Chapter 1

"Dad!" a calm but firm voice rang through the dome shaped walls of the Son residence, "hurry up or we're gonna be late for the picnic!" Pan, the young daughter of Gohan stood in the doorway, one hand resting on the frame, the other on her hip. Her straight black hair was tied back into a neat braid that rested on her shoulder. A little make up on her teenage face helped to enhance her attractive features.

Another shrill voice from outside joined in the chorus Pan had already begun. "Gohan! Hurry up! You know Bulma won't wait around forever!"

Gohan shuddered at the thought of the blue haired woman. She was a genius and always had been for as long as he'd known her. Even at her old age, her temper stubbornly refused to subside, much like the woman herself. She was the president of a very successful company called Capsule Corporation that specialized in creating everyday items that could fit easily into a small capsule.

Gohan appeared in the kitchen doorway. He held in his arms a picnic basket, a blanket, a backpack full of sports gear, a badminton net … It piled so high that his face was hidden behind the mound. Only the tips of his spiked black hair could be seen. "Have you seen my glasses, Videl?" he asked his wife, who now stood behind Pan.

"Oh Daddy," Pan said sighing outwardly, "let me help you with that." She walked over to him in a quick fluid motion, and separated the pile in two, taking half of it. Pan effortlessly lifted the pile of picnic confections and headed for Bulma's plane, parked outside.

"Alright!" Videl said clapping her hands together. "It's time to go! Oh this is so exciting, it's been so long since we've seen the Brief family. It's been such a long time since we've spent time together as a family - Gohan why aren't you MOVING?!"

Gohan stood rooted to the spot and said in a shy, insecure tone, "Have you seen my glasses Videl?"

"Urgh," she grunted in frustration. "I have them right here." She reached in to her pocket and pulled out a thick, dark framed pair of glasses. Videl put them on Gohan's face for him. He blinke twice to adjust his eyes and smiled.

"Thanks, dear," he said.

* * *

Gohan watched the clouds sail by in a blur of white, sitting on one of the luxurious leather seats of Bulma's private jet. He was hypnotized by their movement but listening in on the surrounding conversation at the same time. Over in the back, he could hear his younger brother Goten and Trunks, who was the purple haired son of Bulma around the same age as Goten engaging in shallow teenage male talk. That usually meant the exchanges of the words "hot", "chick", "like", "boobs" and "whoa" various times in one sentence.

Over near the front, Pan sat with Bra, the younger daughter of Bulma, giggling girlishly. Their high, pre teen voices were too squeaky and giggly for Gohan to make out what they were saying - not that he cared. And not too long ago, I was once the age Goten is now. Whoever made up the term "time flies" wasn't kidding. Except when I was Goten's age, I was busy saving the world from Cell, Majin Buu, the Shen Longs of the Black Star Dragon Balls and … the Firebird…

Gohan could never forget the past enemies they've defeated, just for their sheer strength and the power of their evil. But the Firebird was something else. It was a creature that had taken away somebody from his family. Over the years, Gohan had made an attempt to leave the memories of the Firebird and Goken in the past.

From an outsiders point of view, it would have appeared he was doing a good job. Since Gohan's teenage years, he's studied in the top universities in the world and graduated as a scholar. He's also since put his fighting days behind him. He was now married and had a young daughter - things appeared to be going smoothly for him indeed.

But every once in awhile, he would remember the horror and excitement of his fighting days. And even less often than that, he would allow his mind to recall the events that happened fourteen years ago, the events that him, and all the other Z Soldiers present at the time have tried to forget. The Firebird … damn that thing to hell. He cursed at the creature even to this day, but was still pretty sure it was suffering eternal torment in hell.

Again, Gohan focused on the clouds in the bright sky outside. Somewhere out there, Goken was alive. He was probably living life without a care in the world with a family he loves, new friends. Which is so much more than we were able to give him. Gohan mentally punished himself for feeling guilty for how he treated Goken. There was no way you knew Goken wasn't a Saiyan. By the vigorous training, you were trying to help him! It's not your fault. Despite being a successful scholar, all the logic in the world couldn't lodge that horrible sense of guilt that lingered somewhere at the back of his mind.

But things had ended well between them when Goken said his last goodbye. He had presented them with his parting gift - another younger brother for Gohan, complete with name - Goten. Gohan looked at Goten, a teenage boy now and wondered how old Goken would be, what he would look like.

A tap on the shoulder jerked Gohan back to reality. "Hey Gohan, I just wanted to ask some advice from you," Goten said, running a hand nervously through his black matted hair. He lowered his voice to make certain Pan and Bra wouldn't hear him speak. "There's like, this really hot chick with boobs that I like, like. And I want to ask her out, but everytime I do, it's like, whoa!"

Gohan was about to respond when the plane shook with a tremendous force. A blinding light shone outside through the window as the plane experienced bad turbulence. Bulma's panicked voice came on the communication speakers saying, "Everyone buckle up. It feels like we're riding some kind of a shock wave. It should be over in a few seconds!"

Just after she finished her sentence, the plane stopped shaking and everyone looked around, as if waiting for some kind of explosion. Nothing happened. "What was that all about?" Videl asked, clutching her chest.

"I have no idea," Goten replied, "but at least it's over. Let's just hurry up and land this thing."

"It's not over yet," Gohan said, as he was staring at the window.

"Why?" Videl asked, and joined him at the window. What she saw made her heart jump into her throat. High in the sky, hundreds of shining balls of light were ripping their way into the earth's atmosphere. It looked like a meteor shower, only the balls of light were going a lot slower and were heading right for them.

* * *

They were entering the earth's atmosphere. Emperor Doale closed his eyes and surrounded his body in a shield of ki. He could feel the outside temperature as it climbed up to immeasurable temperatures. This planet's atmosphere was thick and the friction against his ship was intense. The rest of the Dark Empire's assault squad was just behind them, in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

WHAM!

Doale's body collided with the wall, as if some invisible force had pushed him. Except his body was still held to the wall with what felt like G force. What the hell is the pilot of this ship thinking!? And his body was taken off the wall and slammed onto the floor.

"My sincerest apologies your highness," the pilots voice said over the intercom almost immediately. "We almost crashed with another airborne ship. I had no choice but to avoid a collision." Grabbing his side and wincing in pain, the Emperor cursed under his breath and made a mental note to execute this moron of a pilot as soon as they touched down.

But what was that he said about another ship? It seemed the people of this world had the technology to develop vehicles. By all rights he shouldn't have been surprised. The humans, who dominated the planet, were an intelligent species after all. He had underestimated them and Doale made a point not to do it again. Now that they were here, the Earth was theirs for the taking.