Chapter 69

"Welcome to the T-zone." Grand Kai said with a sweeping gesture.

Zangya stared at the Grand Kai for a moment.

"What's the T stand for?" She finally asked.

"Uh…" Grand Kai scratched his head. "Well, it stands for trainin' of course."

"Oh." Zangya said with a hint of disappointment.

"What's wrong?" Grand Kai asked worriedly.

"Nothing." The Hera shrugged. "Just thought it would stand for something less obvious, that's all. T for training. Very practical." She said halfheartedly.

"Hey now!" Grand Kai said indignantly. "This place is out of sight! It's a pocket dimension, an indestructible trainin' facility just for my hand chosen students. Ki suppression for max growth, no upper limit on the gravity settin's, and you wouldn't believe the special equipment this place is packin'!"

"Oh, sure." She nodded. "Cool place. Could have come up with a cooler name though. But hey, T-zone's fine. I mean it's no 'hyperbolic time chamber', but I guess old guys are more about function than style."

The old man stared at her as she looked away. He grit his teeth and turned around, whipping out a note pad. 'I'll show you style! T… T… tesseract pad? Nah. Time hack? No, no. Trans-verse? Nah, sounds like a hentai site.'

While the old man was coming up with a cooler name, Zangya had turned her attention to the horizon. The pained voices she had heard earlier had gotten much closer, and she was sure she knew who the first one was. Three massive sky scrapers came into view, each structure consisting of a stack of massive weights, laid on top of a sled, and dragged by figures that Zangya could just make out. Sure enough, leading the trio was Goku, pulling his sled behind him with immense difficulty, but not nearly as much as the two behind him. One was a green man with pink lips and a strange hat, while the other was a muscly reddish man with a mohawk whom she recognized as the south Supreme Kai.

"Please?" the Supreme Kai wheezed, sweat pouring down his face. "I just… S-slow downs… Just need… a second."

"Can't… Slow… down…" Goku huffed in response. "Winner… Get's… Extra… Rice!"

At such a blank refusal, the south Supreme Kai could take no more. He stopped pulling, dropped to his knees, and sucked in a massive breath. Unfortunately for him, before he could finish his first breath, the sled he was pulling produced a cannon, and a massive energy blast fired from it, hitting him square in the back.

"GEEYEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The hair-raising scream echoed all around the T-zone, and the South Supreme Kai was back on his feet.

"Beautiful, aint it?" Grand Kai said with a smile. "Nothin' like good old-fashioned strength trainin' to get the engine hot again. Alright boys!" He called to his students. "Wrap it up! We got company!"

The three warriors dragged their sleds all the way past a line on the ground, where Goku bent over with his hands on his knees, Pikkon dropped to both knees, and Southy fell flat on his face. Each warrior was gasping for air, and great drops of perspiration fell from their bodies like heavy rain.

"Suck it up, drama queens." The old man chided. "I'm tryin ta show you off, and here you are actin like you're tired or somethin'."

"Sorry… Grand Kai." Goku tried to stand up straight, but only managed to get less bent over. Pikkon made it to one knee, while the Supreme Kai raised his head with one eye shut.

"Well… That'll do I guess." Dean shrugged, then turned to Zangya. "So, whaddaya think?"

Zangya looked thoughtful for a moment. She looked at each of the warriors, landing on Goku last. He gave her a smile, which she returned with a frown as it reminded her a bit too much of another Saiyan's goofy grin. "I think it's pretty lame that you wouldn't let Goku get wished back immediately if this is all you were having him do." She said at last. "Doesn't seem like he's gotten much stronger compared to before."

"That's cuz he hasn't been here the whole time." Grand Kai explained. "Had him runnin a few errands at first. Pretty important stuff, you know. But he can tell you all about that later. He's only been here a week. These Saiyans are crazy, man."

This surprised Zangya. If she was gaging his power correctly, his strength had almost doubled since he fought with her against Buu. 'All that in only a week…' she thought. 'maybe it would be worth it…' in defiance of her thoughts, she hardened her stare. Then she walked over to the nearest sled.

"So, this is what you do for training?" She asked the Grand Kai while putting a hand on the weights.

"It's one of my methods." Grand Kai nodded.

"I see." Zangya said. then, she bent her knees, turned her torso, and straightened her arm, pushing the enormous pile of weights at least 400 meters away in a single thrust.

Grand Kai remained silent at this display, while south Kai and Pikkon stared at her with bulging eyes.

Meanwhile, Goku laughed. "Wow, that's pretty amazing, Zangya." He complimented. "You might even give Gohan a run for his money."

The mention of Gohan soured the girl's mood even further. She looked Grand Kai in the face. "Here I thought you had some ancient wisdom, or special method, but weight training?" She flipped her hair contemptuously. "If that's is all you have to offer, I can do that on my own. Maybe these three are tougher than those other guys, but if you ask me, they'd probably get this strong on their own in this kind of space. You can't really take credit for any of their growth, can you?"

"Well, I did make this space." Grand Kai countered.

"Sure," Zangya shrugged. "But back on earth, I've been told about this thing called the hyperbolic time chamber that does pretty much the same thing. I could just do strength training in there for a year and get the same results. Even better if I went in with 18 or Broly as a sparring partner."

"No, you couldn't." Dean said with a chuckle. "Besides, I told you that strength trainin' was just one of my methods."

"Oh yeah?" Zangya asked skeptically. "What other mysterious methods do you have? Washing and waxing your car?"

"A classic, but no." Grand Kai smiled. "You'll just have to stay to find out."

"Nice try." Zangya rolled her eyes. "I think I'll take my chances on my own. Pretty sure I could just ask Piccolo or Bulma for any 'Special equipment' I might need." She started walking toward the car. "Now that I know you've got nothing to offer, you can take me back now."

"Say hi to everyone for me when you get back." Goku smiled as she passed him.

"Sure." Zangya grumbled. "Whatever. Whoah!" She jumped back when she nearly ran into Grand Kai, who had suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Hah." Dean sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "You kid's always seem to have an ego on ya. Always overestimating your own strength."

Zangya scowled. "Oh really? Well, at least I'm stronger than you, oh 'Grand Kai'."

"Wanna bet?"

"Excuse me?" Zangya looked at the old man like he was crazy.

"You so sure you could whip me in a fight, put your money where your mouth is."

"Aha!" Zangya let out a laugh of derision. "No offense old man, but from a guy that could only deal with me and Bojack by sealing us, that's pretty hilarious. I'm far beyond that level now, and I would crush you in less than a minute."

"You couldn't do it in five." Dean taunted. "In fact, if you so much as lay a finger on me within five minutes, I'll call it your win."

Zangya smirked. "I didn't think Kais went senile, but you really are serious, aren't you? So, what? If I lose, I suppose I'll have to stay here and train, is that right?"

"Yep. Along with everything that entails." He said with an ominous inflection.

"Sure." She waved her hand, ignoring his tone. "But what if I win?" Zangya asked. She knew that she would never lose against this guy, but why go through the trouble if there was nothing in it for her? "I think I've made it clear you've got nothing I want. So, as much as I'd love to kick your butt, I think I'll get going now."

Grand Kai thought for a moment. "Hmm… That's right, you haven't had one in a while, have you?"

"One what?" Zangya asked impatiently.

"One of these." Grand Kai produced a fat, beautiful, golden apple. Not yellow. Not golden delicious. Solid, shining, gold.

Zangya's eyes widened and her mouth started to water, drool threatening to flood from her gaping mouth. 'W-where did you? How did you? Th-those are…"

"All but extinct since your home planet was destroyed." Dean smiled triumphantly. "The golden apples of the goddess."

"I… I've had dreams about them." Zangya said dreamily as she wiped her chin. "The pastries I could make…"

"Huh. Never thought of makin' em inta pies, but you win, it's yours to do with what you want." Grand Kai tossed the apple to Goku, who nearly fumbled it from surprise.

"Hold onto that till the match is over, kay Goku?" Grand Kai instructed.

"Oh, sure thing." Goku eyed the fruit enviously.

Zangya stared at Goku, then to the old man. A wicked smile crossed her face. "Well, since you're so insistent, I guess I have no choice but to brutally assault a deity."

"No holds barred suit you?" Dean asked.

"Fine. Gonna look pretty funny when the Grand Kai has a halo." She snarked.

The Grand Kai tossed a stopwatch to the green warrior. "Pikkon, keep time, will ya?"

"Of course, Grand Kai." Came the reverent reply. He got to his feet and raised his hand. "Ready?" he looked at both combatants, neither one adopting a fighting stance. "Begin!"

Zangya immediately vanished appearing the next moment behind Grand Kai, her arm ready to chop his neck from behind. Just as she was about to hit her mark, the Kai bent over, allowing the knife hand to sweep along the back of his neck up his head, millimeters from touching him.

Zangya paused, stunned that he had avoided her. She furrowed her brow, and followed up with a kick to his back, and just as before, her attack narrowly missed as he spun ever so slightly out of the way.

"Mm." The Grand Kai hummed. "Time's a tickin. Sure you won't just give up now?"

"Grr… HAA-"

Break

"-AAAH!" Goten finished a scream, powering up as high as he could go. As soon as he had finished yelling, he looked at his hands, then his feet, then ran to a nearby lake to see his reflection. "Aww." His face sunk in disappointment.

Gohan suppressed a smile. "Goten, you can't just power up and-"

""HAAAAAH!"" Nazz and Chokly finished their scream in unison.

"Well?" Chokly demanded of her friend. "How do I look?"

"Same." Nazz replied. "What about me?"

"Ugh!" Chokly groaned. "Are you even trying to transform?"

"Hey! Like you're doing any better!" Nazz shot back.

Gohan shook his head. "Guy's it takes more than-"

"OORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Quillin yelled.

"Yeah!" Soga nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, that's it! But his feet were a bit further apart when he did it. Plus, the hands might've been a bit higher."

"More badass transformation, less pretending to take a dump." Kress commented thoughtfully.

"Will you two shut up and let me concentrate!?"

"Stop slacking Kress and get to it yourself!" Nira nagged.

"Hah…" Gohan sighed in resignation. "I should have started with a slide show."

Five minutes ago

"Alright everyone, pay attention." Gohan addressed his Saiyan students. "Now, I know you saw Goten transform on Namek, but seeing it for the first time can be a bit overwhelming, and you probably weren't able to take everything in. This is your chance to see how it works up close."

Each and every one of the Saiyans leaned in closer, straining their eyes so they wouldn't blink and miss something.

Gohan breathed in through his nose, then exhaled from his mouth, keeping his eyes closed to focus. Of course, by now the transformation had become second nature to him, even a reflex. He could do it instantly and in his sleep if he wanted to. But a little showmanship always helped drive the lesson home.

"Haaaaaaaa!" The earth started to tremble, the skies became stormy, and great chunks of earth were floating upward from the sheer power his transformation was producing. Slowly, his hair started flashing between black and gold, while his eyes flitted to sea green and back again to black. "-aaaaaaaAAH!"

The transformation was complete, and the Saiyans stood in awe of the legendary form of the super Saiyan. His golden aura felt warm, even comforting to them, and the sheer power gave them goosebumps. Gohan saw their faces and was pleased his presentation produced the desired result.

"That," He unclenched and clenched his fists, emitting a wave of power, "Is how you become a super Saiyan."

"Oh wow!" Chokly shouted abruptly, taking Gohan out of his reveling. "That looks so easy! Come on Nazz, let's do this!"

"Hell yeah!" Nazz replied, following the smaller female to a safe distance from everyone.

"Man, if I had known it would be that easy, I would have tried it years ago!" Kress laughed.

"Oh boy! I can't wait to transform! I didn't get to enjoy it the first time." Goten clapped.

The young Saiyans plus Nira all scattered around the valley to become super Saiyans, leaving Gohan starring at Rhubub, Lomen, and Heiya with a baffled expression. "But I… Wasn't done explaining."

Present

Gohan looked around at the screaming students and let out another sigh of frustration. "I guess I should have seen this coming." He put his fingers to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle, loud enough that even the howling Saiyans stopped and looked at him.

"Hey!" Gohan yelled. "I wasn't done explaining! Bring it back in!"

Some returned looking sheepish, while others grumbled about how close they were. Gohan silenced them with a look before he continued his lesson. "Look, I know you're all excited, but you can't expect to just scream and get results."

"But isn't that what you did?" Nira asked in confusion.

"Ok, I did scream." Gohan admitted. "But that wasn't the important part. I was trying to show you how the transformation looks, but there's more to it than what it appears to be. First off, you're never going to get it if you just power up."

"But you gotta power up to do it, don't you?" Soga asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Nazz nodded. "You were definitely powering up."

"Well, yeah…" Gohan paused, trying to think of a decent analogy of how the transformation process worked. "Ok, it's like this." He began. "The super Saiyan form is more than just a power up. It's a transformation, just like the oozaru. While the difference in appearance isn't as drastic, your body still has to go through a dramatic change to facilitate such a massive and immediate increase in power. The oozaru uses blutz waves as a catalyst to initiate a reaction in the tail, right? Well, the initial powering up is kind of like that for super Saiyan. You have to build up energy to initiate the change, but that's only one aspect. You need a spark to ignite it. Kind of like if you had a pool of gasoline, and a match, nothing would happen to them on their own. But if the match lights, BOOM! Explosion. Does that make sense?"

Gohan finished by looking at the faces of his pupils. Kress raised his hand.

"Yeah?" Gohan pointed to the dark skinned Saiyan.

"What's Gasoline?" Kress asked.

"Oh, oh!" Chokly raised her hand. "I know this one! It's the stuff that makes cars go!"

"Oh yeah!" Nazz nodded in remembrance. "Chico said that's what we were supposed to fill the delivery van with instead of the dark matter. Did you know that it's made from dinosaurs or something?"

"Like those big lizards stomping around here?" Soga scratched his head. "Why do we need one of those to become a super Saiyan?"

"What?" Gohan asked in befuddlement. "No, that's not-"

"Wait a minute, that makes total sense!" Nazz exclaimed. "When me and Goten were looking for the dragon balls, he fought this big dragon thing. Next thing we knew, he turned super Saiyan against Goyan."

"Oh, now you tell us!?" Chokly yelled at Nazz.

"Way to keep it to yourself, Nazz." Soga sneered.

"Ok, I think you missed the point of my-" Gohan tried to explain himself.

"Well, it's not like I made the connection at the time, but it makes perfect sense right!?" Nazz asked excitedly.

"So, we just need to find some dinosaurs, right?" Nira asked. "That's why you brought us all the way out here. So, we could find them!"

"No, dinosaurs have nothing-" Gohan made another attempt

"I'm pretty sure I saw a herd of them a few valleys over." Quillin spoke up. "Let's go get some gasoline lizards!"

"YEAH!" The others cried in unison, before taking off in the direction the dinosaurs were last spotted.

"HEY!" Goten yelled. "You leave the dinos alone!" He took off after them, leaving Gohan once again alone with Lomen, Heiya, and Rhubub.

"What… What just happened!?" Gohan asked loudly of no one in particular.

"Teaching a group of young Saiyans is no easy task." Lomen said sagely. "It is a skill that is developed over many years of practice in the art."

"Not to mention a healthy dose of physical abuse." Heiya added.

"Ahem, well, yes." Lomen coughed. "That goes without saying." He looked at Gohan "In any case, perhaps we could still be productive while they are on their hunt and begin your training in the oozaru form.

Gohan looked disappointed, not to mention completely exasperated. "I guess so." 'Man, I should have gone with Zangya.'

Break

Zangya launched herself at the Kai, throwing kicks, punches, even claw swipes, but each one missed as narrowly as her first attack. He swayed back from a downward chop, summersaulted over a round kick, and even managed to avoid a punch aimed at his stomach by sucking his gut in. Zangya tried a spinning back kick, but as she spun, he spun behind her, and she stumbled slightly on the landing.

She spun around in a fury, only to see him standing casually with his hands behind his back. "What is your deal!?" She demanded. "You using some kind of trick or something?"

"Wouldn't put it past me." The old man shrugged. "Bein' the Grand Kai and all. But you really want to be askin' questions while the clocks still runnin'?"

"Tch." Zangya narrowed her eyes and took a dyno cap from her pocket. "I've got nothing but time, you lawn gnome! Take this!" She threw the capsule at her opponent with the force of a bullet, and he tilted his head out of the way. The capsule exploded, causing the Kai turn his head to look. Zangya took the chance to charge him, her fist raised to deliver a downward punch.

"HYA!" She cried, but he dodged just as she threw the punch. While her blow had been avoided, a small smile graced Zangya's lips. She threw an uppercut, forcing him to lean backward, into a sword that was flying straight at him. The tip hit his jean jacket, but the Grand Kai rolled to the side and out of his jacket before the blade sliced through.

"Phew!" The old man said, only for Zangya to take hold of the sword and slash up at him. Again, he dodged. "I know I said no holds barred, but dang girl, that jacket was a souvenir!"

Zangya only growled in response, slashing, stabbing, throwing her sword, and swinging it around with her psycho threads, but all attacks met the same outcome and missed their target by the smallest margin possible.

"Runnin' outta time, Red." The old man taunted. "Guess you aint much without the gold fighter."

Zangya's eyes went wide, and something snapped.

"THAT IS IT!" Zangya screamed in rage, powering up and transforming in an instant. The now red and green warrior with amazon physique redoubled her assault on the Kai. But while her movements were faster, the attacks more powerful, and her senses sharper, amazingly she fared no better than before. Each one of her attacks, sword in hand or no, was evaded.

"One minute!" Pikkon called.

In desperation, Zangya fired a barrage of Ki. None of them hit their mark, as Grand Kai avoided the energy with greater ease than her strikes, but they did succeed in their intended purpose. She used the attack to pin him down, then she stuck the ground with such force that the entire planet shook like a leaf in the wind. Pikkon and even Goku stumbled from the quaking, while Zangya made a mad dash for her target. Unfortunately, he seemed supremely unaffected by the shaking and spun out of her way like a bull fighter.

"Heh." He chuckled. "Nice try, but tricks aint gonna work on me…" As soon as he finished, he looked around with some concern, noticing the thinnest of lines glinting all around him in the red light. The girl had woven her web so tightly, there was only one means of escape, a narrow tunnel. "Oh."

"How's this for a trick!?" Zangya shouted as she sped toward the old man with her sword poised to strike.

"You really do got talent, Red." Dean grinned before diving through the tunnel headfirst at Zangya. Had the Hera been less enraged, she may have been confused by this bold move, but in her current state, she didn't care.

When they were inches from colliding, she thrust her sword, sure that he had nowhere to escape in such a narrow space. Victory was hers, until…

POP*

The Grand Kai disappeared, making Zangya screech to a halt midair before she ran into her own psycho threads. She looked around wildly for her quarry, a mad look in her eye.

"Down here, toots."

She looked down where Dean was leaning against a nearby tree with folded arms.

"You cheap son of a! I'll-"

"Time!" Pikkon announced with a shout.

Zangya stopped dead, disbelief overtook the madness in her eyes, and she dropped slowly to the ground.

"Phew!" Grand Kai sighed dramatically with his head back. "Man! What a workout. I gotta admit, I wasn't expectin' to be cornered like that. Mad kudos. Gotta love instant transmission though. Am I right, or am I right? Whatcha say, Goku?"

"Oh." Goku rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, it's pretty great. So, can I eat the apple now?"

"Hold on a minute." Dean said as he walked toward Zangya. She was now on her knees in her base form, sword laying at her side. The Grand Kai stopped in front of her. "So, you still think I've got nothin' to offer you here?"

"I… I don't get it." Zangya muttered. "I couldn't even touch you… Not once. How am I so much weaker than you?"

"Hey now, let's be real here." Dean dropped to take a seat on the grass so he was eye level with the girl. "Truth be told, I couldn'ta lasted much longer than five minutes against you. You aint weaker than me. You just aint got a clue what to do with your strength."

Zangya looked up at him with a mix of confusion and eagerness.

Grand Kai continued. "But that's natural. You're young. You never had a real teacher, did ya? Not in real martial arts, anyway. Me on the other hand? I've had hundreds of millions of years to train and perfect my technique. Though, I still can't compete with you power wise. But listen babe, a fight aint all about power, ya dig?"

Zangya looked at the old man's open, empathetic face before she dropped her gaze with a sigh. "Fine. I lost, and a deal's a deal." She extended her hand which the Grand Kai took after getting to his feet. Then, to his genuine surprise, he felt himself pulled off balance.

CLANG*

Zangya stood over the Kai as he rubbed the massive bump on his head where Zangya's sword hit. She stared down at the crouching man with the Z sword resting on her shoulder.

"Don't ever call me toots again, got it? Oh, and 'babe' is off the table too, by the way."

"Noted." Grand Kai scowled as he rubbed his scalp.

"So…" Zangya sheathed her sword and slung it across her back. "What do you want me to do first?"

He looked up at her, his face clearly questioning her sincerity.

She seemed to take the hint, and lowered her head in a bow. "I'm not too proud to admit I was wrong about you." She offered sincerely. "I look forward to learning from you. Master."

Break

Gohan folded his arms with a thoughtful expression, while the three senior Saiyans spread out around him.

"Are you sure we have time for this now?" He asked. "That valley they were talking about isn't far. They'll probably be back any minute."

"No, they won't." Rhubub replied with a small smile.

Valley of dinosaurs

"I'm telling you guys, the spikey one is the obvious choice!" Nazz held a full-grown stegosaurus above her head with one hand.

"She's right." Soga agreed. "Spikes equal super Saiyan. Seems like a no brainer. Plus, it's got a great hair style!" The two Saiyans admired each other's mohawks, then gave themselves a thumbs up.

"You guys are dumb." Chokly rolled her eyes. "Gohan said it needed to explode. This little guy explodes into a sprint like nothing!" The speedy Saiyan held up a concerned velociraptor.

"You crazy?" Quillin said as he sat on a confused t-rex's head. "This one's obviously the real powerhouse!"

"You're all wrong." Nira lectured aggressively, dragging a reluctant ankylosaurus by the tail. "This one has the max offense and defense."

"Hey!" Goten yelled. "Leave them alone! You don't need a dinosaur to become a super Saiyan!"

"Are you sure?" Nazz tilted her head to the side as she asked. "Didn't you say your brother has a pet dragon? Basically the same thing, right?"

Goten opened his mouth to respond, paused, closed his mouth as he thought about it, then went to find a brontosaurus. "Not gonna let them beat me this time."

Back with Gohan

"If I know my wife and those kids," Rhubub explained, "They'll be gone for a while."

"Oh." Gohan shrugged. "Well, if you say so. Yeah, let's do this!" He found it hard to contain his excitement. Finally, he was about to learn mastery of the oozaru form. He'd always liked his tail, and now he could make full use of all its strengths. "Any advice before we begin?"

Lomen nodded. "The great ape has always been central to our people's power. Even in our normal forms, the animal instinct of our hidden nature can boost our strength in dire circumstances. The transformation itself takes every wild tendency, every ancient instinct for survival and dominance, and manifests them into raw power."

To Lomen's surprise, Gohan was taking notes with a bad and pencil. "Manifests into raw power." He muttered before he looked up at a bemused Lomen to let him continue.

"Er, yes. Now, because of this, unless a Saiyan possesses superior control over their mind, and body, they will succumb to that primal force, and become an uncontrollable beast. That is why to master this form, you must maintain your sense of self. Overcome instinct with sheer force of will."

"Force of will…" Gohan nodded thoughtfully. "So, how come I couldn't control myself fully on Namek? Not to sound arrogant, but I do have a pretty good control over mind and body."

"There could be many reasons." Lomen explained. "Since the form you used was not the standard oozaru, I can only guess based on my own experience. For one thing, you are simply inexperienced in that state. Like anything else, it takes practice, even for a genius like you. Another reason is that you are young. Younger oozaru usually come with an extra surge of emotion and have a wilder nature. It took Nazz, Chokly, Soga, and Quillin a long time before they could use the form proficiently."

"Yeah," Heiya cringed. "Just thinking about the messes they made makes my tail stand on end."

"I started training Kress when he was pretty young, but he didn't get it down until he was around 11." Rhubub added. "Even then, he still goes off the deep end occasionally. They all do."

Lomen smiled as he remembered the rampant destruction. "Mhm. Kids will be kids. Of course, in your case, I suspect the greatest struggle you will face in controlling yourself will stem from your immense power."

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked. "I mean, I get the need for practice, but I assumed that control would be easier the stronger you are. Vegeta even told me a while ago that lower level Saiyans didn't usually achieve sentience while transformed."

"That's partially true." Lomen shrugged. "But that is less a result of power than it is of strength of will. A Saiyan's strength, and overall potential, is generally linked with their will power. Your grandfather, Bardock, was supposedly a lowclass Saiyan, but he achieved unbelievable leaps in power due to his superior spirit." Lomen paused and smiled nostalgically. "He'd be proud to see what has become of his lineage. But listen to me going off like a sentimental fool."

"It's alright." Gohan nodded in understanding. "I guess I never really thought of my Saiyan grandpa. You've got me a little curious now. But you were talking about how power adversely affects control."

"Yes, in a way." Lomen agreed. "Just like your gasoline and match analogy from earlier, the oozaru state is highly volatile. If the power in your base state is the gasoline, and the moon is a match, just think about what happens when you add 10 times the gasoline to the explosion as it ignites."

Gohan thought about this. It made sense in a way. After all, when he first became a super Saiyan, he found it difficult to adjust to the power, even with his dad's help, and it even altered his mind when before he got used to it. The surge of rage was especially potent. He guessed a literal animal form would be a lot worse in that regard, even if the power wasn't comparable.

"So, you're saying since I have so much power, I have to focus that much more on containing it so it doesn't overwhelm my sense of self." He stated as much to himself as to Lomen.

"Precisely." Lomen nodded. "This is especially difficult, as every instinct will be screaming at you to lose control. The longer you fight, the louder your instincts will be. You must not merely ignore them, but harness them. Keep in mind, it's not something that can be accomplished with a single transformation. No matter how gifted you are, it will take practice. I've never trained a Saiyan to do this that was already at the level of power you've achieved, so I do not know how difficult this will be for you. I also don't know how much your hybrid blood will affect it. However, as you already showed a glimmer of control while on Namek, I believe you will catch on quickly."

Gohan nodded as a serious expression overtook his features. "Ok. Thanks for the lecture. Believe it or not, it helps a lot."

"You're ready then?" Lomen asked.

"Yeah, let's do this." Gohan nodded.

"Just remember to focus. Don't worry about anything else. The three of us will be here to stop you from causing too much damage." Rhubub reassured him.

"Assuming you become a normal ape and not that demon beast thing." Heiya added.

"Oh, yeah…" Gohan thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, but I think that might have been because I was transformed in my super Saiyan demon form when I looked at the artificial moon. We should be good, but just in case, just destroy the power ball if I get too much to handle."

"Very well." Lomen raised his hand and produced a ball of energy. "Let's begin!" He hurled the ball into the sky, where it burst open into a vibrant light.

Gohan took a steadying breath, before he turned to look at the fake moon.

THUMP-THUMP

His heart pounded, and blood rushed to his head. He fought against the urge to black out, repeating over and over in his head that he was in control. He was more powerful than the beast. He had to be to fight the monsters that were out there. Then, at the last moment, images of those monsters, like Buu, Turles, and Beerus, flowed into his head one after the other, and his mind filled with static.

Break

Gohan looked down at the trees, the grass, and the lake. A certain peace fell upon him. A serenity that soothed his savage mind. The intense rage he had felt during the transformation was starting to subside, while the calm of his surroundings started to sooth his primal fury. His mind was somehow fuzzier than when he was on Namek. He vaguely remembered his name being Gohan, but not why he was there, or what his goal was. All he knew was that he liked this place.

The three senior oozaru looked at the young alpha curiously.

"Oh, man, what a relief." Heiya sighed. "He's a normal one this time."

When Gohan heard the rumbling voice, he looked over his shoulder. Heiya paused, holding his breath, not exactly hoping for a fight. To his relief, and surprise, Gohan simply turned back to his musings over the valley scenery. The other apes reminded him for a moment of another enemy he had faced recently, but something told him that, while not exactly friends, they were not his enemy. They showed no aggression, and certainly posed no threat to him or this place, and therefore, they were not worth his attention.

Lomen tilted his head in curiosity. "How odd."

"What?" Rhubub asked. "He's not doing anything."

"Exactly." Lomen answered. "How many oozaru have you seen not go on a rampage?"

"Only the ones that know how to control the form." Rhubub answered, starting to understand Lomen's intrigue.

"Yes." Lomen agreed. "He clearly isn't fully sentient, and yet, he shows no sign of aggression. What kind of Saiyan are you, Son Gohan?"

Break

Goten gulped and backed up against a rock face as he looked up at the massive apes that seemed to sprout up out of nowhere. He flashed back to Namek, witnessing the destruction that this gang of monkeys had caused, and he knew he stood no chance of facing these horrible monsters.

"Aw man." Nira whined. "They must have moved on to the oozaru training. Who knows how long that'll take."

"If you hadn't spent so long trying to convince everyone to go with your dinosaur, we would have been back already." Kress said petulantly with folded arms.

"Don't sass me boy!" Nira roared. "Maybe if I hurry, I can change their mind!" With that, the giant ape mother took a massive leap toward the other adult Saiyans.

"Great." Mumbled Chokly, seeing no reason to hurry. "Guess we won't be learning super Saiyan today after all."

"Well," Nazz shrugged reluctantly. "we better head back and see if we can help at all."

The oozaru all grunted and started walking back to where Gohan was, when suddenly, they saw a speck floating in their path.

"Stop!" Goten ordered. "I knew you were tricking Gohan! I-I won't let you take over the earth like you tried to do on Namek!"

The other Saiyans all exchanged confused glances.

"Take over earth?" Soga asked. "Are we allowed to do that?"

He received a smack on the back of his head from Nazz. "No!" She answered. "Just shut up you idiot." The female oozaru raised her hand in a peaceful gesture to Goten. "Hey Goten. We don't wanna take anything over. We're just gonna go back and help your brother with his training. Come on." She held out her palm for him to climb on. "I'll give you a ride back. It'll be fun."

"No!" Goten yelled. "You're just trying to trick me again!"

Nazz looked saddened by this response, while Kress moved in on the younger Saiyan to take a closer look. "Hey, how come you didn't transform? Didn't you look at the power ball?"

"He doesn't have a tail, moron." Chokly explained.

"No way?" Kress asked. "I just thought he had a really little one or something. You don't have a tail at all?"

"I… I don't need a tail!" Goten yelled in reply.

"Ha!" barked Soga. "That's a good one runt!"

"Shut up!" Quillin hit Soga's arm in a panic. "We're not allowed to call him that!"

"Geez, sorry." Soga rubbed his arm. "I just thought it was funny that the strongest Saiyan to ever live's little brother got shafted."

"I told you, I don't need a tail!" Goten insisted angrily. "I'll become as strong as Gohan someday without one! And I'll put you jerks in your place!"

"Oh really?" Soga chuckled lightly, though it sounded sinister with his oozaru voice. "Well, why don't I give you a little jump start then?"

Before he knew what was happening, Goten was snatched out of the air, wrapped up in Soga's massive fist.

"Hey! Let go of me you big bully!" Goten struggled against the immovable fingers, while Soga wasn't even putting in an effort.

"Come on, don't be like that." Soga tried to be convincing, but it came out as a taunt. "I'm just trying to help."

"Soga, Put him down, right now!" Nazz roared angrily.

"Yeah man, leave him alone." Quillin nodded worriedly. "What if his brother finds out?"

"Please, Gohan'll thank me." Soga laughed it off before looking at Goten again. "Trust me, kid, I lost my tail when I was little. I learned this trick when Turles helped/forced me to grow it back." He opened his palm and pinned Goten face down with his finger before the little fighter could escape.

"LET ME GO!" Goten shouted once more, to no avail.

"Let's see," Soga muttered. "Was it the third one up, or down? Must've been up." With his giant finger, he pressed down.

Goten barely managed to hold back for a second.

"GRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Break

"Not that I don't mind the break," Heiya began, "but should we try to speed this up?"

"What do you suggest?" Rhubub asked.

"I don't know." The other Saiyan shrugged. "I just feel like something new should have happened by now."

Ignorant and uncaring of their conversation, Gohan dipped a hand down into the clear lake, catching a handful of large fish. He held them up to his eyes, licking his chops as he prepared to devour his snack.

"GRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The faraway scream rung in his ears like a thousand alarm bells, sounding nonstop.

Gohan's eyes widened with concern for the familiar cry, then his brow furrowed over eye's burning with fury.

"ORAAAAAAH!"

His wild cry jolted the other's out of their relaxed attitude, but before they could do anything but question what brought the change on, Gohan had bounded out of the valley with a giant leap.

Break

Soga was on the ground, rubbing his cheek, and his stomach. Nazz growled down at him one more time, before she turned her attention to the little Saiyan in her hands.

"Goten, are you ok?" She asked tenderly.

Goten struggled to his feet, then he stumbled. "I'm fine." He ground out as he shed a tear of anger and humiliation. "Just put me down." Goten demanded softly.

"Yeah. Yeah, ok." Nazz began lowering her hands as gently as possible, letting him down in a patch of grass. He shakily got to his feet and adopted a fighting stance, trying to put on a brave face, but clearly terrified.

"I… Knew it." Goten gasped out. "I knew I… Couldn't trust you Saiyans."

"Dude, what were you thinking?" Kress shook his head at his friend.

"Come on, he's fine. Look, he's on his feet and everything." Soga assured the group. "He's a tough kid. I didn't break anything."

"Oh yeah!?" Chokly raged, ever sensitive to the big picking on the small. "Well you're about to break something, you massive jerk!"

Soga got to his feet. "Guys, I was just trying to-"

*BOOOOM!*

The excuse was cut off as the ground shook as if it had been struck with the force of a meteorite. All the Saiyan's looked at the source of this calamity, and saw with increasing dread the feral rage that burned on Gohan's oozaru features.

Gohan looked at the apes, frozen in fear, and saw that they were all circled around Goten, struggling to stand and fighting the tears that ran down his little face.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOH!"

"Gohan, wait!"" Soga held up his hands. "It's not what it looks li-"

Gohan appeared next to Soga in an instant, grabbing his head and slamming it into the earth. His Fists rained down in a savage beating, driving his victim deeper with each stroke.

"Hey, stop it!" Kress jumped forward to interfere. "He's learned his lesson ok?" He moved to pull Gohan off, but as he reached out, Gohan did a backflip over Kress, and kicked both legs in a direct hit to Kress's spine, launching a him a mile through a mountain wall in an avalanche of boulders and debris.

"Oh, hell no." Quillin cursed as he backed away. "I'm not going through this again." He turned to flee, only for Gohan to grab him by the ankle and smash him into Soga, who had just started to get back up.

"Alright punk!" Kress rushed out of his new cave, fists at the ready. "Let me show you what a real oozaru can do!"

Gohan swung with a backhand, but Kress ducked to avoid it without breaking his stride. He got inside Gohan's guard and with a sharp uppercut nailed the other oozaru in the chin. Gohan reeled back and roared in pain. Kress followed up, letting loose three jabs to the face, followed by a straight punch. Each hit forced Gohan further back, crashing through a forest of trees. Kress continued by chopping away at the body with a series of jabs and hooks, occasionally sending in an uppercut to the jaw. Gohan was backed up against a cliff face, and Kress knew he had him on the ropes.

"Now prepare yourself for my extra special DEEEMPSHEY RRRRROOOOORRRRUUUU!"

This announcement gave Gohan enough time to shake the beating off. He saw the first punch of the special attack, grabbed the incoming wrist with one hand, reached under the shoulder with the other, and shifting his weight, tossed Kress over his shoulder face first into the rocky surface behind. He maintained his grip on the arm with one hand, pinned the boxer against the wall with the other, and sent an earth-shattering knee into Kress's abdomen, breaking through the armor in one blow. He sent another knee strike, then another, each one making Kress's eyes pop, and forcing the air from his lungs.

Finally stopping his punishing assault, Gohan opened his mouth, gathering energy for a final blast. At the last second, He was pulled off of Kress by Chokly and Nazz, the blast firing off into space as he was thrust to the ground and held down by the two female oozaru.

"Gohan! Chill out!" Chokly yelled as she struggled against the larger oozaru's thrashing.

"Your brother's ok!" Nazz shouted, trying to calm the raging ape. "Goten is OK! Just calm down!"

"GRAAAAOOOOOORRR!" Gohan roared as he struggled against the two apes. As he roared, his aura started to turn darker by degrees. The darker and thicker his energy became, the harder it was for the girls to hold him down.

"Jeez!" Chokly huffed. "I knew he was strong, but what the hell?"

"Hey!" Nazz called to the others. "Stop being useless and help us already!"

Soga and Quillin obeyed, but even four young oozaru struggled to keep the wild one down.

"GRAH! GROAH! ORAAH!" Gohan roared and howled, each breath brought more rage and a darker aura. Finally, when it was a blackish purple energy that swirled around Gohan, it became too much.

"GRRRRAAAAAAAH!" With a berserker shout, he sent all four apes flying off and away from him. He flipped up to his feet, and charged the nearest one, who just so happened to be Nazz. She was still dazed from her sudden fall, and the wind was knocked from her as Gohan smashed her cheek with a wide hook. She staggered, and he back handed her to the ground. She rolled to her feet, just in time to catch Gohan's jackhammer fist bearing down on her by his fore arms. Her defense failed to completely stop him, his arms descending on her as she struggled against them. Suddenly, she let go, jumping forward to headbutt Gohan right in the snout.

"RYAAAAR!" Gohan stumbled back as he grabbed his face.

"GOTCHA!" Kress grabbed Gohan from behind in a full nelson. "Don't tell mom I used this move!" He shouted.

Gohan nearly broke free when a fist collided with the side of his face.

"Sorry!" Nazz apologized, before following up with another headbutt, then a knee to the gut. "Sorry!"

Soga came in with a kick to the side, with Chokly aiming a low kick at his legs. Quillin came in and tried to help Kress hold him still while the other three tried to beat Gohan into submission.

"For! Your! Own! Good!"

Gohan grit his teeth, doing his best to endure the beating. Then he lifted both feet up to avoid Chokly's low kicks, used one foot to grab Nazz, the other to grab Soga, and slammed them both to the ground before he elbowed both Quillin and Kress in the stomachs, forcing his release. His tail wrapped around Quillin, his right hand around Kress's throat, then he grabbed Chokly by the ankle with his left. With one Saiyan in each appendage, he proceeded to flail about, smashing them against anything solid, shattering stone, flattening forests, and reshaping the entire valley.

Out of nowhere, a fist collided with the berserk monkey's head with such force, he released his giant victims. Gohan turned to see Heiya, ready to fight and offering a 'come get me gesture'. Enraged by the taunt, Gohan started to charge, only to receive a painful kick to the spine. He spun around to see Rhubub, and charged this new attacker. His assault was cut off by Nira rushing in from the side, sending a flurry of powerful punches into Gohan's stomach, followed by a flying uppercut, making the younger ape stumble back.

Before he could recover, Heiya struck again with a rapid mix of elbows and knees, then as he spun away, Rhubub slashed at Gohan with his knife hands, opening cuts on the teen's midsection. The three adults blitzed Gohan, one right after the other, leaving him no room to counter with his superior strength, or even focus on any one opponent. Finally, Lomen appeared, landing on Gohan's back and forcing him to the ground. Gohan quickly rolled and struck out but the old monkey was too agile, and he jumped off. Gohan charged at him, only to be judo flipped to the ground. He tried once more, with the same result. Finally, with fingers extended, Lomen struck rapidly, hitting pressure points on Gohan's fallen body with pinpoint precision. Despite this, Gohan managed to wrap his tail around Lomen's neck and throw him off. Lomen flipped midair and landed on his feet, while Gohan got to his. He charged at the older ape, but his movements were now sluggish, and his strength seemed diminished, the swirling black Ki having dissipated after the pressure point attack. His mind, which had been degenerating as the battle went on, was now duller than ever, and the only attacks he could think of were blind, wild charges. Such attacks were no match for the adult Saiyans, who in addition to being seasoned warriors and experience as oozaru, had full control of their minds.

Gohan started to charge, only for each Saiyan to take turns striking him down. Finally, Gohan started to sway, and each of his opponents backed off, waiting to see what would happen next. The primitive mind of Gohan knew no such thing as surrender, neither did he consider a truce. He looked around at each opponent, finally zeroing in on the one he deemed to be the greatest threat.

"GRAAAAOOOOOOH!" He let out a final roar at Lomen, and charged.

Lomen dashed forward, meeting the young ape as he lumbered toward him with a palm thrust that stopped the beast in its tracks. The oozaru finally sank to its knees, before falling on its face with an earthshaking thud. Lomen looked down at the prone figure, breathing heavily as he did so. Then, he held his open palm out toward the artificial moon. With a fluid motion, the power ball dissipated, and all the oozaru started to shrink back to their normal size.

"Y-you couldn't… have done that… to begin with?" A swollen faced Kress struggled to speak as he raised his head.

Lomen smiled. "Old people need to have fun every now and then too."

Kress let his head fall back in exhausted exasperation.

"So, should we wake him up?" Heiya started moving toward the teen, but something darted out in front of him and threw itself on top of Gohan.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Goten yelled angrily. "I DON'T CARE HOW STRONG YOU ARE, I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT MY BROTHER ANYMORE!"

The adults looked at each other in turns. Heiya shrugged and went to lay down in the shade of a fallen oak, Rhubub said nothing, while Lomen smiled and nodded his acquiescence. "As you wish."

Meanwhile, Nira walked over to the sprawled-out figures of the younger Saiyans. She stood over them with hands on her hips and a menacing look.

"So," she said in a commanding tone. "Who made Goten cry?"

Four fingers angrily pointed right at Soga.

"Oooh…" Soga groaned.

End chapter.

Omake

"You know Zangya," Goku began. "I'm pretty happy you decided to stay. After all, we didn't get a chance to fight when I was on earth last time."

"Oh, well, thanks I guess." Zangya said absently. Then she let out a sad sigh.

"What's the matter?" Goku asked.

"Oh, nothing." She replied wistfully. "Just wish I could have had that golden apple."

"I don't blame you." Goku nodded happily. "Those things are great."

Zangya did a double take, her eyes widening. "You… You mean you've tasted one before?"

"Oh sure." Goku laughed. "But I will admit, that one that Grand Kai had was especially good."

Zangya looked rather befuddled. "What do you mean it was especially… You don't mean to say… Goku?"

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me you didn't eat that apple."

Goku rubbed the back of his head. "Um. Sorry, but I can't, because I did."

"YOU WHAT!?" Zangya erupted with a head ten times its size, dwarfing a now defensive Goku.

"Well, Grand Kai said I could." Goku defended himself.

"Do you understand what you've done!?" She yelled hysterically. "That could have been the last true golden apple in existence! And you. Just! ATE IT!"

Goku let the wave of anger roll over him, then he held up his hands. "Sorry I ate your apple." Goku said sincerely. "But if it makes you feel any better, it wasn't the last one."

"What are you on about!?" Zangya demanded with a Chichi-esque roar.

"Well, just that there's a whole orchard of them on Grand Kai's main planet." He explained. "He gives them out all the time."

Zangya's mouth fell open, then her eye twitched. "So I just… I didn't need… Hold on a second." She popped her sword capsule and brandished her sword over her head. "Oh grand Kaaaiii?" She called sweetly. "I need to borrow your car, pleeaase. Or e-else."