THE EIGHTH BATTLE: GOTENKS VS FUTURE GOHAN
After the devastating father-son battle, You could still see scorch marks on the ground and cracks in the foundation. Now two very different fighters stepped into the ring.
Gotenks strutted out like he owned the place, cape flowing dramatically behind him. "Alright, everyone! Time to witness the incredible power of the one and only super fusion, Gotenks!"
Future Gohan walked calmly to his position. There was something different about his energy - denser, more controlled than anyone had felt before.
"Showoff," Vegeta muttered, but his eyes were locked on Future Gohan. "That man's power... it's compressed beyond anything I've ever sensed."
Piccolo was studying his former student intently. "He's gotten stronger. Much stronger. But how is that possible?"
In the stands, present-day Gohan was still recovering from his fight with Goku. "I can barely sense his energy level. It's like he's learned to condense his power so tightly that it barely leaks out."
Goku scratched his head, looking confused. "Weird. what i have heard , Future Gohan was weaker than our Gohan. But this guy... there's something scary about his ki."
Trunks was gripping the armrest of his chair so hard it was starting to crack. "Sensei's power... it's nothing like what I remember. What happened in his timeline after Android 17 and 18?"
Future Gohan glanced at Gotenks with those calm, battle-hardened eyes. "You're the fusion of Goten and Trunks, correct? I've heard a lot about your... unique fighting style."
"Unique? UNIQUE?!" Gotenks threw his arms wide. "I am the ultimate fusion! The pinnacle of Saiyan power! The most spectacular warrior in the universe!"
"Right," Future Gohan said dryly. "We'll see."
The announcer, still shaken from the previous fight, raised his hand nervously. "Um... BEGIN!"
Gotenks immediately launched into a series of poses that would've made the Ginyu Force jealous.
"Behold! The incredible, the amazing, the absolutely fantastic power of GOTENKS!"
His golden aura flared as he went Super Saiyan, lightning crackling around his body as he jumped straight to Super Saiyan 3.
"Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack!"
A dozen ghostly versions of Gotenks materialized around the arena, all giggling and making faces.
"Hehehehe! We're gonna get you!"
They all flew toward Future Gohan at once, exploding on contact in a series of massive blasts that filled the arena with smoke.
"Is that it?" Yamcha asked, disappointed. "That was over pretty quick."
But when the smoke cleared, Future Gohan was standing in the exact same spot, completely unharmed. He hadn't even moved.
"What?!" Gotenks' jaw dropped. "How did you dodge my ghost attack?!"
"I didn't dodge," Future Gohan said simply. "Your ghosts passed right through me."
"That's impossible! My ghosts are solid!"
Future Gohan's lips curved into a slight smile. "Not if you vibrate your molecules at the right frequency. Basic physics."
Gotenks blinked. "Physics? What's that got to do with fighting?"
Vegeta slapped his forehead. "The boy's an idiot."
"Hey!" Goten and Trunks yelled from the fusion.
Future Gohan took a single step forward, and suddenly the entire arena felt heavier. His power was so dense that it was affecting gravity itself.
"My turn," he said quietly.
He moved.
Not fast - just moved. One moment he was across the arena, the next he was in front of Gotenks with his fist extended. The fusion barely had time to register what happened before the punch connected.
The impact sent Gotenks flying across the arena like a golden comet. He crashed into the wall with enough force to leave a crater, but bounced back up immediately.
"Lucky shot!" he yelled, wiping blood from his mouth. "But now you've made me angry! Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is gonna show you what real power looks like!"
His hair grew even longer, his power multiplying exponentially. The arena shook under the pressure of his transformation.
"Galactic Donut!"
Rings of energy surrounded Future Gohan from all directions. Unlike his previous attacks, these were faster, more precise, clearly meant to bind rather than destroy.
But Future Gohan just stood there as the rings closed in. At the last second, he raised his hand and caught one of the energy rings.
"Interesting technique," he said, examining it like a piece of jewelry. "But the energy matrix is unstable."
He squeezed, and the ring shattered. The feedback destroyed all the other rings instantly.
Gotenks was starting to look frustrated. "Fine! If you wanna play hardball, let's play hardball! DIE DIE MISSILE BARRAGE!"
Dozens of ki blasts erupted from his hands, each one shaped like a tiny missile with Gotenks' face on it. They filled the air, moving in erratic patterns to make them harder to dodge.
"Die die die die die!" the little missiles chanted as they swarmed toward Future Gohan.
This time, Future Gohan moved. But instead of dodging, he started catching the missiles with his single hand, one after another, faster than the eye could follow.
"How is he doing that?" Krillin asked, amazed.
"He's not just catching them," Tien realized. "He's studying them. Learning the technique while defending against it."
Future Gohan caught the last missile and held it up. "Clever design. Self-guided, adaptive tracking, decent explosive yield. But there's a flaw in the guidance system."
He flicked the missile back at Gotenks. Somehow, it had been reprogrammed - instead of exploding, it just bonked the fusion on the head and disappeared.
"Ow! Hey, that's cheating! You can't just turn my attacks into duds!"
"I didn't turn it into a dud," Future Gohan explained patiently. "I corrected the guidance error that was making them unstable. That missile performed exactly as intended - it just wasn't intended to explode."
Gotenks stared at him blankly. "You're really weird, you know that?"
"really?"
The fusion was getting genuinely frustrated now. None of his signature techniques were working against this one-armed warrior who acted like he was giving a physics lecture instead of fighting.
"Okay, fine! Let's see you handle this! SPECIAL MOVE: SUPER SPECTACULAR GALACTIC ULTRA MEGA AWESOME ATTACK!"
The name was longer than the actual technique. Gotenks fired a massive beam that was basically just a really big Kamehameha with more flair.
Future Gohan sighed and raised his hand. The beam struck his palm and... stopped. Just stopped, like hitting an invisible wall.
"Energy absorption?" Piccolo wondered.
"No," Vegeta said, his eyes widening. "He's compressing it."
Future Gohan was somehow condensing the massive energy beam into a small ball in his palm. The power that should have destroyed half the galaxy was now contained in a sphere the size of a marble.
"Impossible," Android 18 breathed. "The energy density required for that level of compression..."
Future Gohan looked at the compressed energy ball thoughtfully. "Adequate power, but poor focus. Too much energy wasted on visual effects."
He flicked the marble-sized ball back at Gotenks. When it hit, the explosion was ten times more powerful than the original attack. (obviusly holded to the target and not destroying 5 galaxies lol)
Gotenks went flying again, this time smoking and singed. "That's it! I'm done playing around!"
His aura exploded outward as he powered up to his absolute maximum. His SSJ3 form stabilized, the wild hair becoming more controlled, his power more focused.
"You wanna see a real technique? I've been saving this one! ULTIMATE FUSION TECHNIQUE: SOUL PUNISHER!"
The attack was completely different from anything Gotenks had shown before. Instead of flashy energy blasts, this was pure spiritual power - the combined souls of Goten and Trunks striking as one.
Future Gohan's eye widened slightly. For the first time in the fight, he looked genuinely impressed.
"Now that's interesting."
The Soul Punisher hit him dead center, and for a moment, it actually seemed to affect him. His aura flickered, and he took a half-step backward.
"Yes!" Gotenks pumped his fist. "How do you like that!"
But Future Gohan was smiling now. "Very good. That technique targets the spirit directly rather than the body. In my timeline, I fought an enemy who used similar attacks."
"What enemy?" Gotenks asked, suddenly curious.
Future Gohan's expression darkened. "Gohan Black."
The arena went dead silent. Even Gotenks stopped his posturing.
"Your Soul Punisher technique would have been effective against him," Future Gohan continued. "But unfortunately for you, I'm not him."
His aura began to change. The invisible pressure that had been weighing down the arena suddenly intensified tenfold.
"This is maybe five percent of my full power" as he said conversationally. "I've learned to compress my energy so tightly that even this small amount feels overwhelming to most fighters."
Gotenks' eyes went wide. "Five percent?! But you're not even transformed!"
"Transformation is just one way to increase power. I prefer efficiency."
Future Gohan moved again, but this time Gotenks could see it coming. The fusion tried to block, but the one-armed warrior's punch went right through his guard like it wasn't even there.
"Pressure Point Strike," Future Gohan explained as Gotenks stumbled. "I've been studying anatomy for years. Every body has weak points."
Gotenks tried to counter, but his left leg wasn't responding properly. "What did you do?"
"Temporary nerve disruption. It'll wear off in a few minutes."
The fusion was starting to panic. "This isn't fair! You're like some kind of fighting robot!"
"I'm a survivor," Future Gohan said simply. "In my timeline, there was no room for showboating or wasted motion. Every technique had to be perfect, or you died."
He appeared behind Gotenks in an instant. "Phantom Force."
His fist passed through Gotenks' body without making contact, but somehow the fusion still took damage - internal injuries from vibrations that bypassed his defenses entirely.
"That's impossible!" Vegeta stood up. "How can he damage someone without touching them?"
"Resonance frequency," Future Gohan answered, apparently hearing him despite the distance. "Every object has a natural frequency at which it vibrates. Apply the right force at the right frequency, and you can affect internal structures without touching the surface."
Gotenks was breathing hard now, clutching his ribs. "You're making this too complicated! Fighting should be simple! Strong guy hits other guy really hard!"
"That philosophy works when you have unlimited energy and backup," Future Gohan said. "I learned to fight when I had neither."
The fusion's timer was starting to run out. His SSJ3 form was flickering, the strain of maintaining maximum power while getting systematically dismantled taking its toll.
"One more technique!" Gotenks yelled desperately. "My secret ultimate attack that I've never shown anyone!"
His entire body began to glow with a strange energy - not ki, but something else entirely.
"Dimensional Kamehameha!"
The beam that erupted from his hands wasn't just energy - it was reality itself being warped and twisted. The attack existed in multiple dimensions simultaneously, making it impossible to dodge or block conventionally.
For the first time in the fight, Future Gohan looked genuinely concerned. He couldn't compress this attack or absorb it - it was too fundamentally different from normal energy.
"Clever," he admitted. "A technique that exists outside normal physics. I'll have to counter it the same way."
Turning into Super Saiyan 2 really fast to tank the attack and going to base.
The fusion was flickering now, the boys' energy finally running out. "This isn't over! Next time I'll be ready for your weird science fighting!"
"There won't be a next time," Future Gohan said, but not unkindly. "You're strong, Gotenks. Incredibly strong. But strength without discipline is just power waiting to be misdirected."
He walked over and helped the exhausted fusion to his feet. "In my timeline, I would have given anything to have teammates like Goten and Trunks. Don't waste the gift of having each other."
Gotenks looked up at him with new respect. "You're pretty cool, future guy. Even if you do talk too much."
Future Gohan smiled - the first genuine smile anyone had seen from him. "Thanks."
The fusion finally ran out, splitting back into Goten and Trunks, who immediately collapsed from exhaustion.
"Winner: Future Gohan!" the announcer called out, his voice shaky.
everyone had gathered in the massive dining hall attached to the tournament grounds. Tables were loaded with food from every corner of the Earth - everything from Chi-Chi's homemade cooking to fancy dishes Bulma had ordered from five-star restaurants.
Goku was already on his fourth plate, somehow managing to talk between bites. "Man, I can't believe how strong everyone's gotten! That fight between me and Gohan... I haven't felt that pumped up in years!"
Chi-Chi smacked him on the back of the head. "You almost killed our son, you idiot! What kind of father uses a move that could vaporize half the planet?!"
"But I pulled it back!" Goku protested, rubbing his head. "Besides, Gohan's tougher than that. Did you see that Mystic Kaioken thing he did? I didn't even know that was possible!"
Present-day Gohan was sitting with his arm in a sling, still recovering. "I didn't know it was possible either. It just... happened. Like my body knew what to do even though my brain didn't."
"That's the Saiyan instinct," Vegeta said, cutting into his steak with unnecessary force. "In moments of extreme stress, our bodies adapt beyond what should be physically possible. It's how we've survived for so long as a warrior race."
Future Trunks looked up from his barely touched meal. "In our timeline, we never had the luxury of pushing limits like that. Every fight was life or death from the start."
"Tell me about it," Gohan said quietly. "When the androids first appeared, we thought we were ready. We had no idea how outclassed we were."
Bulma - the present timeline Bulma - leaned forward eagerly. "What was it like? I mean, I've heard bits and pieces from Trunks, but what was it really like living in that world?"
Future Bulma, who looked remarkably similar despite the stress lines around her eyes, set down her coffee cup. "Terrifying. Every day was about survival. We lived underground for years, moving from bunker to bunker. The androids would destroy entire cities just for fun."
"Mom used to tell me stories about the old world," Future Trunks added. "About tournaments like this one, where people fought for sport instead of survival. I thought she was making it up."
Piccolo crossed his arms. "Your world's androids were different from ours. More cruel, more sadistic. Ours just wanted to find Goku. Yours seemed to enjoy the destruction."
"They did," Future Gohan's voice was flat. "17 and 18 in our timeline weren't just strong - they were psychopaths. They'd torture people for hours before killing them. I spent years trying to figure out how to stop them."
Android 17 shifted uncomfortably. "That's... disturbing. I mean, I can be a bit of an ass, but mass murder for fun? That's messed up even for me."
Android 18 nodded, bouncing little Marron on her knee. "We never wanted to destroy the world. We just wanted to fight Goku because Dr. Gero programmed us to. Once that was done, we basically retired."
"Different programming," Future Bulma explained. "In our timeline, Gero made them purely destructive. No off switch, no deeper purpose beyond causing suffering."
Marron looked up at her mother curiously. "Mommy, why are there two Bulmas?"
"Time travel, sweetie," Android 18 said gently. "It's complicated."
Yamcha was shaking his head in disbelief. "And you guys had to deal with that alone? No Goku, no Vegeta?"
"Goku died from the heart virus before he could get the medicine," Future Trunks said. "Vegeta died trying to stop the androids. So did everyone else, eventually. Except Gohan."
Trunks - the present timeline version - was staring at his future counterpart. "I can't imagine growing up like that. No dad, no peace, just constant fighting."
"You adapt," Future Trunks replied simply. "You have to."
All eyes turned to Future Gohan, who continued eating as if they weren't discussing the death of everyone he'd ever cared about.
"How did you survive?" Krillin asked gently.
Future Gohan was quiet for a long moment. "I learned to be patient. Everyone else fought with their hearts, with passion and pride. That gets you killed against opponents who are stronger than you. So I learned to fight with my head instead."
"That technique you used against Gotenks," Tien said, with Chiaotzu nodding beside him. "The energy compression thing. I've never seen anything like it."
"Necessity," Future Gohan replied. "When you're constantly outgunned, you learn to make every bit of power count. I spent years studying physics, anatomy, energy manipulation. Fighting became a science instead of an art."
Master Roshi stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Fascinating. You've essentially created an entirely new martial arts philosophy. Efficiency over power, technique over brute force."
"It worked," Future Gohan said simply. "Eventually. Took me fifteen years, but I finally killed those monsters."
"Fifteen years?!" Goten's jaw dropped. "You fought them for fifteen years?"
"Not continuously," Future Gohan clarified. "I'd strike when I had an advantage, then disappear for months or years at a time. Guerrilla warfare. I turned the Earth into my hunting ground and them into the prey."
Future Bulma smiled proudly. "He was brilliant. Every attack was perfectly planned, every resource maximized. He turned warfare into mathematics."
Vegeta was studying Future Gohan with obvious interest. "And after you killed them? What then?"
"Peace, for a while. We started rebuilding. Then other threats appeared. Beings from other timelines, other dimensions. Apparently, our universe's weakness attracted predators."
"Like this Gohan Black you mentioned?" present Gohan asked.
Future Gohan's expression darkened. "A version of you from another timeline where you'd been corrupted by divine ki. He was everything I wasn't - powerful, ruthless, completely insane. Fighting him taught me that sometimes technique isn't enough. Sometimes you need to match power with power."
"Is that when you developed that condensed Super Saiyan 2?" Piccolo asked.
"Among other things. I learned to compress not just energy, but transformations themselves. Make them more efficient, more stable. Less flashy, more deadly."
Future Trunks looked at his mentor with something like awe. "I had no idea you'd gotten that strong. When I left for my own training, you were powerful, but this..."
"Training never stops," Future Gohan said. "The moment you think you're strong enough is the moment something stronger shows up to prove you wrong."
Uub, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up. "In my village, the elders used to say that suffering either breaks you or makes you unbreakable. You chose not to break."
Future Gohan looked at the young fighter with interest. "You understand. Most people who've lived in peace their whole lives can't comprehend what constant war does to a person."
Mr. Satan was wiping his eyes with a napkin. "That's the most heroic thing I've ever heard! Fighting alone for fifteen years to save humanity! You're a true champion!"
"I wasn't trying to be heroic," Future Gohan said. "I was just trying to survive. And maybe give the people left something to hope for."
Pan tugged on present Gohan's good arm. "Daddy, why is the other Gohan so sad?"
Future Gohan heard her and looked over. "I'm not sad, little one. Just... focused. In my world, there wasn't time for happiness. But watching all of you together like this... it's nice. It reminds me what I was fighting to protect."
Chi-Chi's expression softened. "You poor thing. You never got to have a normal life, did you?"
"Normal is relative," Future Gohan replied. "I had purpose. That's more than most people get."
"But no family," Videl said quietly. "No children, no wife."
"The woman I loved died when the androids destroyed West City," Future Gohan said matter-of-factly. "Her name was Lime. She was a teacher. She used to say that knowledge was the only weapon that couldn't be taken away from you."
The table went quiet. Even Vegeta looked uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry," present Gohan said. "I can't imagine losing Videl and Pan."
"Don't be sorry.''
Chiaotzu, who had been silent until now, spoke in his small voice. "Mr. Future Gohan, do you ever wish you lived in our timeline instead?"
Future Gohan paused, considering the question seriously. "Sometimes.''
Krillin nodded with respect. "That's what makes you a real hero. Not the power, but the sacrifice."
"The power helps though," Android 17 said with a smirk. "Speaking of which, that fight with Gotenks was impressive. Kid never stood a chance."
"Gotenks is strong," Future Gohan said. "But he fights like someone who's never truly been threatened. That makes him predictable."
Roshi chuckled. "In our timeline, that's a good thing. Children should be able to fight for fun, not survival."
"Agreed," Future Gohan said, heading toward the exit. "The tournament's been impressive so far. But the real battles are coming. I suggest you all prepare yourselves."
After he left, the table remained quiet for a moment.
"That guy's been through hell," Yamcha said finally.
"And came out stronger for it," Vegeta added. "Respect where it's due."
Future Bulma sighed. "He's always been like that. Carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. In our timeline, he's more than just a fighter - he's a symbol. People see him and remember that hope isn't dead."
"Will he be okay?" Pan asked innocently.
Piccolo smiled slightly. "He'll be fine. Warriors like him always are. They have to be."
Tien leaned back in his chair. "Makes you appreciate what we have here, doesn't it? The fact that our biggest worry is who wins a tournament."
"That's the point," Goku said, finally looking serious. "We fight so other people don't have to. So kids like Pan and Marron can grow up in a world where fighting is a choice, not a necessity."
Future Trunks nodded. "In our timeline, Gohan taught me that strength isn't just about power. It's about using that power to protect something bigger than yourself."
As conversations resumed around the table, everyone found themselves thinking about the differences between timelines, between the paths their lives had taken. Same people, same faces, but completely different worlds.
Tomorrow, the 2 last quarter finals would happen them semifinals would begin. And everyone was starting to realize that this tournament had become about more than just finding the strongest fighter - it had become a celebration of survival, of growth, of the bonds that held them all together across time and space.
Even the ones that had been forged in the fires of the worst possible circumstances.