Welcome to long awaited sequel/spin-off to the Real DBZ! Basically, while you can go and read the Real DBZ, it's not needed all too much to understand this. For those of you who did read the Real DBZ, welcome back! Jackie Tanner and Son Gohan are the two main characters for this, but don't worry, some of Jackie's old friends may pop up every now and then...
There may be some confusion later, when people are calling Jackie "Son Jada" and the timeline switch up. Basically, in order to interview Cell, Jackie agreed that her show would end. Certain episodes were erased from all existence (except her own memories) so Videl, for example, is still clueless about Gohan.
In the distant mountain range, a small party of people slept peacefully. No one suspected what events would come to fall that day, the fates that would be changed, and the threads of destiny that would become intertwined. Or perhaps just as easily, cut off without a second thought, and tossed in the direction of the nearest Kai. From there, they would be added to a plethora of others, screaming and crying at the choices that had been made. Most people would look on upon them in sadness, offering to bring a helping hand, and certainly not serving to make their pain further. Only one person in the tiny little cabin, certainly not large enough for the family of four, which had recently become a family of five, was awake.
Before the first bird could sing its precious song, to announce the coming of the dawn, a tiny mass of the darkest smoke curled out of a miniscule chimney. It marred the dark blue sky, stretching higher and higher, until it became engulfed in the puffiness of the softest white clouds. Vanishing quickly, it almost appeared as if the smoke knew what was coming. A piercing shriek, louder than anyone had ever deserved to hear, erupted from the tiny abode.
"SON GOHAN! WAKE YOUR SISTER UP FOR SCHOOL OR YOU'LL HAVE A DATE WITH MY FRYING PAN!"
Unmistakably, the scream came from Son ChiChi, or as her daughter preferred to think of her as, ChaCha Lady. Ever since that misty day, in which Jackie had arrived to the studio to find Glitter and Cell waiting for the next interview, so many things had changed.
She recalled how Yemna had been very specific—this would be the last time that he would pull someone for her to interview for her show, focusing on the odd group. Of course, what he hadn't told her was exactly how the show would be ending.
As soon as the camera had shut off, and she had concluded her interview with Cell, something horrible happened. In a blink of an eye, it was all completely gone. It was as if it never happened—she'd never interviewed Cell or Videl, Hercule or Goku. She didn't even dare mention it to anyone else. She was convinced that only her and potentially a few of the Kais could remember that timeline, in which she had teased and tortured them all.
The episodes that survived, roughly half of them, still retained a small cult following. Deep down, she hoped that it would be enough to be recognized—to be freed from the household she had found herself forced to live in. Her parents were gone, when everything changed—a burglary went wrong.
The couch had been taken over by the teenage girl, as an effort to be as rude as she possibly could, after the sudden adoption by ChiChi. Etiquette lessons from the princess herself, training sessions from the ever so irritating Gohan, and then the looming idea of attending high school with her new brother had caused Jackie to freak out. So much so, that she only opened her eye slightly, not even reminiscing in the nasty chemical accident that had caused it to change color. They used to be a rich chocolate brown, a delicate color that she had quite favored; now they were a pale and watery blue.
Revealing no emotions, she quickly glanced over the tiny room, noticing the painful lack of technology. Only a tiny telephone was there, which Jackie had discovered, to her dismay, was a direct line to Capsule Corporation. There would be no calling Glitter to come and get her, which had become obvious months ago.
"Yes, Mother!" Gohan called back, running down the stairs as he frantically pulled on his white shirt.
ChiChi shot her son a look, tossing two lunch bags in his direction, which the demi-Saiyan caught flawlessly. Throwing them up into the air once more, Gohan hurried himself as he put on his vest, doing each button flawlessly, and still managing to catch the bags in time. Jackie would have been impressed with Gohan, had she not been staring in horror at what ChiChi had out on the counter.
"ChiChi, w-what's that?" Jackie stuttered, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear.
Gohan had insisted that she dye it. According to him, they would be sure to be found out if someone realized she was Jackie Tanner. Bitterly, Jackie felt like screaming at Gohan, or pointing out that she'd actually like it better if she were found out. Alas, Gohan kept stammering on about Videl Satan, whom Jackie had already tortured on the Real DBZ, and thus, would be likely to recognize her. Combined with the most stupid alias she had ever heard, Son Jada, Jackie wasn't a very happy camper. Not that she would ever be, until she could return to her beloved studio and drive fear into the minds of the beloved and the hated.
"You do not call your mother by her first name, young lady," ChiChi admonished, staring down her adopted daughter with cold eyes. "And that is your outfit for today. Get changed- Gohan's flying you until you get strong enough to do it yourself."
Jackie sighed, very exasperated, "Fine. But…Don't you think it's a bad idea sending me to Gohan's school? I'm only fourteen, not even ready for A levels yet in my country. I'm sure they'll notice my horrible Japanese on the spot!"
ChiChi brushed her daughter off, knowing that Jackie was lying. She spoke perfect Japanese, after she'd been forced to live in a cabin for six months with people who didn't know any other language. Gohan did know English, however, as ChiChi quickly realized it was becoming the language all educated people should know, and paid for a tutor to teach it to him. Nothing was going to keep the Son children from succeeding, that much was clear from the start.
"No buts!" ChiChi declared, bringing the clothes and a soft blue backpack over to Jackie, "Now Jackie, do as I say."
Moments later, Jackie and Gohan were being ushered out of the house. Goten had already left, off to some other remote mountain range to play, as if this one was already too crowded. A scarlet turtleneck, fuzzy and warm, sheltered Jackie from harm, as Gohan awkwardly put his arms around her. She scowled, for once having a slight motivation to train; there'd be no more situations like this in her future.
"Erm, could you…could you…?" Gohan stuttered, staring down helplessly at his adopted sister.
"Could I what?" Jackie seethed, glaring with a practiced air.
"Nothing, nothing," Gohan stammered, nervously powering up.
Jackie would have given him another glare, had they not been zooming through open air a moment later. It was like being a soaring eaglet, helpless without the aid of its mother. While she did enjoy the sensation of being above the world, Gohan's grip wasn't exactly in the spot she would have liked it to be. It was a good thing that he was considered to be her brother now. Otherwise, Jackie would not have been a happy camper at all. That was never something that would give a sign that humanity would have a cheerful day, either.
Eventually, the duo entered the smog-covered place, cherished by thousands, known as Satan City. Banners and signs were visible from up high in the clouds, advertising colorful products, fabulous celebrities, and of course, the town hero, Hercule Satan himself. Jack failed to notice any posters of herself, which caused her mood to worsen even more. She desperately missed the world where she had been able to meet them all, and where she had fame—here, she was nothing. She blamed ChiChi and Goku and the rest of them for it.
"Wow!" Gohan exclaimed, setting down behind a building—people would stare if they saw two people flying, without any sort of technological aid, "This place is amazing!"
"I suppose," Jackie mumbled, stumbling to her feet, "It's a big junkyard, if you ask me. Real cities, like London, now that's somewhere you want to be! Not this little rotten liar hole!"
"Well, I guess that's why we have opinions," Gohan replied with a grin, winking slightly at his adopted sister.
Jackie replied with a disgusted glare, reaching into her pocket to grab a map. There was no way that she was going to let Gohan navigate their way through the city; she was convinced that the Saiyans had their brains fried by using those scouters all day long. Especially Goku, may he rest in peace: he probably couldn't tell an oboe from an elbow. Chuckling to herself and ridiculing her adopted father in her head, Jackie pinned on the tiny orange badge. It was a stupid idea, she thought, as none of the schools back home required her to do anything like this; and if they did, they went all out with a uniform.
Jackie detested things that only went half way.
"Let me guess," Jackie began, not bothering to look at her brother, "You didn't even think of a cover story for the school?"
"Oh….Yeah," Gohan blushed, scratching the back of his head, "I guess I ought to do that, shouldn't I?"
Jackie nodded, before chucking a piece of paper at him, "You better. I already have mine in order, as well as some way to deflect attention towards my resemblance to a famous icon…Or at least, if I feel like not being found out."
She didn't feel like adding how much she would like to be found. If she closed her eyes, she could remember the world where everything was happy and amazing. And it wasn't even her fault that it all changed; it all came down to one reason—ChiChi. At these thoughts, Jackie's fists clenched, crumpling the corner of the map, as Gohan rambled on and on about why he didn't think that too many people would recognize him.
If his body wasn't practically made out of steal, the young girl would have been slapping him right now. Really, she couldn't understand why all of the Z Fighters could talk so much; they were as bad as the gossiping girls you have at each school! She'd been frustrated with this so much, that whenever reviewing information for her show, she'd have someone make a copy of each word said. From there, all she would have to do was skim read and pick out the juicy bits; it saved a lot of time for the young girl, more than one would have expected it to.
"What?" Gohan asked, realizing that Jackie wasn't quite listening to him, "Talk to me? Please…If it's about some boy, I can—"
Jackie turned bright red, partially from a blush, and partially from anger. She could NOT believe that Son Gohan, of all people, had just said that to her! She knew very well that he had a reputation for being clueless, for not being the person that would recognize situations like this. Heck, she doubted that he even knew what puberty was like! Sure, he'd already been attending this school for a couple of days now—not all too long—but that didn't mean that Gohan would be able to learn the way that a teenage mind worked.
He was Goku's biological son; there was almost no hope for him at all, in her mind.
"We'll just say that you transferred from an English boarding school," Gohan stated, as if he completely forgot about the previous conversation, "It explains the accent. Though you don't have much of one…"
"Right," Jackie muttered dryly, thinking a couple of choice cusswords in her head, "And I'll tell them you're from pinhead alley, which is why you can't comprehend sarcasm!"
Gohan blinked, staring at his furious sister, complete helpless. Does she really think I'm that slow? He wondered, rubbing the back of his head out of habit. He didn't realize that didn't help matters, yet it did shove the Saiyaman watch in his face, reminding him of something rather important. Orange Star High happened to have a time in which class started—all schools do—on regular basis, with him having no control over it. Only the famous Videl Satan could ever truly get out of it, on an account of fighting crime, even if Erasa and her had just went out to the mall to grab some coffee before class.
That time just happened to have been five minutes ago.