The flying Nimbus continued its puttering velocity, speeding through the clouds that it matched in shape and makeup, carrying the passenger Goku upon its back. Goku was not very pleased; indeed, the Saiyan hero of Earth was far from happy, as his focus was far from his physical being and focused intently on the battle far ahead.
'What's going on up there?' Goku pondered internally, his eyes narrowed with distraught as he urged the Nimbus along silently; he had another couple of minutes left in flight, lest he try to fly the rest of the way on his own – the latter option would certainly drain more of his energy than he would be willing to lose.
At first Gohan's unmistakable presence had faded, and the boy's father had been almost absolutely positive that Gohan would die. Then, inexplicably, an incredible power had taken the fade's place, erupting and destroying the lesser of the two evil Saiyan presences at the field.
The sky suddenly cleared up, and Goku breathed a sigh of relief. Small clouds were dispersed all about, zipping behind the hero as he flew more anxiously forward. South Desert was below him, the region where the battle was occurring only a few miles ahead.
Goku shoved aside his thoughts with a bitter taste in his stomach that he did not treasure as much as even Oolong's cooking; only Gohan, another familiar, weaker energy force, and an ominous, dark force he had associated with the stronger Saiyan foe remained.
"Only a couple more minutes… hang in Gohan, please!" Goku groaned, urging Nimbus onward.
~*~*~
Krillin managed – only with the greatest of effort, he mentally frowned – to plant himself back on his feet, bracing a tender right shoulder onto a large dust-colored boulder, giving himself full view of the sight where something unexplainably amazing had just occurred. Gohan had somehow raged with power and become stronger and faster than anything the human warrior had ever seen. The energy Krillin felt from his best friend's son was… unbelievable! And yet the Saiyan that had given Nappa his orders (was it Vegeta? Krillin couldn't recall) was standing there so calmly. Hell, if Krillin had just seen his opponent do something like that, he would have wetted himself and ran for help or cover.
Something was going on, and Krillin could only play audience.
"That is some talent you have, son of Kakarot." Vegeta chuckled, taking a step forward and smiling a serpent's smile, causing Gohan to feel more uneasy than prior. "Talent like that is something I would expect from a Saiyan elite, not a low-level kid such as yourself."
Gohan worked his jaw; he was at a loss for words; worse than that, he was at a loss for anything. What had just transpired was a blur in his memory, vague and without focus. Somehow he had gained so much strength so quickly – was this the power Piccolo had mentioned he had as a potential, nearly a year ago?
No course of action played itself in the 6 year-old's mind. Fighting battles and saving the planet in the absence of one's father was not something that occurred in Gohan's usual everyday life. Piccolo had taught him a lot, yes, but nothing about how to handle a bully alien who had just killed everyone he knew.
'Daddy would know what to do…' Gohan frowned; Vegeta apparently took the pensive furrow on the boy's face for distrust (which was an emotion in Gohan's head, but not as dominant as lack-of-decision), and thus continued talking.
"What, all action and no talk?" Vegeta sneered slightly; he wanted to get the boy to speak to him, so he bit back from any more acidic language lest he tempt the boy into worse straights.
Kakarot's son was an enigma to the prince of Saiyans. How someone could achieve so much energy so quickly – and the grandson of a low-class warrior at that – was a mysterious threat to Vegeta, and he would not take it without a certain amount of thought. On one hand, he could achieve full power and crush the runt right here and now without any further action, but that seemed… wrong?
'You're getting soft, Vegeta.' The prince chuckled to himself. Soft was not the word he would normally choose, but it was the only appropriate one he would allot himself time to divulge in. Something felt wrong about destroying Kakarot's son so quickly. The boy at least deserved some sort of a fight with this sudden power.
That much – the fact that this rush of power was sporadic and unexpected on Gohan's behalf – Vegeta was completely certain of; no child could display such shock and self-awe and be bluffing at that age. And where was that power previously, when Nappa had taken out his friends? Not even Vegeta would allow someone to destroy his fighting allies when he could prevent it – unless his allies were proving to be more of a strategic burden than aid.
No, Vegeta would take a second option he saw quite clearly now: take the boy under his wing, and embarrass Kakarot with the loss of his own powerful son when he arrived.
Vegeta grinned, whole-heartedly.
"What's your name, boy?"
Gohan balked a moment, and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Why do you want to know?" Gohan struggled not stammer; what was the Saiyan doing? Something didn't feel right.
Vegeta chuckled and began to slowly advance on Gohan, who stumbled backward a couple of feet, eyes opening with fear, before he forced himself to stand his ground, planting his feet. He wouldn't run; his father had to be here soon, he could hold off the Saiyan bad man a little longer.
Vegeta had to restrain himself from laughing even harder at the boy's obvious fright at his walking forward. The Earthlings were able to feel energy signatures quite clearly and more easily – without a scouter – than anyone Vegeta had ever encountered. Apparently the boy felt Vegeta's awesome might.
"Kid, I'm going to make a proposition. You know what a proposition is, right?" Vegeta stared, smirking.
Gohan could feel anger boiling up.
"Yes I know what a proposition is." Gohan growled back, his eyes glowering. Why was the Saiyan treating him like a child? Gohan had just killed his friend; Goku's son was no baby.
"Well, before I can propose it, I would like for us to be formally introduced for a change, kid." Vegeta stated smoothly, coming to a stop no more than a meter from Gohan's short form, the boy's Namekian outfit making him stand out against the gray and brown dust that this Desert held in full.
Gohan clenched his teeth, grinding them as he stared up the foot and a half above him into Vegeta's cold eyes. There was something in those eyes, the boy knew, something that Nappa did not have. Calculating intelligence? A cold heart? The boy did not have enough experience with life to know the answer to what now bothered him subconsciously from Vegeta's eyes.
"Fine then. My name is Gohan!" the Saiyan boy nearly shouted, though Vegeta stood so close to him. He was afraid the man would attack him from close range – maybe that was what the Saiyan warrior was planning to do!
"Vegeta." The alien held out a hand with the same expression on his face. Gohan warily extended his own.
Searing pain shattered through Gohan's hand as Vegeta took a crushing hold of his right digits, causing the boy to half-scream, half-gag, suddenly struggling to break free. Vegeta was too strong!
Laughing, Vegeta kept his firm grip on the boy's hand, though the child suddenly raged with anger and lashed out with his other hand, catching the prince smartly on the cheek, leaving a stinging mark and ceasing his laughter.
"Lesson one, kid." Vegeta began, smashing his free hand into Gohan's gut, knocking the wind – and fight – out of him. "Don't trust a stranger unless you're 100% certain that you can."
Gohan groaned and gasped for air, his eyes wincing though managing to spit daggers at the man who held him; he knew he shouldn't have trusted Vegeta!
~*~*~
Nearby, Krillin struggled to remain still and not cry out; for all the human fighter knew, Vegeta had forgotten about him, and he could lend what little strength he had left when he was most needed. Until then, Krillin was useless, trapped in his spot to remain vigilant watch.
Out of nowhere, there was a flicker – and then a flash – in Krillin's mind, causing him to literally spin about with effort and stare at the void of pale blue sky above and north of him as his motion kicked up a small cloud of dust.
'Goku!' he choked, remembering he shouldn't give away his presence to the show that was transpiring nearby. But he knew that ki from anywhere!
Goku was finally here!
~*~*~
"Lesson two, boy." Vegeta grinned, holding Gohan up and away from him, lest he try something stupid again. "Never attack your captor when you know him to be stronger than you. You have a brain, I presume, unless you inherited that – unlike your power level – form your low class ancestry."
Gohan twitched; there was no way he could get away from Vegeta in this position, his right hand was pinned painfully in the elder's fist, and the only extremity the boy could strike him with was his legs – unlike the other Z-Senshi members, Gohan did not know how to project energy from anyplace other than his palms, nor did he see the almost painfully – as painful as his hand was now – obvious target of Vegeta's arm.
Such was the psychologically chosen aim of Vegeta, whom grinned at the boy he held before him.
"Now then, Gohan, I seem to get the feeling that you are a smart little boy, are you not?" Vegeta began, his scouter reading a nearly steady 8,900 on the boy, whose energy occasionally surged upward a few levels but then leveled off – as would be expected. So long as Vegeta did not cause too much emotional duress, he hypothesized very little from the boy in counterattack.
Gohan swallowed and tried to compose himself – he would not let the sneaky bad man see him at his worst. Piccolo wouldn't show his pain or other "lesser" emotions.
Nodding, Gohan focused his eyes on Vegeta, pulling his power in check and ceasing his struggling. The prince smiled smugly and suddenly dropped Gohan to the dirt ground, where the boy caught himself just barely, stumbling backward a few feet and then glaring silently, seething.
"Good, you aren't so stupid after all!"
Dusting off his white-gloved hands as if they had been contaminated, Vegeta continued to wear his smug smile as he stared down at the boy before him.
"Now then, Gohan," he began, stepping forward slowly; this time Gohan did not flinch or move at all, but rather continued to glare at the taller man. "You may see me as a horrible man for having led my ally Nappa to kill your friends. You may find my mannerisms strange and cruel. But I am not from this dust ball. I come from a real world, where there is more than petty attachments and thoughts."
Vegeta smiled more genuinely as his voice grew to a more grandiose state, his eyes lighting up, strangely to the boy who stood before him, listening aptly and watching for any suspicious movements.
"There are far worse demons in this Galaxy than me. There exists an alien named Frieza, for example, who sent – ordered – Raditz to come here and destroy this planet's populace so that Frieza might sell it to the highest bidder."
Vegeta took another small step forward, holding out his hand.
"Frieza is far more wicked and cruel than I am, Gohan. He is likewise inefficient…"
Vegeta paused; he knew what he wanted to inspire in the boy, yet he was unsure as to how much to say; already the prince was beginning to put more personality into his sudden speech than he would normally want, but this boy… at the very least he would serve a good distraction for Frieza's guard when he went to Namek to fetch the Dragon Balls. And if properly trained…
Well, to put things lightly, Gohan would be a perfect replacement for Nappa, Vegeta beamed.
"Gohan, it is our duty as Saiyan brethren, the remaining people of our planet, Vegetasai, to become great and mighty – together." Vegeta said, welling with pride as he extended a palm-turned-upward hand.
Gohan stared at the hand a moment, not sure what to think; mixed emotions fueled his boyish comprehension, whose intellect was great, but whose life experience and brain development was too insignificant to grasp everything that played in Vegeta's posture, words, voice, and very presence. Rather the boy read a mixture of confusing emotions, and only grew further suspicious.
"You're still an evil man." Gohan found the courage – or stupidity – to mutter. "Your friend killed my friends… no one should be forgiven for that."
Vegeta narrowed his eyes, thinking fast. A light went off in his head, bringing an inward smile.
"You killed my friend… why should I forgive you for that?" Vegeta stated smoothly and coolly, maintaining a strict eye contact.
Gohan blinked, and then looked down, taken aback. He had… he had killed someone. That fact hadn't clicked yet, he had been too caught up in the flow of things, in the movement of avenging Piccolo's death, in defeating what he considered to be evil. Yet… what was Gohan now?
The boy's stomach churned; all of a sudden, he didn't know what to think of the man before him, let alone himself.
Vegeta knew he had hit what he had aimed for, and took delight in the simplicity of it all. The boy was still a boy, powerful or not. And the son of Kakarot would be his.
"Not so easy now, is it Gohan?" Vegeta stated smoothly, suddenly appearing above Gohan, looking down at the boy through concerned-appearing eyes, reaching down a hand to place on the boy's forehead.
Gohan felt a jolt of energy at the physical contact, and tore backwards several feet; Vegeta made no move to follow him; nor had the prince done any damage. Goku's son's heart was beating as furiously as his mind was racing, with no destination in sight.
"You have a great power, Gohan. Piccolo saw it in you, as do I. Your father never let you hone it, nor, I would suspect, has your mother. I know how to help you grow stronger, boy, how to become a true Saiyan warrior."
Gohan made a small whimpering sound in the back of his throat; suddenly the boy wanted nothing more than to be back home with his mother and father. Vegeta…
There was a flash of light in Gohan's mind, spinning him out of dark revelry and toward a tall rock cropping nearby. Nearby, Krillin nearly jumped for joy, his eyes trembling with happiness. Vegeta caught the boy's change in posture, felt a change in the atmosphere, and then finally felt something in his being click; his scouter was last to resound, bleeping an arrow with a subtext of "5,000."
Goku, father of Gohan, stood silently atop a tall stone spire, looking down at his son, the partly hidden childhood friend Krillin, and the dark, remaining Saiyan, Vegeta.
He had taken far too long, and knew not what had transpired in his absence aside from something terrible, as he could tell by the terrified feeling that radiated from his 6 year-old son's body.
"…Daddy?" Gohan choked, feeling his confusion, hurt and anger repressed by a rush of incredulity and love.
There was a flash, Vegeta's scouter pinged "8,000," and Goku stood next to Krillin where he "hid."
"Here, have this." Goku smiled in his traditionally part-goofy sense, holding out a Senzu and breaking it in half. "It's a Senzu bean, it'll restore your strength."
"Wow, a Senzu bean?" Krillin grinned, beaming as he took it in his mouth and began to chew, feeling his energy already beginning to refill and refocus, as his pain subsided.
There was yet another flash, and Goku stood beside Gohan, a strong, fatherly hand placed firmly on his son's shoulder as his demeanor changed to a darker tone, his eyes catching Vegeta's. The prince stood silently, watching and analyzing.
There was a physical shift in the atmosphere of the South Desert at that moment, a swirl of surface dust twirling about lazily under the midday sun, the two remaining adult Saiyans staring at one another quietly.
It was Vegeta who broke that eerie silence, as Gohan stared up joyously at his father, lost in his inviting yet focused and suddenly serious presence.
"So, the great Kakarot. We meet at last. I've heard so much about you." Vegeta sneered, folding his arms as was habit and letting the flowery cool glow return to his eyes.
"I wish I could say the same." Goku stated simply.
"True; I suppose your friends could do me justice… were they here today." Vegeta narrowed his eyes, his grin increasing by the same volume.
Goku's demeanor only grew cooler, more serious. Gohan had never known his father like this, and lost his boyish entrancement, which was replaced by his previous awakening to reality and harsher emotions.
"Krillin." Goku stated, never leaving his intent eyes leave Vegeta's face.
Krillin sprang forward to his friend's side, sliding into fighter's stance warily.
"Yea Goku?"
"Take Gohan back to Master Roshi's house. Now."
Krillin was taken aback; he had expected to fight side-by-side with his longtime friend and ally, not run away. Besides, hadn't Gohan just proven himself? Then again, the man prodded himself; Goku hadn't been here to see that.
"Are you sure Goku?" Krillin stammered, narrowing his eyes. The champion of Earth kept his eyes on Vegeta's, the two never wavering their foci.
"Please, Krillin, for me; take Gohan back where it's safe."
"Safe from who? Me?" Vegeta suddenly laughed, throwing back his head and detracting from the tension until he brought his gaze back at the father-son-friend trio.
Vegeta sneered smugly at the Earthlings, his scouter confirming what he had assumed; under normal circumstances, Goku's incredible increase of power since his battle with Raditz would have surprised him. 8,000 power levels was no child's play, however weak when compared with Vegeta's own. Yet Kakarot's son…
Vegeta played his next card with venom in his breath.
"Or haven't you realized your son is stronger than you, Kakarot?"