Chapter 33: time

Goku panted as he climbed to his feet yet again. Nothing was working against this dragon. He had tried everything he could think of on Omega but to no success. Omega Shenron was just too strong.

The dragon smirked down at Goku from his place in the sky. West City had been reduced to nothing more then a city-sized crater through the fighting and most of the rubble had been reduced to noting more then grains of sand. And just like the great city, Goku was nearly at his end, just like how Omega had expected.

"Well I'm afraid you're starting to get repetitive now, Son Goku. I think it's about time I ended this!" Omega called down to earth's champion. Goku stared up at the dragon, gritting his teeth and Omega raised a hand over his head, a ki-blast flickering to life above it.

"Good bye." He finished before hurling the blast towards Goku. The saiyan prepared himself for the impact but it never came. Instead three familiar kis and a voice greeted him.

"Hey dad, you ok?"

Goku looked up to see a rather hairy version of Goten and Trunks at his side and then Vegeta was above them holding back the ki blast. Goku blinked.

"Vegeta, Goten, Trunks? You guys transformed? How-?" he asked.

"Nice to see you too Kakarot, you better still be able to fight." Vegeta called before he managed to kick the apocalyptic blast back at Omega, who dodged despite his surprise. Goku climbed to his feet with a little help from his son.

"Just how did this happen?" he asked the smirking faces.

"Mum worked it out and had us transform. She hasn't got the title of resident genius for nothing." Trunks replied. Goku nodded and then glanced around for a fourth face.

"What about Gohan? Couldn't he transform as well?" he asked.

"He didn't want to. He said he had some big idea, grabbed Zara and took off for the lookout, saying we have to keep the dragon busy." Goten replied. Goku nodded then looked up at the dragon.

"Well then we better do as he says. Omega may be strong but four transformed saiyans ought to have more of a chance." He said calmly, although he didn't know how much their chances had actually improved.

Omega had grown tired of watching the four super saiyans and frowned deeply at them.

"Sorry to disturb your little reunion but I would like to have your fates sealed before the turn of the century." Omega called hotly. The four super saiyan fours turned their attention back to the floating dragon.

"On the contrary, dragon, it will be us sealing your fate!" Vegeta replied, smirking confidently. Omega scoffed.

"I don't think so. It doesn't matter how much your numbers grow, I will still wipe you all out along with this planet!"

"I doubt that," Vegeta replied and turned to the others, "you boys ready to test out our new form?"

The boys nodded and all the new super saiyan fours rushed forward, signifying the start of round two.

The lookout seemed to be the only place on earth that had stayed perfectly calm since the dragons had been released. Dende and Mr Popo stood by the edge of the lookout with an ever-watchful Piccolo, watching the earth below, when Zara and Gohan materialised in the centre of the holy structure. Mr Popo was the only one to turn his head towards the new arrivals. Zara was stretching a few kinks out of her back after not having any time to after literally dropping off the others and Gohan was watching her.

"That was kind of a rough ride." Gohan commented as Zara straightened up.

"Yea, well its not exactly instant translocation. Plant is only just in my range from earth's surface." She replied.

"Gohan? Zara? What are you two doing up here?" Mr Popo cut in, attracting Dende's attention in the process. Gohan's head turned to look at the genie and grounds keeper.

"Hi Mr Popo, we were hoping we'd be able to use the hyperbolic time chamber. It'll be a big help!" he quickly explained. Popo glanced towards Dende who nodded. From what he could sense and had seen, it was obvious that Goku and the others would need all the help they could get.

Mr Popo turned back to the two warriors and began to lead the way to the chamber in question.

"Follow me, you'll have to hurry. This dragon is stronger then anything you've ever faced before, it's hard to say how long the others will last against him." The genie explained seriously. Gohan's face morphed into a serious look as he followed Popo deep into the lookout along with Zara.

"I know, but they should be able to last long enough." Gohan replied. Popo nodded before he came to a halt in front of a large wooden door.

"It sounds to me like you're putting a lot of faith into your friends." He commented before opening the door.

"They're a lot more resilient then they look. They can do it." Gohan assured the genie, who nodded.

"That they are. I'll see you in a days time." He replied.

"Thanks Mr Popo." Gohan said before leading a hesitant Zara into the hyperbolic time chamber, the door closing behind them.

Zara took a deep breath as she entered, completely aware that Gohan was watching her carefully. She held on to her bite mark before making her way through the little homely area that was the living quarters.

"So what are we dealing with here? Thinner air, heavier gravity," she started and made her way out of the living quarters, "and a huge, never ending white void?" her eyes widened as she stared round at the nothingness. She had heard Trunks and Goten mention their own time in the time chamber but they never mentioned anything about the endless expansion of empty space.

"You ok?" Gohan asked in an amused voice. Zara turned to face him with a disbelieving smile on her face.

"Yea, just peachy. It's just not what I expected." She replied. Gohan walked over to her side.

"It never is, but that's what makes life interesting." He pointed out and then smiled down at her.

"So, you ready to get started?"

Zara nodded and led the way out, stopping a good distance away from the chamber's exit. Gohan stood a couple of paces away from her.

"Well I'm not much of a teacher, this is my first time." She started, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Not a problem, I'm a good student, or at least should be by now." Gohan replied, making Zara sweat drop and nod.

"Ok, well we both know about ki; the energy that is within us all and helps hold are bodies together as well as giving us the power to make ki blasts and use bukujutsu. Well what we're looking for is a little different." She explained and took in a deep breath before continuing.

"What we're looking for is your psychic or psi energy. This is what holds the mind together and allows a person to use telekinesis, telepathy, precognitive abilities and some forms of empathy. For the dome shield, you're going to have to use psi energy to strengthen it and to stop other people from sensing you, if that's what you want. And it should also hold the shield when you power up, as combining mystic and super saiyan will mainly increase your ki, not your psi energy."

Gohan nodded as he listened to her explanation.

"So how do I access it? And strengthen it at that." he asked.

"Well meditation is the best way for beginners. There are a few simple exercises we could try to start you off with before we get into the harder stuff." Zara explained and then went on to set him a task

Vegeta swung at Omega Shenron just to have the dragon slap away Vegeta's forearm. The saiyan prince growled at this, Omega was getting increasingly harder to hit as this little 'game' continued. And of course Vegeta's anger was also increasing.

Vegeta jumped away from the dragon before lunging forward and feinting a punch before performing a round house instead. Omega was hit but that didn't stop him from grabbing Vegeta's incoming fist. Trunks chose this moment to appear behind the dragon and attempted to use a double fisted blow on the back of the dragons skull but Omega quickly turned and kicked the young prince in the gut before swinging Vegeta into his son.

Goten flew towards the dragon and fired a series of ki blasts at him but Omega was unaffected by them as he allowed them to hit. Trunks and Vegeta then attacked together, Vegeta aiming for the base of the dragon's neck with a quick chop and Trunks trying to hit the dragon's back with a well-aimed kick. Omega ducked under Vegeta but was hit a few feet forward by the kick. Goten then flew toward the dragon for a kick to the head the same time Trunks flew in for a punch and Omega ducked at the last moment, causing both fighters to hit each other instead of the target.

Vegeta growled as he watched the two younger saiyans, then focused his own attack onto the dragon. Omega turned just in time to see several ki blasts flying towards him and quickly phased out of sight. All three of the supped up saiyans looked frantically around for the dragon, unable to get a lock on to his ki.

"Above you!" Goku yelled from the ground where he was trying to power up and re-gain some of his energy. The other three saiyans looked at Goku and then turned to look above them where Omega could be seen with an apocalyptic ball of energy swirling around in his raised hands. Omega smirked before he lowered his hands and sent the ball hurtling towards the saiyans so fast that they didn't stand a chance of dodging.

Vegeta and the boys caught it and each tried to hold the ball off until it exploded and sent all three saiyans hurtling into the floor below.

Vegeta was the first to get up and he growled when he laid his blood red eyes on the evil dragon. This was going to be harder then he thought.

And he hadn't expected it to be easy to begin with.

Gohan's eyes were closed as he continued to meditate. He'd been trying to control his psi energy for what seemed like months now. He had managed to find it but using it was still proving to be a problem.

Zara was floating next to him with her legs crossed in a similar fashion. She was watching Gohan carefully as he continued to concentrate on an object she had placed in front of him: one of the wooden chairs from the dining area. Usually someone wouldn't start trying to levitate something so big but they didn't have a lot of time to work on Gohan's control and strength.

She watched him a little bit longer before speaking in a soft and steady voice.

"Feel out the energy of the room and focus on the chair. Feel it out so that you have a clear picture in your mind. Now picture a hand coming out of your mind and gripping the chair. The hand is your psi energy. Try and move the hand like you would any other. Have it lift the chair off of the ground. Lift it as high as you can. Now open your eyes."

Gohan complied with everything she said and as he opened his eyes, the sight of the chair floating a foot off of the ground greeted him.

"Whoa…is that me doing that?" he asked, still concentrating. Zara nodded and floated down so that her feet could touch the ground.

"Looks like its time to move on." She announced.

Vegeta and Goku both circled Omega together before they both swooped in, Vegeta trying to attack low on Omega's body and Goku going high. Omega bended round Vegeta's kick and grabbed Goku's wrist, tossing him over his shoulder. Goku twisted round in mid-air and fired a series of blasts as Vegeta made a hasty escape. Omega allowed the blasts to hit him before he slapped the last few away and charged towards Goku at light speed, ramming his head into the saiyan's gut. Goku gasped then tried to punch the dragon but Omega had already moved and punched the saiyan hard across the jaw. Vegeta rushed in to try and help his long time ally and friend by jump kicking the dragon but Omega caught the prince's foot and swung him aside.

On the ground, Goten turned his head towards Trunks.

"You ready?" he called and Trunks nodded, checking that they were exactly six paces apart.

"Let's do this." He replied and matched his friend's pose, legs shoulder length apart and his hands pointing away from his friend.

"Fu…" they cried together, closing the gap between them as they moved their arms round in an arc to point at the other man.

"…Sion…" as soon as they had closed the gap they changed their stances so that their out side knee pointed towards the other man whilst their arms were fully out stretched and pointing away.

"…HA!" they finished as both men bent over so that their index fingers were outstretched and touching whilst they still faced front. They were both engulfed by a bright light and when it faded, one man stood in their place with a hair style fairly similar to Goten's – spiked to the side – but was lavender on both sides with black running through the middle. His super saiyan four fur was dark like Trunks's had been and he wore the usual fusion outfit: a dark blue waistcoat with a yellow collar and yellow round above the arms, white baggy trousers and a light blue cloth belt and light blue cloth above his black shoes. His red eyes quickly shot towards Omega Shenron.

"Looks like Gotenks is up to bat!" he announced in his fused voice as the two older saiyans moved aside to allow the fused warrior a chance to attack. Omega was hardly impressed with the boy's fusion but Gotenks didn't care. He smirked up at the dragon before materialising in front of him.

"We can do this slowly or quickly, your choice." Gotenks told the dragon. Omega swept his eyes over the fused warrior then smirked himself.

"Whatever is best for you, you can't win." The dragon replied before implanting his fist into Gotenks's gut. Gotenks growled then threw his head up so that it collided with the dragon's jaw. Omega gasped and Gotenks quickly kicked the dragon in the side and followed through with a spin punch to his chest. Omega gasped as the air escaped from his lungs then growled, throwing his fist at the fused saiyan. Gotenks leant back slightly to avoid it but Omega opened up his palm and fired a blast into Gotenks's face, sending him flying backwards.

Gotenks growled as he stopped and straightened himself. He glared up at Omega and powered up slightly. He then bent over and concentrated, producing six white blobs from his mouth that quickly morphed into what looked like ghosts of him. Gotenks smirked up at Omega as the dragon raised a brow and stared at all of the ghosts curiously.

On the sidelines, Vegeta sweat dropped and slapped his face.

"I thought he got rid of all of those childish moves." He muttered, Gotenks over hearing him and turning towards the saiyan prince.

"Hey! The super ghost kamikaze attack is perfectly good and is guaranteed to work!" the fused saiyan yelled at his father. Vegeta frowned at him.

"Tell it to Buu." He replied calmly. Gotenks rolled his eyes.

"One attempt and they label it for life…" he muttered then turned back to face Omega and the ghosts.

"Super ghosts attack!" Gotenks yelled and all six of the ghosts quickly raced towards the dragon as Gotenks crouched into a stance with his hands cupped at his side.

The ghosts each spread out so that they were in a tight circle round the dragon and then each charged towards him. Omega flew up to avoid them but they each followed him and circled back whenever he dodged. Omega frowned, getting annoyed by the little white nuisances and powered up as he slapped the nearest one away. This didn't work however, as the ghost exploded on impact, singing the dragon's hand. The others then got the chance to clamp down onto any available place on Omega's body, as the first ghost caught the dragon off guard when it exploded, and they all blew as soon as they had found a secure position.

Meanwhile, Gotenks had managed to charge up a powerful blast in his hands and was taking the ghosts explosions as a marker. As soon as the final ghost had gone, Gotenks fired the kamehameha at the dragon. It was a direct hit and after it exploded, all of the saiyans waited patiently for the smoke to subside, Gotenks smirking proudly.

That is until Omega's laughter reached his ears and the smoke died down enough for Omega to be clearly seen.

"Good attempt, but still not quite there." the dragon said after he calmed down. Gotenks fumed as he glared at the dragon.

"Strike one…"he muttered, then charged, this time with Goku and Vegeta following.

Gohan let out a deep breath as the yellow energy that was his own dome shield dissipated. Zara smirked at him from her spot a few feet away.

"That was pretty good. It could be a little stronger but it should hopefully do. I'm surprised you managed to learn it this quickly. You saiyans are something all right." Zara commented. Gohan had managed to strengthen his psi energy and learn how to use the dome shield in only six months. That was pretty impressive considering most people took years to learn how to manipulate their energy.

"Thanks. I'd like to try and get it stronger but that would use up more time unnecessarily. It'll be better just to get through this as quickly as possible." He told her and Zara just nodded. She was getting worried about Trunks…

Gohan watched her carefully and then smiled at her.

"So how about we try combining the two transformations? Might as well make sure that it works." Gohan suggested. Zara grinned and stepped back.

"Good idea. I'm getting curious as to how it's going to look." She said.

"Me too. I just hope it doesn't look as weird as super three. Don't really want to have that much hair." He replied and Zara eyed his already long hair.

"Then you might want to get a hair cut soon. You're starting to look kind of shaggy." She pointed out Gohan laughed and swept his eyes over Zara's own hairstyle.

"Well so are you. It'll be back at its original length if you keep this up." He pointed out. Zara frowned at his over exaggeration then ran a hand through her hair. It had already grown down to her shoulders in their time in the chamber.

Gohan smiled and then crouched down into a stance.

"Well I better get started, we'll never know if it's going to work else." He pointed out and then began to power up. The yellowish dome shield went up around him before his power up intensified, his aura growing more violent within. Zara tried to focus on Gohan's power level but it was futile through the shield. She had no idea just how Gohan would measure up to the dragon.

Gohan began to scream as his power increased. His eyes gained a teal haze and his hair stood on end, flashing gold until it stayed gold with black streaks running through it as a perfect blend between mystic and super saiyan. Ki bolts ran down his body and his muscle mass grew until Gohan let out a deep breath as he settled into his new super mystic form. Zara blinked several times as she stared at him then smirked.

"Wow, you did it. You look…wow." Zara commented as Gohan stared down at his hands. He flexed them and then looked up at Zara.

"Yea, I did. I just don't know if it will tear everything up if I let the shield down. I can't fight like this." He explained. Zara bit her lip as she thought over the predicament, her golden eyes sweeping over shield.

"Well you could drop the shield just to see and power down if it gets too hectic. If it does tear everything up then I could teach you how to mould the shield to your body. You'd easily be able to fight like that. It would just take another month of training." She said. Gohan nodded and thought it over. He could just learn how to mould the shield but that could end up being wasted time if he could walk around normally once transformed. He was going to have to test it.

"Ok, I'm letting it down so get ready." He replied and Zara nodded as she raised her own power level. Gohan waited for her to level off then allowed the shield to dissipate. For a short moment it looked as though everything would be all right and Zara was able to take in the full extent of Gohan's incredible power level, until one of the ki bolts running down his body lashed out and hit the ground. After that more bolts lashed out and Zara soon found herself dodging bolts of ki.

"Ah! Power down already!" she called as she jumped over one bolt just to be hit by another. She was sent skidding across the ground and Gohan hastily powered down before he flew over to check on her. Zara moaned as she sat up and Gohan frowned lightly.

"You're bleeding but that seems to be the worst of it." He said slowly and Zara frowned at him as she wiped away some of the blood on her forehead.

"Well it looks like you've got another lesson." She said then sighed. Gohan blinked at her sudden change of behaviour and stared at her sad face.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She peered up at him.

"What do you think is wrong? We're stuck in here training whilst Trunks and the others fight an overly powerful evil dragon! We can't even see if they're all holding out ok!" she snapped and held onto her bite mark almost protectively. She knew he was still alive but she was still kind of new at feeling someone else's emotions and the hyperbolic time chamber wasn't helping since Trunks was on the outside. She could feel him but it was getting hard.

Gohan watched her behaviour carefully and eyed where she kept her hand curiously. It took a while for the reason to dawn on him.

Poor kid, can't be easy for all this stuff to come along when they're just starting out…he thought and then smiled reassuringly.

"I'm sure they're fine. We're just going to have to hurry to make sure it stays that way. We both sensed that super fours wouldn't last against that dragon so our only chance is for me to learn this technique. You sensed how strong I am just then and I still have level two up my sleeve just in case. I'll learn this technique and then finish this so that you can be with Trunks just like you want. It won't take that much longer in reality." He assured her. Zara watched him carefully then flashed him a weak smile.

"Thanks Gohan." She said softly Gohan nodded and stood up, offering her a hand.

"So what do you say we get started?" he asked. Zara nodded and took the hand, getting ready to start on the next part.

Vegeta breathed heavily as he watched the fight above him between Gotenks and Omega Shenron. Goku floated at Vegeta's side with a little less energy.

"I can't believe this. We've all been fighting at our maximums and still Omega has hardly broken a sweat. Gohan is going to need to get here soon or our super saiyan four forms are going to be impossible to sustain." Goku said between breaths. Vegeta frowned.

"I know Kakarot but what would you have me do? Fusion doesn't seem to work as Gotenks is showing us and Omega is obviously holding back. I don't see how we can hold him off for long." He replied. Goku sighed and then powered up again.

"Well sitting here isn't helping. We're not gathering much energy so we might as well get in there. Gotenks won't last much longer." Goku pointed out and then took off, closely followed by Vegeta.

Gotenks ducked under a blow before he thrust an elbow towards the dragon. Omega caught it, smirking, before kneeing Gotenks in the gut. Gotenks doubled over and the dragon struck again before charging up an electricity ball and releasing it into the fusion's back. Gotenks cried out in pain before Omega's foot slammed into his back, sending him crashing into the ground below.

Omega smirked at his handy work but was then forced to duck as Goku's fist came flying into view. Omega frowned at the saiyan, slamming his fist into Goku's gut and blasting him away.

"FINAL FLASH!" Vegeta's voice called from behind and Omega turned round to a face full of ki that exploded on impact. Vegeta flew through the smoke in a jump kick aimed at the dragon's chest that hit its target out of the smoke cloud. Omega flipped round so that he was facing his new challenger but instead of Vegeta, Goku's foot greeted him as the saiyan performed an instant translocated kick. Vegeta then flew round Goku to land punch across the dragons jaw and Goku slammed his elbow into the dragon's chest.

Omega growled and powered up so that electric bolts flowed down his body and shocked his two-saiyan attackers. They both retreated and Gotenks appeared in their place with his fists laced together. He flung them down to meet the dragon but Omega grabbed his wrists mere moments before impact. Gotenks struggled to break free and Omega powered up a little more before releasing the full force of an electric build up. Gotenks screamed in pain before the dragon slammed his knee into his gut and then tossed the fused warrior to the ground.

Gotenks managed to stop his decent before he reached the ground and quickly powered up, letting out an animal cry as he let go of some of his anger Omega had caused. He then took off and sped towards the dragon so that he would come up from behind. Omega smirked to himself as he felt the enraged saiyan closing in and as Gotenks came up behind him, one of the spikes on Omega's back shot out to impale Gotenks's shoulder. He screamed in agony as the spike retracted and Omega quickly spun round to spin-kick Gotenks back to the ground. This time he slammed into the floor, blood spilling across the dirt and a light engulfed the fused warrior, signalling the end of the half hour. When the light faded, Goten and Trunks were left lying there seriously injured and in there normal forms.

Zara gasped as she doubled over in pain, clutching the mark on her shoulder. Gohan looked over at her with concern etched over his face.

"Zara? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh Kami…Trunks. He's still alive but…that hurt." She said between breaths before realising that Gohan was watching her. She quickly straightened up.

"Lets hurry this up. We need to make sure you have it right." She quickly said and Gohan nodded, deciding that it was best to hurry.

Gohan quickly took to the air and powered up, the yellowish dome shield quickly being erected. As soon as it was complete, he started to transform, his hair standing on end and flashing gold until it was properly streaked and his eyes had gained their teal haze. Gohan levelled off and then focused on the next part: moulding the shield.

He focused and slowly it shrank until it was nothing more then an outline round his body that blended in perfectly with his aura. He let his aura go and the shield was then able to fit him perfectly.

Gohan looked down at his hands and then sunk into a stance before he launched himself at an invisible opponent, throwing punches and kicks at unfathomable speeds.

Zara watched from the side, smirking all the while. He had done it. He had mastered the dome shield and with it his super mystic form. Now there was only one thing left to do.

The battle with Omega Shenron was about to begin.

A/N: there we go, another chapter that shouldn't be too heavy on the fighting, after all we've had a lot of that in the last 7 chapters…

So here we have my little explanation on how Zara's – and most people's – psychic powers work. This is my own theory that makes sense to me.

And we got to see an old face! Gotenks is back! …Even if he didn't make that much of a difference. Originally I wasn't going to have any fusion in this story but then I went out and doodled my own version of adult Gotenks and I had to have him. Least he was better then Gogeta. That episode of GT with him in really peeved me off…

Reviews:

Rambo Samosa: I guess it does mean that. I just went out and made Omega stronger then he was in GT.
and I agree with you, its not just pure saiyans that can so ssj4. Vegeta probably wasn't even conscious enough to make ssj4 possible at the time. And even if that wasn't the case, I would have put it down to Bebi being a parasite. He was messing around with Vegeta's body by giving him an appearance like Bebi's. That's got to mess around with the transformations as well.

Trugeta: glad you liked it, Omega is definitely in for a surprise now but you'll have to wait until Saturday to read about that

Erica: Thanks! Here's another chapter for ya!

Super saiyan four chichi: well…I thought of a lot of responses to you but have decided against setting Vegeta on ya…I'm not much of a Goku fan myself. V-man's my fave and Goku's got to be about my least favourite really, don't ask why. I don't think he deserves to be any more special then the rest of the saiyans. Besides, he's 'special' in his own way already…

Darksupersaiyan: Don't worry, they will have their tails back, I can assure you of that. There just isn't enough time to do it yet. And about the ssj4 thing: you might want to read Rambo's review. They're answer makes more sense then mine. I don't remember hearing anything about a pure blood only rule in the series anyway…

Masterofmonster: yea, new account and story! Yay! And I think I got most of my doodling out of my system. I already have sketches of all the ssj4s and another…weird-ish one.

Rejhan: glad you liked. And good to hear about the bond too, it's not long until I explain it properly. And now we know Gohan can use a super mystic form, all that's left is to see if he can win…

Well see you all next Saturday! Ja'ne!