With a controlled descent, Gohan plunged right side up before touching the ground of the rocky forest riverside, surrounded from all sides by bamboo trees. The young Saiyan knew that a tough task was ahead of him the entire time. His emotional state wouldn't make it any easier. Before the Saiyan teen could brave himself and enter the Son family home, the door burst open, and Chi-Chi shot out like a bullet and wrapped her arms around Gohan.
"Gohan-chan!" she yelled out, grabbing him up and swinging the stunned teen around before putting him down in front of her. "I was so worried when I saw all that noise and flash on TV! You had your grandfather so worried that he came all the way over! You were missing for days, what happened!?"
"I know, Mom, I'm sorry," Gohan scratched his head in apology. "Yamcha-san was knocked out so he couldn't use Instant Transmission to bring us home. Thankfully, the Galactic Patrol was around, so they gave us a lift back to Earth."
"Hmmm… We went to Bulma's after we saw Cell getting blown up on TV, but then you wouldn't come back, so we went home. We were so worried!" Chi-Chi crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the doorway before smacking herself and rushing back, letting Gohan make his way back home.
"Lay it off the boy, Chi-Chi!" the Ox-King exclaimed with a cheerful smile. The giant sat by the table, hideously deforming the chair with his tremendous size, with the horns of the giant's helmet nearly scraping the house's ceiling. "He came back from space. You're too accustomed to getting everything you want here and now. Space is a long time away, you know. Traveling around takes time. Welcome home, Gohan!"
"Grandpa!" Gohan exclaimed, bowing politely.
"Big brother!" a high-pitched replica of the voice of Gohan's father came from the other room. Hearing Goten's voice made the homecoming joy dim in Gohan's eyes ever so slightly. It didn't get any better when the exact copy of his father with an almost identical hairdo flew out from the guest room into the kitchen and slammed against Gohan with a rushing aerial tackle. The two brothers hugged it out with Gohan, raising his preschooler little brother over his head as the two cackled in joy.
"W-Wait a second, where's…" Chi-Chi snapped her fingers and turned around, peeking out the door and looking around, confused as to where Goku might have gotten off to. "That's odd, did Goku-sa stay somewhere to train or did he get held back, recovering from all the fighting?"
"Mom… Dad's… Not coming home," Gohan rubbed the side of his neck in a sullen mood. Seeing Chi-Chi's eyes spacing out and her expression shifting to chilling terror. Even the usually cheerful Ox-King exclaimed in shock while Goten looked up at Gohan in confusion.
"Big brother, where's Dad?" Goten asked before Ox-King took control of the situation, rushing to grab little Goten's ears and playfully wrestling him into the other room to distract him from the uncomfortable conversation. Gohan dashed in to catch his mother before she could collapse.
"Goku…Sa…" Chi-Chi muttered with blue lips as her face went pale. Horrified, Gohan tried to spill the words like peas to try to mend the situation the best he could. There was only so much one could mend this particular situation.
"He's not dead, Mom!" Gohan barked out, trying to both speak fast enough to intercept her incoming heart palpitations and slow enough to be understood. "Dad's just… He's going away for some time. Then he'll be back, one day, and then… He'll probably go away for a time again."
Explaining everything to his family will be a tough job, and them actually accepting the situation as their new status quo will be something else entirely. How exactly was a family supposed to accept that a father and a husband as beloved as Goku, someone who's been a constant source of inspiration and joy in his family and his circle of friends and someone who's been driving everyone around him to become better people and surpass their limitations, both as people and martial artists, time and time again, was now gone?
Even if Goku won't be gone forever, he won't be back permanently either.
"Where's Dad?" Goten's eyes got teary after Gohan explained himself the best he could, sitting his family down on the sofa and cutting it to the chase, opposing his mother's and grandfather's insistence on taking Goten to his room, because Gohan felt Goten needed to know. He needed to know that his father won't be around as much as he was anymore, but, also, more importantly, that he wasn't gone for good.
"He's in Limbo," Gohan explained, pulling out a round, gray rock and showing it to his family. "This is what's left of the Four-Star Dragon Ball. Dad left it behind for us. When Dad has enough wishing energy to return from Limbo, the Dragon Ball becomes active again. So, when it turns orange and shiny, and you can see the red stars on the ball, we'll know that Dad will come back soon enough."
After saying his piece, Gohan turned around and walked off into the kitchen. Goten took off in a wavy flight through the air, practicing his flying technique, and hovered after his big brother while Chi-Chi wept in her chair, completely crushed, and the Ox-King consoled her. Taking off, Gohan flew to the east and up the tall mountain range of Mt. Paozu, finding the small home where his grand-grandfather used to live. After sliding the door open and bowing to the lingering spirits, as his father once taught him when Gohan was around Goten's age, Gohan walked in and approached the empty shrine that once had the Four-Star Dragon Ball, placing the inert rock on it and leaving it there.
"When's Dad coming back, Big brother?" Goten's voice became shaky. "I don't like it… When he's not around!"
Hugging his brother before he could burst into tears, Gohan pressed him to his chest, feeling his tiny body weeping. In time, Goten calmed down a little.
"He'll come back for sure," Gohan said. "But you don't need to wait for him to come back to talk to him. You can always come here and talk to the Dragon Ball. Also, if you work hard on your training, you'll polish your spirit enough to feel him around you all the time. And when things get really tough, when it feels like you can't go on anymore, Dad will always do his best, bend and break the rules of space-time itself, to be there for us. I know it!"
Pouting, Goten pressed his head against Gohan's lap and grabbed his hand while staring at the inert rock with tears in the corners of his eyes. The two brothers stood there in silence, reflecting on the times they spent with their father and on the importance he had to their lives, but also supporting each other just by being there.
"Wolf Fang Fist Flash!" Yamcha exclaimed, dashing past a four-meter-tall giant in a white dogi and gracefully landing behind him as the man jerked violently from numerous devastating blows and collapsed on the mat, unconscious. To the stunned gasps and grunts of bewilderment, the martial artist stood up and patted himself down. It was only when the supportive clapping and cheering from his fiancé reached him that Yamcha turned around with a smirk and gave her a thumb up.
"Yay, Yamcha-kun, you're like the strongest ever!" Pearl exclaimed, dashing at him and throwing herself at her fiancé. Yamcha scooped Pearl out of the air and twirled her around in his arms before putting her back down.
"Grrrgh…" the fallen giant began scrambling to return to his feet, but could only barely muster up, rising to one knee. It took an overwhelming amount of support from his disciples to help the martial arts master stand up. "Unbelievable. I was completely outmatched in every conceivable way. I don't think you'd have felt my Spear Fist even if it connected…"
"Oh, I would have," Yamcha replied, gently moving Pearl aside and approaching the fallen martial arts master to shake his hand. "I've purposefully suppressed my Ki to be lesser than yours. If I didn't deal with your technique in time, I'd have been a goner."
"Liar! Can't you even be gracious in victory!?" one of the students helping their master stand hurled an insult at Yamcha. "You've already won, you don't need to rub it in and humiliate our dojo anymore!"
"He's not lying…" the burly martial arts master admitted. "When I face this man, it feels like gods themselves descended from the heavens above, masking themselves in human form to test us mortals. The pressure of this man, his sheer presence… Is astounding. It's like nothing I've ever felt before."
"Gee, you don't need to flatter me that badly…" Yamcha laughed out, shyly rubbing his nose with his index finger with a flush of pink in his cheeks. "I'm probably like… In the Top 10 strongest, but not yet the very best ever."
"But then why?" the crumbled goliath shook his head in astoundment. "Why bother traveling around the world, challenging dojos and easily trouncing all their masters, just like I've been soundly beaten? Does it really further your growth as a martial artist, or are you merely stroking your pride?"
"That sounds like something I'd have done long ago, a different man entirely from the one you see standing in front of you right now!" Yamcha proclaimed, pointing at himself with a cool smirk. "Truth be told, I'm looking to keep working hard at becoming the best martial artist I can be. I won't be risking my life on the battlefield anymore, not when I've got such a lovely woman by my side to go back home to. I think I'll leave the big-shot cosmic fights to the younger folks who have something to prove, but… I want to keep sharpening my skills. Not just my skills as a fighter, not merely my strength, speed, and toughness, but also my martial arts skills. I've been focused too much on honing my body for so many years, then my spirit, but I want to brush up on my technique too."
"I see, so you suppress your true power to test your skill, not to demean your opponent…" the martial arts master muttered with a series of vigorous nods of his round head and his sinewy neck.
"That's right. Muten Roshi-sama said he has nothing to teach me anymore and that I should be off on my own, so I'm seeking to sharpen my martial arts skills for the next World Martial Arts Tournament!" Yamcha struck a flashy pose before offering his arm to his fiancé and the two walked off through the open dojo door, got on their hoverbike, and shot off into the sunset.
"The World Martial Arts Tournament?" the students turned to their utterly trounced master, who collapsed on his rear end, scratching his bald head with his massive hand that would've crushed the skull of any lesser man like a grape.
"To think that this is the caliber of fighters that will gather in the World Martial Arts Tournament…" the huge martial arts master spoke to himself, deep in his thoughts. "Can we truly reach that peak in such a short amount of time?"
"Master!" his students exclaimed, one after the other, worried about their mentor.
"Hmph… Succumbing to despair?" the daunting man rose to his feet, clutching his waist and hunched over. "What utter nonsense! A martial artist's journey isn't merely one aimed toward victory. To be a martial artist isn't to seek to kill god. It's killing the weakness and flaws in the old you and shaping the clay into something better, something more complete, only to smash that mold and start anew every day. It isn't a fruitless journey by any means, just because one cannot complete it. For it is within the journey itself that the reward of it all lies."
"Master!" the students cheered with fists shooting into the air as their master straightened himself and stood firm on his own two legs.
"Everyone, we'll be enlisting in the World Martial Arts Tournament! And we'll be doing our best! And if we taste defeat, we will pick ourselves up, become stronger, and compete again!" the master turned around, pumping his fist and inspiring his pupils to raise the roof of their dojo with cheers.
Despite the ruckus, Yamcha couldn't hear or see it anymore, for he was shooting in front of a long tail of smoke, riding his hoverbike and only looking at what lay ahead. Meanwhile, Pearl was too absorbed in nuzzling herself to the warm and muscular back of her fiancé, and too lulled by the rumbling of the hoverbike's engine to hear anything at all.
Sounds of cacophony filled Chayote's penthouse. In a fit of poor decisions equally influenced by Chayote's desire to make up for lost time and appease her son's every desire and naïve hope that redirecting his interest toward something else would make him less inclined to cause mischief and destroy everything in his way in his relentless, superpowered childish rampages, she bought him a real guitar.
Just as she had about had enough of the head-splitting noise, and had filled herself with resolve to smash the damned thing, in the corner of her ear, Chayote heard a ring on the penthouse door, coming from the risen elevator, which alerted her whenever someone had arrived to her floor. Postponing the destruction of her son's newest, noisy obsession, and grumbling about it, Chayote rushed to the door, looking surprised to see Videl and Mark Satan behind the door.
"Videl-nee!" Navy exclaimed at the sight of the young woman he spent most of his toddler days around, throwing the guitar aside and dashing toward Videl in a mad rush. Mark gasped and shrieked out, curling himself into a ball while he hunkered down on the floor and covered his head, meanwhile, Videl opened her arms and took a bold step forward, tanking the crash of the overly energized brat, resulting in the shattering every glass panel in the penthouse and a shockwave that ripped across and caused a general ruckus by scattering mundane every day objects all over the place.
"Your control's sloppy, Navy!" Videl playfully scolded the little rascal, locking his head and scratching it with her knuckles as punishment. "Have you not been training during your time off?"
"I think he was too busy building up more strength and causing more trouble to learn how to control the one he's already got plenty of," Chayote sighed, looking around the messy place and imagining her embarrassment when she'll have to confront the housemaid when she comes to work tomorrow. "What's up with you two?"
"Whaaaa!" Mark unraveled from his man-egg position, ending up seated on the floor, and began wailing like a brat Navy's age. This sorry sight left Chayote and Navy incredibly confused and made Videl blush of second-hand embarrassment. "I screwed everything up again!" he lamented while spraying tears and leaking snot all over himself.
"D-Dad… Get yourself together…" Videl rubbed her nervous face with her hand to shove her mental anguish down and maintain as much composure as she could. "You need to look dignified when you're asking someone for a favor."
"I… I have no dignity left…!" Satan howled, crawling across the floor to Chayote's feet, leaving the Saiyan freaked out when he leaned in and started kissing her boots. "I've messed it all up… I ruined everything like I ruin everything all the time…!"
"I can't believe you're making me do this…" Videl groaned and rolled her eyes, clenching her fists and glaring up at Chayote with a conflicted look on her face. "Basically, Dad made some very… Poor investments… And now we had to sell our mansion to pay our taxes, loans, and bills. The bank's foreclosed on every single one of our other properties, so… Well… I figured, since… You once came to live at our mansion… We could…"
"Oh, you want to move here?" Chayote squinted, wondering why it took the teen so long to say this or why it left Satan such a crumpled and pathetic mess on the floor, who still wouldn't stop slobbering over her feet with tearful kisses. "That's fine. There's more than enough space. You know, I can lend you some money so you can buy yourselves a large apartment."
"I don't think that'd be such a great idea," Videl looked away in utter defeat. "We really shouldn't own any property at the moment, 'cause it'll immediately get frozen and confiscated to cover for Dad's debts. We just need to… Get back up on our feet, but… If we get any money on our hands, it'll all go to the banks and the bailiffs."
"Don't worry about that, kid," Chayote waved it off. "Just crash here for the time being. Maybe having less personal space will do this little fiend a lot of good. Besides, I have a good feeling things are about to turn around on your old man. Just wait until he wins the World Martial Arts Tournament, you'll get the prize money and the board will see that he's the real deal and give him his position back. It'll be his name on the Chayote Security sign again one day, you'll see."
"I'm washed up… I'm all washed up… There's no hope left! I wish I had just turned into a cockroach so I could curl under the bed and die!" Mark lamented while wrapping his arms and legs around Chayote's legs and kissing her hands in gratitude.
"Thank you, Chayote-san," Videl bowed, taming her disgust over this whole situation. "But why do you sound so excited about that? Why would you want my Dad to be appointed the head of the company and for his name to be stuck to the company you built from the ground up? Isn't it your entire life's work?"
"You're goddamn right I'm excited," Chayote smiled, scooping Navy out of the air and nuzzling him close, which began resembling a wrestling match as the little rascal tried fighting his way out so he could continue running rampant and continue his undisputed dominance in the house. "Chayote Security is fine and all, but my work's in the company not going anywhere. I can't take all the credit there, Bulma helped me out plenty when things were just getting off the ground, but you don't see her name anywhere on the board. Besides, I don't wanna be in charge of every single tiniest thing. I wanna have some time for myself and for Navy. The sooner your Dad gets his shit together and takes control, the better."
"Yeah…" Videl glared off at her father, who was crawling on the ground and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Kicked out of my house! All my assets frozen…! It's over…! It's all over! It's never been more over!" he kept wailing to himself.
Bit by bit, peace was settling back into everyone's lives after the nightmare Cell had brought over had subsided. While peace had returned, that didn't make things any less interesting as far as everyone's day-to-day lives were concerned.