After Goten and Trunks had calmed themselves, Dad decided that it would be a good idea for him to give them a basic understanding of the fusion technique. Even though I was still angry with him, I grudgingly admitted that I should listen as well. This information may come in handy at a later time.

"You'll only be able to stay fused for half an hour, even if you succeed," he explained in that good-natured tone of his. "Then you'll split off in two and won't be able to fuse again for a while."

"Only a half hour…? So little…" Piccolo had grimaced as he spoke.

"They'll be able to get it done, if they do it right! That's how powerful it is!" Dad then turned to the boys. "Okay, first turn Super Saiyan." The boys did nothing but glare at him, which caught him off guard. "…What?"

"What were you doing when Tou-san and Gohan-san got killed?" Trunks demanded of him. I could not blame him for wanting to know that. He had probably found out from someone, either his mom or my brother, why my father had died. If so, he definitely knew that my father should have been there.

I watched my dad carefully. It was clear that he was trying to determine how to answer the question, seeing as the boys' looks stated that they did not trust him. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "I was out cold." I was definitely surprised that he admitted that.

"Knocked out?" Trunks repeated in angry disbelief. "At a time like that? And you're supposed to be strong?"

"What are we gonna be able to learn from you?" Goten added.

Piccolo was clearly enraged by the boys' words, so was I for that matter. "How… dare you…? You are speaking to Goku-!"

"It's okay, Piccolo… I am weak now," Dad admitted. "I could never beat Boo…" He then looked at the boys. "But I can still teach you this trick. If you want to get them back for everyone's deaths, this is the only way."

The boys were still apprehensive, which made my irritation worse. I was not exactly sure what was causing it either. Was it their indecision? Or was it that I was upset that they did not trust my father? The latter surprised me, once I thought about it. After everything that had happened thus far, I thought I had lost faith in him.

A laugh then sounded through the air, which immediately got everyone's attention: it was Bobbidi. "We're here again, Earthlings! Bobbidi and Boo! I've found an even bigger city this time. And it's about to be reduced to nothing… unless Demon Jr., Trunks, and Goten show themselves!"

"H-he's talking about us!" Trunks was definitely surprised by that, and more surprised by the concept that he could not figure out where Bobbidi was.

"Close your eyes, Trunks-kun! You can see them!" my brother shouted.

"Don't look!" Piccolo warned them. "It's better that way."

"Looks like no one's going to help me," Bobbidi said with a false disappointment. "Oh well… The casualties increase. Maybe this time they'll turn into chocolate." As the boys shouted in horror, Boo carried out his master's wishes. After everyone became chocolate, it ate them, and then destroyed the city.

"Now Boo's all stuffed with chocolate," Bobbidi continued. "We'll just blow up the next town. Heh heh… Where shall we go next…?"

"Bobbidi! Boo! This is Trunks..!" I was horrified when I realized that Trunks was actually calling out to that monster. Piccolo seemed to be thinking along the same lines, especially when my brother called out as well.

"Oh…! At last, at last!"

"We can't do it now, but soon—we'll kill you both!"

"Stop talking to him!" Piccolo shouted at them. "He'll find out where we are!"

"Hey! Where are you?" Bobbidi shouted. "Come out here! Are you hiding? Cowards!"

"Now, are you ready… to learn?" Dad asked, unfazed by what happened. The boys surprisingly nodded immediately. The shock of seeing what happened must have convinced them that they needed to learn the fusion from Dad.

I took that as my queue to leave. I was still in a bad mood, and that would probably be more of a distraction than anything else. Also, I had accidently cut my palm with my nails while I watched Bobbidi's display, so it was as good of a time as any to take care of that.

But, before I did that, I wished my brother luck with his training. I hoped that he took his training seriously; I did not know if I would be able to stand it if he was taken away too.

…

"You're not watching them?" Videl asked as she found me sitting in a rather secluded part of the palace. My answer was no more than a shrug.

I thought that she was going to leave me alone when she did not get an answer, but surprisingly, she sat down beside me. Her face was swollen; apparently, she had been crying. "Do you think that you'll win?"

"I'll be honest with you: I have no idea," I told her as calmly as possible. "If this fusion thing is as powerful as Tou-san says it is, then we have a chance…"

She was silent for a moment. "That's not what I was hoping to hear. I mean, didn't he know what he was doing when it came to Cell?"

I sighed before I replied. This conversation was going in a direction in which I did not want it. "He thought he did." My words were harsher than I had intended. "He misjudged someone's character and paid for it with his life."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Another audible sigh escaped from my lips. She wanted me to give her an explanation of what happened at the Cell Games, which I had no desire to do. After letting giving what I thought was an appropriate amount of silence, I was about to begin when there was another interruption from Bobbidi:

"Earthlings! I've just learned something fascinating! It seems that one of my three targets lives in the Capsule Corp. house in the City of the West. And that happens to be where we're heading now! Better show yourself, Trunks—Or your city will go bye-bye!"

It was my turn to stand. There was no way that Trunks or Bulma would willingly standby while their home was destroyed, especially when Bulma's parents had decided to remain there. I had to know what was going to be done. "Sorry, but that story will have to wait until later…" I then took a shortcut, via the window, to the main floor of the palace.

I felt Tou-san and Trunks leave by teleportation and flying, respectively, by the time I had managed to reach everyone else. "What happened?"

"Oh, Goshi! Goku went to stall Boo while Trunks gets the Dragon Radar," Kuririn told me. I bit my lip; no matter what happened, this was not going to be good.

"Watch, Earthlings!" Bobbidi called, once Dad had interrupted his journey to Capsule Corp. "You'll see what happens to fools who defy us!" Dad immediately leveled up to the transformed state, which caused Bobbidi to laugh. "What futility! Vegeta did just that—and fell!"

Dad just smiled. "Okay, then… I'll have to go past the Super Saiyan level beyond the original Super Saiyan level!"

His words made little sense to us. Did that mean that he was going to transform again? Was that even possible?

Dad then did something that was unexpected, he yelled. "GO GET THE RADAR! YOU HEAR ME?" Dad rarely yelled, so it was rather unsettling. But after that, I noticed that Trunks' chi began moving at a high rate of speed. He must have stopped, causing Dad to do that.

"…? Who are you talking to…?" Bobbidi asked as he looked over his shoulder. "What 'radar'?"

"Nothing," Dad said in a slightly amused voice. "Where were we?"

"Foo. Cooking up some hopeless scheme, are you?"

"Basically." Dad then returned to his normal state, much to everyone's surprise.

"…Why turn back?" Boo asked. "Give up?"

"Not at all. I wanted to teach you about Super Saiyans so it's easier to understand."

Bobbidi was growing impatient. "Forget it! I don't care anyway!"

"Oh, don't say that. So… this is normal." Dad then transformed. "This is Super Saiyan." He leveled up again. "And this is the Super Saiyan level beyond that. 'Super Saiyan 2,' I guess." Bobbidi then said something, which Dad ignored. "And then…this… IS THE NEXT LEVEL UP!"

Dad's chi literally exploded. The sheer quantity was immeasurable, and it just kept growing! It was as if there was no end! When he was finally done, the result shocked everyone. Not only was his chi intense, but so was his appearance.

This was much different from any of the other transformations. His hair was longer; down near his knees. His eyebrows were gone, and the pure green eyes now had black pupils. It was so alien.

"This is Super Saiyan level three," Dad explained. "Sorry it took a while. I'm not used to it yet."

"You look scary," Boo said happily. "But Boo not scared."

"Piffle! (1) Level three, my tailbone!" Bobbidi exclaimed. "Finish him off, Boo!"

"Yeah. Finish me off." There was no way to tell if Dad was being sarcastic or not.

A hysterical laugh came from Bobbidi's mouth. "Humiliate him while the world the whole planet watches!"

Dad never gave Boo a chance to attack him. Within a blink of an eye, Dad had grabbed Boo's antenna and began using him like a ball and paddle (2). Once he was done with that, Dad spun him around before he let go, which sent Boo flying into the ocean below them.

Boo immediately recovered and came back for more. He responded to Dad's attack by using one of Vegeta's attacks, which Dad was able to block. Boo then extended his arm and punched Dad, which did not faze him. They then continued to trade punches, until Dad decided to use the Kamehameha wave. It cut through Boo's stomach, but he immediately healed himself.

Then Boo decided to fire Dad's attack back at him. Although Dad was surprised, he knocked the attack back at Boo, who just dodged it. Unfortunately, that allowed the attack to hit the earth, which warped that part of the planet.

"Boo! Careful, stupid! That almost got me!" Bobbidi scolded before he returned to making fun of Dad. "I bet that blew up a tenth of the planet! What kind of champion of justice are you?"

Dad just ignored him. "You don't look smart, but you are," he told Boo. "You learn your enemy's moves incredibly fast." He then relaxed and returned to his normal form; Trunks had begun to move again.

"Hey, why you turn?" Boo asked him. "This is fun! I want more!"

"I'm honored. But I don't have time. I can't play with you forever. I'm heading back."

Bobbidi laughed again. "Did you think you could escape alive? Boo, kill him to teach them all a lesson!"

"Bobbidi, the ones you're looking for will come in three… no, two days. Just wait. Stop this killing. Just wait two days, okay?"

That seemed to interest Boo. "…Are they strong…?"

"Why should I do what you say?" Bobbidi demanded. "Maybe we'll kill more people, just to spite you!"

"Too bad…" Dad told him. "It would've been fun for Boo. I'll make sure they chew you out in Hell when you get there." Dad then teleported.

It was then that Boo finally turned on Bobbidi and killed him.

…

When Dad returned, Piccolo immediately went over and spoke to him. While that occurred, Boo began a killing spree.

That destroyed the feeling of being mesmerized that I had felt while I had watched Dad fight; what replaced it was rage. Dad had the ability, or at least I thought he did, to destroy that thing all along. Without even thinking about it, I marched up to him.

Dad seemed to think that I was going to say something pleasant to him, as he turned to me with a smile as I approached, but that was quickly replaced by surprised as I slapped him. "Weak my ass!" I hissed at him. "You could have stopped this hours ago! Why? Why didn't you?

Dad looked at me knowingly, which made my anger worse. "That Super Saiyan level three can only be done in the Afterlife, where time doesn't really mean much. If I do it in this world, it uses up too much energy. So basically, I have to borrow against the time I have left. I've probably got less than an hour left. That's why I didn't use it earlier."

I could feel my eyes widen in shock. If a person was alive and learned this technique, their life span would be cut every time they used it. This meant that it could only be done by someone who was dead. My mind wanted to have time to process that information as well as the fact that Dad would be leaving us, again, shortly, but my rage would not allow it.

I just shook my head and backed away from him. "You're not him. You're not Tou-san." I could feel the tears run down my cheeks as I spoke. "Tou-san gave up his life to save us, not once but twice. He'd never let something like the loss of time stop him from protecting what he held dear. You're not him."

"Goshi…!" The man wearing my dad's face reached out to me.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted before I ran back into the palace.

…

I barely noticed when Trunks returned. My mind was just a wave of chaotic thoughts that had no rhyme or reason. The person who wore my dad's face was not my dad. My brother was gone. The world was being destroyed. There was nothing I could do to help either. The world had spun out of control, and I could do nothing to stop it.

This war was supposed to help me regain part of what I lost during the years of peace, but that was not happening. I had felt despair before, but this was hopelessness.

Sometime later, someone, Videl, I think, came to tell me that the imposter was leaving. "Good riddance!" was my reply. I was not going to move; I was not going to admit that person was the same person I had nearly worshiped as a child. I could tell when he left though. His vanishing presence further ripped apart my heart.

…

The next day was practically a blur. I do not remember moving at all until I heard someone mention that the boys were going to try to fuse for real. Curious, I moved myself to a place where I could safely watch from a location where I would not have to encounter anyone.

Everyone watched as the boys did some ridiculous moves. When they preformed their last move, there was an odd light, which was temporarily blinding. When it vanished there was only one person standing where two had been.

The fusion had been successful, but I was not sure whether to laugh or be discouraged. The person that resulted from the technique was chubby and his chi was not all that impressive. He also got out of breath extremely quickly. If this was the result from the fusion, that was supposed to be unstoppable, then there was no hope for the world.

I noted that Piccolo had begun yelling, which was a bit surprising. Apparently, this was not what was supposed to happen as someone had made a mistake. Again, I was not sure if I should laugh or not.

The boys remained in the incorrectly fused state for about a half hour before they returned to normal, and, about an hour after that, they tried it again. This time I was not able to restrain my laughter; the result was a person who was as skinny as a sickly old man and just as weak.

Once again, the boys had made a mistake and had to wait for the fusion to wear off before they could try it again. Their third try was rather impressive. It must have gone correctly as the chi I could feel from the resulting person was incredible. This was the first time since this fight had begun that I had felt like there was some hope. The only question now was if this person could use that chi impressively.

Piccolo said something to this new warrior that I could not hear, but apparently the warrior's answer was not what he wanted to hear. "You fool!" Piccolo yelled loudly enough for me to hear him clearly. "You know nothing about Boo! You may be powerful—but scarcely enough to defeat him!"

I had a feeling where this was going and moved from my position to behind the fusion warrior. "Don't underestimate me," he told Piccolo. His voice disturbed me slightly. It was a strange combination between Trunks' and Goten's voices. "How about I prove it—by bringing back Boo's corpse?"

"That arrogance is not very attractive," I said harshly, which caught everyone's attention. "Not only that, but it has no place in a battle. People have died because of it."

The warrior just laughed at me. "That's funny, Goshi. There's no way that could happen."

"Really? Ask someone about what happened during the fights with Freeza and Cell; you'll think differently." I then walked closer to him. "But if you still think I'm wrong, why don't we have a little sparring match. If you can beat me, then you'll be fine. If not, then you'll need more practice. What do you say?"

The warrior just shrugged. "Why not? If I can defeat you then everyone will get off my back." He then got into a defensive position. "Are you ready?"

…

Is Gotenks, the warrior born of the fusion really that powerful? And if so, will he really be able to defeat Boo, like Goku had promised? Find out next time on the next action-packed episode of Dragonballz!

1 Editor note: I personally think that this is possibly the funniest sound verbal sound effect I've encountered. I'll never respect Bobbidi's authority again. XD

2 I hope you people know what that is. If not, I feel old. In all honesty, it's just a ball that's attached with a string to a paddle. The goal is to see how many times in a row you can hit the ball. It's not quite as easy as it sounds.