GT Timeline.
"Gohan…?" Super Saiyan 4 Goku stared in confusion at the Gohan from the main timeline.
"Yes… and no," Gohan replied calmly.
"I get it. You're Son Gohan from a parallel world, right?" Goku froze for a moment, then immediately thought of Future Trunks from the Cell Saga.
"If you want to see it that way, that works too," Gohan said, not bothering to explain further.
"Damn it…"
Baby, lying on the ground, had already woken up. But with Gohan standing there, he didn't dare move a muscle.
"Baby, get out of Vegeta's body. If you don't…" Gohan raised one hand, ki condensing into a glowing sphere aimed straight at Baby. "Then you can disappear together with Vegeta's body."
A suffocating killing intent rolled off him.
Baby's heart lurched. Goku might hesitate to destroy Vegeta's body… but this Gohan from another timeline was completely unreadable.
He scrambled out of Vegeta's body and reverted to his true form.
"Get out of my way!!"
Baby hurled a ki blast at the ground, kicking up a massive dust cloud, then bolted toward Bulma's position.
"Lord Baby, wait, I still have a plan "
Smack!
Bulma had just started to speak when the panicked Baby slapped her aside without even thinking. He jumped into a spaceship and prepared to flee.
"Heh. Planning to just run away and pretend none of this happened, huh?"
Gohan instant-transmissioned and appeared right in front of Baby's ship.
A dark-gold energy sphere, laced with a strand of Destruction Rule, shot forward and struck the ship head-on.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
The ship simply vanished silent, soundless, dissolving like a popped bubble.
Baby inside was, of course, annihilated along with it. Not just his body his soul was erased completely.
At the same time, every Earthling under his parasite control woke up.
Without a soul, those Tuffle parasite eggs were useless. Given time, they'd just be excreted with everything else.
"Thank you, Gohan!!"
Goku flew over and bowed his head in gratitude.
"We're family. No need to be so formal. Even if I hadn't stepped in, Elder Kai would've found a way to remove the parasites, right, Kibito Kai?"
Gohan suddenly turned his head and looked at Kibito Kai and Elder Kai, who had just appeared.
"Aiya… no, no, something's off here. You're not just a simple visitor from a parallel timeline, are you?" Elder Kai stared at him, eyes wide.
"The older the ginger, the spicier, huh. But this isn't the time for that. Baby's gone, but the biggest crisis isn't over yet."
Gohan pointed at Earth hanging in the sky.
"Crap… Baby used the Black Star Dragon Balls to wish Planet Tuffle into existence. There are only two weeks left until the one-year deadline for Earth's explosion!" Kibito Kai, for once, was actually quick on the uptake.
"What? I gave the Dragon Balls to Dende and Mr. Popo to look after, didn't I? How did this happen?" Super Saiyan 4 Goku reverted to his small child form with a flash of light, turning back into kid Goku.
"Dende and the others were controlled too," Kibito Kai said.
"Mr. Popo as well?" Gohan asked.
"Of course," Kibito Kai answered.
Gohan lowered his gaze, thinking.
So this GT timeline really is strange. No God of Destruction. The universe seems boundless. Even Mr. Popo's mysterious power can't reach this timeline at all…
"Hmph. Can't you just use Namek's dragon to fix things?" a voice cut in.
Everyone turned toward the sound. Vegeta, still lying in Trunks' arms, had finally regained consciousness now that Baby was dead.
"That's right, why didn't I think of that?!" Goku lit up, about to head straight to Namek and ask Porunga to grant a wish.
"Wait. It's not that simple," Elder Kai said sharply, frowning as he held Goku back.
"Elder Kai?" kid Goku asked, confused.
"The Black Star Dragon Balls on Earth aren't any weaker than Porunga," Elder Kai said. "Earth's explosion is inevitable. The only option is to let it explode, then ask Namek's dragon to restore Earth afterward. But I don't recommend doing that. Using Dragon Balls too much will eventually bring great disaster."
"Hey, Kakarot. You can still use Instant Transmission, right?" Vegeta asked.
"Huh? Yeah. As a Super Saiyan 4, that's easy," Goku blinked, then nodded.
"Tch. Super Saiyan 4, huh? What an annoying guy."
Vegeta snorted and continued, "You, plus him, plus the spaceship Bulma built while she was under control… with two weeks, that should be enough time to move every Earthling to Planet Tuffle. After the explosion, we can use Namek's dragon to restore Earth."
You had to admit, Vegeta's brain had always been online.
"That's great! I can't believe I didn't think of that. Vegeta, you're a genius!" Goku cheered.
"Hmph. For the Saiyan race, migration is perfectly normal. I'm just used to it," Vegeta shot back, stubborn as ever.
"Grandpa, getting everyone on Earth to listen to us… that's not going to be easy," Pan said worriedly.
The moment she said that, everyone fell silent.
Then, as if by some unspoken agreement, all eyes slowly turned toward Mr. Satan…
Earth.
"People of Earth, that's how it is. In a short while, Earth is going to explode! We have to migrate to that planet up there!!"
Mr. Satan pointed dramatically at Planet Tuffle in the sky.
You had to hand it to him he made full use of the protagonist group's advantage. As far as the people of Earth were concerned, Mr. Satan was still the heroic savior who had protected the planet.
The evacuation proceeded smoothly and in an orderly fashion.
Under the combined efforts of the protagonist group, humans and animals alike were transported from Earth to Planet Tuffle.
Gohan stayed on Earth the entire time, quietly watching. He never stepped in to help.
"Whew… that should be almost everyone!"
Even Super Saiyan 4 Goku was exhausted. Using Instant Transmission on that scale had drained a massive amount of his ki.
"Giru!!"
A pair of farmer parents suddenly cried out in panic.
Their son hadn't made it aboard.
"Grandpa!!" Pan shouted, immediately contacting Goku.
"I'll go! Wait right there!"
Goku, as a Super Saiyan 4, closed his eyes and quickly locked onto the boy's ki and the dog with him.
Earth.
"Huh? Where did everybody go?" Giru looked around in confusion.
Rumble…
The ground suddenly split open under his feet. Giru and his dog plummeted into the chasm.
"Ahhh! Help!!"
"Woof, woof!!"
The little dog barked frantically.
At that moment, a figure appeared, snatching them out of midair.
If you looked closely, there was still a faint wound on his abdomen, oozing purple blood.
"Piccolo… that's great, you're alive!!"
Super Saiyan 4 Goku's face lit up. He'd been sure Piccolo was dead.
In this timeline, while under parasite control, Gohan himself had blasted Piccolo nearly to death.
Everyone had assumed Piccolo hadn't survived.
"Piccolo, let's go!!"
Super Saiyan 4 Goku reached out, ready to teleport them away.
Buzz…
His Super Saiyan 4 form vanished, shrinking back into kid Goku.
"Crap. I'm out of power…"
Goku gritted his teeth.
"You're Son Goku, aren't you!!"
Piccolo suddenly grabbed his wrist and forced the last of his ki into Goku's body.
"That's enough. Let's go!!"
Whoosh.
Goku vanished with Giru and the dog in his arms, leaving only Piccolo behind on the dying Earth.
And Gohan, still watching from the shadows.
"Piccolo!!!"
Back on Planet Tuffle, Goku shouted his name, voice cracking.
Earth buckled and shook. Volcanos erupted one after another. Seawater surged inland.
"Is everyone gone…? Haa…"
Piccolo clutched his abdomen, purple blood dripping steadily to the ground.
That final Kamehameha from the parasite-controlled Gohan of this timeline had nearly killed him. Now, after giving his last ki to Goku, he was at his absolute limit.
"Gohan… Gohan, can you hear me?" Piccolo used the last of his strength to send a telepathic message.
"Piccolo… uncle? You're alive that's great!"
Gohan of the GT timeline, sitting in the spaceship, suddenly heard Piccolo's voice.
"Gohan… your Kamehameha is really something. The Black Star Dragon Balls were created by the previous Kami of Earth before he split into good and evil. As long as I live, they'll always exist. Which means all of this… will happen again. I've decided to share Earth's fate, Gohan."
Piccolo cut off the telepathy, reluctance obvious even in that final moment.
"Piccolo… Uncle Piccolo!!"
Tears of regret streamed down GT Gohan's face.
"Piccolo!!!"
Kid Goku also looked up at the exploding Earth, eyes stinging.
"Hahaha…"
It was as if Piccolo had finally been freed. As Earth exploded, he laughed.
Whoosh.
A figure suddenly appeared, grabbed Piccolo, and instant-transmissioned him away shoving a Senzu Bean into his mouth as they went.
Deep in space.
A dark-gold ki barrier wrapped around Piccolo, allowing him to survive in the vacuum for now.
"Why did you save me? If I don't die, those Dragon Balls will never disappear. Earth's fate will just repeat itself!"
Piccolo stared at the main timeline Gohan, voice harsh with anger.
"In my timeline, there's a Piccolo too. The difference is, his strength far surpasses yours," Gohan said calmly. "The Black Star Dragon Balls are a pain, sure, but not unsolvable. If you die, a lot of people are going to be devastated. Especially this world's Gohan. And Pan."
Piccolo's death had been a lingering regret for so many people.
From the very beginning, main timeline Gohan had already decided he was going to save this regret. In his previous life, when he'd watched this scene, he'd teared up.
"Gohan… and Pan, huh?"
Having narrowly escaped death, Piccolo finally let go of his resolve. The determination he'd just managed to muster was washed away by being forcibly saved.
"Alright. Worst case, we deal with it again. When trouble shows up, we fix the trouble. No need to overthink it."
Gohan rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on. Everyone's waiting for you."
He took Piccolo back to Planet Tuffle.
"Uncle Piccolo!!"
The moment GT Gohan stepped off the ship, he fell to his knees facing where Earth had been, pounding the ground in remorse.
Bang, bang, bang.
"Dad!!"
Pan rushed over and wrapped her arms around him.
"Gohan, what do you think you're doing, bawling like that?"
A familiar voice rang out.
"Uncle Piccolo… Grandpa Piccolo!!"
GT Gohan and Pan shot toward him at the same time, clinging tightly to Piccolo.
Kid Goku watched from the side with a wide grin on his face.
"Heh. Totally worth it."
The Gohan from the main timeline felt incredibly satisfied.
"Thank you, Gohan," Goku said, walking up to him.
"Heh. It was nothing."
Main timeline Gohan smiled faintly.
A few days later, Goku and the others traveled to Namek and summoned the dragon to restore Earth.
The new Earth was no longer bound by the rules of the Black Star Dragon Balls.
Of course, that cost them two of Porunga's wishes.
For the final wish, Piccolo asked for a way to erase the Black Star Dragon Balls.
The dragon told him the method. Main timeline Gohan then used a super-enhanced Dragon Radar to locate one of the Black Star Dragon Balls, and Piccolo used the method he'd been given to erase it from existence.
Troublesome or not, a problem is still just a problem.
And problems… are meant to be solved.
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