Although he could no longer read them, the words strung together across the bloodied paper haunted Gohan. Repeatedly, he blinked away the thick mist covering his eyes just to re-read that same name over and over again. He didn't want to believe what he was reading but he didn't dare look away from it.

He felt his father's stare in every fiber of his being, he wanted nothing more than to disappear, to slink away into oblivion like the snake he felt he was, but his legs refused to move. His body forced him to the ground, and on his knees, he continued to stare at the paper, he would and could not face the horror, the confusion, the betrayal, and the awful sadness that his father bled from his soul.

"Jack.." Goku said, still cradling Krillin close to him. "Y-you lied to me...You l-lied...to me..."

Tears ran down Gohan's face, just hearing those words was enough to break any resolve he had left. He relaxed his fingers and the paper released itself and glided through the air. He saw the blurred white square land gently onto the floor, and then he wiped his eyes. He lifted his hung head and looked at his father. He looked like his heart had been torn to shreds.

"Why..." Goku asked, his voice cracking like glass. "I don't understand...J-just why?"

Gohan tried to speak but he couldn't even begin to piece any words together.

"I-I believed you, Jack...When you said Piccolo was no one, I always believed you..." Goku said, attempting to dry his tears. "So why did you lie to me!"

Daddy...

P-please...d-don't yell at me...

"I-I'm sorry..." he managed out.

Goku, while staring into Krillin's empty eyes, lowered his head off his lap. He gritted his teeth as more tears streamed down his red cheeks. "What else did you lie about?!"

...Daddy...

"G-Goku..."

"Why won't you tell me!" Goku screamed. "Did you lie about your father?! Your mother?! Your home in Mount Pouzu?! What?! Just tell me!" Goku pleaded. "Please!"

...DADDY!

Gohan leapt to his feet and threw his arms around Goku. He wailed, his tears soaking into the shoulder of his father's gi. "I-i'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He cried, hoping his father's arms would soon wrap around him and he'd hear his sweet voice console him like he always did. "I-I lied so much... And I'm sorry! I never meant to-to..." Gohan gripped the excess cloth at the back of his father's gi tightly. "It's all my fault! Everything's my fault!"

He waited for those arms, that strong embrace that always calmed him, that made him feel so loved and valued, but it never came. When he realized it he cried even harder, how could he have pushed him away again? Was him leaving not a good enough lesson? Did he need another round of punching just to get it through his thick skull that he is cursed to repeatedly shatter his father's heart? The heart of the man who always forgave, who always showed mercy even to the worst of people, who was always there to save the day.

All he ever wanted was to love him but all he ever managed to do was hurt him.

Goku frowned as he stared at the sunset behind Gohan's shoulder. "Why Jack?! W-why did you lie to me...All this time why were you lying to me?!"

"I tried... I'm trying to protect you..." Gohan whispered, his voice withering into nothing.

"Protect me?! Krillin's dead, Jack! He's gone! If you told me about Piccolo, maybe he'd still be here!"

"I-I didn't know!..." Gohan said, collapsing his face further into his father's shoulder, crying louder than ever. In between his cries, while he was trying to gather more air to continue crying, he spoke inaudibly, "Y-you never told me Krillin...died here."

"You didn't know what?!" Goku asked, struggling to keep his composure. "You aren't making any sense!" He screamed as he peeled Gohan away from him, placing him up against the wall. "What aren't you telling me!?"

Gohan couldn't bear the pain anymore, he hated all the lies, the deceit, the shuffling off in the middle of the night to scour the earth for Gero, he hated every part of the fabricated person he flaunted off to everyone else. He just wanted to be what he'd always been: the awful, disappointing, Gohan. Because at least then, despite the fact that he was an utter failure, he'd be himself. He'd be real.

"I-I'm from the future!" Gohan said before he sunk to the floor. He hugged his legs tightly as he continued to cry into them.

"W-what?" Goku asked.

Gohan raised his head from his knees, breathing a few times, calming himself momentarily to get a few words out. "I'm f-from the future, Goku..."

"Jack?..." Goku said confusedly. With hurt and anger in his voice he cried, "Why are you still lying to me?! Aren't we brothers? Don't you love me? Why won't you tell me the truth?!"

"He's not lying!" Roshi said as he climbed the final step up to the main hall, his eyes immediately drawn to Krillin.

"M-master?" Goku asked.

Roshi used his staff to support himself as he reluctantly made his way over to Krillin. "He's from the future Goku, but not by choice. He was taken here by an old scientist dedicated to destroying our world as we know it. He's been here all this time, trying to protect us."

"I-I don't understand..." Goku asked before turning to Gohan. "Jack...why didn't you tell me?"

Gohan didn't respond, he continued crying loudly into his knees.

"He didn't need to," Roshi interjected. "And you shouldn't have pushed him to say anything."

Roshi lifted up the note. "But this...this doesn't have to do with either of you. This is the work of King Piccolo, one of the most terrible beings I, or anyone for that matter, have ever faced. As a matter of fact, I didn't even beat him. My master, Master Mutaito was the one to trap him in a rice cooker; it's funny, Shen and I, we knew it wouldn't hold him forever and we still did nothing to stop it. All these years we could have had to prepare and we still bickered like children."

Roshi crumpled up the paper angrily and threw it to the floor. "But Krillin wasn't killed by Piccolo, the body is still here after all. No, this was the work of one of his minions. All were known to appear and disappear without a trace. They'd drop in and wipe out entire villages without Shen or me ever even knowing. And from the looks of it, he got the drop on Krillin. He most likely had a mere second or two to comprehend what was happening but not enough time to ready himself for the fight. The monster who did this probably didn't even need to use any energy either, just snapped and...and then it was over."

Goku looked towards the floor, he was angrier at himself now. None of this would have happened if he had just gone back to get his stuff instead of Krillin. Eager to find anything that might help the situation, he looked toward his power pole and noticed the four-star ball was missing. Now he had a way to track the killer.

Goku knelt close to Gohan. "Jack...I'm sorry for what I said but right now we need to go after Krillin's murderer. You still have the dragon radar right? Back at the hotel? Let's get it and stop whoever did this. Like we did with Colonel Silver, General White, and all those other awful people. We'll do it together just like always. Then we'll wish him back." Gohan didn't respond. "Jack, please...I'm sorry... I never meant to say any of those things. Just talk to me." He touched Gohan's shoulder which quickly jerked as Gohan moved away from him.

"No!" Gohan said, quickly getting to his feet. "No! It IS my fault! It's always my fault! I-I should have been able to tell!"

"Jack-" Goku said, hesitantly stepping towards Gohan.

Gohan wasn't willing to hear any more, he sprinted past Goku and Roshi.

"Goh- Jack wait!" Roshi commanded, but to his dismay, Gohan kept running.

He kept running until he was gone from the tournament grounds and then he jumped into the air, going Super Saiyan and flying as fast as he could from Papaya Island. He closed his eyes as he flew, the wind hadn't bothered him in years, since he had first learned to fly, but now, the wind stung and his eyes just couldn't take it. His tears continued streaming down his cheeks as he flew farther and farther away.

I should have been able to tell! All my training and all my power and I can't sense something as easy as that?! I should have been there, nothing bad would have happened if I just listened to Daddy! He knew! He could tell something was wrong! Why couldn't I?

And the way he looked at me...the way his eyes looked...

I've never seen him so hurt before!

And I did that to him.

It was me.

Me and my stupid selfish lies.

He kept going, flying until everyone he'd known was out of the range he cared to look for them in. He didn't know where he was going but he didn't care, anywhere isolated, where someone as awful as him could be alone, was good enough.

But after flying a little longer Gohan approximated that he couldn't get much further from Papaya Island, he'd flown so far that at this point he must be on the opposite side of the globe and any more flying would mean he's just going back towards them. Now all he wanted to sit somewhere and just exist. He looked below him and noticed that he had just passed the shores of some mainland. He could see a forest up ahead and, although it was getting dark, he decided it would be a good place to further isolate himself in. He slowly lowered himself into the forest and dropped a few feet above the ground, the sound of the crunching leaves below him landing hushed the crickets for a moment.

He sat under the closest tree and dropped his power level as low as it would go.

The night gradually grew colder but Gohan didn't care, he shivered and shook but he would endure whatever nature had for him. He'd hoped that as the night went on the cold would numb him, help take away some of the pain he felt, but it didn't do anything, it just made him more alone as it pushed the crickets to silence. Even the wind had deserted him, making the leaves on the trees still and motionless.

The silence was the most unsettling thing about being out there alone. No one to accompany him, no one to comfort him, not even the moon to let him know that it wasn't just a sea of darkness. But he believed he deserved it, every second of that maddening silence was well deserved for everything he did and everything he couldn't do.

He sniffled and closed his eyes, curling himself up in a ball and shuffling as close as he could to the tree trunk. Surprisingly, he fell asleep shortly afterward, but it wasn't pleasant in the slightest. His nightmares started and occasionally a leg would spasm and he'd kick a stone lying next to the tree as he fought off the horrible nightmares. He'd have moments of stillness, moments where one hell would end and he'd be greeted by whatever blankness his mind had left, in that limbo he'd no longer struggle, then the next hell would arrive and his suffering would continue.

One dream was Nappa, beating him to a bloody pulp before killing Piccolo. In another, it was Vegeta kicking his father again and again as Gohan struggled to gather the strength to fight him. The one after that it was Frieza, taunting him that his father was too weak to stop him, and then sending Gohan flying towards Namek's burning fields with a flick of his remaining tail. On and on and on the nightmares kept coming, reminding Gohan of just how powerless and how useless he really was.

The sounds of the birds chirping and fluttering away from the trees woke Gohan. He didn't feel rested at all and was thankful to be awake. He stretched his stiff limbs and opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was Raditz and Nappa, both looked like they had been plucked straight from his nightmares.

Gohan wasn't frightened, perhaps it was the complete emotional overload of the day prior, but he didn't really feel anything but general confusion. "G-Gero?" he asked. "Why am I not already dead? Clearly, you had the drop on me. Shouldn't you have just killed me before I had the chance to fight back?"

"Aw, that's cute. He thinks he's still talking to the doctor Nappa." Raditz said.

Nappa grinned. "Little fool."

"You're not already dead because I don't kill fellow Saiyans while they sleep. And there's something you should know little nephew: You don't get a direct line with the doctor anymore, not that it would matter anyway. No, now you just have Nappa...and me. I could have brought the rest of the android army including Vegeta, but they all agreed to wait their turn. You see I was the first Saiyan model built by Gero and with that, I get a certain measure of respect from my fellow androids." Raditz clasped his hands. "Now come on, get up! I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"

Gohan pushed off against the tree and got up. "Look, Gero, you're probably watching, can we just talk? I already know everything, I have Gebo's file and I already listened to-."

Raditz punched Gohan in the stomach, sending him back to the floor. "Sorry about that...you didn't seem to understand that Gero ISN'T HERE! It's just Nappa, you, and me."

Gohan grabbed at his stomach, that hit must have flicked a switch for him because now, it was like his emotions got turned back on.

"You know, we were surprised when you chose to stop here for the night, seeing as you're so far from Kakarot. Something happen between the two of you? Something personal? You know, I did feel his ki just kind of...drop...off my radar last night. Nappa and I would have been wondering where you were, if, we didn't already know."

"Y-you" Gohan stuttered, tears already threatening to make themselves known. "You better not have harmed him!"

"We didn't," Nappa said. "But you can bet we will after we're done here. If he isn't already dead."

"He's not dead! And even if you wanted to hurt him, you couldn't! Gero promised that he'd leave him alone and there's no way he didn't program failsafes into you after what happened to him the last time!"

Raditz shrugged, "Sure he programmed plenty of failsafes against us betraying him, although none of them are particularly effective, considering I've already removed the bomb inside my chest, but he never made any commands against harming Kakarot."

Gohan got back onto his feet. "You're lying!"

"Would I really lie to you? What do I stand to gain from that Gohan? You won't live long enough to stop us."

Gohan powered up into Super Saiyan. "I've heard those same words from everyone who came before you, and I'm still here, so good luck getting rid of me."

Raditz laughed and shook his head. "You know what Nappa, being that he is my nephew I don't know if I have the heart to kill him after all. Why don't you go first."

"You sure Raditz? Don't know if there'll be much left."

Raditz waved his hand dismissively. "No, no, I insist. Go ahead."

Nappa smiled as he took a few large steps towards Gohan. "You put up a good fight against the biological me, but now, oh now you're way out of your league. I'm more powerful than even Cell was when he was fighting Kakarot."

"I beat Cell remember? Or are you just as stupid as the real Nappa?" Gohan quipped.

Nappa cracked his large knuckles. "Sure, you were more powerful then. Now...not so much."

Gohan waited as Nappa got closer, if there was a way he could end this fight quickly it would most likely be when he was close enough to get a body shot in on. He was a large target and a powerful strike to the midsection might be enough to break the skin and damage some internal wiring or tubing.

He waited until Nappa was within arms reach and then he struck as fast as he could, punching Nappa right where his liver would have been if he was human. When his fist connected he felt like he was punching steel, needless to say, his sneak attack did nothing, he quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding Nappa's fist.

"Smart, real smart kid, but you're far too weak for that to have worked." Nappa said. "You're lucky I threw a slow one at ya', otherwise you may have been down for good."

Gohan tried to look intimidating, putting the most intense glare on he could, but deep down he was not confident in the slightest. That hit to Nappa's midsection must have hurt his knuckles because he felt them pulsate, and when he moved his fingers around, it felt like his joints had hundreds of tiny needles sticking into them.

Nappa shook his head and showed off his large and gummy teeth in his uncomforting smile. "You know, you may be older..." He said. "But you've still got that same scared stiff look. You know what I mean. Like after I killed that Namekian, you looked the same then as you do right now."

He chuckled and kneed Gohan in the stomach before using both his fists to clobber him into the ground. "So weak!" Nappa shouted, kicking Gohan out of the divot in the earth he'd just made. "C'mon, get up! We just started!" Nappa angrily commanded. He waited for a second, just to see if Gohan would actually get up, but as he expected, he continued to lay face down. "Maybe..." He said, lifting Gohan up above his shoulders. "You just need a little help!"

Nappa threw Gohan like a ragdoll across the forest, splintering dozens of trees and knocking over plenty more. When he finally landed in a mound of mud and grass, like magma, the thick viscous mud roof dropped down and rolled over him, covering him entirely.

Nappa and Raditz walked over to the mound, Nappa had his hands on his sides and let out a long sigh. "Think I killed him?"

"Not sure, but Gero certainly won't accept that we just left the body here. Dig him out will you?" Raditz politely requested.

Nappa reluctantly agreed and began scooping out large handfuls of mud, albeit at a leisurely pace. He scooped and scooped until eventually, he could see some muddied locks of black hair. He gripped them and lifted Gohan out with ease. Gohan coughed and gasped as he finally had access to fresh air, but his relief was short-lived as he received a few hits to his ribs. Immediately, he noticed he was having trouble breathing, he knew many of his ribs were now broken but he prayed none of them punctured his lungs.

Nappa smiled, "Well looks like he's still breathing."

Raditz rolled his eyes. "Continue then! We're here to have fun, remember?"

Nappa readjusted his grip, holding one of Gohan's arms in either hand. "Okay kid, I've had my fun. I think I'll start breaking things now, but don't worry it won't be quick; I'll start with your arms, then maybe the rest of your ribs...I'm not sure. But if there's one thing I'm saving for last it's those long bones in your legs. The original me loved breaking those too, the screaming was always the best when you broke those last."

Gohan squirmed as Nappa slowly began to grip down on his arms. He flexed his muscles, trying to protect his bones underneath, hoping it would buy him some time to figure out a plan.

The pressure kept building and Gohan's mind blanked, he just kept trying to wriggle free.

He started to panic, trying to kick Nappa wherever he could to try and break his grip. He felt his muscles be forcibly squished and pressure on his humeruses begin to set in. The pain was already unbearable at this point and he began to scream as Nappa continued to squeeze.

His senses slowly dulled and the world around him greyed. He no longer tried to struggle, but it wasn't the beating, the lack of food, or the deprivation of sleep that broke him, it was the lack of hope. He knew he couldn't break free from this hold and he knew it meant his fate was sealed. His mind mostly eliminated the pain, but he wouldn't have cared if it didn't; he'd suffered so much throughout his life, what's a little more just before the end? He just wanted it over with. He hoped it would be over with...soon...

What about mom?

She doesn't even love me anymore.

What about the baby? Our brother?

I could never be anything to him. Just a disappointment.

What about Daddy? If you go...he goes too. Everyone goes. Gero wins.

Suddenly something snapped, but it wasn't his bones, it was something else, something just clicked and he could feel a new wave of power surge through him. The world came back to him and so did the pain, but now he had the means to stop it. Nappa continued to squeeze, he was now exerting some amount of effort and was too focused to notice Gohan.

With as much anger and effort as he could muster, Gohan headbutted Nappa, and it hurt, but he reveled in that it looked like it hurt Nappa much more than it did him. He was freed from Nappa's hands, and the giant grabbed his forehead feeling over every bit of the new dent he'd just incurred.

"You little bastard!" Nappa roared as he began hurling his fists at Gohan.

Although they were wild and unfocused, those punches were still faster than anything Gohan had faced up until that point, but he was managing to dodge them. He didn't know exactly what power he was tapping into but it definitely wasn't Super Saiyan 2. In that form, he had so much power he didn't even know how to control it; but this, this was controllable and with every passing second, he could feel more and more power. It was nearly intoxicating. And it gave him more than enough confidence to press onwards. If he could label it, place it somewhere on the power scale, he'd place it closer to Super Saiyan 2, at least that's what it felt like; the fringes, the outside border of Super Saiyan 2.

After witnessing a few minutes of Nappa fruitlessly trying to strike Gohan, Raditz realized he was having trouble and joined in as quickly as he could; together the two threw everything they had at Gohan, but neither even managed to touch him. He pushed their fists away with ease and then decided it was their turn to feel a little pain. He punched Nappa's jaw sending him flying through the forest and then he kicked Raditz back in the same direction.

He flew up above and out of the trees, he could see Raditz fleeing somewhere east, no doubt he was going to get the other androids, and at this point, Gohan welcomed the challenge. Nappa, on the other hand, continued charging towards him. Once he got close enough, Gohan didn't even bother with hitting him, he just charged up ki blasts and began throwing them at him. The first piece of Nappa to be disintegrated was his left leg, then his arm, then his head, but Gohan didn't stop, he just kept throwing them until he was sure there was nothing left of the android. He was so focused on Nappa that he didn't even think about what was happening below them and once he stopped firing what must have been hundreds of ki blasts, he looked at the forest below him, and it was completely destroyed.

There were countless small smoking craters with a few isolated brush fires sprinkled in between but Gohan was far too angry to even care. He knew no one was nearby and if there were any animals in the vicinity, they left much earlier in the fight, which made this ground expendable.

He could still sense Raditz nearby, he was definitely flying east and by the looks of it, he was flying fast.

There wasn't even a decision to be made, Gohan had already ruined everything with his father.

This pursuit was all he had left.