In the wake of Gohan's battle with Hakaishin Beerus, an unexpected arrival had made his way to the Kaiōshin Realm. He had a signature shock of spiked black hair, above which rested a halo. But this was perhaps all that was familiar about his appearance. Contrary to the orange and blue gi that Son Gokū was known for, he now wore a unique dōgi which had been created by Kaiō of the North. He wore a dark green gi top, loosely tied by a white obi sash which was tied off to the side. His pants were off-white, and worn tucked into red, Velcro-belted boots with steel toed tips. Rather than traditional cloth armbands, the Saiyan now wore thick, black armbands made of a far sturdier material, lined with yellow. On each arm, near the shoulders, were two strands of cloth, in the same off-white as his pants.
"Y-You...!" Kaiōshin stammered. "You're Son Gokū!"
"S-Son Gokū?!" shouted Kibito indignantly, forgetting that he was supposed to be tending to Gohan's wounds. "How is another human here?! And without divine invitation at that?!"
"F-Father?!" shouted Erasa in surprise. To see her father-in-law here of all places was a surprise, but then again, they shouldn't be here. "H-How did you get here?!"
"Instantaneous Movement," replied Gokū cheerfully, as if that explained anything to Erasa. "I felt Gohan's ki from the Grand Kaiō's planet. It was some impressive stuff! I wanted to make it here earlier, but Kaiō was so stingy. But I managed to shake him off. So, where's Go—" His words and upbeat demeanor were cut short when he saw his oldest son unconscious on the ground. "Gohan!"
The deceased Saiyan rushed over to kneel at his son's side with blinding speed, his expression angry. "What happened to him? Who did this?"
"It was..." Erasa looked over and saw Shin frantically shaking his head. She paid it no mind; this was her father-in-law, asking why her husband was in such a horrid state. She wasn't going to lie. "It was someone called Hakaishin Beerus."
"Hakaishin...Beerus?" inquired Gokū. "A god?"
Shin sighed. In his head, the North Kaiō was screaming in frustration. "I guess I'll just explain, even if it's against my better judgement." The deity went into a small explanation, filling in Gokū with the details that his son and daughter-in-law were already privy to. "To be honest, the Kaiō of the North was—" he winced "—still is, yelling at me for telling you any of this. He thinks you'll try and circumvent death to fight Lord Beerus, or worse, somehow bring him to the Grand Kaiō's planet."
"I usually get super-excited when I meet someone strong," Gokū agreed. "But it isn't just that. Lookin' at Gohan right now, I feel furious! He looks almost dead!" His teeth grit. "It ain't like me to say this...but now that I'm gone, Gohan is the one protectin' Earth, right? I don't want to see him in the Afterlife so soon."
"Father..." Erasa looked at Gohan with a sympathetic expression.
"Just let me heal the boy, and we'll discuss anything further from there," said Kibito firmly. The Shinling placed his hand onto Gohan's torso, and his entire body began to glow. The glow transferred to Gohan, who was now immersed in the light. There was a moment of silence, several moments, as Kibito's healing magic worked. The Shinling was as astounded as he was when he'd healed Gohan the first time, if not moreso now.
To think I thought his kiwas impressive then, thought Kibito. To feel the depths of his strength when he transformed to fight Lord Beerus was one thing...but now I have to resupply that vast well of ki. That level of strength, is that what Lord Kaiōshin was looking for in a successor? If a human this strong was to become a God...The group could only wait as Kibito's magic was heavily drained in its bid to restore Gohan to completely fitness; his wounds were patched, his body and clothes completely restored.
It took only another moment for Gohan's consciousness to recover. As Kibito removed his palm from Gohan, he sat up, and the realisation hit him immediately. Beerus was nowhere to be seen; all he could remember was is final failed attempt at an attack, and then falling unconscious. His body shook, and the Saiyan-half glanced down at trembling hands.
"I lost to him...didn't I?"
"Yes, you did," replied Kibito severely, before Erasa or Gokū could say anything to soften the blow. "You challenged the Hakaishin — you, a human — and were utterly defeated. It was a foolish move!"
"Kibito!" admonished Shin.
What Kibito had said, however, didn't matter. Gohan's mind was already working along those lines. His entire body, long after Beerus had gone, was shaking in fear. That single jolt of instinct he'd felt when Beerus had considered attacking was enveloping his soul, long after the Hakaishin's attacks had concluded. "I'm such an idiot...!" He hissed, punching the ground beneath him. It cracked with the pressure of his fist, but didn't give; truly, the durability of the Kaiōshin Realm's planet was something to be admired in other circumstances.
"When I beat Majin Bū, I thought that was the strongest creature the Universe had produced!" He laughed bitterly. "Surely, I could stand up to a god! Is the power I've cultivated for ten years all for nothing?! If someone on Lord Beerus' level comes to Earth...I'll be powerless in the likes of something like that! Damn it...!"
Gokū could only watch his son wordlessly. He didn't know what to say; he may have been a father, but he couldn't encourage Gohan right now. They were people of two different mindsets. To Gokū, having lost against someone as strong as he heard this Lord Beerus was would have been exhilarating. It was the sort of thing his Saiyan blood craved, after all; an opponent who was strong, absurdly so. But Gohan was still half-Earthling. He didn't have the same Saiyan spirit his father did...and Gokū couldn't offer his son any help.
Smack!
The sound of a hand colliding with bare flesh reverberated through the area, and everyone was at a loss for words. Her face stubbornly defiant, Erasa had struck her husband across the face. Gohan was stunned, blinking rapidly in complete surprise. He rubbed his face, his hand covering the now red mark that lit up his cheek.
"The Gohan I know... the Son Gohan I fell in love with..." Erasa said, her hand still aloft, trembling. "Even if he won or lost, he wasn't someone who gave up. And I can tell you haven't, otherwise you wouldn't feel frustrated over losing. When something is truly hopeless, the ones that give up will just say, "ah well, that's life", but instead, it bothers you." Her eyes were burning, piercing, and boring directly into Gohan's own. He couldn't bring himself to look away; their hold was as compelling as her words. "Because you know no matter what sort of despair awaits, the one known as Son Gohan is someone that fights. Hopeless doesn't exist in his vocabulary. I should know... For me to stand on this stage, a mere powerless human... It was all thanks to the hopeful you. So dust yourself off, stand... and be ready to fight. So what if your enemy is a god?! Even this mortal... Even this Saiyan... This 'Son Gohan', he can overcome even fate."
Silence followed Erasa's speech, and Gohan was left dumbfounded. Here, he'd been about to wallow in his own misery, and yet he'd forgotten who was standing here beside him. The trembling of fear in his body subsided, and he could feel himself return to some sense of normalcy. The half-Saiyan stood up, and extended a hand towards Erasa, who took it, smiling. Gohan let out a sheepish smile of his own, and scratched the back of his head. "I really must look like an idiot, don't I?" he asked quietly. "Anguishing over something like that, while you unabashedly let your heart pour out." His expression set, Gohan's eyes brimmed with a renewed determination. "But you're right; I can't consider this to be anything other than a small setback."
Erasa beamed. "That's the way to think. We're martial artists, Gohan. To us, 'god' should be a stepping stone."
Before Kibito could make some indignant objection at the obvious blasphemy, Shin stepped in. "You two make a nice couple, that much is sure. But what do you intend to do in regards to Lord Beerus?" His voice was grim, and his expression dark. "I hate to be the one to say it, but Earth is in the presence of very real danger right now. Lord Beerus is a Hakaishin, and he makes Majin Bū look like a walk in the park. To be perfectly honestly, there isn't any way you can beat him as you are now; a Hakaishin and a mortal are simply too far apart." He placed a hand on his large head, clearly beginning to feel stress. "Furthermore, Lord Beerus will destroy planets at the slightest infraction. If he feels insulted, if the food isn't savoury, Earth could be destroyed."
"If it's food he's after, why not just have Chi-Chi whip him up somethin'?" suggested Gokū wholeheartedly. "He'll never want to eat anywhere else!"
"Dad, that's sort of the problem," replied Gohan. "We want to get him off Earth before he destroys it. To be blunt, it might be a good thing that you and Vegeta aren't there. If he's that short tempered, someone who makes even the slightest faux paus might set him off."
"...Like Majin Bū?" suggested Erasa, and both she and Gohan blanched. If anyone on Earth was the most likely to infuriate Beerus, it would be the Djinn.
"Majin Bū would definitely pose a problem," agreed Shin.
"The bigger issue is that I can't simply rush down to fight Lord Beerus now," said Gohan, finger on his chin. "Just recovering from being defeated by him did nothing to close the gap between our strength. Saiyan biology can only do so much, and running in without any sort of training is likely to get me killed. I think the key lies in that...Super Saiyan God."
"Super Saiyan God?" repeated Gokū, confused.
"Oh, you weren't here for that, were you Father?" said Erasa. "Lord Beerus came here specifically looking for a 'Super Saiyan God'. Now that I think on it, have you ever heard anything about a Super Saiyan God?"
"Hmmm...no. I just know about the plain ol' Super Saiyan. I don't know anythin' about this 'god' business."
"I was hoping the Legendary Super Saiyan would know something at least," Shin said, not bothering to hide his disappointment. "If Lord Beerus goes to Earth, and is neither entertained nor can he find the Super Saiyan God, the possibility of him destroying Earth is very high."
"Damn..." muttered Gohan. "How can Lord Beerus expect us to tell him something we know nothing about?!"
"That's the kind of man Lord Beerus is," replied Kibito. "It isn't within my position to say it, but as a god, he can be unreasonable. His attitude has always been that way. Periods during which he's awake are always marked by callous and unnecessary destruction, rather than balancing the destruction with creation as he should."
Erasa frowned. She wasn't the type to say it aloud, but dealing with the Hakaishin was going to be like tending to a small child. She remembered when Pen had been two years old. It felt a lot like that just...on a planet-wide scale instead of having to rebuild the second bedroom more than a few times. "He's going to be the troublesome type, and that's putting it mildly."
"We'll figure something out," replied Gohan easily. Rather than let the idea of Beerus stress him out, he was doing his best to maintain a cool head. "Right now, the biggest event on Earth is the Tenkaichi Budōkai. I can't see Lord Beerus not going right to it. So long as he doesn't actually speak to Bū, we should be fine. But I think we should still look into this 'Super Saiyan God' before going back; we need a back-up plan."
"I'm sure you'll come up with somethin'," said Gokū, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "The Earth is in your hands, son. This is something I know you can do."
Gohan smiled. Having his father's support meant an incredible amount to him, even if Gokū couldn't quite realise how much. "...Thanks, Dad."
Tenkaichi Budōkai, Earth, Earlier During Gohan's Battle
It was an unmistakable presence.
Both fighters had been exchanging blows long enough that anything out of the ordinary would be immediately registered and taken into account. However, this was the recognizable presence of a fighter who had left their vicinity awhile ago; one they didn't expect to see let alone feel again. Like seeing something in the periphery of their vision, they both held back their assault and turned, only to see nothing.
"G-Gohan?" Goten inquired, his youthful voice a timbre lower, thanks to the passively active Super Saiyan form he donned. Even through the thrumming of his glowing halo of gold, he could sense his big brother. It was so palpable he swore he was on the arena right next to him; but evidence to the contrary, he was nowhere in sight!
"I haven't felt this kind of power from him since we joined forces to stop Majin Buu! He feels even stronger too! Is he fighting somebody?!"
The crowd of waiting combatants for the tournament -at least those with the proper training- could also feel such an immense presence that wafted over them. Nobody in the audience could tell what they were doing, looking around and baffled by the strange pressure that was being exuded so close yet so far away. No one untrained, even the present ex-champ Mr. Satan, could feel the ominous ki that the son of Goku was unleashing.
Except Bulma.
Her systems were scanning an incoming signal that seemed to exceed possible records of past numerical reach. The scientist leader of Capsule Corp would see critical reach of power fluctuation that seemed to be located everywhere at once. Her eyes dilated and looked around, the previously tired expression now awed and alarmed at once.
"It's as if...Gohan's energy is wrapped all across the planet, coming from beyond the depths of space!" She deduced to herself, her hands clasped onto the instrument table.
Just as quickly as the ki screamed out, it was silenced.
Bulma's machines quieted, and the previous pair of energies within the arena remained to be processed. The fighters all over muttered or made various expressions of concern to intrigue. Piccolo's eyes looked up with worry at the sudden muted tone of his pupil's life force and those who've known Gohan for most of his life also looked bewildered and taken aback by this development.
A loud pop, signaled the return to the action.
Goten's turned face was struck by a clenched fist, his eyes almost popping out of his skull from the surprise attack. Due to him being out of focus, his whole body pinwheeled, soaring towards the edge of the arena. Dizzied, the Super Saiyan narrowly grasped the edge of the tiles, applying delicate grip on just the tips of his fingers that clawed through the durable material of hard light constructs. Dropping to his feet, he looked back and saw only half a meter of space between him and the arena's drop-off point; a straight drop and a potentially critical fall if he wasn't careful.
"Sorry," Rayo apologized, albeit with a wry grin on his face. Pulling back his tattooed arm, the strangely marked young man stood tall and cocked his head at the now infuriated Goten. "I know we felt something incredible, just now, but that doesn't mean we have to stop fighting."
"Grrr, a sucker punch wasn't necessary!" Goten snapped back, his calm state of mind becoming a bit heated up from the rude awakening.
Shrugging, Rayo slid down into a spread-legged crouch, his crimson aura re-igniting around his muscular frame, "There's no rules against taking advantage of empty-headed opponents. Seriously, I know that's your brother's ki, but would he like seeing you drop your guard like that so willingly?"
"I don't need a lecture from you!" Goten barked back, clawing his forefingers of his right hand with the arm propped up at an angle and his left arm pulled back with his hand balled into a fist. "Though he's right. I shouldn't have blanked out like that. I won't give him the satisfaction of admitting he's right, though..."
"Fine. If it isn't a lecture that'll get the point across," Rayo sneered, his upper body leaning forward, knees bending and toes digging into the surface of the tile floor; cracking and grinding audibly. His hands clawing at the ground, his aura intensifying and sharpening across his hands and feet in particular. This was different than the mixture of self-taught street fighting and kung fu he had displayed. With a raucous laugh, his body disappeared from sight, leaving a vortex of pressure in his wake and a bleeding red line following behind his speeding frame.
In a split second, Goten stepped back his arms moved for a bracing gesture and a succinct thunderclap blew him upwards. He didn't even see what had hit him -a foot, a fist, an elbow?- but he had at least detected the trajectory in time to defend. His arms were bruised, throbbing with pain, and his body was sent reeling upward. Still reeling, he'd feel Rayo behind him, forcing the Super Saiyan to turn and swing his right hand to chop at his head; missing him, only brushing the top of his raised scalp.
A followed up clawing thrust came at him, twisting and coalescing with a vortex of swirling blood dyed energy. Even with Goten's timed reflex to catch the clawed palm, he realized his error too late. The force of it smashed the back of his hand against his chest, the sound of audible crunches heard to his ears and his face grimaced. The full effect of the attack only happened after the wafting pain spread from his hand through his chest to the skin on his back. A concussive spiral of light followed Goten to smash straight into the arena floor, gonging it loudly and splintering the hard light infrastructure severely.
Hacking up blood, Goten felt himself see stars. His instincts misjudged just how much power was placed into Rayo's hands and feed. It took both of his arms to buffet just one of the blows, so him using one hand was a mistake that cost him. Straining his gaze, he saw the feral posture of his opponent, slouched over and leering down at him like a beast, toying with prey.
"AMAZING! AFTER A BRIEF INTERMISSION FROM...SOMETHING, RAYO HAS ASSUMED A WILD STANCE AND HAS GOT GOTEN ON THE ROPES! IT LOOKS LIKE THE STALEMATE HAS FINALLY BEEN BROKEN, THE TIDES TURNED INTO RAYO'S FAVOR!" The Announcer cried out, earning the applauding roar of the audience, protected from the onslaught and now enthusiastic by the rough development of the two fighters.
"Come on, Goten!" Yamcha cheered out, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted to the youngest son of Goku. "You can do it!"
"That's an interesting technique, that kid has," Tenshinhan noted, his arms crossed across his chest, his three eyes observing the boy hovering above Goten. "If Goten doesn't do something soon, this fight may be over pretty quickly."
"He's a smart guy, he'll beat him! You'll see!" Yamcha turned with glowing confidence at his rival and comrade in arms.
"Heh, if he's as optimistic as you are, I'm sure he has nothing to worry about," The Crane Master smirked for a moment, returning to stoic countenance as he observed the fight renew in earnest.
Goten lifted himself onto his feet, an instant before Rayo blurred out of sight and pounced towards him. Instead of retreating, Goten charged ki swiftly into both hands, his arms already moving to intercept the attack. Just as the impact came, the observers' would see a bright golden explosion followed by a flash of flames and smoke. Both Rayo and Goten tumbled out of the smoke, the prior looking more frazzled than the Super Saiyan, with some burns marring his chest and abdomen where the ki wasn't as thick.
"That was a crazy, but good move," Rayo remarked, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth with his sparking red right arm. "Firing kikoha while blocking caught you in the blast but it nullified my own attack. Even hurt me a little."
"You're one to talk!" Goten snapped back, now grinning as he jabbed a finger at him from his own kneeling stance. "You're putting more ki into your arms and legs than the rest of your body. That's why you're moving so fast and hitting me so hard. Sacrificing defense for better offense; it's something that Piccolo would've told me is too much of a gamble than the reward has."
"Ha! Look at you, trying to lecture me!" The black haired man guffawed, standing upright, maintaining the current of energy sharpened and violent around his appendages. "Yeah, this technique is concentrating rotating ki around the limbs to do exactly as you guessed. It's not the totality of my aura, as you only gave me a skinning with that stunt. If anything, it's hurt you more than it did me."
The Super Saiyan knew he wasn't kidding. A glance at his hands and he saw the burns that spread from the palms of his hands to wrap around his knuckles to the forearms. The pain was dulled, thanks to the form, but it still stung quite a bit and the burns looked more severe than the injuries he inflicted on Rayo. This strategy was just as costly as Rayo's, if not worse.
Looking up, Rayo was in his face, his leg whipping around to hit his temple.
"Ngh!" Goten grunted, his right and left arm barely crossing each other in time to deflect the offensive strike. An explosive pop that made his left ear ring loudly, the force jerked his head violently and his frame bounced head over heels a few times before he righted himself. He was dizzy and he found it difficult to stand upright.
"As you can see, I'm still capable of wearing you down at my own pace," Rayo explained, a toothy grin splayed on his face, lowering his leg back to the ground as he resumed a all-fours posture yet again. "I rather you not give up just yet. It wouldn't be very much fun if you threw in the towel just when this is getting good!"
His laughing was grating to his ears, his vision swimming and the taste of copper was in his mouth complementing the pain throbbing all over his body. His teeth gnashed, his eyes clenched shut and finders dug into his palms as he stopped the latest of flying falls he was struck by. Even as blood ebbed from his scalp down his brow and stung his eyes, he shook and shuddered, mostly from the pain.
Then mostly from the rage.
"You look ready to fall over," Rayo noted aloud, grinning with satisfaction at the wear and tear Goten displayed. From the ragged look of his uniform to the swollen bruises, the burns on his hands and the cuts on his face, head and arms, he knew this will be the deciding blow. Dropping to all fours, he reared back and then throttled forward. "GOOD NIGHT!"
It was in this unpleasant state of mind that Goten remembered it. That day he had transformed from the playful, scared and timid youngster into a fearsome warrior. He saw his mother killed, right in front of his eyes and Majin Buu did it so callously. Anytime he fought in this state of being, he planned to bring down all of the strength he had to bear into destroying his enemy.
With his back against the wall, Goten let out a sound barrier breaking howl. The pressure shook the arena, the shockwave from his lungs slowed Rayo's momentum and the buffeting wave of ki coming from him made him jerk in his approach. His corkscrewing arm was caught by the wrist, and the painful vice on his arm throttled him away across the ring, making him tumble and fumble back to his crouched stance.
Looking up, his eyes widened and his crimson aura was blown back by the tumultuous wind coming from his opponent. Lightning, jagged in its shape, arced around a more defined muscular frame. Blood evaporated off his brow, leaving a distinctly different glare coming off Goten's visage. He possessed a stoic fire in his blue eyes, his hair arched up into a row of golden blades and a single brow flocked forward in a tailored style all come to know from this form.
"WHOA! IT LOOKS LIKE GOTEN HAS TRANSFORMED...AGAIN, I THINK?! THIS TIME, EVERYTHING'S BECOMING ELECTRIC, EVEN MY HAIR IS STANDING ON END SEEING HIS HAIR...UH...STAND ON END!" The Announcer declared with trepidation, always unnerved whenever a new form appears from his miraculously strong contenders.
"So, you were holding back this whole time?" Rayo smirked, his eyes looking in awe and trepidation. "I feel a bit cheated. Here I thought I was among the top dogs, but you just had to prove me wrong, huh? Why let me bloody you up if you got such a wild card?"
"I don't like bringing this form out for a tournament," Goten spoke, his voice graveled and carrying a serious edge to it. "It's not meant for sport or friendly competition. I only have used it for one real purpose: to kill."
Rayo's own eyes widened and his whole jaw felt like a bomb struck him from below. His head whipped back, his body bowing and his whole crimson laced frame rocketed into the sky. Dizzied and gagging on spit and blood, he flipped head over heels to the ground, Goten's body turning away and taking a step away from his perceived impact site.
Then, in a split instant before hitting the ground, Goten used his forward foot's sole to spin around and land a lightning sprouting kick into Rayo's chest. His eyes whitened, mouth pursed and the aura evaporated with his body shooting off like a bullet and slamming into the barrier separating the floating audience and the arena. The shockwave fully connected, shuddering the arena and letting loose dozens of snapping currents of his ki. Lowering his foot down, Goten watched Rayo's unconscious frame slide off the Hard Light surface and drop to the ground with a distant thud.
After a few seconds went by, the Announcer remembered to start the count. Five seconds in and no movement was made, giving Goten the feeling that Rayo's ki dropping wasn't just a ruse. By the time he hit the ten count, the Announcer cheered with gusto.
"AND THAT IS IT! BEFORE MY VERY EYES, GOTEN HAS ACHIEVED VICTORY WITH RAYO HITTING THE OUT OF BOUNDS ZONE! WE WILL SEND A MEDIC TEAM TO MAKE SURE HE'S ALRIGHT, BUT AS OF THIS MOMENT, GOTEN SECURED HIS PLACE INTO THE SEMI-FINALS!"
Releasing the form, Goten sighed, glad that it was over. He winced, and gingerly limped to the edge of the arena back to the Waiting Wing, joined by Tenshinhan and Yamcha. Even as they congratulated him, he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever he felt meant something bad. Gohan wouldn't have raise his power that much unless he fought someone strong; and he wouldn't stop venting ki unless he lost.
"Gohan," Goten wondered, looking waywardly at the sky.
A/N: OK so this chapter was...utterly difficult to write. I'm not gonna lie, as far as writing goes, I've been feeling pretty tapped out. I love this story, and have no intention of stopping, but the fact is, I've written so much of it —and a lot in the form of battles — that I've been feeling very burnt out. I'm still trying to keep up a relatively consistent update schedule (monthly, earlier if I'm lucky), but this was just difficult month. Work has been busy, and I've just been feeling a bit meh. But, thankfully, my friends came to the rescue. While the first section was me, a friend of mine was able to help me formulate Erasa's own emotional moment with Gohan, because I just could not think. As for Goten and Rayo's section, that entire fight was concluded with the efforts of Demod20, who did more than just proofread this time. So, to both of my friends, thank you two for helping me with this or the chapter would definitely still be in the first paragraph. I shall see you all as soon as I can in next exciting chapter of the Erased Chronicles! (P.S.: As an aside, this story is now four years old! It's been four very hectic years, but we're sill going strong! Thanks to the lot of you for staying with me this long!)