Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragonball V: A World Both Familiar and Foreign ❯ Message in a Space Bottle ( Chapter 15 )

DragonBall V: A World Both Familiar and Foreign

Author's Note: This particular part skips forward a few years and there are a few more changes. Namely, the Tenkaichi Budoukai has been changed a bit. It's still held every three years, but also there are smaller regional tournaments during this time leading to 8 major regional tournaments [meaning the world is divided into 8 regions for the purposes of the tournaments] a few months before the Budoukai which if you win for your region you're guaranteed a spot in the Budoukai. There is also a tournament that is by invitation only and takes place inside a hollowed out mountain in the middle of the ocean, very secretive. In other words, there is a lot more options for the martial arts community. Also, there won't be any Garlic Jr. in this universe. That sucker is still stuck in the dead zone where he'll rot for eternity. He he. Now, on to the story.

Required Disclaimer: I don't own the DB franchise, I've never worked for them, I'm not making any money off this, and I'm dead sexxy baby! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 15: Message in a Space Bottle

[AN: It has been a few years since chapter 14. Gohan is now 8 years old. Trunks never showed up to warn about any killer androids and so far Goku hasn't suffered from any killer heart virii]

Vegeta strolled into Bulma's lab, a towel around his shoulders from the workout in the gravity generator he had just finished. "What are you working on, woman? I thought you'd be in bed by now." Vegeta scowled as he looked over Bulma's shoulder.

Bulma looked up at her mate and smiled. "Hey hon. I received a strange message but I can't understand it. But the language sounds familiar. You know a fair number of alien languages, right?" After Vegeta nodded, Bulma pressed a button to play the message. "Does this one sound familiar?"

Vegeta's gaze became intense. "Where did that message come from!?"

Bulma blinked in surprise at the prince's response. "Well, to tell the truth I'm not sure yet. Do you recognize the language?"

Vegeta nodded grimly. "It's Saiyan… a slang form of it anyway. Do you know how many light years away this message came from?"

Bulma typed on the keyboard in front of her for several minutes and frowned. "No. Actually, it looks like it came through subspace… it's a near real time message."

Vegeta leaned forward, gripping the work table so hard it cracked. "That's impossible! There aren't any Saiyans left except for Kakkarot and myself!"

Bulma shrugged. "Maybe some weren't on Vegeta-sei when Freiza destroyed it or perhaps some managed to escape?"

Vegeta frowned in thought. "Do you have a three dimensional space map handy?"

Bulma rolled her seat over to another station and punched in a sequence and a three dimensional space map hologram popped up in the middle of the room. "Here you go, hon."

Vegeta looked over the map and walked over to one section. "Make this area larger." He commanded.

"Just touch it." Bulma replied softly.

Vegeta grunted and brought his hand forward and a menu popped up. A moment later that area of the map was the only one on the large hologram. "Play the message again, woman." Vegeta growled out. Bulma sighed, knowing that Vegeta would be a jerk until he was satisfied, and played the message again. Vegeta frowned and brought his finger up and traced a path on the map until he came to a planet. He tapped the planet and a menu popped up and he selected an option to display everything known about the planet. "This planet has an abundance of animal and plant life, but no sentient life. I wonder why it was never sold by Frieza?"

Bulma shivered slightly at the mention of the maniacal space tyrant. She walked over and looked at the surrounding area around the planet. "See this red field here? It's a thick gas cloud. Most travelers would avoid it. My guess is, this planet is only visible occasionally so maybe no one had looked into it further?"

Vegeta frowned. "Maybe. Woman, prepare the space ship. I'm going to go see Kakkarot and then we're going to investigate this. If there are Saiyans out there trying to contact me, then it is my duty as their prince to meet them."

Bulma scowled, not liking the idea of Vegeta going out into space again. However, she knew there was no use in arguing with him. She watched as he walked out and then blasted off into the air towards the Son home.

*********************

Vegeta stormed into the Son house as if he owned it and immediately bellowed. "Kakkarot! I must speak with you at once!"

Chi-Chi ran into the room and frowned at Vegeta. "Goku is taking a bath. Won't you have a seat and wait? I can get you some tea."

Vegeta snarled at Chi-Chi, but immediately frowned and sat down. It wouldn't be a good idea to upset Goku's mate, both because Goku was approximately equal in strength to Vegeta and because Chi-Chi talked to Bulma regularly and something like that would mean he'd have to sleep on the couch. Not that the couch wasn't very comfortable, mind you, but even Vegeta doesn't like sleeping alone. Plus it's a lot harder to get your mate interested in sex when you're down the hall from her. "Fine." Vegeta said flatly.

Gohan wandered in, taking a break from his studies and stretched with a yawn. He had heard Vegeta's voice so figured it was the perfect chance to take a break. "Hey Uncle Vegeta!" Gohan exclaimed, hopping up onto the couch to wrap his arms around the prince's neck in an embrace.

Vegeta grunted and patted the boy on the back. He didn't know why the boy insisted on calling him uncle or displaying affection, but as one of the last Saiyans… possibly last Saiyans, Vegeta mentally corrected himself, it was advantageous to have a good relationship with the boy. Plus, he didn't have any children of his own yet and he was beginning to wonder if he ever would. "Gohan." Vegeta said with a nod. "You're taking a break from your studies I see. When am I going to be able to convince you to spar with me, brat?"

Gohan frowned, not from being called a brat as he was accustomed to that from the elder Saiyan, but because he brought up fighting again. "You'd pound me into the ground, Uncle Vegeta. I haven't been practicing that much."

Vegeta scowled. "You have the blood of a warrior race flowing through your veins and all you do is study, boy! It's not healthy. You need to get better at fighting, we might have to rely on you in combat someday."

Gohan had become practiced at changing the subject on Vegeta, which he chose to do now. "So how is Aunt Bulma?"

Vegeta couldn't help the grin that came to his face whenever he thought of his beloved mate. "As beautiful as the day I met her. And twice as feisty. In fact, it was a discovery of hers that is the reason I'm here."

Gohan's ears perked up. Discoveries always caught his attention. He loved visiting Bulma and spending the day with her in her lab and learning things that she had discovered or invented. "Oh? What is it, Uncle Vegeta?"

Vegeta shook his head slowly. "I'm waiting for Kakkarot to return from the bath so that I can discuss it with him." The prince noticed the boy's expression turn sad, so he quickly added, "But you're welcome to stay and listen. After all, it may affect you as well."

Goku chose that moment to walk in, dressed in a pair of red sweatpants and a blue muscle shirt and still drying his hair with the towel. "Hey Vegeta." Goku greeted, even though the towel was obscuring his vision. He could sense Vegeta the moment he approached his house, after all, and he knew exactly where the older Saiyan was despite the towel over his face.

"Kakkarot, finish drying your damned hair and sit down. I have something important to talk to you about." Vegeta said gruffly.

"Can it wait? I'm hungry!" Goku exclaimed, smelling lunch in the kitchen.

"You're always hungry, you clown!" Vegeta snapped, but with a grin on his face. "Fine… I'm hungry as well. There is enough for me as well, I hope?"

Chi-Chi popped her head in. "With two Saiyans in the house I've gotten use to overcooking, Vegeta. You're welcome to eat with us. Come on in, it's on the table."

"All right!" Goku exclaimed and ran in and was already wolfing down food by the time Gohan and Vegeta sat down. They both scowled at Goku and grabbed some food and tried to catch up to the ever hungry Saiyan. After they finished they returned to the sitting room and relaxed, patting their full stomachs. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about, Vegeta?" Goku asked.

Goku leaned forward, his expression turning grim. "Bulma received a transmission today. It was in real time, and it was in a form of Saiyan that lower class soldiers such as yourself are known to use. It was a message asking if any other Saiyans had survived the battle where Frieza blew up our home planet, and it gave their location. Bulma helped me locate their planet and I think we should go there. I have to go, as the Saiyan prince I can do no less. I want you to come with me, being one of the last full-blooded Saiyans yourself. Will you come with me?"

Goku glanced at Gohan. "What about Gohan? He's a Saiyan, too."

Vegeta frowned. "It may become too dangerous for him. Besides, if something does happen to us, I draw comfort in the idea that the Saiyans would live on through Gohan. And I trust him to help watch over Bulma as well as your mate."

Goku frowned in thought. "It would be interesting to meet other Saiyans. Aw man, but there's a martial arts competition coming up and I was going to compete! We could sure use the money. Can we wait a couple of weeks?"

Vegeta scowled. "Damn it Kakkarot, this is more important than a stupid competition! Have your brat compete in your place, it's not like he can't win, he's a Saiyan for Kami's sake!"

Goku turned to smile at Gohan. "Hey, yeah! You'll compete, won't you Gohan?"

Gohan shifted around nervously. "But daddy… that would mean I'd have to fight!"

Goku shook his head. "But it's friendly competition. It's not a fight to the death. You know that. There's nothing wrong with pitting your skills against others. Besides, we could really use that prize money! If I can't go, you have to."

Gohan sighed. His father was guilt-tripping him into going. He nodded, frowning. "Ok, daddy."

Goku grinned. "Thanks, son. You'll make me proud." They got up and informed Chi-Chi of what was happening.

After several minutes of her yelling that he was abandoning her again, she finally relented when she saw the need in his eyes to go. She sighed and gave her husband a kiss and held him close. She turned to Vegeta and gave him he sternest scowl. "You make sure he comes back to me safe and sound, mister, or you better not return at all!"

Vegeta growled softly, but just nodded. 'Kami, this woman should have been a Saiyan.' Vegeta thought. A half hour later, he and Goku were flying back towards Capsule Corporation. When they arrived, Yamcha, Krillin, and Piccolo were waiting on them. "What are you all doing here?" Vegeta demanded gruffly.

Krillin frowned, accustomed to Vegeta's crankiness. "Bulma called me and Yamcha and Piccolo just followed us here." Krillin replied.

"I felt their kis coming here so I figured something was up." Piccolo explained with a frown.

Vegeta scowled. "Kakkarot and I are going into outer space to investigate a signal that may have come from surviving Saiyans. Your assistance is not needed. This is a Saiyan matter."

"I'm getting tired of your Saiyan superiority complex, Vegeta!" Yamcha yelled, clenching his fists. He was still sore after all these years that Vegeta had 'stolen his girlfriend' after all.

Vegeta gave Yamcha a feral grin that made the human back off a bit. "Look, human. If these are Saiyans, they would know you aren't one of us. Kakkarot and I have a better chance of having friendly relations with them if we go alone."

"Besides, you guys should stay here in case there's a problem on Earth. It may need you guys while we're gone, after all. And Piccolo, I'd like to ask you to stay at my house until we get back to keep an eye on Gohan and Chi-Chi, if you wouldn't mind?" Goku added quickly.

Piccolo nodded. "Sure, Goku. I never mind visiting Gohan. I'll keep an eye on Chi-Chi too."

Krillin sighed. "You sure I can't come? It's been awfully lonely without Roshi. I hate to say it, but I miss the old pervert. His house is just so empty when it's just me there all alone."

Vegeta shook his head. "They might not feel comfortable with an alien race. It's bad enough that neither Kakkarot or myself have our tails anymore. They'd know you weren't a Saiyan the moment they smelled you."

"Eh… don't even explain that one, Vegeta." Krillin said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't want to be in a cramped spaceship with you anyway, Vegeta." Yamcha grumbled.

Vegeta moved closer to Yamcha and glared at him. "Keep your damned hands off of my mate while I'm gone, weakling. I'd hate to upset her by ripping your head off."

Bulma chose that moment to walk out, followed by a robot carrying some bags for Vegeta. "Hon, you know Yamcha respects me too much to try anything. He knows you and I only have eyes for each other. There's no reason to threaten him." She embraced Vegeta and kissed the bond scar, knowing that always reassured the prince.

Vegeta grinned and kissed hers as well. He paused for a moment and looked at Bulma, surprise flickering over his face. "Bulma… perhaps I shouldn't go." Vegeta stated.

Bulma was surprised at this. "Huh? No… you need to go, Vegeta. This is important to you. I'll be fine."

Vegeta frowned. "Krillin, can I speak with you for a moment in private?"

The bald monk blinked in surprise. 'Something serious, he didn't call me baldie.' He thought. Aloud, he replied, "Sure, Vegeta."

Vegeta walked away from the others, though he knew Goku would be able to hear him anyway. "Krillin… Bulma… she's pregnant. I don't trust Yamcha around her, he's still bitter about her choosing me over him. I would feel better if you stayed here to watch over her. Would you do that for me?"

Krillin's mouth hung open in surprise. "Bulma's pregnant!?"

Vegeta snarled. "Quiet! I don't think she even knows yet. I smelled the change in her. Just, watch over her, ok? Help her with anything she needs. Keep her safe."

Krillin nodded. "Of course. She's a good friend, I could do no less."

Vegeta nodded. "It goes without saying that you should keep your hands off of her, of course." He smirked, teasing the shorter man.

Krillin grinned and nodded. 'His humor is sometimes hard to pick up.'

They rejoined the others and Vegeta embraced Bulma one last time, kissing her and telling her he'd be back as soon as possible and to stay safe. Bulma nodded and smiled, unsure of what was going on. Vegeta cast one last sad look at her and walked into the space ship after making sure the robot had put his bags in a secure place. "Come on, Kakkarot! I haven't got all day!"

Goku grinned at Bulma and Krillin. "Take care, you guys. By the way, Piccolo. Gohan is entering the Tenkaichi Budoukai in my place. So root for him for me, will you?"

Piccolo grinned. "Sure, Goku. It'll be nice to see Gohan practicing martial arts again. Maybe I can train him a bit before the tournament."

Goku shrugged. "Well, the tournament is tomorrow. I doubt you'll be able to get any training in. But Gohan has at least kept up with his forms, but I'm afraid he hasn't gotten much better over the years. Someday maybe we'll convince him to start training harder. All that studying is going to rot his brain!" Goku grinned. Then he turned to Bulma. "I'm gunna miss you, Bulma. By the way, there's plenty of food on the ship, right?"

Bulma laughed and nodded. "Plenty to feed both you and Vegeta for quite a long time. And there's some kitchen robots to cook for you, though they're not quite as good as Chi-Chi. But they'll do. Keep Vegeta out of trouble, ok?"

"I heard that, woman! If anything, I'll have to keep that clown out of trouble!" Vegeta yelled from inside the ship, making everyone laugh except for Yamcha who scowled and flew off.

"Well, I better go before Vegeta pops a blood vessel or something." Goku said, giving Bulma a hug and shaking Krillin's hand. He waved one last time and boarded the ship, which took off several minutes later.

Krillin turned to Bulma and grinned. "Well, looks like I'll be staying with you for a while. Are you up for a game of poker?"

Bulma grinned. "The last time we played poker you tried to get me to play strip poker. Vegeta wasn't too happy about that, ya know."

Krillin chuckled. "Aw, it's all harmless fun. Let's get inside, then."

***********************

The next day, Gohan looked around the arena, his eyes almost as wide as saucers. "Wow!" Gohan exclaimed, looking at all the people.

"Come on, Gohan. We need to get you registered." Piccolo said gruffly.

"You do your best and win us that money, Gohan. I'll be cheering for you!" Chi-Chi told him, giving him one last hug and a kiss on the top of his head before watching him walk into the registration area. She then found Bulma and Krillin and sat with them. "Why aren't you entering, Krillin?" She asked.

Krillin shrugged. "Probably the same reason as Piccolo. There's no point, really. The only competition I'd have is him, anyway. I don't need the money, and Piccolo doesn't even use money."

Bulma poked him in the ribs with her elbow and chuckled. "Aw, you know I'd take care of you if you did need money anyway, cutie."

Krillin blushed in embarrassment, laughing nervously. "Aw, thanks Bulma. You're a pal."

The registration official looked across the table at Gohan and Piccolo and frowned. "Name?"

"Son Gohan." He replied.

The official then looked at Piccolo. "And are you registering as well, sir?"

Piccolo shook his head. "Not this time around. Maybe next time." He replied gruffly.

The official nodded and looked through some papers. "I don't see your name listed, Mr. Son."

Gohan frowned. "My daddy told me to compete in his place. His name is Son Goku."

The official's face lit up, not needing to look that name up. "Oh, he's a former champion. How old are you?"

"Eight, sir." Gohan replied politely.

The official frowned. "I'm afraid we're no longer letting children compete against the adults. You'll have to compete in the junior league. And since you haven't competed before, you're not guaranteed a spot in the tournament. You'll have to compete in a qualifying match."

Gohan shrugged. "Ok, that's fine. Who do you want me to fight?"

The official laughed. "That's not until later, little guy. Here, fill this form out please and return it to me when you're done."

Gohan nodded and sat down on a nearby bench next to Piccolo and looked the form over. He filled out his name and address and such easily but he paused when he came to sensei. "What do I put here? Your name, Piccolo?"

Piccolo considered that. "Well, your father hasn't really trained you but you can put his name down as primary sensei. For secondary, put Ma Junior."

Gohan scratched his head. "Whose that?"

The Namek grinned. "That's me. Or at least the name I compete under. Long story, I'll tell it to you sometime."

Gohan frowned. "Shouldn't I put you as primary since you're the one who really trained me?"

Piccolo shrugged. "Whatever you like, kid. It doesn't really matter."

Gohan nodded and put it down that way. "Oh, I have to fight in a gi with my sensei's symbol. I only have a plain blue gi." Gohan said with a frown.

Piccolo zapped a beam at Gohan and his clothes changed into a blue and orange gi, with Piccolo's symbol on the front and the Kamesennin symbol on the back like Goku's use to be before he trained under King Kai. "That should cover it." Piccolo stated.

Gohan grinned. "Thanks, Piccolo!" He filled out the rest of the form, leaving the tournament experience section blank since he had none. He turned it in and grinned at the official who looked it over.

"Ma Junior and Son Goku… you have some credible sensei's, young man. Both are former champions and top placers. I trust at least one of them is here with you?" The official asked.

Piccolo nodded. "I'm Ma Junior."

The official smiled. "Why aren't you competing, then?!"

Piccolo frowned. "I have my reasons. Hurry up and finish his registration!"

The official was intimidated so quickly copied down what he needed to and pointed Gohan to the waiting area. Piccolo patted Gohan on the back and wished him good luck and went to join Chi-Chi and the others. Gohan looked around at all the other children and grinned. "Well, this should be fun."

One of the other officials came in a little while later and looked the children over, performing a quick head count to make sure they were all present. "Ok, we have 24 competitors for the junior championship and only 16 slots. 8 of these are guaranteed spots because of placements in former competitions, so the rest of you will compete for the final 8 slots. The 8 competitors who will not have to have a qualifying match are Yui Kerin, Mao Tai, Phillips Gene, Videl Satan, Stoner Eric, Lucy Rivers [AN: Teehee using my own name, I'm so bad], Gerrick Julien, and Emerson Waldo. The rest of the matches will be called in a few moments."

Gohan watched as 8 of the competitors walked over to some benches and sat down, apparently the 8 that were guaranteed spots. One of them particularly caught his eye, a dark haired blue eyed girl. 'Damn she looks familiar. She's pretty cute… for a girl.' Gohan thought. She glanced up at him and flashed him a friendly smile, which he returned nervously. His attention shifted to the official as he heard his name.

"Son Gohan versus Adams Stanley." Gohan looked around to see a nervous looking blonde boy who was apparently his competition. They all watched as the first qualifying match started. Gohan's would be the third of eight. Gohan stretched a bit and then sat down and tried to clear his mind to meditate a bit, one of the few things that Piccolo had taught him that he still tried to do daily. About 15 minutes later, he heard his name called so he stood up and walked out onto the fighting area. He remembered the rules from his father's descriptions and the official had repeated them for those that didn't know so he was ready.

He assumed a fighting stance and studied his opponent's form. 'He's a bit hesitant but his form is pretty good. I see very few flaws in it.' He heard his mother and Bulma cheering so he flashed them a quick smile before turning his attention back on his opponent.

"Begin the match!" The announcer shouted.

Gohan and Stanley approached each other slowly, looking for openings to attack. Gohan let his guard down for a moment and extended his hand for a friendly shake. Stanley smiled and shook his hand before backing off a step and resuming his fighting posture. Gohan was happy that the match would at least be friendly, feeling better about fighting now. They circled each other slowly before Stanley suddenly threw a kick which Gohan easily blocked. 'Hmm, he's not that strong but he's pretty fast.' Gohan used the opening to push on the other boy, making him lose his balance and stumble backwards. 'And he has terribly balance.'

Stanley regained his footing and frowned before running forward to throw a wild punch. Gohan moved sideways and grabbed his arm and flipped him over onto his back, but held onto the arm and knelt down to press his knee into the shoulder. "Submit so I don't have to put pressure on you." Gohan said softly.

Stan scowled and tried to roll out from under Gohan but a bit of pressure changed his mind. "I submit!" He yelled, not wanting his arm to get yanked out of the socket.

Gohan immediately stood up and helped him up and patted him on the back. "You put up a good match. You need to work on your balance though."

Stan grinned. "I know, sensei keeps getting on to me about that. Thank you for a good match." Stan respectfully bowed and raised Gohan's hand, showing he wasn't a sore loser.

Gohan grinned and walked back into the waiting area and sat down next to the girl he had noticed earlier. He smiled at her and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Son Gohan. It's nice to meet you."

Videl smiled as well and shook his hand. "I'm Videl Satan. My dad is competing also in the adult competition. Your name sounds familiar, by the way. Son… are you related to Son Goku?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah, that's my father."

Videl grinned. "He competed in the past three competitions and placed highly in them. Is he competing this year?"

Gohan shook his head. "No, he had to go away on business so he asked me to compete in his place. I didn't know about this junior division though." 'She sure is nice. I wonder how far away from me she lives?'

"You had some good moves out there. I look forward to seeing you compete. Maybe we'll even face each other?" Videl smiled, her competitive nature coming to the forefront.

Gohan smiled. "Yeah, maybe."

They were silent for a few minutes before Videl turned to him. "This may sound silly, but have we met before? Maybe you competed in some of the junior competitions in the Orange Star City region?" [AN: That was the name of the city before it was renamed Satan City, in case you were wondering]

Gohan shook his head. "No, this is my first competition. But you're right, when I saw you I felt like I had met you before. I wonder where? Maybe we ran into each other when we were younger?"

Videl nodded. "Probably. No matter. It's nice to meet you, even if we've met before."

Gohan smiled. "Same here, Videl." The last of the qualifying fights was then over. They would have a bit of a break before their first fight. Gohan looked up and saw he was facing a boy named Moore Michael in the sixth round and Videl would fight Phillips Gene in the second round. It would be an interesting day.

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Teehee, did you like this chapter? Videl and Gohan meet pretty early. I looked into the Tenkaichi Budoukai tournaments and found something strange… when the Buu Saga started, the tournament that Gohan, Videl, Goku, and everyone else competed in should have been the 29th tournament, instead it was listed as the 25th meaning that in the 12 years between the 23rd and 25th there was only one tournament instead of 4. This makes no sense, so just figure that when that particular tournament rolls around it'll be the 29th and not the 25th. Ok? Teehee I had considered waiting until Gohan and Videl were 11 before they met in a tournament, but I didn't want to wait that long. I'm impatient that way. I don't think many of you will complain though, am I right? Anyway, review please so I'll be happy and want to write chapter 16. J