The Erased Chronicles

Gathering of the Strongest

Mount Paozu, Shinma Dōjō; Late At Night

A hectic day had come to an end, and the Son family had retired to their beds for the night. Pen was sound asleep, her sparring match with the Muten Rōshi having tired her out immensely. The dōjō was quiet, and Gohan and Erasa were quartered away in their room. Atop a king-sized bed, the couple lay beneath a sheet; Erasa was lying on top of Gohan, both stark naked, the former stroking the latter's face fondly, a besotted smiled on her face.

The half-Saiyan was smiling back, but his expression seemed distant. Erasa, far from blind to her husband's mannerisms, glanced at him with concern. "Gohan," she asked quietly, careful not to let her voice travel down the hall to their sleeping child. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothi—" Gohan immediately tried to deny his misgivings.

"Don't give me that," Erasa replied firmly, cutting her husband off mid-sentence. "What's the matter? You've been acting strange since you got home. Is it about the Tenka'ichi Budōkai?"

"No, that's not it at all," replied Gohan quietly, placing a gentle hand to her face. "Besides, you know the Budōkai will be one heck of an event. I'm actually looking forward to it, even if their method of inviting us all involved attacking people in their homes. No, it's not that. I just didn't want to worry you, but it's a feeling I'm getting."

"A...feeling?" Erasa frowned. Her smaller hand met his, and she kept a firm grip on it. The fact that she could easily match his strength was a sort of joy not lost in the past ten years. "You sound like Piccolo." It was said in jest, and a giggle escaped, quiet but giddy.

Gohan smiled, relaxing. "That's exactly what it's like, though," he said. "And I'm sure Piccolo can feel it too. Something big is on the way. We all worked too hard ten years ago to defeat Majin Bū. And we've trained too hard in those ten years since to lose the peace we've come to enjoy."

"You don't need to be so worried," Erasa admonished gently. "No matter what comes, you and I will be here to meet it when it does. And we've get through it together." Her hand gripped his, if possible, even tighter. "I won't say you're wrong, but for now, why don't we get some rest? We've got quite the day ahead of us."

With their hands entwined, the two began to drift off, but his wife's comforting words assuaged his fears for only a moment. In the deepest recesses of Gohan's mind, his instincts were telling him that he was right. The winds of change were beginning to blow once more.

And it would be a storm.

Southern Galaxies, The Universe, Outer Space

"The Western Galaxies and Eastern Galaxies have been cleared," replied Beerus in almost a bored tone. Throughout his entire patrol, he'd only destroyed four planets per quadrant; or at least he'd tried. He made a horrible smacking noise, trying to clear a taste off of his tongue. "I'm still sick from whatever they served on planet Kuon!" That planet had been his unfortunate eighth victim of retribution for the crime of serving food so horrible he, the Hakaishin, had regurgitated it.

Whis let out a resigned sigh. "That's what you get for wolfing down the whole ten-course meal before you let me even taste it, Lord Beerus."

"Well, it's their damn fault for serving me something so disgusting!" cried Beerus indignantly. "They should prepare their best dish, not second helpings of whatever they found in their garbage!" His expression turned from furious to bitter. "It's been centuries since I've had something delicious! Isn't there any race in this Universe that's mastered the culinary arts?!"

"Pardon me, Lord Beerus, but no one knows your tastes better than you," replied Whis rather ruefully. He had, of course, just fed Beerus before they even left, and had a particular amount of pride in his ability to craft a meal. "You could cook for yourself once in awhile."

Beerus laughed, casting Whis an annoyed eye. "Please, Whis; who ever heard of a Hakaishin cooking for themselves?" As they came to a stop in the middle of space, Beerus placed a finger to his chin. "I must say, I'm surprised; I've noticed that there's more life in the Universe now than there's been a real absence of planets with life."

"That's correct," replied Whis. "The last time I checked — oh, about five years ago? — there a notable disparity between planets with life and those that were barren. There were twenty-eight before; the destruction of planets such as Sadal and Vegeta, among others, decreased that number."

"Damn it, Freeza," muttered Beerus. "That can't be good in the long run, but if the humans aren't progressing..."

"You can't claim to be blameless either, Lord Beerus," pointed out Whis, reminding him of the very recent loss of planet Kuon for no reason other than their food. "And yet," the man materialised a staff, and began to look into the jewel that rested at its centre, "it would appear your contemporary has been quite busy himself, creating life in an attempt to fill the void."

"The Kaiōshin?" replied Beerus, amazed. "He's actually doing his job? I suppose he would, now that he's resolved that fiasco with Majin Bū."

"To be honest, it's astounding," replied Whis. "I haven't seen a Kaiōshin work this hard since the birth of the Universe. To see life flourishing on this many planets. He appears to be skipping a few stages of development, but beggars can't be choosers."

"Tell me, Whis," inquired Beerus, his tone dubious. "Who was it that handled Majin Bū? I doubt it was the Kaiōshin."

Whis gazed into his staff, and saw as the events of the past unfolded before his eyes. A young man, clad in Kaiōshin training gi, fought Majin Bū with the ease he wasn't accustomed to seeing in those of the mortal realm. His movements lacked refinement, but Whis could tell the young man had potential. "You might find this interesting, Lord Beerus. It seems a Saiyan and his friends were the ones to kill Majin Bū."

"A Saiyan," mused Beerus. "First Freeza, and now Majin Bū. The Saiyans have been up to quite a bit while I've been asleep. This is suspicious, very suspicious. All this talk of Saiyans...and I feel like I'm forgetting something."

"If you can't remember, it will come to you later, Lord, Beerus. Shall we finish the patrol?"

"We might as well," replied Beerus lazily. As the two started to move, a foreign craft came into view. It was round, with a flattened bottom and top. The craft was divided by a black middle; the top was beige, while the bottom was a pale white. It floated along without visible means of propulsion, though it appeared to have a goal in mind. The ship caught the eye of the duo, and Whis was the one to address it.

"Lord Beerus, isn't that...?"

"Yeah, that's a ship belonging to the Galactic Freeza Army," assessed Beerus. "It would appear that, even though he's dead, his army is still intact. I suppose there's no harm in cleaning up the mess."