Goku and Krillin walked Axiom toward the main building on Kami's Lookout.
Bulma was the first to notice them. She turned casually—then froze.
"…Goku," she said slowly, eyes narrowing. "Who's that Frieza-looking guy?"
"He's not Frieza. His name's Axiom," Goku replied.
Bulma's expression sharpened.
"Axiom?" she repeated. "You mean… like a foundational truth?"
Axiom met her gaze and nodded.
Bulma crossed her arms.
"So you're not Frieza. But you look like him… you're related, I take it?"
Axiom thought for a moment before nodding. "I am, yeah."
She studied him carefully, walking a slow circle around him, inspecting him as if he were machinery.
"And you just showed up on Earth because…?"
"I was curious," Axiom replied, giving the same answer he had given Goku.
"Well, that's not reassuring at all."
Goku laughed awkwardly. "He's not bad, don't worry."
Bulma's eyebrow twitched. "Yeah, right, Goku. I don't want to profile him, but the only other family member of Frieza we've seen was also evil."
Axiom remained calm. "I can understand that, ma'am."
Bulma stopped pacing, caught off guard by his words.
"Ma'am?! Do I look that old!?" Bulma yelled, completely forgetting her prior suspicion.
Axiom visibly recoiled at the yelling, his ki rising slightly before he reined it in, realizing that hurting Bulma wouldn't be a smart decision.
"No, no. You seem quite young. I didn't mean anything by that. It was just something I thought would be respectful," Axiom said, trying to calm her down.
"Fine! But don't imply anything like that again!" Bulma said, finally calming down and shooing him away.
__
The introductions that followed were brief.
Yamcha gave him a nod. He hadn't actually seen Frieza, nor witnessed the horrors under his control, so Axiom's appearance didn't bother him.
Tien observed silently. Like Yamcha, he hadn't faced Frieza, so he kept his distance, cautious but not hostile.
Piccolo was similar to Tien, though he had fought Frieza. He could easily separate Axiom from the tyrant, judging by his demeanor in real time.
Finally, Gohan stepped forward hesitantly, staring up at Axiom.
"You look a lot like Frieza," Gohan admitted.
Axiom looked down at him. "Correct, but I'm not him. I'm not a bad man," he said, trying to reassure Gohan.
Gohan nodded, still somewhat apprehensive. Seeing Axiom's words align with his demeanor, it became easier to separate him from Frieza. "Uh-huh… you don't seem bad."
Axiom nodded and smiled. "You're a smart kid, right?" Gohan nodded. "If you can't trust me, then just trust your father."
Goku chimed in to reassure his son. "C'mon, Gohan. He's not like Frieza. He's a good guy."
Gohan visibly relaxed. "Okay."
It was easy to gain the trust of children.
After the introductions settled, Axiom turned to Goku.
"Could you continue teaching me? This time about ki."
Goku perked up. "Oh! Okay, so what do you want to learn this time?"
Axiom smiled at the confirmation. "I'd like to learn how to sense and control ki for now—just the basics."
Goku nodded, thinking for a moment. "Alright, first, you know how you fly, right?" He tapped his forehead lightly. "To sense ki, you need to feel the ki inside yourself first. You can do that, right?"
Axiom simply nodded, curious about where this would go.
Goku continued, "Okay, so… Master Roshi taught me this, but to make it easier to sense things, you should spread your ki out thinly. Kind of like flying, but don't use it to push yourself—just use it to touch other ki, and you'll start getting a feel for it."
Axiom's eyes narrowed slightly, then relaxed, absorbing the information like a sponge.
He stilled, then let his ki expand slowly—not explosively, not forcefully—just a thin layer, spreading outward.
At first, there was nothing.
Then—static. Faint pressure. Different textures.
Goku's energy felt warm, steady, trained, restrained. "This is interesting… your ki feels different than mine."
Goku chuckled, impressed that Axiom could sense it immediately. "Wow, you're quick. And yeah, all ki feels different, at least a bit."
Axiom nodded before pulling back, suddenly realizing a new sense had awoken. He could feel ki, albeit muddled by the surroundings. "Wow… this is amazing. But what about ki control?"
Goku thought for a moment. "Hmm… oh! Yeah. All you have to do is hold a bit of your ki outside your body, but make sure it stays stable."
Axiom nodded and attempted to extend a small portion of ki. He managed to keep only a tiny amount consistently outside his body at first.
He practiced for hours, taking breaks occasionally, each time keeping slightly more ki outside, until eventually exhaustion forced him to stop.
Axiom sat cross-legged, then fell onto his side, falling asleep from the training and sheer physical need for rest, still a baby in many ways.
Goku blinked, surprised. "He asleep?"
"Yes," Piccolo answered flatly.
Goku laughed. "Guess he's still a baby, huh?"
Bulma sighed. "Fantastic. Who's idea was it to bring a baby here with Cell looming over our heads?!"
No one argued, silently looking at Goku, who just looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head.
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Seven hours later
Axiom woke up, sitting up almost immediately. Something felt different.
Then he saw them: at the edge of the Lookout stood Vegeta. Beside him—a tall young man with lavender hair.
Axiom stared for a moment, not fully recognizing the man next to Vegeta, before remembering the body he had seen before climbing into the time machine.
Putting two and two together, he realized that Trunks was here—an adult Trunks, the same one he had seen dead.