Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball or Dragonball Z
A/N: Short chapter that serves as a wrap-up point for a Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan to make the next step in their respective paths. After this comes Freiza and plenty of action for everyone's two favorite full-bloods while Gohan sinks further into acceptance of his fate. As a note, I know that I don't edit this much like I do my actual works, but I wanted it to be clear that for Gohan this is something that he's finding ways to justify it. It's very much an example of the ends justifies the means for him. He's intelligent but young, he doesn't yet understand that trying to help doesn't always mean good if it's done incorrectly. I just didn't want anyone thinking he's really this demented little nutcase that is set on enslaving the universe with Cooler, he truly believes in my version of Cooler's words. Also, I had not realized that when I upload the chapters with multiple POV's it's erasing my separators. I am so sorry you've all had to deal with that, it's something that annoys me immensely. Thank you for your continued support to all of you. Even if you don't review, I'm glad to be able to provide a sort of entertainment for you.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
"What in the hell was that!" Iza demanded as she landed next to Gohan, shaking him. Gohan stirred a bit but wouldn't wake. Tris took a calmer approach and focused her scouter on the prone boy. A few seconds of beeps went by before she sighed and shut the scan off.
"He's fine, just exhausted," Tris cut in on Iza's panic, "Give me a minute and I'll have him back on his feet."
Tris lifted up and flew off. True to her word, she was back in less than a minute. A large fruit was clasped in her hand. In a quick twist, the juicy fruit separated. She shoved one of the sweet-smelling halves under Gohan's nose.
A small twitch was the first sign, the next sign was Gohan engulfing the presented food. He had snatched the other half in a blink and downed it too.
"What was that?" Iza asked quietly while he reoriented himself. Tris shrugged, "Not a clue, let's hope they weren't poisonous. It did the trick, though."
"Oh, hey, are y'all done with your areas?" Gohan asked as he noticed his comrades for the first time. Tris chuckled and nodded as Iza answered, "We were actually heading this way to help you when…"
Gohan looked around as his hand crept behind his head, "Whoops, I guess I went a little overboard."
Iza waved it off, "Oh well, the terraformers will have this straightened up in no time. Let's get loaded up and head back. I overheard some comm chatter earlier, it seems the armored squadron has returned."
"Who are they?" Gohan asked as they waited for their pods to come. Iza continued, "They're the special forces that are under Cooler's direct command. Other than King Cold's personal guard they are the strongest under Cold Empire command."
"Some would say they're even stronger," Tris interjected. Gohan climbed into his own pod and let the lift-off sequence begin. The trio was leaving the atmosphere and Iza and Tris were already deep into cryosleep. Gohan had delayed his own sleep, opting to stare out the window into the reaches of space instead.
His mind wandered back to the battle but not of the power he harnessed. Instead, he had focused on how difficult it had been to remember his own father. His young mind struggled to recall the thoughts of his family and his planet. He came up short with not much more than faces and basic facts.
"Third Vanquisher Saiyan, why have you not initiated standard cyro sleep?"
"I was just off in thought, looking at the stars and all," Gohan answered.
A different voice crackled through the speaker, "Disregard protocols for the time, Saiyan. Mission control, resume your normal duties."
"Yes, sir, Lord Cooler," the dispatch officer was quick to respond and almost as quick to get off the line.
"Oh, hello, Lord Cooler!" Gohan chimed in quickly. Cooler responded, "The footage of your recent battle was brought to my attention. Do you happen to know what Iza's, Tris's, and your own scouter registered your power at?"
"N..n..no, sir?" Gohan questioned, unsure where the conversation was headed. Cooler was silent. Silence filled the air until a disgruntled noise made its way through the speaker.
"As you may or may not remember, your last check-up was not too long ago. Under serious strain, you showed to be able to reach heights nearing seven-thousand. That was already impressive for your age, even for a half Saiyan. However, if these readings are accurate, you blew past that with a surprising new reading just above ten-thousand," Cooler said.
Gohan stammered, "I did that?"
Cooler said, "Yes, you did, and that makes me think you could do even more if enabled to see more front line action. Because of that, I am making a special exception for you. You are to be allowed to take on solo-missions at your discretion when not dispatched with your team."
Gohan was unsure what good that would do but made certain to say his thanks regardless. Cooler pressed on, "On a final note, I would say that you had postponed your cyro sleep to think about your old life. Your life as the earthling boy and his adoring family. That life is gone, Saiyan. Let it go, embrace your new life. You could help me bring peace to my father's imploding empire. It is a harsh life and a brutal truth, but it's needed.
My brother is causing strife, my father is ignoring his own realm, and rebels are rising up faster than we can stomp them out. There is a king of the universe, such an empty title, but that throne does not, can not, bring the universe to heel. We will fill that void, and when it's clear that more is needed we will take it all. To do any of that, I will need you to be stronger."
"Yes, sir," Gohan said. The call was cut and Gohan was left with his own thoughts. He hadn't wanted to agree, but he had already nearly forgotten his home. He really only remembered two people. A Namekian by the name of Piccolo, an intimidating figure if memory served. The other was a girl about his own age, Videl or Del. He made a silent promise to not allow himself to forget anymore even if he was moving on.
Vegeta stepped out of the pod in his ruined uniformed as Serene approached in a hurry. His ear had healed on the flight back and his equilibrium had returned. Still, he was exhausted and the two were forced to walk slower as they headed for the medical ward.
"Nappa is dead," he muttered. His face was neutral but the smirk could be heard in his tone. She nodded and said, "Yeah, I know, but we have bigger problems. We'll talk about it while we get you taken care of."
Vegeta kept quiet but his nerves began to fray as thoughts chased one another through his head. Closed off in a private room in the medical ward, she turned and shoved her scouter far into a cabinet. Her hands were shaking and her breathing was uneven now that he had time to look at her. Her face was gaunt and normally blue-tinted skin had a sickly hue to it.
"What is it?" he asked. She swallowed and said, "Frieza sent someone into my office a few days ago. Those two kids that serve him. I got them on the cameras. They logged onto my computer and accessed everything. My searches for Dragon Balls, all of Raditz's transmissions, all of yours to me. Everything that was supposed to be secure! Only Frieza's personal code can get into my systems without my authorization, he's never used it before. This means he heard everything Kakarot told you."
Vegeta angrily asked, "Frieza went to Namek then?"
Serene nodded and shakily said, "Y-yes. He took a small contingent with him along with Zarbon and Dodoria."
Vegeta paused, his face relaxing, and asked, "What about the Ginyu Force?"
"They left a few months ago to deal with something as a to favor King Cold. I don't think Frieza has even told anyone what's really going on with you. We should take this chance and get the hell away from all this while we're still breathing," she pleaded.
Vegeta grinned, "Oh no, we're taking this chance but not to run. Do you not want to see Frieza fall?"
"Of course I do, but look around you, Vegeta: Nappa and Raditz are dead, Uni and Tor can only do so much as evidenced, and you and I aren't exactly a force to be reckoned with since Earth was a bust!" she ranted.
"We will be. With Frieza taking the witless-wonders with him and the Ginyu Force being gone, we can patch me up, snatch some fresh gear, and follow after them. In pods, we should arrive not too much later than Frieza, and Kakarot will be swooping in with no choice but to help us if he wants to live, I'd bet my life on it," Vegeta grinned maniacally.
"Seems like you're betting mine too," Serene muttered, but she left it alone. Instead, she said, "Get in the tank, I'll find you a new set of armor, and-what are you doing?"
Vegeta was waving his tail around and said, "Kakarot didn't have a tail."
"Yes, and? You were stronger than him," Serene reminded him. Vegeta wrapped the furry appendage around his waist and said, "It was close. He had what? One earth year to prepare. He struggled to defeat Raditz, with help. Yet he was able to push my hand."
"You had an exploded eardrum! You could barely balance!" she argued.
"It doesn't take balance to overpower someone with sheer energy, yet he held my attack off. A small distraction from my scouter was enough to tip the scales. I could've transformed, just crushed him, but part of me knows that he could be useful still," Vegeta said. His eyes held a distant look as he finished undressing.
"What will you do when you think he's useless? Will you crush him then?" she asked. Her hands lingered just off the door controls as she waited for an answer. He nodded and said, "Like the pest he is."
"Then why worry about his little bit of power? You will be immortal, my Prince, that's better than his laughable power will ever be," she said with the barest hint of a kind smile before leaving.
"So, it's ready? How long will it take us?" Goku asked as he stared at the large round space ship. Krillin stood next to him with Bulma and her father across from them giving the presentation. Sadness hung on the air, the loss of Yamcha was still a heavy blow on top of Gohan. To make matters worse, Tien's wounds had proved even worse than expected, and the triclops was laid up in a hospital, even after all this time.
"It's ready to go. We should be there in ten days. It's already stocked and supplied. The top half is the new and improved gravity chamber. No more moving floors and walls to worry about and a much higher max level. One-hundred times earth gravity to be precise. The bottom half is living quarters for us," Bulma explained in a breeze.
Krillin nervously asked, "Um, Bulma, are you sure that you-"
"I swear to Kami, Krillin, we are not discussing this again! I am going with you two!" she snapped. Goku interrupted before Krillin could continue and asked, "The gravity won't change in the living quarters?"
"No, I should be fine down there, you two can train all you want," She said. Goku smiled a little and said, "Wow, if the first machine helped me so much, imagine what hundred times will be able to do."
Krillin nudged him and said, "Uh, buddy, you've got that crazy look in your eye like at the Budokai, and I just want to remind you that I am a human and probably not built for this."
"You'll be fine downstairs when we reach that point then," Bulma cut in and continued, "Now, everyone load up. Clothes, food, hygiene products, everything is already packed on. We leave right now."
