The New Generation
Chapter 2 An Unexpected Development
"AAAHHHHH" a female cry split the air.
At least my eardrums finally burst, the Namek thought sourly, considering the perverse nature of fate. I've been around for barely longer than two decades and already I've gone from demon king to midwife, he silently ranted, conveniently forgetting he had the combined experience of maybe fifteen times that.
He was currently standing in the delivery room of a special Capsule Corp. hospital that was reserved exclusively for saiyans. Well, mostly for saiyans, the rest of the Z warriors used it as well, seeing as they required unique equipment on those rare occasions that they became sick. One of the downfalls of having high amounts of ki was that a typical heart monitor or a x-ray machine could be burnt-out by the energy floating around.
Piccolo snorted, drawing a startled glance from one of the nurses who quickly looked away. He knew that he was just letting his mind wander to avoid the current situation. With five hospital staff rushing about and shouting encouragement (at least that's what the currently deaf Namek assumed they were doing), several machines sounding off, and Chi's constant screaming, it was no wonder the Namek was a bit uncomfortable. Oh, and you just cannot forget that wonderful scent of disinfectant and sweating human.
Suddenly, along with a tightening of Chi's hand over his, he felt a new ki in the room. Taking a sharp look around he saw a bloody mass in the doctor's hands. This was quickly washed to reveal a screaming, furless monkey with a small thatch of hair on its head.He looks like Goku. Bundling the new hybrid in a blanket a nurse went to hand the child to the mother but found her passed out. So she did what she normally would in such a situation. She handed the infant to the man nearby. After a startled moment Piccolo took the boy. Looking down at the newborn's face, his finally softened into that almost-smile that was normally reserved for his first pupil.
Chichi opened weary eyes to see a sight of gentleness few in this world could ever expect to behold. Piccolo, dressed in hospital scrubs, smiled softly down at her newborn child. She tried calling his name to get his attention but he didn't seem to hear so she worked up the energy to nudge his leg. He looked up and, still silent, handed the boy to her.
"Have you picked a name yet," the doctor asked respectfully. The doctor was always respectful to his patients since they were all friends of his employer. Not to mention that most were strong enough to kill him with a sneeze. You tend to respect that combination.
"Yes," she replied sleepily. "His name is Goten"
For the first time since they had arrived at the hospital she heard Piccolo speak. "I'll go get Gohan, if that's okay Chi?"
She smiled slightly at the name only her father and husband had used before. "Sure Piccolo, bring him in to see his brother." Piccolo, of course, was already out the door.
Gohan had been politely, but firmly, asked to stay outside the delivery room. For nearly five hours. Mrs. Briefs had invited him down to lunch after the first hour and a half. It had taken her fifteen minutes to convince him to come down and assure him that it would take longer for the labor than it would for him to eat. The soon to be big brother had set a new personal speed record for eating by finishing a saiyan sized meal and getting back to the waiting room in little more than a quarter-hour.
He had tried to distract himself with studying several times over the next two hours before giving up. So it was on legs tired from a straight hour of pacing and worry that he greeted his sensei. Piccolo had the closest thing to a grin on his face that Gohan had ever seen when he came out of the labor room and without waiting for a word Gohan rushed by him.
He quickly diverted his eyes upon entering from the sight of his little brother's first meal. His mother sighed quietly before chiding him to be a little more mature. She had finally resorted to embarrassing him by reminding him that she had breast-fed him as well, until his appetite had kicked in, when his little brother let out a rather loud burp to signal he was done. Gohan was dumb-stuck for all of five minutes by the sight of his new bro' before blurting out the firs inane thought to reach his lips, "Are you going to keep his tail?"
"Hmm, I don't think so," she replied, " after all, Trunks is doing fine without his."
Although expected, the reply still brought a frown to his face. He still remembered his own tail with fondness and even felt a phantom pain at its loss from time to time. Well, he thought, maybe I'll still be able to convince her before she has it done. She looks too tired for an argument right now.
"Can I hold him mom?" he asked, taking Goten in his arms at her nod. Hearing his mother's yawn he offered to put him in the nursery when he was done and she assented.
As he walked down the hall to the nursery with Piccolo at his side, a question came to him. "Sensei," he started hesitantly, "when will you give the egg the final energy it needs to hatch?" He had seen Piccolo feeding his future offspring energy at regular intervals and had asked why he did it that way. The answer had been long, complex, and involved those shifts in tone that indicated his sensei was drawing on his other personas. Still, Gohan was smart enough to understand most of it.
"Your mother made me promise I'd let her be there, so it will probably as soon as she's well enough too leave." Gohan nodded thoughtfully at this "How about a spar in the GR while we're here kid," Piccolo's quick change of subject did the trick and Gohan found himself nodding his way into an intense training session before he realized what happened. The Namek just smirked at Gohan's glare knowing he'd won.
*****
In the 439-mountain district two figures stood over what appeared to be an oversized, leathery egg. The taller of the two stood to the right and slightly behind the other. Radiating arrogance the towering figure somehow managed to sound humble as he spoke. "Master, is this really a good idea?"
"I hope so," the short figure replied in an uncertain voice, "but weather a good idea or not, even a former god having a child is too rare an opportunity to pass up. Now stand back my old friend, for good or ill I'm going to turn this child to our uses." A purple glow began to radiate from the beings hands and enter the egg. For nearly an hour he continued this process before something went wrong. The light began to change, transforming to red then blue and back again.
The large figure looked troubled as the normal purple glow of his master's magicks changed. A frown formed on his face as he noticed the tightness of his jaw line and sweat forming on the shorter one. He jumped forward on instinct when his master went to one knee, placing a hand of the others shoulder and adding his own mystic powers to the mix. The egg instantly took on streaks of color the same shade of pink as the tall one's skin before launching them both backwards with a surge of power.
When the figures finally regained consciousness they saw that the egg had turned purple with occasional flashes of pink. After quickly casting a spell to make the egg appear as it had before, the figures faded out with only the ghostly whisper of 'what have we done' left in their wake.
*****
Gohan grumbled as he walked through the halls of Capsule Corp. Even though he couldn't see his sensei's face he knew the green man was still smirking.
"Piccolo, how can you hold me to such a vague promise when I wasn't even paying attention." He tried to reason for the third or fourth time since Piccolo had begun herding him towards the gravity room. "You know that I'd never willingly agree to train with Vegeta."
"A promise is a promise, Gohan," Piccolo said smugly. " You wouldn't want to disappoint your mother by not keeping yours, would you?"
Gohan's shoulders slumped in defeat. No matter how strong he became he would always be a mama's boy. "At least Dr. Briefs finally figured out how to make the regen-tanks work right," he muttered softly, "Maybe I'll be walking by tomorrow with their help."
He flinched when they turned the corner to the GR. Vegeta was standing right outside the door with what could only be described as a demonic smirk on his face.
"So brat," he said in his growling voice, "you've finally decided to train, huh?"
"Actually, Vegeta, I was tricked into it." He tilted his head in the direction of his supposed friend.
The saiyan's smirk only grew wider when he looked to the Namek. "You gonna join us?"
"As long as you keep the setting down at 300," he replied. " I am a bit weakened you know."
"Yeah", the prince replied sarcastically, "now you're only a challenge if I don't transform." He turned around and entered the room behind him.
"Move kid," Piccolo said with a push.
The spar started off normally enough. Gohan and Vegeta began with a flurry of midair punches and kicks while Piccolo stayed down watching for his opening. He saw it when Gohan grabbed the neck of Vegeta's shirt and threw him to the ground. Piccolo launched a small ki blast into Gohan's lower back and quickly shot up to engage him with hand to hand techniques.
This went on for nearly an hour with one standing to the side until he saw an opportunity and attacked. Gohan was waiting for his chance when the older fighters shot each other a knowing look and Vegeta flashed into super saiyan. "Oh crap," Gohan muttered quickly powering up himself when the other two rushed him. "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING," he demanded.
His answer came in the form of a kick to the back from Vegeta and a shouted "Masenko Ha" from his sensei. Redirecting the blast into Vegeta he retreated to the far side of the room to regroup. Catching his breath, Gohan began to suspect something of his mentor and 'prince.' Quickly looking up, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw the moves the two older fighters were charging. Vegeta and Piccolo began to chant the names of their attacks together.
"FINAL-"
"SPECIAL BEAM-"
"FLASH!"
"CANNON!"
Gohan had all of half a second to panic before something snapped. The young fighter forgot that these people wouldn't kill him. He forgot that the room he was in could contain the blasts. Hell, he even forgot his own name. The only thought that crossed his mind in that instant was that somewhere in this building were the last members of his family. And these enemies were firing off energy that could decimate the planet.
His hair grew longer and a darker shade of gold. His muscles gained more definition and his eyes glowed green with power. He had become the embodiment of rage and his voice carried that rage in a yell that cancelled out the power of the two strongest aliens on the planet. Blasting forward with the scream still on his lips Gohan confronted his enemies and showed no mercy. With a sickening squish he felt his fist go through the green monsters stomach. Less than a fraction of a second later the crack of his foot breaking a neck broke him from his rage.
Seeing what he had done Gohan caught the falling Vegeta. Without bothering to remove his fist from its place in his mentor's stomach, he blasted through the door and down to a nearby room. Entering the room he quickly threw the saiyan prince into a tank and pried Piccolo off of his arm just to throw him into another of the three. He allowed himself to breath only when the tanks filled and a light at the top came on signaling that they were beginning their work.
*****
Piccolo woke up in a rapidly draining regen-tank. He remembered sending a telepathic message to Vegeta outlining his plan to get Gohan to the next level. Then they were firing their strongest attacks at the boy. A flash of light and then. nothing.
When the tank opened Piccolo looked up to see his former student meditating. He was still in the second level of super saiyan. "Hey kid."
Gohan opened his eyes one at a time before unfolding his legs towards the ground. "Hello sensei."
"I'm guessing you lost it when you transformed," Piccolo stated in a calm voice.
"Yeah," he replied with a catch to his voice. "I've spent the last hour just trying to figure out how to control the transformation."
"Any luck?" His sensei inquired.
"A little," Gohan replied, "but I can't seem to get as comfortable as I did as a normal super saiyan."
"Well, it did take you awhile to get to that point didn't it?" he asked, truly curious.
"Yes, about a month."
"So do you have a plan on how to handle this." Piccolo said. He already knew what the answer was. At least in a general sort of way. Gohan always was responsible.
"Uh-huh," he nodded, " I was just waiting for you to get out so I could tell you. I've decided to finish off my first year in the room of spirit and time."
"Will two hours be enough?" he said doubtfully. "That only translates to a month you know."
"It should be enough to at least let me stabilize myself in this form," he said with a tone of determination that reminded the Namek of his father.
"Okay kid, I'll look after your mother until you get back."
"Thanks Piccolo," he said as the other tank beeped and began to drain, "umm, I gotta go." The abrubtly nervous boy turned tail and fled in the face of the awakening prince.
"What happened?" Piccolo turned at the sound of Vegeta's voice and smirked.
"Gohan transformed and must of hit us fast and hard," Piccolo said as he watched the saiyan walk over to a computer terminal. "He went off to try and master his transformation."
Vegeta pushed some buttons on the terminal before turning around and echoing the Namek's smirk. "According to this he nearly killed us and got us into the tanks only ten seconds after we attacked." The prince of a nearly dead race had obvious pride in his voice.
"You almost sound like you enjoy the fact that you were beat." Piccolo said, voice heavy with skepticism.
"Of course not," Vegeta growled, "I'm just glad that I still have a worthy opponent with Kakkarotto gone. In fact, my current rival makes that third-class baka seem like the weakling he was supposed to be."
"Well, I have to go keep an eye on Chi," Piccolo said. "Good luck with your training."
*****
"And that is why you cannot use ki blasts to dispose of a dirty diaper," Chichi said to Piccolo. She looked up and frowned when she saw he wasn't paying attention. "Wha?"
"Gohan's back," Piccolo interrupted her just as her son came flying in through the window. His clothing looked a little ragged but he had a triumphant look on his face.
"Hi mom. Piccolo." He nodded his greeting. "It's great to see you guys." He came over and gave his mother a smothering hug.
"Why are you so cheerful?" Chichi asked confused. "You were here just a little less than six hours ago."
"You didn't tell her?" this directed at Piccolo.
"Tell me what?" Chichi's voice was rising.
"Well.umm.remember the room dad and I trained in?"
"Yes." She didn't like where this was going.
"Well, I've kinda been there for the last two hours."
"And why did you go into a dangerous place like that on your own?"
"I had to perfect my control over the second level of super saiyan." He cringed slightly.
"Okay," she replied calmly, "did you succeed?"
"Umm.yes." He looked confused.
"Good, now go see your brother," she said sweetly. "I'm sure you missed him."
"Okay." Gohan turned and left to go find the nursery.
While he was leaving Chichi turned toward the Namek she now called friend and inquired, "Piccolo?"
"Yes." He said hesitantly. Her voice had that honeyed tone to it that almost always meant trouble.
"Could you please tell me," she started sweetly, "WHY IN HELL YOU DIDN'T TELL ME MY SON HAD GONE TO ANOTHER DIMENSION TO TRAIN?" She smiled sweetly again as she watched the green warrior collapse to the ground holding his ears.
*****
As Gohan entered the nursery a surprise was awaiting him. Namely, a certain saiyan prince with a legendary bad attitude. "Hi Vegeta! What are you doing here?" He was ignored as the prince continued to gaze down at his brother. "Hey, Ve-ge-ta, anybody home?" Gohan was just about to try shaking him when Vegeta spoke.
"Look at him, only hours after birth and he already has his fathers hair."
"Huh," Gohan looked around the prince to see he was right. After a moment he also saw something else. "Ahh," he whined, "they removed his tail, I was hoping he could keep it."
Vegeta snorted. "Fool, I removed his tail, not the doctors or your harpy mother."
"But, why Vegeta? I would of thought you'd be on my side in this."
"On Vegeta-sei, when a saiyan infant's tail wasn't removed shortly after birth they would die." The prince said as if speaking to himself. "After I saw your power I finally figured out why. You were incredibly weak unless exposed to some trauma that brought your power out. The way I figure it, that initial removal of the tail is enough trauma to bring out a saiyan's power."
"Okay, I understand that you want Goten, and probably Trunks before him, to have their full power," Gohan said, "but why would saiyan infants die without their powers unlocked?"
"What do you think would happen to someone as weak as you were before your training if they were on a planet with ten times earth's gravity."
"Oh." Gohan replied, subdued. He started slightly when Vegeta broke the silence.
"Did you master your power while you were away," At Gohan's nod he continued. "Fine, gaki, when you and your family get settled back in at home I expect you to come back and show me." Vegeta said as he got up to leave the nursery. "Don't worry too much mutt," he said as he was walking away, "if your brother is anything like you the damn thing will grow back no matter how often you cut it off."
"Damn," Gohan muttered softly, "I thought I had it hidden well enough."
*****
Piccolo looked toward the sunset. His student stood slightly to behind and to the right of him. Chi had just come from the house where the day-old Son Goten slept.
"You can't be having second thoughts now Piccolo," she said softly.
"Of course not," Piccolo said, cut from his reverie. He concentrated on the psychic link between the sleeping infant and the egg sitting on the grass. He gently removed the link only to find a second one connecting the half-breed to his offspring. Huh, the child shouldn't be able to maintain the link. He removed the second link and quickly set up a small block. That should keep them separate, he smirked mentally.
"The egg's cracking," Gohan whispered.
The 'crack' was more a line of purple light spreading at random over the surface of the egg. Gohan and Piccolo felt ki being pulled from the surrounding area. After a couple of seconds the egg disappeared within the lavender glow. The intensity reached its peak, momentarily blinding the three fighters. When the light finally cleared the surrounding forest was silent but for three voices.
A deep whisper of, "what the fu-?"
A cracking squeak, "M-Mr. Piccolo-?"
And a feminine coo, "Ahh, they're so cute."
End Chapter Two
A/N: Next chapter What did the mysterious figures do? You'll see at least one result. Oh! And feel free to leave any guesses as to their identity when you review. Also, thanks to my two reviewers so far.
Chapter 2 An Unexpected Development
"AAAHHHHH" a female cry split the air.
At least my eardrums finally burst, the Namek thought sourly, considering the perverse nature of fate. I've been around for barely longer than two decades and already I've gone from demon king to midwife, he silently ranted, conveniently forgetting he had the combined experience of maybe fifteen times that.
He was currently standing in the delivery room of a special Capsule Corp. hospital that was reserved exclusively for saiyans. Well, mostly for saiyans, the rest of the Z warriors used it as well, seeing as they required unique equipment on those rare occasions that they became sick. One of the downfalls of having high amounts of ki was that a typical heart monitor or a x-ray machine could be burnt-out by the energy floating around.
Piccolo snorted, drawing a startled glance from one of the nurses who quickly looked away. He knew that he was just letting his mind wander to avoid the current situation. With five hospital staff rushing about and shouting encouragement (at least that's what the currently deaf Namek assumed they were doing), several machines sounding off, and Chi's constant screaming, it was no wonder the Namek was a bit uncomfortable. Oh, and you just cannot forget that wonderful scent of disinfectant and sweating human.
Suddenly, along with a tightening of Chi's hand over his, he felt a new ki in the room. Taking a sharp look around he saw a bloody mass in the doctor's hands. This was quickly washed to reveal a screaming, furless monkey with a small thatch of hair on its head.He looks like Goku. Bundling the new hybrid in a blanket a nurse went to hand the child to the mother but found her passed out. So she did what she normally would in such a situation. She handed the infant to the man nearby. After a startled moment Piccolo took the boy. Looking down at the newborn's face, his finally softened into that almost-smile that was normally reserved for his first pupil.
Chichi opened weary eyes to see a sight of gentleness few in this world could ever expect to behold. Piccolo, dressed in hospital scrubs, smiled softly down at her newborn child. She tried calling his name to get his attention but he didn't seem to hear so she worked up the energy to nudge his leg. He looked up and, still silent, handed the boy to her.
"Have you picked a name yet," the doctor asked respectfully. The doctor was always respectful to his patients since they were all friends of his employer. Not to mention that most were strong enough to kill him with a sneeze. You tend to respect that combination.
"Yes," she replied sleepily. "His name is Goten"
For the first time since they had arrived at the hospital she heard Piccolo speak. "I'll go get Gohan, if that's okay Chi?"
She smiled slightly at the name only her father and husband had used before. "Sure Piccolo, bring him in to see his brother." Piccolo, of course, was already out the door.
Gohan had been politely, but firmly, asked to stay outside the delivery room. For nearly five hours. Mrs. Briefs had invited him down to lunch after the first hour and a half. It had taken her fifteen minutes to convince him to come down and assure him that it would take longer for the labor than it would for him to eat. The soon to be big brother had set a new personal speed record for eating by finishing a saiyan sized meal and getting back to the waiting room in little more than a quarter-hour.
He had tried to distract himself with studying several times over the next two hours before giving up. So it was on legs tired from a straight hour of pacing and worry that he greeted his sensei. Piccolo had the closest thing to a grin on his face that Gohan had ever seen when he came out of the labor room and without waiting for a word Gohan rushed by him.
He quickly diverted his eyes upon entering from the sight of his little brother's first meal. His mother sighed quietly before chiding him to be a little more mature. She had finally resorted to embarrassing him by reminding him that she had breast-fed him as well, until his appetite had kicked in, when his little brother let out a rather loud burp to signal he was done. Gohan was dumb-stuck for all of five minutes by the sight of his new bro' before blurting out the firs inane thought to reach his lips, "Are you going to keep his tail?"
"Hmm, I don't think so," she replied, " after all, Trunks is doing fine without his."
Although expected, the reply still brought a frown to his face. He still remembered his own tail with fondness and even felt a phantom pain at its loss from time to time. Well, he thought, maybe I'll still be able to convince her before she has it done. She looks too tired for an argument right now.
"Can I hold him mom?" he asked, taking Goten in his arms at her nod. Hearing his mother's yawn he offered to put him in the nursery when he was done and she assented.
As he walked down the hall to the nursery with Piccolo at his side, a question came to him. "Sensei," he started hesitantly, "when will you give the egg the final energy it needs to hatch?" He had seen Piccolo feeding his future offspring energy at regular intervals and had asked why he did it that way. The answer had been long, complex, and involved those shifts in tone that indicated his sensei was drawing on his other personas. Still, Gohan was smart enough to understand most of it.
"Your mother made me promise I'd let her be there, so it will probably as soon as she's well enough too leave." Gohan nodded thoughtfully at this "How about a spar in the GR while we're here kid," Piccolo's quick change of subject did the trick and Gohan found himself nodding his way into an intense training session before he realized what happened. The Namek just smirked at Gohan's glare knowing he'd won.
*****
In the 439-mountain district two figures stood over what appeared to be an oversized, leathery egg. The taller of the two stood to the right and slightly behind the other. Radiating arrogance the towering figure somehow managed to sound humble as he spoke. "Master, is this really a good idea?"
"I hope so," the short figure replied in an uncertain voice, "but weather a good idea or not, even a former god having a child is too rare an opportunity to pass up. Now stand back my old friend, for good or ill I'm going to turn this child to our uses." A purple glow began to radiate from the beings hands and enter the egg. For nearly an hour he continued this process before something went wrong. The light began to change, transforming to red then blue and back again.
The large figure looked troubled as the normal purple glow of his master's magicks changed. A frown formed on his face as he noticed the tightness of his jaw line and sweat forming on the shorter one. He jumped forward on instinct when his master went to one knee, placing a hand of the others shoulder and adding his own mystic powers to the mix. The egg instantly took on streaks of color the same shade of pink as the tall one's skin before launching them both backwards with a surge of power.
When the figures finally regained consciousness they saw that the egg had turned purple with occasional flashes of pink. After quickly casting a spell to make the egg appear as it had before, the figures faded out with only the ghostly whisper of 'what have we done' left in their wake.
*****
Gohan grumbled as he walked through the halls of Capsule Corp. Even though he couldn't see his sensei's face he knew the green man was still smirking.
"Piccolo, how can you hold me to such a vague promise when I wasn't even paying attention." He tried to reason for the third or fourth time since Piccolo had begun herding him towards the gravity room. "You know that I'd never willingly agree to train with Vegeta."
"A promise is a promise, Gohan," Piccolo said smugly. " You wouldn't want to disappoint your mother by not keeping yours, would you?"
Gohan's shoulders slumped in defeat. No matter how strong he became he would always be a mama's boy. "At least Dr. Briefs finally figured out how to make the regen-tanks work right," he muttered softly, "Maybe I'll be walking by tomorrow with their help."
He flinched when they turned the corner to the GR. Vegeta was standing right outside the door with what could only be described as a demonic smirk on his face.
"So brat," he said in his growling voice, "you've finally decided to train, huh?"
"Actually, Vegeta, I was tricked into it." He tilted his head in the direction of his supposed friend.
The saiyan's smirk only grew wider when he looked to the Namek. "You gonna join us?"
"As long as you keep the setting down at 300," he replied. " I am a bit weakened you know."
"Yeah", the prince replied sarcastically, "now you're only a challenge if I don't transform." He turned around and entered the room behind him.
"Move kid," Piccolo said with a push.
The spar started off normally enough. Gohan and Vegeta began with a flurry of midair punches and kicks while Piccolo stayed down watching for his opening. He saw it when Gohan grabbed the neck of Vegeta's shirt and threw him to the ground. Piccolo launched a small ki blast into Gohan's lower back and quickly shot up to engage him with hand to hand techniques.
This went on for nearly an hour with one standing to the side until he saw an opportunity and attacked. Gohan was waiting for his chance when the older fighters shot each other a knowing look and Vegeta flashed into super saiyan. "Oh crap," Gohan muttered quickly powering up himself when the other two rushed him. "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING," he demanded.
His answer came in the form of a kick to the back from Vegeta and a shouted "Masenko Ha" from his sensei. Redirecting the blast into Vegeta he retreated to the far side of the room to regroup. Catching his breath, Gohan began to suspect something of his mentor and 'prince.' Quickly looking up, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw the moves the two older fighters were charging. Vegeta and Piccolo began to chant the names of their attacks together.
"FINAL-"
"SPECIAL BEAM-"
"FLASH!"
"CANNON!"
Gohan had all of half a second to panic before something snapped. The young fighter forgot that these people wouldn't kill him. He forgot that the room he was in could contain the blasts. Hell, he even forgot his own name. The only thought that crossed his mind in that instant was that somewhere in this building were the last members of his family. And these enemies were firing off energy that could decimate the planet.
His hair grew longer and a darker shade of gold. His muscles gained more definition and his eyes glowed green with power. He had become the embodiment of rage and his voice carried that rage in a yell that cancelled out the power of the two strongest aliens on the planet. Blasting forward with the scream still on his lips Gohan confronted his enemies and showed no mercy. With a sickening squish he felt his fist go through the green monsters stomach. Less than a fraction of a second later the crack of his foot breaking a neck broke him from his rage.
Seeing what he had done Gohan caught the falling Vegeta. Without bothering to remove his fist from its place in his mentor's stomach, he blasted through the door and down to a nearby room. Entering the room he quickly threw the saiyan prince into a tank and pried Piccolo off of his arm just to throw him into another of the three. He allowed himself to breath only when the tanks filled and a light at the top came on signaling that they were beginning their work.
*****
Piccolo woke up in a rapidly draining regen-tank. He remembered sending a telepathic message to Vegeta outlining his plan to get Gohan to the next level. Then they were firing their strongest attacks at the boy. A flash of light and then. nothing.
When the tank opened Piccolo looked up to see his former student meditating. He was still in the second level of super saiyan. "Hey kid."
Gohan opened his eyes one at a time before unfolding his legs towards the ground. "Hello sensei."
"I'm guessing you lost it when you transformed," Piccolo stated in a calm voice.
"Yeah," he replied with a catch to his voice. "I've spent the last hour just trying to figure out how to control the transformation."
"Any luck?" His sensei inquired.
"A little," Gohan replied, "but I can't seem to get as comfortable as I did as a normal super saiyan."
"Well, it did take you awhile to get to that point didn't it?" he asked, truly curious.
"Yes, about a month."
"So do you have a plan on how to handle this." Piccolo said. He already knew what the answer was. At least in a general sort of way. Gohan always was responsible.
"Uh-huh," he nodded, " I was just waiting for you to get out so I could tell you. I've decided to finish off my first year in the room of spirit and time."
"Will two hours be enough?" he said doubtfully. "That only translates to a month you know."
"It should be enough to at least let me stabilize myself in this form," he said with a tone of determination that reminded the Namek of his father.
"Okay kid, I'll look after your mother until you get back."
"Thanks Piccolo," he said as the other tank beeped and began to drain, "umm, I gotta go." The abrubtly nervous boy turned tail and fled in the face of the awakening prince.
"What happened?" Piccolo turned at the sound of Vegeta's voice and smirked.
"Gohan transformed and must of hit us fast and hard," Piccolo said as he watched the saiyan walk over to a computer terminal. "He went off to try and master his transformation."
Vegeta pushed some buttons on the terminal before turning around and echoing the Namek's smirk. "According to this he nearly killed us and got us into the tanks only ten seconds after we attacked." The prince of a nearly dead race had obvious pride in his voice.
"You almost sound like you enjoy the fact that you were beat." Piccolo said, voice heavy with skepticism.
"Of course not," Vegeta growled, "I'm just glad that I still have a worthy opponent with Kakkarotto gone. In fact, my current rival makes that third-class baka seem like the weakling he was supposed to be."
"Well, I have to go keep an eye on Chi," Piccolo said. "Good luck with your training."
*****
"And that is why you cannot use ki blasts to dispose of a dirty diaper," Chichi said to Piccolo. She looked up and frowned when she saw he wasn't paying attention. "Wha?"
"Gohan's back," Piccolo interrupted her just as her son came flying in through the window. His clothing looked a little ragged but he had a triumphant look on his face.
"Hi mom. Piccolo." He nodded his greeting. "It's great to see you guys." He came over and gave his mother a smothering hug.
"Why are you so cheerful?" Chichi asked confused. "You were here just a little less than six hours ago."
"You didn't tell her?" this directed at Piccolo.
"Tell me what?" Chichi's voice was rising.
"Well.umm.remember the room dad and I trained in?"
"Yes." She didn't like where this was going.
"Well, I've kinda been there for the last two hours."
"And why did you go into a dangerous place like that on your own?"
"I had to perfect my control over the second level of super saiyan." He cringed slightly.
"Okay," she replied calmly, "did you succeed?"
"Umm.yes." He looked confused.
"Good, now go see your brother," she said sweetly. "I'm sure you missed him."
"Okay." Gohan turned and left to go find the nursery.
While he was leaving Chichi turned toward the Namek she now called friend and inquired, "Piccolo?"
"Yes." He said hesitantly. Her voice had that honeyed tone to it that almost always meant trouble.
"Could you please tell me," she started sweetly, "WHY IN HELL YOU DIDN'T TELL ME MY SON HAD GONE TO ANOTHER DIMENSION TO TRAIN?" She smiled sweetly again as she watched the green warrior collapse to the ground holding his ears.
*****
As Gohan entered the nursery a surprise was awaiting him. Namely, a certain saiyan prince with a legendary bad attitude. "Hi Vegeta! What are you doing here?" He was ignored as the prince continued to gaze down at his brother. "Hey, Ve-ge-ta, anybody home?" Gohan was just about to try shaking him when Vegeta spoke.
"Look at him, only hours after birth and he already has his fathers hair."
"Huh," Gohan looked around the prince to see he was right. After a moment he also saw something else. "Ahh," he whined, "they removed his tail, I was hoping he could keep it."
Vegeta snorted. "Fool, I removed his tail, not the doctors or your harpy mother."
"But, why Vegeta? I would of thought you'd be on my side in this."
"On Vegeta-sei, when a saiyan infant's tail wasn't removed shortly after birth they would die." The prince said as if speaking to himself. "After I saw your power I finally figured out why. You were incredibly weak unless exposed to some trauma that brought your power out. The way I figure it, that initial removal of the tail is enough trauma to bring out a saiyan's power."
"Okay, I understand that you want Goten, and probably Trunks before him, to have their full power," Gohan said, "but why would saiyan infants die without their powers unlocked?"
"What do you think would happen to someone as weak as you were before your training if they were on a planet with ten times earth's gravity."
"Oh." Gohan replied, subdued. He started slightly when Vegeta broke the silence.
"Did you master your power while you were away," At Gohan's nod he continued. "Fine, gaki, when you and your family get settled back in at home I expect you to come back and show me." Vegeta said as he got up to leave the nursery. "Don't worry too much mutt," he said as he was walking away, "if your brother is anything like you the damn thing will grow back no matter how often you cut it off."
"Damn," Gohan muttered softly, "I thought I had it hidden well enough."
*****
Piccolo looked toward the sunset. His student stood slightly to behind and to the right of him. Chi had just come from the house where the day-old Son Goten slept.
"You can't be having second thoughts now Piccolo," she said softly.
"Of course not," Piccolo said, cut from his reverie. He concentrated on the psychic link between the sleeping infant and the egg sitting on the grass. He gently removed the link only to find a second one connecting the half-breed to his offspring. Huh, the child shouldn't be able to maintain the link. He removed the second link and quickly set up a small block. That should keep them separate, he smirked mentally.
"The egg's cracking," Gohan whispered.
The 'crack' was more a line of purple light spreading at random over the surface of the egg. Gohan and Piccolo felt ki being pulled from the surrounding area. After a couple of seconds the egg disappeared within the lavender glow. The intensity reached its peak, momentarily blinding the three fighters. When the light finally cleared the surrounding forest was silent but for three voices.
A deep whisper of, "what the fu-?"
A cracking squeak, "M-Mr. Piccolo-?"
And a feminine coo, "Ahh, they're so cute."
End Chapter Two
A/N: Next chapter What did the mysterious figures do? You'll see at least one result. Oh! And feel free to leave any guesses as to their identity when you review. Also, thanks to my two reviewers so far.