Well I almost succeeded at not posting this one early
But alas. I desired the instant greatification
TotodileSoul: That, is a really interesting idea. Unfortunately I don't know how I'd implement that since Super Buu only knew that through absorbing them directly
Though, I should correct, it was to Gohan, not Goku, about what Piccolo and Goten supposedly though of him
thewittywhy: The loooooorrrrreeee
And yeah, being a kid of rich techy parents would make just about any kid some form of IPad kid. Add Bulma on top of that? Boi never stood a chance
JCINNABAR: aw, your reviews are always so nice. And don't worry about it, If I didn't want to write I probably just wouldn't. Reviews are free weekly dopamine, hence why this one is early
KalAeon: lol thanks, tired SIGohan was really fun to write actually
And yeah, I'm aware that I use way too many commas. Usually it's to create a pause when I don't want a full ellipsis
Qinlongfei: Yeah, most fics I see definitely either have a Goku or Gohan focus. Gohan based fics tend to be fairly character based at least.
The characters most likely to have focus in this fic are ones I can use narratively
And yeah man My favorite moments in DBZ are when they're just, hanging out y'know? I don't watch slice of life anime but man I would consume a slice of life DBZ show. I've been getting through Super, really really slowly, but man that "I forgot my tractor" scene? peak comedy.
And yes, feminine dudes exist in anime fairly often, including in DBZ, but pronouns outside the norm aren't really. The only times I've seen the concept of a trans person, exiting, was in Steins Gate, in which they really liked to double down on calling Ruka a guy despite her literally saying she wished she was born a girl. Also in Yu Yu Hakusho, there was one one-off villain lacky, which, was confusing at best, and man I love YYH but I'm, really gonna have to specify that it came out in the early 90's when my friend gets to that scene. Togashi kinda redeems himself in HunterxHunter though with Alluka, with Killua consistently referring to her as a girl and his sister, while the rest of their family who doesn't respect or like her refer to her as male, which checks out, because they're terrible people
That was way too long, apologies
Crimson King Of Thighs: It's not anything that has to do with strength really, it's the desire to avoid personal conflict or awkward conversations. But hey, there's a set time limit now. It'll be over and done with before SIGohan is out of high school
Other than that, thanks I've been having fun writing confuzzled Sharpener. Erasa on the other hand, is actually hard for me to write
xXSelenaXx: Piccolo's a bit high, I think I'd aim around Tien at most. And at least she got a better deal out of it than Chichi. Videl's still somewhat involved in martial arts at least in the Super Super Hero movie, she's said to have students
dtutu134: I mean, you're not wrong. But that would be, really convenient
"Ok so, Mr. Satan isn't the strongest. Got that. How strong is he then?"
Remarkably, Sharpener has still not run out of questions. Part of that might be because Erasa's still interrupting him every so often to break it up, and it's not like he can ask in the middle of class.
In between classes though? That's fair game apparently.
"Ok, so. Mr. Satan is still like, really impressive all things considered. Like I said the other day, he is probably the strongest non Ki user. There's a number system that describes power, it's pretty useless now but it works well enough for his case."
"So, a normal person, just the average person you'd walk past, would be around a 2 or 3. People who have more physical jobs may get up to a five or six. The average martial artist? Maybe fifteen to twenty if they're really devoted, that's already getting to the higher tier. Mr. Satan's around 80."
Sharpener slowly nodded, "how strong am I? On that scale, or Videl?"
"Uh, not sure. I'd have to bring a Scouter tomorrow to be sure, but I'd guess around seven, maybe eight? You've got a decent enough build and are pretty active. Videl could be anywhere from 70 to 90 right now, hard to say."
Videl started, "wait, you think I might be stronger than my dad?"
"I mean, once you start working with Ki, definitely. Right now it's a bit more up in the air, but with all the crime-fighting you do it'd at least be close."
The statement hung in the air for a moment, and then-
"How strong are you, on that scale?" Sharpener asked.
"Uh, stronger than that."
"Like, a few hundred…?"
I said nothing.
"A few thousand…?"
"I'm not gonna answer. Let's just say that it's high enough that the number system is kinda meaningless."
"How strong was Cell?" Videl helpfully asked.
"Yeah, no. Very funny. Literally the exact same issue."
Still, my lack of real response was not satisfactory.
"Ok, I will give you one concrete number. My dad and Piccolo had power levels around, 300-ish during the 23rd world tournament."
That was enough information to keep them occupied and speculating for the rest of the day at least.
Still, I ended up heading to Capsule Corp after school. It's not like it was too far out of the way anyway.
I wandered through the halls until I found myself at Raditz's lab area. He's been helping to fix stuff for so long that he was given his own area and his own tools and honestly I'm glad for it.
Meanwhile, Nappa just kinda stuck with the whole pseudo bodyguard for Bulma thing that he took up when Trunks was born. Which, I somewhat doubt anyone, at least from earth, is gonna get past him anytime soon.
Before I could do much as say hi I felt something collide with my back, barely sensing the little menace before she'd jumped me.
"Ack! Gremlin Child!" I reached behind me and just barely managed to reach far enough to pry her away.
The toddler had messy Orange curls for hair and pale skin that I could swear was just barely tinted blue. Her ears were just pointed enough to notice and had sparkling little stud earrings embedded. She was dressed in a pair of overalls over a purple shirt and had a tail that coiled and flicked with as much chaos as the adorable menace of a child exhumed.
"Hey. Don't touch that. You don't know where it's been," Raditz finally bothered to turn to say, after the child come up with several strands of hair that were previously attached to my head.
"Oh very funny," I said as I tucked the child under my arm, safe from further problem causing.
"What do you want?"
"Do you have an extra scouter?" I asked and Raditz raised an eyebrow at the obviously dumb question.
"Why?" He asked as he opened a drawer, pulling out the desired device and tossing it over.
"Oh, it's just some-" I winced and dropped the toddler as she tugged on my tail. The child climbed back to her feet no worse for wear.
"Gine. Go bother your mother," Raditz said.
"Kay!" And with that, the girl ran out of the room taking her chaos with her.
It's honestly hard to read the relationship between Raditz and Zangya. I mean, Gine existed, which had its obvious implications. (I never pointed out him naming his kid after his mother)(it's really cute though) but like, as far as I'm aware, they never officially dated. At least by earth standards. Though Zan was rather, possessive, of Raditz so, I guess that counts.
"Just some-" Raditz prompted me to continue.
"Huh? Oh. Some kids from school were wondering. Hey, you plan on joining the World Tournament?"
Raditz scoffed, almost laughed at the idea. I wasn't surprised. He'd never liked training or sparring, and he's only become more disillusioned by the idea over the years. I guess the joy of it was stripped away when he doesn't get to kill people anymore. Also when the goalpost keeps getting higher and higher.
"Hey, I hear there's a junior's competition. Why not sign the little menace up?" I asked because the idea of a two-year-old in the competition was, really funny to me.
And! It successfully made Raditz laugh. That was an accomplishment as far as I was concerned.
"Yeah, I'm sure the little humans would do a great job at getting maimed against her."
Which, ok. Yeah. Goten, Trunks, and Clover had a hard time dealing with her, and she especially seemed to have it out for Trunks, who once came away with his face covered in scratches and-
Yeah no actually that probably wasn't a good idea.
Oh no, he was going to do it. I could already tell. From the devious smirk.
Well, hopefully, there was a minimum age requirement.
I left before I could give him any more ideas.
…
Well, as long as I was out recruiting people for the tournament, I might as well stop at Kame House.
Luckily, Roshi wasn't out when I landed. I, don't, like interacting with him.
I greeted Krillin and accepted a hug from Marron, lifting her as I spoke.
"Hey, I was going to be joining the World Tournament, you wanna join?"
"Oh yeah, Goku mentioned that. I don't know, I retired for a reason, and either you or your dad's gonna win anyway so-" he trailed off. He kinda looked like he wanted to join Despite that honestly.
So, my eyes shifted towards Eighteen, "there's gonna be a cash prize."
"We're in," she stated without hesitation, hooking an arm over her husband's shoulders.
I grinned through Krillin's words of surprise and obligatory protest.
"Hey, you should tell Seventeen to join, it'll be fun," I said as I was leaving.
Seventeen was the most, distant, of the three Androids. Eighteen was involved with the group by association with Krillin, often showing up when he does. Sixteen spends a lot of time around Capsule Corp. But Seventeen just kinda does his own thing. I can't blame him, the only thing that would tie him to the group would be his sister, considering I'm pretty sure he avoids CC like the plague.
And well, having an extra person in the Buu Saga, well I'm not sure if it would help, but I can't see it hurting.
I headed off and decided to make one more stop before heading home.
I scaled the climb to the Lookout with the ease of flight and landed on its surface.
Cargo was the first to react, running up to hug me, while Dende greeted me in a more composed matter. I guess I just missed Ocari at Capsule Corp then. He does still spend most of his time there after all.
Once I maneuvered through the obligatory small talk, I made my way to Piccolo.
Cargo seemed to pop away with instant transmission the second I turned my head. Goku had taken him upon request to learn it, it'd taken him nearly a year but the kid borderline abused it now. Honestly makes me tempted to pick it up, but I'd have to sink at least a few months into that, maybe after the DBZ plot.
"You gonna join the tournament?" I eventually asked.
Piccolo scoffed it off. Which, considering the last tournament he was in, and how, not amused he was by it, I suppose was fair.
"I think, you should join this one," I said, purposefully pointed.
Piccolo narrowed his eyes at me. The implication was clear.
He turned his chin up and once again gazed off the edge of the Lookout, "fine then."
He didn't ask follow up questions. He rarely really did, aside from the occasional clarifier to things that I've said.
Future knowledge is a plague. Especially when it's in the position to change. The fewer variables the better.
And, I've already caused a fair few variables.
"Something's going to happen then?" He asked through telepathy.
"It's, fairly likely. I don't remember the exact details though."
"That's, unfortunate."
"Yeah no kidding. Maybe I'll just leave it for dad to deal with," I joked.
I knew I'd made a mistake in my phrasing when I saw Piccolo smirk, "oh? But you're the strongest. That comes with responsibility. Or whatever."
It took a few moments for his words to register as familiar.
"Wha- hey! Don't you go repeating my words back at me!"
Piccolo laughed at my outrage.
"Oh you've just been sitting on that one, haven't you?"
"I am shocked it hasn't come up sooner. Perhaps you have become more responsible over the years."
"There haven't been any threats worthy enough for me to want to avoid."
"…so this will be then?"
I shifted, "I mean, it's supposed to be. But The Ultimate should still be way overpowered."
"Should?"
"It is." I clarified, "the bigger issue is that I don't remember the exact order of events."
"I see. Well, nothing you can do about that."
"I guess not."
The conversation petered out after that. Soon enough it was getting late and I had to head back home.
…
"75. I was close," I commented as I scanned Videl with the Scouter.
"If that's your starting point it'll go up a lot once you get Ki down."
Sharpener opened his mouth but I was already scanning him, "nine. A bit higher than I predicted. And Erasa's at four. Guess she's stronger than average through osmosis or something."
I mean, it was a joke, but honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if some people could do that, if not by the literal definition of the word. I'm sure there are quite a few things Bulma's survived that she should not have.
"Can I see that?" Sharpener asked. I handed over the scouter after showing which button activated the scanner.
After a bit of scanning a few random people and Videl, he turned the device on me. I didn't blink as he pushed the button. He frowned, pushing it a few more times. He looked around scanning others in the class again.
"What the hell?" He took off the device.
"Fun fact, once you get good enough at controlling your Ki, you can suppress it to the point that those are really useless," I said, fully aware that the number it read was a nicely rounded 5.
Chico laughed beside me. I decided not to mention that Rom tried the same stunt a few years back, which she was well aware of.
…
Meditation resumed that weekend. Obviously, there was no point in Videl coming over during the week only for her to immediately have to turn around to head home, but over the weekend she had more time.
My eyes shot up as I sensed a spark.
"That's it."
I was surprised. I assumed she'd been practicing at home, I'd be more surprised if she hadn't, but still. One week? That's, really quick.
Videl's eyes shot open and I felt the spark threaten to flicker away.
"Wait wait, no, keep focusing on it," I leaned and reached towards her. The spark continued to flicker despite the assurances.
"Ok, here's what we're going to do. I'm gonna transfer a tiny bit of Ki to you, just this once, so you can better recognize the feeling and can recreate it. It'll probably feel like an adrenaline rush, ok?"
I waited for her say so before I placed a hand on her shoulder and infused a tiny, microscopic drop of my Ki into her.
I couldn't have gone any smaller an amount if I wanted to and yet the result was still far more than I wanted. The energy was far more than her body was used to and didn't know where to go with it. It instead manifested in jittery, almost anxious energy.
Which was good, that meant I hadn't infused enough that it damaged anything at least.
"Ok, I assume you can feel it now. Now it needs somewhere to go. Hold your hands out in front of you."
She did as she was told and I did the same, "good, now focus on that energy, focus on where it is, and channel it through your arms, and out your hands. It'll feel warm, or even tingly, that's normal when you're starting."
I summoned a ball of Ki to demonstrate and dismissed it as one sparked into life within Videl's own hands. It was flickering and translucent, and barely showed any light, but it was very much there.
Amazement showed in Videl's eyes at the feat.
After a few moments, the light faded away and Videl looked exhausted.
I leaned back.
"Well," I said, "that, is a remarkable amount of progress for your third real lesson."
I glanced over to see Sharpener and Erasa just as amazed as Videl was. Chico looked begrudgingly impressed, and Rom, well-
"Man. I feel cheated. We worked on that for months for nothing. That's not fair."
"Videl has a lifetime of martial arts behind her," I reminded.
But man, so did Krillin and it still took him years even when his teacher knew about Ki. Videl is, something else.
I don't know how strong she could get. I'd guess that Tien might be the best comparison of a human prodigy. Krillin was technically the strongest human, or he was before he retired, but he got a boost on Namek. Tien's highest advantage was training with King Kai, but that was still training.
I'm not sure how strong he was now, but if she could potentially get anywhere close to Tien during the Cell Saga, that's wild.
I shook the thought. Even if she could, that doesn't mean she would, and there's no use in setting up such an expectation.
"Alright. So, let's get something to eat and drink. Determine if you're good to fly your Jetcopter back," I added since she looked tired, "and tomorrow. I think we can start on the basics of flight."
…
This time, we stood in the clearing instead of sitting.
"Ok, like I said when we started. Flight isn't a matter of strength, but control. It's difficult to get a hold of, but once you do, it's a lot easier."
"Now, when flying, you primarily have to concentrate your Ki below you, but you also have to be using it to keep your balance. And, for now at least, you are not allowed to practice it without me around. Last thing we need is for you to fall and get hurt because you overestimated what you could do."
I waited for her bid before continuing.
And then I instructed her to test it and held her hand to help with balance.
It took several moments for her to make any space off the ground, kicking up dirt and dust with her ki, and she immediately landed back after.
But man. Day one of flight and making direct progress. Taking note of her progression seems redundant at this point, but still.
And, progress continued.
Week after week, each time being able to fly for longer and longer until eventually, she was theoretically able to fly back home. Which she wasn't able to test until the following week because she had to take the Jetcopter back in order to get the others back safe, though by then Rom had long since gotten bored of coming with, and Chico was only coming half the time.
Flight was her primary interest, like it'd be anyone's really, but I also managed to get in some more progression in her being able to form Ki blasts and the like. She's nowhere near anything that'd require a name, but she could probably still cause some damage.
Which created another problem.
"Videl. Listen to me. You are not to use this on any standard person or criminal. If you're not careful, you could kill someone."
Videl looked up at me alarmed.
"I have to be careful when doing anything around them. You'll have a bit more leeway in the tournament, but you still should avoid Ki unless necessary."
Thankfully, she seemed to be taking my words seriously. Albeit through the amazement and awe of the ability.
And honestly, I did feel a fair bit better. I wasn't sure if she was quite bulletproof, I wasn't sure where that line was exactly and I was hardly gonna test it, but she was much better off now than she ever was before.
The last time I'd scanned her on the Scouter she registered at nearly three hundred.
It'd taken Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha years to get to that point.
It's been less than two months for Videl. And yes she's had years of martial arts, but still. That's, wild.
And I had no idea where to go from there.
I mean, what could I do or say at this point other than, practice?
I had no idea.
But that was to worry about later, because for now, the tournament was quickly approaching.