Author's Notes:
I always wondered why nobody ever used the Sayians' completely broken capabilities to their fullest extent. Realizing that he's without a father and the fate of the planet is now resting on the mere whim of the mighty Vegeta, Gohan decides to take a trip into the rational-verse and step up to the plate.
"He's dead."
He'd seen it himself, the end of an entire planet. A whole race of people wiped out, or nearly so. Destruction orchestrated by a single man, a single entity. It had commanded an army, elite soldiers who wielded terrifying powers in their own right, but it was merely a show. The soldiers were an elaborate game to entertain the eldritch horror who had grown bored with the straightforward. As an entity with no equal among the stars, it grew to take pleasure in giving false hope to those who opposed its rule. The hope drained faces of broken heroes had an appeal that simple murders couldn't produce.
"They both are, sir." Gohan spoke this time.
Frieza had been defeated, in the end, but in didn't feel like a victory. They had fought hard and long, but it was mere luck that won in the end. A bizarre quirk in alien biology, an incredible burst of emotion, and it was over - Frieza had lost. A man with glowing golden hair and brilliant green eyes had appeared, and the dark lord had fallen. In his last desperate minutes, Frieza destroyed the whole of the planet, dragging the golden champion with him as he died - a bastard and a coward to the bitter end.
"I'm sorry kid, I can't help you." A floating cat with the voice of a squeaky old man should have been funny.
The golden hero had been Gohan's father. Goku had been member in a dying race, survived by only two. The significance of this was not wasted on Gohan, as it meant that most powerful remaining creature in known universe was standing, his back resting lightly on a tree, not a mile his friends and family. A man who had mere months ago laid siege to Earth and murdered half Earth's heroes. A man who had until mere days ago been a dutiful soldier in Frieza's army. A man whose allegiance was to himself alone, whose motivations were enigmatic, and whose intentions were a guess to anyone. Vegeta could reduce the Earth to ashes the very second he wanted to, and there wasn't a damned thing anybody could do about it.
Nobody. Gohan Thought. But me.
"No, I think you might be able to. I want to try something." Gohan was excited, almost impatient.
Throughout the galaxy, it seemed that life had sprung up in great variety all over the place. On most planets life was merely feral, never developing intelligent life. Some planets hosted beings that were intelligent but mostly innocuous, like the humans on Earth. Some planets had grown to produce life was inherently powerful or dangerous, like that which had lived on Namek or the races of many of Frieza's elite. There was one race, however, that stood out above the rest. A race of beings that had potential and versatility far beyond the reach of lesser creatures. A race of fighters known as the Saiyans.
"I need sensu beans, sir. Lots of them."
"Whut for kid? Those things are a lotta work to make you know!" This voice came from a short fat man with a deep nasally voice.
It's honestly hard to wonder whether Saiyans were designed or bred in one way or another, but I just don't know. What I do know, is some of our capabilities. We are fighters at the core, with bodies built for speed and strength in great excess of most others in the cosmos. We seem to have an incredible capacity for reproduction, being able to successfully produce offspring with a species as incredibly detached as humans. When exposed to certain wavelengths of radiation, we can transform to beasts a hundred times our normal size, stronger and somehow even faster than in our latent bodies.
"I need to test something, sir." Gohan said, still talking to Korin the Cat. "It's incredibly important. Our lives could depend on it." If it worked, maybe. Maybe.
"Hmmmmm..." Korin droned, one furry paw to his furry chin. The other on an ancient staff radiating with untold powers. "What exactly do you have planned? Isense a drive within you. Almost as much as your father when I first met him. Single minded. Reckless."
"I'd feel more comfortable if I could test it first, before telling you. If that's alright, sir." Gohan was embarrassed to say it like that, but it was true. If it works, it's dangerous for you to know.
There was also whatever happened to my father, short hours earlier. He seemed to experience a profound sadness, an emotion that was immediately consumed by a blind fury. He tapped into something. A monster within himself, fed from a well of energy independent of his own, depths unfathomable. Powerful. Angry. Primal. My father slipped into the abyss and the Monster emerged to take his place. The Monster had won the battle, and had died alongside the planet. I was terrified, I was more scared of that Monster than I had ever been of Frieza.
"I only have three for you right now, I gave the rest to Goku before he left." Korin paused. The finality of the word "left" hanging in the air. He reached over to a potted plant, and pilfered its fruit. He handed Gohan three small green beans. Beans with the power to heal any physical injury, bring people back the brink of death. These should be farmed in fields the size of countries, not grown one by one in a pot a billion miles from anywhere.
"I don't want to trust you, kid. But I've made the same mistake with your father." Korin said deep in thought. After a long pause, he finished. "If you're a tenth the kid he was, I know I won't regret this." Well, if this doesn't work. You might not have time to regret it before we're all vaporized anyway.
"Thank you sir." Was all Gohan said before he took off in flight, barely hearing the confused shouts of an angry Yaijobe.
He was a hundred miles from Korin's Tower, hovering far above the clouds. It was in this vast expanse of empty space that he called upon his higher senses, honed sharp by Piccolo's brutal training and the ire of deadly enemies. He could feel the energy moving within himself, invisible tendrils that swirled and squirmed throughout his being, always restless, always moving. These energies were hidden at the moment, coiled tightly and tucked deep within his being and the aether beyond. Well hidden from prying eyes. Only enough power to allow himself flight and warmth was allowed to come forth and aid him. With confidence, the boy closed his eyes.
Where are you?
He focused on these energies and let his sight extend into a bubble around him, he observed the wind and the air and the light from the sun, dancing with the latent energy of the natural world. The bubble grew and grew, quickly and playfully as it worked its away to the ground. He felt the greatness of the trees and wildlife come into his view. H felt the tickle of grass and bugs and plants. He felt the joy of running water and the might of elder mountains beyond. He felt Korin and the stone of the ancient tower beyond that, and whole countries beyond that. He felt the rich dynamic energies of people. Some people had a solid feel to them, some felt rigid, others malleable, some simple ones felt pure, complicated ones could feel twisted and confused. Millions were in his sight, millions turned into billions, and his view soon encompassed the whole of the earth. Everything shimmered with beautiful power of his home, a thousand times more intense than the desolate wasteland of Namek. It was good to be home.
Gohan searched the Earth for his target, and found it immediately. A brilliant source of fire bright enough to obscure lesser energies miles around. Vegeta was making no attempt at hiding himself.
If anything, this sort of display implied a kind of boasting, and challenge to any and all that might oppose him.
Good, I can use that arrogance.
The boy called upon his powers of flight and was once again propelled at frightening speeds through the sky, putting Vegeta precisely behind him. He had located a spot on exactly the opposite side of the planet, a place that was solid ground and far away from any populated area. A place he could put his little experiment to the test.