Seems like I caught a lot of people by surprised with Gohan's death last chapter. There's still a little more ground to cover but this fic is standing on it's last couple of legs. Hope you all keep enjoying the story!
Trunks stared down at the recently dug up sand. Beneath its surface laid the body of Gohan, a man he considered his brother, not only in battle, but as family. It was almost hard to believe the saiyan he had considered unbeatable was know six feet under.
He had been racing through the corridors of the maze when he had felt it. The oddly colored saiyan had known the oldest Son was in the middle of battle, but he hadn't put much worry into it. If there was anyone who could take care of their self, it was Gohan.
Unfortunately, that thought had been proven wrong. One moment his ki signal was as strong as ever, the next it had dropped almost out of existence. It hung on for awhile but eventually disappeared completely. At that moment, Trunks had felt a feeling of dread as thick as a brick in his gut. He had hoped it has been a mistake, that he had felt something else. When Goten's power suddenly skyrocketed, the saiyan prince knew that his initial feeling was right.
By the time he had arrived at the chamber that held the relic key, the fireworks had died down. Lying on the floor was Gohan's body with Videl slumped on top of it, still shaking from her crying fit. Not too far away was a hole in the floor with Goten near, curled up as he wept. Trunks didn't take long to follow their example as he fell to his knees and let grief take over him.
Tien had been the last to arrive, looking a little worse for wear. The moment his eyes had fallen onto the scene, the bodyguard paled before bowing his head. Once a few minutes went by, the fighter had to take the unwanted responsibility of getting everyone moving again.
Surprisingly, there had been little resistance once the bald human had moved Videl off of the dead saiyan body and picked it up. He then navigated the labyrinth back to the entrance, where he set Gohan's body down and then preceded to dig a grave for him.
Once Tien had removed the body, the two saiyans and Videl took their time in composing themselves before finally getting back to their feet. Fortunately, Trunks had still been at the doorway; had he not, he would've completely forgotten about retrieving the Time Milieu key.
Their sorrow, however, had promptly returned once they had arrived at the entrance. Tien had just about finished digging the grave when they arrived; Erasa standing next to Gohan as she watched the bodyguard. When she had left the ship, none of them except the blonde knew, but that didn't really matter at the moment.
After placing the body of their comrade in the hole, Goten and Trunks had relieved Tien of his work and filled the grave up with the sand. It was here where Trunks was wallowing in his thoughts.
Everything they had fought for, were fighting for seemed to be at a standstill. Sixteen had been right when he said that Gohan was the last person they could lose. He was the one that had put Frieza in his place on Namek, the one that could do it again and save their home world from destruction. With him gone now, there wasn't any point to continuing their quest. None of them possessed the power to take Frieza on, especially one that had been modified. Maybe between himself, Goten, and Tien, they could win but that didn't mean their fight would be over. There was someone else that was more powerful than the tyrant, King Cold by name, and he would finish the three of them off, no sweat.
"So what now?" the oddly colored saiyan spoke after awhile. "With Gohan gone, there's not much of a chance of restoring our home planet."
No one responded, at least immediately. "We pretty much need someone with the power of a Super Saiyan, right?" Goten questioned.
"At the minimum," Trunks replied.
"Well, we don't have to worry about that."
That startled the saiyan. "What do you mean not worry? Gohan was the only one that could transform. With him gone, we don't have a Super Saiyan!"
Goten just looked at his brother's grave. "Yes we do. I've become one."
To say the other humans were shocked was an understatement. Correction, Erasa and Tien were shocked. Videl had been in the same room when that event had happened.
Trunks stared at his best friend. "You mean…you're a Super Saiyan?"
The Son boy nodded his head. "That's right. Though I'm not as strong as Gohan was, I should be able to take on Frieza before he was restored. I'm not sure how strong he was when he reached Vegeta, but I should be able to damage him."
That made the saiyan prince thoughtful. "Maybe you could teach me how to become one too. That way we have two Super Saiyans when we fight Frieza."
For the first time during that conversation, Goten looked away from the grave and faced Trunks, shaking his head. "It takes a lot more than just power, Trunks."
The oddly colored saiyan frowned. "That's what Gohan said when we asked him the same thing."
The Son boy nodded. "And do you remember what else he had said?"
Trunks had to frown about that. Long before this, he and Goten had cornered Gohan shortly after the incident with Garlic Jr., wanting to know how they could become Super Saiyans. The way the conversation went wasn't what they had expected to get.
"So you two want to become Super Saiyans?" Gohan questioned amusedly as he stared at the younger saiyans.
"Yeah," Goten answered. "What you did to that Garlic guy was awesome! You're probably the strongest guy in the universe now. If Trunks and I were to become Super Saiyans too, the three of us would be unstoppable!"
"Plus we're stronger than you are when you first transformed," Trunks added. "It shouldn't take very long for us to reach the level."
Any amusement that was on the elder saiyan's face disappeared. "No."
That confused the two saiyans. "No? What do you mean no?" Goten asked, puzzled.
A serious expression covered Gohan's face. "It takes more than just power to become a Super Saiyan. There's another element that's needed…a dire one."
"And what is it?" Trunks pressed.
The Son boy shook his head. "I won't tell you. The less you know about it, the better. To be quite honest, Super Saiyan is the last thing you'd ever want to become."
What was with all of this misleading stuff? Wasn't the two younger saiyans becoming Super Saiyans a great idea? No one would be able to touch them if they gained that level! But for some reason, Gohan didn't want them to gain that level.
"I know you want to become strong," Gohan continued. "But Super Saiyan is not the way to go, not for you two."
Anger was visibly showing on Trunks and Goten's faces. "You're not making any sense," Trunks stated. "Why don't you want us to become Super Saiyans?"
A solemn look over came the older saiyan. "Trust me, if you two ever became Super Saiyans, you'll know what I speak of."
And those had been the last words Gohan had ever spoken to them about the transformation. Now though, Goten seemed to know exactly what his brother had been talking about all those months ago.
"To become a Super Saiyan," the younger Son started, "is to suffer through extreme, emotional stress."
"Emotional stress?" Trunks questioned. "Explain."
Goten sighed. "By that I mean you have to go through a period where your emotions are chaotic and intense. About the only time that happens in any person's life is when they see a loved one die."
Trunks could feel his blood freezing in his veins, a sinking feeling growing in his stomach. Was that what Gohan had meant?
Seeing the shocked look of realization on his friend's face, Goten continued. "For Gohan, it was seeing our fathers killed in combat. And for me…" the Son boy took a deep breath. "For me, it was seeing my brother die in my arms."
That just couldn't be it, it just couldn't be! Trunks couldn't accept that statement; no way. Someone close to you had to die for you to reach that legendary level? That just couldn't be!
"But what about Broly?" the oddly colored saiyan countered. "He reached that level and more without having to see people die."
Goten shook his head. "Oh yes he did. Broly was on Vegeta when Frieza attacked it, remember? Seeing Frieza slaughter our people was what drove him off the deep end."
Trunks was beaten, he knew it. Everything his friend told him was right, everything. Even if he wanted the level of legend, he would've had to see someone he was close to die. At the current moment, the only person he could possibly achieve that level was seeing Goten die.
And that was too steep of a price for him.
Bowing his head, the saiyan finally said "So what do we do now? All our plans hinged on Gohan beating Frieza, but now he's gone."
"Well," Goten began. "I'm not as strong as Gohan, but I do have the Super Saiyan powers he possessed. I could take his place, but…" he paused. "I can't stand not having my brother here. It would be too hollow of a victory without him."
"I know what you mean," Videl agreed, speaking softly.
A silence hovered over the group; that was until Tien came up with an idea. "Perhaps…perhaps we could use the Time Milieu to bring Gohan back?" he suggested hesitantly.
Everyone jerked their attention to the former bodyguard. "How?" Goten questioned. "How can we use that machine to bring my brother back?"
"We just go back in time and stop his death," the bald human explained. "We could even go back far enough to save Sixteen too if we wanted."
A new light glowed from the group's eyes. Jerking his head to the younger Son, Trunks said "When do you think everything started going bad for us?"
Goten went into thought, his face showing him thinking hopefully. "It had to have been when Gohan was sent to Earth after we beat Wheelo. If we go to the point right before Gohan's sent on that rocket, we could stop both of their deaths!"
"We have to do this!" Videl announced, clearly excited. "We can make everything right again!"
"I see we have your vote," Goten joked, causing the girl to hit him on his shoulder. "So that's one vote for doing this; how about the rest of you?"
"I'm in," Trunks said.
"Me too," Tien added.
"And you Erasa?" Goten said as he turned to the blonde, surprising her a bit. "What's your vote?"
"I say we go for it," she said, smiling at the boy.
"Then we have a unanimous vote," Goten said, smirking. "You do realize this is the first time we've ever had one of these?"
That was when the group fell silent, looking at each other edgily. "Okay, this is weird," Videl admitted.
"No kidding," the younger Son said.
"If you want, I could vote against it," Trunks replied, smirking. "I'm sure we could get back to our usual disagreeing then."
"Trunks, if you dare say we shouldn't bring my brother back, I'll kick your ass all the way back to where Vegeta once stood."
"Oh, now that you've become a Super Saiyan, you think you're all high and mighty huh? Well I got news for you Blondie; you still can't beat me, even in your dreams," Trunks retorted.
"The day you beat me in my dreams is the day I start having nightmares," Goten shot back.
"Well, it's a little late for that. You still wetting the bed sheets at night?"
It became deathly quiet in the room. "Trunks, if you dare say anymore, you will die," the younger saiyan said with a deadly tone.
Trunks smirked. "Hey, it's not my fault you couldn't hold your liquids while you sleep."
"DIE YOU SON OF A—"
In the meantime, the three remaining humans watched the spectacle of Goten chasing Trunks, trying to blast him into oblivion as they ran around the room. "Some things never change," Tien said after awhile.
"I'm starting to see what you meant now," Videl said aloud, catching both Tien and Erasa by surprise.
"What do you mean?" Erasa asked.
"When Tien said that Gohan wanted those two to act like that. It was so they could overcome moments like these, the Satan girl explained, a few tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
The blonde girl wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders, feeling the girl lean into her. "Don't worry Videl, we'll get him back."
To dragongirl: Here's your request! Though it came later than I wanted. Hope you enjoyed it!
To Sigfried Wild: Well, as the chapter explained, our hybrid group has a new plan. We'll see if they succeed or not.