Chapter 10- Plans

"Goten, get back here this instant!" Chi-Chi hollered as her son got closer and closer to the edge of the Lookout, egged on by Trunks. She knew he could fly now, but he had only learnt recently. What if something went wrong?

Goten was barely able to hear her over everyone else's chatter, so didn't obey her as he would normally. She did relax a little when the genie, who also lived up here, walked by the boys with his magic carpet ready. At least someone who could fly was watching them…

Bulma made a sound of annoyance in the back of her throat as everyone continued to ignore her. She was just trying to organise them this time. Surely all this doom and gloom could be avoided with a proper plan! She stood at the head of the table, slowly leaning further forward and pressing her hands more firmly against the table top, as her muscles tensed with her growing rage.

Unable to take the noise anymore, she resorted to banging her fists on the table everyone was haphazardly sitting or standing around. "Shut it, you lot!" She screeched.

Everyone jumped, both at the noise and the way half the electric lanterns fell off the table due to her unexpected show of violence. Even Trunks and Goten quietened and returned to the table.

"Hmm, I think your power level might have jumped all the way to seven just then." Vegeta snickered, well used to Bulma's tantrums. Usually they were directed at him, anyway.

"If you have all quite finished," she began, glaring at Vegeta for being a smart-ass, "I think it's time we started with this meeting. I'm sure Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu would rather not hang around you lot for much longer than they have to."

"Right," Tenshinhan agreed bluntly, folding his arms. He'd already made it perfectly clear that they would only join the fighting as a last resort. He didn't want to put Chiaotzu in that kind of danger again. Not to mention, the only effective attack he had would kill him if used more than a few times.

"So," Bulma continued, turning to the giant piece of paper she had pinned up on an easel behind her, "what do we know already?"

Everyone turned to the three Nameks, who were the only ones who knew anything about what was coming. At Piccolo's nod, Dende spoke up for the all of them.

"The only thing I've managed to divine is that this power level is nothing like we've ever seen, not even from the Saiyans. It seems to be child-like and easily influenced, but I know there is something more sinister about it that I can't see clearly. There is also a very strong relation between the date of the tournament and this… thing's appearance."

"So we only have five months." Piccolo added and his son, who was sitting on the table in front of him, nodded.

Bulma slowly nodded in response as she took notes about what they were saying. "Well, at least it's not smart as well. We'll have to be the first to get to it; surely it wouldn't take it upon itself to run rampant if it's so childlike." She mumbled.

"I think energy is also very important here, but I'm not sure how…" Dende added hesitantly, frowning at Gohan.

"Ok," she nodded, tapping the end of her marker against her bottom lip. She was thinking hard, trying to piece what little information they had into a workable plan.

"Obviously those of us who are willing and able to fight must stay together for the duration of the tournament." Vegeta repeated his previous suggestion, folding his arms, also in deep thought. "Those who can't fight," he looked to Bulma, Chi-Chi, Oolong, P'uar, Dende and, briefly, Yamcha, "will need to hide out somewhere safe. Up here is probably the best place. You may need to be the ones to intercept this thing and convince it not to destroy the planet."

"I can get a vehicle for us up here, but what about the kids? If it's beyond Super Saiyan 2, then as strong as they are, they probably aren't going to be much help if worse comes to worst." Bulma interjected.

"We can be very dippelmotic," Goten stumbled over the word, speaking up for a change.

"It's diplomatic, stupid!" Trunks rolled his eyes, "We're strong too, Mum! We can fight if we have to."

"Me too," Piccolo's son added, "I can help coordinate the attack."

"As long as you all stay away from me, no one else should die." Piccolo added, frowning at Gohan as well.

"What?" He blurted, uncomfortable, "I didn't say anything!"

"I'm just quelling the inevitable objection from you." Piccolo replied, sounding more tired and exasperated than ever.

"I'm not just going to stand around and watch you die again!" Gohan forced himself to calm down, not wanting to get into an argument in front of everyone. His behaviour would embarrass his mother as well as Piccolo. "There isn't a discussion to be had, we're fighting together."

'So now you learn to be assertive.' Piccolo's own frustration was apparent in his thoughts. 'Now is not the time, kid.'

Gohan folded his arms and set his jaw stubbornly. They were saved from answering questions about their seemingly silent communication when Goten and Trunks' stomachs made an obscenely loud rumbling noise. "Mum, can we have dinner now?" They both begged, also in synch.

Bulma sighed, "Fine, fine, we can't really figure out anything else until we have more information. Meeting adjourned!" She forgot she wasn't in a work conference and slapped one of her palms down on the table again, toppling the rest of the lanterns.

"You're too noisy, woman." Vegeta complained as he stood to go hunting with the boys.

Gohan nodded when he was directed to gather firewood, hoping his bout of moodiness would dissipate over time.

Eventually they had a bonfire set up and had a feast of fish and buffalo ready. Piccolo sighed as he watched the Saiyans and his own offspring tear into the meat at a ridiculous pace. He turned to stare determinedly back at the sky in an endeavour to hide his disgust, bemusedly noting the absence of the moon.

At some point he caught himself watching protectively as Trunks and Goten started getting a little rough near his son. He couldn't keep this coddling up forever. Even if something did happen, he had to learn to look after himself, and quickly. The reality that he had only months left to live had fully sunk in.

Bulma and Chi-Chi walked by him as they returned to the makeshift campsite from the bathroom. "Boys, that's enough!" They yelled together, hands on hips, as soon as they spotted their brawling sons.

The boys, as well as Gohan, and perhaps even Vegeta, all flinched at the combination of the two women's voices. If only their enemies would be so easy to faze…

18 returned next, rather more stealthily than her wholly human counterparts. "Just what are you doing near my daughter?" She demanded sharply, suddenly behind them. They turned to look at her from their position on the floor, limbs still tangled from their impromptu wrestling match. She punted them away with apparent ease.

Whine as they might, everyone knew she hadn't done any real damage to either of them. Marron fell over sideways from giggling. She didn't fall completely to the ground because she landed on Piccolo, or Junior, as the others had taken to calling him for the moment.

"You wanna fight, huh!" Trunks said bravely, bringing up his small fists.

"Please," 18 said, flicking her hair and deciding to indulge them for a change. Krillin's shoulders shook as he tried to repress his laughter, pleasantly surprised by her antics. "As if a brat like you would last more than five seconds against me." She knew it was ironic that she would goad Trunks of all people, but this was a very different world to that one.

"Then both of us would make at least twelve seconds!" Goten proclaimed, pointing in a dramatic fashion.

"No stupid, you're not supposed to agree with her! Besides, five plus five is ten!" Trunks whispered loudly, embarrassed once more by his companion.

"I know that! If you would last five seconds, then I would last… seven!" He added after a brief pause to figure out how many seconds were left over.

They flew at each other again, but this time it was at a safe distance from the younger and more fragile children. "There we are honey, if you grow up to be like Mummy, then you have nothing to worry about. Just don't be timid like your father!" 18 murmured as she picked up her sleepy little girl. Krillin looked a little shame-faced, but didn't comment, somehow proving 18's point.

'It's hard to get a good balance of confidence.' Junior observed, speaking via mind link in Common, which he had picked up at an astounding rate. 'Too much and you're stupid, not enough and you're pushed around.'

'Yes, try explaining that to Gohan.' Piccolo answered, rolling his eyes.

To his surprise, his offspring took this literally and walked over to Gohan, who was currently arguing with Vegeta about the best way to use his reach in battle. Gohan had shot up another few inches over the past month, and was having more trouble than usual adjusting to his new height.

"Gohan," He said softly, poking the seated teen just above the elbow for good measure.

"What is it?" he asked, bringing the small one into his lap, currently too annoyed with Vegeta to argue constructively. Usually among Saiyans this would result in a fistfight, but Vegeta now better understood how much of a pacifist the idiot's brat was, so instead decided to just walk away. At least the other one was normal…

Gohan felt warmth in the young one's thoughts; his father didn't quite understand his needs when it came to things like eating regularly and physical contact. At just over fifty centimetres, he was now considered to be old and large enough to behave independently from the parent, so Piccolo no longer had any of his own physical contact instincts.

"You will benefit more if you balance your confidence levels." He stated, looking very serious. A little too serious, considering his size and age…

"Your dad put you up to this, huh?" He replied, laughing a little.

The small one frowned, before changing the topic. "Why am I so different to him? I know how we reproduce, so it doesn't really make any sense… Was I fused with someone else's DNA?" He asked as he further inspected the memories he had been granted.

"Yeah, with mine, actually," Gohan admitted, scratching the back of his head. "We didn't think it would work, but here you are." He smiled reassuringly.

"I'm a freak?" He asked, raising his brow-ridges.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Gohan exclaimed, poking him in the ribs. The little one squirmed, but couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face. "There's nothing wrong with being unique! I used to have a tail, you know."

"Yes, I'm glad I don't." He returned, folding his arms.

'Piccolo's picking on me!' Gohan pretended to complain, bringing the adult Namek into their shenanigans.

'Am not,' Piccolo answered with an air of amusement.

"It's hard not to." The younger one added. They still hadn't quite perfected sharing the mind connection between three people, but his father was within hearing range so it didn't matter too much right now.

Piccolo decided to come closer so that the three of them could communicate more easily. He toed a bit of what had been someone's dinner out of the way before sitting cross-legged.

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Gohan demanded, reaching in for another tickle attack. Junior had been expecting this, however, and rapidly escaped from the position he was in. He dropped his Ki low, but Gohan could still tell he was hiding behind Piccolo.

"I'm too close for you to do that! I know you're there!" He said, lunging forward so he could look over Piccolo's shoulder. "I can see you." He added, not appearing to notice his proximity with Piccolo as he reached down to scoop the Namekian child up.

Before he could so much as lay a hand on him, Piccolo had fisted Gohan's gi and pushed him away. He rocked back a little, but soon recovered, his face now inches from Piccolo's.

"You're not going to get me with that one twice - er - thrice!" Gohan quickly admonished, seemingly pleased with himself anyway.

"… Took your time," was the delayed response. The small boy curiously poked his head around the side of his parent's body. He looked so small next to Piccolo's seven foot stature, even when he was sitting down. It was hard to believe that in five months they would all be fighting for their lives.

Everyone savoured the night spent together. They knew it could very well be their last.

I have the next few chapters drafted, but I'm going to be really busy over the next few weeks, so I'm not going to make any promises about when the next update will be. As always, thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this far!

Seru-Chan: The relationships end up kind of... complicated? It's not going to suddenly become Gohan/Videl, and Piccolo is always going to have a large role in the story. I've started planning the epilogue, but I still haven't decided on some details, so I'm afraid I can't be much clearer than that right now.