Chapter Hundred-forty-five
The Battle of Gods! Give it Your All, Vegeta!
–- An excerpt from "My Blood Made Me a Warrior, The Earth Made Me a Hero", the Memoirs of Son Gohan, published in Age 902. Volume 5, Chapter 10: "Gods Among Us."
"As you well know, I had been in many battles up to this point. I'd fought alien invaders, genocidal despots, time traveling bioandroids, a literal demon, and a creature older than the universe itself. I had seen legends come to life before my very eyes and had not only become such a legend myself but had even surpassed that legend. I had met and befriended one of the deities literally responsible for the creation of our universe. I thought that I had understood what it meant to watch gods fight.
"While it is true that this was far from the last time I would witness or partake in fighting at or even beyond this level, I will never forget when I watched Vegeta ascend to Super Saiyan God in order to fight Beerus. It was only then that I truly began to understand what it was like when Gods fight."
OoOoOoO
Vegeta and Beerus stared each other down as everyone else cleared the area. Vegeta minutely flexed his muscles, getting a feel of how the new God ki made his body operate, while Beerus' eyes widened in excitement. This was it. This was what he had been waiting for, what he had literally dreamed of.
Then the fighters moved and the world froze.
Vegeta charged at Beerus, his right hand pulled back, only to spin around and lash out with a hook kick aimed at the back of Beerus' head. While Beerus easily spun around in time to block it, Vegeta wanted that to happen as he pushed off of Beerus' guard and went flying from him. Beerus was on him in an instant, slapping him down with his tail to bounce painfully off the water like it was solid ground. Vegeta managed to get his feet under him and dug in, the water moving to spray up before freezing in midair.
Beerus came in with a right cross that Vegeta just barely managed to block, Beerus continuing with the force of the blow to bring his right leg around to shatter Vegeta's guard. When he went for another strike with his tail, he was surprised to find that Vegeta had recovered quickly enough to grab it. With a mighty yell, Vegeta spun the God of Destruction around and around, the speed creating a massive waterspout, before hurling him further away from the ship.
Vegeta was on Beerus in a flash to catch him in the small of his back with an elbow that caused Beerus to arch his back and cough up spittle even as the force of the blow created a shockwave so powerful that it blasted the water away all the way down to the ocean floor. Vegeta went to follow up with a left cross only for Beerus to suddenly disappear before catching him in the side of the head with a flying kick. Before he could go too far, Beerus then grabbed Vegeta by his tail and yanked him back. He intended to catch Vegeta with an uppercut but old, long forgotten instincts made Vegeta pull himself in by his tail and smash Beerus on the top of his head even as the Hakaishin's uppercut landed.
The two fighters went flying away from each other in streaks of red and purple with Beerus meteoring into the ground while Vegeta just barely managed to catch himself before he left the stratosphere. Vegeta looked down to see a purple shape headed toward him so he held out his hands and, for the first time, gathered God ki into them, the red balls that appeared in them like miniature stars, before firing a massive volley that spread outward before coming back in with the Hakaishin as their target.
Beerus weaved through the Godly meteor shower like one would weave through a crowd of people before countering the last God ki blast still in Vegeta's hand with one of his own. An explosion of red and purple enveloped the two fighters and the air within was ignited into pure plasma. The two warriors paid the heat the star they created no mind as Vegeta caught Beerus in the jaw with a left hook while Beerus caught Vegeta with a right. The strength of the dual impacts was enough to go supernova and send them flying out of it.
Beerus narrowed his eyes in contempt at the wave of pure destruction racing out. That supernova was more than powerful to completely atomize the Earth but it wasn't time just yet. He still wasn't finished having fun. So, Beerus stuck out one of his hands, his thumb crossed over his palm, and put a stop to it.
"Hakai."
The universe completely froze for an instant before resuming as the supernova was utterly erased from existence on a level so complete that it was as though it had never existed at all.
Vegeta shook his head to clear his vision as he came to a stop. He had been trying to think of a way to stop the supernova they had accidentally created but it was gone before he had time to even make a single thought.
"So, tell me, Vegeta, how does it feel like to be a God?" Beerus asked from behind Vegeta. Vegeta spun around and got back into his guard stance but dropped it when he saw that Beerus simply had his hands folded behind his back once more.
"It is… superlative," Vegeta began as he looked down at one of his hands as he clenched and unclenched it, watching how his muscles moved and the way the red, flame-like aura danced around his fingers. "For nearly all of my life, I have been fighting alone for nothing other than myself. It wasn't that long ago where I would have refused to even take part in the Super Saiyan God ritual, let alone actually become one.
"But I am no longer that man; I can never be that man again. The strength of a God isn't simply the strength of oneself but the strength of the universe. I am more in tune now with reality itself than I ever have been before. The strength of every Saiyan, of every living being now flows through me!" With that last statement, Vegeta closed his hand into a fist and brought it back down to his side as his aura flared even greater than it had before.
Beerus' eyes were sparkling with excitement, "I see. You truly are starting to get it. You now understand just what it is that separates us Gods from mortals."
"I do but I also see what binds us together. I see what role we play in the grand scheme of the universe."
"Oh? And what role is it that you play, Vegeta?" Beerus asked as he got back into his guard, a smile on his face.
Vegeta resumed his guard stance as well, a similar smile on his, "Stopping you."
The two Gods charged at each other and met in a violent flurry of punches and kicks, each one spinning around, above, and under the other in a dance of violence that carried them across the globe; flashes of red and purple spreading across the sky. Much to Beerus' joy, the longer the battle lasted, the greater Vegeta's power grew as his body became more in tune with the Godly energies now coursing through it. This was it! This had been the fight he was waiting for!
Beerus and Vegeta charged at each other again somewhere in the arctic, their fists colliding with each other with such a violent force that reality itself started to crack as a wave of pure nothingness spread out from them.
"Those idiots!" Xibito screamed from where she was still waiting on the boat. "Are they trying to unmake creation?! Pracya! With me!"
"On it!" The two Kaioushin flew up, their eyes glowing white as they radiated Energy of Creation and began to chant in the oldest language while weaving intricate runes in the air.
"I think we should get everyone off the boat and back onto land," Gohan said as he tracked the battle with his ki sensing. "Tarble, Goten, Trunks, I want you three with me. We need to form a barrier around the Kaioushin to protect them from any backlash."
"Right!" the three of them said before all four flew up into a diamond formation around the Kaioushin, their backs to each other. They all powered up as much as they could before throwing their arms out to create a ki barrier that surrounded them all.
While they were doing that, Goku instructed everyone on the boat to hang on tight to something before powering up to Super Saiyan 2 and diving under the water. There was a great lurching sound accompanied by the groaning of metal as Goku lifted the cruise ship out of the water and flew off toward land as quickly as she dared.
Back with Vegeta and Beerus, the spread of destruction halted before rapidly being undone as though reality was being rewound. The two Gods barely paid it any mind as Beers quickly opened his fist to grab Vegeta's before pulling him into a headbutt that would have sent him flying if it weren't for Beerus not letting go. Before Beerus could pull him back in, however, Vegeta got both of his feet up between them and placed them right on Beerus' chest.
"Galick Gun!" The dark purple beam blasted out of the bottoms of Vegeta's feet and sent Beerus hurtling toward the horizon. Vegeta was on him in a flash as he held out his right hand, his thumb crossed over his palm as he charged a large sphere of reddish-blue ki that pulsated like a star. "Big Bang Attack!"
Beerus opened his mouth wide and swallowed the attack whole, burping as it went off in his stomach. His smirking turned into a confused frown when he saw that Vegeta was also smirking and had his left hand pulled back with another, similar attack charged. Instead of firing it at the Hakaishin, Vegeta clasped that hand with the other, reducing the attack the size of an infinitesimal speck. "Big Bang Nova!"
Vegeta threw his hands out toward Beerus and unleashed a spiked wave of Godly ki that completely consumed him. Even through the colors of creation that were flashing before his eyes, Vegeta could vaguely see Beerus' outline so he prepared his next attack. He pulled his hands up to the side of his head and started to charge the Galick Gun when another name entered his head. He wasn't sure where the name came from or who it was but it felt far more right so he went with it.
Instead of purple ki that roared with fury or red ki that shone like a star, teal ki that puslated with joy coated Vegeta's hands before he threw them forward, "Endou Euphonium!" Beerus threw up his hands to catch the beam, grunting with effort as it pushed him back. Before he could knock it away, however, Vegeta threw his arms apart and the beam split into six that started to swirl around Beerus so quickly that they seemed to become solid lines. Vegeta clapped his hands together and the bolts of ki flew at Beerus from random angles.
Being unable to block them all, Beerus threw his head back and let out a roar as a star erupted from within him to just destroy Vegeta's attack outright. This stunned Vegeta long enough for Beerus to appear before him and spike him so hard into the ground with an ax handle blow that Vegeta came blasting out of the other side of the Earth. He was about to leave the stratosphere when Beerus was suddenly there again and spiked him into a nearby island with a crescent kick.
Vegeta struggled back to his feet even as he coughed up blood. His body was littered with numerous scrapes, cuts, and burns while he had yet to actually do any real damage to Beerus. As he looked up at Beerus, squinting to see him as the sun casted his features in shadow and making him look every bit as menacing as his title deserved, he could feel the cosmic power of Super Saiyan God leave him. Was this it? Had he been wrong before about his role?
No, Vegeta realized with a sudden sense of clarity. He was the King of All Saiyans but that title didn't elevate him above the others much in the same way that Super Saiyan God hadn't. The point of a true king was to serve his people first and foremost. A new age for all of creation was about to dawn and Vegeta was humbled by the knowledge that he'd be the one to usher it in. He wouldn't be fighting to save his home just because that was where his loved ones were or simply because it was his. Instead, he found himself unintentionally aligning with the original goal that Xī had in mind when she had first created the Saiyans. He was going to save the Earth simply because that was the right thing to do. It wasn't this planet's time just yet and he had to show Beerus that.
The cosmic power returned to Vegeta. While it wasn't the full power of the Super Saiyan God and was nowhere near as great, it was still a power that connected him to the whole of the universe. Vegeta's eyes turned blue and he found himself surrounded by an equally blue aura that was part way between the usual raging inferno and a gentle flame but he paid it no mind. He had a job to do.
With all of that gently flowing through him, Vegeta spoke to Beerus who was looking down at him with great curiosity. It wasn't a loud cry of defiance like a few before him had done. It wasn't an attempt to bargain for his safety like a fair number before him had done. It wasn't a plea to the God before him to spare his planet like countless others before him had done. It was a simple statement of truth. A powerful and completely undeniable truth that couldn't be changed by any force in this universe. In a perfectly calm voice, calmer than any had heard from Vegeta before, he spoke the words that would seal the fate of not only himself but all those close to him, his entire universe, and even things far beyond that.
"You will not destroy my planet."
And Beerus knew it to be true.
Vegeta tackled Beerus in a flash, crashing into him and sending them both hurtling off the island and across the sky. Beerus broke free of Vegeta's grip and made a grab for him in return, the pair locking knuckles and pinwheeling through the air. The partygoers that could follow anything they were doing watched them streaking through the sky and were slightly concerned that instead of a red-and-purple wheel through the sky, it was one of purple and blue.
"Uh oh," Pracya muttered, "Has Vegeta lost the juice already?"
"Something's different," Gohan acknowledged. "I think Vegeta might just be a Super Saiyan. He's weaker but I can still sense his God ki."
From the shoreline with everyone else, Goku watched on with a disquieting feeling in her chest. She couldn't tell if she was excited at the prospect of having someone else to catch up to besides Gohan or if she felt helpless that she had absolutely no power over what was happening.
'Jeez,' Goku thought, 'I guess this is how everyone else felt all those times it was up to me…' Still, she had faith in Vegeta. She always had.
Beerus managed to get the leverage in the air and hurled Vegeta into the sky with what would be recognized as a Judo throw on Earth, grunting with the effort. He flew up to continue his attack but Vegeta simply willed himself to stop in midair and moved inside of Beerus's jab, twisting his body to spin against Beerus's arm and get close enough to drive his elbow into Beerus's jaw. The impact had the Hakaishin seeing stars and Vegeta pressed the attack by bringing his elbow down before snapping it up, driving it under Beerus's jaw and barely missing his throat. The force of the impact sent Beerus even higher into the sky and Vegeta took a breath and caught the air in his ki barrier before flying after Beerus, going out into space again.
When he caught up to Beerus, Vegeta had a moment to wonder why there were more stars in space than he remembered. Then Beerus threw a paw forward and many of the stars moved, revealing themselves to be hundreds of white-hot balls of ki that Beerus had created in the fraction of time Vegeta had needed to catch him. Vegeta cried out and did his best to catch them all with his own barrage of ki blasts but he was quickly overwhelmed and his body was peppered with explosions. Beerus dove through the smoke to dropkick Vegeta in the stomach, launching him across space. When Vegeta hit something solid, he thought he was back on Earth at first before his vision cleared and he stood up to discover he was on the moon.
Vegeta's tail flexed and he took a moment to collect himself, repressing any urge that might arise, though being at point-blank range for the Blutz waves was making it a little harder to think clearly. "Not giving up already, are we?" Beerus asked as he touched down on the moon's surface. "I was having some real fun!" He looked Vegeta over and gave a shake of his head. "Your Godly power still lives inside you but it looks like it's dormant for now. Embers that can be stoked into a flame, true, but you won't burn a tree down with embers," Beerus said in clear disappointment, "And I'm an entire forest."
A sudden moment of inspiration came to Vegeta and he called upon the God ki that still dwelled inside him, focusing it and using it to center himself. His mind was clear again and he got back into a fighting stance. "Embers carried on the wind can be revived," he retorted, "And they can light a forest ablaze." In a moment, he was in front of Beerus again, his fist already halfway to Beerus's stomach. "Let me show you." The punch followed through and Beerus could only give a cry of shock as he was sent hurtling off the moon.
Vegeta chased after him through the void with punches and kicks, his blue ki beginning to flicker and flare red again, his golden hair turning, his body changing. His mind flashed with not just his family and friends, not just those still-unknown Saiyans across the distant stars, but every living thing on Earth. Their pride, their warrior spirit! They were his second wind. The wind that would ignite his embers! With a roar, Vegeta reached his arm back and threw a punch at Beerus's face unlike any seen before. He had reached back to borrow the ki of the sun, of every star he could reach, calling upon their gravitational force, and the will to live of his homeworld. For half a moment, Beerus thought he saw a great Oozaru screaming in the red light of Vegeta's fist before it impacted with his skull.
The impact of Beerus the Destroyer shook the planet to its foundations, kicking up titanic gusts of wind that blew red sand across the vast deserts, dust mingling and friction sparking to create storms the size of continents. The flecks of sweat that had been on Beerus's body were carried on those winds, into those storms, creating water vapor that would become the first rain felt in an epoch. The great sandstorm revealed the ruins of ancient cultures long lost to the ravages of time. With one punch, Vegeta had made history.
Beerus stood up from the surface of Mars with a groan and cracked his neck, gingerly touching his cheek where Vegeta had struck him. That… that hurt! That still hurt! Beerus spat a small mouthful of iridescent white blood onto the sand and, realizing what it was, broke out in an ecstatic smile. He ran his tongue over a tooth and laughed when he felt it wiggle. He could actually feel his heart racing, his muscles just now starting to burn and ache! He put a paw to his forehead and smiled at the moisture he felt against his pads. He wicked it away with a laugh.
"Whis!" he cried excitedly. "Whis, I'm sweating!" he threw his head back and laughed.
"Yes, Lord Beerus," Whis said, appearing from seemingly nowhere and with his staff now in the form of a parasol, his only acknowledgement of the catastrophic storms all around them. "I noticed. I'm so happy for you. Is it everything you wanted?"
"Everything and more," Beerus told him with a sigh.
It was at this point that Vegeta caught up to them, lowering himself through the storm. Everything hurt from his fingertips to his shoulder. He could see bruising already and, if nothing was broken, it would be a miracle. His arm was limp at his side even as he moved back into a fighting stance. It was a good thing the new move he'd been practicing only needed the one arm.
"I'll admit, you've impressed me, Saiyan," Beerus conceded. "More than impressed, even. You've moved me," he continued as he put a paw to his heart. "So, here is my offer. If you surrender now, I'll spare you. You can come to live with me and Whis–"
"Whis and I–" his attendant interjected.
"Shut up," Beerus said without missing a beat, "and I'll train you to master your powers, to help you become the God you were clearly born to be. Maybe even the new God of Destruction when I get bored of the gig! Your family can come, too! Hell, I'll even be nice, Gohan and his family will be spared! Look at yourself," Beerus said with a sweeping gesture over Vegeta's body. "Your second wind is already going out! You're going to drop out of Super Saiyan God again any second! You've got one arm! I'm offering you a gateway to power beyond anything you've ever imagined! To eternity! It's the only sensible choice!"
Thunder rumbled and lightning lit up the red sky as Vegeta seemed to genuinely contemplate the offer for a moment, which delighted Beerus. Then Vegeta smiled. "As my creator was so fond of once telling me," he said, "She did make Saiyans rather thick-headed." He spat on the ground and dug his feet into the ground, emphasizing his stance. "Come on, then." Beerus sighed and shook his head before his disappointed frown turned to a furious glare.
In an instant, Vegeta felt Beerus's power rise up and had just enough time to see a purple blur of movement before he felt the toe of Beerus's boot in the back of his head. The hooking roundhouse kick launched him off the surface of Mars, hurtling through space, before a knee in his back sent him flying right through the gasses of Jupiter. An elbow to the kidneys sent him slicing through Saturn's rings and Vegeta had just enough wherewithal to turn his body enough to keep from drilling right through the planet with his body. The next blow, so fast that Vegeta couldn't even tell what part of Beerus's body had hit him, was delivered with such force that the next solid thing Vegeta felt was when his back collided with the frozen surface of Pluto.
"Ohhh, this is bad," Xī muttered on Earth while she and Pracya continued their spell to hold reality together. "I think Beerus is officially pissed off!"
"Stupid!" Beerus snarled as he stomped on Vegeta's head, his hair going from red, to gold, to black. "Arrogant! Little! Monkey!" he ground his foot against Vegeta's face, pushing him further into the frozen ground. "When I'm done with your sorry excuse of a solar system, I'm going to wipe out Freeza's entire race because he blew up your planet before I could use that to punish you!" He raised up his foot, scowling down at Vegeta. "But first!"
"No," Vegeta groaned out, giving Beerus pause. It was a barely intelligible word, what with all of the blood.
"What was that?" he asked.
Vegeta turned his head to hack up blood and pushed himself to sit up. "No," he said again, his voice stronger and clearer now.
"What the hell is that," Beerus demanded, "What do you mean 'no'?!"
"I mean no," Vegeta insisted, dragging himself to his feet. "I told you already, Lord Beerus. You. Will not. Destroy my world."
"But… but look at you!" Beerus sputtered. "You've got no power left! You've got one arm! I practically caved in your skull!"
Vegeta smiled through the blood and the sight made Beerus flinch. "And doesn't that scare you to death?" he taunted. The veins under Vegeta's skin glowed red, the embers of Super Saiyan God coming alive to stitch his broken body back together. He lifted his still-damaged arm and clenched both fists together, spinning into a tornado, with each revolution going from Super Saiyan, to Super Saiyan 2, to Super Saiyan 3 as he was wreathed in that strange blue ki again. With a cry of power, he slammed the axehandle blow into Beerus's chest, throwing his entire body into it, sending them both hurtling through the solar system until they were close enough to Earth for what came next to be seen.
Every warrior on the planet, even those who couldn't actually sense what was going on, could feel it in their guts. The pivotal moment, the hinge of destiny, the forking path of time. However this was going to end, it was going to end now.
Vegeta couldn't be certain that this would work– after all, he'd only named the thing last week– but it was his best shot. "Here it goes," he muttered to himself as he dropped one hand to his side, reaching back with his hand open and fingers outstretched. Green lightning raced over his body and collected in his palm, forming a swirling vortex of ki that coalesced and grew brighter and brighter, the ball quickly growing to twice the size of his fist. Vegeta was so laser-focused on Beerus in the distance, who seemed content to merely watch him, that he didn't notice the tendrils of green ki that moved and curled all around his body, emanating from the ki ball in his hand. They began to take on a form almost like snakes but… snakes didn't have claws.
Beerus flexed his claws and raised up one palm, gathering a small ball of orange ki about the size of an orange. "This should do it," he said dismissively.
With one more great roar, with the very last of his strength, Vegeta thrust his arm forward to launch the attack. "Take this!" he cried. "Final Dragon Shine!" The word "dragon" had burst unbidden from his lips— he hadn't even been thinking about the word— but, as the green ball of ki flew off toward its target, it quickly became very fitting. The tendrils of ki flew off of Vegeta's body to chase the ball, catching onto it, making it grow brighter and brighter until, in a blinding flash of green, the ki ball had turned into an enormous, solid green dragon like Shenron. The ki dragon roared as it lunged for Beerus, moving with all the urgency of a predator, maw open wide to claim its prey in its jaws.
Beerus gave a startled shout and grabbed his wrist with his other paw, pouring more power into his counterattack. The small ki ball quickly ballooned in size before he launched it and the dragon wrapped itself around the ki ball with another roar, nearly ensnaring Beerus in its coils. The dragon wrestled with the small sun until its head dove forward and it snapped its jaws shut, causing both attacks to explode in a violent kaleidoscope of destruction. The shockwave of the blast actually sent Beerus hurtling back, the God of Destruction raising both arms up to defend himself.
On Earth, Xī and Pracya called upon all their magical power, all their incantations, but they could feel the fabric of reality coming apart at the seams despite their best efforts. It was simply far too great of a power for them to handle!
Whis smiled and the ringed sphere on the end of his staff glowed white as he waved it idly. Reality was pulled back together with none the worse for wear.
Back in space, Vegeta had dropped out of all of his transformations, his breath coming out in ragged bursts as his arms hung at his sides. He didn't think he'd ever been this exhausted before in his life which was really saying something. As it was, it was taking everything he had just to stay conscious as he idly watched Beerus fly back over to him.
"I must admit, that was a very impressive display. It's not every day you see someone achieve such a feat," Beerus said as he clasped his hands behind his back.
Vegeta chuckled ruefully, "I appreciate the compliment, Lord Beerus, but it seems that it wasn't enough."
"Perhaps," Beerus said before raising one of his paws and pointing his palm at Vegeta. Beerus' purple aura returned and a ball of purple ki sparked to life in front of Beerus' paw, growing until it was the size of a baseball. Vegeta grit his teeth but didn't move to do anything. He couldn't do anything. However, then the purple aura and ki ball faded and Beerus lowered his hand which left Vegeta very confused.
"Why did you stop?"
"I just want to hear you say that you give up," Beerus said with an amused expression.
Vegeta was silent for a moment before smiling and saying, "I give up. You truly are the strongest being in the universe."
Beerus laughed. "In this universe, that might be true," he began before looking up past the stars and into something infinitely far beyond, "but there are many universes out there; twelve in total. Each of them has their Daikaioushin, Hakaishin, and attendant Angels; and some of them have warriors whose power rivals or even surpasses mine, I hate to admit. With all that in mind," he continued as he returned his gaze to Vegeta, "It would be such a waste to destroy you and your planet. So much potential. Besides, I got what I came here for. I wanted to fight the Super Saiyan God and I did."
"It would be incredibly rude to destroy your planet on your wife's birthday, after all," Whis pointed out with a smile. He waved his staff and Vegeta's clothes and energy were restored. "We had a marvelous time."
"We did," Beerus admitted, "The bald men notwithstanding. My offer still stands, Vegeta," he added, giving Whis a little nudge with his elbow.
Whis held out his free hand and a blue-white light glowed in his palm. A bell grew up out of his palm from inside the light which closely resembled his staff upside-down and handed it to Vegeta. "Whenever you're ready for training, just give me a ring," he said, chuckling in amusement to himself.
Vegeta took the bell in his hand and looked down at it in confusion. "I mean no disrespect," he said carefully as he looked back up at Whis, "But why would you train me? I thought it was Beerus's offer."
Beerus smirked. "Well, the thing is, I'm a horrible teacher," he said bluntly, carrying a tone that bordered on pride. "Really, it takes too much work for me to be bothered. That's why I defer to Whis. After all, he trained me."
"He did?" Vegeta asked, surprised.
Beerus nodded. "He is both my servant and my master," he explained, hands clasped together, "If you want to become a God, Whis is your man." Whis's cheeks turned a darker shade of blue with blush. "Now, we really should get going," Beerus said, "But we'll be in touch. I'll try to stay awake for the rest of this century so I don't miss anything important. Until you master your power, you've got a mortal lifespan."
Whis smiled and traced his staff in a circle through the air, surrounding himself and Beerus in a rainbow bubble. "Thank Bulma for such a wonderful party! Take care!" The bubble rocketed off in a streak of multicolored light, leaving Vegeta alone in space humbled, confused, and proud all at the same time.
He looked down at the bell in his hand again thoughtfully. "Huh," he muttered before stashing it in his pocket.
Vegeta was met by raucous cheers of the partygoers when he landed on the beach and Bulma and Trunks rushed to hug him, practically yanking him out of the air in their excitement.
"I don't understand," Xibito said, "Did you… beat Beerus?" They had all seen the green ki dragon and the enormous explosion but the details were still lost on them.
"No," Vegeta admitted, "I lost; he's still much stronger than me. But he had gotten what he came for and they'd had a good time. They want to thank Bulma for the party," he said with a smile, "But I want it on record that Tenshinhan nearly destroyed the Earth." Everyone turned to look at Tenshinhan and it was deathly silent for a moment before Vegeta snorted and then burst out into a laugh. Everyone else laughed, even as Ten went red in the face. It was then that Vegeta noticed that all of the games and food stations, the music, the dance floor, everything had been moved from the ship to the beach. There were even brand new tables, chairs, and glassware, along with anything else that had been destroyed. "I don't understand," he muttered.
Bulma grinned and poked him playfully on the nose. "Hey, I decide when my birthday party is over, not you jerks and your macho fistfights. Besides, the boat's totaled."
"But you hate sand."
"I do," Bulma conceded, "But I love spending time with the people I care about way more." She pulled Vegeta into a kiss and Trunks rolled his eyes.
"It's pretty lucky you came, huh, Tarble?" Krillin pointed out with a grin, playfully elbowing the short Saiyan in the side. "With the whole 'six Saiyans' and everything. We'd have been in real trouble if you hadn't!"
"Uhhh… not exactly," Videl cut in. All the laughter and chatter came to a stop and everyone's heads spun on a swivel to look at Videl. Gohan gave her a bug-eyed look of disbelief and she returned the expression with a lopsided smile and a shrug. After a moment, he quickly moved to stand beside his wife. "We've been waiting for the right time to tell everyone but, ah… there might have been six Saiyans even if Tarble hadn't shown up. I mean, if Goten and Trunks count, right?" she gave a nervous laugh as her hand drifted to her stomach.
Gohan laid his hand on top of Videl's and smiled at her before looking at their friends. "We're having a baby, everyone!" he declared excitedly. There was a wild cheer and the rest of the Son family ran to the couple to swarm them with a group hug. Goten and Goku were grinning from ear to ear while Suno held a smile for about three seconds before dissolving into incoherent blubbering.
The other parents congratulated the happy couple while Trunks folded his arms and scowled… at Videl's stomach. "You better be a boy," he grumbled. "I'm sick of being outnumbered."
The human understanding of parenthood meant little, if anything, to Piccolo, but he did recognize the moment as another symbol of the boy he once knew becoming a man. It made him proud.
Before the party could continue in earnest, Bulma wanted to open her gifts. Krillin, Lazuli, and Marron gave her a small handmade turtle statue– not made with hand tools but a block of jade that the three of them had carved, shaped, and smoothed into a turtle with their bare hands. King Giran, in lieu of a present, had simply given her a note that said "Bulma can do whatever she wants, one-time use" with his signature and royal seal. Though she hadn't been able to make the party, Tights had still sent Bulma a first copy of her travel guide book of all the uncharted worlds that she had been visiting. But the next few gifts were special.
Bulma had a curious look on her face as she opened Goku's present, which was a small glass jar with a cork… and five shell casings from a pistol. She shook the jar, then looked at Goku with a bewildered expression. "Okay, I'll bite. What the hell are these?" Goku grinned and just rubbed her forehead. It took Bulma a second to get it and her eyes widened in shock. "No way… No way!" she threw her head back with a laugh. "How did you even find these?!" she demanded.
"Wait, I'm lost, what the hell's going on?" Vegeta asked.
"I went back to the path along Grandpa Gohan's house and I dug those up," Goku explained. "They're from the day we met! She shot me in the face!" She and Bulma laughed and Vegeta just stared.
When she got to the Wolf and Ox family's gift, Bulma read the attached note with a smile. "To our dear Bulma, However far you reach for the stars, always remember where you came from." Bulma smiled at them and opened the small box which actually had a capsule inside it. She gave Yamcha an annoyed smirk before opening the capsule which revealed… a basket of strawberries so large that Bulma disappeared behind it. She peered around the basket at Yamcha, who gave her a toothy smile.
"Hey, of all the nonsense you rambled about wishing for, the strawberries were the easiest thing for me to get," he said in a playfully defensive tone. Bulma laughed and got up from her chair to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
The present from the Crane household was… a beautiful black pearl necklace. "Oh, wow, this is lovely," she said, holding it up against her skin. "Hey, Vegeta, isn't your company making something like this?"
Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Launch went from smiling to cold sweats immediately.
"It is, actually," Vegeta said suspiciously. Which was odd because they hadn't actually put the necklace on the market yet. The box even looked like the one they'd be selling it in… He looked back up to where the Crane trio had been and saw three clouds of dust in the shapes of their bodies as they huddled behind the takoyaki table.
And then there was Suno. Bulma held the long, flat rectangle in her hands, turning it over and over, tapping it lightly against the table, frowning in confusion. Suno looked incredibly pleased with herself as Bulma read the card. "To the smartest, most powerful woman in the world, may this always keep you humble." Bulma peeled off the wrapping paper to reveal… a metal push sign for a door. The smile disappeared from Bulma's face as she looked up at Suno and glared daggers. Suno glared right back. There was a tense silence before both women burst into uproarious laughter until tears ran down their cheeks. Suno needed to lean on Goku to stay upright and Bulma fell right out of her chair. Everyone else just looked at them like they were insane. After all, they had agreed to tell no one.
The party went on for most of the day and into the night with plenty of fun to be had by all. Chaozu had been more than eager to display his newfound height in a game of volleyball of the Crane school vs Krillin's Turtles. They lost in spectacular fashion, particularly after Marron climbed onto her father's shoulders and spiked the ball right into Chaozu's face. There were games of both the physical and tabletop variety– Piccolo dove across the table and tried to strangle Dende after a particularly egregious Uno maneuver- and the dance floor was always occupied. Goten essentially bullied Trunks into dancing alone with her though Vegeta had given his son an encouraging thumbs up.
It was such a pleasant day of festivities that one could hardly believe that the world had nearly been destroyed.
It was getting late in the evening and the sky was a rich, dark blue full of stars when the friends began to go their separate ways and head home, an exhausted Marron slung over Lazuli's shoulders like a backpack as she and Krillin said their goodbyes.
"I'll see you back at the house in a bit," Gohan said before giving Videl a kiss.
She smirked and ran her finger along the length of Gohan's furry tail. "I'll be waiting," she whispered in his ear. The tail was definitely new and she was definitely a fan. Piccolo rolled his eyes as Gohan's face flushed and he put a hand on the Namekian's shoulder.
"Gohan," Vegeta called, "When you get back, I want to talk to you! It has to do with our new friends from today." Gohan gave a resolute nod and then he and Piccolo were gone.
"It was really great to see you, Gure," Bulma was saying warmly as she clasped the alien woman's hands in both of hers. "Please, feel free to visit any time!"
"Thank you so much for having us," Gure replied with a bow. "Tarble works so hard to keep us all safe. He really needed a day like today." She looked at her husband with pride and he blushed before looking at Vegeta.
"It's not something I say often in my life these days but I'm glad to be wrong," Tarble said as he shook Vegeta's hand. "I'm happy we came today, Vegeta. I'm proud to call you my brother."
Vegeta smiled and squeezed his brother's hand. "I'm proud to have a brother again," he told him. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask."
Tarble pulled his hand away and gave a dismissive wave. "Don't worry," he assured them, "I'm sure whatever condition Cooler's in, we shouldn't need the services of a God." He was teasing when he said it. Bulma returned their clothes to normal and Tarble took his wife's hand before activating his teleporter and the two of them walked off through a doorway of yellow light.
Bulma sighed and leaned heavily against Vegeta. "What a day," she sighed melodramatically. "Carry me home?"
Vegeta gave her a smirk. "Carry you? Seriously?" Bulma gave him a sly smile.
"Hey, it's my birthday," she pointed out with a faux-pout. "Besides, you may be a God or whatever, but someone's gotta remind you who's still the boss around here." Vegeta grinned and scooped Bulma up into a bridal carry.
"Oh, I won't forget anytime soon."
Later that night, after Bulma had gone to sleep, Vegeta stood on the balcony with Gohan, holding out the bell Whis had given him. Gohan leaned against the balcony railing and frowned, his arms folded.
"So, the guy who tried to destroy our planet and has destroyed countless others wants to train us," he surmised from Vegeta's recap.
"Well, he specifically mentioned training me," Vegeta corrected. "But when he was trying to get me to admit defeat before, he offered to spare our families, so he clearly has some interest in you as well, no doubt from the ritual."
"I don't like it," Gohan said firmly with a frown. It did raise a flag or two that Beerus had only mentioned interest in himself and Vegeta but not in Goku. He wondered if it was merely because he and Vegeta had more access to God ki than Goku currently had or if there was more to it than that.
"Neither do I," Vegeta agreed, "But we don't have many options. Beerus isn't the sort of being you refuse. Besides, as long as we have this power, it's better to understand how to use it and grow stronger instead of plateauing where we are."
"So, we play it by ear," Gohan guessed, "And we go along for now." Vegeta nodded and they both looked down at the bell with serious expressions. Things were certainly about to get more interesting than they had in quite a while.