Author's Notes: Evening, all. Moldy, here. Haven't posted in a long-ass
time, but I'm back. Ever wonder what would have happened if Goku's
conversation with Gohan at the end of the Cell Saga was little different?
Or, perhaps instead you have wondered how would the Buu Saga be different
had Gohan kept up his training? I have, and typed this up to sate my
curiosity. Enjoy!
Note: Piccolo refers to Gohan as "student" several times. This is the greatest form of affection he can gift Gohan with. When called this, Gohan always responds with "teacher", the expected reciprocal.
Chapter One: Power And Responsibility
"Son, there's one more thing I have to say," said Son Goku, the recently deceased and former most powerful warrior in the universe, to his son, Gohan. His young boy, still recovering from the fight with Cell, turned.
"Yes, Daddy?" His use of the affectionate name only put emphasis on his youth. A reality away, in Heaven, Goku shrugged his shoulders, wincing. The boy had seen enough to last ten lifetimes and Goku was planning to lay yet another burden on his only offspring.
"Son, you have.a power no one else does." Goku swallowed again, despite the fact his son was only hearing a telepathic thought, not an actual voice. "And with me.not coming back, I. I need you to look after things for me. Keep your skills sharp, son, because you'll never know when you might need them." Goku's tone turned to that of one laughing. "Sides, we can't have Piccolo getting bored, can we?"
Gohan smiled through his tears. "Anything you say, Tousan. I promise I won't get weak again, and let more people down."
Goku's heart nearly broke at hearing his son's words. "I promise to try to talk to you as often as I can, Gohan. Tell your mother I love her."
Gohan cried openly now, though he tried to hide it from the other Z fighters. "Bye, Tousan!" he called to winds. "I'll see you again, someday!"
The other defenders of Earth joined Gohan's send-off, adding in their own personal comments and good-byes. Only Vegeta remained silent, giving Kakkarott the respect worthy of a high-class Saiyan warrior.
Kakkarott.I'm the only full-blooded Saiyan left, now. I'll look after you spawn and woman. Don't worry, Kakkarott. The Earth is in good hands. The Saiyan race will die with me, as the gods intended it. Someday I will join you, and journey to Hell to see my race once more. Until that day Kakkarott.
Until that day.
Seven Years Later
Gohan disappeared into thin air, performing several consecutive zanzoken maneuvers perfectly. When he reappeared, several dozen blasts of ki ripped from his palms and reduced the small boulder he was aiming it to dust. Gohan held the barrage for several seconds and leapt forward, grunting with exertion as he engaged another rock in combat, reducing it to rubble with only his feet.
Gohan kept his training routine for nearly forty-five minutes before he felt the familiar ki he was trying to draw out. Ah, he thought. Piccolo.
The green-skinned Namek appeared moments later, already in his basic stance. It was vaguely reminiscent of a coiled cobra, something his lizard- like appearance was quite at home with. A lesser fighter would have barely recognized it for what it was at all, it looked so casual. Large, razor- sharp canines were displayed in the rare toothy grin Gohan's mentor was flashing him, a grin Gohan returned. It had been a while since Gohan had been able to train, what with his entrance exams to Orange Star to study for and all. The young demi-Saiyan was pleased to burn some energy.
With no effort, Gohan gave a little push of ki and felt the familiar addictive rush of the Super Saiyan form flow through him. His hair stood even more on end than usual and turned a brilliant golden color, stained so by the flaxen aura that sprung up around him. His eyes turned a vivid shade of cerulean, cold as a thousand glaciers. A small, typically Saiyan smirk formed on Gohan's face. For a moment, the two aliens stood there, poised motionlessly to fight.
Suddenly, with a rush of energy and a roar of power, they sprung at each other. Piccolo, with his blend of his own fighting style and the Holy Namekian style he had inherited from Nail, nearly gained the upper-hand quickly. Gohan, utilizing Goku's form of Kaio-style and bits of the Demon King's style Piccolo taught him, struck back just as quickly.
Gohan took the offensive, as he often did. He began with a series of quick, nearly-undetectable jabs and followed those up with a powerful ki- assisted left hook. Piccolo's unusually flexible Namekian body allowed him to dodge with scant more than scratch on his nose. Gohan grunted and rose his ki, the golden flames burning all the more fiercely around him. After sending Piccolo crashing into the pile of rubble his earlier training had done, Gohan put his on top of one another and held them above his head, gathering ki into himself. As soon as Piccolo revealed himself, Gohan brought his hands down remarkably fast to point at Piccolo. A holy chant heralding his attack tore from his lips.
"MASENKO.HAA!" Gohan roared. The river of blood-red ki that poured from his palms impacted fully with Piccolo, who was driven back to his knees on impact.
With a loud grunt, Piccolo rose his own ki and erected a translucent shield while he got a grip. This Piccolo managed with some difficulty, shifting his "hold" on the ki, trying to get the best leverage. The unstable energy began to throb, and Piccolo knew that it would soon explode. With a mighty groan of effort, Piccolo threw the energy high into the air, where it detonated harmlessly.
Gohan, still breathing hard from his attack, zanzokened down to Piccolo's level and began again his flurry of attacks, hoping to end the fight soon.
The pair fought for several minutes more, becoming invisible to the human eye. Their punches were roughly the speed of sound; they each contained the energy of a meteor impact. Finally, Piccolo won a rare victory by knocking Gohan into the small pond several miles from his house, a barrier long decided by the two that would serve as a "ring out" should they touch the surface of the water.
"Not bad, Piccolo," Gohan laughed, scratching the back of his head absently with his arms.
The Namek laughed too; save for his was low chuckle that would make a person who didn't know him run screaming into the night. "You're getting better. Been training regularly?"
Gohan nodded in an affirmative. "Not as much as Vegeta would like, but yes. I sparred him a month ago, you know. He finally made 2."
Piccolo scowled. "Super Saiyan 2, eh? Great, now he'll be even more insufferable. Bastard Saiyan." he muttered, absently reducing a small shrub to dust.
Gohan grinned even wider. "You're just jealous cause he could wipe the floor with you."
Piccolo growled. "Watch it, kid, or I'll show you what the Makankosappo looks like when you're on the receiving end."
Gohan laughed again, flashing the famous Son family grin. "Try it, Jolly Green Giant, and I'll show you a Kienzan that would make Cell himself shit his pants."
"You use that language around your mother, kid?"
The grin reappeared on Gohan's face. "What, you didn't expect me to say 'darn' my whole life, did you? Besides, I'm entering a real high school next month, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to expand my vocabulary a little."
Piccolo smirked. "Just make sure your mother isn't around when you say 'damn' in front of your new friends. Wouldn't want her to break out the frying pan, would we?"
Gohan mock-shivered. "I swear, that damn pan hurts as much as anything Freiza could do. Between her and Android 17, I'd still pick 17."
Piccolo growled. "17. Yet another one who is in severe need of a beating. Give me ten minutes and he'd wish-"
Suddenly, Piccolo was cut off by a large explosion. An object moving so fast it was invisible to the naked eye streaked across the sky, leaving a flaming trail in its wake. Piccolo and Gohan, each seeing several dozen times better than any mere human, watched in awe as it vanished from sight, dipping lower and lower as it tore through the horizon.
"What the fuck was that?!" Gohan exclaimed, taking to the air to get a better view.
"Spacepod of some sort," Piccolo grunted. "Couldn't see what kind."
"Think it's worth investigating?" Gohan asked hopefully. He itched for a real fight, for an adventure.
"Probably not. Mention it to Bulma next time you see her." Piccolo gave Gohan a long, sideways glance. "Besides, don't you start hide school tomorrow?"
"It's 'high school', not 'hide school'. And yes, I have to report to Orange Star at seven o'clock tomorrow."
"And I assume this means you'll train less?" Piccolo's tone was displeased.
"Not really. I already know more than the level they usually graduate at, but Mom wanted me to have an actual graduation and diploma and all that. Besides, except for you, Vegeta's family, Mom, and Goten, I don't really have any contact with the outside world. Mom wanted me off the mountain a couple hours a day."
"Mom, Mom, Mom," Piccolo imitated, smirking. "For someone who has seen so much, you certainly haven't lost that.what do you call it? Mamma's boy philosophy. Hasn't the Bastard called you on that, yet?"
Gohan smiled at Piccolo's "affectionate" nickname for Vegeta. "Not really," he answered. "I can still match him in a fight, so he doesn't wanna tick me off. 'Sides," Gohan nonchalantly powered up a small sphere of ki and began playing with it as he spoke. "Bulma has him pretty much tamed, nowadays. He comes out of his chamber for at least twice a day to play with Trunks, trains him less than four hours a day, has dinner with them, and is forbidden from the word 'fuck', all on Bulma's orders."
Piccolo grinned, a scary predatory one that gave little children nightmares. "Tamed by a pair of mammary glands and intercourse. And you wonder why I'm glad I'm not a mammal."
"Yes, but at least it was nice pair of 'mammary glands' that did the taming," Gohan laughed with a lecherous grin.
Piccolo sighed. "I though you were above such adolescent quips. Obviously, I was mistaken."
"No, Piccolo. I hope to be very below such quips, if I'm to get a girlfriend sometime in the next century," Gohan added his famous Son family grin, albeit more perverted than usual.
"Well, your mother will be after me if I don't let you home soon. Make sure to tell Bulma of that pod. I'll keep an eye on it overnight for you. Good luck, student."
Gohan nodded, suddenly as serious as his mentor. "I won't forget. Even if it is one of Freiza's endless relatives or something, someone we can deal with easily, they could still hurt a lot of people. Thank you for your blessing, teacher."
The two turned their backs to each other and, with a brief ignition of ki, shot off to their respective destinations.
Note: Piccolo refers to Gohan as "student" several times. This is the greatest form of affection he can gift Gohan with. When called this, Gohan always responds with "teacher", the expected reciprocal.
Chapter One: Power And Responsibility
"Son, there's one more thing I have to say," said Son Goku, the recently deceased and former most powerful warrior in the universe, to his son, Gohan. His young boy, still recovering from the fight with Cell, turned.
"Yes, Daddy?" His use of the affectionate name only put emphasis on his youth. A reality away, in Heaven, Goku shrugged his shoulders, wincing. The boy had seen enough to last ten lifetimes and Goku was planning to lay yet another burden on his only offspring.
"Son, you have.a power no one else does." Goku swallowed again, despite the fact his son was only hearing a telepathic thought, not an actual voice. "And with me.not coming back, I. I need you to look after things for me. Keep your skills sharp, son, because you'll never know when you might need them." Goku's tone turned to that of one laughing. "Sides, we can't have Piccolo getting bored, can we?"
Gohan smiled through his tears. "Anything you say, Tousan. I promise I won't get weak again, and let more people down."
Goku's heart nearly broke at hearing his son's words. "I promise to try to talk to you as often as I can, Gohan. Tell your mother I love her."
Gohan cried openly now, though he tried to hide it from the other Z fighters. "Bye, Tousan!" he called to winds. "I'll see you again, someday!"
The other defenders of Earth joined Gohan's send-off, adding in their own personal comments and good-byes. Only Vegeta remained silent, giving Kakkarott the respect worthy of a high-class Saiyan warrior.
Kakkarott.I'm the only full-blooded Saiyan left, now. I'll look after you spawn and woman. Don't worry, Kakkarott. The Earth is in good hands. The Saiyan race will die with me, as the gods intended it. Someday I will join you, and journey to Hell to see my race once more. Until that day Kakkarott.
Until that day.
Seven Years Later
Gohan disappeared into thin air, performing several consecutive zanzoken maneuvers perfectly. When he reappeared, several dozen blasts of ki ripped from his palms and reduced the small boulder he was aiming it to dust. Gohan held the barrage for several seconds and leapt forward, grunting with exertion as he engaged another rock in combat, reducing it to rubble with only his feet.
Gohan kept his training routine for nearly forty-five minutes before he felt the familiar ki he was trying to draw out. Ah, he thought. Piccolo.
The green-skinned Namek appeared moments later, already in his basic stance. It was vaguely reminiscent of a coiled cobra, something his lizard- like appearance was quite at home with. A lesser fighter would have barely recognized it for what it was at all, it looked so casual. Large, razor- sharp canines were displayed in the rare toothy grin Gohan's mentor was flashing him, a grin Gohan returned. It had been a while since Gohan had been able to train, what with his entrance exams to Orange Star to study for and all. The young demi-Saiyan was pleased to burn some energy.
With no effort, Gohan gave a little push of ki and felt the familiar addictive rush of the Super Saiyan form flow through him. His hair stood even more on end than usual and turned a brilliant golden color, stained so by the flaxen aura that sprung up around him. His eyes turned a vivid shade of cerulean, cold as a thousand glaciers. A small, typically Saiyan smirk formed on Gohan's face. For a moment, the two aliens stood there, poised motionlessly to fight.
Suddenly, with a rush of energy and a roar of power, they sprung at each other. Piccolo, with his blend of his own fighting style and the Holy Namekian style he had inherited from Nail, nearly gained the upper-hand quickly. Gohan, utilizing Goku's form of Kaio-style and bits of the Demon King's style Piccolo taught him, struck back just as quickly.
Gohan took the offensive, as he often did. He began with a series of quick, nearly-undetectable jabs and followed those up with a powerful ki- assisted left hook. Piccolo's unusually flexible Namekian body allowed him to dodge with scant more than scratch on his nose. Gohan grunted and rose his ki, the golden flames burning all the more fiercely around him. After sending Piccolo crashing into the pile of rubble his earlier training had done, Gohan put his on top of one another and held them above his head, gathering ki into himself. As soon as Piccolo revealed himself, Gohan brought his hands down remarkably fast to point at Piccolo. A holy chant heralding his attack tore from his lips.
"MASENKO.HAA!" Gohan roared. The river of blood-red ki that poured from his palms impacted fully with Piccolo, who was driven back to his knees on impact.
With a loud grunt, Piccolo rose his own ki and erected a translucent shield while he got a grip. This Piccolo managed with some difficulty, shifting his "hold" on the ki, trying to get the best leverage. The unstable energy began to throb, and Piccolo knew that it would soon explode. With a mighty groan of effort, Piccolo threw the energy high into the air, where it detonated harmlessly.
Gohan, still breathing hard from his attack, zanzokened down to Piccolo's level and began again his flurry of attacks, hoping to end the fight soon.
The pair fought for several minutes more, becoming invisible to the human eye. Their punches were roughly the speed of sound; they each contained the energy of a meteor impact. Finally, Piccolo won a rare victory by knocking Gohan into the small pond several miles from his house, a barrier long decided by the two that would serve as a "ring out" should they touch the surface of the water.
"Not bad, Piccolo," Gohan laughed, scratching the back of his head absently with his arms.
The Namek laughed too; save for his was low chuckle that would make a person who didn't know him run screaming into the night. "You're getting better. Been training regularly?"
Gohan nodded in an affirmative. "Not as much as Vegeta would like, but yes. I sparred him a month ago, you know. He finally made 2."
Piccolo scowled. "Super Saiyan 2, eh? Great, now he'll be even more insufferable. Bastard Saiyan." he muttered, absently reducing a small shrub to dust.
Gohan grinned even wider. "You're just jealous cause he could wipe the floor with you."
Piccolo growled. "Watch it, kid, or I'll show you what the Makankosappo looks like when you're on the receiving end."
Gohan laughed again, flashing the famous Son family grin. "Try it, Jolly Green Giant, and I'll show you a Kienzan that would make Cell himself shit his pants."
"You use that language around your mother, kid?"
The grin reappeared on Gohan's face. "What, you didn't expect me to say 'darn' my whole life, did you? Besides, I'm entering a real high school next month, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to expand my vocabulary a little."
Piccolo smirked. "Just make sure your mother isn't around when you say 'damn' in front of your new friends. Wouldn't want her to break out the frying pan, would we?"
Gohan mock-shivered. "I swear, that damn pan hurts as much as anything Freiza could do. Between her and Android 17, I'd still pick 17."
Piccolo growled. "17. Yet another one who is in severe need of a beating. Give me ten minutes and he'd wish-"
Suddenly, Piccolo was cut off by a large explosion. An object moving so fast it was invisible to the naked eye streaked across the sky, leaving a flaming trail in its wake. Piccolo and Gohan, each seeing several dozen times better than any mere human, watched in awe as it vanished from sight, dipping lower and lower as it tore through the horizon.
"What the fuck was that?!" Gohan exclaimed, taking to the air to get a better view.
"Spacepod of some sort," Piccolo grunted. "Couldn't see what kind."
"Think it's worth investigating?" Gohan asked hopefully. He itched for a real fight, for an adventure.
"Probably not. Mention it to Bulma next time you see her." Piccolo gave Gohan a long, sideways glance. "Besides, don't you start hide school tomorrow?"
"It's 'high school', not 'hide school'. And yes, I have to report to Orange Star at seven o'clock tomorrow."
"And I assume this means you'll train less?" Piccolo's tone was displeased.
"Not really. I already know more than the level they usually graduate at, but Mom wanted me to have an actual graduation and diploma and all that. Besides, except for you, Vegeta's family, Mom, and Goten, I don't really have any contact with the outside world. Mom wanted me off the mountain a couple hours a day."
"Mom, Mom, Mom," Piccolo imitated, smirking. "For someone who has seen so much, you certainly haven't lost that.what do you call it? Mamma's boy philosophy. Hasn't the Bastard called you on that, yet?"
Gohan smiled at Piccolo's "affectionate" nickname for Vegeta. "Not really," he answered. "I can still match him in a fight, so he doesn't wanna tick me off. 'Sides," Gohan nonchalantly powered up a small sphere of ki and began playing with it as he spoke. "Bulma has him pretty much tamed, nowadays. He comes out of his chamber for at least twice a day to play with Trunks, trains him less than four hours a day, has dinner with them, and is forbidden from the word 'fuck', all on Bulma's orders."
Piccolo grinned, a scary predatory one that gave little children nightmares. "Tamed by a pair of mammary glands and intercourse. And you wonder why I'm glad I'm not a mammal."
"Yes, but at least it was nice pair of 'mammary glands' that did the taming," Gohan laughed with a lecherous grin.
Piccolo sighed. "I though you were above such adolescent quips. Obviously, I was mistaken."
"No, Piccolo. I hope to be very below such quips, if I'm to get a girlfriend sometime in the next century," Gohan added his famous Son family grin, albeit more perverted than usual.
"Well, your mother will be after me if I don't let you home soon. Make sure to tell Bulma of that pod. I'll keep an eye on it overnight for you. Good luck, student."
Gohan nodded, suddenly as serious as his mentor. "I won't forget. Even if it is one of Freiza's endless relatives or something, someone we can deal with easily, they could still hurt a lot of people. Thank you for your blessing, teacher."
The two turned their backs to each other and, with a brief ignition of ki, shot off to their respective destinations.