Chapter 4

The three stood in front of Capsule Corp.'s entrance, silently debating on who should knock first. If Gohan did it, they would easily mistake him for the Gohan of this timeline. If Pan did it, they would be suspicious since the Pan of the past was more than likely still a child. If Bardock did it, they would instantly know who was outside.

Though even with that being known, the twins were still arguing on who got to say hello the Briefs first.

"Gonna be a long day," Gohan muttered with a small smile. He reached around them and rang the doorbell, hearing it reverberating throughout the house. He narrowed his eyes at his glowering kids playfully, "You brought this on yourselves."

Static hit the intercom. A robotic voice asked, "Identification please."

Gohan pressed the button to answer, "It's Son Gohan and his kids. We're here to see The Briefs."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh…" The three Sons glanced at each other.

Before they could answer, static hit the intercom again as the voice changed. Bulma's friendly voice patched through, "Sorry about that, guys. Come on right in. I'll meet you at the front."

"Thanks, Bulma," Gohan smiled as the door opened.

The twins grinned giddily followed their father into the very familiar building. Pan glanced around, tilting her head, "It doesn't look that much different."

"I take offense to that." They turned to see Bulma approach them, her eyes solely focused on the tablet in her hands. "I'll have you know-" She cut herself off as she stood frozen in front of the trio.

Bardock grinned widely, waving his hand, "Hey, Bulma. Long time no see."

The tablet hit the floor as the scientist threw herself at the two half Saiyans. They enthusiastically hugged her back, a strong fondness in their eyes. Bulma was one of their best friends; both in their timeline and in the past. No matter what, she was always one of their constants and they loved her dearly.

Bulma pulled away, beaming at them, "You guys, it's so good to see you. I didn't think you guys would ever come back." She seemed taken aback by Bardock's appearance, "What happened to you, kid?"

"It's a long story," Bardock waved his hand dismissively. He gestured to his father with a grin, "We came with a new guest. Bulma, this is our dad."

Bulma blinked, wide eyed at seeing another version of Gohan who seemed a bit more rugged than the one she was used to, "Oh, I didn't think your dad would come as well." She stepped towards him, giving him a hug as well.

"Trust me when I say that I didn't want my kids to come alone again," Gohan smiled as he hugged her back. He pulled away, a frown on his face, "Unfortunately, this isn't just a happy trip. We've got some bad news."

"Bad news?" Bulma questioned, her eyes tight with anxiety.

Bardock sighed, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry, Bulma. Would it be okay if we asked you to call everyone here?"

Bulma nodded, "Anything for you guys. I'll be just a moment." As she began to walk away, she spoke over her shoulder, "Vegeta's in the Gravity Room if you wanted to see him right now."

"We'll wait until he's done. He gets irritable when we interrupt him," Pan replied.

"People never change, do they?" Gohan mused.

Bardock shrugged, "Vegeta loves training but at least he's not as bad as Grandpa. He started spending more time with his family after Buu was defeated."

"I heard someone badmouthing Kakarot," Vegeta's voice floated in. He stepped into the large living room/waiting room. He wore spandex shorts and a tank top that stuck to him like a second skin thanks to the vast amount of sweat he worked up.

He wiped his face with a towel as he stared at them, "The prodigal son returns." A smirk flitted on his lips. Despite the stiff greeting, he was a bit happy seeing them. At least now if he didn't want to fight obnoxious Goku or the always busy Gohan, he could just go to Bardock now. He still hated to admit it but that kid always gave him a run for Bulma's money.

Pan snorted, "Nice to see you too, Vegeta. Were your ears burning?"

"Of course not. My ears don't care for your gossip," Vegeta retorted, completely missing the joke. He raised an eyebrow at the oldest in the trio, "I take it this is Gohan." He huffed, impressed, "I think I prefer this version of you."

"Thank…you," Gohan replied confusedly.

"Don't worry about it, Dad," Bardock said, patting his back. "We're here for something important, Vegeta. We're just waiting for everyone else to show up to tell them."

The elder Saiyan simply gave a nod just as Bulma came back out, announcing that she called all of their friends to come over and soon. As they waited, she offered them some snacks which they eagerly accepted.

An hour had passed before anyone showed up. Once everyone was there, much later than they promised, Goku sheepishly told them that he was busy working on his farm and forgot about the call until Chi-Chi yelled at him to change out of his farm clothes.

Goten and Trunks were at the movies with their girlfriends and couldn't leave midway into their date without angering the girls. Hercule, who was watching over Pan and Bra, much to Vegeta's annoyance, had been roped into buying even more ice cream for the girls. Not wanting them to go home complaining, he stayed at the ice cream shop and bought them whatever they wanted.

Krillin, 18, and Marron had been out to lunch, Yamcha had work he couldn't get out of, Tien and Chiaotzu were training, and Piccolo was meditating.

Each and every one of them greeting the time travelers with great enthusiasm. The twins laughed at their father's overwhelmed face at the end of it. Boisterous greetings were of the rare variety where they were from, but they were used to it since they had been in this timeline, once upon a time.

Both Pan and Gohan cooed at the past Pan, who was now at the young age of 7. Gohan marveled at the sight of her. His kids figured it was because he was in a coma when they were the same age and he wanted to absorb every detail he could.

He and Pan were also stunned at the sight of an adult Goten. But even with the age difference, Goten was pretty much the same given that his mind was only ever locked onto one thing. Unfortunately, in this timeline, instead of the toys and the childlike innocence, it was girls and many dirty jokes under almost everything he said. Oh how they wished for their Goten to be there with them.

However, the shock of the day came when Gohan and Videl finally showed up. As soon as they stepped foot in the room where everyone was at, they were shocked to see two faces they thought they'd never see again.

"Pan! Bardock!" Videl exclaimed happily, her bright blue eyes shining with unshed tears as she brought them in for a tight hug. "I'm so happy to see you two again." Her smile grew when she felt Gohan join in on their group hug.

Gohan grinned, "You guys don't look any different from the last time we saw you."

"Yeah," Bardock nodded as they pulled away. "We're 19 right now, and that's basically what age we both were when we went back to our original timeline."

"But enough about that," Pan cut in. She grabbed her father's hand and tugged him forward. "Gohan, Videl; this is our dad Gohan."

Mirai Gohan smiled a bit sheepishly as he stared at his past counterpart and his wife's past counterpart, "Pleased to meet the two of you. Pan and Bardock told me all about you these past few years."

Gohan huffed out a breathless chuckle as he stared at what was essentially himself, "It's nice to meet you too." He held out his hand, shaking his counterpart's. "And trust me, when they were here, all they talked about was you."

"Good things I hope," Mirai Gohan said jokingly. He held out his hand to Videl, his eyes softening.

Videl shook his hand numbly, mumbling, "Even when I thought I was used to all the crazy, you guys just raise the bar even higher."

"You know it," Bardock chuckled.

A small head of black hair caught his eye. He gazed down at the child who hid himself behind Gohan's legs. His dark eyes were shy and evasive as he gazed at them, his eyes moving a bit frantically.

Is that…?

Bardock's eyes widened in realization, "No way."

"Bardock?" Pan raised an eyebrow as his situation caught their attention.

"Is-is that…" Bardock raised a shaky hand, pointing to the child behind Gohan's leg who hid away at the stares.

Gohan and Videl exchanged glances before Gohan sighed and shifted away so the others could see the child, "Guys, this is Bardock. Bardock, these are us from another timeline. There's your sister Pan, me, and you."

Little Bardock stood before them with skittish eyes. His black hair was messy like Bardock's was when he was his age, but it did not hold the same gravity defying trait. His face was round and his young eyes held an innocence that Bardock only wished he could have back when he was that age.

But that innocence wouldn't last. Just like he himself had to witness the rampage of the androids at such a young age, his counterpart would also have to endure facing an enemy no one could match up to.

He only hoped the kid didn't lose every bit of his childhood like he did.

Bardock smiled slightly, kneeling in front of his past counterpart, "Hey, Bardock. Nice to meet you. I'm Bardock, but you can just call me B if it confuses you."

So what do you call me?

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance but he kept the kind smile on his face so as not to frighten the poor boy in front of him.

At his parents' urging, Little Bardock stepped forward, shuffling his feet shyly, "Hi, my name is Bardock. It's nice to meet you."

Mirai Gohan grinned, seeing a side of his son he had never seen before, "How old are you, Bardock?"

"Four."

"He's so cute," Pan cooed to the parents. "Unlike another Bardock I know."

Bardock glared at her as he straightened. He cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention, "As much as we love seeing you guys, this isn't just a fun trip to a different timeline for us. We come bearing bad news."

Dreadful silence filled the room. Bulma broke it not a second later with a shake of her head, "I knew you guys seemed a little solemn." She sighed, "So what are we dealing with this time?"

"Something worse than Majin Buu." Almost everyone gasped in horror. He nodded grimly, "A few weeks ago, I had a dream of what was to come here. It wasn't like the vision I had last time. It was just flashes of something big and powerful."

Goku crossed his arms, eyes apprehensive, "How big?"

"At least the size of a skyscraper," Bardock replied. "But that's why we're here. We came because we're your best bet in killing this thing."

"And what makes you stronger than us now?" Vegeta questioned. "Last time you weren't even able to defeat Kid Buu on your own. How are you so much stronger now?"

Bardock glanced at his father and shrugged, "Well, remember how Saiyans take the 'what doesn't kill me makes me stronger' literally?" At their nods, he chuckled, "Let's just say that my dad and I went through that more than once when we fought our version of Buu. I can safely say that we're much stronger than the last time we were here."