Night over Mount Paozu
"Good-bye, Auntie Chi-Chi!" Videl bowed, prim and polite.
"Come visit me often, little sweetie." Chi-Chi couldn't resist pinching her cheeks.
"And you, Son Gohan if you don't show up at school, I'm telling Auntie Chi-Chi. Hmph!" Videl still found time to issue a threat before leaving.
"Got it, got it… tiny body, big attitude." Gohan ruffled her hair, then glanced at Mr. Satan. "Uncle Satan, careful on the way back."
"Hey! I said don't touch my head I won't grow tall!" Videl swatted his hand away.
"Don't worry. Even if you don't grow tall, Gohan will marry you," Chi-Chi chimed in, delivering the ultimate assist.
"Waaah so embarrassing! Who'd marry him!" Videl's face went scarlet. She grabbed her dad's hand. "Daddy, let's go!"
"…Kids these days," Gohan muttered.
"You. School. Tomorrow," Chi-Chi said once the jet had vanished into the night. "And no running off for a while!"
"Okay, Mom, fine! But could you please give me a little dignity in front of other people? I'm not a baby you can't keep spanking me!"
"How old are you, exactly?" Chi-Chi arched a brow. "You're five. Five. I can spank you if I want. Even if you're fifty and I'm still around, I'll spank you then, too." Her fingers were already angling for his ear again.
"Alright, alright you win! I surrender!"
"Hmph. No matter how old you get, you're still my son." Triumphant as a peahen, Chi-Chi sashayed back toward the house.
Gohan sighed and tilted his head to the stars. A flicker of loneliness crossed his face. Four birthdays in this world five, counting the old way and sometimes it still felt like a dream. Family, friends… and a sliver of solitude buried deep, never quite fading.
"Heh. Pull it together, drama queen. Bed." He laughed at himself and headed inside. Night winds combed the forest; autumn cicadas sang without rest.
Deep Space
"Frieza, are you certain you can defeat a Super Saiyan?" King Cold asked, doubt creeping in.
"Rest easy, Father. My power is 1.2 billion now. The Super Saiyan who killed Cooler topped out around seven hundred million by our analysis. A gap of five hundred million is more than enough for a clean crush." Ginyu, wearing Frieza's skin, let a feral light show in his eyes.
"Good. Full speed ahead." Cold ordered the fleet to accelerate. Nine days until Earth.
Earth the next morning
"Dad, how far did you get?" Gohan asked as Goku stepped out of the gravity room, steam haloing off his shoulders.
"Using your method, these three months I pushed past that bulky 'muscle' state. I haven't reached full-power Super Saiyan, but I can hold a boost of about seventy-fivefold." Goku thought a moment, then nodded.
"What about Uncle Raditz and Nappa?"
"They're a step behind no Super Saiyan yet. But they can use Pseudo Super Saiyan cleanly around twenty-fivefold and change." The two had just lugged firewood and water per Chi-Chi's "training plan."
"Bad news: Frieza and his father will be here in about nine days."
"Frieza? Didn't he die? You even went to the Other World to settle him down," Goku blinked.
"Forgot to mention Frieza's body is Frieza, but the soul inside is Ginyu. He's trained up; by my estimate he's about ten times the Frieza you fought. Still, with your current full output, you should be able to kill him."
Goku's eyes lit. "So…?"
"It's a great chance. I'll cover from the sidelines; you and the others can rotate in. Use the fight to push yourselves higher. I also have to go to school Mom's already furious I skipped three months." Gohan grimaced.
"Leave it to me. If he's only ten Friezas, I'm confident." Goku's battle-spirit leapt sky-high the kind of bout where a single slip meant death, where every strike landed solid that was the fun kind.
Seeing that fire, Gohan relaxed. "Alright, you three sort it out. I won't meddle. The Namekians should be back by now I'll go check on them before class."
Swish.
Bulma's estate outer villas
Gohan appeared in front of the Grand Elder in a blink.
"Who goes oh." Nail dropped his guard the instant he recognized him.
"Gohan, my young friend." Guru smiled, kind and crinkled.
"Elder, you're looking well."
"Mm. My years are fewer than two, but with the Senzu Beans you gave us, my body's spry and my mind clear," Guru said from his rocking chair.
Thanks to Gohan, the Frieza affair had come two years early. Guru was fated to pass around Age 763 in March; now it was only September, 761.
"Huh? Piccolo? What are you doing here?" Gohan asked as Piccolo stepped outside.
"Hmph. None of your business where I am." Classic prickly pride.
"Heh. Been a while jumped a few levels, have we?" Gohan teased.
"Enough, Gohan," the Grand Elder cut in gently. "I invited Piccolo. Our warrior-class Namekians are few; I wanted to pass on part of our heritage."
"So he got stronger?" Gohan's eyes sharpened.
"Quite. He told me about the guidance he received it was incisive. I've taught him our secret arts to elevate the spirit. After three months of meditation, he's essentially reached the realm of a Super Namekian." Pride warmed the Elder's voice.
"Oh? Interesting. Want to try me?" Gohan slipped off his schoolbag. His aura roused, restrained and razor-keen.
"Bring it." Piccolo rocketed into the sky.
Gohan followed.
"Elder " Nail looked worried.
"Relax. They talk tough, but their hearts are soft. They won't go too far," Guru said, serene.
High above the estate
"Not transforming?" Piccolo asked, chin tilted.
"Heh. Show me if you can make me." Gohan crooked a finger.
"Arrogant! Haaa !" Piccolo's ki spiked, wind shear tugging Gohan's hair out of place.
His frame swelled a touch, features cutting sharper; an orange-gold aura climbed around him like living fire.
"Orange Piccolo? Early already? …No, not quite that strong." Gohan muttered. The look recalled a certain future, but Piccolo's skin was still green, not the full orange of that form, and he wasn't that huge. Feeling out the ki, Gohan put him around eighty million.
"Not bad, Piccolo. That's real power."
"Less talk." Piccolo blurred forward, a wide hand snatching for Gohan's head.
Thud.
Gohan slipped and drilled a straight punch into Piccolo's gut. His fist sank into tight muscle.
"Urk!" Piccolo's mouth filled with bile. He didn't fall back. Gohan had slipped his right, so Piccolo lashed out his left arm, elongating it to coil Gohan tight, then drew his body away, right hand rising to his brow, fingers braced together as spiraling ki gathered.
The Special Beam Cannon already charging.
"Seriously? Opening with your finisher?" Gohan made no move to break free.
"Hmph. I'm not stupid. If you can flatten me with a single punch without transforming, why would I let you power up?" Piccolo's jaw clenched; his abdomen still throbbed from that first hit.
"Heh. Even without transforming, you think this will hurt me? Kaio-ken!"
A scarlet blaze erupted from Gohan's skin his aura detonated outward, blowing apart Piccolo's binding arm.
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