Over the past few years, Gohan has often wondered what goes through the minds of his father and his many companions when it comes to fighting. Time and again they had opportunities to end the fight before it could get worse.
He can name no less than four occasions when the near disastrous fight against Freeza could have ended prematurely and far better for everyone involved. Vegeta, instead of goading him to transform, could have cooperated with him and Krillin to put the tyrant down in his first form.
Krillin could have cut the fiends head off when he was pursued by him through the wastelands of the vacant Planet Namek but chose not to. Piccolo could have defeated him in his second form by simply going all out immediately, taking the conqueror by surprise and finishing him off before another transformation turned the tide against them.
His father, with the ability to rapidly and massively increase his strength, could have instantly destroyed Freeza and left Namek without needing to witness his best friends death and nearly die on an exploding world.
So many opportunities to end the fight so everyone could go home. What could they have been thinking? This is what Gohan's dominant, logical mind wondered. His other one, usually buried under a strict tutelage of politeness from his mother and his own temperament knew the answer.
They loved the thrill of combat. Even if it killed them or brought them close to the brink of death, they loved this aspect of combat. That excitement of a constantly shifting tide against a powerful adversary, the prospect of a worthy challenge to test their might against.
Gohan himself felt this same, reason deafening battle junkie rush take over for him whenever he got angry. But it always fades, gone as soon as it shows up and without a lasting effect.
But now, with the long lasting power of the Super Saiyan coursing through his veins and a bloody Saiyan Prince at his feet, Gohan understands it all very well.
There's no pesky conscience or sense of self-restraint, self-doubt more like holding him back anymore, urging him to pull his punches. That pesky voice in his head telling him this isn't him or prompting him to bow to whatever stupid thing his mother wants him to study now.
For the first time in maybe his entire life, he feels in control, he feels free. Like he could do whatever he wants and no one can do a damn thing about it.
Certainly not Vegeta, who, in his endless wisdom, roars, and charges at him once again. Being the living embodiment of an easily bruised ego, his frustration is painfully clear and pretty funny to the boy as he effortlessly avoids his punches and kicks.
Amazing how a so-called proud warrior Prince can sink to the emotional level of a whiny five-year-old if push him hard enough. He has no doubt that the smirk adorned on his face is likely making the Saiyan even more furious.
"Who's the brat now?" Gohan mocks, crossing his arms as he practically dances through the volley of attacks sent at him. "Jealous you don't stronger by being a... what did you call me? A psychotic little lunatic?"
"Silence!" Vegeta roars as Gohan casually jumps onto his fist and leaps away from him, causing the Prince to stumble and fall face first into the ground.
"Then again," The half-Saiyan begins as his opponent growls back onto his feet. "How's that any different from what you usually act like?"
"Worthless brat!" Vegeta declares, clenching his fist so tightly Gohan can even spot a small trickle of blood leave his palms. "I am the Saiyan Prince! The most powerful warrior my species has ever produced! Don't mistake your improved speed as you being stronger than me!"
"Improved speed?" Gohan quirks an eyebrow and bursts out laughing at his petty reply. "Seriously? I've beaten you into the dirt with much more than just my speed! Or," He leans forward, his smirk turning into a cocky grin. "Is your ego really so bruised you're already blocking out the finer details?"
He spots a vein pop in Vegeta's forehead, causing him to almost double over in laughter as the Prince powers back up. Gohan can't help but wonder if he really believes his temper will grant him a power boost large enough to finish this fight, can he really be so deluded?
When he recalls how he boasted about his so-called Super Saiyan power to Freeza, knowing full-well he was thoroughly screwed, Gohan knows the answer.
"Gohan!" He hears a familiar but entirely unwelcome voice call out from behind him. The voice belonging to his equally bruised, Super Saiyan father glaring at him. "Stop this right now before you do something you'll regret!"
The boy chooses to reply by kneeing him in the gut, sending him tumbling over into the dirt. "Like that?" He asks his coughing father. "You should've thought about that before you used this psychopath for your little plan, honestly, what did you think was gonna happen?"
"I wouldn't let him hurt-" He's cut off by Gohan smashing his head into the ground with a stomp of his foot.
"Have you looked at me?!" Gohan growls, driving his foot just a bit more into his skull. "I thought he was gonna kill me! That I was gonna fail mom and grandpa Ox-King and everyone else on Earth! Did that cross your mind?!"
He grabs his father by the neck and lifts him off the ground, bringing his bloody face to eye level. "Or maybe you wanted that? After all, if I was dead, I wouldn't need to eat, drink or sleep. I could devote all my time to the one thing you REALLY care about: more training and fighting."
To his left, Gohan sensed Vegeta preparing to fire his signature blast at him, the Gallick Gun judging by his golden, flame-like aura shifting into a dark purple one crackling with lightning.
"Bastards," He calls his father and the Saiyan Prince. "Fighting junkies who don't get anything but beating people up," His grip around Goku's neck tightens. "Hopefully, this time, you'll learn an important lesson, goading someone into getting stronger can bite you in the ass. Remember after I finish."
"GALICK GUN!" Vegeta unleashes his blast at Gohan in a brilliant display of light and power. Even the boy, through his Super Saiyan-induced high, admits his power has somewhat increased, not enough to be a threat but not negligible either.
Instead of swatting it away or simply dodging it like he can easily do, Gohan grins and rushes head first into the blast. The beam of purple energy barrels down on him, casting an imposing sight for anyone inferior to Vegeta.
Just before he smashes into the beam, he holds his incapacitated father out in front of him and uses him as a shield against the attack. Amidst the sound of clashing energies and the surrounding area being blasted apart, he can somewhat make out the pained screams of his father as his whole body takes the brunt of Vegeta's attack.
His pesky conscience would have likely screamed at him right now, luckily, Gohan couldn't hear it.
The beam quickly dissipates as Vegeta uses up a considerable portion of his remaining strength to fire it. Gohan can't help but smirk at his shocked expression as appears through the smoke cloud with a barely conscious Goku in his hand and a fist prime to smash him.
Chucking his father to the ground with barely another glance, Gohan punches the stunned Saiyan Prince with such force and speed, his whole body lifts off the ground and spins wildly in mid-air.
Further amused by seeing Vegeta turned into a human yo-yo toy, he pulls back his leg and carefully aims for the precise moment to strike. Aiming for his already battered armor piece, Gohan inflicts further damage to it and that section of Vegeta's chest with his readied kick, sending the Prince soaring into the sky.
Time to end this, with a loud shout, the boy's aura explodes in another beam of golden power. He positions both of his hands at his side and focuses the energy illuminating the arena into gargantuan balls held by his palms.
He looks up and sees Vegeta, still somehow a Super Saiyan but barely in fighting condition, plummeting towards the ground. He smirks and pours more energy into the balls when he hears that unwelcome voice call out to him.
"Gohan..." His father crawls toward him. "You've... got to... stop..."
The boy just snorts at this and blocks out his other pleas. Lifting his hands above his head, the two balls of energy join together in a singular, massive one.
"MASEN-"
Before he can finish his shout, Gohan feels a sharp jolt of pain erupt near the back of his neck and course through his entire body. In spite of his protests and commands, his body won't listen to him, freezing up on him as his gathered energy quickly dissipates.
His hands are the first thing to go numb, falling to his sides as though they were broken. The knees go out next, causing him to slump lamely to the ground. He feels the strength of a Super Saiyan abandon him as he lays on the ground, unable to move.
With the vanishing legendary power, so fades his ability to remain conscious. The fatigue and adrenaline spurring the transformation and keeping it persistently running are gone, replaced by an overwhelming feeling of cold numbness.
Gohan's eyes feel heavy, his vision more and more blurry as time goes on. The last thing he sees before the darkness takes him is a green man standing above him.
But not a green man he recognizes though he closely resembles his master. His brown, massive headpiece, puffy pink lips, and blood-red eyes confirm as much, green eyes looking down at him with a mix of admiration and fear.
Somewhere from what seems like far away, he hears his father's tired, pained voice address this arrival just before Gohan finally slips away.
"Pikkon!"
A relatively short chapter but I'll make it up to you guys next time by showing off what Piccolo is up to and that much hyped up but not yet delivered, heart to heart between old Gohan and young Gohan.
It was meant to happen here, honest, but I couldn't find a way to fit it into the chapter without making the whole thing feel tonally inconsistent and clunky as all hell. Expect Gohan's hipocrisy of "How can you not end the fight!" then proceeding to toy with his dad and Vegeta like any good cocky DB asshole does to come heavily into play here.
