Chapter 24 - Advancing

Gohan blinked blearily as the light began to shine in his eyes. He let out a grunt as he sat up, looking around in confusion, wondering why he wasn't in his room before his mind began to wake up with him.

He looked over at the other two figures sleeping around the burnt out campfire in their sleeping bags. "That's right, we decided to camp outside for the night" he remembered, looking back and seeing his house only about a hundred feet away. A smile crossed his face as he began recalling the events of the night. It was fun. Even if the scary stories the others tried to tell him paled in comparison to things he had actually lived through, the experience was still enjoyable. He remembered how a shiver ran through Videl as Erasa told hers, and her immediate glare at him as if she was daring him to comment on it.

"Speaking of Videl…" he thought, noting that her sleeping back was empty. She wasn't within sight, but he could sense her a little ways off into the trees.

Moving slowly as not to make too much noise, he floated up into the air and approached. She was moving around rapidly, he assumed normal morning exercises, but began to slow down as he drew closer, which he guessed was because she had detected him coming. A guess which was proven correct when he entered the clearing to see her staring right at him.

"Morning, sleepyhead" Videl waved with a grin.

"Did you even sleep at all last night?" Gohan chuckled as he landed, walking over.

"Hey, I got enough rest, don't even worry about me" she scoffed, bouncing on her feet. "Besides, I didn't want to have to wait to warm up whenever you got around to rolling out of bed." She walked up close to him, meeting him halfway, and poked him in the chest. "Because I plan to be up in the air by noon."

Gohan smiled and shook his head a little. "Flying has become such a natural part of my life, I have to remind myself how exciting this must be for you" he said.

"I don't think there's a person on the planet who hasn't dreamed about flying at some point or another" Videl said. "I'm just counting my lucky stars that it's about to be more than a dream. So c'mon, how do we start?"

With an eyebrow raised, Gohan glanced back the way he came. "You don't wanna wait for Sharpner and Erasa to get up first?"

Videl matched his raised eyebrow and crossed her arms. "What, you think you need someone else to laugh with when I faceplant the first time?" she said with a smile tugging her lips. "Let me get the 'error' in trial and error out of the way, at least."

"Alright, alright" Gohan said, leaning against a tree. "Well, honestly I don't think this will take you too terribly long to get, at least not as far as the basics go. The rest of it is mostly getting familiar with the feeling and the balance, and maintaining flight. I don't think I need to tell you why plummeting out of the sky is something you want to avoid here."

"I'll save the eating dirt for you once I've started catching up to you" Videl jabbed.

"Sure thing" Gohan said, rolling his eyes playfully as he turned around. "Let's head to our usual training area."

He had barely taken two steps before Videl rushed past him, energy flaring as she pumped the superhuman speed up. Gohan blinked in shock, before smiling and chasing after her, making sure to keep things more or less fair as they emerged from the trees.

Videl glanced back, the competitive edge mixed with amusement in her eyes as she smirked… only to trip spectacularly as she kicked a rock, sending herself flipping forward, arms flailing as her world turned upside down, closing her eyes as she prepared to faceplant even before her flight training began.

Only she never hit the ground, looking up at Gohan as he caught her by the ankle, leaving her dangling upside down. "Crop's looking good this year" Gohan said with a snort.

A hard rap of her knuckles against his shin was the, in her eyes, appropriate response. "Hah hah" she grumbled, placing her hands on the ground and pulling herself free, rolling back to her feet. Brushing off her own shins, having caught a spray of dirt as she uprooted the stone, she glanced back at Gohan as an evil smirk crossed her face. "So I look good, huh?" she said, smiling sweetly.

The reaction was immediate, as Gohan's eyes went wide and face went red, a stuttering mess leaving his mouth as he tried to formulate a response. Not waiting for to reboot, she turned around and kept running. And if anyone asked, she did NOT giggle with delight at the infuriated "VIDEL!" that rang out behind her as she did.

She planted her feet down at the site of their last sparring session before Gohan was able to catch back up to her, turning around and winking at Gohan as he lagged behind. "No need to be all flustered, Gohan" she laughed. "It's not like you were lying anyways."

Gohan's face remained red, but he huffed. "Oh laugh it up" he grumbled. "Keep it up and I might have you figure out flying on your own. Might be fun to watch."

"You could. But you won't" Videl countered, and him looking away and not meeting her eyes was all the vindication she needed.

The two settled into a silence for a moment, Gohan visibly trying to get his brain to start working again as he gathered his words for their lesson. "Alright… you ready?" he offered, getting a swift nod as his answer. "Okay." He took a deep breath.

"Flight, at least the way humans discovered it, was originally created by the Crane School. And while I'd be remiss to give them credit for much, as most of the school as it was turned out assassins without much in the way of honor, the Sky Dancing technique was theirs before it spread to other schools and styles."

"Flying with Ki is more or less the same across all forms of sentient life that I've ever seen, even for the brief time I was in space" he continued. "The principles are rather simple." He stood up straight and took a strong stance. "Picture… picture a rocket's thruster" he said. "Rockets fly by force the energy they generate from burning fuel downwards. The whole 'equal and opposite reaction' business" he said with a wave of his hands. "Flying with Ki is fairly similar, albeit less flashy. At a basic level, you're simply forcing enough Ki in the opposite of the direction you want to go in order to generate the force necessary to move."

He began levitating in the air as Videl watched him intently. "Of course, the details are just as important. If all I was doing was forcing energy down out of my feet, I'd have very little control or stability. An important part of flying is to actively be harnessing energy across your entire body, creating… sort of like a shell around you. You can manipulate the energy around you to determine your balance" he said, leaning forward to be parallel with the ground, before doing a slow flip in the air and touching back down. "It's not too dissimilar to the way you're channeling your energy when you want to power yourself up physically for a fight, but there is enough of a difference that it'll take a little getting used to."

Videl nodded slowly, absorbing what Gohan was saying. "So… use my energy as a frame for balance, and ejecting it to generate force…"

Gohan nodded and held up a finger. "Yes, but you're not trying to release your ki in the same way you would when you're trying to blast. Think of it more like what you were doing when you were practicing your Eagle Kick. But instead of a burst of energy for quick, jolting motions, you want a steady, controlled stream. After all, if you put out the energy too fast, you can go out of control and crash."

"Like Eagle Kick, huh?" she said, nodding. "Okay… okay yeah, I think I can manage something like that." She stood as straight as possible, and looked down.

Only the cool morning air whistling through the trees was heard as she concentrated. Her power visibly swelled, aura becoming visible, a white sheen fluttering around her whole body as the grass surrounding her flattened. She tensed up a bit as she wrapped herself in a cocoon of her own energy, and then…

Nothing happened. Several moments passed without anything else happening. Videl's face was screwed up in concentration as her feet remained planted firmly on the ground. There was another swell of energy, and Gohan was already ready to move as it happened.

A wave of force erupted from beneath Videl's feet as she launched herself into the air, eyes going wide as she ascended, before stopping some forty feet up and beginning to fall. Gohan sprung up and caught her before she could fall too far, lowering them back down slowly. "Didn't we just say not a burst?" he chided lightly as they descended.

Videl looked frustrated and glanced away. "I wasn't getting any lift" she mumbled.

Gohan smiled as they touched down and placed her back on the ground. "This takes practice. You need to learn the right amount of energy to use and the right force to apply."

She looked like she wanted to argue for a moment, but sighed. "Yes, sensei" she muttered with a little sarcasm, getting a snort in response, which was good enough for her.

Taking a moment before she tried again, she looked off towards the sunrise, which had now fully risen over the peak of the mountain. She looked back towards Gohan to say she was ready to try again, but was stopped short when she looked past him to see a familiar blonde watching them. Erasa locked eyes with her and gave her a scrutinizing look that had her feeling a little self conscious for reasons she couldn't quite understand.

"Good morning Videl. Gohan" she said, walking up to the pair. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Gohan turned around and gave Erasa a smile and a nod, as Videl shot her best friend a look. "Not really. Why?"

That look came back as Erasa smirked at Videl. "Oh, I was just starting to wake up when I heard Gohan just scream your name. I can only imagine what you were doing to the poor boy" she said, as Videl began doing her best tomato impression. Gohan looked a little lost. "And then I make my way over to see Gohan carrying you bridal style. I was worried I had walked in on-"

Having successfully gotten both halves of her demographic to react, Videl nearly teleported up in front of Erasa and clapped a hand over her mouth. "You didn't see anything" she hissed. "That was just Gohan catching me after a flying mishap."

"Ohh, I see, gotcha" Erasa said with a wink. "After hearing the way Gohan said your name, I thought there was another reason you two were on cloud nine-"

"Just because I'm still learning to fly doesn't mean I'm not perfectly capable of making you fly. Zip. IT!" Videl hissed, her face quite literally steaming in the cool mountain air.

Erasa chuckled. "Love you too, Videl." She turned to Gohan, who wasn't quite as red as Videl but was certainly on his way. "Don't work her too hard, Gohan" she said, before walking back to the Son residence.

There was an audible cracking sound as Videl's fists were gripped tight enough to crush diamonds. "I'm going to kill her… I can make sure there's no evidence if I can make a big enough blast…" she muttered before taking a deep breath, trying to cool off, metaphorically and literally. "Theoretically, of course" she said, not making eye contact with Gohan.

Gohan swallowed audibly and nodded. "Let's… let's just get back to practicing, okay?" he offered meekly.

Videl nodded and took her stance again. "Learn to fly… learn to fly and throw her out of the stratosphere…"

"Videl-"

"Of course I'm kidding! Mostly."

Sacred World of the Kais

Goku reappeared and threw a light punch, hitting Kibitoshin's extended forearm as he landed. The Kai nodded approvingly. "I can see that your flexibility with that technique has improved" he commented.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, King Kai was happy that I've just about got his planet back for him, so he helped me train it" he said, looking at his hand. "It might not be my favorite thing in the world to lean on in a fight, but I guess it really does improve my battle speed. And at least it's safer than what Grand Kai was teaching me and Pikkon."

Kibitoshin chuckled and grimaced. "I'm aware of the Grand Kai's techniques. It was part of what earned him the title of strongest amongst the lower Kais" he said, turning to walk. "It's quite the trump card, just try to keep it as such."

"Don't have to tell me twice" Goku said, shaking his head. "It was like when King Kai was teaching me the Kaioken the first time I came here all over again. Although at least Grand Kai was able to use the… did he even name it?" Goku stopped as the realization hit him.

"No, he never came up with something 'hip enough'" Kibitoshin said with air quotes, "for his taste. I think for a while he took to calling it the Unleashed Soul technique, but decided it didn't roll off the tongue smoothly enough and just gave up. He probably decided there was no need, since the technique manifested itself differently for each user."

Goku chuckled nervously. "You can say that again. Grand Kai just sorta glowed and got really strong. After seeing that, I wasn't really expecting to make a giant gold-"

The two's conversation was cut off as they were buffeted by a wave of force. Not enough to knock either over, but enough to catch their attention as they both turned to face where the other two beings currently inhabiting the planet were situated. Elder Kai had braced himself to stop himself from being knocked over, and was shaking his head and grumbling as he sat back up and put his hands forward again. Goku let out a low whistle. "They're not even done yet, and Piccolo's power has already shot through the roof" he commented.

"...Indeed" the Kai said, with a brief sigh. "It's shameful that threats to the universe's balance must be left to your hands, but at least they'll be safer in them."

Goku glanced at the god, wide-eyed. "Hey now, come on, you're doing as good of a job as you can. Didn't the old Kai say that like, all your friends got killed by Buu? It's kind of unfair to say you're doing a bad job when you're doing 5 people's jobs at once, isn't it?"

"It may not be fair, but nevertheless it's the cards dealt to this universe" Kibitoshin said. "And unfortunately it will be many centuries yet before any of the lower Kais will have a chance to reach a level where they could look to be promoted."

"Wait, you were down at King Kai's level once?" Goku asked.

He nodded. "We may be gods, but much like mortals we still have to work our way up. Those of us that get assigned quadrants, should we do so well enough, can then become Supreme Kais."

"...Huh" Goku said. "Kinda weird to think that there might be Kais out there that aren't up here with us. I just assumed that the Kais just… were? I dunno, I guess I never thought too much about it."

"Not many do" Kibitoshin said with a small nod. "Even among those who have spend millenia in Otherworld, not many catch out attention like you and your friends" he said, patting Goku on the shoulder. "The divine machine that keeps this universe running is meant to be a mystery to most. There's a lot of secrets best kept as such, after all. That there are more Kais than the quadrant leaders, the Grand Kai, and the Supreme Kais is among the most minor of them."

"I see… well, still, you rose this high, you can still get stronger" Goku said, holding his fist out. "I mean, going from the bottom up to the top of the entire universe is really impressive, I doubt you've hit your limit."

Kibitoshin looked deadpan at Goku. "Goku, I do appreciate that, but let's be realistic here. I fused with Kibito. As incredibly power as the Potara fusion is, you probably would still best me in combat if you used Super Saiyan 3."

"But you can still train" Goku urged. "This doesn't have to be your limit. I know you can't really risk dying because you need to watch the universe, but there are ways to train without risk." Goku reached out and bumped the Kai's fist anyways. "Heck, you can call me up to help you train if you need a sparring partner. Once you get stronger you won't have to worry about feeling like you aren't doing your job well. The next time a Buu comes along, you can just take them out nice and fast!"

Against his will, Kibitoshin let out a small smile. "I'll consider taking you up on that, Goku" he said. "Although personally, I feel I ought to find a way release Kibito from this fusion before anything like that, if it's possible. I can't help but feel guilty that my personality remained so dominant in our combination, like I erased him."

"Well, Porunga should have a wish left over when me and Piccolo get wished back" Goku proposed. "We can see if that's within his power. We can wait to wish away Earth's memories of Buu until Shenron recharges" he said, looking thoughtful. "If Porunga can't, I think I kinda remember hearing about something about the Yardrats having a technique that could separate energy, oh or maybe-"

"I appreciate it, Goku" Kibitoshin said with a smile and a small nod. "If I haven't found a method of undoing the fusion by then I will be happy to accept your help." He turned away to continue walking, but stopped after just a few steps, a look of puzzlement crossing his face. "How…" he turned back to look to Goku. "Maybe my concerns over being this universe's guardian were more valid than you give credit for" he said with a frown. "I sense one of Hell's souls in the upper half of Otherworld."

A look of confusion and concern flashed over Goku's face. "Really? You're sure?"

"Positive. Souls sent down below have a certain… taint to their aura. It's faint, but Kais are highly adapt at sensing it" Kibitoshin said, turning around a few times before setting his eyes in a seemingly random direction. "They don't seem to be moving much right now. I can't tell what they're doing, but I believe we should nip this in the bud" he said, looking back to Goku. "Assuming you don't mind lending me aid, just in case."

Goku nodded solemnly, a gentle breeze kicking up as his hair turned blonde. "You don't have to ask me twice" he said, reaching out and placing a hand on Kibitoshin's shoulder. No sooner had he done so than had the two of them vanished.

Reappearing in the lower realms of Otherworld, Goku took a look around, tensed up and ready to fight. Kibitoshin also gazed around, the tensity leaving his body as he surveyed his surroundings. "I thought…" he said, floating over to the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast golden clouds below, pure confusion crossing his face. "They… returned to Hell?"

Goku followed his gaze, looking down at the cloud barrier. It was subtle, but after spending so long in Otherworld, Goku could spot the slight disturbance that was the sign of something passing through the fluffy barrier. "Why'd they do that?" Goku wondered aloud. "I mean, if I was a bad guy who escaped Hell, why would I go back without a fight. They couldn't have sensed us coming, your warp is instant isn't it?"

Kibitoshin looked troubled, and deep in thought, not responding to Goku's questions. Goku sighed and let his hair fade to black again, looking around a little more. "Something is familiar about this place…" he eyed the site of where there had clearly been a scuffle of some kind. For a moment, he was concerned that whoever had escaped at fought one of the other spirits present, but he remembered Kibitoshin's words about the escapee not doing much. Then it came back to him. "Oh, this is where Cell dragged Piccolo yesterday" he said, smacking his palm. "I was only here for a moment but yeah, I'm pretty sure." He glanced over. "Any chance you were just feeling like, aftershocks of Cell fighting? I mean, he's one of the strongest people down there after all."

"...No, that's not it. I definitely sensed an active presence. At any rate, given Cell's power, I'm more familiar with the feel of his energy than others down there" the Kai sighed. "I suppose it could have been a redeemed soul. While rare, there have occasionally been residents that have served their sentence to a point where they reformed and were allowed into the Otherworld proper. But if that were the case, they wouldn't have returned to Hell, at least not voluntarily."

Goku struck a thinking pose and looked around. There were a few spirits milling about, some in the distance, a few closer staring at the pair. Goku felt his eyes drawn to a woman who was staring intently at them, hiding behind a tree. She was closer to where they had landed than anyone else. When Goku locked eyes with her, her own widened and she quickly hid herself fully behind the tree.

Feeling confused, Goku took a few steps over. "Hey, we're here to help" he said. "Was there anyone here that was threatening or evil or something a bit ago?" he asked. The energy signature of whoever it was was fairly weak, albeit definitely stronger than the average human, and he was getting enough of a reading that she appeared to be in fight or flight mode. "You don't have to be afraid of us. I mean, he's a Kai" he said, gesturing at Kibitoshin. "They kinda have to be good, right?"

She peeked around the tree again, and Goku got a closer look. There was no terror in her eyes. Maybe a bit of fear? Nerves? She took in a shaky breath and locked eyes with him. "No… I… I'm aware you're not a threat to me" she said, in a soft voice, as she stepped around the tree.

Kibitoshin, while still deep in thought, turned to face the spirit. Goku, who was less distracted, came to notice something faster than the god when she became visible. More accurately, he took note of the furry appendage that swayed behind her as she stepped forward. "Whoa, are you a Saiyan?" Goku said, surprised. "I've never seen any other Saiyans in Otherworld, at least not up here. Oh, I'm a Saiyan too, by the way, it's nice to meet you!" he said with a smile.

"It's… very nice to meet you too" she said in a soft voice, with a tone that Goku couldn't quite place.

Kibitoshin approached behind him. "Ma'am, sorry to ask, but have you noticed any evil spirits in the area recently?" he asked. "There was a presence here I noticed, but they seem to have returned to Hell of their own volition. Regardless, I'm still trying to figure out what they were doing here."

The Saiyan woman looked back and forth between Goku and the Kai, and took a breath. "No, there was no evil spirits here" she said.

"You sound so certain" Kibitoshin said with a frown.

The woman nodded. "Well, I never said that there wasn't a soul from Hell here, I just said that there wasn't an evil one."

The frown deepened as Kibitoshin looked at the woman, and then back towards the cliff overlooking the cloud layer. "What, did the spirit try to convince you that it was sentenced unfairly?" he asked warily. "Because I can promise you the judgment process is very thorough."

Her gaze hardened just a little bit, as a bit of what Goku recognized as normal Saiyan temperament slipped through. "I'll have you know that the soul here happened to be someone I knew very well in life" she said defiantly. "I'm aware that it's a form of rule breaking, but they took advantage of the breach to come visit me. Once they were done, they returned to their… sentence." Her righteous anger began to simmer near the end as she began looking down. "Listen… the soul in question has been down there for over a thousand years. I'd appreciate it if you just let them have this."

Goku scratched his head. "More than a thousand?" he thought out loud. "Huh, weird."

The Saiyan looked at him curiously. "Weird how?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Vegeta said that the Saiyans only got armor like that when Frieza came around" Goku said, gesturing at her outfit. "How did you know someone who's been down here for that many years?"

The woman's eyes widened a bit as Kibitoshin looked at her a little more sternly. "You're hiding something" he said bluntly.

"No I…" she trailed off. "Look I heard some of the Kais can read minds. Can you just… do that, to clear things up?" she offered, looking down at her feet.

Kibitoshin crossed his arms for a moment, before his eyes lit up a gentle blue. The woman let out a short gasp as the psychic link took hold. None of them moved for a moment, the background noise of Otherworld fading out until the light faded, leaving the woman letting out a breath she had been holding, and Kibitoshin with a look of both understanding and confusion on his face. He looked at Goku, then back at the woman. "I… see" he said, pausing for an uncomfortably long time, deep in thought. "Well, as long as as long as he doesn't make a habit of breaking out of Hell, I can overlook it for now."

"Who was it?" Goku asked curiously.

Kibitoshin looked at him for a long moment. "...Just another Saiyan" he said. He looked back at the woman with an unreadable expression. "Thank you for your cooperation, we'll be going now." He looked towards Goku, motioning for him to grab ahold.

Goku took the couple steps over to grab onto the Kai's shoulder, and turned to give the other Saiyan a confused but big smile. "Well it was nice meeting you!" he said cheerfully.

The Saiyan nodded. She began to open her mouth to say something, but seemed to be fighting with herself, before letting out a small sigh and smiling back. Goku cocked his head to the side as she looked him straight in the eye, fixing him with a look he couldn't quite place as her eyes misted up. "It was very nice to meet you too, Kakarot."

The image of lower Otherworld vanished as the surroundings once again became that of the Sacred Land of the Kais, just in time for Goku's smile to falter ever so slightly, a puzzled and somewhat apprehensive expression crossing his face. "Huh…"

Kibitoshin turned to face him as he removed his hand. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah it's just…" Goku frowned. Images of his brother, Vegeta when he first came to Earth with Nappa, Turles, and not least of all Broly flashed through his mind. "How did she know my Saiyan name?" he asked, stomach twinging a bit. Usage of that name had never exactly had positive associations in his experience, outside of Vegeta, but even that took years of his rival mellowing out before it lost its edge of disdain.

Kibitoshin's expression remained unreadable, looking at Goku then staring off into the distance to the other two inhabitants of the planet. "Couldn't say" he said neutrally. The smallest of smiles tugged at his lips, not that Goku could see. "Perhaps you should visit again to find out." The ghost of a smile vanished as soon as it appeared. "I have a lot to think about for now though. Pardon me" he offered, vanishing once again without waiting for a response.

"Go ahead" Goku said, chuckling at the empty space as he began walked back across the field to check on Piccolo's progress. An excited smile split his face as he felt the surging spiritual energy within him. "I'm probably gonna be busy soon here anyways!"

Mt. Paozu

Gohan stood at the ready, head craned upwards as Videl slowly ascended. By the look on her face, it was with great concentration and exertion, but inch by inch, Videl had managed to float almost 20 feet off the ground. Erasa was ready to burst, but after her earlier cheers had knocked Videl over when she had barely gotten a foot of liftoff, she managed to contain herself. Sharpner had been awed by the display already, and now, much to Gohan's amusement, he sat cross legged, hands cupped and eyes closed, much like Videl had been when she had made her first attempts to draw her Ki out. It was easy to forget what a novelty flight was to those incapable of it.

Videl stopped in the air, forcing herself to breathe and relax just slightly. The look of extreme concentration faded from her face, and while her balance wavered ever so slightly, she maintained her spot above the ground. "O-okay" she said, somewhat tired but raw glee soaking her tone. "I think I'm getting the hang of it."

Gohan beamed, jumping up and floating up to meet her, stopping about five feet in front of her. "You got the vertical down" he said. "Now can you float towards me?"

Pausing for a moment, Videl nodded, taking another breath. "Shell of energy…" she reminded herself. Invisible to the naked eye, but not to his ki sense, Gohan could see her wrapping herself in her own energy, and tilting ever so slightly forward, slowly floating towards Gohan. Moving forward a little faster than she had moved upwards, it still took a second for her to pull up to Gohan.

"Alright, now try to do backwards" he said, still beaming at her progress as she slowly backed away. "Can you rotate?" That one took her just a second, especially since she was trying to work without physical momentum, but she managed to do a 360 degree spin.

"Okay, here's a tricky one" he said, reaching up behind his head and crossing his arms, his legs coming up and crossing one another. For all appearances, lounging in mid air. "Can you stay up without being ramrod straight?"

Videl scowled, but slowly brought her arms up and separated her legs. She wobbled a bit, waving her arms on reflex to catch herself, but ever so slowly copied Gohan's stance. Or at least tried to. There was still great tension in her pose, but nevertheless it was more flexibility than she had been willing to show.

"Now do a flip" Gohan said with a chuckle.

"Bite me" was the response he got, quite deservedly if you asked Videl.

Gohan held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright. Come on, back to the ground now" he said, descending.

Much like the rest of her first proper flight, it happened slowly, but Videl followed after him, touching down gently and letting out a deep breath that had been trapped in her lungs. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and let out another breath for good measure. "You know, for being like, the end goal of me wanting you to train me, I was expecting to be a little less…"

"Petrified?" Gohan offered.

"For lack of a better term" Videl grumbled. "I'm guessing that it gets faster and smoother with practice like pulling out my Ki?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah I'll figure out some flight exercises and tests that should help you get more comfortable with it" he said. "If for some reason you ever actually have to fight a bigger threat, aerial mobility is going to be really important. Even on the ground, just being able to have full control over your movement adds dimensions to a fight that-"

"Hold up" Videl said, raising a hand. "'If I ever actually have to fight'? I thought another reason for this strength training was to make me a warrior like you? Why does it sound like you have no intentions of letting me fight with you?" The euphoria from her first flight softened it a bit, but Gohan cringed at the glare leveled at him.

He raised his own hands for protection. "Listen, I want you to be able to protect yourself" he said. "But even some of the small time threats here on Earth have so many years of experience on you. And you've got incredible talent, like really! But like… you remember Mercenary Tao, right?" Gohan said, bringing Videl back to that day. "Tao fought my dad when he was younger than us. He's been around for decades. And…" he closed his eyes. "He'd probably still be able to beat you, even after your training."

She was silent as she listened to Gohan. "Like Videl, you've got unbelievable raw talent. You took to this training faster than I thought possible. Heck if you really pushed yourself then the outcome of facing Tao again could probably change within a month or two. But Tao is… a REALLY small fish compared to some of what my family and friends have had to fight. A-And I'm not trying to scare you or make you feel weak Videl. But I wouldn't want you on the front lines for a fight for the Earth." He paused, getting nothing but more silence from Videl. "I… don't want you to get hurt."

The silence was practically deafening at this point, until Videl broke it. "Well, just more reason I gotta catch up to you, now isn't it?" she said, fixing him with a sharp look, a fire burning behind her eyes. "Tao's got decades? You've got like 13? I'll just have to push my training right through that calender to catch up" she said, gripping her first and smirking at Gohan. "Then you won't have a choice whether or not I'm on the front lines because I'll knock your ass out to get there if I have to."

Smirking at the gobsmacked expression on Gohan's face, she stanced up, floating upwards faster than before. "No time for breaks. Come at me Gohan, I'm gonna work on this aerial combat thing until the sun disappears, and now that I can fly, it's gonna take a lot longer for it to go behind the horizon." Her balance was still a little wobbly, but sheer determination and the fire lit within her kept her afloat.

Gohan picked his jaw up off the ground and stared at her. He could feel several things swirling around. Shock. A little pride. A worry, quickly diminishing in the face of her drive. And just a little bit of heat prickling his cheeks. He rose up to meet her, and settled into a loose stance of his own. And without warning, lunged forward and brought a sweeping kick across the gap. Videl's arm shot up to block the impact, but was sent spinning through the air. She quickly dropped, but managed to catch herself just enough to avoid crashing. She planted her feet and sprung up at Gohan with a similar force to her first attempt at flight, throwing a jab straight at him.

Catching her fist, Gohan smirked. "I'm ashamed to have expected anything else" he said, spinning around and tossing her. "There's no time to waste then. If you really want to make up for lost time, then there's somewhere I gotta take you. But we're not getting you there until you're flying like a bird."

"A bird?" Videl said, puffing as she righted herself in air. She gathered a blast in her palm and lunged forward, using her new Hawk Charge technique. "I'm way ahead of you, Brains" she said as she plunged the blast into her friend.

Gohan laughed as he blocked, the blast creating a smokescreen that he waved aside. He extended a hand forward and grabbed Videl's shoulder, offering her some of his own energy to keep going, so that neither of them had to worry about her burning through her reserves and crashing. "Then prove it" he said, readying his own blast.

Capsule Corp

There was a tremendous clanging sound as Trunks flew against the wall, before collapsing to the ground, his breathing ragged and desperate as he tried to stand back up, only to fall flat onto the ground.

Vegeta stared intensely at where his son had fallen, allowing him two more attempts before he walked over to the control panel and turned off the gravity generator. The red glow faded from the room as the weight bearing down on both of the Saiyans lessened dramatically. Trunks slowly struggled to a kneeling position, and then to his feet, face still aimed at the ground.

"You're distracted."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. One that didn't yet garner a response.

"You've thrown yourself into training with me nonstop" Vegeta continued. "You yourself said that no amount of strength can right what happened."

He paused again, and gave the time traveler an scrutinizing glare. "You've still refused to talk about the events that lead up to you returning to our timeline. But if it wasn't Majin Buu, nor Janemba, then the monster you fought in your time-"

"Father, please, I just-"

"Training like this isn't going to make you any more successful when history repeats itself here" Vegeta snapped, Trunks flinching back. "Not when you're too buried in your head to focus on a simple spar. How long do you think you're going to last when this monster returns and begins the slaughter anew."

Trunks' head darted up as he locked eyes with Vegeta, a hardened glare in his eyes as they flashed from onyx to teal, the glow and the fierceness disappearing as soon as they came. "I… even if I can't save my world, I can at least make efforts to ensure this world doesn't meet with a similar fate. But I…"

"But as you are now, you aren't making the strides you need" Vegeta cut him off. "And you aren't going to until you get your damned head screwed on straight." He reached out and grabbed Trunks by the shirt and began pulling him out of the gravity chamber.

"H-hey!" Trunks spluttered. "What are- where are we-"

Vegeta didn't look back as he lead Trunks out of the chamber. "We're getting your mother, and we're sitting down so you can tell us about this calamity."

Not looking at his son, he didn't see his pupils shrink at the thought. "Father, please, I don't want to-"

"Avoiding your recollections clearly hasn't helped you, so if we have to drag the story out of you, so be it" Vegeta said, stopping briefly to look back at Trunks. "We don't know how the timelines match up. What if this monster arrives tomorrow? If this is really a threat like you say it is, time can't afford to be wasted by your half-assed attempts to gain power." Turning back around as they approached Bulma's lab, he took on a softer tone. "Besides, do you think the Bulma of your time sent you back to remain paralyzed by the past, or to move into a better future?"

"..." Trunks couldn't respond as they rounded the corner, with Bulma coming into view, her back turned to the two of them as she furiously typed away on her computer.

Vegeta rapped his knuckles harshly on the doorframe, the clanging sound echoing through the lab, making Bulma jump. "What are-" she cut herself off as she wheeled around to face the two of them. She took in the scene, looked at Trunks, and then locked eyes with Vegeta and raised an eyebrow. "This is happening?" Vegeta nodded. Bulma sighed. "Let's go to the living room. I'll get some tea going."

Slightly shorter, trying to set some things in motion, and trying to get back into the swing of writing.

Despite how long it's been since I was updating consistently, this story has constantly been playing in my head, plot beats, events, and interactions playing, being rewritten, directions changing. Cell would be proud of how much I get hung up on the idea of perfection, I want to be proud of my take on Toriyama's gift to the world.

That being said, I think I'm going to accelerate things from here. I wanted to take my time, have plenty of down time between big events, a form of filler if you will. I wanted to create a world with words, but I think that desire to fill the gaps has been a bit of a hangup for me. I'll also probably start making slightly smaller chapters. I love stories that update and give a big, meaty new chapter with ten or twenty thousand words to sink my teeth into, but I'm also starting to see why most stories don't, outside of major chapter events. Removing the filler and an arbitrary word count goal should do wonders for my productivity in regards to this story.

With that being said, next chapter should arrive sooner than later. A part of it was already written, when I intended it to be told in this chapter. There was quite a bit cut off of that last segment of the story. That's right. Next time, we're going back… but in the meantime, I hope that the email notification you got before getting here can be cause for the same joy I feel when I receive them. I think I'll probably more or less stop doing author notes after a chapter from here on out, at least the multiple paragraph ones, and will probably go back to delete them from my old chapters at some point. With any luck, I'll remain consistent enough from here that they become less necessary. I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!