A fist raised and fell again as Dende knocked three times on the door to Gohan's house. Popo and
Tenshinhan stood beside him, waiting impatiently for someone to answer. "God, be home,"
prayed Dende.
The door unlocked and opened up, revealing Videl in a short towel, drying her hair. "Oh, hi guys!
I'm sorry, I'm not decent! Come on in, I'll tell Gohan you're here," she said, walking off down
the hall.
"Nice ass," commented Tenshinhan.
"I am obliged to agree," exclaimed Mr Popo.
"I wouldn't know about those sort of things," cited Dende.
Turning around, Dende spotted Gohan in the doorframe. He gasped. "Gohan!"
The half-Saiyan smiled as he entered the living room in his old battle gi from the Buu fight. "Hey
guys. You felt it too, right? Is that why you're here?"
Dende responded, instantly realizing what Gohan meant. "Yes. The evil power we felt. Mr Popo
and I are gathering everyone up so we can figure out what to do."
"Good. I can't pinpoint its location, but I know it is immensely powerful."
Videl came back into the room, this time wearing a pair of cutoff jeans and a white tank top.
"Gohan, will you be going out?"
"Yes, dear."
"Okay, have fun. I'll pick Pan up later."
"That's alright, Videl, we're on our way to Vegeta's anyway," said Gohan, heading for the door
with the others.
Gohan walked outside and noticed the small yellow skycruiser. "Can we all fit in that?"
"Sure, if we squeeze," responded Dende, hopping into the driver's seat and staring up the engine.
*****
"Pots and pans, dirty dishes! I'm a scientist, not a maid!" yelled Bulma as she cleaned the kitchen.
"Where are those kids of mine? They should be the ones cleaning this up."
A ring from the front door caused Bulma to stop sweeping and greet her guest. Pulling open the
door, she found none other than Ubuu waiting for her.
"Hi Ubuu! How're things on Kami's Lookout?" asked Bulma.
"Um, fine," acknowledged Ubuu shyly. "Are Vegeta and Trunks home?"
Bulma looked from left to right for a moment, then shook her head. "Nope. I haven't seen either
of them since breakfast. Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone since breakfast except you."
There was another resounding knock on the door. Bulma turned around. "Oh, who's it now-"
Trunks stood in the doorframe, his cheek dripping with a sticky red liquid- blood- that was
coming out of Vegeta's chest. Bulma covered her mouth to keep from screaming, and Ubuu
stared in shock. Trunks carried Vegeta over to the couch and set him down on it, the mighty
warrior unmoving. Pan and Bra shut the door behind them and ran up to check on Vegeta with
the others.
"Wha- what happened to my Vegeta?" asked Bulma, tears falling from her eyes like a cascading
waterfall.
Trunks brushed away his own tears as he looked at his dead father. "He fought some stranger,
and lost."
Ubuu stared in shock, the overwhelming vision of seeing such a mighty warrior fall. Then he
snapped back to reality and looked at Vegeta closer. "Wait... Vegeta's not dead! He's very
bruised, but he's still breathing! Which means..." said Ubuu, trailing off as he pulled a sensu bean
from his pocket, "...we can still save him!"
Ubuu bent over and stuck the sensu bean into Vegeta's mouth, moving his jaw so that he
swallowed it. Ubuu stood back up alongside the others and waited. A few minutes passed, and
finally, Vegeta stirred.
"Thank God!" cried Bulma, kissing Ubuu on the cheek and hugging him as tight as she could,
almost causing Ubuu to lose his breath.
"Who was he fighting?" asked Ubuu as Bulma released him.
"Goku," answered Trunks sternly.
"Goku? It can't be!" said a startled Bulma.
"It was not Kakarotto," said Vegeta grimly as he stood up next to Bulma. Bulma cried and
hugged him.
"I thought I'd actually lost you."
"I wouldn't leave you, my love."
"Ew! Dad!" said Bra closing her eyes.
"I sensed Goku's ki, father! If it wasn't him, then who was it?" questioned Trunks.
"Give me a moment to catch my breath, and all will be explained."
*****
Tenshinhan, Gohan, Dende, and Mr Popo raced down the streets in the yellow skycar, collecting
odd stares from people on the sidewalks as they roared by. Looking ahead, Gohan could see
Capsule Corp in the distance. "I see it," he observed, and Dende swerved into the driveway
immediately, coming to an abrupt halt.
"Remind me to never let you drive again," said Tenshinhan as he climbed out of the backseat and
headed toward Bulma's house.
Gohan rapped on the door twice and waited for someone to answer. Pan opened up the door.
"Daddy! What are you doing here?"
Gohan smiled. "Hello, my little Honey Muffin! We just came to visit Vegeta."
Pan grumbled. "Please, don't call me that in front of my friends."
"What? Honey Muffin?"
"DDAAADD!!!"
Vegeta came up to the doorway behind Pan. "Come inside. I know why you're all here."
After almost twenty minutes on talking, Vegeta had explained his experience with everyone,
leaving out no details in telling the story.
"Gojitto? Two Gokus and two Vegetas fused together?" said a baffled Tien. "How can that be?"
Vegeta smiled. "He's traveling across dimensions, that's how."
"I can imagine he's massively strong, so how can we hope to beat him?" asked Gohan.
"I'm not sure if we can. He said he'd destroy Earth because this universe is worthless without
Kakarotto alive," explained Vegeta.
"Then I guess it's back to training."
"No. We can't just leave the Earth susceptible to attack. Somebody will have to stay and fight."
"But none of us are powerful enough," noted Dende.
"I wasn't able to reach full power," said Vegeta, "because I was never able to turn Super Saiyan
4. Gojitto had the advantage then, but as far as I know, his power only goes up to Super Saiyan 2.
That gives Super Saiyan 4 a definite advantage."
"What makes you think so?" asked Gohan, sipping on a cup of coffee Bulma had given him. "I
mean, Buu was stronger than SS3 but weaker than Super Vegetto. Imagine if Gojitto has the
power of two fusions on his side. It makes him innumerably powerful."
"There's one thing that gives me the advantage," mocked Vegeta.
"What?" asked Trunks.
"He never trained past the fight with Buu. I'm still a lot stronger than he thinks. When I go SS4,
he'll be sorry he even fought me the first time."