[Author's note: Changed 17 to Seventeen and 18 to Eighteen, sounds more natural that way.]
(Outside Goku and Chi Chi's house, afternoon)
The warriors returned to their friends and relatives waiting on the ground, and saw Bulma and Eighteen comforting Chi Chi and Videl inside the massive tent. All the fighting in the upper atmosphere caused the weather to shift, and presently a cold wind was blowing through the surrounding forest.
"Come on, Chi Chi," Goku told his crying wife, "It's going to be fine, you'll see."
Bulma was gently rubbing Chi Chi's back, and Vegeta stood behind his wife, looking at the crying woman uncomfortably. "Let's begin, Kakarot," said the prince, "we need to get this over with."
"Right," Goku reluctantly left Chi Chi in Bulma's hands and turned to Videl. "Videl, we're going to need your help this time. Have you ever done image training before?"
The worried Videl nodded. "Yes, I trained with Gohan a few times." After a short pause, she added "it... it was easier to practice poses that way."
"Good," said Goku, "this is going to be very similar, except a few of us are going to link up at once. We need you to help us with Gohan, he might be easier to contact if you come along."
Videl took a deep breath and nodded, having made up her mind already.
"I'm coming too, Goku," said Tien from the tent entrance. "I know I'm not as strong as you, but I have been studying psychic powers ever since I was a child. I'm sure I can help."
Goku smiled. "Thanks, Tien."
The tiny Chaotzu looked up at his three-eyed friend, and said "be careful, Tien".
After a few moments with their families and friends, Goku, Vegeta, Videl, Krillin and Tien sat down in the middle of the tent to meditate. The rest of the gathered friends wished them luck and went inside the house. Only the curious Seventeen remained, saying nothing.
Other than Videl, who was a relative beginner, all the warriors had years of experience with psychic training and mediation. It took them a few minutes to coordinate their minds, but they soon found themselves in what appeared to be Dende's lookout, with Piccolo waiting for them outside the temple entrance. This mental version of the lookout was surrounded by a black void, however, instead of the usual sky.
Piccolo looked at Videl and nodded, and then addressed the entire group. "All right. We're going to attempt to contact Gohan now, all of us together. Videl, simply think about Gohan and try to call out to him with your mind, we'll do the rest."
Videl nodded, still looking around nervously. When she and Gohan used image training, their mental environment was significantly more mundane – usually it was their own house.
The warriors grew quiet and closed their eyes. Videl looked at them for a moment, then closed her eyes as well and concentrated.
"Gohan, please answer us," she thought, accompanied by mental images of baby pan crying. Earlier, after robot Goku came back into the tent still holding the agitated Goten, they realized something went wrong with the sparring session. Everyone in the tent went completely quiet, and a few moments later Pan was the first to make a sound. The baby's cries triggered the tears of her grandmother as well, and soon they were all trying to comfort both Chi Chi and Pan.
Time passed. It was difficult to tell how long it took, and the others were still concentrating every time Videl opened her eyes to look around.
"I have it," Tien said after a while, and they could immediately see a path open up in the empty space surrounding the lookout, connecting with the lookout's edge and reaching out into the void. It looked like an endless, meandering strip of earth and grass, complete with a few flowers here and there.
"Good work, buddy," Krillin said, and they all started walking towards the strange path, apparently used to strange manifestations like this one.
Piccolo stopped, noticing Videl hesitating behind them. "Videl, everything you see is just a mental construct," Piccolo pointed to the floating strip of earth. "This path is a telepathic link to Gohan's mind, we need to walk across it if we want to reach him."
Krillin paused as well, smiling mischievously at the hesitating woman. "It's going to be alright, Videl, we're all perfectly safe. Just don't fall off or the shadow demons will get you."
For a moment Videl almost fell for it, but then Piccolo frowned. "Enough with your jokes, Krillin, we don't have time for this, " said the tall Namekian and started walking again.
Krillin sighed and followed Piccolo. This time they were joined by a more determined Videl, who nevertheless looked into the void every once in a while just to make sure it was empty.
(Mental landscape, some time later)
The warriors crossed the narrow path in silence. After a while the blackness around them began to change, turning into a vast landscape of green grass and rocky hills. The cloudy skies were deep purple in color, dotted with shimmering, silvery moons.
"We're inside Gohan's thoughts right now," Piccolo explained to Videl as she looked around in wonder. The air was clean and fresh, and an occasional gentle breeze carried the smell of flowers.
"Yeah," began Goku "this looks really familiar."
"It looks like the world of the Kais," said Vegeta, "but I don't recognize this area".
They all looked around for a few moments. "Hey," Krillin began and pointed at a tree ahead of them, "is it me or is that tree over there really huge?"
It took them a couple of moments to realize what they were looking at. The tree was not, in fact, a few hundred feet away. It was much farther than that, and much, much bigger than a normal tree.
"I can sense Gohan over there!" announced Goku in excitement. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Tien said as Goku's aura flared. "Remember, this entire area is a mental creation. It represents something. Don't take anything at face value, what you see might be simply a memory, but it might also be a some aspect of Gohan that we're not aware of. Just... be careful."
"Tien is right," said Piccolo, nodding toward the three-eyed warrior and then looking around. "And another thing. Gohan's mind is very advanced, and this place is much more realistic than I have anticipated. It might actually be dangerous if a more aggressive aspect of Gohan appears. Don't assume you're safe just because you've been through image training before."
"Got it," said Krillin as they all started flying towards the massive tree, "time to get serious."
