(Two weeks later)
Timetables and schedules restored to their original settings, the Z-fighters quickly returned to the lives that they'd left behind in the days of the chaos surrounding their half-Saiyan compatriot. Though tensions and stress had been high over the course of that long week and a bit, things quickly calmed down for the fighting members of the troop, allowing all of them to go back to whatever it was they did best. You know… when they weren't saving the world from evil monsters and everything.
After celebrating Gohan's recovery, Kana returned to her star system to carry out her business as an interstellar negotiator, promising to visit the group again. Since she had such strong ties to the half-Saiyan hero of earth, there was no way they were going to lose her so easily.
While the Briefs family went back to dealing with their multi-billion-dollar corporation, Vegeta predictably went back to the Gravity Room, which was basically his second home. Feeling he was falling behind at an incredibly fast pace, the man was now more determined than ever to push himself to the same level that Gohan and Zangya had both reached. Knowing that a third form of Super Saiyan existed and that even his arch rival had managed to achieve it in his time spent in Otherworld, the prince was positive that he could reach it as well. That meant cranking up the training room to its highest settings possible and abusing the fuck out of his body to get the necessary results to achieving that strength. However, after seeing the trouble his rival's son had to go through pushing himself to accomplish that state, the man knew he had to find some other form of outlet to get there in his own way.
Gohan accomplished his through a combination of both rage and an alternative power source, while the teen's father, following his boy's example, had primal instincts and good, old-fashioned perseverance on his side. Based on that history of success, Vegeta reasoned with himself that if he was able to reach the first level of Super Saiyan his own way, then what was stopping him from finding a different route to gaining Super Saiyan 3?
A Saiyan's power was limitless, as far as he was concerned. That all depended on how much one could achieve in their lifetime.
With Vegeta spending most of his hours toiling away doing continuous pushups and situps, Piccolo was back up on the Lookout, switching times between meditating, giving lessons to the new guardian of earth, and doing some planet watching just like the good old days. He tried testing out his advanced hearing by narrowing down the voices of all the normal people on the surface of his home world. But since there were so many families and local groups living in each of the many community pockets, and they all pretty much had the same ki signature as the next person, the man always found this task of focusing in on each individual to be a bit of a chore.
At least it gave him something to do when not stopping by Gohan's place for a visit.
Speaking of which, Chi-Chi, pleased to have all her children back under one roof and in one piece, was now going to great lengths to make sure that her oldest son was doing alright. Even though Bulma tested Gohan to be completely free of the heart virus strain, the mother, acting on fierce parental instincts, still felt the need to make sure that the demi-Saiyan was comfortable at home and had all the resources necessary to achieving a full recovery. Though at times it did feel like she was acting like one of her children had the flu and was going overboard with her treatments, nobody wanted to argue against her about it. After all, her chicken soups and herbal teas were amazing, and Gohan, Goten, and Zangya had nothing to complain about.
Aside from getting back to school about two weeks behind on work, Gohan was quickly able to make up for his absence in class. Though there were many apologies he needed to make to his friends and to the members on his swimming team, he was still able to get all of his affairs in order just in time for the competitions. He even made good on his promise to help Lime with her homework, which she was having quite a bit of trouble with. Furthermore, whenever he was not out in Satan City for school related purposes, he was back at home, training with his younger brother and his best friend, both of whom were glad to have him around again.
On this particular occasion, in the middle of the two week period, the residents had decided to live it up the only way they knew how.
A large explosion rocked the countryside surrounding the Son Household, sending a blast of dust high into the air and signaling the collision of the two strongest warriors on the planet. Their forms being thrown out of the cloud's radius, both Gohan and Zangya skidded to a halt, digging their feet into the ground to cut off their momentum. The instant they did, both warriors revealed to the world their ruined, dirt covered uniforms and their forms bathed in the glows of their respective transformations.
While Gohan had achieved a fully controlled Super Saiyan 2 state, his spiky golden hair waving above him and blue electricity running up and down his body, Zangya had gone for her first Super Hera transformation. Their auras gone due to the simultaneously hits they'd managed to land on one another, this left both warriors in a neutral state that allowed them to better hold their forms without exerting any excess energy. Those instances were reserved solely for when they needed either a boost in strength or speed in order to catch their opponents off guard. Nevertheless, both fighters looked as equally impressive as the other in their powered-up states and they weren't in the least bit afraid of showing it.
The only difference here was their overall difference in power, which quickly became apparent when the panting Hera acknowledged her opponent's strength with a grin. "Damn. You really are one tough son of a bitch. Aren't you even the least bit tired?"
The teenager on the other end of the field chuckled. "Just give me a couple more minutes and a few more shots to the head. I'm sure I'll conk out eventually," he teased with a straight face. Even though he did his best to hide it, the Saiyan's competitive nature was unable to suppress the smugness that was reflected in his grin.
"Oh, ha-ha. Very funny, wise guy." Zangya then stood back up and dropped into a new fighting stance, arms held wide apart with her fingers curled into claws. "While you were lying around and wasting away under the sheets in the hospital wing, I was training with Vegeta to get my skills up and to work all the knots out of my system. Not to mention I've added a new transformation to my repertoire."
"So I've heard. I'm actually really curious to see what you can do with that new form of yours," Gohan replied in earnest, stepping forward with his right and taking a southpaw stance, which prompted his opponent to adjust the position of her hands once again. It'd once again reached a point where both fighters were now testing each other out from a distance, accommodating themselves for every time the other warrior changed styles. Since the two of them had such a diverse range of techniques under their belts, even the slightest alteration in combat performance meant a big difference in terms of the result. "Do you think you'll need it to bring this Super Saiyan down?"
Zangya smirked, "If push comes to shove, maybe I will. But don't count on in. I've still got a lot more tricks up my sleeve."
This drew a nod from the golden haired warrior. "Then let the best man or woman win." His aura then exploded around him with a storm of lightning, cracking the ground under the force and shaking the countryside for over a mile.
His power up prompting his foe to do the same, only with a green aura, the two fighters then leapt off the ground and charged their adversary down. The sky soon became filled with the telltale signs of miniature sonic explosions, as the super powered pair became locked in a heated exchange of punches and kicks; their attacks impacting their quarry in a vicious show of skill and power. Their shouts and yells were drowned out by the sheer volume of their clash, as the full force of their inhuman strength was thrown into the mix in an effort to outgun the opposition. Entire clouds were blown away and had chunks taken out of them when the force of the duo's blows eventually echoed up to them, rattling the sky for hundreds of kilometers in all directions.
And both weren't even fighting at full power.
While this concert was going on, down on ground level, Goten was getting his own workout. Wanting to tear away from the kitchen for a while and join in with the rest of her family, Chi-Chi quickly found herself in the process of giving her youngest the workout of a lifetime. This pretty much involved her chasing after her son and lashing out at him with her father's style of martial arts, her hands cutting through the air towards Goten in a terrifying blur of movement. The boy dodged all of her hits as best as he could, with shouts of fear leaving his lips as the woman struck at him with lightning fast shots.
Though she was nowhere near as strong as her sons in terms of power, the mother certainly made up for her shortcomings with aggressiveness, determination, and passion. On top of that, she was definitely scary when she was serious, a trait that all members of the Son family were intimately familiar with.
"Come on, Goten!" Chi-Chi practically screamed, throwing a kick at the boy and watching him dodge with a yelp. "Keep your eyes on me! You can't expect to fight your opponent if you can't tell what they're doing!" She then charged at the boy and lunged at him with a series of palm strikes, forcing the child to weave between them.
The demi-Saiyan panicked as he dodged, "Ah! B-But mum-! Whoa!" He then blocked a snap kick that came way too close for comfort, only to then parry a swift right chop. "Wait a second! I can't keep up! Let me just-AH!" He was then forced to block an axe kick that dropped straight down on top of him, the impact causing the ground beneath him to crack.
Holding her leg in place, the normally docile housewife then leered. "Not on your life, son! If you want to survive out there fighting alongside your brother, then you have to learn to control your strength and your energy! You can't just go around using it all at once! You have to be smart and fight using your head!" She then drew her leg back in and, spinning on the spot, snapped a kick into her boy's stomach. The blow landed hard and sent her son flying, where he then crash-landed on the grass several feet away. As soon as he was down, Chi-Chi took another offensive stance. "Feel and see what the opponent is doing, and counter. Don't just stand there and take everything thrown at you."
Struggling to get back up and coughing a few times, Goten then looked up with a whimper, "B-But… you're too strong when I'm like this. C-Can't I just use a tiny bit of energy?"
Chi-Chi responded with a firm shake of her head, "Uh-uh. This training is about getting you to use your senses without using your full strength. If an enemy manages to take away your powers, then you've got nothing. You only have your fighting skills to fall back on. Not only that, you have to learn to control your strength… especially when you're dealing with other people far weaker than you." She then widened her position and hardened her glare. "Besides, out here, I'm the master and you are the pupil. If I even feel your energy start to climb, I'll make sure you only get one serving of rice tonight. Got it?"
At this, the demi-Saiyan's eyes widened in horror. "W-What?! But mum-!"
Without another word, the woman dashed forward and leapt at her son with a yell, "No buts! It's time for round two!" She then dove at him with a kick, causing Goten to leap to the side in alarm. The child moved just in time to avoid her foot, which plunged into the earth and caused a loud shockwave to fill the air.
As the pair continued to fight it out, with Goten being forced to exchange shots with his mum using the bare minimum of strength, over by the house, the Ox King could be seen sitting on a lawn chair and watching the simultaneous shows unfold before him. This being one of the rare occasions he was able to see his daughter training, the man was also treated to the spectacle of his grandson and his best friend duking it out over the distant hills. Though he could only see the pair's battle in the form of an ongoing firework display of invisible explosions and sonic booms, the man could still feel the battle through the tremors in the earth and the clouds of dust rising over the mountains. He could also see his daughter and his other grandson sparring just a few feet in front of him, which put a big smile on his face as he sipped away at his enormous mug of coffee.
"Well done, Goten. Keep it up," the big man with the beard and glasses encouraged, before then turning to the horizon and calling out, "You too, Gohan!" He then chuckled when the response he got was the sound of his youngest grandson yelping and leaping out of reach of another of his mother's kicks. When he tried to fight back, the child paid for it with a palm strike to the forehead. "Ah, it's so nice to have a good, strong family. They don't take guff from no one," the Ox King remarked, at the same time laying his hands across his stomach comfortably.
It was same-old, same-old for the people living up in Mount Paozu, and things seemed to be coasting along for them just fine. Circumstances could also apply to the rest of the group. Kame Island was still in the same place it'd been left, with Krillin doing his best to raise his family, while also saving up for a place of their own, Yamcha was currently coping with the solitary existence of a bachelor in his penthouse outside of West City, and Tien, taking a page out of Goku's book, had decided to settle down in a new village outside of Central City with Launch, where he worked as the village leader and his friend Chiaotzu ran a martial arts school for youngsters.
This pretty much summed up the circumstances of everyone to date. However, despite the quick return to their daily routines, a couple of the Z-fighters still felt some concerns.
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