Ch. 65: Gohan's Troubles

"Gohan, what's wrong?" Cargo asked Gohan, entering the Capsule house ahead of Krillin and Bulma.

"It's nothing." Gohan answered.

"I get it, Gohan. It's not fun to be left out, but the alternative..." Krillin said, and Gohan went off on him.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW, HUH?! I SPENT A YEAR TRAINING IN HELL SO THAT I COULD HELP YOU GUYS! A WHOLE YEAR, KRILLIN! AND ALL I'VE MANAGED TO DO SO FAR IS KILL PIGERO!" Gohan shouted so loudly that his throat stung by the time he was finished. "Piccolo wasted his time, and we all know it. He could've gotten stronger during that year. A lot stronger, but he didn't, because he was too busy training a worthless kid like me."

"Gohan..." Bulma whispered, shocked. All three of them were, even Cargo, who hadn't known Gohan very long, was shocked at the boy's outburst.

"That wasn't your fault, you know. Pigero doesn't blame you either, Gohan. You heard what he said from otherworld." Krillin tried to console him, but it didn't help.

"I know... but the fact is that I wasn't any help at all. You can't sugarcoat that. If dad and Uncle Raditz hadn't shown up when they did, the battle would have ended up being you, Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Hanna fighting all by yourselves. You would have all contributed. Meaningfully, while I wasn't even able to move."

"Don't beat yourself up, Gohan. Hanna's nothing like you, you know. She's a monster just like your dad, and the rest of us have been training nonstop basically since birth. We have a lot of experience that you don't. I can't even really remember my first fight, but I'm sure that I wasn't very useful in it, either." Krillin told the boy.

"Piccolo trained me, Krillin. He put his faith in me, and all I've done is let him down. There are currently six people alive in this universe with Saiyan blood, and I'm barely capable of beating a tin can in a fight, Krillin."

"Gohan..."

"I'm going for a walk." Gohan decided, standing up to leave.

"Gohan, you can't go out there alone." Krillin told him, grabbing his sleeve.

"I'm leaving, Krillin. Stay here." Gohan told Krillin coldly, shaking the diminutive man's grip off and slamming the Capsule house's door behind him. 

"Gohan!" Krillin followed after him in a moment, but Gohan was already flying away.

"Where's he going?!" Bulma asked Krillin.

"That's the direction..." Krillin started, "No way! He can't be that insane, right?!" He turned and looked at Bulma, grabbing her shoulders, "Right!?" He asked. He didn't get an answer.

...

"I'm done being protected! I'm done just sitting on the sidelines watching my friends risk their lives! I'm DOONE!" Gohan blasted off, ignoring the chances that Vegeta or Nappa would sense him.

...

"Why can't I sense anything!? I should have found a Namek village by now, where are they hiding?!" Vegeta shouted at the ground below him, having spent the last hour or so sensing various fish and frogs rather than Namekians. "Maybe I should have kept the... no, wait. There's something in that direction. It's weak, but it's moving. Let's find out where it's going. Hahaha!" Vegeta blasted off towards Piccolo and I.

...

"Oh crap, it's Vegeta!" I immediately shouted upon feeling his energy begin to make a beeline towards our location, interrupting the word games that Shay and I were playing in my head.

"You're right! Get down!" Piccolo and I immediately dropped to the ground, concealing our energies. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to deter Vegeta, since Dende's energy probably shined like a beacon. We just had to hope that Vegeta thought that it was another fish or something once he got here. Or did we...?

...

In an instantaneous decision, Vegeta changed course, ignoring the spot where those two small power levels had mysteriously vanished from. "Haha! Who cares about insignificant Namekians when I found a bigger fish to fry! It's Zarbon, and he's alone! Perfect, I'll take him out, then search this planet until I find the rest of these damn Namekians. Without Frieza to protect him, he's nothing but prey to me!" Just then, Gohan's energy started skyrocketing, but even at his full power, Gohan was nowhere near as strong as Zarbon, so Vegeta chose to ignore it.

"Zarbon, here I come! You better be prepared for a good beating!" Vegeta shouted maniacally.

...

"What's he doing!?" I shouted, noticing Gohan's energy.

"He's heading... right for Nappa. What's that kid planning!?" Piccolo asked, but I had no clue. In the canon, Gohan had gone over to that village, but Nappa hadn't been there, so he'd just taken the Dragon Ball and called it a day. 

"There's no way that Gohan's ready to fight Nappa." I agreed with Piccolo.

"Gohan's going to fight someone?!" Dende asked, just as confused as we were.

"Apparently. And he's broadcasting it to the entire damn planet." Piccolo said, "What's that kid thinking!? Luckily, that, much stronger power level is keeping Vegeta occupied, but who knows how long that'll last with Gohan broadcasting himself like that... Kid, what are you thinking? We need to turn back, now."

"No! Gohan's not alone, he has Krillin by his side, right? We need to trust them, and get to the Grand Elder as soon as possible! You said that Vegeta and his partner are the only ones on the planet capable of sensing power levels? Then we can up our pace and get there even faster!" Dende told us.

"He's right." I agreed with Dende, "Gohan's not just some baby. He's pretty strong, and Krillin's an experienced fighter. They might be able to take Nappa down by themselves." Honestly, that would be the best possible conclusion, as far as I could see. 

"I hope you're right, Hanna. Let's get going again, but we shouldn't change our pace too much. We might end up attracting attention somehow." Piccolo said begrudgingly.

With a leap, we flew off again, at a slightly faster pace than before.