Gohan snapped shut a thick textbook. In large, silver letters embossed on the cover, the words "Introduction to Calculus" threatened death for any students who were to take the course. Gohan had been struggling through the text for some time now, as evidenced by its broken spine. He had been wrapped in a problem about moving shadows for about an hour now, and the frustration was dancing around him in circles to the point where his brain was tied in a knot and he was ready to tear out his hair and go bald like Krillin. Seeing that he wasn't making progress frustrated as he was, he decided to go outside and take a break.

He alerted his mom to this as he left.

"Have fun, honey!" She called out.

Gohan took flight and reflected, for a moment, on how much healthier, if not happier, his mother had become since the day about two years ago when Goku had died. She needed him in her life, as much as he had angered her. His happy-go-lucky attitude and boundless willpower were as inspiring as his love for deathmatches was irritating, and his unchanging nature was the greatest anchor she could ask for while they raised Gohan in the increasing tumult of their lives. Gohan had always looked up to his father, and after Goku's death he was hardly able to smile for many months, let alone eat or study or train. His mother, too, was hollowed out by the tragedy. Now, however, they both seemed a little stronger for it. And either he was imagining things, or she had become far less restrictive as time went on.

The birth of his little brother had given them new life, even if his resemblance to his father had been a source of sadness at first. With Goten's help, the mother and son were able to regain their holds on life and begin to move past Goku's death. Gohan specifically found that daily exercise helped. It gave him something to do other than study, and having more to do kept life without his father bearable.

Gohan touched down in an empty clearing, a ways away from any civilization he was aware of so as to avoid causing trouble. Here, he began to gather his energy. His aura sputtered at first, but flared up soon enough. When he reached the requisite energy level to transform, he passed the barrier with little trouble. The flames of his aura changed in hue to the trademark gold of Super Saiyan, and the biological changes that came with the form followed quickly. His frame, grown thin by lack of dedicated practice, became about as stocky as it had been in his prime without the aid of Super Saiyan, and his hair turned golden and flowed with some resistance to the wind that gathered in response to his energy.

Now, hold it… Gohan was referring to his control of the Super Saiyan form as he thought this and began to move very slowly through a kata his father had taught him when they trained together. Controlling the energies of Super Saiyan had become difficult since he stopped training. The form flooded the mind with various hormones that lead to his ki—his inner spirit—fighting any slow and deliberate action. It told him he had to go faster, faster, and push endlessly until he killed what was in front of him or died trying. Controlling the energies of Super Saiyan had been very natural for him after his year-long stay in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but it had been so long since he trained properly that his Super Saiyan was far less potent than before. He was unsure now if he could ascend further as he had against Cell and Bojack anymore. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it intentionally without some trigger at the very least.

The slow, controlled movements quickly became difficult. Controlling the division between his body and mind was taking its toll after only six minutes. Sweat dripped down his face and oiled his body. His mind wandered, and he spent even more energy just trying to focus on the task at hand.

He knew he was far stronger before, but that didn't matter to him now. Gohan hadn't wanted to remain a warrior if he could help it. Now, he simply tried to stay in shape for fun.

Besides, he could feel Vegeta's ki from his home across the continent, and his strength had been growing steadily every day for a year. Gohan could also tell that Vegeta's energies were significantly warmer and more subdued since the Cell games. He had faith that Vegeta could handle the next threat on his own, whenever it happened to come.

So Gohan remained in this grassy clearing, exercising and attracting small animals with his odd energy.

The sense of balance this use of his time brought to him was crushed when he felt Vegeta's ki closing in on the clearing.

Vegeta had never come to him before. Gohan powered down, reverting to his base form, and looked to the skies, waiting for Vegeta to come to him.

Vegeta landed on the other end of the clearing from Gohan. His expression was furious. His arms were crossed, and his feet were spread.

"Vegeta? Did something happen? What's wrong?" Gohan's confusion was clear in his voice.

Vegeta brought his fists to his sides, elbows cocked behind his back. A cry ripped through the air—the cry of a warrior out for blood. The air around him screamed as it reacted with his energy and he entered the Super Saiyan state. What was he trying to prove? He was simply wearing casual clothes. Why had he come so suddenly, and powered up like this to boot?

Vegeta's energy continued to gather and the earth quaked as he reached his full strength. The wildlife that had gathered to spend time with the strange boy absconded at the sight of such a furious man. It was harder to read someone by their energy when they were farther away. Guessing someone's power became more and more difficult with distance. Now, with the Saiyan prince right in front of him, Gohan could say with confidence that Vegeta was far more powerful than he was, and the gap in strength was even larger than he had expected. Vegeta was intimidating, and Gohan realized he had no plan or viable defense if Vegeta were to try and kill him right then and there.

Gohan had been fatigued before, but now he was shocked to attention and his blood ran cold. This power gap was unbridgeable. He had no way of telling if this would be a life-or-death battle or a simple spar. And the difference in power meant that if his life were on the line, whether he kept it or not would simply not be his choice.

It reminded him all too much of the feeling Cell gave him after his father so recklessly tossed him a senzu bean.

Gohan gathered his power again, going Super Saiyan himself. He had to try to survive, at the very least.

Vegeta entered his combat stance radiating control and collection. Gohan hesitated to do the same, giving away that he was scared to fight. He could feel Vegeta's weight shift forward slightly as he prepared to hurl himself at Gohan, and in an instant the man was face-to-face with the boy.

Even with the boost in combat ability from the Super Saiyan transformation, Gohan could barely avoid a kick that had enough force behind it to threaten his decapitation. The barrage of punches that followed was nearly impossible to keep at bay.

"Boy!" Vegeta cried out in fury, "For a year and a half I have had to put up with you coming out here and using the transformation of the legendary warrior of the Saiyan race as some sort of pathetic lightweight exercise! No more!"

Each step forward from Vegeta was a step back for Gohan. Every punch Vegeta threw had precision akin to a razor and threatened to destroy him if his defense was a hair below par. One sloppy foot placement—a left foot extended too far for him to maintain good defensive posture—lead to Gohan being unable to cover himself from attack, and Vegeta capitalized upon it immediately by coming in close to throw Gohan off guard and driving his knee into his gut.

The attack wrenched a painful wail from Gohan's lungs. He doubled over. His aura dropped from a flame to mere wisps as he lost composure. It could not compare to Vegeta's radiance.

"What's the matter, brat?! Did no one teach you how to dodge?!"

Gohan had no answer to such rage, not while he was clutching his stomach, paralyzed from the pain of a blow stronger than any he could dish out.

"You could've beaten me easily two years ago! Now look at you!"

Gohan struggled to raise his hands again. His stamina was already flagging after taking just one hit.

Had he really deteriorated this much so soon?

"If you think just wanting to fight the enemy when they're there in front of you is good enough, think again!" Vegeta bellowed and charged at the boy.

Gohan's shoddy parries and slow eyes were hardly enough to combat Vegeta's calculated and thorough attacks. As Vegeta picked apart Gohan's defense, his fear of death escalated, and in a last-ditch effort, Gohan blindly threw a kick at what he hoped was an opening in Vegeta's defense.

Gohan's foot dug into Vegeta, but he only moved slightly and grunted more in acknowledgement of the attack than in pain from it.

"So I guess you have some fight left somewhere in there."

Vegeta's responding kick was far sharper. Where Gohan simply tossed his foot and prayed, every movement from Vegeta was deliberate and distinct, even at his fastest speeds, and even for the simplest attacks. His ki and movement were perfectly synchronized from hours of perfecting his technique. Gohan couldn't feel the kick as it moved, but he felt it connect, and he felt the force send him through a line of trees which barely were able to slow his momentum.

And then Vegeta was behind him, and caught him.

"I… get it..." Gohan was struggling to breathe.

How did he do so much damage just landing two real hits?

"Really, brat?" Vegeta dropped him to the ground. Gohan's entire body twitched, and he curled in on himself slightly.

"You've turned out to be one hell of a disappointment. Kakarot did everything in his power to defend this planet, and now he's dead. He was so much more powerful than anyone else here that he may as well have been this planet's king. Instead, he chose a simple life and birthed you. As the strongest man alive by far on this backwater dump, any Saiyan would've viewed him as the planet's king regardless of how he acted. When a king dies, his son, the prince, must take the throne. Running away is not an option; he has a kingdom to protect." Vegeta's words had an edge to them. He was forcing his wisdom on Gohan more than he was imparting it.

"If your brain is any good at all, you are aware more threats will come, as they always have and always will. I don't know what about this filthy mud-ball attracts them, but I'm sure it was not simply Kakarot's presence. And if the trends indicate anything, your earthling friends will need all the power they can get to stop their deaths from coming too early. One Saiyan, even if it's me, may just not be enough to stop the next enemy. And someday, you may just be the only one left alive to defend this place.

"You'll have the honor of training with me again tomorrow. Every Saiyan, even a half-breed oddity like yourself, has some fighting spirit in them. I'll find a way to pull it out of you eventually."

Vegeta left Gohan there to lay on the ground, trembling and wounded in both body and spirit. As Vegeta became a speck in the sky, Gohan lifted himself to his feet and spat the blood from his mouth.

Flying while injured like this was going to be a pain.

Chi-Chi had been washing a dirty plate when a zombie-like form entered her kitchen, threatening to collapse on her newly-cleaned floor. It took a moment before she recognized the shuffling shape as her wounded son.

"Gohan?! How did this happen to you?! Who did this?!" She ran to the door and placed her hands on his shoulders, on the verge of tears seeing him in clear pain.

Gohan simply shook his head.

Chi-Chi knew that no one was likely to reach the power of the boy who defeated Cell, even now as he hadn't been training. She quickly deduced that it must have been Vegeta, the only other Saiyan she knew was alive. Chi-Chi was more keen to matters than she let on.

"Gohan, you're grounded!" She shrilled.

"What…?" Her son's black eyes struggled to meet hers.

"I'm not letting you leave this house again while that crazy man is hunting you like this! If he comes to our house tomorrow, I'll give him a piece of my mind!" She huffed. Gohan knew that she wasn't incredibly powerful, but he felt the anger radiating off of her and mistook it for frustration with himself.

"Sorry, mom…"

Chi-Chi was quick to realize a misunderstanding had occurred, and the anger seemed to drain from her entirely. "Honey," she cooed, "This isn't your fault. You didn't do this to yourself. You have nothing to apologize for. I'm not angry at you. That man, on the other hand..." she paused, and growled audibly, "He had better not come here tomorrow. I'll kill him." The tone of her voice reminded Gohan of his father when he first became a Super Saiyan.

Gohan went to sleep that night scared for his mother. Vegeta's attack seemed so impulsive that he worried that the man would not restrain himself from killing her if she got in his way. However, at the same time, Vegeta's respect for his father might keep him from it.

There was just no telling. The anxiety that filled Gohan's core did not recede, even as he slipped into sleep. For the first time in many months, Gohan's sleep was full of nightmares. Nightmares of brutal deathmatches and dying family and friends.