A/N: Quick note, the first four events in this chapter all happen simultaneously, just thought I'd point that out… okay? Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, althought that'd be sweet

Life after deaths

by BlueNightGVZ2341

Chapter Seventeen: Realization Dawning

Seven-year-old Son Goten stood in the ring, facing his next opponent. True, he had won the Junior Division title but that wasn't the end of his Tournament endeavor. On the opposite side of the ring stood a blonde haired male; his long hair was pulled back behind his head, his name was Sharpener.

Unaware to both of the fighters Sharpener was not supposed to be there arena with the young Demi-Saiyan. Having the tournament workers being unable to locate Mr. Satan, the designated fighter in the Exhibition Match, they became desperate and turned to the fighter that had won the Inner City tournament.

They all hoped that the spectators would think nothing up the lack of the 'Champ.' "Alright," the charming voice of the tournament announcer boomed from his signature microphone, "Are you crazy fighting fans ready for this?" Almost immediately a wave of cheering chorused back.

"This is going to be a real treat to all of you, as the Junior Champion, Son Goten, faces off against the Inner City Champion, Pencil Sharpener!" Son Goten? Sharpener thought to himself, "That has to be Gohan's little brother, I'll sure show that jerk that I'll be able to crush his brother and him!"

The announcer paused for a dramatic effect before clearing his throat, "Ready? Begin!"

oOoOo

Videl sat sobbing in her father's lounge room that an hour prior to the present time she was in the loving arms of her boyfriend. On the other side of the suite stood her father, glaring out the window. "I can't believe you would send him away like that," she spat, her voice still mixed with weeping she had done.

"You should be glad that's the only thing I did, Videl!" he retorted his loud voice booming at a fraction of the volume it was erstwhile to this current event; his gaze never leaving its preoccupation out the window.

"It won't matter anyway," Videl began standing to her feet, "He won't stay away, we'll still be together whether you like it or not." This caused Hercule to finally whip around, "Not as long as you live in my house and under my rules. I forbid you to ever interact with that boy again. I made it perfectly clear that you were never to date a boy, unless he is stronger than me."

"He is!" "Videl, you know that I am the World Champion! I defeated Cell, how dare you say that some punk could compare to my strength," Hercule boasted.

The raven-haired beauty felt her eyes freeze into an icy glare, "How can you lie right to my face?"

"W-w-what do you mean?" "

You've repeatedly said that lie to the entire world, if only you knew that it would catch up with you eventually," Videl dangerously explained.

Mr. Satan felt himself begin to sweat, she couldn't know that truth. How could she? She wasn't even there, no one knew. "Videl-" His words cut short by her own.

"You don't measure up to half of the lies you expound. I know whom really defeated Cell, father."

On the receiving end of this attack Hercule stood totally reeling. Someone knew his secret! Realization finally dawned on him of who she was talking about.

"Y-you don't m-mean t-t-that punk…do you?"

With one short nod from his daughter, Hercule realized that his world was coming to a screeching halt.

oOoOo

Spopovitch's huge physique took up a majority of the bench he was sitting on. "I saw him Yamu," the brute said in his hoarse voice, "He ran into me in that arrogant ass, Satan, quarters."

Yamu smirked, "Perfect, so far everything is going just as planned." "But-" the bestial Majin interjected. He took a moment to pause, what he was about reenact could spoil most of their plan. "I saw that damn Kai, and his lackey," he explained, his words seething with the loath his master had embedded him with.

"What?" the smaller of the two Majins spat, he too, angered by the mention of his tyrant's adversary. "They must be on to us," Spopovitch concluded darkly, his eyes glowering in the disdain he had towards Babidi's enemies.

"Master Babidi will be furious when this comes about, we can't proceed with the Kai breathing down our necks," Yamu stated. Nodding in agreement, the larger of the two stood up, "I guess this calls for a change of plans."

"But are there any others that will do?" Yamu skeptically asked, his arms crossed over his bare chest. "I don't know; but the punk we got the energy from before knows we're here, how will be able to put him into such a scenario again?" the fierce fighter determined.

"True," Babidi's minion glowered. "It would be worth the risk to find another suitable candidate, just to execute this correctly."

Nodding in satisfaction Spopovitch stood up, "We will find him during the drawings, then it will be like taking candy from a helpless baby."

oOoOo

With the previous encounter with Videl and her father still reeling in his head, Gohan pounded his fist against a brick wall. "Dammit!" he cursed, his pounding leaving an ample indentation in the wall. He could feel Videl's Ki spiking, very well knowing that a heated verbal sparring match with her father was still going on.

Guilt, embarrassment and anger all seethed within the Demi-Saiyan as he once more fell against the wall he let his aggression out on. It was his entire fault. If he hadn't forced Videl to go up there with him Mr. Satan wouldn't have caught them.

If he hadn't gotten Videl mad at him then he wouldn't have to use such a desperate means to reconcile. If he hadn't hit his bastard father than none of this would've happened. "Gohan?" a familiar, but formidable voice, said gently.

Gohan quickly jolted at the words, the voice, the Ki signature, it had to be him. "What do you want?" the Demi spat back, his voice etched with detest that he felt towards that certain person.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay, when you didn't come back after the preliminaries were said to be over…" the man explained, "I worry about you son-"

"Don't you dare even finish that word," Gohan growled, his back towards the deceased Saiyan. Goku sighed, "Gohan, please, talk to me at least. This is the last time I will see you for a very long time, probably forever, I just…" he digressed once more, "I just want us to be somewhat civilized during that time."

After a long pause Gohan turned around, his eyes glistened with anger as they already showed the words that would reply to his father's. "You could've prevented all of this, father," the half-breed barked.

"You're right, I could have, and if I could do it all over again I would. Gohan, there wasn't a moment that went by when I was in Other World when I didn't think about you. Your mother and I missed you, and Goten so, so much."

There was a long pause after Goku said those words. It was somewhat eerie the silence and the lack of the reply from the Demi-Saiyan. "G-gohan?" the orange clad fighter asked. "What do you expect me to say in response to such a noble declaration? Oh Daddy, I forgive you and I love you with all my heart."

The last sentence was said with a mocking voice. "I-I guess not," Goku answered. "I don't know what I expected to come out of saying that, but I knew it had to be said. I just want you to know that I didn't do what I did because of you."

Gohan turned his back to his father once more and began to walk away, quickly Goku thought of a follow up sentence, trying to get his son to talk to him. "Your mother told me that you thought that my death was your fault."

The half-breed warrior stopped in place. "She told me the day of Goten's birth that you said that it was your fault, it wasn't, son. I thought that I explai-"

"How dare you bring that up, you have no place to discuss my brother, or what happened on that day," Gohan snarled, his cold tone sending chills down Goku's spine.

"To tell you the truth, I'm glad that you died, if you didn't then nothing in my life would be the way it is now, and I like my life." "You mean that girl you were with, don't you?" the pureblooded Saiyan summed up. "I do," he answered, "Now get out of my sight."

Obediently, Goku walked away, but just as he was about the round the corner he heard more of his son's stinging words. "Come near me again like this and you'll be thankful that you're already dead."

Not stopping to absorb anymore of Gohan's threats and insults, Goku left.

His heart shattered.

oOoOo

Making the first move Sharpener charged forwards to attempt to land a punch on young Goten. The Demi-Saiyan stood in place and let the teen land his attack. A cocky smirk of achievement spread across Sharpener's face as he expected Goten to be in agonizing pain. Contrary to the truth it was the blonde fighter that was in the suffering, his hand turning increasingly read by the minute.

Sharpener had cockiness that was bestowed upon him from not seeing the Junior Championship match, therefor not seeing the extent of Goten's poignant power. His lips were the floodgates that held back that piercing scream that would coat the crowd's ears with his anguish.

Goten stepped back into a fighting stance, oblivious to any prior attacks that had taken place, much to Sharpener's dismay. Jumping of the cement tiles to plunge into the offensive, Goten landed a punch square in the blonde's jaw.

The teen champ soared to the outskirts of the ring, leaving an image of himself to create the illusion that the seven-year-old still was there, Goten invisibly chased after Sharpener and saved him from going out of the ring.

Then returning to where the illusion was, Goten locked eyes with Sharpener, and the blonde felt shackled with fright. Seeing that his opponent was about to recoil, young Goten decided to end this now.

Charging forward he ran into Sharpener with just enough strength to push his out of the ring. Cheers and laughter could be heard, each different aspect of the reaction of the crowd were distinct to each fighter.

As the announcer raised Goten's hand in the air, meanwhile Sharpener crawled away, humiliation gnawing at him like a predator on its prey.

oOoOo

A few hours later everyone that had moved on to the Adult Division gathered in a vacant arena. "Welcome all you fighters, and let me say congratulations on making it to the Tournament through the qualifying round," the announcer praised. Gohan stood next to Vegeta in the group of the twelve other fighters as he scanned the competition.

He began to feel uncomfortable, as he didn't spot Videl or her father, although he the Demi could live without, but not seeing his mate was very unnerving to him. He hoped that she was okay. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms again, not having to worry about anyone bothering them.

He knew that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together, all he had to do now was wait until the time was right. If his plans to drop out of High School pulled through he would just have to wait a few months before Videl completed her senior year. They could then go off to be with each other, forever.

"Gohan? Gohan? Is there a Gohan out there?" the Demi heard the commentator inquire. "Huh? Oh, sorry," Gohan quickly ran over to the box where you could pick your number that would decide where you would be fighting. After some fishing around, he finally decided on a ball that he would choose.

"Number twelve," the Saiyan read off, as he saw the two tournament workers writing down his name under that number. Checking where number twelve was, he saw that he was facing thirteen, to his surprise he was fighting his mentor, Piccolo.

After a few more minutes of everyone going through the drawing process a familiar name was called, "Videl?"

Looking with the announcer, Gohan, and unknowingly, Goku, looked for Videl to appear. The deceased Saiyan wanted to see the girl that his estranged son was seeing and supposedly mated to.

The sound of someone coming brought hope to the hybrid warrior, but it turned out to be one of Mr. Satan's assistants, claiming to draw for both 'the Champ' and Miss Videl. Mr. Satan's number was fifteen and Videl was number 10.

The number of spaces left on the board had dwindled to three leaving the numbers six, fourteen and three left to be determined. "Spopovitch, would Spopovitch please come up here?" the man asked.

Gohan watched as the huge man he bumped into earlier stand and head over to where he was called. As the massive Majin walked passed the Z-Fighters, Gohan clashed eyes with the villain, realization setting in to where he had seen him before.

The Majin picked number six and walked back, the dangerousness radiated from him as he had cast uneasiness as he walked by. As the other names were read off, the Z-Gang were completely aloof to it, their minds wrapped around a possibly new threat.

Back in the main arena the announcer stood center stage his microphone being brought up to his mouth, ready to speak. "Alright you fighting fans, are you ready for the main event?" An echo of excitement replied back to him immediately.

"That's what I wanted to hear! Here is the line up for this afternoon's tournament. In the first match we have Krillin versus Pintar. Then we have Kibito fighting Jule. Next Goku will square off against Vegeta. In the fourth match Spopovitch faces off with #18. After that Videl fights Shin. Then Gohan versus Piccolo, after that match we have Mighty Mask against our inner city champion, Sharpener. We'll conclude our first round with the World Champion, Mr. Satan versus Yamu. How does that sound?"

Another wave of cheers could be heard. "The first round will start in thirty minutes, so feel free to head to our numerous concession stands to get some refreshments and hang tight until all the excitement begins."

oOoOo

From behind the large poster that held the WMAT emblem on it the fighters all stood waiting and getting ready. "I'm going to go look for Videl," Gohan announced as he began to go off to find her.

"Stop, Gohan," Vegeta commanded his voice lowered as he said his next sentence, "How can you even think of that girl at a time like this. We have to think of a plan."

"He's right Gohan," Piccolo agreed. Hanging his head, Gohan complied with their whim. "The obviously are looking for new victims, I mean they wanted Gohan's energy, maybe they need more," Piccolo suggested. Unknowingly to our heroes, they were being watched.

"Kibito, it seems our friends are on to this development. I see we've underestimated them," Shin determined. Nodding to his master's insight, Kibito decided to put his two cents in, "We might be able to enlist them on our mission." "Yes, of course, but we need to wait until this all plays out, and then it begins."

"The first match will begin right now, would Krillin and Pintar come on out please!" The David and Goliath duo both walked down that stone pathway until, the giant, Pintar shoved Krillin out of the way, saying that the better of the two fighters should be first to enter the ring.

"Begin!" The ground shook under Pintar's mammoth weight as he charged towards the once Monk. Having the agility to dodge his giant opponent, Krillin easily maneuvered around him.

Waiting until the time was right Krillin, made it to the back of his contender and tripped him by kicking him in the back of the knee, sending him falling out of the ring.

oOoOo

Up in the stands, the non-participating Z-Fighters were cheering for their lifelong friend. "Yay!" little Marron cheered, "Go Daddy go! I bet he's gonna go to the finals and win!" Yamcha chuckled and patted the little girl on the head, "I bet you're right. Your Dad is a great fighter. One of the strongest in the World, Marron, you have every right to be proud."

oOoOo

"Well," the announcer forced out with little surprise strung through his voice, "I must say I'm not surprised to this WMAT tournament veteran easy beat his competition in the early round. Well done Krillin!"

Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, Krillin made a peace sign as he walked out of the ring, back to where his fellow competitors where assembled. "Nice job Krillin," Goku praised, patting his best friend on the back.

"Thanks, Goku, but that is probably the only match I'll win," the once bald man admitted.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Krillin," Piccolo advised as he turned back to Shin and Kibito.

"Kibito is going to be fighting Jule, who doesn't seem to be much of fighter. Kibito and Shin concern me however, their power much like Spopovitch and Yamu are both exponentially higher than I would expect from any of the earthlings, I guess we'll have to wait and see," Piccolo thought intently.

The voice of the tournament commentator could be heard from inside the fighter area, "Kibito and Jule, come on down!" The red skinned fighter along with the narcissistic blonde headed towards the ring.

The commencement of the fight had instigated and Jule made the first move.

Running towards his foe, the human threw an easily blocked punch and was thrown out of the ring with great ease.

"Um… and with that Jule is eliminated and Kibito advances to the next round." As the mysterious fighter reentered the personal area for the competitors he received a quick nod from Shin and they both stood as still statues. "Next match we have is bound to be exciting, we have Goku and Vegeta facing off. Would both these fighters please come to the arena now."

Gohan gave his friend a brisk nod as small smirk forming on his handsome face.

"I'll make you proud, brat," the Prince promised as he stepped past the wood block.

"This will be interesting," Piccolo exclaimed.

"That's for sure," Krillin added.

Gohan nodded in agreement, he knew that this battle would never finish, but it would only start something more.

End of Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I implore all of you to forgive me for my belated chapter. I had no idea that it would be this late for the update. I have been so busy with High School and numerous sports and friends and family plans; my writing had fallen to the near bottom of my priority list. I regret to inform you that the next chapter will be up in a month or so, at best. I also would like to apologize for the relative shortness of this chapter; the story will be much more interesting. As I said in my earlier author's note the next chapter will be the commencement of the Buu Saga. Chapter Eighteen: Chaos of Epic Proportions. Here is also the line of up of the tournament, I did throw this together at the spur of the moment, not much thought was put into it. But don't worry half of the matches won't even take place.

1st match:

Krillin V.S. Pintar

2nd match:

Kibito V.S. Jule

3rd match:

Goku V.S. Vegeta

4th match:

Spopovitch V.S. #18

5th match:

Videl V.S. Shin

6th match:

Gohan V.S. Piccolo

7th match:

Mighty Mask V.S. Sharpener

8th match:

Mr. Satan V.S. Yamu

Another thing I wanted to point out is how I didn't mention many of the characters in this chapter, but this chapter is bridging the two sagas together so I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way before continuing. Constructive criticism is better than no review so please tell me what I can do better and what you liked or didn't like about this chapter. I know beggars cannot be choosers but if I could get 25 reviews for this chapter it will only speed up the process. Although I will never resort to with holding chapters to get reviews, I am just asking. P.L.E.A.S.E. R.E.V.I.E.W! I can't say this enough: You guys rock my socks!

Blue Night