“… A Martial Arts Tournament?” Bulma asked surprised.

“Yeah, I was thinking that since we can’t really participate in the normal tournament then we could try holding our own.”  Gohan explained.

“… that’s right you guys are way too strong to fight in a normal tournament and there might be some people who could remember you guys from the Cell games, I know the announcer would remember you, so I see where you’re coming from. You’re also right about who might be interested or who would be able to participate in it, and that’s not counting the other problems we would face in planning this.” Bulma said rubbing her chin.

“What do you mean?” Gohan asked.

“Well, there’s a lot for us to consider like, where would we hold the tournament, what the reward would be for the winner, the rules, and a lot more. There’s also the fact that last I heard Yamcha and Krillin are no longer fighting so that leaves Tien and Piccolo who don’t really keep in touch, Raditz I have no idea about, and I already know that Vegeta won’t want to participate, leaving only you.” Bulma said.

“Krillin and Yamcha don’t fight anymore?” Gohan asked.

“Yeah, Yamcha is busy with his business and Krillin is busy taking care of 18 she’s due any day now and once the baby comes, they will be busy taking care of it.” Bulma explained.

“R-right… sorry it was a stupid idea, I just thought… never mind.” Gohan said shaking his head.

“No, it wasn’t a stupid idea Gohan, it’s a good idea but not for this moment we could still have one later, maybe once the kids are older.” Bulma said standing up placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Really?” Gohan asked.

“Yeah, kid this way we can have more time to plan things out for when we eventually do hold it.” Bulma said smiling at him.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea Bulma.” Gohan said smiling at her.

“What are you saying I don’t have good ideas!” Bulma said in mock hurt.

“N-no I- I didn’t mean that.” Gohan started stammering.

“… relax Gohan, I’m just yanking your chain.” Bulma said laughing at him.

“R-right I knew that.” Gohan said scratching his cheek.

“Oh… kid you have a lot to learn if you want to fit in once you go to school.” Bulma said shaking her head smiling.

“What are you saying… do you think I’m stupid.” Gohan said looking up at her.

“W-what no Gohan I know how smart you are I was just… oh you got me good.” Bulma said seeing Gohan smiling back at her.

“Don’t worry Bulma I know that I will have some issues with interacting with… normal people once I go to school, but I still have time to learn.” Gohan said smiling.

“What am I not considered normal?” Bulma retorted.

“No.” Gohan said quickly, “You haven’t been normal since you met my dad, Bulma.”

“I- you have a point things haven’t been normal since I met your dad, but I wouldn’t change anything.” Bulma said smiling. “… I miss him.”

“… me too.” Gohan said sighing.

“Oh! I’m sorry Gohan I-” Bulma started saying.

“Its alright Bulma.” Gohan said raising a hand to stop her, “I’ve- I’m doing a lot better since he died, yeah I still miss him but I know why he did what he did and after taking some time to think about it I realized he was right. Most of the time the Earth was in danger was because of people looking to get to him, and look since he’s been gone, we haven’t had any problems but I’m not going to let my guard down. That’s why I must do everything I can to make sure his sacrifice was worth it which is why I left to travel and why I’m keeping up with my training. It’s a big weight off my shoulder that Raditz and Launch are around to help me and my mom because I honestly don’t know if I could have handled everything on my own.”

“W-wow Gohan.” Bulma said looking at him.

“What?” Gohan asked.

“Nothing it’s just that I sometimes forget about everything you’ve gone through since I first met you and it’s hard to connect the cute four-year-old I met on Master Roshi’s island with the handsome young man sitting in front of me.” Bulma said smiling at him.

“O-oh… thanks.” Gohan said blushing scratching his cheek.

“But it’s still fun to tease you.” Bulma said laughing at him.

“… can we get started on the list.” Gohan said pointing at the notepad on Bulma’s desk.

“Yeah, we can.” Bulma said still laughing.

--

Bulma had told Gohan to find a suitable location for his lab first before they could start ordering the things he would need for it, but before he could do that, he had a promise to keep. That’s why today he was standing in a wasteland not to far away from home wearing his orange Demon school Gi stretching glancing at Raditz doing the same across from him. Vegeta was supposed to be there with them, but he decided to train on his own saying that he needed to reclaim his spot as the strongest Saiyan.

“I’m ready.” Gohan said getting into position.

“Good, lets do this.” Raditz said smiling as got ready as well.

Gohan and Raditz stared at each other neither one of them moving an inch as the wind blew rustling their clothes and hair when it suddenly stopped blowing as they both launched themselves at each other. Raditz threw out a punch which Gohan blocked with his forearm their attack colliding with a loud boom, Gohan returned the punch which Raditz blocked his own fist Gohan followed up his attack with a kick to Raditz’s ankle trying to knock him off balance, but he jumped back before Gohan made contact.

Gohan leaned forward, put his weight on his toes launching forward after Raditz firing four energy blasts two from each hand, Raditz knocked them away. Gohan used the distraction to appear behind Raditz with a flying kick, but he passed through him as Raditz used the After-Image technique, Raditz appeared above Gohan diving towards him throwing an energy ball, “Saturday Crush!”

Gohan decided to meet the attack head on as he flew into the air knocking it away and catching the fist Raditz threw Gohan wrapped his hand around Raditzs wrist spinning him around quickly before tossing Raditz, and raising his hands to his forehead, “Masenko Ha!”

Raditz stabilized himself as the attack drew closer to him, he quickly raised his arms in front of him blocking the attack just as it reached him, it hit him in an explosion of smoke. Gohan watched as the smoke slowly cleared revealing Raditz with his arms still crossed in front of him he slowly brought his arms down smiling at Gohan.

Raditz then vanished appearing behind Gohan, who spun kicked at Raditz who caught Gohan’s foot and spun him around before letting him go, “Double Sunday!”

Gohan quickly stabilized himself turning around to face the attack heading towards him, “Kamehameha!” his beam collided with Raditz’s they both exploded on contact as Gohan and Raditz flew towards each other through the smoke. Their fists collided clearing away the smoke as they started trading punches and kicks neither landing a hit on the other as they blocked or dodged each attack.

After a short while they broke apart facing each other with smiles on their faces. “That was a decent warmup don’t you think?” Raditz asked.

“Yeah, ready to take it up a notch?” Gohan asked.

“Yeah, I am.” Raditz said smiling.

“Good.” Gohan said flying back down to the ground where Raditz followed him, “Do you want to go first, or should I?”

“… I’ll go first that way I can compare my strength with yours.” Raditz said.

“Alright, go ahead show me how much stronger you’ve become.” Gohan said nodding his head.

“Right… here we go.” Raditz said as he transformed into a Super Saiyan then he started powering up the ground around his feet started cracking as the pieces of rubble floated around him, his power kept rising when Gohan noticed that his aura formed blue lighting and his hair became sharper for a few seconds before it returned to normal as he finished powering up.

“Interesting it looks like he’s close to reaching Super Saiyan 2, he just needs a finale push.” Gohan thought, “… Wow I can tell you’ve gotten stronger.” Gohan said nodding his head.

“You aren’t the only one who’s been training.” Raditz replied with a smile.

“True… I guess it’s my turn now.” Gohan said closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, slowly exhaling, and opening his eyes as he smoothly transformed into a Super Saiyan.  

“… w-wow you transformed so easily that’s amazing.” Raditz said smiling.

“Yeah, don’t forget I’ve already mastered Super Saiyan so transforming doesn’t take as long.” Gohan said.

“R-right you guys mastered it back during the Cell games.” Raditz said nodding.

“Yeah, so are you ready?” Gohan asked.

“No.” Raditz said making Gohan look at him confused, “I know this isn’t your full power, we said we would fight each other at full power.”

“Let’s see how you handle me as a Super Saiyan first before I use Super Saiyan 2.” Gohan said shaking his head.

“What you don’t think I can handle you at full power?” Raditz asked.

“No, I don’t think that… I know you can’t handle me at my full power.” Gohan said looking at Raditz.

“It’s not like you to brag Gohan.” Raditz said looking at him.

“I’m not bragging, it’s the truth, I’m pretty sure I’ve pushed the limits of Super Saiyan 2 without stepping into the next level while you are barely scratching at the door to it.” Gohan said looking at him.

“Wha- How do you know that I’m close?” Raditz asked.

“When you were powering up your aura and hair briefly changed into that of a Super Saiyan 2 before it went back to normal. That shows that you are very close you just need an extra push.” Gohan explained.

“Really?” Raditz asked.

“Yes, that’s part of the reason I don’t want to use Super Saiyan 2 against you just yet, I think that by sparring like this it should help push you pass that wall to reach Super Saiyan 2.” Gohan explained.

“… I understand what you are saying Gohan, but I still want to face you at your full power if only to see where I stand against you.” Raditz said with determination in his eyes.

“… are you sure?” Gohan asked looking at Raditz.

“Yes, I want to see how far you’ve come with your training, also I can’t get any stronger if I don’t challenge myself.” Raditz said nodding his head.

“… you have a point… but remember what they say.” Gohan sighed.

“What’s that?” Raditz asked.

“Be careful of what you wish for.” Gohan said.

“What do you mean?” Raditz asked.

“… you’ll see.” Gohan said taking a deep breath as he transformed into a Super Saiyan 2 and started powering up again, the area around them started shaking making all the animals nearby run away, the ground underneath Gohan started to break apart as the pieces of rubble floated upwards around him, the sky darkened as blue lightning started appearing around his body, followed by a strong gust of wind pushed away from Gohan slowly pushing Raditz back forcing himself to brace himself, after a while it all ended as yellow beams of light shot out from Gohan’s aura into the surrounding area and into the sky clearing it.

“… w-wow Gohan that’s impressive.” Raditz said swallowing.

“You wanted to see my full power; this is it.” Gohan said staring at him.

“Y-yes I did, and you weren’t kidding you are stronger than me, and I don’t think I can beat you like this.” Raditz said slowly nodding.

“You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?” Gohan asked with a grin.

“No, I’m excited, training with Vegeta on occasion was a good way to push myself but I’ve always enjoyed our training sessions more, it brings back pleasant memories.” Raditz said grinning back.

“Hmm, maybe for you, I can still the pain from the training we did with Piccolo and my dad.” Gohan said shaking his head smiling.

“Haha, we did what we had to, to make you stronger and you can’t argue with the results.” Raditz said with a smile gesturing at Gohan.

“… no, no I can’t, I’ve come a long way from that four-year-old training in the wilderness, and I have you guys to thank for that, I will always be thankful for that.” Gohan said with a smile.

“Well if you want to repay me, I know how… I have a selfish request.” Raditz said looking at him.

“… I think I can guess what it is… all I have to ask is are you sure?” Gohan asked.

“Yes, I can’t miss this opportunity to test myself against your full power.” Raditz said smiling.

“… very well, let’s do this.” Gohan said getting into his stance.

“Really?” Raditz asked.

“Yeah, I had a feeling this would happen, because it’s in our blood.” Gohan said nodding.

“… thank you.” Raditz said smiling.

“No problem, I will just heal you after I’m done.” Gohan said smiling back.

“W-what… you can heal?” Raditz asked.

“Yeah, it’s one of the skills I picked up on Yardrat.” Gohan said.

“… I see, well then we have nothing to worry about let’s do this.” Raditz said getting into his stance.

“… very well, I hope you don’t mind if I finish this quickly.” Gohan said getting back into his stance.

“Wha-?” Raditz started saying.

Gohan vanished appearing in front Raditz throwing a punch, Raditz tried to block the attack, but Gohan phased through him with the After-Image technique reappearing behind Raditz kicking him in the back, Gohan grabbed Raditz from the collar yanking him back to punch him in the stomach sending him flying high into the air. Gohan then teleported behind him kicking him in the back sending him flying back down to the ground, “Saturday Crush!”

Gohan threw his attack at Raditz who twisted in the air firing his own attack back at Gohan’s causing them both to explode into a cloud of smoke on contact, Gohan used the cover of the smoke to make a clone of himself which flew towards Raditz. The original Gohan stayed in the air watching to see what Raditz would do.

The clone flew through the smoke attacking Raditz who blocked the attack with his forearms as the punch hit sending Raditz crashing into the ground, it then started raining down a flurry of punches driving him deeper into the ground. The clone stomped on Raditz launching himself into the air next to the original Gohan where they both charged their energy raising their hands to their forehead, “Masenko Ha!”

The two attacks merged as they crashed into Raditz in a large explosion of fire and smoke the two Gohan’s stayed in the air as the smoke cleared revealing Raditz laying in the crater, armor cracked, and unconscious. The two Gohan’s merged as he went back into his base form flying down to Raditz placing his hands on him to heal him.

“Hold still while I heal you.” Gohan said as he felt Raditz start stirring.

Once Gohan finished healing Raditz he stood back up and held his hand out for Raditz, “… damn I had a feeling that I would lose but I didn’t think it would be this one-sided.” Raditz said taking Gohan’s hand standing back up.

“I told you that I’ve pushed the limits of Super Saiyan 2.” Gohan said.

“Yeah, you did but I still wanted to see how I stacked up against you.” Raditz said.

“… and what do you think?” Gohan asked looking at Raditz.

“… that I need to take a page of Vegeta’s book and train a lot harder if I want to reach your level.” Raditz said smiling.

“… that reminds me who’s stronger you or Vegeta?” Gohan asked.

“… as much as I hate to admit it Vegeta is slightly stronger than me, but training with you should help me surpass him soon.” Raditz said laughing.

“… I don’t mind training with you but I’m letting you know now that it won’t be every day, I have thing I need to do my own like training, studying, and I would like to do some research too. I would also like to spend some time getting to know Goten and Ginnie better, I’ve missed out on a lot when I went travelling and I would like to make up for it.” Gohan said looking into the sky.

“I understand that I won’t ask you to train with me everyday just every once in a while, and you can help me train Ginnie if you want to spend time with her.” Raditz said.

“… hmm, or I could do things that don’t involve fighting.” Gohan said looking at Raditz with a smile.

“… or you can do that.” Raditz said laughing, “What type of research do you want to do?”

“A little bit of everything, but I want to focus on us the Saiyans first…” Gohan said looking back into the sky. “we know very little about our biology and I want to learn more.”

“… right, you said something yesterday about if you understood our genetic makeup better you could maybe achieve the next level of Super Saiyan.” Raditz said looking at him.

“… yeah, it’s just a theory I have but I would like to test it out and even if it doesn’t work out, I could still learn something useful about us.” Gohan said looking back at Raditz.

“Gohan, I know that if anyone can learn anything useful about the Saiyans its you, you are smarter than all of us, now sure your intelligence is more book wise while ours is fighting wise, but you are still young and still have plenty of time to learn. I know you can do anything you put your mind to, so don’t stress about it and take things one day at a time.” Raditz said placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks Uncle Raditz.” Gohan said smiling at him.

“Anytime Gohan.” Raditz said smiling back. “… now can we continue with our training?” Raditz asked.

“… fine, as long as we don’t abuse my healing powers.” Gohan sighed smiling.

“Great, lets get started.” Raditz said jumping away from Gohan transforming with a grin.

“… this is going to be a long day.” Gohan mumbled to himself hiding his smile.

--

(The Next Day)

Early the next morning Gohan found himself walking towards the lake where they get their fish from, he vaguely remembered seeing some type of opening underwater last time he was at the lake and wanted to see if it led anywhere. Raditz wanted to train on his own today, while Goten and Ginnie were still in bed.

Once he reached the lake, he stopped at the edge of it, staring at the surface seeing the fishes swimming as he remembered the times he would come here with his father. He sighed shaking his head as a fish jumped out of the water before splashing back in interrupting his thoughts.

“Lets see if that opening I saw leads anywhere.” Gohan said putting on the goggles he brought with him taking a deep breath and diving into the water.

Gohan sped through the water scaring the nearby fish away as he kept diving until he found the opening, he swam towards it, the light from his googles showed that it was a proper opening that you could swim further in. Gohan swam in hoping that it led somewhere which it did, after a few minutes even at the speed he was traveling he finally broke the surface.

Gohan caught his breath thinking that if was a normal human he wouldn’t have made it, he soon looked around and saw that he was in some type of cave, “Wow, this looks promising.” Gohan flew out of the water, landing on a nearby cliff a few feet above him.

Once he landed, he looked around seeing that there was another opening further away he walked towards it and saw that it led further in, he continued exploring where he soon reached a fork which split into eight paths counting the one he came from. Gohan followed the seven other paths, seeing that each one led to open areas, as he followed the last path, he heard rushing water he headed towards the sound.

Gohan soon saw a light at the end of the tunnel the sound grew louder as he reached it, he saw that it was a large waterfall. Gohan looked down and saw that he was high enough that the only way someone could reach the opening would be by climbing the walls but that wasn’t really an option since the walls were smooth.

The only other way someone could reach would be with a plane, but the opening was too narrow that a plane wouldn’t fit through it. “I think I found the perfect place for my lab.” Gohan said smiling.

____

(AN: Sorry for the long wait, I wanted to write a tournament chapter but after thinking about it I realized that there weren’t enough people interested in a tournament, which is what I tried to convey in the first half of this chapter. Since I decided against writing the tournament chapter, I had to come up with something else which took a while because I had to come up with something that would fit with the story. I still want to write a tournament chapter, but it looks like it will be for a later volume.

For anyone thinking that Gohan defeated Raditz to quickly just remember that the times teen Gohan went Super Saiyan 2 in the anime and in BoJack things ended, also this Gohan has kept up with his training so that also factors in with how quickly the fight ended. I used when he transformed against BoJack and when Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan 3 to write the scene.

The last three chapters will have some time skips to help bring this volume to an end, but they will help the story along. There will be a welcome surprise for most of you in the next chapter and I hope you guys will like it, to make up for waiting for this chapter I will give you guys a hint on what that surprise will be. [The next chapter will mostly take place in Gohan’s new lab.] Take what you want from that hint.)