Chapter I: The New Game
Trunks, Lisanna, and Iga arrived at the Son homes just after midday. Landing first, Trunks set Lisanna down as soon as his feet touched the ground, and Iga quickly landed just behind them.
"You know, I think I could get used to Earth." Iga remarked as he took in the surroundings, "This whole area, everything's so serene and vibrant; and the people here seem much happier. Plus, there's no death wizard armies tearing up the landscape."
"Frankly," He added before anyone could respond, "I'm surprised your family hasn't put a lodge out here, or something like that."
"Well, my mom's always too busy for long vacations; and I'm sure my dad wouldn't want to stay anywhere near this close to Goku's house." Trunks replied, leading the way to the houses, "Besides, that's what Goten's house is for."
"Yeah, but that's different." the redhead pointed out before questioning, "You do like the idea of living out here, don't you? Then build a house out here. I'm sure Bulma wouldn't mind spending some extra cash."
Trunks gave his master a thoughtful look before the redhead added.
"And I mean, if Lisanna's sticking around," Iga said as he slowly made a grin, "You're gonna want someplace a little more private, am I right?"
Trunks kept looking ahead and pretended to ignore the question while Lisanna giggled at his embarrassment.
"Imagine it," Iga continued, smirking at his successful teasing, "Once everything on Earthland is settled and you're back here, helping run your mom's company and all that; wouldn't it be nice to have a place out here? You could take a week off and spend it out here, away from the busy city life… just you and the girl of your dreams."
"That does sound romantic." Lisanna agreed thoughtfully; but the conversation shifted topic the next moment as the three were now walking onto the front lawn of the Son homes.
"So, Gohan's still dead, right?" Iga questioned bluntly, "When's he planning on coming back?"
"Don't know." Trunks answered with a shrug, "Apparently, he's been trying to get some sort of crazy power-up. No one knows if he's got it yet, but he said he'd tell us when he gets it."
"I hope he gets it soon." Lisanna remarked, "We might need Gohan."
"'Might need' is probably an understatement." Iga agreed before sighing and stopping to look at the Son homes once again.
"Sorry, Trunks," Iga commented at the sight, "But I really like these houses better."
"I'm not surprised." Trunks said with an honest shrug, "City life never sounded like your kinda thing."
"I've tried it, once or twice." Iga informed him before adding, "But those cities were nothing like the one here on Earth. It's pretty impressive how the humans here have built and created all this stuff without magic, really."
"C'mon, you two." Lisanna cut in after a moment, "We're wasting time."
Trunks nodded in response before leading the two to Gohan and Videl's home first, sensing that Goten was in there as well. He knocked on the door before hearing Videl call out, "Door's open, Trunks!"
The demi-Saiyan opened the door slowly before walking through with Iga and Lisanna following.
"We're in here!" Videl called out, and Trunks followed her voice into the kitchen.
"Hey, guys." Trunks greeted as he stepped into the doorway, seeing Goten and Pan helping Videl prepare lunch.
"Hey, Trunks!" Goten said happily while Pan jumped at the older demi-Saiyan to greet him with a hug.
"What's up, Pan?" Trunks asked her with a friendly smile after he returned her hug.
"Uncle 'Ten and I are helping Mama make lunch!" Pan announced eagerly.
"You're helping me?" Videl joked, "I thought you two were going to do the work for me."
"I can, if you want." Goten offered seriously, though he smirked at the joke.
"That would be nice." Videl replied before adding, "Especially since I have some guests to welcome."
Videl exited the kitchen to greet Iga and Lisanna while Trunks remained with Goten and Pan.
"Who'd you bring with you?" Goten asked his friend as he and Pan shoved two more-than-extra-large trays of lasagna into the oven.
"You remember how my sword came back, right?" Trunks asked in response.
"Yeah," Goten replied, "Your teacher Iga sent it back to you."
"That's right." Trunks agreed before saying, "Well, it turns out that Master's magic amplifier works with people too."
"Is Iga in the living room?" Goten asked, cutting to the point.
"And Lisanna." Trunks quickly added.
"Really?" Goten said with surprise before hurrying into the living room.
"Holy cow." Lisanna commented as soon as she saw Goten, "You're, uh, really tall… all of a sudden."
"Yeah," Goten replied with a smile and a scratch of the back of his head, "I get that a lot."
Lisanna walked up to the younger demi-Saiyan and hugged him as he happily returned the greeting. Goten quickly released her before facing Iga.
"And you're the guy with all the crazy magic, right?" Goten asked the man.
"Well, I don't know if I have any magic dealing with insanity;" Iga joked before replying, "But if you mean crazy awesome magic, then that's me."
"And how did you get all those scars?" Goten asked, intrigued.
"Ex-girlfriends, mostly." Iga answered dismissively with a sly grin.
"I see why you stayed with this guy for a year, Trunks." Videl commented with a smirk, "He's good for a joke."
"Li-chan!" Pan cheered as she ran through the doorway and into Lisanna, actually managing to stumble her from the force.
"Hey, Pan." Lisanna said, slightly weak as she recovered some of her breath, "I see someone's been getting strong."
"I fly around the entire world lots of times for practice." Pan informed her friend.
"You gotta watch out for Pan, here." Goten chimed in with a grin, "She's pretty smart too."
"I'd bet." Iga agreed with a nod, "Knowing her father, I'd expect nothing less; and by the way, I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help him… back then."
"It's fine, really." Videl replied, watching Iga wipe some sweat off his forehead before questioning him, "I'm guessing it's your magic that got you and Lisanna here?"
"It was," Iga affirmed, "Though it's not as straightforward as you describe it."
"Hey," Lisanna quipped, "You admitted that you'd been scheming this entire trip for a while now; you just didn't want to be the first one to break the rules."
"What can I say?" Iga remarked with a smirk, "I gotta maintain an image."
"And what have we been 'scheming' for this trip?" Videl questioned curiously.
"Oh, nothing serious, really." Iga said nonchalantly, "Just some outright rebellion against the powers that be."
"And who would these 'powers' be exactly?" Videl asked, slightly puzzled.
"No clue." Iga said with a shrug, "But they're the guys Gods of Destruction and the Kais are afraid of, so there's a hint for you."
"Wait," Goten cut in, "You're planning on taking on people stronger than guys like Beerus?"
"Maybe even Whis." Trunks added begrudgingly.
"But none of you have god powers." Videl remarked skeptically.
"Actually, I do; it's just not a Saiyan thing." Iga informed her, "And Trunks has my magic."
Trunks lit his hands aflame the same way he had yesterday in front of his mother.
"So you CAN use your magic here?" Goten asked, surprised. Trunks nodded as the flames in his hands went out.
"You knew he had magic?" Videl asked Goten, who shrugged at her before she got back to her point, "Anyway, that makes one and a half fighters."
"And how many Saiyans are on this planet?" Iga questioned, "Six?"
"Until Gohan comes back." Videl affirmed.
"Great." Iga stated happily as he laid out his plan, "All we've got to do is get them together and make Trunks and Goten gods."
"I think this is where my dad would complain about a 'Super Saiyan Bargain Sale'." Trunks remarked.
"Maybe," Iga agreed, "But this time we're selling limited edition Saiyans."
"All Saiyans are limited edition." Videl reminded him.
"Fine." Iga said with a roll of his eyes, "We're selling deluxe Saiyans. Doesn't sound as cool as limited edition, though, does it?"
"I'm still trying to figure out what we're selling." Goten chimed in, confused.
"Okay," Trunks said, holding his forehead in his right hand out of embarrassed frustration, "Master, can we focus?"
"Sorry, I'm just in a good mood." Iga replied, "Anyway, we should probably get this part of the plan done quickly so we can jump to phase two."
"What's phase two?" Goten asked, intrigued.
"Train like hell until someone shows up to kill either one or all of us." Iga said flatly.
"That's not much of a plan." Videl remarked.
"Sounds easy enough for me." Goten declared, thinking there was no way he was going to say "no" to becoming a Super Saiyan God.
"I'd offer using my magic to find our enemy," Iga explained, "But I have no clue where to start the search. The best I can do at the moment is try to make some kind of early warning system. With hard training and a bit of luck, it could work."
"After we beat whoever these people are," Trunks said with conviction, "We could bring anyone from Earthland back here without trouble, or the other way around."
"But we shouldn't do that before we're done." Iga reminded his student, "Bringing anymore people over may attract unwanted attention, not to mention the possibility of getting them murdered... My magic has a good number of stealth abilities, but I've only been able to give Trunks' lacrima and Lisanna's remote my magic. And if Lisanna would loan her remote to someone else it would be pointless, because if there is someone or something watching us; it'll see Lisanna the moment my magic stops protecting her. I could make some more remotes, but that'd take way too long; and if I'm honest, I think I need the time to train."
"I'm sorry, Goten." Trunks apologized to his friend immediately, "But Wendy can't come here until it's safe."
"Don't worry." Goten said with a reassuring smile, "I figured that out by now. And we're fighting so that I can go back to her, right? That's all I need to know."
After a having a very long conversation on the subject, the group heard the oven timer ring.
"Finally!" Goten cheered as he hurried into the kitchen with his niece, "All this thinking's made me hungry."
Videl could see Iga's nostrils flaring as he enjoyed the smell of the food before she could even offer him any.
"Lunch, anybody?" She offered; and the entire group were lounging in the living room within a few minutes, eating and continuing to discuss their situation.
"Master," Trunks questioned after he finished his fourth plate, "Do you really think my dad's going to help us become gods? I remember how much he hated helping Gohan…"
"I'm sure we'll be able to talk him into it." Iga assured him, practically pouring lasagna into his mouth before adding with his mouth full, "We've got a knack for that kinda thing."
"I'm not sure I understood that." Videl remarked humorously, getting a light giggle from Lisanna before Trunks continued his conversation.
"But Dad reached his God form without the ritual," Trunks reminded Iga, "You know he's going to look down on me if I don't do the same."
"We might not have the time for that, Trunks." Iga argued, "And if Vegeta's got a problem with doing the ritual, he's going to have to get over it."
"I guess." Trunks gave in with a sigh, "I'm just not looking forward to that conversation."
"Well, you may want to get ready for it," The redhead replied, slowly standing up as he did, "Because I'm about to start rounding up our Saiyans."
A portal appeared on the front door before Trunks nearly stuttered as he made a plea.
"But Master," He asked, slightly nervous, "Can we at least wait to get my dad until after we're done eating?"
"Relax, I'm not going to your house first." Iga replied before walking all the way through the portal. Next thing anyone knew, Goku and Uub were standing by the front door.
"Hey, guys." Goku greeted them happily, "Where's lunch at?"
"Is that how he got you to come here?" Videl asked her father-in-law, shaking her head when he nodded with a grin.
"I just wanted to see this god ritual." Uub told everyone.
"It is pretty cool." Goten told him as Iga reappeared.
"Two left." The redhead counted down as he glanced to Trunks, "You finished eating yet?"
"I guess." Trunks sighed before slowly standing up and walking over to his master, "Let's get this over with."
"Don't be so sad, Trunks." Iga remarked as a new portal opened behind him, "I've got a plan for dealing with your dad."
On Earthland, in The Shadow of the World…
Edo kicked Orga aside with ease before side-stepping a punch from Zancrow. With a wave of his hand, Edo forced the two to slam face first into each other before Cel launched her attack at him, firing multiple rocks at her Master. Edo elected to swat the projectiles rather than use his magic to dodge it, doing so before appearing in front of her and punching her in the stomach. Cel had changed her body to rock just before the impact, but she still doubled over in pain from the hit. Edo paused the fight to see Zancrow and Orga rubbing their foreheads while Cel regained her footing.
"You three are still too weak," He informed them before appearing in front of Orga, kicking him in the center of his chest to knock him onto his back before adding, "And you're too slow."
Zancrow tried to retaliate with a Bellow, but Edo hit him in the face with a black ball of energy before he could finish the call out.
"Don't rely on your magic." Edo instructed, appearing behind Cel and throwing her at Orga as he continued his lecture, "It gives you an edge; but it's your strength that will win the fight."
Orga was sitting up just as Cel struck him, and he fell over as Cel bounced off and past him. Zancrow just recovered his bearings when Edo reappeared in front of him. He was quick enough to dodge the first punch his Master threw at him, but he was not able to avoid the attack from his Master's other hand, which was a ki blast aimed for his stomach. The explosion sent Zancrow rolling backwards as Orga and Cel launched at Edo's back. He appeared between them mid-charge and landed simultaneous punches to the side of their heads, sending them flying past him a different angles.
"None of you now could beat the Gohan from a year ago." Edo informed the three as they slowly got up, "And you call yourselves God Slayers? We're done for now."
Edo deactivated his magic, and the room returned to its normal size.
"I want you three training constantly." He ordered them, "Unless I say otherwise, your daily routine will consist of eating, fighting, and sleeping."
"Yes, Master." Orga and Zancrow replied together.
"I'm not going to complain." Cel remarked before adding with a grin, "As long as my sleeping arrangements aren't changing, that is."
Edo ignored the remark, turning to Zancrow before speaking, "I want you to focus on your ki control. Out of the three of you, you seem to have the most potential in that regard."
"I will." Zancrow replied before adding with a slight bow, "Thank you, Master."
"Orga," Edo instructed, "Get faster. All that raw strength means nothing if you can't hit your enemy."
The Lightning God Slayer bowed his head and grunted affirmatively.
"And me?" Cel questioned with a mischievous grin, "What would the great Edo want from me?"
"Everything." Edo answered cryptically before looking back to Orga and Zancrow, "Leave us."
The two quickly obeyed, walking through one of the walls as they disappeared.
"Everything, huh?" Cel questioned seductively, stepping only inches away from Edo and running a finger over his chest, "So where does 'everything' begin?"
She was eyeing his muscles under his skin-tight clothing before Edo moved her hand aside.
"Not now." He said coolly, "You and I are going to fight first."
"Sparring here and then sparring in the sheets?" Cel questioned, "Just say when."
"Focus." He scolded her, seeing the smirk finally leave her face, "This may be a game we're playing, but the stakes are not trivial. Your biggest issue is your apathy towards this whole affair."
"It sounds like you're worried about me." Cel remarked before adding, "If that were even possible."
"It's not." Edo said coldly, "And I've never once concealed the fact that you, Zancrow, and Orga are just means to an end. That being said, if one of the key components to my plan seems incapable of handling the task ahead of her; she can easily be returned to the mountain range in which I found her. I'll have no problem creating a replacement."
Cel was silent as she listened to him, getting slightly angered by the threat.
"I didn't bring you here for companionship." Edo continued, "I brought you here because of your strength and skill. I'd say your intelligence, too; but you've not once genuinely put your mind to this."
"And how would you know that?" She questioned, irritated.
"You're pulling some of your attacks against me." Edo stated, "Whether or not you notice, you exert more strength when you fight Zancrow or Orga than when you spar with me. Is this possibly because you're growing too attached to me?"
"I-" She began to argue, but he cut her off.
"I don't care one way or the other about your feelings toward me, but your training will be less effective if you don't use all your strength. Are we clear?"
"Yes…" Cel replied, slightly sour, "Master."
"Good. Hopefully, we'll be ready when round one of our new game with Igneel's champion begins." Edo declared before shifting into a fighting stance, "Now prepare yourself; I do not plan on making this enjoyable."
At Capsule Corporation…
Vegeta slowly landed on the floor of the GR before quickly turning the machine off with his right hand while his left hand wiped sweat off his forehead.
"Phew…" A stranger's voice suddenly made Vegeta whirl around in surprise, "Quite a workout, right?"
"Who the hell are you?!" The Saiyan Prince quickly demanded, seeing a shirtless red-haired man standing in front of him. Vegeta raised a palm at the grinning stranger, who quickly raised his hands defensively.
"Whoa, hold up, Vegeta." The redhead calmly replied, "I'm a friend."
Otherworld, an hour or so later…
Iga emerged from his portal on a nearby tree, looking around as he tried to determine his exact location. He could hear the sounds of explosions in the vicinity, and he turned around to see two orange blurs fighting each other. When he noticed both the fighters had halos over their head; he smirked to himself thinking, I can't believe this still works!
The fighters must have noticed Iga's presence, and they both stopped for Iga to see two different Gohan's greeting him. Before he could ask which one was the real Son Gohan, the two joined together back into one.
"What's up, Igneel?" Gohan asked as the redhead approached.
"Just came to check in on everyone's favorite dead guy." Iga remarked before informing him, "Everything's going just as we planned it. Earth'll have two more gods on it in a matter of hours."
"That's a start, I guess." Gohan replied as he thought, "Though Trunks and Goten need to go beyond Super Saiyan God if we even plan on beating Cerberus."
"I'm still not sure we should even be attempting this." Iga admitted honestly, "I mean, there's a reason why guys like him have been around for so long."
"I know," Gohan agreed with a sigh, "But I've got too many people counting on me to back down now. And it's only a matter of time until Edo gets impatient."
"Speaking of Cerberus…" Supreme Kai finally chimed in, "Um, he's not going to be too happy about a living being, who's not a Kai, visiting Otherworld whenever they want. You should probably hurry out of here before something happens."
"I guess." Iga remarked with a grin, "But I'll admit I'm half tempted to sit right here and wait for that something to happen. At least we'd know some of these stories from the Kais are real, then. And I'd get to see what Gohan's capable of…"
"I'd rather not," Supreme Kai stated, "At least, not on my planet, please."
"I hear 'ya." Iga said with a dismissive wave of his right hand, opening a portal at the same time, "I just wanted to keep my friend updated. Gohan, how much longer do you think we'll need before we're anywhere near ready?"
"Well, in terms of strength; I'm definitely ready." Gohan answered thoughtfully, "But I wanted to finish learning a few tricks before we do anything, so I could use a little more time… a year, at worst."
"Hey, that sounds good to me." Iga commented, "These kids are going to need all the time they can get."
A few months later…
Son Goten woke up slowly, wishing he could stay in his dream before curling under his blanket and attempting to go back to sleep. Images of his dream flashed in his eyelids, and he suddenly realized he was not able to sleep as he recalled the dream.
I'll get there, Wendy, I promised I did. He thought, wishing the girl of his dreams could read his mind from a universe away. He made an exhausted sigh before sitting up and stretching.
At least the nightmares haven't come back. He said to himself as he reflected on his dream. Seeing Lisanna here on Earth with Trunks had caused some of the emotions he had settled about Wendy to return; and in the past months, Goten's dreams almost always had Wendy in them. Most of them were altered images of his memories with her; but some of them were new manifestations of his desires, no doubt. He had all sorts of dreams about that girl, but the nightmares about losing her had not returned. He guessed that the hope he was finding through his training and his friends' optimism were helping.
As he was thinking, he glanced over at the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was already one in the afternoon. It was odd that he had slept through breakfast, but it was odder that his mother or anyone else had not woken him up yet. Suddenly realizing that Trunks had probably been sitting around at their training spot waiting for him, he hurriedly grabbed a clean dogi and got dressed as fast as possible. As soon as he left his room, he noticed his mother was not in the house. Figuring that she must be out running errands or something, he shrugged his confusion aside and opened the fridge after entering the kitchen. Finding a leftover sandwich, he grabbed it and chowed down on it as he closed the fridge and exited the house. He glanced over to Videl and Gohan's home to observe that no one seemed to be there also. Finally deciding something was off, Goten used his ki sense to learn that everyone was in West City.
That's weird. He thought to himself as he slowly floated into the air, What's going on at Trunks' place?
Eager to investigate, he shot into the sky and made his way to Capsule Corp., stopping when he saw news reporters and paparazzi at the building's entrance. Knowing he had to get out of the air, he quickly found an empty street and landed on the sidewalk before walking the rest of the way to C.C.
Ignoring comments on his familiarity from the reporters as they got out of his way, Goten walked through the front doors and smiled at the young woman behind the front desk.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Son." The woman greeted him.
"A lot of them came by today, huh?" He joked, gesturing to the doors, "I could barely get inside."
"Someone must have told the media Ms. Briefs was holding some kind of social event today." The receptionist guessed, "They get like that when they think they'll see more than one celebrity."
"Is Bulma throwing some kind of party?" Goten wondered aloud, trying to figure out why he was not invited. The woman nodded.
"They're all in the atrium right now." She informed him.
"Thanks," He said amiably before turning to head for the atrium, stopping when he realized he had another question, "Wait… You're new here, aren't you?"
"I am, sir." The girl replied, slightly nervous, wondering if she had done something wrong, "But… how did you know?"
"It's because everyone here just calls me Goten." He stated.
"Oh." The girl replied, relieved that her only error was being too respectful, "That's a relief. Usually I'm kind of an airhead, so I thought I had done something wrong."
"Nah, you're doing fine." He assured her, and she smiled back at him, "What's your name, anyway?"
"Valese."
"That's a nice name." He complimented honestly, "It's nice to meet you, Valese."
"Thank you, and it was nice meeting you too, Goten." She said, sounding slightly awkward in her informality, "I'll let Ms. Briefs know you're coming."
Goten thanked her and walked away as Valese watched him until he was out of sight.
The interaction had almost distracted Goten from the mystery at hand; but everything finally made sense once he reached the massive room.
"Surprise!" An entire crowd cheered upon seeing him. His mother rushed out of the group and hugged him.
"Happy birthday, son!" She told him as he returned the hug.
"Thanks, Mom." He replied, smiling past her at the rest of the group.
"About time you showed up!" Trunks joked from the front of the group, "We were about to start eating without you."
"What are you talking about?" Iga questioned from across the crowd, and Goten saw the shirtless man stuffing food in his face near one of the buffet tables, "I've been eating since I got here!"
Goten smirked at the man before seeing Pan come flying through the dispersing crowd to hug him.
"Happy birthday, Uncle 'Ten!" She cheered as Goten caught her.
"Thanks, Pan." He replied, taking note of how strong her hug was, "Jeez, you're training's really paying off, huh?"
"Yup!" Pan answered with a proud nod.
"You're gonna have to be careful with the hugs soon," He half-joked as Videl approached them, "Get any stronger, and you'll be dangerous."
"She's already dangerous." Videl remarked as she greeted Goten, "I used to not understand why Gohan spoiled her so much; but she's very persuasive. Happy birthday, by the way."
"Thanks Sis." He said as Pan stood next to him, "I'm guessing you helped plan this?"
"Me, your mother, and Bulma." Videl affirmed, "But it was actually Trunks' idea."
"Really?" Goten asked with interest, though not surprised.
"That's what Bulma said." Krillin chimed in as he walked up from behind Goten, "How old are you now?"
"Seventeen." Goten answered.
"Dang…" Krillin remarked with a weak laugh, "I'm getting old."
"I couldn't tell." Goten said politely.
"You're a bad liar, just like your dad." Krillin reminded him, shaking his head in amusement at the demi-Saiyan before adding after he glanced across the room, "Anyway, happy birthday, Goten. I can see that my wife needs me."
"Thanks, Krillin." Goten replied before Krillin returned to his family.
"It looks like everybody came." Goten observed to Videl as he looked around the atrium.
"Pretty much." She agreed before Trunks and Iga approached them.
"Your dad and Uub wished you a happy birthday." The redhead informed Goten, "I dropped by to see if they could make it, but they were kinda busy. Goku says he'll drop by later, though."
"Thanks, Iga." Goten told the immortal.
"Grampa G is coming?" Pan asked excitedly while Goten turned to his best friend.
"Videl told me this was your idea." He said gratefully.
"I guess it was." Trunks answered with a shrug, "I did suggest a surprise party, but I didn't think everyone was going to get invited."
"You know Bulma," Chi Chi remarked to the group, "I don't think she's ever thought small in her life."
"Where is she, by the way?" Goten asked them, "I haven't seen her or Lisanna."
"Mom's trying to deal with the reporters outside." Trunks answered, "And Lisanna's taken Bra to the bathroom."
"You should get something to eat, son." Chi Chi suggested before Goten could reply to Trunks, "I'm sure you're hungry since you slept through breakfast."
"Now that you mention it…" Goten agreed, suddenly remembering his stomach was empty. The group around him laughed as he made a beeline for the food.
An hour later, after eating cake with almost everyone, Goten decided to walk around and mingle with the partiers. He found Piccolo resting near some shrubs as Dende conversed with him until he saw the demi-Saiyan approach.
"Hi, Goten." The younger Namekian greeted him, "It's been a while. How's your training going? I've been too busy to see for myself."
"Pretty good, I think." Goten replied honestly.
"I heard some of Trunks' plan," Dende informed him before adding with a hint of concern, "Are you sure it's a smart move? I mean, you don't even know who you are planning to fight."
"You're probably right." Goten admitted seriously, "But I've got a promise to keep."
"I understand that," Dende expanded on his point, "But, I think Wendy would rather you break your promise than risk your life."
"Maybe," Goten conceded, "But Wendy's not the one that gets to decide what I'll risk my life for."
"You're not going to talk him out of his plans, Dende." Piccolo told Earth's guardian, "He's a Saiyan."
"That's right." Goten agreed with Piccolo before questioning the two, "You guys don't happen to know anything about our enemy, do you?"
"About them?" Dende replied, "I'm afraid not. Back on Namek, there were tons of old legends and myths that the elders passed on; but it's been so long, I can't even remember some of my favorite ones."
"I heard a rumor once." Piccolo said, surprising the two before correcting himself, "When I wasn't whole, Kami travelled between here and Otherworld a few times. The rumor spoke of a guard dog, one that removes the living from Otherworld and sends the dead back if they ever leave without permission. I do not remember if Kami had ever learned the name of this being, whatever he is."
"Where's Goten at?" the group heard from a decent distance behind Goten, and the demi-Saiyan turned to see Bulma pointing him out to Videl. The three watched as Videl walked over to them.
"Hello, Videl." Dende greeted her politely before adding, "You, Bulma, and Chi Chi really did a great job planning this."
"Thanks, Dende." Videl replied before turning to Goten, "Iga says he needs to talk to you and Trunks after people start leaving."
"Okay." Goten replied before he looked at Piccolo with a thought, "Hey, Piccolo?"
"What?" The older Namekian replied.
"It's true you trained Gohan, right?" Goten questioned, "Like, a long time ago?"
"It is." Piccolo answered, wondering where the conversation was going.
"So," Goten asked curiously, "Why haven't you trained Pan yet?"
"I'm not good with children." Piccolo replied quickly.
"Liar." Videl called him out, making Dende laugh at Piccolo's sour expression before turning to Goten, "You know, Goten, that might be a really good idea. I know Gohan would be more than okay with it."
"Maybe I should run the idea by Pan." Videl remarked before Piccolo could respond, "See what she thinks about it…"
"Fine." Piccolo surrendered, "I'll consider training her."
"Thank you, Piccolo." Videl said, playfully and gratefully at the same time.
"Hey, Goten!" The group heard Trunks call out from another area of the atrium, "Get over here!"
Goten hurried to the voice to find Trunks, Lisanna, Iga, Bulma, Bulla, Yamcha, Pu'ar, and Pan all sitting together by a large table.
"Hey, bro, what do you say we give these folks a show?" Trunks questioned his best friend as he neared the group, "We haven't had our sparring match yet."
"Sure." Goten agreed almost immediately with a grin, "I've been itching to do some kind of training today."
"You two are not going to fight in here." Bulma told them pointedly.
"Come on, Mom." Trunks pleaded with her, "The atrium's big enough, and we can't go outside with everyone because of the press."
"We won't even go Blue." Goten tacked on some concessions, "And we'll avoid explosions."
Bulma looked between the two and found it hard to resist their pleading expressions.
"Fine." Bulma gave in, pointing a finger at Goten, "Consider it your birthday present from me. And if you break anything…"
"We won't, Mom." Trunks assured her.
"Hey, guys!" Yamcha called out to the rest of the party, "Goten and Trunks are about to fight!"
"This ought to be interesting." Iga commented as Bulma had some of the C.C. employees rearrange and secure the party's furniture and food so nothing would be destroyed accidentally. Even Vegeta, who had been silently hiding from the rest of the party, came out of his secluded section of the atrium to watch.
"What do you think, Trunks?" Goten asked as the two walked to the center of the atrium, "Do we start at half, or should we just go all out?"
"We should probably warm up first." Trunks answered as he thought, "But we can get to the fun part quickly if you want."
"Sounds good to me." Goten replied as he stretched, "Just don't be mad when I beat you in front of everyone."
"Keeping dreaming, Goten. And don't think I'm going to let you win because it's your birthday." Trunks quipped, matching his friend's grin. The two took fighting stances at the last moment of preparation. The next instant, the two rushed each other, kicking off the newest bit of entertainment for the party.
Somewhere very far from Earth…
"The mortals are starting to irritate me." A male voice stated, "They think this is some game they can just decide to play."
"They are fools for thinking they can test us," A female voice added, "Though it's clear they are no fools when it comes to combat."
"Universe Seven always seemed to create the most problem children." Another male voice remarked.
"It was Universe 8 that started this." A new female voice reminded the group.
"The Saiyans of Seven were going to challenge us eventually." A third male voice declared, "8 just accelerated the process."
"Of all the things I've heard," A third female voice chimed in, "The way these Saiyans speak of us is most amusing. And they know of you, Cerberus."
"The Kais must have said something." The first voice replied.
"Must have?" The second voice remarked, "You've let your little legend do most of your work for you. Of course the Kais spoke of you."
"Hmph." The third laughed to himself, "The most feared, yet the weakest."
"But not so weak that the mortals could defeat me." The first said confidently.
"The dead one could." The fourth pointed out, "Very easily."
"To think that a mortal would ever attain that sort of power…" The fifth said, mostly to himself.
"It's incredible, but not unheard of." The sixth replied.
"Incredible or not," the first decided, "These mortals must be shown their place. If word of their existence reaches Cry-"
"Do not speak its name, you fool!" The third scolded the first, "You know what comes of those that forget to show it the respect it deserves."
"You know what I think?" the fifth thought aloud, "If Cerberus is so anxious to rid us of these pests, let's let him. We'll give them a taste of our might, and perhaps no other action will need to be taken."
"I'll do it." The first agreed.
"I see no issue with it." The second affirmed.
"If it'll make my job easier, I'm all for it." The third remarked.
"It has been nearly a millennium since such an event has occurred," The fourth stated, sighing before adding, "But perhaps it was time for this."
"Sounds good to me." The sixth concluded.
"It's settled then." The first declared, "I will go to Earth 7 and challenge them."
"Cerberus," the third warned the first as he moved to leave, "Speak nothing of its existence to the mortals. Slipping up here amongst us would warrant your demise; say that name in their presence, and you will wish it would destroy you."
"IT has done nothing for millennia, unlike ourselves." Cerberus remarked as his image began to fade away, "Relax, my friends, I will end this debacle today."
Back at Capsule Corp, a few minutes later…
Trunks and Goten easily dodged and blocked each other's attacks as they darted around the atrium. The fight was an even match since both demi-Saiyans were so familiar with each other's tactics. The moment one made a move, the other would know how to counter it almost instantly; and the majority of crowd on the ground of the atrium watched with awe as the fight dragged on. The fight had carried on for at least ten minutes before they paused it, landing in front the crowd as they stared at each other.
"Go Uncle 'Ten!" Pan shouted from her seat on her mother's shoulders.
The two fighters glanced at their audience before smirking at each other.
"You gonna give up, Goten?" Trunks asked his friend confidently.
"You wish." Goten answered, "I'm just about to win; why would I give up?"
Trunks was going to respond when an explosion shook the building.
"What the heck was that?!" Bulma shouted, thinking some accident must have occurred in the labs. Vegeta, Iga, Trunks, and Goten froze as they felt where the disturbance came from while everyone else stood puzzled.
"They better not have destroyed something important." The older bluenette continued as she moved to investigate, but stopped when Vegeta appeared next to her and grabbed her by the arm.
"Stay, woman." Vegeta told her quickly, "That was not an accident."
Before Bulma could ask her husband what he meant, another shockwave rattled the building.
"That's coming from the front of the building…" Videl told the group with some concern, "There are people out there!"
"Trunks, Goten, Vegeta; let's go!" Iga shouted to the three as he hurried for the front exit, "Everyone else stay here!"
The three Saiyans followed him without a word, stopping suddenly when Iga blocked them from the front doors of the building.
"What is this?" Vegeta demanded from the redhead, "Get out of my way!"
"You feel that power out there, Vegeta." Iga replied to the man, "You know what's waiting out there."
"What are you talking about, Master?" Trunks questioned.
"It's one of them." Iga answered.
"Them?" Goten replied, "You mean the guys we've been training to fight?"
"They found us?" Trunks asked.
"Sort of." Iga said apologetically.
"Sort of?" Goten repeated.
"You led them to us." Vegeta quickly figured the man out, "Why?"
"Because we're ready." The immortal answered, "And Gohan said to."
"Gohan?" Goten said, puzzled, "You've been talking with Gohan?"
Iga nodded before speaking, "That's right."
"Was it his idea to lure them here?" Vegeta questioned, clearly irritated.
"We thought of it at about the same time, actually." Iga explained.
"You don't think you could have warned us?" Trunks commented, also annoyed.
"I was going to, after the party." Iga said honestly, trying his best to avoid smirking at seeing Trunks and Vegeta's matching irritated expressions, "We weren't sure when they would come after us, though. I'm just as surprised as you are that they showed up so soon after I removed my cloaking."
"Yeah," Goten recollected, "And I thought your magic would have given us some kind of warning."
"Apparently not." Iga pointed out. None of the group noticed Lisanna and Videl hiding in the lobby, having left their children with their families to keep an eye on the Saiyans.
"Come on out, you four!" a male stranger's deep voice boomed from outside, "I can sense you, sitting there by the door."
"I guess we should go meet this guy." Trunks suggested as he gathered himself, "Before he blows up the entrance."
Goten was about to shove the door open when Iga blocked him again.
"This is your last chance, guys." He warned the three, "Once you challenge this guy, there's no turning back. I can still take Lisanna back right now, before anyone will get hurt."
"Quit wasting our time, Master." Trunks replied, "We've spent too much of it preparing just for this. And I'm not giving up after all that work."
"And I'm not stopping until I see Wendy." Goten chimed in, calmly yet forcefully, "I've been waiting forever for this."
Lisanna and Videl watched as the four stepped outside.
"Should we tell everyone what's happening?" Lisanna wondered, trying to avoid overly worrying about Trunks at the moment.
"It couldn't hurt to warn them." Videl replied, "But you go do that."
"What are you going to do?" Lisanna questioned her friend.
"I'm going to get Goku and then some Senzu beans." Videl answered, "I'm getting the feeling that we might need them."
Lisanna nodded and turned to run to the party when Videl grabbed her arm.
"Lisanna," She warned the girl, "Whatever happens, you have to stay hidden. We don't know what will happen if this guy sees you."
"I will." Lisanna promised before the two parted, each hurrying to accomplish their tasks.
Vegeta, Iga, Trunks, and Goten stepped outside to see two massive holes in the street. Looking closer at one of the craters, Trunks saw a news van burning in its center.
"Don't worry." The voice said from above and behind them, "I didn't hurt the annoying ones; I just scared them off."
Turning around, the four saw a humanoid, black-fur feline standing atop the arched entrance of C.C. The clearly muscular threat wore nothing but some black boots and a set of dark green, baggy pants that matched his eye color. His right ear twitched as he looked at the four, and his tail swayed slowly behind his head as he formed his first impressions of them.
"No, that's not fair to them." The creature corrected himself, "You four are the annoying ones. Those mortals were simply doing their job; they know their place, at least."
"Especially you, redhead." The cat called Iga out, pointing at him with his tail and right index finger, "Ignoring my reign with zero respect."
"It's kinda hard to respect something when no one's even sure it exists." Iga argued before asking, "You must be Cerberus."
"I was told you had learned my name." Cerberus replied, "Which Kai remembered my legend? Which demon in Hell? Actually, I don't care. What I do care about, however, is the mockery you have made of me."
"I haven't made fun of you yet." Iga replied before adding, "But you may want to check with whoever passes along your, um, 'legend'. For some reason, people have started calling you a guard dog; but I mean, clearly, you're a cat."
"Why do people call him a guard dog?" Goten asked Iga.
"Because the moniker best describes my job." Cerberus explained, "I am Cerberus, Keeper of Death. My job is to remind the dead to stay in Otherworld; and if the living decide they wish to visit the dead, I make sure they get to visit permanently. It has been a long time since I've actually had to do my job, though."
"Because it's pointless!" Goten told him, "Almost no one knows that Otherworld is a place you can physically go to, and the ones that do haven't broken your rules."
"Until you decided to break all of them entirely." Cerberus remarked.
"The rules are stupid!" Goten yelled back. Cerberus shook his head at him.
"You fools no nothing of the 'rules'." The feline replied, playing with the claw on the end of his left middle finger with his left thumb, "To say there are things beyond your understanding is an understatement."
"Then why don't you try explaining things to us?" Trunks stated, "If you and whoever else put these rules in place for a reason, just say it."
"It's not a mortal's place to understand." Cerberus replied condescendingly, "It's a mortal's place to obey."
"I've always been told the worst leaders use the 'because I said so' line." Trunks insulted the feline.
"I'm not a mortal." Iga informed Cerberus, "So how about you tell me what's up?"
"You and I are nothing alike." Cerberus told the redhead.
"Clearly." Iga remarked humorlessly before questioning, "So, what comes next, Cerberus?"
"First," the Keeper answered, "I'm going to exercise the last of my patience. Return yourself and the girl back to where you belong; and I won't kill the both of you."
"You won't touch either of them." Trunks told Cerberus angrily.
"I will do as I please, mortal." Cerberus replied flatly, "Surely you've sensed the power that stands before you."
"You don't scare me." Goten quipped.
"Only one of you four seems to have any wisdom." Cerberus commented, looking to Vegeta, "You've been trying to find my weaknesses from the moment you saw me, and you've had enough respect to avoid insulting me."
"Perhaps you should tell these children how it is." The feline suggested to the older Saiyan, "You should tell them the futility of their efforts."
"Perhaps." Vegeta spoke for the first time in a while, "But I also know a few things about you; and you're too pathetic to listen to."
"Insulting me is the worst mistake you've ever made, mortal." Cerberus stated, glaring scornfully at the Saiyan, "For that, you will die last; and you won't be able to save your son, no matter how hard you try.
"But the question remains," Cerberus continued as he looked over his four enemies and met each of their gazes before adding, "Which one of you dies first?"