Ancient Era
"Lord Time King, where's Son Gohan?" Kasins asked, curious.
"I've sent him back," the Time King replied.
"And the matter he mentioned…?" Kasins' brow knit tighter.
"Don't worry. Children walk their own roads," the Time King said, as if stating a law of nature. "No matter who sits in that seat, it won't shake the standing of your Kai Core people. All order is built atop life and the cosmos. You create; no one will make an enemy of you for that."
"You're right…" Kasins hesitated, then looked up with reluctance. "Do you know when you'll depart, my lord?"
"Soon." The Time King's tone stayed mild. "Kasins, coming straight to me like this will draw certain ill-intentioned 'divines' to sniff around. Before I go, find a successor and hand off your post."
"I understand," Kasins said, meaning it. The advice was protection as much as command.
"Good. Go on back." The Time King waved him away.
"Yes, my lord."
Kasins withdrew from the higher dimension and sped toward Universe 7.
Main Timeline
"Finally… home." The instant Son Gohan felt his timeline's familiar texture of space, the breath he'd been holding let go.
He didn't drop onto Earth right away, but into some patch of starfield he didn't recognize. Exploration could wait. He closed his eyes and felt for Earth.
"Huh. That far?" With a soft whoosh, he folded the distance with Instant Transmission.
It hadn't actually been long since he'd gone to Future Trunks' world Age 764, late August and the new school term was nipping at his heels. Gohan touched down first at Mount Paozu.
"Gohan, where've you been these ten days?" asked Son Goku, head tipped with innocent curiosity.
"Went to play on another planet," Gohan said lightly. He didn't plan to unpack that journey.
"Who'd believe that?" Vegeta snorted. "I sensed that other Saiyan's ki and then you vanished."
"No one asked you," Gohan shot back. "A year from now, a new enemy shows up. You'd all better train."
"A new enemy? Sweet! My body's getting rusty!" Goku brightened.
The bell rang.
"Hey! What do you think you're "
"Ow. You're like pinching a steel plate," Videl muttered, pulling her hand back with a pout.
"Why'd you pinch me?" Gohan whispered.
"Because you disappeared and didn't come see me," she huffed, lips pursed in a picture of wounded dignity.
"I had stuff to do."
"What 'stuff' could a kid possibly have?"
"…"
Gohan decided not to explain.
"Hmph." Videl turned away, satisfied for now.
Time slid forward, unhurried and relentless three full years. Gohan didn't wander again; he stayed on Earth.
In those three years he'd tried again and again to coax the Primal Breath and the Eerie Breath within him into his control. Results were limited. The Eerie Breath hid stubbornly in his tail and wouldn't come out; the Primal Breath kept doing what it always did whenever he trained his body, it pulled his inner ki through ceaseless cycles.
By the end of those three years, Gohan's base power had climbed to 500 million.
It didn't sound like much, but it was terrifying enough. His dark-gold Super Saiyan was now ×160, Super Saiyan 2 ×300, and Mystic (Unleashed) Form a staggering ×650. That put his ceiling at about 325 billion. Numbers aside, even Majin Buu would be paste under that and Cell didn't bear thinking about.
More crucial than raw output, his ki now carried a thread of rule-force Destruction and Death a tier even higher than the gods' Hakai (Destruction) and Zeno's Erasure. It was only a filament, yes, but anything below True God would find it… difficult to oppose.
After Future Trunks' visit, Gohan had spotted the micro-drones spying on him. Since returning from the ancient era, he kept a thin film of ki over his entire body, leaving the machines nothing to sample. At meals he even cleansed his bowls and chopsticks of saliva with ki. He had no intention of gifting Dr. Gero a strand of his genes especially not post-ancient-era genes. That dark-gold mutation? A multiplier that doubled multipliers. No thanks.
As for why he didn't just hunt Gero down first, he couldn't be bothered; second, where was the fun in that? Goku, Vegeta, Raditz, Nappa everyone was waiting on that "new enemy" he'd promised.
End of May
"Gohan, did you hear? There's a terrifying monster on a little island near our school! The whole town's dead like, mummified." Between classes, Videl's eyes still held a glimmer of fear.
"Mummies… small island?" A spark flashed in Gohan's mind.
"So… it's finally here."
A breeze lifted; the micro-drone tailing him sifted into dust.
"Eh? Weird. The windows aren't open where'd that draft come from? Oh, and what did you mean, 'it finally appeared'?" Videl frowned.
"Nothing. Probably the AC kicking on. Sit up straight the teacher's here."
Riiiing.
Videl arranged herself primly, the picture of a model student.
Gohan didn't buy it. She'd started training with Mr. Satan, and her talent was real your average three to five grown men couldn't get within arm's reach. He'd watched her boot a groper clear down the street. He'd watched her flatten twenty bullies by herself after school. He'd watched her nearly beat a kidnapper to death.
"Model student," huh. Sure.
That Night, Mount Paozu
Because Vegeta was around these days, Gohan had asked Bulma to buy a few capsule houses. With Capsule tech, a "house" wasn't so much real estate as a portable comfort. They came with cooking bots to boot.
Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta each had their own place, spaced a few hundred meters apart with the Son home in the center like a little constellation.
"Everyone, over here!"
Gohan stepped out after dinner and called. In less than three seconds, Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta were airborne and hovering nearby. Goku wandered out of his door, easygoing as ever.
"Gohan, keep it down. Your mom just fell asleep."
"Ah right. Forgot."
Worth mentioning: Chi-Chi was pregnant again three months along, not really showing yet.
Barring surprises, Goten was on his way.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Your support keeps this story going leave a 5★ review, add it to your library, and feed it some Power Stones!
"Want to stay ahead of the game?Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"