Gohan and Krillin's eyes widened upon hearing Piccolo's statement. Had he really just called this stranger Gohan? Why? How? Even the mystery man seemed surprised for a moment before smiling and telling Piccolo,
"Heh, I should've known you'd recognize me, Mr Piccolo."
As the heroes were staring at the mystery man in awe, Krillin then decided to try focusing on his ki. To his shock, it felt exactly like Gohan's save for the power difference. The monk muttered to himself,
"Ok, what the heck is going on…?"
Vegeta, who was still laying on the ground unable to move, looked up at the mysterious man and mentally screamed,
'How?! I'm a super saiyan, but I was defeated in one blow! No, that bastard cheap shotted me! That must be it!"
As Vegeta stared at the mysterious man in rage, the man was staring back at him just as intensely. He then told Gohan, Krillin and Dende to come over to him, which they did, albeit cautiously. Once they floated over and touched down on the ground, Krillin told the mysterious man,
"Alright buddy, we want answers. Who are you and why does your ki feel like Gohan's?"
The mysterious man looked over at Gohan for a bit, who seemed surprised by Krillin's statement, but then looked back at him and said,
"Alright. I guess I should explain. This may be hard to believe, but I am Gohan. From 21 years in the future."
Everyone's jaws dropped upon hearing this, not believing that they just heard. Krillin yelled,
"No way! That's impossible!"
Future Gohan gave a grim look, and Piccolo could instantly tell that he wasn't joking. The namekian recomposed himself and asked the future version of his pupil,
"Judging by that scar and your missing arm, I'm guessing you didn't come here for a cordial visit. Does something happen in your future?"
After a tense silence, future Gohan breathed in and out. He even began trembling a little. Piccolo noted this and realized that whatever happened had to be extremely bad to elicit that kind of reaction. Future Gohan then steeled himself and told the heroes,
"Let's start from the beginning. Oka-chan…you never find her…"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock and horror upon hearing this, and future Gohan continued, saying gravely,
"Just now, right before you were about to kill Vegeta Mr Piccolo, he would have unleashed a super explosive wave that would've blinded us long enough for him to ignite the planet's core and escape. Mr Popo had to use the wish on Shenron to teleport us back to Earth before the planet exploded. It took a while, but we still managed to revive the others. But Oka-chan…"
The heroes all looked at future Gohan in shock, still processing what he had said about Goka. Tears began to stream down the younger Gohan's eyes, and despite not fully understanding what he was going through, Dende put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. It was clear whoever this "Oka-chan" person was was important to him. Meanwhile Piccolo was clenching his fists so hard they began bleeding and Krillin was just looking at the ground in shock and shame.
Piccolo damned himself, yelling in fury,
"DAMMIT, SO THAT BASTARD WOULD'VE ESCAPED?! I SHOULD'VE JUST FINISHED HIM OFF FROM THE BEGINNING!!!"
His anger was so intense that his aura began to flare, startling Krillin, Gohan and Dende. However, the Namekian warrior managed to quickly regain his composure, calming down as his aura dissipated. He then looked Future Gohan in the face with dead serious eyes and asked him,
"What. Happened. Next?"
Looking at Piccolo with eyes just as serious as his, Future Gohan told him,
"After we returned home, I began training with you intensely while trying to keep up my studies. I blamed myself for not being strong enough to stop Vegeta from taking Oka-Chan, and thought that if I grew stronger, I would be able to stop myself from losing anyone else. But…"
"But what?"
Future Gohan clenched his fists and he began to sweat, steeling himself before telling Piccolo,
"5 years from now, on the morning of May 12th at 10 AM on an island 9 miles off of South CIty…two monsters will appear, with power beyond our imagination."
Piccolo's ears perked up at this, the namekian crossing his arms and asking,
"Are they aliens?"
"No. They're androids created on Earth by a mad scientist from the former red ribbon army…named Dr Gero."
Krillin, the only hero present who was alive during the conflict with the Red Ribbon, gasped in shock before yelling,
"The Red Ribbon Army?!"
Future Gohan nodded and replied,
"Yes. Oka-Chan destroyed the army years before this, but Gero survived and continued his research. I don't know what his end motive was, but what I do know is that his androids killed him not long after they awakened."
The younger Gohan then asked his older counterpart,
"You're this strong…but these androids scare you?"
"Yes. I think I'm stronger than them individually, but it's two on one…"
A confused Krillin asked where they were, but Future Gohan turned silent. Recognizing what Future Gohan's face likely meant, Piccolo asked him,
"We're dead…aren't we?"
Future Gohan, even while shaking, nodded and replied,
"Yes. they killed you. Every single fighter Earth had besides me is dead. First they killed you, Piccolo, then Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yajirobe….even Krillin. I'm the only one who escaped."
Gritting his teeth, Future Gohan yelled in angered despair,
"Every time I get the upper hand, they gang up on me and beat me down! I just can't win! Even with my new form, I…"
Future Gohan then suddenly had a realization, quickly regaining himself and looking at the heroes. They all seemed confused and Piccolo asked about the new form he mentioned. Breathing in and out, Future Gohan told the heroes,
"That reminds me. There's something else. When you died, Piccolo, something awakened in me. For the longest time I didn't know what this power was, but my Bulma had a theory. Let me show you."
Future Gohan then began powering up, his ki aura flaring and his power began rising higher and higher. Everyone was shocked by the sheer output emitting from him, and Piccolo was especially amazed that his student became this strong in the future. After a few seconds, Future Gohan told them,
"This is my full power. But I can go one step further!"
He then let out a roar, and his aura suddenly golden as his hair spiked up and turned the same color, with his eyes turning teal and taking on an intense look. The heroes were all blown back by the sheer power of the transformation, and once they got to their feet they were in awe. Future Gohan then said to them,
"Like I said, for the longest time I didn't know what this power was; but my timeline's Bulma thinks that this is the real super saiyan form, and what Vegeta has is some sort of false version he attained because he wasn't strong enough to get the real thing."
Vegeta felt sick to his stomach upon hearing this. The mere idea that he wasn't really a super saiyan, that even though he had killed Frieza he had failed to fulfill his sacred birthright, made him want to end himself right there. Regardless, he continued to listen to Future Gohan talking to the heroes, curious about the androids the future warrior was talking about. Perhaps once he became a true super saiyan, he could challenge them to see their capabilities.
Krillin then broke his silence and asked Future Gohan,
"Alright, buddy. Even if you are from the future, how did you get to this time?"
Future Gohan smiled and then reverted to his base form, telling the bald monk,
"I was wondering when you would ask me that! By my time, Bulma has built a time machine that enabled me to travel to this era. I'll show you it."
Future Gohan then dug into his belt and pulled out a capsule, throwing it on the ground. The capsule exploded in a large puff of smoke, and once the smoke cleared the heroes and Vegeta saw a blue and yellow egg shaped pod with 5 rockets jutting out of it and 4 metal protrusions to keep it stabilized.
Everyone was amazed by this, and the younger Gohan's mind raced with theories on how time travel worked. Future Gohan then put the time machine back in it's capsule and continued his explanation, telling the heroes,
"I arrived not long after you guys left for Namek and asked Dr Briefs to build me a spaceship so I could come here. Once he knew who I was, he was more than happy to help."
Present Gohan asked how long he had been there, and his future self replied,
"I've been here ever since Vegeta turned into that false super saiyan form, but my power's been suppressed the whole time. Sorry, but I had to stay in hiding to make sure you all got as strong as possible before I changed things."
Piccolo then asked what they were supposed to do with Vegeta, and Future Gohan shot the saiyan prince a dirty look. At this point he had gotten to his feet and was staring at Future Gohan on the verge of blowing a blood vessel. With barely disguised contempt in his voice, the future warrior told his allies,
"He's going to be taking us to Oka-Chan…"
Vegeta gritted his teeth in anger at this half saiyan threatening him, but was smart enough to realize that in his current state, he was no match for any of these people. Extremely reluctantly, Vegeta told them,
"Fine. But only because I'm curious to see what these androids are really made of, and I planned to retrieve Kakarottta anyway.""
Future Gohan nodded and then flew off with everyone else following after him, including Dende. When questioned why, Dende explained that he wanted to accompany Gohan in reuniting with his "Oka-Chan." Besides, He didn't have anything left on Namek. Sympathetic to the Namekian boy's plight, Gohan let him follow them.
However, a dreaded expression suddenly fell over Krillin's face. Concerned, present Gohan asked Krillin what was wrong. The bald monk then yelled,
"I totally forgot! we left Bulma!"
Present Gohan breathed a sigh of relief, telling Krillin not to scare him like that again. The heroes and Vegeta then headed to the cave where Bulma was staying and carried her off, the blue haired scientist having the situation explained to her while they flew to Future Gohan's ship. She was skeptical at first, but once Future Gohan explained things only Gohan could know, she believed him.
Once they all arrived at Future Gohan's ship, it was opened by the future warrior and everyone walked in. Once the door was shut, Vegeta explained the coordinates of Frieza Planet 79 to Future Gohan, who typed them in and then hit the takeoff button. With a resounding boom, the ship took off into the stars, leaving the empty Namek behind.
Power levels
Future Gohan (Full power): 18,000,000
Future Gohan (Super Saiyan): 900,000,000
Hey, sorry that this chapter had so little happening in it. Hopefully the plot will pick up later. And I hope you guys drop more comments soon! I love reading and answering them!