Guest: You'll have to read to find out, but spoilers, it's happening in this chapter.
xSonallyGirl129x: Thanks, I'm glad to see you like this chapter. Yep, it's basically Fusion Reborn without any Fusion. Yeah, I've been wanting to give Scarlet some screen time for a good while now, and writing out her interactions with the rest of them were pretty fun too. Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun writing out the Kai x Videl moments, and she's definitely going to be leagues beyond her strength level in canon. Yeah, the kind of stuff that goes on with the Z-fighters would probably drive any normal person to insanity, and I think Videl personifies that pretty well. Yeah, that chapter had a lot going on. And the one thing I didn't like about the original movie was that, well it felt like a gigantic conglomeration of missed opportunities, so I decided to expand on that here, and judging by your reaction, I say I did that quite well. And yes, the prelude to the Buu arc seemed like the perfect way to cap it off. All in all, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Guest: Kai has a lot of latent potential for a full-blooded Earthling, and while he lacks the Saiyan biology that Gohan has, he has the edge in terms of creativity and techniques, which allow him to keep up with Gohan at multiple different levels.
Yasserkend8: Thanks, I'm glad to see you like this story so much. Yeah, the pairings are a lot of fun to do. I do plan to continue into Super (albeit with some significant changes), as well as the Tournament of Power, but I do have plans for how GOD Toppo will be defeated, due to the absence of Vegeta. GOD Cooler does sound like a very interesting idea though, so I'll take it into consideration.
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The sun was shining brightly over the skies above.
A certain Son Gohan, now clad in a blue collared shirt and long brown-colored slacks, flew through the skies on Goku's old cloud the Flying Nimbus, his mind drifting with the wind as he started reflecting on recent events 'To think it's been 7 years since the fight with Cell, 6 years since Kai went up against Bojack, and about three and a half years since that whole mess with that monster Janemba. But at the same time there came a warning, because Cooler had went ahead and introduced us to his mysterious ally Shin, whom we had met once before, but then he revealed his true identity… as in he's the Supreme Kai. I've been multi-tasking so much ever since then. After all, with training with Kai and everyone else, studying and just trying to have some sense of normalcy in my life, I've been burning through a lot of energy and even more time with all of that on my plate. And now as if the universe wants to throw some other element into that mix, my mom suddenly decided that I'm gonna be going to high school in Satan City. As for whether or not she actually knows that Kai is already going to that school, I honestly have no idea, but if she doesn't, then maybe it's for the best if I don't tell her just yet. But it does work out pretty well too, after all I can head over to West City to train with Kai that much faster. I guess this is just another day in the life of Son Gohan. Well it looks like the edge of the city, I'd better go ahead and go on foot for the rest of the way. Thanks for the ride Nimbus, we'll have to pick this up later okay?" and so he leapt off of the Flying Nimbus and landed gracefully on the ground of the city, but then he looked up to see a certain billboard, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of it as he started hoofing it 'Part of me still can't believe that everyone in the world believes that Mr Satan is the one who saved the world from Cell, Bojack and even Janemba, so because of that he's a way bigger deal now than he ever was before. They even changed the name of the town to Satan City as a way of honoring him, since this is the city where he lives. I think it should be pretty obvious that Kai is absolutely livid about it, and he's got a dart board with Mr Satan's face on it as proof of that.' he looked down at his watch 'Oh crapbaskets, looks like I spent way too much time taking the scenic route. I can't afford to be late on my first day, but at least no one is looking so this should be okay.' he promptly started running forward at full speed through the streets, which seemed to be only a blur to those who saw it, and he continued doing so until he stopped when he noticed something, that being a heavy shootout between some cops and a pack of criminals from a nearby bank, and he let out a sigh 'More criminals? That's about as original as Family Guy ripping off the Simpsons, this is like the third time. Oh god, now I'm turning into Kai. I guess it was only a matter of time. I guess I'm gonna have to flash into Super Saiyan real quick so that no one will be able to tell it's me.' so he promptly flashed into Super Saiyan and prepared to dart around the corner, only to stop when he noticed something 'What the hell?'
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Now for what Gohan saw…
The scene of the bank robbery wasn't getting any better.
The robbers were still shooting up a storm like a couple of madmen, forcing the cops to cower behind a nearby car "How the fuck do you like them apples you little bastards?!"
"I don't know guys, how do you like this?" a red and white blur suddenly blitzed onto the scene and knocked out two of the guys with one blow each, leaving them to fall to the ground in two simultaneous unconscious heaps, while the blur revealed herself as the form of a beautiful young woman with long black hair kept in two pigtails that reached past her shoulders, and her attire consisted of a white t-shirt and black shorts. This was none other than Videl Satan herself, 16 years old and 3 years into her training with Kai.
"You just made one hell of a bit mistake you little fucker!" the third one tried to shoot at her like a maniac.
Videl just let the bullets hit her and fall to the ground harmlessly "So you wanna rethink that one-liner before or after you come out of the coma?" she promptly knocked the guy out with a single kick to the face "After the coma it is then."
"Who the fuck is this bitch?! The hell with this, we've gotta get out of here!" the last two guys in the getaway car tried to run away in a desperate panic.
"And then there were two." Videl stuck out her fist and sent out a simple shockwave that turned the getaway car over in an instant, and then she blew on her fist like she was blowing out a flame, like a boss.
"That was incredible!" the various witnesses were left dumbstruck and awe-inspired by the sight of Videl's physical prowess "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen Miss Videl, thank you so much!"
"No need guys, I'm just putting my training to good use. The Golden Warrior does his part, but he has to know that this city already has someone protecting it. God, I sound like someone from My Hero Academia right now don't I? Anyway I'd better get going, I can't afford to be late for school." and so she promptly took off faster than the eye could see.
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Meanwhile, with Gohan…
Having seen and heard it all, Gohan was left pretty dumbfounded "Okay, that was pretty impressive."
"You glad you didn't have to get involved in that?"
Gohan whipped around to see Videl standing there a short distance away "Um, I wasn't going to get involved in that or anything. That would be really dangerous."
"You don't have to pretend, I can sense and use Ki and I know you're a hell of a lot stronger than you want people to know."
"Um… well okay then."
"Yeah, well I'd better go so I'll see you." and so she blitzed out of view.
'She knows how to use Ki and she's hundreds of times stronger than the average person, even those who practice martial arts. This stinks of Kai in every sense of the word. Wait, is she that apprentice that Yamcha told me about? Oh crap I don't have time to worry about it, I've gotta get to school or I'm gonna be late!' and so he took off towards the school.
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About an hour passed, and the schoolday at Orange Star Junior High was about to get underway.
Having already arrived at the scholl in advance, Videl was talking with Kai, Erasa and Sharpner about the events of the morning "At least I got there so the Golden Warrior didn't have to get involved again. Speaking of which, I know for a fact that Kai is a definite no, but Sharpner what about you? If there's any chance of you being the Golden Warrior then I say just go ahead and tell us already."
"We went over this with the Crimson Warrior already, I wasn't your guy then and I'm not your guy now." Sharpener told her flatly.
"Yeah yeah I know, you don't want to waste your time cosplaying My Hero Academia."
"Not that it's not a great anime though." Kai pointed out "Let's face it, that anime is insanely well-written and the protagonist is going to the top."
"You talking about Deku or Bakugo?"
"I think it's obvious which one is the MVP, he aims for the top and will never settle."
"Bakugo it is then, shouldn't be surprised since you're basically him toned down by like seven notches."
"Hey hold on a second." Kai pretended to have come up with an idea "So Videl, did you ever think that either of them might be as strong as your beloved father?"
"Get real for a minute Kai." she let out a scoff "First of all lose the sarcasm, it gets annoying as fuck after a while."
"It's part of my charm."
"No it isn't. Second of all, in regards to this so-called Golden Warrior being stronger than my dad, we know he defeated Cell, but I don't really know if he's kept up with his training over the past few years."
"Bout fucking time someone said it, he grew complacent and that turned into arrogance."
"Another part of your self-proclaimed charm?"
"I admit I'm arrogant, that's the huge difference between us."
"Whatever you need to tell yourself."
"...I've taught you well. Well at least this one isn't as much of a pain in the ass as her father is proving himself to be. Seriously though, even the fucking Pokemon (Chiaotzu) could beat that fake lying bastard within an inch of his life without even lifting a finger. That stupid pigheaded son of a bitch, he's done nothing but ruin the good name of martial arts with all of his lies. I wish Gohan would just stomp up to him and beat the shit out of him, I swear if he doesn't then at some point I will. Still though, she's far better than he could ever hope to be, and she is beautiful for sure- Oh my fuck, where did that come from?'
"Ahem." this was when the teacher got their attention, shutting everyone up "Good morning students, we have a new transfer student joining us today and this is his very first day here at Orange Star High School. Don't be shy son, come on in and introduce yourself.
So on that note, Gohan slowly made his way into the class "So yeah, the new student, that would be me. My name is Son Gohan, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."
Erasa almost immediately wound up with hearts in her eyes "Oh wow, this new guy is pretty cute from here. I hope he's got a thing for blondes."
"I can guarantee for a fact that he has absolutely no idea what he has a thing for." Kai told her dryly "Frankly at this point, I would only be semi-surprised if he turned out to be asexual at some point."
"So you don't think I have a shot with him?"
"I never said that, in my opinion you remind me of Botan from Yu Yu Hakusho, and it's been my experience that there's not competent guy in existence that doesn't fall for her."
"So you think I have shot with him?"
"Give me a few months, I'll get it through his skull."
"Enough chatter." the teacher shut them up "So yes, this is Son Gohan, and incidentally, the young man here actually did very well on his admissions tests, as in he aced the math, chemistry, physics, history, literature and foreign language sections, so everything basically." he was met with an uproar from multiple students "That's quite enough out of all of you, and as I was saying I hope that he will inspire some of you to try harder for a chance. Now go ahead and take a seat son, anywhere you like."
"Thank you sir." Gohan pretended to look around "Alright, let me see here…"
"Hey new guy." Kai pointed to a seat next to him "This one right here, it's all yours."
"Oh in that case, thanks." Gohan made his way up and sat down next to Kai, shooting him a dry and unamused look, prompting the start of a telepathic conversation.
"Alright Mr Golden Warrior, what's with the look?"
"Don't give me that. You do realize that about 80% of the people I've seen on my way in here are talking about this supposed Golden Warrior, a guy who fights crime just like the so-called Crimson Warrior that's been showing up every now and then for the past few years.'"
"Yeah I figured as much, I just never bothered to care."
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were already fighting crime in this city?"
"First reason, I don't give enough of a rat's ass to tell people. Second reason, you never bothered to ask."
"I thought you would be more careful about drawing attention from people."
"This is me we're talking about, when have I ever cared what people think? Oh crap we'd better start talking out loud. So anyway Gohan the blonde is Erasa, the raging sourpuss next to her is Videl and the blonde jackass farther back is Sharpener."
"Hi, how's it going?"
"Hey there Gohan, nice to meet you." Erasa batted her eyelashes at him 'Man this guy is so hot!'
'Well she seems nice enough, but why is she looking at me like that? I don't understand women, I don't even understand my own mother.
"You know something Gohan, Videl is kind of a celebrity around here."
"Oh really, how so?"
"Would you believe that she's the daughter of Mr Satan?"
"...Wait a minute, as in Satan City saved the world from Cell? That Mr Satan?"
"Yep."
"...I'm trying and for the life of me I just can't see the resemblance."
"My words exactly." Kai told him dryly "I still don't see how the fuck someone like her came from someone like him."
"Yeah. So Videl, not to be rude but is Kai being serious about this."
"Oh get real." Kai let out another snort "I'm sure waking up to that guy's voice every morning would be really damn swell. HA! All those laser and flying are nothing but light shows and tricks folks, smoke and mirrors that's all! You've gotta be big and strong like me to beat a big bad bug monster like Cell, nothing but your fists and your big bushy moustache and your big ass afro too!" he barked out a perfect impression of Mr Satan's typical arrogant laughter.
"Kai will you please stop impersonating and sit down?" the teacher said dryly, as if this was a regular occurance.
"Sorry." Kai sat down and pulled out a book for the lesson for today.
"I've gotta admit, your Mr Satan impression has really improved." Gohan whispered.
"It takes years of practice, just like developing my poker face."
"What poker face?"
"This face."
"Kai that's just your regular face."
"Exactly."
"...I cannot begin to fathom your mindset."
"Son Gohan. I thought your name sounded familiar." Videl commented out of the blue "You're the guy that Kai keeps talking about."
"He talks about me?"
"Pretty much yeah, whenever he's not brooding or blowing us off, he's talking about how you're his best friend." Erasa told him
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks for ruining my rep." Kai grumbled flatly.
"Well it's true, even though it looks like you were exaggerating about him being a nerd. He seems fine to me in that regard."
"Oh. Thanks." Gohan gave a grin towards Erasa, earning a bright smile in return.
"No problem. So have you seen the Golden Warrior at all since you've been in town?"
"I've heard about that term before, but I don't really know anything about it. You think you could elaborate?"
"Oh sure, I mean you are new around here so I guess you wouldn't know about him. You see, the Crimson Warrior is some new crime fighter that's shown up two times now over the past ten days or so to put a few thugs in their place. He's as strong as a rhino, and the one thing that makes everyone know it's him is that he's got golden hair and piercing blue eyes that I hear can just make a girl melt." she let out a dreamy sigh, and as a result she failed to notice the semi-clear signs of Gohan having an inner panic attack.
'Crap they're talking about me now, I just know it! The two times they were talking about were when I came into the city in order to register for this school!'
Videl was quick to change the topic of their conversation "So tell me Gohan, how exactly do you know Kai?"
"Well his uncle is a friend of my father, and they introduced us when we were little. His passion and his confidence sort of started rubbing off on me, and we've been best friends since we were like four."
"I see. But you know, I could've sworn I saw the Golden Warrior earlier today, and from what I could tell he was wearing a badge from this high school, along with a blue collared shirt and long brown-colored slacks."
"Uh huh, and what do you mean by that exactly?"
"Nothing really, just making an observation. Sure your clothes are the same, but it couldn't be you since the hair and the eye colors don't match."
"Yeah I know, but that's not a bad thing." Erasa was still looking at him dreamily.
"I never said it was, it's just one hell of a coincidence I guess. Kai, if you make any cracks about her staring at me like that, I'll turn Super Saiyan 2 and then I can't be held accountable for what might happen.'
Sharpener smirked "Of course it's nothing but a coincidence, I mean what's the new guy here gonna do, hit the criminals with his brain or something? You heard the teacher, this guy aced all of his tests. The new guy is nothing but a bookworm, not some superhero type of guy. Plus like he said, he doesn't have the right color hair."
"Yeah that's right, it's what she said. This guy is just oozing smugness and arrogance.'
Erasa shot him another bright smile "Yeah I guess, Gohan really doesn't seem like the fighting sort of guy. No offense."
"None taken. Seriously Kai, the last thing I want or neeed is for you to make any cracks about her being my future waifu or something."
"You do know I can hear all of your thoughts don't you?"
"...Shut up."
'So this is the guy then?' Videl studied Gohan intently for a moment while he was in the middle of his mental conversation with Kai 'He seems like too much of a goofball to be someone hardened and serious like the Golden Warrior. But then again, I do remember seeing Kai and the rest of those guys on dad's old tapes of the fight against Cell, and there were at least three warriors that had the ability to change their hair color from black to blonde, and from what I could tell they were tens of times stronger and faster in that state. Dad did say that it was some kind of trick, but then again he said the same thing about Ki control, and Kai basically said that he was telling bullshit. I'll have to have a word with Gohan when I get the chance.'
'Oh god, why is she looking at me like that?'
"So come on Gohan, tell me more about yourself." Erasa kept asking "Are you staying in town for school or are you gonna commute back and forth every day?"
"Well yeah, I'm gonna be commuting in just about every day."
"Oh cool, so how far out do you live?"
"Well have you ever heard of section 439 East? Well that just so happens to be where I'm at."
"Wait are you serious?!" Erasa bolted out of her chair in shock "Kai was serious about that? I thought he was kidding! How the heck are you coming here all the way from Section 439 East? That section has to be at least 600 miles away!"
"Be quiet!" the teacher barked.
Erasa blushed and sat back down, but she kept on going regardless "So what time did you leave home this morning? That's at least 5 hours away even if you took a jet flyer."
"He doesn't." Kai told her simply "He's crashing with me and my family during the week and he goes home on weekends and holidays."
"Oh, well that makes a lot more sense."
"Yeah tell me about it." Kai shot a glance over at Gohan 'I think this goes without saying but, if it wasn't for me then you would've fucked yourself into a coma a long time ago.'
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A few hours went by, and the five of them found themselves in the subject that Gohan was dreading but Kai found particularly exciting: gym class.
"Alright you guys, listen up!" the coach called out to them "Since it was such a big hit with you guys yesterday we're gonna play some more baseball, let's see some more hussle today, you got me?"
"So brains, you a baseball genius too?" note the mocking in Sharpener's tone.
At this, Gohave gave a nonchalant shrug "Well I don't know if Kai told you this, but his uncle used to play baseball and he's given me a few pointers every now and then, but I haven't actually played myself before."
"You're kidding right? Of course you haven't, if they don't teach it in a book then you don't know the first thing about it. Have fun getting the new kid up to speed Videl, he's all yours for this one. Kai, you're on my team."
"You're seriously trying to pawn the new guy off on me?" Videl asked dryly.
"Don't be like that Vi, just think about it." Erasa told her "Even if he hasn't played before, I say that he can use that big brain of his to come up with some really good strategies."
"Didn't you say the exact same thing with Kai? Well okay then, I wasn't really opposing anyway, but I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to see what he can do. It might be a good opportunity to see how he is in terms of Ki control too. Hey new guy, I'm gonna be putting you in the right field for this game. Do you know where that is?"
"Nope, not a clue." Gohan gave a shrug "But I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually."
"That was only funny when Kai did it."
"Figures."
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Soon enough, the game had started and everything was going pretty uneventfully.
Gohan studied the current situation, his mind racing as he did so 'Alright Gohan, you've just gotta be sure to take this one nice and easy. Mom and Bulma both told me that if anyone finds out the truth about me and my abilities then it's gonna ruin any chance I have of fitting in here, but then again Kai and dad both told me that I should try to be myself but make sure that I don't get too carried away or I might end up hurting someone. Either way, I've gotta be careful and make sure that I don't stand out too much.'
"Alright, it's go time." Kai was next up to bat.
'And any chance of that happening just went up in smoke.'
"Alright bring it on assclowns, let at least one interesting thing happen before I shoot myself out of boredom."
"Oh trust me, with either one of us around there's no way things will get boring around here." so this was when Videl stepped up to the plate, fully ready to pitch a fast one "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you."
"I'd be ridiculously insulted if you did, now come at me with everything you've got."
"As if you had to ask, there's a swing and a miss coming right up!" she promptly chuckled the ball as hard as she could, at levels of speed that normal people consider to be blinding.
"Fly you little shit, fly!" Kai rammed the bat into the ball as hard as he could, almost sure to bring in a home run.
'Now!' making sure to wait until the ball was far enough out, Gohan leapt into the air about 25 feet and caught, making everyone except Kai nearly lose their shit 'Looks like the runner on third base isn't actually touching the base, so that means if I throw the ball toe the baseman on third then he'll be out. Okay Gohan, all you've gotta do is toss it down there as gently as you possibly can. Alright here goes, hey third heads up!" he tossed the ball down as gently as he could.
The guy was able to catch the ball, though he fell back flat on his ass "W-Woah…"
"Sorry, I guess I kind of overdid it there but that is an out isn't it?"
"Y-Yeah…"
Gohan touched the ground with a triumphant roll in mid air "Alright guys that's three outs so come on, let's go ahead and switch sides and bat already." that was when he noticed how they were all gawking at him and the huge shit eating grin Kai had "What? Crap, I guess I didn't hold back enough. Note to self, what you think isn't enough is still way too much for these guys.'
The coach was the first one to find his voice "What are you looking hangdog for son? That was an amazing jump, you must have cleared 20 feet at least."
"Well I've never played baseball before but I do workout a lot."
"Well it was still amazing either way." then he turned to the others "Alright, which one of you is up to bat?"
"Come on guys, let's keep it moving."
"Actually dude, I'm pretty sure it's your turn to go up there now." one of the guys told him "You are number 8 aren't you?"
"What? Oh yeah." Gohan grabbed a bat and made his way up.
Videl studied him from her place on the sidelines 'So he can jump dozens of feet into the air without even trying, and he can throw like a fucking meteor. Now the real question, does he hit as hard as he can jump and catch? Well considering who's going to be pitching, I guess we're about to find out.'
"Alright, I'm ready for it." Gohan got into a batting stance "So who's going to be pitching?"
"I'll give you one guess." Kai stepped up to the plate looking increasing smug "Oh I'm gonna enjoy this."
"...Oh dear god, people are going to die."
"Yeah that's right, this is gonna be fun."
"I am a dead man walking. Okay, hitting a homerun isn't too out of the ordinary. I've just gotta make sure it doesn't look too insane or anything, though with Kai pitching it's gonna be hard to hold back. Oh who am I kidding, he'll go all out! But at least I know he won't use the Spirit Ken on me. At least I hope he won't.'
"Be ready to bring your C-game mother fucker! Namek-Ken 4x!" Kai activated the fourth level of his Namek-Ken and channeled the power of the technique into the ball "Here it comes Gohan, now hit this little f*cker like it's the skull of the bastard who made Teen Titans GO!" and then he chucked the ball full force.
'Son of a- Fine, if you wanna play rough then we're gonna play rough!" so Gohan hit the ball as hard as he could, still in his base form keep in mind, and began slowly pushing the ball back despite the force, and eventually managed to send it flying into the sky and out of sight, most likely never to be seen again "Hey coach, that's what they call a home run isn't it?"
"Y-Yeah, sure." the coach muttered, clearly dumbstruck and shaken by what he had just witnessed, along with everyone else present.
"Alright." Gohan just casually walked towards first base while the other guys snapped out of their stupors and ran all the way around 'Well that was lucky I guess, at least nobody is running away from me and screaming like a pack of banshees.'
"I'm starting to think to think he's more than just a typical bookworm." Sharpener muttered, seriously freaked out "And Kai too for that matter
"And it only took you about three years of knowing Kai to figure that out?" Videl's tone was dry and almost oozing sarcasm.
Erasa, on the other hand, had cheeks turning increasingly red 'That was so cool. I mean Kai is kind of a lunatic sure, but Gohan… he seems like he has so much power behind him, and yet he's such a gentle soul… Erasa likey.'
"Please tell me you're not going "Erasa likey" in your head again."
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Sunset was only about 2 hours away by the time school had ended for the day.
Gohan was walking through the hallways with Kai, and while he was trying to keep his cool, it was painfully clear that he was less than thrilled with Kai at the moment "You know as well as I do that I'm trying to keep a new profile for a reason Kai, for all we know that little grudge match you forced me into earlier probably just cost me any chance I have of fitting in here!"
"Oh lay off of that." Kai waved him off nonchalantly "At this point people probably just think it was all smoke and mirrors like Afro the Ass Clown has been telling them for the past three quarters of a decade."
"Well maybe, but still-"
"You're trying to pass yourself off as normal, and I don't give a shit about normal."
"Hey Kai, and Gohan was it?" this was when Videl showed up, with Erasa silently tagging along behind her.
"Oh hey Videl, look we're gonna have to put training on hold until tomorrow. I'm gonna see how far this assclown has come."
"Yeah I figured, but before that I was just hoping to ask you a few questions though, you don't mind do you?"
"By all means."
"Alright then. For starters Gohan, it took me awhile to piece it together, Kai being aloof and indirect with his answers didn't help much either in that regard, but I think I was able to figure all of it out and now it all makes sense. The guy that I thought was the Golden Warrior, the one that happened to be wearing the exact same outfit as you were today, reminds me a hell of a lot of those guys at the Cell Games that were able to go from black to blonde. You're connected to those other Golden Warriors in someway aren't you?"
Gohan began spluttering in a failed attempt to come up with an excuse "Well I…"
"See Gohan, I told you I wasn't kidding about her." Kai pointed out "She's as perceptive as she is nosy, and she's nosy as fuck. Not bad looking either- Fuck, where the hell does that keep coming from?!'
"So I was right, you did know about that." Videl noted, though she didn't sound angry. She didn't even sound surprised.
"Use that head of yours for a minute Videl, of course I knew. He and I have been best friends since we were like 4. He's also my training and sparring partner and probably the only guy on the planet who can fight me on equal footing, though I plan on changing that soon enough."
"Oh for the love of-" Gohan just slapped his face "Dammit Kai, what the hell happened to secrecy?!"
"What happened is simple. It got bitch slapped, torn to shreds, put in the blender, drank by me and then crapped out by me when your insane mother decided to enroll you in the exact same school as me." note how he said all of this totally uncaringly.
Gohan promptly slammed his head against the nearest wall "Oh for-"
"Hey watch it, cursing is my thing."
"Wait a second." this was when Videl spoke up "Kai, if what you're saying is true then wouldn't that mean that Gohan knows the boy who fought Cell during the Cell Games?"
"No he doesn't know him, it was him."
"...I see."
"And I was the kid who sent Cell flying but got a hole through the shoulder. That wasn't a fun day, but it had some good moments."
"The same can't be said for today." Gohan told him from where his head was slammed into a nearby wall.
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So after that little exchange, the two of them left the school and decided to relocate to a nearby mountain a fair distance away from West City, where they changed from their school clothes into their respective gi colors, purple for Gohan and red for Kai.
Of course, once they did, Gohan took the chance to round on Kai in his anger "I seriously can't believe you did that, and on my first day too!"
"Oh give it a rest." Kai waved him off "Part of the reason why you're even in this school is because your mom wants you to make friends other than me right? How the hell do you expect to do that by keeping what defines you and your way of life a secret from potential friends?"
"They'll think I'm a freak if they know everything."
"Well if that's the case then they were never really your friends to begin with. Take it from a voice of experience Gohan, people will always fear what they don't understand but that isn't an excuse to give up. The right people will eventually make themselves known to you, believe me when I tell you this."
"...You mean like I was to you?"
"Don't push your luck, especially considering what's about to happen. Forget about it, let's just get this started already."
"Alright, if you say so." Gohan didn't waste any time as he flashed into Super Saiyan "Alright then, so what are you waiting for Kai? If we're going to do this then we might as well do it properly."
"Way ahead of you, you know that I've never been too good at holding back, especially when it comes to you. Namek-Ken 30X!" Kai promptly pushed his Namek-Ken to the 30th level, his forest green aura flaring into life and shaking the ground beneath him like an earthquake.
'Even after all these years he's still able to keep up with my despite me having Super Saiyan, I shouldn't be surprised by that. I know he'd hate it if I didn't go Super Saiyan 2 against him, but I can't afford to be soft with him, and he would hate me if I did. I shouldn't be surprised, even now you can keep up with me so easily."
"I wouldn't exactly call it easy, the level I'm at now is something I've achieved through years of push ups, sit ups and plenty of juice. I still use the Namek-Ken every now and then as a sort of tribute to Nail, after all he did understand my goal and strived to help me achieve it, to become the greatest warrior this universe has ever seen. You still have your own path of wanting to be a scholar, but I'm gonna go down my own path too, and do it my own way."
"This monster that the Supreme Kai told us about, Majin Buu, is supposed to be the most dangerous force in the entire universe, and both he and Cooler say that if we don't give this next fight everything we've got, then we're going to lose everything. Such a thought scares me to my core, especially after all the hell we went through with Cell and the Androids, because I can't bare the thought of seeing my best friend or the people I love most die, not again, and because I want to make sure that we both achieve our dreams!" and so he charged forward, meeting Kai in an explosive collision and dealing him a solid elbow to the face.
Kai dodged the next attack and began firing off a furious barrage of punches and kicks at full speed, resulting in the two of them trading even blows until their fists collidided in a blinding flash, and once they broke off Kai fired a quick Nail Gun from his fingertips.
Gohan dodged the Nail Gun and fired forward a rapid barrage of Ki blasts.
Kai was able to dodge, block and deflect every Ki blast being thrown at him without so much as breaking a sweat "Is that seriously all you've got? I expected a hell of a lot better from the jackass that took out Cell."
"This coming from the guy who took out Bojack, now why don't you go right ahead and see for yourself!" Gohan blitzed behind Kai and dealt him a sharp kick to the face, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap, and then he prepared to follow up with a quick Special Beam Cannon from his fingertips.
Kai rebounded just in time to fire a quick Nail Gun from his own fingertips as he forced his Namek-Ken up to the max, overpowering Gohan's technique as a result.
Gohan blitzed out of the path of the blast, blitzed down towards Kai and kicked him in the chest while he was still preoccupied with his Nail Gun, and then he began forcing Kai on the defensive with a furious barrage of punches and kicks.
Quickly losing his patience with taking the attacks, Kai dealt Gohan a heavy fist to the chest and followed up with a Masenko to the face, the force of the blast sending him hurtling backwards as a result.
Gohan was able to rebound almost instantly as the two of them both took to the skies above, their auras blending together to in the form of a double helix.
Kai took the chance to deal Gohan a furious barrage of attacks, in which he dealt him a series of repeated knees to the spine "I don't want you holding back on me in this fight!" the two of them started punching each other in the face and torso over and over again, which ended with the two of them grapping in a fierce power struggle "I thought you would've learned by now not to hold the fuck out on me, I want you to take this seriously!" with a surge of energy, Kai activated his Spirit Ken, with which he gripped Gohan by the arm and threw him high into the air, and then he charged in to finis the fight as his aura crackled with white electricity "I know for a fact you're still holding out on me you son of a mother fucker, now give me all you've got and then come at me with all of it!"
"You want to see my everything?! Well fine, but don't say that I never warned you!" and so with a furious roar, Gohan finally powered up to his Super Saiyan 2 form.
"I said give everything you've got to me, because that's what I'm giving you right now!"
"And everything is exactly what you're going to get!" Gohan charged down towards Kai at full speed, resulting in a blinding clash as hed slugged Kai square in he gut.
Kai slugged Gohan in the gut and dealt him a fist to the face "Come on Gohan, give me all of your strength right here and right fucking now!"
"FINE!" Gohan flared his golden aura as high as he could, his body crackling with a substantial amount of bio-electciricty as a result "Alright Kai, come at me so we can end this once and for all!"
"I PLAN TO!" pushing his Spirit Ken to the absolute max Kai charged at Gohan as high and as fast as he could, resulting in a blinding white light that lit up the sky across the entire wasteland, as well as shaking the surface of the planet for miles around. When everything had subsided a few moments later, Kai had lost his Spirit Ken and was on the ground coughing up a considerable amount of blood "Well…
"Don't be so hard on yourself every time you lose."
"I don't lose, I just learn how much further I have to go. A true warrior has to be ready even in times of peace." he pulled out a Senzu Bean from his gi and swallowed it, and then he handed one to Gohan.
"Yeah I know. But me and Kai both know better than that. This isn't a time of peace, it's nothing more than the calm before the storm. Cooler and the Supreme Kai warned us about the threat that this Majin Buu represents, but nothing has happened since the incident with Janemba, and that was about three years ago. Whatever is going to happen next, it mst be something bigger than anything we've ever seen before. We're both going to have to get as strong as we can before that happens, in order to protect everyone. Don't settle for being better when we could the best, and we have to be the best."
"The foundation on which we first crafted our friendship, and they're definitely words anyone should live by. You know just as well what I'm talking about, don't you Videl?"
Sure enough, Videl emerged from the scorched forest surrounding the clearing they were in, and she was clearly left considerably dumbstruck "Okay, so… that was fucking insane in every sense of the word."
"Yeah well guess what, that's a Tuesday for us."
"It's Thursday."
"Whatever. Anyway, as amazing as that was, it confirms what I wanted to know. Gohan, you really are the Golden Warrior aren't you?"
"Oh. That." Gohan let out a sigh "I'm sorry I lied about it, I just didn't want anyone to find out about it. I just want to fit in with other people my own age that can't be considered as legally psychotic." he jerked a thumb at Kai "Like I said, I just wanted to fit in and I thought that if people saw me one shotting criminals and flying around the city fighting crime then they would think I was some kind of freak."
"Whereas someone like me doesn't have to worry about it because I'm the daughter of a man viewed as a god. Anyway there's something else I want to know. So 7 years ago, on the day that the Cell Games took place, it was you and Kai and the rest of your friends and family that had come to challenge him, that was the case wasn't it? That means you two were the kids that were with them right?"
"That's right."
"So it makes sense… My father wasn't the one who defeated Cell after all, it was you guys who saved the world!"
"That's sort of a weekly thing for us to be fair." Kai pointed out.
"Yeah I kind of figured considering how nonchalant you were acting about the whole "Zombie apocalypase" thing a few years ago, but why didn't you tell me my dad wasn't the one who saved the world?"
"Eh, I wanted to see how long it would take for you to piece it together on your own."
"Well it's not like I needed you to lie about it for my sake, I always thought it was weird that my dad would've been able to beat Cell all by himself, so this comes as a big relief."
"Well at least I don't have to worry about you having a mental breakdown, I'd like to think that the last three years I spent training weren't pointless."
"Oh trust me, they were definitely not pointless." Videl spiked her aura and held up her hand, in which she formed a medium-sized Spirit Ball "You see?"
"Impressive. Looks like you might actually be ready for my one of my two patented techniques now."
"Which would be?"
"Guess what, you're about to learn the Nail Gun."
"You mean the white one that-"
"Yep."
"...Well this just turned out to be one hell of a great day."
"I do what I can."
'Well… suddenly I feel like a third wheel.' Gohan looked back and forth between Kai and Videl a few times 'Well on one hand, if Kai's going out of his way to teach her so much, then it seems the city is in good hands, so I guess I don't need to get involved in the whole crime fighting business after all.' he gave a small smile 'It is pretty nice to see how much Kai has calmed down over the past few years. Good thing too, if we're gonna take down this Majin Buu creature then we're gonna need every advantage we can get.'
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A few more days went by, and things seemed to calm down and get into a sort of normal routine for our heroes.
Gohan was walking through the streets above Satan City with a bag in hand 'I know I shouldn't be surprised that so many people order this Door Dash thing, though I can't be the only one who thinks this, but I'm pretty sure it just makes people more lazy.'
"What part of no don't you understand?!"
'What's going on?' Gohan glanced over to see a certain blonde girl with blue eyes and a light green tubetop on the other side of the road 'Is that Erasa? Looks like she's in trouble. I'd better take a look at this.'
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As it turns out, Erasa was being hounded by some guy in a leather jacket, but she wasn't having any of it "Look I'm trying to be nice about this but please, just leave me alone."
"Oh come on babe." the guy wasn't taking the hint "I'm just asking for one date, it's not that big of a deal."
"It is when the girl isn't interested, I said no so just back off!"
"Come on babe!" he started getting way too close for comfort.
"Last chance jerk, get out of my face or I'm calling the cops."
"You're just too sexy when you get mad." he backed her against a wall and started to lean in, when…
"Excuse me." this was when Gohan calmly stepped onto the scene, still clutching the bag in his hands and his gaze firm "I don't know if you noticed this or not, but it's pretty clear to me you're bothering the lady."
"And who the hell are you supposed to be, All Might or some bullshit like that?"
"I'm not a superhero or a My Hero Academia fanatic, I'm just a classmate of hers who knows when she's being bothered by something or someone."
"Are you for real?" the guy let out a snort "What kind of lame oneliner is that, and what's up with the nerd clothes? You've got a few screws loose in there or something?"
"No, but like I said, I can tell when I'm bothering someone, but I think it's safe to say you obviously can't, or you just don't care."
"Oh please, you don't scare me." the guy suddenly rounded on Gohan and slammed his fist into his gut, only to find his hand throbbing as a result, so he promptly swung one at Gohan's face instead.
Gohan cranked his neck to the side and dealt him a fist to the face that sent him stumbling backwards into some trash cans "You know I usually prefer not to use violence, as hard as that might be when you're friends with Kai, but if I have to then I will, even if I don't particularly like it. So are you going to leave the lady alone?"
"You're a goddamn freak you know that? Fuck this, I'm out of here." the jerk pulled himself back to his feet, spat out some blood at Gohan's feet, and then he just walked away sulking to himself.
So with the asshole gone, Gohan turned back towards Erasa "Are you alright?"
"Um, yeah…" Erasa looked up at him and started blushing "No I'm Erasa- I mean-"
"Yeah I know, he didn't hurt you did he?"
"No, no I'm fine." she quickly got herself under control "I just can't stand guys like that, they can't just take no for an answer."
"I know the feeling, trying to force people into something they don't want or they're not ready for just isn't right and it never ends well."
"Tell me about it." they started walking down the street together "Well anyway, thanks for the save. I really appreciate you taking care of that creep for me."
"I don't like to use violence more than necessary, but that's pretty hard to live by when your best friend is a martial arts fanatic. But anyway, I'm just glad that you're okay. But as fun as this has been I really should get going, I've got a delivery to make."
"Door dash?"
"More or less, my dad and my uncle own a sandwich shop in Uncle Jesse's, and in addition to franchising the place, they started doing deliveries. I get that it's for people who might have other priorities and are too busy, but to me it just feels like it's an excuse for people to be lazy."
"I thought I was the only one who thought that- Wait a second." Erasa looked down at the bag, then the address card stapled onto it, and then her expression dulled comically "I know who that's going to right now, it's my dad."
"He ordered three double decker BLT's with coleslaw and fries to match it?"
"He focuses mostly on his work since my mom passed away." that caused Gohan to cringe slightly "Anyway, he most buries himself in his work, so he tries to hold himself over for a few days at a time."
"Oh I see. I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be, everything happens for a reason right?" they stopped in front of her house "Well here it is, thanks for walking me home."
"No problem, you sure you're gonna be okay?"
"I'm a big girl Gohan, I can handle myself, and even if I can't, I do have Videl on speed dial too so I'll be fine." she took the bag from him and handed him a few bills, along with a certain other piece of paper "Anyway there's the tip, I'll give the stuff to my dad for you."
"Erasa this is a 30% tip, I can't possible accept this much from you."
"Call it my way of saying thanks for helping me out today, and not I'm not going to take no for an answer."
"Well… I mean if you're sure then okay." Gohan looked down at the money in his hand, but then he noticed something off "Wait a second, what's this one?"
"That's my phone number stupid, I'm saying call me." she shot him a bright smile, then she winked at him, and then she stepped inside and shut the door, leaving Gohan alone outside and confused as hell.
"...What just happened?" Gohan let out a sigh and took to the skies 'Well whatever it is, I can only imagine Kai is gonna tear me a new one for one reason or another.'
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Meanwhile, on Mount Paozu…
A young boy in an orange gi with a blue long sleeve undershirt was walking through the woods of Moutn Paozu "Daddy?" then he stopped walking when he saw Goku meditating on the edge of the cliffside "Daddy!"
"Hm?" Goku looked up from his meditation, then looked down at the boy "Oh sorry Goten, I was just doing some meditating. What are you doing out here?"
"Mommy sent me to look for you since lunch is almost ready."
"Oh great, thanks. Sorry about that, I was just thinking about fighting a bunch of really strong guys."
"Were they super strong?"
"Oh yeah, guys by the name of Frieza, Turles and Cell. They came around a while before you were born, and they were all really bad to the bone. They're all some of the strongest guys that I've ever fought in my whole life, and I don't think there's anyone that I've had to take so seriously in a fight before. I don't know if there are other guys like him out there, but if there are then I'm going to be ready, and that's why I have to get stronger."
"That sounds super cool daddy, I wanna get super strong like you too!"
"Yeah, you probably would be okay if I helped you train yourself up a little bit, but I don't think your mommy would like that very much."
"Oh yeah."
"Oh man that reminds me, I was hoping to pick up a little surprise for your mom before I went back home. You wanna coem with me?"
"Yeah, let's do something nice for momma!" then he let out a yawn "But I'm pretty tired, I don't think I can walk anymore."
"You get tired pretty easily don't you little buddy? Well I guess I can carry you with me if that's what you want."
"Yay!"
"Alright then." Goku reached down and picked up Goten in his arms, and then he took to the skies above Mount Paozu "You know you perked up pretty easily, you were trying to trick your old man weren't you?" he was met with only the sound of Goten's laughter "Yeah, to be honest I shouldn't be too surprised by that. So tell me something son, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I wanna be a big and strong fighter, just like you daddy!"
"Well if you ever want to toughen yourself up then I'm your guy." then he frowned, but only slightly "But listen Goten, no matter what your mom or I say, you can grow up and be whatever it is you want to be. Fighting makes me happy most of the time, and if you want to fight that's fine, but only if it really makes you happy. You understand me?"
"Yeah, okay daddy."
"Great." Goku looked up at the sun shining above them 'This little guy reminds me of how I was with Grandpa Gohan since I was little. Come to think of it, he's at least 7 now and I haven't even tried training with Goten once. I've been in and out of Gohan's life for so long, I might as well have not been there at all. Let's be real, Piccolo has been acting like more of a father to him than I ever was, and even Kai to an extent. Things were nice and peaceful before Raditz and Beets first showed up on Earth, but that was because I didn't think there was anyone out there that I couldn't beat. God I couldn't have been more wrong. Then I died and Gohan was left alone with the likes of Kai and Piccolo for a year, and then I left him and Chichi alone for another year while I was working with Cooler and training Tarble after the battle with Frieza on Namek. Then came the fight with Cell, and I initially chose not to let them wish me back, because I thought that I was keeping them safe. I thought that with me gone the Earth would finally be at peace. I was wrong, I was so horribly wrong, and I only realized that after Kai told me that Chichi was pregnant, and so the Namekians wished me back, and I was so happy, I was gonna be a dad again. But at the same time, I was terrified that Gohan might resent me for putting him through all of that pain and suffering, and Kai made it no secret that he sure as hell did. Well now's my chance then, with this little guy here I have a chance to redeem myself. I have another son with whom I can do this right, so I can't mess it up.'
"Hey daddy, is something wrong?"
Goku snapped out of his thoughts "It's nothing son, nothing at all. Not anymore anyway. Come on, we should get moving."
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A few more weeks went by, and the routine continued.
Kai was pretending to take notes while really drowning out the boring lecture "Torque, applied force, kinetic energy, mass x acceleration, yada yada yada. So start talking blondie, word going around is that Gohan saved you from a mugging the other day?"
"Well not a mugging exactly." Erasa shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly "More like he just got rid of a guy who wouldn't take no for an answer."
"And you gave him your phonenumber."
"He told you about that?"
"He didn't have to, I know people who can read minds, and he doesn't know how to hide shit from me to save his life."
"That was the impression I got from him." Videl pointed out.
"Yeah and he's got the social skills of your typical midlife crisis serial killer, something I've been trying to work on for years now."
"Trying to stop him from becoming one or turn him into one."
"You know the answer to that, but in all seriousness he's got a heart of gold."
"Yeah I know." Erasa let out a sigh as she started blushing "We've been hanging out for a few weeks now too, he's pretty shy most of the time but I can tell he's just the sweetest, and he even said that he wanted to show me something after school today, something that was going to blow my mind. Still though, he talks about you a lot too, so I can tell that the two of you are really close to each other."
"You just figured that out now? I've said before that he's my best friend and we've been that way since we were 4, we've wrecked the shit of god only knows how many people and we've always got each other's backs."
"Wow, sounds pretty exciting to me."
"It loses its luster after awhile, but it doesn't detract from the fact that having a normal life is overrated as fuck."
"No arguments here." the two of them high fived.
"So blondie, what's your verdict on Gohan then?"
"Well let's see…" Erasa started listing off some of Gohan's best qualities "Kind, sweet, loyal, heart of gold, strong as an ox in body and in mind if he can stay with you without going out of his mind. No offense."
"Bitch please, that's a compliment."
"Okay then. Anyway moving on, he also checks the box for being able to throw and/or take a punch, so as long as he doesn't drop any major bombshells that would be a deal breaker, I say he passes the test."
"Test for what?"
"What else, for being my boyfriend of course."
"...Yeah, you might wanna brace for disappointment, he's got the social skills of a brain damaged squirrel."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And so you should, but now back to the real shit." Kai shoved her aside and promptly broached a new conversation topic to Videl "So give me the update on your progress with learning the Nail Gun."
"You'll see it after school." Videl told him simply.
"Fair enough, you know that we've got a deadline to meet though."
"I'm well aware of that."
"So speaking of Gohan, where is he anyway?"
"Running a refresher course with Piccolo, trying to perfect his skills in a certain area that he's been struggling with."
"So you mean…"
"He's trying to learn how to dodge again."
"And it's going to be hilarious, that's why I'm having Piccolo record it for me."
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Hours passed, and the school day quickly came to an end.
By this point, Erasa had met up with Gohan on the roof of the school, with no one else around to see them "So what's up Gohan, why drag me up here and be so secretive about this all of a sudden?"
"Well here's the thing Erasa, there's a really good reason for that." and so with a few deep breaths, Gohan turned back to face her and looked her dead in the eye "There's something really important that I need to talk with you about, and I want you to be completely honest with me about it."
"No need to be so serious about it, I'll always be honest with you."
"And I really hope the same can be said for me. Erasa, there's something about me that I haven't exactly been honest about."
"What is it, you don't have a girlfriend do you?"
"No no that's not it, in all honesty you're the only girl my own age I've ever even talked with, well unless you count Videl."
"Yeah, but she and Kai had their own thing going on."
"Oh good, so I'm not the only one who thought that- Wait, getting off topic. Anyway it's not that, it's something else. I've been pretty scared of showing this to anyone up until now because I've been afraid of people seeing me as some kind of freak. But as blunt as Kai can be, he's right when he says I shouldn't worry about that as much as I do, and if people can't accept me for who I am and what I can do, then that's their problem."
"Yeah that totally makes sense. Now back to this, what is it you want to tell me?"
'Well, it's now or never… I don't know if you've been able to tell this, but I don't exactly come from a normal family or have a normal life, and I'm not like most other people."
"And thank god for it, compared to some of the other jerks around here, you're a serious breath of fresh air."
"No I get that, I mean I'm actually different. The only way for you to understand is to see it for yourself. But first tell me something, do you believe what Mr Satan keeps saying, about how those warriors from the Cell Gameswere using tricks to make all sorts of fake explosions and things like that."
"Well yeah, I mean flying around and blowing stuff up with balls of light from your hands is the kind of stuff you would only see in anime."
"...Kai is gonna have a field day with this."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll see in a minute, and please promise me you won't have a heart attack over what's about to happen." and so Gohan promptly leapt off the roof.
Erasa let out a shriek of horror, only to stop when she noticed something.
That something turned out to be Gohan himself, floating in mid air at least a foot away from any solid ground "So yeah, this is what I was referring to."
"What the- What exactly am I looking at right now?"
"It's nothing too complicated actually." Gohan floated back down onto the roof, which also caused her to calm down considerably "As for how I can do it, I'm not really good at explaining these sorts of things with words, so just watch and see or yourself."
"Alright." so she did so, and looked on in awe at the sight of Gohan summoning a Ki sphere in his palm "Woah…"
"This is called Ki, and it's the result of you channeling some of your spiritual energy into a certain point of your body."
"It's beautiful… It looks really majestic."
"I've always thought that about it myself. It's not all for show either. You know what I was saying about flying around and blowing stuff up?"
"Yeah."
"Well this how it happens." he dissipated his Ki sphere and let out a sigh "If you think this is too weird for you then I understand, I mean to any normal person I must look like a lunatic or something-" he was cut off by a hand over his mouth.
"You could be next to any psychopath, not naming names but I'm referring to Kai when I say that, and you're anything but crazy."
"So you don't think I'm a freak or something?"
"Why would I? You're definitely way better than any of the jerks around here. I'm just glad you had the guts to share this with me."
"...Oh thank god, that is such a relief." he slumped forward in clear expasperation and breathed a long and loud sigh "I guess Kai was right when he said that I should stop worrying about what people think of me so much."
"Kai is a psychopath in every sense of the word, but he's definitely got his moments, and in this case he's right. I do have one more question though."
"What's that?"
"Does Mr Satan have the ability to use this Ki stuff, is that how he beat Cell?"
"...Kai is gonna lose it over this."
"What's that mean?"
"Nothing, it's just… I'm not sure I'm ready to have that conversation just yet."
"Fair enough I guess." on that note, she suddenly wrapped her arms around Gohan's neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek "Call that my way of saying thanks."
"For what?"
"For trusting me."
"Oh… yeah sure, no problem."
Unfortunately, what neither of them noticed (even with Gohan's heightened senses), was that during all of that, Kai was floating beneath them with a huge shit-eating grin plastered all the way across his face 'Oh I'm gonna get a metric fuckton of mileage out of this one, and with any luck.'
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Meanwhile, in the home of the fake Hype…
The sun had long since set, and now our so-called "Champ", none other than Mr Satan himself, was doing what he did pretty much every night: watching videos of himself in a previous tournament to make himself feel better "Oh hell yeah! You see, it's times like this I always do what I love most, watching the master at work."
"That's one thing I will never doubt about you." this was when Videl came in and handed him a bottle of wine.
"Your old man isn't looking too shabby now is he Videl? You just have to keep up with all of your training, and then the day may come where you're ready for the big time yourself."
"Yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. You watching the old clips from the 24th World Martial Arts Tournament again? You know I've heard a few things about the champion that came before you, and from what I can tell he was no slouch either. Did you ever get the chance to meet him in person?"
"Nah, I think his name was Goku or something. He wasn't really all that, he was just some punk amateur that came out of nowhere. Sure he managed to luck his way through the tournament with some sort of razzle dazzle, but he didn't even bother to show his face in the tournament the year that I won, but then again that's probably because he knew I would rip him a new one if he ever bothered to show his face!" he started laughing like a massive jackass.
'Yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself.'
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Another day came, and things seemed totally normal at schoo, at least for the most part, but that was about to change.
'Dammit, come on already, move!' Gohan was bolting through the hallways 'How the hell did I end up making myself late again?'
"Hold it the fuck up a second loverboy." this was when Kai suddenly blitzed in front of him in the hallway, causing him to screech to a halt "So, late again huh?"
"Yeah, I was just talking with Erasa again and I lost track of time."
"Sounds like the two of you have been getting pretty close lately."
"Well she's really nice and she's easy to hold a conversation with."
"And to think she was so grateful for what you showed her she actually gave you a little something on the cheek."
"Yeah well, I admit that caught me a little bit off guard but- Wait a second… Oh you little son of a-"
"Ha, I got you even faster than I thought I would. Hook, line and sinker mother fucker. I think it's safe to say we can stop pretending since the cat is out of the metaphorical bag, she actually went ahead and kissed you. I've only got one thing to say to you Son Gohan."
"And what's that?"
"Well… it's about fucking time you got some action with a girl!" Kai gave him a huge shit eating grin and patted him on the back "Seriously dude, I haven't been this proud of you since you went and fisted Cell so hard he popped out twins, and that's saying something!"
"So… you're not gonna freak out and try and blast me through a wall?"
"Why would I? For fuck's sake you idiot, is that all you think I ever do?"
"You did it to my uncle after he gave you the idea to start training Videl."
"And I'd do it again, and I most likely will. But in all seriousness, the only thing I'd worry about right now is how Videl is going to react."
"Why, you think she'll be mad?"
"About you making a move on her best friend? Most likely."
"But I'm not the one who-"
"You think she's gonna give a shit about that? She'll probably just aim to eliminate any chance of you ever reproducing."
"You're not gonna tell her?"
"I don't know, it does seem pretty tempting. How about we make a deal, I'll keep silent towards her in regards to your little hook up in exchange for you doing something for me."
"What sort of something?"
"Nothing too bad, just entering the World Martial Arts Tournament that's coming up in a few weeks."
"Wait a second, you mean the World Martial Arts Tournament, as in the one where my dad fought against Jackie Chun, Tien and Piccolo all those years ago?"
"That would be the one, they're holding it again for the first time in years per demand by the so-called lord and savior, and the Hype, as much as I'm disgusted to say that out loud. I still have no idea how he pulled it off, but apparently he pulled out a win in that tournament a few weeks before all that shit with the Androids went down, but your dad was the one who won it before that like 2 decades ago. That was the one were Piccolo basically nuked an island."
"Yeah, my dad told me about that one."
"I did some digging around myself in some old newspapers, and with some information provided by Videl I discovered something pretty jaw-dropping: my mom was a former champion, in the tournament before Jackie Chun faced off with your dad."
"I thought that was King Chappa."
"No I think he was like the 18th or 19th, my mother was the 20th."
"Does Yamcha know about that?"
"I don't know, but if he did then I'm gonna be talking with him about that one. That's what makes this all the more poetic though, it's gonna be fucking amazing. Rivals, sparring partners and lifelong best friends, and now fellow sons of former champions going at it to see who's the best, you can't say that doesn't get your blood pumping at the thought."
"...So the gist I'm getting from this entire situation is that you're blackmailing me into entering the tournament, is that about right?"
"Pretty much yeah, and to be fair even if I didn't Videl probably would somehow."
"...I should've seen this day coming, it was only a matter of time before you started blackmailing me for one reason or another. Alright you've got a deal, I mean even if you didn't get me to enter, chances are my dad or Piccolo probably would somehow."
"Of that I don't have any doubt."
"Alright then, looks like it's settled."
"I guess I'll be seeing you in the ring. This is gonna be a day that we're never going to forget about. See you in the ring." and then he promptly walked off.
'He's actually blackmailing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, knowing how he is I guess it was only a matter of time.'
"Oh and dude?" Kai poked his head back around a corner "Just one more thing."
"That's to be expected."
"Just think of it like this: We've still got this whole Majin Buu business to worry about like we heard from the Supreme Kai right? Just think of it this way, now you've got another reason for us to train that much harder. But still, you don't have a fucking clue as to just how much I'm looking forward to this. Hasta la vista mother fucker!" and so he disappeared around a corner once again.
"...Well okay then, that went well."
A/N:
And with this chapter, we finally get into the third and final act of this fic, and of DBZ as a whole. I'm going to be honest with you, out of the big three overarching story arcs from Z, the Buu Saga was my least favorite. I was never a huge fan of the character of Majin Buu. And for those of you who remember my Rise of a New Generation fic I was doing a few years back, I always ended up stopping short before we even reached that arc. The reason for that was also because of what I was trying to do with the arc itself. I mean with my other DBZ fic, the Rise of a Protector (which was also a crossover with Inuyasha), I was able to mostly replace it with a war against a demon named Magatsuhi, so that was easy enough. But in regards to the Rise of a New Generation, I was trying to replace Majin Buu with a cult of evil Namekians (Dark Namekians from Dragon Ball online, for those of you wondering), but I kept running out of ideas, and I didn't want to make them generic one-dimensional villains. That, and I kept writing myself into a corner because of the limited freedom I had that came with starting at the beginning of the Android saga. That's mainly why I scrapped that fic and decided to start over from scratch, at the beginning of Z, which gives me a lot more freedom to include things such as Raditz being good, Yamcha learning the Kaioken alongside Goku, Cooler being good in this fic, and a bunch of others later on, though I will admit that some could've been done better (World's Strongest adaptation, the Ginyu Force, etc), but hey, live and learn.
For those who hadn't noticed, Videl has some noteworthy differences in terms of her personality compared to how she was in canon by this point. Well aside from being more aware of Ki users, she's more laid back, kind and upbeat compared to canon since she's been training with Kai. And yes, she's pieced together that her dad did NOT save the world from Cell. I know that according to the power levels list below, she might seem too OP, but keep in mind she's been training with someone like Kai for about 3 years, so I think it makes sense that she would make substantial progress in that time.
I'm not sure how many people enjoyed the whole Great Saiyaman thing, but I wasn't personally very fond of it, as in I just cringed at it most of the time. Sure it was funny at times, but overall it was just cringeworthy in my opinion, and since Videl is a hell of a lot stronger than in canon (something I'll go further into in a moment), I figured there really wouldn't be any need for Great Saiyaman, at least in this fic. In order to make up for that, I'm replacing it with some little fluff moments between Gohan and Erasa, a pairing I've really grown quite fond of. Don't think they'll be getting together soon though, at the very least when they do become a couple it's going to be after Majin Buu is defeated, but don't think that will be in the same way either. This arc is going to have numerous changes going for it when we get to the real meat of it. Of course that isn't the only thing I'm adding in, I also included some bonding moments between Goku and Goten, which is especially important when you remember that Goku only agreed to come back to life after the Cell Games after Kai told him that Chichi was pregnant with Goten.
Adding onto the Gohan x Erasa bonding, I used some inspiration from the newest DBZ game, Kakarot, specifically a side quest revolving around Erasa and how she's clearly pining after Gohan. But beyond that, this turned out to be harder than I was expecting, the biggest reason being that, well I've never been in a real relationship before, so I didn't really know how to make it realistic, but all things considered, I think I did okay.
Power levels:
Kai: 980 million
Kai (Namek-Ken 4x): 3.92 billion
Kai (Namek-Ken 30x): 29.4 billion
Kai (Spirit Ken): 147 billion
Gohan: 3.8 billion
Super Saiyan Gohan: 26.6 billion
Super Saiyan 2 Gohan: 159.6 billion
Videl: 280,000