Chapter 9: The Return of Goku
A/N: Hey everybody! I'm back with yet another update, and just as always I'd like to send a BIG thank you out to those of you who have reviewed my story so far!
Ky111: You make an interesting point; I never thought of ASSJ as a "false" SSJ2, but now that I think about it, it kind of makes sense.
Rocker101: You're absolutely right about the fighter. I'm surprised that you were able to figure out who he was based one the one subtle hint, so nice job!
Sirius Potter2: The mystery fighter is not original, so you should know who he is.
AnisoulJ93: So, I checked out the power level for Broly that you listed, and you did have it correct. However, that was his power level at the time of Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan. Therefore, by the time he fought Gohan in second coming, Broly should actually be several times stronger than that due to the Zenkai he received from almost being killed. So, although he overwhelmed SSJ2 Gohan, Broly may have actually had a power level of several billion, rather than just 1.4. My levels may still be a little off, but not by much.
A-Man: If I could voice a sigh through the internet, I would. If you would like to drop the story because of Videl's power level, fine, but please keep in mind that she is still several hundred times weaker than the weakest human Z-Fighter, Yamcha, and is thus, not on par with him at all.
Cottoncandy101: Wow…I'm glad I'm still alive! Ha but really, I'm glad you like it so far!
Supersaiyaninfinitygohan: Glad you like it, and must I say for someone who doesn't read AU's your pen name would suggest otherwise…meh, I like it!
Sid89: Glad you liked the last chapter! As for Hercule's greatest moments, he did win the WMAT, although none of the Z Fighters attended, so that would suggest that he has a power comparable to somebody like General Blue of the RR Army, who is very skilled at martial arts for a human, but does not use any ki based attacks. Even so, he's a comic relief character…so it's not like it matters much.
This time around, the Z Fighters will make their way to the WMAT and have their reunion with Goku! Also, Gohan splits off to go find Videl, and has a run in with South Kai's mystery fighter. Now then, that's enough out of me, so let's get started!
***One Month Later***
A large yellow shuttle flew through the air towards the island where the World Martial Arts Tournament was going to be held, and the Z Fighters inside were all making conversation with each other, content with the speed the craft was moving at. Well, all were content, except for one.
"Dammit woman, why are we riding in this junk heap you call a shuttle?!" An irritated Vegeta shouted to Bulma.
The woman in question was not intimidated by Vegeta's anger; after all, she had to deal with it on a regular basis. Instead, she just sighed at Vegeta as she had to explain herself for the fifth time.
"I told you already, Vegeta," the blue haired woman started, "we are riding together so we can all be in one big group when Goku shows up. As for the speed of the ship, I'm sorry that I can't design something that moves faster than the speed of light like you all do!"
The rest of the Z fighters sat aboard the ship trying their best to ignore the third argument between the couple for that day. Krillin and 18 were playing with their daughter Marron, Tien and Chiaotzu were having a separate conversation in the back of the shuttle, Goten and Trunks enjoyed a fierce game of rock-paper-scissors, and even Chi Chi managed to avoid the argument by talking with her father.
That just left the two people without anybody else to keep them company, Gohan and Yamcha. They were originally sitting on opposite sides of the shuttle, but as neither one could stand to listen to the two big-headed people argue any longer, Gohan stood up from his chair and made his way next to the human.
"So Yamcha," Gohan said, taking a seat beside him, "Why aren't you going to be competing in the tournament this year?"
Yamcha just laughed at the question. "Are you kidding me?" he said incredulously, "I couldn't make it past the first round when it was just Goku and Krillin competing; why would I think I have a better chance now?"
"Yeah, I guess you have a good point there," Gohan said, seeing the logic in his friend's words. The Saiyan then turned his attention towards Vegeta, who had finally ceased his yelling.
"Hey Vegeta," Gohan said, gaining the elder Saiyan's attention, "I don't think that we should transform into Super Saiyans during the tournament."
Vegeta just raised an eyebrow at this question, and after a moment he tersely asked "Why not?"
"Well, it's simple really," Gohan began to explain, "If we transform into Super Saiyans, we might be recognized from the broadcast of the Cell Games. If that happens, we may be asked a bunch of difficult questions, and we don't need that."
Vegeta stared at Gohan with his typical hardened expression. After giving ample time for Gohan to correct his statement, Vegeta finally gave Gohan a one word response.
"Idiot!" he shouted at the younger Saiyan.
Gohan was confused; he was sure that his explanation for this was rock solid. "What do you mean?" he asked Vegeta, who was still glaring at him.
"If we are going to be recognized from that stupid broadcast, then we're going to be recognized regardless of whether or not we are Super Saiyans," the Saiyan Prince said, hoping Gohan would understand his logic. Unfortunately for him, however, Gohan was still visibly confused, so Vegeta was forced to continue. "The only people who were Super Saiyans the entire fight were you and your clown of a father. If they are going to recognize me, they would be able to do it without me being in Super Saiyan form. Not to mention these idiots," he said gesturing towards the humans in the shuttle "who have no transformations anyways."
Gohan scratched the back of his head and laughed; he hadn't thought of that before. "Oh yeah, I guess you're right Vegeta," he said, to which Vegeta returned with a smirk.
"There's also one more reason we need to transform; the most important reason," Vegeta said, still wearing a smirk on his face.
"What's that?" Gohan inquired curiously.
"If I'm going to defeat an opponent," Vegeta started, "then I need to be certain he is fighting at full strength. I don't think that I will even need to transform to beat you; but what pride would I keep if my opponent is not fighting at his best?"
Gohan smiled at Vegeta and shook his head. That's typical Vegeta, the teenage Saiyan thought. Then, he looked out the window, and was delighted to see that they were finally approaching their destination.
"Hey everyone, we're here!" Bulma said, confirming Gohan's previous thoughts. At hearing the news, everybody in the shuttle cheered, save for Vegeta, but inside even he was having a celebration.
Bulma took the shuttle down for a landing outside of the entrance to the main complex, and as soon as the engines had stopped, people began to file out of the shuttle. Although he did not take the shuttle with the rest of the group, Piccolo was waiting for them near the entrance, which Gohan appreciated.
The Saiyan walked up to his former mentor, and casually said "Hey there Piccolo, are you ready for the tournament?"
Piccolo smiled at the boy and then responded. "As ready as I'll ever be; you better make sure you don't let your guard down out there."
Gohan laughed at the trash talk; it wasn't very often Piccolo talked any more than he had to. "I'll try my best," he said in reply. Eventually, the rest of the group had congregated around the two, so Gohan felt the need to address them.
"So," he started, earning the eyes and ears of the group, "do you guys want to register now, or do you want to wait until my dad shows up?"
Nobody in the group voiced an opinion at this question, so Gohan decided that he would field this one himself. "Well, I think that we should wait. Baba will probably drop him off somewhere outside of the stadium anyways, plus I still have to find Videl."
The others accepted Gohan's decision to wait for Goku readily, however one person in the group decided that he would pick a little fun at the second half of Gohan's statement.
"Oh you have to go find your girlfriend do you Gohan?" A smiling Krillin asked the Saiyan.
Gohan laughed slightly and blushed. "Wh-what are you talking about Krillin?" he said waving his hands up in the air defensively. "She's not my girlfriend; she's just my student!"
Krillin just raised an eyebrow at Gohan. "Well if she isn't your girlfriend Gohan why did you get so defensive about it?"
The blush in Gohan's cheeks rose in intensity, and he really didn't want to talk to the short man anymore. So, with a terse "I'm off!" he took off running for his student, leaving Krillin there smiling.
Once he was out of sight of the group, Gohan slowed down to a walking pace and looked at his surroundings. She's bound to show up with her father, he thought, so she should be pretty easy to find.
As if on cue, as soon as he had finished that thought Gohan picked up on some loud cheering in the distance.
"Mister Satan! Mister Satan! Mister Satan!" A crowd of people cheered near a large jet. In the middle of the crowd stood a man dressed in a brown fighting gi and a cape, holding up his hands in a double V formation.
"So Mister Satan," a reporter asked the egotistical man, "how much competition do you think you will have this year?"
The bearded man gave a hearty laugh in response to this question, and then in a loud voice said, "Well if you ask me, I think that I won't have to even try in this tournament! They might as well hand the trophy over to me right now!" This statement earned him even more cheers from his captivated audience.
The reporter then turned to Videl, who was standing next to her father, seemingly uninterested in the spectacle he was making his entrance out to be. "Videl, what will you do if you are forced to fight your father in the tournament today?" he asked the girl.
Videl opened one of her eyes and looked at the reporter. "I'll probably hit him; isn't that the point of a fight?" she said, her voice as disinterested as her demeanor.
"BA HA HA HA!" Mr. Satan exclaimed, "Videl here is the second best fighter, next to me of course, but she still stands no chance!" The crowd roared their approval to their hero, and Videl sighed in an attempt to keep her sanity.
Gohan stood and watched the spectacle from a distance, and he really couldn't fathom how that bumbling idiot Mr. Satan had so many fans. Really, his dad had won this same tournament in a battle that would decide the fate of the entire world and he earned a little less than no fame from it, not that he wanted any, but this idiot wins it in a relatively normal battle and he gains world fame? It just made no sense to him. After a few more seconds of wondering, Gohan saw that the crowd was beginning to clear as Mr. Satan and Videl made their separate ways to the entrance. The Saiyan began to run in an effort to meet up with his pupil, but something else caught his eye and made him stop.
Standing not five feet from him was a man slightly under six feet tall, with a build and hairstyle Gohan could recognize from a mile away as his father's. On top of this, he was donning a halo above his head as well, which Gohan knew his father would have. The one thing that confused Gohan, however, was the fact that he was wearing olive colored Saiyan armor, and had a red band tied around his forehead.
"Hey dad, is that you?" Gohan asked the man, who turned around to face him. One of the first things that Gohan noticed as the man turned around was the large scar that ran down the side of his face, and he instantly recognized that he had the identity of this man mistaken.
The man looked Gohan over, and after a second he said, "I don't know you. You must have me mistaken for somebody else."
As he said this, Gohan looked at the man once more, and noticed that he indeed could not be his father when he saw the long tail wrapped around his waist. Well he may not be my dad, but he is definitely a Saiyan, Gohan thought, and then turned his attention back to said Saiyan. "Sorry about that, you just look a lot like my father," he said, and then after taking one last look at the man, he dashed off towards Videl once more.
As the teenage Saiyan ran off, the man smirked to himself. So, that must be Kakarot's boy then, he thought to himself, this tournament may not be too much of a bore after all.
After a few seconds, Gohan had caught up with his student, who was walking towards the entrance. "Hey, Videl!" Gohan said happily once he made his way up to her, gaining Videl's attention.
The girl looked up at Gohan and smiled. "Hey Gohan, are you ready for the tournament?"
Gohan smirked at Videl and said, "Of course I'm ready!" Then, he noticed that Videl was not wearing the gi he had given her, and was instead wearing black spandex pants and a large white T-shirt.
"Don't tell me you forgot your gi, Videl," Gohan said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Videl just smiled and gestured towards the black backpack she was carrying with her. "I've got it right here, don't worry. Have you signed up for the tournament yet?" she asked the Saiyan.
Gohan shook his head in response, and then said, "No, not yet. My friends and I were actually waiting around for my dad to show up. Come on, join us!" he said enthusiastically to Videl, and walked back up to his group.
Videl followed, but inside she was becoming very worried. His friends are competing too? He told me it was just his brother and him! she thought, remembering the Cell Games footage she had watched a few months ago, I may be in trouble.
Once Gohan and Videl had gotten to the large group, Gohan began introducing Videl to everybody who had not met her yet. Videl was absolutely astonished at the number of strong fighters that Gohan knew, and was even more surprised when she found out that, save for one, all of them were actually quite friendly towards her. As soon as Gohan had finished introducing Videl to everybody, the group was interrupted from their conversation by the sound of feet lightly landing on the ground behind them. The members of the group simultaneously turned around to face the new arrival, and large smiles instantly made their way onto the members of the group as they recognized the man standing before them as none other than Goku, dressed in his typical orange and blue fighting gi.
"Hey guys!" the deceased fighter said enthusiastically, waving a hand at his friends. They all just stood there incredulously, with large smiles plastered on their faces. "You're not just going to stand there all day, are you?" Goku joked, and as he said this was instantly rushed by a majority of the group, who greeted him with much joy. However, through all the chatter and greetings the group dished out, one small child caught his eye.
"Hey Chi Chi," Goku said, addressing his wife, "is that a little me behind you?"
Chi Chi just laughed and gently pushed the little boy forwards, silently telling him to introduce himself. "Hi," he said shyly, "my name's Goten."
Goku smiled fondly at the boy, and after gently pushing Gohan and Krillin aside he walked over to the son he had never met. "And I'm your dad. It's nice to finally meet you Goten," he said, holding his arm out to the boy. Goten stood in place for a moment, and then instead of grabbing Goku's hand Goten launched himself at his father and hugged him for the first time in his life.
While Goku and Goten played together, Videl tugged on Gohan's shoulder, wanting to ask him something. When Gohan looked back at Videl, she asked "How come your brother has never met your dad before? He didn't leave your family did he?"
Gohan smiled and shook his head. Then, before he could stop himself, he said "No, he didn't leave us. He's just dead, that's all. See the halo?"
Almost instantly, Gohan recognized that he had made a mistake. She doesn't even know how I can transform yet, and I just told her that my dead father is standing in front of us, he reprimanded himself. Videl, on the other hand, just stood where she was dumbfounded. "Tell me…you're not being serious," she said, but Gohan just shook his head.
It was too late to correct his mistake now, so he just said, "I'm being completely serious. He's dead; just back for one day. Hey guys!" he said to the rest of the group, and in an effort to change the subject he continued, "why don't we go register now that everybody is here?"
Luckily for him, the group obliged, and walked up to the entrance to the stadium. They all signed their names up, and the process was going quite swimmingly, until it was Goten and Trunks' turn to register.
The man at the registration desk looked down at the lavender-haired boy in front of him and smiled. "Ah, I see we have another for the junior division," he said, causing a look of anger to appear on said boy's face.
"What?!" Trunks exclaimed, "Sorry buddy, but I'm going to be fighting with the adults today."
The man wagged his finger in the air to Trunks, "Absolutely not," he said firmly, "there are rules for a reason you know."
Trunks just shook his head in defeat and then turned to Goten who was standing behind him. "Goten, they're making us fight with a bunch of little kids!" he said with annoyance.
Goten was less than happy with this as well, and said "What? Then how am I going to beat my big brother?"
"You can't, apparently," was all that Trunks said, still less than happy. Eventually, however, the two boys dropped the subject and walked to the warm-up area they were directed to, as the tournament would begin in a little while.
The rest of the 'adults' finished signing themselves up for the tournament, and walked in one large clump to their own preliminary area. However, they were surprised to find that there was not a cluster of smaller fighting rings in front of them, and instead a large machine.
"Hey, what's that?" Goku asked nobody in particular.
As if he was waiting for the question to be asked, the tournament announcer spoke in a large voice. "Welcome to the preliminary round of the World Martial Arts Tournament! This year, we have a whopping 197 entrants competing for only 15 spots in the finals! In order to determine who will make the cut, we will use this punching machine to measure the force of your punches! Now, to demonstrate the machine is the reigning champion and savior of the world, Mister Satan!"
Cheers rang out in the air as the 'Champ' made his entrance, sporting his trademark double V's with his hands. Once the cheers had slightly calmed down, the man made his way up next to the machine. He took a stance and stared at the pad he would hit, concentrating as hard as he could. Then with a loud yell, he launched out at the machine as hard as he could.
The numbers on the machine spun around like a slot machine, and after a few seconds landed on their final result. "One hundred and thirty seven!" The announcer rang out, "It's a new record!"
Mister Satan once again flashed his sign of victory to the cheering crowd, and exited the arena to wait for the competition to begin.
The Z Fighters waited for their turns at the machine patiently, but it was becoming quite a nuisance, especially for a certain prince. After a few minutes, however, it was time for Videl to make her effort. She walked up to the machine with a look of determination on her face, but was stopped when she felt a hand grab onto her shoulder.
"Hey Videl," Gohan said to her quietly, turning her around to face him as he did so. "I don't think that you should go all out here, we don't want to break the machine.
Videl just looked at him with shock on her face. "What are you talking about Gohan?! If I don't go all out how will I be able to make the finals? You just want me out of it so you will win don't you?!"
Gohan waved both of his hands up in the air. "No! No that's not it at all…fine, you win. Go ahead and punch it as hard as you want," he said, although he still knew she should be holding back.
Videl smirked at Gohan and turned back to face the machine. She drew her fist back, and with a small grunt let loose her best punch to the machine. As expected, her punch tore the machine right off of its hinges on the ground and it was sent flying towards the wall behind it. Thankfully for Gohan, the machine did not break on impact, though it may have been better if it did. Instead, the machine flew through the air at a deadly pace and plowed through the brick wall behind it, demolishing the wall before rolling to a slow stop. The director of the preliminaries looked at the machine with his jaw on the floor. If there was any way he could be more shocked than he was at that moment, it happened when the numbers on the machine stopped turning.
"Three…Three thousand and twelve…" he said with a ridiculous expression on his face.
I told you to let up, Gohan thought bringing his hand over his face and shaking his head.
The rest of the Z Fighters finished their preliminary round without incident, save for Vegeta who blew the machine to bits (he still had a bit of anger pent up from the slow ride,) and they all made the finals easily. They were gathered in a large group in the warm up area when the sound of the loudspeaker interrupted them.
"Attention spectators and competitors," the voice said, "The junior competition will be starting in two minutes. All competitors make your way to the ring."
A smile lit up on Gohan's face as he spoke to the rest of the group. "Hey guys, Goten and Trunks are going to fight now! Let's go watch them!" He then jogged towards the arena with the rest of the group, anxious to see how his brother would perform in his first tournament.
A/N: That concludes chapter nine! First of all, I would like to apologize to all of you. This chapter…took me far too long to post. Unfortunately for you all, my family went on a trip to Michigan, which caused me to miss out on some valuable writing time. On top of this, my golf season has just gotten underway, and with practice and matches nearly every day of the week, my free time has been quite limited. Despite all of this, however, I still should have posted this quicker, I was just lazy. Rest assured that I will try to resume my regular updating pace from here on out!
Now then, since there were no real fights in this chapter, I have no use for posting power levels, so I will skip that portion. Next chapter, the much awaited battle of Goten vs. Trunks takes place! Finally, I would like to once again thank all of you for reading my story, and I ask that you please leave a review. I was thrilled with the number I received for chapter eight, and they really motivate me to write more (not to mention remind me to write when I get lazy). Until next time, everybody!
-HRR2b23