(Gohan and Videl's house, early morning)
After hearing someone knocking, Videl went downstairs and opened the front door. "Good morning Piccolo, come in", she said.
The massive Namekian had to bend down to fit through the human-sized door. "Good morning", he said. "Gohan asked me to look after you and your daughter for the next few weeks. He didn't want to tell me what was going on." After a slight pause, he added "That's... unusual."
As they entered the kitchen, Piccolo sat down on an extra-large chair the couple had prepared for him. In the past he used to stand, but he knew it made Gohan and Videl uncomfortable. "Gohan said he wanted to train with Vegeta, to be honest", Videl said, slightly embarrassed about having to keep a secret from their friend. But she told herself Gohan will share everything with his old mentor when the time is right.
"Hmm", the green giant raised an eyebrow but said nothing else. Piccolo could sense something was going on, but he respected Gohan enough to give him privacy.
"Oh, by the way, Trunks and Goten gave me another batch of that special spring water. They think it's cosmetics, but they're so cute and thoughtful I didn't want to tell them it's just water. Would you like to try some?" Videl asked.
"Alright", Piccolo sighed, thinking about the little half-Saiyan children and their antics. "I guess we're lucky they don't blow everything up, considering how insanely powerful they are."
"True", Videl agreed. She poured Piccolo a tall glass of the special water, handing it to him without adding any ice.
Piccolo sipped the water, and his eyes opened in surprise. "Mmm... this is very good."
"Really?" asked Videl. She didn't actually expect Piccolo to like it. "Well, next time I see them I'll ask..."
They were interrupted by a flying baby plopping down belly-first on top of Piccolo's head. "Oyo!" baby Pan shouted happily, pulling on his antennae and making the Namekian jump.
Videl couldn't help but laugh at the scene. No matter what the future may bring, here and now her daughter never failed to cheer her up.
(Capsule Corporation headquarters, early morning)
While flying towards Capsule Corp., Gohan could sense Trunk's ki flaring as if he was fighting someone. But Vegeta was nearby, clearly at rest, and there weren't any other fighters there. So who was Trunks' opponent?
When he reached Bulma's house, Gohan came across a strange scene. Dozens of people were gathered in the streets surrounding the Capsule Corporation headquarters, staring at the two fighters flying overhead. High up in the air, high enough to be clearly visible to the people in the nearby streets, Trunks was fighting a strange silver figure, both of them encased in a massive, greenish force field bubble.
Gohan sensed Trunks wasn't, in fact, fighting for his life, and landed next to Vegeta, Bulma, Pilaf, Mai and Shu inside the compound. Vegeta was standing next to the gazebo, his arms crossed, looking up at his son fighting the stranger. Nearby, Bulma and Pilaf were busy managing some kind of bulky machinery, while Shu and Mai were encouraging Trunks. Vegeta glanced at Gohan curiously but didn't say anything, his attention returning to the battle.
"Hello, everyone," said Gohan, following the battle himself. He couldn't sense the silver stranger's ki, so that must mean he's an android... or a god. Trunks seemed to be on the defensive, but he managed to efficiently dodge and block his opponent's quick attacks. It took Gohan a few moments to realize the stranger looked like his father and had the same fighting style.
"What is this, Vegeta?" He asked curiously. Every block by Trunks resulted in a shock wave that was absorbed by the force field, which caused the field to light up in a visible display of power.
"Bulma and her minions created an artificial fighter, to help me train", Vegeta answered with a hint of pride in his voice, his eyes following every movement of both combatants. "Trunks is helping them test it. It's still not strong enough for me, but it's a good sparring partner for Trunks himself right now."
Pilaf must have heard Vegeta, because he shouted "Minions? I'll have you know that..."
He was interrupted by an angry Bulma. "What are you doing! Pay attention to the power output!"
"Yes Bulma!" Pilaf said automatically, deciding to forget the insult for now.
Gohan looked surprised. "Are you serious? It's strong enough to actually challenge Trunks? And why did you make it look like my dad?"
Vegeta answered with his trademark evil half-smile, "Oh, that's just Bulma's idea. She thinks a robot shaped like Kakarot will motivate me to train harder."
"I see," said Gohan. The friendly rivalry between Vegeta and his father made him uncomfortable recently. He felt that Beerus and Whis encouraged it, manipulating both warriors to make them stronger, probably to win more fights against Champa's fighters. Goku and Vegeta were veteran warriors who saved countless lives, they deserved more respect from the god of destruction.
"Well, boy, why are you here?" Vegeta asked impatiently.
"Ah...", Gohan paused in embarrassment, "I... I came to ask you to train me."
Vegeta's eyes opened in surprise, but his expression turned into a smug smile. "Ah, even Kakarot's son knows who the better master is. What happened to change your mind about fighting, was it your humiliating defeat in the tournament?"
Gohan sighed internally, but he accepted Vegeta's abrasive personality years ago. "Actually yes, it was the tournament. I need to become stronger."
"Very well," Vegeta said, radiating smug satisfaction. "First, I want to see how strong you are now. Let's get you fighting against the robot, if you're as strong as you were when you allowed Buu to absorb you, this should be interesting."
Gohan nodded. "Fine, I'll do it."
Vegeta turned towards Bulma. "Woman! Kakarot's boy will take over for Trunks. Is the robot's second form ready yet?"
Bulma looked up from the screen she was watching. "Woman? What woman?", she said angrily. "I don't see any 'woman' here!"
Vegeta grunted. "Fine. Bulma! Is the damn thing ready yet?"
Bulma checked the screen again. "Yes, it is." Finally noticing Gohan, she smiled and waved at him. "Mai, bring me another sensor shirt for Gohan, please, " said Bulma. Mai smiled at Gohan and ran inside the house. She came back to the gazebo area a couple of minutes later, carrying a black, shiny shirt with tiny metallic objects embedded into the material. "Good morning, Gohan", Mai said shyly as she handed him the shirt.
"Wear it, Bulma needs it for her research", said Vegeta.
"Good morning, Mai, thank you." Gohan took off his own shirt and put on the one Mai gave him.
Vegeta couldn't help but notice Gohan's bulging muscles. The younger half-Saiyan seemed to have increased his muscle mass significantly over the last few weeks. His progress was, as always, infuriatingly fast.
"Half-human freak", Vegeta muttered to himself, but he was secretly happy. He remembered how Gohan used to be years ago, the young boy's immense power overwhelming even his own. The prospect of boosting Gohan to that same relative level, and then defeating him, kicked his Saiyan fighting instinct into overdrive.
"Trunks! Stop fighting and come down here!", Vegeta shouted to his son. The force field deactivated and the boy flew down. The crowd outside the compound started to disperse, mildly disappointed – this show was slightly less exciting than usual.
Trunks landed next to Gohan and Vegeta, panting with exertion. He took off his own, smaller sensor shirt and waved to Gohan. "Hey, Gohan! You came to fight Kakarobot too?" This caused Vegeta to frown. "Trunks, we're not calling it by that stupid name." Trunks laughed. "Haha! Kakarobot! Kakarobot!" and flew into the main house, escaping before his father could respond. Mai ran after him, shouting "Trunks! Wait for me!".
A red-faced Vegeta turned back to Gohan, who tried to hide his smile. "Well, boy, stop smiling like an idiot and fly up there. Get ready to fight", Vegeta said. Gohan nodded and took off, rising up to hover next to the strange android.
Up close, he could clearly see the lines between its metallic skin panels, and the eyes were obviously mechanical. The entire thing looked like his father, gi included, made entirely out of a shining, silvery metal. Only the eyes were some kind of crystal or advanced plastic material.
"Gohan!" Bulma shouted from below. "Get ready, I'm going to activate the force field again, and then the robot will go super. Please don't attack it, just block or evade its attacks. It's still not completely ready and I don't want you to destroy it. Okay?"
"Got it, Bulma!" Gohan responded, shifting into a defensive stance as the green force bubble appeared around him and the silvery android.
The robot looked at Gohan and spoke with a clearly artificial voice. "Hello, son, ready to spar?" It sounded almost like Goku, as if Goku spoke through some kind of filter to slightly mask his voice.
Gohan nodded, not knowing how to react.
"Good," said the robot without moving its lips, "but I think I should go super against you, you are very strong."
"Go ahead," said Gohan. I definitely didn't expect this, he thought.
The mechanical Goku crouched slightly, elbows close to his sides and fists slightly raised. It was the familiar power-up stance, and immediately afterwards the robot started shouting. Gohan didn't feel any of its ki, so he couldn't tell if it was actually powering up, but then the robot's entire body changed color, from silver to bright gold. Its eyes started shining with a green light, and he could clearly hear a heightened mechanical buzz coming from inside the thing.
"I hope you're ready, son," said the robot in a slightly deeper voice. "I'm as strong as Cell was in his perfect form, and I don't want to hurt you." The robot went into his father's familiar Turtle stance.
Gohan smiled. "I'm ready for you, old man." After yesterday's painful realization and Videl's reaction, he could use some light sparring to improve his mood.
The golden robot charged forward, flying towards the half-Saiyan at lightning speed. Gohan had to admit, if not for Piccolo's recent training, he would not have been able to stand up to the robot. Bulma really outdid herself.
But as he was now, the golden contraption seemed to be moving in slow motion. Gohan easily dodged all of its punches and kicks, noting the shock waves caused by every attack as they were absorbed by the glowing force field.
Eventually the robot shouted in what seemed like genuine anger. It aimed one of its hands downwards, towards Gohan's legs. With surprising speed and a loud roar, its clenched fist launched away from its body, threatening Gohan's knees. Gohan shot upward to avoid the attack, but the robot was ready for his move. Mechanical Goku's other arm rose up, and the robot shot a massive energy blast right at Gohan's position. The surprised Gohan didn't have enough time to dodge, and had to cross his arms in front of his head to block the deadly attack. He felt the heat of the energy blast engulf him, but Gohan's ki shield held, and the attack didn't damage him at all.
As the attack faded, Gohan saw that the robot changed back to silver, and was dropping down rapidly. Gohan flew towards it and caught the thing before it could crash on top of the Gazebo. As Bulma and Pilaf advanced toward him, Gohan landed and laid the robot gently on the well-tended grass.
"I'm proud of you, son," said the robot weakly, his energy clearly running out.
Gohan frowned, but smiled at the robot as the light faded from its eyes. Bulma and Pilaf immediately started checking it, removing skin panels and connecting their own devices to exposed ports.
"Bulma," said Gohan said with an accusatory tone, "don't tell me this thing is intelligent. Does it actually think it's my dad?"
Bulme shook her head. "No, it's not an artificial intelligence, I just programmed him with realistic responses, it gets Vegeta in a fighting mood.
"Good," said Gohan. "Intelligent beings shouldn't be enslaved by others, even if they're machines".
Bulma smiled weakly and exchanged a guilty look with Pilaf, thinking about several of their other projects. "Y... yeah..."
Vegeta joined the three and looked at Gohan. "You're a weakling compared to me and Kakarot and the way you were surprised by that energy blast is shameful, but you were adequate. It's clear that your fighting spirit is back."
That was the closest thing to a compliment Gohan was likely to get from the Saiyan prince. "Thanks, Vegeta," Gohan said. He looked at Bulma and Pilaf, who were focused on their devices to the point of ignoring the two warriors. "Looks like everything is okay here, can we talk somewhere private?"
Vegeta gave Gohan a curious look, but said "Yes, come with me." Together, the pair started walking towards Vegeta's gravity chamber.
