Chapter 13: Brief Intermission – A Look Into the Past
I am Son Goten, the second son of former world champion of the Tenkaichi Budokai Son Goku and his wife Chi-Chi. What you see here as I narrate through the following tale is a tale of my experiences from a time ten weeks prior to the present day, a tale not seen in the account of Trunks-kun's adventures in space.
It all started with the moment that the KaibaCorp-built spaceship, OctoPUS 9000 took off unexpectedly.
"P-Pan? What are you doing here? Bra told me you were visiting her in the Heavenly Realm!"
"Heh... she reminds me of Goku when he was a child. Always unpredictable." said Piccolo.
"Aaaaaaaand! LAUNCH!" yelled Pan in glee, "I'm a grownup too! And ain't no one gonna tell me to stay behind!"
"OctoPUS 9000 ready for takeoff," said the central computer, "Launching now."
The door leading to the entrance of OctoPUS 9000 closed, and the suspenders keeping it in place prior to launch released it from their hold. As I clenched my fist on my cell phone, realizing that there were bigger things at stake than the stability of my relationship with my girlfriend, the ship blasted a large fume of smoke in my face as it quickly sped far into the reaches of space. I could do little more than be knocked over in my suppressed state.
"W-What was that…?" I remarked, regaining my balance, "I… Yes, I sense a faint Ki with Piccolo-san and Trunks-kun there, it must be Pan! I-I should teleport there before their Ki get too far for me to hone onto! Let's see…"
As I placed my index and middle fingers on my forehead, attempting to hone in on their Ki signals, a booming voice suddenly rang in my head.
"Goku's son! Goku's second son!"
"Huh? This voice… it's Kaio-sama! The one who's with my father in the afterlife!"
"Yes, it's good that you haven't forgotten the sound of my voice. You being stranded on Earth is an unexpected development, but we could make use of this to ensure that you'd perform perhaps an even more pivotal role than if you'd just gone and joined them! Goku's Ki should be sensible from where you are on Earth, so I suggest that you pack up your stuff and hone in on it to join him to train here!"
"A-A more pivotal role?! My Fusion with Trunks-kun into Gotenks might be needed at any time! We don't have time for this delay!"
"You aren't looking at the big picture, my boy. Firstly, imagine you did teleport to where they are now, but after the time you've spent convincing that rambunctious brat Pan to be taken back to Earth, the ship may have gone too far from Earth for you to hone in on Goku's Ki signal here, or even hone on the location of the Earth and then join Trunks again! And the use of your fusion into Gotenks being exposed earlier than the battle with the Machine Mutants of Mu may prove to be a disadvantage, not a strength!"
"Huh… When you put it that way…"
"Yes! Time is of the essence! When the time comes that your presence will be needed on their journey, I will personally seek out their Ki signatures and send you to join them! Before that happens, though, perhaps the best place for you to be is to train here and further hone your techniques."
"Alright, you've convinced me… I've already destroyed my phone and called things off with my girlfriend, so if I can be of more use joining them later, I'll do as you say, Kaio-sama. I'll be there within the hour, I'm going to bring some food and training equipment."
"Training equipment is not a necessity! I can just materialize that for you! And Goku told you my cooking was no good, didn't he? Always so disrespectful…"
"Alright, I'll be there in a bit!" I said as I transformed into a Super Saiyan, flying to my mother's home in East District 439 in under a second. There, I packed as much food as I could, and began to console my mother.
"*Sniff* Y-You're sure you goin' away to join Goku-sa in the afterlife is really going to be helping…? I-I can't lose you too, after what happened to Goku-sa…"
"Don't worry, Mom. Where I'm heading won't be of any danger to me with the training I'm about to commit myself to. I'll do you and Dad proud," I said as I then honed in on the Ki signature of my father in the afterlife, struggling at first to find direction.
"It's… faint, but I sense him… and a smaller Ki and an even smaller Ki that feels like an animal… This must be it!" I said as along with the fifty lunchboxes I'd strapped to my back, I teleported to the location of my father's Ki signature.
"Whoa!" I said as I suddenly ended up in an extremely small planet, where my bottom was almost glued to the ground as a result of the sudden rise in gravity. The gravity itself was no big deal, and I quickly regained my balance. However, a couple of my lunchboxes had slipped out of the cloth I'd tied onto my back, at which point a pointy-eared, small orangutan looking animal jumped into my range and began eating the bento lunch that had been spilled on the floor.
"This ring on this monkey's head… I guess Nii-san's stories were true, this monkey died along with Dad and Kaio-sama when Cell tried to blow up the Earth…"
"Please don't remind me of that painful memory, I can barely stomach still being dead as a result of that as it is," said a blue, bug alien-looking, stout man who walked in my direction. He, too, had a halo, and behind him was my father, who too wasn't among the living.
"Hey there, Goten! It wasn't my idea to bring ya here, but now that you are here, I ain't gonna hold back! I'll train the daylights out of you the same way I trained Gohan for the fight with Cell!"
"D-Dad! It's good to see you safe and sound!" I said as I reached out to hug my deceased father, who then replied, "Well, safe as sound as a dead guy could ever be! Hahahahaha!"
"So the first order of business is to test how strong you are now," said Kaio-sama as he suddenly waved his hand at me and changed my clothing to a green Gi with his emblem inscribed on both the front and back, tied with an orange obi and complete with orange armbands and black Capsule Corp.-style boots.
"I have my doubts that you'll be able to keep up with Goku's Super Saiyan form, so to start things off I'm going to allow you the advantage of being able to use Super Saiyan against his normal form. From there, we'll assess your state of progress and figure out how best to bring you to a fighting shape."
"A Super Saiyan handicap match, huh? I'll have you know, I've trained with Oob for the past two weeks so hard I didn't even sleep longer than three hours a night! You don't want to underestimate me, Dad!" I said as I turned Super Saiyan, charging my father before appearing above his head and attempting to hit him with a two-legged kick, intending to take full advantage of the higher gravity of this planet.
"Too obvious, Goten! With how many times I've caught you trying to sneak up from behind, I knew this time, you couldn't resist tryin' something different!" replied my father as he then grabbed onto both my ankles, swinging me several times in circles before sending me packing straight toward the Snake Road, at which point I flared up a flight aura to avoid being flung straight into Hell. My father quickly caught up and sent a series of Kiai in my direction, which I barely avoided with Shunkan Idou.
"Hey! No fair! What are you trying to do, actually send me down to Hell?"
"I did say I'd train th' daylights out of ya, didn't I? I'm already giving you the handicap of you getting to use your Super Saiyan form, everything else is fair game!"
"Then I won't hold back either, Dad! You won't humiliate me!"
Hours later, I was at my father's mercy, with him only having a black eye while I was completely exhausted with a dislocated shoulder and many bruises.
"D-Damn it, the speed of our punches and our physical strength aren't that different… Why can I barely hit you?"
"You're wasting too much energy on unnecessary movement. Even tho' you were pretty much born with the ability to turn into Super Saiyan and sustain it, that's really all you've ever relied on, natural talent! I used ta be the same too, until I was trained by Karin-sama and Kami-sama! Ya may not realize it, but even if you've mastered Super Saiyan, fighting at the full power of a Super Saiyan still puts you at a disadvantage in stamina compared to someone fighting in their natural state! All the more since I've trained nonstop for the past… I wanna say, 20 plus years!"
"S-So if I get the feeling for this mastery of movement, I can beat you?"
"Beatin' me in my normal form with a Super Saiyan advantage shouldn't be your end goal, Goten. I may have died, but my goal remains th' same! I want to be the strongest fighter ever, stronger than anyone! Even if it takes me all of th' rest of history to discover somethin' beyond Super Saiyan 3, I wanna find it and be the best me I can possibly be! But for you…"
"Yeah?"
"I have sights on even bigger things! I wantcha to be even stronger than I'd be by then!"
"W-Wow… You really think that's possible?"
"Hey, don' sell yourself short! You lost the Junior Division of the Budokai by a hair to Trunks' Super Saiyan form, and he got you by surprise with it! The kind of power you had as an elementary schooler is something I couldn't even have dreamt of back when I was on Namek! I'll only be teachin' ya so much before you have t' set out on your own. Kaio-sama expects you'll be here maybe a couple of months if your entrance ain't ta be too late to the game, so every day of that I'll spend whippin' ya into shape even if you have to eat the floor!"
"A-Alright! I'm ready! Bring everything you've got!"
And so my training commenced. I was made to wear 100-ton armbands and ankle guards and chase a Ki-boosted Bubbles, learn to predict when and where my father would reappear with his Shukan Idou technique, and improve my Ki control until I could remain in the full power of my Super Saiyan state for three full days. Nearly two weeks had passed, at which point we were in the middle of another sparring match. This time, we were both wearing 100-ton armbands, and my father was also in Super Saiyan form, saying that I can't be on training wheels forever.
"Haaaah!" I yelled as I used a quadruple Zanzoken maneuver to avoid a series of my father's punches, at which point I was above him again just like in the first day of our training. I performed a feint, at first pretending to launch a kick, which my father dodged. I then appeared to be kicking with the other leg, but before he could catch me, I teleported above him yet again and sent him flying toward the clouds above Hell with a Kiai, following it up with a series of massive Ki blasts.
"Take this! And this! And that!" I yelled as I turned the area as far as the eye could see into a massive portrait of the individual cells of Hell, where a number of villains could be seen in various environments such as tranquil forests with dancing fairies, fiery infernos, and a stereotypical depiction of Hell with red Oni holding pitchforks.
"Wow! So that's… Hell," I said as my father then emerged behind me, at which point I blocked his fist with my elbow. However, his fist was still stronger and I found myself knocked back with an intense pain in my elbow joint.
"O-Ow! I read your movement, but it still wasn't enough!"
"Heh-hehehehe! I gotta admit, Goten, you're actually a real natural at this! I've barely been trainin' ya for over ten days, and you're already at th' level where you can pull multiple feints on the fly and predict where I'd teleport to ya even with that distraction!"
"You did tell me to keep my mind as tranquil as the waters of Mt. Paozu," I said, with a sense of pride that my father was praising me.
"Yup! And strike as fast as lightning! I think honin' your battle sense is just about done, now's th' time to train your sense of Ki control!"
"You mean there's more to Ki control than staying in full power for three days and nights?"
"Yup! I'm gonna teach ya the ultimate moves of the school of the North Kaio… the Kaio-ken and the Genki Dama!"
"The move that you used to kill the evil Majin Boo? I'm so excited!" I said as I quickly descended to a spot next to Kaio-sama's car, at which point my father grinned and said, "Don't expect this to be easy, son! Raw talent ain't enough to pick this up and catch up t' my level in just the few weeks you have left!"
And so, for the next week I was made to remain in normal form with the same armbands and ankle guards I was using as a Super Saiyan to train, while maximizing the speed in which I could amplify my power.
"Kaio-ken!" I yelled as I swung my fists at my father's enhanced boxing pads, only to end up always missing the bulls-eye inscribed on them.
"D-Dammit! Why can't I hit that spot?!"
"Your Ki control ain't precise enough, that's why! Not only is it totally essential to contain the overflow of Ki when you're using this technique, but ya have to be able to focus the impact of yer punches on the smallest of objects! Without that, you'll never handle the 10-fold or the 20-fold Kaio-ken I used on Namek!"
"Huff… Huff… This move drains a lot more Ki than my Super Saiyan form does, too… Is it even that useful?"
"That's where you're wrong, my boy!" said Kaio-sama as he teleported to our direction, obviously having been practicing the move to save face during my training. "The Super Saiyan form may indeed provide a more stable boost for a lesser cost, but there may come a time in which you might need a power boost above Super Saiyan… and I daresay you haven't the emotional stimuli to ascend to Super Saiyan 2 or beyond that yet!"
"Then why doesn't my father ever use a Kaio-ken on top of Super Saiyan? I may have been off doing my own thing more than training the past ten years, but you'd think something like that can be useful."
"That's a hard one to answer. The answer is that I could do it if I wanted to, but in a living body it'd be too risky for little reward, especially when I already know Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3! But for you…"
"For me? I'm living and breathing as they come, Dad."
"Yer ace in the hole is fusing with Trunks to become Gotenks, right? I trained with the Metamorans in the afterlife, and let me tell ya, those guys became able to handle just about any kind of strain for the time they coulda been stayin' fused! Super Saiyan 2 and 3 will come to ya eventually, but this exercise goes beyond just improving your Ki control, it's somethin' that could save your life!"
"I-I see… But don't you think it'd just be faster and more efficient to just teach me the higher forms instead?"
"Afraid not, my boy! The kind of emotion it takes to unlock Super Saiyan 2 isn't something that's learned overnight! And we have teaching you the Genki Dama and getting you as close to your father's level as possible to attend to! Your friend Trunks, I'll have ya know, has already unlocked Super Saiyan 2 in space!"
"H-He did it in space…? I've been training my butt off all this time, and he's gotten above me?!"
"He won't stay above you if you do as we say and bring yourself to the edge of your limits in this level. Remember, in his spaceship his training options are limited. The stronger you get in Super Saiyan form, the faster Super Saiyan 2 and 3 will come to you… Just as they came to you fast when you were fused, remember?"
"I-I get it! This exercise will improve me to the edge of my limits! And from there, I can just unlock Super Saiyan 2 and 3 at my own pace! I won't fall behind anyone! Not to you, Dad, and not to Trunks-kun! I'll even surpass my older brother!"
"That's the spirit! Now prepare for the hardest five and a half weeks of your life!" said Kaio-sama and my father both. I managed to learn the Kaio-ken technique to absolute perfection in ten days, after which the Genki Dama was learned in just a week. Almost three weeks after that, I finally managed to land a bullseye inscribed on my father's abdomen, knocking him out of Super Saiyan.
"Huff… Hufff….." I said as I descended to the ground and helped my father get back to his feet, "So, Dad… did I pass?"
"Ya sure did! Once ya find the Ultimate Dragon Ball thingies and bring me back, I'm dyin' to get it on with you one-on-one without these stupid handicaps! No bullseyes on my stomach, and no 'ten hits for you means defeat' conditions! Just a straight-up, one-on-one match!"
"And just in time! Trunks sent a message to Capsule Corp. over an encrypted connection using his friend named Gill! He says he will be in the middle of Dr. Mu's lab tomorrow, and he wants you to teleport to where he is and help him move his plans forward!"
"Awesome! I'm so there! How about we go at it again, Dad?! Think you can take me one on one?!"
"Let's not get too carried away, Goten! I never said you were quite on my level just yet! What's just as important as trainin' hard is to rest your muscles every once in a while! The next day we'll spend bathing in an old fashioned onsen in Heaven, havin' a good time! And from there, the rest of your adventure begins! Make me proud, son!"
"I will! Thank you both so much! I could never have made this kind of progress in just a couple of months without you!"
And so, the battle at M2 began. Trunks and I fused into Gotenks and fought some of our toughest battles against Super #17 and Baby. Now, time flashes forward to roughly two weeks after the fierce battle on M2…
"Finally! We've located it, the fifth Dragon Ball!" said Trunks-kun, as he summoned Future Trunks, his counterpart from a dystopian future where Pan, Bra and I weren't born, and the rest of us to the pilot seat where Piccolo-san was piloting our ship.
"It's in… a really tiny place! I don't even think it's a planet I'm looking at, Trunks!" said Pan as she kept zooming in and out of the radar's imagery.
"It wouldn't be unheard of for the Dragon Ball to have wandered into a spot not part of any planet's atmosphere. Remember, this is already our fifth Dragon Ball, and they've scattered to all corners of the universe. Goten, Trunks! I will split myself in two after I put on a spacesuit, you two go with me to the wreckage the Dragon Ball seems to have located itself in!"
"W-What?! I was here before Uncle Goten, Piccolo-san! And I'm a Super Saiyan now too, why can't I go?"
"For a number of tactical reasons. Firstly, my clone would be a much safer way to relay the specifics of the environment of that destroyed wreckage. Secondly, Goten has the Shunkan Idou technique which he could use to teleport us all into safety in the event that the spaceship were to be dragged into that flaming sun not far from here, and thirdly, Baby is still alive! If my hunch is correct, he will likely confront us when it's time for us to get the sixth Dragon Ball, but if he was truly the mastermind behind Mu, he could easily betray that expectation. Gotenks' power might be necessary, and there should still be three of us on the ship in case of an ambush on the ship."
"Fine, fine… I'll just take that to mean you think I can put up a fight if Baby were to attack us here…"
Piccolo-san then put on a spacesuit and split in two, replicating the spacesuit before then disassembling my spacesuit and Trunks-kun's, before magically assembling them atop our clothes.
"We're off, other me! Be on the lookout for any threats! We'll take Gill with us in case there's some sort of hitch with finding the Dragon Ball!"
"This is the first Ultimate Dragon Ball I'm gonna be finding! After almost a month on this cramped ship, this is exciting!" I said as we then flew at lightning speed toward the wrecked ship. Once there, we found that the gravity was steadily increasing, but it wasn't anything I wasn't used to after training with my father and Kaio-sama. Gill then pointed out the location of the Dragon Ball.
"Gill! Gill! The Dragon Ball is within 230 meters to the southeast! It is imperative that it is found before the ship explodes and is dragged into the impending supernova! Gill!"
"Don't worry, Gill, that direction is all that I need to hear," I said as I grabbed Piccolo-san and Trunks-kun by the shoulders and busted through the doors and walls obstructing us to reach the Dragon-Ball's location. What was there was the two-star Ultimate Dragon Ball, placed carefully on something similar to a metal holder for a candlelight.
"It's almost as if someone placed this here…" said Trunks-kun, "Piccolo-san, you don't think… that Baby has been…?"
"Yes, I think that he placed this here because he figured out that we have a radar that can bypass protections on Dragon Ball signals, so it was better to just let us have this one to complete a set of five. This would then allow him access to six of them if we were to confront him later, all without running the risk of us simply wishing for his death with all seven balls gathered."
"Whatever the case, it's best that we scram now! I'll bring Gill!" I said as I quickly raised my speed to grab hold of Gill, at which point I grabbed Trunks-kun and Piccolo-san both, and teleported back to our ship. Seconds after we did this, the star exploded and dragged the ship into itself, flashing in our direction a bright firework unlike anything we'd ever seen on Earth.
"Whew! Just a second late, and we might've had to teleport here with third degree burns!"
"We move forward toward the location of the sixth Dragon Ball without a moment's waste! Baby no doubt knows where we are, and it's absolutely imperative that we reach his location before he had the chance to set up any new surprises for us!" said Piccolo-san.
The battle for our lives… begins now.
To be continued…