Further along the track leading back to the car, Gohan stood open-mouthed and stuttering, and reached for Videl's arm, missed, tried again and caught it. One look at his face was enough for her to gauge what must have been wrong, and Videl quickly thought of an excuse to get him away.

"Where are Trunks and Jade? They must've gotten themselves lost. Gohan, would you go find them while we pack the car?" Gohan mumbled and set off jogging down through the forest to where they'd left the other two. As soon as he was out of sight of the others, he switched to Super Saiyan form and flew with the wind tearing through his hair towards the power signal he felt from the two other demi-Saiyans. Stopping on instinct, he powered down and landed on the forest floor in front of them. He noted the physical closeness, suspected something amiss and decided to ignore it. Now wasn't the time or the place.

"Do you recognise that power signal, Trunks?"

Trunks screwed up his face in concentration.

"I was hoping it was just Goku or my father letting of some steam, but there's no way it could be… it's much too strong."

"It's papa." Jade added more audibly, using the Ismiri language.

"You said that before. What does it mean?" Trunks and Gohan looked at her curiously.

"It's my father. He should be dead, but it's definitely him."

"Oh no…" Trunks groaned – the last time he'd faced Broly he'd nearly bitten the bullet, and from what he could feel now, Broly was stronger than ever. Gohan was more level headed.

"We'll just have to kill him again if we have to. Sorry Jade, but your father is a creep, to say the very least. I can feel my father and Vegeta heading towards it, Piccolo too. We should go to them and figure out what to do."

A blinding flash and three Super Saiyans stood glowing in the clearing. They took to the air, Gohan in the lead, and headed towards the older Saiyans. Even though Gohan was flying near the speed of sound, Jade despaired of ever getting there and called a halt to their progress.

"We'll never make it at this rate; hold on to my hands." She held one out for each of the others and set off at a speed four times faster than Gohan's maximum. A girl is dragging me along, Trunks thought. Mother'd love this.

Gohan marvelled at the speed Jade dragged them along at. Despite the fact she was half-Saiyan as he was, he'd thought her to be about as strong as his little brother after she'd explained her original power signal. There was obviously much more to her than meets the eye. Before he could query her about their pace, she'd pulled up abruptly and the three stood facing Goku and Vegeta.

"Well, we've got most of the planet's firepower right here, so what do we do now?" Goku gave an innocent tilt of his head as he thought.

"You're a disgrace to your heritage, Kakarot. We track the bastard down and blow him to the next dimension." It was Jade's turn to look stunned. How did he know it was her father? Better to wait and find out. Vegeta gave her a hard stare.

"Yes, we know it's your father. I could've sworn he was dead before, but he's obviously not and I'm going to kill him for good this time. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you go home." Jade swallowed hard and adopted the Saiyan tongue for its greater capacity for cruelty.

"I understand perfectly. He's lost the plot and he's dangerous. Nearly always has been. If I'm not mistaken, it's the Saiyan custom for a child to kill a parent in order to assume a rank, is it not, my Prince?"

Vegeta grunted assent.

"It is. But why does it matter now? Planning to knock daddy's block off, are we?" the implicit sarcasm in his voice made her angry. The decision she'd made in the previous moment was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.

"I suppose I am." The casual cruelty in her voice startled Trunks. Even when she'd been messing with Videl she didn't sound as serious as she did now.

"Well don't bother, Jadali. You wouldn't be strong enough anyway, and I have a bone to pick with him." Vegeta had switched back to the only language Kakarot and Gohan fully understood, signalling an end to the discussion.

You didn't listen to me, did you, my Prince? Maybe you heard, but you didn't listen. You're blinded by your ego and you're too afraid to put your trust in me, Jade sputtered into mindthought.

Thankfully, distractingly, the five assembled Saiyans felt a mass of energy coming their way and made out the forms of Goten, the present Trunks, Krillin, Tien, Chaozu and more reluctantly Yamcha.

"Daddy, what is it?" Trunks tugged at the gloved hand Vegeta had folded across his chest.

"Never mind. Go home to your mother," Vegeta snapped without looking down.

"But Daddy…" Trunks whined in a pitch that put Vegeta's teeth on edge.

"NOW!!" he roared at the little boy.

"Um, same goes for you I suppose," Goku was never really an authoritarian figure and since Vegeta had done the yelling bit, he figured he might as well get Goten to a safer distance as well. Chichi would kill him otherwise.

Trunks' shoulders slumped and he turned sulkily to his playmate.

"Come on Goten, let's go." He floated unhappily back towards Capsule Corporation.

"Now, we've all got to keep our power levels down, or he'll sense us a mile away." Vegeta assumed command and got a filthy look that might become a challenge from Tien and Yamcha. Trunks and Jade moved naturally to Vegeta's right and left sides, assuming slight defensive postures that silenced the objection before it could be issued. Vegeta noted this with some satisfaction. The girl's a good influence on the boy, and visually they're quite impressive together.

"Who the hell is 'he'?" Yamcha snapped at Vegeta.

"Broly. I thought you would have figured it out, but then again, you weren't there last time, were you? You were too weak," Vegeta snarled back at him, enjoying the opportunity to ruffle the man's feathers. But now was not the time. Vegeta was above all a strategist, and where he lacked a little strength when compared to Goku, he possessed a far superior mind for battle and outstripped Goku in leadership skills and sheer technique.

"When we find that bastard, first, Kakarot and…" Vegeta outlined his strategy to the floating assembly, who for the most part had to grudgingly accept the brilliance of his tactics.

"Well well, what have we here?" an unfamiliar voice cut through the crisp air as the warriors discussed directions they'd go to search for Broly.

"It looks like we don't have to find him. I assume the big guy with the tail is Broly? Guys? Hello?" Yamcha was nearly knocked head over heels by a gust of power from the dark haired stranger that stood in their midst. They hadn't even sensed him coming.

"Yeah, that's him." Goku looked uneasily at the tall black haired man who stared back at him with a queer look in his eyes. He's stark raving mad, Goku thought haplessly. But who's that behind him?

Sure enough, a good distance behind Broly, stationed on a rocky outcrop stood a young man dressed much as Jade had been. He was too far away to make out any features, but it was obvious to the onlookers that he held himself strangely. Broly focused his attention on the girl standing on Vegeta's left.

"Child, what are you wearing?" He looked down disdainfully at the jeans and sweater she'd donned. She shrugged carelessly and changed her outfit back into her armour.

"You were dead, father. I felt you die. And why did you come here?" she looked at the madness in his eyes and stayed tactfully out of his reach. Father or not, his madness made him dangerous.

"I was dead. But on my way to hell I met a doctor who cloned my body. So here I am. And I'll ask the questions from now on," he added, silencing his daughter. "Put simply Jadali, I came here to put an end to Kakarot and Vegeta, but there's also a couple of things I'd like cleared up. One, why did you nearly kill your betrothed? And above all what the hell are you doing here?!!" Broly's good temper ended in an hysterical scream.

"I'm doing what you told me to do! I found the Prince! And it'll be a cold day in Hell before I have anything to do with that freak Ragal! Now, for mother's love will you talk rationally?!" Jade yelled back with as much volume as her father had.

Kid's got lungs, thought Goku. Broly sobered.

"Child, you know I don't really want to hurt you. Just get out of the way, let me kill Kakarot and Vegeta, and we can all go home, ne?"

"Can we put an end to the domestic unrest and get down to things?! It's obvious you're not going home without a fight, and I'd never deprive you of that," Vegeta interjected, taking up a defensive position. Goku took this cue and was quickly followed by Gohan, Trunks and Jadali. Goku stood on Vegeta's right, Gohan on his left, and Trunks and Jade behind them, forming a spearhead with Vegeta at the front. A flash of golden light later and Broly was faced with five Super Saiyans. He shook in mock terror.

"Darn, now I'll have to pull out the big guns after all." He screamed deafeningly and faced them not in Super Saiyan form, but the level beyond it. His hair stood up straight like Vegeta's and one golden lock dropped in front of his eyes. Broly had reached the second Super Saiyan stage. Shit, thought Vegeta. This could be trouble.

"To put it as you did, Vegeta, let's get down to business." Broly cracked his knuckles, and flew straight for not Vegeta, but Goku.

Expecting the onslaught to be aimed at Vegeta, Goku was caught dangerously offguard. He received a blow to the chest that knocked his wind out, and quickly teleported himself out of reach. Gasping and favouring his sore ribs, Goku appeared on the other side of the spearhead, and Gohan switched places with him.

Grinning wickedly, Gohan snarled at Broly.

"You reckon that's a clever trick? Well guess what? It's not as unique as you think." He released his hidden power with a thunderous shout that shook the surrounding countryside and gave Broly a mirror image of himself to look at. Then he attacked.

Broly and Gohan disappeared from view. Jade watched them closely and reported the fight to her companions. Deep within a cloud of punches, feinting, ki blasts and blocks, Broly and Gohan locked arms and ceased their rapid moving. Broly glanced evilly away from his young opponent's glare and looked pointedly towards the open sky a little way off.

"She's pretty in a human way. Do you often bring your mate to watch you die?"

Gohan's eyes widened in shock, and feeling the presence Broly had hinted at, turned his head to find Videl floating behind Yamcha.

"Get out of here!" he screamed to her. Gleefully taking advantage of Gohan's distraction, Broly thumped him in the face and when he hit the ground, Gohan was out for the count.

"Obviously your son, Kakarot." Vegeta glared distastefully at the black-haired sprawling body on the ground.

"Fa-ther…" A whine from Trunks, and Vegeta rolled his eyes.

Broly turned his attention to Vegeta, who braced himself. They each raised a fist, and a streak came between them.

"Stop it. Now." Jade stood between them without any power boost from Super Saiyan form.

"What the hell are you doing, girl?" a joint cry of confusion from Broly and Vegeta. She turned to the snarling Prince.

"What I said I'd do. It's obviously necessary. I told you before I surpassed my father when I was a child, and I've improved since then. I know you don't want to believe it, but…" her voice trailed off and she floated over to where Vegeta hovered, face a dark storm.

She placed his hand on her arm and concentrated. Vegeta gasped in shock, and pulled away hastily.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did. About seven times."

"Am I interrupting something? I believe I was about to kill you Vegeta, and child? It doesn't work any longer. You're not stronger than I am any more. I made up the difference with that 'coming back from death' experience." He snarled nastily, knowing in his deepest heart he'd caught her out.

"No daddy," a tone of pure sugared innocence. "You see, I've got a surprise for you." Her dark green eyes glimmered wickedly. And she screamed, so loudly she shook the planet to its core.

In front of what remained of the assembly (well, those who hadn't been blown away by the energy), stood a warrior with spiky golden hair reaching nearly to her feet. Jade had grown somewhat, and stood looking cocky and confident. In the third form.

"Im—im—impossible!" muttered Vegeta. The little witch is stronger than she let on, even to me just a moment ago.

"Father, you always pressed me to learn the ways of your people. You taught me only the strong survive, and children replace their parents. You want to hurt everything I've cared about since I arrived here. It's time I replaced you." The cool manner and her extreme calmness surprised even Broly. He never remembered his daughter being so in control of her power, and he was worried.

Without even a blur to signify her movement, Jade came behind Broly, pressed a knee into the small of his back, grabbed a handful of golden hair and yanked so hard she broke his neck.

"You taught me too well, father," she whispered before letting his limp form fall to the ground.

Astonished at her transformation and brutality, Trunks still felt compelled to call out to Jade that Broly wasn't dead.

"Not yet, but he will be when you get out of the way."

Muttering words nobody understood, Jade formed an intricate pattern in the air, and drew a ki blast into being. Without a further sound, she released it, and it grew in size and smashed into Broly's broken form.

When the dust cleared, it was obvious from the scorched earth that Broly was no more, but Jade's blast had been so accurate and tuned that she hadn't knocked a petal off a daisy that grew inches from where the body had lain.

"Goodbye, father," she whispered.

She drifted to the earth and collapsed onto one knee. The form she'd assumed was draining, and it would likely take her days to recover. Seeing Vegeta approach, she forced herself to her feet to avoid appearing weak.

"You disobeyed a direct order to stay out of that. You kept your true power from me. I should obliterate you."

"Well excuse my impertinence, Prince, but I've just killed my own father without a second thought, and I'm busy trying to come to terms with it. Would you mind saving the lecture for later?" she snapped exhaustedly at him.

"You didn't let me finish," Vegeta snapped back. "That was an incredible display, and you showed more than brute strength. I'm…proud of you."

Trunks landed stiffly next to her.

"I thought you said you didn't lie," he accused hotly.

"I don't. Why do you say that?"

"When you first got here, you said the power you let off as a signal wasn't really your power; that it was echoed."

"I didn't lie. I just omitted details." She smiled weakly and he ran his hands through his hair in a familiar gesture of exasperation.

"Bullshit." He beamed at Jade and hugged her tightly as she slumped forward in weariness, trying to lift an arm to return the embrace and failing dismally. He gathered her in his arms and watched as she passed out or fell asleep, which one he couldn't tell. "Let's go home."

Following his lead, the warriors (with Gohan slumped ineloquently over Goku's shoulder) followed Trunks back to Capsule Corp to anxious friends and loved ones.