(A little while later)
Following the defeat of Zeru, the entire planet earth spent the next several hours picking up the pieces and putting itself back together. Thanks to the brutal thrashing it'd received at the hands of its unexpected visitor, not only did a large portion of the continent's West Coast look as though it'd just gone through the worst nuclear fallout ever, but the ocean was missing several islands, entire forests and cities had been burned, and the entire atmosphere had become polluted by fumes and smog. A lot of West City had also suffered considerable damage, another part of the continent now had a massive hole in it, and the entire surface of the planet had been warped. And this was only the damage the earth had suffered directly from the attack.
The Z-fighters' battle with the beast had left scars all around, on both the defenders and the globe that they were defending. As bad a beating as they'd suffered, they'd still managed to push themselves to the limits of their abilities, persevered, and succeeded in defeating an enemy more powerful than anything they'd ever encountered in their lives.
Even if it wasn't an intelligent creature on the levels of both Frieza and Cell, it'd certainly posed a massive threat to their world on raw power alone. That'd been more than enough to cripple and fatally wound a couple members of their group, most notably Vegeta and Gohan.
Speaking of which, after managing to recover the prince's arm, the entire group quickly flew the wounded up to Kami's lookout. There, they were able to properly treat everyone's injuries with the help of the guardian of earth. Dende worked his way from the most heavily wounded to those with minor injuries, until everyone was back up and running again. Vegeta managed to have his arm reattached and Gohan had his flesh restored. Once everyone was back on their feet, a few minutes of elation regarding their victory over their foe was soon held between every member of the group.
This was promptly replaced by a sense of urgency and a need to repair all of the damages brought on by the alien's arrival. As soon as Gohan went down to collect Bulma and the radar, the Z-fighters quickly gathered their senses and scattered, heading out in search of the dragon balls. Zangya and Videl had a blast trying to find them, the former coming across hers at the bottom of the ocean whereas the latter found hers on the roof of a primary school. It didn't take the others long to find them either and once all of the sacred orange treasures had been brought to the lookout, they summoned the dragon.
Gathered around the glowing spheres, the Z-fighters watched as the newly recovered Gohan, now adorned in a newly repaired gi, grinned and brought his fists around heroically. "Shenron! Arise!"
The sky darkening as the seven orbs pulsed and shone brilliantly, the group of warriors watched closely as streams of lightning arced off of the mystical treasures, creating a miniature tempest around the lookout. Then, just when the lightshow was about to reach its peak, a loud thunderclap reverberated across the heavens, followed by a golden bolt of energy shooting up from the orbs and into the atmosphere above. Those that were used to seeing the dragon watched patiently as he made his grand entrance. Those who hadn't seen him on the other hand, namely Videl, Zangya, Goten and Trunks, looked on in amazement as the glowing serpent curled through the sky before wrapping itself around the floating castle. In a matter of moments, the magnificent form of Shenron emerged.
"Wow. He's here," Goten exclaimed, eyes shining with awe as he saw the great dragon's immense form fill the clouds.
"So this is the Shenron I've heard so much about," Videl murmured, unable to take her eyes off of the enormous beast and swallowing nervously. The sight of him caused her to move forward and gently take Gohan's hand, a gesture he quickly acknowledged. One thing was for certain, it was definitely one of the most impressive sights she'd ever seen. "I hope he can do something for us."
"Don't worry. He will," Gohan answered, smiling over his shoulder at the girl to see her standing nervously under the creature's shadow. His fingers gently tightened around hers. "Just watch." He then turned his attention back to the front.
Letting out a roar, the red-eyed dragon of legend descended to the group's level and focused all of his attention on the familiar collection of faces staring up at him. "I have come to grant you two wishes. Tell me what they are so that I may go."
Tien raised an eyebrow as he stared up at the beast towering above them, "He seems pretty impatient today."
"That's typical for Shenron. He doesn't like being kept out for too long," Yamcha informed, hands on his hips as he grinned at their team's most well-known familiar.
In the background, Vegeta could be seen with his arms folded and standing beside his wife, who was currently checking on Dende's handiwork. Running her fingers over the freshly healed scar the man now had between his arm and shoulder, the woman discreetly rested her head against him and smiled in relief, earning a grunt from the man in return. The other silent parties of the group, Piccolo, Android 18 and Android 17, also gathered at the rear and watched their comrades get to work in cleaning up the mess.
Stepping further forward, Gohan smiled up at the elongated form of the dragon and took a deep breath, "Shenron. The earth has just been attacked by a powerful creature called Zeru. Could you please repair all of the damages it has caused?"
A low snarl was the boy's immediate answer. "It shall be done," the dragon replied, its eyes lighting up as he went about following through with the request. The Z-fighters then stood back and waited for confirmation of their wish. However, a couple of seconds later, they suddenly saw the great serpent recoil a little and look down at them questioningly. "Hang on a second. A sun and several other planets outside of the solar system have been destroyed. What the hell were you people doing out there?"
Sweat drops breaking out on most of the members of the troop, the Z-fighters then looked around at each other nervously for a couple of seconds. Though having never seen the dragon lose his composure like this before, the entourage simply rolled with the reptile's exclamation as he probably never expected to fix so many problems with one wish.
After silently consolidating with one another, the Z-fighters turned back to the dragon and looked up at him nervously.
"It's a… bit of a long story," Krillin answered with a friendly grin, earning a few head nods from Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu, all of whom were noticeably worried.
"Let's just say a lot of stuff happened while you were asleep," Gohan also spoke up sheepishly.
Giving a very irritated growl as he looked upon the innocent faces of the group, Shenron then exhaled in defeat and went back to glaring up at the sky. "Hmph. Very well." Eyes glowing red once again, the dragon then continued on with his job.
As everyone stood by and watched, Zangya, having listened to every word spoken by the mystical creature, raised an eyebrow and turned towards the raven haired girl standing alongside her. "Is it just me… or is the dragon kind of a dick?"
Videl shrugged back, also finding the beast's answers rather blunt, "Sure seems that way." Granted she'd never met a magical dragon or a mythological beast capable of granting wishes before, she had to assume it was just its normal attitude. Considering how powerful he was, she wasn't too keen on giving him shit for his foul mood. As long as he granted wishes then that was good enough for her.
A minute later, the dragon's eyes stopped glowing and its gaze returned to the Z-fighters. "It is done. Name your second and final wish."
Nodding in acknowledgement, Gohan braced and spoke once again, "Shenron. Please bring back to life everyone who was killed in the battle against Zeru."
The dragon nodded in acknowledgement, "It shall be done." Its eyes then lit up. Moments later, the glow faded, and the green entity bowed its head indicating the deed has been completed. "There. All your wishes have been granted. My duty to you is done. Farewell." Cracks of lightning reverberating throughout the sky, the Z-fighters were shortly engulfed by a blinding flash of light. Upon which the seven mystical orbs shot up into the sky and, after converging several hundred meters above the lookout, scattered across the planet.
When light returned to their sky and the heavens cleared, the warriors gathered on the lookout felt an immediate change in the air. The sensation of newly revived presences and a superbly repaired planet swelled the hearts of all those conscious of their surroundings. Those who didn't show any signs of being receptive to the changes merely stood in place looking off in random directions, while at the same time knowing that the wishes had been successful. The majority on the other hand expressed their delight with smiles and praise all around.
With the threat gone and the world back to normal, the Z-warriors could finally return to their usual, daily activities.
Android 18 and Krillin had a proper reunion with Android 17 and, along with Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu, headed down to Kame House to rest up from a long, spirit hazing day. Vegeta flew Bulma back to Capsule Corp along with Trunks, and Gohan, Goten, Videl and Zangya returned home.
OOO
(Meanwhile)
Up on Grand Kai's planet, the overseer of the Northern part of space and universally renowned trainer in Otherworld smiled brightly when he witnessed the final wrap up of the battle against Zeru. Inside, the man felt all jittery and anxious. Having been hanging onto the very edge of his seat in the battle's closing moments and seeing the defenders of earth nearly die many times, you could understand how jumbled up his nerves were.
But when he saw the group pull through and call upon the dragon to correct all of the disasters made that day, King Kai felt an awesome sense of relief wash through him. It drowned out all other negative sensations and brought a prideful twinkle to his eye, one that few have ever seen before.
At least Saturn had been brought back after being cut in half and destroyed. That was good.
"Well done, Gohan. You should be very proud." Not just the demi-Saiyan either.
It was thanks to the efforts of everyone, both his family and friends, that'd ensured their victory today.
XXX
(Some weeks later)
Fighting and saving the world from doomsday level calamities had seemingly become a regular thing for the Z-warriors. Whenever there was a long, drawn out period of peace and prosperity on the planet, a new enemy just happened to periodically spring up out of nowhere to rain hell down upon them. What's more, none of the entities that they'd encountered were even remotely related to any of the group's previous conflicts. All of the enemies that had appeared in the last several years happened upon them by sheer coincidence. The only exception to this list would have to be Paprika and at least now she was on friendly terms with the group.
But of course, if she wasn't causing any problems, then neither of them had anything to complain about. Once order had been properly restored to the planet, everyone picked up where they'd left off and moved forward with their lives. It was all business as usual really, and no one seemed to have any qualms with delving back into their regular activities.
Krillin even made a joke at one of their group's most recent get-togethers about actually coming up with paperwork they had to fill in for the heads-of-state whenever another potentially earth-shattering event took place. This was to ensure that the people were officially and adequately informed of each situation and that their safety was of the utmost importance. The documentation would also include other important materials, such as proper insurance information and health cover. Unfortunately, while the joke was successful in bringing a round of laughs from the table, the idea sort of fell flat afterwards.
Nobody spoke of it ever again.
Prosperity returned to the people of earth shortly thereafter. As it turns out, despite the dragon's wish to restore everything to its proper state and order, the battle with Zeru had still left a significant mark on the face of the planet. It wasn't until they were informed by Dende that Gohan, Videl, Piccolo and everybody else learned that the energy that'd previously been absorbed by the invader from other planets had been absorbed by the earth. The death of Zeru had effectively replenished the forests and the globe's natural resources, and it made all the existing landscapes in the area of its demise more beautiful and lively than ever before.
The Z-fighters took it as a bonus after all their hard work and suffering that day. The rest period too came as some comfort to those that needed it. With the earth no longer in danger of being destroyed and another leg of peace in sight, its protectors returned to their duties as productive members of society, Gohan included, who was now training harder than ever to reach the next level of Super Saiyan.
After watching one of his sessions during a particular visit, Lime commented to the hybrid if he was pushing himself a little too hard. However, for a boy that could move planets with a single punch and lay waste to entire armies with a sneeze, pulling a muscle during a weight lifting seminar was the least of his concerns.
He also had the privilege of teaching his younger brother how to control his Super Saiyan transformation, which he had unknowingly assumed during the battle with Zeru. The teen hybrid spent a few lessons getting Goten to tap into his inner power, allowing him to transform at will without the need for anger or strain. It was a trying process at first, but since the youngster had already achieved it, he was soon able to nudge his little brother that last step.
===============================
If you want to support me and also access 30 advance chapters, join my patreon with the link patreon.com/EddyHazArd Or just search "EddyHazArd" in the patreon searcher.