Cold World: Redux

by jjgp1112

After being kidnapped by Raditz and sent off to space with him, a young Son Gohan must now navigate a world of bloodshed and war under Frieza's rule with only the savage Saiyans by his side. Will he be able to survive the unimaginable horrors with his humanity intact? A rewrite of my old story. Art by Kagari.

44. Free

It was a move older than time – crossover between the legs, a quick drive, and jump off two feet into a rim rattling dunk. Yet nobody ever had an answer for it. As soon as a basketball entered Kobe's hands, bad things happened for the opponents every time. And with his gargantuan teammate on the blacktop with him? Unstoppable.

A crowd of a few dozen youths of various colors looked on from the bench in front of a chain link fence, drenched in sweat both from the smoldering heat pouring from Planet Mamba's golden skies and from the intense rounds of two-on-two that they all shuffled in and out of. But while they were constantly in rotation, two particular people had stayed on the court all day so far, having never lost a single game. First there was the green-skinned phenom Kobe, and then there was his hairless, eight-foot-tall, purple-skinned behemoth of a teammate, Shaq. With Kobe's speed and superpowered athleticism combined with Shaq's brute force, nobody could take them.

"Barbecue chicken alert!"

Shaq yelled it from his imposing bass-haven of a voice just before he turned around and backed his body into the hapless purple-freckled, gold-skinned boy in front of him who was holding on for dear life. One spin and a dribble later, and he damn near tore the entire rim off the basket with a slam, kicking his legs out for good measure.

"Too dominant!" Shaq yelled, flexing his veiny, marble-like muscles. "Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk!"

Make-it take-it rules made Kobe and Shaq's dominance even more pronounced; not once in the fifteen games they'd played so far did they end up on the defensive end of a check. With the score at a solid 19-zip, Kobe waited for his lanky orange opponent with tiger-like stripes all over his skin to pass him the ball. As soon as it hit his green fingertips, he shot it as if weren't there. The ball went clean through the net without even touching string.

"Game!" Kobe yelled, letting his hand hang in the air for good measure. He turned around, his eyes looming ominously at the bench. While the duo on the losing end sulked, not one of them stood up, both exhausted and weary of another drubbing. With a cocky smirk, Kobe waved his hand in a beckoning gesture.

"Next victim!"

Nobody moved.

"That's it?!" Kobe asked, feigning shock. "Y'all giving up that easily?!"

"They don't want it," Shaq said, shaking his head right behind Kobe.

"Guess not," Kobe snickered. "Nobody else wants these problems, huh?"

"How about us?"

Kobe turned around. His brows, confidently arched, quirked up while his mouth fell open.

"Well, I'll be damned…"

Two guys in martial arts uniforms of identical designs but differing colors strolled onto the blacktop. The taller of the two wore orange & blue, with a wild and spiky haircut. The shorter one beside him wore green and a far darker shade of blue and a long, shaggy mane. It was a face he knew very well.

"What's up, Kobe?"

"Gohan!" Kobe greeted, rushing to the duo and extending his hand towards the boy in green. "So, Frieza's dead, huh?"

Though Gohan gave him a five, he hummed with surprise. "Whoa, you know about it?"

"Word travels fast around the universe. His brother, too. And they're saying it was a couple of Saiyans." After Kobe inspected them with a knowing smirk, they both scratched their heads in nearly identical gestures. He turned towards the taller of the two. "I can see the resemblance easily, but I'll ask anyway. You're Gohan's father?"

"Yup! Name's Goku." Kobe nodded respectfully.

"We finally pulled it off," Gohan said, though he looked down at the ground with an uncomfortable frown. "And, uh, I heard about what happened to-"

"Yeah, that," Kobe said, with a sigh. "That pink slob even tried to act like you had something to do with it, but I knew it was bullshit."

Gohan sucked his teeth in disgust, shaking his head while Kobe stared at his palm with a glare that still stung over the memory. "I went down fighting…"

"We all did," said Shaq, stepping beside him.

"Then all of a sudden, we all popped back up like nothing happened," Kobe explained. "One second, we're in the afterlife, and the next, we're back. I thought it might've all been a dream, but it happened to everybody here."

"Those are the Dragon Balls for ya!" Goku replied. Gohan modestly shrugged.

"Dragon Balls?" Kobe asked. "What do you mean?"

"They're these seven mystical orbs that can grant any wish." Goku patted his son on his shoulder. "Gohan here gathered 'em up and wished as many people back to life as he could."

Kobe's, and even Shaq's, eyes lit up, eliciting awkward shuffling of the feet from Gohan. "Man…" Kobe said, shaking his head with admiration. "I can't even tell you how much I owe you, man."

"It was my fault for falling for such an obvious trap," Gohan said. "I did the right thing, simple as that."

"Well, if you don't want my thanks, then too bad," Kobe snickered. "You're getting them, anyway."

"Wait, this is the kid that let you escape that Kabnet dude, right?" Shaq asked. When Kobe nodded in confirmation, Shaq smiled and raised his fist. "Good on you, brotha."

Gohan bumped his comparatively microscopic fist against Shaq's and turned back to Kobe. "You were right, too."

"About what?"

"Pretty much our entire conversation," Gohan snickered. "Frieza knew all along about me letting you escape here and assigned me this place as a trap to test my loyalty. I obviously failed, and that's how the shit the fan. Vegeta and I fled to Earth, and my dad here kicked our asses, just like you predicted."

Goku awkwardly laughed. "I mean, you were still stronger than me! I had to burn myself out just to do anything!"

"Earth really did have a lot of advantages – training methods, healing methods, Dragon Balls." The smile on Gohan's lips withered. "I'm still ashamed of myself for taking the coward's way out for so long."

"Don't sweat it," Kobe urged. "For what it's worth, I actually wound up in limbo, the weird space between heaven & hell. So, I bet you have a whole lifetime to correct your mistakes."

"Really?" Gohan asked, looking up at the sky with an ambitious glow in his dark eyes. Kobe had fully expected to end up in hell and made his peace with it, but King Yama explained that since he had been forced to kill people and possessed a good heart, his nine years of good behavior balanced out his crimes just enough to avoid hell, but not get in heaven. Good enough and more than he deserved, in his eyes.

"You really didn't end up in hell?" Shaq asked. "Man, I was runnin' around lookin' for you down there."

Kobe arched his eyebrow with a disbelieving grin. "What'd you do to end up in hell?"

"That's between me and Yama. I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you," Shaq answered in a deadpan.

"Get the fuck outta here," Kobe chuckled, playfully shoving his teammate's boulder of an arm. "But anyway, enough about Frieza. He's irrelevant now. I assume you're here to ball?"

"Of course," Gohan said, a competitive spark rising in his voice while he cracked his knuckles. "After I wished you back, I felt comfortable enough to watch a few games while I was recovering from training sessions. I've got a good handle, now."

"You talking the rules, or the actual skill?" Kobe scoffed. "'Cause I doubt you were putting off training to actually practice and your dribble was looking pre-tty rough before."

"He ain't even wearing sneakers," Shaq remarked.

"It's fine," Gohan said. "Shoes, boots, it doesn't matter."

Shaq rolled the ball over with his foot, kicked it up to his hand and tossed it at Gohan. "Let's see."

After catching the ball, Gohan stared at its orange surface a few times and squeezed it to test his grip. He bent his knees in a squat and proceeded to execute the stiffest crossover moves Kobe had ever seen. Though he tried puffing his cheeks and holding it in, a snort of laughter escaped his lips along with Shaq. Gohan immediately growled.

"Oh, shut up."

"Can you at least shoot?" Shaq asked.

With a growl, Gohan brought the ball to his head and got his hands in the proper form. The ball left his hands via a perfunctory shot and bounced around the rim a few times before falling through the net.

"Pfft. Beginner's luck. Shot was stiffer than a statue," Shaq dismissed.

"Hold up," Kobe said, a mischievous smile spreading across his lips, "I know you ain't talking about a jumpshot."

Shaq shrugged. "I got eyes."

"It went in, that's all that matters," Gohan said. "It's all fundamentals."

"Please." Shaq turned to Goku. "What about you, Palm Tree?"

Goku was busy looking around at some of the other ongoing games but quickly snapped his attention back to Shaq. "Gohan explained the rules to me a little bit on the ship and I've been watchin' you guys play. I think I got a hang of it."

"Really, now? Let's see," Shaq challenged.

Kobe slid over to the hoop, picked up the basketball, and passed it to Goku. The free-wheeling elder Saiyan bounced the ball a few times…and started dribbling it between his legs with the fluidity of a pro. Kobe and Shaq's jaws slammed into the pavement; even Gohan was astonished as Goku laughed and pulled off advanced level moves like behind-the-back dribbles and stutter steps.

"Heh, this is actually pretty fun!" Goku cheered.

Kobe and Shaq exchanged a petulant glance and shook their heads with determination. "Alright, alright, it's one thing to do it all alone; whole different ballgame with somebody in front of you."

The slender green teenager slid in front of Goku with his knees bent and arms spread in a defensive stance. Goku easily put the ball on the floor and had Kobe buckling from a few dribbles. In the blink of an eye, he pulled a crossover dribble that made Kobe trip over himself trying to keep up. Goku dribbled towards the basket, leapt from the free throw line, and soared to the hoop with a one-handed dunk as ferocious as it was graceful.

Kobe and Shaq could only blink. Kobe entertained the thought that maybe he had still been dead all this time.

"Alright! Let's do that again!" Goku cheered.

"Yeah, he tends to do that," Gohan said, sensing the befuddlement of the green and purple duo.

"Oh, hell no," Shaq seethed. "I'm shutting this down."

Shaq was next to take on a defensive stance, but Goku easily blew past him and jumped to the rim, even maneuvering the ball to avoid his hand when he tried swatting it away. When they took the ball back out, Goku launched a jumpshot that finally missed, and Shaq caught the rebound. When Goku ran over towards the basket, Shaq backed his massive body into his.

"See? Too small! Easy money!"

He slammed his back into Goku, but his eyes bulged from his head when the Saiyan would budge. Another attempt got the same result. When he tried simply spinning around and lobbing the ball in the basket, Goku leaped up and swatted it away.

"What the hell's going on?!" Shaq yelled. He looked at Kobe and glared. "Back me up, man!"

"You're on your own with this one," Kobe replied. He sat down; not to give up, but because he was tired and needed a breather before he jumped in. Gohan sat down next to him.

"So, how's it feel?" Kobe asked.

"How does what feel?"

"Being free. Knowing you can just do what you want, now?"

Gohan sighed. "Honestly? I don't know. My whole life's either been in a fight, or preparing for one. And growing up the way I did, I don't even know how I'd fit in a normal society."

"That was my problem," Kobe said, laughing in amazement as Goku pulled off moves like fadeaway jumpers that he still needed relentless practice to nail. "At the end of the day, you just have to try, I guess. You know your intentions."

"Yeah…"

Gohan sat idly, scratching his thumb against the gravelly surface. As Kobe observed, he thought of an idea. "If action is such a problem, maybe you can go through space and help some planets out that still have crime hanging over their heads? I'm not saying become one of those nerdy ass Galactic Patrolmen, but like, a vigilante?"

"You're not the first green guy to suggest that," Gohan said. "And I think you're both right. I just…still feel so guilty."

"Not alone, brother. It just comes down to what you do about it," Kobe looked around the playground, pride brimming in his chest at seeing his planet thrive again after its annihilation. "I'm trying to make a difference over here instead of feeling sorry for myself. Right the wrongs, or just try to spread good where you can."

"You're right."

"And the first thing you can do is stop your dad before Shaq has a meltdown." Kobe shook his head. "How's he even doing this? He just watched us play a little bit and figured out how to be a basketball god?"

"That's how he is. It's not even a shortcut – his eyes can pick up all the little things and the fundamentals," Gohan said. "Probably couldn't even tell you how he does it."

"Well, I've seen quite enough," Kobe said, standing back up. "You can jump in too, but you'd probably be deadweight."

Gohan leaped back and stretched his arms. "Oh, really? Let's see, then!"

---

"You idiots had one job: protect the ship!"

"I'm pretty sure it was to find the Dragon Balls, but whatever…"

Now back on green grass and blue skies, Gohan rolled his eyes at the scowling face of the blue-haired heiress, whose ire directed at the crab-like flagship in her lawn that most definitely wasn't the Capsule Corp ship they had left in. "I mean, honestly…"

"Well, it wasn't our fault," Goku said, shrugging. "When I went after Gohan, they blew the whole thing up!"

"Fine, whatever," Bulma grumbled, stopping to pat the head of the baby boy in her arms. "I've been meaning to harvest some of their technology, so I suppose this works out."

Goku gently elbowed her ribs with a coy grin. "And you're glad Gohan and I are safe, right?"

"Well, obviously," Bulma said, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. When she turned her attention to Gohan, her glare softened. "When Goku told me what happened, I really feared the worst again. At least everything ended the right way this time."

Goku patted Gohan on the shoulder; Gohan looked up with a confident smile.

"And thank you," Bulma said, a smile growing on her face as well. "I mean, Vegeta's still being a dick – but he's my dick, and I'm glad he's back."

The eyes of Goku, Gohan, and Bulma all bulged uncomfortably.

"Actually, let me rephrase that…."

"No, it's fine…" Gohan snickered. "Is he inside? I can't really sense him."

"Yeah, he was moping in the kitchen last I checked," Bulma said, feeding Trunks a bottle of milk. "That all he does these days."

Gohan nodded, understanding the likely reasons why he'd be in such a state. He walked towards the compound, observing the city surrounding it as he did. The rebuilding efforts of Kiyomi and her people had been a great success; the city wasn't quite good as new, but certainly on track to be. People and cars were flying around like any ordinary day. The last chunk of repairs had been completed on the yellow dome as well.

Once inside, Gohan headed for the kitchen, although a trail carrying the distinct smell of coffee traveled to his nostrils from the living room. His keen eyesight couldn't make out anybody in the kitchen even from his vantage point, so he followed the coffee. When he reached the living room, he set his eyes on the TV, where a video of a purple velociraptor lurking in the grass denoted a nature documentary. From the couch across from it, Gohan could see a spiky, dark-brown set of hair that stood up like a flame stuck out above the edge, the body it was attached to sitting with his back turned towards Gohan. The man set his coffee down, seemingly reacting to Gohan's presence.

"Vegeta."

"Hn."

Gohan walked around to the side of the couch, to see him in full view. The Saiyan prince sat slumped on the couch, alive again and actually dressed casually in a white tank-top and black jeans, a sight Gohan could have never pictured in a million years. And indeed, a mug of coffee sat fittingly on the table across from him that was built for that purpose.

"Your clown of a father can do it too, can't he?"

Cutting straight to the point.

"Super Saiyan?"

"No, ride a yellow cloud," Vegeta snorted. "Obviously, that."

Gohan could hear the bitter resentment in Vegeta's voice as clear as day. Without Frieza to hate, Vegeta had already found a new target for his ire.

"I take it there's no Vegeta Force coming in the future?"

"Please," Vegeta scoffed, taking a long sip of his coffee. "I don't care about that shit anymore. What the hell did I conquer?"

Knowing everything he did about Vegeta, Gohan had already expected such a response. He looked up at the TV, where the raptor continued to sit in the bushes while a calming voice narrated the riveting action.

"So, this is what you're doing these days? Nature docs?"

"Tch. Just wait."

Suddenly, the raptor leaped up and strode through the long grass, prey clear in sight. His ravenous trail ended with him pouncing a large gorilla that had its silver back turned. After enduring a few bites, however, the primate soon wrestled it off of its back with brute force and slammed it into the ground, tearing off an arm for good measure while blood spewed.

"Delightful," Vegeta drawled with a sadistic smirk on his face.

Gohan observed Vegeta in silence, a deep sense of relief brimming within him. He knew without a doubt this was a far from ideal circumstance for Vegeta, and that every ounce of his Saiyan blood curdled with bitterness; but he was alive. His infant got to have a father.

On the screen, the gorilla finished its evisceration of the raptor and returned to his pack, a few scratches on its back the only indication of a struggle.

"What's hell like?" Gohan suddenly asked, breaking their silence.

Vegeta looked at Gohan with a scrutiny that would unnerve the half-Saiyan whether he was four-years-old or fourteen-years old. His obsidian eyes stood as guarded and enigmatic as ever, eventually rotating towards the steaming coffee mug before he took another sip.

"Evidently, for people like me, hell's a little more personalized. I hung from a tree in a cocoon in the middle of a forest, unable to move while a manifestation of Frieza kept talking down to me, reminding me of every humiliation I suffered at his hands."

A lump formed in Gohan's throat, his temper flaring at the mere thought. "We should've wished for immortality."

Vegeta snickered and set his mug down. "But then, about a half-hour later, another cocoon sprouted right next to mine. The real Frieza. After that, it wasn't so bad. He refused to ever admit how he ended up there, and I kept needling him about it right up until the moment I woke back up here."

Gohan broke into a fit of laughter. "I would've loved to see that. Serves him right." He spun on his heel and prepared to leave, knowing Vegeta didn't need any salutation.

"Brat!" Vegeta shouted.

Gohan stopped.

"Good work."

Gohan closed his eyes and exhaled with pride.

After leaving the living room, Gohan overheard footsteps and the sound of Bulma's voice drawing closer. Nearby were two voices he couldn't quite recognize. "Oh, there he is," Bulma said. "Hey, Gohan!"

"What's up?" he asked, heading down the hall, where he saw Bulma's head peeking from the lobby. When he stepped inside, his body grew stiff while a gasp escaped his lungs.

Two men stood in the lobby – one was a short fellow in a purple suit and white armor plate, his face pale blue with beady, golden eyes. The taller, light purple man next to him was one whom Gohan very much recognized, however – Merus. Seeing him again elicited an instinctual scowl.

"You guys again?! What do you want?"

"Please don't kill us!" the other fellow pleaded. "We followed you here, yeah, but we come in peace."

Bulma shared Gohan's irritability. "Stop yapping, Jaco. If I were Gohan, I'd want to kill you idiots, too."

Jaco, the smaller Patrolman, backed towards a table. Merus stayed put, however, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"Gohan," he began. "First of all, my apologies."

"Tch."

"Understandable," Merus said with an awkward chuckle. "Clearly, we should have been more thorough in investigating Gomayn's background, though Ginyu switching bodies with Maguro certainly complicated things. But our error needlessly impeded your fight with Frieza."

"But look how it worked out!" Jaco sheepishly cut in with a stiff smile surrounded in sweat. "Frieza's dead, Cooler's dead, King Cold's dead, and the universe is a just wee bit safer now! And to express our gratitude for your service and our sincerest apologies, we've come here to present you with an ultra-special gift!"

"Really, now?" Bulma said, intrigue rising in her voice. "Looks like somebody finally decided to be useful for a change."

Digging through his armor, Jaco walked over to Gohan and handed him a small card. Gohan snatched it away.

"What the hell is this?" Go asked. It was a grey card with some writing he couldn't understand scrawled beside a picture of a chocolate milkshake.

"A gift card for a free milkshake from Café Algae on Planet Mullosk! The most savory and creamy concoction of milk and chocolate you'll find in the entire solar system!" Jaco explained, his lips salivating.

Gohan looked up at Jaco with eyes that had become a pair of thin white lines. The Patrolman squeaked and slid back an inch.

"That's it?" Bulma grumbled. "I don't even know why I expected more."

"Hold on, hold on!" Jaco yelled, defensively raising his finger. "I'll have you know that milkshake has been the trigger of genocidal, interplanetary warfare! Once you get a sip, you'll be madder I didn't bring a second, or dare I say even a third gift card!"

Showing exactly what he thought of the gift, Gohan lifted the card and ripped it in half. Jaco squealed in horror.

"No!" Jaco cried, diving after the two severed pieces and cradling them in his hands. "You could've at least let me have it! Now I've gotta tape it together."

"If that's all you have, you can kindly get the hell out of my face," Gohan growled.

Jaco mumbled something about Saiyans not knowing anything about good drinks and walked away while Merus chuckled. He watched him leave the lobby before approaching Gohan with a contrite expression.

"Gohan…"

"If you're really here to arrest me again, save it," Gohan spat.

"I'm not. I actually have to confess something."

Gohan loosened his posture, giving Merus his peaceful intrigue.

"I…kind of knew Gomayn was up to no good. There's a lot more to me that I can't quite disclose, though I'm sure you figured that out when I arrested you."

Gohan flexed his jaw, still a bit salty over his failed encounter with him. He recalled how easily he maneuvered around his attacks; a mere Galactic Patrolman shouldn't have been capable of such speed, especially when he had little remarkable Ki to speak of.

"Well, you're right about that, at least," Gohan admitted, though his eyes remained firm and intense. "But still, what's the deal then? If you know Gomayn was pulling a scheme, why'd you let it happen? Important people died."

"I know, and I hate it," Merus said, sitting down on the edge of the table with a sullen gaze. "I only had a hunch and couldn't provide any concrete proof by means that wouldn't have been an overreach of my powers. And when my boss gives an order, I have to follow.

"The reasons I have to hide my true nature are the same reasons I had to step away while the situation worsened. It was a bit of a…test from people above me, I guess. To see how strong you could get, and draw you into a situation where you'd have to fight the rest of Frieza's clan."

"I'm a little lost, but whatever," Gohan said with a sigh. Though it had worked out, he still had to deal with the pain and grief.

Merus squeezed his fist. "The duty assigned to me was to simply aide the Galactic Patrol using only their issued weapons and stay away from conflicts between good and evil outside of my assignments. I've managed well, but this agency only cares about petty crime and stays out of the nastiest business…and the more I witness the atrocities out there, the more I wish I could really do something about it."

Gohan could feel the passion in Merus' voice; though he didn't understand why he had to stay out of conflicts he could reserve, he certainly understood that helpless feeling he possessed.

"But that's where you come in, Gohan," Merus said with a smile, digging his hand under his armor plate while Gohan raised an inquisitive eyebrow. He pulled out a grey ear piece and presented it towards him.

"What's this?" Gohan asked.

"A radio. I certainly don't expect you to ever be a Galactic Patrolman, but I get a sense that you want to help people." Gohan accepted the device and observed it in his palm. "This will keep you in touch with that's going on out in the universe. You can do with it what you will."

Gohan held it up, letting it glisten in his eyesight. It was his ticket.

"I see…I've already had that on my mind, but this will help," Gohan said. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'm truly sorry I let things get out of hand. I'm sure taking action would have spared you some pain, but the pain makes us stronger, I guess." Merus stood up from the table with a smirk on his face. "And while I can't use my real powers, you're more than welcome to stop by and train with me, if you're up for it."

"Bet on it," Gohan replied evenly.

Merus nodded respectfully. "So long. Despite your transgressions, you're a good kid, Gohan."

He walked out of the kitchen…though Gohan walked out with him, given that he was heading for the same destination.

"And now it's awkward," Merus snickered as Gohan twiddled his thumbs.

Gohan and Merus joined Goku, Jaco and Bulma in the lawn. Jaco flinched as soon as he saw the half-Saiyan. Ignoring him, Gohan walked towards Bulma; in her arms, Trunks reached out to his hair with a fraught vigor in his eyes, though the older hybrid ducked his head away.

"Say, has Arepa ever shown up here?" Gohan asked.

Bulma pulled Trunks' hand away. "Your girlfriend, right? Yeah. She was looking for Kiyomi and left with her. Rude little hoodlum, that girl. Pretty sure she stole some of my clothes, too."

Gohan burst out laughing. "Sounds like her. Where are they, now?"

"Kiyomi's been staying with Lapis. They're kind of a thing, now." Gohan's lit up in alarm. "So no threesome with her any time soon…" she grumbled under her breath.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"…Anyway," Gohan said, not even wanting to begin unpacking that. "I guess I'll stop by."

Goku strolled over while Gohan looked at the clouds. "Ya leavin'?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." Goku ran his hands through his hair with an anxious giggle. "And, um, where will you be stayin' from now on?"

Gohan could easily figure out what had left his father so uncomfortable. But he was already resolute in his decision.

"Where else? With you guys."

"Really?!" Goku shouted, though he caught himself and shook his head, forcing his face into a calmer, guarded expression. "Um, I mean, cool."

Seeing his father's poorly contained elation got a smile from his face. With all of the madness definitively behind him, he could finally return to his real home. Before that, he had another loose end to take tie. He flew off, heading for a ranch that he had visited once, following a couple of familiar Ki signatures. During his flight, another distinct presence flared up, an inhuman Ki that he had gotten to know very well after spending a year with it in a white void. Deciding to take a detour, Gohan dropped down from the sky and landed right from the back of a cape that floated mid-air in the middle of a valley.

"Same old routine, Piccolo?"

"Yes, and it was quite peaceful until you showed up."

As deep and testy as always, that voice. The cape spun around, revealing the cantankerous dark half of a nameless Namekian refugee, Piccolo.

"So what, you here to brag about being a Super Saiyan or whatever nonsense that was?"

"Of course not. I'm here to see you alive again." However, Gohan smirked and spun his pupils around. "Actually? Yeah, a little bit of bragging."

"Hn. It was technically your bratty, Saiyan hands that killed me, so I'll be training to strike you down sooner or later."

"Keep me posted."

"Get lost."

He didn't need to hear much else. No sentiments were ever necessary with people like Piccolo and Vegeta, which suited Gohan perfectly. He resumed his flight, reaching a mountainous region rich in wildlife and dark, green trees. The climate was a bit chillier, however, and Gohan shivered the closer he got. A flurry of snowflakes fell from the sky, making him wish Piccolo had joined him so he could zap him a coat. Once he found a large, wooden complex lightly coated with snow, he dropped down and hopped over to the door. After a couple of knocks, he waited patiently.

When the door swung open, Gohan's cheeks flushed crimson. Kiyomi answered the door wearing the same tan sweatshirt with green sleeves that Lapis had worn in the fight with Frieza – and nothing else. She cleared her throat and tried pulling the end of the sweater above her long, mint-blue legs.

"Hey…Gohan…" she said with a skittish smile. "You're back! Sorry…"

"I hate adults," Gohan grumbled. He looked away, forcing his eyes to stare at the floor. "Is Arepa there?"

"Nope, she's been hanging around the mountains."

Gohan looked up, and that's when he noticed Lapis sitting on a couch – luckily fully clothed, albeit in just a white t-shirt and black sweatpants. The cyborg waved. "'Sup, Gohan. We were watching a movie. Nothing gross. And I'm not referring to the movie, but-"

"I get it," Gohan growled, spinning away from the door as he heard the two of them giggle.

He left the house and searched for her Ki. It felt suitably calm and relaxed, lower and harder to find. Every step he took in the growing snow made his fingers tingle; it wasn't just that he was close to seeing her again, but the frost put the image of her death back in his mind. As he trekked through the snowy forest, he pondered how strange of a sensation it must have been to be alive after previously dying. Sure, one would have a chance to enjoy themselves and their loved ones again, but the memory of their death would remain a fixture in their minds, right? Then again, a growing number of Gohan's associates knew the experience first-hand and seemed fine, with the exception of Vegeta. Perhaps the newfound appreciation of life overrode the trauma of death.

The sound of an animal's harsh breaths interrupted Gohan's musings. He stopped and looked up to find a large buck, standing tall on a muscular frame. Yet, it appeared calm and content, as gentle as any rabbit thanks to the smooth pets of whoever had been bent down in front of it. They wore a puffy coat that obscured most of their frame, though Gohan could make out a snowy head of long, black hair. It was at that moment that he realized Arepa's Ki nearly right beside his.

The buck shook its head a few times and sauntered off, leaving its admirer alone. They stayed crouched down for a moments before standing up and letting their lovely hair flap against the breeze.

And they – she – turned around, exposing a face that made Gohan's heart briefly pause.

"Hi," she said, her snowy eyes glistening.

"Hi."

Gohan blinked a few times, his chest rumbling. Slowly, his mind replaced the image a girl trapped in ice and shattering to pieces with simply the girl standing across from him, dressed in boots, jeans and an oversized coat, with red cheeks shrouded in snowflakes. It wasn't an ice sculpture, it wasn't Videl…it was simply Arepa, alive and kicking. With Gohan left speechless, she opened her mouth. He waited with bated breath for the sound of her voice.

"I heard you cried like a little bitch."

"Fuck you."

"Prolly killed 'im 'cause he actually had a nasty salt allergy."

"Want me to send you back to hell?"

"Only if you're there with me," she said with a devilish smile that crumbled Gohan's resolve. She waved him over. "Get over here."

Gohan did as directed with a smile that spanned the distance of his ears on his lips, lips that soon found themselves buried against Arepa's.

---

"Un-fuckin'-canny…"

"You're like what I pretend to see in the mirror…"

"Are you kiddin' me? I wish I was this adorable!"

Gohan sat by on a bench in the street, twiddling his thumbs with a strong blush assaulting his cheeks while the two girls with raven hair, pale skin, and icy-blue eyes fawned over each other. They even just so happened to be wearing similar outfits, though shorter of the two wore blue jeans and a red coat. Arepa couldn't take her hands off Videl's pigtails, while Videl kept playing around with her lip ring.

"Well sheesh, Gohan, if you and me don't work out, then boom!" Arepa said, pointing at Videl's blushing cringe of a face. When Gohan proved to be equally as uncomfortable, she shrugged. "What? You clearly got a type."

"This is already weird enough as it is," Gohan remarked.

Arepa patted Videl on the back. "Man, now I'm definitely stayin' on this planet. It's like I got a lil' sister now!"

Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose while Videl's jaw dropped. "'This planet?' Are you an alien?!"

Arepa chidingly raised her finger with a stern, lecturing expression. "Hold up - alien's a relative term. Y'all Earth folks are aliens to me." Her face instantly perked back up as she proudly pinched her own cheek. "But yeah, I'm from space! Not all of us are creepy talkin' bugs and lizards 'n shit. Hell, Gohan here's pops ain't from Earth either. You shoulda seen his goofy tail."

Gohan leaned back against his chair in exasperation, cursing Arepa's motor mouth. Videl's mouth had become a black void as she gawked at the two aliens (relative to her!) in awe.

"I did see his tail, actually…and now it makes sense. Man, so it's like I have a hot alien twin? And Erasa says I'm boring!"

"Ahem. Hot intergalactic twin," Arepa corrected.

"Right, right!" A quick buzzing noise sounded off, and Videl pulled a cell phone from out her pocket. "Ugh, seriously, dad? Looks like I gotta run. But it was awesome meeting you. Since Gohan's always busy, maybe you can train me to get stronger!"

"Gohan, too busy?" Arepa snickered. "Please. With Frieza dead, this dude's just gonna sit around playin' with some little gadgets and smokin' his lungs to ashes all day."

After a laugh, Videl gave Gohan a stern look. "Speaking of which, you should really cut that out if you're planning on staying in shape for your crazy battles."

"I know, right?!"

Gohan sat his head in both hands and glared a thousand yards, suddenly craving a cigarette. He had a small feeling that introducing these two to each other would actually be a huge mistake, and that was coming to fruition. Putting two firecrackers together was hazardous for all that stood around them.

Arepa side-eyed Gohan with her mischievous smile, knowing she was pushing his buttons, and resumed talking to Videl. "But yeah, I totally can! You're gonna be shredded and blowin' shit up like me in no time."

"Awesome," Videl said, turning towards the street and waving. "See ya later!"

"Later!"

Arepa watched Videl leave and turned around once she went out of sight. "Okay, so I was just bein' nice, but we barely even look alike."

Gohan's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. "Are you kidding me?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, she's just the cutest little button, but looks like me? Please."

"Then how do you explain Vegeta, my dad, and Merus mixing you two up?"

"Maybe y'all need to talk to more women so you don't think we all look alike."

Gohan probed her with a disbelieving glare, his hard, dark eyes slowly eroding Arepa's confidence. She impishly bit her bottom lip, running her hands through her hair until she snorted a laugh.

"Okay, I'm lyin'. That was fuckin' freaky." She did a spinning gesture with her fingers. "I thought I might've been havin' an outer-body experience."

Arepa sat down next to Gohan on the bench, watching the citizens of Orange Star City pass by. One wouldn't have even known the entire planet had been under serious attack just a few weeks earlier from the way they carried on, but such was Earth. While the teenage couple observing them looked no different from any one of the civilians merrily going about their way and didn't stick out in the slightest, they couldn't have been any more out-of-place.

"So, you were thinking about leaving here?" Gohan asked.

Arepa scraped the heel of her boot against the sidewalk. "Yeah, just a lil'. Until you got back, at least. I can't lie…this planet kinda spooks me out now."

"Why's that?"

"I can't get it out of my head. How I died."

Gohan felt his stomach lining tied into a knot as he gripped the fabric of his green pants. She certainly hadn't been alone.

Arepa sighed heavily and looked aimlessly into the distance. "I wouldn't have joined Kiyomi at deadpan dude's ranch if I knew it was gonna be so cold over there. 'Cause…"

She cut herself off, running her hand up and down her face while her body shivered. His own chest aching, Gohan frowned and placed his hand on her shoulder. He had no idea how to comfort people, but knew receiving that helped him in his struggles a little bit.

"That was all I felt. Couldn't move. Couldn't feel my limbs. But it was so cold."

She let hand rest in her lap and stared at the ground. "I had to get away. But I guess it's near winter 'round these parts; everywhere else might not be as cold as there, but it's sure as hell still cold. I almost wanted to die again so it could be over."

Harkening back to his musings just before he laid eyes on her again, Gohan groaned. "I'm…sorry."

Arepa vigorously shook her head. "No, no. You did nothin' wrong bringin' me back. I'm really glad. This is part of it, I guess. Kiyomi and deadpan guy have been kinda helpin' me out. That's why I was out there when you found me. Figure if I ease my way back into that, it'll feel better."

"Do you feel better?"

Arepa tilted her head towards Gohan, smiling faintly. "A little, yeah." She lifted her hand to Gohan's, gently rubbing her fingers against his skin.

"It helped me, too. I had the same problem. It was different from you, though. I was just scared of Frieza after what he did to Boysen. I didn't actually experience it, like you did."

"Hell wasn't shit compared to that. I'm not even sweatin' hell, really. Sleepin' on Needle Mountain and swimmin' ten thousand laps a day in the Bloody Pond was fuckin' metal."

Gohan brought his free hand to his eyes and laughed in astonishment. Even when she set a mood herself, she found a way to defy it.

"The fire's cool, but the ice…man. I'm tryin', I guess. They said talkin' about it helps, but I barely wanna think about the shit."

Gohan turned and looked Arepa right in her eyes. "Whenever you want to talk about it again, I'm all ears."

Arepa squeezed Gohan's hand and lowered it from her shoulder and to the bench, not letting go. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Gohan smirked. "You snapped a purple alien's neck?"

Arepa snorted in amusement and placed her finger over Gohan's lips. "Purple whatever-the-fuck-he-was."

She lowered her finger to his chin and pulled him into a quick kiss before resting her head on his shoulder. "So, Planet Panera, huh? I barely even remember the damn place. What's it like these days?"

"I was barely conscious my entire time there. I know as much as you do."

"Fuckin' useless."

"You want to visit it, at least?"

Arepa sat back up and tapped her chin, giving it considerable thought. "Sure. That would be good for me, I think."

Gohan dug through his pocket and pulled out the receiver that Merus had given him. "I'm gonna be going through space and helping out some planets pretty soon, so we can go then."

"Really?" She tapped her finger against Gohan's receiver. "Is that what this thing's about?"

"Yeah. I got it from the Galactic Patrolman I told you about, the one who I thought got duped by Gomayn and Ginyu. I'm pretty sure he's an undercover deity or something, but that's another story. But he gave me this so I can keep track of what's happening on other planets."

"I see," Arepa said, staring at the receiver. "So, from Galactic Pirate to Galactic Patrolman, eh?"

Gohan stood up and stepped away from the bench, as did Arepa. "I am not a Galactic Patrolman."

"So, you're more like…" Arepa grit her teeth twisted her face into a dark, brooding glare, even lowering her voice to a raspy growl. "The loose-cannon vigilante with a dark past who plays by his own rules…."

Gohan clenched his teeth too, but mostly to prevent himself from laughing.

"We gotta give you a name, a costume, a cartoon, everything," Arepa rambled, folding her arms as she gave it some real thought. "Let's workshop some names."

"No."

"Go-Man."

"Absolutely not."

"Yeah, just realized. Then how about…" She emphatically raised her fist. "The Monkey King!"

Gohan simply ignored her, continuing his stroll down the sidewalk in silence.

"Or…The Great Saiyaman!"

Gohan stopped in his tracks, catching Arepa by surprise.

"Write that one down, actually."

Arepa spun around until she stood directly in front of Gohan, blocking his pathway with a shit-eating grin. "See?! You're into this, ain'tcha?!"

"I'm not into anything," Gohan scoffed, though he looked off to the side in an effort to appear nonchalant. "That just has a nice ring to it, that's all."

"Sure thing, Saiyaman," Arepa teased as she spun back besides him and continued walking.

"And, you ruined it."

"Meh."

Gohan rolled his eyes, preferring to zip past that conversation. "I'm gonna go to Bulma's to help out with a new spaceship. I'm hoping Kiyomi can join, too, if she's not…" A grimace from a pale face, "…Busy."

"Ohhhh she's probably busy, alright," Arepa added, equally dismayed. "Who's Bulma, again? That blue-haired bitch?"

"I wouldn't put it that way," Gohan replied, though he snickered. "But yeah."

"She's got a serious bad attitude on her," Arepa grumbled, which just made Gohan hold his breath to avoid pointing out the grievous hypocrisy. She patted down her black jeans. "Nice clothes, though. Is she with Vegeta or somethin'?"

"You figured that out? They barely act like they like each other," Gohan replied, though his face went red as he recalled that moment he entered her office that was still fresh in his head. "Unless you saw…or heard…yuck."

"Nah, it's just the baby she had with her. His Ki's strong for a lil' critter and kinda feels like yours, plus he's got that mean ol' Veggie look on his face."

"Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't really say they're together, but they hooked up, at least."

"How is he, anyway? Vegeta. He talks to you more. When I was there, he just seemed…not-Vegeta. Just sittin' around, drinkin', watchin' animals fight. The Vegeta I know woulda been out trainin' right now, or worse."

Gohan sighed, the blood within his veins and years of experience around him providing a good understanding of Vegeta's mind. "He spent his whole life trying to defeat Frieza, lost everything, and wound up getting humiliated and killed like every other Saiyan before him. I'm starting to wonder if he even wants to be back."

"I can see that…"

"It's different from most people. Vegeta put his whole life into this, and was never afraid of death. He'd always say that if he was killed, then his actions in death were all he was worth." Gohan stopped walking and leaned against a nearby street light. "Now he has to live knowing he wasn't worthy of ambitions, and there's not one, but two other Saiyans that have passed him up."

Gohan folded his arms and tapped the back of his head against the pole, scowling to the grey sky. "It was pretty selfish of us. We wished that guy back for our sake and never considered if he even wants to be back. Maybe the Namekians were wrong; maybe we should respect the natural order. Maybe we shouldn't be cheating death."

"Um, HELLO," Arepa said, pointing at herself with a peevish glare.

Embarrassed, Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, sorry. You know what I mean…"

"Look, I kinda get it. Everybody's time comes and we gotta let the dead rest, blah blah blah. But we're tryin' to make shit better, right? And everybody deserves to go out in peace, not in flames. You, me, Vegeta – we all sent a whooooole buncha people out in flames, so we're the ones who should really know how important closure and all that shit is."

Gohan bit his tongue, his mind vacillating between agreement and disagreement. Arepa grabbed his hands, capturing his full attention. He cold eyes stared boldly into Gohan's.

"You've worked way too hard to be better and fix shit to start second guessin' yourself for doin' the right thing. It's just like trainin' - when we get a good session goin' and the next mornin' we're wakin' up and can barely even feel the piss comin' out of us."

Gohan tried and failed to contain his laughter.

"There's always a setback, even for the good things. Me and Vegeta, we're startin' out low, but now we gotta bounce back. When it came down to it, Vegeta took a beam to the heart for you – that's what he was worth in death. Now he's got a chance to figure that shit out while he's alive. And he can still keep his status as the guy who makes shit go boom really hard, anyway."

Setbacks, setbacks, setbacks – no matter how many times he reminded himself of Piccolo's valuable lesson, Gohan always found a way to lose track of it. His entire life had been setbacks, but he was living proof of the ability to push through.

Arepa trailed her hands along Gohan's arms until they wrapped around his neck and thrust herself an inch from his face. "And who's the reason why we have that chance?"

Gohan averted his eyes to the streets, a tongue in his cheek to thwart his smile.

"I'm stayin' like this 'til you say it."

Gohan fidgeted his body around until he finally gave up and sighed.

"Me."

Another kiss. That was far from getting old. Arepa rested her forehead against his.

"And that's why I love you."

Gohan wrapped his arm around her shoulder, staying there with her against the pole for a few moments. He'd never been one to ever hug or behave with any sort of affection, but spontaneity won out in the moment. His worries and constant second-guess melted away while he held her in his arm. For once, he wanted to show how much he appreciated everything she had done for him.

"That was really fuckin' cheesy, wasn't it?" Arepa asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe."

They hopped away from the pole and flew into the sky, to the stunned stares of Orange Star onlookers.

---

Gohan sat on a bed besides a window in a white room, his eyes lost in the black abyss of space. Hanging lazily down his left shoulder was a pale arm.

"Ow!" Gohan squeaked after a feeling a sharp prick around the back of his head.

He'd been reclined, but sat up and wrenched his head around to the source of both his pain and the arm hanging above his chest – Arepa, sitting right behind him with her bare legs curled around his waist, wearing only one of his black shirts. She held a pair of scissors in her right hand while her eyes squinted in concentration.

"Could you maybe try doing that with both hands?" Gohan whined. He cleared his throat, which had been itchy in recent weeks. His voice had been slowly growing deeper over the course of their trip, which had been on month three.

"I barely even stuck you!" Arepa snapped, pulling his head back against her chest and resuming her assignment.

All around Gohan's arms, legs, bed, and even the floor, were messy piles of his black hair. He had been long, long overdue for a trimming. Arepa had just about finished the job, just fine-tuning a few spikes here and there. After a few more snips, she put the scissors down, reached over and picked a mirror up from the floor, placing it in front of his face.

Gohan studied his reflection and frowned. "It looks too much like my father's."

"Um, first of all, you're welcome," Arepa growled. "And it already looked like your father's, just long. You should've just left it alone, anyway."

Gohan observed the spike arrangement in the mirror – three big spikes on the right side, and mostly cropped with a few tiny spikes on the left.

"It was getting annoying, especially when I try to sleep."

"Amazing's more like it." Arepa sighed. "I'm gonna miss your beautiful rug. All good things must come to an end I guess…"

"Do you like me, or have you just liked my hair all this time?" Gohan asked with a smirk.

Arepa brought her arms to Gohan's neck and leaned her head against his

"You do not want to hear my answer to that question," she breathed into his hear, sending a delightful shiver to his body. They were sloppily kissing each other the moment Gohan turned around. Arepa started pulling the tail end of Gohan's shirt, and-

"Commencing landfall to Planet Panera."

"Oh, fuck off!" Arepa screamed to the ceiling.

Gohan laughed and spun back towards the window, watching the golden mass their ship closed in on before its flight accelerated. To test their focus and mobility, Gohan and Arepa started putting on their fighting outfits while the ship made its plunge onto Planet Panera's atmosphere. Arepa wore her usual black & green armor, albeit in Bulma's model with straps in lieu of shoulder pads that adequately put a new addition to her skin on display: a simple tattoo of the 飯 kanji on her right shoulder. She also added a green & black plaid skirt that she'd stolen from Bulma.

Once the ship landed, Gohan and Arepa walked up to the main floor. This had been the third and final stop, a detour from their vigilante travels – or as Arepa dubbed, "The Cosmic Adventures of Saiyaman and Bread Bitch." Their first two trips had been routine – a villain wreaking havoc, and then Gohan and Arepa showing and wiping the floor with him. But it was the second mission that had left Gohan's head spinning. They had been summoned to a planet called Jelli after reports of an attack from a former Frieza Force soldier. Again, no real problems defeating him. It was the fellow who had reported the disturbance that left his and Arepa's mouths agape.

Just before opening the ship, Gohan hit a button on the control panel to lower the video screen. It cut on, revealing the face of the reporter.

"Hey, Tarble," Gohan said.

The fellow on the video screen looked like Vegeta if all of the rough edges that defined him had been trimmed and filed. Short in stature with tall, spiky hair, but with bangs hanging over a soft, relaxed face. He even wore the same uniform, with a blue body suit and white & gold armor, only without the stout musculature bulging within it.

It wasn't Vegeta, but his younger brother - Tarble.

"How's it going, guys?" he asked from his modest voice. "I take it you avoided the asteroid field?"

"Yeah," Gohan replied. "Thanks for the heads up."

Though he had to search deep into his memories, Gohan had recalled an incident once where Raditz needled Vegeta about his weak little brother. Predictably, it ended with Raditz being punched in the face. But he didn't expect him to ever be a man so divorced from any concept of Saiyanhood.

"No problem. We've actually just arrived on Earth," he explained. Gohan noted the blue sky and green trees in the background. He smiled anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't lie – I wasn't nervous the whole flight, but now I kind of am."

"Just call 'im Veggie – he'll love that," Arepa quipped.

"I somehow doubt that," Tarble said, cringing. "I'll see you later!" The transmission ended and the screen pulled back into the ceiling.

"Yeah, I still think he's really a Vegeta from an alternate universe," Arepa said, shaking her head.

"Might as well be."

Arepa slid over to the control panel and put her hand on the door's switch. "But enough of that. Let's open this sucker up!"

As the door slowly opened, Gohan paid close attention to Arepa. If Tarble had been nervous to see his brother, that paled in comparison to the jitters and sweats all throughout Arepa's skin. When the door finally opened, it brought a light in that might as well have been blinding from the way Arepa shielded her eyes. Gohan hadn't so much as blinked.

"It's perfectly fine, Arepa," he deadpanned.

Arepa lowered her eyes, allowing herself to take in the wheat-colored sky. Slowly, she walked down the ramp, taking the long way to the soil in lieu of simply hopping off like Gohan did. The half-Saiyan looked around, observing the burgundy grass field they landed in; a far cry from the near wasteland he saw when Cooler dragged him to the Big Gete Star, though he had kept his head down in the short amount of time he'd been outside back then.

"Okay, that's cool! Let's head back, now," Arepa said as she turned around and skipped back to the ship. Without moving anything but his left arm, Gohan grabbed her and thrust her back in front of him. "Heh heh, just testin' your reflexes!"

"You've gotta face it," Gohan said, sounding more like Piccolo.

"I know, I know. You're right." Arepa kicked her feet through the grass while erratically whipping her head back and forth between sights. "Maybe let's fly around a little?"

"Sure."

They took flight, enjoying the greater view of the planet. Gohan kept Arepa in his sights, recognizing the apprehension in her demeanor from himself. "What do you remember about this place?"

"Not much, really. But like, it feels familiar, too. The vibe, I guess. The smell of things. But I wasn't like you. My pops and I were always runnin' around space when I was just a critter, gettin' in all types of shit. I don't remember where I live, barely even remember my mum."

It hadn't been the first time they discussed her past; Arepa had already been prepared to live a life under Frieza, much like a home-grown Saiyan. Her unusually rattled behavior made her disconnect with her home painfully obvious.

Their flight took them to a city rich with unique architecture that caught Gohan's eye. On the vast ground stood buildings of shapes ranging from triangles to the letter S, cars flying at heights that put Capsule Corporation's vehicles to shame. "Pretty neat looking place, at least," Gohan observed.

As conspicuous as ever, Gohan and Arepa dropped down right in the middle of the street, startling the civilians. As Gohan expected, they all looked no different from any ordinary human; if not for the sky color, he might as well have been on Earth. Essentially, more evidence for Bulma's theory that much of the universe's life originated on a single planet and interstellar divergence split them up at some point. It would certainly explain how in the hell every planet somehow spoke the same language right down to the colloquialisms.

"Hey, you!"

Gohan and Arepa turned towards an aggressive voice. Their sights took them to a stand in the middle of the street containing a rack of magazines, operated by a scowling young lady with red hair and freckles all over her face.

"What's up?" Arepa asked.

"If you're Frieza Force, then get the fuck outta here! The Super Saiyans killed ya fookin' boss and brought us all back to life so you're waaaaayyy outnumbered!" She yelled, folding her arms and flexing them too, just in case her message wasn't clear.

When Gohan saw the spark that ignited in Arepa's eyes, he groaned…though excitement rested beneath his expression. She took an imposing step forward, hands on her curvaceous hips. "I know I'm dressed like it, but I ain't with the Frieza Force. And if you're lookin' for the Super Saiyan…." She reached out, pulling Gohan towards her before she pompously put her arm around his shoulders and rubbed his chest like a trophy. "He's right bloody here!"

Gohan blushed, biting back a grin. Admittedly, this wasn't the worst thing in the world.

"Yeah, well buzz off," the redhead sneered. "We don't take too kindly to loud little aliens 'round here!"

Arepa practically shoved Gohan away and walked right to the booth. "Um, I'll have you know I'm actually from 'round here!"

"Really, now? What's your name then?"

"Arepa!"

The redhead, rolled her eyes in disgust. "'Oooh, look at me, I'm a prettygirl with a piercin' and a tattoo and I run around in my mini-skirt in the city all day.' Yeah, you and the zillion other floozies named Arepa 'round these parts."

Their argument had grown loud enough that a crowd started to form. Meanwhile, Gohan looked around and explored food options. Arepa and the redhead were nearly nose-to-nose, neither budging an inch.

"Yeah, well I guess you wouldn't know nothin' about bein' a prettygirl, huh?" Arepa contested.

"Why don't you watch ya little lips before I rip the ring right off 'em?"

"If you lay a finger on my lips, I'll leaves yours as swollen as your nose, ya ginger-faced cunt!"

Gohan cringed. She was going just a wee bit too hard. Even the others in the crowd agreed, gasping in surprise.

"My name's Ginger, ya skanky little rat!"

"Well then your parents must've really fuckin' hated ya, huh?"

The other girl, evidently named Ginger, suddenly jumped back and unleashed a burst of aura around her body, the force knocking several civilians off of their feet. So apparently it was normal thing to just pick random fights when you had super powers on this planet?

Arepa brought her hand to her mouth with a theatrically panicked expression on her face. "Oh no, whatever will I do?! OH, WAIT!"

The black-haired ruffian unleashed her own power, dwarfing Ginger's and drawing surprise from the onlookers. The two women jumped into the sky and started throwing strikes at each other, though Arepa was clearly the superior of the two. The civilians started cheering on, pumping their fists while Gohan looked on idly; he already knew how this would end. However…

"LET'S FUCKIN' RIOT!"

Every single person in the vicinity cheered, and in no time at all, they all began brawling amongst each other, punching anything in sight. Several took a swing at Gohan, who expertly evaded every attack while keeping his eye on a particular loaf of braided bread from a food stand. After leaping over a swarm of brawling Panerans to snatch the bread, he jumped to the top of a skyscraper and observed the chaos. Arepa's behavior had always been bizarre – but apparently among her people, merely a dime a dozen. While the citywide brawl raged on, the fight that started it all was already near over, as Arepa had Ginger pinned down to the top of her stand with a knee to her back and handful of her red hair. A bit dirty, but Gohan allowed it; he was more focused on the loaf of bread in his mouth, anyway. It contained a sweet, spicy kick of pepper he had never encountered anywhere in the universe.

About an hour later, Arepa had joined Gohan on top of that same building, downing a bottle of beer while the half-Saiyan indulged in the pile of bread she had brought with her. The rioters had tired themselves out – well, that and the cops showed up. Many of them lay tired in the streets, while others limped away either by themselves, or in handcuffs with a police escort.

Ginger, the feisty magazine clerk that had started the madness, floated to the roof. Arepa put her bottle down, and following a burp, squared her shoulders for another fight. Ginger extended her fist…but with no ill-intent.

"Hey," Ginger said, panting heavily with a smile of respect. "You're one greasy bitch, Arepa."

Arepa grinned and bumped her fist against hers. "Same to you. Just get some more trainin' in."

Ginger nodded and flew back down to the streets to put her stand back together. Arepa took another swig and sighed in content. "Ah yeah, now I'm rememberin' a little bit about this planet. We're all kinda loony here."

"So, like Saiyans but weaker and weirder?" Gohan asked with a mouthful of dough.

"Pretty much."

As silly as it had been, Gohan enjoyed the chaos for that very reason. Even if it wasn't completely the same, it was just a small glimpse of the way Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz had lived every day on Planet Vegeta. And not only that, but Arepa had never seemed to enjoy herself more…and had never been more attractive either, for good measure.

"Would you stay here?"

The question blurted out from Gohan's lips, but he couldn't undo it. Arepa rested her forearm on to the top of her bottle and stared at the sky with a wistful expression, leaving Gohan to wonder her thoughts with a tightening stomach. His anxiety had come from a selfish place, though he also knew whatever answer she gave was entirely up to her.

"Nahhh."

Having said that, Gohan sighed in relief.

"I think this would get old after a while. Everybody here's damn near as weird as I am; I'm already too much."

Gohan couldn't have agreed and disagreed more.

"Besides." She looked away from the chaos of her people to the face of the half-Saiyan, half-Earthling.

"I've got everything I need on Earth."

---

Though not his first time meeting him face-to-face, the sight was still surreal in person – he really did just look like an alternate, well-adjusted version of Vegeta.

Gohan was standing in he Capsule Corp lobby after he and Arepa returned from their space excursion, watching Vegeta's younger brother and abnormally tiny wife – a Jellian with pale, green skin, a hairless round head, and black dots for eyes – entertain their baby nephew on the couch. Tarble made funny faces while the unknowing heir to the tiny Saiyan throne clapped and laughed.

"Weird turn of events for the Saiyan race, huh?" said Bulma, sneaking up behind Gohan. "A hybrid son with purple hair and the answer to the question of 'What if Vegeta grew up in a stable, nurturing environment?'"

"How's Vegeta been around him?"

"How do you think? 'I don't care how peaceful that planet is, you have to train,'" she said in her gravelly Vegeta imitation. "Badgering him to get in the gravity room, that type of shit. It's like he can't stand the idea that a Saiyan can actually be polite, friendly, and walk through life without suppressing an urge to slaughter everything in sight."

"He tolerates me well enough," Gohan said, shrugging.

"Well yeah – you're still a battle junkie like he is." Gohan scratched the back of his head. "You wouldn't even know this guy's a Saiyan if not for the tail."

"Sounds like you like this guy better."

Bulma scoffed with the type of disgust Gohan would see from her other half. "Are you kidding me? Kid's a wimp."

Gohan rolled his eyes with a snort. Her answer made sense in how it didn't make sense.

A certain girl in armor and a plaid skirt slid past Gohan and Bulma and opened a container of vanilla cake from the counter. As she sliced off a piece, Bulma looked at her with a nasty scowl. "So you come in here wearing my skirt and then eat my food?"

Stuffing her face with cake, Arepa shrugged. "So? Keep ya shirt on, auntie, you're rich."

Oh, boy, Gohan said in his mind as he watched Bulma's face turn red all over. He practically saw steam coming out of her nose. Arepa didn't particularly react, continuing to eat her cake while Bulma squeezed her fists like she was powering up.

"AUNTIE?!"

She lunged towards the younger, considerably stronger girl, but Gohan grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The blue-haired heiress took a deep, ragged breath.

"I hate her, Gohan. I hate her," she growled through her teeth.

"She's definitely an acquired taste," Gohan snickered. Now he just wondered how his mother would react to her.

"Yeah, well someone oughta chew her up and spit her out," Bulma grumbled. "They should've taught manners in the Frieza Force."

Gohan shook his head at such an absurd notion and looked around. "How's Vegeta doing, anyway? Sounds like he's training again, at least."

Bulma took a few calming breaths and fanned herself off. "Yeah, ever since I built a gravity room and Kiyomi helped me figure out how to reproduce the fluid from the healing tanks, he's been at it like a madman. It all started the day you left, and Goku did the Goku thing where he says something really rude by accident. Pretty much implied Vegeta must not want to be a Super Saiyan like him and was slacking."

"Oof."

"Yeah, I'll say," Bulma said with a cringe. "He's been in there 24/7 since. Even basically forced Goku to go with him in the that time room again too, and finally managed to –"

Suddenly, an energy blast slammed into Gohan's body and sent him crashing through a wall. He landed on his back in the lawn of the compound, dust and debris clogging his face. He tried sitting up, his body aching and in his mind in a daze as he tried to figure out what was going on. Had a past enemy showed up and gotten the drop on him? Had anyone else been hurt, had –

"VEGETA!"

Gohan looked up to find a figure standing on the other side of the hole in the compound, dressed in the same blue suit and white & gold armor as Tarble. He possessed a head of hair that resembled a golden flame and taunted Gohan with a smirk. Even with the different color of hair and teal eyes, Gohan could tell exactly who it was. With a competitive smile on his own, he got up from the grass and unleashed his Super Saiyan power.

"No, no, no, NO!" Bulma screamed as Gohan flew threw the hole and attacked the Super Saiyan culprit. Vegeta had already braced himself and blocked the kick Gohan sent him with his forearm, and then kicked him right through the ceiling and into one of the upper floors.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!"

"So, you've joined the club, huh?" Gohan asked, warding off a flurry of attacks from the reinvigorated Saiyan Prince.

"Damn right, I did," Vegeta yelled, his voice glowing with pride even stronger than his energy. Gohan got the better of their exchange and blasted him through a wall in the hallway, sending him into the sky. He flew after him, but another Ki blast came flying his way. After safely repelling it into the sky, Gohan raised his Ki and curled his hands back, charging up his best attack.

"Ka…Me…"

Vegeta did the same, though his hands glowed with electrified, pink energy.

"Gallick…"

"I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR ENTIRE PLEBEIAN RACE, YOU PIECES OF SIMIAN TRASH!"

The sound of that screeching voice not only sapped away Gohan and Vegeta's blasts, but their Super Saiyan transformations. When they looked down, Bulma had been standing in the lawn with a snarling face as red as her hair was blue, her body shaking with a wrath that could strike fear in even the strongest the universe had to offer. Tarble, his wife, and Arepa stood a few yards behind her.

"Okay, she definitely sounded like Frieza, there."

---

Hours later, after more or less being forced to help rebuild the sections of Capsule Corp he and Vegeta had damaged, Gohan stood in a lawn that had known like the back of his hand even though he had been there relatively few times in his life. A few yards away, Arepa sat on a tree stump, petting a sabretooth with yellow fur.

Across from him stood his destination – a small, peach-colored dome. Though he had already been there a couple of times over the past year-and-a-half, approaching it now left him twice as jittery as Arepa had been on Planet Panera. He rubbed his hands together, blowing wind against them to amp himself up.

"Oh, just go in, already!" Arepa yelled from the distance. Gohan flipped her the bird.

Nonetheless, Gohan approached the door and tapped his fist against its wooden frame. He didn't get an immediate response; as the seconds built up, a few nervous sweats dripped down Gohan's cheeks as he recalled a frequent nightmare of his, where a certain lizard was the one to answer this exact door.

Slowly, it opened. Gohan closed his eyes.

"Gohan? You're back! And you've finally cut your hair!"

The voice instantly quelled Gohan's fears. He opened his eyes to the glowing smile of his mother.

"Yeah. I'm back."

Faster than he could even turn around, Arepa stormed towards the door, catching the mother and son by surprise. While Gohan had now relaxed himself, the brash firecracker twiddled her thumbs with a demeanor the exact opposite of how she behaved towards Bulma.

"Um, hi," she mumbled. "You're…Gohan's mum, right?"

"Yeah," Chi-Chi replied with a nod. "Ah, so you must be Gohan's girlfriend, then?"

Both Gohan and Arepa blushed and looked down at the floor.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Arepa replied.

Chi-Chi looked at Arepa for a few seconds. The teenager looked away, whistling idly, while Gohan wondered what was going through his mother's mind. She must have been aware that she was a fighter herself, another soldier from the Frieza Force that possessed a legion of blood on her hands.

Finally, Chi-Chi turned towards her son with a grin. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Gohan!"

Arepa breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Phew. Oh my God, I was clenchin' everything, there!"

Gohan brought his palm to his forehead and groaned.

"Um…it's fine!" Chi-Chi said with a stiff laugh. "I ain't gonna bite ya."

Gohan and Arepa stepped inside, looking around at the living room. "Now I see where Gohan gets his looks, ma'am."

"Oh, you're just sayin' that…!" Chi-Chi said, waving her hand in dismissal even though she wore a flattered smile. "Y'all came here at just the right time, though. I was just fixin' to cook up dinner!'

Indeed, Gohan could smell a few spices from the kitchen; his stomach rumbled on cue. Arepa wandered from wall to wall like a refugee getting her first look at civilization. While she was still outwardly nervous, Gohan carried his own anxiety through the halls. He wasn't coming here as a visitor, simply dropping by to pick up a Senzu bean. He was finally leaving behind the life he had been thrust into ten years ago.

"Whoa, Gohan's here!"

Gohan looked to his left, where two Saiyans of identical faces and hair, but wildly different sizes stood with mile-wide grins. Goten, Gohan's little brother, had grown quite a bit since the last time he visited, now standing easily on his own.

"Oh…my…God," Arepa drawled, an adoring smile plastered on her face. She slid towards Goten, bent down and ruffled his spiky hair. "You didn't tell me you had a little brother!"

"Never really came up."

Goten blushed while Arepa practically smothered him with affection. "He's just the cutest little fu-" Arepa stopped herself and held her breath, as did Gohan. "Um…cutest little guy!"

"Just don't like him too much or he'll suffocate," Gohan quipped as he walked towards his father.

"Back for good, eh?" Goku asked.

"Yeah."

Gohan looked on as Goten and Arepa shadow-boxed with each other, clicking almost instantly. His chest swelled with affection for both.

"He's part of the reason why," Gohan mused. "Cooler and Frieza have actually had me thinking a little bit."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Frieza said something during our battle - I'm sure a lot of it was just bullshit excuses, but I think there was some truth to it. At least some of that nastiness came from how much he resented his brother. They shared flesh and blood and were plotting to kill each other."

"Shoot, their father too!"

"And then, you and your brother."

Gohan and Goku's bodies both stiffened, harkening back to the day on Roshi's island. While he would always be grateful of Raditz's sacrifice, Gohan and his father still possessed scars from that moment and everything that followed – literally, in Gohan's case.

"I'm not saying things will ever come to that…but I don't want to be a shitty older brother and make Goten grow up with a chip on his shoulder. And I don't want to be disconnected, like Vegeta and his brother."

Goku jumped back, nearly hitting the wall. "Vegeta has a brother?!"

"Yeah. He was like you, sent off to a weak planet and missed Planet Vegeta's destruction by luck. He turned out the same, too."

"I guess Saiyans can be good with the right people around them," Goku said.

"You're proof."

Goku expressed his gratitude by ruffling his head through Gohan's hair. "I see ya trimmed the hedges a little, huh?"

Gohan shoved his hand away, but with a laugh. Though still the stronger of the two, he liked sometimes just feeling like the kid at his father's mercy. He drifted down the hallway, looking through the different rooms until he caught one in particular. It had a simple set-up; a a bed with green & red sheets across from a desk, and next to that desk was a shelf filled from top to bottom with textbooks of various subjects. As soon as Gohan walked in, memories flooded him. Days of sitting at that desk and reading, nights of whimpering during thunderstorms and yelling for his parents.

This hadn't been any ordinary bedroom. It hadn't been a room full of stone cots, either. It was his room.

Gohan went to the desk, where a single picture frame stood atop it. He picked it up for a closer look. On the right side was his mother, young and full of life. And then there was Goku, who save for maybe twenty pounds of muscle looked exactly the same as he did down the hall. But a little boy stood in his arms, wearing a red hat and a yellow tunic. His tail peeked out from Goku's burly arm. While his parents had been smiling, the toddler possessed a shy, nervous expression, as if he feared the camera. His eyes were clear, with not a scar to be found.

The teenager with a scar over his left eye who held the frame stumbled into the bed he hadn't sat on in a decade. The kid in the picture was one Gohan resented for years. It wasn't his brother, however – it was Son Gohan himself. A boy filled with twice as much nerves as he had curiosity, only knowing the shower of love from his parents.

A droplet of water hit the frame, falling from Gohan's scarred eye. The boy in that picture lived in a perfect world, where Goku wasn't Kakarot, one of the few remaining survivors of the Saiyan race. Where there wasn't a tyrant pillaging and subjugating every world he could get his hands on. Where the very soil this house stood upon would have suffered the same fate if the guy in orange hadn't bumped his head once.

That Gohan wasn't some pathetic crybaby worthy of scorn. He was just a kid. And while many things had molded him into a drastic departure, he was the same kid that was holding the picture frame.

As Gohan wiped his eyes to ward of more tears, Arepa took a seat next to him and rested her chin on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him.

"Aww, that's the little you, ain't it?"

"Yeah," Gohan said, his voice impeded by a sniffle.

"Man, this takes me back. We really were just a couple of rugrats, weren't we?"

It was an absurd reality – children like Gohan, like Arepa, like Vegeta, fighting life or death battles and forced to become grown men and woman before they were even old enough for grade school. But that reality didn't have to exist anymore. They sat on the bed for what felt like an hour, Arepa resting against Gohan with her eyes closed while he observed the spines of the textbooks on his shelf. He doubted he had even made it through a third of them back in the old days.

Chi-Chi arrived in the doorway, but leaned against the frame rather than immediately speak. She lingered for a few moments, letting her smile grow until she finally cleared her throat.

"Dinner's ready, y'all."

Gohan placed the frame on the bed and got back up, Arepa following him her hand locked in his. When they reached the table, the only fluid still spilling from Gohan was a touch of saliva around his lips. The table had everything – fish, turkey, chicken, beef, fruits, salad, radishes, carrots, rice, bread – you name it, and Chi-Chi had it cooked to perfection.

Gohan eagerly grabbed a plate and a fork, but heard the front door swing open in the distance.

"Y'all are havin' a feast and ain't even invite me?!" called a deep, gravelly, voice.

When Gohan turned around, the fork fell from his hands. A large man with a beard and glasses strolled in, the suspenders from his overalls holding on for dear life against his massive frame. He was the man that had snapped the picture he'd been holding in his room, and a lot more than that.

"Dad!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "You always come in 'n take what ya want, anyway!"

"Nah, you forgot about yer ol' pops," he said with a jolly laughter. He looked around the table, freezing at one object in particular. He adjusted the frame of his glasses.

"Gohan…is that you?"

Gohan held the plate above his mouth to mask the giddy, quivering smile underneath. But when the man better known as Ox-King slapped his wide hand across his entire back, the plate fell right back to the table.

"Man, you're a giant now!" he marveled.

"He's a giant?!" Arepa said, gazing up at Ox-King with her jaw agape. "My God, man, you are one big ol' motherfucker, ain't ya?!"

All eyes shot towards Arepa. She blushed and slapped both hands over her mouth, squeaking out a feeble "Sorry."

"Almost, Arepa. Almost," Gohan snickered. "You were so close!"

"Eh, Goten's heard worse with this lady around," Ox-King said, gesturing towards his daughter and drawing boisterous laughter from everyone in the room.

After adequately filling their plates, the interstellar extended family took their seats. Chi-Chi chimed her fork against her glass cup and stood up, obtaining everyone's attention.

"Now that we're all settled in, can I just say somethin' quick?" Chi-Chi asked. Everyone nodded affirmatively.

Chi-Chi turned towards Gohan and clasped her hands together.

"Gohan…"

Like his father often did, the half-Saiyan scratched his hair, trying not to blush.

"Growin' up out in the country, all I ever wanted was one big, happy family. I ain't had my mother since I was just a kid, so I knew when I got the chance, I would be the best one I could be. And then…"

She paused, rubbing her hand against her neck as her voice choked up.

"…I couldn't. When you were gone, I would sit her all day, just cryin' and cryin'. Not a second went by where I wasn't thinkin' of you. I thought I was bein' a bad mom just 'cause I wasn't tearin' down every planet in the universe to find you and scoop you up in my arms. I didn't know if I would ever have a happy family again."

Despite her best efforts, her eyes watered. "And even when Goten was born, and even when you came back…I didn't think we'd ever have the whole family back together again. But you're here, and you've got this…kinda crazy gal here…"

"Aww, thanks," Arepa replied.

"And you just seem happy again. And though I would greatly prefer if you started hittin' a couple of those books I got setup there, hint-hint, it really doesn't matter to me what you do, as long as you know you always have a home here. I'm just…" Chi-Chi choked on her words. "So happy we're a family again…"

Goku patted Chi-Chi on her back, helping her sit down and ruffling her shoulders to perk her back up. Gohan cleared his throat.

"You're not alone, mom," Gohan began, pausing to find the right words. Arepa grabbed a hold of one of his hands and squeezed it. "I've got…a lot of baggage, and I'm sure I'm bringing some of it here. For a long time, I didn't want to come back here. I was scared of what you guys would really think about me, and everything I've done out there. But I've worked hard to better, and I'm going to keep working as long you guys are here. When I see every one of you…."

Gohan routed his eyes to every face at the table – to Goku's, to Chi-Chi's, to Goten's, to Ox-King's, and lastly, to Arepa.

"There's no place I'd rather be."

And then, Goku's stomach rumbled. His wife palmed her forehead, but his elder son snickered.

"And on that note, let's eat!"

"Truer words have never been spoken – the whole thing, not just the last part," Goku said reaching his hands towards his plate with a childish grin. "But definitely the last part, too!"

Chi-Chi slapped his hand, however. "Ahem. You know the drill, Goku."

Though Goku pouted, he followed everyone else at the table and pressed his hands together. Well, everyone besides one. Her hands were already digging through the food and stuffing them in her mouth. Arepa looked up nervously while the Son Family stared at her.

"What? We're eatin', right?"

Gohan elbowed her ribs and pointed his head towards his hand gesture. Arepa vigorously nodded, gulped down her food, and assumed the position. After a snicker towards his crude girlfriend, Gohan stared at his plate and said the words.

"I humbly accept this meal!"

The End.

The first thing Gohan went for on his plate were the sliced carrots. Across from him, Goku groaned with disgust. Gohan looked up with his brows curiously arched.

"What's up?"

"You're actually eating those?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

Goku flinched, trying to not to vomit.

"Carrots are gross, man!"

The End.

And there you have it! When I decided to rewrite this, I did not expect this motherfucker to be a whole 20 chapters longer, but there you go. This has been rewarding to write, and hopefully rewarding to read for you guys. But don't expect a sequel. Ever.

Mamba out!