Welcome to Earth, Dende! The Countdown Begins!
"So Piccolo is dead?" Dende asked curiously as he and Gohan sat at a table inside Elder Moori's hut. Dende had brought Gohan to the Elder to tell him the story as well. They had tried as best they could to process the story Gohan had told them but, even as summarised as Gohan had assured them it was, it was a lot to process and somewhat difficult to understand.
"No, Piccolo's fine," Gohan assured him, "But because he and Kami became one person again, Kami doesn't exist anymore, so our world doesn't have Dragon Balls."
"And you need a new Elder for your planet," Moori replied, "To resurrect all those consumed by this… Cell creature." He was still startled by the power of the Dragon Balls that Katas's son had created held such a power. They had literally saved the entire Namekian race.
"Yes," Gohan replied. "Which is why I'm here, Elder Moori. I came to New Namek hoping that one of your people would be willing to return with me to Earth as its new Guardian. I know it's a lot to ask of one of your people, for them to leave behind the world they know–" Elder Moori held up a hand and smiled as he shook his head.
"Say no more, Gohan son of Goku," Moori said amicably. "The people of Namek owe their lives to you. You saved our people in the time of our darkest despair. How could we possibly deny you in your own time of trouble?" He rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes in thought. "You are right, though," he admitted. "It will be difficult to find a Namekian willing to leave our new ho–"
"I will go," Dende offered immediately. Gohan and Moori both looked at Dende in surprise and he actually shrunk slightly under their gaze before sitting up in his chair. "I-I want to help. I want to repay Gohan and his friends for the good they did to help save our race. Besides," he added, "I wouldn't want anyone else to be faced with this decision. It'll be a strange planet to me as much as anyone but at least I'll have some friends." He smiled at Gohan who smiled back at him and gave him a quick hug.
"Thank you, Dende," he said happily. "This is really great, thank you so much!" Moori nodded and put a hand supportively on Dende's shoulder.
"This is very brave of you," Moori told him encouragingly. "Guru would be proud." Dende smiled appreciatively and hugged Moori. The Elder put an arm around Dende before the three of them exited the hut. "My sons and brothers!" Moori called as he lifted his arm to get the rest of the villagers' attention. "We must now say goodbye to Dende. He has chosen to travel the stars and repay the kindness that the people of Earth have given us. Let the spirit of Namek travel with him, so that he may always remember his people and spread the example of our ways across the stars!" Then Moori said something in Namekian that Gohan didn't understand and the other Namekians echoed it. Cargo came up to Dende and hugged his brother closely. The pair exchanged words in Namekian before Dende let go of his brother and walked back over to Gohan.
"What did Moori say?" he asked.
"There isn't really a word in Basic for it," Dende explained, "but it's a Namekian expression of affection and remembrance, to let the other person know that they have touched you deeply and will never be forgotten."
"Oh, we have something like that," Gohan said. "We say 'I love you.'"
"Oh," Dende replied with a nod. "I see." Then he looked around in confusion. "You didn't come here in a ship," he noted. "So how are we going to get back?" Gohan held out one hand for Dende and smiled.
"Take my hand," he told his friend. Dende nodded and held tightly onto Gohan's hand as Gohan touched two fingers of his other hand to his forehead. "Here we go. Hold your breath!" Then they were gone.
The pair reappeared on Kaiou's planet a fraction of a second later, startling Kaiou so badly that he fell out of his lawn chair and spilled hot tea on himself. The deity uttered out a string of graphic obscenities in a language that was older than either of their species as the two youths helped him to his feet and Gohan patted him down with a tamp hand towel from the kitchen.
"So," Kaiou sighed as he regained his composure, "I see you found a Namekian to come with you." Dende nodded and held out his hand.
"Hello," he said amicably, "My name is Dende." Kaiou shook his hand with a bit of a smile.
"Nice to meet you in person," he replied. "I'm Kaiou, deity of the Northern Galactic Quadrant. I don't meet many Namekians. You guys are usually over in Western Kaiou's domain."
"Oh!" Dende gasped with sudden realization. "Then you're the one who told me what to wish for on the Dragon Balls!" Kaiou nodded and lifted the tip of his hat.
"Yeah, that's me," he admitted before turning to Gohan. "Alright, let's get you two back to Earth." Gohan took Dende's hand again as Kaiou's antennae flicked and quivered almost as if he were searching for a radio station. "Ah-ha!" he cried as he seemed to find what he was looking for. He took Gohan by the shoulders and turned him in the right direction. "There we go," he told them. "The Lookout is thataway." Gohan nodded and closed his eyes, locking into Piccolo's ki. Then the pair of them popped out of existence again and Kaiou grumbled as he bent down to pick up his teacup and saucer. Hopefully he'd get some peace and quiet for a while now without Goku or the others throwing another one of their problems on his lawn again.
OoOoOoO
Piccolo gave a start as Gohan appeared in front of him with Dende by his side but returned to his stoic and vaguely-approving expression before either of them noticed. "Hello Goha–" he looked down at Dende and his brows raised slightly in surprise. "Welcome back, Dende," he greeted as pleasantly as Piccolo managed. "So I take it you're here to take over the position of Earth's Guardian?" Dende nodded and Piccolo turned his head. "Popo!" he called to the djinn. "Go and fetch Shenron's phylactery!" Popo, who was standing on the edge of the Lookout and turned slowly to Piccolo. He gave the Namekian and nodded before wandering almost absently into the Temple while still clutching Kami's staff tightly.
"Is he alright?" Dende asked curiously. Whatever a "Popo" was, he seemed to be greatly troubled by something.
"Even though Kami no longer exists," Piccolo explained from the memories and knowledge he now had that were once Kami's, "Mr. Popo cannot reincarnate until a new Guardian has been chosen. Most Guardians choose their own replacements so the change is almost instantaneous. Popos aren't supposed to exist independently for this long."
"Ohhh," Dende muttered with a nod. "I see."
"Do you really?" Gohan asked. Dende gave a bashful shrug.
"Not really," he admitted. That actually made Piccolo chuckle. While they waited, Dende let go of Gohan's hand and walked out toward the edge of the Lookout to stare out toward the horizon and at the world down below. The endless blue sky, the white clouds, the rising mountains and the rolling green fields. He'd never seen anything like it. Even when the Namekians lived here for a year, he had never seen the world in all its splendor like this. From up here, it was breathtaking.
"It's really something, isn't it?" Gohan asked as he walked beside Dende. The other boy nodded and they looked out together.
"So this is all mine to protect?" Dende asked softly. Gohan nodded and gave Dende a reassuring pat on the arm.
"Don't worry," he assured his friend, "You'll do great. Besides, you've got us to help you out!" The trio heard the padding of a fourth set of feet and turned to see Popo walking toward them with the silver dish and lid that held Shenron's phylactery in both hands with Kami's staff held under his arm.
"Are you the one who will be the new God?" Popo asked. Dended looked nervously over at Gohan who nodded to let him know it was the same thing as being the Guardian.
"Y-yes," Dende said with a nod, "I am." Popo nodded and set the dish down before bowing low and handing Kami's staff to Dende. Dende took the staff in his shaking hands, as if he could feel the weight of responsibility radiating off of it. He gasped as soon as he made contact, feeling a rush of energy pass through him as his consciousness and knowledge expanded and his power grew. He could sense the energies of everything on the planet beneath him and felt an affection toward it he had never felt, from the mightiest king to the smallest ant and from the tallest mountain to the tiniest blade of grass. He could feel a pair of powers suddenly, in the back of his mind. One was very far away and was all that was good. It was warm and gentle, filling him with a positive energy. It was always present, always watching. The other power was even further away and yet a thousand times greater. It was all that was dark and terrible. It was destruction, violence, war, and death. He could tell that, for now, it was dormant. He prayed to Porunga that it never stirred.
"Goodbye, God," Popo whispered softly. Then he dissolved and shrank down into nothingness until only his turban remained. A moment later the turban flew a good three feet into the air in a burst of light and fell onto the head of a new Popo. He looked very similar to the old Popo, although not exactly the same. His limbs were a little more slender and he had three fingers instead of four. But perhaps most alarmingly of all were his clothes. Aside from his turban, he wore a long, multicolored scarf over a blue suit with a brown jacket. "Hello, God!" he greeted brightly as though nothing were amiss.
"H-hello?" Dende greeted in confusion. "But, uh, call me Dende." Popo nodded smartly and waved again.
"Hello, Dende!" Then he turned on his heels and walked off toward the temple. "Going to get myself acquainted with the Temple," he explained. The trio blinked and stared before looking down at the tray with Shenron in it and Gohan lifted the lid to reveal the Dragon statue with the seven stones that were once the Dragon Balls arranged neatly around it.
"So this is your Porunga?" Dende asked. "It's… uh… it's nice." Gohan rolled his eyes.
"We can't all call on the God of Dreams to grant our wishes," Gohan retorted dryly and Dende gave a playful smile before looking up at Piccolo.
"So what do you want?" he asked. "I can make a new Dragon and Dragon Balls but that would take about one hundred days."
"We don't really have that kind of time," Piccolo reminded him. "In ten days there might not be a planet anymore, never mind one hundred. Can you make them like Namek's but with mass revival?"
Dende hummed for a moment as he thought, "I'm sorry but that's beyond me right now. I can make them grant three wishes either way but you'll have to choose between unlimited revivals or mass revivals. Also, in the latter case, wishing for a mass revival will reduce your number of wishes to two."
"That'll be fine, Dende," Gohan said. "We're not used to being able to revive a person more than once anyway." Besides, they could always go to Namek if need be. Dende nodded appreciatively before looking down at the statue. He thrust his hands downward and spoke something in Namekian that even he did not know. They were words known only to the Dragon Clan, although Piccolo knew them well.
"Arise, Dragon! Give life to the seven spheres! Make any hope a truth and give life to any dream!" Then the seven balls glowed and shot off into the sky, scattering in all directions. Gohan and Piccolo watched the light scatter with grins on their faces before Gohan hugged Dende.
"Thank you, Dende!" he exclaimed happily. "I'll come back later but now I've gotta go get my mom so we can gather the Dragon Balls." Then he was gone. Dende looked up at Piccolo who nodded proudly down at him and scratched the spot behind his antennae fondly. So this was his home now. It wasn't so bad.
OoOoOoO
Goku and Suno were lying in bed naked and staring up at the ceiling with Suno cradled against Goku's chest and looking quite a bit more ragged than her wife.
"S-so," she muttered weakly, "That uh… that Super Saiyan is really somethin'." She looked up at Goku with a dreamy smile. "And you're gonna keep that on for the whole ten days?"
"Yep," Goku replied with somewhat-oblivious cheer. "It's great training to make sure that I can maintain this form under all conditions."
"Okay God," Suno murmured under her breath, "I know my life's been kinda rough sometimes but we're even now."
"What was that?" Goku asked curiously as she looked down at Suno.
"Nothing," Suno assured her. "Goku–" then they heard the front door click open and sat up quickly in bed, moving to the couch in a rush and looking for all the world completely normal, both in their clothes with Suno reading a book and Goku pretending to take a nap.
"Mom!" Gohan called as he walked into the house. "Dende fixed the Dragon Balls! I figured you'd wanna go the the Rad–" he stopped and looked at them, his eyes fixing on Suno for a moment. Then his face turned red and he immediately spun on his heels and made for the door. "Y'know what, I'm just gonna… go see what Trunks is doing. Or Krillin. I'll grab Krillin and we'll go hang out with Dende. I'm just gonna be… not here." Then he, quite literally, flew out the door. Suno wondered what that was about before she looked down and saw a tag sticking up out of her shirt.
"You dolt!" she exclaimed in embarrassment as she clocked Goku over the head with her book. "You put my shirt on backwards!" Goku giggled despite being bonked and rubbed at her head. "Anyway," she said, "What I was saying before was… are you sure you can beat Cell? I know you said you didn't know if you were stronger than her but I just… are we going to be okay?" Goku put her arms around Suno and held her close.
"It's going to be okay, Suno," she assured her wife as she rubbed her back. "I promise. We're gonna win." Suno thought it was a little strange that Goku said "we" rather than "I". Who else did she expect to face Cell? Then she grinned at Suno. "Here," she offered, "Let me fix your shirt."
"Ohhh no," Suno warned playfully as she scooted away from Goku off the couch. "No, I know that look! Goku, stay back!" Goku's grin broadened and she looked like she was about to lunge. "Hey! No! I need a minute, okay! Get away!" Then she jumped off the bed and dashed away to escape Goku's grasp in a giggling fit.
"You know you can't escape me!" Goku taunted as she chased after her. Outside the house and already some distance away, Gohan cursed the fact that he had inherited his mom's hearing and flew faster.
OoOoOoO
Vegeta roared as he pushed himself into his Super Vegeta state, firing blasts out into oblivion that he arched back toward himself only to deflect them or blast at to make them even stronger. He did pushups and backflips, he punched and kicked at the air, and all the while he snarled and raged as he tried to push himself as far as he could.
"She's right, you know," he heard himself say. Vegeta turned and saw himself as he had looked when he first came to this planet, leaning against one of the absurdly large hourglasses. "We could have crushed Cell. We had her in our power. They would have worshipped us as a god."
"There was no glory in it," Vegeta snapped at himself as he tried to return to his training. Only half a year in isolation and he was already going mad. Brilliant.
"Was there glory in what came next?" he asked himself. "Getting pounded into the ground over and over again? Beaten and dismissed as though we were nothing?"
"Shut up!" Vegeta snapped at himself before screwing his eyes shut and trying to block the voice out. It was insane. It was a lie. But how could he lie to himself?
"We lie to ourselves all the time," he told himself. "You're lying to yourself right now that what Cell said wasn't true. Because all our power, all our pride and bluster, is just trying to hide that we are a failure."
"Shut up."
"We could not kill Freeza. We could not avenge our race. We have no kingdom to rule. We did not become the Super Saiyan first. We achieved nothing when we became it. And the boy…"
"Silence!" Vegeta roared at himself with murder in his eyes.
"He hates us," Vegeta continued flippantly. "And he barely even knows us. You would think we would have tried a little harder, given our relationship with our own fath–"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Vegeta bellowed as he blasted the apparition. The hourglass exploded violently and green sand was cast out across infinity. Vegeta sighed and walked back toward the temple, powering down to Super Saiyan. "Maintaining the state at all times…" he muttered to himself. Maybe Kakarot did have a point. He slowly sat down on the temple steps… and closed his eyes.
OoOoOoO
"See?" Bulma asked as she ran her fingers through Trunks' new haircut. "Isn't that so much better?" Mother and son had gotten matching bob haircuts and Trunks paused to look at his reflection in one of the storefront windows they passed as they walked through West City.
"Yeah," he admitted, "It is pretty nice." Bulma grinned and they continued walking.
"Who woulda thought," she teased, "That scissors are better at cutting hair than swords?" Then she noticed Trunks had stopped again and was staring at something. "What is it?" she asked. Trunks pointed at a family walking down the street eating ice cream cones.
"What are they eating?" he asked with a genuine, almost childlike curiosity.
"You've never had ice cream before?" she asked. Trunks shook his head. Bulma grinned and hooked her arm around her son's arm. "Okay," she told him, "Forget training. For the next ten days, momma's gonna show you all the things that you missed 'cause Cell was a jerk and blew up your timeline!" Then she took him into the nearest ice cream parlor. They walked out a few minutes later since Bulma owned the place and got to cut in line.
"Do the sprinkles make it taste better?" Trunks asked as he looked down at his two scoops of chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. Bulma had gotten a scoop of rocky road and a scoop of mint chip.
"Nah," Bulma admitted as she watched Trunks take a tentative lick, "They just make it look nice." She laughed as Trunks came to a dead stop and his eyes opened wide. "So whaddaya think?" she asked. He shoved the entire cone into his mouth and Bulma laughed. "I guess that answers my question. What should we do next?" Trunks pointed up into the air and Bulma looked up to see that he was pointing at a huge billboard for the carnival that had just come to West City. She grinned and took his arm again. "C'mon, you. Let's go win you a stuffed bear!"
Eight Days Until the Cell Games
"Not that I don't appreciate the visit," Korin assured Goku as he looked up at her and Gohan, who had both spontaneously appeared on his tower, "But what are you doing here, Goku? Shouldn't you be getting ready to stop the end of the world?"
"Yeah," Goku admitted with a nod, "That's why I came by. I wanted to do something really quick before me and Gohan went and gathered the Dragon Balls," she said as she patted the Dragon Radar in her pocket. "You can sense Cell's ki pretty clearly from up here, right? I was trying to do it on the Lookout when we got out of the Chamber but there were too many people and down on Earth there's even more too many people. I just wanna see how close it is, y'know?"
Korin nodded and stroked his whiskers. "I see," he murmured, "Yes, I think I can handle that. I've got a lock on Cell's ki now."
"Cool!" Goku exclaimed eagerly. "Let me power up then!" Then her golden hair began to glow as she suddenly roared with power. Her aura flared up around her and whipped Gohan's cape around in the wind she created as her ki rose and rose. Korin was sent flying back against the railing and had to cling on for dear life as Goku continued to power up and the tower shook down to its base. Far down below, they could hear Goku's cry and those who could sense ki were almost overwhelmed by her power. Far above, they were nearly knocked off their feet on the Lookout and even Vegeta, deep inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, could sense Goku's ki faintly and with maddening irritation.
"Goku!" Korin called as the force of Goku's ki pushed back his cheeks. "Goku, that's enough! I get the idea! You can stop now!" Goku stopped powering up on a dime and Korin flopped down onto the floor with a groan.
"So yeah," Goku continued casually, "That's about half my power."
"Half?!" Korin exclaimed incredulously as he slowly got to his feet. "For crying out loud, Goku, how much stronger do you need to be?!" Then he sighed and stroked his whiskers thoughtfully again. "That being said… if that really is half your power… it's hard to say," he admitted slowly, "But I have to give the edge to Cell right now."
"Okay," Goku said with a nonchalant shrug. "That's what I figured. Thanks, Korin!" She and Goku turned to leave before Korin stopped them.
"Wait!" he called after her. "How can you be so calm? Was that not half your power? Do you have some kind of plan? Tell me you're not just gonna hope for the best here!" Goku smiled with her back still to Korin.
"Don't worry," she assured him as she gave Gohan a sly wink. "We've got it aaaall figured out." Then they flew off and Korin let out a weary sigh. He was getting too old for this crap.
OoOoOoO
Trunks and Bulma were getting ready to leave for another day of fun and adventure when they caught Vegeta walking toward the Gravity Chamber. His clothes were in a tatter and it was clear that a whole year of training in isolation wasn't enough for him. He was also a Super Saiyan for some reason. Trunks was prepared to walk past him but Bulma stopped and called out to him.
"Hey!" she shouted. "It's been nice having a gravity chamber that isn't smashed to shit for a while! Think you could keep it that way?"
"Stay out of my business, woman," Vegeta snapped at her. "You worries don't concern me!" Trunks covered the distance of a few hundred feet in an instant and grabbed the front of Vegeta's bodysuit as he drew back a fist.
"Shut up," he snapped. "Don't you talk to her like that!" Vegeta looked up at Trunks and smirked with his fists at his sides.
"Go ahead," he taunted, "Take a swing. Maybe you'll act like a man for once instead of the boy you are. Pretending to be the hero and a warrior without knowing what either of those things mean. Child." Trunks' face burned with fury and his fist shook as he held it in the air. It made Vegeta laugh. "That's what I look like when I'm angry," he remarked. "You're more like me than you know, boy."
"I am nothing like you!" Trunks insisted furiously as he reached back and swung. His fist was a hair's breadth away from Vegeta's face when Bulma stopped him with a word.
"Trunks!" Bulma cried out. "Come on, let's get going. We've gotta be at Suno and Goku's later!" Trunks seethed as Vegeta smirked and dropped his hands, letting Vegeta go before spinning on his heels and following after his mother. Vegeta scoffed and entered the Gravity Chamber, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Really working on improving that father-son relationship, I see," he said sardonically to himself.
"Shut it!" he demanded.
OoOoOoO
Goku and Gohan returned home after gathering the Dragon Balls to a dark house. The shutters were even drawn to make sure all the light was blocked out.
"Hello?" Gohan called out into the dark as Goku fumbled for the light switch. He could sense a lot of ki in he–
"Surprise!" came a collective cry as Goku turned the lights on. Gohan blinked rapidly to adjust to the sudden change and saw his mother, some of his friends from school, and all of their other friends (except for Tenshinhan and Launch who had taken Trunks' day in the time chamber), standing around a huge chocolate birthday cake with a small pile of presents on the table and a banner stretched over the dining room that read "Happy Birthday, Gohan!" Gohan grinned from ear to ear as Goku put an arm around her son in a hug before pushing him into a throng of affection.
"Goku could've gathered all the Dragon Balls herself," Suno explained as Gohan was pushed from one hug to the other, "But I kinda needed you out of the house for a little while to set all of this up." A few of the girls from Gohan's school noticed that he had gotten taller and looked like he'd been working out. They also liked his new hairdo.
"I'm not really sure what a birthday is," Dende admitted, "But I wanted to be here if this day was as important to you as Suno made it sound." Gohan gave his little green friend a hug before Suno started lighting the candles. Everyone sang to Gohan, except for Dende who didn't quite know what was going on, before Gohan blew the candles out. Even Piccolo joined in and he had a surprisingly good singing voice. Then Suno cut the cake and started handing out presents. They were mostly toys and games from Gohan's school friends, although Krillin got him a pretty neat-looking telescope since he had noticed that Gohan had liked to stare at the stars on their way to Namek. Yamcha and Chi-Chi gave Gohan a flute that had apparently been carved from the horn of some monster they'd defeated on one of their jobs and Piccolo gave him a hat with a replica of the four-star ball sewn into it. The replica he'd apparently made himself, while Suno had sewn the hat herself. Trunks gave Gohan a giant compendium of all the Kamen Rider comics, admitting bashfully that it was one of the only things he remembered Gohan enjoying in the future.
Then came Goku's gift. She held it out to him carefully, a slender tube rapped somewhat-clumsily in bright green paper that she had clearly wrapped herself. "Mom," Gohan insisted, "You didn't have to get me anything. Just spending time with you again has been great." Goku held it for him somewhat-insistently and Gohan smiled before carefully taking it from her hands and unwrapping it slowly. He stared down at the smoothed, polished brown wood and held the staff reverently in his hands, rubbing the string on the staff's sheath between his fingertips. "This is–"
"My Grandpa's Power Pole," Goku finished. "I got it from between Korin's tower and the Lookout yesterday while you were off being anywhere but here." She smiled as Gohan's face flushed in a mixture of emotions. "It was your great-grandpa's, who I named you after, and it helped me a lot on my adventures when I was your age. It always felt like I had Grandpa with me." She smiled at him and ruffled Gohan's hair. "As long as you have this, you'll have me with you, too. Hey," she asked softly, "Are you okay?" Gohan nodded as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes and he flung himself at Goku, hugging his mom tightly. Goku hugged him back and Suno put her arms around the pair of them. Everyone "Awwed" in unison at the group hug.
Yes, even Piccolo. Though he will deny it to his grave.
Seven Days Before the Cell Games
Everyone was waiting somewhat-expectantly for Tenshinhan and Launch to come out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. They would be the first humans who had entered the Chamber and Suno and Krillin were wondering with some trepidation as to what state they would be in.
What no one had expected was for Launch to be eight months pregnant.
"Oh," Suno said as the pair walked out of the temple. She wasn't really sure what else to say. "...Congrats?"
"Yeah," Launch said with a grin as she looked down at her swollen stomach, "I guess it was gonna happen, huh?" She elbowed Ten playfully. "He even thought we should stop training.
"Wait wait wait," Krillin interjected. "Tenshinhan wanted to stop training?" he pointed at the aforementioned triclops. "This Tenshinhan?"
"I was worried about the danger," Tenshinhan muttered defensively and Launch elbowed him again.
"And I told him that I was gonna be fine. Pretty sure I could lift New East City by this point, I can handle eight pounds in my stomach."
"As fascinating as your reproductive cycles are," Piccolo said in a voice dripping with sarcasm to make it clear that he didn't find it fascinating at all, "It's my turn." Then he wandered into the Temple and into the chamber, the doors slamming shut behind him. Piccolo stared out into the void and grit his teeth. He wasn't going to spend twelve months by himself, he decided. With a bit of effort he forced himself into four Piccolos, each of whom carried a fourth of his ki. If he could get all of them up to even half of his power, it would be a dramatic improvement when they reformed.
"So let's go over the rules," one Piccolo said. "No touching the face."
"Like it wouldn't be an improvement?" Another Piccolo asked with a chuckle.
"You realize you insulted yourself, don't you?" A third asked.
OoOoOOo
Chi-Chi found Yamcha in the spare room they were staying in at her father's palace where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had his gi in his lap and was looking down at it thoughtfully. Not his gold and white one but the old one he'd worn as a Turtle Student.
"I know that look," she muttered as she sat down beside him. "You're thinking of going, aren't you?"
"Yeah…" Yamcha muttered softly, still looking at his gi, not able to look at her.
"Why?" Chi-Chi asked wearily. "Yamcha, I love you, but what do you expect to do? I don't know how much more of this I can take, you rushing off into this impossible, deadly scenarios just because!"
"It's not just because," Yamcha insisted stubbornly. "It's the principle of it, Chi-Chi! These are my friends! I can't just hide while they go out and risk their lives! I'm not a coward!"
"Well what about your wife?!" Chi-Chi asked tearfully. "What about your children?! Don't we matter? Shouldn't we get to keep you around?!" She wrapped her huge arms around Yamcha and held onto him tightly as if she were terrified to let go. Mostly because she was terrified on some level. "I can't… I can't lose you again. I can't go through that again, Yamcha. Please don't make me." Yamcha hugged Chi-Chi close and cradled her in his arms, a tear running down his own cheek.
"Hey," he whispered tenderly. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Chi-Chi, I…" he sighed and kissed her forehead softly. "This'll be the last one, I promise. After this, whatever happens, I'm hanging up my gi for good. But I have to see this through to the end." Chi-Chi nodded and kissed Yamcha softly, praying that these next few days wouldn't be the last time they kissed.
Six Days Until the Cell Games
Gohan and Goku were there to see Suno and Krillin off before they entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Each one had a pack over their shoulder with some extra clothes and some nonessentials to pass the time when they weren't beating the crap out of each other. Suno had next semester's curriculum to plan and Krillin had some books about learning to become a police officer. Like Yamcha, he was a little tired of the whole fighting-for-his-life drama and was looking for something more normal to do that would still make good use of his incredible powers.
"We'll be here as soon as you get out," Goku promised as she and Gohan gave Suno a last big hug.
"I know you will," Suno replied as she kissed Goku on the cheek, "And I'll make sure to take a shower before I leave." Then she grinned as Goku and Gohan let her go. "Don't worry," she added, "I'll try not to beat up your best friend too bad, Goku."
Krillin rolled his eyes. "And I'll make sure to do the same to your wife," he retorted. Suno let out a laugh.
"Like that's gonna happen," she taunted as they walked into the Temple.
"Hey, our power's always been pretty close," he shot back, "And we trained a lot during the three years before Cell arrived, I bet we're pretty close."
"Believe me," Suno retorted, "Nothing keeps you in shape like boning a Super Saiyan."
"Okay, that one's just mean."
OoOoOoO
Shen looked up from his typewriter to see Muten Roshi standing in his room with a bottle of sake and two glasses. He lowered his sunglasses and glared at the man contemptuously.
"And how," he asked, "Did you get past my students?" Muten chuckled and pulled out a chair with his foot before sitting down at the table with Shen.
"Come on now," he teased, "Do you really think any of your kids can stop me? The only one that could was Ten and I'm guessing he doesn't come around here anymore." He gestured to the typewriter as he poured the sake. "What're you working on?"
"Not that it's any of your business," Shen spat, furious that Muten would rub the salt of his failures in again, "But I am crafting my memoirs. I am over three hundred years old. There's quite a story to tell there."
"Y'know," Muten remarked as he stroked his beard, "I dunno why I didn't think of that. Always figured no one was interested in thirty chapters of 'I sat on the beach, drank liquor and read porn. It was a good day.'" That actually made Shen chuckle. "Heh," Muten chuckled, "I was wondering if you remembered how to laugh." Shen rolled his eyes and set the typewriter aside. It was obvious he wasn't going to get Roshi to leave.
"Why are you here, Muten?" he asked sourly. "Come to gloat? Laugh about how your students have saved the world while mine are killers and traitors?" Roshi rolled his eyes and took off his sunglasses.
"Damn it, Shen," he sighed wearily, "We're the oldest living people on this planet except for my sister and a cat." Shen wasn't quite sure what that meant. "We might live forever. How long are you going to hold onto this grudge? Until the end of time?" He held one glass out to Shen. "Let's be friends again. Or at least try. And if it's really that awful?" He shrugged. "World might end in six days, anyway." Shen sighed and took the glass from Muten's hand. The pair clinked their glasses together and drank. When they finished the bottle Roshi brought, they broke out one of Shen's own bottles. They laughed, drank, told stories, drank, remembered, drank, confessed things that they had kept to themselves for centuries, and drank. For one night they were brothers again. That night, Mutaito smiled down at them.
OoOoOoO
"Too long," Cell muttered as she looked up at the stars. "Ten days was waaaay too long. Should've gone with a week." Still, she reflected, ten days gave her plenty of time to perfect her little side project. Why should Goku be the only one to get a cheering section, after all?
Five Days Until the Cell Games.
The Son Family returned from the Lookout and the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as happy as could be, arm-in-arm-in-arm as they walked through the front door and into the Son household. Krillin had said something about getting some of the gang together and see who wanted to hit the clubs for a day. Goku wasn't sure what that meant but she hoped Krillin and the others had fun.
OoOoOoO
"Goddamn it!" Tenshinhan slurred as he flung the broken handle of the slot machine away, "Thass the fiff one! Thessh things are weak!"
"Ooookay," Yamcha said gently as he pulled his friend away from the machines before they got thrown out. "I think you need to take it easy, Ten, you're a liiiitle drunk."
"I'm not drunk, you're drunk!" Ten insisted vehemently.
"Y'know what's the crazy thing?" Launch remarked to Roshi, Chaozu, and Krillin from the blackjack table. "I think he only took like three shots of vodka."
OoOoOoO
"So mom," Gohan asked, "What do you wanna do for training tod–" Suno put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and he looked up at his mother curiously.
"Actually," Suno told him, "I think Bulma said she and Trunks were going to a water park today. Doesn't that sound fun? Why don't you grab your bathing suit and go join them? In fact, you can stay over at their place, go pack an overnight bag! I'll help Goku train today." There was something in the tone of his mother's voice that left no room for an argument and he rushed into his bedroom before flying back out with an overnight bag over his shoulder and he rushed out the door.
"Bye Gohan," Goku called after him, "Have fun!" Then she turned back to Suno, "So what kinda training did you wanna d–" she looked down and noticed Suno was holding something in her hands. It was the box that Suno kept the Device in. "Ohhhh," Goku said with dawning realization. Suno grinned and nodded before tackling her wife to the ground. They hadn't used it in a few years, what with them having to train for Cell and the androids, then Goku going in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and then Suno using it, and all the other stuff. But now… what the hell?
One Day Until the Cell Games.
Hercule Satan sat in his trophy room, looking at all his belts and trophies that adorned the walls. He looked at every framed magazine cover and newspaper clipping, every scrap of every moment from when his life changed after the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai. Everyone was counting on him. They believed in him. He was the one that the whole world was pinning their hopes on. But Cell seemed so powerful. All the death and destruction she had caused. He was only one man. Could he really stop her?
"Yes," he decided resolutely as he puffed out his chest. "I will do it. I'm the Champion of the World! I can do any goddamn thing I want!" He slammed his fist emphatically into his hairy chest.
"Daaaad!" he heard his daughter, Videl, call from down the hall. "Come ooon! You said you were gonna teach me the Dynamite Kick today!" Hercule spun on his heels and walked out of the trophy room with a fire in his heart. He had to defeat Cell. If not him… who else could?