"So, now what?"
The question, posed by Yamcha once Goku and Chi Chi had left to return home, could only be answered by Dende, as Mr. Popo was busy monitoring the doorway to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for any sign of it opening prematurely due to some kind of emergency. Granted, no such emergency had occurred thus far, but with someone as young as Gohan inside the chamber, it didn't hurt to be alert just in case something went wrong.
"Well, you're welcome to spend the rest of the night however you choose, but I'm going to be busy transporting my people back home, starting with the elders and the Namekian Dragon Balls," Dende explained. "After that's done, I'll remain here until somebody needs healing or transportation somewhere else. Contrary to what you might think, you all are far from the only ones that require my services." At this, Yamcha blinked, his curiosity piqued.
"Huh, have you been, like, teleporting into hospitals to heal people?" he asked, to which Dende simply nodded as though it weren't a big deal.
"Among other places, yes. Accidents can happen anywhere, and with my new abilities, I can carefully monitor the entire planet and arrive to help those in need at a moment's-oop." With that, Dende abruptly teleported away to some distant corner of the world, only to reappear about ten seconds later. "Apologies, I had to catch a man who fell off of his ladder, where was I?" he asked, although Yamcha sensed from his smug expression that a part of Dende enjoyed being able to show off the extent of his Guardian powers while legitimately helping people at the same time. Yamcha was certainly impressed, albeit not without some concerns of his own.
"That's pretty cool and all, but uh, when exactly do you plan on sleeping?" he asked.
"I don't need to sleep."
"Say what now?"
"I don't require sleep any longer," Dende repeated, his expression becoming somewhat unreadable. "My immortality keeps me in perfect physical condition at all times, so I don't need to drink or rest whatsoever. I've been active every hour of the day for months now, and while it was...disorienting at first, I've ultimately found it to be useful with respect to my work. Accidents can occur at any time as well, and I...I haven't lost anyone yet. No amount of unnecessary rest is worth the risk of that changing." As the two stood in awkward silence, Dende could tell from Yamcha's expression that he didn't quite agree with Dende's attitude towards himself, but didn't know how to coax him out of it. Not wishing for his doubts to find any more purchase in his mind, Dende instead chose to do the same thing he had always done whenever the subject came up.
He ran away.
Yamcha sighed as Dende teleported off to where the rest of the Namekians were staying at Capsule Corp, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with him on this particular night. Left with nothing else to do, Yamcha decided that he might as well head back home to Puar, but not before he cast one last glance towards another kid who took way too much onto his shoulders. He could only hope that both of them would one day be able to just be kids for once, without having to worry about being critical to the safety of thousands of people. With how Vegeta had suddenly become a problem right when they thought they had avoided a terrible future, Yamcha couldn't say that he was especially optimistic about the prospect of any long term peace for either of them.
Still, it didn't hurt to have a little hope.
"Good luck in there, kiddo," Yamcha said, knowing full well that Gohan couldn't hear him.
The house felt eerily quiet without Gohan in it.
It was something Chi Chi felt immediately upon entering the building before Goku and not seeing the light on in Gohan's bedroom or hearing the faint scribble of his pencil as he worked on his homework. She wasn't in the right headspace to worry about all of the academic difficulties that could result from him effectively taking a whole year off of schooling in a day. She wasn't in the right headspace to worry about much of anything. Goku wasn't worried about those things, she knew, but she was at least glad he had tried to talk Gohan out of it and had that heart to heart with him that she knew they both had needed for a long time. Goku may have been a little more permissive than she would have liked once it became clear that Gohan wouldn't back down, but he was here for his son and he was here for her, and she supposed that was enough for her.
"It's gonna be okay," Goku said softly as he put his hands on her shoulders.
Supposed, past tense.
"Don't try and give me that," she said in a low tone, a threatening tone which Goku knew meant that he had to tread carefully, because his wife had clearly been keeping herself from biting someone's head off since around when he called her on the phone to tell her about Gohan's choice. He immediately relinquished his grip on her shoulders and stepped away from her with his hands in front of him in a conciliatory gesture, trying to calm her down. The sight of it was enough to break through Chi Chi's anger for a moment, revealing the long-buried despair underneath. "I hate this," she muttered softly, but Goku's keen ears picked it up with heart-shattering clarity.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but I promise you, I'm putting my foot down on him fighting this time," Goku said, trying to put on a reassuring smile. "He just needs the reassurance that he'll be safe, that he'll be able to keep us safe if everything goes wrong. That's the only reason he's training as hard as he is in there." Chi Chi was hardly convinced, judging by her raised eyebrow.
"That's all he was interested in, just getting stronger?" she asked skeptically.
"Well, that's what he told me, at least," Goku replied matter-of-factly.
"And you're positive he was telling the truth?" Chi Chi asked, to which Goku didn't have an immediate answer before Chi Chi continued. "I know my baby. If he wanted to get stronger 'just in case,' he'd keep doing what he's been doing and train here with Piccolo and Tien. The fact that he felt he had to jump at the first chance he got to go into that time thingy means he's planning something. Something he needed the extra time to learn. Something he didn't feel like he could tell either of us about, which means it's probably something incredibly dangerous for him to be doing!"
"Relax, Master Roshi would never let Gohan endanger himself needlessly," Goku reasoned, to which Chi Chi could only roll her eyes.
"Ah, yes, because he's such a stellar role model," she said dryly. Goku chuckled awkwardly, having long since become old enough to be aware of what she was referring to.
"Okay, so he was really, really gross in the past, and he's still a bit skeevy today, but I think everything that's happened over the years helped him to let go of that...for the most part," Goku said in his master's defense. "And besides, he always had my best interests at heart when I trained under him, and I know everyone else who has had him as their master can say the same. Gohan's in good hands." Chi Chi sighed as she rubbed her forehead and paced around the living room.
"And what if Gohan decides to go behind our backs again, like he did when he snuck aboard the ship to Namek?" she asked worriedly. "All he'd need to do is figure out that Instant Teleportation thing and you know he'd be off like a shot!" Goku sighed, a part of him still carrying the weight of his conversation with Gohan earlier that day.
"I know I would certainly do that in his place, but Gohan isn't me," Goku said with a hint of resignation in his voice that he tried his best to smother. "Even if the idea occurred to him, I like to think he'd at least run it by us first, considering how bad things got on Namek. And when he does, well...his heart's in the right place, but he's had far too much stuff to deal with because of me and because of the consequences of everything we've done to protect the Earth. I promise you, he's not going to be fighting again, not if I have anything to say about it." Goku looked long and hard into Chi Chi's eyes, and she knew that he meant what he said, just like always.
And yet doubt still remained, as it always did.
"I hope so," Chi Chi said sadly. "Because I don't know how much more of this I can take..."
Yamcha wished he could say the sound of somebody banging on his door surprised him.
No, this was not the first time a knock at the door of his apartment had interrupted his somewhat troubled sleep, nor would it likely be the last so long as he continued playing baseball and thereby drawing attention to himself. Like always, Puar was the one whose job it was to get rid of such people, whether they be overeager fans, corporate types looking for a sponsorship deal, friendly teammates, unfriendly teammates, or whoever else found his address online and decided to make it his problem. It was a lot for one floating cat to deal with, but fortunately, Puar was no ordinary floating cat. Having opted to take the form of that one demon who worked for Fortuneteller Baba, she stood lying in wait to answer the door and spook the heck out of whoever came to bother them. She had used her shapeshifting skills to drive away countless busybodies, and she would drive away countless more so long as it meant that both she and Yamcha could continue their morning routine.
However, this time, something was very different about their unexpected visitor.
"I SHALL EAT YOUR SO-oh! It's you!" Puar said, switching between her impersonated voice and her real voice so fast that it only worsened the startling effect of her disguise. Seeking to shift back into her true form without any further delay, the woman standing across from her in a pink hoodie noticeably relaxed, albeit with a confused expression on her face.
"Jeez, I didn't think you'd recognize me right away," Maron said sheepishly, taking off the hood to reveal her long, bright blue hair underneath. "Puar, right?" she asked, to which the cat nodded enthusiastically, thankful that the visitor wasn't actually someone annoying them.
"Mhm! Nice to finally meet you! I've heard great things from Yamcha!" Puar replied. Maron began blushing rather visibly at that, her giddy smile a product of the fact that she had to remind herself she had somehow started dating one of the most famous men in the world.
"Really, l-like what?" she asked nervously as Puar moved to let her in.
"Well, he likes your taste in literature, your sense of humor, and I think it goes without saying that-oop!" Puar began before stopping herself from saying anything incriminating, having noticed Yamcha leave his bedroom with bleary eyes and the rather noticeable lack of a shirt. As one would expect, Maron short-circuited immediately upon registering the sight before her eyes, with her stunned lapse of awe-struck silence giving Yamcha plenty of time to power through his half-asleep state and realize who Puar had just let into his home to see him like this.
When the pair could see him again, he was naturally fully dressed.
"Maron! I, uh, didn't expect you to...w-what can I do for you?" he asked, still stewing in the embarrassment of her catching him unawares like that. Maron chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh, y'know, I was just in the area and-yeah okay that's not gonna work," she said suddenly, berating herself for her foolishness before revealing her reason for seeing him so soon after they had last spoken. "The truth is...everything you told me about what's been going on with you and your friends lately, it-it got me thinking." At this, Yamcha's face fell as he jumped to conclusions.
"You're having second thoughts after being confronted with the kind of life I live," Yamcha said somberly. "Makes sense, it's not something most people can handle, so I understand if you-"
"What? No, that's not where I was going with that at all, you're awesome!" Maron said matter-of-factly, catching Yamcha off guard for a number of reasons.
"Then why were you-?"
"Because I wanna help, silly!" she said, playfully booping Yamcha on the nose. Although admittedly flustered by the gesture combined with her earlier comment, he was still confused, and he wasn't the only one left wanting for a response.
"With...Vegeta?" Puar asked, making sure they had heard her right.
"Yeah!" she said, seemingly not registering the full implications of what she was suggesting. "I had friends in East City, you know! I doubt I can touch the man himself, but if I can do anything to mess up his evil plans, you better believe I'm gonna do it!" Yamcha and Puar sat there for a moment, stunned into silence yet again at Maron's sheer brazenness, before Yamcha put on an easy-going smile in an attempt to let her down gently.
"Look, Maron, I like your spirit, really, and I know you work out like crazy, but this whole situation is, frankly, leagues beyond your abilities," he said softly, but firmly. Maron was unimpressed.
"Oh, really?" she asked, a challenge in her voice that fazed Yamcha only a little.
"Really," he said. "I've fought the soldiers who'll be under this guy's command, and while they're small potatoes to me now, any one of them could have taken over this planet and ruled with an iron fist as little as two years ago. You're really strong for an ordinary girl, but it would take years of intense training for you to even reach that level, and that's just time that we don't have." At this, he expected Maron to back down or at least take pause, but instead, she simply smirked.
"Who said I'm just an ordinary girl?" she asked, one of her hands grasping onto her hoodie.
Before Yamcha could offer up a retort to that, Maron managed to dramatically throw off the hoodie in one smooth motion, sending it flying behind her and revealing what she had chosen to wear underneath it: a black sports bra which left nothing to the imagination with respect to how muscular she really was underneath her more traditionally attractive outfits. Yamcha had seen her arms and legs, of course, and he had known that Maron was strong from the moment he took the time to sense her ki and take note of how confidently she carried herself. However, it wasn't until he was confronted with the fact that she had a proper six pack that he fully internalized just where all that power was coming from. This wasn't a woman who just worked out to stay healthy or stay on top of things during self-defense classes. This wasn't a woman who talked a big game only to get beaten by anyone with actual skill, like the kind of guy his boy Lee had been before he opened his tea shop. This was a woman who had trained extensively to become a proper martial artist.
And right now, she was a martial artist who was shifting into a very familiar fighting stance.
Yamcha was flabbergasted. He hadn't ever seen it from the outside like this, save for whenever he worked up the nerve to look up old Budokai footage of all of his devastating losses over the years. Fans often imitated it, but there were always a host of imperfections: their posture was wrong, their feet were too far apart or too close together, and nobody could ever get their hands in the proper position to strike like he did. Not even his friends had duplicated it the way he had with the Kamehameha, although he imagined they could without too much difficulty. And yet, here this woman was, having perfectly duplicated the technique down to the most minute details despite never seeing it in action on a personal basis. It was like looking in a mirror.
Albeit a mirror that was about to punch him in the face.
"Wolf Fang Fist!" she cried, lashing out at Yamcha with a series of perfectly executed strikes that, although parried effortlessly by the far more powerful fighter, were nonetheless proof that this woman was more than a mere gym enthusiast. To have achieved this sort of mastery regarding his signature technique meant that she must have studied those very same failures of his for hours upon hours, practicing over and over on her own until she could finally harness what limited ki she could draw upon to pull it off just as he did. After catching her hands in his own and gently pushing her backwards, the pair looked at each other once more now that Maron's point had been proven.
"That...that was incredible," Yamcha said earnestly. "I-I mean, don't get me wrong, you've still got a lot of training to do, and you probably won't be able to help with the whole evil empire thing anyway, but all the same...you've definitely got potential." Although she bristled a bit at the addendum, Maron was nonetheless rather pleased with herself.
"So, you think we can use that time chamber thingy to speed things up?" she asked. Yamcha began sweating nervously as he tried to explain why that wasn't possible.
"Definitely not," he said. "Like I was saying last night, the gravity in there is ten times stronger than ours. You need to acclimate to it first, and that takes a while, even for more experienced fighters like me. The only way we could really train you is doing things the old fashioned way, probably with some weighted clothes and basic sparring, but unfortunately...that'll also take a while." At this, Maron pouted before sighing.
"Ahh, oh well. I guess this whole magic time thingy got my hopes up that we might be able to expedite the whole training process...sorta," she said as she reflected on how Yamcha had explained the time chamber to her. Yamcha sighed himself, not sure how to cheer her up until Puar spoke up from a long period of thinking to herself.
"I think I've got an idea on what we can do about that," Puar said cryptically before turning to Yamcha with a smirk on her face. "You up for a flight, big guy?"
"You want me to do what?"
Goku had just finished up an unusually quiet breakfast when he was surprised to find Yamcha and a woman who matched the description of his new girlfriend Maron landing near the front door. With Chi Chi busily making the house presentable for these unexpected guests, it naturally fell to Goku to stall them at the door, only to be even more surprised when they revealed the reason for their surprise visit to the Son family residence.
"Just hear us out!" Yamcha said, having gotten the gist of Puar's idea on the flight over. "I know they probably won't catch up even to me anytime soon, but it's a good idea to have more people we know who can help protect the Earth if you and our friends are ever caught in a pinch again." Although Goku's eyes widened as he suddenly considered the risk he had unknowingly taken by taking Piccolo with him to Namek on top of the other fighters leaving, he still wasn't convinced. Yamcha gestured to the woman by his side, who had elected not to change in the hopes that her physique would wordlessly back up their case. "Dude, Maron figured out the Wolf Fang Fist entirely on her own and executed it perfectly! That's gotta count for something!" Seeing Goku's slow nod, Yamcha piled on. "Plus, aside from sparring with 16, what exactly were you planning on doing for the month or whatever it'll take for our Vegeta to be back in commission?"
"Hm, got me there," Goku said in response to that, acknowledging the point before chuckling a bit. "Then again, it was that very same Vegeta who pointed out I'm not that great of a teacher. Honestly, it's a testament to how awesome he is that Piccolo managed to figure out the Kaio-ken after hearing me explain it." Yamcha attempted to give Goku an encouraging smile.
"Aw, c'mon, buddy, you can do it! All you'd really be doing is covering the basics; it shouldn't be too hard to teach some people a thing or two," Yamcha said breezily just as Chi Chi walked up behind Goku, her curiosity piqued from what little she'd overheard while doing dishes.
"Teach who a thing or two?" Chi Chi asked, to which Maron replied eagerly.
"Well, you, for one! If you're up for it, of course," Maron said, her fists raised in a gesture appropriate for her excitement. "I rewatched your fights in the 23rd Budokai; you were really cool back then! I'd love to have you as a sparring partner!" In response to Maron's praise, Chi Chi began blushing with embarrassment, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.
"Oh, I don't know, I think my fighting days are long behind me by this point," she said nervously, attempting to deflect while Goku eyed her curiously for a moment before chiming in.
"I think you should do it," he said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Needless to say, Chi Chi did not share this opinion.
"Eh?" she said, more stunned than anything else as she processed what her husband said.
"I'm still not super confident I'd do a great job teaching, but I'll never get better if I don't practice," Goku reasoned. "And besides, you might be rusty, but you're still a great fighter!"
And now Chi Chi was blushing for a whole different reason.
"You really think so?" she asked bashfully, to which Goku flashed her his winning smile.
"Of course! Don't sell yourself short just because our match didn't last long; you probably could've given him a run for his money at the time," he said, gesturing over to Yamcha. For his part, the man chuckled sheepishly as he acknowledged that Goku was probably right.
"Yeah, I still would've won, to be fully honest with you, but it definitely would've been close," he added, brightening Chi Chi's spirits a bit as Goku brought up another point.
"Besides, it might not be 'getting out of the house,' really, but it would give you more opportunities to hang out with your friends," Goku added, causing Chi Chi to speak after a pause.
"...Well. I suppose I could use a break from my usual routine, especially under these circumstances," she said with a hint of a smile. Maron let out a whoop of satisfaction.
"Haha, yes! One cool lady down, one more to go!" she said before racing off towards the adjacent house and calling out for Launch. Yamcha smiled at his girlfriend's adorable enthusiasm for a second before remembering some vital information that he should've explained before.
"Wait, babe, if she's Blonde, she's not a morning person! We need to make sure she's-!" Yamcha called out before Maron received her own warning in the form of a gunshot that pierced through part of the roof, specifically a section of it which Goku had noticed bore marks of similar damage occurring more than a few times over the years. As Maron stumbled backwards in shock, even Chi Chi and Goku were taken aback by the noise while Yamcha moved to comfort Maron and apologize for not warning her fast enough. After a breath, Goku voiced the first thought he had.
"Y'know, she's gotten better, but she's still super trigger-happy," Goku pointed out.
"We're working on that," Chi Chi replied tersely.
"So that's why Blonde Launch texted me to say that I needed to fix the roof again."
With Goku preoccupied attempting to refine the martial arts prowess of his wife, her friends, and Puar in the nearby woods, Yamcha had asked Piccolo and Tien to meet him at Tien's cabin once he sensed that they were finished with yet another round of sparring in the gravity chamber. Yamcha could only chuckle sheepishly as he pulled out some zeni from his back pocket.
"Yeah, sorry, I warned her too late; she's still got a lot to learn about all of us," Yamcha said apologetically as Tien sighed before begrudgingly taking the money, if only because Blonde Launch would lightly scold him for turning down their friend's generosity.
"I'm still not sure why you decided Goku had to be the one to manage all this," Piccolo said, his slight contempt for the whole arrangement evident. Tien shrugged in response.
"He would've been left without much to do otherwise, and Blonde Launch has also asked me to help train her in martial arts every so often, especially in light of her failure to stop you back when the Saiyans attacked," Tien pointed out in Yamcha's defense, causing Piccolo's expression to falter as he thought back to what happened that night.
"I-I see," he said, slightly stunned for a moment before regaining his composure. "In any event, it's clear that they are not and likely will not be ready for the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at any point in the foreseeable future, which leaves the question of how to best utilize it open," he pivoted, glancing around at the two of them to see their thoughts on the matter.
"Do you believe the gravity chamber could function in there?" Tien asked suddenly, having thought over the matter. "Although a year of intense training under ten times gravity would naturally produce results, it would be ideal for us to continue improving our capabilities through much higher levels of gravity while also benefiting from the time chamber's magic." Yamcha's eyes widened at the possibility of getting to benefit from much more intensive training while Piccolo murmured to himself, consulting what was by now a familiar voice inside his head.
"It's possible," he eventually concluded. "The Hyperbolic Time Chamber does not have a 'sun' in the traditional sense, but from personal experience, the light it produces is more akin to sunlight than artificial light, so it is conceivable that the gravity chamber's solar panels would be able to draw power from it. Although we would not know for certain whether or not it would be able to do so until we had a chance to install it there, I agree that the potential results are well worth the minimal effort it would require." Tien and Yamcha both nodded in agreement before the latter put the conversation back onto its original track.
"Alright, so you two called dibs last night, and I know you and 16 worked out some kind of deal to train together, however that's supposed to work," Yamcha began, gesturing to Tien and then Piccolo before thinking aloud some more. "Krillin is probably gonna end up going in there with 18-" he continued, only for Piccolo to groan audibly at the reminder. "C'mon, man, he needs this," Yamcha retorted in a half-joking tone.
"Does he?" Piccolo asked, contempt dripping from his voice. "Does he really?"
"Undoubtedly, seeing as he's the only eligible bachelor left," Tien said in what Piccolo recognized as his "joking" tone, with the word "joking" doing a bit more heavy lifting than usual.
"Tch," he scoffed as Yamcha got back on track once more.
"Anyway, so he's likely taken, Roshi will probably be busy scouting out those rebel planets once he's out of the chamber, Gohan's not going back in, so...I think I'm the odd man out here," Yamcha eventually concluded, to which Tien extended an olive branch.
"Well, it would probably be a bit of a hassle, but with certain arrangements, we could try and fit you into our training session," Tien pointed out, to which Piccolo started in surprise before nodding as he caught on to Tien's reasoning. "16 doesn't need anything, and we can use capsules to make sure we have enough water for Piccolo, so provided we measure out everything properly, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber should be able to support all four of us." Yamcha's expression brightened as he realized that he wouldn't be stuck playing catch up after all.
"Well, shoot, I can take care of that!" he said excitedly, already moving to take off towards West City. "You guys put the gravity chamber back in its capsule and take it up to the Lookout, I'll pick up enough water capsules for two years' worth of training, and we can make any arrangements we need to make as soon as Gohan and Master Roshi are done!" Piccolo remained fairly impassive in response to Yamcha's enthusiasm, while Tien cracked a slight smile.
"Sounds like a plan. We'll meet you there as soon as they're due to get out," Tien called out, Yamcha having already started hovering a couple of feet above the floor before taking off as soon as he heard the confirmation. Piccolo sighed once he sensed Yamcha's departure before turning to Tien with an inquisitive look in his eyes.
"You're certain you can handle almost two years of his chipper attitude?" Piccolo asked dryly, to which Tien chuckled in turn.
"I've barely seen him since he came back. What can I say? A part of me missed him," Tien admitted with that same slight smile on his face. "Besides, unlike us, he learned the Kaio-ken straight from the source. He might have some insight into the technique that we lack due to how we learned it." Piccolo nodded, acknowledging the point as the pair walked off towards the gravity chamber.
"Still...I sense it will be a very long two years in there," he remarked, to which Tien could only chuckle even further in response.
"So...you got any questions?" Krillin asked, fighting the urge to bolt for a third time.
To say that the conversation he was having with 18 about training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber together was going well was perhaps technically accurate, but failed to encompass just how uncomfortably awkward it was to be sitting across from her like this. It had taken him almost a full day just to muster up the nerve to go back to Kame House for the first time since she and her brother had moved in, even after Roshi directly confirmed that both he and 18 were feeling...whatever this was towards each other. The revelation had spurred him to action the moment he heard it, sure, but self-doubt was something Krillin had been battling all his life, and it had twice proven strong enough to crush his newfound confidence before he finally triumphed over it just long enough to end up in this strange situation.
The only consolation was that she seemed to be almost as lost as he was.
"No, that, uh, that was a pretty solid explanation, I'd say," she said, providing further evidence towards that observation as a certain nonchalant listener chuckled at her embarrassed tone.
17 knew better than anybody that 18 didn't stammer like that, at least not since they'd become Dr. Gero's latest failures and almost got turned into psychopathic killing machines. He wasn't entirely sure why, but for whatever reason, this high-pitched pint-sized monk guy they'd only really met days ago had provoked that kind of reaction from her for the first time in years. As much as he didn't understand it, he figured that if it ultimately made his sister happy, he'd support this.
In typical annoying brother fashion, of course.
"Y'know, a magic pocket dimension that's just an endless void of nothing wouldn't be my first choice for a romantic getaway, but hey, what do I know?" he said smugly, leaning on Krillin's entire head after moving behind him faster than the smaller man could see. Naturally, both of them lit up like a Christmas tree at the insinuation, but they had very different reactions to it.
"N-now hold on, it's not like that, I-!" Krillin said, trying desperately to defend his honor even as a part of him was hoping for it to be exactly like that.
"Oi," 18 said gruffly, directing both of their gazes towards her. "Aren't you late for your next consultation with Ms. Briefs?" she asked, causing him to start as he followed her glance towards the clock and realized she was right. "You wanna stay here and keep being an ass, or would you prefer to keep your nose out of our business and get some of that?" she asked, sporting a teasing smirk of her own that made it clear how well she had gotten used to verbally sparring with her brother. 17 didn't offer up any kind of retort to that before rushing out the door, which 18 took as her having won that round. "Thought so," she said smugly despite knowing that he was long gone by then. Krillin had to blink a couple of times to reaffirm that all of that had indeed happened, but once he had processed everything that had been said, he was left with more questions than answers.
"Wait a second, are they-?" he asked, pointing to the now-open door and finding himself strangely reluctant to finish the sentence, not sure how he felt about such a hypothetical arrangement. 18 could only chuckle dryly in response.
"Oh, hell if I know, but he's all cool and snarky, and she's nerdy and over thirty, so I wouldn't put it past them," 18 remarked, rolling her eyes before quickly zooming around the house to grab what few personal effects she had been able to amass and collect them all into a handbag. "Anyway, you said that Gohan and Roshi went in last night, right? Shouldn't be too long before they come out, and I imagine the kid will want to have all his friends there to greet him when he does, don't you think?" The question was enough to spur Krillin to action, although he did catch the briefest hint of a somewhat flustered expression on her face which suggested her eagerness to change the subject.
As strong as his self-doubt was, it was pretty hard to argue his way around that.
"Yup, uh, right you are!" Krillin said nervously, a part of him wondering if he could talk the others into letting him and 18 be the ones up next after Gohan and Master Roshi, even as the rest of him doubted it. Still, with a few personal effects of his own grabbed just in case, the pair were off, Krillin leading the way as 18 flew at a moderately slower pace to stay alongside him. As much as both of them wanted to, they hardly said a word the entire time.
And if their hands happened to become interlocked halfway there, nobody else had to know.
By the time Dende finally had a few minutes to stay put, it was almost time.
As he was quick to notice, a somewhat sizable crowd had gathered on the Lookout in anticipation of Gohan and Master Roshi's return. There were Goku and Chi Chi, of course, naturally eager to see their son again as soon as possible, but there were also Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Blue Launch, the first two of which were clearly waiting for their turn in the Time Chamber. Dende had teleported back and forth between the Lookout and elsewhere throughout the whole process, but was now standing by alongside Mr. Popo, just in case either of the chamber's occupants were seriously injured. Android 18 and Krillin arrived at roughly the same time, a fact that several of Earth's warriors seemed inclined to comment on before 18 shot them all a look that swiftly dissuaded them. As such, the mood was laced with nothing but quiet anticipation and a hint of dread, with Chi Chi in particular being incredibly anxious about just what her boy had done to himself. Goku, having done his best to assuage her fears over the course of their rudimentary training and the rest of their time away from their son, could only place a hand on her shoulder and offer what little advice he could until those doors opened.
"All we can do now is wait."
Another cool-down chapter, but don't worry, we'll be looping back around a bit to touch on all the time chamber stuff.
This chapter wasn't quite a part of my original plan for how this arc was gonna go: I was thinking we'd go straight to the time chamber stuff, then the aftermath, then finally getting back to what King Vegeta's up to. However, I ended up wanting to touch on a few smaller bits of set up intermittently with the time chamber stuff, and figured it'd be better to separate them into two chapters rather than going back and forth in one massive chapter. So we get some nice little slice-of-life moments: Goku getting some stuff to do in the background, Krillin and 18 being cute, Maron revealing just why she has such an above-average power level for a filler character, and all of the girls taking a bit more of an interest in getting stronger. Laying out the hints of Maron being a proper martial artist seemed like a natural extension of her initial characterization as being a Yamcha fan; she didn't start with his baseball career, she started with his Budokai career! Honestly, Yamcha deserves to have a girlfriend who recognizes his coolness and shares his passion for martial arts, and having her be the one to co-sponsor the girls getting stronger in their own way likewise came about pretty easily. I figure a month or two of weighted clothes training with someone like Goku can probably get them to about where their respective boos were at the start of Z, and while that's not gonna be putting them on the front lines anytime soon, that's also not really where they need to be. I just figured it was high time the girls caught up to some extent in order to have a decent shot at defending themselves the next time the Earth is in danger.
Anywho, let's go ahead and get to review responses, got a handful, which is nice.
Silver Warrior says: "all other things equal, they aren't considering using any set of Dragon Balls to fix up Future Vegeta's body because?"
Oh, I'm sure they would've jumped on it if they were available, but unfortunately, they aren't. Earth's got used immediately during the Frieza debacle and are still roughly eight months out, and Namek's just got used days ago, meaning they're four months out. That's all they got, since I'm not bringing any of the sets GT or Super introduced into this.
Aside from that in-universe reason (and the various benefits of the cyborg solution which I went over last chapter), I'm also trying not to repeat what I feel may have been a slight misstep: suddenly getting rid of Yamcha's prosthetic arm. It was interesting to explore the ramifications of Yamcha adapting to having a prosthetic in the wake of the Saiyan Saga, and it seems especially odd in hindsight that I chose to "fix" that problem just as he was proving he could fight just as effectively with it as he could with both arms. As such, I don't want this current situation Future Vegeta is in because of his prosthetics to be easily fixed by just conveniently removing them, but by instead working around them to give Future Vegeta a leg up he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise.
Zeon Paralysis Crystal says:
"Well then, a lot of things to unpack
1. Z Fighters staging a revolution. Master Roshi's memoirs are gonna be wild. "One day I was simply reading porn and drinking wine and I'd consider that a great day. On other days I was making sure the next cocksure punk getting too big for his britches was getting his daily dose of spark and iron for the cause, I'd consider that an odd day at the office."
2. Now a thought, how many unknown forces are in DBZ space?
3. Goku's Regrets over how all his adventures and antics inadvertently screwed Gohan out of a good childhood technically in two timelines.
4. Gohan's sense of responsibility shines through and a good bit of fear. The seeds of the Wrath and SS4 may be in the future. Maybe unlocked by him or Goku taking a page from his son. What better help then a Grandpa figure?
Vegeta's Care Bear Technique: Shatter Beam or Shatterpoint Arrow"
1. Pfft. As much as I'm trying to lean away from Master Roshi's usual characterization, I just love that line.
2. Not many big ones, but it's also a fairly big universe. I feel like Future Vegeta at least must have heard something about "the Beast," aka Buu, which naturally means Babidi and his crew are out there somewhere, unbeknownst to anyone else. Beyond that, the gang is just now becoming vaguely aware of Beerus and Whis through Goku passing on what little he heard about them from Jamba, who knows them only as "The Destroyer" and his mysterious mentor. I'll get into this a bit more in a later chapter, but although I've borrowed a decent number of things from Super and will continue to do so, one thing I'm not doing is bringing in the multiverse that it introduced, so we don't need to worry about anyone from any other universes coming in and causing problems, that's for sure.
3. Mmm, yup, glad to see that Goku and Gohan's reaction landed okay, I was kinda worried about that. Goku's done his best to rectify the bad hand he and his family have been dealt, and while it's backfired on him a few times, he's still trying, and that's what's important.
4. Mhm, I'll elaborate on this more next chapter, but those were definitely the main inspirations here, mostly Broly's Wrath State because the execution of it leaves something to be desired from what I've read about it and I wanna make it more interesting. One of the things I want to do with the big Saiyan characters overall is give them a bit more that sets them apart from each other, since one of the big problems people have with later Dragon Ball is how watered down the whole Super Saiyan concept became once everyone and their mother could do it. Super's efforts to give all of the Saiyan characters (mostly) unique transformations have been hit or miss in my opinion, but I think they've at least got the right idea; if you're gonna make everyone a Super Saiyan, at least mix things up in where they take that transformation going forward. Or, even better, find a way to bypass it entirely, just like Gohan is trying to do with his take on the Wrath State.
Taking suggestions on the name for that, btw. Wrath State isn't doing it for me, but the best I've got at the moment is "Great Saiyan," so I'd appreciate some other ideas. xD
Crinightnight says: "the scene between Goku and Gohan Is pure Gold. Good work!" Thanks! Glad you liked it; that scene in particular was a little tricky, admittedly.
mastercheif1229 says: "Great chapter! Can't wait for the next one! Read it at 11:30 PM!" Alright, see? There we go, progress! Thank you!
And finally, Just a Reader 56 writes from all the way back in Chapter 3: "Just found this story and at the moment seems great" Thanks! Hoping that trend continues, lol.
Anywho, with all that said, a few reminders on power levels:
Maron: 50, which seems fairly reasonable for an early Dragon Ball-level martial artist to achieve on her own.
Chi Chi: Idk if I've ever written hers before, but given what few stated numbers she has, I'd say probably about 150. She's not a fighter by trade, but I imagine she's begrudgingly indulged her husband in a few sparring sessions since they fought in the tournament.
Launch: 25
Androids 17 and 18: 75 million
Goku: 400 million as a Super Saiyan.
Piccolo: 1.25 million in base.
Tien: 300,000 in base, or up to 3 million with the Kaio-ken Times Ten.
Krillin: 500,000, or 2.5 million with the Kaio-ken Times Five.
Yamcha: 450,000, or 2.25 million with the Kaio-ken Times Five.
Anywho, with all that said, thank you all for reading, have a fantastic night, and take care. See you next month!