"You did it."
While Gohan his father's declaration with a nod, he lacked the vigor to celebrate. Instead, he sat down in the pile of ash that used to be his tormentor. Despite the smoke sneaking into his nose, Gohan breathed the clearest air he felt in a decade – but couldn't enjoy it. He had achieved the fabled pinnacle of his race's power and vanquished its exterminator in decisive, embarrassing fashion, cementing himself as the universe's most powerful warrior. He was free.
But at such a steep cost, it all felt worthless.
"And then we can be normal again…"
That was Arepa's proclamation after she dedicated herself to Gohan's cause. Her hope was just like his, to live a normal life where she wasn't killing girls just like herself. To exist in a universe where it was never necessary. Now, she'd never even see it, let alone enjoy it. In the end, she had become nothing more than a block of ice, a mere trigger for Gohan's overwhelming power.
Slowly, his eyes drifted open. He looked past the proud smile of his father and focused on the body lying a few feet away. Vegeta. Though he used to lament feeling like his personal weapon, he still wanted to do this for hum. All the pain Gohan endured, Vegeta had three whole decades' worth. He deserved his vengeance just as much, if not far more than Gohan, but went out in shame.
Ready to answer his father's praise, Gohan looked up.
"But what for?" He grabbed a piece of rock and crumbled it to dust, like Frieza had done to Arepa. "There's no bringing them back."
"Right. Piccolo…" Goku replied, frowning.
Gohan stared at his hands. Though he hadn't been in control of them at the time, they were the very instruments that had killed Piccolo - another individual to whom Gohan was immensely indebted. Worse yet, it meant nobody was ever coming back. Ten months ago, Gohan had fixed his own disaster. But in the end, Frieza had proven his darkness was beyond repair.
"Man, I can't believe what that monster did to the girl," Goku said, his eyes bleary. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sure she meant a lot to you."
Not even acknowledging his father's sympathy, Gohan looked back at Vegeta's corpse. At least the Saiyan prince had a body left, some last vestige of himself. Arepa had been murdered in the most frighteningly gruesome measure possible, a torture so inhumane it hadn't left Gohan's mind since it happened to a mere officer's arm. He didn't even want to imagine what had been going through Arepa's mind; she had witnessed that violence right beside him. Her often foolish lack of fear had kept it from affecting her like it had Gohan, but in the end, she was the one to suffer its wrath.
Frieza might have been extinguished, but he shattered what was left of Gohan's heart on the way out. Even as the rain finally died away, even as the suns rays finally peeked down on to Earth with a lively stream of the color spectrum in tow, Gohan still felt a cloud hanging above him. Fitting that Frieza would ensure that Gohan never truly felt free.
"I wouldn't write those two off yet, actually."
The father and son looked over in surprise at Lapis, who looked as calm as ever.
"What do you mean?" Goku asked.
"Remember when I said to put a pin in that tidbit? You weren't there, but when Ginyu was in your body," he began, gesturing towards Gohan, "He said something about Piccolo. That he heard stories about his home planet, Namek, possessing a set of wish-granting orbs themselves."
Gohan and Goku's eyes ballooned.
"The Dragon Balls!" Goku yelled.
A light sparked in Gohan's mind. He shot back up with a droplet of vigor. "Now that you mention, Vegeta brought up the same thing before we came here."
"So are y'all thinkin' there might be a whole 'nother set of Dragon Balls out there?" Goku asked.
Lapis nodded with a smile. "Exactly."
Goku whimsically pumped his fists. "Aw, yeah! We've got some hope yet!"
His son, however, wasn't as optimistic. Nine years in the Frieza Force had left Gohan with no reason to think fortune would ever truly come his way. "I mean, maybe? But the fact that people in the Frieza Force even know about Namek probably means they've already wiped it out in the past. Those bastards don't let a single useful planet go unsullied."
Deflated, Goku slumped his shoulders. Gohan hated skipping straight to the bleakest thoughts, but he had to be realistic.
"Allow me to check!"
All but one spiky-haired individual in a blue shirt looked up at the sky in confusion, in search of the identity of that raspy voice ringing into their ears.
"Hey, King Kai!" Goku greeted to the clouds. "You were followin' along the whole time?!"
"Yes, and first of all, I'd like to commend you all for a job well done. I for one thought Frieza was completely unbeatable, but you guys stepped up to the challenge. The power of a Super Saiyan certainly is incredible, isn't it, Gohan? You wound up turning Frieza into Cold cuts!" King Kai broke out into snort-filled laughter.
Gohan blinked, perplexed by the goofy voice and shoddy pun. This was King Kai, the deity behind his father's vaunted Kaio-Ken technique?
Goku awkwardly scratched the back of his head and forced some laughter out of his mouth. "Uhh…good one!"
"At least one of you guys knows comedy!" King Kai replied. "Anyway, onto more pressing matters. Let's find Namek…"
A few moments passed as King Kai presumably conducted his search. Gohan held his breath, a sliver of hope tensing him even if he didn't expect much.
"Got it! First of all, you can find them in region 9045XY."
The coordinates caught Gohan off-guard; at least in his tenure with the Frieza Force, they had never ventured anywhere near there. Depending on how long God had been on Earth, King Kai's finding yielded at least a slim margin of possibility.
"Now, lemme take a closer look. Y'see, Namek was once a beautiful, thriving planet; but then many centuries ago, a cataclysm struck that wiped out nearly all of its life, be it people or vegetation. While their planet has been trending in the right direction, I don't know if there's anybody left…"
Dejected, but not surprised, Gohan exhaled. It wasn't a purge, but it was a needle in the balloon of hope.
"That might be how our God wound up here," Krillin pondered. "He escaped the storm, and it was just so long ago and he was young enough that he forgot all about it."
"A-HA!" King Kai exclaimed. "The Namekians are still alive! Hell, they're flourishing, actually, growing in numbers with every passing year. They're at nearly a thousand people, now!"
"Awesome!" Goku exclaimed.
Gohan looked up, his eyes wide with replenishing hope. A certain Namekian had told him not to run from setbacks, after all.
However, Krillin didn't quite share the optimism. "That's all well and good, but isn't anybody worried there might be almost a thousand people just like Piccolo?"
"Nah, not to worry. The Namekians are peaceful in nature, like your God was. I imagine his outlook may have been clouded by witnessing the darker side of humanity, and that negativity gave birth to Piccolo."
Gohan nodded in understanding. Being around that kind of toxicity would make anyone cynical about the world, whether it be a pacifistic nomad or a five-year old child.
"Well, you guys know that means! We might be able to bring back Piccolo, Tien, Vegeta, and everyone else that's been killed today!" Goku yelled, to cheers from most of the Earthlings. Though Gohan wasn't among them, he turned towards Vegeta's body with a speck of a smile. Though the possibility may have been slim, it was there. This could still be fixed.
"Let's just hope the spaceship's intact," Lapis remarked. "Then again, with all these pods that have landed here, we have plenty of backup."
"In any case, let's find Bulma," Gohan said, walking towards Vegeta's body. "This isn't going to stop at just bringing everybody back, so we're gonna need her to get stuff back up and running."
"What do you mean?" Goku asked.
After lifting Vegeta's lifeless body and slinging his arm over his shoulders, Gohan answered. "Frieza has a father and a brother."
Many gasps buzzed amongst the Earthlings, even Goku. The possibility of experiencing this madness all over again dampened their respite.
"I've never actually been around them physically, so I don't know how strong they are. But from the impression I've gotten and what Vegeta's told me, saying Frieza and his brother, Cooler, don't get along would be an understatement. I doubt Cooler would care about him dying, but he would definitely care about there being somebody out there strong enough to kill him. We have to get out in front of him before he comes snooping here."
"Fantastic," Krillin groaned. "Even more crazy space lizards that might kill us all."
Of course, if Gohan were completely honest with himself, he had no idea where he stood with Cooler, or even what side the emperor was even on.
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Goku said. "Let's find Bulma and figure out our plans."
Yamcha focused his eyes to the clouds. "Huh, Bulma's back in the city. I hadn't sensed her here earlier. At least she's okay." He grabbed Tien's body and flew into the air.
As everyone followed him, Gohan's stomach churned with dread. There was a reaction he had dreaded. As he floated up, he looked down at the battered streets – the huge abyss that Tien left in his valiant effort to hold Frieza down; the crumbled office buildings, leveled plazas and schools, flipped over vehicles. The scattered sprinkles of ice that used to be Arepa. The Frieza Force that Gohan served in for nine years had left their black mark on Earth – but there was still a chance to erase it.
Bulma shouldn't have been where she was, sitting in a chair inside what was left of her home while the air from the massive hole that spanned about a quarter of the compound's diameter blew against her face. What was once a spaceship across from her in the lawn had now become a pile of metal.
She had done as Vegeta demanded and flew away in her jet. But for one thing, her insane stress had made her forget where Korin tower had even been located. All of the adrenaline pumping in her veins led to her simply flying around in circles, almost waiting for a pod or a blast to strike her down. When the shockwaves and powerful gusts settled in, she thought she was going to lose control and go out in a blaze of glory. When the atmosphere started to settle, her heart hadn't – if anything, that got even worse. For the past half-hour, she had felt less a healthy woman and more like a hypertension patient, a burning pain gripping her chest. Like it had in the parking lot, her breathing reached a pace where she couldn't reasonably fly without endangering herself, and thus she retreated to the only place that made sense. A clash of the universe's strongest warriors might have been raging just a few miles away, but her home was the only place where she actually felt safe.
Now, she was just sitting down, smoking a cigarette that was soon to join the pile of five laying beside the leg of her chair. There hadn't been any explosions in a good while, which could have meant any number of things. All she knew was, her heart wouldn't stop pounding.
She was in the middle of putting out her cigarette and replacing it with number seven, when a gust of wind and a smattering of feet slamming into the ground knocked her right out of her chair. Instinctively, she grabbed the chair by its legs while she stood up and swung it around in self-defense.
"Bulma, it's us!"
The sound of Yamcha's voice snapped her from her manic spell. She opened her eyes with a sigh of relief whilst scanning the band of fighters she'd gotten to know for two decades. They appeared banged up, but were altogether in one piece. However, she realized there were two people who hadn't been standing, one of which had been the main source of her worries since she flew off.
"I-Is it over?" she asked.
"Yeah," Gohan said, dejectedly.
When Bulma glanced at Gohan, she winced at the ravaged state of his new battle suit; however, she quickly realized that Vegeta quietly hung from his shoulder. Obviously, in a climactic battle with the fate of the universe in the balance, a few people were going to get hurt; and Vegeta was so stubborn, he'd probably completely emptied his reserves.
When Gohan set him down, however, she realized that he hadn't simply burned himself out. His body was stiff. His face, splattered with blood all over his jaw, had lost its rich, tan shade. Entry wounds littered his body like polka dots, but two in his armor plate left her legs wobbling. One in his stomach, like the one Gohan had left what felt like an entire lifetime ago. But then her eyes traveled up the trail of blood that led to the one dead in the middle of his left chest plate. She covered her mouth with both hands.
"Oh my God…"
She could see it. She could see the hole in his heart that twisted hers into a knot. With her strength gone, she collapsed to her knees above the proud Prince's corpse, violent sobs assaulting her body while a waterfall of tears poured from her eyes. She cradled Vegeta's head in her hands, desperately trying to convince herself that he still had life in him.
"No…no…" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're Vegeta…you can't be dead!"
"I'm sorry," Goku said, frowning with sympathy.
Bulma squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to see a man who carried a presence magnetic enough to disrupt her moral compass in such a state. The rollercoaster she had been through with Vegeta and all of the conflicting thoughts that came with it didn't matter. After all of the hours spent nearly killing himself for this battle, it had taken his life. He was gone, not just from the world – but from her. Their son. His entire weird little family.
While Gohan stepped away and sat down on one of the ridges of Capsule Corp's broken wall with his back to the group, the majority of her friends looked amongst each other with baffled expressions.
"Uh, not to be tactless, but am I missing something here?" Krillin asked.
"Oh, right," Lapis replied. "You guys did miss a lot being up in the lookout over the past year. I wouldn't exactly call Vegeta and Bulma a couple…but they had a kid together."
The collective jaws of the other human fighters smacked the floor, none harder than Yamcha's. Even with the storm of despair around him, Lapis did find a little humor out of their dumbstruck expressions.
"But…but…HOW?!" Krillin shrieked. "That's just…" He stopped, the sounds of her sobbing over his corpse making him hold his breath and shrug. "Eh, you know what? It doesn't matter. Whatever it was between them, she's clearly going through it."
Lapis subtly motioned his eyes towards Yamcha, curious of what may have been going through the mind of Bulma's old flame. Grief, maybe even betrayal, appeared to twist the ridges of his eyebrows; the news couldn't have been easy to take. The scarfaced human looked over at Bulma and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. To Lapis' surprise, he hunched over and somberly placed his hand on her shoulder.
"It'll be alright, Bulma," Yamcha said, trying to shake some positivity back into her. "Piccolo died, too, but we still might be able to wish Vegeta back to life."
With a proud smile, Lapis nodded in approval. Good for him.
Bulma finally pried herself away from Vegeta's body and towards Yamcha. "R-Really?"
"Yeah," Goku replied. "Piccolo's home planet, Namek, might have another set of Dragon Balls. With all of these space pods lyin' around, you can get a new ship up 'n runnin'!"
Bulma finally let Vegeta go and wiped off her eyes. "I'll have to rebuild the Dragon Radar from scratch, too. Sorry – with everything going on I didn't even think to protect it. I doubt Gohan's scouter survived the attacks, either. And with this place such a wreck, who knows how long it'll take just to gather the materials."
"That's where I come in."
The sound of a deep and gravelly, but feminine voice startled the group; not even Gohan had noticed anybody arrive. But when they looked up, they tensed at the sight of the hulking, gargantuan reptilian beast with pale, blue skin and green hair. Whatever this monster was, it donned blue trunks and the white & gold armor of the Frieza Force, with a grotesque face and imposing fangs to go along with them.
"Who the hell are you?!" Yamcha yelled, while the other warriors assumed their fighting stances. "If you think you can take us out, we've already wiped out a bunch of your buddies. Bring it on!"
Surprisingly, the monster didn't attack. In fact, a weary sigh came from its bulbous jaw.
"…I'm still in my monster form, aren't I?"
When the beast suddenly deflated in size, the gasps from the crew were of a different variety. The monster was gone – the engorged body had slimmed down into a slender, curvaceous frame, while her scaly skinned smoothed into minty blue silk that accentuated her green hair, as lush as a jungle's vines. She robbed the earthlings of their breath.
"Whoa," Krillin marveled…until Lazuli stomped on his foot.
"Kiyomi!" Gohan called.
The wise, friendly handywoman formerly of the Frieza Force nodded and smiled, but couldn't get near Gohan after Yamcha and Master Roshi feverishly jumped in her way.
"Um, hi, I'm Lamb Chop, nice to meet you!" Yamcha said with his hand limply extended. "Sorry for the hostility!"
Roshi shoved him aside. "Forget the first-round loser, I'm Master Roshi! And I'll have you know I even dig the hulking lizard look, too!""
Lazuli grabbed both men by their collars and dragged them away, she and Kiyomi exchanging friendly nods. The blue-skinned beauty turned towards Gohan. "Glad to see you alive, kid."
Gohan sighed, feeling the same towards her.
Kiyomi stepped inside Capsule Corp, her attention directed at Bulma. "I didn't catch everything and don't know what a Dragon Radar is, but I'm an engineer myself and brought a few tools and allies that can help you get your operations back up and running. Gohan here can vouch for me."
Bulma finally found the strength to smile with gratitude. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
Though Kiyomi smiled back, she frowned at the body lying below her. "Man, Vegeta…I could say a lot about that guy, but I hate seeing him end up like that. Frieza and his filth put the universe through hell, and nobody suffered worse than he did."
Bulma looked down and gently ran her hand down Vegeta's cheek. At the very least, he could finally rest peacefully.
Kiyomi turned around. "But he's gone now; isn't he, Gohan?"
She took a seat on the ridge besides Gohan, smiling almost like a proud mother. Gohan glumly cupped his cheek. "Yeah, but…I couldn't save Arepa. I watched her die and couldn't even do anything about it."
"Yeah…I felt it." Kiyomi groaned, aimlessly kicking her legs. "That little psycho really became the sister I never had over the past year. I feel so worthless that I wasn't even there to try stopping it."
Gohan squeezed the rubber of the suit above his knees, tremors coming over his chest. "You got lucky. It was…" His eyes had been all tapped out of tears, but that didn't stop him from restlessly gripping his hair with shaky breath. "It was horrible, Kiyomi."
"I'm glad that piece of shit is dead. Thank you, Gohan."
Gohan didn't reply. The job wasn't finished.
Kiyomi looked over her shoulder. "I'm assuming the charismatic guy with the crazy hair is your father?"
"Yeah."
"Y'know, back in the day, there was another Saiyan who looked just like him. Even the same hair. For a vicious killer, he was actually a gentleman. Now it all makes sense."
Gohan assumed she was talking about the same man Raditz occasionally spoke of – Bardock. From what Raditz had said, the man didn't much care for him, as most Saiyan parents were wont to, but he exuded valor and respect. Hopefully, he and Goku had brought honor to his name.
"So there's really a way for everyone to come back to life, huh?"
"Yeah. It's the reason Vegeta and I came here in the first place," Gohan replied. "Dragon Balls. I've…used them before. But that was to fix disasters I created…"
Gohan paused, a scab of shame from his rampages still bothering him. Kiyomi didn't know the specifics, but she did squeak a gasp.
"So that must've been how all of those populations around the universe restored themselves, wasn't it? You did that."
Gohan nodded. He didn't feel the need to brag or take credit for what had simply been the right thing to do. Not that it stopped Kiyomi from beaming at him.
"I always knew you were different, kid," Kiyomi said, which actually curled the corner of Gohan's lips upward. "At least there's somebody trying to bring some light to this shithole."
"Wish he would've decided that before he killed me."
Gohan and Kiyomi turned around to the source of that dry, deadpan voice. Lapis strolled in from the corner and stepped in front of them with a light chuckle. "Sorry, I'm terrible."
After another sigh, Gohan looked back and forth between the cyborg and the engineer. They had both believed in him, granting him their faith that he could become a better person. That he was even still sane left him indebted to them both.
"You'll fix everything again, Gohan," Lapis vowed. "I'm living proof you can do it."
"And what would your name be?" Kiyomi asked with intrigue.
"Lapis."
"Like Lapis Lazuli?"
"My twin took the other half from me in the womb."
Kiyomi skeptically smiled. "A likely story."
"Nah, look. Yo, Lazuli!"
From inside, the blonde turned towards Lapis. "My full name, really? And what?"
With a childish, mischievous smile, Lapis flipped her the bird.
"Yeah, well up yours too, dork," she snickered while flipping him right back with a bird of her own and spinning back around.
Equally humored and impressed by the reveal and the ensuing antics, Kiyomi arched her brow. "Well, you got me there. So, you're like half of a precious gem, then?"
"You'd think so, but my parents could never talk a pawn shop into seeing it that way."
After Kiyomi laughed, Gohan shifted awkwardly in his makeshift seat, sensing an oddly pleasant vibe.
Lapis looked up at the sky. "Gotta have a laugh sometimes, I guess. If there's anything this weird planet's taught me, there's always a light at the end of tunnel."
"I wish I would've discovered everything this planet had to offer sooner," Kiyomi replied with a perkiness in her tone.
Just as Gohan uncomfortably narrowed his eyes, he saw his father approaching from around the corner. "Hey, we're all gonna leave in a few to let everyone up in the lookout know it's safe to come back down," Goku said. "You're more than welcome to stay with us since this place is a wreck 'n all."
Gohan knew what the invitation meant – with most of the storm having passed, he was finally free to return to the family he had lost. But if that inner peace had been in the script following Frieza's defeat, Gohan's brain hadn't gotten the memo. Part of his spirit had been snuffed out even in triumph, and loose ends still lurked in the shadows. If he allowed himself even a sliver of comfort, he could end up losing sight of all that needed to be fixed. There was no peace to enjoy on Earth – the planet had been fractured and now needed to bring itself back together.
"I'll think about it," Gohan finally replied, sullenly staring at the ground beneath his feet. "I just…I just really need to be alone right now."
"I gotcha," Goku replied with a relaxed, benevolent smile. He turned around to fly away, but looked over his shoulder one last time. "I'm so proud of you, son. We're all here if you need us."
"Thank you."
With that, he flew off, and the others soon followed. Yamcha brought Tien's body upstairs and left moments later. Only Lapis and Kiyomi had stayed put, seemingly too busy chatting to notice everybody's departures. Kiyomi finally stood up, directing her attention to Gohan and Bulma. "I'm gonna start gathering up my allies so we can help get everyone back on their feet."
"Cool," Gohan replied.
"Think you could lend me a hand, Lapis?"
"Maybe?" Lapis replied, earning another flirtatious giggle from Kiyomi. They flew away together.
With mostly everyone gone, Gohan ran his hands over both of his eyes, left with nothing to view but the broken landscape of West City. His well of emotions had been drained far worse than his energy, tapped dry. The image of Arepa so helpless and fearful before she crumbled into thousands of pieces had already become a permanent fixture in his memory, as had Vegeta's final breaths. He almost wished Frieza was still alive, so he could have punching bag that he could take his anger out on and think only of the climactic battle.
On some level, Gohan felt he deserved to feel this way; while the purges he participated in usually left no survivors, a few planets did bring a few useful soldiers into the Frieza Force fold who had to live with the pain of what they lost. Even if it could be reversed, the wound nevertheless crippled him.
"Hey, Gohan."
Gohan turned around. Bulma had been back in her chair, her body slumped towards Vegeta's as he lay. Her eyes hung just as groggily as his.
"I know things between you and Vegeta were complicated to say the least…but thank you." With a sardonic chuckle, she added, "I'm sure he's looking up with whatever he calls a smile."
Looking up. Such was Vegeta. He had no delusions of what awaited in the Afterlife. The unapologetic fearlessness the prince carried with his every move had often left Gohan envious.
"If you don't mind me asking…what happened?"
"It's fine; you deserve to know." Gohan took a deep breath as he forced himself to relive those moments. "It was a beam meant for me. He was the only who saw it and jumped in the way."
A jolt struck Bulma's eyes. She grinned down on Vegeta with astonishment.
"That motherfucker…"
Her voiced glowed with nothing but admiration; maybe even love. The notoriously selfish Prince had gone out in selfless glory. Fitting.
"Even in death, this guy left me with no clue what to make of him," Bulma said. She stood up and pulled his body onto her shoulder. "Hopefully I still have a capsule I can keep his and Tien's bodies in. We've got a lot of work to do, but we can't lose hope." She turned around, but didn't take too many steps before she stopped.
"And Gohan…please don't blame yourself for his death. If he would do something like that for you, I doubt he had any regrets. You honored his sacrifice, and don't ever think otherwise."
Gohan nodded with deep appreciation. He recalled the battle with Kabnet, the ordeal that first brought Arepa to his life. After he destroyed Kabnet and his giant mech without a trace, a soldier had tried to take Vegeta out with a similar beam. Gohan had kicked him out of the way and his short stature had spared him from death. From that point on, Vegeta's attitude towards him subtly changed, regarding him more as an equal. Maybe he felt indebted.
Bulma finally walked away, but not without Gohan interrupting her.
"Hey, wait."
"What's up?"
"You have any more cigarettes?"
Gohan sat atop a guard-rail in a busy street, still wearing the same beaten down suit while a cigarette hung from his mouth and brought a pleasantly cancerous haze of tobacco to his nostrils. It had been three days since the battle with Frieza, and he slept through two of them. The output of that volatile energy had finally crashed on him with the injuries, though now he just felt sore. He hadn't even touched a cigarette since stepping out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but sorrow had restored old habits out of necessity.
The city being rebuilt before him wasn't West City, but Orange Star. Sitting across was a block rich with homes and businesses of all kinds, tools scattered throughout the pavement while ladders cranes, and tractors stood to acclimate the reconstruction. Everyone from construction workers to ordinary citizens of various ages and shape had taken up the efforts, uniting to help piece their home back together. If Gohan knew anything about the other half of the blood coursing inside him, it was the resilience of humans. They weren't alone, of course, as the minty skinned humanoids of Kiyomi's race had also scattered around the planet to assist the Earth's cause. They, too, were former members of Frieza's horrid army who had seen a greater purpose for themselves.
"Ain't ya a little young to be smoking, kid?" asked a raspy voice from nearby. After blowing a trail of smoke, Gohan turned his attention to a big, bulky human with tan skin and a head of puffy, black hair. Something about his appearance had struck Gohan as familiar, and not just because he looked like Nappa if he had hair and blue eyes. Nevertheless, he shrugged; if he was old enough to fight global-scale battles, he could damn sure smoke.
"Can't stop ya, I guess," he said. "But if you think you're old enough to smoke, maybe you can lend me a hand?"
Gohan peevishly huffed. The bastard had seemingly read his damn mind. Of course, being the strongest person on the planet, it had been a bit lazy of Gohan to just sit around and watch while the humans worked hands and feet to repair the damage that, at the end of the day, he had invited to their doorstep. So, he stood up from the rail.
"If you just unfold this ladder and steady it for me, that would be awesome," the big guy said, looking up at the deli a few feet away. A sign that read, "Orange Star Slices" with a picture of a pizza besides it had been dangling precariously. After checking out the toolbox beneath the man's foot, Gohan pieced two and two together.
"I can fix that without the ladder, actually."
Before the puffy-haired fellow could ask him any questions, Gohan grabbed a few nails from the toolbox and held them in his mouth right beside the cigarette. Rendering the confident man a stuttering mess, Gohan flew to the air, grabbed the unhinged end of the sign and lined it up properly before placing a screw against it and simply punching into the wall. He did the same to the bottom end.
When he leaped back down to the ground, the big guy had been gawking at him with cartoonishly dilated eyes. "Whoa…you're no ordinary kid, huh? How old are you, even?"
Ever since the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gohan had to actually stop and think about it. "Fourteen," he answered, though he had technically lived 15 years.
"Sheesh! I've got a daughter your age, too. If she could fly like that, forget her ever listening to me, heh. She's already reckless enough as it is."
Gohan nodded and looked around, seeing what else may have needed his assistance. Out of the corner his eye, he noticed the big guy waving his arm to the left. "Actually, she's over there. Dammit, she should be resting that leg! Hey, Videl! Didn't I say to stay home?!"
Videl?
Gohan whipped his head to the left in shock. Now he remembered why he recognized this man. He was Mr. Satan, the martial arts champion who once possessed the four-star Dragon Ball as a trophy. And sure enough, the girl he had been calling was the same one with that uncanny face, only now she stood on crutches while her right foot hung above the ground with a cast around it.
The raven-haired girl turned around and folded her blue eyes into a glare. "Oh, come on, dad, it's…" Her words died when she noticed who stood beside him. "Gohan?"
As fast as she could, she hobbled over to Gohan and Mr. Satan, giddy with excitement. Though she looked relatively fine, the cast and bandages on her face revealed how she suffered through the invasion.
"Hey…are you Gohan, Gohan, or just a guy in his body?" Videl asked.
"It's me. I got my body back."
"And it looks like it got pretty banged up, too," Videl observed with a wince. "You fought those aliens, didn't you?"
"Wait, you know this kid?" Mr. Satan asked with dismay. "Why didn't you tell me you've been hanging around a boy who has superpowers, and more importantly, is a BOY?!"
While Gohan rolled his eyes, Videl groaned. "Look, dad – could you just give us a minute?"
"You're lucky I've got work to do," Mr. Satan grumbled, though he meekly smiled towards Gohan. "And uh, that this kid could zap me!"
He sprinted away, leaving the two teenagers to stare at each other in uncomfortable silence.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey."
She hopped over and took a seat on the railing Gohan had occupied earlier, and he joined her. Her injuries had been the primary story on his mind. Had she seen some of the soldiers? Did anyone she knew die? Had she been directly attacked? He didn't want to think about it, but those were the questions that had sprung to him.
"I take it you saved the day?" she asked. Gohan nodded while blowing smoke in silence.
"You have a girlfriend, don't you? And her name's Arepa, and me and her just so happen to look alike. Right?"
Gohan's eyes alarmingly fluttered. "How'd you-?"
"You called me that name at first, the alien guy called me it, and that grumpy guy with the crazy hair didn't say it but I'm pretty sure that's who he meant. So, I just put it all together."
Gohan observed her face; pensive thought and frustration wore down her cheeks.
"It's fine. I'm a little jealous, but we've met all of three times now," she reasoned with a faint smile. "It makes sense why you'd be all weird around me."
Observing her face and its pale skin, dark hair, and ice-shaded eyes had left Gohan with a sullen, empty hole in his chest. Deep down, he had chosen to mope in Orange Star City hoping she'd turn up, so he could at least see Arepa's face with some life in it. But with her gone until further notice, he truly accepted that this girl next to him wasn't some facsimile of the girl that captured his love. She may have had the face and even the attitude, but neither could fill the void that had been left in his heart. The girl that had saved him from Kabnet, livened his spirts through the doldrums of the Frieza Force and put herself on the line for him was her own person; like she said herself, Videl just happened to look like her.
"Is she okay?"
Gohan pulled the cigarette from his mouth and twisted it between his fingers, an ache flaring within his stomach.
"No…she's not," he replied with shaky breath.
"I'm sorry," Videl replied. She mashed her fist on her own leg. "God, I wish I was as strong as you so I could've done something about this, too. All it took was a light falling on me and I was freaking helpless."
"No, you shouldn't want that." Gohan glowered at what was left of his cigarette. Without a crutch like Videl had, he couldn't fight off the tear that bubbled in his eye. "Nothing good comes from this."
Videl was nothing if not adamant, however, frowning with rigid brows. "But I could have actually done something instead of waiting for people to save me."
"You're just fine," Gohan interrupted as the bubbles rolled into streams down his cheeks. "Just be normal. The way I got to all this…there's just too much pain."
Gohan covered his watery eyes. This girl's face may not have been Arepa's, but it had sure as hell reminded Gohan of her sickening end. Until he could put the pieces of her back together, he couldn't escape the memory. That hadn't been all that had left Gohan's a shuddering, sobbing mess, however; everything that led up to the battle that had ravaged Earth. Videl got to experience a happy, normal childhood with the occasional danger that had never been her job to extinguish; Gohan and Arepa had been forced to become dangerous adults from the time they were toddlers. His life had become defined by disaster and despair.
Just when he felt his grip loosening, however, Videl's arm slid around his shoulder to pull him back in. He looked up with a stunned, dampened stare.
"It's alright. We all need a hug sometimes," Videl said, her smile gentle. "And you have those Dragon things, right? It'll be okay. She'll be okay."
She was right, and not just about the Dragon Balls. Gohan did need a hug; he had been overdue. Over the years, he had built a shell so sturdy his natural instinct had become to shy away from her contact. But he stayed right where he was, allowing his emotions to pour under her umbrella of comfort. She may not have been Arepa, but she had become a friend.
They stayed on the rail for an hour.
One laborious week later, Gohan stood in the lawn and examined the newly repaired Capsule Corp 0 – better known as the gravity room. Led by the combined brains of Bulma, Kiyomi, and Gohan, the group of Cytrians that Kiyomi brought with her had helped rebuild not just the ship, but the Dragon Radar and most of Capsule Corp; only one portion of the roof had left to be completed, only covered by a layer of wood and mesh.
Bulma walked out of the ship and approached him, wearing goggles and a tank top that revealed the copious amounts of grease covering her skin. "Phew. Nothing some hard work can't solve, huh?"
"Yeah," Gohan idly replied while his blood rushed in anticipation, knowing that his trek to Namek was soon to come.
"So, this Kiyomi girl. She taught you everything you know, right?" Bulma asked. After Gohan nodded affirmatively, Bulma shrugged in an effort to appear indifferent. "Pfft. She's okay, I guess. I mean yeah, she's nice, intelligent, and a sultry voice that could probably read the shit out a noir monologue. But she's like, a seven out of ten at best."
Gohan couldn't help but squint. "…Okay?"
A few dozen feet away, Kiyomi had been assisting a few workers with the roofing, floating back and forth between tools. Bulma looked on, twirling her fingers through her hair while her eyes fluttered in a wistful daze.
"Say, you think she might be into girls?"
Gohan blanched. "What?"
"…I said that out loud, didn't I?"
Quickly changing the subject before Gohan could possibly question her, Bulma yanked off her goggles. "Anyway, the ship's all done and I already called Goku over. Even enhanced the gravity simulator. Once you get the replacement battle suit waiting for you, you'll be set."
Gohan frowned, wishing he had asked someone to redo Piccolo's outfit sooner. After Frieza's twisted little story, he no longer wanted any association with that armor or its colors, not even out of spite.
But then, he remembered his first day in the Force, on that supply planet. Vegeta had explained how the Frieza Force's infamous armor had actually been appropriated from the Saiyans. Maybe he could reclaim them in his own way.
He turned to Bulma with an idea. "Say, would it be too late to ask for different colors?"
"Nothing I can't run through a processor for a half-hour," Bulma said. "Just lemme know what you want and I'll get it done."
Thirty minutes later, Gohan returned to the lawn in a fresh uniform, bearing a different set of colors. A dark teal, nearly black body suit & armor with green plates, the colors he had originally assumed. The colors Arepa had snatched from him. A piece of her, and a piece of his old self, would go on the journey along with him.
"There's a blast from the past," Kiyomi said, standing besides Lapis near one of the tables on the lawn. Gohan smiled back.
A car had just arrived, and from it came Goku. He wasn't alone, as Chi-Chi followed him out of the car and waved at Gohan. "Hey! Sorry, I just had to see y'all off before ya left," Chi-Chi said.
Gohan joined his parents with no objections to his mother's doting It had been a while since he last saw her; admittedly, it brought him a sense of calm. He had been so heads-down in getting everything up and running to keep himself from having to dwell on Vegeta and Arepa's death, but perhaps settling down with his family might have been refuge enough.
"I'm so proud of you, son! Goku told me everything." However, Chi-Chi soon awkwardly cleared her throat. "Now, we all know how I feel 'bout that guy, but if it's important to you, Gohan, that's all that matters. Aaaand…"
A goofy smile overtook Chi-Chi's face, catching Gohan off guard.
"I hope you bring back this girlfriend of yours too, so I can meet her!"
With a strong blush, Gohan scowled at his father. "You told her about that?!"
Like he always did, Goku laughed and scratched the back of his head. "My bad! I didn't say nothin' 'bout a girlfriend, though."
"Mama knows," Chi-Chi snorted. She stepped towards both of her boys and ruffled their hair with each hand. "Good luck, you two. If y'all die on me, I'll kill you both."
"Well try not to," Goku snickered. Even Gohan laughed. The Saiyan father-and-son duo hopped away from the car and marched to the ship with purpose.
"So, I take it we're gonna knock out the Dragon Balls and the rest of Frieza's little family business in one shot?" Goku asked.
"Not the empire; that would take years," Gohan replied. "We really only have to worry about his father and brother. I could count on one hand how many people actually willingly serve the Cold Force. With Cooler and King Cold out the picture, most of their workers will rejoice. A few people might try to start a new empire, but they'll just be fighting over breadcrumbs. They won't matter."
"Makes sense," Goku replied. "I wouldn't wanna waste all that time, anyway."
Gohan's brows twirled in thought, however. "But…I dunno. I'm not saying Frieza's brother could be on our side, but Vegeta and Arepa told me a few things that makes me think he's actually been pulling strings in the shadows to help us."
"Ya think so?"
"That punk that had us arrested," Gohan began, scowling just at the thought of Gomayn. "He started the whole mess that made me and Vegeta flee here to begin with, too. Frieza sent me off to a death trap, but Vegeta said while that was going on, Cooler called Frieza off the home base and one of his men even let him know. That gave him free reign to take out one of Frieza's top officers and save Arepa and Kiyomi. And then Arepa said that when Frieza's soldiers got the drop on her and Kiyomi on another planet, it was one of Cooler's guys that saved them."
"Huh. Musta been a power struggle, then."
"Maybe. Let's just be prepared for anything."
They reached the ship's ramp and stopped, looking up the sheet of steel and into the room, where they would spend six days training on the way to Namek and beyond. Gohan had spent most of his life having everything around him shattered in the clutches of the Frieza Force, but now was the time to not only put things back together, but free himself of their slithery hands once and for all. He took a step, until…
"HEY, DUMBASSES!"
Startled, Goku and Gohan turned around. Bulma had been standing beside Chi-Chi by the car, glaring and holding up a green compass.
"Forgetting something?!"
The two Saiyans laughed. That was no ordinary compass – it was the Dragon Radar.
"Whoops," Gohan said before he hopped over to Bulma and retrieved the radar. "Sorry about that."
"If you guys called me in the middle of space about that shit, I might've just started the self-destruct mechanism," Bulma morbidly joked.
After a laugh, a sturdy dose of determination hardened Gohan's expression.
"Vegeta will be back."
Bulma matched his fire, her eyes as intense as that Saiyan Prince's.
"I know he will."
He left, now completely ready to make the most important space voyage of his life. It wouldn't be the year-long trip that brought him to the nightmare of the Frieza Force, or the trips to various purges. This was possibly his only chance to live the life he wanted without remorse.
Peace was only six days away.
The bastard in me almost wanted to wait a whole 9 months before publishing this chapter like I did the first time around. Fear not, though! Read & Review away!