PART ONE: A VERY STRANGE TOURNAMENT!

Chapter 3

Translated by MikeysBoner(certified god) and Kakarotto Ka Power Level Kya Hai?

While Piccolo and Dende were talking they suddenly felt three Ki approaching the palace. It was none other than Goku and Uub, as usual, and Goku's granddaughter Pan. Upon their arrival, Pan was visibly happy to be travelling with her grandfather. As for Uub, finding himself in such a holy place made him feel uncomfortable. Goku turned to the two Namekians.

"Vegeta isn't here yet?"

"No, you're the first," replied Piccolo with a smile on his face. "You intend to fight him again?"

"I hope so..." said Goku with a gleam in his eye.

"Hello!" exclaimed Pan as she landed towards the two Namekians.

Piccolo and Dende, surprised by the upbeat politeness of the child, replied almost timidly. Uub greeted them in a soft and respectful voice, bowing to them religiously. He was nervous to be face-to-face with the God of Earth.

"Hello Kami-sama... Hello, Mr. Piccolo." Uub said timidly.

The younger generation seemed to apply great respect to their elders... Which was far from Goku's case. Friends are never too far apart, and see each other regularly. Goku didn't have time for trivial greetings! Dende faced the two young warriors-to-be.

"Are you two also fighting?" He asked.

"N-no!" replied Uub hastily with a hint of panic in his voice. "I'm just here to watch."

"Me too!" Said Pan with a small jump of excitement. "I'm looking forward to this!"

A figure suddenly appeared from the heavens... Vegeta landed at the palace and headed immediately towards Goku.

"Are you ready to lose?" sneered Vegeta.

"Yeah, right! That would be one hell of a surprise!" replied Goku. "Shall we begin?"

"No," answered Vegeta. "I would rather your son be here."

"My son? You mean Gohan?"

"Obviously, Kakarotto!" Vegeta growled irritably.

"But why?"

"Do NOT argue! Teleport to him and bring him here, right now!"

"Um... Alright." Replied Goku. "I'll see what I can do..."

Goku then placed two fingers on his forehead and disappeared... Returning a few minutes later accompanied by Gohan, who was dressed in work clothes.

"Daddy!" exclaimed Pan, who was delighted to see her father.

"Pan?" Said Gohan, who was surprised to his daughter at the palace. "You're here too?"

"The Room of Spirit and Time might not function correctly with five people," noticed Piccolo.

"We know, but don't worry about it." Replied Goku.

Without hesitation, Vegeta walked swiftly past the group into the palace, much to the unease of Gohan.

"What? Vegeta? Why are you here?!" Exclaimed Gohan.

"I prefer it when they have no audience," said Dende. "When they fight in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber their fights only lasts a few seconds to us."

Piccolo was surprised at the remark. "What difference does it make?" He asked.

"Their power is so great that I'm always afraid they're going to destroy the room."

"I'm sure we can trust them." Said Piccolo. "Besides, Gohan is with them this time. I'm sure he wouldn't let anything like that happen."

Eleven year old Uub and five year old Pan were amazed at what was taking place before them. Two of the greatest warriors in the universe, Goku and Vegeta, fighting in front of their very eyes at Super Saiyan level two. Uub knew Goku was powerful since the first time he fought him at the Budokai, but he had never seen him show this level of power.

"How does Goku-Sensei expect me to become his replacement?" He thought to himself.

Beside him, Pan was very excited. She already loved fighting, and often thought back to her first time in the Budokai. The golden auras, the fire balls, and the roar of the strikes amused her greatly. She swung her fists and jumped often, encouraging her grandfather to do his best. Gohan, the last of the spectators, sat quietly on the entrance steps watching the fight. He now understood why Goku and Vegeta had asked for the Room of Spirit and Time to be improved. It was because the Earth had suffered great damage from Goku and Vegeta's battle years ago.

"They've improved a lot." Gohan said to himself. "Very impressive."

The fight lasted for a long time. After a while, Vegeta began to gain the upper-hand, and delivered more blows than he took. Goku was losing energy, and Vegeta blocked a fire ball from Goku without even flinching.

"Vegeta is overflowing with energy." Said Gohan. "But if dad loses it's only because..."

Vegeta powered down to Super Saiyan level one and stared straight into Goku's eyes. "Stop patronizing me, Kakarotto! You're obviously holding back!"

"I could go Super Saiyan three, I guess," replied Goku, "But the last time I did that the fight ended way too quickly. It wasn't interesting or fun at all. Besides, after all of this time shouldn't you have become a Super Saiyan three as well?"

Vegeta, whose clothes were torn from the battle, folded his arms across his chest. "Level three is useless. I intend to do much better. But if you hold back, I won't be able to."

"What could be better than having long hair and no eyebrows?" Goku asked humorously.

"It uses up too much energy." Said Vegeta. "It's powerful but far too limited. We must find a better solution."

"But to surpass level three wouldn't you have to master it first?" asked Goku skeptically.

"Perhaps." Said Vegeta. "But there happens to be a person in this very room who is stronger than level three... And even without a single transformation."

A pause then occured, and the two Saiyans turned to Gohan. Uub and Pan, who were on either side of Gohan, began to look at him as well. This made Gohan a little uncomfortable, and he suddenly began to feel heavy.

"That door is our only way out, Gohan." said Vegeta suddenly, holding his arm out in Gohan's direction. "You had better protect it."

"Vegeta, what are you doing!?" asked Goku while Vegeta continued to accumulate more power.

Vegeta ascended to Super Saiyan level two and a ball of energy began to form in his hands.

"Pan!" Shouted Gohan. "Get out of the way fast!"

For the first time Pan saw a seriousness in her father that she had never seen before.

"Big... Bang..." Vegeta began.

"Gohan!" Goku screamed.

"Attack... !" Vegeta finished.

The blast crashed into the hands of Gohan, who cried out as it hit, surrounding himself with a near translucent white aura. Gohan should have been knocked back by the sheer power of the blast, but his support was not in his feet, and he began to levitate to remain on the spot. His glasses shattered and his shirt tore apart around his body.

The ground shook as the shock wave of the blast made two trips around the room, and an explosion of light surrounded the area. In spite of the amount of power, Gohan effectively stopped the blast. Apart from two yards of rubble left in the blast's wake, there was no damage, and smoke rose off of Gohan's unscathed hands. Gohan had not been hurt at all by the blast; there was no blood or even a single scratch on him.

"See, Kakarotto? That's the power I was talking about," said an exhausted Vegeta, whose hair faded back to black.

"Vegeta! You...You..." Gohan could not find the right words to say. He hesitated between pure anger and astonishment toward Vegeta's actions. "Is this why you asked me to come here!?" he asked.

"Don't be such a baby." Replied Vegeta, ignoring the question. "Piccolo will be able to fix your clothes when we return." Vegeta approached and placed a hand on Gohan's shoulder, much to the surprise of the half-Saiyan. "For over ten years I've dreamed of doing that." Said Vegeta. "Don't be angry with me."

"But Gohan has the powers of the Gods in him." Said Goku as he walked toward the two. "His strength has nothing to do with train-"

"We will cease combat." Said Vegeta, cutting Goku off. "I will never find a stronger opponent, so I will find the answers by myself."

Once they returned to the palace, Vegeta was ready to fly away when Gohan ran past Piccolo and Dende after him, who were both surprised to see Gohan in rags.

"Wait, Vegeta!" Gohan yelled, "Why did you do this? Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head!"

Vegeta turned and looked at Gohan as if the answer was obvious.

"You work to expand your mind, to discover why atoms go bling and blong and what not," replied Vegeta. "I work to push the limits of the Saiyan warrior."

Vegeta turned to leave when Gohan stopped him by grabbing his shoulder with one hand, stunning the prince. Vegeta returned a gaze to Gohan, whose expression had suddenly became much harder.

"Vegeta." Said Gohan. "If you ever do that around my daughter again... I swear I'll kill you..."

"Noted," replied the prince with a smile.

Vegeta then flew away and quickly vanished from sight. Gohan watched him disappear, calmed himself, and turned around. "Bling... And blong?" He murmured to himself thoughtfully.

"Dad!" Said Pan, appearing behind her father and grabbing his arm. "I didn't know you were so strong!"

"Pan... You're not hurt are you?" asked Gohan with obvious concern.

"No way!" She replied. "You stopped the whole blast! I'm fine!"

Pan was really proud of her father at that moment. Her broad smile and admiring eyes spoke volumes about what she thought of him. Goku and Uub then arrived out of the palace and joined Gohan and Pan.

"Son Gohan... What power!" Exclaimed Uub. "I've never seen you in combat before!"

"Yeah, Gohan doesn't like fighting." Said Goku. "I'm proud of how strong he is, but he hasn't really trained since the fight with Cell... It's kind of a shame."

"Is he... Stronger than you?" Uub asked.

"He was ten years ago." Replied Goku. "Since then, Vegeta and I have trained extensively every day. Uub, you haven't seen my true power yet, nor have you seen Gohan's... But I can see you becoming as strong as him someday!"

"But..." Uub began. "When I see how strong the three of you are, I just can't see how I-"

"You have to trust in your power, Uub." Said Goku. "In ten years you could become stronger than all of us!"

Uub didn't have as much confidence in himself as his sensei did, but he vowed to try his hardest to become stronger.

"Come, Gohan," said Piccolo. "I'll fix up your clothes."

"Thanks Piccolo." Replied Gohan.

"Gohan..." said Goku as he approached Gohan, "Don't be mad at Vegeta."

"I'll try, dad. It just pisses me off that he put Pan in danger."

"C'mon!" replied Goku. "It was fun and no one got hurt!"

"Grandpa's right!" said Pan.

"You were really impressive, Mr. Gohan!" said Uub with encouragement.

"Okay..." Said Gohan. "Let's just forget about it."

Gohan flew from the palace calmly, but the image of Pan in danger still lingered in his mind. "Damn you, Vegeta..." he muttered under his breath.

Pan, who was (for once) more interested in her father than her grandfather, flew up behind him to fly home together...