A/N: THIS CHAPTER IS BETA'D BY THE SUPER-DUPER-AWESOME FIRESTORM1991!
Mirai awoke to two four year olds jumping up and down on his stomach. It wasn't a particularly pleasant way to start the morning, but it was better than ice water. He groaned and one of them landed hard. "I'm up." To prove this, he sat up.
He watched as the twins smiled happily at this but continued jumping on the bed.It was a lot easier waking him up than Gohan. Maybe he was scared we'd go get Trunks.
That was not, of course, the reason he awoke so easily. He actually wanted to get a good spar in before school.
"Damn," he growled in his head, "today's the day we are visiting Capsule Corp. Just the perfect way to start my high school career."
He checked the clock; it read 5:00 in the morning. "How do they get up so early?"
Sighing, he walked to his closet to get his training Gi.
"Goten, Gyōza," Mirai began slowly, seriousness lacing his voice.
"Yes?" Goten and Gyōza asked fearfully, wondering what they had done this time.
"Can you go tell Gohan to meet me in the gravity room for a spar?"
Goten and Gyōza both sighed audibly, thanking Kami that Mirai wasn't going to "spar" with them, or worse, tell Bulma.
"Sure!" they chirped together before rushing off to find Gohan. Mirai watched them go, a tad bit bemused.
"Huh, they're not so bad when Trunks isn't around. Maybe he, that's to say I, am a bad influence on them."
~ # ~
"Gohan," Goten and Gyōza called for as they raced down the hallways of Capsule Corporation. Skidding to a complete stop, they slowly peeked into Gohan's room, which fortunately for Mirai and Gohan, was on the opposite side of Capsule Corporation. It was indeed fortunate for the two high-school students as it allowed one of them a few extra moments of blissful sleep. Not much, but enough that it was pleasing to Mirai and Gohan.
Smiling evilly to each other, Goten and Gyōza raced into the room, screaming, "Gohan."
When Gohan didn't even stir, Goten and Gyōza both raised their hands and fired weak ki blasts at Gohan's face. And while, it certainly wouldn't have hurt Gohan, it did wake him.
"Huh… what's going on?" Gohan asked groggily. Gohan yawned loudly and cracked his back, making Goten and Gyōza wince.
"Big brother, you're awake now!" the twins chorused together.
"Ugh, what time is it?" Gohan asked, trying to go back to sleep.
"5:00 in the morning," the twins replied.
"Oh that's nice," Gohan started, before jolting up, and screaming, "5:00 in the morning! What are you thinking?"
"Well, we wanted to play with you and Mirai, big brother!"
"Oh, you did, did you?" Gohan started, a tick forming above his eye, "Well, Mirai and I will be happy to 'play' with you both. In fact, we'll play a special game with only you two, and Trunks will have to miss out on all the 'fun'."
"Yay," the twins cheered, "A game, a game, a game!"
Goten and Gyōza then took note of the menacing look on Gohan's face, and gulped loudly.
"Uh… what sort of game are we playing?" Gyōza asked nervously.
"A fun game," Gohan smirked.
"Uh-oh," Goten whispered to Gyōza. "We're in trouble."
Gohan quickly grabbed the twins by the scruff of their necks and forcibly dragged them to the Gravity Room, passing a yawning Mirai, who merely shrugged, and followed them.
The twins hollered for help while being dragged, but it was to no avail, as Bulma was working in her lab and Vegeta, surprisingly, was not in the Gravity Room. Rather, he was doing what most Saiyans do if they aren't training – eating.
Gohan opened the door to the Gravity Room, and threw the twins in there forcefully. Mirai joined them a few seconds later, asking why Goten and Gyōza were in the Gravity Room when they were going to spar.
"Oh, we're just going to play a 'game' with them," Gohan said, his Saiyan side coming to the surface once again.
Mirai clearly inherited Bulma's brains, as he caught on quickly, and smirked, "Oh, I see, well in that case, I'll make sure to make this an extra-special game."
"Yay, extra-special," Goten crowed. "Wait, is that a good thing, Gyōza?"
Gyōza smacked her brother upside his head causing him to cry out. "No, stupid, it means we're in for a tough spar."
"Hey I'm not stupid, wait… what?" Goten started, realization dawning on his face. "No, I don't wanna spar!"
Goten, at super-speed, raced off to the Gravity Room door, only to find it blocked by a fist from Mirai. He flew backwards into the wall, groaning as he grabbed his nose.
"Why'd you have to go and do that?" Goten whined.
"Why'd you have to wake me up at 5:00 in the morning?" Gohan countered.
Gyōza sniggered, before paling as Mirai snapped at her. "And what are you laughing at? You'll get your comeuppance too."
With a loud shout, Goten disentangled himself from the Gravity Room wall, and launched himself at Gohan. Quickly dodging Goten's wild attack, Gohan thrust his palm upward, connecting with a solid 'THWACK' to Goten's chest, sending him flying backwards again.
"Gotta be quicker, bro," Gohan taunted.
"And you shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent," Mirai smirked as he unleashed a medium-size ki blast at Gohan's sternum from point-blank range. The ki blast sent Gohan rocketing backwards, before detonating, leaving scorch marks over Gohan's torso and arms.
Gohan extracted himself from the wall, and with a loud shout, powered up to Super Saiyan. Mirai quickly copied Gohan.
"So, I guess play time is over?" Mirai asked while stretching his shoulders, as if to say, 'what you did doesn't faze me'.
"Perhaps," Gohan slyly replied, before vanishing with an extreme burst of speed, reappearing behind Mirai. Aiming a very quick chop at the back of Mirai's neck, Gohan failed to take into account Goten, who had been previously sitting on the "sidelines" after Gohan's attack, and had unbeknownst to Mirai and Gohan, been slowly powering up, channeling all his energy into his fist. Then, when an opportunity presented itself, as when Gohan attacked, Goten made his move.
Goten disappeared from view and as Gohan was about to chop Mirai into unconsciousness, Goten, with all of his energy channeled into his hand, landed a devastating right hook that sent Gohan careening into the wall. The impact from the crash left a huge dent in the wall, and Gohan's energy dropped considerably.
Meanwhile, Mirai, who had been caught off-guard by the surprising amount of speed showed by Gohan, just stared dumbly ahead, his mind still catching up with Goten's sneak attack. However, Goten's attack drained him of all his energy, and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.
Seeing another opportunity present itself, Gyōza powered up the biggest Kamehameha she could, and fired it at Mirai, who had not been paying attention at all to her. He did, however, notice when Gyōza chanted, "KAA… MEE…. HAA…MEE…HAAAAA!" That slight bit of time he received was just enough to allow Mirai to cross his arms and block the attack. Gyōza's Kamehameha pushed Mirai back against the Gravity Room wall before it detonated, flashing a bright light and sending smoke into the air.
Coughing, Mirai uncrossed his arms to examine the damage.
"Hmm… that Kamehameha did much more damage than I expected. The twins sure have gotten stronger. They are almost at the level Gohan was at when he transformed into a Super Saiyan," Mirai thought, sniggering at Gohan's response to Mirai's train of thought. "I can't wait to see Gohan's expression if they become Super Saiyans before the age Gohan transformed at."
Meanwhile, Gohan, who had been stunned by Goten's sneak attack, once again extracted himself from the wall, and surveyed the results of the spar so far.
Sighing dramatically, Gohan called out to Mirai, "Well, that wasn't that much fun… I mean we didn't even get a chance to have some 'fun' with Goten and Gyōza."
"Oh well, we can always get them next time," Mirai smirked evilly, a dastardly plan coming to mind.
"As it is, however, we don't have that much time left before we need to leave for school so we can appear as if we arrived like normal humans," Gohan replied, looking at his watch. "One all-out attack… I have some Senzu Beans on us, enough for the four of us."
"Sounds good to me, but do we have to give the twins a Senzu Bean?" Mirai complained. "Why can't we force them to heal without them? It'll be part of their punishment."
"As wonderful as that sounds," Gohan dryly noted, "Your mom would murder us if the twins showed up to school, half-dead from exhaustion, bearing bruises and/or broken bones. So, unfortunately, we have to heal them with the Senzu Beans."
Mirai nodded, understanding Gohan's point. Mirai and Gohan both powered up to their maximum limits.
"Fair enough. Now let's end this!" Mirai shouted, spreading his arms apart wide as if saying 'come and get me', and powering two ki blasts, one in each hand.
At the same time, Gohan got into the classic Turtle-Hermit style stance, and started chanting, "KAA…MEE…HAA…MEE…HAAA!"
An enormous ball of bluish energy began to form in Gohan's hands, and he thrust them forward after he finished chanting the signature phrase for the famed attack.
While Gohan had charged up his signature attack, Mirai's attack had finished charging, and he unleashed it with a mighty roar.
"FINAL FLASH!"
Both Mirai and Gohan's attacks were equally matches in intensity and the power behind them. However, Gohan still had hidden reserves of power, and as Mirai's attack began to over-power his, he called upon those vast reserves and transformed into a Super Saiyan 2. The transformation's rush of energy was more than enough to allow Gohan to over-power Mirai's attack, and send him flying into the Gravity Room wall as the blast exploded, launching Mirai into blissful unconsciousness, as he returned to his normal state.
Gohan, on the other hand, while still conscious, was severely drained of energy, and sported a few cuts and bruises as a result of their final attacks. Realizing his exhausted state, Gohan grabbed a Senzu Bean and popped it into his mouth, swallowing it quickly, and relishing in the rush of energy, as he recovered completely. His wounds had also healed up as well.
Glancing at his watch, Gohan's eyes bugged out as he realized their final attacks had wasted a good portion of time, and he cringed at the thought of their punishment should they be late to school.
He rushed over to Mirai and forced a Senzu Bean down his throat, while tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the Senzu Bean to take effect. In what seemed like ages, but in reality were a few short moments, Mirai's eyes fluttered open. He sprung to his feet, grimacing as he realized Gohan had once again defeated him.
Sighing, he motioned to Gohan, and said dejectedly, "Let's wake up the twins, gather mini-me, and go to school."
Laughing hysterically at Mirai's expression, Gohan replied, wiping a tear from his eye, "Don't get all depressed, you'll beat me… one day."
Mirai merely grumbled almost inaudibly, but to Gohan's advanced Saiyan hearing, it was very clear.
"Cheer up, you can take it out on mini-you if he annoys you too much today," Gohan responded, trying to make light of the situation.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, now wake up the twins, I don't want Mom to punish us if we're late today."
"Agreed."
With an accordance having been reached, Mirai took a Senzu Bean and woke up Gyōza while Gohan went and woke up Goten.
Both twins groaned as they realized how futile their efforts were and how less powerful they were compared to Mirai and Gohan.
Guessing their train of thought, Mirai spoke sympathetically, "Don't worry you guys. You're much more powerful than Gohan and I were at your age. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if you guys became Super Saiyans at an earlier age than Gohan."
At Mirai's little "tidbit" of advice, Gohan shot a dirty look towards Mirai, not appreciating the jab at his strength while the twins merely stared incoherently at Mirai, their jaws hitting the floor. Mirai snickered as he gently pushed the twins' jaws closed, and the twins turned to each other, eyes wide, and started jabbering too fast for normal ears about how cool it would be to become Super Saiyans earlier than Gohan.
Gohan merely muttered angrily to himself, though he admitted that he would be extremely proud if his little siblings and pupils surpassed him.
~ # ~
Strolling into the kitchen, the five demi-Saiyans were greeted by their favorite sight; food, and lots of it. In response to the mountain of food in front of them, they did what all respectable Saiyans did; stare and drool. Bulma was watching, trying not to burst out laughing, but was unsuccessful. Bulma's raucous laughter roused the demi-Saiyans from their stupor. They, then, as one, turned to Bulma with puppy-eyes. Sighing, Bulma waved her hand, and as if it was a green flag at a racecar event, they were off like a rocket.
The five demi-Saiyans growled at each other as they scrambled to devour whatever food they could get their hands on.
Bulma, who had already eaten, watched the spectacle with slight amusement. No matter how much they ate, whenever food was in front of them it was as if they had never even seen food.
She stood and left to find Vegeta. She had decided to go over the rules for the day that they, that is to say she, decided on. It wasn't long after that the demi-Saiyans heard the loud argument that had erupted the second Bulma mentioned rules.
"I WILL NOT BE SUBJECTED TO SUCH DISRESPECT, WOMAN!" he yelled, making the five that were enjoying their breakfast flinch slightly. Vegeta's thought process was that as a prince, having rules were disrespectful, unless created by him. And as much as Trunks tried to turn that mentality in his favor, it didn't work out too well.
"YES YOU WILL! UNLESS OF COURSE YOU WANT ME TO BE COOKING YOUR DINNER AND HAVE ME DISMANTLE THE GRAVITY ROOM AND BE SLEEPING ON THE COUCH FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!" Vegeta and the five demi-Saiyans covered their ears as Bulma's screams seemed to be loud enough the whole world could hear.
"YOUR THREATS DON'T SCARE ME, WOMAN!" Vegeta yelled, but they knew it was just to soothe his pride. With all that, especially his food, as Bulma was a horrible cook, to say the least, riding on his behavior, he would be well-behaved.
The quintet finished their meal and sat for a moment with satisfied faces. They decided they might as well go do what Bulma had instructed them to the night before as Bulma only had to threaten to cook once for all the Saiyans to behave.
~ # ~
Videl stood, arms crossed, glaring at nothing in particular. She wanted answers from Mirai and Gohan and she was going to get them...The only problem was they hadn't turned in their permission slips and couldn't go. Videl was lost in her own thoughts so she didn't notice Erasa running up next to her.
"Videl! Videl! Videl!" she yelled.
"What is it, Erasa?"
"Well, Sharpie and I were talking and we think we might have figured something out!" she squealed.
Videl looked at Sharpner, who she now noticed was behind Erasa, and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Videl. I think we may have figured out what's so familiar about their names."
Videl immediately perked up, that one mean one mystery at least partially solved. "Well then, tell me."
"Well, Mirai's name is Mirai Briefs. You know, like Bulma Briefs. And Mrs. Briefs just announced at an interview a few weeks ago that her eldest son, Mirai, who had gone to a boarding school to 'avoid being harassed by reporters', had returned and was living with them again. Of course, she still wouldn't talk about the three other kids that have been seen around her house." Erasa pouted a little. She thought the older boy was really cute, but had no idea whom he was and had never even seen his face.
"Did you figure out why Gohan's name sounded familiar?"
"Well, no not his first name, but his last name." Sharpner replied. "His last name is Son, right? As in Goku Son, the famous martial artist. You know, the one that won the World Martial Arts Tournament before your dad. Considering the way nerd-boy fights, he might even be related to Goku."
"Goku? As in the man Dad says performs tricks? The one Jackie Chun claims is dead? That Goku Son? Why hadn't I thought of that?"
"Well, we didn't exactly think of it. We figured out they had the same name accidentally. See, Sharpie was watching an old martial arts video and I was talking to him about Gohan and Sharpie suddenly stopped the video and looked at me. And then he said, 'what's nerd-boy's last name?' so I told him it was Son and then he made the connection."
Videl shook her head at her friend as the teacher started doing the roll call for the field trip. A couple of minutes later, they were on the bus and headed to Capsule Corp.
Ten minutes later, the bus pulled up in front of Capsule Corp. All the students on the right side of the bus pushed closer to their windows to get a good look at the family.
Four people stood in front of the dome-shaped building that was Capsule Corp. Videl examined each person, starting from the left of the line. First was Mrs. Briefs, a tall, ditzy-looking blonde with a sweet smile and blue eyes. She wore a long, pink dress and white earrings. Next was Dr. Briefs. He's shorter than his wife with pale blue hair and a white mustache. He wore a long, white lab coat with a blue shirt and black pants underneath. Perched on his shoulder was a black cat with big eyes.
Next was Bulma Briefs. She had short, blue hair in a professional-looking cut and blue eyes. She had on a red dress that came almost to her knees and a yellow scarf tied around her neck. Gold hoop earrings hung from her ears as she smiled happily at the buses.
The last person on the lawn was Mr. Briefs. Videl studied this man even more closely because very little was known about him. And in that very little was that he' a temperamental maniac that would kill you as soon as look at you. He stood scowling at the buses with his arms were crossed over his chest. He had long, black hair that spiked up like fire but Videl couldn't see any hair gel reflecting in the sunlight. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and a white button-up shirt but looked uncomfortable in it, like he would rather be in a training Gi or something similar.
Everyone unloaded the bus and Videl pushed her way to the front. She watched Mr. Briefs cautiously to make sure he didn't do anything he shouldn't. Bulma Briefs opened her arms in a welcoming gesture.
"Welcome to our home, everyone," She called out just loud enough for all the students to hear.
"My name is Bulma Briefs, and this is most of my family. Starting over on your far left is my mother, Bunny and beside her is my father, Dr. Briefs. To my right here is my husband Vegeta. He's not much of a social person, so please don't be offended if he ignores you. My sons, godsons, and goddaughter are in the house and I'll introduce you as we get to them. I've asked them to get ready for some demonstrations. Now, if you'll follow me we can begin the tour."
When she said that, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs left to go do whatever it is they do and Mr. Briefs stalked into the house. Bulma Briefs just shrugged and watched him go. Videl could have sworn she heard the scientist mutter, "At least he didn't kill anyone."
As they walked into the house, Bulma perked up and smiled brightly. "This is the front lobby, there's not much to see just a few door and a few paintings."
A robot rolled into the room and looked up at her. "Bulma," it said in a mechanical voice, "is there anything you need?"
"Tell the twins we'll be in there any minute, but nothing else." She instructed it. "And robots," she added, directed to the class. A couple of people snickered but there was no other response.
"Now, follow me to the nature dome."
"Is that where we'll meet these twins?" asked a girl from somewhere along the front.
"No, sweetie. The twins will be in the room after the nature dome." A few people sighed. Videl guessed that the guys were hoping these twins would be cute girls and the girls were hoping they'd be cute guys.
Bulma turned and led the group to the end of the hall where a massive door on the far wall. She typed a code into the computer and the door opened. They all walked in to a beautiful sight.
Videl stared in amazement at everything she could see. Lush, green grass and giant trees of all kinds. There was a stream going through the middle of the room that had clear blue water that flowed with a calming sound. The room was full of wonderful smells and Videl could even hear wind blowing and saw the trees move as if caught in a light wind. As Videl looked closer, she noticed several species of animals in the trees and fishes in the stream and insects. It was just like they had walked outside and to a forest just by stepping through the door.
"Now!" announced Bulma, bringing the attention back to her. "My father originally built this room to study several different types of wildlife. This is only one section of the whole room, and trust me on this, the room is so big that you will get lost if you come in here without someone who knows their way around. The weather is adjustable to see how certain creatures will react to each weather change. I'm not going to change it just now as my father is probably in here somewhere studying the creatures. Now, to the next room."
Bulma turned and walked back out of the room. When all the students had exited, the door closed behind them. Bulma continued down the hall and opened a blue door that said 'Mind Viewing'. Videl was confused, what in the world could that mean?
She nudged Sharpner and Erasa as they walked down a dark hallway that was on the other side of the door. "What do you think 'Mind Viewing' means?"
"What? Where did you see that?" Erasa asked, confused.
"It was on the door. What do you think it could mean?" Videl frowned, she didn't like not knowing.
"Probably something weird. I mean we are in Capsule Corp." Sharpner responded. Videl shot him a glare that he couldn't see but said nothing because they had arrived at the end of the hallway.
Bulma had stopped and turned around in front of the archway. "You are about to enter the Mind Viewing room. The twins are going to demonstrate how it works with a mind game their brother taught them. I will have them explain the game to you because I honestly don't know much about it. After they show you how it works, anyone who wants to try can."
She smiled and led us into a large room that looked like a movie theater, just expanded greatly. The seats were arranged facing the front of the room and the screen expanded along all of the walls and the ceiling. In the center of the room there were no seats, instead a large platform sat with two little kids standing on it. Videl couldn't discern any features on either child but they were facing each other and seemed to be arguing quietly.
"Goten! Gyōza!" Bulma called to the two kids and they immediately jumped at the noise and turned.
"Hey Aunt Bulma!" two voices sang out. It sounded like a boy and a girl. They hopped off the platform and came running toward the group. Videl was impressed, these two were fast. "Hello!" Videl looked down at the two kids. They wore large, goofy grins and had laughter in their eyes.
As Videl examined them, she notice they were a boy and a girl. They looked familiar and it took a moment for Videl to place them. Goten and Gyōza, Gohan's brother and sister. She noticed that both of their hairstyles were the same as they had been on Monday but they were dressed differently. Both wore orange Gis with a symbol Videl could swear she had seen before, but had no idea where. They both wore long sleeved shirts that matched their wristbands, belts, and boots. The color was the only difference; Goten's were dark blue and Gyōza's were dark purple. Both sets of boots had lines of orange along the sides.
"I'm Goten!" Goten sang.
"I'm Gyōza!" Gyōza chorused.
"Okay you two, explain what you're about to do so we can get started."
"Okay!" Goten started and his sister sighed. "We're going to do image training!" Everyone waited for a moment for him to continue, but he didn't.
"Sorry about Goten." Gyōza said in an exasperated voice, shooting a glare at her brother. "I don't think he understands what Aunt Bulma meant by explain."
She turned to the group with a smile. "Like he said, we're going to do something called image training. It's a game that you have to have a strong mind link to play. That's why Aunt Bulma told us to show you."
When everyone looked at her with confused faces, she looked to Bulma with one as well. "Aunt Bulma, why do they look so confused?"
Bulma turned to them and spoke in a calm voice, "They're twins, so they were born with a very strong mental link."
The class nodded in understanding and looked back at Gyōza. She smiled, "Yep, twins have a real strong mental link, but you don't have to have a twin to play. Or only play with your twin. Close family members usually work and so do really close friends."
"Like Nii-chan and Mirai!" Goten sang.
"Nii-chan?" Erasa bubbled. "Is that your brother's name?"
Both kids looked at her like she was an idiot. Neither spoke up to explain, they just stared at Erasa as if shocked by her stupidity. Videl wasn't sure why they stared at Erasa like that, it was a valid question. Except she knew their brother was Gohan and Erasa did too but Erasa didn't seem to remember.
"No, sweetie," Bulma answered her. "Nii-chan means big brother. Their older brother's name is Gohan."
Whispers broke out among the students and Gyōza tried to reclaim their attention for a moment. Her attempts failed miserably. She glared at them and Goten's eyes widened before he covered his ears. "HUSH! I AM TRYING TO FINISH EXPLAINING SO WE CAN SHOW YOU HOW IT WORKS!" She shouted at them.
Videl, along with her classmates, covered her ears and flinched. Gyōza sure could yell. She smiled happily up at them when they shut up. "Thank you. Now when we get on that platform over there," she pointed to the platform that they had been on when the class walked in, "and put on the monitors, we'll start the game. The monitors are metal headband-looking things with antennae on either side. They're what make the image in our heads appear on the screen. That's it." She smiled happily before turning around and skipping toward the platform.
Bulma smiled and shook her head. "Gyōza can act just like Chichi sometimes even though she never met her."
"Who's Chichi?" Videl asked, walking next to Bulma.
"Chichi was their mother; she died giving birth to the twins. She was one of my closest friends." She smiled at the thought. "Sometimes it was like she had a little switch in her head that changed her emotions so fast you barely had time to adjust, but she was one of the nicest people you could ever meet." She sat down in one of the seats and Videl sat next to her.
"So who taught them how to fight? We've been doing a martial arts unit in gym and they're the best in the class."
She smiled sympathetically at Videl. "You'll have to get Gohan to tell you. It's not my business to share what he may consider a secret. Besides, it's time to watch the image training." Bulma tilted her chair back and looked up at the screen.
The next hour, Videl sat entranced by what she saw on the screen. She wondered if those kids could fight like that in real life. It was a possibility since she had seen first-hand how skilled a martial artist Gohan was. Moments later, she dismissed that thought as there was no way two kids could be that proficient in martial arts. She wondered how they were so skilled at image training. Videl wanted to know how to do image training because it looked fun. The fight seemed to be coming to a close and both seemed to be tiring out.
Goten jumped back after a long round of trading punches and kicks and landed several feet away, breathing heavily. "What? You're not getting tired already, are you Goten?" Gyōza taunted, but Videl could see that she was just as exhausted.
"No!" he yelled back between pants. He moved into a stance that seemed vaguely familiar to Videl, like she'd seen it somewhere before. Gyōza immediately moved into the same pose.
Their arms were held out straight in front of them, heels of their hands together with their palms facing their opponent and fingers bent a little like they were holding a ball. They pulled their arms back to their right side until their palms were facing behind them. Blue balls of light formed in their palms.
"KAA…MEE…HAA…MEE…HAAA!" the twins chanted, synchronized, as they fired the large ki-blasts at each other.
When they collided, an explosion resulted that was so bright Videl had to squint to continue watching.
The two beams fought back and forth but seemed equally matched. Gyōza let out a powerful roar and her beam started moving closer to Goten. Goten let out a roar as well and pushed her beam back. Both kept pushing as much power as they could and soon Goten's was rapidly pushing Gyōza's back. When Goten's beam had almost completely consumed Gyōza's, she zoned out. Her life flashed before her eyes, but only the negative parts were viewed. All of her doubts and worries came to her forefront. Bulma and her parents claiming what a disappointment she was. Vegeta brushing her off as not worthy to continue the Saiyan Race. Goten taunting her on how weak she was. Gohan and Mirai stating she wasn't worth teaching. All of her doubts clumped together, and her rage festered and grew.
"NO MORE!" Gyōza screamed as a golden glow engulfed her, and the entire class gasped at the sudden turn of events. Videl gasped in particular, as she realized Gyōza was one of the tricksters like the weirdoes at the Cell Games. Gohan and Mirai, whom had been observing secretly, gasped as they realized Gyōza became a Super Saiyan at an earlier age than Gohan, whom had reached Super Saiyan at the young age of 10. Bulma gasped, and then narrowed her eyes at Videl, following her train of thought.
Vegeta looked up from where he was training in the Gravity Room, and his eyes widened, before he started cursing violently at Kami, Kakarot, and his weakling brat.
Within seconds, Goten was consumed by the blast that Gyōza pushed back with her newfound strength. The second his beam had engulfed Goten, Gyōza collapsed from exhaustion.
~ # ~
Back in the real world, Gyōza fell backwards and caught herself with her arms. She was panting heavily and looked like she was barely able to hold herself up. Goten, meanwhile, was knocked unconscious.
"I'm…a…Super…Saiyan" Gyōza panted, her excitement and happiness clearly shown on her face.
Bulma face-palmed at Gyōza's slip-of-the-tongue. Bulma was already turning to Videl, and sighed, as she saw Videl had her eyebrows furrowed and she was clearly thinking hard about something.
Bulma walked up to Gyōza and Goten with a smile.
"That was a good show guys. Gyōza, take a Senzu Bean, and wake up Goten. Mom should have a snack ready—"
Gyōza took off, grabbing Goten by the arm and dragging him off, exhaustion gone at the mention of food. She sighed before addressing the group.
"Okay everyone! If anyone wants to show something from their minds, feel free to step forward but remember to keep your concentration focused only on what you want to show, because the machine will show all objects of your focus."
No one stepped forward.
"No one? Oh well, I didn't really expect someone to step forward." She tapped a place on the platform and a dying beep sounded, indicating that it was being cut off.
~ # ~
Trunks typed some codes into one of the many machines that lined the walls of the arcade-like room. Bulma called it the Skills Lab. Each machine tested a certain skill at a specified level and gave ideas on how to improve each individual skill. All of the fighters in the house had their own, individual code so they knew what skills were their strengths and what skills were their weaknesses, but there was also a guest code that was for any of the Z Warriors that wanted to stop by and train.
He just finished punching in his code and was about to finally start on his favorite machine, which helped train the skills he was weak in, when Bulma walked through the door. He looked over at her and his lip pouted out.
"You have awful timing, Mom," he whined.
Bulma smiled at him. "Sorry, Trunks."
Then she turned to the class behind her. "Okay everyone! Welcome to the Skills Lab! All the machines along these walls test a different fighting skill and tell you ways to improve. The demonstration in here will be done by my youngest son, Trunks."
She glanced at the test he stood in front of before walking to the controls. "He's going to start with the strength test."
She upped the sensitivity almost as high as it would go. "Okay, honey. Give it a try."
Trunks pulled his fist back and hit the cushioned sensor in front of him. The number screen started to climb rapidly upwards, beeping along the way.
"Right arm, 135," a computer voice announced.
Trunks hit the sensor with his other fist and again the machine beeped its way up rapidly.
"Left arm, 133."
Trunks delivered a roundhouse kick to the sensor and the numbers climbed a third time.
"Right leg, 140."
Trunks delivered his final blow to the sensor and the numbers shot up a fourth and final time.
"Left leg, 139."
The computer's voice spoke one more time. "Suggestions. Weight on left arm two pounds heavier than right and weight on left leg one pound heavier than right."
"I guess I shouldn't have lowered the sensitivity so much," Bulma said calmly as she examined the numbers. "But the suggestions won't change. So, who's next? Any volunteers?"
Before Videl could raise her hand, Sharpner stepped forward. "I'll go next," he announced arrogantly.
"Okay then. Let me fix the sensitivity to someone your age..." A few moments later she had changed from Trunks to Guest, set the sensitivity to something more suited for a normal human teenager, and raised the sensor so he could reach it better. "Okay, all set. Whenever you're ready."
Sharpner smirked. "What's the record on this thing?"
Bulma smiled. "I highly doubt you'll come anywhere near them but I'll let you know."
Just before Sharpner hit the sensor, a sweating Gohan in an orange Gi walked into the room.
"Oops, didn't know you guys were in here," he said, attracting everyone's attention. Most of the class gawked at him. They had seen him in a fighting Gi in Physical Education class, but he had a shirt on under it. Now he didn't. The Gi was a bit different on from his gym clothes as well, showing off much more of his chest. Another surprising thing was the fact Gohan was covered in sweat; he had never sweated in PE.
"What are you doing in here, Gohan?" Trunks asked.
"I, uh, came to mark the tally board," he answered sheepishly.
Bulma glared at him. "Again?"
Gohan continued to smile sheepishly and shifted his weight. "Yeah."
Bulma sighed. "Go ahead then."
He walked over to one of the two whiteboards and picked up a black marker. Across the top it had the names Gohan, Gyōza, Goten, Mirai, Trunks, and Vegeta and down the left-hand side it said: SM, GR, Plates, Windows, and RT. I wonder what all those letters mean, Videl thought as she examined the board. Gohan erased the number under his name and beside GR.
"I swear I'll fix it, Bulma." Gohan turned to her.
"Yeah, whatever. But you get to tell Vegeta that we have to use the other one."
Gohan's eyes widened slightly. Then he nodded. "Fair enough. Bye everyone!"
"Wait, nerd-boy!"
Gohan sighed. "What is it, Sharpner?"
"Let's see how well you score on this thing."
Gohan pointed to the other whiteboard. "My scores are on there."
"Yep, Gohan and Dad are neck and neck but Gohan goes easy on the machines since he broke so many." Trunks smiled evilly. Gohan glared at the boy.
"You better not tell your dad that. He's mad enough that I can keep up already." Then he turned and left the room, a decidedly evil grin on his face. I just found my way out of trouble, Trunks thought.
~ # ~
Gohan walked cautiously towards the main GR, Vegeta's GR. Hesitantly, he pushed the open button and waited for the light to turn green, signaling the gravity had returned to normal so the door would open. "WHAT DO YOU WANT KAKA-BRAT?" Vegeta yelled when the door had opened.
"I accidentally broke the other gravity room and Bulma was intending to use it for a demonstration."
Vegeta glared. "And?"
"And she said that since the other one was broken we would have to use this one." Vegeta glared dangerously at him.
"We're going to have a nice, long spar this evening, Kaka-brat. And I think I'll bring my brat into it as well." Vegeta walked out of the GR and toward his room, probably going to take a shower.
Gohan smiled. "Well, that went better than I'd hoped." He turned around happily and went to go tell Mirai the news.
~ # ~
Both boys stood, leaning against the gravity room. They didn't want to risk blowing this one up too, resulting in a furious Bulma and Videl asking questions. Gohan was more worried about Videl asking questions, in all honesty.
Gohan and Mirai stood against the Gravity Room wall, focusing on meditating and their breathing as they hoped they wouldn't lose control, and get Bulma mad at them… again.
They could hear and sense the group of teenagers coming toward them. Gohan got up and started stretching. Mirai just sighed, and held his head in one of his hands.
"Might as well get this over with," Gohan said optimistically, and walked over and entered his code into the door. Mirai didn't move an inch.
The door slid open without a noise and the lights inside flashed on. Gohan stepped in and walked to stand beside the controls as the door slid closed behind him. He could hear Bulma's voice sounding as she addressed the group.
"Okay, here we are. This is my oldest son, Mirai, and he's going to tell you what's about to happen."
Mirai sighed and pushed off the GR. "This big thing behind me is called a gravity room. Though this is a bit redundant to say, it's a room that alters gravity."
A hand shot up from the middle of a group of cheerleaders.
"Yes?"
"What does redundant mean?" one of the blonde cheerleaders asked.
"Predictable. Now, Gohan is already inside as I lost and so got the unfortunate job of explaining this. What—"
"Lost what?" a voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd of teenagers.
"Rock, paper, scissors," he answered simply.
"I want a show of hands of the people that want to experience advanced gravity."
Several hands shot up.
"Be warned, this can be dangerous because even 2 times Earth's gravity will put an enormous strain on an untrained body."
A few hands lowered, now only the bigger jocks, among them Sharpner, and Videl still had their hands in the air. Mirai nodded. They had been warned, any resulting injuries would result in no liability to Capsule Corporation. He walked to the keypad, typed in his code, and stood aside for the students with their hands raised to enter before walking in behind them.
"Okay!" Mirai addressed the group again. "Everyone lay down on your stomachs!"
Everyone stared at him for a moment, not moving. Mirai sighed. "I want you on your stomachs when the gravity is altered because Mom said that I had to make sure we had a low casualty count and when the gravity increases, most of you will hit the ground…hard. So, everyone on your stomach or out the door. Now!"
All of them slowly laid down on their stomachs, most of them complaining.
Videl looked up at the two demi-Saiyans suspiciously. "Aren't you two going to lie down as well?"
"No." Gohan answered. "We're used to the immediate change in gravity, unlike all of you."
"Right," agreed Mirai. "Everyone, heads on the ground."
The teenagers complied. "If you can't take the gravity, give us a shout and we'll get you out."
Mirai chuckled slightly, an amused grin appearing on his face.
"Don't even, Mirai," Gohan scolded, shaking his head before increasing the gravity to times 2 of Earth's gravity.
"What? I was just—" Mirai cut off under Gohan's glare. "All right, I won't. Geez, Gohan."
Both teens turned their attention to the slightly panicky jocks that could hardly lift their heads off the floor. Smirking, they walked over to them and carried them from the room. Most of them were dragged out; only four students remained. Videl, Sharpner, Ricky, and Josh, Sharpner's friends from the Boxing Club, were still struggling to get to their feet. Mirai and Gohan watched in amusement as Ricky and Josh managed to get their torsos up before slamming into the ground and calling it quits.
Videl and Sharpner, on the other hand, had made it to their knees, panting. Sharpner bent forward on to all fours and tried to catch his breath but Videl continued trying to stand. She lifted one of her knees and placed the bottom of her foot on the ground before moving her weight to that foot and pushing herself up. Sharpner, having caught his breath, decided to do the same.
Gohan moved closer to Videl, within arm's length, as she started throwing a few punches at an imaginary opponent. Gohan examined her stance; it was a bit more solid than the one he had been used to seeing at school. He wondered idly why her stance changed. He moved closer and corrected her gently.
Videl glared as Gohan corrected her stance. She hated the thought that he could be so much better than in her in both technique and strength. Technique was evident by how much more guarded she felt when he adjusted her movements; strength because it looked like he couldn't even feel this insane gravity.
"You're stance is different than it was at school."
Not a question, a statement, but Videl felt the need to respond.
"What you said to me in school stuck, so I talked with my dad, and he helped me come up with a stance more directed towards speed, and a lithe build."
Gohan was stunned into silence. The fool who believes ki is a trick could actually help Videl in martial arts…this is something unprecedented… perhaps there is some hope for him after all.
"I'm… impressed," Gohan admitted. "Your stance has not nearly the amount of flaws in it as it used to.
Videl's cheeks dusted a light pink as she noticed Gohan's close proximity with her. Meanwhile, Gohan was oblivious as ever. On the other hand, Mirai noticed the two teens, and smirked evilly, finally finding a way to get one over on Gohan.
Videl stared at Gohan's broad shoulders and arms, and found herself longing to touch them.
"Wait a minute, girl, you're Videl Satan, you do not get all gooey-eyed over a boy, no matter how built and hot he is… dang it…calm down, Videl… just stay cool," Videl thought frantically, trying to get her devious mind under control.
Videl snapped herself out of her thoughts to find Sharpner had given up. Gohan smiled at her before turning off the gravity. As the gravity was lifted off her body, Videl felt as light as a feather. She jumped a little and heard a soft chuckle. She shot a glare at Mirai.
Gohan walked over, a grin plastered on his face, "Like walking on a cloud, eh Videl?"
Videl only nodded and followed them out.
"Is it time for lunch Bulma?" Gohan asked, his stomach grumbling loudly.
Bulma looked at her watch, "It's eleven thirty, I guess having lunch a little early won't hurt anything."
All the demi-Saiyans cheered happily and ran off toward the kitchen.
Bulma laughed. "Okay everyone! Follow me to where you will be eating." She turned and walked off into the maze that was CC.
It wasn't long before they stepped into the beautiful serenity of the nature dome. They could see Dr. Briefs riding around on a black scooter with the same black cat as before perched on his shoulder. In the middle of the clearing they had stepped into were several picnic tables that hadn't been there before.
"Eat up everyone! After lunch we're going to go look at a few labs."
She turned and walked toward the door. She stopped when she reached it and turned around.
"And stay in this room. I can't have you getting lost."
"Where are you going, Mrs. Briefs?" called one teenager.
"It's Bulma, hun, Mrs. Briefs is my mother. I'm going to get my lunch and maybe talk some of my family into coming to eat with all of you." She smiled before turning and walking out.
Chatter immediately erupted as people raced to the picnic tables.
"Oh my Kami!" Erasa exclaimed as she babbled to her friends as they sat down over Gohan. "Who would have guessed that Gohan was that hot boy the press could never get a good picture of? I knew he was a cutie but, wow," she squealed something unintelligible.
Both martial artists flinched and covered her ears.
"Are you sure you squealed loud enough Erasa? I think some people on the other side of the world didn't hear you." One of her friends sarcastically commented.
Erasa smiled apologetically at her friends. "Sorry, I just got so excited. Anyway what—"
"I WILL NOT WOMAN!" the angry yell came from somewhere outside the room.
"YES YOU WILL, VEGETA! OR I WILL DESTROY YOUR GRAVITY ROOM AND YOU WILL SLEEP ON THE COUCH FOR A MONTH!" a feminine voice that sounded an awful lot like Bulma Briefs yelled back.
"YOUR THREATS DON'T SCARE ME WOMAN!"
"WILL YOU TWO STOP YELLING? I THINK I'VE LOST MY HEARING THANKS TO YOUR BICKERING!" another voice yelled, this one sounding like Gohan. The yelling stopped and they could hear no more of the conversation.
Videl frowned at the door. "I wonder what that was about."
"OH CRAP! WHERE ARE THE THREE TERRORS?" Mirai shouted.
Seconds after he yelled this, the three kids ran into the room looking around frantically.
"I told you we shouldn't do that, Trunks! Uncle Veggie will kill us when he finds out!" Gyōza screamed, much louder than before.
"There! We can hide with Nii-chan's friends!" Goten announced before running straight toward Videl and company. Trunks and Gyōza followed behind, hoping to find a better hiding place soon.
"Aren't you three going to eat?" Erasa asked them in a sweet, condescending voice. The kind of voice one uses when talking to a little kid or a complete idiot.
"Don't talk to me in that condescending voice!" Gyōza snapped angrily.
"We already ate!" answered Trunks in an annoyed voice.
"But we've only been at lunch for, like, ten minutes!"
"So?" Trunks spoke in an obnoxious voice.
Just then, Gohan walked in. He was looking around like he was looking for something, or someone. Gyōza and Trunks dove under the table. It took them a moment to realize Goten hadn't followed. They reached up to yank him under with them but were too late as Gohan had spotted them and raised his power level once sharply to signal just that.
"Goten you idiot!" Trunks yelled at his friend. "Why didn't you hide when Gohan walked in?"
"Nii-chan's here?" he asked looking behind him before smiling broadly. "Nii-chan!" he cheered.
"We're supposed to be hiding from them, Goten!"
"Oh yeah. I forgot." Both of the kids that actually had a fully operational brain facepalmed.
Gohan crossed his arms and glared at them. "What did you three do?"
Gyōza formed her best innocent face, as did the other two. Goten's was nearly as adorable and innocent as Gyōza's but Trunks's was nowhere near as good as theirs. "We didn't do anything, Nii-chan, hone—"
"BRATS! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'M GONNA—" he cut himself off with a roar of anger, preferring to let them guess as to what their punishment would be. All three of their faces turned as white as snow.
"What did you three do to get him that mad?" The Terrors didn't answer; they just turned and ran as fast as their legs would carry them. Their destination: as far away from Vegeta as possible.
Gohan watched them run off with a sympathetic expression.
"Aren't you going to help them?" Videl asked.
Gohan turned his head to look at her. "And get in the way of a steaming mad Vegeta? Are you insane?"
He shook his head. "Besides, Vegeta won't hurt them too bad. They'll probably just get a few hours in the gravity room by themselves since Gyōza's with them."
Before Videl could ask what Gyōza being with them had to do with anything, Vegeta came running into the room looking absolutely furious. "WHERE ARE THEY?" Gohan pointed in the direction they had gone and Vegeta took off. Not long after Vegeta was gone, Mirai walked in, shaking with barely contained laughter.
He walked up to Gohan.
"What did they do?" Gohan asked warily, noting the poorly concealed mirth displayed on Mirai's face.
Mirai opened his mouth to answer but all that came out was loud laughter. He laughed so hard tears came to his eyes.
"They..." he attempted to speak, but couldn't get more than one word out.
"They..." He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "You should have seen Dad's face! It was priceless. I wish I could have gotten a picture, it would have made whatever he does to them worthwhile."
"What did they do?"
"Mom sent Dad's training clothes to the wash and the Terrors put..." he couldn't finish as he started laughing again.
"They put...?" Gohan asked, somehow knowing that this was going to be good.
"Pink dye in with them!" Mirai choked out between laughs.
A mental picture of Vegeta in a pink spandex training suit formed in Gohan's mind and he was overcome with the same uncontrollable laughter as Mirai.
Half an hour later, when Bulma entered the room, the two teenaged demi-Saiyans were on the ground rolling in uncontrolled laughter.
"Will you two stop laughing? That's getting annoying!" Bulma rolled her eyes, as Gohan and Mirai just ignored her and continued their uncontainable laughter.
They took synchronized deep breaths, and looked at Bulma, laughter still present in their eyes. Gohan was about to say something to Bulma, when Videl walked up towards them, a puzzled expression on her face that Gohan found adorable and cute.
Cute…I don't find Videl cute… do I? I mean sure, she has a nice, toned, lean body, and what I would do to get a piece of that… whoa, Gohan… slow down there, remember Piccolo's training. Deep breaths…in…and out…in…and out.
"What were you two laughing about?"
Mirai looked up at Videl, "The Three Terrors' prank."
Bulma looked slightly interested. "I was wondering what they did to make him so mad. What was it?"
"You know how you sent Dad's training clothes to get washed?" Mirai asked.
When Bulma nodded, Mirai continued. "They put pink dye in the wash with them. Now all his training clothes are pink."
Bulma covered her mouth, trying to hide her laughter. "What did he do to them?"
"He plans to lock them in the gravity room and leave. He said he didn't want to ruin his one good fighting suit. I guess now I know why."
Bulma giggled, her mirth clear to everyone present.
"You're going to force him to wear them, aren't you?" Gohan asked, watching his godmother with amused eyes.
"You bet I am. I'll get pictures too. Send them out as invitation to the next reunion."
At the thought of what Krillin and Yamcha would say when they saw him in pink spandex, Gohan, Bulma, and Mirai erupted into more laughter.
Gohan grinned. "Remember the last one? When The Terrors and Maron were convinced Roshi's mustache was fake?"
Bulma nodded. "Or the first one after I married Vegeta, when Roshi hit on me and Vegeta nearly killed him?"
Gohan shook his head. "I still can't believe Roshi did that."
Bulma smiled. "We'll have to do more reminiscing later. Right now we're going to go to Lab 212."
"WHAT?! AUNT BULMA/MOM YOU PROMISED!" the boys shouted together.
Bulma ignored them, instead addressing the group. "Everybody finish up! We're about to go down to the labs!"
Excited chatter started up as everyone started throwing away their garbage and left-overs. They formed a large group in front of Bulma and she smiled before turning and leaving the room.
They proceeded down the maze known as Capsule Corporation until they reached the main lobby.
Bulma opened one of the doors in the front lobby with a code and stepped inside. When the room was full, the door closed and a mechanical sound could be heard. Gohan typed in a code and followed the same procedure as the scientist. Videl and company went with him. Then Mirai copied the two. Mirai's group consisted of the last few people that hadn't fit in the first two trips.
When Mirai's group stepped out of the elevator, Bulma spoke again, "Is this everyone?"
Mirai nodded and she continued.
"Okay, there are a few rules of these labs. You will follow all of them or you will be escorted off the premises and not allowed to return. Rule one, touch nothing. Rule two, listen to and obey the scientists as they know what they're doing. Rule three, do whatever Gohan, Mirai, or I tell you to. Rule four, pay attention and stay with your group. You will not see any secret inventions but rule five is still whatever you see you speak nothing of to no one. Everyone understand?"
The class murmured their assents.
"Good, now our first stop is Lab 212. It's one of the personal labs, or labs for specific people to work on ideas and blue prints for future projects so they're more like offices."
"Whose lab is it?" Videl couldn't help herself. She was curious by nature and had to ask.
Bulma smile deviously. "Mirai and Gohan's."
Her smile turned to a smirk as all eyes moved to the two boys she named. They were glaring at her as if to say, 'you'll pay for this'.
"Now, come on, hurry up, if you get lost, we're not going to look for you."
She turned and walked down the hallway until she arrived at the door that had a sign above it reading Lab 212 and the door read Mirai and Gohan.
Bulma twisted the doorknob and a computer voice spoke. "Identity?"
"Bulma Briefs." Bulma responded calmly.
"Scanning voice...Voice confirmed as authentic. Retina scan..."
A bright red beam flashed into Bulma's eye. "Identity confirmed. Welcome Bulma."
"Computer, I have some guests with me," Bulma responded.
"No guests allowed without owner's code. My apologies."
Gohan stepped forward with a smirk as Bulma glared at the screen that had appeared on the door.
"Hating the fact you added that little feature, aren't you Bulma? Computer, allow these guests. You have owner's authorization."
"Scanning voice...Voice confirmed as authentic. Retina scan..."
The same red beam examined Gohan's eye before the computer spoke again. "Identity confirmed. Welcome Gohan. Welcome Guests."
With that the door opened and Gohan walked casually through.
"I am so uninstalling the no guests feature! I can't believe that stupid machine!" Bulma raged.
Gohan laughed. "It's only on our lab and you can't blame the computer. That's what it was programed to do."
Bulma muttered something inaudibly under her breath and Gohan laughed again.
Videl stepped in the room and looked around, slightly amazed. The room was a large, two-person office. Large, twin, wooden desks sat facing each other but with most of the room in between. There was dark-wood flooring. The walls were painted half and half, the top was burgundy and the bottom was a nice cream color. A long, horizontal, wooden pole divide the two colors, it was made of the same dark, nearly black, wood of the twin desks. The room felt extremely professional despite the scatterings of papers that covered either desk. A large picture hung from the wall opposite the door.
"There isn't much to show off in the personal labs but you can look around. Just remember not to touch anything."
Videl walked closer to the large picture. "Bulma, who are these people? And why do they look familiar?" she asked.
Bulma looked up at the picture and smiled. "Gather round everyone and I'll tell you about this picture."
"Hey! That's Yamcha The Bandit! The greatest baseball player ever!"
"Yep. Did you know that almost everyone in this picture is famous in one way or another? Anybody else recognize someone in the picture?"
"That's Mr. Chestnut!" came another shout.
"Mr. who?"
"Chestnut, Bulma. They're talking about Krillin. He's our gym teacher, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."
"That's Tien Shinhan," came another voice. "Former World Champion!"
"Yep, good ol' Tien."
"There's your husband, Bulma! And you! But I don't see Mirai or Trunks anywhere."
"Mirai is not in this picture and Trunks isn't born yet. But Gohan is there and so are his parents. Anyone recognize them?" She asked as she pointed to a kid that could be no older than eight with black hair and eyes that stood in front of two people, a man and a woman.
"They look like older versions of Goten and Gyōza." Erasa answered.
"Yes, they do. But both of those people are slightly famous, or were a long time ago. Can anyone guess who they are?"
Videl leaned forward and examined the two people more closely. "Son Goku and is that ChiChi, the only woman to make the TenkaichiBudokai semi-finals!"
Gohan looked up, startled that Videl knew that information.
"Princess Chichi of the Ox Kingdom is the only woman to ever make it past the preliminaries in the World Martial Arts Tournament," Bulma replied, "She was known as the strongest woman in the world, but I think her daughter would give her a run for her money."
"Who are the others—" Videl started but Erasa cut her off.
"Did you say Princess Chichi? Wouldn't that make Gohan a prince?"
"In a way but Grandpa has sold most of his kingdom to the villagers. They still call him their king though and everyone knows him as the Ox King, in fact I think that's actually his name..." Gohan got a far off, thoughtful look as he pondered his grandfather's name.
"Huh. You know, I've never heard anyone call him anything except Ox King or Ox..." Bulma seemed to get a similar look as Gohan but snapped out of it quickly. "Anyway, the rest of the people in the picture. In the front row, sitting from left to right, we have Puar, Yamcha, me, Chichi, Goku, Gohan, Oolong and Krillin. Then behind them, from right to left, we have Piccolo, Master Roshi, Chiaotzu, Tien, and Launch, then over on the edge of the picture, leaning against a tree you can't see, is my husband Vegeta. Puar is the floating cat, Oolong is the pig, Chiaotzu is really floating, Tien does have three eyes, and Piccolo is really green."
Videl re-examined the picture now that she had everyone's name. Puar was floating above Yamcha's right shoulder on the far left of the picture. Yamcha sat with his arm around Bulma and looked like he was laughing. Bulma's head was turned, glaring at Master Roshi. Chichi was snuggled close to Goku and glaring at Master Roshi. Goku had an arm around Chichi while his other arm was behind his head an oblivious smile on his face. Gohan was sitting, leaned on both his arms and laughing out right. The pig, Oolong, leaned over to talk to Gohan, a mischievous glint in his eye. Mr. Chestnut, Krillin, was holding his stomach and laughing hard. Piccolo stood behind Gohan, arms crossed and glaring hatefully at the camera. Videl refused to believe he was really green. Master Roshi was holding his face in pain. Chiaotzu floated between Tien and Roshi, and unreadable expression on his child-like face. Tien had an arm loosely around a blonde Launch, both blushing ever so slightly, having no idea what just happened. Vegeta leaned against something unseen in the picture, a tree according to Bulma, his side faced the camera and his arms were crossed. He wore a glare on his face that, even in picture form, scared the living daylights out of Videl and directed it at the camera.
Videl looked at the building they stood in front of. It was a fairly small, light pink building that had the word KAME HOUSE was written near the red roof in a darker pink. Double windows were on the facing wall beside a small porch with an awning over it that led to the green door. It looked like the place was located on a beach what with all the sound.
"Bulma?" Videl asked.
"Yes, Videl?"
"What does Kame house mean? And why is it spelled with a k?"
Bulma laughed softly. "Not came house, hun. Kame House." Bulma pronounced 'kame' with the e accented. "Kame means turtle."
"So it says turtle house? Why?"
"Because it's the home of the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi. The legendary martial arts teacher. He liked kame better than turtle so he named his home, and the technique he created, with kame rather than turtle. So it's Kame House and Kamehameha instead of Turtle House and Turtle Destruction Wave."
"Kamehameha? Turtle Destruction Wave? What are you talking about? Like that trick Goten and Gyōza did in the image training?"
Bulma sighed. It really grated on her nerves to hear such attacks that saved the Earth countless times called tricks.
"That's a question for Gohan. He could explain it better than I could anyway."
Bulma walked away and Videl turned to glare at the picture.
"How do all these people know each other anyway?" Videl asked Bulma.
"That's a story that involves several hard-to-believe stories."
Videl jumped at Gohan's voice. "Stories? And what do you mean by hard-to-believe? What are you talking about?"
Gohan shook his head. "I can only give you an unusual and cryptic answer. Those people are the Z-Fighters and their families and close friends. The story behind the Z-Fighters is one I cannot tell you, at least not yet."
Gohan walked away and not long after, the class left the room to visit another. Videl was the last to leave, swearing to herself that she would find out who the Z-Fighters are.