked something that jerked Piccolo from his growing panic, and then, asked again, "Who is that kid fighting Vegeta?"

Piccolo leaned over the ball to give it a nonchalant view. "I don't know… but… wait…" Piccolo blinked and suddenly looked long and hard, remembering that face from years ago, when Piccolo was still young. "Wait! Wait! That's Goku!"

Kibito recoiled from shock, "THAT's Goku?!" He fell back to the ground and then pushed himself up to get another look into the glass.

All three of them watched the ball intently. There was a massive fight going on, and Goku suddenly made a Super Saiyan 3 transformation to battle it out with Vegeta.

Piccolo observed how the other Saiyans were staying clear from the fight. As long as it stayed that way… He looked up to the Kais with a small burst of pride within him as he acknowledged his old friend, "Goku should be able to defeat Vegeta. Even with Valese inside his body, there's no way Vegeta should be able to withstand a third-level Super Saiyan on his tail."

The elder Kai made a little whine and small cough as he stared deeper into the glass. "I don't know about that…" Ancient Kai traced the ball, "It looks to me that Goku is having a hard time maintaining that transformation." He looked up to Piccolo, "He may be too young to be able to handle it right."

Kibito Kai shook his head, "How old is Goku anyway?"

Piccolo frowned at the stupid question. "How would I know that?" He crossed his arms in front of him, "His age doesn't matter. He's a kid. That's all you need to know."

Again, there was a long pause as all three watched the battle in a stupor. Piccolo looked up after a while with a brow ridge raised and said, "So, what is going to happen now?"

Kibito Kai sighed and hesitated a moment, before saying, "As a rule, no Kais are permitted interfere with living world events, unless under extremely dangerous circumstances." He raised his fingers, "Like the instance with Majin Buu. If we would not have been able to defeat Majin Buu, he would have destroyed the entire living universe and nothing would have been able to stop him."

"You say you don't want to interfere…" Piccolo glared at Kibito Kai, "But what would happen if Vegeta defeats Goku?"

Kibito frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Valese would be unstoppable. Whether it is inside Vegeta or Gohan, it could easily destroy planets, and if anyone stronger comes across it, all it takes is a scrape on their bodies, and then Valese would be able to enter their body as well!"

Kibito sighed, "Listen, there have been parasites like this that have happened in the past. They usually don't get as far as Valese, or as powerful, but at this point, there's nothing we can do about the parasite. In this case, we have no authority to interfere." He grinned sadly, "I like Goku a lot. He's a good guy, but if we break the rules for one good guy, we're going to have to do it for all of them. As it is, I've interfered on Earth too much for my own good."

A hand suddenly came out of nowhere and bonked Kibito Kai hard on the head, "You BAKA!" Ancient Kai screamed out and bonked him again, "He came to visit ME! I get to say what happens around here, and if I want you to interfere, you're going to interfere!"

Kibito rubbed his head and frowned, "What do you mean? Are you telling me you want me to get involved?"

"No," Ancient Kai huffed and crossed his arms, pointing his nose upward, "I'm just suggesting that you grab Goku and bring him back here."

Kibito raised his eyebrows, "But why?"

Ancient Kai scratched his nose and closed his eyes, "It is obvious that Goku is not able to withstand the might of this parasite." He stood up and began pacing, putting his arms behind his back, "Goku is getting beaten down, and…" His eyes turned sparkly as his nose turned red, "I have a feeling that there is a power inside of Goku that I can help bring out."

Piccolo scoffed and hid a smirk behind a hand, "You think that highly of yourself, huh?"

Ancient Kai stopped pacing and pointed at Piccolo, "You show me no respect! No respect! Of course I can help Goku. I did it once for Gohan, and now I can most definitely do it for this Saiya–."

"–Elder Kai!" Kibito waved one hand at him and pointed to the ball, "I think you should take a look at this."

As Piccolo was turning his head to look at the ball again, Ancient Kai gasped and moved to point his finger at the ball, "There she is!"

Piccolo blinked, "Who?"

"But oh no!" Ancient Kai put his hands on his head and whined, "She's using it all wrong! She's treating it as if she's creating the power, and is holding back from using too much, probably thinking it will drain her. She'll never reach her potential that way!"

Piccolo narrowed his eyes, "Who is that?"

Kibito Kai closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to look at Piccolo. He smiled and said in a calm voice, "I believe she is Gohan's daughter."

Piccolo intook a breath and widened his eyes, "That is Pan?" It was hard for him to believe. The last time he had seen the girl with his own eyes was years ago when she was barely nine and visiting Goku at the Lookout. She had grown a great deal these past six years, and Piccolo didn't even recognize her.

Ancient Kai put a finger to his chin, "The girl is impressive, but I don't know if she has as much potential as Gohan…"

Kibito Kai nodded, "Yes, unless she can find a way to adapt her body to great amounts of energy, I can't really see her –"

Piccolo cut in, growing impatient again, "–Could we cut back to Goku? How is the battle going?"

Ancient Kai bowed his head slightly, "It's a shame. I'd hate to see the Mystic powers lose their potential because they become more and more huma–"

"–Listen! I need to know how Goku is doing. He could be in trouble, and you two aren't even watching him."

Ancient Kai laughed, "Oh don't worry about Goku, I'm sure he's just – AHH? What's that?!"

The ball cut to Vegeta holding a large black and red death bomb above his head. Yellow lightning bolts surged out of it with growing intensity as the ki ball expanded to grow bigger and bigger. All three of them watched this with wide eyes and mouths agape.

Kibito Kai managed to get a few words out as the crystal ball homed in on Goku, lying defeated in a crater, awaiting the oncoming blast, "He's… he's about to take that blast head on!"

They all watched as the dark ball of energy was released and thrown toward the semi-conscious boy in the crater. Halfway through the release of the blast, Ancient Kai spit out, "Well then do something about it!"

Kibito gasped, "But I don't want to interf–"

Ancient Kai shook his fist, "GO GET HIM OR ELSE!"

The death ball was almost upon Goku. The entire earth began to collapse around the Saiyan. Without any time to think, Kibito quickly stood up and said, "I'm on it!" before vanishing into thin air.

Piccolo stared in shock for a bit at where the Supreme Kai used to be just a split second before, and then his eyes jerked back to the crystal globe, which began to glow from the intensity of the black energy's explosion. Goku was caught in that. If they lost Goku, then there'd be no hope left for Earth.

Seconds seemed to pass like hours as Piccolo watched the debris from the explosion fall. His eyes scanned for any signs of Goku, but he was gone. How long was the rescue supposed to take? Where did Goku go?

A sudden POP in front of him threw Piccolo back. Kibito Kai popped back into appearance and landed on the grass looking slightly shocked.

Piccolo blinked, "Supreme Kai? Where did you go?"

"Curse it!" The Kai kicked the grass, "I lost him!"

Ancient Kai's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean 'you lost him'?"

"The explosion from the blast was so powerful, he was knocked out of my arms during my inter-dimensional warp. Now he's caught in Sugoroku Space!"

The old Kai stood up straight and shook a fist at Kibito, "You LOST HIM!?!"

Piccolo looked between the kais in a stupor for a bit, not fully able to realize what they were implying. "How…?" he blinked, "How do you just lose someone?"

Kibito Kai sighed and slumped his shoulders slightly, "Well, it's not really losing him. He's just gone to a place where I can't reach, because the dimension he fell into is a warp in itself."

Piccolo blinked again, "What warp?"

Ancient Kai huffed, "No one has ever survived the Sugoroku Space to live and tell about it." He waggled his finger at Kibito, "And now look what you've done! You lost Goku in the one place we can't go!"

Kibito Kai looked down, "I'm sorry."

"You'd better be." The Ancient Kai muttered and folded his arms before him, "You should have let me handle the job." He huffed, then pointed his nose upward, "That just goes to show that rookies should never be depended on for these kinds of things."

Kibito stiffened, "But I am not a rookie!"

"Well, then, Kibito, tell me how we can fetch Goku and then I'll believe you!"

"I…" the Kai looked down shamefully, "I don't know."

"You rookie."

A long pause ensued between them. All three of them sat in an uncomfortable silence. While Ancient Kai's temper was slowly fading, Kibito Kai was mourning over Goku's loss and Piccolo was still too much in shock to fully realize the fate of his friend.

After a long time, Ancient Kai put his arms to the ground and pushed himself to his feet, breathing in sharply. Straightening his clothes and slicking his mustache, he said cheerily, "Well! I'm in the mood for a nice cup of a coffee."

A moment of silent shock passed between the two sitting down, trying to contemplate the change of moods.

Kibito Kai suddenly hissed, "This is not the time for coffee, Elder Kai."

Ancient Kai blinked, "Why not?"

The long-haired Kai sighed, "Well… shouldn't we at least say a few words about Goku first?"

"Who?" Ancient Kai brought a finger to his chin, "Goku?" He looked up a moment and then a spark came to his eye, "Oh yes, Goku! But why Goku?" He blinked, "Did something happen to him?"

Another moment of awkward silence passed as Kibito Kai moaned and held his head in his hands.

Kibito Kai sighed and shook his head defeatedly, "Elder Kai… Don't take this the wrong way, but…" He looked up with his eyes hidden behind his brow, "I really think it's about time you retired."

"Nonsense." Ancient Kai smiled and put his arms behind his back. As he turned to walk toward his coffee machine, he called over his shoulder, "So who's up for a cappuccino?"

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-Completed 12/27/04-

-Uploaded 12/31/04-

Note: Man, I love Ancient Kai. He's such a character. It's fun writing senile old men, I gotta tell you. More people should write fictions about the Kais. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and the one before this (Chapter 37). I still need to complete the next chapter, but it will be out eventually. Don't you worry X)

Note 2:

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG-OVERDUE NOTE REGARDING MY "RANTS" SECTION OF MY BIO.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO REVIEW, DO IT NOW!!!! OR ELSE YOU WILL FORGET WHAT THIS CHAPTER WAS ABOUT. YOU CAN COME BACK TO THIS AFTER YOU HAVE REVIEWED. THANKS

Before I even begin this section, I want to start with something VERY important to me:

My rants section and my story are completely independent of each other. If you would like to castigate my opinion, I would love to hear your rebuttal. I APPRECIATE when people respond to my rants. I don't regard opinions about my rants section as flames. Go ahead and state what you are saying. But if you do, do NOT comment on my rants in my fanfiction reviews. Because my rants and my story are completely different, if you review about my rants, do it separately than my story reviews. I suggest email: lauraneato at gmail. com, but you can catch me on AOL: LauraNeato. I just don't want people who disagree with my bio section to bring the discussion into my reviews page. Thanks

Now onto the long version. Unless you feel adamantly against my rants section of my bio, please disregard this:

I got an interesting review regarding my rants section of my bio page, and I feel it is time that I address the issue somewhat that I am, in fact, very outspoken when it comes to writing criticism, but I want to stress that I don't aim it at any authors in particular. It's the general idea of it that gets me thinking, and I like to write my thoughts down. While all my rants are completely biased, I'm only really adamant about one of them: "Rant 1: Pan shouldn't be a kid at the end of GT". That's the one I feel most strongly about. That particular rant led to an entire chain of them which keeps building over time. But right now, I want to address my Rant 1:

People completely disregard the passing of time in GT merely because the GT artists decided to avoid drawing them differently over the course of the years. This is the artists' fault. Even though they make Pan's hair relatively longer by the end of GT (past her shoulders, when in the beginning it was way above her shoulders), they don't change any features on her. I also blame this on the fact that Akira Toriyama was not involved with the series, and didn't make any Manga before this, so they didn't have to change the character designs at all to match Toriyama's idea. But in any case, no matter where the blame lies, there WAS a significant lapse of time, and at LEAST Goku should have grown a bit. There's a HUGE difference between 12 year old boys and 16 year old boys (he's 16 by the end of GT). They just were being stupid by ignoring it. Even if the last sagas of GT were completely disregarded, and the peacetime, second grand tour, super android 17, and shadow dragon sagas never existed, he would have at LEAST been 14 at the end of the series. But they don't show it at all. All the artists are bakas. That's what I conclude.

Anyway, sorry to include the latest rant at the end of this chapter. It just kinda happened, sorry. I don't mean to offend any person in particular, but I feel that at least one person should get out there and comment on all the trite, cliché plots that exist. I'm not saying that cliché plots are bad per say. I see chick flicks at the movies all the time, and they are always about the girl who likes the guy, and tries to change for him and then they both realize in the end that they should just be themselves around each other and blah blah, yada yada, you know those plots. I just wish that I could see some more original things on fanfiction. net, and yes, sometimes it takes one person to really stand out and speak out their beliefs. I understand that the rants section may offend people. That's why I placed a huge long, over-extended disclaimer in front of it. But I want to state again that I don't boycott stories. I will read any story that has an intriguing summary that catches my eye. And I will comment, and I DON'T flame. If I read a story where everyone is falling under "saiyan bonding" then you know what? I'll read it. I might not like the idea so much, but if the author is able to take the story somewhere interesting, I will most definitely appreciate it.

I don't know how I make my rants hypocritical, however. The only thing that could remotely sound hypocritical is the "saiyan bonding" idea, but I DON'T do "saiyan bonding" in my story. The ring bonding only applies when the spouse's life is in danger and the ring-bearer is knowledgeable of that fact. If, in my story, let's say… Gohan kills Pan, just for an example… if Trunks is not there to witness it, he will have no idea that she died, and nothing would ever happen to him. The only thing that would happen would be that Trunks' ring would be removable. He wouldn't die, he wouldn't suffer, he wouldn't be forced to stay single the rest of his life because his technical "wife" died years before.

I'm sorry for having to write this explanation of my rants section. I get emails about it all the time, and even though I tell people not to take the rants personally, people still get the wrong idea.

However, I also get emails informing me of people who actually apply my ideas. Apparently, my "abortion" rant inspired an author, who shall remain anonymous unless she gives me permission to refer her story to you guys, to actually write the first fanfiction ever to have an abortion in it. Geez : ) She beat me to the punch ; ) ((I'm just kidding. Pan will NOT be getting pregnant in my story. Sorry if that's a spoiler for those who want her and Trunks to have a kid anytime soon)).

Sorry for the long author's note. I think it was long overdue. Chapter 38, about 150,000 words into the story, 286 pages single-spaced 12 pt times new roman font, and I had not even once officially addressed my bio feature presentation.

For those who are going to go read it now because of this, DON'T. It's RATED R, people. Only go to that section of my bio if you are 17 or older and can handle criticism. Remember, if you do go, I'm NOT aiming the rants at anyone in particular.

Quick Note 3 (for all those who made it past Note 2, heh): Anyway, for those into football, I'm rooting for the University of Michigan at the Rose Bowl! Go Blue! Go Goku! Go go gadget go! X)