Chapter 7

Gohan found himself lying in the grass, staring up at the sun during the bright noon day. It occurred to him that there was only one sun in the sky, a fact that seemed fairly odd to him. The last thing he remembered was seeing his dad in a form that overwhelmed him with terror, his appearance more like a hideous beast than a Saiyan’s or even human. His father’s qi was beyond anything Gohan had felt out in terms of raw power and horror.

Could my dad really be that…? He asked himself. That evil?

He didn’t want to admit his own father had qi that felt more horrific and hostile than Freeza, Vegeta or the Ginyu Force combined but it was true nonetheless. If his father wasn’t his father, Gohan would have mistaken Goku for a person worse in character than anyone he’d fought before. The rage he sensed in his father that moment…it was beyond belief.

He stood up, wondering if he was on Earth. When Gohan got to his feet and looked around, he found it more familiar than he originally thought. He was surrounded by grass that was green rather than blue, a tree with more leaves than any on Namek and plateaus in the distance. Gohan was shocked at how comfortable he felt.

“Is…?” he said. “This my-?”

He suddenly heard a door open behind him. He turned in the direction to find stepping out of the house he’d been raised in all his life, a woman in a purple dress and hair in a bun. She was carrying a pot of boiling food in her oven mitt protected hands before she saw Gohan. Upon seeing her son, her eyes went wide.

“G-Gohan?” Chi-Chi asked.

“Mom?” he asked.

At that word, his mother dropped the boiling pot at her feet, rushing toward him with all her strength. As the wan-tons she had spent cooking fell to the ground and the boiling water burned the grass, Gohan was death gripped by his mother as she practically tackled him. He was squeezed with such intense force he almost felt suffocated. His mother began weeping, her tears wetting his shoulder as the young boy was helpless to do anything.

“GOH-!” Chi-Chi cried. “GOHAN! GO-OO–OHAAAANN!”

He stared over her shoulder, his expression as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I-” she said in between cries. “I-I thought I’d never see you again!”

He didn’t know how to respond, his body so constricted by his mother’s strength that Gohan couldn’t move an inch.

“Th-” she said. “They told me–”

His mother couldn’t quit sniveling, Chi-Chi’s crying the only thing Gohan could hear in that moment.

“They told Vegeta…” she said. “Showed up…! On Namek…”

She continued burying her face in Gohan’s shoulder, thoroughly wettening his purple gi with her tears.

“And then,” she said. “After that…even more evil and strong men came and…and I…and I worried I’d never see my baby again!”

“Mom…” Gohan said as his eyes began to water. “I…I’m sorry.”

“I just want you to be safe,” Chi-Chi said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. To be happy and safe…just please…never go on another one of these crazy adventures…don’t make your mother worried sick for your safety…”

Tears ran down Gohan’s face, his mother’s grip tightening just a bit.

“Have a normal life,” Chi-Chi said. “A life that’s worth living but a normal one. Be…be a good person. Help others…have a family…visit me whenever you can. Live…live a life of peace. Raise children…raise children in peace. Have a wife that…that loves you. Please…please never make me worry if you’ll never make it out alive again.”

“I-” Gohan said. “I-”

“I love you, Gohan,” his mother whispered. “I hope you know that…I’ll always love you…I’ll always love you…because you’re a very good boy.”

For the first time, he hugged his mother back, his grasp soft.

“I will mom,” he answered. “I will.”

“Thank-you,” Chi-Chi said. “Thank-you…that’s all your mother wants.”

Kami found the halo above his head vanish before feeling an inner rejuvenation.

I see Piccolo is back alive. He thought. I best make my way back to Earth.

He found himself back in familiar territory. The lookout on Earth looked just as spotless as he left it. Just as he reappeared, he found Mr. Popo looked up at him as his servant was watering some flowers.

“K-Kami!” he shouted. “Y-You’re alive!”

“I’ve missed you my old friend,” Kami said. “Truly, I have.”

Vegeta found himself sitting against a tree, his surroundings completely changed. He was no longer facing a transformed Kakarot or lying dead before Freeza. He looked over the scenery to find it somewhat familiar.

It was similar to Namek but different enough that Vegeta could tell he was on another planet. The sky had only one sun for instance, and there wasn’t as much grass. As Vegeta surveyed his surroundings of plateaus and sparse trees to find it vaguely familiar. After a bit of looking around, he sighed as he realized he fought the Earthlings here.

Nappa battled those humans and killed the Namek before…Vegeta thought.

He was going to tell himself Kakarot killed him, but that wasn’t true.

Before I killed Nappa. He thought.

Part of Vegeta now regretted that.

Do-Do I-? He thought. Miss him?

He shook his head.

He was the closest thing I had to a friend once the rest of the Saiyans died. Vegeta thought. Also, the only consistent partner I had on missions. Do I regret turning him to dust?

He shook his head, aggravated he would think that.

No, NO! He thought. I am a Saiyan elite! I can’t agonize over the deaths of lesser beings! I am the prince of all-

He then leaned back against the tree before slipping off the trunk. Vegeta’s back hit the mostly bare ground and he looked at the sun above him. He was so empty of emotion he couldn’t bear to shed a tear.

Oh. Vegeta groaned inwardly. Who am I kidding?

He pounded the ground with his fist, causing it to crack.

I’m a prince of nobody. He realized. The only other pure blood Saiyan surpassed me in strength even before ascending. Freeza destroyed all my brethren and crushed me like a dust mite. But even worse…

He thought back to when he faced the transformed Kakarot, a weird grin cast on his face.

“Scared? Glad you didn’t become this?”

Yes. Vegeta thought.

He couldn’t believe he was admitting that but it was true nonetheless. Vegeta could feel there was something seriously wrong with Kakarot’s power level. His qi did not feel like his own. He didn’t just mean that in magnitude, although that was certainly true, but in nature. It felt almost pure evil. Malice, hatred, vengeance, hostility, the thirst for blood.

And yet it also felt pure. It felt like the qi signature of someone good-natured, like Kakarot or his earthling friends. And even weirder, Vegeta could barely feel the Saiyan’s energy. It felt as though a bunch of different power levels were stitched together into one being. Kakarot didn’t feel in control of his own energy because it wasn’t his to control.

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Kakarot couldn’t control his power level anymore than he could his heartbeat. If Vegeta really thought about it, it was as though it wasn’t even Kakarot anymore. He had no freewill and was a slave to the various other individuals connected to him. And that scared Vegeta.

If that was a Super Saiyan…He realized in fear. If it meant giving up my free will…control over my own body…

His eyes watered with tears.

Then I wouldn’t want to achieve that form. Vegetat thought. I would cease to be me…I would give up my Saiyan pride…

And that thought broke him. It broke him more than Freeza soundly defeating him. It was worse than angering Vegeta. He had felt that too many times to count. It saddened him.

“I’d never have my own freewill…” he thought. “If I became a Super Saiyan…if I ascended…to think the pinnacle of Saiyan power is giving up all control!”

He then sat up, looking at the places where Kakarot’s friends died. The corpses of the earthlings lying there felt fresh in his mind. For the first time, Vegeta thought he felt regret.

Then…He thought. What was all this for? If becoming the legendary Super Saiyan was a fool’s errand…if it was suicide for my freewill, then…?

His tears stained the earth in front of him after they had run down his face.

“Then my entire life is a joke,” Vegeta said. “It was all pointless.”

He shut his eyes in pain as he ground his teeth.

“Pointless,” he seethed. “Pointless…pointless since I couldn’t achieve it…pointless that it wouldn’t be worth even if I achieved it.”

It was then that an even deeper, more alien regret wormed its way inside of him. It was a regret for killing all those he did. The lives that Vegeta had taken were beyond number. Not as many as Freeza but more than enough to condemn him as a monster among monsters.

He had never cared about that before, viewing them as mere stepping stones to unlimited power, hoping through enough fierce battles he’d become strong enough to rebel against Freeza. But now, knowing that Kakarot had become the legendary Super Saiyan rather than him, Vegeta realized his crusade of violence had been pointless. At best, he was a stepping stone for Kakarot than the other way around. Vegeta and Nappa’s time spent fighting on Earth had only allowed Kakarot to become the Super Saiyan, the ideal Vegeta himself had always wanted.

And worst of all…! He seethed. Even if I did become it…! I…I…I-!

He began weeping out loud.

“I would have hated it more than being killed by Freeza!” Vegeta yelled.

He slammed his back into the ground, shattered the earth beneath him.

“I was merely a stepping stone for Kakarot!” Vegeta shouted. “My entire life…a footnote for someone else’s glory!”

He glared up at the sky, hating he was alive to see it as a strange thought entered his mind.

“Is this how someone killed or defeated by me thinks?!” Vegeta shouted. “That they’re a tool for someone else’s empowerment?! Kakarot, you fiend…you cursed me…and showed me…!”

He closed his eyes and sighed in anger.

“That my quest to become a Super Saiyan was a suicidal one…” he thought. “And the best I could do…was let you carry that burden instead of me.”

He picked himself up and walked across the desolate land, the hollowness in his heart eating away any other feeling.

“I will never fight again,” he said. “Or kill…because…because I don’t need anymore stepping stones. A failure should know when to quit.”

Krillin found himself staring up at the sky, the ocean breeze calming him. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing at first. The sun had risen above the ocean’s horizon, warming him with its bright light.

While on Namek, Krillin was terrified he’d never see this beautiful scenery again. Everything on Namek was a disaster that only grew worse each passing day. At first, all he thought he had to worry about was Vegeta. Then Freeza’s army showed up. Then he had to witness innocent Namekians die. Along with Gohan. Krillin would have willingly taken any suffering so long as Gohan didn’t have to witness those villagers slaughtered.

Poor Gohan. He thought. He didn’t deserve to witness that. To witness any of it. His friend…Dende…who he risked his life to save…was killed by Freeza after all that. I deserve to die for being weak…I’m an adult fighter who can’t stave off anyone stronger than a dust mite at this point, so I don’t mind being thrashed…but…

Tears filled his eyes as he wondered how much Gohan must be emotionally terrorized by the events that took place.

You don’t deserve that. He thought. No one your age does.

Then the two had to face the Ginyu Force and they were so strong they beat even Vegeta into dust. Even after they nearly killed both of them and Goku saved them, Gohan had to face his dad and try to kill him once Ginyu switched bodies. Even after getting their wish to restore Piccolo, the nightmare only continued when Freeza appeared.

I just knew I wouldn’t make it out. He thought. But I somehow did.

Just as Krillin began wondering if the sight of Kame House was just a dream, he heard Tein behind him.

“W-Was that really Goku?” he said.

Krillin turned to find Tein standing up as he had been lying in the sand of the shore. Chiaotzu floated behind him while Yamcha staggered forward, clearly disoriented from his abrupt change in surroundings. Yamcha looked out to the sea, his expression faintly mired in fear. Just as they stared at each other in disbelief, Krillin found Turtle shout in excitement. He was standing beside Yamcha.

“Kr-Krillin!” Turtle shouted. “B-But-! Master Roshi! Get out here!”

“What-!” Roshi shouted from inside Kame House. “Darn it, Turtle I was-”

Just as Muten Roshi opened the door, his jaw dropped in disbelief. He walked down the steps in front of his door, nearly frozen in panic. He slowly shook his head.

“Yamcha, Tein-!” Roshi said. “Bu-But-! How are you all still–how did-?!”

They all went silent, barely a single one breathing before Yamcha broke the silence.

“Did…?” Yamcha said. “Did that really just happen?”

“I…” Krillin said. “I really don’t know. I know this is Kame House…but…was that really Goku?”

“No,” a voice behind him said. “It couldn’t have been. Not really.”

The three of them turned to find Piccolo standing behind them all. His icy scowl made Krillin flinch in fear. Now that Freeza and Goku weren’t around to compare power levels to, he was reminded of just how strong the Namekian was. His energy felt suffocating to be in the presence of.

“Um…” Krillin said. “What are you doing here? Should you really be around-?”

“Easy Krillin,” Tein said.

He walked up to the Namekian and gestured toward him.

“He’s not that bad a guy,” Teinshinhan said. “Not anymore.”

“Yeah!” Yamcha replied. “After we got to King Kai’s planet for training, we got to know Piccolo and he’s really not a bad guy. He’s kind of nice…”

“That’s right,” Chiaotzu said. “Apparently, his friendship with Gohan really changed him! He’s a whole new person and cares about people. He wouldn’t have died defending you guys from Freeza if he didn’t care.”

“Oh…” Krillin said, looking at Piccolo like he was a wolf about to attack. “I-If you say so.”

Piccolo glanced away from Krillin, looking slightly irritated.

“Don’t go all sentimental on me,” he said. “I just wanted to protect Gohan from that monster. Don’t think I’m some kind of goody-two-shoes savior like Goku once was…you do well to remember I’m the reincarnation of the demon king Piccolo.”

Yamcha, Teinshinhan and Chiaotzu laughed while Krillin quivered in fright.

“Don’t worry,” Yamcha said. “Piccolo’s a good guy…he just doesn’t know how to act like it.”

Piccolo sighed in annoyance while Krillin prodded the Namekian with another question.

“So…” he said. “What do you mean by that couldn’t have been Goku?”

“I mean that it wasn’t just Goku’s qi I sensed,” Piccolo said. “There were many, many power levels in one body. In one being…there were too many different qis to count.”

“Seriously?” Krillin asked.

“I felt it too,” Teinshinhan said. “It didn’t really feel like Goku’s energy for the most part. It felt like a lot of different ones in the same body.”

“Yes,” Piccolo said. “The reason I recognized it was because…well, it’s roughly similar to what happened to me.”

“What?!” Yamcha asked. “Nothing like that happened to you while Tein and I were around.”

“Yeah, Piccolo,” Teinshinhan said. “I just don’t see it.”

Piccolo grunted in annoyance.

“It’s not what happened on King Kai’s planet that I’m talking about,” he said. “On my way to fight Freeza, I found a Namekian that Freeza had beaten to near death. He was a strong warrior and taught me how to fuse with him.”

Piccolo made his qi visible and a light blue aura extended forth. As he did, Krillin sensed not one but two power levels within him. It’s like another person was hidden within the Namekian. The other person’s qi was good in nature but not as pure or lighthearted as Goku’s was. They seemed stoic and rather sad.

“Hmm,” Roshi said. “I see you’ve all grown ridiculously powerful in the meantime. I don’t know where you acquired that strength in such a quick amount of time.”

“Yeah, I feel it now,” Krillin said.

“So do I,” Tein replied. “Feels like you really are two different people.”

“And come to think of it…” Yamcha said. “It’s not entirely different from how I sensed Goku when…”

“When he revived us,” Krillin said. “Yeah but, come to think of it…it didn’t feel like there were two power levels inside Goku…it felt more like…like…”

He shook his head, thinking what he was about to say was stupid.

“It felt like-” he tried to say.

“There were a million,” Piccolo answered. “Yes. I picked it up quicker than you two did because you wouldn’t believe it. If I hadn’t fused with Nail I wouldn’t believe it myself…”

“You’re right,” Yamcha said. “His energy…something wasn’t right about Goku’s qi…it felt more like a patchwork of different individual power levels than one single source of energy. And-and-”

“And Goku’s power level was drowned out in the mixture of all of it,” Tein said. “But-But-how–how did that happen to begin with?”

“Because Goku was taken over by a force all Saiyans have access too,” a voice said.

Krillin looked up to find that no one around him had said anything. Just as he was questioning if had imagined it, Krillin realized he had heard that voice before. It was when Goku had given him the Spirit Bomb to aim.

“K-King Kai?” Yamcha asked.

“You heard it too?” Tein asked.

“What’s going on?” Master Roshi asked. “Who is this? And Goku was taken over by what now?”