(Mental landscape, unknown time)

Under soft clouds and moon-studded purple sky, the group flew towards the gigantic tree. Soon the tree's true size became apparent.

"By Dende," exclaimed Krillin, "this thing is as big as a mountain!"

The massive trunk rose up like a cliff. The shadow cast by the gigantic tree's branches obscured the sky for almost a mile around the trunk itself, creating a strange, peaceful area of perpetual shadow.

While Videl, Tien and Krillin were caught off guard by the tree's size, Piccolo, Goku and Vegeta seemed to ignore it. Instead, they looked at a distant figure below them, between two hill-sized roots.

"Guys, I think that's Gohan," said Goku and started descending, followed by the others.

They landed between two great roots leading up to the trunk like the foothills of a mountain. In the center of the valley-like area sat a figure wearing a black cloak, with a hood pulled over his head.

"Hey, Gohan!" Goku called out while approaching his son. The figure didn't move or show any other kind of reaction.

Videl ran over to her husband, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Gohan, is everything alright? Please talk to me".

The figure turned to look at Videl and rose up in a smooth, fluid motion. After a moment he pulled down his hood, and they could see Gohan's face smiling at them with a strange expression. Videl could immediately tell something was wrong. Gohan's smile was peaceful but his eyes were distant, glancing at each member of the group without any sign of recognition.

"Err... Hey, Gohan," Krillin began, "what's up, buddy? Are you okay?"

"I am not Gohan," said the figure with a polite smile. "I am merely a shard."

Videl took a step back, clearly agitated. She looked at Goku and Piccolo. "Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my husband?"

"Listen, Gohan," Goku began, "we need you to relax and control your energy, at this rate you're going to burn away in a few minutes. Please wake up, okay?"

The figure looked at Goku and repeated, "I am not Gohan, I am merely a shard."

"Step back, fools," Vegeta said angrily and approached Gohan. "Wake up, you idiot! What do you think you're doing! Snap out of it already!"

The figure responded gently, not affected by Vegeta's outburst. "I cannot wake up, I am merely a..."

"Merely a shard, yes, how mysterious," interrupted Vegeta dryly. "Tell me, "shard", if you're not Gohan, is the real Gohan around here somewhere?"

The young man nodded. "Yes, he is." said the figure of Gohan. "There." He pointed in another direction.

The gathered warriors followed the young man's gesture. In the distance they could see pillars of smoke rising into the air. Now that their attention was drawn to the location, they could also hear distant rumbles and explosions. Goku and Vegeta's auras immediately flared and they began flying up, but Piccolo called them back.

"Wait! Remember, everything here is a mental projection. We need to know the meaning of this tree and this... shard." Piccolo turned to the cloaked figure, who looked up at the namekian with a serene expression.

"Why are you here?" asked Piccolo, "What do you want?"

"I am waiting for Gohan," said the figure. "When Gohan comes here, all will be well."

"I may have an explanation," Tien said after a few moments. "Maybe this place and this person symbolize peace and control. I think we need to bring Gohan here and literally help him find peace."

Krillin looked around and nodded in agreement. "This place does look very peaceful."

Vegeta grunted. "Great, so if there are no more objections, let's fly. Prepare yourselves."

The group rose up and flew towards the smoke pillars. As they traveled over the grassy hills and rocky growths, Videl noticed the others suddenly tense up. Their auras flared, and Krillin's usual peaceful expression became serious.

She flew closer to him and asked "What happened?"

Krillin smiled again. "Oh, you don't know. We just entered a... well, you could call it a "combat zone". It's the usual feeling you get when you're in image training with another fighter, like entering a tournament ring, you know? A place where battles happen."

"So we're about to fight?" asked a slightly confused Videl.

"Exactly," said Krillin. "It feels like Gohan is getting ready to fight us."

(Mental landscape, battle ruins, unknown time)

They flew closer to the smoke pillars, and now they could see the smoke was rising out of a deep, massive crater a few hundred feet across. The crater's sloped walls were littered with blasted buildings, cracked streets and destroyed cars, while the bottom was flat, black and completely barren. It looked like a massive bomb had gone off in the middle of a small town, reducing it to rubble.

In the center of the crater there were several figures, some flying and some on the ground. The figures were gathered around something that they couldn't see clearly.

"No, it can't be!" Vegeta shouted after a few moments of observation.

"Yeah, this looks bad..." replied Goku.

Videl stared at the scene, finally realizing what was happening below them. Gohan, in his Great Saiyaman costume without the helmet, lay in the middle of the crater. Around him were gathered several brutish figures, all of them opponents they have faced in the past.

Videl immediately recognized the hulking Spopovich, but didn't know who the other colorful figures were. The others could recognize Raditz, Nappa, the entire Ginyu force, Androids Twenty and Nineteen, and the looming, red-skinned Dabura. All of them were laughing and grunting wickedly as they kicked the fallen half-saiyan.

Above the group of villains hovered three menacing enemies surrounded by a deeper aura of evil, immediately recognizable as Freeza in his golden form, Cell in his perfect form, and the evil Majin Buu as he was after absorbing Piccolo and Gotenks.

Beyond them, on a relatively undamaged building near the crater's edge, stood Whis and Beerus. The god was leering at Gohan with a savage expression, while Whis was smiling passively. Both of them radiated evil ki, visible as black tendrils coiling and uncoiling in the air around them.

"Hey," Goku looked at Piccolo and Vegeta, "You guys aren't down there. I guess Gohan completely forgave both of you."

Piccolo nodded, not really expecting to see himself among Gohan's enemies, but Vegeta gave Goku an angry look. "As if I care! Do you plan to hover here forever, or do we attack?"

To their surprise, Videl was the first to respond. "Leave my husband alone, you bastards!" she shouted angrily and charged towards Gohan's prone form.

Vegeta frowned, muttering "upstaged by a weakling, terrific". He was about to fly after her, but Piccolo stopped him. "Wait, let's see how Videl does."

"Piccolo, you can't be serious!" said Krillin in shock, "she's going to get slaughtered!"

Piccolo smiled. "Just wait, I don't think we'll get a chance to see something like this ever again."

Krillin was about to disagree, but then noticed Vegeta, Goku and Tien hovering in midair and following Videl's progress without making a move. "Okay," he sighed, "if you say so".

From the crater's rim, Videl's reached the center in a fraction of a second. Her flying kick caught Spopovich by surprise, and the huge brute was flung across the ruined cityscape. His unconscious body hit the crater wall, the force of the blow burying him inside the blackened rocky surface and releasing a cloud of dust.

In the center of the crater, Videl's strike released a shock wave that staggered the villains gathered around Gohan, actually flinging Jeice and Guldo back. The two smaller warriors fell on their backs a few dozen feet away from Gohan, while the rest managed to resist the knock-back.

The shock wave caused the three villains flying above to rise even higher, but they seemed to be looking down at their earthbound allies with interest, remaining out of the fight.

Videl didn't seem to notice, but her regular outfit vanished as she charged, replaced by the tunic, cape and helmet of her Great Saiyawoman persona.

She stood protectively over the struggling Gohan. The other villains spread around her, leering, until she was completely surrounded.

"Videl!" shouted Krillin, "don't let Dabura hit you with his spit, and the androids can absorb energy through their hands!"

The short warrior could see Videl's helmeted head turn towards him and nod.

At that moment Nappa and Raditz charged toward Videl at full speed, while Androids 19 and 20 started firing a barrage of eye beams at the costumed heroine.

To Videl they all seemed to move in slow motion. Easily avoiding the energy attacks, she flew towards Raditz, grabbed him by the arm and threw him into a deadly volley of beams fired by Android 20.

While the large saiyan warrior was still flying through the air, his body scorched and singed, Nappa reached Videl and aimed a massive fist at her head. She ducked under Nappa's outstretched arm and leaped up, her raised knee connecting with Nappa's chin and causing the massive warrior's head to snap backwards.

The saiyans hit the ground, either unconscious or dead, and Dabura spit at Videl several times in rapid succession while summoning a massive sword into his right hand.

Instead of simply dodging the spit, Videl repeated her ealier feat. She launched herself toward Android 19, the rotund robot managing to target her with a quick energy attack.

She easily deflected the crackling org of energy upward, quickly appeared behind Nineteen and kicked him hard in the back. Nineteen found himself flying forward, out of control, towards Dabura and his deadly spit globules.

Meanwhile, Nineteen's deflected attack almost hit the hovering Cell, but he flicked it away with a smooth movement of his arm.

The large robot tried to stop himself, but everything was happening too fast and he simply didn't have enough time. Three separate spit globules hit the android as he flew towards the king of the demon realm, and the helpless Nineteen began to turn to stone. Dabura chose not to dodge the approaching robot, instead sending him into the air with a kick.

Android Twenty charged at Videl while his petrified companion was falling back to the ground. Videl easily avoided the old man's grapple attempt, grabbing his extended arms and holding both of them by the forearm.

The android tried to free his arms from Videl's hold and headbutt her, but he was too slow. With an angry shout and a mighty high kick, Videl launched Doctor Gero towards his falling creation while still maintaining her hold on Gero's forearms.

The android's arms shattered and broke at the elbow as he was flung away, totally out of control. The two mechanical warriors collided in midair, the force of Videl's kick causing Twenty to explode and completely vaporizing the petrified, falling Nineteen.

Videl was left holding Doctor Gero's severed limbs, both of them leaking oil and discharging bursts of electricity. She let them fall to the ground in disgust.

Only the Ginyu Force and Dabura were left, staring at her with faces twisted in hatred.

Meanwhile, the others watched the fight from their vantage point at the crater rim.

"Not bad," said Vegeta with a wicked smile.

"Err, what is happening?" asked a confused but fascinated Krillin. "How is Videl so strong suddenly?"

"This is Gohan's mind," said Piccolo, "Videl is more powerful in this place because of her importance to Gohan. The mental projections she's fighting now are much weaker than her. They also lost most of their personality, I remember them being much more talkative."

"Yeah," agreed Goku, "but those other guys might be a threat. And I don't understand why Beerus and Whis look like they're the biggest danger here." Thinking about what he just said, Goku added "Err... I mean... you know, they're strong but they're not bad guys."

Piccolo nodded, "yes, it's not really clear."

"Gohan is directing most of his anger at himself," added Tien, "but that might change when the other enemies get involved. We should be ready to act."

Back at the center of the crater, Videl glanced at her husband before looking back at her remaining opponents. "Gohan, are you alright? Please, you have to relax and control yourself. All of this isn't real."

Gohan grunted in pain and tried to stand up, apparently too hurt to continue fighting. He fell back to the ground as the members of the Ginyu force roared and attacked together.

Videl tried to leap up, but her body wouldn't respond. She was completely paralyzed in place, and could only watch as Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Ginyu came closer and closer. Behind them stood Guldo with his arms raised, trapping her in a field of psychic power. Despite all her efforts, she couldn't move a muscle.

Almost faster than she could see, the small alien psychic was cut in half by a disc-shaped energy attack flying in from the crater rim. The deadly disc continued flying into the ground, vanishing from sight. A deep rumble could be heard from below several moments later.

"I hate that guy so much," muttered Krillin as he lowered his arm. No way he was going to allow Guldo to hurt another friend of his, even if this was a mental simulation.

The paralysis passed with Guldo's destruction, and Videl managed to leap up just before the warriors reached her. She powered the largest energy blast she could manage and fired it at her four opponents below.

The fiery explosion engulfed the Ginyu force. It shook the entire crater, causing a massive shock wave and launching tons of rock into the air.

Before she could see the results of her attack, the purple-skinned Ginyu rose out of the dust and launched himself straight at her, headbutting Videl in the stomach and carrying both combatants up into the air.

Videl was dazed and out of breath for a moment, but recovered quickly. She grabbed Ginyu's horns and rotated in the air, throwing him back into the ground with all her might. Videl was left hovering in place, her hand held over her stomach.

The dust cleared after a few moments, and Videl could see the entire Ginyu force lying on the ground, burnt and broken.

Only Dabura was left. Videl landed slowly while maintaining eye contact with the tall, demonic warrior. Dabura brandished his blade and charged, moving much faster than the others.

As he advanced, the demon lord fired a quick blast from his left hand, the explosion causing a dust cloud to surround entire area. She couldn't see him at all. Flying out of the cloud would bring her too close to the other villains hovering above them, and she didn't want to risk that just yet.

Videl's head turned from side to side quickly, trying to locate Dabura before he could surprise her.

She sensed Dabura behind her a fraction of a second before he attacked, and dove forward. An incredibly fast shockwave sliced the air just above her head, cutting into the ground a feet away and raising a wall of dust and debris.

Supporting herself on the ground with one leg and one arm, Videl extended her other leg backwards in a smooth, powerful kick aimed at the much taller warrior. Dabura was caught off-guard, the kick connecting with his left shin and forcing him back into an awkward stance.

Videl jumped up and turned around while Dabura was still regaining his balance, immediately launching a furious barrage of kicks and punches. Despite being faster than the other warriors, Dabura was still slower than Videl and couldn't avoid most of her strikes.

He cried out as she repeatedly hit him in the stomach and chest. Roaring in pain, Dabura eventually regained enough composure to slash at her horizontally with his blade, but Videl jumped up to avoid the deadly weapon.

Videl landed on the huge blade, supporting herself with her left leg and raising the other, moving too fast for Dabura to register her counter-attack.

Shouting, Videl focused all of her strength into a lightning-fast kick, and a moment later her right leg connected with Dabura's neck with a loud CRACK. The king of the demon realm fell to the ground, lifeless.

As Dabura was falling, Videl jumped down from his descending sword and landed on the ground gracefully.

Suddenly realizing she was wearing her costume, Videl examined herself in surprise for a few moments and then knelt down to help Gohan. Before she could examine him, however, Freeza started laughing from above.

It was a shrill, condescending sound that carried throughout the crater. "How amusing," Freeza said with an smug grin as Videl looked up, "the monkey's mate has come to save him." He gestured to his two hovering companions, "my friends, shall we?"

Suddenly the entire crater shook, the light from the sky grew dimmer and the air became harder to breathe.

At the crater rim, the others turned to look at Piccolo. The namekian warrior was in distress, his eyes wide open, arms limp at his side.

"Piccolo!," Goku rushed to his friend's side, "what's wrong?"

"N... nothing..." grunted Piccolo in pain, "go, I don't think Videl can take those three bastards alone. I'll stay here and concentrate on maintaining contact with Gohan's mind."

Goku nodded and flew down towards Gohan and Videl, followed by Vegeta and Krillin.

"I'll stay here to help with the mental contact," said Tien as the others advanced.

Tien and Piccolo looked at each other. The three-eyed warrior knew that something was wrong with his friend. The namekian's energy was draining fast, and Tien himself had to take over most of the responsibility for maintaining the mental contact with Gohan. He was much weaker than Piccolo, though, and despite all his years of experience with telepathy Tien knew he didn't have enough power to do so for long.

"Something..." Piccolo began saying through clenched teeth, "something is wrong in the physical world. I'm suffering a lot of damage. Can... can you warn anyone without breaking contact with Gohan?"

"No," Tien shook his head, "maintaining the contact without you takes everything I have."

"Then we have to hope the others will take care of it," said Piccolo, "the only thing we can do is hang on for as long as possible."