OH MY GOD. I don't really even have a good excuse other than life just got in the way. I haven't WANTED to take this big of a break between chapters, but I had no choice in the matter. So please, enjoy this incredibly short, but long overdue chapter. The next one will be longer, and the wait will not be NEARLY as long!
Gohan awoke midmorning, exhaling and sitting up slowly, rubbing his eyes. Piccolo looked up from his perch, sighing.
Finally.
"Ugh, what time is it?" Gohan asked groggily.
"Nearly ten," Piccolo answered. "You have slept over twelve hours, you know."
"What?" Gohan gasped, suddenly wide awake. "Why did you let me sleep in so long?"
"I figured if you sleeping that long that heavily, you needed it," Piccolo replied simply. "The last thing we need is you being tired while we train today."
Gohan nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to go make breakfast." And with that, he got out of bed, heading into the kitchen, Jade at his heels.
"Bulma is coming in about an hour," Piccolo said, coming into the kitchen as well.
"Oh, really? How come?" Gohan asked, piling food onto his plate.
Piccolo shrugged. "She said she has a few things to give you."
"Oh, okay. Well, I'm going to go get changed then."
"Just wear your gi. I don't know how long she will be, and I don't want to be late to spar with Vegeta. I don't feel like listening to his whining."
Gohan laughed. "Okay, Mr. Piccolo."
Not an hour later, Piccolo picked up on the sound of a Capsule Corp. craft. A few minutes later, it was landing outside their home, and the pair went out to meet Bulma.
"Hey guys!" she greeted cheerfully, stepping out of the craft, a bag in her hands.
"Hi Bulma! How's Trunks?" Gohan asked brightly.
"Oh, you know, he's doing pretty well. Vegeta's watching him right now, so I don't want to stay too long..." At Gohan's concerned look, she hurried on, "Oh, he's fine! You know Vegeta, though. He has the fuse of a grenade and Trunks knows just how to push his father's buttons... He would never hurt Trunks. Physically. But you know how he talks sometimes..."
"Well aware," Piccolo grumbled.
"Anyway, here you go, kiddo," she said handing him the bag.
"Oh, thanks! What's in it?" Gohan asked, opening it. He smiled as he took in the contents.
"A couple books, a coloring book, some crayons, a journal... Just some stuff to pass the time."
Gohan's smile faded. "Um, Bulma, I don't...We have to train..."
"I know you do," she said dismissively. "But, you can't train all day, every day. These are just some things to relax with. There's some sweets at the bottom of the bag, too. Don't eat them all in one go, though," she joked, winking at the boy. "Alright, I should get going before Vegeta has a fit. See you later, guys!" she said, waving and getting back into the craft.
As she left, Gohan looked back into the bag, sadness in his eyes. "I don't think she knows I am going to die soon," he mumbled quietly.
Piccolo placed his hand on Gohan's head. "I heard that," he said simply.
Gohan blushed a bit, caught. "Well..."
"We aren't going to have this argument right now," Piccolo said sternly. "Are you ready to go meet Vegeta?"
"Yeah, let me go put this inside, then I'll be ready."
Piccolo waited while Gohan placed his bag inside, and then the pair took to the sky, flying at a relaxed pace to the desert. It was silent between them for a while.
"What do you think we should work on today?" Gohan asked finally.
"We need to get you in more control of that form. I'm not concerned about your blasts; you know them. You can do them easily when the time comes to use them. What we can't have is your ki bouncing every which-way. You're too powerful now for you to do that for long."
The unspoken words of you can do too much damage with it sat heavy in the air between them.
"What else? What about you and Vegeta?"
"We need to push Vegeta to ascend as quickly as we can. He needs to be able to practice in that form. You had little control over it when you first reached it; he will likely have less, given his bullheadedness."
"Okay, but what about you?" Gohan asked again.
Piccolo ignored the question. "And then you two will need to spar together. You'll obviously both have to start at Super Saiyan II, but then I think you'll be able to go to your new form and spar once you have complete control over it. I think that'll likely give him some idea of what may be coming, so he can maybe prepare himself for fighting against that level. Or at least develop a strategy against it."
Gohan gave a little growl and phased right in front of Piccolo, nearly causing the Namekian to fly right into him.
"But what about you?" Gohan pressed.
"I will be helping you."
"But you need to train as well."
"I did my training with Vegeta while you were gone. I am set. You two are not," Piccolo said shortly.
"But...don't you need to keep training? You're fighting too!" Gohan said, his voice beginning to rise as he began to sense where Piccolo was going with his statement.
"I am tapped-out, kid. There is not much else I can do," Piccolo admitted softly.
"Yes there is! You can always get stronger! Always! You can't just...just stop getting stronger! It doesn't work like that!" Gohan said earnestly.
"I am not a Saiyan, Gohan."
"That doesn't matter!" he nearly screeched, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. "You can always get stronger," he said again, his voice warbling. "You can't just give up!"
"Who said I was giving up?" Piccolo asked.
"B-but..."
"Listen to me, Gohan, because I am only going to say this once, and we will never bring it up again, understand?" When Gohan didn't answer immediately, Piccolo pressed again, "Do you understand?"
"Yes," came the whispered reply.
"I am about tapped-out," he began. When Gohan's mouth opened, he pressed on quickly. "Gohan, do not interrupt me. My ki is not going to get any significantly stronger. I will continue to get stronger, yes, but not enough for it to make a difference anymore. My focus needs to shift to something more important. Look at me, kid," he said when Gohan averted his gaze. He reached out and used a finger to turn the boy's face back up to meet his eyes. "It is more important now for me to strategize and focus on getting you two prepared. To get you more prepared. I do not know who will be in this army, but I do know that it will be Vegeta and you at the heart of it."
"But you'll be fighting too!"
"Yes, I will be. Gohan, I'm not giving up. I'm not, I promise you. This is not something you need to be so concerned about. You need to be concerned about controlling yourself and harnessing that energy. We are not going to discuss this anymore, got it?"
Gohan sighed. "I got it," he relented.
"Good. Now let's go. I sense Vegeta coming, and I refuse to get there after he does, or we'll never hear the end of it."
"Alright, power up, kid," Vegeta said as he landed before the pair.
"Hello to you too, Vegeta," Gohan muttered.
"No," Piccolo said instantly. "You power up. Then Gohan will. He'll need to know just how much he needs to power up for you to keep up with him."
Vegeta rounded on him instantly. "How dare-"
Gohan, already in a bad mood, jumped from base to Super Saiyan II right next to the pair, nearly knocking the unprepared warriors over.
"Power up," he ordered, glaring at Vegeta. "And try to keep up."
The snarl that emanated from the Saiyan was motivation enough for Piccolo to take several steps back to avoid getting caught between the two. Vegeta powered up in a whirlwind of gold, launching at Gohan without pretense. Gohan merely skimmed backwards, well out of reach.
Piccolo watched from a safe distance, his brow furrowed. Vegeta was on a furious rampage, trying in vain to at least deflect a blow from the boy. Gohan was phasing in and out at a ridiculous pace, one which the Saiyan could barely register. By the time he'd locate the boy's ki, Gohan had already moved, delivering a sharp blow each time.
This wasn't his Gohan. This Gohan was cold, calculating. Toying with the Saiyan. What had happened to make the boy like this?
This new form, it was doing something to the boy. It had to be the cause. There seemed to be two extremes, with no in-between. Gohan was either angry or terrified, and now, at Super Saiyan II, it was anger. Terrifying anger. Piccolo could feel Vegeta beginning to falter, to tire, yet Gohan was relentless.
"Gohan! That's enough!" Piccolo yelled finally. "Enough!" Gohan stopped, his angry blue eyes cutting to his mentor. Vegeta stopped as well, breathing heavily. "You need to calm down, both of you. Descend. Now."
For several long moments, the two stared at each other, Vegeta to the side, not yet descended, but nearly bent in half, taking heaving breaths. Blue eyes stared into black, and then something flickered in Gohan's gaze, making the Namekian recoil.
That was the look he gave Cell.
Gohan was suddenly rising to the air, not breaking eye contact, and then he turned, and began flying away.
Vegeta was suddenly straight again, frozen for a moment as he watched Gohan leave. And then he was sprinting and taking to the sky at a furious pace.
"He's going towards Capsule Corp!" Vegeta shouted as he passed the Namekian. "Piccolo, hurry up. Your child is about to harm mine!"
The near-panic in his voice pushed Piccolo into action, and the two flew faster than they ever had before. Vegeta began pulling ahead, his fear pushing him to go faster and faster.
He can't hurt Trunks. He wouldn't hurt Trunks. There's no way...
But as Gohan's cold eyes flashed in his memory, Piccolo felt a feeling he had never experienced before clench his heart.
Pure panic.
Piccolo had been afraid before. Fear was not a new emotion, though it was one he loathed. He'd been panicked, watching Gohan nearly die. But it was nothing compared to how he was feeling now. Gohan had nearly died at the hands of his enemies. But this time, he was the enemy, and if Piccolo and Vegeta had to try to kill him... if they miraculously succeeded, and Gohan died at their hands...
No. No. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Gohan was just a kid; an innocent child who never wanted to hurt anyone. He couldn't be trying to hurt Trunks. There was no way...
He and Vegeta hit the ground running, and stopped short. Bulma was cowering, Trunks in her tight embrace, fear in his eyes.
And Gohan stood before them, golden aura surging, his hand outstretched, ki flickering ominously. He turned his head and locked eyes with Vegeta, sneering. And then, the ki grew brighter, a blast beginning to form...
Vegeta was suddenly gone, so fast that Piccolo hadn't even felt him gather the ki to move that quickly. Gohan unleashed his blast just as Vegeta phased in front of his family, releasing a blast of his own, trying to ward off Gohan's oppressive attack.
And then Piccolo felt it. Vegeta's ki surging, growing, rising. The Saiyan was letting out a nearly ear-piercing cry as he pushed all he had into his defense. And then it snapped, and Gohan's blast was sent careening back at him. The boy caught it easily, extinguishing it effortlessly. The coldness in his demeanor dissipated instantly, pride taking over instead.
Vegeta stood before them, a Super Saiyan II at last.