Tapion slept on the crushed bits of iron, clearly having some sort of nightmare in his sleep...

He was grunting, sweating, and squirming.

And the sound of very excited footsteps woke him up.

On instinct, he grabbed his sword and barely unsheathed it at the visitor!

It was Trunks, holding a dinner neatly wrapped in a green cloth.

He stopped in his tracks.

"Er... Uh... H-Hi...?" Trunks asked.

Tapion merely stared...

Trunks hurriedly put the dinner on an oil barrel...

"H-Help yourself!" He said, hurrying back to the entrance.

Tapion sheathed his sword, because there was no threat.

He sat back down on the rubble he slept on.

"You can't save the world on an empty stomach... Right?" Trunks asked.

Tapion didn't even acknowledge him.

Trunks wasn't thrilled, but...

"...Well, enjoy." Trunks said, walking away.

"I'll be right outside if you need me." He said, getting out of Tapion's sight.

And Gohan was hunched up against the wall outside.

"Thanks for getting your mom to do this." Trunks said.

"She's a better cook than your mom, trust me." Gohan said.

"Now, go home before your mother yells at you, then me later." He said.

Trunks nodded.

He leapt and started flying away towards West City.

Gohan stared into the opposite direction, where an untouched city stood.

'Was this base destroyed by the Androids? If so, how is that city still standing there? If not, how did this place get ruined?' He thought.

Life's greatest mysteries...

'I wonder why Fluttershy's complimenting me more. Maybe she's trying to switch things up?' He thought.

Gohan continued to consult his inner deducer while Tapion slowly made his way to the food.

'Can't keep him contained on an empty stomach...' Tapion thought, unwrapping the food.

One box, a container of water, and chopsticks.

Tapion opened the container and took a swig of water.

Then, he opened the box.

Rice, meat, salad, and fish packed to the brim.

It smelled really nice...

Tapion grabbed the chopsticks and slowly brought it to the food...

Then, he took a small clump of rice, and ate it.

...

'...This is good.' He thought, taking some fish.

He started eating a bit faster, yet delicately.

He didn't have a Saiyan stomach.

'...I don't know, I shouldn't be overthinking this.' Gohan thought.

'I don't know what she's trying to do... Does she need moral support or something? Is she practicing on me?' He thought.

And at that moment...

BAKOOM!

There was a giant explosion in the city!

Gohan was snapped out of his train of thought.

"Oh boy." He muttered, making his yellow aura flare.

He leapt and flew towards the city, leaving a small streak of aura behind him.

Tapion emerged from his place, and was shocked at the sight.

"It's you, huh." He muttered.

He ran as fast as he could towards the city.

Buildings collapsed, people were running, and nothing was trying to stop... whatever the issue was.

It was clearly an attack, but by whom?

The military was wiped off the face of the Earth a long time ago, so there were no defenses.

Gohan couldn't believe his eyes.

It was like the Androids attacked yet again.

Destroyed buildings, fires, people screaming and trying to flee...

However, this time, the enemy was much different.

The power he sensed was immense.

'I-I can't... Who could be that strong!?' He thought, flying down towards the streets.

He landed on the road and a giant foot kicked past a building a few blocks away.

This area of the town was deserted.

And, from the night sky, a humongous tail dropped down!

Gohan narrowly jumped out of the way...

CRASH!

The place shook when the tail landed.

Gohan managed to get a better look of what he was up against.

The bottom half of a giant monster!

'Is this what Hoi was talking about!? How!?' Gohan thought.

The monster ran, and threw it's giant foot at Gohan.

Gohan jumped up and flew high to avoid it.

CRASH!

The foot kicked down another building...

"Damn it!" Gohan yelled, making his aura flare intensely.

"HAAAAAAAAAA!"

His aura exploded, turning into a Super Saiyan!

Then, with an extra grunt, sparks started flying!

Gohan ascended, and was ready to roll!

"I'm not letting you feet away with this!" He yelled.

He blitzed towards the monster, narrowly dodging the tail from above again.

Gohan wound up a powerful fist, and slammed it into the monster's hip!

BAM!

The monster didn't even flinch.

"What...!?" Gohan muttered.

The monster brought it's knee up to counter!

Gohan just flew to the side and slammed his fist into the monster's hip yet again.

WHAM!

The monster was actually pushed back.

But only a bit.

The monster took two steps to stay balanced.

'It worked... barely.' Gohan thought.

"You're vulnerable when you attack... Behind all that power, you have a huge weakness." He said.

"The only problem is, I don't know if I have the power to capitalize...!" He muttered.

The monster jumped back for space in an instant.

'He moves fast!' Gohan thought, falling down to the ground.

'I'm going to put this all into one shot!' He thought, slamming his wrists together in front of him.

Then, he brought them down to his side.

His aura flared even brighter than before!

The blue energy formed in between his palms.

Then, the monster charged.

'I'll need to buy myself some time!' Gohan thought, running straight at the monster.

The blast became more concentrated by the second, and it grew slightly larger.

Gohan ran through the space between the monster's legs!

In response, the monster tried using his tail to catch Gohan off guard, trying to slamming it on the ground.

However, Gohan was too nimble, and jumped out of the way, into the sky.

CRASH!

The blast got even bigger and stronger.

'This is it!' Gohan thought.

The monster did a turnaround kick!

Gohan flew underneath.

"There you are! Kamehameha!" He yelled, unleashing the blast!

Gohan aimed right at the crotch area, and...

BAKOOM!

A direct hit!

The monster just barely lost his balance.

And, with that, he fell over.

CRASH!

"Now's my chance!" Gohan yelled, making his aura flare.

He held both hands down at his side, charging yellow ki blasts.

"HRRRAAAGH!"

He fired quick and consecutive ki blasts!

It was a downpour on the monster!

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!

Explosions and smoke enveloped the area...

Eventually, Gohan couldn't even see the monster, but he kept firing and yelling.

But after a while, Gohan got tired.

He stopped to catch his breath...

'Ugh... It doesn't feel like I did much...' He thought, panting.

Then, there was the sound of a very familiar ocarina.

'What's that noise?' Gohan thought.

As it kept playing, the smoke died down.

And as the block became a little bit clearer...

"He's gone!?" Gohan asked.

The music suddenly stopped.

Gohan flew down to the ground.

'I can't sense him... What happened...?' He thought.

And, in the corner of his eye, amidst all the smoke...

Tapion was strolling.

He carried the ocarina close to his mouth, shooting Gohan a look.

"Tapion? How did he...?" Gohan muttered.

Then, suddenly, Tapion disappeared into the smoke...

When the smoke subsequently died, it was as if he was never there.

"What is going on...?" Gohan muttered.

He heard the sounds of footsteps and leaping.

Looking up at the somewhat damaged buildings beside him, Gohan could make out a shadowy figure...

The figure was very agile, and looked down at Gohan.

'Hoi...? What's he...?' Gohan thought.

The figure dashed off.

'...If there's any consolation for any of this... We know who the bad guys are.' Gohan thought.

Tapion rested in the base once more.

All these events were a strain on his body, so he couldn't help but sleep.

As he slept, his hand moved unconsciously.

The ocarina strapped to his belt fell off and rolled away...

Then, smoke suddenly emitted from Tapion...

It formed a giant blue portal!

It raged with lightning and strong winds.

Tapion was forced to wake up...

He stood up, realizing what's going on.

"No...!" He muttered.

Tapion reached for his ocarina, but it wasn't on his belt.

A giant hand came from the portal!

Tapion narrowly jumped out of the way!

CRASH!

The rubble Tapion slept on was now... more rubble.

The monster, Hirudegarn...

He forced himself to be free from the portal!

But only the top half.

Hirudegarn roared at Tapion!

But Tapion noticed his ocarina was just a few yards away.

'I can grab it when he makes an attack...!' He thought.

Then, Hirudegarn threw his open hand at Tapion, trying to grab him!

Tapion made a run for it, dodging Hirudegarn's claw!

CRASH!

The giant hand tore a hole in the base, and it could be seen from the outside!

Tapion made a leap, and grabbed the ocarina!

But then, he bashed himself into the wall.

Tapion was in a corner, and Hirudegarn was ready to strike again...!

He brought the ocarina to his mouth, and started playing.

Hirudegarn lunged forward, ready to take Tapion out!

But...

The music paralyzed him.

No, it held him back.

Tapion stood up, walking closer to Hirudegarn as he played.

Hirudegarn roared, grunted, and struggled to move freely...

But he was unable to do anything.

Then, as Tapion started to suddenly emit a blue light...

Hirudegarn turned to smoke.

The smoke went back inside Tapion.

The ordeal was over.

Tapion stopped playing, then panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Close call..." He muttered.

'How could I let that happen...!?' He thought.

Short, but I didn't really want to skip to the next day in this same chapter.