Somewhere, among countless hills and mountains...

"Is it over!?" Krillin spoke, for the first time prior to his petrification at the hands of Dabura.

"Why would I know? Try searching for their ki..." replied Piccolo stoicly, his speech possessing little emotion, even after going through the ordeal that he had just gotten out of.

The mohawked fighter muttered in response, as he focused his energy on the task of locating his friends, assuming they were still alive. Piccolo did the same, and before long, they both detected a definite change in ki. It was an absence, meaning someone must have died. Luckily, the energy that was now nonexistant, matched up with a certain evil energy that both Piccolo and Krillin remembered.

"Dabura. So, he's the one that died? That would explain how we got back to normal, I guess." stated Krillin.

"Yes, but it seems that he was not the only one that died. Another person's energy is missing, although it was seems to have been someone very weak, even by human standards." replied Piccolo, unintentionally insulting the Earthling besides him.

"It must be Babidi, then. He wasn't very strong, his magic was his true strength. Which reminds me, weren't we here to investigate Majin Buu? What if he already got summoned, and is out there right now?!"

2 pairs of boots landed gently onto the rocks, a few meteres behind Krillin and Piccolo. Before anyone could react to the sudden appearance of the 2 men, the one on the left spoke.

"I wouldn't worry about that..."

"Gohan!" Piccolo announced, wearing an expression of surprise, that quickly turned into one of relief.

Krillin shared the same expression, but remained speachless, unable to find any words to say. He did, however, turn around, and his fears about his friends being dead were alleviated. However, there was still the threat of Majin Buu. Being the only one able to put that frightening thought aside, Piccolo spoke once more.

"Does- does this mean that you were able to kill the monster?" Piccolo asked in wonder, unable to grasp the concept that even Gohan could beat a monster as powerful as Majin Buu.

"Well, not exactly beat, but I was able to stop him from being summoned!" Gohan replied swiftly.

For the first time since the threat of Majin Buu had been brought to their attention, Piccolo and Krillin were able to put their minds at ease. The latter of which, after taking a short breathe, took his turn at speaking.

"And, the Supreme Kai is with you. You killed Dabura and Babidi as well?"

Gohan answered with a confident nod of his head, earning another sigh of relief from Piccolo and Krillin. Seeing that each member had talked quite a bit, the Kaioshin took the job of wrapping up their little conversation.

"Yes, the Earth is saved, but there is no time for celebration. We have to collect the Dragon Balls, too many people have died already."

"What do you mean? The only ones that died were Babidi and Dabura..." replied Krillin, confused with the Supreme Kai's statement. The green man standing beside him, however, understood the message.

"He's not reffering to Babidi and Dabura. He's talking about the people that Vegeta killed at the tournament." stated Piccolo, getting fed up with Krillin's obliviousness. Piccolo's explanation was backed up by an approving nod from Kaioshin, but Gohan still seemed troubled.

"I really thought that Vegeta had changed... Is he really turning evil again, or was he never on our side to begin with?" said Gohan, distraught over the experience.

"I'm not sure if he was on our side, Gohan." Piccolo responded honestly. "The only reason he fought with us, was because the circumstances demanded it. We grouped up on Namek due to the greater threat of Freiza, and again on Earth, because of the androids. Maybe Vegeta has just caught his break..."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Krillin was the first to offer more input.

"Vegeta, that bastard! How many times has he tried to kill us or Goku? That guy never changes!"

The Kaioshin, however, disagreed.

"No. I had been with Vegeta in Babidi's Spaceship, and he was certainly not evil. At least, not until Babidi took control over him..."

"Wait!" Gohan responded. "That's it! If Babidi is dead, that means he has no control over Vegeta! He'll be way easier to approach now! We could use him in the search for the Dragon Balls, after all."

"That's good." Piccolo replied. "Everyone, search for Vegeta's energy, he's probably still of fighting Goku." Immediantly, everyone began to search for the familiar energy signal of Vegeta, but none could find it.

"I can't sense Vegeta!" Gohan voiced his struggles. "Wait, I can sense his energy, but not his life force! It must be one of his energy blasts, but it's a huge field of energy, like, like..."

"Like the energy I felt after Cell self-destructed..." Thought Gohan.

"He, he couldn't have! That's where my dad is!"

Suddenly, a scramble of orange and blue appeared before Gohan, the unrecognizable mess instantly forming into a very recognizable figure. The familiar energy signal of Son Goku was detected, and amplified an unbelievable amount, for Goku was in the form of a Super Saiyan 3.

"Dad!"

"Goku!"

The blonde Saiyan responded with another name.

"Vegeta..."