An End and A Beginning

Bulma nervously slammed her fingers into the keypad that controlled the Rejuvenation Chamber, adding another different dose of tranquilizer into the tank filled with blue liquid. Despite her best efforts, one of the greatest threat that Earth had ever faced was about to awaken once again. She had done her best to keep the warrior dormant, putting enough major tranquilizers to stop a bear dead in its track. Yet, the Saiyan prince was slowing building up an immunity to every drug she had to offer. It wouldn't be long before the prisoner would become conscious of his surroundings and attempt to destroy her basement, her house, and her world.

"Damn it to hell!" She gritted her teeth as the computer screen began to flash numbers. The Saiyan prince's heartbeat and brain activity began to pick up. "If Goku and the others don't come soon, we're going to be in a lot of trouble."

Ignoring the signs on her computer, the blue haired scientist rushed out of the basement and into the backyard. Her backyard was large, containing a huge greenhouse, a beautiful garden that her mother personally cared for, and a spacious grass area about the size of a football field. She found Yamcha and Tenshinhan training vigorously by themselves, who were carefully avoiding the garden and greenhouse on Bulma's strict orders.

Yamcha was the first to notice the newcomer's presence as he ducked under Tenshinhan's punch and turned to the girl with a smile. "Bulma! What brings you out here? Are you here to check out our training? I think I've gotten a bit more muscular since last time, don't you think?"

The scarred ex-bandit flexed his biceps and would've made Bulma laugh if the situation wasn't serious. "I don't think those muscles would help against the Saiyan that's hibernating in our basement… Or about to wake up from his hibernation, that is."

Immediately, the playful and teasing look on Yamcha's face disappeared, only to be replaced by an expression of pure terror. "T-That Vegeta dude? I thought you had him t-tranquilized!"

"Well, he's resisting everything I'm throwing at him! It won't be long before he wakes up and goes on a rampage!" Bulma kicked the ground in frustration.

Tenshinhan looked a bit more calm to the revelation. "We need to contact the others, immediately. Even Yamcha and I combined can not defeat that monster."

"I've already asked Mr. Popo if he can pass the message onto them, but apparently, they left six days ago after using the Hyperbolic Space Chamber and flew off somewhere! They're probably out there training, completely forgetting the fact that I told them the Saiyan will break out around this time!" Bulma glared at the sky as if she was cursing Kami himself.

"They'll come back in time. Piccolo is with them, and he's certainly reasonable." Tenshinhan stated as he looked at the blue haired girl's frustration with amusement. "If not, we can delay the Saiyan as long as we can to give the others time to come back. They'll definitely notice the ki level of the Saiyan once we start fighting."

Bulma sighed as she had already given up. "Sure, you might be able to delay him and minimize the destruction. But the spaceships are in the garage, right next to the house! If the Saiyan prince wakes up and goes on a rampage, he'll destroy the house, the spaceships, and all of us!"

The two fighters that were standing in front of her came to a moment of realization and immediately began to fly into the sky. Yamcha called down to the heiress of the Capsule Corps below. "We'll go look for them in the places where they usually would be. If the others aren't here, we have no chance anyways so might as well go look for them!"

"That won't be necessary." A new voice stated.

Bulma and the other guests of Capsule Corps turned around to see the source of the voice. A single figure exited the back entrance of the house and entered the backyard. The figure was flanked by two other people, a taller green man and a much shorter boy. Everyone let out a sigh of relief was they realized the figure was Goku, instead of the dreaded alien invader. Behind him was Piccolo and Gohan, who were looking fresh and confident.

"Goku!" Bulma cried out as she rushed towards the larger man and threw a punch. "Do you know how much trouble and damage you would've caused if you came a little later?"

The former world champion gave his usual, innocent grin and dodged the girl's punch. "Piccolo and Gohan reminded me over and over again about having to come back today, so I remembered. Don't worry Bulma, you're safe now."

Yamcha's right eyebrow shot upwards as he crossed his arms and inspected the three arriving warriors. "You three don't look that much different than before. Your ki levels feel about the same too. Are you sure you three have been training?"

Goku's reply was only a small grin. He motioned for Gohan to come towards him and the young boy strutted forward.

"Kiai!" Gohan yelled as ki erupted out of his body. An unbelievable amount of energy surrounded the boy and shot out around him, making the nearby trees and flowers shake from the wind that came with the Kiai. Even Tenshinhan and Yamcha covered their faces with their arms as they looked at the small boy with awe. The power level was completely different from just a week ago.

"See? We'll be alright." Goku announced, giving his only son a pat on the head.

Vegeta was trapped in his own dreams, an endless loop of the worst moments of his past playing through his mind. His eyes couldn't look away as the memories played out like a recording in front of him.

His nightmares were always the same. It consisted of his failures, the one thing he dreaded the most in the universe. He respected and even despised things that were more powerful than him, such as Frieza, but he never felt afraid in his life. Frieza was much more powerful than him, yet he knew that one day, he would kill Frieza and take his rightful place as the most powerful being in the universe. Despite this, he constantly feared the idea of failure. He was a Saiyan, failure was not an acceptable option.

In his unconscious state, Vegeta relived some of his past failures. His failure to defend his father from the God of Destruction Beerus. His failure to do anything when his home planet was destroyed. His failure to escape from the clutches of Frieza and become free.

Perhaps that's why he hated Kakarrot and his "friends" so much. He loathed seeing a fellow Saiyan, a lower class Saiyan, disregarding his past failures and instead living freely without any hint of remorse for his past. Kakarrot was the very opposite of himself, a Saiyan prince and warrior. And instead of Vegeta being victorious against the upstart and carefree failure, he was defeated by the very man that held the values the Saiyan prince despised.

He wanted vengeance. He wanted revenge. But just like against Frieza, he wasn't strong enough to face the Earth raised Saiyan. That very idea made him nauseous. A Saiyan Prince like him shouldn't have been defeated by a low-class scum. But deep down inside, he knew that Kakarrot was stronger than him. He and his friends were much stronger.

That was his greatest nightmare.

As he silently contemplated on how to defeat the lower class Saiyan, Vegeta felt a sharp spike in power somewhere outside his mind. He could barely feel the ki in his state, but it was a familiar ki that he had felt before.

Kakarot's brat ki. He was definitely sure of it. Judging by the sheer amount of ki being released and the fact that he could feel it in his unconscious state, he could estimate that the brat's power levels were much higher than before.

While he was sitting alone in his mind, his enemies were growing stronger. Who knew how long it had been since he had opened his physical eyes?

Vegeta couldn't allow his enemies to grow any stronger. He had to escape and become powerful. Powerful enough to put the lower-class Saiyan in his place and to prove that he was superior. Failure was not an option.

With all his strength, he willed his mind back into his body. Vegeta screamed for his body to wake up. His mental body shook violently as he concentrated on placing himself in his physical body. Even while he was making an effort to make himself conscious, his memories replayed in front of him. When he saw the moment when he had been put down by Frieza due to his skirmish with Guldo, his mind finally snapped. A white flashed blinded him as Vegeta was swept away from his prison into some place else.

When Vegeta could finally open his eyes again, he was floating in liquid and trapped in another prison, this time made of glass. A mask surrounded the lower part of his face, most likely allowing oxygen to flow into his body while he was surrounded by the blue liquid. His arms and legs felt extremely heavy as if he had several tons attached to his limbs. He urged his ki to awaken within him, but his body barely responded. A small ki orb was formed in his left palm before fizzling out completely.

He let out a string of curses in Saiyan, his vision blurring out in front of him. His body was weak, but his mind willed himself to stay awake. However, even willpower wasn't enough to hold himself together as his line of sight continued to fade away.

The last thing he saw was his archnemesis entering the room he was in, along with a female, before he drifted back to sleep.

"DAMN YOU KAKARROT!" Vegeta screamed as he awoke with a start.

Someone held him down and slapped a towel onto his face. "Calm down... Are all Saiyans this energetic?"

The Prince of All Saiyans turned to the feminine voice and came face to face with a blue haired girl with an annoyed look on her face. It was then he realized that his hands and feet were both bound by restraints. He let out a scoff as he glared at the Earthling that dared to restrain him. "Do you think that restraints will prevent me from escaping? I have conquered planets filled with inhabitants that were much more powerful than yours with my bare hands."

"I might not be able to, but the people who defeated you will," The girl replied smartly as she moved aside for Vegeta to see the other people in the room. He was displeased to see Kakarrot, his son, and the Namekian standing behind the girl.

Kakarrot walked up next to the restrained Saiyan and smiled. "How are you feeling Vegeta? You've been out for a week, so you're probably feeling a bit week right now."

Vegeta replied with his teeth clenched. "A week? You've kept me unconscious for a week? You will pay once these restraints are removed, you peasant scum."

The carefree Saiyan gave the prince a grin as he grabbed something that was on the table out of Vegeta's sight and placed it on the prince's face. Vegeta instantly recognized the design and shape of the object. It was the scouter that he had brought to Earth. "This is your scouter. We managed to retrieve after your fight against us and fixed it up. We haven't messed with it or anything, so it should display the right numbers."

Backing up, Kakarrot backed up away from the bed in which Vegeta lied on. As soon as he managed to place a good distance between himself and Vegeta, the Earth raised Saiyan powered himself up with ki.

Even Vegeta couldn't believe his eyes as the numbers on his scouter kept on increasing.

10,000... 20,000... 30,000... 40,000... 50,000...

As soon as the scouter hit 50,000, it exploded with a small cloud of smoke and sparks. Vegeta stared at his rival with fury and horror. The power level of his opponent was far beyond he had ever imagined. Within a span of a week, he had increased it several times. A part of him wanted to deny that Kakarrot was indeed more powerful than him. After all, the scouter could've been easily adjusted and this could've been just an act of manipulation to make him afraid and confused. But his rational side knew that Kakarrot was somehow much more powerful than him. In fact, Kakarrot was much above him in terms of power.

"How... How did you get so powerful so fast?" Vegeta stammered as he looked at Kakarrot in shock.

"That is a secret I can't share. But I can guarantee you right now that Gohan and Piccolo are both stronger than you. They're a bit weaker than me, but they're definitely strong too." Kakarrot replied as he powered down.

On cue, the Namek and the little boy powered up, with energy levels similar to that of the only other full blooded Saiyan. Vegeta realized that his hands were trembling and immediately clamped them into fists. "So you've come to kill me while you're much stronger and I'm weak and restrained? If you are, do it quickly. I don't want to see your disgusting face more than I have to."

Kakarrot shook his head in disapproval. "Come on Vegeta! Don't be like that. We're not here to kill you. In fact, we're here to offer you a deal."

Vegeta fought against his restraints again as he yelled at his opposite. "I do not care for your deals! Do you think because you're in a place of power, you'll be able to dictate your terms on me? I am the prince of all Saiyans!"

"I know, I know... Prince of All Saiyans, Destroyers of Worlds. Great. I'm going to offer you a deal and if you choose not to take it, we'll let you go in your little spaceship and go wherever you were before. As long as you stay away from Earth, that is."

"I'll gladly take that offer right now. I do not want to see you or this treacherous mudball of a planet ever again." Vegeta shook with anger physically, but on the inside, he smiled in amusement at the other Saiyan's naivety. If he were to actually escape and return to Frieza, he would make sure to grow much stronger and destroy the despicable Earth raised Saiyan's grin and his planet.

The free Saiyan walked next to the restrained Saiyan and calmly clenched his shoulder. "Woah there Vegeta. You haven't even heard the offer! It might actually benefit you in a lot of ways if you just hear me out."

Despite his desire to escape Earth and destroy Goku, the prince of Saiyans managed to calm himself enough to look at Kakarrot without shaking in anger. "Fine! What is your blasted offer?"

Kakarrot smiled cheerfully as he explained his offer. "You'll come with me, Gohan, and Piccolo to the planet of Namek to help recover the Dragon Balls. You know more about outer space and Namek then we probably do. We could also use a strong fighter to come with us in case something goes wrong. In exchange for helping us find the Dragon Balls and information, we'll send you on your way to wherever you want and help you train to become stronger."

Silence prevailed in the room as Vegeta's heavy breathing echoed against the walls. "You're going to Namek to search for the Dragon Balls?"

"Is there something wrong with that idea?" Kakarrot questioned as the prince laughed.

"Fool! Since I failed to retrieve the Dragon Balls here, there is no doubt that Frieza and his men are heading to Namek in order to retrieve the Dragon Balls! Since Earth and Namek are the only planets to have them, it only makes sense for Frieza to head towards Namek since I haven't communicated with him in over a week! If you think you can take the Dragon Balls away from Frieza, the strongest being in the universe, then, by all means, go ahead. I'll come along to spectate your death."

"So that's a yes?" The naive Saiyan asked once again.

Vegeta stared at the other Saiyan as if he had a hole in his forehead. "Do you not understand? Frieza is capable of destroying entire planets with a mere wave of a hand. His power level is dozens, if not hundreds, times of mine! You won't be able to stand your ground in a battle against him! He'll merely destroy you as if you were a mere rock in his way!"

Kakarrot rose to full height and peered towards the walls as if he could see Frieza millions of light years away. "If he's a strong opponent, I'll train harder to take him down. I need those Dragon Balls for my friends and if I'll have to risk my life to do it, I'll do it."

"You're delusional. You can never defeat Frieza even if you trained for thousands of years." Vegeta scoffed.

"That's what people said when I faced Piccolo and you, but I still defeated them in the end," Kakarrot replied immediately.

If the Saiyan prince could shoot lasers from his eyes, he would've done so. "Your friend Piccolo and I are mere ants compared to Frieza's powers. He is completely out of our league. He could destroy any planet he desires and there is no doubt he'll destroy Namek and all its inhabitants if they get in his way. As I said before, you can not defeat him."

This remark seemed to only embolden Kakarrot further. "Then I will fight him and defeat him. I might not be strong enough now, but I'll train harder than ever! Though if I'm going to fight him, then I want a strong fighter like you by my side. So will you train and come with us to Namek or not?"

Vegeta was about to snort again when he looked at the fire in Kakarrot's eyes. He had only seen that fire once before in his father's eyes as Frieza took Vegeta away from his home planet.

I will not let you take my son without a fight!

His father had been defeated of course and was forced to watch his son whisked away, but he still had the fire in his eyes as he looked at his son one last time. That fire was the same fire that lit Kakarrot's eyes.

It was a fire of desire. A fire to grow stronger and overcome anyone. The same fire that fueled his father was now glowing inside of the lower-class Saiyan. Even at that moment, Vegeta could feel the power level of Goku climb steadily higher.

Instead of scoffing or trying to reason with the Earth raised Saiyan, the Saiyan prince glared at his counterpart. "Fine! I will join you on your foolish journey to Namek and even join in on your training. However, don't claim that I didn't warn you multiple times when you die by Frieza's hands."

Kakarrot lit up at Vegeta's proclamation. "You mean, you'll go with us willingly?"

"I have realized that you Earthlings have much more to offer than your Dragon Balls. I will train and accompany you on your travels, but do not expect me to linger any time longer after you completed your task."

"Great! We'll set off in a week. In the meantime, we can train in the new Gravity Room that's being built within the spaceship!" Kakarrot pumped his fists and ran out the room filled with happiness.

The Namek let out another wave of ki and glared at the Saiyan prince before exiting the room. Kakarrot's brat didn't leave and stood in front of the door as if he was guarding the outside world against the Saiyan warrior.

Vegeta knew resistance against Frieza was futile, yet had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that Kakarrot could somehow pull it off. He knew that training with his enemy would help him build up his power. If the Earth raised Saiyan had managed to multiply his power levels within a span of a week, surely the prince could also. And perhaps Kakarrot could finally help him become stronger than Frieza.

Little did Vegeta know at that moment, his eyes flared with the same fire that Kakarrot and his father had.

He now had a goal, a tangible one, and a desire. A desire to defeat Kakarrot and nothing would stand in his ways.

Gohan knew the prince was evil. He could feel it in his bones.

The young adult that occupied a boy's body slammed his fist into a punching bag. He was at the private Capsule Corps gym that was within the large domed house. Due to his father's insistence, he had left Vegeta to Bulma's care and went to the gym to due to his daily routine of workouts.

No matter what his father said about the Saiyan prince, the half-Saiyan could literally sense evil within the man's mind. If Vegeta had been born on his old Earth, he would've been a brutal and ruthless dictator that would have ruled with an iron fist.

He didn't understand how his father, as innocent as he was, would believe that the very man who killed his wife could be redeemed. But then again, his mentor Piccolo was apparently evil before "befriending" the others. If Piccolo himself hadn't told the young boy of his past, he would've never believed it. His teacher was strict, and sometimes even cruel, but he wasn't evil. Gohan understood that the Namek always sought to improve his skills and toughen him up. He never believed for a second that his teacher was evil, or even had evil intentions.

Vegeta was different, in Gohan's opinion. He wasn't a lost alien that was sent to Earth because his home planet was nearly destroyed. The Saiyan from outer space came to Earth with killing intent and killed thousands of innocents, along with several of the other Z-Fighters. Only Gohan's discipline stopped his body from slamming a fist into the older man's jaw. He didn't deserve redemption, even if he could be redeemed. Yet, the advice and warning Hikari gave him echoed through his mind when he was full of killing intent.

Do what is right.

With a small sigh, Gohan stopped punishing the poor punching bag that was severely battered from the boy's punches. Instead, he stepped out into the empty backyard for training. The other Z-Fighters were within the house to help prepare for the journey and allowed him to do his own thing. Gohan placed a finger on his forehead and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he came face to face with his clone, which jumped on top of him and hugged him furiously. "Niisan! How are you feeling?"

Despite his conflicted feelings, Gohan managed to put up a small smile as he hugged the real Gohan back. "I'm feeling fine, Gohan. Thank you."

"That's good! It's sorta weird because I can hear all your thoughts, but I can't hear them when I'm in this clone body." Clone Gohan replied as he detached from Gohan and placed his hands on his hips. "You really want to fight Vegeta-san, don't you?"

There was no use lying to the young boy and Hiro knew that. "I do. He killed our mother and nearly destroyed an entire city. In my mind, I don't want him to be redeemed so I can beat him up and take revenge."

The real Gohan pouted. "I know how you feel, niisan. All your feelings and thoughts also come to me, so I can feel a lot of your feelings myself. I'm angry that mommy died too, but if we kill Vegeta, how are we different from the bad guys?"

Hiro thought for a moment and let Gohan's words run through his mind. "But Vegeta is a bad guy."

"Even so! We're the good guys, so we should be different. We shouldn't just kill bad guys, but turn them into good guys like daddy did to Piccolo!" Gohan said as he easily did a backflip and flew into the air, enjoying himself while he still had a body.

In a moment of clarity, the adult that occupied Gohan's body realized that there was merit to what the real Gohan was saying. If Hikari was in front of him, those would've been the words he would've said, albeit phrased a bit differently. There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.

Breathing in calmly, the "original" Gohan faced his mirror image and squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you, Gohan. I think my mind is a bit clearer than before."

"Then can we spar? I want to try some of the new tricks you learned too!" Gohan eagerly said as he immediately went into a fighting stance.

"Of course, but don't expect me to go easy on you." Original Gohan said with a grin as he immediately ran towards his counterpart and clashed.

"Hello, Hiro."

Gohan, or Hiro who occupied Gohan's body, opened his eyes to see darkness around him. His eyes scanned his surroundings, but it was as if he was dropped into a very deep and dark hole with no light visible. He felt a hand brush his shoulders and the young half-Saiyan immediately flinched and flew into the air.

"Who are you?" Gohan cried out as he swept his arms blindly into the air. "What do you want?"

The voice appeared behind him and chuckled silently. "You won't be able to strike me or hurt me in any way, child. I am everywhere. I am the darkness around you."

Confused, Gohan immediately stopped lashing at the air and surveyed the area once again. "What do you mean?"

"You have already met my brother, Hikari. That despicable fool thinks that I won't do anything while he meddles with the world we both created. I have merely summoned you here to give you a warning."

"You're the brother of Hikari?" Gohan asked. But Hikari radiates with good and light! This "brother" of his is just filled with darkness...

Hikari's brother laughed as if he could read Gohan's thoughts. "Yes, my brother is the "good" child. The being that overwatches the world with good intentions. He is the "light." For every good, there must be an evil to counter it. I am that evil. The darkness to his light. The evil to his good. The Yin to his Yang. I am Daku, the evil being that lurks in the darkness and counterbalances the good of the universe."

Gohan clenched his fist firmly as he activated his ki. "What do you want from me?"

"As I said earlier, I'm here to give you a small warning," Daku stated calmly somewhere in the distance. "Since my brother had decided to break the pact we swore to abide by when we created the universe, it is only fair that I also break the pact."

"What is this pact?" Gohan questioned as he listened intently for the location of the voice.

Daku's voice was nearby as he answered the question. "To keep the universes separate and not allow them to merge. However, with your presence in this world, the destiny and future of the universe you were brought to have been thrown into a loop. Even I can not properly predict what will happen in the future. Because my foolish brother decided to hamper with the universes and break his pact, I will make sure that I reply the same way. Your enemies will be stronger, your opponents will be many, and those who are close to you will be forever in danger. You might be able to defeat those that oppose you, but the threat of your opposition will never waver. The Earth you've been sworn to protect will always be in danger."

"I will not let Earth fall without a fight." The half-Saiyan boldly claimed through his gritted teeth. He was concentrating intently, but as soon as Daku's voice appeared nearby, he seemingly teleported far away right before Gohan could strike.

Daku chuckled again. "Perhaps or perhaps not. I would rather see you battered down slowly instead of sending thousands of powerful warriors to annihilate your planet. Destroying you swiftly would only enrage my brother and make him act even more irrationally. I will make sure to make your walk in life much more difficult. Your mother is already dead, isn't she? She will not be the last. Your close ones will be the ones that will suffer the most, and then yourself. Tell this to my brother, if you desire. But if you and your friends do not prepare yourselves, you will be facing a future worse than death."

Furious, Gohan launched a massive Masenko attack at the supposed location of Daku. After traveling a few feet, the Masenko attack was easily deflected by an unseen force. "Foolish child. I am a being above Gods. Your puny attacks have no effect on me. Perhaps one day, you can challenge me and my brother, but until then, you will face the most powerful warriors and then your greatest opponent."

"The greatest opponent?"

The being of darkness materialized in front of Gohan and stabbed his chest. "Yourself."

Gohan blacked out completely and woke up in the guest room of the Capsule Corps. His hand rubbed the place in the chest where he was stabbed.

Your close ones will be the ones that will suffer the most, and then yourself.

He got up and went out to train. He had to get stronger. Not for himself, but for Earth and everyone around him.

A week later...

The Z-Fighters all gathered around the Namekian spacecraft as they prepared for the long journey ahead. Goku was eating a quick snack (which, to most of the others except Vegeta and Gohan, was a large feast that could feed a family) while Piccolo and Gohan meditated silently in the corner of the garage. Yamcha and Tenshinhan were both assisting Bulma on loading up several more bags filled with basic necessities while Vegeta was inspecting the ship with a careful eye. Nearby, Dr. Briefs was placing the final touches on the ship, complete with a new paint job that made the spaceship silver and a very sophisticated speaker system.

Even while he was meditating, Gohan kept a careful eye on the Saiyan prince. He could feel that the Saiyan prince's power level was higher than before, but it was still well below Gohan's, Goku's and Piccolo's levels. However, the last thing the group needed was for the humanoid alien to go berserk and destroy the only spaceship capable of delivering the warriors to Namek under a thousand years.

"This ship is not as grand or as powerful as the ones that Frieza has, but it will do," Vegeta said flatly as he finally stopped looking at the ship. "Kakarrot! Stop eating and let us hurry on our way to Namek! The more time we waste here on this dustball, the more time we give Frieza and his men to locate the Dragon Balls!"

Frieza. Gohan had heard the name at least a hundred times from Vegeta over a span of a week. Each time he heard it, he wondered just how powerful Frieza was. Vegeta didn't seem to fear him, but Gohan could feel hatred and anger every time the Saiyan prince repeated the name. There was a hint of nervousness also, a subtle and underlying emotion that was blanketed by the hatred and anger. Watching the alien made Gohan realize that if Frieza managed to make the man a bit nervous, then Frieza would be a powerful opponent. After all, Vegeta had faced his father and was barely fazed when he was defeated.

Bulma slapped the Saiyan prince's head. "Let him enjoy himself before he's sent off into space. We couldn't pack tons of food for all of you, so you'll have to limit the amount of food you eat per meal. Otherwise, you'll be starving before you arrive on Namek."

"Don't you dare touch me, girl!" Vegeta screamed as he reacted right away and maneuvered himself to strike the blue haired girl. Before anyone else could react, Gohan was in between Bulma and Vegeta, stopping the Saiyan's strike.

"She has a name, you know. And she cared for you while you were unconscious while no one else would. So show a bit more respect," Gohan cooly stated as Vegeta sent a menacing glare to the young boy.

The Saiyan prince fumed but backed up. "Damn you, Kakarrot's brat."

"If you want to beat this Frieza person or whatever, you'll need our help. I wouldn't push my luck any further if I were you."

The air was tense as both warriors stared at each other in the eye. Finally, Vegeta broke off the gaze and stormed out of the garage. Gohan relaxed as he realized his fingernails were digging into the palm of his hands. Bulma strutted up towards Gohan and patted his head. "Thank you, Gohan."

Gohan shook his head. "It's not problem Bulma. That prince is way too cocky and uppity for his own good."

"Are you sure you won't try to kill him in the spaceship? It'll be hard to fix the ship if you decide to destroy it in space." Bulma asked, worriedly glancing at the spaceship.

Gohan gave the girl a reassuring smile. "I won't, don't worry. I'll make sure he takes his anger out in the Gravity Room."

Bulma nodded and went over to her father to help him work on the ship. Gohan re-joined his place in the corner with his mentor as they silently meditated once more.

After several hours, Bulma and Dr. Briefs finally called everyone over towards the ship. "Everything should be ready. All you have to do is go inside and turn on the computer and it'll immediately go towards Namek. The trip will take three weeks, as I said before. Remember not to damage it because I'm sure that none of you know how to fix a spaceship."

The more naive and carefree Saiyan nodded his head excitedly. "Great! So can we go now?"

"Not so fast Goku!" Bulma scolded. "You'll have to bring Vegeta back before we leave. Since all you've been doing is eating, you should go get him."

"Wait, that's not fair! Gohan and Piccolo had been doing nothing too!"

The blue haired girl rolled her eyes. "At least they were being quiet while you were loudly pigging out on food."

Goku's shoulders slumped as he exited the garage with a defeated look on his face. "Fine..."

Within a minute, Goku came back to the group while dragging Vegeta behind him. The Saiyan prince looked a bit calmer than before, but only because he was unloading his anger on his Saiyan counterpart. "Let go of me, you lower-class trash!"

The Saiyan let the prince free himself from his grip and trotted over to Bulma, giving the girl a bone crushing hug. "Now we can go, right! Everyone is here!"

Bulma sighed and shook her head, but a smile plastered his lips. "Yes, but do be careful. That goes for all of you. I better see all four of you return to Earth in one piece, and that spaceship better be in one piece too!"

Goku eagerly stepped onto the metal plate that would elevate him and the others into the spaceship. Gohan and Piccolo took their time to frustrate the excited Saiyan while Vegeta followed behind the teacher and student duo slowly. When all four of them were on the metal plate, Bulma gave them one last hug before stepping back. "The word to open and close the ship is our green friend's name. I couldn't manage to overwrite the password for the door for some reason, but the navigation system and the computer should be in our language. Just tell it to take off to Namek and it'll immediately shoot towards the planet. Good luck!"

"Piccolo!" Goku shouted as the metal plate hovered and floated upwards into the ship. The four warriors caught one last glimpse of their friends before entering the spaceship. They were immediately brought into the navigation room, with various computers and screens flashing with different words and numbers. Before anyone could stop Goku, the overenergetic man sat in the command seat. "Alright, ship! Let's go to Namek!"

The ship immediately lurched off the ground and shot out of the garage at jaw-dropping speed. Within seconds, the ship was exiting Earth's atmosphere and was heading towards the planet of the creators of the Dragon Balls. Stars and planets shot by quickly as Gohan enjoyed the view of outer space that was present outside the window.

When he turned, he found that all but his mentor had left the control room. Piccolo smirked at the boy's confusion. "His Highness has decided to hit the Gravity Room for training along with your father. We should join them after they train. The last thing we need is four high-powered warriors fighting each other in the Gravity Room."

Gohan silently agreed and enjoyed the view as long as he could.

As the weeks flew by...

Despite being stuck on a spaceship light years away from Earth with three other super powered individuals, life on the spaceship had been quite... peaceful for Gohan. In fact, life on the spaceship felt almost the same as life on Earth.

The young boy would wake up early every morning, using his alarm clock that was modified for Earth's time, and carried out his usual training routine of running, mainly around the entirety of the ship dozens of times, and practicing katas. The ship had many useful rooms, such as the Gravity Room and a sparring room made of some of the strongest metals found on Earth. He used all these rooms daily in order to train every aspect of his body. After scarfing down a large breakfast, Gohan entered the Gravity Room for several hours. He found the Gravity Room to be a huge blessing, as it allowed him to grow physically stronger rapidly and also boosted his ki levels. The first day he entered the room, he changed the gravity to be ten times of Earth. Bulma had told the group that the Gravity Room could go up to two hundred times the gravity of Earth, but Gohan knew that he had to start low. He was shocked to discover that his father also had difficulties in ten times the gravity and trained together with him in the room by lightly sparring and running. Gohan increased the amount of gravity by ten each day, with his end goal being able to withstand two hundred times gravity by the end of the trip. He had managed to pull it off through sheer willpower and effort, as he was motivated that his father and even Vegeta also managed to survive under the pressure.

After working on the Gravity Room, he would be personally taught by either his father or Piccolo in the sparring room. The two had agreed to alternate days of their training and the two put great effort in training Gohan as if they were trying to prove who the better teacher was. His father taught him to use his strength in close combat and strengthening his ki powers. On the contrary, Piccolo mainly focused on utilizing speed and agility, while also adding in various tactics and feints to add variety and a hint of randomness to his attacks. The young half-Saiyan found both of the teachers to be incredibly useful, as he managed to utilize every ounce of his muscle in his physical attacks while also tactfully calculating every move and using superior speed to land rapid and hard blows on his enemies. His ki attacks saw tremendous improvement, as he added the fearsome Kamehameha attack (much to Piccolo's chagrin) and the Kaioken into his arsenal. Usually, he was exhausted after continuous hours of training, but after lunch, he had enough energy to lightly spar with his clone, who had also learned all the things the original learned and improved on his weaknesses.

Gohan knew that he placed a huge strain on his body training so intensely every day, so after sparring with his clone, he spent most of his time in the afternoon and evening in his room meditating and studying. He found meditating extremely useful in maintaining his focus and soothing his battered mind and body after a hard day of training. He usually meditated for an hour and then studied for an hour. Bulma had packed, to his surprise, a variety of complicated textbooks on dozens of subjects such as chemistry, biology, math, astronomy, languages, and history. In his previous life, he had always been a studious student and that hadn't changed here. Gohan was quickly sucked into the textbooks and refreshed his memories, as he had already learned much about the contents of the textbook before. However, the history book fascinated him completely, as this Earth's history was completely different from his own. He was immediately drawn into the book and made note of all the important events that occurred in this new world.

Occasionally, Piccolo walked into his room and either meditated with him or tutored him. Despite being a Namekian, Piccolo had grown up on Earth for years and knew much about science and history. He was quite impressed with his student's work and even complimented him every once in a while, though it usually came out as an insult. Piccolo was the only one who knew the truth of Gohan's identity and viewed his student as one of the few people he could ever trust. And in return, Gohan respected and trusted his teacher completely also.

Studying drained Gohan just as much as training, and he would usually step into the kitchen to make himself dinner in order to rest his head and replenish himself. Usually, he ate with Goku and Piccolo, but he slowly became more accustomed to the fact that the Saiyan prince was also present on the ship and ate food around the same time he did. Initially, the Saiyan prince blew him away, calling him "Kakarrot's brat" or some other offensive names. However, once it became clear that Piccolo and even Goku wouldn't really talk to him, Vegeta reluctantly talked with the young Saiyan.

Even though he had an impulse to punch the Saiyan prince every time the young boy saw him, Gohan found Vegeta to be surprisingly different than he thought the Saiyan prince would be. When he talked to Vegeta, he sounded almost rational and actually looked calm instead of looking like he wanted to kill someone (unless his father or Piccolo walked into the room). Vegeta would mention bits and pieces of his conquests of other planets and his home planet Vegeta. Gohan found his stories quite interesting and listened intently. It was through these small conversations that Gohan developed a bit of respect for the Saiyan prince. Perhaps the Saiyan prince wasn't quite as evil he thought he would be. He only hoped that his father was right.

It was during one of these small talks with Vegeta when Goku rushed into the kitchen and approached them instead of the refrigerator and cabinets. Gohan knew there was something serious happening because his father never came into the kitchen unless it was for food. "We're almost at Namek! Get ready to land, because we're finally here!"

Gohan let out a small sigh of relief. He had half expected his father to destroy the Gravity Room or blow up the computers by accident, but the journey had been quite enriching for him and the others. He was confident now that he could defeat any enemies he faced along with his comrades, as their power levels had risen considerably since their departure from Earth.

As the computer announced that the spaceship had landed on Namek, Gohan ran towards the exit and landed on the rocky grounds of the planet. He took a deep breath of fresh air and prayed a silent prayer.

He wasn't praying for his own safety, but praying for his enemies. He was going to make sure to collect the Dragon Balls and save his friends while making sure all of his fellow warriors survived. And if anybody stood in his way, no matter who Daku sent his way, would feel the power of Son Gohan.

Reviews:

Trunkssan766: His power level rose significantly over the course of the story, and it will rise much higher than OC. Thank you for following :)

Feel free to always leave reviews. I'll always get back to you and try to adjust the story if something is wrong or could be improved upon.

Power level breakdown (without any anger boosts or Kaioken):

Goku: 130,000

Gohan: 75,000

Piccolo: 90,000

Vegeta: 55,000