Goten Chapter 3

Goten Chapter 3

Goten paused and asked Chi-Chi, who sat down to eat as well, "Um, Mom, where's Gohan?" He looked around. Chi-Chi sighed and said, "You know that brother of yours, always training. I wish he didn’t have all that weight on his shoulders," she said, looking sad.

She then muttered to herself, "I should bring Gohan his lunch, or that boy might forget to eat again," turning to Goten she asked, "Goten, honey, I will be bringing Gohan lunch later. Do you want to come with me?"

Goten, swallowing a mouthful of food, nodded eagerly. "Sure, Mom. I can come." He thought to himself, "I can ask Gohan to train me."

….

Finishing her breakfast, Chi-Chi cleared the table and began making lunch.

"Finish your breakfast. I've got a lot to do," she said as she gathered ingredients from the cupboards.

After finishing his meal, Goten remained at the table, lost in thought. Okay, now I need to come up with a plan, but first... He looked down at his hand, clenching it as he thought, I should test what this body is capable of. Recalling some of Goten's memories, he considered, I can lift heavy stuff, but... He glanced out the window, then turned to Chi-Chi.

"Mom, I'm going to head outside for a bit!" he called over his shoulder, rushing to the door, eager to test his new body.

Chi-Chi paused, a knife poised over a freshly washed vegetable. Looking over her shoulder, she said, "Ah… sure, Goten. Just don't wander off too far!"

"Okay, Mom!" Goten called back.

As Goten made his way outside, he looked around and spotted a river flowing beside the house, with a tree nearby. He walked over to the river and thought, “First, I need to figure out how to use Ki.” He recalled the scene from the anime where Gohan taught Goten and Videl how to harness Ki.

Closing his eyes, Goten focused inward, feeling for the energy within himself. He held his hands out, palms facing each other. As he concentrated, he began to feel the energy stirring within him. Slowly, he drew it out, focusing it between his palms.

Goten heard a faint buzzing sound as the energy gathered in his hands. Opening his eyes, he saw a small ball of Ki floating between his palms.

A grin spread across his face as he made the ball larger, watching it grow to the size of his head. “Hehehe, I'm doing it. I'm really doing it,” he chuckled to himself, his excitement palpable. Looking up at a tree in the distance, Goten shot the Ki ball toward it. The Ki ball sped towards the tree, and on impact, it exploded, completely destroying the tree.

Goten grinned widely, thrilled that he could actually shoot Ki blasts. Hearing the explosion, Chi-Chi came running out of the house, a frying pan in hand. "Goten, come! We have to leave, quickly!" she shouted, looking around frantically, thinking the androids had attacked.

Goten glanced over at Chi-Chi, a sheepish smile spreading across his face as he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry, Mom,” he said, trying to sound casual. “That was me. Look, I learned a new trick.” he created another Ki blast that blasted through a nearby tree, sending debris flying.

Chi-Chi’s face twisted into an annoyed frown as she marched over to him. Without a word, she reached out and pinched his ear, her voice rising. “You nearly gave me a heart attack, mister! I thought the androids were attacking us. Do you have any idea how scared I was?”

Goten winced at the tug on his ear, letting out a pained yelp. “Sorry, Mom! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

She released his ear, but her irritation was far from over. “What were you thinking, shooting Ki blasts so close to our house?” She scolded him thoroughly, emphasizing how dangerous and thoughtless his actions were. “Don’t do that again, understand?” With a final huff, she turned on her heel and headed back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

Rubbing his sore ear, Goten sank down under the tree and muttered to himself, “Note to self: don’t get Mom angry. Man, that really hurt.” Despite the newness of his body, he found it easy to call Chi-Chi “Mom” thanks to the memories of the original Goten.

He sighed. “I can’t really blame her, though. The androids do attack randomly.”

Goten sat beneath the tree, contemplating his situation. “I need to be extra careful in this timeline with the androids,” he thought. “ If anyone dies, we can't revive them since Piccolo is gone, and the Dragon Balls are no longer active.”

He sighed “ Alright, I need to plan this out.”  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Ok first things first, I need to start training. Ki manipulation comes naturally to me, which is a relief. But I need to get as strong as Super Saiyan 2 before Gohan is killed by the Androids. If I can reach that level, I can prevent his death.”

“After defeating the androids, we’ll need the Dragon Balls to revive the others, especially since the mortal level in this universe is already so low,” Goten thought, “ But I don’t think Bulma knows where New Namek is. If I remember correctly, Goku had to ask King Kai for the new Namek’s location. But how am I supposed to contact King Kai? I don’t know where his planet is, other than the fact that you get there by Snake Way… and to do that, I’d have to die, which is definitely not an option.”

Goten stared at the sky, lost in thought. “The only way to find the location is to use the Dragon Balls from the past. But if we defeat the androids early, Bulma might not have a reason to create the time machine. I can’t just let Android 17 and 18 go unchecked but there’s a real risk that someone could die.” He scratched the back of his head. ”Maybe I can convince Bulma to build the time machine earlier in this timeline. That might be our best shot.”

Goten’s considered his options. “Okay, that might work. If Gohan and I can both reach Super Saiyan 2, we should be able to handle the androids with ease.” He then shifted his thoughts to the future. ”After the Android saga comes the Buu saga. I don’t want to waste time trying to learn Super Saiyan 3 since it’s a flawed transformation. Maybe I can aim for Ultimate or even Super Saiyan God before the Buu saga kicks in.”

Suddenly, a realization struck him. “Wait a minute! if I want to perform the Super Saiyan God ritual, we need six Saiyans. But there are only three of us left: me, Gohan, and Trunks. We might be able to revive Vegeta, but Dad can’t be brought back since he died of natural causes.” he thought. “Maybe the Namekian Dragon Balls could bring him back…” 

Then another thought hit him. “Wait, if I remember correctly, Vegeta didn’t go through the ritual and still managed to achieve Super Saiyan God by training under Whis. How did Whis train them to achieve Super Saiyan God? Man, that name is ridiculous—it should just be called ‘Saiyan God,’ since it’s basically the base form with God Ki.“ Goten mentally ranted about the stupid naming, then recalled. “I remember that besides physical training, Whis told them to keep their Ki from leaking and focus on compressing it within their bodies.”

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Goten shrugged. ”Well, at least that’s what I think Whis had them doing. It won’t hurt to give it a try.”

Just then, Chi-Chi emerged from the house and called out, “Goten, come on, let’s go!”

Goten looked at Chi-Chi, who was struggling to manage a towering stack of bento boxes—about ten in total. Each box was neatly stacked on top of the other.

“Alright, help me carry these, Goten,” Chi-Chi said, handing him the huge bento boxes.

As Goten took the boxes, he noticed they were surprisingly light. He could easily carry them without any trouble. Just as he was about to ask how they were going to get to where Gohan was, Chi-Chi called out loudly, “Flying Nimbus!”

Goten’s eyes widened in excitement. He had always wanted to fly on the Flying Nimbus, remembering it from the original Dragon Ball series.

A bright yellow cloud appeared and floated down to them, coming to a stop right in front of them. Chi-Chi climbed onto the cloud and called out for Goten to join her. “Come on, Goten, climb on!”

With a broad smile, Goten jumped up onto the Nimbus, but instead of floating gracefully, he slowly began to sink into the cloud and eventually fell to the ground.

As he picked himself up, Goten sighed, thinking, “Well, that was expected. While the original Goten was pure of heart, I’m not, since I’m merged with him.” He felt a pang of sadness at not being able to ride the Flying Nimbus, but he understood why.

Seeing Goten fall to the ground, Chi-Chi frowned in confusion. “Huh… why can’t you sit on it? Maybe it’s because your father has to give permission or something.” She then looked at Goten and said, “Well, never mind. Come sit on my lap, Goten. Since you can’t ride the Nimbus, you won’t fall,” patting her lap reassuringly.

Goten nodded, a little embarrassed, and climbed onto Chi-Chi’s lap.

With Goten settled comfortably, Chi-Chi took off, and they began their journey from the house toward Gohan’s training site near Mount Paozu.

As they approached, Goten could sense the immense amount of Ki Gohan was expending. He spotted Gohan in the distance, training fiercely in his Super Saiyan form. Gohan was performing rapid punches and kicks in the air, moving from one spot to another so quickly that Goten had difficulty keeping up with his movements.

Gohan ended his training session when he sensed them approaching, powering down and looking over as they came to a stop near him.

At around 15 years old, Gohan looked much like he did during the Buu saga, but he was shorter and had longer hair. Seeing them land, he asked, “Mom, Goten, what are you doing here?”

Chi-Chi smiled warmly and said, “We brought you lunch since you always get carried away and forget to eat. We thought we’d bring it to you.”

Gohan scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks, Mom.”

Chi-Chi beckoned him over. “Come on then, let’s set up.”

They all sat down for lunch, and Chi-Chi handed both Goten and Gohan a bento. Gohan wasted no time digging in, shoveling food into his mouth with the same rapid enthusiasm he showed in the anime.

Goten turned to Gohan and asked, “Hey Gohan, can you train me?”

Gohan paused mid-bite and looked at Goten with a bewildered expression. Chi-Chi glanced over, her curiosity piqued.

Swallowing his food, Gohan finally replied, “Huh, sure, I can train you. But why?”

Goten shrugged and replied, “Well, you’re fighting the androids alone, so I thought I could help. Plus, don’t you want a sparring partner?” He took a bite of his food as he spoke.

Chi-Chi hummed thoughtfully and added, “I was actually planning to train you myself since both your father and I were martial artists.”

Gohan nodded, a smile forming on his face. “Alright then, we can start after lunch.”