Part 2, Chapter 6.

PART TWO: LOTS OF OLD FOES HERE!

Chapter 6

Translated by MikeysBoner(certified god), Kakarotto Ka Power Level Kya Hai?, and npberryhill

Piccolo stepped through observantly, taking note of the designated viewing patio in front of each doorway. "So, this space is reserved for us, Universe 18. Looks like most of the other areas have already been filled, which means the tournament should officially start as soon as these last two areas get filled."

Gohan walked up beside him, pausing. "So then, the seventeen spaces to our left could potentially have all kinds of different--"

The half-Saiyan cut off midway through his sentence. He'd been the first one to take a closer glance at the groups to their left, and needless to say, he was amazed. "Woah! Look, guys, it's..."

Goku, who'd walked up beside him, and Vegeta, last out, both turned their heads as well.

"Cell!"

Goku seemed just as shocked as his son. The whole idea of alternate universes was quite vague in his mind, and he hadn't really thought through the concept, nor realized what it made possible--until now. There he was, though, right in front of him. Cell stood as smugly and confident as ever.

"You again," the green creature remarked, seemingly unamused by the added presence of Goku and the others. "Here I am, surrounded by two Gohans...ridiculous," the insect murmured to himself.

This Cell was visibly identical to his Universe 18 counterpart, as he'd appeared in his perfect form during the Cell Games. He stood directly in the middle of his balcony, arms folded, and had apparently been waiting patiently for his first match to be called. From their vantage point, the Earth's heroes couldn't see the small, blue Cell Jr. standing between his legs, except for Piccolo, who was tall enough to catch a small glimpse.

"He knows who we are," Piccolo observed quietly. "In his universe, he most likely killed us all, no doubt making him the strongest warrior left."

"You're probably right," replied Goku. "But I don't think that's what he was talking about. Look!" he continued, pointing to the balcony that was numbered 16. "It's us!"

Behind Cell, Goku quickly scanned the Universe 16 patio. He saw Gohan, an identical Gohan to the one he knew, speaking with Piccolo, as well as Trunks and Goten cracking jokes with each other. Then there was Videl and even Bra, who was leaning against the ark of their space's door. They all seemed identical to the versions he himself knew.

"Let's go check out the other universes!" Trunks said excitedly, hopping over the low wall at the edge of Universe 18's patio.

Goten followed immediately. He caught up with Trunks right away, but the latter had stopped three meters ahead, uttering a quiet "ooh"...

Trunks had noticed his father... Or rather, an alternate version of his father from Universe 13. Prince Vegeta wore white Saiyan armor with gold epaulettes, a blue tunic, and a red cape, and was accompanied by a larger, more muscular man to his right. The other Saiyan was bald and bore the same type of armor, but was dressed in simple black shorts instead of a blue tunic and wore a sneering glance. Behind him was another man with long black hair reaching down to his lower back. His expression was much the same as the others, as was his armor. The last warrior of the group...was, well, none other than Goku! But his dark eyes spoke volumes about his nature. In fact, this Goku had remained "Kakarotto", the man Goku would have become if he had never hit his head as a child.

Universe 13's Prince Vegeta had his eyes turned off to the left, and his gaze conveyed his utter disgust. Trunks and Goten wondered what had him so ticked off, and began looking around. There was no one currently in Universe 12, so its inhabitants were probably inside. Over in Universe 11 they noticed Dabra the demon, but he wasn't the focus of Prince Vegeta's rage. The next universe was packed full of warriors--two dozen or so, Saiyans from the look of them, as well as a few Namekians. Universe 9 was empty as well at the moment, though in Universe 8 they saw...Freeza!!

The Frost Demon was in his final form, but slim, not with the added bulk of his full power. He also wasn't part cyborg. Trunks and Goten had easily recognized him nonetheless; Bulma had shown them a picture of what he looked like. While she was repairing #16 before the Cell Games, she had obtained all of the images within Dr. Gero's robot spy, including images of a cybernetic Freeza.

Freeza glanced over at the group of four Saiyans wearing a look of vague amusement. There was no doubt that in his universe, he himself had killed Vegeta.

"There are so many bad guys here that our dads fought in the past," Trunks said, his eyes coming to a stop on Bojack in the Universe 6 space.

"Hey look, it's Majin Buu!" cried Goten, pointing towards Universe 11's wing.

The pink, baby-faced, djinn came out of the interior of space 11 to join Dabra. Last to exit the doorway was none other than Babidi, still as ugly and wrinkled as ever.

"This sure brings back memories," Trunks reminisced as he took in everything.

"It's the perfect occasion, man!" exclaimed his friend eagerly. "Gotenks will finally beat Majin Buu, once and for all!"

"It doesn't look like he's gotten any stronger," Trunks said.

"Yeah, but we're so much stronger!" replied Goten. "We're not little kids anymore!"

"Oh, we've got this!" they exclaimed in unison.

Behind the pair, Vegeta's eyes lingered for a moment on Universe 10's wing. Even from this distance, he still managed to find himself... again. Despite the beard, he recognized his counterpart easily enough by his face and haircut. Standing behind the Universe 10 Saiyan was his father, King Vegeta. His hair was graying, his back was hunched... he looked like nothing but a decrepit old man.

"What did you see, Dad?" asked Bra behind him.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Vegeta replied simply.

Vegeta walked a few feet away... It wasn't seeing himself that bothered him...not really. What was so curios to him was that in that universe, the Saiyans were still wearing primitive rags. They were mere animal skins! These Saiyans were far from being technologically advanced. These Saiyans also all had tails, a feature that Vegeta, along with his alter ego of Universe 13, both now lacked.

Gohan and Piccolo both noticed that Vegeta was pacing back and forth irately. They glanced over at Universe 10 to see the cause of the disturbance.

"There are two groups," Piccolo noted. "I sense the presence of Nail as well as a few other Namekians."

"This looks like a universe where Freeza never showed up," Gohan theorized. "These primitive warriors almost certainly can't transform into Super Saiyans."

Trunks suddenly had a realization. "Hey! No Freeza? That means my grandfather should be there!"

Trunks shot Goten a glance. "Maybe... I guess mine might be there too!" said Goten. "Let's go check it out!"

As the duo ran toward the balcony of Universe 10, Gohan called out behind them. "You're really gonna try to talk to them?" he chuckled, remembering what Raditz was like. "You'll be disappointed..."

Unlike his naive younger brother, Gohan had witnessed first-hand the brutality of a full=blooded Saiyan; they were nothing like the quiet, composed Vegeta from Universe 18. Gohan remembered their violence and cruelty well. These were warriors so devoted that they didn't even care about killing their own family members...

Gohan turned towards Vegeta's daughter. "What about you, Bra? Don't you wanna go meet your grandpa with your brother and Goten?"

"Tch, are you serious? Have you seen what those animals are wearing?" the girl replied, rolling her eyes with disgust. "I'm not gonna be seen anywhere near those apes!"

"Oh right, I forgot how picky you are about the way people dress," sighed Gohan.

As Goten and Trunks made their way, they passed pretty close to Freeza's balcony, but with all of the ambient stadium noise around them they couldn't really make out any of the conversations taking place.

"Saaaaaaiyans...again," Freeza grumbled.

"It appears as though our race is notably absent in many of these so-called alternate universes," his father mumbled, arms crossed to match his son's. "A shame really, as we'd most certainly eliminate their scum from existence."

Freeza's father was none other than King Cold himself. The older Frost Demon wore armor like that of the Saiyans, unlike his son, as well as a cape, the trademark of sovereignty. He was also recognizable by his extreme height and the horns on his head, which closely resembled Freeza's second form.

"All of this will change," added a purplish-white alien, comparable in size to Freeza and probably from the same family. "You can be certain of that."

"Oh? And to what are you referring exactly, brother?" Freeza asked without bothering to turn.

"Now that we've found Namekians that are actually compliant, that grant wishes instead of sacrificing their pitiful lives to protect those ridiculous dragonballs..." Cooler began. "We're not going to miss this opporitunity! Soon all the universes will belong to us."

Cold's smile twisted with cruelty and satisfaction. “And every world contained within them. I see I've taught you well, my son. Hehehe."

Freeza, however, was less enthusiastic. "Let's just hope that none of these universes contains the Super Saiyan of legend."

Freeza had always feared the Legend of the Super Saiyan... Which is what had led him to the conclusion, in many different universes, that planet Vegeta needed to be destroyed...

Finally reaching the low wall of the Universe 10 patio, Trunks called out to the primitive Saiyans. "Hey! You're the King, right? Can I talk to you?"

"Who dares address me with such indignity?" Vegeta growled from behind his beard.

"Not you, stupid!" Trunks replied. "It's your father I wanna talk to!"

"What!?" the King shouted. "You dare insult me, boy!?"

"Hey, don't have a come apart, old man," Trunks said defensively. "Where I come from you're the Prince of Saiyans, not the King. So where's your father?"

"Tch. As if I care one bit what happened in your universe. As for my father, the previous King Vegeta, he's right here." Vegeta said, grumbling and managing to calm down slightly, before pointing a thumb at the old man that stood behind him.

The former King, now quite advanced in age, approached Goten and Trunks out of mere curiosity.

"Woah," Goten remarked. "You guys look a whole lot alike, despite the age difference I mean."

"Hey, are ya'll rich?" Trunks asked bluntly. "You know, I'm CEO of the largest company on my planet."

"Have you got a huge palace?" asked Goten.

"How old are you anyway?"

"Hmph!" the old King Vegeta scoffed, bombarded with questions.

"Calm the hell down, you brats," one of the other Saiyans yelled. "The King doesn't have the time or patience to deal with your ignorant babbling!"

The old King Vegeta began to cough... rather seriously. As his struggling persisted, the Saiyan who'd defended him felt slightly embarrassed, and remained at his side as if his presence was helping...

On the Universe 18 patio, Gohan and Piccolo watched the two half-Saiyans engage the group from Universe 10. As Gohan watched, he eventually grew slightly curious with an idea himself. "Hey, dad... aren't you interested in going to meet your father? An opportunity like this shouldn't be wasted."

Goku was somewhat taken aback. "Meet him? Uh, I don't really know... I guess I don't really view him as my father, so..."

"I suppose, but what if he wants to meet you?"

"I really wouldn't even know what to say."

"So twisted..." said Piccolo.

Piccolo began to slowly levitate, flying towards Universe 10's space. He flew over the primitive Saiyans, who wondered aloud just what Piccolo thought he was doing. Piccolo landed at last in front of the group of Namekians.

"Hello, Nail."

Nail's eyes met his. "Greeings, brother. You're from the new group, correct?" asked Nail.

"A piece of advice," said Piccolo immediately, ignoring the rhetorical question. "Be cautious of these Saiyans... Where I come from, they made their livelihood by slaughtering entire populations."

"I see. Well, for now there's no reason to worry," replied the warrior who had fused with Piccolo over thirty years earlier. "These Saiyans don't currently have space technology. And from the looks of it, there's little chance of them developing it."

"So..." Piccolo began, somewhat surprised. "Is there no one named Freeza in your universe? He's a galactic tyrant, you'd probably know of him."

"Freeza, huh?" Nail repeated, glancing over at Universe 8. "We heard rumors about him while fleeing our planet during the great cataclysm. But we were fortunate, it seems. He, along with all the members of his family, the ones over there, were all killed by someone called Kaioshin."

"Kaioshin..?"

"Yes, the same Kaioshin that's over in the balcony of Universe 1 right now, the smallest one." Nail said, pointing to the five gods in the universe of the organizers.

The gods were easily recognizable. What is most noticeable at first glance is their hair, which is the same for each: like a spiky crest on the skull. Only the hair of the goddess was slightly different, which flowed down to her shoulders. They also were all wearing earrings and the same type of serge.

The small man with the mustache, the oldest of the gods, had a lock of hair hanging over his forehead. He was easily recognizable by the mustache, as he was the only god who had one.

Between the small Kaioshin that Universe 18 was familiar with and the female Kaioshin of the west stood the greatest of the gods: the Kaioshin of the south. He stood over twice the height of the Varga that was currently conversing with Universe 1. He was imposing, and his build was clearly well-suited for physical combat.

In contrast to the physically adept southern Kaioshin, Dai Kaioshin, leader of the Kaioshin, was more stocky, smaller, shorter, definitely heavier, and his arms were around half as large as those of southern Kaioshin. Also noticeable was that he didn't wear the same type of serge that his counterparts wore. One might think that his outfit was tailored specifically to be more comfortable. It was just a short jacket over his clothes, which were rather thin and flexible.

Finally, the smallest of the gods was tinged light purple. He seemed to be the youngest, and not the strongest, either, in spite of the fact that it was he who defeated Freeza in his own universe as well as universe 10. Piccolo also concluded that this Kaioshin was not as strong as the one from Universe 18 was during the events of Majin Buu... He began to imagine how the fight would have unfolded against the universal tyrant...

"I should go speak to them..." Piccolo said to his old "friend".

"Of course. But first, I feel as if I know you... What is your name, brother?" asked Nail, very interested.

"It's Piccolo. Freeza attacked your planet in my universe and by chance I managed to come across you. You'd given him everything you had, but he'd still left you bloodied, beaten, and dying. You decided to fuse with me so that with our combined might I could stand up to Freeza... and it worked, for a while anyway..."

"I see," said Nail, smiling. "Well that explains your great power..."

While Trunks continued questioning the old King Vegeta, Goten made his way towards one of the other Saiyan warriors. "Hey, I'm looking for someone specific! The father of... uh, Kakarotto!" he said, having to think a second before he remembered his father's Saiyan name.

"Kakarotto? Never heard of him," answered the primitive Saiyan.

From the back, a man emerged from the crowd, gently pushing a Saiyan woman out of the way. He was fairly well muscled, had a scar across his cheek, and had a few scars across his chest. "I once had a son named Kakarotto..." replied the Saiyan. "But he is dead now."

"Woah!" Goten gasped upon seeing him, fists clenched with a look of delight on his face. "When I see that face, there's no doubt it's you!"

"Me... What?" replied the Saiyan, confused.

"Is your wife here?" asked Goten. "Can I get a photo of you two? With me in the middle?"

"What's a "photo"?"

"Did you even bring a camera, Goten?" Trunks asked mischievously.

"Oh... Uh... Well, no... Damnit."

"Just who are you anyway?" asked Baddack finally.

"Well, believe it or not, we're your descendants," said Trunks. "I'm the grand-son of old King Vegeta."

"And I'm your grand-son," said Goten to Baddack.

"So you brats are our descendants from another universe?" asked the old King, annoyed.

"Exactly!" the two friends replied at the same time.

"Look, I'll show you," said Trunks, as he pulled out one of the few family photos he owned from his wallet. "Here's my home, my mother, my sister, and my father, who is sulking because he doesn't like pictures. Finally, I've got to be honest, you definitely look way better without a mustache..."

"TCH! Still insulting me!? You'll regret ever being born, brat!"

King Vegeta grumbled inwardly, but contained his wrath. Even in another universe, how was it that he could've raised up children that were so unbelievably rude? It must've been their mother's fault. After all, these were obviously "bastard" children.

"What a shame!" King Vegeta exclaimed. "You're not even real Saiyans!"

Vegeta's remark seemed textbook to both of the half-Saiyans as well as Piccolo. He was practically a copy of Vegeta from thirty years earlier.

"Oh please!" replied Trunks. "Fully Saiyan or not, the two of us could crush all of you easily!"

"Yeah!" Goten added. "You wouldn't stand a chance!"

Standing somewhat frozen in front of the two half-Saiyans, the primitive Saiyans weren't quite certain whether or not the kids were joking... Or if they really were that strong. Regardless, they were far from even suspecting the existence of Super Saiyan, much less the several different levels of Super Saiyan...