--- Disturbance, Book 3: Endurance ---

Chapter E18 - It's My Life

Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.

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-This ain't a song for the broken-hearted-

For the people of the Earth, the past twenty-four hours had been a roller-coaster of various emotions, from the joy of the World Martial Arts Tournament, to the fear of Babidi, and the terror of death at Majin Buu's hands. Then came the uncertainty of life anew, when they turned to their saviour for guidance, and Hercule, under Videl's guidance, had delivered. Through Hercule's words, humanity had united as one, their hopes and dreams focused towards the end of Majin Buu, as they gave everything that could to fuel the instrument of the monster's defeat.

However, since then, they had heard nothing, and the uncertainty was starting to creep back in. Each moment of continued silence was an eternity of agony; no warnings, no messages, just loneliness and fear. No one, if asked, would be able to say just how long had passed, just that each continued breath seemed like a lifetime. Each moment was one that could either see the universe freed from the horror or Bibidi's creation, or plunged into an age of death; one where they could lose it all, or win the greatest prize known to mankind.

The promise of a brighter tomorrow. And no one understood this more than Videl.

-No silent prayer for faith-departed-

In the space of a single day, the world Videl had known had been taken apart piece by piece. Her father was not the strongest man in the world (a fact she'd long suspected), and, in fact, there were an entire race of people who, man and woman alike, were all stronger than him; a good many of the children too. He had also not defeated Cell, but instead, that honour went to the first person she had ever truly opened her heart to since the death of her mother, Son Gohan; well, she didn't remember now whether she had yet to be expressly told Gohan had done it, what with everything that had happened today, but she was more than capable of doing the math herself.

Now, the man she loved- it was easier to say every time she said it, and made her feel warmer inside each time too. Now, he was risking his life once more, to protect the planet Earth and it's people; to protect her. She had already experienced the pain of losing him once before, even if she had refused to believe he had died, and been right to do so. She knew she was not ready to feel that pain again, would probably never be ready; that the loss would crush her. She stood now on the edge of a pit of depression that, should she fall, it was likely she would never be freed from.

It was poetic, then, that this moment of almost crushing despair was broken by the cheesy ringtone of her cell phone, the bright, happy tune that she had chosen expressly because it had reminded her of Gohan's eternal cheerfulness.

-I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd-
-You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud-

The people of Earth watched in silent hope as Videl, still on stage with her father, and being broadcast around the world, answered the phone in her hip pocket. No one dared blink as they watched the smile come to her face, as she mouthed the words they had been waiting what seemed an age to hear: 'It's over.' Dropping her phone where she stood, the girl raced to the microphone, a smile that surgery couldn't remove on her face, as she announced, "It's over! Majin Buu has been destroyed!"

A cheer went up around the world, one that shook the planet to its very foundations, as humanity celebrated the greatest triumph they ever had, and most likely ever would know. There were those, of course, who asked for proof; not because they wanted her to be wrong, but merely afraid she was. However, when a dark-haired man in a royal blue gi appeared out of thin air on the podium behind her, one many recognised from the World Martial Arts Tournament, and an exuberant Videl threw herself into his arms, and kissed him for all she was worth, they found all the proof they needed.

As the two teens moved off, Hercule took the podium again, and began doing what he did best: working the crowd, to arrange for the greatest party the universe had ever seen. This day, he announced, was to be a holiday, one that stretched on for a week of the celebration of life, and though he was not a world leader, nor even the world's true saviour, everyone who heard him knew that his will would be done.

Before the big man could be drawn too deeply into the mess he waded, he spared one smile for his daughter, in the arms of the man she loved, as the two vanished as suddenly as he had appeared. She was in safe hands. It was time to let her be happy.

-It's my life-
-It's now or never-
-I ain't gonna live forever-
-I just want to live while I'm alive-

Opening her eyes as she felt the air around her stop moving, Videl gasped as she saw the massive pile of food, spread across at least three massive tables. Looking around quickly, she noticed that they were back on the Lookout, rebuilt good as new, and that they (she and Gohan) were the last to arrive. Even without looking at him, Videl could tell Gohan was grinning when he called out, "Hey Mister Popo. Did you start preparing all this the second Earth was wished back?"

The midnight black genie just smiled and nodded, replying in his regal-sounding voice, "I knew you would all be hungry once you had defeated Majin Buu." This comment got a round of semi-muffled 'Hell yeah's from the six Saiyans already stuffing their faces; Truniz and the older female Saiyans were eating also, just not as fast. Giving Videl a quick kiss on the cheek, and an apologetic look, Gohan raced over to join them; Popo's food was almost as good as his mother's, and he was starving.

For a good few minutes, Videl observed what Gohan would later describe as a 'normal Z-Fighter get together': the Saiyans ate, while the humans stood or sat around talking and reminiscing about days gone by. A smile on her face, the human girl moved over to join Kat, the young catgirl greeting her with a hug before drawing her into the conversation. Glancing around at the mass of people again, it suddenly struck Videl that, the way they acted, they weren't just a group of friends; they were family.

And now, she was one of them.

-(It's my life)-
-My heart is like an open highway-
-Like Frankie said, "I did it my way"-
-I just wanna live while I'm alive-
-'Cause it's my life-

Many a minute later, having mostly satisfied their ravening hunger, the Saiyan warriors slowed their intake to a speed that would still allow conversation, Kaen opening up the 'debriefing' discussion with, "That was some impressive display of power Gohan; I'm almost jealous. Just where did you get that strength from? You weren't holding back on me at the tournament were you?"

Gohan just shrugged slightly, moving away from the buffet for just long enough to wrap an arm around Videl's waist and bring her back with him, before replying, "Apparently, I've always had this power locked away inside. The Elder Kai managed to unlock it, and draw out about ten percent, I think he said, while Kellre helped me draw out a significant amount more." Scowling slightly, the demi-Saiyan added, "Of course, the asshat Kai only told me after the fact that this upgrade would replace my Super Saiyan transformation, but I'm confident I can get it back." Grinning slightly, Gohan shot back, "Now, I could ask the same of you Kaen: where did all your strength come from?"

"And where'd you get all those techniques your folks were so worried about you knowing?" Yamcha added.

"How did you know about Babidi and Majin Buu?" Another voice added, and Videl was slightly stunned to see Shin, Kibito, and two other beings similar to them, standing off to one side; had they been there the entire time?

"While we're on that subject," Bulma piped up, "What was the deal with what happened at the tournament grounds?"

Kaen just held his hands up, replying, "Relax, I'll answer your questions." He grinned slightly as he added, "And fortunately, I can answer them all with a single story. It's a big long, so I'll give you the abridged version."

-This is for the ones who stood their ground-

Making sure everyone was listening, so he didn't have to repeat himself again, Kaen cleared his throat, beginning his tale. "About a month ago, I blew off school and headed to Vegeta's to blow off some steam." A quick glance at Vegeta signalled to the older man to keep quiet about just why he had. "While I was there, I felt something weird at the edge of my senses, so I headed back to Satan City to check things out, and found Videl almost about to be killed, by me. Well, a different me, at least."

Shrugging slightly at the occasional gasp of shock at this comment, he continued, "Turns out he was from an alternate dimension, and had been hopping between dimensions, killing that dimension's versions of Pi and I, as well as whoever got in his way, and using some device he had, which he called an Essence Collector, to amass what I guess you could call 'soul shards'; basically, imperfect copies of the souls of his victims, containing their memories, techniques, and a fraction of their power. This universe was the twenty-fifth he had visited; one of them did not contain a version of me, while five of them were missing Pi. When I destroyed the device, the soul shards he had collected all dispersed to as near as they could get to their original hosts; this dimension's versions of whoever they once were."

Blinking slightly, Gohan asked, "So, you got all this strength because you basically had more than one soul?"

Kaen just shrugged again. "Basically, though it took us a month of training to access any of it properly. Meta-physically speaking, it takes an average of four soul shards to make a complete soul, so when the tournament began, I had six 'spare' souls, but I'm down to three now, while Pi had five, but now is down to four."

"How the heck do you lose a soul?" Goku asked, a perplexed look on his face.

"I didn't," Kaen replied, "For lack of a better description, I consumed two to upgrade my maximum level; the two Super Saiyan barriers I broke."

"But what happened to the third one?"

-For Tommy and Gina who never backed down-

"I'm getting to that," Kaen replied wryly. "The answer to that is two-fold. First, the guy I'd killed basically booby-trapped his own soul shard, such that it would collect other shards to become whole, and, upon doing so, shunt out the soul of whoever had slain him, taking their body as his own. That plan simultaneously succeeded and failed, due to factor two: Babidi."

Turning towards Shin, he continued, "See, in one of the alternate dimensions, Babidi had come to the still-whole Saiyan planet, and thanks to Vegeta here's father, subjugated the entire Saiyan race. Having that shard inside me gave Babidi the foothold he needed to try and take me over with his magic, but with Pi's assistance, we managed to fight him off. So he upped the stakes, digging through my mind for every evil 'I' had ever committed in the twenty-five incarnations of memories I had, and bringing them all to the surface. However, he unwittingly fractured my own soul in the process, this final shard going to the near-complete trap, and twisting it so that it's original consciousness was gone, and in it's place, was Dark Phoenix, the literal embodiment of all of my sins."

"That's what that dark shimmer around you was, isn't it? Soul displacement?" Bulma asked, the metaphoric light bulb clicking on above her head.

"Pretty much," Kaen remarked, wrapping one arm around Pi's waist before adding, "Pi helped me wrest control over my body again, as well as to separate him from me completely. However, because he had a piece of my soul, he and I were still linked, until Gohan, as part of his training with the Kais, managed to sever that link, and destroy him completely."

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested that, before Krillin commented, "That's pretty cheap, getting an outside power boost like that."

"Actually," Pi piped up, "The 'spare' souls don't provide a higher level of power at all, just extra endurance, same way a spare battery would, which isn't much help at all in a tournament fight." When everyone, even Kaen, glanced at her curiously, she added, "Attaining a new level of power doesn't actually 'consume' anything; what it does do, however, is break one 'soul' into pieces, and 'patch' the other souls so they're all the same strength as the original. That's why Kaen's lost two, while I've only lost one; he has more power now, but I can stay at my maximum longer than he can."

A smile on his face, Kaen shook his head slightly, commenting softly, "I keep forgetting you probably know more about this stuff than I do." Silently, he added, 'I look forward to getting to know this new you... intimately.'

-Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake-
-Luck ain't even lucky, gotta make your own breaks-

There was a moment of contemplative silence, before Videl asked curiously, "So, what happens now?" When every one turned to face her, she shrunk down slightly, though Gohan's arm around her did reassure her enough to clarify, "I mean, you've just saved the world again, so what do you do now? Just fade into obscurity again, like the Cell Games? 'Cause I don't think that's going to work this time, thanks to the press conference you guys had me make my dad do. The world knows all about you guys now." She blinked a bit, before adding, "Or are you going to use the dragon balls to make everyone forget again?"

"It's certainly an option," Bulma remarked.

"A long-term option," Piccolo rebuffed gruffly, "We can't use the dragon balls again for another four months, and even then, we get a single wish."

"Well, I guess that means the human race has four months to try and cope with the knowledge that aliens live among them, and that not only do super-powered beings that can destroy the Earth exist, but so does a task force to stop them," Gohan remarked simply, "If, after that time, we find out that people as a whole can't handle that knowledge, we simply make them forget again."

"Let's hope they can," Kellre stated, turning to glance at the other Saiyans before continuing, "Because the Saiyan people have hid for long enough. There has never been a better time for us to integrate properly into human society, instead of segregating ourselves in our cities and townships."

Kaen groaned slightly. "Why do I foresee a lot of annoying conferences in my future?"

Avarrdo just grinned. "Well, you are the Saiyan ambassador, son."

-It's my life-
-And it's now or never-
-I ain't gonna live forever-
-I just want to live while I'm alive-

Pi sighed contentedly, resting her head against her mate's chest as the two reclined back on the fancy couch. The older Saiyans, along with Chichi and Bulma, had started discussing what the Saiyan Nation was going to do now, so the four teenagers had decided to retire inside the palace; Kat had taken off back to Satan City, after Avarrdo had informed her that Leo, his family, and all of Kaen's friends had been 'ported back home again.

Sitting across from the Saiyan couple, Gohan and Videl were in much the same position, though Videl looked decidedly more embarrassed about it than Pi herself was. 'Must be a human thing,' the Saiyan girl mused to herself, satisfied with her logic; sure, she herself had been a bit embarrassed about the subject when she was younger, but that was before she accepted that Kaen was to be her mate, and mated Saiyans had nothing to be embarrassed about. Now there was a thought. 'Or maybe it's just because they haven't consummated yet.'

Her thoughts, and the peaceful quiet that had fallen over the four teens, were interrupted by Gohan asking curiously, "Hey Kaen, I just remembered that you never got around to telling me where you got the energy for that Terra Destroyer technique, or how you phased through the ground."

The older Saiyan smiled in fond remembrance, before explaining, "They were my older brother's techniques. He developed them to suit our old role of 'planetary recyclers'. Both the Terra Destroyer and Earth Meld techniques draw on the heat energy of the planet itself."

"So why can't you use them too often?" Gohan queried. "I remember you saying you couldn't do it too often."

"It's simple," Kaen replied, "If I drain away too much of the planet's heat, the core cools. That causes the mantle to slow, and eventually stop. The chain reaction leads to the atmosphere of the planet dispersing, and if the lack of air doesn't kill the populace, the unfiltered sunlight soon turns the planet into a barren wasteland, ripe for terraforming."

-(It's my life)-
-My heart is like an open highway-
-Like Frankie said, "I did it my way"-
-I just wanna live while I'm alive-
-'Cause it's my life-

"If it's that dangerous to the planet, why would you want to use it at all?" Videl asked, feeling slightly more comfortable about essentially sitting in Gohan's lap now that she had something else to focus on.

"It's an extremely powerful attack that requires almost no energy from the user, and can be prepared in a minimal amount of time," Pi remarked; while she'd never use the Terra Destroyer technique herself, she understood the principles behind it perfectly. "Besides, as long as you don't use it too often, the planet can recover in minutes."

"Hey Pi, can I ask you a question?"

"You already did 'Del, but sure," Pi grinned.

Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, Videl asked, "That Fusion Technique of yours; can you really stay fused for as long as you want?"

The Saiyan couple burst out laughing, Pi choking back her mirth long enough to reply, "Oh Kami no. That was just to psych Buu out. The Fusion Dance lasts half an hour, no longer."

"But what about the twins?" Gohan asked. "Dad told me that they could stay fused for an hour."

Still chuckling slightly, Kaen commented offhandedly, "The twins are an exception. They're... a special case."

A powerful blush beginning to slowly absorb her face, Videl's voice dropped to a whisper that, were it not for their enhanced hearing they would have missed, as she asked, "What... What does it feel like?"

Grinning at each other, the Saiyan couple realised there were any number of 'whats' she could be asking about, so they decided to start with the least traumatising and work their way up. "Well 'Del, it's something like this..."

-You better stand tall when they're calling you out-
-Don't bend, don't break, baby don't back down-

"Hey Goku, what happened back there with the Spirit Bomb?" Krillen asked, eyeing the gorging Saiyan with practiced disinterest; Goku and Vegeta were the only adult Saiyans still at the massive buffet, though the four kids had come out of wherever they'd been and joined in the feast. When his oldest friend gave him a quizzical look, Krillen clarified, "I mean, we could all see more or less what was happening, but all we saw was the Spirit Bomb exploding, then Buu coming back, so what happened? For that matter, why'd it take so long to form at all? It didn't take you that long to make the one you squashed Frieza with."

Pausing in his feast to answer the formerly-bald man, Goku replied, "I dunno really Krill. A number of factors, maybe, like Otherworld having different rules from this one, the distance from Earth, the sheer volume of energy. And having the massive pit of Evil there wouldn't have helped either. As to what happened to it..." Goku frowned slightly, before continuing, "Well, I saw Buu catch one of my Kamehameha Waves, and corrupt the energy of it, so I guess he must've been doing that to the Spirit Bomb when we hit him with it."

Vegeta eyes Goku with a semi-heated glare; were he not eating, he would've called bullshit on Kakarott's explanation. He knew exactly what had happened - the boy had told them as much - but Kakarott was keeping that to himself. With a shrug, he put it out of his mind; if the clown wanted to act foolish, it was hardly his problem.

Vegeta's train of thought was derailed when he heard Kakarott call out, "Hey Vegeta, what was that attack you used? That Juu-something technique."

"Juu-Ou-Ken," Vegeta drawled, making sure to draw out every syllable.

Goku just nodded, completely ignoring the prince's tone, "Yeah, that one. What's that mean anyway?"

"Oooh! I know!" Goten declared excitedly, "It means.... uh... Beast.. King.. Fist.. Yeah, that's it. Beast King Fist."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "If you say it literally yeah, but if you say it properly it means Fist of the Beast King."

"Goten knows the Saiyan language?" Goku blinked, feeling decidedly foolish about his youngest son knowing more about his heritage than he himself did.

"Of course he does," Vegeta scoffed, "I taught him myself."

Scratching his head, Goku asked, "Could you teach me?" Vegeta's eye visibly twitched, and Goku didn't know whether the laughter that followed was hysterical, or malevolent, but neither way boded well for him...

-It's my life-
-And it's now or never-
-'Cause I ain't gonna live forever-
-I just want to live while I'm alive-

"Niichan, Neechan, dad said you wanted to talk to us?"

"That's right Lime, come in you two," Pi replied with a smile, removing herself from Kaen's lap and hopping to her feet; the Saiyan couple had moved to a separate room, both so they could have this talk with the kids, and to give Gohan and Videl some much-needed alone time.

Casting his gaze over to his little brother as he stood up, Kaen remarked, "Firstly, Pi and I wanted to congratulate the both of you on doing such a good job today. Not only did you both keep your head, despite the terror around you, but you managed to exceed your previous limitations, learnt new abilities, and most importantly, fought as a team, rather than as two parts of a single fighter, like you did when we first saw you. I speak for both Pi and myself when I say, we're proud of you both."

As the twins swelled up with pride, Pi knelt down in front of them, taking a good few moments to look them both in the eyes, before adding, "With your new strength, however, comes a change in routine. Until now, we've mostly left you both to your own devices, but now that you're proven warriors, it's time to take things seriously."

"Which is why, Oran, starting right now, you are now my primary student," Kaen stated.

Before Lime could protest, Pi continued, "And Lime, you are mine. With Kaen no longer my sensei, it's time for me to take up a student of my own."

"Th-thank you sensei!" The twins exclaimed excitedly, Lime giving Pi a big hug, while Oran and Kaen shared a respectful bow.

"Your first, and most important lesson begins right now," Kaen stated seriously, placing a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Hanging up the sword." When the two kids gave him a clueless look, he clarified, "When the battle is over, the warrior must hang up his sword and return to a life of normalcy, only picking it up again to keep his skills honed. And this is something that neither of you has yet to do."

"But... We don't know how!" Oran remarked, with an almost frantic defence.

"I know," Kaen replied softly. "You grew up in war time, and were forced to skip your childhood to take up arms, but you're not alone. Do you think Pi and I knew how to be 'normal' when we got to this planet? Even now, we're still learning, and still trying to find our place in this world."

A smile on her face, Pi added, "And we'll help you find yours." Giving Lime a reassuring smile, the older girl asked, "How would the two of you feel about starting school?"

-(It's my life)-
-My heart is like an open highway-
-Like Frankie said, "I did it my way"-
-I just want to live while I'm alive-

Running a hand through the short hair of the girl he loved, while she rested against his chest, Gohan mused to himself that he would really have to thank Kaen and Pi for giving him some time alone with Videl. Sure, he knew he was in for a world of teasing when he saw Krillen next, but for now, he had earned his quality time. Shifting slightly, Gohan realised with a start that the thing he could feel digging into his back was his sword scabbard, so, silently vowing to himself to ask Kaen and Pi how they could stand to keep theirs on all the time, he reached a hand up to unclip it, setting the sword on the ground before him.

Tilting her head up to give him a curious look, Videl asked, "Where did you get the sword from anyway Gohan?"

Gohan just shrugged slightly, giving her a cheeky grin and a quick scratch under the chin, before returning to running his fingers through her hair. "Shin had me fetch it, thinking it could defeat Buu. Why?"

"Because, Son Gohan," she replied, giving him a mock-stern glare, "You promised to tell me, and I quote, 'everything I wanted to know' after the tournament."

"So I did," he remarked casually, "Well, if you must know, it was embedded in this massive stone pillar, with some sort of legend around the person who would free it becoming super-powerful, like that old myth about Excalibur. Turned out, though, that this Elder Kai was trapped inside it who could unlock power, and the sword itself was, as far as I could tell, just a good quality sword." Wrapping his tail around her waist, he asked, "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

The human girl put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, lemme clear up what I know first, and we'll see. First, you're Saiyaman. Second, your father is of an alien race known as Saiyans, making you half Saiyan, and explaining the name Saiyaman. Third, you defeated Cell."

"Wait, did I tell you I beat Cell?" Gohan interrupted curiously.

Videl shook her head, smiling slightly. "No, I just connected the dots. Why, was I wrong?" Gohan gave her a tiny shrug and a shake of his head. "Okay. Uh... Fourth, you defeated Majin Buu. And finally, the most important point, you're in love with me." Grinning up at him, she asked, "That about cover everything?"

"Most of the important stuff," Gohan grinned back, leaning down to steal a kiss off the girl (not that she objected) before adding, "But, I haven't yet told you of life before Cell, have I?"

"No time like the present is there!" Videl declared, getting herself comfortable again against Gohan.

The demi-Saiyan teen smiled. "If you insist. Well, it all started when I was around four years old..."

-(It's my life!)-
-And it's now or never-
-I ain't gonna live forever-
-I just want to live while I'm alive-

"So where have you two been huh?" Krillen asked with a grin, "Did you-"

"Krillen," Gohan sighed in annoyance, "You are one of my oldest friends, but I have had a long, trying two days, do if you don't lay off about my personal life, I swear on all that was or ever will be that I will use my new sword to shave you bald."

"I hear that," Truniz called out, the 'counsel' having separated, at least temporarily, "I dunno about you ladies, but I think it past time I got blind drunk."

"That, brother, is the best idea I have heard all day," Kellre remarked, with complete seriousness.

"Well," Kaen added, snapping his phone shut, "The guys just told me that they need me down at the club, so you're all welcome to come with."

"So, this is it then?" Videl asked in a confused tone. "You guys save the world, if not the universe, from complete annihilation, and then just slip back into your normal lives? How can you just... I mean, doesn't this sort of thing leave any lasting impression at all?"

"Of course it does Videl," Goku replied, in a rare moment in insight. "Every fight leaves it's mark, but you can either dwell on the past, and agonise over everything you could have done better if given another chance, or you can move on with your life, put the past behind you, and work to make sure it never happens again." Smiling in his usual cheerful manor, he added, "Just because we don't bask in our victories doesn't mean they mean nothing to us."

"Wow Goku, that's surprisingly deep," Bulma remarked.

Goku just grinned again. "I've had plenty of time to think these past seven years."

"Bah, enough of your sentimentality Kakarott," Vegeta sneered, pushing past the younger warrior.

"We've got a lot to celebrate this time, don't we?" Chichi asked rhetorically

Raene smiled. "Then we'd best get started right away, hadn't we?"

-(It's my life)-
-My heart is like an open highway-
-Like Frankie said, "I did it my way"-
-I just want to live while I'm alive-
-'Cause it's my life!-

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Author's notes:

I've been sitting on this chapter for a while, because it didn't feel complete enough to post on it's own.