Chapter 3

The lookout was almost completely still. A small air current caused a single leaf on one of Mr Popo's plants to rustle ever so slightly. To Gohan, who sat floating a few feet above the tiles, cross legged with his eyes closed to hone his senses just as Piccolo had taught him many years ago, these near undetectable movements and noises rattled out like fireworks. Despite this, he forced himself to tune them out. What he was searching for was not something physical. Concentrating intently, he managed to drown out all unwanted signals and allowed himself to drink in the energy around him. Several ki signals became immediately obvious.

There was Piccolo just a few feet from him on the lookout. Somewhere in the mountains nearby he could sense Tien and Chiaotzu engaged in a light spar of some sort. A greater distance away, in the Capsule Corporation compound he could sense Krillin and Yamcha. They seemed uneasy, but that could have been as much to do with Vegeta's presence than any sort of outside threat. Trunks was there as well, not quite as nervous as his human friends, but there was the spark of vigilance to his energy signature as if he was ready to burst into action at any time; a trait he no doubt picked up during his many years being hunted by the androids of his time. Vegeta's signal was impossible to miss, eclipsing all other familiar signals. He never lowered his power to the levels that the others did, though Gohan never was sure whether that was something he picked up while in working in the Planet Trade to avoid a surprise attack, or whether it was simply a matter of pride. Regardless, the only other power in the area that was near Vegetas was the newcomer. His ki, while extremely similar to Cooler and Freeza's, was completely calm at the moment. It lacked any of the malice, fear and hatred that mired the others of his species Gohan had met so far.

'Maybe Freeza and his brother were just bad eggs? Maybe I was wrong to assume the worst...'

Sensing himself beginning to lose focus, Gohan furled his brow. Not only was what he was searching for not physical, it wasn't of this world at all. While he (thankfully) had not been to otherworld himself, he had heard enough about it from his comrades to at least try to reach out. Though Piccolo's inherent mysticism gave him a unique advantage in spiritual matters, Gohan thought he might as well give it a go himself, if only to distract him for a while Piccolo continued his attempts to contact the otherworld. After what seemed like hours of chasing nothing, Gohan opened his eyes and let his feet meet the floor of the Lookout. When he did, he discovered it HAD in fact been hours as his eyes were greeted with star light. He looked across to Piccolo, and found him in exactly the same position he had been hours before.

"Any luck, Mr Piccolo?" asked Gohan.

"Not yet kid. King Kai must be otherwise occupied since he isn't responding, and I can't even sense him anywhere near Snakeway. Dende asked around the check in station a few hours ago, said there's some sort of tournament of heroes going on. If I had to guess, I'd say your Dad and King Kai are probably there, and wherever 'there' is it's beyond my reach," said Piccolo, his head dropping slightly as he spoke.

"Typical. It's okay, Mr Piccolo. I don't know why I expected anything else, but I really appreciate you trying to help me out. It means a lot," Gohan replied, a sad smile gracing his youthful features.

"Listen, Gohan, I th-"

Piccolo was cut off mid sentence by a sudden influx of ki overwhelming his keen senses. Gohan gasped.

"I sense it too!" he shouted.

Two powers had sprung up in the mountains a few hundred miles from the Capsule Corporation: Trunks and the alien. Trunks was powered up to super saiyan, and the aliens power had shot up exponentially. He had probably transformed like Cooler had, Gohan deduced. Trunks still had the edge in power, but as Gohan was well aware all it takes to completely change the flow of a battle is a single well thought out strategy, or mistimed attack, or - in Vegetas case - allowing an enemy to reach the peak of their power. Once again, on cue, Vegetas ki signal became apparent. He was also in the mountains near the battle, but curiously had yet to raise his power at all. Vegeta was a wild card and Gohan wasn't about to let his reckless pride put the planet in danger again.

Powering up to Super Saiyan with a flash, Gohan let his ki shoot him towards the mountains at top speed, ignoring Piccolo shouting behind him. In mere minutes, he came to a stop at the base of a wide mountain range. Vegeta appeared to notice him, but quickly turned his attention back to the battle raging overhead. Looking up, Gohan could see Trunks and the Alien exchanging blows at extreme speed. Gohan's earlier presumtion proved accurate, as the creature appeared to be in the same form Cooler had used against his father, albeit considerably more powerful. Trunks obviously had the upper hand, but he didn't seem to be fighting for the kill like he usually did, rather he was dragging things out, allowing blows to glance off him and refusing to take seemingly obvious opportunities to deliver the finishing blow. Perhaps being with Vegeta for so long had rubbed off on him. Gohan could feel his anger rising.

"You see, Dad?" he said through gritted teeth, "It doesn't matter whether you're here or not, the Earth is always in danger."

Electricity began to spark and crackle around Gohan's figure.

"Well no more! You care more about your own fun and adventures than you do about us... You think a good fight is more important than actually defending the planet you call your own... You know how much I hate fighting, yet you leave me here alone to do your job... You want me to defend this planet!?"

Gohans aura exploded as his hair shot straight up, save a sole lock which dangled across his forehead. Trunks and the alien both stopped and remained motionless as Gohans tremendous power assaulted their senses.

"THEN I WILL!"

Gohan screamed as he used his ki to launch himself toward the white skinned alien. Before any of the others even knew what had happened, Gohan delivered a massive right hook which shattered the bone mask armour on the aliens face and sent it flying off into the distance at considerable speed. Not content with this, Gohan pursued his foe and let loose a hail of punches and kicks to it's face and body, finishing with a vicious headbutt which cracked the bio gem in it's head. The creature began to fall slowly to the Earth, but didn't make it any further than a few feet before Gohan sent it crashing down with a swift axe handle to the back.

When it finally hit the Earth, it sent up a cloud of dust and dirt. Gohan floated down, gathering energy in his right hand. When his feet touched the bottom of the impact crater, he let loose a small burst of energy to disperse the remaining haze of particles and walked to the beaten and bruised body of his enemy. He had reverted to what Gohan assumed was his original form, though his injuries remained. This was it, he was taking no chances this time. He would end this here and now before things got out of hand.

He balled the fingers of his left hand into a tight fist, inhaled and began to condense his energy in his other hand. When he had enough to be sure he'd reduce his opponent to atoms (just in case of any regeneration), he pulled his hand back and prepared to fire. Exhaling, he let the energy loose.

"GOHAN, STOP!"

The energy dissipated into nothing as Gohan began looking around for the source of the voice. Vegeta appeared extremely amused by something, his trademark condescending smirk flowing across his face. Trunks was shouting and flying towards him, but it wasn't his voice he had heard.

"Don't do it, Gohan. You need to calm down, son."

At first he had thought it must have been Mr Piccolo, his voice not being clear due to the ringing in his ears from the battle and the adrenaline surging through him. But as much of a father figure as Piccolo had been to him all of his life, he had never called him son.

"Dad?"