A/N: Here is the latest installment for Courage! Unfortunately, I did not have the time to finish the next chapter yet since I have been studying all week (my MPJE exam is tomorrow... wish me luck!) and after my exam I will be going on a short vacation before continuing my study for my NAPLEX exam, which is on July 29th. Until after that exam, my writing will be a bit sporadic. I may or may not have the next chapter done by next week. Please bear with my for the foreseeable future in this regard.
Now I hope this chapter makes up for any long wait I may have in the future. It is a big one at over 14,000 words. Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback as well as all of you who have favorited/followed this story even in its infancy! You guys rock!
"Dialogue"
Thoughts/Mindscape
"Telepathic communication"
~Change in setting~
*Action*
Flashback/Dream sequence
Chapter 2: Dichotomy
~Mount Paozu, 439 East Mountain District; September 20th, Age 767~
"Okay Mom! I'm going out with Dad!"
"Alright Gohan! Don't be too hard on them!"
The child nods, giggling to himself about what his mom said before blasting off into the air and towards where his father and mentor are. While his father may help him study the more interesting subjects, such as biology and chemistry, the older Saiyan flees for dear life at the mere mention of what he's had to study for the last week: Advanced Calculus; thus, his father decided to go off and train with Piccolo until he's finished with his studies of the dreaded math. This causes more giggles to come out of the chibi demi-Saiyan's mouth.
He still can't really believe that his mother is allowing him to train with his father and mentor. It just seems so different from the mother he's been used to for the past eleven years of his life that would always protest even the simplest forms of training. Now though, she seems to be completely different, allowing him the opportunity to train his new form in order to better protect the Earth.
Perhaps it's because she's finally getting proper treatment for her anxiety. After all, when she went to the doctor and found out she was pregnant, they did diagnose her with generalized anxiety disorder as well, and gave her some medication to treat it. He must say, it has been working wonders for her, at least from his perspective.
Or maybe his mother finally understands the importance of this training. She did see how he acted when he transformed to a super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Games thanks to Fortuneteller Babba. Perhaps his dad was able to convince her that he needed the training to prevent that from happening again.
Either way, he must say that he's incredibly thankful for her compliance. Not only is he getting stronger and more skilled as a fighter, but now when he does study he's motivated and not completely burnt out. This makes the time he does study much more enjoyable and efficient. He should definitely get her something to show his gratitude.
But for now, he needs to focus on his training. That's why he's out here flying in the first place: he's heading towards where his father and Piccolo are sparring. He knows that they are waiting for him to show up so that the real training can begin. This is training that the demi-Saiyan really needs too.
Gohan has learned from the Cell Games that reaching the next level of super Saiyan is much different than the first level. While in both transformations the Saiyan in question needs to be far above the normal limits of the form below it, they each have their own trigger in order to reach said form for the first time.
The one for the first super Saiyan transformation has been well known for a while now thanks to his father: the need for it, and more specifically, a defensive need for it. Gohan has figured out that this need can be to protect one's self, as Vegeta transformed from the need to protect himself on that asteroid while training in space. However, most of the time, the need is to protect others. His dad transformed in response to the need to protect the galaxy from Frieza; Mirai Trunks transformed in response to protect his timeline from the androids; Gohan himself transformed from the need to protect his family and friends from Cell.
The child also knows that there is a second part of this trigger too, and that is the absence of desire. One simply cannot transform into a super Saiyan out of pure want, and the desire for the transformation must not be there if the transformation is to occur. Vegeta and Trunks were both perfect examples of that concept.
All of this has been common knowledge within their group of Z-fighters for a while now, but this new transformation is still not. It took Gohan a while to realize it, but he now knows that the trigger for the second super Saiyan transformation consists of both of the elements of the prior with one additional caveat:
Emotional fury.
One thing he has realized is completely different with his new super Saiyan transformation than it was in his first one is that he needs to get much angrier to get to it. Once he's there, this fury that he experiences overtakes him, and in turn, makes him arrogant. He doesn't know why the fury is necessary for this transformation. The most plausible reason that he's theorized is that when he gets angry is also when he gets much more powerful. Perhaps he needs to get angry in order to supply enough ki as the activation energy to push himself over the edge and transform.
One thing he knows for sure though is that in that form, he is insanely powerful. It's almost ridiculous how much stronger he is when transformed into a super Saiyan 2. It surprises him because he's the only one that can actually get to this transformation. The chibi still hasn't gotten over the fact that he is grossly stronger than even his father, and while this fact makes him proud, it also terrifies him.
Having the title of the strongest fighter in the world was never something that he really wanted. For the most part, he has never enjoyed fighting in the first place, let alone fighting battles for the fate of the Earth. As the world's strongest warrior, the burden of protecting of the Earth lies on his shoulders now. If he were to fall, no one else would be strong enough to take his place.
This isn't what terrifies him about his power though. No, that would have been his fear before the Cell Games. Before the dreaded games, he truly didn't enjoy fighting. Before the dreaded games he wasn't the strongest fighter. But now, not only has become the strongest, but he finds himself actually enjoying himself when fighting. Those dreaded games changed everything.
And that is what truly terrifies Gohan about his power.
After the Cell Games, the demi-Saiyan noticed that he actually started craving for battle; he wanted to fight like never before. This really confused him until his dad told him that he wanted to train him to control his super Saiyan 2 form. That first training session, he transformed easily enough, and then he finally understood what was going on.
It was his new transformation.
Something about the super Saiyan 2 transformation changed his outlook on fighting. His power brought out a savage side of him that he never even knew he had. His lust for battle kept on growing and growing until it all came out during his transformation. The thing that truly terrifies him about that though is that even when he's not transformed in his new super Saiyan form, he still has that thirst for battle, that lust for fighting. It scares the crap out of him that this transformation has the power to actually change his entire personality. He hates that it has so much power over him.
This is one of the reasons he is reluctant to train this new form. He's fearful that if he gets more powerful that his power will change him even more. He is afraid that he might turn more and more like the Saiyan that Vegeta is than the carefree, lover of life that he sees himself as. If this power can make him actually enjoy fighting when he previously would have shied away from battle, then what other things could change?
Unlike what his father and mentor think, he is well aware of what is going on when he transforms. He knows that he becomes an arrogant prick on a power high when he transforms. The worst part about it though is he had no way of stopping himself from becoming this way. It was as if he was trapped in his own mind while a more violent, savage part of himself that he never even knew he had taken over and controlled his actions. This is what scares him the most about this transformation since he's fighting his father and mentor, and although the few times that he actually had transformed during their spars he was able to stop himself before he went over the edge, he still fears that time when he won't be able to stop himself.
And that is the reason he had never wanted to transform again. His father and mentor would always try to push him to transform, whether it be through words of insult or though physically giving him a beating until the need to transform would arise. They would try as hard as they could to make him transform into a super Saiyan 2, but his resolve was always stronger. He never wanted to transform again if it made him hurt his family.
However, that all changed when he felt his little brother for the first time.
It's been three months since that fateful day where he flew off after his mother told him and his father that she was pregnant. During this time, his unborn brother made him realize that while he may be afraid of his new powers, that he needs to work on controlling them, if not for the protection of the planet as a whole, then for the protection of his friends and family too.
And especially this brand new, precious life.
So, ever since that fateful day, the chibi has gone out of his way to make sure that he practices his super Saiyan 2 form as much as he can. Before he would have been reluctant, fearing the consequences that could possibly come from the form. Now though, even though he's still terrified every time he goes to the next level, he's determined to stick through it. This determination has helped out immensely. He has embraced the challenge of trying to control that form, and he is completely confident that he will be able to control himself in that form very soon.
Before he really didn't have much control over what he was doing in the super Saiyan 2 transformation. Over the past three months, he has figured out a secret about gaining some control: he needs to calm himself. However, actually doing that has been extremely hard for the demi-Saiyan. Every time he transforms into a super Saiyan 2, a wave of rage immediately floods his system, even if he hadn't been angry beforehand. It makes sense to him since that is one of the triggers to the transformation in the first place. But that's not the only reason it's so hard to control.
Every time he transforms, he feels trapped within his rage, and this feeling of self-entrapment scares him. His first instinct is to fight and try to escape, but he has come to realize that the only way to gain some semblance of control over this form is to accept this rage as part of the transformation and allow it to wash over him by separating himself from it. In order to do this, he needs to somehow provide a strong positive emotion that will act as a barrier between him and his rage. This allows him to separate his emotions into much more manageable parts and calm down while transformed. His mind is then able to disperse the false rage from the transformation that was necessary to provide the ki to activate it without him actually loosing the ki, giving him complete control over the power.
Gohan has found fighting this natural panicking instinct he feels once he first transforms to be the biggest challenge in overcoming his lack of control. In the ascended super Saiyan state, he really has a difficult time finding any sort of comfort or sense of calm in order to provide the barrier between the false and real emotions. It seems like all of his emotions go all over the place which only makes him work himself up more and giving the latent instincts of the transformation more control.
Luckily for the demi-Saiyan though, this is no longer a problem.
He discovered it one of the first days after he ran off. He was sparring with Piccolo and his father. They, of course, were both double-teaming him as usual, and finally pushed him to transform. Immediately he was flooded with the familiar rage and his super Saiyan 2 form started retaliating to his father and mentor's moves while he tried desperately to gain control. He was already determined, and his determination helped him a little, but he still wasn't making much progress as his rage continued to prove just too much for him to handle. He was starting to realize that controlling this beast might be over his head, but he didn't want to give up, so he tried something he didn't do before:
He felt out for his father's ki.
Gohan did it on a whim. His father has always been able to help make him feel better when he is upset. The demi-Saiyan has always found a great sense of peace and comfort whenever his dad is around. And that proved to be true in this situation as well. As soon as he specifically locked on his father's ki, a sense of tranquility came over him and he was suddenly able to take control of his emotions, allowing him for the first time to actually fight at will in his super Saiyan 2 form! Sure, the anger was still there, but it wasn't completely overwhelming anymore, and after a few more moments of feeling out for his father's ki, it had diminished to the point where it was only a light irritation.
From that point forward, he knew the secret of controlling himself: calming himself using his special bond with his father. The sense of calm that he gets from his father is so strong that it even penetrates a rage that is as deeply rooted as that of his super Saiyan 2 transformation. It isn't a permanent fix though, as he eventually needs to be able to separate his rage completely instead of ignoring it. This has been proven by the fact that he will still eventually loose control the longer he holds the transformation. Not only that, but if he doesn't immediately focus on his father, his rage will overwhelm him almost immediately.
However, this may be the starting point to giving him enough time to train himself to separate this rage, and he knows that he is getting close to figuring out that part. As a result, Gohan's confidence in his new form has grown exponentially over the past three months and he really has been getting better and better at controlling his power.
The training of his ascended super Saiyan form has been incredibly beneficial to increasing his power as well. The more control he gains over the super Saiyan 2 transformation, the longer he can hold the form. But not only that, like his first super Saiyan form, the more control he has over the form, the stronger he gets too. He has theorized that this is because he has much more control over the flow of the ki in the transformation, and in turn, he can use it more efficiently and effectively.
"Woah!"
He barely dodges in time as a ki blast flies right past his face and hits the ground a second later, letting off a small explosion. That was a wake up call! The ki blast wasn't that powerful, but it shocked him nonetheless. He yelps again before dodging a couple more ki blasts that fly right at him before taking cover in the forest below him. For a moment, his onyx eyes narrow in concentration, searching for the origin of these blasts. After a moment of searching, he lets out a sigh of relief at seeing that it's just his father and Piccolo sparring. He didn't think that he traveled that far already, but apparently he was flying faster than he thought he was. Dang power boost!
This has actually been happening to him a lot recently. As his strength is starting to increase again after starting to gain control of his super Saiyan 2 powers, he has been noticing that it takes even less effort to do things he could do easily before, such as flying at high speeds. As a result, he can fly at higher speeds more comfortably, and thus doesn't even notice that he's going faster when he's not paying attention since he using the same effort that he was before.
What this means is that he's early for his training session.
He debates with himself whether or not he wants to join them yet. After all, they aren't expecting him for another 20 minutes or so. After a moment of contemplation, he decides to hide his ki level and watch the spar from where he is. He may be more powerful than both adults, but he pales in comparison to them when it comes to fighting experience. At this point he'd probably get more out of watching his father's amazing ingenuity and his mentor's genius strategy at work than getting an extra 20 minutes of physical training in. Besides, the match is entertaining!
He grins in anticipation. It appears as though he came at the right time as his father has already transformed and his mentor discarded his weighted clothing. His dad throws a punch at the Namekian's chest only for Piccolo to block with his right arm. A commanding boom sounds from the blow before his mentor counters with a jab to the Saiyan's side with his free fist. That blow too is blocked, but this time by his father lowering his free arm. After a moment's stare down, they vanish into super speed, starting to up the ante even further. Gohan can't help but grin wider as he looks up, his eyes darting back and forth following their movements with ease despite how fast they both are moving.
Gohan lets out a small cheer when he sees his father finally land a hit on his mentor: a fierce right hook into Piccolo's hip. The Namekian grunts out pain, but expertly regains his defense as he dodges a kick to his head that would have certainly been a crippling blow. The demi-Saiyan's father flies past him as a result, his forward momentum that he put into that kick carrying him along. Gohan's first teacher quickly counters by shooting pencil thin ki lasers out of his eyes right at the off balance Saiyan's backside, making the Earth-raised alien yelp out in pain and grab his butt comically. As his mentor smirks wryfully, Gohan bursts out laughing at the scene, not able to hold it in after seeing his father dance around midair like a silly monkey.
"Ah!"
*Crack! Crunch… crunch… crackle…*
*Boom!*
"…owie."
Gohan suddenly finds himself face down in the leaf-filled forest floor after taking a surprise ki blast to his face. The blast didn't hurt him much, but the after shock of the blast forced the tree branch he was sitting on to break. Not only that, the ki blast caught him completely off guard, making him fall through a few more of the branches of the tree before crashing into the ground with a rather painful 'thud' before he could regain control of himself. He pushes himself up so that he's now in a sitting position, picking off a few leaves that stuck to his face before glaring at the perpetrator of the surprise attack… or at least in the general direction of him as he can't actually see him.
"That was a cheap shot Mr. Piccolo!"
The demi-Saiyan hears dry chuckling from above before the resident green man finally comes into his view. "It's your own fault kid," his mentor replies. "I could hear you laughing like a hyena from a mile in the sky. You were asking for it, trying to keep yourself hidden and making us believe you weren't here yet."
"Yeah Gohan, what gives?!" another voice adds, and Gohan looks to his mentor's left to see his father float down next to his former enemy. "If you were here, why didn't you join us? We could have been training already and I could have avoided getting hit with those incredibly cheap eye lasers of Piccolo's"
The chibi demi-Saiyan giggles a bit at his father's last statement, but eventually controls himself and looks at both of his teachers. "I'm sorry guys," He answers sheepishly. "I just wanted to watch your match and learn from you both via observation." And have some fun watching his dad make a fool out of himself. Seriously, his dad gets himself into the most hilarious predicaments when sparring for fun. That's what makes the full-blooded Saiyan so entertaining to watch! "Common!" He adds, seeing his mentor looking at him questionably. "You know how well I can learn when I watch you guys do something."
His mentor still looks at him skeptically, but before the Namekian can retort, his father walks over and picks him up, putting him on his shoulders. Gohan giggles a little more, for once feeling his age at this gesture. He looks down at his father from his perch, grinning a thousand watt smile. He loves it when his dad does this.
"I know you do little man," his father answers him, now looking up at him. The demi-Saiyan can see the soft smile on his father's face and knows right away that his father believes what he's saying. "It's how you got so good at fighting so quickly! I know I wasn't even a tenth as skilled as you are when I was your age." For some reason, Gohan sees his father's expression drop a bit at that statement, but it's gone quickly, replaced with a beaming smile once again. "You really are something else son!"
He blushes a bit at that praise from his father, looking down sheepishly. "Thanks Dad," he responds in kind.
His father nods at him. "It's the truth." Gohan smiles at his father, his cheeks still a gentle hue of pink before looking across from his perch just in time to see his mentor roll his eyes at him, most likely from impatience.
"Whatever Gohan," the green-man retorts. "Now if you two are done here, lets get to what we actually came here to do: train."
Gohan looks down at his father from his position on said man's shoulders before grinning at his mentor and hopping off. He does a backflip before landing on the ground a few yards back right into a perfect Namekian style martial arts stance. He soon drops his grin and his face turns serious, preparing for this upcoming spar, a spar in which he hopes to finally gain control of his newest transformation. His father soon takes a position next to his opponent, dropping into his own version of the Kame style stance.
The chibi grunts, gathering his ki and transforming into a super Saiyan instantly. His hair turns a bleached blond color and his eyes a vibrant teal. No aura accompanies the young prodigy, showing just how much at ease he is with this form. He has a complete mastery of the transformation only equaled by his father. Speaking of his father, he's already transformed as well, still from his spar before, and both he and his mentor seem to be rearing to go.
Gohan tenses as he feels a shift in the air, and instantly moves as a green fist flies by striking the area he just vacated. The demi-Saiyan quickly raises his arm to block another shot, this time by his father, aimed right at his chest. The fighting continues as the experienced duo of former-enemies-turned-allies work together to break his defense, something that he is trying his hardest to keep up. He expertly counters the offensive brought about by two of the most powerful warriors in the universe, grunting at the great difficulty the task entails.
Eventually the spar gets taken to the air, all three fighters now starting to get into a groove. Gohan remains defensive against the onslaught brought about by his father and mentor, still not having the opportunity to even slightly go on the offensive. He grimaces at that thought. If this keeps up, then he will have absolutely no chance in winning this spar. Of course the point of this whole thing is to push him into using his new form, but Gohan still wants to avoid that route for as long as possible.
But even so, after ten more minutes of sparring, the demi-Saiyan feels himself getting more and more banged up. Piccolo and his father are starting to break his defense. He painfully admits to himself that fatigue is really starting to set itself in. He inwardly groans as he realizes that he won't be able to hold back any longer if he wants to come out if this spar in somewhat decent shape, so he reluctantly concedes to the need for more ki.
"Goku! Are you there Goku!"
Startled, Gohan pauses at the sudden—and desperate—shout out to his father, looking around to see who it could be since he never heard that voice before, only to get brutally drilled in the temple by a punch of Piccolo's. Completely disoriented by the ferocity of the blow, he yelps in pain, heading straight towards the forest.
*Crash!*
Okay… that blow hurt so much worse than his fall before. He tries to raise his head only for his vision to become blurry. His ears are still ringing from that hit, and he still has no clue what is going on. The last thing he sees before his vision turns to black is a green and purple blur heading towards him, with a flash of orange and gold following.
"Piccolo! What was that for!?"
"Hey! It's not my fault that that stupid Kai's call distracted him so much that he completely lowered his guard! Besides, I was already mid punch when it happened!"
Goku pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance at his former enemy's excuse for knocking his son out cold. As much as he wants to be mad at the aloof Namekian however, he knows that what Piccolo is saying is indeed correct. There's no way that either of them could have predicted that King Kai would contact him at that exact moment, or that Gohan would completely lose his guard when it happened. That is no reason to hold this against him.
Of course he doesn't blame his son either. It's not like getting a telepathic distress call from the ruler of the galaxy all the way from Other World happens everyday. The boy must have been confused as heck at who could have possibly been calling for him, not to mention the pure desperation that the North Kai had in his voice.
The full blooded Saiyan sighs, settling on running his hand through his son's thick ebony hair while anxiously waiting for him to wake up in an effort to calm his nerves a little. The news that King Kai brought was definitely unsettling. Apparently Frieza had been training a great deal in Hell, becoming incredibly more powerful as a result. This however wasn't really an issue until Cell came into the picture. According to the blue, cat-fish looking Kai, the bio-android had lived up to his namesake, the Saiyan cells within him giving the evil green grasshopper a dramatic power boost once he arrived in Hell…
And the combination of the efforts of the two super villains led them to break out of Hell and wreak havoc among the rest of Other World.
Of course the Heavens weren't going to stand down and let Cell and Frieza get away with that. He had been informed through the blue deity that all of the best warriors of all time are attempting to fight the duo as they were speaking, but it sounded really bad. Apparently only two fighters were able to keep up with the diabolical enemies, both struggling to go toe to toe with Cell and Frieza.
Going back to the reason for the call in the first place. King Kai had requested that both he and Gohan go up to Other World and help them deal with the situation as soon as his son wakes up. This had confused the full-blooded Saiyan for a minute since he is alive, and therefore doesn't have a way of getting to Other World, the land of the deceased. Even with his instant transmission technique, he couldn't cross the barrier between the two planes, at least not normally. The Kai however had assured him that they (the four lower Kais and the Grand Kai) would allow a brief window in which he could use the Yardrattian technique to get there, give him and his son protection from the atmosphere while they are there, and then allow them back to the living realm once finished with the threat.
He's still confused on how that will work…
But, Goku has no choice but to trust his quadrant's deity. After all, what would be the blue Kai's point in lying to him? He sighs once more, running his hands through his child's hair even more quickly now. If what King Kai says is indeed true, then both he and his son will have their work cut out for them. He's pretty certain that he could still take down Frieza, as he himself has gotten significantly stronger since their last battle as well; but if Cell got that much stronger since being killed, then he knows that Gohan will have to be the one to fight him. The chibi is the only one strong enough to take the evil android down, and that would only be in his son's new super Saiyan form.
He frowns at that thought, looking down as his son's currently peaceful looking face. As proud as he is about his son's amazing talent and strength when it comes to fighting, he never wanted his son to fight this much for his life. It has been nothing but constant life or death battles for the chibi ever since his son turned four years old. Inwardly he curses himself for allowing this to happen. What kind of father is he!? Not only has he failed to protect his son from this harsh lifestyle, but now he's relying this young boy solely to once again fight a great evil, this time to protect all of Other World. He feels like such a failure as a parent!
Closing his eyes, he shakes his head. It's too late now to turn back. His son is now a warrior, and a damn good one too! Gohan is too much of an asset to not fight in important battles. Opening his eyes and looking at his son, who seems to be finally stirring from his unconscious daze, the Saiyan father becomes incredibly determined. Even if his son is now stronger than him, he will not let anything happen to him. He will die before he lets his son get severely hurt!
That is a fact!
He hears a groan come from his son and instantly focuses all of his attention on the chibi. A soft tap from behind and to his left indicates that Piccolo also has noticed Gohan is coming to and he dropped out of his meditative pose. Slowly, the demi-Saiyan opens his eyes, and Goku can still see a hazed look in them, as if just waking up from a deep sleep.
Rubbing his head where he got punched, the chibi lets out another groan. "…Did someone get the license plate on that semi…"
Goku lets out a hearty chuckle at that, and he swears that he saw a smirk make its way onto Piccolo's face too. "I think it was P-I-C-C-O-L-O," He answers mid-chuckle, earning a growl form his former enemy and a few giggles from his son. He smiles even more at that. Gohan's laugh is like music to his ears; he absolutely loves it. It's one of the reasons he tries his hardest to make his son laugh as often as he can. This feat is, unsurprisingly, not that hard to do.
Unfortunately though, time is of the essence at the moment, at least according to King Kai, so he tries to put on a serious face and address his son about the current issue at hand. "Sorry to throw this at you so soon after you just recovered from a brutal hit son, but we need to get moving as soon as possible."
Immediately his son's faces drops into a hardened expression, one that leaves the father in wonder. It's incredible how Gohan can be so at ease and laid back one minute, and then serious the next. Even though he's only in an eleven-year-old body, if one were to look at his face, they would think that they were looking at an adult. Just another reminder of how grown up the demi-Saiyan is. "What is it Dad? Does it have to do with that voice that interrupted our spar? It sounded so worried!"
Goku nods in confirmation of his son's thoughts, glad he doesn't need to explain too much to the chibi. "You're right little man. That voice was King Kai, and he was worried because there's a rebellion in Other World, led by Cell and Frieza."
"But I thought they were both in Hell!" his son quickly retorts.
"They were, but they were able to escape somehow," he explains. "King Kai said that he didn't know how they did, but the fact is those two are up to no good in Upper Heaven and we need to stop them as soon as we can."
For some reason, his son smiles at this. "That shouldn't be too much of a problem. Both of us are stronger than them now."
He frowns at that. He realizes that his son doesn't know how much stronger the two villains got. "Actually Gohan, King Kai told me that they are both much stronger now than when they died. Frieza apparently has been doing some hard core training in Hell during this time. According to King Kai, he's about as strong as Cell was when he died, meaning that I will have my hands full with Frieza. Cell on the other hand gained an incredible power boost from when he died, thanks to the Saiyan cells he has. That means you are probably the only one who can beat him."
He internally winces at seeing his son's expression drop at that. He hates killing his son's good mood, but it's important that he understands the seriousness of the situation. He quickly shakes off the thought that this is another one of those situations that someone Gohan's age shouldn't even be in. He doesn't need that at the moment.
"And the only way I will be able to beat him is if I transform again… right?" The chibi asks him.
He nods his head once more in confirmation. "That's right son," he answers hesitantly. He knows that his son still isn't fully over the fear of going to that level. However, he puts on what he hopes is a confident look. His son has been so much better at controlling himself lately, and he has no doubt that the chibi will do fantastic this time around. "Now Gohan, we've been training you for the past few months on this new super Saiyan form and I feel confident that you are ready to use it for real."
His son looks at him, seeming hesitant. "Are you sure Dad?"
This time he gives the young savior a smile and nods without hesitation. "Yes I am son! I have the utmost confidence in you, and I'm sure Piccolo does too!" He looks over his shoulder at the tall Namekian. "Right Piccolo?"
Much to his delight, the green man smirks and gives a nod of assurance. "That's right kid, you'll do great. Now go up there and kick Cell's ass!"
That seems to do the trick as it brings forth a few of those musical laughs from his son. Now grinning at his two trainers, the chibi demi-Saiyan gives a thumbs up. "Alright, if you both think I can do it, then I'll give it my best. I guess I could think of this as my final test for gaining control of this new form."
"Yeah, that's a good way to think of it Gohan!" the Saiyan father quickly encourages. "This really is a good opportunity for you to train yourself as a super Saiyan 2." He makes his way to his feet, pulling his son up with him. "Alright little man! Lets go up and save Other World!"
"Yeah!" The demi-Saiyan yells, nodding at him.
Smiling, he puts his index and middle fingers to his forehead in preparation of instant transmission. However, he first turns to his Namekian ally. "Are you going to the Lookout? We'll meet you there when we're done. I'm sure you and Dende will want a briefing on how everything went."
His former enemy merely grunts before nodding.
Figuring that that will be about the best he will get out of the stoic Namekian, he nods in return, looking down at his son one more time, getting a grin in return. Smiling to himself, he concentrates on the ki that King Kai told him to and disappears.
~North Snake Way, Upper Heaven, Other World~
*Bang! Boom! Rumble…*
*KABOOM!*
He winces, watching the destruction going on all around him. His antennae twitch in annoyance, searching once more for his greatest student and his son.
What is taking Goku so long!? He silently seethes, unconsciously pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. It's been five minutes since I've contacted him!
Sighing in frustration at the fact that Goku still isn't here yet, he turns in the direction where the latest explosion happened. He can't help but whimper in sadness. Cell had just thrown an incredibly powerful special beam cannon at Pikkon, and fortunately the bio-android missed his mark; however, the attack instead hit the incredibly dense planet that he lives on, in effect destroying his home.
And I just got done paying it off too…
"Northie! Where are those Earth warriors that you called? The warriors that killed them in the first place?!"
Startled by the voice, yet fully recognizing who it is, he quickly turns towards the speaker and gives him his full attention. The Grand Kai is one person that he doesn't want disrespect. Going into a bow, he answers, "Goku and Gohan should be here any second Grand Kai. I had called them in the middle of one of their spars and unfortunately, it startled Gohan so much that he lost his guard and got knocked out by the subsequent punch. They are just waiting for him to recover and they should be here!"
The blue deity sweats a little as his superior narrows his eyes at him. "Are you sure that this 'Gohan' can take on this challenge if he is able to be distracted so easily that he can be knocked out like that?"
"I think that Northie here is just bluffing Your Greatness," another voice weighs in. The blue deity of the North immediately glares at the new person. Of course West Kai just had to add his input. The short purple god of the West immediately glares back at him. "After all, I have a hard time believing that anyone that he could bring here could beat that android if my Pikkon is having this hard of a time against him."
"What do you know you, shrimp!" he immediately retorts. He glares hatefully at the West Kai. Taking a breath to regain his composure, he turns back to the Grand Kai. "I assure you, Your Greatness, that both Goku and Gohan can handle their own in a battle. Both are incredibly strong, particularly Gohan. When transformed, that kid's ki makes Cell's look like a joke."
Grand Kai looks at him skeptically once again, while that dumb West Kai bursts out laughing at that. King Kai immediately glares even more forcefully at the shorter Kai. "Wow," the deity of the West breathes out in between laughs. "Now I know that you are bluffing! There's no way that a mere kid can be stronger than Pikkon! Not even Olibu can beat him, and he's the only other warrior that is even close!"
King Kai decides to ignore the insults for once, knowing that he'll see what he's talking about shortly.
…that is if they show up anytime soon!
He sighs, turning his attention once more to his surroundings. The battles are getting even more intense now, fierce blows booming in the periphery akin to a mass bombing. He admits that Frieza and Cell are incredibly impressive to be able to keep up with their respective opponents.
Frieza's opponent is his best warrior, and the second strongest and skilled warrior in all of Other World: the human Olibu; yet, the former galactic tyrant is dealing with him like a pro. The fight appears to be evenly matched, yet he is shocked to find that Frieza actually has the upper hand on the North's best deceased warrior. It seems that fatigue is really starting to show on his student while the evil overlord has barely lost his breath.
And then there's Cell and Pikkon. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, West Kai definitely has a reason to brag when it comes to the finest warrior of the West. Pikkon has proven to be the strongest warrior in all of Other World, with skills to back up his title of best overall warrior. However, even this amazing fighter is having great difficulty against the newly reborn Cell. Somehow Cell regained his perfect form, even with the absence of both androids Seventeen and Eighteen. Not only that, but he is so much stronger than he was before that he is able to fight blow for blow with Pikkon, something that not many can do. Even worse, like Frieza, he actually has the upper hand against the legendary warrior. It's terrifying, yet amazing at the same time how powerful the green bug has gotten.
However, as strong as the two villains are proving to be, he still has confidence that Goku and Gohan will be able to beat them. Goku has grown strong enough training with his son and Piccolo that he should be able to handle Frieza, while Gohan should have no problem dealing with Cell whatsoever as long as he ascends again.
He sweats a little at that thought, remembering back to the chibi when he was fighting Cell before. He only hopes that the kid will be able to control it this time.
~The Lookout, Planet Earth~
Dende looks down towards the Earth, eyes closed and hands spread, keeping an eye on the events of everyday life. Although he's still quite new at this job, he actually finds feeling out the actions of the humans to be quite easy despite hearing that this is one of the more difficult aspects of his duties. The trick is to not look down to the Earth with his eyes, as he would only see the clouds of the sky that way. Instead, he needs to feel out the kis of every person in a certain direction, repeating this process about fifteen minutes every direction. This allows him to get a lock on the kis in that area for a period of 24 hours. The young Guardian finds that by putting about an hour of effort into feeling the kis of Earth, he can obtain a good picture of all of the people on the planet for a whole day, allowing him to know if there is something is wrong almost immediately as it happens without needing to fully concentrate on feeling it out.
Perhaps he is a natural at being a Guardian, just like Elder Murray said.
Although right now it's kind of difficult to concentrate…
While he doesn't know what exactly is taking place in this moment in Other World, he is well aware of what is going on in the plane of the deceased. The ever bothersome Frieza has managed to break out of Hell with the help of the tyrant's new acquaintance Cell, both powerful beyond belief. The villains were so powerful that this quadrant's Kai had to contact him and ask for two of his warriors to fight the diabolical duo.
Those warriors happen to be his best friend and his best friend's father.
The Guardian paces around the edge of the Lookout to look at another area of Earth. He tries to drown out his worries with the docile lives of the civilians of the North side of the Earth. He takes a deep breath before attempting to concentrate on his godly task, but again finds his concentration slipping him.
He knows that Goku is incredibly strong, and that Gohan is in a league of his own when it comes to his ki, but apparently their opponents are vastly stronger as well. He knows that Cell and Frieza are the only two beings in the universe that can make Goku lose his calm demeanor. This is something that the young Guardian personally hasn't witnessed, but has heard about from his best friend. He's well aware that the normally kind hearted Saiyan can be downright brutal when angered. But as much as that worries him, something else has him even more worried.
And that is Gohan's new transformation.
His best friend is probably the kindest, most caring and gentle person that he has ever met, even more so than his father. Dende also believes that Gohan is one of the strongest beings in the universe. This has caused quite a dichotomy in the life of his best friend, as he knows that Gohan isn't a warrior at heart. Yet as of late, he has seen that the young demi-Saiyan has been changing. His best friend has been training more and more with his father and Piccolo. This is something that normally wouldn't worry the young Namekian much since he agrees with them about the fact that Gohan should train to learn how to control that new transformation.
But then, that's exactly the thing that worries him so much. They know very little about this new transformation, and the only one with any experience with using it is an eleven-year-old boy. Not only that, but from the only experiences that Gohan has had using this transformation, his best friend becomes wrathful, vengeful, unforgivingly harsh; it's as if the transformation has a personality of its own.
Thats why it has been so nerve-wracking for the young Guardian to watch his friend. While he knows its incredibly important to train the transformation, it's also so mind-numbing to see what his best-friend has to go through when he actually does transform. It was so hard for Gohan at first, but thankfully the discovery of his little brother seems to have been the turning point. Since then, Gohan has not only been more willing to train the form, but has been actually handling the transformation much better ever since the discovery. That little tyke has already been helping his big brother, and the child is not even born yet! He briefly wonders just how close those two will be in the future.
The small smile that formed from that thought fades though as he remembers why he is so worried in the first place. Sure, Gohan has been much better controlling the form as of late, but the young demi-Saiyan still has a ways to go before he has complete control. The young Guardian has noticed some lapses in his best friend's ki when training the form even still. Furthermore, Gohan has not been up against an infuriating force such as Cell using the transformation since his last battle with the bio-android.
And he remembers quite clearly how that turned out.
The young Guardian sighs, trying to gain the lock on the kis of the North, but without much luck. He really shouldn't be worrying so much about this. Gohan is amazing, and has yet to let him down. He should have more faith in his best friend and trust that he will win no problem.
Then how come he has this sinking feeling about him in his chest?
"You're lucky that the Earth is still recovering from Cell, or you might have missed something, Dende."
The young Namekian has the decency to blush at his mentor's words as he turns to him. He looks up at the former Guardian of the Earth, rubbing the back of his head in a gesture he picked up from his best friend. "Sorry Piccolo," he meekly replies, dropping his arm from the back of his head and sighing. "I'm just not able to concentrate with everything going on right now."
"You mean with Gohan and Goku in Other World?"
"Yeah…" The young Guardian sighs again, turning back towards the edge of the Lookout. "I'm just worried about what gonna happen to Gohan in his battle with Cell."
Silence rings throughout the Lookout for a moment before he hears Piccolo make his way over to stand next to him. He then feels a weight on his shoulder, and realizes that it is Piccolo's much larger hand. "Gohan will be fine Dende," his mentor comforts him, forcing him to look up. The larger Namekian is still looking straight ahead, as if trying to concentrate on the blue skies in front of him. "You've seen his progress as much as I have. He is ready for this test."
The young Guardian turns his gaze forward. "I know Piccolo, I know he's gotten much better at controlling it. And I also know that if anyone can tame that beast it's him." He then looks back up at his mentor, making the larger Namekian meet his gaze. "I just have a bad feeling that he might relapse to what he was before because it's Cell he's fighting, not you or Goku…"
The young Namekian turns his body so that he's now completely facing his mentor. "Cell might be the only one in this whole universe that can actually get him angry without trying, and I fear what Gohan will do in that state when he's under such fury already from the nature of the transformation."
"I admit that I cannot say that I don't share your concern, Dende," Piccolo reveals. This only confirms to Dende that his worries are legitimate. "However," his mentor continues, "you must realize that Gohan has to cross this bridge eventually. The time will come where there will be another threat to the Earth and he will have to use that form to defend it. It's best that he does it in Other World where he won't cause any real damages from the test."
The taller Namekian finally turns his body to him and puts both hands on his shoulders. "And besides, even if Gohan does relapse, he, as well as all of us, will be able to learn from it and prevent it from happening again. We'll then know the trigger." Piccolo smirks down at him. "However, I don't think that Gohan will relapse. He seems to have a mechanism now that is able to calm him down. He still hasn't revealed what it is yet, but it seems to work wonders for him."
Dende has a feeling that he knows exactly what that mechanism is, but before he gets a chance to answer, his mentor turns and starts walking away after that, his white cape swishing in the wind. Still, he can hear him finishing his thought as he makes his way back to the tree that he always meditates under. "I wouldn't worry too much about Gohan, Dende. That kid is growing up, and he has never failed to amaze me. He will be fine, just you wait and see."
As he watches his mentor get back into his classic meditation pose, he smiles a little, feeling comforted by the larger Namekian's words, although he still can't shake that feeling that maybe, just maybe, his best friend may not be as well off as everyone thinks he is. However, at this moment, he lets the reassurance that he was offered take hold and give him some peace of mind, if only just a little bit.
Time seems to go by after their brief conversation. A little time after finally locking onto the kis of the North side of the Earth, the young Guardian drowns himself in his Guardian duties. He tries his best to oversee the problems of the Earth. Pretty soon, the events that are happening in Other World go to the back of his mind as he starts to work his magic.
He is focused on his tasks for a good two hours until he finally hears the familiar 'pop' of instant transmission a few feet behind him. He immediately is able to feel the two familiar kis of Gohan and Goku, confirming his thoughts that they finally arrived back from Other World. He sighs in relief. Even though he had no doubt that the father/son duo would win, he admits that he was still worried about what could have happened back in Other World.
Turing around to face the two saviors of the Heavens (quite literally in this case), his eyes are blessed with the sight of two identical grins. This makes him relax even further, as it looks as if both father and son are at complete ease with what happened back in the land of the dead.
It seems that his worry was quite unwarranted. He smiles at that.
"Welcome back guys!" He exclaims. Happiness radiates from his voice, sounding like a song. "How'd it go up there?"
The young Guardian sees Goku look at him and give him a wider grin if that is possible. "It was a blast Dende! Both Frieza and Cell were incredibly more powerful than before! In fact, if I hadn't been training with Gohan and Piccolo these past few months I might not have been able to beat Frieza!" The Saiyan father chuckles, rubbing the back of his head. "However, with that training, both Gohan and I were able to put them in their place."
"So everything went as planned then?" His mentor asks, making his way over to them.
The full blooded Saiyan turns to the former demon king. "Yep! Frieza and Cell are back in Hell where they belong."
Goku and Piccolo continue to discuss what happened in Other World, the Saiyan being his normal cheerful self and the Namekian smirking at the description of his battle. However, Dende isn't focused on that at the moment.
He is more focused on his best friend.
He has been silently observing Gohan ever since he had asked the question of how everything went in Other World. Over their time on Namek, Dende was able to learn a lot about his best friend, and over the past few months on Earth he has seen Gohan very frequently, solidifying their incredible friendship. During their time together, they have basically poured their hearts out to each other. Combining what the young Guardian has learned about his friend with his natural empathetic talents, he is able to see some irregularities with the demi-Saiyan boy.
Dende knows how good Gohan is at hiding his true emotions. If it wasn't for the fact that he was experiencing similar feelings back on Namek, he wouldn't have ever guessed that his friend had been feeling afraid and even a bit guilty about the happenings on his old planet.
The demi-Saiyan is displaying those same skills right now.
Gohan is being masterful at hiding it behind his family's trademark grin, but the young Namekian knows his best friend well. The chibi demi-Saiyan has yet to speak about the subject, letting his father do all of the talking. While Gohan is overall a shy, bashful person, when it comes to his friends, especially Piccolo and himself, his friend can be quite social, sometimes talking their ears off. He figures that Gohan would be talking all about what had happened in Other World if it was something that he was proud of. Admittedly, he could also chalk this abnormality up to Gohan's humble nature and the fact that the kid is probably exhausted after an intense battle.
However, there is definitely something is off with his best friend. Gohan's eyes are what give it away. While his expression on his face is almost identical to that of his father, his eyes aren't as bright as they normally are with his normal grin, and it is making Dende suspicious that not everything went as well as Goku is making it seem.
There is something up with the Gohan, and he's not sure what it is.
"—and then when I was done, I saw Cell smashing off of the side of Snake Way, completely defeated," He hears Goku continue. "You should have seen Gohan, he was incredible! Although, I do admit that I couldn't even see him most of the time." The man ruffles his son's hair affectionately. "Yep, we really have ourselves a champ on our hands here."
He watches Gohan closely after this exchange, seeing the demi-Saiyan smile at his father's words with what appears to be a small blush. Goku once again continues by telling them the aftermath on how the Kais had all thanked both of them when Gohan turns his gaze towards him.
And his worst fears are confirmed.
It only lasts a moment before his friend is able to hide it, as if he wanted him—and only him—to see it, but it was definitely there. In that instant, Dende saw a great pain in his best friend's eyes, along with a significant amount of guilt. He doesn't know what it was that caused that look to appear in his best friend's eyes, but what he does know is that everything definitely didn't go seamlessly in Other World. He has a feeling it has something to do with Gohan's fight against Cell, and most likely has to do with that transformation.
It appears as though his initial fears were warranted after all.
~North Snake Way, Upper Heaven, Other World; Earlier That Day~
Goku looks around the area, instinctively pulling his son to him at the sounds of explosions going off all around. Immediately his attention is drawn to his left where he can see a rather large human with long, golden hair wearing a traditional white fighting outfit doing battle with someone who is obviously Frieza. This battle is intense, with both parties dueling it out at incredible speeds that he has a hard time following. If he were to judge them against what he can do, he is confident that he would be able to win against either of them. It definitely wouldn't be easy though, and he can already see what King Kai said about Frieza being tons stronger. He subconsciously growls to himself at seeing the space tyrant again. Just the mere thought of that bastard grinds his gears.
Thankfully, his rather angering thoughts are cut off by another explosion going off, this time to his right, and his eyes dart over there to see Cell, in all of his perfect glory battling it out with another warrior that looks strangely like Piccolo. He can't make out too many details though as they both disappear from his sight at speeds that not even he can follow.
He gulps at that. There's no doubt that both of those fighters are definitely out of his league.
He briefly looks down at his son, only seeing him observe everything with wide eyes. It's clear that Gohan is trying to take in the situation. Never being in Other World before, it must be quite the sight to the chibi. He knows that it was to him when he died after fighting Raditz. However, the Saiyan father notices something about his son.
While Gohan is observing everything, he can see a very determined expression on the chibi's face. There is no fear present at all. He can also see that his son's eyes are darting back and forth, as if watching something. He quickly realizes that his son is actually watching Cell and that other warrior fighting, as those are the only kis in the area of his son's gaze. While he himself can't follow what is going on in that battle, Gohan seems to be having no problems whatsoever.
He smiles at that, letting out a breath he had no idea he was holding. That just reminds him that his son is in a whole other league when it comes to ki and power. Instead, he closes his eyes and focuses on feeling his son's incredibly warm, calming ki in an effort to keep himself in check emotionally. His anxiety gradually melts away at the feeling.
Sighing in relief, he opens his eyes to see King Kai and four other funny looking people approaching him and Gohan. He waves to them in greeting, his grin falling at King Kai's anxious expression. Obviously the other people are the other Kais that his deity told him about.
"Goku!" King Kai shouts. It's clear to the Saiyan that he's even more worried than he was before. "It's about time you both got here! In the time it took you to arrive, Cell and Frieza did even more damage to Other World, including destroying my planet!"
Eyes widening at that statement, Goku immediately puts on a serious expression. Although his knowledge of Other World is limited at best, he still knows that King Kai's planet being blown up is a huge deal. While it was not even a quarter the size of Earth's moon, it had gravity that was ten times as strong as Earth, which means that the planet was incredibly dense. It would take more firepower to blow up that planet than it would to blow up the Sun's solar system!
"Don't worry King Kai," He suddenly hears, looking down at his son. Gohan holds an even more determined look than before, directing his potent gaze at the ruler of the North Quadrant. "My dad and I will take care of those two."
While taken aback by the amount of confidence in his son's voice, Goku admits that while surprising, it is quite welcome. This is the most confident that he's ever heard his son speak, and that is something that he can't help but feel proud about. It also makes him feel more confident himself.
Gohan really is becoming a great leader, even at the age of eleven.
"Please!" one of the other Kais mocks. The scoff at his son's skills forces him and everyone to turn to the god. Much to Goku's amusement, this Kai is even shorter than King Kai, and instead of having blue skin, he has purple skin. This Kai glares through his small round glasses at his son. "What makes you believe that you can beat that android if not even my Pikkon can, who is this afterlife's greatest warrior?!"
He immediately feels a hot glare, and turns to see King Kai glaring heatedly at this purple Kai. Goku can't help but frown at that statement. While he would admit the purple Kai probably doesn't know who he and his son are, the smaller deity doesn't have the right to judge him and Gohan before they even show him what they're capable of.
He looks down to see how his son is reacting, knowing that confidence isn't something that is his strong point, but the Saiyan father is surprised to see his son merely smirking back at the Kai. However, something about this smirk is different from the normal confident smirk that Gohan usually would have. This one holds an arrogance in it that he instantly recognizes as a smirk that Vegeta would always have. This is the first time that he's seen his son with this expression on his face.
Correction, the second time.
The first time was at the Cell Games.
Nervousness floods his system once again. Perhaps this confidence isn't quite as good of a thing as he originally thought.
At that moment, Gohan once again draws the attention of everyone by pulling away from him and floating into the air in front of the Kai that is doubting them. That smirk continues to be present on his son's face as he snaps his fingers. As soon as the motion takes place, Goku feels a huge jump in his son's ki and the chibi's hair and eyes simultaneously turn bleached blond and piercing teal respectively.
And just like that, his son is a super Saiyan, and a damn powerful one too! His ki shoots up to meet that of Frieza and that other warrior that the Arcosian is fighting. While the Saiyan father is familiar with his son's potential, he still is shocked at how easily Gohan is able to generate as much power as he can close to his max.
His child's smirk deepens as he stares down his skeptic. "This is about half of my power, and my dad is stronger than the ki I'm at right now. You still think we can't handle this?"
He can hear that purple Kai growling at his son for his arrogance. Honestly, he can't blame the guy either with the way his son has been acting since they got here. What's going on? It's not like Gohan to outright disrespect someone like this, especially someone with this Kai's standing.
"Why, you brat!" the Kai spits. "How dare a mere mortal like you talk to a Kai that way! After we allowed you come up here in the first place! Why I ought to—"
"Enough!"
Everyone falls silent at that powerful command, the only sounds now coming from the two battles going on. Goku and the others turn their attention to the Grand Kai, the one who made the command. This is somewhat surprising to the adult Saiyan since the Grand Kai looks more like a hippie from the 60's than anything else. He is wearing giant sunglasses and has long, shaggy white hair with a matching beard. However, it's obvious that the Kai is definitely the top dog here with the way he was able to command respect with just one order.
"Look Westie," the highest Kai in Upper Heaven continues. "We brought these two here for a reason, and that reason is because they both were the ones to bring Cell and Frieza here in the first place, so we know that they have the ability to beat them." He sees the purple man huff and turn away at that, reminding Goku of a child who just got chastised by their mother.
Before he's able to think on that further though, the Kai turns to him and his son, staring down Gohan in particular. "As for you youngling, we are well aware of how powerful you and your father are, which is why you're here. However, you seriously need to adjust your attitude if you plan on coming out of this battle on top. You may be very powerful, but the monster you are going up against is able to defeat the best warrior Other World can produce. I can say right now that if you go into this battle acting as arrogant as you seem to be right now, you will end up losing the battle, and most likely your life."
Well that shut Gohan up.
He can see his son look aways for a moment, and can tell through that special bond that they share that he is feeling ashamed for how he acted and a bit... surprised? That emotion he feels from his son confuses him for a moment before he shrugs it off. After all, Gohan never has acted that way before, so it surprised everyone, including the chibi himself apparently. Still, that was very out of character for his son to go up to one of the rulers of the universe and disrespect him like that, even if the Kai was doubting him. It's kind of worrying for the Saiyan father, especially since Gohan's acting this way when he's not even at the next level yet.
He sighs, trying to once again calm himself. It's probably nothing and he's most likely getting himself worried over nothing. His son seems to be fine now and very clearly regrets his attitude. The Grand Kai definitely humbled Gohan, that's for sure. The chibi seems completely normal now.
But then how come he can't get this bad feeling out of his gut? A bad feeling that something is seriously wrong with his precious son?
*KABOOM!*
He stumbles to the side, caught off guard as a huge explosion sounds off directly to his right. He quickly darts his vision to catch a glimpse of what is going on when he sees a figure falling out of the sky. Upon closer inspection, his eyes widen in anxiety as he recognizes that the figure is the human fighter that was fighting Frieza. Apparently the evil overlord finally knocked the brave fighter unconscious.
*Bang! Bang! BOOM!*
A feeling of dread fills his being as he hears this next series of explosions. He doesn't even need to turn around to figure out what happened behind him. It's obvious as he hears the shout of "Pikkon" from the West Kai. Cell obviously was able to finally knock out the valiant warrior from the West. Those blows that he heard sounded extremely painful too…
He suddenly feels a dramatic increase in ki, and realizes that it's in fact his son. He turns around to face him, only to see both Cell and Frieza now floating in front of both of them, just waiting for them to make the first move. He doesn't need anyone to tell him that its time for this showdown to begin.
He quickly powers up to super Saiyan, grunting in the effort. While it comes naturally for him to transform nowadays, he still doesn't have as much control over the form as his son does. How the chibi has such impeccable ki control he still doesn't understand. Nonetheless, the Saiyan father could still go for hours upon hours in this form without it fatiguing him in the slightest. As he continues to draw out the rest of his ki, a golden aura starts to form around him, tinting his formerly bleached blond hair with a more golden hue as well as giving the Saiyan a radiant glow. Bolts of golden lightning start to spring out of his aura, albeit infrequently, but showing that he has taken this level of super Saiyan further than before. As he continues to power up, he starts to give his son some last minute instructions.
"Gohan, you're going to need to take this to the next level in order to win this one," he starts, turning his head slightly in his son's direction, but not taking his eyes off of the evil duo. "You're going to need to control yourself. Make sure you find that comforting source you told me about to help yourself reign in that control."
Sensing his son's increasing anxiety, he turns his full attention to his son. He looks into the chibi's eyes and can see the conflict over what to do. The Saiyan father knows his son well. He's aware that his son is afraid of going to the next level right at the moment, the anxiety probably amplified further by how he was acting when they first got here. He does his best to reassure his son by putting his hand on his shoulder and continuing to gaze into the child's eyes. "I know that it's scary, and I'm not going to lie, it's probably going to be much more difficult since you're going against a powerful enemy, but I have 100% confidence in you. I know you can do it little man."
He sees his son visually gulp, but the child gives him a nod and a tentative smile. Goku produces a smile of his own at that, and gives his son a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder in support.
"Are you two monkeys done with your love fest? I really want to get this fight going and finally get my revenge for you killing me! I don't have all day you know!"
Goku growls and turns towards the egomaniacal former tyrant of the North Galaxy. The mere thought of Frieza has always rubbed him the wrong way, and now that same 'overgrown lizard' as Vegeta would always 'affectionately' call him is floating there mocking his relationship with his son.
That bastard is just asking for a beating.
"Alright Frieza!" He shouts back, his aura flaring as his ki rises to its max. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"
The Saiyan quickly charges the tyrant with his maximum speed. He catches the purple and white overlord off guard and is able to connect with a strong blow to the cheek. This forces the lizard-like being to fly into the distance through the golden clouds of Other World. The Saiyan follows on, not wanting to give up his advantage. Unfortunately though, Frieza is able to regain his composure and block and dodge his next entourage of attacks, and the two fighters soon go into a heated exchange of blows that has Other World shaking.
He briefly feels his son's ki rise up even further than his and continue to grow until it's at the maximum level for a first level super Saiyan, but he puts that to the back of his mind for the moment. He trusts his son to take care of Cell. Right now he needs to focus his whole attention on Frieza. He knows that despite how much of an arrogant bastard the Arcosian is that this will be a very difficult battle.
The battle between the two warriors becomes even more intense as it goes on. It seems to be an even battle between them, a battle that is starting to become more and more frustrating for Goku. This seems to be playing out exactly like their battle back on the old Planet Namek, only this time Frieza is keeping up with him much better and matching him blow for blow. He growls in frustration as he sends a quick six blow combo, using a variety of different punches and kicks. Frieza merely parries the attacks expertly. It's obvious that the lizard-like creature has gained more than just power. Sweat starts to pour down his forehead as he sees his opponent smiling evilly at him.
"My, my Goku," the tyrant mocks, making the Saiyan growl even more. "It seems that you aren't able to fight me as easily as before." Goku glares fiercely at the purple and white bastard, only causing the freak to chuckle as he deflects more and more of his attacks. The tyrant from the North starts retaliating, and Goku has to concentrate extremely hard to block and dodge the acrosian's assault. Its even harder since Frieza is able to use his bulky tail as fluidly as a fifth limb while fighting. Finally, after defending a right hook with his forearm and a tail stab to his abdomen with his other arm, the evil overlord clocks him with a left jab to his right cheek. Blood escapes his mouth as he is sent out of the sky, his momentum abruptly stopped by crashing into snake way. Luckily, he landed in the middle of the million mile long path and not on one of the spiky edged sides.
"Hahahaha!" He hears the tyrant cackle. Apparently Frieza's going to take this opportunity to mock him. He grits his teeth and tries to recover and show that bastard what he's got coming to him as Frieza continues his taunting. "That position fits you! I thought you were going to be more of a challenge for me! What's wrong monkey? Did someone take your banana?"
He growls at that comment. While normally the cheerful, level-headed Saiyan doesn't let taunting get to him, Frieza has always had the skill to be able to get him riled up easily. He picks himself off the ground and shoots back into the air at the tyrant.
At least he was going to until he hears a scream.
The sound of the yell is enough to even catch Frieza's attention and both him and the lizard monster look in the distance. He quickly blocks his eyes with his arms as a gigantic typhoon of wind hits them, nearly blowing Goku off of his feet. He can even see a stray bolt of blue electricity come sizzling their way every so often and the path that is snake way starts shaking at the intensity. Goku quickly jumps into the air off of the path so he has a better chance of stabilizing himself before making sense of what is actually happening.
And his jaw drops at what he feels.
This cataclysmic display of power is coming off of his son! He starts to sweat at the pure power that he feels coming from the chibi. He is familiar with the transformation that his son is undergoing. He has seen it enough times recently to recognize it right away as his son's super Saiyan 2 form. However, he has never felt this much power coming off of it before.
His son was holding back!
The Saiyan father is literally frozen in shock. How in the world is Gohan able to generate so much power? And how in the world was he able to hide it from him and Piccolo?! You mean to tell him that every time that both him and Piccolo were getting their butts kicked by his son that he was actually holding back the entire time?
He tries his best to shake off his surprise and smirks to himself. His son probably didn't even know he had this power. It seems that whenever Gohan is pushed over the edge emotionally he explodes with power. Cell obviously pushed the right buttons to make Gohan angry. His son is truly one of a kind, and that is what makes him amazing. He can already feel pride welling up inside of him at the thought, a feeling that he is very familiar with when it comes to his son.
He truly is the proudest father in the universe.
Since he knows that his son now has his fight with Cell in the bag, he once again turns his attention to his opponent. To his delight, he sees the tyrant still looking on in the distance at his son, who has now engaged with Cell in a ferocious battle. He smirks. Even though the initial winds and lightning have subsided, the lizard overlord is still staring in the distance.
A perfect opportunity to turn the tables in their battle.
He subtilely raises his ki, slowly raising it back to his max as to not draw Frieza's attention. He grins, silently charging up a Kamehameha, chanting the words in his head to make it official. After a few moments, the ki blast is ready for discharge, and thanks to the fact that Frieza can't read ki without a scouter, the Arcosian is blissfully unaware of what is about to come.
Taking a page out of the old playbook from his fight with Cell, he stabilizes his attack so that he can hold it with one hand and uses his free hand to put his index and middle finger to his forehead.
Then, in a flash, he disappears.
Boy does he love instant transmission!
"HA!" The Saiyan screams. He throws his right hand forward and unleashes a devastating one-handed Kamehameha at Frieza at point-blank range. Frieza lets out a scream of pain, not expecting the surprise attack in the least, the pure power behind the ki attack also catching him completely off guard. The beam sends the Arcosian yelling curses as it carries him miles through Other World.
Goku takes this opportunity to dash after his opponent and finally finish this battle. As powerful as that move was, he knows it wasn't enough to finish off the tyrant. Not with the power Frieza has displayed during their battle. He eventually catches up to the head of his Kamehameha, just as Frieza was finally able to get himself off of the wave.
How convenient for him.
The Saiyan uses this opportunity to unleash a punting kick to the tyrants stomach, forcing the purple-white lizard upwards. He quickly puts his index and middle fingers to his forehead and instant transmissions to the tyrant, using some extra speed to make his way high above him. Then, as Frieza is regaining his bering, Goku starts dropping out of the sky, raising both of his arms above his head and folding his hands in preparation for his finishing strike. He crushes a devastating downward axe handle using the downward momentum he had built. This attack seems to do the trick as the tyrant is knocked out instantly at the blow. The diabolical villain freely falls downwards like a bullet, through the yellow clouds on the bottom half of Upper Heaven and into Hell once more.
Right where the evil bastard belongs.
The Saiyan sighs in relief, panting heavily as he drops his super Saiyan transformation. That battle really took a lot out of him. Frieza proved himself to be every bit as difficult as he was made out to be, and that was the most difficult battle he probably has ever been in. However, he smiles in reminiscence of it, as it was very entertaining as well. There are not many opportunities where he is able to go all out and not hold back at all, taking great risks and using his skill to the max in order to defeat an opponent.
*BOOM!*
*Clang!*
"…ugh"
Goku blinks at the sudden chain of events. He looks over at the first bang in time see a figure that looks like Cell bang off of the side of snake way and ricochet downwards below the golden clouds. The green android is not able to do anything but groan in protest as he falls back into Hell.
After that scene, he can't help but chuckle. Cell definitely deserved to go out that way. Apparently his son has just gotten done taking care of business as well, so he sets off to find the little bugger. He can't help the returning feeling of pride as he realizes that Gohan was able to beat the one creature that not even Other World's strongest fighters were able to beat.
There he is. He can see the chibi demi-Saiyan floating in the middle of the air, appearing to be in deep thought. He is still in his super Saiyan 2 form, but surprisingly it seems as if he is controlling it perfectly! He grins a one thousand watt smile at that, now even more excited than before, and immediately rushes over to greet his son.
"Gohan!" he cheers, half laughing in his glee as he approaches the child prodigy. "I see you are controlling your super Saiyan 2 form! I knew you could do it!"
However, instead of facing him and giving him a huge grin in return, his son flinches away at his voice. Confused, Goku tries to get his son to look at him, only to have Gohan divert him the whole way. All this does is further confuse the Saiyan father as his son seems to be avoiding his gaze for some reason.
That's when he finally notices that Gohan is not alone, but has the company of the four Kais and Grand Kai. They all are looking at Gohan with a weary gaze, as if his son were a possible threat. This makes Goku instantly glare at the deities. He's mad that they would even entertain a single thought that Gohan would do anything to hurt them. He's about to ask them what's going on when he sees a few drops of liquid fall from right below his son's form. Goku's eyes suddenly widen when he figures out where those drops are coming from.
His son is crying!
He finally reaches out using his bond with Gohan, and realizes that his son is feeling incredibly ashamed at something. But there's another emotion that he feels from his son: fear. Fear is coming off of his son in waves, almost overwhelming the full-blooded Saiyan with the intensity of the emotion. He is about to draw his son into a hug when the chibi finally turns around and looks him in the eye.
And Goku freezes in shock. Gohan… he… his son has that look! That look in his eyes that still gives him nightmares.
That haunted look as returned.
"Dad…" his son chokes out, and Goku can't do anything but nod dumbly. He still is shocked stiff with that look. "It… happened again… I lost control… I relapsed… I-I…. I-I-I…
"I let him win!"