Epic Epilogue
"Thanks for explaining the different types of RNA to me again, Mr Son." A young, red headed girl smiled up at Gohan as he nodded and continued to put his lecture notes away. He couldn't remember this young girl's name for the life of him, but this was about the third time she'd asked him to explain something she already understood well, if her test scores were anything to go by.
"Any time, just remember you don't have to get 100% on every test. If you're concerned, look for errors in your exam technique. I think you understand the class material well enough." He didn't mean to be rude, but he was keen to get back to his research. Piccolo had grudgingly agreed to come in today so he could take some samples. It would also be the first time they had seen each other in about six months.
"Oh, ok… can you help me with that?" she asked, twirling her hair around her index finger.
He sensed Piccolo's familiar Ki approach the building he was in. He was already running late. 'I'm sorry; I'll just be a minute.'
"I don't have time right now, but the people in the Communications Centre will be more than happy to. It's a free service the university offers, you know," he answered, picking up an unusually large stack of folders. The girl looked surprised, but of course the weight was nothing to him.
"Oh, ok, thanks again for your help!" she said brightly, before sliding off her seat and moving to the doors at the front of the lecture theatre. This happened to coincide with Piccolo hesitantly entering the room through the same door. The girl jumped and quickly moved out of the intimidating figure's way.
"Hey Piccolo, can you give me a hand with these?" Gohan asked, attempting to balance the boxes of test papers from his smaller, more advanced morning class on his other arm.
Piccolo obliged, taking the whole lot with both arms. "How do you navigate this mad place without flying?" he asked, staring at the large, empty room. The amount of chairs made him shudder at what it would be like when full. Cramped, noisy, smelly…
Gohan laughed at that vision and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "It's not quite so bad when you're giving the lecture. I have plenty of room, and if they want to pass their exam they'll shut up eventually.
"The labs and my office aren't too far from here. It took a while but I got used to being around a lot of other people." He shrugged and they exited the building, crossing a wide paved area before entering another.
Piccolo repositioned the boxes as they walked up a few flights of stairs. They walked down the narrow hallway until they came to a door with 'Dr Son Gohan' written on it. He fished around in his pocket for a key and awkwardly opened the door with one hand.
"Gohan!" someone called from behind them. Piccolo looked around sharply to see a man only a few years younger than Gohan running up to them. "Have you marked my paper yet?"
Gohan sighed and backed into his door to open it. "No, I've only just finished teaching for the day! I've got research to complete and then a family to go home to. I know you get anxious, but can't you just wait for the results to be posted online like everyone else?"
"But… can't you just tell me how I went on question 10?" he pleaded.
Gohan looked as though he were about to relent, but Piccolo stepped in. "You probably failed, now go away. He's busy." He turned to Gohan and said in a slightly kinder tone, "I don't have all day, Gohan. If you always make such allowances for everyone else, I'm surprised you family gets to see you at all."
He got a feeling from Gohan that perhaps he didn't spend enough time with his family as it was. Videl had been yelling about it last night and little Pan had wanted him to train with her for the past two weeks. Eventually he nodded and straightened up.
"I told you, all final results will be up on Monday. This test was only worth five per cent, surely it doesn't matter that much. Now, I've got work to do." He finally strode into his office and Piccolo followed, firmly shutting the door with his foot.
He dumped the folders on his desk and sighed. Gohan pushed his glasses onto his head and pressed his palms into his eyes. Piccolo put the boxes in the only unoccupied corner and stood opposite the desk.
"Alright, I suppose we should get this over with…" he began, stretching and blinking his eyes open.
"I thought your eyesight was bad before, but how do you get around now?" Piccolo asked, wondering what he'd do if he lost his glasses. It was a simple matter to view things as Gohan did through their mental link.
"I can still see!" he protested, glaring at him to prove his point. "I just can't read without them, and details are a little blurry."
"Well, make sure you have them on before you start trying to chop bits off me," Piccolo replied, rolling his eyes.
"I'm not going to do anything that drastic!" Gohan assured, replacing his glasses and leading them out of his office and into the lab he used.
Piccolo cringed at the smell of disinfectant as Gohan pulled one of the white coats over his blazer and ensured his tie wouldn't get in the way. Piccolo's frown became deeper than usual as Gohan also snapped on some plastic gloves, before preparing some swabs.
"Don't worry, I'm a professional!" he found himself teasing lightly at the look on his friend's face. He held the cotton ball in a pair of tweezers and Piccolo opened his mouth. Gohan swabbed each cheek and sealed them away for inspection at a later date.
Next he pulled out a wad of something that resembled pliable plastic. "Can you bite into this so I can see your dental structure?" he asked. Piccolo complied, mentally complaining about the taste of the substance as he did so.
Things continued on in this manner and he even managed to wheedle a urine sample from the increasingly irritated Namek. "Ok, that should be enough data to work with for now. Do you want to stay with us for a while?" he asked, removing the gloves and coat.
"You mean I have to be subject to more of this unusual treatment?" he deadpanned, not exactly looking forward to his next visit. "If it will keep you from sleeping here, then I will stay for as long as I can stand this claustrophobic feeling."
"Good, the suburb I actually live in is much quieter than this, don't worry."
They walked off campus and found a deserted street to take off in. They flew at a leisurely pace and arrived at Gohan's place in less than ten minutes. He knew any other method would take over an hour at this time of the day.
"Is anyone home?" Gohan called, trying the front door handle. It turned easily and he entered to find Pan sitting at the dining room table, trying to do her homework. Then he noticed Videl doing the dishes and talking on the phone at the same time.
"Dad's back early!" Pan cheered and leapt at him from across the room.
He let out a small 'oof' as her enthusiasm nearly knocked the wind out of him. "Hello!" He smiled, kneeling down to hug her properly.
Videl gaped openly and the phone slid from its position between her shoulder and ear. Gohan sped forward and caught it before it could fall into the water. She looked apprehensive and dried her hands on her pants. She took the phone back and wandered away to finish her call.
Gohan looked disappointed that she hadn't said anything, but continued to talk to Pan anyway. "What have you been up to?" he asked.
"Mum said I have to finish my homework, and then she said something about moving some of our stuff…"
"Pan, why don't you take your homework to your room? It's quieter there," Videl suddenly spoke up as she put the phone down in the usual spot. She didn't speak again until Pan had raced off. "I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow," she continued. "Today I decided to do something about us, so I'm going to move back in with Dad for a while. You obviously don't have time for us right now."
Gohan frowned. "But why so suddenly?" He knew there was no point in trying to convince her to change her mind once she had decided. "Are you saying I can't even see my daughter anymore?"
"No, when you have time in your busy schedule you can still visit."
"Are you seriously angry with me for working to feed this family?" he demanded, moving away from her as he felt his control on his temper slipping. The last thing he wanted was to hurt anyone or damage anything.
"It's more than that! If you went and got a proper job you'd get paid more than pennies for the hours you put in," she protested. "You always do above and beyond what's required for others, but we always get pushed to the back burner. What's the point of claiming we live in the same house when you're never around? Part of being a father is actually being there!"
He thought back to his own father as his fists clenched in growing frustration. He couldn't blame Videl, she probably didn't realise the relevance of what she'd just said. "I know that! Between the age of nine and sixteen I didn't have one! I've never exactly known the perfect role model for this kind of thing!" His breathing became more rapid. "It's my fault my brother didn't even know what a dad was until he was six…"
She paused as though shocked; probably remembering when he'd admitted his father was dead at that tournament. But she was already determined to be angry. "Look, I'm not saying this is a permanent arrangement. Maybe we both have some sorting out that needs to be done. We're going tonight, alright?"
"No, it's not," he muttered darkly before exiting the room at such a speed that Videl didn't even see him leave. Piccolo sighed before following him, feeling his timing was impeccable. It seemed he would have been bothered by Gohan today one way or another.
He felt Gohan transform twice before he came into view. Once they were over empty fields he stopped and began emitting waves of energy that prevented Piccolo from getting any closer. His thoughts seemed to slide off his shielded mind. In fact, his mind was shielded suspiciously well. He knew at that moment it wasn't Gohan he was dealing with anymore.
Piccolo felt Goku approaching them both at a ridiculous speed next. He stopped in mid-air beside him, black hair blowing wildly in the artificial wind. "What is it? What happened?" he yelled in order to be heard over the rushing wind.
They both backed off a little so an explanation could be given. "He and Videl had an argument. I think she hit a few nerves about being a good father," he replied, watching Goku's frown deepen in thought.
"Ok, I'm going to change and try to talk to him."
Piccolo nodded and put a fair distance between them so he wouldn't get caught up in the storm of Ki. He saw Goku push his way through the waves of energy relatively unharmed. He grabbed his son by the shoulders and appeared to be yelling something at him.
All at once the wind died and the bright glow faded. He was still transformed and his mind barriers were still in place, but no one seemed to be in immediate danger anymore. When Goku changed back to normal, he assumed it was safe to approach.
"I know you're hurting, but this isn't fixing that. And Piccolo's just trying to help you. I know you don't want to think about this right now, but I'll be back in a few hours. I guarantee your mother will want to talk about it then, so just try to calm down."
Gohan slowly nodded, staring at the ground. His father patted his shoulder one last time before using his instant transmission to get back to Chi-Chi. Even though they were relatively close, she would be fretting.
"Piccolo," the one who had hijacked Gohan's mind spoke. He turned to glare at him. "I've been meaning to have a chat with you."
"Oh?" he replied, glaring in return. There wasn't much else he could do. Fighting and running were both out of the question.
"Yes, about how you've been trying to get rid of me. You nearly did. Too bad he was pushed to transform at such an inopportune moment." He phased in front of him, green eyes hard. "He's asleep at the moment, so there's no point in trying to get through. Not that you could," he continued, grabbing Piccolo by the front of his gi.
"He's not asleep; he's just let you push him aside. He thinks that's a part of the transformation to the next stage of Super Saiyan," he said through gritted teeth.
"Well, he's further gone than usual. I have so much control right now I could probably kill you and he wouldn't notice… this time."
Piccolo's heart rate increased, but he forced himself to focus. He'd learnt a variety of interesting tricks from Dende over the past years. One of them was how to enter someone's mind without driving them mad. He could break through with ghosting; he just needed to concentrate in order to do it properly.
"Well, since you insist on getting rid of me, it looks like it's either you or me. I don't think I'll get a better opportunity than this. Any preference for which rock you want your brains smeared over?" He twisted Gohan's face into a sadistic smirk before speeding towards the ground. Piccolo was being forced downward head first.
Piccolo grunted but he knew struggling was futile. He still thought it would have been more efficient to just use a Ki blast to the head: that would be enough prevent any attempts at regeneration. He focused on making his mind intangible in order to slip through the defence.
To his relief he managed it, all but colliding with Gohan as he solidified again. The unexpected blow to his consciousness caused him to wake and collide with his alter-ego. In the confusion, Piccolo flipped them over so that Gohan's body would take the brunt of the blow. He could take what Piccolo's skull could not.
As they crashed into the ground, the alter ego screamed, more from rage than pain. "You can't beat me!" he yelled and started drilling into Piccolo's defences instead of holding up his own. Physically it hurt like hell, but battling with minds did not depend on Ki, so he still had an edge.
He forced himself to ignore the pain and be still. He felt the attacks pass right through him as he was able to ghost again. The alter ego seemed to catch on to his disadvantage and instead rolled on top of Piccolo and started gathering enough Ki to wipe him out.
"Stop!" Gohan yelled. He was slowly regaining control of his own body as he began to realise just what was happening. He was pushed aside again, but retained control of his other hand and arm. He gathered a Ki blast of his own, but pointed it at himself.
'What are you doing? You'll kill us both!' his alter-ego cried disbelievingly.
'I don't care! At least they'll be rid of you! You're mad… I'm mad.' His thoughts trailed off, but he pressed his hand against his throat. They could see into each other's thoughts clearly, so if one died, they all would.
'Fine,' the alter ego surrendered control of his hand and Gohan harmlessly dissipated the gathered energy.
He rapidly returned to his base form and collapsed. Both Piccolo and Gohan breathed heavily for a few minutes before they had recovered enough to talk properly.
"Well, that was stranger than usual."
"Here I was thinking it was just an average day for you," Piccolo replied, flicking his old student's temple.
"Ow! Stop that! I'm old and squishy now," Gohan said, sitting up and rubbing his head.
Piccolo rolled his eyes. "No, you're just lazy."
"Oh yes, so lazy my wife left me because I work too much," he answered in a tone more bitter than he intended.
"Alright, not lazy then," Piccolo admitted, to Gohan's surprise. "You're just directing your energy to the wrong areas of your life. I would suggest less to your students and more to your family. The training part is optional…"
Piccolo pushed himself into a sitting position, expecting Gohan to get off him. However, the man only sat there and stared at him contemplatively. His hands suddenly made their way to gently rest on his chest.
"Gohan?" he asked uncertainly.
He suddenly adopted a pained expression. "I can't believe Videl did that…"
"I don't agree with her methods, but I think a bit of space will benefit both of you," Piccolo said as he watched Gohan stand up.
"You're probably right. Thanks, Piccolo."
Let's just pretend it didn't take me more than a year to post this...