The Monke King: Ch.22

'Okay, let's get this right.' Taking a deep breath, I stretched out my ki sensing and felt it flowing over the entire planet before exhaling as I stretched it even further.

The moment I did, I ignored the millions upon millions of ki signatures that appeared on my senses as I continued stretching it outwards, gritting my teeth at the migraine settling in.

It took a while and I could feel myself getting lightheaded before I grinned as I felt Master Pybara's energy flaring the moment he felt mine, struggling a bit to lift two fingers to my forehead before I activated the technique.

'Instant Transmission!' The world around us warped as I appeared on the planet Yardrat, Master Pybara looking pleased as I fell to a knee while carrying a sleeping Vomi over one shoulder and a groaning Trunks over the other.

“I assume it went good?” He asked and I nodded as I felt him lifting the two from my body with a telekinetic grip, lifting up a hand and wiped away the blood dripping my nose and ears.

“Y-Yeah, it went great, even if I have some wounds that need time to heal.” Looking to my shoulder, I gripped the shoulder wound still dripping a few droplets of blood as I remembered what Vomi said before she passed out.

Apparently, her ki also contained the enzymes that Cell had when he broke down organic matter and while it wasn't strong enough to suck out the nutrients from my body, it was definitely strong enough to make me feel pain as my ki burned it away.

“What of her form?” I asked as I looked to Vomi's Cell/ Buu fusion form and Master Pybara hummed before I let out a relieved sigh as he shook his head.

“There is no need to worry. It appears that the form is now her natural one and she can switch between it and her human form as she pleases.”

“Good. Then I shall leave their healing in your care.” I spoke before I blinked as he spoke up.

“Before you go, Gohan, may we talk later?” He asked and I was a bit confused at his intense gaze before he smiled as I nodded.

“Sure. I'll just go tell Videl and Erasa I'm back and then we'll do that.”

“I don't believe you need to.” He said while nodding to the side and I turned before smiling at the twin white blurs flying through the air, readying myself right as the two slammed into me.

“I'm guessing you two were worried sick, huh?” I spoke as I held them both, Erasa just nodding as Videl stayed silent while hugging me tightly.

“We even did a few sparring matches, which she never does.” Videl whispered and I chuckled as Erasa huffed at her words.

“Can I not be scared of something happen to our boyfriend?”

“You can. In fact, I quite appreciate the thought of it.” I spoke with a smirk and she giggled while Videl just raised an eyebrow at me, to which I shrugged before she noticed the wound.

“What's up with that?” She asked while rubbing the darkened edges of it, Erasa noting as both placed their hands on the wound before I let out a soft relieved sigh as I felt their ki slowly healing away the pain.

“It's from Vomi's ki. Apparently, her ki has the same enzymes that Cell has in his tail so my ki has been forced to slowly burn it away.”

“Then it's a good thing we learned healing. It's not such a bad idea now, is it Erasa?” Videl spoke with a pointed stare at her friend, who huffed as I decided to simply stay silent for my own good.

'This might take a while.'

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“They finally decided to let you go?” Hatska asked as I appeared in front of him, now dressed in a simple dark blue shirt and the orange pants of my gi.

“Yeah, they finally decided to let me go after a few hours of arguing with each other.”

“Hahahaha~! It sounds like being with an Earthling woman is more work than training.”

“Sometimes, but then there's other times where it's most definitely worth it.”

Do you mean the times like what Vomi and Trunks are doing now?”

“Uh, what are they doing?” I asked, wanting to make sure they weren't doing that would make Bulma want to kill me.

“According to our healers, they are sucking on each other's mouths.”

“Oh, kissing? That's all they're doing.”

“Apparently. You all have a specific term for it?”

“You don't?” I asked and hummed as Hatska shook his head.

“Not at all. We reproduce by usage of mitosis. The elder reproduces one Yardrat every decade and after he has one hundred children, he can no longer reproduce until he passes from old age. At which point, the children then all peacefully pass away until the last one remaining begins reproduction as an elder.”

“…That sounds wildly unsafe. What happens when the last one dies out before they can reproduce?”

“That is impossible since the last Yardratian absorbs the lifeforce of all one hundred Yardratians that died off and then uses that same lifeforce to create the first life. That is why the first born is always the one to survive.”

“And that would be Master Pybara?” I asked as we walked up the steps and he nodded as we made it to the top.

“Indeed he is and I am his first child. We currently have one hundred Yardratians on this planet and when the time comes, I'll become the next Elder.”

“I see. Well, I wish you the best of luck in your future duties as Elder, then.” I spoke with a smile and he gave a thankful smile before we turned as someone cleared their throat, Master Pybara smiling as he sat on one of two cushions.

“I see you're learning of our culture.”

“I am. It's quite fascinating.” I answered and he chuckled whilst gesturing for me to sit down.

“Sit and let us discuss the matter at hand. Hatska?”

“I'll make myself scarce. See you guys tomorrow for the goodbye party.”

“Bye, Hatska.” I waved and as he vanished with Instant Transmission, I turned to Master Pybara as he looked at me.

“So, what did you wish to speak of, Master?”

“The darkness ailing your heart.”

“What darkness?” I asked with a frown and he smiled before nodding.

“Gohan, I have been alive for over two thousand years, my boy. I have seen and experienced everything you are currently going through so believe me when I say this. Suppressing the pain of losing family is just going to make it worse.”

'Hah, I guess he would notice it.' I thought with a sigh as I gave a slow nod, inhaling deeply before exhaling slowly as the memories flashed in my eyes.

“Keep going, Gohan! We got this!”

“Gohan~ Stop hiding and come play~”

“Run, brat! Make sure the Saiyans thrive!”

“Do you want to know what their last words were, Gohan?”

“We…we got this! Go!”

“ 'Oh, please don't kill me~' Hahahaha~! Oh, that Krillin was so much fun to rip apart!”

“I see it still weighs heavily on your mind.” Master Pybara's words threw me from my thoughts and I blinked as the visions faded away, looking up to see the soft gaze in his eyes as he smiled.

“Yeah, and I can't figure out why. I'm stronger, I'm faster and I…I was the better fighter. Hell, I even tortured them after the one-sided battle, something I still feel immense satisfaction and guilt from. Yet, I…I just can't get them out of my head.”

“Because deep inside, you never grew up, Gohan. You're still the boy that was forced to become a man when you lost all of your friends and to add on the pain and suffering you went through…It is understandable why you can't push through it.” He spoke with a smile and I gave a shaky one back as I sighed while closing my eyes.

“What do I do, Master? I thought I got over it with my time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but it appears not and I don't want this to make me lash out at my friends and family.”

“Then do one simple thing: Talk about it. It can be to me, to Hatska, to your beloveds or to even the mountains all around us. You simply have to talk and let it out.” As he finished talking, I looked at him for a while before taking a breath as I closed my eyes and crossed my legs.

“Can we meditate while we talk?” I asked, hearing his chuckles before the sound of him crossing his legs came from in front of me.

“I am all ears, Gohan. Let us begin.”

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“How long have they been at it?”

“About an hour or so. I want to knock, but I also don't want to disturb.” I whispered to Erasa and Videl, to which the former nodded as the latter and I stared at the closed door that led to Trunks' room.

“Let's leave them be. We know how much stamina you have~” Erasa said before rushing away with a giggle as I gave a deadpan stare while Videl gave her a frown.

“I'm still mad at you for that.” The ravenette spoke as she followed after her friend and I decided to stay silent as I simply walked behind the two of them.

“Come on, you can't be mad at me forever.”

“I can. You know that you have to wait until I take the first step and then you'd be allowed to do what you want.”

“If I did that, I'd have to wait until we're forty before you do anything.” Erasa spoke with a deadpan stare and I quickly cut in when I saw Videl slowly turning to her.

“Let's turn to something good. Like how happy we are for Vomi to no longer have her evil side.”

“I know what you're doing…and I appreciate you for doing it.” Videl muttered with a soft smile, which I returned before I turned to Erasa as she spoke.

“I for one am happy for her. The lady has been fighting with the nightmares for the past couple of weeks and now she doesn't have to worry about a voice constantly ordering her to kill us in her head anymore.”

“That is true. However, with her now being free, our time here is at an end.” I said and the two of them nodded as we stared at the numerous mountains around us.

“Yeah, I'm going to miss this place.”

“Same. It's been fun training under Master Pybara.”

“Oh, I did not know you enjoyed my company that much, Ms. Erasa.” Pybara spoke from behind us and I took a deep breath to stop my jump as both Erasa and Videl squealed at the voice before spinning around with glares.

“Master! Would you stop doing that?” Videl asked and rolled her eyes as Pybara just smirked before chuckling as I turned with a smirk.

“One last scare?”

“One last scare, yes. After all, you all will be leaving today, will you not?”

“Yes, it's been a pleasure to train under you, Master Pybara.” I spoke with a bow, Erasa and Videl doing the same as Master Pybara chuckled before responding in kind.

“And it has been a pleasure to have you all under my tutelage. I must admit that I did enjoy you all not eating up all of our food compared to your father.”

“Yeah, Dad did like to eat everyone out of their food.” I spoke with a smile, the name not sounding as hard to say now as before thanks to the training I did under Master Pybara.

I thought the talking during meditation would be hard, but it was actually quite easily and I found myself being surprised time and time again at how comfortable I felt the more I talked to him.

That's not mentioning the fact that the more I spoke, the more my mind processed everything I said and let me fully understand my entire situation.

There was still some deep-seated trauma from the Androids that were never going to vanish if Master Pybara's words were to be believed, but I can confidently say that I don't feel a flash of fear and rage whenever someone speaks about the Androids now.

“Yeah, and if we-uh…”

“Well, look who finally decided to stop sucking on each other's faces~” Erasa teased with a grin as Trunks and Vomi appeared in the doorway of the spaceship, both of them blushing as Videl smirked while I chuckled.

“Or maybe they were sucking on something else~”

“Ooh~ Perhaps we need to tell Bulma there might be a little Trunks running around, eh?”

“Nope! No need to tell Mom anything. We'll tell her ourselves.” Trunks quickly added, Vomi nodding along as I smirked while stopping Videl and Erasa from continuing.

“Don't worry about these two. We're happy for you, but next time, try and activate the sound deafeners in your room before you two do…anything.”

“Wait, we have those?” Trunks asked with a surprised look, everyone else looking just as surprised while I just looked at them and shook my head at Master Pybara's laughter.

“Am I the only one that read the manual?”

“Yep/ Yep./ Kind of./ I'm not one for manuals.”

“It appears you have your hands full, Gohan.” Master Pybara spoke up and I just shook my head as they all went back to their discussions.

“It appears I do, Master. It appears I do.”

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“Once again, Master Pybara, Hatska, all of you. Thank you for granting us the opportunity to study under you.” I bowed my head with a smile as we stood in front of the spaceship, the other four doing the same as Master Pybara along with his children bowed back.

“And like I said, it has been a pleasure to have you all here.”

“If you ever decide to leave the planet for something or you get bored of it, come to Earth. We'll have a feast waiting for you guys.”

“I might not be able to make it, but I am most certain that Hatska won't let a bit of time stop him from doing so.” The Yardratian Elder spoke with an amused smile and I chuckled as his oldest son just gave a shameless shrug.

“I would definitely and I got your ki signatures memorized so no matter where you guys are in the Northern Galaxy, I'll find you.”

“Cool. Then I guess this is where we say goodbye.” I said while reaching a hand out, Master Pybara smiling softly as he reached forward and shook my hand.

“Remember, speak to any willing to listen and do not forget your training.”

“I won't. Thank you. Truly.” I said and he just nodded before taking a step back, the other Yardratians doing the same as we of Earth boarded the ship.

“So, everyone finally ready to go back home?” I asked as I sat in the main seat, the others nodding as they sat down in their seats.”

“Oh, I am more than ecstatic. I'll finally be able to bathe in just one sun~” Erasa groaned as the seatbelts locked us in and I just rolled my eyes as I saw Videl and Vomi nodding in agreement.

“Of course that's what you are worried about.”

“I think you should be focused on more important things, Trunks. Like perhaps getting ready to tell your mom she's going to be a mother-in-law.” I said and laughed as he blinked before turning to me as I set the autopilot to Earth.

“Any chance we can make a detour for Namek?” Vomi asked and Trunks looked just as hopeful as she did before they groaned in unison as I chuckled.

“Sorry, no can do. I want to get back to the planet before your mom decides to come look for us with an army of space robots behind her.”

“…Yeah, that sounds like something she would do. Let's get back home, Gohan!” He exclaimed with a nervous smile and I just shook my head as we slowly lifted off.

The ship turned as it rose and I took one last look at the Yardratians before we stared at the void of space, grunting a bit as we went from zero to one thousand within a second and an excited smile spread across my face as I felt my anticipation growing.

After all, I still had one more wish that was about to come into play.

'And it's about to be glorious…if Porunga followed it to the letter. If not, this is about to be a catastrophe.'

A/N: And the Yardrat training arc finally ends. Gohan has worked through his trauma as brief as that was(As always, you guys want me to extend it? I'll extend it), Trunks and Vomi do a bit more…bonding and we are heading back to Earth.

Next chapter: The Last Wish.

Also, there's going to be a brief arc of two to three chapters before the time travelling arc, but I'm keeping that one a secret. Therefore, it's going to be The Last Wish, Repercussions of Said Wish, the three chapter arc and THEN the time-travelling arc.

Hope that clears it up.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!