Dragonball Z: Legacies

by ALP113

Following that fateful day at the Cell Games, Gohan quickly realizes that the role of earth's protector is filled with many great trials and tribulations. Encountering new enemies and friends along the way, the young half-Saiyan comes to learn that being a hero can be tough, but at the same time... it can be a lot of fun. AU. Gohan/Videl or Gohan/Harem.

35. Phantom Enemy Arc - Coming Darkness

Dragonball Z

Legacies

The Coming Darkness

(That afternoon)

Sitting in the ruined center of the industrial district of West City, surrounded by news and engineer crews from all corners of the metropolis, the world's largest manufacturer of computers and technology was currently undergoing post-disaster control. The recent scuffle between the Z-fighters and their uninvited guest had rung the bell for all emergency services and departments across the capital, calling them into immediate action to fix all the damages that'd been caused. Though Capsule Corp had dispatched its numerous divisions to assist at the affected sites, its second biggest priority was fixing up their base of operations, which was where most of the problems had occurred.

Thanks to the newly formed protocols and provisions taken by the Briefs family in regards to world and city-wide destruction, it was reasonable to see why they were so well prepared for situations like this.

For the most extreme and outrageous individuals, they were probably used to having explosions and earthquakes shaking up the countryside around them. However, for most of the members of the Z-fighters, even after their many years of fighting planet destroying monsters, aliens and demons alike, there was no way they could get used to taking attacks that practically had their bones ringing from head to toe following every single bout. Hell, they may have been the toughest people in the quadrant, but it wasn't like they enjoyed getting their asses kicked. No one did.

This was made painfully obvious by the poor states the group's main fighters lying scattered throughout the hospital room where Gohan was still lying incapacitated.

On the one hand, Chi-Chi, Bulma, Lime and Erasa, all of whom had watched the entire fight from the sidelines, were in perfectly good condition. Because of this, they were actually able to help out with the heavy lifting once the actual battle was done and dusted, and their lives were no longer in mortal peril. Since there had been so many swords and blasts being thrown around, there was no way that four normal humans, whose fighting skills were way below the bar, were going to get involved in that kind of crossfire.

Sitting on the other side of the spectrum though, was every other person who was able to take the full force of a blow that could crack a planet in two, only they were in less pristine condition. Sure, Piccolo, Zangya, Paprika and Videl were up and about, but all of them were still sporting bruises, scratches and scuffs that could make a boxer jealous. The Namekian, adorned in a newly constructed uniform, still had burns and bruises riddling his body, with several, newly healed cuts crisscrossing his complexion. Positioned alongside him, Paprika was also on route to a fast recovery and, as a courtesy to the nurses at the facility, had only accepted bandages around her chest, neck and torso to cover her horrendous spear wounds. Though this did little in dulling the excruciating pain that she was in, she was surprisingly still able to hold it together.

Furthermore, while Zangya had both her hands bound from the burns and blisters inflicted upon her during the fight, along with a generous amount of first aid patches slapped across her cheeks, shoulders and chest, the raven haired teen standing next to her directly beside Gohan's bed had her arm in a cast and bandages wrapped around both her legs. At least the poster girl of Satan City could count her lucky stars that she was still able to walk and had only taken a handful of flesh wounds.

Those who couldn't were bedridden. Trunks for example had collapsed from fatigue with his best friend Goten, and both of them were snoring away on one of the free beds with band aids and bandages covering their bodies. Kana was also lying under a set of covers nearby and was looking just as miserable as the others from all the injuries they'd sustained.

However, unlike a select few of them, she didn't have advanced healing and could only stare enviously at her two, fellow aliens, her shoulders wrapped tightly in bandages. Since she took two lances to the upper body, she couldn't move her arms any higher than her waist, which really hampered her abilities to move.

"I have to say… out of all the hits I've taken over the last hundred years… that one had to be the most painful…" the Seirei mumbled, drumming her fingers on the air as she looked down at her right shoulder to see how it was doing. "Man… this sucks… and I was hoping to go exploring as soon as I was conscious." It didn't escape anyone's notice that she was wearing a white hospital gown, with her damaged, interstellar plug-suit hanging from a hook on the nearby wall.

Hearing the girl loud and clear, the Namekian standing in the background grunted and glanced in her general direction, "It's the attacks that you don't see coming that hurt you the most. You were so focused on trying to take out the bad guy that you weren't able to sense her weapons coming in from above."

"Yeah. And I ended up getting skewered like Maho meat between two pikes, before being placed over a nice, hot plate of batter," Kana remarked, groaning as she let her head and glowing hair rest on the pillow behind her. "The only difference is that I haven't been barbequed."

"Give or take a couple of minutes and you probably would've been," Zangya spoke, keeping her eyes firmly pasted on Gohan's bed while the poor demi-Saiyan slept. With all the people currently stationed in the room, there was no need to question whether or not the boy was well-defended.

Because as soon as the fight outside between the Z-fighters and the blonde haired assassin had come to an end, once they were patched up, not a single one of them wasted any time in returning to the boy's room. It was their instincts as friends and fighters that pushed them into action, and compelled them to move over to their friend's side.

Paprika, hearing the whining of the glowing Seirei nearby, looked up from her post against the wall to glare at the stricken traveler, "Consider yourself lucky that you were only stabbed. At least you haven't had the pleasure of having most of your flesh burned off of your body, and some massive alien's arm the exact same weight and girth as a tree run through your spine and liver." Her rather graphic description of her previous battle with the monster Zeru had Bulma, Chi-Chi, Erasa and Lime turn a sickly shade of white and look across at the demon girl in shock. "Let's see you try and bounce back from a beating like that, especially after most of your internal organs had been punctured."

"Oka~y. Too much information~" Erasa commented in a sing-song voice, while at the same time trying not to collapse from shock.

Sensing the teen's concern, the demon rolled her eyes, "I'm just trying to make a point."

"Which is what exactly?" Lime asked, glancing across at the white haired fighter with an odd look in her eyes.

"That there are more painful things that can happen to you in a fight then just getting impaled?"

Videl, picking up on the line of conversation, looked over at the Makyan with a sympathetic smile, before then turning it towards Kana. When she saw the bandaged Seirei gazing back at her, the crime fighter shrugged, "Don't mind her. She's just a little bit sore because she got taken out of the fight so quickly." Her little teasing comment had the white haired girl grit her teeth and look away with a huff. Following it up with a sheepish laugh and a scratch of her head, the raven haired crime fighter continued to speak, "Of course, I got taken out at the very end of the first round, so I'm not exactly one to talk."

Waving her hand at the battered girl, Chi-Chi then beamed at her warmly, "You did your best, sweetie. No one should be expected to ask any more from you."

While everyone, sans Paprika and Piccolo, shared a round of joyous smiles and murmurs, Bulma quickly looked across the room from her post beside the bed. After taking stock of everyone's individual conditions, her eyes quickly fixated upon one particular individual, who she could see was standing defensively behind Videl, right by the demi-Saiyan's bedside. "The real hero for today though definitely has to be our resident golden girl Zangya." The blue haired woman nodded to the Hera when her gaze darted in her direction. "She really stepped up in that fight and showed to the world that a woman's fist can hurt just as much as any man's."

"Yeah… not to mention that when she gets pissed off, she gets really pissed off," Lime added with a mischievous grin.

When all the other people in the room nodded at that assessment, Erasa's head perked up from where she was standing and beamed at the former space pirate. "If it wasn't for her… everyone in this room would've been beaten or worse… and Gohan-kun would be dead right now." Rising up from where she was kneeling by the demi-Saiyan's bed, the chirpy girl quickly skipped around to where Zangya was and stood in front of her. Taking the woman's hands in hers with a happy giggle, the blonde squeezed them gratefully while her eyes shimmered with delight. "You were fantastic out there. Way to go, girl."

In a heartbeat, Erasa then hugged the startled Zangya, almost picking her up off of the floor with the strength she exerted. Thanks to this, and the combination of compliments and remarks flying around the room, the Hera's steel-like shell finally cracked and a deep shade of scarlet spread over her cheeks. Clearing her throat when the high school student finally set her back to the ground, the orange haired fighter looked back at her crew nervously.

"Th-Thank you." Grinning back at the bubbly blonde, whose face was getting a little too close for comfort, the Z-fighter then took a moment to catch her breath and calm her nerves. "That means a lot." When Erasa stepped away, Zangya then glanced around at the rest of her friends, whom she could see were viewing her with respect and admiration. It was then, after taking a moment to soak it in, the Hera decided to add her own opinion to the pool for the sake of transparency. "But I'm not the one you guys should be thanking. If Android 16 hadn't been in the room at the time that woman broke in, I don't think Gohan would be with us right now."

Hearing this, Videl's smile widened even further and, turning towards their hostess, directed her next question towards her. "How is the big, metal lug? Is he doing alright?"

Bulma quickly answered the teen's question with a smile, "He's fine. Right now dad's working on repairing the damages done to his CPU over in the computer lab. He should be up and running again in the next twenty four hours." She then chuckled and raised a finger to add a second piece to that report. "He'll also be installing some new software and personality patches, so he'll be able to converse with you guys more articulately next time."

"Ah. That's good," Videl sighed, at the same time sharing a look with Piccolo and Zangya standing nearby. "It was getting hard talking to a toaster that could only speak in lines of computer dialogue."

The Hera nodded in agreement, "I'll say."

Piccolo, not really caring one way or another about the composites of human speech patterns in a robot, slowly turned his attention to the other beds. Passing by Kana, who was doing everything she could to pass the time, his gaze then landed on Goten and Trunks. Seeing the duo curled up on the single spread with the covers scrunched up in their hands as they snored away, the Namekian breathed a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. "It was a close one, but we managed to chase off that assassin and stop her from causing anymore damage." He then cracked an eye and peered at the others. "However, I doubt this will be the last time we see her. She'll be back."

His words in regards to their opponent put game expressions back onto the fighters' faces. While Paprika had remained relatively unchanged throughout the entire conversation so far, the sudden shift in mood was sensed by all and acknowledged by those who were the most willing to speak on the matter.

Sitting in the chair directly beside her oldest son's bed, Chi-Chi glanced over at Bulma with uncertainty reflected in her eyes. "Is there anything we can do? I mean… is there a chance that we can find out where that woman came from so that we can chase her down and stop this from going any further?"

Obviously she was concerned about the safety of her family. The proof was all in the tone of her voice and the fearful look in her eyes. She was scared and, at this point, she would take even the slightest of chances of putting an end to this chaos as quickly as possible.

Sadly though, Bulma could only shake her head at the woman. "I'm not sure, Chi-Chi." She then turned to the rest of their troop. "There really isn't much evidence for us to go on. All of the weapons and clones Hasky threw into battle against you guys dispelled after every time they were used or damaged. The only thing we did find on the property was her arm, which Zangya managed to slice off in the final moments of their fight." A shrug shortly followed her remark. "The computers down in the lab should be able to analyze the material and work out where it came from. But if it's anything like the guy Gohan fought before, I doubt we'll be able to get much. We already know who the woman is. We just don't know who she's working for."

A momentary silence then fell over the group, prompting a couple of them to shuffle about uncomfortably. The entire ordeal made all those who'd come across this roadblock before feel the same weight and emotions that they felt several weeks prior. The uncertainty of the situation had chests tighten and fists clench, as restlessness and fear spread between all of them.

However, there was something to be said from all this. From the doom and gloom of the news shared to them by the Capsule Corp president, Zangya had only one thing left to say.

"At least we accomplished one thing," the Hera whispered, drawing everyone's gazes towards the warrior as she glared right back at them. "We now know that Gohan getting the heart virus and being attacked by these assassins aren't just random occurrences. Someone is trying to kill him."

Piccolo nodded, along with many of the other fighters in the room, "The question now though… is who?"

It was a riddle that had the entire atmosphere inside the room go completely stagnant and all the Z-fighters scratching their heads. Out of the five billion plus people on the planet, who could possibly want one of their own dead?

OOO

(Meanwhile)

With the sun starting to set over the horizon, signaling the end of yet another long and tiring day, the population living on this side of the planet began the long and weary track home. Men and women alike signed off from work and left their respective places of business, looking forward to a relaxing afternoon. They'd earned their keep for the day and many of them had big plans for this last quarter of the day. The same could be said for the chief of Talos Industries who, as he stood in front of his office window looking out across the downtown metropolis of Satan City, was currently wrapping things up with one of his most trusted employees.

Inside the organized and high-tech office of the billionaire entrepreneur, Kaiser was rhythmically tapping his fingers against his knuckles, as he had both his hands placed behind his back. After giving the city in front of him his usual thousand-yard stare, he then breathed out a long, tired sigh and glanced behind him. Looking past his secretary Violet, who he spotted standing beside his desk, he set his sights squarely on the fresh out of battle Hasky positioned in the middle of the room.

From his place by the window, he proceeded to inspect the assassin's condition.

Needless to say, the woman had seen better days. Not only was her spandex armor a complete wreck, riddled with burn marks, fried circuits and tears all over, she was also missing her right arm, had dried-up blood running down her forehead, and a massive gash carved across her chest, which she had her arm tightly pressed over. All of these markings told the story of a battle that started off great, but then ended badly for the golden haired thief. The evidence was all on the expression she was currently wearing, which reflected nothing but disappointment and anxiousness. The former was from her failure in the mission and the latter was in regards to the person standing in front of her.

Even Violet sensed the blonde's distress and unease, but she hid her concerns beneath a veil of calm and seriousness.

After several seconds of tense silence, the air was broken by the stern, level voice of Kaiser. "Did you have fun out there… Hasky?" the man asked, in a tone that was almost akin to that of a father scolding his daughter for coming home after ten. "Remodeling Capsule Corp's front yard? Creating new skylines and office spaces across the entire industrial side of West City? Showing off the fantastic super powers of the suit I designed for you out of the goodness of my heart?"

Swallowing nervously, the blonde meekly lowered her head, "Sir… I… I can expl-"

"Because after seeing your little spat against the Z-fighters, I believe I'm right in saying that you may have gotten a little bit carried away out there," the man interrupted, turning to face the woman fully. He then started a slow approach of post, bringing his hands around to hold out at either side. "Look at you. You're a mess… and you're missing an arm. By the Kais… if I hadn't intervened when I did, I doubt you would've been able to get out of that city as quickly as you did without those pesky Z-fighters running you down and finishing you off." Kaiser then stopped directly in front of her and, with the same pace he'd set, wrapped his arms around the woman in a warm hug. Closing his eyes, the man took a deep breath and rubbed her back comfortingly. "I hope they didn't hurt you too badly."

Finding the hug incredibly discomforting due to the abnormal manner her boss had approached her, Hasky looked at the back of the mogul's head from her position against his shoulder for a few, tense moments. Then, with a great deal of hesitation, she replied. "N-No. They didn't… sir."

"Are you sure?" Kaiser whispered, inadvertently or advertently breathing on her ear, causing the blonde to shiver with uneasiness. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes. I'm positive."

"Good. Good," the man sighed, finally releasing Hasky from his hold to take a step back. Smiling down at her in a very sagely way, the raven haired man with the goatee took a few seconds to place both hands on the thief's shoulders, dust her down, and inspect her state up close and personal. Really personal. "You are a head strong and intelligent woman Hasky… one who possesses a grace and spirit very few others can match. Losing you in such an insignificant scuffle would be equivalent to losing one of the world's most priceless treasures to a gang of delinquent children. Not even I could stomach the thought of such an event taking place." He then removed his hands and stepped away, beaming all the while as he and Hasky remained in the center of the carpet. "But here you are… safe and sound."

Hearing her boss's words loud and clear, the blonde haired thief rubbed her side anxiously and nodded, "Th-Thank you, sir."

"Your performance against the Z-fighters was, shall I say… exemplary. It's all thanks to your spectacular efforts and unshakeable loyalty to our cause that we were able to retrieve an enormous amount of useful data on the group's strongest fighters," Kaiser informed, placing his hands behind him again as he turned and strolled back over to his desk, only to stop short of it. "My theory on their increasing power was correct. Now it's time to move on to the next phase of our plan."

Raising an eyebrow at her boss's back, the incredibly wounded and exhausted thief looked down for a few moments. After stewing over her collection of jumbled thoughts, the infamous Hasky then took a cautionary step forward. "Forgive me, sir, but… what… exactly is our plan?" the blonde asked, incredibly terrified at how her employer would respond. Her fear only increased when she saw the man's finger stop tapping and heard an uncomfortable silence fall over the room. "You've… spent all this time having your best agents scouring the globe, gathering up information, breaking into factories… and stealing weapons and artifacts of all shapes and sizes." She then spared a furtive glance to Violet, who remained completely still and unshaken. Upon which she then looked back at her leader. "While all that is fun and all, you never really explained to me what that stuff is for."

It was the one question that'd been hanging over her head for a while now. What were her boss's plans? What were his intentions? What could he possibly want that would involve butting heads with the strongest warriors on the planet?

What was his ultimate goal?

Her curiosity drew the man's gaze back around to her. Peering over his shoulder, Kaiser narrowed his hard, unfeeling gaze carefully on the blonde's battered form.

Upon strongly considering her words and drinking in her apprehensive state, the bearded man smirked and exhaled sharply. "Why not? I don't see any harm in divulging a little bit of top secret information to one of my most trusted lieutenants. After all, you've done so much for the company over the last several years. I'd hate to keep you out of the loop now that we're closing in on the most important stages of our operations." Immediately after saying this, Kaiser turned to face his agent, pulled a remote out of his pocket, and jabbed it towards the wall to his left. The second he pressed the button, a hologram of a large map suddenly jumped up a few feet away from him and projected a clear picture of a very familiar location. He then placed his hands behind him once again. "What do you see there, Hasky?"

Attention drawn towards the energy screen, the blonde analyzed it carefully before speaking in a slow voice. "I see… a map of the world… with all the countries and capital cities written on it." That's exactly what she noticed first. The hologram was projecting a fully unwrapped image of the planet earth.

The purpose of it being pulled up in the middle of the room soon revealed itself when Kaiser responded to her answer. He nodded towards the image astutely, "I see… enormous collections of rich, fertile land being blocked off from one another by borders and fences. I see dozens of countries and nations glaring each other down… distanced from one another by governments, religions and extremists of various opposing factions." His smile broadened when his eyes landed on his intently listening audience. "What the map is showing us, is a picture of a broken world locked in perpetual conflict with itself… fractured… separated… divided." When he saw confusion spread over the woman's face, Kaiser then held his arms out in excitement. "It's depressing, isn't it? How life has become so ugly and inconvenient. Here… let me "enhance it" for you." He then clicked the remote at the screen a second time.

All of a sudden, every single country and city on the map was erased and, in a shimmer of code and light, Hasky saw all the lands of the earth change to the same color, with a single capital city in the heart of the largest continent. Unlike a war map, which showed how many nations the axis powers had under their control by a shade of red, every single continent and nation on this one was entirely red.

The banner and flag that all the former countries were now flying belonged to that of Kaiser Talos's company.

A comfortable grin settled across the boss's lips. "For thousands of years, I've watched empires and kingdoms crumble all around me like sandcastles on a beach. I've seen nations and countries across seven different continents ravaged by sickness and despair, as men and women left and right dropped to the ground like flies. And I stood on the sidelines and looked on as the planet was ripped apart by hatred and grief, spearheaded by ideals forged in the minds of mad men and monsters. Sometimes they were one in the same." Raising his head ever so slightly, Kaiser instilled a sense of awe in his agent. "I've lived hundreds of lifetimes and sat in the shadows of countless figures. I was a priest to Ramesses the Second, a personal scribe to Hammurabi of Babylon, a general in Julius Caesar's army, caretaker to Peter the First of Russia, a counselor to warlord Genghis Khan, adjutant to Napoleon Bonaparte, advisor to Adolf Hitler, and a friend and ally to Alexander the Great." Kaiser then smiled and looked over his shoulder towards his battered audience of one. "I helped many of these great leaders in their quests to conquer the world… and only a handful of them ever succeeded. But now… I intend to take their dreams a step further."

Hasky, regarding the man's map a second time, then looked back at her boss nervously. "How exactly do you plan to do that, sir?"

Confidence brimming, the company owner turned to face the woman fully. "I'm glad you asked that, Hasky. You see, when Alexander the Great conquered the world during the Argead Dynasty, he was unable to lead his campaign any further than Ancient India due to a significant lack of resources, manpower and technology. Swords, shields, horses, and alchemy could only take him so far across the globe, and there were severe limitations to what we could actually accomplish with the army at his disposal. Even I was only able to govern the world for a limited amount of time during the prehistoric era, before greed and duplicity amongst my ranks caused a massive breakdown in my kingdom's structure. However, now that we've reached an age where space travel and matter manipulation is now possible, I'll be able to carry out my plan to establish a new, one-thousand year world order; the greatest civilization to ever be conceived in human history." The man once again pointed at the hologram next to them. "That dream, which was once an impossibility, can now become a reality. It's all political physics, after all. Two super powers cannot possibly occupy the same space at the same time. One of them is bound to roll over for the other… or face inevitable destruction at the hands of the superior force."

"But… won't the rest of the world try to fight back?" Hasky asked, a little bit confused by her employer's explanations. "It's not like the people are just going to sit idly by and let you take over everything. They'll…"

"They'll…" Kaiser shrugged, "What?" When the blonde didn't say anything and simply looked back at her boss nervously, the company owner smiled and began counting on his fingers all of his recent accomplishments. "I have… advanced alien technology, thousands of years beyond what any person… what any nation, can throw at me, and all the science Doctor Gero used to create bio-mechanical abominations capable of conquering entire planets." The man then grinned and clenched his fists in a gung-ho pose. "BRING IT ON!" After seeing Hasky jumped at his sudden shout, the boss beamed, relaxed, and nodded towards his friend. "The world can try and fight me. But one way or another, the people will fold… and the day that they do…" He then pointed his remote at the hologram, "the world will change for the better."

He then flicked the program to its next slide. Hasky then proceeded to watch from her place in the center of the room as the projection of the map zoomed in on the capital city of Kaiser's future empire. When she saw the massive parliament building that was to become his primary base of operations zoom into view, one that was easily reminiscent of Hitler's architectural vision for Nazi Berlin, she then saw it zoom in on the people scattered across the rally grounds. There, she saw all the men and women there were dressed in high-tech body armor, all of which were hybrid designs of both hers and Vulcan's suits. They were sleek, crammed with cutting edge weaponry and computer systems, and made the wearers appear more threatening than they normally would when wearing conventional tactical gear.

Not only did they all appear ready for battle, but they all bore the markings of Talos Industries' logos. It was a sight that not only prompted the blonde assassin to stare in awe, but also put smiles of excitement on both Kaiser's and Violet's faces.

While the wounded woman attempted to process all the information being thrown her way, Kaiser casually wandered over to his desk and, after typing a few keys into the touch screen on the corner, caused a special compartment built into the workspace to rise up next to him. When the steam settled after the hatch opened, he then reached into the box and pulled out a black, shiny brick of an unknown substance, which he then turned and showed to his servant.

Noticing the object in Kaiser's hand, the thief frowned. "What is that?"

The businessman chuckled. "Mind over muscle, Agent Hasky. Mind over muscle." He then raised the brick even higher and brandished it against the light. "This remarkable block of matter is a substance identified in the data banks of Cooler's Spaceship as katchin… a rare element that, if the bonds holding this brick together are anything to go by, makes this the strongest material in the known universe." He then lowered it and set it on the desk beside him with a light 'clink'. "In its raw, untainted form, it is brittle and easy to mold. But once it's been melted down and cooled, it becomes unbreakable. This extraordinary mineral will serve as the primary ingredient to helping me construct the ultimate weapon, which will allow me to seize power and control in a single night."

And he wasn't going to stop there. He was going to construct his entire elite force out of katchin. With a garrison of his most trusted men and women adorned in unbreakable, super-powered armor made out of the strongest metal, his military would become unstoppable.

Though this information had Hasky's spirit lift somewhat, the blonde then became aware of an important fact that'd been overlooked. When her mind eventually worked it out, she addressed her concerns with her boss promptly and clearly. "What about the Z-fighters? Obviously they're not just going to stand around and let you do whatever you want. Shouldn't you be trying to… kill them?"

Chuckling at the woman's inquiry, the corporation owner gazed across at the woman with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Trust me, Agent Hasky. The Z-fighters will eventually die… but only when I say so." He then slipped his hands behind his back and approached the woman slowly. "Keeping tabs on their progress from a distance will allow me to upgrade the combat algorithms of my armors to match their strengths accordingly. They'll also be able to mop up any more unseen problems that happen to drop by the earth unexpectedly… most notably world shattering disasters and monsters." Stopping just a few feet in front of the woman, Kaiser shrugged coyly. "Why should I waste valuable time and resources fighting alien invaders, petty criminals and demons when I can simply let their group do it for me?"

Hasky, cracking a weak smile, nodded in agreement. "That's… a really good strategy, sir."

"You think so?" the man asked while giving her a genuine smile.

"Yes. Letting them do all the heavy lifting while you potter around under their noses. That's… brilliant."

Kaiser then raised his arms and held them out in a conceited manner. "It's what I do. After all… I'm a high-functioning sociopath." He then turned side-on to the woman and, slipping his hands behind him once again, gazed upwards with intent burning in his eyes. "Once I finally establish my company as the greatest super power on earth and have the entire population in the palm of my hand, I will use the technology I managed to replicate from the remains of Lord Slug's spaceship to transform this planet into a mobile fortress. With it and the entire population clothed in my super-powered battle armors, I will begin a ten year campaign to take over, not just this galaxy, but the entire quadrant, establishing the first Intergalactic Human Empire." The leader then glanced across at the blonde and leered. "And with you, Violet, and the others standing by my side, nothing… not even the Gods, will be able to stop me."

Invigorated by his speech, the completely taken Hasky took a step forward and, still clutching the place where her arm used to be, spoke up in support of her boss. "If that is your dream, sir, then… I will do everything in my power to help you realize it."

Ears perking at the woman's declaration, the mogul turned to face the woman more completely and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

The thief nodded her head vigorously, "Whatever you want, sir. I'll do anything."

Staring back at the injured woman seriously for a moment, Kaiser used that time to consider her words and analyze her condition. After several seconds of careful thinking, the man with the beard smiled and, giving his subordinate an affirmative nod, stared back at her with warmth and esteem flickering in his eyes. It was a sight that had Hasky blink in surprise, as she'd never seen such an emotion permeate from her employer before.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that. Thank you, Hasky."

Before the blonde could say anything more, a loud 'squelch' sound rang loudly throughout the office and a numbing pain shot through her body. Her muscles freezing in shock, Hasky's eyes widened in horror before her mouth choked up blood, which poured from her lips and dribbled down onto the carpet. The reason for this sudden occurrence quickly revealed itself to be a long blade sticking out of the part of her chest where her heart was. After remaining in place for several moments, the weapon was suddenly yanked out and the thief's body crumpled to the floor with a thud.

Hasky was dead.

The source of the weapon soon revealed itself from behind the woman. Appearing from the shadows, dressed in a Chinese martial arts outfit, was a young, teenage girl around eighteen years old, with an ox horns hairstyle and sharp blue eyes. Possessing a fair complexion and smooth skin, the girl had a very curvaceous figure that was notably muscular, giving her a very tomboyish appearance. Her overall appearance was strikingly similar to Chun Li's, except the qipao she was wearing was red instead of blue, and she had brown boots instead of white. However, unlike a traditional martial artist, on top of her outfit she also had on metal platings protecting her upper arms, shoulders, neck and back, which provided her a form of defensive armor, yet allowed for optimal movement of the limbs and joints.

The blade she was holding was attached to her gauntlet, but was quickly retracted into the arm with a snap. She then lowered her limb and glared down at the blonde assassin.

Despite her sudden appearance in the office, neither Kaiser nor Violet was surprised. Hell, they didn't even flinch when they saw Hasky crash to the ground face first and begin forming a bloody red pool around her corpse. The woman's lifeless eyes and stunned face were more than enough to show that death had occurred almost instantaneously.

Funny how fragile the human body actually was when all its defenses were bypassed.

Viewing the newcomer curiously, the purple haired secretary looked between her boss and the assailant, before then nodding towards the stranger. "One of your other assets, I presume? Which one is this?"

"Oh. Sorry. Where are my manners?" Glancing back at his assistant, the billionaire mogul smirked and gestured towards their visitor courteously. "This fetching young lady you see standing before you is Chico. She's one of six young orphans that were brought in by the authorities several months before the arrival of the Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa over a decade ago. Based on the information I was able to obtain from the officers who rounded up her little group, I found out that Son Gohan had ended up in their company for a brief period of time after washing up on a nearby beach." He lowered his hand and continued his story. "I… 'adopted' the children and took all of them to my branch in South City to partake in one of my earlier training programs to create the perfect super soldier." He then looked up at the brown haired girl proudly to see the fighter in question glare at him. "I had my best men spend the next twelve years working on their gang, breaking them down mentally and rebuilding them from the ground up, until they were strong enough to be put through the conversion process." He then shrugged at the girl and smirked darkly. "Once they were old enough, I injected them with an experimental, self-replicating, nano-machine serum that was designed to convert the human skeletal system and internal organs into metal. Five of the six test subjects failed, as the nano mites ripped their bodies apart and destroyed their brains." A gesture towards the girl in front of him shortly followed. "The sixth one however… was a huge success."

"Ah," Violet replied while nodding in understanding. Inspecting the teen in the martial arts dress and armor plating, she then looked towards her boss curiously. "I knew you had some interesting assets hiding out there. But you never really briefed me on this one."

"Well, I guess now you can consider yourself informed," the boss exclaimed, before then looking at the newcomer with a proud smile. When he saw the teen brush her fringe with the back of her hand, he continued to speak. "Chico here represents the culmination of a lifetime of hard work, self-sacrifice and scientific discovery. She is the embodiment of all of mankind's hopes and dreams for the future; a successful fusion between human and machine. It's a winning combination."

The brown haired teen in front of the duo smiled and bowed respectfully to the company founder. "In this world, only the strong and powerful are destined to survive, as it is the natural order of things. If you're unable to fight or fend for yourself, then you're as good as dead." Her eyes sparkled as she gazed admirably at her maker, whom she could see was gazing right back at her. Despite his recounting of her struggle, her expression continued to reflect nothing but blind devotion, loyalty, and fondness towards the maniacal genius. "You're the one who taught me that, master."

While the secretary raised an eyebrow at the way the teen said those words, Kaiser simply looked at his assistant and explained. "I called her in as part of my support crew to replace the members who've recently been lost. I'm going to need her to run a few errands for me while Hasky is being put through the cybernetic enhancement cycle." Glancing down at the blonde lying across the floor, the man then frowned at both her battered state and the blood pooling on the carpet. "Her Babylon armor, though cutting edge and robust, has too many faults and glitches in its design to be of any further use to me. The amount of energy she took in during her battle, even with the buffers in place, still managed to irradiate her cells and pollute the atmosphere. I'm going to have to can the old motor, remodel the photon pores, upgrade the processing units, and start the whole thing from scratch."

The inventor and billionaire planned on making her better than ever. Too bad Hasky was out of it to hear any of this.

After watching Chico back away to give her boss some room, as well as to stay out of reach of the pool of blood, Violet glanced across at Kaiser with an inquisitive look on her face. "What are you going to do about Son Gohan and his friends?"

The head of the company had his response ready and waiting for her, and answered with a smug grin. "Let the Z-fighters continue running around, playing heroes. With some luck, the next worldwide calamity that happens upon us might knock one or two of them down a peg… or maybe even take them out of the game for good. Given their current track record though, I seriously doubt that will happen." He then raised his hand and clenched it into a tight fist. Upon which, he began lifting one finger at a time in turn, "Constructing the ultimate weapon, destroying the Z-fighters, and assuming total dominion over the nations of the world. Instead of going through the long, costly process of attempting to achieve each of these goals one at a time over a spread of a few months, I intend to accomplish all of them in a single stroke."

Violet nodded to the man in approval. "Understood."

With one last glance at Hasky's body, the boss reached into his pocket, pulled out a cell phone, dialed into it, and held it up to his ear. Listening to it buzz for a moment, his head perked up when the receiver on the other end picked up. "Hello, security? Yes… could you send Doctor Kimura and a couple of his boys up to my office with a cryo freezer? I've got another volunteer for the android program to pick up. Uh-huh." After hearing the officer on the end respond, Kaiser then looked over the floor around the blonde and spoke again. "Oh yes. And send some boys up here to mop up the blood and change the carpets. I feel like… maroon today. Thanks." Closing up his phone, Kaiser pocketed it and nodded towards his deceased agent. "I'll perform the operation on Hasky myself… make sure she gets the best hardware and software possible."

"Very good," the purple haired woman exclaimed, holding up her note pad and quickly typing into the screen, "I'll cancel your meetings for this evening and tomorrow."

Turning his back on the body, Kaiser then wandered back over to his window and, with his hands behind his back, continued to speak. "I'll also scrub Hasky's memories and modify them. Her time spent in prison twisted her view on the world and warped her personality… and her battle with the Z-fighters only made it worse. I'll give the woman some peace and forge some happy memories in place of the old ones." A warm smile spread across his lips when he sensed Violet move over to his desk and Chico move around to stand on his left hand side. With the teen gazing through the window just as he was, the boss was now content with waiting out the rest of the afternoon until his next appointment.

A minute later, the doors to his office opened and a group of doctors and workers came rushing in, dragging a large, human-sized freezer with them. While they hoisted Hasky's body into the compartment and began cleaning up the mess left behind in the brief scuffle, Kaiser continued to stare out the window, his mind plotting out the next stages of his plan.

Conquering the world took a lot of patience and planning. Taking it from a group of humans and aliens capable of laying waste to entire planets took a little bit more. Nevertheless, the idea of a challenge brought an excited glow to Kaiser's eyes.

XXX

(Over the next few days)

The battle that'd engulfed the industrial area of West City soon faded away with the media. With the officials in charge of the emergency departments wrapping everything up around the district, the authorities quickly wrote off the catastrophic, earth-rocking events as yet another one of those otherworldly calamities that periodically fell upon the communities of the earth every year. Considering how often this'd happened in the past and the amount of times cities and villages have been affected by them, you could understand why they were so laidback about the whole concept. All the same, acting swiftly under the directions of their multibillionaire benefactors at Capsule Corp, the people in charge of the city were quickly able to quarter off the affected areas and proceed with repairing their home town.

The Z-fighters on the other hand, had business of their own to conduct.

True to form, the staff at the corporate super giant was able to commit their best men and women to fixing all the damages done to the estate. The holes and craters were patched up and the main building itself was soon returned to a hundred percent operational capacity. Mr. Briefs was even able to put his robots to work in carrying out any extra duties around the property, while the rest of the human staff continued their jobs as normal.

Bulma meanwhile had gone back to tinkering; upgrading some of the old systems around the building, while also buffing up the security systems. Even though she had a stay-at-home super hero for a husband and a son who could function better than any guard with a gun when he wasn't messing around, she still felt the need to add some extra counter measures to her hallways. What with the enemy they'd recently encountered, you could understand her sudden desire to add some extra additions to her home.

Android 16 was soon back on his feet and more efficient than ever. With his help, the Briefs family was able to complete all of their work on fixing the main building and then some, while at the same time assigning him to a round the clock patrol of the estate. It was a role befitting someone of his remarkable skill set.

With the massive android walking the hallways twenty four seven while every so often turning over to the computer labs to power down for a few hours, everybody else quickly settled into their usual stations. When Yajirobe eventually came around with a bag of Senzu Beans for his friends, those who'd sustained heavy damages in their most recent battle were quickly put back to full strength and health. For those who'd needed it most included Kana, who spent the next few days happily exploring the mazes of Capsule Corp's primary facility, and Goten and Trunks, both of who were back to running around and causing trouble, as per the norm.

Paprika had decided to stick around as well, but had opted to spend most of her time in the building's main garden to meditate and spend time on her own. She would also take the time to babysit the two munchkins whenever they were up and about, sparring with them and playing games in the lavender haired boy's bedroom. Though it continuously frustrated the Makyan at how often she lost at their devices, she still had the good graces to accept defeat and continue playing like the sport she was. That's probably why the kids loved her so much.

Piccolo also went over to the garden to meditate every once in a while, but he spent most of the time standing at attention in the corner of Gohan's room, watching over him. With his ability to stay up for long periods of time and hold a position for days on end without rest, he made for one of the best bodyguards in the business. His presence was also often overlooked, which made him the ideal person to hang around his student's room without attracting too much attention.

Though Vegeta would sometimes drag the Namekian away for the occasional frustration-spar, it was an annual request compared to how often he badgered Zangya for a fight. Ever since her stellar performance against the blonde assassin, the flame-haired man wasted no second fighting with the Hera to get himself up to speed. The orange haired demon accepted his spars gladly, but she spent most of her free hours standing by Gohan's bed, keeping a close eye on him and making sure he was alright.

Erasa and Lime had decided to stay at Capsule Corp as well, doing their schoolwork over the net, while also checking in with Sharpener and the others to see how they were doing. They found a room to share with Videl just a few doors down from where their half-Saiyan boyfriend was sleeping, even though they spent sixty percent of the time holed up in his wing, and would often drop over to his side to keep him company.

While all of this stuff was going on around Capsule Corp, the routine for the comatose half-Saiyan remained completely unchanged. The boy didn't shirk or twitch in the slightest and continued sleeping off the effects of the heart virus that were still coursing through his blood. Though Bulma was positive her solution was successful in flushing the strain out of his system, the teen was still unconscious and unable to respond beyond the occasional snore, yawn, or groan.

Videl often wondered if he was actually able to hear them at times. She also wondered what he was dreaming about, as did the rest of the girls who spent their time chatting around him and looking down at his serene mug.

That knowledge however, only belonged to the half-Saiyan himself and the people who were inside his dreams.

XXX

(A week later)

(In an unknown place)

Gohan had no idea how long he'd been wandering through the darkness. Time and space apparently didn't matter in this empty shell of a dimension as he strolled and sprinted across the endless void, his feet treading upon an invisible, nonexistent surface. As he did, the only sounds he could hear around him were his own breathing and the clapping of his shoes against the cold floor of the blackness beneath him. Though this world looked and felt incredibly familiar to him, something he'd explored many times in the past, the demi-Saiyan didn't stop to ponder over it.

All he knew was that he was wondering through the dream world created by his coma, which was caused by the heart virus in his system. So far, the ordeal had been pretty rough for the hybrid. He'd been in and out of horrendous nightmares and excruciating chest pains, but all of those brief experiences were replaced shortly afterwards by instances of peace and euphoria. He assumed it had something to do with the presence of his friends on the outside, whom he could sense and feel in the form of their faces appearing in his dreams. However, though their efforts and compassion were more than welcome, the state he was primarily experiencing in this dimension was periods of empty blackness and weird acid trips of swirling lights.

These were the episodic effects brought on by the heart virus attacking his mind.

Ever since he'd gotten here, the warrior had only one purpose in mind, and that was to escape this spirit hazing hell. That's why he pushed forward, intent on seeking an end… any end that would allow him to break free from this confine. But as hard as he tried and as far as he looked, all he found was darkness waiting for him around every bend and curve. It not only brought to him great deal of disappointment, but misery and dread. For all he knew, there was absolutely no way out of this dark labyrinth, as everywhere he went all he could see was an empty black canvas, which sucked him in the further and further he traveled.

After what felt like an eternity of endless walking, the teen decided to stop and turned his gaze skywards. Head craned and arms dangling at his sides, the boy stood against the coldness of space, soaking in the vacuum of damnation that gripped at every inch of his flesh. His orange and blue gi remained wrapped protectively around him, providing him whatever warmth there was to be had in this place. However, despite it and his various attempts to lift his spirits, all Gohan felt was the overwhelming sensation of emptiness and defeat as he gazed further into the cosmos above, his very soul becoming swallowed up in the blank horizon.

Rocked to the core by the nothingness of it all, Gohan suddenly heard voices behind him and spun around. Caught completely by surprise, the demi-Saiyan quickly found himself staring down a scene that appeared all too familiar to him; an event that he'd experienced nightmares of many times before.

What he saw staring right back at him, was the same mountainous valley where he, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha had fought against Nappa and Vegeta over a decade ago. It was as if he'd been brought right back to where all of his battles had started and, lying scattered across the open and rugged terrain, he saw all of his friends with their faces in the dirt, broken and beaten, just as they had been at that fateful encounter.

Tien and Yamcha were dead, Chiaotzu was gone, Krillin was unconscious and, as Gohan's gaze passed over the battlefield, kneeling at the foot of a long trench and a large crater, he spotted his adolescent self positioned beside the burnt body of his best friend, Piccolo. The sight of his teacher's beaten down frame struggling to draw breath as he looked up at the child had the demi-Saiyan's heart stop as he proceeded to watch and listen to the scene replay right before his very eyes.

His own form wrecked and battered, a frightened and weakened Kid Gohan pushed against Piccolo's form in a desperate attempt to get the man to his feet. "No… please. Mr. Piccolo… don't go… please," the child begged, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as the Namekian breathed his last.

A smile forming across his lips, the green warrior whispered back to the child in a low voice, tired voice, "Good bye… my… friend." And with that last gasp of effort, the warrior's eyes closed and his head lolled to the side.

The instant Piccolo's life vanished the young Gohan threw his head back and cried out in despair, his voice echoing across the sky. It was a yell that drew the winded Krillin's gaze up from where he was lying and had the present teenage demi-Saiyan's heart pinch.

Gritting his teeth, the disembodied warrior from many years in the future swallowed to keep his own emotions from brimming and shook his head. The moment he did so, the adult Gohan's gaze then snapped down the length of the trench, where he saw the unmistakable form of Nappa marching towards the fallen duo and Vegeta watching haughtily from the sidelines.

As expected, the half-Saiyan watched his younger self cry out in rage and, clapping his hands over his forehead, unleashed a powerful Masenko towards his hulking opponent. He then watched as the bald Saiyan punched his attack away, sending it arcing towards a distant mountain where it impacted and incinerated the entire edifice in a flash of golden light. Though the attack was spectacular and impressive in its execution, it was ultimately a useless gesture of anger that only served to numb the elite warrior's arm. Nappa ended up laughing the technique off and continuing his march towards the defenseless child.

Watching the memory slowly unfold before him, the adult Gohan considered intervening. After all, with his current level of strength, he was more than capable of destroying the two Saiyans and putting an end to this nightmare. However, before such a thought could even be realized or fully processed by the half-Saiyan, he suddenly felt a presence materialize behind him. Torn away from seeing the vision through to the end by the sound of a tiny bell ringing, the spiky haired warrior's gazed snapped over his shoulder. The moment it did, he spotted the familiar, haunting figure of the curvaceous blonde witch with the eye patch, revealing one piece suit, and oversized pointy hat, glaring right back at him.

The chime had come from the tiny golden bell dangling off of the tip of the phantom girl's hat.

Instantly entrapped by her appearance, Gohan faced the newcomer with an expression of awe and confusion. After gazing into her one red eye peering from beneath the wide brim of her headwear, he then whispered in a stunned voice, "It's you." Seeing her lower her head at his greeting, the young man continued to stare at the projection in deathly silence, completely ignoring the nightmare taking place behind him. It was until his eyes consciously narrowed that he then spoke, addressing the stranger with a hard, cold tone, "What are you doing here?"

The lengths of fabric curled around her body wafted on the breeze behind her as the blonde slowly turned and pointed in another direction.

When Gohan looked, he suddenly saw the surrounding, earth valley bleed away into darkness, before being replaced by another familiar setting. The blue sky, mountains and greenery were quickly overtaken by the aqua, plateau covered landscape of the former planet Namek. Blinking in surprise at the sudden swap in scenery, the demi-Saiyan took a moment to adjust to the light of the new world, before his gaze was drawn to a nearby valley. It was there his eyes widened when he once again saw his child self locked in combat, this time with the hulking form of Recoome of the Ginyu Force.

Despite suffering an insane amount of punishment from Vegeta in the previous round, the massive, humanoid-alien of Frieza's elite crew still had enough energy and dexterity to deliver the beat down of a lifetime upon the other remaining fighters. The sounds of battle rang out over the entire planet as the large man chased after his tiny opponent, smacking the five year old left and right across the valley. Though the young demi-Saiyan stood up to the man's assault and attempted to fight back as best as he could, his efforts were rendered completely useless as the powerful fighter walked through every single attack sent his way.

Dropping down to a safe distance, the battered, brave boy, bleeding from a concussive blow to the head, brought his hands back and, powering up, thrust them forward with a mighty roar. "MASENKO!" His orange-purple blast exploded from his hands and shot towards Recoome at breakneck speeds.

However, much to the boy's dismay, he saw the orange haired fighter inhale deeply before blowing the beam of energy right back at his opponent. Gohan barely had enough time to dodge his own attack, leaping into the air to see it explode against the ground. But just as he was climbing to escape the fire generated by the blast, he was unable to respond in time when Recoome sped after him and intercepted him in midair with a well-placed chop to the back. The blow smashed into the poor child like a train, landing with a terrifying crack that sent the Z-fighter flying.

Adult Gohan continued to watch his younger self receive the man's attacks without mercy, right up to the point the five year old tried one last ditch effort to hit the hulking fighter. With a sickening crack, Recoome managed to jump over the tiny warrior and land a crushing kick to his neck. The force sent the kid flying across the grass to land on the ground with a dull thud, where he lay twitching and choking up blood. His life was hanging on the razor's edge.

Seeing the large fighter tower over him, ready to finish him off, Gohan then watched the scene change drastically once more. All of a sudden, the disembodied demi-Saiyan saw Goku, Piccolo, Krillin and his younger self standing on a tiny island in the middle of Namek's ocean in the minutes following his father dropping the Spirit Bomb on Frieza. His eyes moving upwards, he saw the alien tyrant himself standing at the top of the nearby ridge, glaring down at them hatefully, missing half of his tail, and covered in horrendous bruises and scratches.

In a matter of seconds, the white alien with the purple carapaces proceeded to cut down each of the demi-Saiyan's friends one after the other; first shooting Piccolo through the chest with a Death Beam and then propelling Krillin into the sky, where the poor Z-fighter exploded with a cry of terror. The sight brought shock and despair to the two Saiyans standing on the small scrap of land far below, with the event ultimately serving as the trigger to Goku's transformation to a Super Saiyan.

While all of this was going on, the older Gohan, just like his younger counterpart, could only watch helplessly from the sidelines as all of these events unfolded in rapid succession. Shortly thereafter, after seeing Krillin meet his end on Namek, the scene once again faded away and cut to another event a few years later.

This time the demi-Saiyan was shown a memory of his battle against Perfect Cell before his eventually transformation to Ascended Saiyan. The android was attacking him viciously, attempting to force the young warrior to unleash his so-called 'Hidden Power'. He chased and harassed the youngster without remorse or hesitation, before eventually catching the child in a bear hug and proceeding to crush him against his chest.

The teen Gohan's bloodcurdling scream filled the adult version's ears with the sounds of torment, drawing on several phantom pains from that terrible day that had the young male's bones ache. Moments later, the adult Gohan then saw Android 16 dart down from the nearby plateau where the other Z-fighters were stationed and grabbed Cell from behind, in a brave attempt to finish the biological abomination with one last, kamikaze attack. But as the demi-Saiyan watching from his place several feet away predicted, he watched the tragic event play out in full as Perfect Cell snapped out of the android's grip and nailed the cyborg with a critical blast to the chest. The explosion sent the automaton's body scattering across the field, marking the first great casualty of that day.

Much to the young warrior's anguish, he then saw his old nemesis eject several miniature clones of himself to administer agonizing pain upon the rest of his friends. The Cell Juniors all leapt into action at the command of their father and proceeded to beat the living hell out of Goku and the heroes of earth. The maniacal android aimed to make them suffer in order to draw out the young warrior's power, before ultimately killing them.

Though it pained the older Gohan to watch this memory play out, he couldn't help but notice the one thing that stood out from all of the chaos and pain unfolding around him. He saw his younger self, kneeling uselessly on the ground behind the monster that was causing his friends to suffer. Despite his great strength and his gifts, the young half-Saiyan was still so weak and scared, unable to do anything with his powers to save his friends. It was only through the sacrifice of one of their own that he was soon able to achieve the resolve and the strength necessary to make a difference.

But before that, even when he did have the strength to do something of worth, Gohan had been too afraid, too unsure of himself, and too naïve to use it. This fateful battle with the android marked a major turning point in the child's life, giving the hybrid the drive and self-assurance to do something with his power.

It was the day that he stepped up and took on the mantel as protector of the earth.

The feelings and sensations the adult Gohan received from this particular battle were accentuated further by the death of his father, whom he watched spirit the self-destructive biological monster to King Kai's planet at the closing stages of the memory, sacrificing himself to protect the earth.

When the scene eventually faded to black for the fifth time, Gohan thought the ordeal was over. He glanced behind him towards the one-eyed witch, whom he could see was still staring at him with her unnerving smile in play. Just before he could question the reason for her presence here and the purpose of these memories, he heard the sounds of heavy panting and battle, and spun around in the direction he'd previously been staring. A split second later, the teenager saw another hallucination bleed into view and wash over him, dropping his body right into the heart of a new setting. Gohan quickly found himself standing in the middle of a dry, barren wasteland, surrounded by mountains and long stretches of empty countryside, which dominated the area for miles.

Almost instantly upon seeing the desert appear before him, the demi-Saiyan blinked at what he made out next.

In front of him, he spotted himself, or at least another version of himself, standing defensively over the beaten, battered body of a short, purple figure with a white Mohawk, earrings, and adorned in a posh Kai outfit of esteemed design. Initially baffled by who this person was Gohan then began inspecting the version of him that was protecting said figure. Looking him over, he saw a gutsy fighter dressed in a ruined, black spandex uniform with white gloves and boots, and assumed in his first Super Saiyan form. He was also bleeding from various battle wounds and was covered in bruises, making the disembodied Gohan wonder what monstrous force could've done that to him.

"Why… am I so damaged?"Gohan thought, shaking his head in confusion at the doppelganger standing several yards from him. "Did I… get attacked from behind or something? Why haven't I transformed into a Super Saiyan 2 or Super Saiyan 3 yet? What the hell's going on?" He just could not comprehend what this vision was, nor could he recall such a battle taking place.

His string of panicked questions was soon shut down when his gaze was drawn across the battlefield his beaten down doppelganger was thrust into. Following his glare, the real Gohan's eyes then fell upon a creature that literally had him do a double-take. On the other end of the field, he spotted a fat, pink, humanoid creature with a tentacle on its head, wearing golden boots, gloves, white diaper like pants, a vest, and a short purple cape, standing on one foot several dozen yards away. At first Gohan thought it was a giant, inflatable figure or a ball of some kind, but after giving it a second look over, the young Saiyan judged from its getup and appearance that the creature was some kind of repugnant demon.

The 'M' mark on its belt indicated that it was indeed a being of supernatural origins. That was his personal assessment at least.

Before he could delve further into his investigation, Gohan then proceeded to watch the pink blob of a creature standing on one foot begin cart-wheeling across the battlefield towards his battle-damaged counterpart. The creature giggled and laughed as it did so, before eventually rolling to a stop directly in front of him. It then turned and leered at the Saiyan's stunned double, laughing all the while.

Gohan then heard his doppelganger speak, with a voice expressing nothing but shock and disbelief.

"What is this thing? Its skin just absorbs everything I give him," the Super Saiyan whispered, openly expressing astonishment at how the monster was able to heal itself from a powerful kick it'd previously received to the face.

The fat, pink demon then grinned in a menacing way and brought its hands forward. "You a big pest! You leave!" it shouted in a squeaky, nasally voice, showcasing a clear sense of anger towards the Z-fighter with the vernacular of a child. Its energy began to skyrocket as it prepared to attack the blonde warrior, intent of ridding him of the nuisance once and for all.

A growl left the battered Gohan's voice, before the Super Saiyan leapt at the pink monstrosity with a loud battle cry.

It was a sight that alarmed the demi-Saiyan watching from the sidelines, who stepped forward with panic burning in his eyes. "YOU IDIOT!" However, before he could yell out any sort of warning to stop himself, the purple Kai lying on the ground beat him to it.

"WATCH OUT FOR HIS BLAST!"

The warning came too little, too late, as the pink demon thrust both hands forward and unleashed a powerful blue blast directly at the approaching Super Saiyan. The beam engulfed the young warrior, stopping him dead before reforming into an enormous sphere of energy that slammed the fighter up against its surface. The heat of the attack drew a scream of agony and terror from the battle damaged Gohan, before sending him rocketing across the valley and up into the sky, where the blast exploded and sent the half-Saiyan plummeting back down to earth.

As the scene chugged to its conclusion, all the real Gohan could do was stand there gawking in the direction his counterpart had been thrown. His gaze then snapped in the direction of the demon that'd beaten him and saw the fat, pink joke of a monster dancing merrily at sending the teen flying with barely any effort whatsoever.

While the creature danced, the only thought that ran through the demi-Saiyan's head was how he could've let himself get beaten by such a pathetic attack? Why did he make such an amateur mistake, jumping into the monster's line of fire? Why wasn't he powered up to his maximum level? If he was Super Saiyan 3, there was no way he could've been taken down by such an obvious counter. In fact, the real Gohan was pretty sure he could've ripped that thing apart with a few well-placed hits and not waste any time with theatrics or needless heroism.

That being the case, why was he so weak in that vision to begin with? What'd happened to him that had him lose so much strength, sense and skill?

Before he could proceed to solving this riddle, he the scene once again changed and, a split second later, Gohan found himself standing on Kami's Lookout. At first bewildered by the sudden teleportation to the platform, the half-Saiyan then turned towards the edge and spotted most of his friends and family gathered out in the open. Clearly making out Piccolo at the head of the group, but seeing no Vegeta, Zangya or any of the other strong fighters in the area, he also noticed a tall, muscular, pink figure leering at them from the platform's ledge.

It took the demi-Saiyan a few moments of looking the creature over to realize that this menacing new face was in fact the same, fat monster that'd blasted his weakened doppelganger into the sky, only it seemed he'd gone through some sort of weird metamorphosis since that battle. He now looked like a legitimate killing machine; sleek, muscular, menacing, malicious, and even more powerful than before.

Dreading the events that were to come, Gohan looked on as the demon suddenly marched towards Piccolo. His approach caused the Namekian to freeze and stare up at the fiend in terror, sweat pouring down his face and his eyes wide in alarm.

"Time to kill," the demon with the tentacle on his head snarled, sending a chill down every Z-fighter's spine.

At first the demi-Saiyan thought the pink creature was going to kill his friend right there, on the spot, and stepped forward in panic. He was about to jump in to attack too, only to feel a firm tug on the back of his gi that stopped him dead in his tracks. When Gohan looked behind him, he saw the blonde witch with the eye-patch holding onto his top with her thumb and finger, keeping him from moving. Surprised by her sudden interference, the young warrior then stared ahead of him to see what was going to happen next.

All of a sudden, Gohan saw the pink monster raise his hand into the air and, in a flash of blinding light, began unleashing a torrent of pink energy blasts that arced down from the lookout and shot towards the planet below. The attacks rained down upon the earth like an unending river of death, trailing streaks of light that marked the path of the billions of ki attacks the monster was now letting loose into the atmosphere. The display was frightening, causing all those watching from the sidelines to take a big step back as the vortex of energy surrounding the entity continue spewing blasts out like there was no tomorrow.

However, the worst was yet to come.

The pink fiend wasn't just firing off all those shots as a trivial show of force or as a means of intimidating the heroes. Every single one of the blasts he was firing down at the earth was aimed at every single person living down on the ground. As the assault carried on, Gohan's expression twisted into one of horror when countless screams of terror suddenly filled his ears and his vision became plagued by the sight of all the innocent people of the world being cut down by the barrage of powerful energy attacks. The sight was as horrendous as he thought it was, the vision showing him people getting incinerated instantaneously left, right and center, by attacks capable of incinerating entire buildings with barely a tap.

However, what struck him the hardest was seeing Capsule Corp get shot to bits and the whole of Orange Star Highschool sterilized by the blind assault. He saw Sharpener, Touya and Erasa get struck down by the energy waves, their forms vanishing in a flash of fire and simultaneous cries of pain. He even saw Lime perish under the heat of the salvo, her scream of terror drowned out by the dozens of others around her.

The sight of his friends and the people he loved being killed drew panicked breaths of air from the demi-Saiyan and put tears in his eyes, which began to trickle down his cheeks without restraint. His heart burning, the teen then looked on as the vision slowly faded to black and was replaced by yet another, which made him wonder how much longer this torture was going to last.

Back on the courtyard of Kami's Lookout, he saw Krillin confronting the monster all by himself, while all the other members of the Z-fighters stood back.

"RUN!" the short fighter bellowed, a split second before taking off and charging the terrifying creature down.

Eyes widening while her arms were wrapped protectively around her daughter, Android 18 leapt forward in desperation, "KRILLIN! NO!" But it was too late.

The human warrior dashed towards the pink demon with a mighty bellow in a desperate attempt to take the creature out and buy his comrades time to escape. However, the moment the man struck at the villain with his fist, the entity's body suddenly liquefied and sprang into the sky, warping through the air and reforming above the Z-fighter when he flew past. As soon as Krillin missed, the creature threw his tentacle forward and fired a pink, electrical beam at the man. A scream left the warrior's lips when the field of energy engulfed him, before a puff of white smoke burst around his body.

Gohan watched closely as the cloud quickly vanished and a bar of chocolate dropped out of it, landing on the hard, tiled floor. The transformation was baffling, but the young martial artist quickly deduced that the attack was some form of twisted, yet incredibly powerful magic. Before he could fully comprehend the magnitude of the fiend they were up against, Gohan's expression became one of dismay and shock when he saw the pink monster begin targeting the rest of them.

"No! No, no, no, NO, NOOO!" Gohan shouted, his feet digging into the floor as he attempted to rush in and save his friends. Despite his best efforts though, he found legs rooted to the ground thanks to the ridiculous force holding him back. Glaring over his shoulder in panic, the demi-Saiyan gritted his teeth at the witch holding onto his gi and barked, "I HAVE TO SAVE THEM! PLEASE! LET ME GO!" He then attempted to fight his way out, but as hard as he tried, he could not wrench his way out of the woman's vice-like grip. "I CAN'T JUST STAND HERE AND WATCH THEM DIE! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING!" After failing several times to escape her hold, Gohan then looked back to see the next set of events.

To his utter shock and horror, the Saiyan watched as one after the other, the pink, tentacle-headed creature started transforming every single one of his friends into chocolate. Though it stunned Gohan to see all those closest to him meet the creature's twisted beam, the worst one came when he saw Videl get transformed into a piece of candy and heard her scream vanish with the others. The disembodied warrior attempted to break free one last time, his feet cracking the floor to try and get out of the girl's hold.

But he was too late. Seconds later, the teenager saw the smoke from the bombardment of electrical beams dissipate and, lying scattered across the floor, he saw his girlfriend and everybody else had been turned into treats.

Limbs shaking as tears streamed down his face, the demi-Saiyan looked on as the creature gathered up all of his comrades and proceeded to eat them. Gohan shook his head, unable to believe what he was witnessing as the scene slowly faded into darkness, with the final image being the pink monstrosity gobbling down the last of his friends.

His hands reached up to cover his face, as he knew he could not bear to watch any more. But when he pulled them away a moment later when he thought it was all over, he couldn't help but gasp in shock when he saw the faces of himself, Piccolo, Goten and Trunks, unconscious, and trapped in a series of cocoons made out of flesh, inside an enormous cave system of cobwebs and brain stems. The setting was like something taken straight out of a horror film, and he knew right then and there that he and his friends had met the greatest defeat of their lives.

However, this wasn't to be the last of the visions. As Gohan's resolve began to crumble, he saw the scene change once again. This time he was standing on a rocky shore, just several feet away from a pair of figures facing each other down, with the ocean waves crashing against the stones behind him. At first he didn't know who the people were due to how different they looked. But when the demi-Saiyan's eyes eventually focused on them, he found to his bewilderment Vegeta, dressed in a new design of armor and assumed in a bright blue, Super Saiyan form, standing over the battered body of Frieza, who was currently kneeling on the ground before him.

Looking at the two from his position, Gohan reasoned that both warriors had been locked in battle and that the two warriors appeared more powerful than ever before. He could tell just from the air surrounding them that they were now fighting in a league completely above any the demi-Saiyan could reach, and had just recently passed the climax point of their battle.

The sight of the alien tyrant kneeling before the Super Saiyan Prince was so gripping that Gohan completely disregarded the fact that Frieza had been brought back to life and that he was currently on earth. He also noticed himself and the rest of his friends standing on a nearby cliff, with his father lying defeated between them.

Just when he was about to ask what was going on, the disembodied Gohan suddenly heard Frieza speak.

"If I'm going down… I'M TAKING YOU ALL WITH ME!"

The Super Saiyan God Vegeta balked in shock, moments before the ground beneath him suddenly started to fracture and burn. As it turns out, Frieza, who had his hands placed firmly on the floor, had unleashed a powerful blast into the planet's crust so fast that the Prince had had no time to react to it. This resulted in the planet beginning to implode at an alarming rate and, after several tense seconds of mountains and oceans erupting into enormous, fiery columns of magma and rock, the entire world suddenly went up in a massive explosion.

Watching safely from the protective bubble of his dream, Gohan could only look on in disbelief as his home and all the people he loved vanished in a flash of fire. When the cataclysm ended shortly thereafter, all that remained of the earth was an asteroid field of rubble and rock, drifting aimlessly through the vacuum of space.

The sight shook the teen up so much that it literally brought him to his knees. Collapsing onto all fours, Gohan reeled forward and choked out several loud sobs, which rattled his bones and blurred his vision. His chest hurt and his head throbbed, giving his body the unmistakable sensation that he was about to throw up. However, this being a nightmare, the act of blowing chunks out in his mind would've been an incredibly redundant and arbitrary action, as he was merely a projection of his mental self. Nevertheless, the urge was overwhelmingly, and the boy did his very best to keep it together.

After all of the things he'd just seen play out before his very eyes, he found this to be an incredibly difficult act to accomplish.

He spent the next few minutes from that point onwards panting and sobbing, allowing his tears to flow free and hit the ground, where the droplets eventually faded to nothing. After feeling the sensations of defeat, grief and sorrow at the loss of his friends disappear, the boy slowly, but surely, glanced over his shoulder and towards the figure standing behind him. Eyes red from the tears he'd shed, Gohan saw the blonde witch staring down at him with an emotionless gaze in play.

Obviously she felt no pity for the teen's misery and simply allowed him to express his agony without any fear of consequence.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Gohan whispered in a hoarse voice, "Are these… visions of the future?"

Immediately upon asking this question, the blonde phantom turned and looked in another direction. When the teen demi-Saiyan followed her gaze in confusion, he suddenly saw more visions begin playing out against the backdrop of blackness to his right. His eyes locked onto the ethereal screen as it started playing instances from the past, showing him multitudes of scenarios he'd never seen before.

He saw himself at the Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament as a Super Saiyan 2, charging down both Bojack and Zangya. It was a scene he remembered as being one of the major stepping stones in his life and a moment where he set his closest and dearest friend on the path of redemption. However, he then received the shock of a lifetime when, as he watched the terrified female Hera back up, he suddenly saw her maniacal boss teleport behind her, push her forward and, without mercy or hesitation, unleashed a powerful blast right into her back. Her scream of terror filled the void as Zangya was incinerated in an instant, a sight that horrified the adult Gohan as he saw the blast that killed her shoot towards his younger doppelganger, who speedily avoided it.

Another vision flashed into view shortly thereafter, where he saw a young, eight year old Paprika on some far off, alien world, sitting in a dank, dingy alleyway of a backwater, garbage ridden city, with her knees brought up to her chest and arms wrapped tightly around them. The girl was sobbing and covered in muck and dirt, looking as though she'd recently been beaten, and had been living on the streets for a long time. The vision was one of loneliness and hurt, as she appeared both weak and helpless. Over the next few minutes afterwards, amidst the hustle and bustle of this forgotten market setting, it began to rain around the young Makyan, and she attempted to cover her arms in an effort to protect herself from the cold. She soon fell into a painful coughing fit and, dropping onto her side, her breathing eventually stilled and her eyes closed, presumably for the last time.

As this depressing vision slowly turned to black, leaving Gohan with a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach, his dream soon came up with yet another premonition. This time it was on a different, futuristic planet with an orange sky and skyscrapers all around him. Almost instantly he spotted Kana, who was standing in the middle of the street surrounded by countless other members of her race, all of whom were looking up towards the sky in terror. What they saw hovering above them was a purple, cat-like alien of sorts wearing Egyptian clothing, accompanied by a blue-skinned man with white hair and holding a staff, a man who appeared eerily familiar to the demi-Saiyan.

From his place on the ground, the young warrior watched the cat alien raise his finger and, with an effortless flick of his finger, sent a tiny purple blast towards the city. Kana and her people were soon engulfed in a blinding flash of light, seconds before her entire planet was swallowed up by magma and hellfire. In the blink of an eye, the entire world was blown to kingdom come, along with her and a million other innocent lives.

A few more flashes of scenarios quickly passed across the screen, as the real Gohan saw many other scenarios and events transpire. He saw his father training in Otherworld, Vegeta piggybacking Trunks as a baby while Bulma and her family watched from behind, he saw himself cradling Goten when he was young, Krillin and Android 18 playing with their daughter in the sand, Piccolo meditating on the lookout, and various other sights that appeared familiar yet foreign to him at the same time.

After seeing dozens of visions flash through his mind, he then saw one last shot. It was an image of him in his room, as his twelve year old self, studying, and surrounded by books and worksheets of all kinds. He was dressed in casual clothing befitting someone pursuing the dream of a scholar and, as he worked, his mother came in to give him something to eat.

Gohan saw more of the same vision flicker in front of him. While his friends and family were doing things on the world outside, training, socializing and hanging out, the demi-Saiyan saw his dream-counterpart sitting behind his desk, cramming, sleeping there, and staying isolated from the rest of the world. This eventually led to him leaving the house for high school for his very first day, but instead of being dressed in the trendy clothes Gohan remembered wearing, he saw this version of him was dressed in a pair of concealing brown pants, a baggy, long-sleeved white shirt, and a black vest. He also looked skinny and pale; signs that indicated a person hadn't been outside much, was out of shape, and had been cooped up inside for days on end.

Initially the half-Saiyan didn't know what to make of this. However, after a minute of processing these images, Gohan's eyes widened in realization and his gaze snapped towards the blonde witch behind him.

It was then he spoke. "These… are visions from an alternate universe, aren't they? An alternate past and an alternate future?"

This much was obvious. Zangya being killed by Bojack, Kana and Paprika dying through extenuating circumstances meaning he and his friends never got the chance to meet them, an unfit version of himself losing to a fat, pink glob of chewing gum, his friends dying because he was unable to kill the creature, and Frieza being brought back to life and destroying the earth… all of these clues pointed to a universe where, instead of training and staying in shape, he got slack and weak, and important events in history had skewed ever so slightly off of the timeline that he knew.

His question towards the witch was soon answered by a firm nod from the phantom, which prompted Gohan to begin deciphering the meaning of everything he'd just witnessed.

"That world… all those terrible things that took place… my friends dying, me, Goten, Trunks and Piccolo being trapped in that prison, and Frieza destroying the earth… all those things happened because… I was too weak to protect them." Looking back at the vision where he saw his alternate self grinning back at him, with that stupid, naïve smile that hadn't seen a real battle in years, the warrior then spun back around and looked at the witch. "By not training and keeping up my strength… not only did I fail all of my friends and family… but I got every single one of them killed."

He should've saved them. No. He knew he could've saved them. If he'd continued to train, kept up his strength, and made an effort to uphold the mantel of his father, not only could he have prevented the earth from being destroyed, but he could've stopped his friends from meeting such a horrible end. He could've saved Zangya. He could've made a difference that brought Kana to him and changed Paprika's heart for the better. He could've destroyed that pink monster before he even had a chance to lay his hands on Krillin, Eighteen, his grandfather, Erasa, Lime, Videl and everybody else he cherished.

If he had been strong and had the courage to face his fears, no one would've had to suffer because of his weakness.

But in that alternate reality, he couldn't protect anyone, because he allowed his abilities and responsibilities to go to waste behind a desk, and they all suffered and died as a result.

The knowledge that he'd failed them in that reality brought a terrible pain to Gohan's heart, which had him reach up and clutch his chest tightly. The memories of all of his past battles and the horrors he'd faced… every single one of them came back and struck him down like a ball taking out a stack of pins, leaving him with a shockingly painful impression.

In these few, brief moments he spent lamenting on his past actions, Gohan was able to realize the full totality of all his failures. Even after his battle with Cell, very few things had changed. His fights with Nappa, Vegeta, the Ginyu Force, Lord Slug's army, Turles, Frieza, Cooler's Armored Squadron, the androids, Broly, Cell, Bojack, Zeru, and the human mercenary, all these tests he'd faced all amounted to one irrefutable outcome: his failure as a warrior and as a person. In every single one of those battles, he'd been unable to carry the weight of the hero… of the role that his father had willingly passed down to him. No matter what he did and no matter how much pain he took, he couldn't stop his friends from getting hurt or beat any of the monsters he'd faced without their help.

His father had fought and won countless battles under his own power. If he was supposed to have inherited the strength that his dad once held to make a difference in the universe, then why couldn't he do the same thing?

He may have been strong, but what was the point of having all that remarkable strength if his friends were still going to get thrown into harm's way?

The visions being shown to him of this alternate reality only confirmed his fears… that no matter what he did, he was doomed to fail.

Gritting his teeth and fighting off the stinging sensation in his heart as best as he could, the boy took a few deep breaths to try and relax. He tried anything… everything he could to quell the feelings of dread, defeat and hopelessness from overtaking him.

Eyes closed and expression calming, the teen used the next few moments to gather his thoughts. In that time, a warm sense began to creep over him like water and, looking up from where he was kneeling on the ground, he saw a bright light appear in front of him. When it flickered and expanded, figures began to emerge from the veil and reach out towards him, trying to communicate with him.

Feeling a warm hand press against his cheek, Gohan's eyes shimmered with surprise when he saw Videl, Zangya, Erasa, Lime, Kana, Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin, Bulma, his brother, Trunks, Chi-Chi, and many other people appear, with the former two standing directly in front of him and lifting his chin up to look at them. Seeing them all gathered together under a bright, celestial glow, standing together as one, their eyes fixed firmly upon him, and smiles on most of their faces, the teen felt all the negative energy and exhaustion leave him.

When Videl and Zangya nodded to him with their reassuring smiles, his heart skipped a beat. Smiling, Gohan moved his cheek into the former's hand. Placing a gentle palm over the raven haired girl's, he took a deep breath and stood up. Feeling their strength lift him from the gutters of despair and loss, the Z-fighter kept his eyes locked forward for several seconds, before eventually turning to face the blonde witch standing behind him.

His eyes narrowed upon her when their gazes met. "All those battles I'd fought over the years… all the times I felt like the world was crashing down around me and I was powerless to help… all of that is in my past. This alternate world you're showing me…" He shook his head firmly, "It will never happen. Do you want to know why?" Fists clenching, Gohan glared the blonde witch down with all the confidence he could muster as he was propelled forward by the memory and image of his friends standing behind him. "Because I won't let it happen. I will continue getting stronger so that I can protect everyone that I love. Videl, Zangya, Goten, Piccolo, Erasa, Lime… no matter what it takes, I'll make sure nothing ever happens to them."

As he spoke, he saw the expression on the girl's face darken and her frown deepen. Despite the menacing aura she was emitting, the blonde witch with the eye patch continued to glare up at the young warrior as he said his piece. The situation quickly unfolded into a glaring contest, where both fighters continued to glare one another down without the slightest hitch in either of their domains. It seemed like the two of them had hit an impasse, in which neither one of them knew what to say or do next.

However, as the silence continued to permeate throughout the void that was Gohan's nightmare-slash-dream, the demi-Saiyan narrowed his stare even further and hissed. "Tell me… where exactly do you fit into all of this?" he asked in a low voice, with a tone that was both threatening and dangerous at the same time. "I couldn't see you in any of those visions and I don't recall ever meeting you before. So who are you… and how do you know me?"

At first the shorter female with the oversized witch's hat didn't appear to want to answer his question. Just like with a lot of other details that remained privy to the hybrid, it seemed as though she was probably going to hold out on revealing anything incriminating about her until she felt it was necessary. But just when Gohan felt like she was going to turn tail and run for it, the blonde surprised him by raising her hand and pointing to his left. Taking that as a directive, the half-Saiyan then turned and proceeded to watch as another viewing portal opened up nearby.

For what felt like the tenth time this cycle, another vision began to play. Again, it was an event the young warrior had not seen before… and one he figured was from an alternate universe.

He was on Kami's Lookout again, but this time he could see all of his friends standing there and looking around in confusion. He could see Bulma, Chi-Chi, the Ox-King, Master Roshi, Yamcha, Mr. Popo, Android 18, Krillin, their daughter Marron, Puar, and Oolong. Videl was also there, alive and well, bringing a sense of relief to the young warrior. However, he couldn't see him, Goten, Trunks, Piccolo or Vegeta anywhere in the area, which left several questions the teenager had unanswered.

Apparently confusion gripped the Z-fighters that were present there as well, as they gathered together to try and solve this bewitching riddle.

"We're alive?" Bulma asked, looking across to see Chi-Chi and everybody else form up alongside her. "How… can this be?"

"Did one of us do this?" Videl also spoke up, adjusting her blue T-shirt with the word 'Fight' emblazoned upon it, while also checking to make sure everything else was in one piece.

"Well… we're no longer ghosts. I guess that's a good thing," Chi-Chi remarked, while coming to stand alongside her son's girlfriend with her hands on her hips. She then began to survey the area as well. "But… where are the boys?"

"I don't see Goku, Gohan or anybody else around," Krillin added, scratching his head while watching his wife pick up their daughter. When the android ambled over, the short fighter quickly shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I'm just as stumped as the rest of you guys."

"I remember training on the Grand Kai's world with you. But other than that, I've got nothing," Yamcha added, stopping alongside his fellow human fighters with a befuddled gaze in play.

"Somebody must have wished us back," Master Roshi's voice croaked in as he held his place beside Oolong and the others. Stroking his beard, the old master looked down and began processing his collective knowledge for a solution. "I don't sense the boys or Piccolo around… nor do I sense anyone else. So… if I was to guess as to who used the dragon balls to wish all of us back to life, my best bet would have to be-"

"It was me," a new voice suddenly interrupted.

When the Z-fighters and the incorporeal Gohan followed the exclamation back to its source, all of them got the shock of a lifetime when they saw the owner of the vocal chords standing nearby. Almost everyone on that lookout literally jumped back several feet in alarm, as the pink demon with the tentacle on his head, the white pants and the belt with the letter 'M' on it, was grinning right back at them with a smug expression in play.

The sight of the demon staring them down had the adult demi-Saiyan blink in astonishment, before he realized that the creature seemed a little bit different this time around. Unlike the previously muscular, humanoid form he'd taken on before, this one was much more defined and rounded out, as if a sculptor had gotten to work in filing him down to size. He seemed more human this time, with facial characteristics, a proper nose, and a much longer head-tentacle that extended down to his waist. He also had proper fingers, which made Gohan think that the demon had gone through yet another metamorphosis.

The name of the creature was revealed to him shortly thereafter, thanks to the terrified shouts of his friends.

"M-M-M-Majin Buu?!" Krillin shouted in alarm, "W-What… you… how are you still alive?" Everyone else standing behind the short fighter, Videl, Mr. Popo and Puar included all had the exact same question hanging over their minds.

By the looks on their faces, they obviously weren't expecting their most dangerous enemy to date to be standing up there on the lookout with them.

A playful grin crossed the pink demon's face as he shrugged his shoulders at his befuddled former enemies. "That question should be obvious to answer." He then pointed at himself. "I won. Fair and square. Satisfied?"

Swallowing nervously, Videl shuffled forward with her hand placed timidly against her chest. "W-W-Where's Gohan?"

"And Goten?" Chi-Chi also asked, terror gripping her as she too moved forward with a terrified look in play, "Where are my boys?"

"Oh? Them?" Super Buu muttered before tilting his head and smiling back at the women. "Don't worry. I haven't hurt them. Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, Goten and Trunks are all alive and well inside of me." He then raised a hand and patted it against his stomach, an action that brought horrified looks to the Z-fighter's faces, as they all knew what his words entailed. "I absorbed them."

Pupils dilating and body falling into a trembling fit, a thunderstruck Videl soon felt her knees give way, and she collapsed to the ground in shock. Her body going limp from her legs buckling unexpectedly, she stared across at the pink creature in disbelief, as if she was watching her entire world begin exploding in bullet time. "N-No… it… can't be…"

Seeing despair begin gripping the crowd of warriors, the pink demon sighed and began to speak to them in a sympathetic tone of voice. "If it's any consolation to you guys, your friends put up a really good fight." He then crossed his arms and looked over the Z-fighters slowly and cautiously. "However, I'm afraid you won't be seeing them anymore. I apologize, but that's the way it is and that's the way it's going to be." He then nodded upwards and gestured towards the sky. "I'll be leaving this planet now. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll be sure to pop in every hundred years to make sure things are alright."

Coming from him, it must've sounded terrible. The Z-fighters certainly didn't find any comfort from the way he said any of that.

While Chi-Chi and the others were in the midst of grieving, Majin Buu's red eyes then landed on Bulma, whom he saw skirt back fearfully under his gaze. After staring at her for a few moments and getting a bead on her characteristics, the demon then tilted his head curiously. "Hmm… Bulma… you're really smart, aren't you; a woman with many interesting ideas and talents?" Before the bewildered woman could even have a chance of answering him, a pink length of goo suddenly shot out of the demon's stomach, grabbed up the blue haired scientist, wrapped her up, and sucked her back into Buu's gut.

In the blink of an eye, much to the horror of Gohan and the others, the creature had absorbed yet another member of their group.

"BULMA!" Yamcha shouted in alarm, rushing forward instinctively, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw Majin Buu pat his stomach and sigh.

Checking himself out under the multiple glares of the Z-fighters, the demon made a murmuring sound of approval. "Huh. That's funny. Even though I can feel the difference in my intelligence, my body isn't physically changing anymore. Looks like it's finally become stable from all the specimens I've absorbed." Nodding in understanding, the demon then turned to the stunned group of heroes, grinned at them, and saluted in a very creepy, Goku-like way. "Well gang, I'll be off. Stay out of trouble." The demon then leapt off of the ground, floated high up into the sky, and took off into space at breakneck speed.

For the next few minutes after that, Gohan looked on from a distance as his friends remained silent and scattered across the surface of the lookout. Not knowing what to do or how to respond, the group of friends and broken families came together in tears, consoling one another over their respective losses.

However, the one who looked the most upset out of all of them besides Chi-Chi… was Videl.

Still kneeling on the ground, the teen's eyes were fixated on the horizon in front of her with a look of complete shock, speechlessness, and incredulity reflected in her gaze. Her mouth moving but no sounds coming out, tears poured down her cheeks in the form of tiny streams as her mind slowly took in the realization that Gohan, the boy that she'd fallen in love with and had the most impact on her life until now, was gone… forever… stolen away by a demon of evil and madness.

Unable to believe what she'd just heard and witnessed, the girl's head craned downwards and, without any hesitation, she began to cry and sob uncontrollably, her voice carrying across the entire Lookout.

Gohan felt his chest tighten painfully once more. Seeing the girl crying her heart out in the courtyard with no one to comfort her, made the demi-Saiyan want to punch through the invisible barrier between his dream world and that dimension, go over there, and give his girlfriend a big hug, and let her know that he was alright. He wanted so badly to jump through into her reality and console her that he almost completely forgot that he was dreaming.

The second he stepped forward though in an effort to reach the heartbroken Videl, he saw the world fade into blackness and become replaced by another. From the darkness, he found himself on the front lawn of Capsule Corp, with the sky above him black as night and an eerie golden light radiating from over his shoulder. Drawn to the feel of the mysterious glow, the half-Saiyan warrior and his tagalong turned to see what was causing the strange color alterations to their environment.

Gohan soon found the source of anomaly in the form of seven dragon balls and the enormous dragon Shenron hovering in the clouds high above them. Initially distracted by the serpent's immense form, he then followed his tail back down to ground level, where he saw a group of figures gathered underneath. He quickly identified the collection of strangers as the surviving members of the Briefs family, Krillin, Android 18, a slightly older version of Maroon, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Videl, all of whom were gathered in front of the mystical spheres.

It became apparent to the spiky haired hero that all of his friends looked a little bit older than before, including his girlfriend, whom he noticed was dressed in the outfit belonging to the Turtle Hermit School of martial arts. Piecing together what he already knew and what he was now seeing, he reasoned that Videl had spent the past few years studying under Master Roshi and the other Z-fighters to become a more active member of their group. She also looked to be the one responsible for gathering the dragon balls today, which then led him to wonder why?

He was sure the answer would be revealed soon enough.

"I have come to grant you two wishes. Tell me what they are so that I may go," Shenron's booming voice echoed across the property, startling any and all nearby onlookers who could see the creature from their homes, windows and the neighborhoods.

Gulping anxiously, Krillin quickly turned to where Videl was standing. "Are you… sure this is going to work?"

"We have to at least try," Tien commented from alongside his teammate, arms folded and a serious look in play. A smile soon formed across his lips, which he directed towards their raven haired fighter from Satan City, "Besides… she was the one who insistent on doing this. There's no way we can say no to her when she's so determined."

Clenching and unclenching her fists beneath the towering form of the dragon uneasily, Videl took a guarded step forward and fixed her best glare upon the beast's face. Once she was sure she had the serpent's attention, the girl spoke in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Shenron… our friends Piccolo, Trunks, Vegeta, Gohan and his family are trapped inside the monster Majin Buu, who terrorized our planet several years ago. Can you please set them free and bring them back to earth?"

Murmuring uncomfortably, the dragon's eyes shone a bright red as his mind began making sense of the wish. After spending several moments seeing if this wish was actually possible, the serpent groaned before speaking, "No. This wish cannot be granted."

Appearing as stunned as the other members of her group, Videl stepped forward once again, "Why not? W-Why can't you do it?"

"I cannot remove their forms from the host's body, as doing so will cause the demon extensive physical and mental trauma, and will likely kill him."

Gritting her teeth in frustration as she glared up at the magical serpent, Videl stomped her foot into the ground. "I don't care whether that bastard Majin Buu lives or not!" the teen practically shouted, causing the men and women standing behind her to react in alarm. This was actually the first time any of them had actually seen someone lose their temper at the dragon for being unable to grant a wish. "Just get them out of there!"

An irritated growl left Shenron's lips as his eyes fixed upon the insolent girl. "Even if I could, I would still be unable to grant you this request. My magic is nowhere near powerful enough to break through Majin Buu's barrier, as his power far exceeds that of my creator's. I'm afraid his hold over your friends is too strong."

"What gives?" Videl barked, feeling Krillin's hand wrap around her arm in an attempt to pull her away. She threw him off of her and stepped towards the beast, determined to tear him a new one. "Everyone here said that you could grant any wish I ask! They said that you would be able to help me! WHY CAN'T YOU HELP ME SAVE GOHAN?! TELL ME!"

"ENOUGH!" the dragon shouted, his loud voice shaking the ground and cracking the earth, effectively silencing the raging girl. When he saw the teenager back down, panting from her courageous outburst with her friends hovering meekly in the background, Shenron continued to speak. "If you have any other wishes, speak them now."

Gritting her teeth after hearing the dragon's demands, Videl lowered her head and took a few deep breaths to compose herself. The other fighters behind her also spent the next minute or so considering any other wishes that they could ask the dragon. Since there were indeed only a handful of things they could do with the power at their disposal, they now needed to vote on which moves were actually viable.

However, before any of them could think of anything, Videl's head suddenly craned upwards and she faced the wishing dragon with a serious look on her face. After weighing all of the options she had on hand, there was really only one last thing she could do.

It was risky, but knowing exactly what was at stake here, she was determined to follow-through with it.

"If you can't do anything… then that means we have to try something to save our friends ourselves, right?" the teenager asked, her back straightening and ears listening eagerly for the serpent's response.

The dragon raised a brow in curiosity, "That's right? Does that question come with a wish?"

"It does. Two wishes… and I want to use both of them," Videl said, taking a deep breath before steeling herself for what was to come. Though she wondered how she ever came to this conclusion, she knew that this was not the time to be second guessing herself. She had to act now. "With my first wish, I want you to transport me to someone who can make me powerful enough to defeat Majin Buu and save Gohan!" When this wish echoed across the front lawn of the Capsule Corp property, all of the Z-fighters in the area looked across at the girl in bewilderment. Before any of them could speak up in protest, she then shouted her last request, "And my second wish… is to remain there and not come back until I've destroyed Majin Buu!" The instant she finished, the girl slowly looked over her shoulder and gave a sad smile to her friends. "Sorry guys."

Caught completely off guard by the girl's wishes, Yamcha rushed forward, "Wait… Videl! Y-You can't be serious?" Unfortunately, he didn't have a chance to get an answer.

"It shall be done," Shenron's voice boomed, his eyes lighting up the sky and a low growl escaping his throat, "Good luck."

Seconds later, the stunned Z-fighters and family members watched as Videl disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving all of the heroes standing thunderstruck in their places. It was a scenario neither one of them could have expected and to come from their newest member, of all people. However, after thinking about all the things she'd lost and all the trouble she'd had to go through over the past few years, her reasons for executing such a gutsy decision started to receive a little more clarity.

Even Gohan was blown away by what he'd just witnessed and could only gawk in silence as the vision transported him to the very place where Videl had been sent by the dragon.

He soon found himself standing on the precipice of a cliff looking over a large valley of a pyramid shaped planet that had a massive tree growing out of its top. Aside from the beautiful foundations and the fantastic view, he also noticed a large temple embedded in the side of the edifice, giving credence to the fact that this place was inhabited.

Perplexed by the exotic location and the weirdness of the world's design, the teen spent the next few seconds looking around the place and drinking in all there was to see, until his eyes eventually pulled across to a particular spot on the rise.

There, poised before a tall, familiar blue figure with white hair, elegant robes and a celestial staff, he saw Videl looking up at him from the grass, her arms set firmly at her sides and her gi blowing on the wind. Moving in closer to listen to the conversation that was going on between them, the demi-Saiyan and his blonde haired escort stopped just a few yards away. From there, amidst the rustling of the lush fields of reeds, flowers and butterflies, they were able to hear every word being spoken between the two figures.

Drumming his fingers against his staff, the teal-skinned alien beamed curiously down at the determined looking girl, who'd come to this world only a few hours ago, "So… let me get this straight? You traveled all this way to this part of the universe, to ask me to train you and make you strong enough to defeat this… Majin Buu creature… in order to save the man that you love and all the other poor souls he has absorbed?" When he saw Videl nod in response, a big smile appeared on his face. "I must say, out of all the requests I've received to train people and make them my apprentices… this has to be the most straightforward and noble one I've heard yet." He then blushed a shade of scarlet and gave a delightful giggle, "It's so romantic."

Undeterred by the man's odd response and character, the raven haired girl dropped to her knees and bowed to him, in an attempt to appeal to his compassion. "Please, Master Whis." She prostrated herself before the alien, literally placing her forehead to the grass and shutting her eyes tightly. "Please. I know I may not be the most worthy, or the most powerful… or the most pure hearted person in the world, but I beg you… for the friend I have lost… please train me and make me strong enough to save him. It would be a great honor and a privilege to learn from you."

Even though she knew nothing about this person, she could tell right away that he was powerful and that he was the man that Shenron sent her to see. She knew it in her gut that he was the one.

Blinking in surprise at the girl's humble gesture and words, the alien with the staff momentarily averted his gaze out of bashfulness and astonishment. Using this time to dwell on her request, his eyes ran up the side of the distant temple where he knew his other student, Beerus, was fast asleep and undergoing his ridiculously long hibernation cycle. Considering he was alone on this world during his student's annual sleeping period and had nothing much else to do with his free time, the blue-skinned man gave a cheerful smile to the birds fluttering about and, after nodding his head in approval, turned to look back down at the human kneeling in front of him.

"Alright, young lady. I'll gladly train you," the man chirped, watching the girl's eyes snap up to him as a kind smile framed his face. "Though I don't know how long it will take, I promise I will make you strong enough so that not even the universe will stand in your way. How does that sound?"

Almost instantly, a radiant expression formed on Videl's face as a smile appeared on her lips and her head gave an enthusiastic nod of gratitude, "Yes! Thank you so much, sir."

From that point onwards, Gohan saw his girlfriend's life flash in front of his eyes. He saw the girl undergo a fierce training regiment under the life form known as Whis, engaging in vigorous sparring matches with him and undergoing countless hours of meditation to enhance her ability to manipulate energy. They were even joined by the same purple, humanoid cat alien the Saiyan remembered seeing destroy Kana's planet in a previous vision, who mixed up the routine from watching the girl's training from the sidelines and actually taking the time to train with the girl as well.

Though at the end of every session Gohan saw Videl walk away from her training battered and bruised, the gutsy, courageous young girl woke up the next morning stronger than ever and ready for another bout.

Between bone breaking physical exercises and endless hours of meditation, the demi-Saiyan also witnessed Videl undergo thorough book lessons under Whis in her off periods, learning how to control magic, physics, matter, time, and telekinesis. She even went through an unusual conversion ritual underneath one of the pyramid world's heavy waterfalls, where the demi-Saiyan saw his girlfriend walk into the lagoon with her short, raven black hair framing her face, and emerge from the lake with long, pale-blonde hair and a cloud of steam encasing her form.

In the end, Videl had transformed herself from an ordinary fighter, into an entirely different woman.

These visions soon bled away into darkness and were once more replaced by another. From it, Gohan guessed that a great many years had come and gone, as he saw his girlfriend had gone through yet another series of extreme changes. This time however, the situation he saw the teenager in was completely different to every other one he'd seen before.

He could see Videl, dressed in an outfit similar to Whis's, wielding a long, golden staff of an intricate and otherworldly design, standing on the surface of a moon in a far off galaxy, with her foot planted firmly on the chest of the monstrous, shape shifting demon Majin Buu. The stars burning from unaccountable amounts of damage and the landscape around them looking no better than the rest of the quadrant, the demi-Saiyan also noted that both fighters were bearing enormous amounts of battle damage. Not only was his girlfriend's outfit torn in several places and she was completely covered in burns and bruises, she also had a deep scar carved across her right eye, which was missing and bleeding profusely.

Buu on the other hand, was looking even worse than her. His body resembled a pile of beaten up goop on the ground, covered in burns, scars, with his head barely intact. He lay beneath the girl's boot, groaning and choking in agony, while the girl brandished the tip of her golden lance directly over where his brain would be.

From that sight alone, Gohan knew his girlfriend had won their battle.

Huffing angrily as the moon around them burned, the blonde fighter hissed, "You're finished, Majin Buu."

Choking up blood from his barely formed mouth, the entity known across the quadrant as Zen Buu grinned at the woman standing over him in an impressed and irritated manner. "Well played… Videl Satan. Well played." He nodded towards the fighter in acknowledgement of her great power and silently commended her for her victory. "I never would've thought… that my actions in this world… would eventually come back to bite me in the ass. And here I thought I'd become the most powerful force across all of creation." A shake of his head soon followed. "Oh, how wrong I was…"

Videl scowled, "You may have killed Whis and Beerus over a century ago, but there is no way you can kill what I am."

The demon leered, "And what would that be, my dear?"

Her glare only seemed to harden even further. "The legacy of all the innocent people you've wronged." Bringing her staff even closer while at the same time suppressing the gooey mass of her opponent with her powers, Videl sneered. "I've been waiting several hundred years for this moment… and now it has finally come. Release Gohan and the others now… and I just might let you go."

"Gohan and the others? Who are you talking abou-… ooh," Zen Buu stopped, shortly before a dark, foreboding smirk pulled across his confused face. "You mean the Saiyans I absorbed on earth a hundred thousand years ago, right?" When he saw the girl nod and brandish her staff even closer, his eyes narrowed menacingly. "Unfortunately for you… you're too late. Gohan and his family have all been assimilated into my body, meaning he and the others are no longer cocooned inside my brain… and no longer have physical form. His soul and personality have become molded with my own… lost in a sea of billions of other unique individuals… and I can't tell which one is which anymore." When he saw a look of shock cross over the girl's eyes, the demon cocked his head towards her apologetically. "You could've saved him several decades ago… but it looks like you came up short. Sorry." And he said it in the snidest way he possibly could. "No hard feelings?"

At first Videl remained frozen; her weapon poised and still holding the demon beneath her at bay. From the look in her eyes, you could see the sensations of shock and defeat slowly become realized in the flecks of her red eye. All her years of fighting and training to achieve the power necessary to defeat the universe's greatest threat, had all yielded nothing to her but a string of backbreaking trials and a total of zero accomplishments. The pains she'd experienced, the losses she'd witnessed, and the deaths she'd faced… not a single one of them had helped her one bit in achieving her goal. When her mind finally worked out that she'd lost Gohan for good and that there was absolutely no way that she could bring back the man that she loved, something inside of her suddenly snapped.

Without warning, Zen Buu unexpectedly found himself staring up in fear when he noticed the blonde's expression twist into one of pure rage, malice and hatred. A shadow falling over her blood-covered face, the one-eyed woman gave a deep snarl before, in a flash of golden light, she struck down at her defenseless opponent with a mighty cry of anguish and a deafening thunderclap, incinerating the demon with a single blow.

But Majin Buu wasn't the only thing she destroyed. In her anger, Videl generated an explosion so great and so powerful, it not only consumed the entire galaxy she was in, but burned and destroyed every single other galaxy in all directions. From his safe little bubble, Gohan looked on in abject disbelief as the entire universe lit up around him like a glorified fireworks display, burning hotter than the brightest of quasars, before every single piece of matter in this reality was reduced to nothing but dust in a raging inferno. Then, after a full minute of listening to the collective screams of a countless number of dying worlds, the demi-Saiyan witnessed the entire universe vanish in the blink of an eye, with the wildfire extinguishing in a puff of smoke.

Soon… there was nothing. Of the billions of star systems, galaxies and quadrants making up the once vast reality, Gohan saw nothing but the endless vacuum of the howling stretching out all around him. It was a harrowing and discomforting sight, knowing that every single planet in all of creation had been snuffed out just like that… and at the whim of a victim who served as the center of a great tragedy. It was actually kind of poetic.

After drifting through the blackness of the void for what seemed like an eternity, the demi-Saiyan eventually spotted the one life form that was left behind following the great calamity. Floating in the space of nothingness, which was all that remained of her world, he saw Videl curled up, with her face tucked into her knees and her eyes shut tightly against them, trying their best to hold back the tears that came streaming down her left cheek.

Her sobs and cries marked the passing of her world and, after seeing her form drift off into the endless horizon, the vision finally ended.

After seeing the entire sequence of events play out like a scene from a movie, Gohan's wide eyes slowly turned and landed on the blonde witch standing behind him. When he saw the mysterious girl glaring right back at him with her one red eye, the demi-Saiyan swallowed nervously and faced her completely.

With the memories of the vision still fresh in his mind, the teen knew the exact identity of the person he was now speaking with. He would have to be the world's biggest idiot to not know who it was.

"That… was your world, wasn't it?" the warrior whispered, stepping towards the phantom girl as she scowled right back at him. "When you lost the man that you loved… you sacrificed everything you had to try and get him back… friends… family… even your life. You fell to your knees and tortured yourself for decades… working yourself to the bone in order to gain the strength necessary to do what needed to be done. But just when you thought you would finally get to see him again… he was already gone… and there was no way for you to get him back." He then stopped in his tracks, his mind rewinding and replaying the events one last time. "In that world, I was defeated… and you went out to rescue me…"

After gazing down at the girl, the demi-Saiyan uttered the phantom's true name.

"Videl."

The blonde witch's eye narrowed even further upon the boy. When he took a step closer to her in an attempt to work away the gap between them, he saw the girl's glare on him harden and her fists clench. Taking that as a warning to keep his distance, Gohan held back for the time being and looked down at the teenager with a crestfallen expression.

Staring at her carefully, the boy glanced back in the direction the visions had previously been projected to him. After considering the images for a few moments, he quickly turned back to his visitor and began to speak again. "All those memories… they were from two different universes, weren't they? One where we all survived against Majin Buu and Frieza was brought back to life… and another where we were all absorbed by Majin Buu and you defeated him years later. You destroyed that previous universe and, if my guess is correct, moved on to another universe… and then another." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he began figuring out what this meant. "For you to know all of these things… to have witnessed them and to know exactly when each of these events took place… you must have relived them a thousand times over and crossed countless dimensions to get where you are now. Your grief drove you into a state of rage… and you exerted all of the energy you had fighting… trying to make things right."

Staring the blonde square in the eye, Gohan took a few moments to gather his thoughts. Once he was certain he'd arrived at an answer, the demi-Saiyan furrowed his brow and fixed a hard glare upon the witch.

"Tell me… how many universes did you destroy before you came to this one?"

The one-eyed girl didn't say anything at first, choosing to remain completely silent. However, after meeting the demi-Saiyan's glare and matching it over the course of a few seconds, the blonde craned her head towards him and replied in a low voice.

"Enough."

Reflecting a sense of surprise and hurt, the young Saiyan warrior slowly held a hand out to the girl in a sincere gesture of compassion. "I saw all the pain and loneliness you had to go through… and I'm really sorry for all the suffering that you had to endure because of me." He looked her squarely in the eye when he said this next part. "Please… let me help you, Videl."

The girl remained silent again, her one eye reflecting a momentary balk and hesitation in her mental state. However, just as Gohan was reaching out to take her hand, with nothing but the best of intentions of helping the blonde, the phantom suddenly thrust her arm forward and slammed her palm into the teen's chest. The impact was immense, causing a dull thud to ring out that not only knocked the wind out of the Saiyan's lungs, but sent him to the ground. Dropping onto his back with a heavy 'oof', the teen then looked up with a start to see the blonde witch step forward and stand over him.

Glaring down at the stunned warrior, the phantom girl spoke, "You can't help me. There isn't a person alive that can help me. I know this, because I saw it with my own eye. In every single universe I've visited, no matter how hard you tried and no matter how hard you fought… Son Gohan was always destined to fail." When she saw the look of bewilderment flash across the demi-Saiyan's face, the blonde witch slowly raised her arms and held them out. As soon as she did, a series of shadows manifested around her, all of which then transformed into silhouettes of all shapes and sizes. From his position on the ground, Gohan saw two large, hulking aliens and a handful of humanoid figures gather around the blonde, all of whom had their glowing red eyes fixated upon him. Though he couldn't identify any of them on sight, even if he could see their clothing and skin, it was still an incredibly intimidating picture.

Knowing she had the thunderstruck Saiyan's full and undivided attention, the phantom Videl spoke one last time, "This is your destiny. These people you see standing before you… they are the monsters that you and your friends will eventually face. You can try and fight them all you like, and you might actually win… but sooner or later… one of them is going to kill you." The witch then began backing up into the crowd of ghosts, all of which moved forward as she began fading into the darkness. "The day that they do, just like what's happened thousands of times before… your friends will suffer and die… and your world will end."

Hearing these words loud and clear, a stricken Gohan gritted his teeth and sprang off of the floor with a yell. "No! I won't let it happen!" Just as he was dashing towards the retreating female, he suddenly felt several arms grab him from behind and pull him back. Recoiling in shock, the Saiyan looked behind him to see a series of black hands attached to a collection of wraithlike figures begin pulling him back. Shocked at the strength they possessed, the demi-Saiyan fought back, trying with all his might to break free. His ability to go Super Saiyan however was hampered by the foundations of his dream and, with every second that ticked by, he started to lose ground against the opposing forces. Yelling out in pain, he attempted to reach out for the fading blonde. "I'm not going to fail! Do you hear me, Videl?! I swear… no matter what anyone says or does… I will not fail! Not now… NOT EVER AGAIN! I will protect you, Zangya, Piccolo and everybody else! TO MY LAST BREATH IF I HAVE TO! I PROMISE!" His screams echoed across the surreal landscape, reverberating off of the invisible boundaries surrounding him.

Without warning, the army of phantom figures standing behind the blonde witch, each of whom were distinguishable from one another only by their size and outline, charged at the demi-Saiyan and struck out at him en masse. Covering up just in time with his arms, the teenage warrior managed to take their collection of blows, which impacted against him with a crack of thunder. The impact of the simultaneous hits was massive; with the force being so overwhelmingly powerful that it plowed Gohan into the arms holding him down and sent him flying back through the darkness of his nightmare.

Before he knew it, the stunned demi-Saiyan felt his body beginning to fall. Looking up through the blackness of the void and the haze of the attacks, he saw the Videl from another universe and the figures surrounding her fade away into the distance.

The teen gave one last yell of fright as he plummeted into the abyss below, shortly before a bright, white light engulfed him…

XXX

(Midnight)

Eyes flickering open, a bedridden and mentally shaken Gohan gave a light groan as his eyes adjusted to the light of his bedroom.

At least… he thought it was his bedroom.

Finding himself staring up at a pale white ceiling and a cluster of fluorescent lights, all of which had been switched off, the bewildered demi-Saiyan spent the next minute or so trying to figure out whether or not this world he was seeing was real. He felt life, electrical impulses, and odd sensations running up and down his body, letting him know that he was indeed conscious and able to comprehend what he was receiving through his senses.

However, after spending what felt like a decade wandering a surreal world, surrounded by illusions, sanity, madness, and fantasy, he found it quite difficult discerning if this was just another part of it.

The truth soon revealed itself moments later when the previously comatose teenager looked down the length of his body and began taking in the sights. Aside from finding himself in a bed that was clearly in a hospital wing of some high-tech facility, the very first thing the demi-Saiyan saw the instant he fixed his gaze across the sheets, were all of his friends scattered around him.

To his left he saw Erasa, dressed in a set of cute pajamas, lying asleep atop one of the free beds on the far side, and Lime snoring away on the desk alongside him with the lamp turned on. Apparently the latter had fallen asleep doing homework and had refused to move from her station, even to get to a proper incline position, bless her heart. Judging from the pages lying underneath her head, she appeared to have been working on her calculus homework too.

Knowing that the processing parts of his brain were working just fine after working up the numbers, the dazed Gohan then looked over the rest of the room. He immediately spotted Piccolo meditating in the corner, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed and was so wrapped up in his activity that he didn't even notice the teen had regained consciousness. Not wishing to disturb the Namekian, the demi-Saiyan continued his scan of the area and soon spotted on his right-hand side Videl lying against the bed beside him, her hand wrapped around his and Zangya perched on the windowsill behind her. Both girls were fast asleep and, despite her awkward position, the Hera was using the frame of the viewing platform as a comforter.

After marveling at the fact that many of his closest friends were in the same room with him and were standing guard by his bedside, so to speak, Gohan quickly looked down at Videl to see the girl shift across the sheets and let out a gentle sigh. Feeling her hand tighten around his, the young half-Saiyan soon realized that he was well and truly awake, and that this was no longer a dream.

Unbeknownst to him however, standing atop a lamppost across from the Capsule Corp main building in full view of his window, the same blonde witch with the eye patch that'd invaded his dream could be seen watching his room carefully from a distance. Narrowing her one good eye on the people inside and seeing the demi-Saiyan slowly regain consciousness, the inter-dimensional traveler, with her bell jingling on the night air and outfit tails waving on the breeze, then turned her gaze towards the starry sky above and, without a moment's hesitation, vanished in a flash of golden light.

Analyzing the condition of his body and the bits and bolts holding it together, he felt no pain, no fatigue, and no weakness. The heart virus was completely gone. In fact, after taking another quick look down his frame, the demi-Saiyan felt even stronger and better than ever.

When his mind eventually got around to working this out, the newly revived Gohan allowed a warm smile to cross his lips, at the same time he gently squeezed Videl's hand in his. Seeing her respond unconsciously and her beautiful face turn towards him, the Z-fighter soon thought back to the dreams he'd experienced and the visions he'd witnessed. Upon recalling the identity of the mysterious phantom and allowing her words to percolate in his mind, the boy frowned deeply and, upon looking ahead of him, permitted a look of absolute certainty and confidence to forge his expression.

"I won't let you down," Gohan thought assuredly as his gaze landed on his girlfriend sleeping alongside him. Running his thumb over the back of her hand and seeing a smile tug at her lips, a sense of serenity and peace formed upon his. "I promise."

After all, nothing was set in stone in this world. His fate was what he made for himself and not something that was decided by anyone.

Whether he would live up to that promise though, would have to wait until tomorrow.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

---

Author's Note: Well that was fun. Onward and upward I suppose.

Basically Kaiser has plans to create a human empire while using the earth as a flying fortress and killed Hasky to turn her into an android. I think that's a pretty accurate direction in where this is going.

And Gohan experiences his last nightmare before waking up from the heart virus. This sequence is interesting, since it reveals basically who the person haunting him is, and establishes the fact that Gohan has failed in every single one of his battles. This gives our hero an opportunity to grow and change his fate, so we'll see how he carries that out in the future.

The story acknowledges the fact that there are multiple universes in motion. Not just counting the ones where God Frieza, Bardock and Cell came from and the ones from the Dragonball Z: Multiverse comic, but also the canon universe, or a universe like it, which this alternate Videl apparently visited during the Revival of F arc and probably destroyed. We don't know that. All we know at this point is that she's an inter-dimensional God who has seen a lot of shit, and has now set her sights on this universe, and will test it to see if it will be worth her time.

I wonder how things will go from here.