Disclaimer: Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dr. Slump, Dub and Peter 01, Sand Land and Jaco the Galactic Patrolman are owned by Akira Toriyama while Dragonball GT on the other hand is owned by Toei Animation since Aki didn't make DBGT at all but did the character designs and artwork for it.
Shamano and the Trimonight alien race belong to thedarkpokemaster while Tempest and Xeno belong to Martian Tempest. Also keep this in mind, I decided that I am going to do something different for the story and you'll find out when I get to that surprise.
Something Worth Fighting For
Downtime for the Warriors
By EmperorDraco7
"What exactly did you mean by you might get killed?" asked Videl, hoping that she was actually hearing Shamano right though at the same time prayed it is some kind of joke. "How do you plan to go there without a time machine? You know that even if you do arrive at that damned future, there's no guarantee that Earth would still be there…. You recall what the negative effects of using the Black Star Dragonballs are capable of."
"Yeah, however there is a different between seeing something occur up close and learning of it from someone else." answered Shamano with a serious expression on his face. "Also you don't have to worry about preparing the Time Machine for me, I can manage with my ship since it's made from more advanced technology than the Time Machines made by Capsule Corp."
This time Bulma was the next one to speak. "Is this true?" she asked him, shocked that the male Trimonight's ship was much more advanced than they had originally thought it was which a silent nod from him was her answer. "Well, for your sake it better be worth it cause your death might not be needed as we already had enough of that happening to our friends and family even before you came around."
"That's understandable, then again some of you still don't trust me…." He replied which the Saiyan Prince gave a simple huff, not bothering to give Shamano a single verbal response at all. "Oh and by the way, I heard that you wish to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber is that true?"
"Yes, besides it's not like I can go back to being a normal high-school student after all I've been through ever since the World Martial Arts Tournament" answered Videl with a serious expression on her face as Shamano figured that she would be stubborn enough to resort to such a training. "If anything, Gohan said that he will be going into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with me so I don't get too seriously hurt in there."
"I see, just be warned that once you go in there expect one hell of a difficult time breathing let alone moving due to the density inside compared to outside" he informed the raven-haired daughter of Mr. Satan with a frown as he's sure the World Martial Arts Champion would not want to see his only child die because of her decision. "You know something, Goku I heard from King Kai that you are able to learn the Kaioken attack when you trained under him before right?"
"Well yeah, though ever since I achieved the Super Saiyan form during the battle against Frieza on Planet Namek I thought there wouldn't be any need for it anymore" responded Goku, scratching the back of his head as it's been years since he last used the Kaioken technique at all. "In fact, the last two times I used it was when I fought Cooler when he came to Earth seeking revenge for his brother's defeat and then when I used the Super Kaioken to fight Pikkon in the Other World Martial Arts tournament."
Shamano silently nodded his head since in a way it made sense as due to achieving Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 there hadn't been any reason to use the Kaioken now. "Come to think of it, since you learned it from King Kai… did he teach it to Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Krillin, Android 18 or Master Roshi during their time training under him?" he asked again though he turned his attention towards seven in question though Android 18 shook her head.
"No, Krillin and I never got a chance to learn it at all let alone there might not have been enough time to do so." she said with a shrug then suspected that Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha had not learned it themselves since not once did she, Android 16 or Android 17 ever see those guys use that technique against them 7 years ago or against Cell. "Now that I think of it, where are you getting at?"
"I'm saying that if Goku and the others have the Super Saiyan form and the levels beyond it then it would make sense if he taught it to anyone who isn't a Saiyan though it would take a whole hell of a lot of training to actually successfully learn that technique but it will be worth it to help you guys get better prepared for when that bastard Baby shows up in this timeline." said Shamano with a slight grin on his face much to the shock of everyone, including Mr. Satan and Mr. Buu. "Sure my idea may be insane; however this is the best chance we have so that the rest of us could get stronger if needed."
The other just nodded at this as they all knew that he was right they needed to get stronger and fast. "So then I guess that anyone who will want to learn it should join in when I teach it to you." Goku said as he looked at his friends.
The others all nodded but mainly Krillin Yamcha and Tien they knew that this could help them from becoming slaves. "So we all need to get ready then, man I wish we knew that exact date that it was going to happen and where." Krillin said with a frown.
"That may be true but remember Pan was in space when this happened so when it does happen none of us should make a move without getting the others first." Piccolo suggested, as he knew this would be for the best. "This isn't like when Future Trunks revealed that the Androids were going to strike on an Island South-West of South City and when it was going to happen as the time we learned this, we knew the Androids were only going to be a threat to the Earth plus even Future Trunks never knew about Cell before I even encountered him after my fusion with Kami."
"Dad, do you think you can teach the Kaioken at some point to me, Krillin and Yamcha?" Gohan then asked, making Videl blink at this while Krillin and Yamcha were just as surprised as she was.
"What for, son? Aren't you already strong enough to take down enemies with your newly unlocked powers?" Goku also asked his eldest son out of curiosity
"I am, but I still want to learn it so I don't have to rely on it all the time or otherwise cause collateral damage whenever I power up. I just want to have it so I can still be strong enough to end fights quickly without overexerting myself." Gohan said.
"I can do that," Goku said, "but remember that the Kaioken must not be overused or taken too far; doing so will eventually do more damage to yourself than to your enemies as your body won't be able to handle the pressure. The Super Kaioken I once did against Pikkon is a major example."
"What do you mean?" Videl asked.
"A person's body can only take so much when it comes to power output," Piccolo said, stepping forward, "while it is useful to have a bit of a boost to gain the upper hand, overdoing it can have negative effects, such as your body giving out under the pressure or otherwise hindering in a specific aspect, like speed."
"Like the 3rd Grade Super Saiyan form?" Gohan asked.
"Yes. While the form had the extra power, it was ultimately useless due to the bulky frame hindering the speed of the user. What good is a frame with big muscles and power if you can't catch your enemies?" Piccolo said. "Future Trunks made that mistake when he used the 3rd Grade Super Saiyan form against Cell without realizing the negative effects then Cell later made that same mistake when he was losing to you at the Cell Games."
"Tell that to some jocks at our school…" Videl said as she gave a mumble at this.
"You got that right." Gohan said, nodding.
"The same counts for the Super Saiyan 3 form." Goku said, "While it gives me great power and speed, it drains my energy incredibly fast, so I can't sustain it for a long time even more so now that I'm alive again which adds to the problem."
"Well for the time being we should at least get some rest after all we have all been through a lot." Piccolo said.
Everyone else just nodded at this and knew that the Namekian was right they did need rest for now as he looked at Gohan and Videl then realized something else that crossed his mind that he's been meaning to ask Gohan. "Come to think of it, you could still transform into your Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan 2 forms despite the new power you got from Old Kai."
Upon hearing this, Gohan felt somewhat surprised by this and realized it's a good question. "You know, I never really attempted it cause I thought my power would be more than enough to fight Buu at the time and never really considered going Super Saiyan though now that you mention it… my Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 forms could be stronger than they were before as well" he replied to his mentor and friend then something else clicked in. "Plus the Zenkai boost that Goten and I experienced also helped make us stronger in the final fight with the evil Buu on Shin's planet."
"Wait, a Zenkai boost?" began Videl, since she and Mr. Satan never even heard that term before or the fact that it could make someone stronger in battle then Gohan had a small sigh since he needed to at least reveal this secret to the two.
"It's like this…. A Zenkai is an ability that is genetically exclusive to Saiyans, though half-breed Saiyans such as Goten, Trunks and myself were also born with that it" he began to explain to his girlfriend and the World Champion about what a Zenkai is and what it can do. "It is a genetic trait that allows a Saiyan's power to increase substantially after recovering from near fatal injuries."
"Unfortunately Cell due to being created in an alternate future from the cells of the greatest fighters to have ever inhabited or visited Earth, he too has the Zenkai since he has Saiyan cells which was among the cells that caused his existence" added Piccolo, this revelation shocked Videl and Mr. Satan to completely no end as they never knew that notion on Cell at all let alone the fact he was from an alternate future. "We never bothered to bring it up before because we had too many problems as it already is such as threats to the Earth or the entire universe and training to be able to stop those threats which could explain why Mr. Satan won the previous World Martial Arts tournament prior to the Cell Games even coming to be."
"I guess that explains a whole lot" said Videl then turned her attention towards her father, who was still at a loss of words and on the other hand was glad it worked out for the best since he didn't want to get easily beaten against any of the Z-Fighters which led to him building up his reputation as World Martial Arts Champion. "Plus Gohan's father did win the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament from what I remember hearing about and one of the reasons I made Gohan take part in this one."
"One of the reasons?"
"Never mind, it's just for a stupid reason anyway." answered Videl, feeling it wasn't worth mentioning right now and in a way is glad things ended up turning out like they did, Pan's death non-withstanding that is as she still had problems taking in seeing her only future child die in her and Gohan's arms because of the fatal injuries she had taken prior to arriving in their time. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Now moving back to your question Piccolo, I think it's something I'll need to test out once we had our rest and before I go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for some intense training…" Gohan commented to his Namekian friend especially since he needed to be certain that Old Kai's Unlock ability not only applied to his base form but also his Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 forms as well. "I think it would be good if I could use my time training to master the Super Saiyan 2 form much like how dad and I learned to master the normal Super Saiyan form 7 years ago plus Goten will need to better learn to use his Super Saiyan 2 form since he only tapped into it because of the pain and grief he felt over what happened to Pan."
Goku blinked at the fact that mastering the Super Saiyan 2 form was something he himself never really considered attempting but was impressed by the fact Gohan even remembered that the two of them mastered the core Super Saiyan form during their training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and had to admit it was risky but hopefully will be worth it.
"I think I will need to go now and head to that time." Shamano said as he showed an advanced wrist-device and began to type his finger on it and slid it along. "But I will be back and you can even look in my ship."
Before the Z-Fighters and their family could say anything, Shamano jumped down from the Lookout and headed off on his way. "That's something I can never understand about him." commented Zangya, having her arms crossed at the fact that he does tend to leave at unexpected times such as this and doesn't even bother staying around for too long. "Also about these so-called Black Star Dragonballs, are they still at the Lookout and if they are as powerful as I heard they were?"
"Yes, however it is fair that we never use these dangerous items for any reason regardless on if it is for good intentions or not." responded Piccolo, leading them to the area where he is certain the Black Star Dragonballs would be since he and Kami were the only ones who knew they even existed.
"Oh dear…." muttered Mr. Popo with a frown on his face, as he was having a bad feeling that the Z-Fighters and their friends and family being shown the Black Star Dragonballs would be ill-advised though it would also help give them an idea on what they looked like which was fortunate that not only were Garlic Jr, his Spice Boys and even Super Buu unaware of the Black Star Dragonballs at the time those villains had been at the Lookout but when Garlic Jr escaped from the Dead Zone and trapped both him and Kami inside those jars, the Black Star Dragonballs were in their inert state which was a good thing not just for them but for the Earth as well. "Still, it just doesn't make sense for someone like Pilaf and his gang to even find out about their existence."
"Yeah, even I never knew they were here for all my time being Earth's new guardian." added Dende while being concerned and added to Mr. Popo's comment, the Pilaf Gang should not have known about the Black Star Dragonballs even with his so-called intelligence. "Which is something that if he does come after the Dragonballs, we all need to be better prepared for the worse."
"I'll say, if it were me I'd kill that idiot and his gang before they even get the chance to summon whatever Shenron these Black Star Dragonballs call forth unlike Kakarot!" scowled Vegeta, especially as he still blames Pilaf for causing the horrible future to begin as if he couldn't imagine a timeline worse than the ones Future Trunks and Cell came from. "More so, as they wouldn't survive a point-blank range from my Galick Gun!"
"I'm actually curious to know as to how they even heard of the Black Star Dragonballs in the first place." Dende said.
"The only possible way for them to have even found out about it is through ransacking whatever hideouts the old King Piccolo himself used to have. It is kinda farfetched in my opinion, but I simply can't see any other way. After all, they worked for him in the past." Bulma said.
"How can you be so certain of that?" Vegeta asked.
"Well, given the size of Pilaf's own castle and the way he acts, I think it's possible he's been doing whatever he possibly could to get his way, given the fact he has always been an immature brat, whining when something didn't go the way he wanted it." Bulma replied.
"This makes me think, isn't it possible to either, destroy the Black Star Dragon Balls or at least render them permanently inert without doing harm to Piccolo himself?" Gohan asked.
"We honestly have no idea if destroying those Dragon Balls will have any side effects," Dende said, "but you raise an interesting point. It is likely that there is a Dragon Model for them similar to how the normal Dragon Balls we have a model of Shenron, so it is worth looking into."
"This does have the advantage of saving us the trouble of going through the entire galaxy to find them if they would be used in the first place." Goku said.
"I don't say this often, but I have to agree with Kakarot on this," Vegeta said before any of the others could interrupt, "Traveling through space isn't exactly a walk in the park; you need to have state-of-the art technology or at least the technology meant for space travel in order to go in outer space and there is no telling what the planet where such a Dragon Ball may have landed harbors on climate, inhabitants and wildlife."
"How do you know this?" Videl asked.
"I've been traveling through space for most of my life, up until encountering Kakarot and his friends back on Earth. Some planets can have unspeakable beauty, similar to Earth, New Namek or even the Supreme Kai's Planet, but others have an incredibly hostile environment overall. And this can count for gravity, air, atmosphere and the aforementioned native inhabitants, as they can contain things like aggressive wildlife, magnetic storms, temperatures that will make the polar regions on Earth more comfortable and whatnot. I've seen numerous reports of foolish soldiers from the Planet Trade Organization whose comrades have even fallen victims to the local wildlife or natural hazards while scouting the planet for potential survivors, valuable supplies or whatever, simply because they got careless, so you have to be sure that you are prepared for such a trip in the first place. Otherwise you find yourself in a situation where a hunter becomes the hunted." Vegeta stated.
Videl blinked at this. "Dang…" She said.
"Believe me when I say that not everything in this universe is as hunky-dory as it is now here on Earth. Sure there can be multiple civilizations that can live next to each other in complete, mutual co-existence, but there can be civilizations who don't take kindly to any alien invaders on their planet, regardless of how well your intentions may be. They can be those kind of civilizations where you are being treated as if you were lower than trash on that regard." Vegeta said.
"Isn't that a bit too harsh?!" Gohan asked.
"It's reality, Gohan. The Namekian's in general are on friendly terms with us, but trust me when I say that not every civilization are so hospitable as they are. I've heard that in the past, Frieza had on occasion a representative of such a race whom informed us that the soldiers that were sent on scouting raids had either been imprisoned or wiped out, simply for invading their lands." Vegeta said, feeling that the fact that Frieza could easily take care of this by eliminating both said representative and the planet they came from in question with relative ease was being beside the point.
Gohan could see Vegeta's logic in this. After all, Vegeta worked for the Planet Trade Organization for years and figured that he could have either seen or overheard such things over time when he was either resting or recovering from potential injuries suffered in the conflicts he was involved in at that time.
"Vegeta is right we have no idea what most Planets are like after all…" Goku said with a frown now wishing he had asked Pan the Planets that they had landed on.
"Another problem is that only you, Pan and Trunks were the ones who went to those planets to search for the Black Star Dragonballs in that future." Tien soon added, wishing that he could at least get to take his chance against that damned parasite and give him hell. "While the rest of us had to stay behind and pray that you get back safely plus there is the matter of the kind of spaceship that you guys used to travel through the galaxy."
Scratching the back of his head, Goku realized that Tien made a perfectly good point. "You know, that's actually a really good question Tien but I'm assuming it might have been a Capsule Corp Spaceship like the one that I used to travel to Planet Namek on." commented the pure-hearted Saiyan Warrior since he's not so sure that it was indeed the exact ship that he used since it was destroyed when the original Planet Namek exploded following his victory against Frieza.
"That doesn't help matters much and you were the protector of the Earth…" muttered Oolong yet Puar hit the pig on the back of the head for saying that which caused the former bully from their school to wince in pain from that. "Ow!"
"Oolong, that's enough!" snapped Puar, giving the perverted pig a serious glare which made Oolong give an apologetic look towards Goku.
"Sorry Goku…. Just a little on edge ever since we were revived and just recently learned about something much worse than Buu" he replied to Goku despite how he reacted earlier. "Still how can you blame me since you think we would actually enjoy some peace now that the universe is saved and yet something like this happens… No offence."
"So there are other planets that have life on them after all…" Videl stated, trying to wrap her head around the information she received. "I mean aside from New Namek….."
"Exactly and there really is no telling what you may encounter there. There could be a race that has technology far more advanced than our own and are capable of observing other planets using instruments that you Humans can only dream of. Their technology could even be more advanced and sophisticated than Bulma and Dr. Gero's combined for all I know." Vegeta said.
"Are you serious?!" Bulma asked, blinking that there could be devices that can prove to be even a challenge for her to decipher or even come up with entirely in the first place.
"I am serious, woman. Now that we're talking about you anyway, I can see why certain villains, like that Baby, would benefit from targeting you. Not because of your skills in combat, as you're no martial artist, but it's because of your intelligence and your technological prowess" Vegeta said with a darkened expression as it needs to be said even if it was to his wife. "Pan did say that even you were possessed by that Tuffle parasite, so you could easily be working on things that are beneficial of Baby's rule, perhaps working on space ships big enough to evacuate the population of a planet en masse to a different planet. Hell, if Buu saw the potential in your intelligence and deemed he could use it for his own gain, he would have absorbed you without a second thought."
Bulma blinked at this again, suddenly feeling lightheaded as she stepped backwards a bit but was unsure of how to response to Vegeta's remark. "What?! Absorbing Bulma because of her intelligence?!" Chi-Chi asked.
"You heard me. Villains who can perform absorption like Cell and Buu could prefer to target victims that have some unique strength, abilities or other traits which they can use for themselves. Like Gotenks and Piccolo had been targeted because of Piccolo's wisdom and Gotenks' strength. And Gohan would have fallen victim for that same reason had he not used a technique that effectively prevented him from being completely absorbed altogether. So if Buu chose to absorb Bulma instead of turning her into chocolate and eating her, he would have all the technological knowledge and intelligence that she has at his disposal, which technically allows him to tamper with technology whenever he sees fit. Which makes it worse for you lot as you won't have someone to fix the Dragon Radar or develop technological countermeasures against technology used for evil, like Dr. Gero's technology." Vegeta said.
"Are you sure that Buu could do that if he wanted to do that to mom?!" Trunks asked.
"If Buu was tactically intelligent enough to see the potential in her intelligence, he would. Although some villains have used absorption as a necessity, like Cell did to the android twins to become 'perfect'," Vegeta said, scoffing at that prefix, "smart villains can effectively exploit this more on a tactical level. Besides, if anyone of us would fall victim to absorption in the first place, they'll also have access to their victim's memories, so he would know exactly who we are for example."
"And because of Baby possessing us in that dark future, he pretty much knows what we know…" Bulma stated as a fact.
"Yes, which gives you also an even worse fate by extension; since Baby used my body as a permanent host to his needs, you would be the queen of his rule or perhaps even his second-in-command. You'd follow Baby's every command without hesitation." Vegeta said, causing Bulma to collapse to her knees, prompting Trunks to go to her to comfort her, deeply concerned about his mother.
"Mum…." Trunks said with a frown on his face.
"See Goku the Tuffles are not the peaceful race you or King Kai thought they were, I may have been evil when I was with Bojack but we even heard what they were planning," Zangya said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "They hate the Saiyans yes, but they hate the Trimonights more. Shamano was right in one thing this Baby won't ever be able to make him a Tuffle their minds are far to advance."
Goku simple frowned at this as he knew that they were right. "So we all need to be ready then to stop Baby and who knows what else may come in the years that will follow."
As they thought on what they would do they noticed a large and old ship hovering right next to the look-out, they wondered who the ship belonged too but that was cut short when the doors opened to show who it was looking at them with a light smile. "What took you so long?" asked Zangya, slightly annoyed with the fact he tends to usually take his time with certain things like this. "We were just discussing what we would do concerning the matter of when that parasite will make his move and if the Black Star Dragonballs are used before then."
"I apologize but ever since Earth was destroyed then restored…. I was in a way fuming over the fate of my ship and needed to be certain it's still in working condition" explained Shamano with a small shrug, especially as he intends to go into Pan's timeline if they couldn't change of the fate that future had then they'll be able to learn what transpired in order to prevent a similar fate from occurring to this timeline then turned his attention towards the others. "Besides, I usually tend to keep it with me just in case someone on Earth or from another planet tries to get their hands on it and its technology."
"Oh?" wondered Bulma, even she didn't realize that Shamano felt that way about his ship and wished that she could examine it at Capsule Corp but with how he worded it, she realized it wouldn't be such a good idea at all. "This ship has technology we never knew about?"
Nodding his head, Shamano confirmed it to be true. "Yes and not just that it also contains my fighter with similar technology…. We Trimonights were a rather advanced alien race and we can't die from old age once we hit the age of 19" he revealed to the Z-Fighters and their friends and family much to their complete shock as this was actually a notion that they hadn't been aware of until recently that is except Zangya as she knew of Shamano's former race back when she used to be serve under Bojack.
"You're kidding!" exclaimed Goku, being the first of the group to speak upon finding the right words to say to the mysterious alien being in question even though he isn't usually one to be careful on what he should or shouldn't say to anyone without making them made. "Is all of this true?"
"Yes, however despite this… we can still be killed through other means provided it isn't of any natural causes." answered Shamano, not wanting to remember the deaths of his entire race and how he himself is the last surviving Trimonight in existence so it would make sense that he'd hide himself from anyone except those he could trust should he be targeted for any threat to the world he is in. "That's one of the reasons that we usually don't show ourselves to anyone whenever we go to a planet or another world as our purpose was more to make sure nothing threatens the existence of all reality."
Vegeta on the other hand scoffed at this comment. "Yet it didn't help stop planets from being destroyed by other alien races." he responded with a darkened scowl on his face though Icarus had an angry growl at the Saiyan Prince but Gohan kept his Dragon Friend from attacking since there was no time for any of that.
"What did you expect? He can't be in two places at once unless he can create clones of himself which is highly unlikely." reminded Zangya giving Vegeta a glare with daggers in her eyes since she knew Shamano better than the others due to having fought him years ago. "Let's not forget that the real problem lives with what would eventually happen when that thing comes to Earth!"
"You stay out of this!" snapped Vegeta, since he still doesn't exactly trust Zangya after all the things she did back when Bojack attacked the Earth and how Shenron shouldn't have brought her back to life to being with. "Don't forget that you took innocent lives when you used to be with Bojack so you're not in the position to defend someone who used to be an enemy."
"You're one to talk…" commented Krillin as this was about time he put his say into the matter himself even If he didn't like it either but it needs to be said. "Weren't you evil when you first came to Earth with Nappa for the Dragonballs? Even destroyed an entire city full of innocent humans and wiped out an entire military that tried to get in your way?!"
"Do not compare that with what she did it's not the same thing!"
Piccolo remained silent for a moment and shook his head. "I can just image what you think of me…" he commented to everyone which ended up getting their attention and made them reflect on the things he had done when he was a bad guy.
"You're different Piccolo, just different." responded Krillin sure he didn't initially like Piccolo at first before the events with Garlic Jr and eventually Raditz took place but since then, he was grown to trust the Namekian Warrior to the point where they are officially allies as of the battles against Vegeta and Nappa onwards. "Besides, while Zangya, Majin Buu and even Androids 16, 17 and 18 used to be our enemies but they actually could have ended up much worse."
"Okay, now is not the time for us to be arguing since we all have bigger problems" commented Videl, feeling like she needed to play as peacemaker within the Z-Fighters though at the same time had something she needed to say to Shamano yet felt that someone else she felt they could trust should be here if it is possible. "Besides, I think it would be fair if Erasa is told about this."
"Huh?" asked Gohan as he and the others were shocked that Videl even decided to bring up her and Gohan's friend from Orange Star High School especially as the blonde-haired woman and Sharpner might not even remember the events that occurred due to Porunga having erased the memories of Majin Buu from everyone on Earth except the Z-Fighters themselves. "What made you decide on that? Not that I have a problem, still I think…."
"I know what you're going to say Gohan but she's my best friend much like how Krillin is best friends with your father" answered Videl having her arms crossed since it wouldn't be right if they kept Erasa in the dark from the entire thing and is at the moment the only trust-worthy friend from school who would be able to keep their secret intact much like herself and her father Mr. Satan would keep their secret but she wasn't done just yet. "In fact, need I remind you that she too learned that you were both the Great-Saiyaman and the Gold Fighter when you were going to face Kibito and before Spovovich and Yamu took your energy, which would have killed you had Kibito not healed you!"
"That was different, I had no choice but to reveal my Super Saiyan 2 form to Kibito" responded Gohan, which Videl despite being shorter than him stood as tall as she could even if she wanted to glare right at his face. "Not only that but I've been trying to keep from getting expelled from school which was the reason I even started fighting crime in Satan City as the Great-Saiyaman."
"Well your dad seems to trust mine with your secrets and hell, you trust me as well so it would seem fair if you all gave Erasa that same chance too" said the raven-haired girl with a serious expression on her face as trying to persuade her otherwise would be meaningless. "Now that I think of it, your father does have that Instant Transmission and Shin has Instantaneous Movement so I'm sure either one of them could go find Erasa and bring her here so she can be informed of everything to get her up to date."
There is nothing but silence from everyone in the group as this was like when Videl previously wished to do two full years of training in two days inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber despite the initial protest from both Gohan and Mr. Satan. "I met with her friend in Heaven along with Chi-Chi, Bulma, King Kai, Shu, Mai and that Demon King Dabura" commented Shamano, deciding to speak up to get the attention of the Z-Fighters and their families. "She seems to be rather trust worthy from what I knew of her prior to my arrival to Earth to help against the evil Buu, now that I think of it… despite their actions; it seems that Shu, Mai and Dabura were allowed to come to Heaven."
"Wait, Dabura was in Heaven?!" exclaimed Gohan with a shocked expression on his face, even Piccolo and Krillin were in dismay as they hadn't heard about Dabura for a long time even more so for Piccolo and Krillin since they were turned to stone by the Demon King's spit prior to Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Shin entering Babidi's spaceship. "How exactly is that even possible?"
"Well I think I know the reason" began Goku, since he first found that out himself the moment he was forced to go back to Otherworld as his two transformations into the Super Saiyan 3 stage ended up draining what time he had left on Earth and he wanted to know if Gohan had checked in. "Seems that Dabura was originally supposed to be sent to Hell after his death but King Yemma sent him to Heaven instead since Dabura would have actually enjoyed being in Hell."
"Okay, that I never thought I'd even hear" said Krillin, having a bit of a hard time processing the fact that an evil Demon King like Dabura was sent to Heaven rather than Hell then again it made sense but then there's the matter of Shu and Mai as well as why they were even in Heaven themselves. "Now, there's still the matter as to how Shu and Mai were in Heaven if they were part of Pilaf's gang and even all the bad stuff they did."
With a shrug, Shamano figured he should answer Krillin's question for why King Yemma had allowed Shu and Mai to be sent to Heaven as opposed to being sent to the depths of Hell. "Maybe they actually might have some good inside of them and as Goku pointed out they weren't that evil" he also knew that he saw Pilaf was not with those two lackeys of his which and how Shu mentioned something about the reason for it. "As for Pilaf, from what Shu informed me… that blue-skinned 'Emperor' ended up pissing King Yemma off somehow and got himself sent to Hell for it, I don't blame him since you don't ever want to make someone like King Yemma furious."
"Guess that explains a whole lot" said Yamcha, since Pilaf's only reasons for constantly going after the Dragonballs was for world domination as even King Piccolo, Garlic Jr, Vegeta, Nappa and Frieza had better motives for their desires to get a hold of the Dragonballs yet only King Piccolo and Garlic Jr were the ones who got their respective wishes, King Piccolo's youth being restored and Garlic Jr gaining Immortality, the latter being what Vegeta, Nappa and Frieza had long since desired but never achieved their goals in the end. "Let's hope it taught him a lesson that not everyone is going to take his BS, least of all someone as powerful as King Yemma."
"Don't be too sure of it as Pilaf is an idiot and is more likely not gonna learn his lesson anytime soon or ever" added Goku, which surprised everyone as it was not every day that the pure-hearted Saiyan Warrior started making sense of anything with a few exceptions. "I mean, look what happened to Raditz as he got the Yemma Lock used on him for trying to attack King Yemma."
In the meantime, Gohan was talking with Videl.
"Videl, are you sure you want Erasa to be involved with this? I know she's your best friend and I know what has happened at the Tournament. I am asking this since not every Human may be able to comprehend all of the things that have been discussed around here, coupled with what I am capable of as it is." Gohan said, hoping that Videl was only joking around when she mentioned the idea of actually involving Erasa into this even if she was the raven-haired girl's best friend. "It's not that I don't trust you, I am simply concerned for Erasa's own well-being and how well the news may be received in case others may hear about it too. There still may be those jocks around who are not going to believe you, me or Erasa herself and are going to be laughed at because of them being superstitious, even though we could kick their sorry behinds for that. I will respect your decision on this regardless, but remember the old proverb: 'Ignorance is bliss.'"
Videl blinked at this for a moment. It almost appeared that the naïve, socially awkward was gone and in his place arrived a more confident, rational Gohan. Seeing Gohan with such a rational, confident appearance to a point where he doesn't take crap from anyone was something that Videl actually liked as well.
"Yes, I am sure. I do understand your point, but she could be even worse than I am with trying to find out what you're hiding, which is why we should inform her in private so we're sure no one can eavesdrop. If anything, people are more likely to back off when they see you instead, if they now know what you're capable of in the first place." She then said.
"True. Just keep in mind that patience is a virtue. You may have been able to handle things quite good yourself when you were being informed of all that has happened, the current situation aside, but…" Gohan said.
Videl then hugged him. "Your concern is duly noted, Gohan. I do appreciate it that you're looking out for the well-being of our friends from school too. But she has to know somehow, although I can predict that she may faint a couple of times once she hears of the people you're associating with…" She said.
Gohan chuckled at this. "I can imagine her fainting if I nonchalantly tell her that Bulma Briefs is my godmother and that I've known her since I was 4, with her and my father 'going way back', if that's how it's called." He said.
Videl giggled when she thought about it. "You got that right. And perhaps you should actually form an energy ball in school and ask the jocks where the 'smoke and mirrors' they claim you use are on your body. I bet that will shut them up." She said.
Back on Earth, the young man with the green eyes and black gi-like outfit found himself inside a park after a few hours in a suburb of Satan City. Having been on the road using a bicycle he purchased, he sought for a more comfortable place to do some thinking and see where he would go from now. Seeing a nearby bench, he went to park his bike close by and locked it for safety measures and walked off towards the bench. To his surprise, he noticed a red haired girl already present on the bench, whom was obviously contemplating things of her own. Not exactly wanting to disturb her, he decided to play safe and approached her.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
The red-haired young woman returned to the park she had been in not too long after she got home for a brief rest, surprised at what she found there. She found her mother and her siblings alive and well, but her father was missing still. She couldn't understand why, so she decided to go out again and just be with herself to set some things straight, being quite confused at the whole chain of events. Her trail of thoughts was interrupted when she heard a young man's voice addressing her politely.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
The girl turned to the source of the voice, seeing a young man wearing a black gi and having emerald green eyes as well as green sclera standing there next to the bench, but a bit away from her, as if not wanting to be too close or oppressive.
"No, you can sit down if you like." She said, smiling at him.
The young man smiled back.
"Thank you." He said, before sitting down on the bench, but still leaving enough room open between them so someone could sit in-between them if necessary.
The two teens sat there in silence, thinking about the events of the last few hours, pondering to where it will lead them to now.
Back at Dende's Lookout with the plan set in motion they knew that they would be ready after all, but right now they wanted to at least relax. "So we'll bring in Erasa tomorrow then as I'm sure the Planet and the rest of us all need a rest then." Gohan said as he pulled Videl into his arms.
"Okay then I'll drop you all off at Capsule corp. then." Shamano said with a smile as soon they all nodded and went in his ship after all they all wanted to see just how good this ship was. "Besides, since you wanted to at least finish High School there is a chance that nobody at your school remembers you were both the Great-Saiyaman and the "Gold Fighter" so it's safe to assume your identity is still intact."
"Yeah, we know…. As long as I graduate from school that should make my mom happy even if she's against me becoming a full warrior afterwards" responded Gohan as times have changed for the worse and for the better as they needed to at least be certain that they can enjoy their time of peace for now before they begin their much needed training as he intends to train himself as hard as possible then turned his attention towards Videl. "Hopefully you're okay with the Good Buu staying at your place for the first six months since Mr. S is taking full responsibility."
"Don't worry about it, if anything I'll be staying at your place" explained Videl giving a light smirk on her face which caught her boyfriend off-guard by the comment. "Besides, it isn't the first time I've visited as you know when I came for you to teach me how to fly."
"Yeah, I do…" answered Gohan, reflecting on that event and he was also surprised when that comment he made about her hair made her decide to cut it to the length it was right now as he had been hoping she still wasn't mad at him for it. "Still, what made you..."
"It's a long story but I'll tell you more later" she replied back as the Z-Fighters and their respective families enter Shamano's ship, while Dende stayed behind at the Lookout with Mr. Popo since they had their own preparations to do but will catch up with the others later.
"Wow, this is the inside of your ship?" asked Bulma in slight surprise at the sight of how advanced the ship was compared to the ones developed by Capsule Corp. "Even my parents would flip out when they see this… then again, my dad would jump at the chance to see how it's like and all since he was the one who created the first Capsule Corp ship that Goku used to get to Namek... from the remains of the space pod that brought him here when he was a baby."
"You'd be surprised by how old it is, remember that we Trimonights can live for a very long time even more so than the Namekians despite the fact they created." answered Shamano while nodding his head then something clicked into his mind. "By the way, I'd like to see this Dragon Radar of yours if that's alright with you."
"Uh… sure, no problem…" began the blunette, somewhat curious as to why he was so interested in the Dragon Radar and turned her attention towards Videl as the daughter of Mr. Satan was the last one who had it in her possession prior to Super Buu attacking them at the Lookout. "You still have the Dragon Radar right?"
"Yeah, I still do" she spoke, taking the Radar out of her pocket and handed it back to Vegeta's beloved human wife, who then in turn gave it to Shamano himself. "Still, what exactly do you have in mind with the Dragon Radar anyway? All it can do is located where the Dragonballs are around the planet they're on."
"I just need to take a quick look at it for now, shouldn't take too long" said Shamano, giving his usual smile which made the Z-Fighters and their friends even more curious than ever as to what he had in store for it as he left to where he can properly analyze it.
Leaning by the nearest wall, Zangya shook her head and said. "Just as unpredictable as always…" the female Hera took another glance at the others before continuing her speech. "Don't look so surprised, he likes to do things in private since he can't let anything here fall into the wrong hands since it's rare that he allows people onboard his vessel unless he knows he can trust them."
There was nothing but silence from the group, despite her actions she did her part in helping to save the universe in a way so they should at least be grateful at that. "Alright, but what will you be doing once we reach the Capsule Corp?" asked Gohan, needing to be certain it wasn't anything to worry about.
"I'm not going to stay around for too long as a girl does have places to go" answered former member of Bojack's gang, she doesn't blame them for their not fully-trusting her since she's still pretty much a bad girl at heart even though she does have good intentions as selfish as they are. "Just don't get any bright ideas, while we aren't necessarily enemies anymore, it doesn't make us official allies. I'm only still helping because of what this Baby is capable of."
"Why am I not surprised?" commented Vegeta being the next one to speak and with a darkened expression on his face as he didn't need to be reminded of that damned Tuffle parasite or its abilities.
"Vegeta, now's not the time for this…" reminded Goku, since they were given some downtime at least and won't want Vegeta blowing a fuse to ruin this time of brief peace especially as the two of them are the last true pure-blooded Saiyans remaining as Gohan, Trunks and Goten were all half-breeds yet it still made them Saiyan heritage. "I know how much you want to take on this Baby thing, still without a proper plan of attack or how to face him when the time comes then we'd be wasting our time for nothing."
"You stay out of this Kakarot!" Vegeta lashed out at Goku, even if he did make a good point in some form or another which was something rare to admit. "If it had been me who went with you in that future we learned about, I'd make quick work of that degenerate abomination myself no problem and maybe then your future Granddaughter wouldn't have died."
This made Gohan, Videl and Goten glare at the Saiyan Prince for bringing up what Baby did to Pan in her timeline prior to her arriving in theirs. "Don't give me that look, you all know that it's true!" he said with another scowl on his face as he wouldn't allow his family to suffer such a fate of being controlled by that thing that called itself a Tuffle. "Besides, I intend to train and become a Super Saiyan 3 because if Kakarot is able to achieve it then I'm going to do so too, I don't care how long it will take me."
"Well about that…" began Trunks, he was somewhat surprised that his father knew about Super Saiyan 3 this whole time and had a feeling that he's not going to be pleased to learn the purple-haired young boy and Goten can do so too but only when they're fused into Gotenks. "Goten and I managed to achieve that level too but in our case we can only go into Super Saiyan 3 when we're fused into Gotenks which in a way shortens the time we have before our fusion ends."
"It's true, we planned to use it against Majin Buu when the time came and we never expected Piccolo to bring him into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber" added Goten as he remembered when he and Trunks did the fusion dance to merge into Gotenks then went Super Saiyan to fight Super Buu as they were planning to use their secret weapon against him until Piccolo decided to destroy the door leading out the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "In fact, us acquiring the ability to turn Super Saiyan 3 as Gotenks was the reason Piccolo, Trunks and I even managed to escape from the Time Chamber after Piccolo blew the door up as a last resort to keep Buu from escaping and harming anymore innocent people."
"Guess that explains a whole lot" said Videl which shocked her to discover that Goten and Trunks gaining the ability to turn into a Super Saiyan 3 was indeed how they got themselves and Piccolo out of eternal imprisonment the Hyperbolic Time Chamber but not on time to save everyone from being eaten at least save for her as Super Buu had been toying with her and could have ended her life right there and then but didn't due to her being Mr. Satan's daughter
"That is something I would like to know I mean Buu had many a chance to kill Videl while we were in there, but he didn't. And Pan even said she was killed in her time most likely she meet your fates by getting eaten." Piccolo said as he looked at everyone with a frown on his face. "Not only that but him toying with you in this timeline was something rather different as opposed to what was supposed to happen to you."
"But wait… why would Buu still harm me in the first place when he spared my father?" Videl then asked.
"Your father befriended the good side of Majin Buu. When Majin Buu became Super Buu, the essence of Good Buu somehow prevented him from harming him, but since you never associated with Buu before he arrived on the Lookout, you didn't have that same privilege that your father had, even though he did acknowledge you as his daughter." Piccolo said. "Then again, the timeline divergence occurred thanks to Bulma's sacrifice and it resulted in Kid Buu killing Mr. Satan on the Supreme Kai's Planet in Other World after Earth was destroyed much like how Cell and Future Trunks traveling back to our time caused a similar divergence 10 years ago."
Videl blinked at this, seeing Piccolo's point. Gohan on the other hand was clenching his fists, trying to keep his cool after all that happened, willing himself to calm down. "Are you okay, son?" Goku then asked his eldest son, genuinely concerned.
"I would be lying if I said that I am." Gohan replied.
"Look, maybe you need to go somewhere alone if you do need to let off some steam," Piccolo said, "I know you've been through a lot, especially with the information we received. Maybe some well-earned rest or some meditation can help you in getting your focus back."
"Maybe I will, thanks Piccolo." Gohan said to his mentor, before walking off to a more private part of the area, with Videl following suit.
"Gohan…" Chi-Chi said, but Goku stopped her by placing his hand on his wife's shoulder.
"Let him be for a moment, Chi-Chi," Goku said to her in a serious tone, "I know you mean well, but Gohan needs to be alone for the moment."
"But why?" Chi-Chi asked.
"Look, even though he tries to remain calm, Gohan is in a very serious emotional turmoil. He just needs time; time to sort things out properly so he can see where he'll go from there." Goku said. "Right now Videl seems to be the only person he can be close to for the time being and hopefully it will be enough to help him through this."
"Goku's right," Piccolo said, "When he experiences an overflow of extreme emotions, he's like a walking time bomb close to detonation. Anyone who would antagonize him now will make Gohan unleash his emotions through a violent increase of power, which we have observed as his 'hidden powers'.
Regardless of the outcomes of the battles, you have to give him some credit for being able to deliver a severe beating to many whom were foolish enough to antagonize him. As for why Videl is following him, I think she somehow has a level of understanding which makes it appear she knows what he has gone through. Perhaps that is the cause of why Gohan is not telling her to back off; he just needs someone who understands what he has gone through up to know and, after witnessing his struggles on the battlefield against the Evil Buu, I believe that Videl just happens to fill that role. I'm sure that he'll soon come back to us, but for now he needs this more than you can imagine."
Chi-Chi remained silent, a tear falling down her right eye as she shows deep concerns for Gohan. Goku put an arm around her, holding her closely as they watched him go.
Bulma for her part just looked at the ship with a smile on her face as it was not every day she was on an alien ship like this and she only wished she could learn more about it while Vegeta remained silent, never the less he wondered how he himself was unaware of the existence of the Trimonights despite his status of Saiyan Prince.
Gohan and Videl on the other hand were sitting close together until something caught Videl's eye and reached over to it. "A photo, but why is it buried?" She asked as she wiped away the dust and gave a gasp.
"What is it?" asked Gohan, surprised to see the reaction on her face as it was a picture of Shamano with a young girl in her teenage years, she had short light brown hair and baby blue eyes while wearing what appears to be a lovely strapless orange dress. "Who is that? I recognize Shamano but the girl with him on the other hand."
"I'm not really sure to be honest but that's actually something we may need to ask him later when he's done with analyzing the Dragon Radar" answered Videl just as confused as her half-Saiyan boyfriend which added to the mystery of the teenage girl in the picture with Shamano. "Still, she does look kinda pretty much like my mother…."
"Huh?" wondered Gohan in surprise, which was a first time he ever heard Videl mentioning her mother since he already met her father Mr. Satan at the Cell Games seven years ago but never in his entire life has he seen Videl's mom anywhere at the school or at the World Martial Arts Tournament to root for her only daughter, then again a part of him was actually glad that she wouldn't have had to witness that bastard Spovovich trying to kill the girl he grew to love especially as that should have automatically disqualified the bald-headed opponent right there. "Your mother?"
"Yes, her name's Miguel Satan… my father and I rarely ever talk about her to be honest…" commented the raven-haired girl as it pained her to mention her mother. "She died long ago when I was younger and I've never gotten over her death, even to this day."
This news shocked Gohan to no end, even more so than when she discovered his identity as the Great-Saiyaman and "blackmailed" him into participating into the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament which in a way ended up becoming a good thing unlike the revelation he has learned. "My god, I'm really sorry to hear that…." he spoke in a comforting tone as he noticed tears beginning to flow from Videl's eyes as she remembered the day she and Mr. Satan learned her mother died. "I bet you really looked up to her didn't you."
Videl silently nodded her head to confirm it to be true and latched onto Gohan, hugging him tightly as it was bad enough that her mother died but having heard that the half-Saiyan warrior she had fallen in love with seemingly perished against Majin Buu long ago ended up causing a dagger to be impaled into her heart more than ever before. Fortunately, he was alive which is lifted a weight on her and with the evil Buu dead they will need to enjoy their time together before they start their long and rigorous training. "Yes… plus her death led to my father becoming overprotective of me as you already saw after my fight against Spovovich" she finally spoke, reflecting on how Mr. Satan reacted to her nearly dying in her match at the World Martial Arts Tournament.
"Yeah, plus he was less than thrilled when he saw you being absorbed by Super Buu" added Gohan as he already was well aware of how overprotective Mr. Satan can be, much like Chi-Chi was towards the half-Saiyan during his youth and that was even before he was trained to become the warrior he is right now, plus he never knew about his Saiyan Grandfather until discovering on Planet Namek that he had already been killed by the evil tyrant Frieza back when Planet Vegeta had been destroyed due to fearing that the Saiyan would one day grow powerful enough to overthrow him. "Not only that but he didn't sound happy that you wanted to do two years of training in two days in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
Nodding her head in agreement, who could blame Gohan and Mr. Satan for worrying about her safety but she would rather not stand by while the rest of the Z-Fighters do the difficult fighting. "Still, I've made my decision and I'm going to stay with it whether the two of you like it or not" she replied with a shrug then thought about the next thing she will say to him. . "Now that I think of it, since you, Krillin and Yamcha are going to be learning this Kaioken then I should learn it as well if it's possible."
"Wait, you want to learn that technique?!" exclaimed Gohan, almost falling down anime-style which made Videl narrow her eyes at him in response to that as it was already bad enough that he had no choice but to comply with her request to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber while wishing to go inside with her on her first year of training in one day inside that place but her wanting to learn the Kaioken technique his dad knew was going a bit too far. "It's not that it's a bad idea, but you remember what my dad said about the negative side-effects from using it in battle… it can kill you."
"So what?!" snapped Videl while looking him dead in the face with a serious expression, she already seen enough damage caused not only by Cell but by Broly and Majin Buu as well with the Z-Fighters learning what Baby has done in Pan's timeline prior to their late future daughter coming back in time to warn them of the hell that will come to be served as the final straw. "You and your father may be Saiyans but if a human being like me can learn it, then that's a risk I'm willing to take! Besides, Krillin and Yamcha volunteered to learn that technique much like you did and they're pure humans as opposed to you being half-human as I recall!"
The young man felt a sweat-drop running down the back of his head, sometimes he could never understand Videl's Tsundre personality but he still liked her the way she is. "Still I…." he tried to speak up only for a low chuckle to interrupt the conversation between him and his girlfriend as they turned to see that it was none other than Shamano. "Shamano, what are you doing here?"
"I heard the conversation between you two and decided to see what's going on" responded the Trimonight with a shrug since it was cute to see how the two were having an argument concerning the safety of each other. "Besides, I've finished with analyzing the Dragon Radar and started upgrading it."
"Wait, you're upgrading the Dragon Radar?" began Gohan, though it is common for Bulma to do so if necessary but that was with Earth's technology as an upgrade of the Radar with technology not from their home planet is actually a first for him. "Does Bulma know about this?"
"I was actually just about to let her know in advance really, besides it could use one hell of an upgrade that not even Earth could provide" said the Trimonight with his usual grin then turned his attention towards Videl as there is something else that she will need to be aware of. "You don't have to worry about that friend of yours, I've already made contact with Shin and he's going to be heading to Earth so he can bring her to Capsule Corp quickly."
The surprise on Videl's face was rare to see, at the same time she is grateful to Shamano for managing to get her request to have Erasa brought to the others passed through telepathically and is hoping that her blonde-haired best friend wouldn't completely flip out when she learns the truth. "Thank you, I really appreciate it" she spoke, briefly bowing down to him out of respect and it made the alien in question give a smile.
"Don't mention it, besides I'm sure you have your reasons for Erasa needing to be involved in this meeting" he said to her, taking a glance towards Gohan next. "I just hope I didn't come here at a bad time however, seeing how you two were alone in this very room."
"It's a long story…." said Gohan, unsure of how to explain it without escalating the issue that was at hand since he already had to teach her how to fly which is something he's fine with before the whole mess with Broly and then Babidi occurred after her lessons were completed but her wanting to learn the Kaioken is an entirely different story. "You heard everything we said didn't you?"
The two teens sat on the bench in the park, still thinking things over. The young man was being silent, until he heard the young woman sniff a little. Concerned, he turned to her. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"I… I'm not sure… so much has happened, I… I don't know what to think." she replied while shaking her head, especially as one minute she was killed by a mysterious pink blast aimed at her, then she was in the afterlife along with many others who died and after that…. she had found herself on Earth, alive too which is strange how she could have been revived, initially thinking it was a dream.
"I can come in with that" He said softly, showing genuine concern towards the young woman in question and wanted to show that he cared about her well being. "If you want to talk about it…"
The girl turned to him, looking into his emerald-colored eyes, showing the genuine concern that was aimed towards her. "Thank you," she said as she wasn't sure what else to say, "but I don't think it's appropriate for me to talk about it now… besides, I don't even know who you are."
"My apologies for that, I should have properly introduced myself first," the young man said, smiling at her and wanted to correct the error he made by not introducing himself to her beforehand, "My name is Tempest. And you are?"
"I… I am Xeno." She said, blinking at the fact that he was genuinely smiling at her.
"That's a nice name" Tempest spoke, finding that the girl looked cute even though they had just met long after having found themselves alive as ever since the destruction that was previously caused by Majin Buu. "Are you from around here?
"Uh, yeah… I live in one of the houses at the far side of this park" Xeno replied with a slight nod and had a question of her own that she needed to ask of him though it was the first time she is interacting with him. "And you?"
Tempest smiled grimly at the question she asked him. "I used to live within the outskirts of Ginger Town in my early years, but something terrible happened one day that made me leave the town by force due to the circumstances that occurred around it. Nowadays I'm pretty much moving around places until I've earned enough money to find my own place to settle." He said.
"So you're a job hunter?" She asked, tilting her head.
"Pretty much," he said, "I'm mostly around on delivery tasks for markets and fast food places on specific days. The pay is surprisingly decent, being at least enough to pay for the room I'm renting at the time and also allowing me to save up for my own home one day."
She nodded in interest, as if happy that she was actually having a decent conversation with someone of her age…
Back on the old ship, Shamano nodded as he sat down on a chair since it was rather cute that the couple was arguing about the other's well being. "Yes I did, every word of it." He said as he noticed the photo Videl was holding and it made him frown as he thought he had it locked up someplace. "Where did you get that picture?"
"Oh? Sorry…." She replied, giving the picture to him with a frown as they were talking with each other that she completely forgotten that she still had it in her hand. "We just found it and since then we've been wondering if you knew that girl"
Remaining silent, Shamano looked away as it apparently pained him whenever he looked at it as well as if anyone was to ask him about the girl in the picture. "Is something the matter?" asked Gohan upon noticing the expression that the male Trimonight was giving and it was never a good sign whenever he sees that look regardless of it is a friend, family member or someone they've just met.
"Nothing, don't worry about it…" he replied the two teens and was quick to do what's necessary to change the subject as it's actually one of those things that he simply refused to talk about even to this very day. "By the way, ever thought about maybe removing those tails from Goten and Trunks so they don't… you know…."
"Well about that, we've been discussing this for a while, it would be for the best if they kept their tails but provided they not look at the full moon and they train themselves so they won't succumb to the weakness my dad, uncle and I experienced." answered Gohan with a serious expression, referring to the weakness of low-class Saiyans becoming much weaker should their tails be grabbed by an opponent, something that his father Goku had trained himself to overcome during his childhood and even Saiyan Elites such as Vegeta and Nappa had rid themselves of such a weakness before they came to the Earth.
"Your uncle?" asked Videl, shocked to learn that Gohan and his father Goku used to have tails themselves but is more shocked at the fact her boyfriend had an uncle he never once mentioned at all nor had she met him at the World Tournament or Dende's Lookout which could have meant Gohan's uncle might have died at some point prior to her meeting the raven-haired Half-Saiyan. "Is there something you haven't been telling me?"
"Yeah, I didn't want you to know about this let alone the fact I was the 'Gold Fighter' that you saw defeating those criminals back in Satan City before I took on the identity of the Great-Saiyaman… I only wanted to hide to hide my powers in my own attempt to fit in Human Society, seeing that I am actually half-alien. It appears that certain circumstances prevented me from doing so." he answered with a small sigh but then again she had always known that Gohan was the one who defeated Cell seven years ago and not Mr. Satan since she saw the Z-Fighters taking part in the Cell Games at the time too so it would be best to reveal what she didn't know about his past. "My whole life was a one big mess ever since my evil Uncle Raditz appeared when I was four years old and it seems there is no end to this yet after all."
"Are you serious?!"
"You bet I am; I've been fighting space aliens who were hell-bent on destroying entire planets while you were in kindergarten. I was only eleven years old when I fought Cell" explained Gohan, not wanting to leave anything out to his girlfriend since she already knew that he won the Cell Games. "During those battles, I often found myself holding back because of my own frigging shortcomings, and just when I thought I had the power to defeat a villain, I grew cocky which cost me the life of my father for that."
There was nothing but silence from the daughter of Mr. Satan, especially as she is still trying to take in everything that she had just learned and experienced first-hand as Gohan continued with needed to be said. "Having to watch Spovovich torturing you and then seeing Super Buu absorb you was more than what I could stand. And even then people may think of me as someone they'd better not associate with now that they have seen my bad side."
"That's not true Gohan" said Videl, wanting to reassure him that everything worked out in the end despite the events that occurred for him in the past. "You still have your family!"
"And what about our classmates? I am going to be honest with you, Videl; I joined high school so I could associate with people my age, perhaps making a friend or two" he told her with a serious expression on his face, making her think on the matter before he gave another sigh. "For once I wanted to have some happiness in my life, yet there ALWAYS has to be something that throws all my efforts to fit in right down the drain. You are perhaps the only one I've actually taken a liking to. You mean even more than just a friend to me. Even though the circumstances weren't that great with you trying to find out what I was hiding according to you, I was actually getting attached to you."
"Gohan….I… I never knew…" she was trying to find the right words to tell him and she needed to be careful but at the same time, she never would have guessed that he felt that way about her even to this very day. "While I'm not exactly sure what to say at the moment but I really appreciate that you told me all of this."
Gohan nodded. "And there's more to that than what you can imagine. I'll tell you all about it once we're in a more comfortable area." He said.
Videl couldn't help to nod at this. It was as if instead of the usual geeky, naive Gohan was now a Gohan whom was confident and almost had no fear. As she gazed into his onyx eyes while he looked at her sapphire blue ones, it was as if Videl could almost see that there was untold pain behind them, showing that even now, Gohan was still hurting inside from past events. It was as if she was beginning to get a better understanding of him and what he had gone through… she could have sworn this was affecting her in an odd way… was she actually getting attracted to him?
"So, what are your plans now actually?" Xeno then asked Tempest.
Tempest turned to her with a smile. "I'll likely stick around for a while, looking for some delivery jobs to complete. It's not an easy job, but at least it pays well, more than enough to cover the rent of the room I'll be staying and supplying myself with food and drinks. And there's always a bank account that I can rely on with some spare life savings…" He said.
Xeno nodded, returning the smile. "Are you saving up for something in particular?" She then asked.
"Other than getting myself a permanent home, I'm saving up to acquire some tools for one of my hobbies, which is martial arts." He replied.
"Are you a martial artist?" She asked, blinking.
"Well, not exactly yet. I do know a few basic moves for self-defense which my parents taught me years ago, so I'm looking for a way to pick it up again and possibly expand on it." He replied.
"Are you looking for an appliance within the dojo of the man whom said to have defeated Cell, Mr. Satan?" Xeno asked curiously.
"No. I am looking for something more unique, something that can help me improve on myself as I go." He replied.
This intrigued Xeno. "So, you're not exactly going for personal gain then?" She asked.
"No. It's partially seeking enlightenment and partially doing what I can to help others out. It's a habit of mine to help others out when needed." Tempest said.
Xeno smiled, finding it quite interesting, before she looked at her watch.
"Whoops, I have to get back home before I'll be late for dinner." She said, almost in a panicking voice.
"It's alright, I wish you a good evening then." Tempest replied, getting up as he prepared to go on his way as well.
"Same to you. Is this a good-bye?" Xeno then asked, out of the blue.
Tempest stopped, before looking at her with a smile on his face. "I prefer to call it a 'see you later'. I'll be sticking around this place for a while… perhaps, by some chance, we will meet again. See you later, my friend." He said.
Xeno smiled at this, nodding. "See you later indeed then." She replied, before the two teens parted ways.
But as they parted ways, a blush crept on their respective faces… 'Wow… I have to say, Xeno's kinda cute… I wonder why she got riled up over being late for dinner, though… I'll definitely stick around for some time…' Tempest thought to himself.
'A male who isn't so oppressive and instead is being more respectful, was he actually wanting me to be his friend?' Xeno asked herself, 'W… wow… I hope this may be a turning point of my life becoming a bit better…'
Little did they know that their first meeting would soon become the start of something new…
The Z-Fighters on the other hand were now all standing outside of Capsule Corp as they headed out from the alien ship, most fighters right now wanted nothing more that to relax. "So when should we train the kids then, I mean I know that it's something most of you don't want but the fact is we won't be around forever." Piccolo said. "Unfortunately, with Baby's threat coming and us having no idea on how powerful he truly is aside from what Pan warned us…"
"Do we really have any other choice?" asked Vegeta with his usual darkened expression as normally with things back to normal… there wouldn't be any further threats to the universe that needed to be dealt with but with this, there is no way they can simply ignore it as it caused their alternate future selves big time. "Unless you want them to become slaves to that parasite for the rest of their lives, this is their best chance of avoiding it!"
Nearby Android 17 and Android 18 watched the conversation from a distance while staying silent before Goku spoke up. "I think our best bet is to begin our training six months from now, when we're certain that everyone's memories of Majin Buu except our own have been erased." he responded with a nod.
"Typical Kakarot, remaining calm despite the situation that's about to take place 15 years from now." the Saiyan Prince rolled his eyes in slight annoyance though he figured that Goku wanted to spend time with his family to make up for the 7 years he missed out on since his death when he sacrificed himself to save Earth from Cell's Self-Destruction at the closing battles of the Cell Games "Then again, he's not exactly the brightest of us but he's smarter than that imbecile."
"Hey!" Mr. Satan's voice was heard among the group after they had finally reached Capsule Corp without too much of a hassle and Vegeta scoffed as he was speaking the truth when it comes to the World Martial Arts Champion.
"You know that's true! If I recalled well, you lied to the entire world about having defeated Cell at the Cell Games when you couldn't even do any damage to him despite scoring direct hits…. You even lied to the world about taking down Bojack when it was clear that Gohan killed those two bastards with his Super Saiyan 2 capabilities!" responded Vegeta as if to remind Mr. Satan the two huge lies to the entire world ever since the end of the Cell Games and the attack of the Galaxy Soldiers. "Yet somehow, in the other timeline… you did make some useful assistance in taking out that evil Buu but it doesn't change anything."
"Cut the guy a break, he already has gone through enough and being killed by Kid Buu was one of them so you shouldn't make him feel worse about it" reminded Goku, giving Vegeta a serious glare of his own since Mr. Satan wasn't the one who caused the problem at all despite the lies he told the entire Earth following the defeat of Super Perfect Cell. "Besides, you could at least thank him."
"Oh? Why the hell should I?"
"Because, I think he might have another reason for why he told the world that he defeated Cell and Bojack… maybe to keep our identities safe" explained the pure-hearted Saiyan since as he had a feelings that it would be all for the very best. "Besides, the fact remain is that in a way we should appreciate his getting involved at the Cell Games since he and Android 16 helped Gohan unlock his Super Saiyan 2 form against Cell."
"Dad's right, especially despite the lies from the past… Mr. S actually helped more than you think" added Gohan, surprising Mr. Satan and everyone else in the area which the elder Part Saiyan continued with what he needed to say. "You have to remember, he was the one who tossed Android 16's severed head to convince him to do what has to be done to save Earth."
Remaining silent, Vegeta gave a low growl as he couldn't believe people were defending Mr. Satan right now. "Let's just change the subject right now before we cause a bigger problem than what needed to be dealt with." informed Videl, giving a glare of her own against the Saiyan Prince and despite being a human being; she has a lot of spunk which made Zangya smirk at this. "What's with you?"
"Oh nothing…." answered the female Hera, finding it somewhat amusing that a female human is actually angry with the Saiyan Prince which was something rare to see even before her freedom 7 years ago following King Kai's death at the Cell Games events. "Still, it's a first time since I joined up with you guys that I've ever see any female give a Saiyan a defiant glare."
"Well onto the topic at hand, as dad suggested…. We should get ourselves and the kids ready to train for the next 15 years since we don't know if Baby of this timeline will become stronger than in the future that Pan came from is, we can't afford to take any chances." said Gohan, his eyes were much darker than usual but who could blame him? "If Piccolo is right and I can still transform into my Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 forms then I'll have to train as hard… I don't know how long it will take me but if achieving Super Saiyan 3 like my dad and Gotenks will help against Baby then that's the price I'm willing to take."
Everyone remained silent at what Gohan had just said and especially, Goku, Goten , Chi-Chi and Videl the most since they were his family while Videl gotten her boyfriend back when they were reunited on Earth before the elder Half-Saiyan began his battle against Super Buu then Goku placed his hand on his beloved wife's shoulder before she could protest. "Gohan… do you know what you're even saying right now?" asked the raven-haired teenage girl in disbelief at what he's telling them. "Sure Goku achieved it in the Other World during the 7 years of training he did there but he was dead at the time and his living body couldn't handle the stress as much, plus Gotenks as much as he is able to effectively use it… has a shorter time before the fusion ends."
"I know how you feel Videl but right now, it's not like we have any other alternative we can possibly take with what is about to happen" replied Gohan with a concerned expression as he was aware of the negative flaws that Super Saiyan 3 had and despite it being the strongest form of the Super Saiyan transformations the risks could cost him his life. "Besides, you mentioned yourself that you wanted to learn the Kaioken that my dad learned from King Kai despite its negative side-effects."
"Well that's different, it's so that I can better help you fight off powerful threats to the Earth!" snapped Videl, giving him the expression that she is far less than thrilled to hear that Gohan brought it up even if she was the one who decided on it. "Your Ultimate capabilities from Old Kai should make your other two Super Saiyan forms powerful enough to take on Baby so why stress your body out even more?"
"You know, this is something I'd have to agree with Gohan on… that doesn't mean that I'm gonna let him surpass me again" commented Vegeta, putting in his thoughts on Gohan's crazy idea of attempting to achieve the Super Saiyan 3 form like Goku and Gotenks did as it made the Saiyan Prince grin as he prepared to reveal the next thing he is going to say. "Besides, I'm going to train myself so that I can become a Super Saiyan 3 as well and especially as I want to prove to Kakarot that he's not the only Saiyan who can transform into one without the need of Fusion."
"Vegeta!" exclaimed Bulma in shock, which the fact that Gohan wanting to achieve Super Saiyan 3 was one thing but piping Vegeta's interest and his desire to transform into a Super Saiyan 3 himself is going on way too far for her taste. Sure she can tell how competitive her husband was when it comes to Goku but this is a bit much.
"Dad…" began Trunks, unsure of what to say himself as not many can achieve the ability that Goku did in Otherworld or how Goten and himself were able to do so while they were briefly in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber prior to Piccolo bringing Super Buu inside to face Gotenks before they could be properly ready for their battle with him. "I hope you know what you and Gohan are doing by deciding on this."
"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't have chosen to go the route that Kakarot went" Vegeta informed his purple-haired son with his confident grin and he turned his attention towards Goku himself. "Unless you have any problem with that… If you do then don't bother trying to change our minds especially as I won't want to hear it."
"Still as arrogant as always" said Shamano, not wanting to escalate the conflict right now and hoped that Shin would get here soon with Videl's friend Erasa since it shouldn't take longer than necessary then again he's one to talk as there are instances where he is working on upgrading or modifying his spaceship should he need to get somewhere faster or better keep it safe from any possible threat that decided to take interest. "In any case, once Shin and Erasa arrive then I'll tell you all my reasons for heading for Pan's timeline other than what I revealed earlier."
"Okay" Gohan nodded his head, since he could see there being more of a reason for going to Pan's Timeline other than seeing what kind of hell Baby's caused to the Earth and its population but also to see how strong their opponent is in case there's a possibility of beating the one that will arrive to Earth in their own Timeline. "Just as long as we can find out if Baby's hiding his true power even before killing dad in Pan's Timeline."
"And let's not forget that even the non-fighters among us have to train too," Piccolo said, "Otherwise Baby could use them to exploit potential weaknesses in regards to your connection to your loved ones."
"Even me?" Bulma asked.
"Of course," Piccolo said, "Remember that your possessed self has shunned Goku like a filthy Saiyan that needs to be eliminated while you've been friends with Goku since childhood. There is nothing worse than having a friendship destroyed because of something that, while it was beyond your control, you would still be responsible for."
Bulma gulped at this, trying to shake the images of the possibilities of that happening and the repercussions she would have to deal with…
"Look with what Pan told us we can stop this Bulma." Gohan said as he did his best to smile at his godmother. "Besides, now that we know that something worse than Kid Buu is out there we need to be better prepared for the worse case scenario."
"Gohan's right Bulma its not happened for us yet and maybe we can make it better." Videl said doing her best to smile but Bulma knew Videl was still hurting on the inside.
"Look I will do what I can from my end but just be ready the Neo-Tuffles as I will call them will try and kill me when I try to get a few samples so you can look at it Bulma but this may be our only chance," Shamano said with a frown as he placed his hand on his chin. "Odds are that it would be beneficial to helping keep everyone from this timeline from meeting the fate of becoming Neo-Tuffles and if Baby does become stronger than in Pan's timeline then we'll know for sure."
Nodding his head, Piccolo had to agree with Shamano on that plan though as risky as it may sound then turned his attention towards Chi-Chi and said. "As I recall Chi-Chi, you were one of the participates in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament much like Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Mercenary Tao, Kami and myself" he reflected on the events of the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament back when he used to be a villain like his past-life King Piccolo before him. "Last I heard, your father was trained by Master Roshi himself am I right?"
"Yeah, he was…" responded Chi-Chi, yet she's somewhat surprised that Piccolo was well aware of her father having been one of Master Roshi's students, the other being Goku's late adoptive grandfather Grandpa Gohan who she and Goku named their eldest son after ever since they got married. "What does this have to do with me?"
"I'd figured you would say that…. you had a lot of potential as a fighter ever since you participated in that World Martial Arts Tournament so why not train hard and realize it?" he asked her, then turned his attention towards both Gohan and Goten before giving a smirk on his face. "A pity you never told your sons about this haven't you especially when he was still a little boy, things have changed however for the better or otherwise and he's starting to become one of the new protectors of the Earth like his father before him."
"Piccolo…." As much as Gohan wanted to protest against what his mentor was suggesting, he can't argue with the fact it is needed though he and Goten were actually surprised that their own mother actually was a participate in a World Martial Arts Tournament. "Mom, is this all true?"
The beloved wife of Goku didn't know what to say, sure she wanted him to focus only on his studies but it was to keep him from getting killed as his own father tends to risk his life in battles himself and her heart would be shattered, even more than when she learned of Goku's death seven years ago, if anything were to happen to her child. "Gohan, I…." she tried to speak but couldn't find the right words to say at the moment nobody could blame her since she is usually the overprotective mother when it came to her family. "Huh?"
It wasn't for long before Shin finally appeared via the Instantaneous Movement and the Z-Warriors and their friends and families were rather relieved that he managed to get here without too much trouble ever since the Earth was restored along with its entire population by Porunga following the trip to New Namek. "Sorry I'm late everyone" said Shin with an apologetic expression on his face. "I had some important business to attend too back at home and I had to be certain that the rest of Otherworld becomes aware of what will happen 15 years from now."
"Don't worry about it, in fact you're right on time too as we were going to discuss our plan for how we'll be dealing with Baby" responded Gohan before he and Videl saw that a familiar face was present with the Kibito Kai, it was a teenage girl with blonde-hair, baby blue eyes and wearing a lined green tube top and blue jeans that the two of them knew at Orange Star High School. "Been a while hasn't it… Erasa?"
"Gohan? Videl?"
A/Ns: Well this is it, in any case I would like to thank thedarkpokemaster and Martian Tempest for helping me finish the chapter despite Darkpokemaster's laptop fucking up twice this year and with the upcoming anime Dragonball Super coming out this summer (next month to be more specific and especially as I am even looking forward to the upcoming movie Resurrection of F which is the direct sequel to the previous movie Battle of Gods, Aki's first step in taking Dragonball GT out of the picture completely)…. It makes me hope that Pan will get the love she truly deserves as it is not her fault Dragonball GT sucked big time.