Author's note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reads, & the reviews. I love getting those alerts. Please feel free to keep them coming, & let me know your thoughts as the story progresses.

Chapter 32

Northern Wastelands

Goku lowered his hands. Cooler's energy was gone. He had been so powerful, had so much potential, now he was dust in the wind. He had threatened the Earth, and Goku wouldn't allow that, not now, not ever.

Piccolo still knelt beside Gohan. Loa had joined him, and energy flowed from her hands into the boy. The injuries were plentiful, but not that bad. His hands had dozens of shallow slices crisscrossing over them. His chest and arms had large burn marks, and bloody holes marred his skin, where chunks were ripped out of him.

Turles had helped Raditz to his feet. The pair approached Vegeta, and Turles offered his hand. Vegeta sat up, considered the hand, and laid back down. He was the prince of Saiyans, he was supposed to be the strongest, it was his birthright, but, but this third class scum, his nephew, his grand nephew, a child, they all, all of them, outclassed him. Frieza, Frieza was his, and Goku killed him. Cooler, the elder brother to the tyrant who made Vegeta's childhood, his life, hell, Goku killed him too, like it was nothing. One, one real attack, that's it.

Turles left the prince to mope, and Raditz followed his uncles lead. The pair slowly flew to the primary group. Like Gohan, they had ruined their clothes when they transformed. They were aware of the fact, but dismissive of it.

As his uncle and his brother approached, Goku began powering down. He could have just dismissed Super Saiyan, but it didn't feel right. Normally whenever he transformed it meant a battle, training until exhaustion, a challenge. This time he had released the beast, prepared for the battle of his life, but it was anti climactic. The beast within Goku was a massive dog, and Goku promised a walk before leaving their home alone. He couldn't slam the door, he had to ease it shut, release the energy slowly, calm himself, or next time it could be far, far more difficult.

"Are you okay?" Turles asked as he drew in close. Goku's aura was gone, but his hair was still golden.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Goku said, taking a deep breath. He turned his back to the crater and gestured for the other Saiyans to follow him.

The trio of Saiyans joined the other Aliens, as well as Chiaotzu and Krillen. By the time they had arrived, Goku's hair had returned to black, as did his eyes. Piccolo helped Gohan back to his feet, and the half breed appreciated the assistance.

"Gohan, how are you feeling?" Goku dropped to his knee to face his son.

As Goku checked on his son, Piccolo went to work creating new clothes. Not just for Gohan, but for Turles and the other Saiyans too. They didn't mind being naked, but that didn't mean Piccolo accepted it.

"Good, I think." Gohan replied. "Thank you, Loa." The boy bowed to the pink warrior before continuing to check his body. "What happened? I remember arriving, getting dressed, and, then waking up naked and hurt?"

"You transformed into an Oozaru." Turles answered before Goku could. "The form gives us Saiyans about ten times the power we normally have. You transformed and fought Cooler. You were incredible, kid, good job."

Gohan took a second gi from Piccolo, and began getting dressed. The orange outfit was very similar to his father's, except the writing on the front, and back, both had Piccolo's symbol. The gi created for Turles was a black and purple version, with blank spots on the front and the back. Piccolo didn't know what Turles would like, and he didn't feel it was the right time to ask him.

"Did, did I beat him?" Gohan asked as he pushed himself to his feet. Feeling stiff after the battle, despite the healing, he began to stretch slightly.

"No, not quite." Goku put a hand on his son's shoulder. "You pushed him though. With a little luck I think you could have beaten him like that before he went all out."

"Dad, did you beat him?" Gohan looked around the area, finally noting who all was there, and who was missing.

"Yeah, I did." Goku rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry to interrupt." Piccolo wasn't sorry. "But we should probably let the others know what happened here." He looked at Krillen. "Call the others, tell them to meet us at Capsule Corp."

"Before we go." Chiaotzu said, rising into the air. "We should probably check on Dr. Brief."

"What?" Goku shouted. "Bulma's dad was here?"

For a moment Krillen wondered why he shouldn't just tell everyone what happened now, but he figured Piccolo had his reasons. Krillen pulled a flip phone out of his pocket. He'd rather not admit to forgetting the scientist was involved, and while he was worried for a moment, he quickly locked onto his ki. Being so low, it was hard to miss. Dialing Master Roshi's number from memory Krillen began to spread the word.

As Krillen made his calls, Goku sought out and found Dr. Brief. He had taken up shelter behind a large boulder and hunkered down for the battle. Once he was secured, Turles assured Goku that the other two Saiyans, and Nappa, were alright. He didn't say they were on their team, he didn't even say they were nice, but with the power gap between them, they wouldn't step out of line.

Goku wasn't excited about having to fight his brother again, and was more than willing to accept Turles' proclamation. To his surprise, Raditz did apologize for his attack on Earth, and to Raditz's surprise, Goku accepted the apology. Once they were reacquainted Goku took a set of smaller clothes towards Vegeta, but the prince ignored the third classes rambling, and when Goku dropped the clothes on him, Vegeta got to his feet and took off. He needed to be alone.

CAPSULE CORP

Krillen was glad that Dr. Brief didn't decide to use the meeting room again. It felt too up tight, too stuffy, for the group they had. He much preferred the interior garden. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reopened them. Tien was gone, truly gone. Goku and Gohan were back though.

Chiaotzu and Loa were both hovering, meditating, facing each other. Krillen, Yamcha, and Master Roshi were a short ways away, Krillen filling the others in on the events of Cooler's attack. Turles and Raditz were with Nappa, giving him the same information Krillen was sharing. Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo formed the last trio.

"You were gone nearly a year." Piccolo addressed Goku. "What were you doing out there?"

"Well." Goku laughed. "Learning to control Super Saiyan was our biggest goal. But we also did some other training too."

"You took Gohan, into space, away from his mother, for a year, so he could help you learn to control Super Saiyan?" Piccolo crossed his arms, and due to his far greater height he was able to look down on Goku physically as much as he was internally.

"Uh, well, it wasn't exactly..." Goku began to respond, but was interrupted

"GOHAN‽" A woman's voice called out from the hall leading to the interior garden. "GOHAN‽"

All attention turned to the entrance. Gohan couldn't see who was calling his name, but the voice was very familiar. He hopped into the air, so as to look over the heads of the others. As the woman kept calling his name, he began flying towards her. Goku followed his son, and together they met Chi-Chi at the door.

"GOHAN!" Chi-Chi came barreling out of the door, grabbing her son out of the air, and bounced off her husband. She would have fallen to the ground if Goku didn't catch her, holding their boy between them. "Gohan." She released one arm from him, wrapping it around her husband instead. "Goku. Gohan."

"Chi-Chi." Goku pulled his wife into his arms. "We're back."

Gohan tried to speak, but with his father pulling his mother into him, and his face being berried, he couldn't get more than a muffled "I missed you." out, not that anyone heard it.

Chi-Chi nuzzled her cheek into her son's hair. It was long, shabby, in need of a good cut. That didn't matter though. She turned her head, looking at her husband. Taking a deep breath she inhaled her boy. "Gohan." She lowered her gaze to the top of his head. "You, you came back."

Gohan gave another muffled response. Figuring that her son needed air to breathe, she released her hold on her husband, and dropped to her knees, wrapping her son in a fresh hug, neck to neck. "Of course I did, Mom."

Chi-Chi looked up at her husband as she rubbed her sons back. He became blurry, and then completely unrecognizable as tears spilled down her face. She shut her eyes. "Why, why didn't you come back? You could have come back with the others. Why, Gohan?"

Gohan returned his mother's hug. He wasn't ready to cry, and he doubted he would be, but he did miss her. He didn't miss the homework, the babying, or the ban on training, but he missed her. "I'm sorry." He squeezed his mother. "I couldn't. It, it wasn't safe."

Chi-Chi pulled out of the neck hug, grabbing both her son's shoulders. "Gohan." She blinked away the tears. "This is your home. You are safe here. I, I will never let something like that happen to you again." She touched her hand to her heart. "Never. I promise you, I will not let anyone, ever, hurt you like that again. You are safe."

"I am." Gohan agreed. "Dad is." He looked over his shoulder to make sure his father was still there. To his dismay his friends and extended family were pointedly not looking in their direction, clearly listening in. "You wouldn't have been. If we came..."

Chi-Chi squeezed her son's shoulders. "My safety is none of your concern." Her voice was hard, stern, factual. "You do not worry about me, or your father. We are the adults, we are here to protect you, to raise you. My safety is, my safety doesn't matter, not when it comes to you."

Gohan looked to the ground, between his feet and his mother's knees. "No." He said. "You wouldn't have been safe, no one would have."

"Safe from what?" Chi-Chi asked. "Piccolo may not be your blood. Neither is Krillen, or Roshi, but, but they're family. We're family. Whatever was threatening you, we, we all, and your father, would protect you."

"Me." Gohan blinked back a tear. "You wouldn't have been safe, from me." He stepped away from his mother and turned to his father. Goku rested a hand on his shoulder, using it as a support as he knelt in front of his son, switching to hugging him.

This wasn't the reunion Chi-Chi had hoped for. On one hand, her husband and son had clearly bonded in space. On the other hand, her son had turned his back on her. Her baby was seeking comfort from his father, not his mother, not the one that carried him for nine long months. In that moment she couldn't help but resent her husband.

He stole a year, a full year of her son's life. And now, now that she had her baby back, he was convinced that he, her son, was dangerous? Gohan was smart, a bright young boy, who picked up on things easily. What did Goku do to scare him so much. Her gaze hardened and her eyes dried as she locked eyes with him.

Chi-Chi spoke through gritted teeth. She didn't want to scare her son any more than her husband already had. "What is MY son talking about? Why would I be unsafe around MY son?"

Goku felt small under Chi-Chi's stare. He wanted to break eye contact, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Things didn't go well on Namek. They didn't go well after that either." He felt Gohan tense up in his arms. "Gohan." He chewed his lip for a moment. "Our son found a different side of himself, and we needed to." He took a deep breath. "He was dangerous, and we couldn't risk something happening to the Earth, so I, my decision, not his, don't blame him, I decided we needed to be alone until we figured everything out."

"You're not making sense." Chi-Chi got to her feet. She stood over her husband, a viper ready to strike. She stood over her son, a bear ready to die to protect her cub.

"Saiyans." Goku thought back to his travels with Turles. "We have a transformation, well, multiple. At the World Martial Arts Tournament, when I saw the full moon, I transformed into an Oozaru, a great ape. I, I lost all control. All I could think was destroy, consume, rampage."

"And our son, our son turned into a monkey?" Chi-Chi asked.

Nappa grunted in frustration, and Turles quickly shushed him before starting a whispered conversation.

"Uh, great ape." Goku said. "Saiyans don't really like being compared to monkeys, but, no. Well, yes, today, but, no, that's not what I mean." Turles' conversation stopped. "There's another transformation, Super Saiyan. If Oozaru makes us want to destroy, then Super Saiyan wants to make us, well, it wants to make us, uh."

"Hate." Gohan said. "When I became a Super Saiyan … When Frieza, Frieza killed Dad, I snapped. I, I was alone, alone in the world. Krillen and Turles were on Namek. Bulma and Tien, Loa too. I had friends on Namek, but Dad." Gohan turned to his mother, making eye contact with her for the first time. "Dad died. He, he was gone. Piccolo died, Dad died. I, I was alone."

Chi-Chi squatted back down on her haunches, getting on her son's level. She opened her mouth to speak, but Gohan cut her off.

"Frieza, he was the leader of the Frieza Force. The Saiyans were forced to work under him." Gohan looked back at Raditz and Nappa. Why hadn't he confronted Raditz yet? The monster that took his vision was there, right there, and far, far weaker than himself. Gohan could go over there and kill him, and Nappa, before anyone could even consider … he looked back to his mother. "The Saiyan that injured my eyes, was forced to work under Frieza. If he wasn't raised under a monster, he may have been completely different. He never had a chance. The Saiyan that killed Piccolo, he, he was in the same situation." He clenched his fists around his pants. "Frieza didn't just take over planets, he would take over lives, force people to become monsters. He, he took Dad, he took my teacher. Everything, EVERYTHING, bad in my life, was due to him, and he, he just killed Dad, right in front of me."

Gohan's power flared up for a moment before he wrestled it back down. "I, I hated him. I still hate him." His fingers threatened to rip his second new pants of the day.

Chi-Chi looked to her husband. She was torn between wanting to comfort him, he did die, and wanting to kill him, she put her son in this situation.

"Angry, mad, hateful." Gohan listed. "They, they don't come close to describing how I felt. I, I couldn't live in the same world as, as that monster. I snapped, and I transformed. When I transformed my hatred took over, and I fought Frieza. I, I killed Frieza."

"WHAT?" Raditz called from the far side of the garden. Turles kneed him in the stomach and he went down like a sack of rocks. Nappa was going to exclaim as well, but quickly shut his mouth.

"I, I'm..." Chi-Chi tried to hug her son, but Gohan grabbed her hands instead, keeping them away.

"That power was, is, still inside me." Gohan said. "I was afraid that if I got mad, or frustrated, it would come out again. On Namek, with Frieza, it was okay, in fact I needed it. But here, on Earth, with you, with the others." He looked over his shoulder again. "I, I couldn't risk it, and neither could Dad."

"I decided it wasn't safe." Goku said. "If Gohan transformed and lost control, there is nothing I could have done to protect you, or anyone else. We went out on our own until we could get Super Saiyan under control. It took longer than I hoped, but it was necessary." He smiled at his wife. "I'm sorry we weren't able to keep in touch, and I'm sorry I had to keep Gohan from you."

Chi-Chi got to her feet again, and her husband followed suit. With a gentle hand Chi-Chi slid Gohan to the side, letting her approach Goku. "You're sorry?" She asked, tears falling once more. "You're, you're sorry? You, you're alive. You're standing in front of me, alive, apologizing to me?" Her nails dug into her palms.

Chi-Chi tried to take a deep breath, but a sob escaped instead. "How, how dare you!" She grabbed her husband's gi in both hands. "How dare you? How dare you, how dare you, HOW DARE YOU!" She shook him with every syllable. "You, you decided our son, my son, my baby, was too dangerous to be around me?" She stopped trying to hold back the tears, the snot, the gasping breaths. "You had no right!" Her nails punched through his gi, and drew blood from her palms.

"Chi, I'm." Goku went to hug her.

"You're what? You're inconsiderate?" Chi-Chi slapped her husband, streaking her blood across his face. "You're thoughtless?" She stomped her foot, barely missing his. "You're, you're God? You know what's best? You decided, for me, that I wasn't safe? You convinced our son, my baby boy, that he was a danger to me? You, you bastard!" Chi-Chi pushed Goku.

"Chi, please." Goku held his hands up.

"No!" Chi-Chi shouted. "You had no right to keep me from my son. You are NOT my father, you are NOT my god. You do NOT make decisions for me, and you DO NOT keep me from MY son!" She turned her back on Goku and knelt in front of Gohan. "Come on, Gohan, we're going home. I'm going to cook you a big dinner, and we're, we're, I'm going to calm down." She wiped her eyes. "You, you went into space, you met aliens. I want to hear about it, I want to hear every, last, detail." She hugged her son, and Gohan didn't resist.

"Chi-Chi." Goku grabbed her shoulder.

Chi-Chi fluidly went from hugging her son to facing her husband, left hand raised in a fist in front of his nose. "Don't fucking touch me, you, you bastard." She managed to take a deep breath and opened her hand. The sun reflected off the small gold band she wore on her ring finger. With effort she pulled it off, and with another sob she threw it into the gardens. "If you need anything, go through my father. You are NOT welcome in MY home."

Goku opened his mouth to respond but Chi-Chi had already turned her back. She picked Gohan up and he didn't resist. He looked towards where her ring had gone, not seeing it through the lush vegetation of the garden. Chi-Chi nodded politely to Dr. Brief, who held the door open for her.

Goku's head was swimming. He held his face in his palms, trying to ground himself. He was on the ground, but the world spun around him. The planet spun around itself, around the sun, he felt it moving. He felt the sun beating down on him. He looked up, into the sky, beyond it, into the stars. He took shallow breaths, and screamed. He felt the Earth move, he shook it. He felt the heat of Sol, he fought fire with fire. His hair snapped to gold, his eyes turned blue, and he shot into the sky.

Piccolo's shoulders sagged and he let out a long held breath. He looked down to the ground and shook his head. He rested his forehead on an open palm and looked back into the sky.

"That could have gone better." Turles said, drawing all eyes. "So, I guess we won't be finding out what happened in space then." He looked around the gathered group. "So, that wasn't Frieza, that was Frieza's brother. Goku killed him. If no one else has something to say, I'd like to..."

"Wait." Piccolo asserted. "I've got some information I think we need to discuss."

Dr. Brief startled as Panchy pushed the door behind him open with her rear. "I hope Chi-Chi is okay." She said, spinning to face the crowd. She carried a large silver tray with an odd assortment of glasses and bottles on it. "She seemed upset. I wonder if Gohan forgot to do his homework in space."

"How did you source new information?" Dr. Brief asked as he was walking towards the group. "Or were you waiting for Goku?"

Master Roshi cleared his throat. "What is it Piccolo?" He asked.

"Mineral water." Panchy handed a glass to Piccolo before starting towards the formerly meditating duo.

"I wasn't waiting." Piccolo said. "If I knew then what I knew now. I would have brought it up immediately." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "After Kami and I fused, he was still himself, inside of me." He glanced between Yamcha and Chiaotzu. "Out there, we were not doing well. We would have died if Gohan and Goku hadn't arrived when they did." He looked up. "And I wish Goku was hear to hear this now, but it can't wait." He returned his gaze to the group around him. "Kami had an idea, to use his ability to over shadow someone, as he did to combat me in the World Martial Arts Tournament. He transferred his presence into Cooler, and had full access to his mind, as I did his."

Panchy provided a glass of milk to Chiaotzu, and chocolate milk to Loa. She started towards the Saiyans. As she walked Panchy pointed at a trio of bottles on her tray, "Gin, Rum, Vodka." She fought to keep the tray balanced as she took the first large bottle off of it. Feeling tension in the air she paused and turned to Piccolo.

"Cooler fought him off though, and when he succeeded, Kami's continuity ended. He is gone." Piccolo frowned and let out a disappointed, sad, grunt. He wasn't alone in the sentiment. "When he was killed, his memories, all of them, came back to me. Including the memories from Cooler."

Turles let out a low growl of frustration. "What did you learn?"

"The girl, Bulma, she's alive." Piccolo's eyes fell on her mother. "She was alive before the wish. A red alien took her to Cooler's father, King Cold. She's being forced to invent for the Cold Empire. She is alive though."

All other eyes turned to Panchy as well, except her husband's. The husband and wife both looked at the Namekian. The Monkey 47 fell to the brick pathway, followed by the rum and vodka, followed by the woman. Unlike the liquor, Panchy was caught. Nappa moved her to the grassy lawn before lowering her to the ground, carefully setting her head down.

As the group rushed to her side, Turles and Raditz went towards Piccolo. "King Cold?" Turles asked. "The old man is still alive?"

"Yes. He's living on their home world, Planet Arcosia." Piccolo flashed through his newest acquired memories. "Frieza isn't there. He's been sent on a mission."

"What's he doing?" Raditz asked. "Are we in danger?"

"I don't know." Piccolo responded honestly. "Cooler wasn't told what his brother's task was, but I'm pretty sure it didn't have to do with Earth. I hope."

With that Piccolo walked past the Saiyans, to join the others by Panchy's side. She was awake, looking into the sky. Her husband, and their friends, were asking if she was okay, if she needed water, or to go inside, but she didn't respond. Her daughter was alive, in space, alone. The only human for, for who knew how far.

"We need to get her." Panchy finally spoke. "Someone needs to go save Bulma." She continued looking past the group. "We can't leave her up there."

"We will." Dr. Brief reached down to his wife, and she grabbed his hand. "We'll get her back." He looked up to the others. "Won't we?"

Around the group heads nodded in unison.

"We have the attack pods." Krillen said. "Five of us can go. Well, four..."

"Wait." Turles spoke up. "I don't know if that's the best idea." He waited until he had everyone's attention. "Dr. Brief, you have them stored in that special room, right? The isolation chamber?"

"The Faraday cage? Yes." The cogs in Dr. Brief's mind began to spin.

"We should leave them there. Who knows if they can be tracked or listened in on. We need our own ship, preferably one like the one we took to Namek." Turles crossed his arms.

"I can do that." Dr. Brief said. "I'll need a little time, but I can do it."

"How much time will you need?" Piccolo asked. "Days? Weeks?"

"A month or so." Dr. Brief said. "Without using Kami's ship or the attack pods, I'll need at least a month. Tien had some great ideas for another potential ship as well, and I may be able to integrate them too."

"I'll be at the Lookout. Let me know when it's ready." With that Piccolo rose into the air, rotated around, and took off towards the palace in the sky.

Turles took off as well, and Raditz followed behind him. "I'm going to find your brother. Don't follow me." He closed his eyes, found his nephew, and began flying in his direction.

Raditz dropped back to the ground. Nappa was helping Panchy, and the others were talking among themselves, planning training in the short amount of time they had. Feeling uncomfortable helping a human, and not being ready to train with the others, Raditz replayed Chi-Chi and Goku's fight in his head. When she threw the ring, he noted where it went, and began searching for it. Saiyans didn't use such trinkets, but it clearly had value to his brother, to his, his sister-in-law. They may not want it now, but in the future, who knows.

Over the ocean

Goku's power had been released for the second time that day. He was at sea level, but the energy pouring out of him dented the water, keeping him dry. Water rushed in from under him, to be swept up by his aura and shot out in all directions.

He swept his hands to his side, forcing all the energy he could pull to the surface between his palms. "Ka me. Ha me. HA!" He launched the attack directly above him, into the air. He had no target, but that didn't bother him. He held the attack for a number of seconds, bleeding as much energy off as possible. When he let the attack go, his aura drained out for a moment as well, allowing the water to rush in around him.

Goku spun himself around his center of gravity, now facing the water. His golden hair nearly touching the surface. He thrust his hands over his head, towards the water, and with another shout the ocean opened back up for him. The shock wave carried air into the water. The ocean closed up behind it, but the blast continued into the depths, eventually defusing as the pressure around it grew too strong.

Pumping energy out again Goku lowered himself into the ocean, watching it split as he did so. When water began to flood over the top of his sphere of influence, he stopped and turned once more to the sky. He pulled his hands back, focused his energy, and launched another Kamehameha. This one wasn't quite as powerful as the last one, but ended with the same result. Goku spun in place, launched a powerful shock wave into the water, and flew clear of the tide.

When he turned to face the sky again, Turles was there. Goku nodded at him, pulled his hands to his side, and began preparing another attack. Turles didn't move.

"You're in my way." Goku growled through gritted teeth as he continued powering up.

"Okay." Turles shrugged.

"Move." Goku said, cutting off the energy pouring into his hands. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You're a Saiyan." Turles said. "You want to fight."

Goku didn't react. He stood statue still, the blue light of the Kamehameha spinning across him.

"I can't fight you like that. Power down, and let's talk like the Saiyans we are." Turles lowered himself to Goku's level. As he descended, his nephew maintained eye contact with him.

Goku glanced at the Turtle Hermit's signature attack. The power in this one attack would obliterate Turles. It would have obliterated Frieza. It did obliterate Cooler. If he had this power on Namek, then Gohan wouldn't have transformed, they wouldn't have needed to go into space, alone. He snapped his attention up, and released the blast into the atmosphere. As it dissipated Goku loosened his hold on Super Saiyan, and fell back into his base state.

"I don't want to talk." Goku said an instant before Turles' knee smashed into his chin.

Goku shot into the sky, face first. His chin had erupted in pain. He fought not to reflexively transform into Super Saiyan, and barely succeeded. At the top of his arc Goku turned to face his uncle, and a Calamity Blaster forced him further towards the edge of space.

Goku wrapped his fist in ki and punched into the attack. The wave had enough power to push him around, but not enough to hurt him, and he proved it when he cut it in two with a single punch. The shock wave from the punch rushed towards Turles, who barely ducked out of the way in time.

Turles acrobatically kicked himself out of the path of Goku's punch. When he got his feet under him again and attention back towards his nephew, Goku was gone. He swore under his breath as he felt Goku appear behind him, and he gasped in pain as a steel leg crashed into his side, sending him skidding across the water like a stone.

Trying to arrest his momentum Turles threw his limbs out. He braced for the next impact with the water, and to his dismay he began spinning as he continued his path. Forcing his ki to the surface Turles prepared and launched an Explosive Wave. The attack pushed enough water away from him that he was able to use his ability to fly, to stop. Once the ki faded, Goku came in from above, stomping on his back with both feet, and launching him under water.

Screaming in pain as he shot towards the seafloor Turles felt the water crushing in from all sides. Unable to take a breath, unable to focus, he frantically locked onto Goku's ki and shot his energy out wildly to get himself turned around, and shoot back towards the surface.

Goku felt his uncle's ki growing distant, before turning on a coin and coming back towards him. He felt him accelerating, he felt him powering up, but he didn't think he'd be attacked. He was wrong.

The ocean under Goku reached up, propelled by the Saiyan within, as a swirling, foamy, mess. For the first time that day Goku was drenched. Distracted for a moment, processing the fact that the water itself was used as a weapon, he let his guard drop.

Turles came from the depths, unseen and forgotten. With both his hands raised above his head he smashed into Goku from below, carrying him into the air. "Yeah!" He exclaimed as he pulled back one hand, holding Goku with the other, and delivered a powerful punch into the younger fighter's sternum, sending him further up.

Unlike Turles, Goku quickly gained control over himself and began lowering himself back down to his uncle's level. Turles was preparing a ki attack, and he'd be ready for it. As he fell he cupped his hands, and prepared to attack yet again.

"CALAMITY BLASTER!" Turles flew backwards as he launched the attack towards Goku. The result being a very slowly approaching attack.

Goku took advantage of the few extra moments to energize his attack even further. "Kamehameha!" He quickly shouted when Turles' attack got too close.

The two beams collided a few feet over the ocean. Goku was quickly pushing Turles' attack back, and lowered his power output so as not to injure his uncle. As the blasts fed into each other, the point of contact ballooned out. The expanding blast quickly breached sea level, and water flew out in all directions, repelled by the energy.

Knowing just how much he was holding back, and just how little his uncle was, Goku pulsed his ki. The large bubble was carried down his wave and into the bubble. When it impacted, it self destructed, as did the rest of the mixed attack.

As the white and blue energy rushed out Turles began to put up a cross guard. As it drew near a hand grabbed his shoulder, and as he would have been overwhelmed, he appeared a safe distance away.

Massive waves were being formed by the blast, sent out in all directions. As they exited the battlefield, Goku met them, and with a series of massive ki blasts he stopped them from rushing towards the coast. When the tides were handled Goku appeared in front of Turles.

"Thanks." Goku nodded.

"Don't mention it." Turles said as he jabbed at Goku's stomach. Goku caught the punch half way between them, as well as the knee that followed it. "Good, that's what I like to see." Turles broke free and put a little distance between them.

"Why did you come out here?" Goku asked. 'Not that I'm complaining."

"Piccolo had some information he wanted to share, and I think it's important you know as well." Turles crossed his legs as if he were sitting on the ground. "Bulma wasn't killed. She was captured by Jeice, the Ginyu Force member who sent the dragon ball back to Namek. She's being held prisoner by King Cold, Frieza's and Cooler's father."

"Where?" Goku snapped. "We need to go get her."

"We know." Turles said. "Dr. Brief is working on a ship already. It will take a month though."

Goku turned towards Central City. "We'll take the ships you came back to Earth in."

"No." Turles shut Goku down. "We need to assume the Cold Empire can listen in on the ships, and likely track them too."

"You can't expect me just to sit around waiting?" Goku demanded. "I'm not going to do that."

"I'm not asking you to." Turles said. "I've been training Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta the best I could, and they've improved, a lot. Not nearly as quickly as you though. I want you to train us, so we can be more helpful when we head into space."

Goku's eyes widened. "Nappa? Vegeta? They're going to come with us?"

"I don't know about Vegeta, I'd assume he wants revenge against Frieza still." Turles admitted. "But I know the other two would come if we asked them to, and I don't see why we wouldn't."

"Frieza?" Goku asked. "He could be coming to Earth like his brother."

"Maybe, but Piccolo doesn't think so." Turles said. "Apparently he's been sent on a secret mission by his father. He's probably not coming here."

"But he might." Goku said. "We can't leave Earth unprotected. We can't all go into space." He cupped his chin for a moment, looking down at the waves below him. "I'm not leaving Vegeta on Earth, not alone."

Turles propped his head up, elbows on knees. "I assume he'd rather come with us, but at this point, Gohan would probably stay on Earth. He's strong enough to keep Vegeta in line, and we know he can beat Frieza." He felt Goku's energy spike at the mention of his son.

"He's not coming." Goku said. "What about Loa?"

"What about her?" Turles asked. "She's strong, but not even close to Frieza's level."

"I meant, would she want to come with us?" Goku crossed his legs like Turles. "I don't want to put the responsibility of Vegeta on Gohan. That's not fair to him, or Chi. So, if Loa wants to stay, would she be willing to handle him?"

Turles thought for a moment. "I think she would be willing, and able. So, we leave her, Gohan, and Vegeta. We take Raditz and Nappa. What about Piccolo? Chiaotzu? Roshi?"

Goku shook his head. "That's up to them. I'm not going to ask them to come if they don't want to."

Turles chewed his lip. He didn't want to ask the next question, but he felt he had to. "Back to the other reason I came to find you. What about, Chi-Chi?"

Author's Note: I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review.