So, I've been reading my fair share of DBZ fanfiction since recently as a way to get over my disappointment as to the original series. It's not to say that I hate Dragon Ball Super per say, just really disappointed as to how the story has been developing over time. I think that the story did many things wrong (or at the very least, some things that I would not have done if I were the Akira Toriyama). But alas, I am not.
I mean no blight against Toriyama. The man is a legend in his own right and has obviously done something right seeing the fact that his characters are universally recognized and held has heroes in the minds of many children. It was this man who had introduced me to the wonderful world of anime and manga and I will always have a place in my heart for his works.
But, it also should be said that he is not without his faults.
First of all, how do you forget one of your own characters?! Some of you may not know who I am talking about seeing as most began their journey at DBZ and not the show's original series Dragon Ball which follows Goku's journey as a child. BUT STILL, HOW COULD HE HAVE FORGOTTEN LAUNCH?! SHE WAS AN AWESOME CHARACTER AND ONE OF MY FAVORITES!
I MISS HER SO MUCH...
But one of my biggest problems was the way he had developed Gohan. Gohan had so much potential as a child growing up and was squandered during that seven year time-skip. It was originally planned that Gohan would have taken over his father's role as the series protagonist after the Cell saga but that was ultimately scrapped. This was due to the the fact that Toriyama stated that Gohan's personality prevented him from adequately fulfilling the role he was to play. That, I can agree with.
Gohan is a pacifist by nature and in a series focused around fighting, he wouldn't really fit the mold. But that doesn't mean he had to completely nerf Gohan. I mean, come on. He was such a wimp and a walk-over nearing the Buu saga and only showed the slightest of anything resembling a backbone only after Videl was viciously curb-stomped. In my eyes, he was a let-down after the Cell games.
But what can I do? It's not like there is some sort of forum on which I can make changes to the original story line to suit my own tastes where in which others can also read it and leave their opinions?
Oh wait... there is!
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you a one-shot of what I would consider my version of what the build-up to the Buu saga should be. It won't really cover a lot in terms of the original story's plot but will show how different the story could be if Gohan was a bit more... well, assertive.
Enjoy!
Orange Star High School
Son Gohan was running late... again.
This was not an unfamiliar sight as the spiky haired teen sprinted through the halls of the public high school. He was usually late to class and would be normally be seen rushing towards his homeroom at this time. He was tall for his age, easily heads and shoulders over most of the other boys. Despite it not being the mandatory dress code, he chose to wear the school's official male uniform; a white long-sleeved shirt, black vest, burnt orange pants with the prominent badge of Orange Star High School displayed on his chest.
'Dammit dammit dammit!' the perpetually late boy swore in his head as he rounded a bend and darted forwards.
He had hoped that he would have been early this morning but his regular alarm clock (read: his annoying little brother Goten) had been unusually late in the boy's wake-up this morning and he barely had time to eat breakfast before his mother had sent him off. Not to mention that on his way to school, a robbery had occurred right as he flew overhead on Nimbus. He wasn't sure how it was that in a city that boasted the 'world's savior', that it had the highest number of crimes. But then again, most of these criminals were usually just punks who wanted a shot at fighting the world champ and would go to any means to draw his attention.
But that was neither here nor there. The main point he was trying to make was the fact that due to the deviant activity, he was forced to resort to his Saiyaman get-up and resort the problem himself. Stopping the robbers themselves wasn't a problem. When you were to compare Gohan, now considered as the strongest being on Earth with few who could even hold a candle to his strength, to your everyday common thug, the match up was ridiculously unfair. His power level compared to theirs was like the ground to the sky... no - even more than that. At his peak, his power was so encompassing and seemingly infinite that no scouter to date could even fathom to calculate his true strength without being blown to smithereens.
So yeah, the fight had ended quickly.
But what came after threatened to give him an headache the size of New Namek. He was immediately accosted on scene by his ever persistent classmate, Videl Satan. If Gohan was to describe the girl in one word, the first one to come to mind was stubborn. The girl's coarse black hair was styled in two low pig-tails with golden hair clips. She wore her trademark white blouse with black biker shorts that stopped at her thighs. She was quick to grab him by the collar, dragging him down to her eye-level with an angry scowl on her face. The girl was determined in her attempts to unmask him. He could understand her perspective, but there were times when she got under his skin and irritated him to no end.
As he neared his homeroom, a locker was slammed shut, halting him in his steps.
Speak of the devil.
"Hey Videl," he waved at the girl, hoping against all odds that this wasn't another attempt by the girl to discover his secrets. It was bad enough that she took to harassing him when he was under the guise of the Great Saiyaman but even here, the girl wholeheartedly believed that he was the city's masked hero.
And the sad part about it was that she was absolutely right.
She wore a smug grin, looking far too much like a cat who had eaten the canary. She had propped herself up against a locker - his locker to be exact. "Well, hello there Gohan," she cooed.
Gohan would never admit it out loud but he was attracted to the black haired girl. She was strong willed, beautiful and an incredible fighter compared to normal standards. But his attraction to her was overshadowed by his repulsion to her meddling tendencies. She was strong-willed, yes but she was extremely pushy. She demanded to know all there was to know about any and every one she associated with and if she was refused, she would often resort to intimidation tactics.
Not the most attractive of traits.
"What's up Videl? Aren't we gonna be late for class?" he asked again, feeling just a tad bit nervous as her grin grew. The girl took a step forward then tipped to the ball of her feet, silently fuming that he was that much taller than her.
"It's over Gohan!"
'Huh?! What's over? School certainly even over. I just got here,'. Gohan frowned. Now she was really making any sense to him. "What are talking about Videl. School just started awhile ago," he said.
She jabbed a finger in his chest. "Don't act coy with me! You know what I'm talking about,"
He moved her finger away from his chest and crossed his arms. Honestly, he didn't have time to deal with this girl.
"No, I really don't know what you're talking about,"
She bit her lower lip. This was something she liked and disliked about the black-haired teen. The boy was unconditionally kind and passionate about whatever it was that he did. Despite him already being leagues ahead in terms of education, the teen still poured his heart and sole into his assignments showing a dedication she had never seen before. And added to his assertive and steely will, he was one of the few who would dare look her in the eye without flinching.
A big plus in her book.
She smirked and reached forward for the lone band-aid on his cheek. She felt superior when she felt his breath still. His lips were so close that all it took was a slight tilt forward and they would be...
She immediately stopped those thoughts dead in their tracks.
She ripped the band-aid off, revealing a thin scratch on his cheek "Ah ah! Just like I thought! I saw Saiyaman getting this same exact scratch there yesterday. Seeing as you have the same exact scratch on the same spot can only mean that you're the Great Saiyaman!"
And just one more thing to add to the list of things he liked yet disliked about the girl. She was scary perspective.
"Y-You're wrong. I-It's just a coincidence," he waved off, sweat beading on his forehead.
Videl merely shook her head. Gohan could not lie to save his life. She stepped back, giving him space.
She would gladly admit that she was having a bit of fun with the way she was slowly trapping the tall teen in a corner. Since his inception to Orange Star High, Gohan had quickly made a name for himself among the school populace. He wasn't popular by any means but most had heard of the boy. He was the new wiz kid, the nerd in class who had been home-schooled most of his life. Like a cat, Videl was immediately curious of the boy. There were too many things about him that did not add up and she knew something was up. The aspiring detective within her had demanded that she unveil the boy's secrets and was off-put when he had refused. It had lead to an one-sided game of cat-and-mouse with Videl taking to tailing him wherever he went in a bid to learn the truth.
And at long last, she had finally gained an upper hand.
"Give it up Gohan! You're a horrible liar," she gloated.
The boy hung his head in defeat. Since when had his life dwindled from death matches against galactic overlords into hiding secrets from teen-aged girls. Hell! Facing off against Frieza was a lot easier than this.
He sighed aloud. "Fine, you've got me. I'm the Great Saiyaman,"
As she heard the words flow from his lips, Videl felt hollow in her victory over the boy. She wasn't sure what she had expected but... this was not it. She bit her lips in thought, pondering if she should go on with her next course of action in her plan of outing Gohan. With a few seconds of thought, she decided that it was worth it in the end. She would be benefiting greatly from this. There was a chance she would even learn how to fly.
How cool was that!
"I wonder~" she cooed far too innocently. Instantly, Gohan felt a deep fear settle in his stomach. Simply discovering his secret was probably not enough for the girl. She would want more, he could tell.
"What is it, Videl?"
"I'm just thinking Gohan, don't you think that the public deserves the right to now just who the Great Saiyaman is?" she said. She took two steps back, providing space between the two. "After all, he is the city's newest hero~"
Gohan had to fight back the curse on his lips. He knew full well that she didn't believe the Great Saiyaman to be a hero. Many times he had heard her complain to Erasa about his exploits.
"You can't Videl," he pleaded. "I wear that costume so I can protect my family's identity.
She smirked. "Don't worry Gohan, I won't tell." For a moment there, he sighed a breath of relief. At least his secret was still safe from the public. But then the world came crashing down on his head. "On one condition," she chimed in.
"What do you want me to do?"
"You are going to join the World Martial Arts Tournament that's coming up soon. You see, I did a little digging yesterday and I found out that the champ before my dad was named Son Goku," Videl grinned. "Does that sound familiar? I even found out he had a child. A son by the name of Son Gohan. You may have tried to hide it from me but I know that your father was the champ, just like mine!"
Gohan could feel the incoming headache. He said it before and he would say it again, Videl was scarily perceptive. From a single scratch on his cheek, she had not only deduced his alter ego's identity, but it had led her down the path of discovering his family's heritage. And he was sure that if she looked back on the old tournament tapes, she would easily figure out that he had mastered the same ki techniques that her father had passed off as tricks and scams.
"Just think, the daughter of the current champ versus the son of the former champ!" Videl explained, and Gohan could see that she was invested in the idea of the two of them fighting in the tournament.
Too bad that wouldn't happen.
"I'm sorry Videl but I can't,"
"... "
The silence that came after his response made Gohan think that perhaps he had made the wrong choice. The girl looked as of someone had smacked her with a live fish, and seeing as how he had done that to Goten once, the facial expression was spot on.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU CAN'T'!?" the girl screamed. She had re-closed the gap between the two. She was quick to grab his collar and drag him down to her eye-level.
Yet, he was unfazed.
"I mean that I won't join the World Martial Arts Tournament," he explained, unconcerned as her grip tightened. "If I enter then that would draw even more attention to my family,"
"B-But you have to!" she screamed, feeling the dreads of desperation sinking in. Her plan was unraveling in front of her eyes and she was quickly losing control of the situation. "If you don't then... then... then I'll call a press conference and tell the whole world about your secret!"
Was it malicious? Yes. Was it fair? No. Did she entirely care? Not at this point. Maybe later down the line, she would feel regret for essentially trying to blackmail the boy into bending to her demands but she was so close to learning all those amazing skills he had used when parading around as the Great Saiyaman.
Not to mention all the alone time they would have to spend together 'training.'
She wouldn't let it just slip through her fingers like that.
Gohan was not impressed. "I won't enter the tournament Videl. My family really likes their family and I do too. I hope you can understand that." He didn't wait for a response, walking off towards the direction of the class. As much as he liked the thrill of a good fight, he wouldn't jeopardize the peace his family had earned after so many years of fighting and back-to-back threats to their safety.
Videl watched him walk off, fuming at the callous dismissal in her eyes. It had been a very long time since someone had refused her and she found the feeling to be unpleasant. All she wanted was for him to teach her a few moves and to fight against her. So what was the big deal if a few cameras were pointed in his direction had the end of the day? Surely he could handle it. She was forced to do it for seven years so far and while it had been taxing, it wasn't the end of the world.
'Fine then Son Gohan, if that's how you want to play it, two can play that game.'
She pushed off the lockers and headed in the opposite directions; directly towards the school's exit.
She had a few calls to make.
Mount Paozu, Goku's house
Gohan cut the flow of his ki as he landed right outside his house. The morning's episode with Videl had left a hollow feeling in his gut, especially since the girl hadn't showed up for the rest of the day. He hoped against all hope that instead of outing him to the whole world, the girl had simply disappeared to vent her frustrations in a few sessions of training.
The whole day had been a roller-coaster of emotions. Mostly dread and anticipation of what was to come. He had spaced out in class, his mind running a thousand miles an hour as he pondered on whether or not his secret identity had been revealed.
But as he stepped into the humble abode settled snug in the 439 East District, his heart sank as his worst fears were realized.
Because on the screen of the family's small television, was the smug grin of Videl Satan as she told the world the truth.
Tell me what you think and if you believe I should continue the story.
Review, favorite and follow,
-Gregorybryce9
