When Rainbow, Applejack, and Vegeta returned to the Capsule Corp building they expected to find that Gohan had already departed to tell everyone the news that Goku was returning for the next World Martial Arts Tournament, but instead they found that he was still standing in the same room they left him in. Apparently Bulma wanted to ask him what sort of voice he wanted the Great Saiyaman to have, after the tournament was over and the entire thing was behind him, though the three of them patiently waited outside the room before they bothered speaking with Bulma and Gohan. Trunks and Gale noticed that they had returned rather suddenly and were eager to hear what King Vegeta had told them, though the anger on Vegeta's face told them that it was serious.
Trunks had actually never seen his father this upset over something, especially on the rare occurrences where he and his mother actually argued over something, so he kept his mouth shut as he waited for someone to tell them what was going on at the moment.
"Oh, I didn't know you guys were back." Gohan said, as the moment he came out of the room he noticed that Rainbow, Applejack, and Vegeta had returned, to which Bulma walked out and noticed them as well, "I take it the King didn't have anything good to tell you?"
"He gave us some bad news." Applejack replied, to which she looked at the pair for a moment, as they needed to gather everyone together as soon as possible and inform them of Nappa's return to Earth, "Gohan, go home and tell your mother the news about Goku returning on the day of the World Martial Arts Tournament, though once you have done that you should also tell her that you'll be at the Lookout for a few minutes. The news we have to tell you should be delivered to all of the Z Warriors, instead of a select number of them."
"I doubt you'll find Tien anytime soon," Bulma commented, though at the same time she started turning to the phone that was in the room, as she knew how to get a hold of some of their friends, "he cut all connection with everyone else some time ago, but I know how to contact Yamcha and Krillin... and Android 18 as well. I'll be sure to tell them to meet you all at the Lookout... and I'll admit that I am a little eager to hear what the King told you in Asgard."
"If you say so," Gohan said, though upon seeing Vegeta's face, however, he knew that something important must have been imparted to them, to which he waved a hand and departed from the room.
Once Gohan had departed from the building, and they were sure that he was a good distance away, Bulma placed the calls to Yamcha and Krillin, informing them that there might be a new threat to the planet and that they needed to gather at the Lookout soon. The moment both parties confirmed what they had been told, and said that they would be at the Lookout as soon as they were able, Bulma hung up and told them the news, though she also asked what was going on. Instead of saying anything at the moment, as he was still trying to wrap his head around everything that his father had told him, Vegeta said that they would tell her and the others everything they knew once they reached the Lookout... to which they all headed outside.
Bulma, Trunks, and Gale sat in the sky car that she had decided to use so they could reach the Lookout, while at the same time Vegeta, Rainbow, and Applejack flew through the air, following the others so they didn't lose sight of them.
It didn't take them long to reach the Lookout, not at the speeds that Vegeta and the girls were using, though Vegeta did circle back to be sure that they didn't lose Bulma and the others, where he flew along side them until they reached their destination. Once they reached the Lookout Bulma landed the sky car and parked near the entrance, though the moment she and the kids were outside it she returned it to its capsule form. A few seconds later they were greeted by Dende, who had grown up during the seven years of peace they had following Cell's defeat, Piccolo, who had come to call the Lookout home, and Mr. Popo, who seemed indifferent as usual.
"It is nice to see you all again," Dende said, tapping the base of his staff against the floor, though he smiled at them in an attempt to make everyone feel better, "especially with the news that we are about to receive."
"Dende, my father told me that someone from my past has been brought back to live." Vegeta said, though the girls knew that he was going to ask Dende if he knew where Nappa was, as the young Namekian had grown into his role as the new Kami of Earth and should know where someone was by looking down at the planet, "Do you have any idea where he is or where he might have gone?"
"Unfortunately, I do not know where he is," Dende replied, though he held up a hand to stop Vegeta from saying anything more at the moment, "In a few minutes you can explain what is going on, as I am sure that the others are all eager to see what sort of news your father had to tell you... even if the news isn't all that great to begin with."
Vegeta really wanted to press the issue and find out where Nappa was hiding, especially since they had no idea what the evil Saiyan was planning this time around, but he reined himself in and decided that it was best to wait for everyone to show up before he did anything he might regret. As they waited for the others to arrive Trunks and Gale player around with each other, which was mainly them taking turns throwing a punch at each other and causing the other to block, before the cycle repeated over and over. If this was an actual training match they would be up in the air, attacking each other with the intensity they used whenever they trained in Asgard, but for the moment they were entertaining themselves and that was all that mattered to them.
It took some time for Gohan, Master Roshi, Krillin, and 18, along with her daughter Marron, to arrive at the Lookout, though when they all arrived both Rainbow and Applejack could tell that their friends were curious as to why they were all gathering in this area... they only hoped that they took the news well.
"So why exactly have we have gathered here?" Piccolo asked, as he knew that the reason behind the group getting back together had to be terrible, as he had been expecting the peace they had earned with Cell's defeat to pass at some point in time.
"We have some good news and some bad news to share with all of you," Rainbow said, taking a moment to look at her friends, as she knew that most of them were going to hate the second bit of news that they were going to be told, "The good news is that Goku is returning to Earth to compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament."
"That is some good news," Krillin replied, though at the same time he knew that he and 18 had been planning on entering the tournament, which meant that he could say goodbye to at least first and second place, as he was sure that Vegeta would be putting his name in as well, "what's the bad news?"
"Nappa has returned to Earth," Applejack answered, to which she, Rainbow, and Vegeta braced themselves for the shock and questions that would be coming a few seconds later.
Krillin, who had seen the damage that the bald Saiyan had caused during his time on Earth and had heard all of the stories that Vegeta had told the group, had a look of absolute terror on his face when he heard the news. Piccolo and Gohan were shocked, as Nappa had killed Tien and Chiaotzu so easily and was willing to sacrifice the Saibamen he had called upon for entertainment. Master Roshi, who hadn't actually seen any of what Nappa had done to the planet in person, had heard the stories and seemed concerned for the future, as it was hard for most of the group to read his face... unless he was reading his personal magazines and blushed at the pictures that were in it.
It took a moment for shock to appear on Bulma's face, as it took a few seconds for her to remember the Saiyan in question, though Dende, Trunks, 18, and Gale were confused why the return on Nappa would warrant such a response... though Mr. Popo, who had heard the news as well, didn't seem to care all that much.
"Okay, who is this Nappa and why should we care about him?" 18 asked, as she had no prior knowledge of the person in question and wanted to know why her husband looked absolutely terrified at the mere mention of his name.
"Nappa is one of the few Saiyans to survive the destruction of Planet Vegeta," Applejack explained, as she knew that if Vegeta tried to explain everything he was bound to explode in rage and destroy something, and he was bound to do it while he listened to it, but this was better than pissing him off quicker, "King Vegeta tasked his general, which happened to be Nappa at the time, with keeping Vegeta safe while they were off world, though some time after their departure from the planet Frieza, the galactic tyrant himself, arrived and obliterated Vegeta's home world. Nappa was also the person who arrived with Vegeta when he landed on Earth all those years ago, though his first action was to wipe out an entire city and start a fight with the Z Warriors
While we fought him, however, Nappa revealed a startling truth that shook all of us to our cores; he was the one who ultimately orchestrated the downfall of both the Saiyan race, by killing many of their soldiers in suicide missions, and brought about the destruction of Planet Vegeta... effectively obliterating their race and landing all of them in Asgard."
"What a horrible thing for him to do!" Dende exclaimed, as he had not known the exact specifics of Planet Vegeta's destruction, which now made him worry about Earth, as they had no idea what the evil Saiyan was planning.
"I'm afraid that it doesn't stop there," Vegeta said, to which he let out a sigh, though at the same time the group could tell that he was trying to keep his rage under control, "Before the destruction of Planet Vegeta, back when my father was trying to gather and train enough soldiers to overthrow Frieza, Nappa sent many of our soldiers on suicide missions and got them all killed... though one of those groups was lead by my mother."
"Wait, so the guy that killed grandmother and the rest of our race is somewhere on Earth?" Trunks asked, though just thinking about that information made him want to find the evil Saiyan, wherever he was hiding, and beat him into the ground so his father could deliver Nappa back to Hell.
"He has been hiding for the last year," Rainbow commented, causing the group to turn towards her, though at the same time she leaned against one of the pillars that were around them, "carefully biding his time until he, and likely whoever resurrected him, can make their move. King Vegeta heard about the World Martial Arts Tournament and quickly came to the conclusion that Nappa will strike there first, which I find myself agreeing with. There are going to be plenty of people at the location of the tournament, enough for Nappa to do whatever he is planning on doing, which means that we need to be there to stop him... which is the reason that Goku is being sent back, because it's a mission that could potentially spell disaster for the universe if Nappa is allowed to complete whatever he is planning."
"The important part is that we're going to have to train and prepare ourselves before the start of the tournament," Applejack added, knowing that some of them would be disappointed in the fact that they wouldn't be going to the location of the tournament to have some fun, rather they would be going to save their world from Nappa's plans, "Once the tournament actually starts we'll have to act like we're there solely for the tournament and nothing else... otherwise we might scare Nappa away and lose our chance to stop him."
The group looked at each other, as those that knew Nappa were silently debating whether they wanted to deal with the evil Saiyan, before they all agreed that they would have to band together and come up with a plan to stop Nappa once the tournament started. Gohan also inquired if the girls would mind training with him on Earth, as he was sure that going to Asgard was going to be near impossible with the fact that the one person who knew the Great Saiyaman's identity would be coming to train with him until the day the tournament started. Both Rainbow and Applejack said that they would spend some time helping him out, before the entire group agreed to meet at the Capsule Corp once a week so they could go over anything they might have discovered and continue to plan for their visit to the tournament.
With everyone in agreement the group went their separate ways, though at the same time Vegeta decided to tell Trunks everything about Nappa, which the girls reflected to do with Gale when they got home later that afternoon... all so they could both be prepared for the Saiyan's evil nature, and stop asking questions about him.
The following day, after having something for breakfast, Rainbow, Applejack, and Gale departed from their house and flew towards the area around the house that Gohan and his family lived in, though they targeted the area with stones and plateaus, as that would be the perfect place to train. It took them some time to reach their destination, though it was rather easy to find area they would be training in, as they focused their minds and tracked the ki that both Gohan and Goten were giving off at the moment. When the trio of sisters drew closer to the area that the two brothers were in, where they found that the two of them had already started, as Gohan was testing his reflexes by dodging stones that his younger brother was throwing at him... and they were both in their Super Saiyan forms at the moment.
The three sisters watched the two brothers spar against each other for a few moments, to which they determined that Gohan's strength had decreased by a small amount due to the fact that he didn't train nearly as much as they did, before Goten happened to notice them standing on top of one of the plateaus.
"I wasn't expecting the three of you to show up so soon," Gohan commented, noticing that his brother had spotted the three pony girls standing nearby, to which he and Goten stopped sparring for the moment, "Honestly, I was expecting you to arrive this afternoon, but this is actually much better for all of us... especially when I want to see how I measure up to the two of you."
"Does that mean I get to play with Gale?" Goten asked, though at the same time he remained in his Super Saiyan form, as it would allow him to keep up with his friend.
Rainbow, Applejack, and Gohan knew that Goten really meant train with Gale, but he was still a year younger than her and Trunks and referred to their training as playing, though neither of his friends had bothered to tell him that it was training and not playing. Gale and Goten, on the other hand, moved away from the three older siblings and went to the top of a nearby plateau, where they could train in peace and watch the others when they wanted to take a break. Applejack also moved out of the way, allowing Rainbow and Gohan to start training with each other first, indicating that she was going to wait until Gohan was ready to face two opponents at the same time, instead of overwhelming him at the very beginning.
Rainbow stared at Gohan for a few seconds before she dropped down and charged at him, to which she raced over to where he was standing and threw a punch at him. She had purposely lowered her speed to almost perfectly match the speed that Gohan could move at, where he could still read her movements and potentially hit her in return, to which she smiled as her training partner blocked the attack she had thrown at him. Gohan glanced at her for a few seconds before throwing a punch in return, to which Rainbow rolled her body back and let the attack slip passed her, though she followed that up by making sure Gohan slipped passed her as well.
Gohan grinned for a moment as he regained his footing and faced Rainbow, because this is what he expected from someone of her caliber, as she possessed a skill in the art of fighting that could easily surpass both Gohan and his father. He knew, from the first attack that she threw at him, that she was purposely holding back in this training session, so she didn't accidentally hurt him in the process, though he already knew that her power was far greater than what she was using. He remembered the day they fought Cell, where Rainbow transformed into a form that was different than anything he had ever seen before and obtained a power that made it impossible for him, and the other Z Warriors for that matter, to even sense her energy.
It was as if Rainbow was able to harness a power that was beyond what she used in battle all the time, like the power of a god Gohan mentally reflected, though when he asked Chronoa about it all she told him was that Rainbow had created an 'Avatar'... and he knew that the pony girl must have been practicing on perfecting her new technique ever since she discovered that it existed.
"Rainbow, if you want to fight like you mean it I won't stop you," Gohan said, though at the same time he dropped into his battle stance and waited for the opening to appear, "especially since I am interested in seeing how I stack up to your Avatar transformation."
"Gohan, you may be a strong fighter, but don't bark up the wrong tree," Rainbow replied, though she wasn't very surprised by the young man knowing about her transformation, as everyone in their group knew about it, and she had asked her mother about it when she first heard about it, "The Avatar isn't something you can handle... I would beat you into the ground so hard that our fight would be over in that instant, and then I would have to run and get you a Senzu Bean so you could continue training. Let's stick to what you can handle."
Gohan nodded and the two of them resumed fighting, which was where one of them would throw an attack at the other and see if their training partner could dodge their attack, though they purposely lowered the amount of ki they used in each ki based attack so they didn't hurt their partner. After a few minutes of getting to know Rainbow's routine again, where Gohan was starting to predict some of her more predictable moves, Applejack jumped off the plateau she had been watching from and joined the fight. That made it much harder for Gohan to concentrate on one enemy, as the two sisters had trained with each other for so long that they could attack in unison... as if they were reading each others minds. Then, after another few minutes, Rainbow would tap out and return to the plateau her sister had been on, one more forcing Gohan to switch to watching a single opponent and having to shelve what he knew.
He knew that they were doing this to test how quickly he could change mindsets, from fighting one opponent to fighting two, though even though he knew what they were doing it was still hard for him to manage at the moment, which told him he needed some serious practice.
As he trained with Rainbow and Applejack, who were each using the time they weren't fighting to rest and recover their energy, Gohan noticed that Goten and Gale seemed to be doing well... up until Gale happened to fly into the air and caused Goten to remember that he hadn't learned that particular skill yet. Gohan never did quite figure out why Goten never bothered to learn that skill whenever they visited Asgard, as nearly every Saiyan there knew how to fly, but he did have to stop his own training when his younger brother ran over and begged him to teach him how to fly. Gohan suspected that he wanted to fight on an even playing field with Gale, to which Gohan merely sighed and told his brother that he would be more than willing to teach him later on.
Before he could actively get back to his own training, however, Goten also happened to spot something flying in the area around them, to which Gohan recognized the sky car as the one Videl used... and remembered that she had told him that she was coming over on this exact day to begin her own training.
The moment he remembered that piece of information, however, he called off the training that he was doing with Rainbow and Applejack and apologized for not remembering that Videl was coming over today. That was followed by him and Goten taking off, where they powered down into their base forms and ran the entire distance back to their home, though as they did that the three girls flew behind them. Rainbow was mostly eager to see who was causing Gohan to stop his training with her and Applejack, while her sisters were mostly interested in seeing the person so they could go home and resume training.
When they arrived at Gohan's house, however, they found Chi Chi talking with Videl, as Gohan explained who was coming over to the girls, and left out who her father was, though it appeared that neither of them were very happy... and only noticed their arrival when Gohan called out to them.
"Oh, Gohan, I wasn't expecting you or your brother to return so soon," Chi Chi said, though at the same time she glanced over at Videl, who was focused solely on Gohan at the moment, "I also wasn't expecting your 'friend' to show up today... I thought you meant in a day or two."
"Sorry, that's my bad. I forgot that today was the day that she was coming over." Gohan replied, to which he turned his attention to Videl, who seemed upset with him, no doubt for skipping school, but he was sure that he could make that up to her by teaching her what she wanted to know, "Videl, it seems that you were able to find this place easily."
"I just had to look up your name on the name board," Videl said, though as she prepared to lay into Gohan, for skipping school and potentially forgetting to teach her how to fly, she noticed three people standing behind him, as Goten had returned to his mother's side for the moment, "Wait a minute... two of you look oddly familiar..."
"Really? I wonder where you would have seen someone like me or Applejack." Rainbow commented, crossing one of her arms behind her back and tapping her chin with the tip of a finger from her other hand, just like her father did whenever he was thinking about something, before her eyes widened as she realized where Videl had likely seen them, "Oh, that's right, you likely saw us at the Cell Games..."
"Wait a minute..." Videl said, glancing between Rainbow and Applejack for a moment, her mind recalling two of the strange fighters that had fought with Cell and remembering that both of the fighters had been a cross between a human and a pony, "the two of you are the strange pony girls that nearly destroyed Cell seven years ago?!"
"Yes, we fought hard against Cell, but Gohan was the one who dealt the finishing blow." Applejack answered, to which she gestured to both herself and her sisters, knowing that Videl would be asking about them in a few seconds, "These are my sisters Rainbow Dash and Gale Wind. My name is Applejack..."
It was at that point that Videl promptly fainted and collapsed on the ground, causing Gohan to rush to her side and make sure that she was okay, while at the same time causing both Rainbow and Applejack to sigh. They guessed that Videl had known the truth behind who had beaten Cell seven years ago and had said nothing, because people were used to hailing Mr. Satan for what Gohan had done. It appeared that their appearance, being half human and half pony, must have really shocked Videl, in addition to hearing that her father truly wasn't the one who beat Cell... though instead of staying around, and doing any lasting damage to the young lady, the three girls excused themselves and wished Gohan luck in training for the tournament.
With that done they headed back towards their home so they could see if Vegeta was still around, because now it seemed that the only training they were going to get done was with the Saiyans of Asgard... as Gohan was going to be busy explaining everything to Videl and not look like an insane person in the process.
Shin sighed as he sat on the rock pillar that the legendary Z Sword was trapped in, while Kibito remained in the immediate area and watched him from afar, knowing that he needed some time alone at the moment. He had spent an entire year on Earth, searching for the whereabouts of Majin Buu's prison ball, and yet neither he or Kibito had found anything to show for their effort. As such the pair had returned to the Sacred World of the Kai, made their way to this sacred area, and used their own methods of meditation to prepare themselves for when they had to go back down to Earth for the start of the World Martial Arts Tournament... which was Shin's last hope of discovering where Majin Buu's prison ball was hidden.
He knew that Rainbow, Applejack, Gale, and the rest of the Z Warriors had been preparing for something terrible, thanks to what King Vegeta told them through his son, but he had to wonder if their training would be enough... or if he needed to ask Beerus to intervene at some point.
"Want some company?" a voice said, snapping Shin out of his thoughts for a moment, but he smiled as looked over at Beerus, who was simply floating near the top of the rock pillar, "When you and Kibito returned I noticed that neither of you wanted to face the entire group, so I decided to come and see what was wrong for myself... and see if there was anything I could possibly do to help out."
"Beerus... your company is always appreciated." Shin replied, to which he watched as the Destroyer God sat down next to him, where he gazed out over his planet once more, "The truth is that I'm worried about finding Majin Buu's prison ball and not being able to stop his revival before I was too late in figuring out Babidi's plans. Kibito and I spent an entire year on Earth, avoiding the girls like they were the plague, searching for signs of where Babidi hid his spaceship or where Majin Buu's prison ball could be resting... and yet we found nothing. I'm worried for all of the planets in the universe, because many of them are bound to be destroyed once Majin Buu is revived and has a chance to regain the power he had before he was sealed away."
"Shin, I know you faced Majin Buu in the past and nearly died, but you shouldn't worry too much about him," Beerus said, though at the same time he placed a hand on Shin's shoulder, letting the Supreme Kai know that he was willing to help if he was truly needed, "We both know that, if worse comes to worse and Majin Buu comes here, I would rather destroy him first then let him have his way with the rest of the universe. At one point I used to like the guy, mainly because he appeared to be the perfect agent of destruction, but then I decided that he was really just messing up the universe for fun and didn't care about the balance that preserved everything... and trust me, I won't let him blow your planet to pieces if he shows his face here."
Shin remained quiet for a few moments, reflecting on who Beerus had been before Rainbow and Applejack arrived and who he had become after their arrival. Beerus had become a God of Destruction that didn't instantly destroy anything anymore, as now he took into account the consequences of his own actions and made sure that a planet needed to be destroyed before actually blowing it to pieces. Shin knew that the girls had given Beerus a morale compass before they had gone to sleep, as he was also more likeable and was actually much harder to irritate lately, and merely watching them over the years had shown him what was right and what was wrong. He had even found the love of his life, who had been someone that the old Beerus had hated with a passion, but Chronoa had stuck it out and pulled the new Beerus out from his shell... much to her own personal joy.
Shin smiled as he looked over at Beerus, because he would gladly be friends with the version of the God of Destruction that Rainbow and Applejack had created... and he suspected that Beerus was glad to have a family that showed him what was important in life.
"Beerus, I have to ask something that may seem strange to you," Shin said, drawing Beerus' attention to him for a moment, before he beckoned to the Z Sword, which he knew the tale of because the Destroyer had talked about it for a few seconds when they were last here, "Do you regret what you did?"
"An interesting question... with an interesting answer," Beerus replied, though at the same time he got onto his feet and walked over to the weapon, where he remembered what had happened to cause what he was looking at, "If you had asked that question to the old me, before Rainbow and Applejack showed up, I would have said that I didn't care and was still angry over what had happened. Now, however, the answer is different... I regret getting upset and acting like a child, especially when you consider what I did to the Supreme Kai who had been living at the time. I don't know if he can hear me, but I would like to say that I am sorry for what I did... even if he chose to hate me for the rest of his life."
Shin's smile remained on his face as he pulled Beerus away from the Z Sword, to which the two of them, followed by Kibito, returned to the house that had been built for them to watch over the girls. Shin and Kibito would leave the planet in the morning, though that didn't mean that they couldn't have a little fun before they departed for Earth.