Irons Monroe
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by waiting-to-bloom
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CHAPTER ONE: New life. Old beginnings.
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The light was blinding. The massive blue orb ripped through the earth like it was paper. Gohan screamed, his yells tearing at his already sore throat, one arm hanging useless and mangled at his side, the other outstretched, fingertips clenched and pushing more and more energy into the blast.
He could hear over the rush of wind and turmoil, Cell's dying screams as the blast overtook him, disintegrating him until there was nothing. And then, it was over. As abruptly as the whole thing had started. Gohan lowered his arm, letting exhaustion take over his beaten and bruised body. He collapsed to the ground, and felt an immense relief sweep through him. He laughed, short bursts that hurt his abs and made it hard for him to breath, but he couldn't stop because just for that moment, as he drifted on the lines of consciousness, his spirit felt true joy.
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Gohan sat upon the tip of a steep deep red canyon, his feet dangling off the jagged edge. The sun was dipping beneath the horizon, and the sky turned a bright pink. It was so still out, peaceful. Gohan was really beginning to understand why Piccolo preferred this type of atmosphere to all others. He gazed out at the sunset, trying to find a peace of mind to compare to the scenery, but inside his stomach was churning with a familiar unease. It had been almost two weeks since the cell games. Everybody had already gone back to his or her normal routine; Vegeta was once again training relentlessly, Krillin was looking to win 18's heart, and Gohan's mother had insisted that he put fighting on hold so that he could study.
Gohan felt like he was stuck in a limbo. All the initial joy he had experienced after cell was defeated had faded fast. His father was dead, and Gohan was at a lost for purpose. He still wanted to train if at the very least to clear his head, but his mother was quiet insistent on him only studying hard and he couldn't say no. Letting out a sigh, he dug his fingers into the earth. It may sound insane, but he was beginning to wish he had another bad guy to fight, at least then he would have a visible goal. A purpose for his misguided life. With another villain, maybe his father would see that it didn't matter if he was here or not, that the bad guys still come, and he would come back, and they would be a family again, and…He shook his head instantly to dispel these thoughts. Whenever Gohan let himself think that way, it only made him sadder. He had to stay positive, at the very least for the sake of his mother. He eyes sought solace in the pink sunset as he forced himself to concentrate only on the breeze shaking his black hair.
"You are Gohan. Correct?"
Gohan nearly jumped out of his skin. He stood up and turned quickly; surprised that someone had managed to sneak up on him. No one snuck up on him. Ever. Upon seeing the stranger, his eyes narrowed slightly in mistrust. The man before him stood tall and rail thin. He was wearing a coal black suit, cleanly pressed, with his hands deep in his pockets. His black hair was graying just speckled throughout and his blue eyes were a pale icy blue, that stared unblinkingly straight at Gohan. He smirked down at the small boy and tilted his long neck to one side, looking most misplaced among the rock and mountains in his black suit and well-polished shoes.
"Who are you?" Gohan asked, his hands already tense at his sides. There was something, strange about his presence, and odd aurora of unfamiliarity seemed to pulse out around him, and because of this Gohan stood on his guard.
"Call me Irons." The man said shortly smiling his crooked smile again, "consider me a friend."
Gohan continued to gaze at him, waiting for more explanation.
"But who I am is not very important," the man, Irons, said taking a step closer to Gohan. "What we really should talk about is you."
Gohan subconsciously took a step back to distance himself. He didn't like this man Irons, not one bit.
"Me?" Gohan asked looking suspicious. He shook his head. "There is nothing to talk about."
Irons shrugged, his dull blue eyes full of mirth. "Come now, Gohan, don't be so modest. I know about you and your power. I've known for a long time."
Gohan's pulse quickened at this, and he took another step back only to find that his heels were off the cliff's edge. He couldn't deal with this, not right now. "Please," he said as evenly as he could, knowing that he was sounding childish, "leave me alone." His eyes narrowed to slits. "I don't know what you want, but I am pretty certain that I am not interested."
Before Irons could reply, Gohan took a final step back, plunging off the cliffs edge. Irons ran to the edge and watched as Gohan plummeted several feet off the cliffs edge, his navy shirt fanning out in the wind, and then at the last possible second, he scooped back up into the air sped off at amazing speed. Irons spindly right hand slid out of his pocket and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He laughed quietly. Then there was a pop, and he vanished.
Gohan stopped at the edge of a stream; he landed so hard his feet sunk into the earth. "Who was that guy?" he questioned himself, staring hard at the flowing stream. "And how did he know so much about me?"
Gohan walked, following the babbling stream as it twisted and bended, his thoughts now on this mysterious stranger named Irons. The day was quickly disappearing. He knew that his mother would be furious if he wasn't home before sundown. And so slowly, reluctantly, he flew up into the air and shot off towards home.
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"Gohan, where are you?" ChiChi mumbled to herself and she wiped the edge of the plate with her apron her eyes fixed on the darkening sky outside her window. "If you're not back before dark, young man." She muttered to no one in particular. Suddenly the door creaked open.
"Mom, I'm home!"
"Gohan!" She yelled rushing out of the kitchen to hug her son. "I was starting to worry!"
"Awe, mom," Gohan mumbled looking embarrassed. "I already told you don't have to worry so much about me."
ChiChi sighed and let go of her son. "I know, I just feel better when you are around." Her hands settled on her hips, "So that means you better come home on time from now on, young man!"
"Alright, alright!" Gohan smiled, while shaking his head and trying to dodge her incoming wrath.
"And I want you to work on you studies before you go to bed!" she called after him as he made his way to his room.
"Okay mom!" Gohan shut the door to his room and slumped down at his desk. Before starting, he took a moment to clear his thoughts, forcing Irons to become a distant memory. If the time came he would face Irons, but for now he didn't want to think about the strange man. He let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, here I go."
He cracked open the first textbook, and started to read. Gohan worked diligently reading through his biology chapters and then working through some calculus problems. The time passed slowly, and as it got later, he could feel his concentration slipping. Every now and then, his eyes would droop and he would jerk awake after seeing pale blue eyes beneath his eyes lids. It was completely black outside, and the only light in Gohan's room was his desk lamp. There was no clock, so he wasn't certain of the time. Suppressing a yawn, he turned the next page and readjusted his sitting position. The sentence Gohan was reading began to swirl together as if it was ink dropped in water. He rubbed his eyes, and focused on it again, the text cleared and he read down to the end of the page. He wasn't sure if recalled anything he just read, he looked back up at the top again to read the section heading and his head lolled to one side, eyes half open. Section 14.3…Gohan's fingers numbly dropped his pencil, and he could feel a blanket of darkness spread over him. His eyes shut heavily.
A great ravine spread out before him, it seemed endless in either direction stretching across the strange black landscape as far as the eye could see, slitting the world in two. The sky above him swirled purple and dark blue. Orange clouds soared quickly by, churning and spinning and constantly changing their shape as they streaked across the dark sky. Gohan eyes went wide as he took in the scene, but he was sure it must be a dream. He took a step closer to the ravine, glancing down over the edge. He could not identify a bottom, only a swirling white mist that echoed soft whispering voices. He wondered idly if he could die in his own dream, but quickly dismissed the thought. Curious to see if there was even a bottom to the ravine, Gohan took flight, and steadily lowered himself down into the black crevasse.
When the white mist hit him, it felt like he was flying through a cloud. He was immediately drenched, and the whispers he heard earlier echoed even more loudly in his ear. He tried to identify them, to figure out what the voices were saying, but even though their sounds seemed to kiss he ear, he could not understand their words. He continued on, flying in what he hoped was down, for it was hard to tell now, with the white mist surrounding him, so that all he could see was a bleak swirling fog. It reminded him of the time chamber, where he and his father had spent a year training in preparation for the cell games, and how its white landscape seemed to have no top or bottom.
It may have been hours or only a few minutes, but eventually the whispers died down and Gohan, shivering from the cold wet mist, popped out of the fog. He expected to find a bottom of cold hard rock, but instead he emerged out into a sky. An extraordinary clear blue, more beautiful than the blue skies on a cloudless winter morning. Gohan shook himself of the water he was drenched in and turned around to look at the mist from which he came, but all it appeared to be was a giant white cloud.
Unsure of where to go now, Gohan floated aimlessly. Straining his eyes to find something of interest, but like the ravine, the sky stretched on endlessly in every direction. He considered flying back through the cloud, but was not too eager to struggle through that labyrinth of white fog. Suddenly, he heard the sharp sound of the flapping of wings, the noise surprised him because he realized, with sudden clarity, that apart from the voices he hadn't heard a single sound. He looked below him and caught a glimpse of a giant bird. It was massive, its wingspan stretching at least twelve feet. With three great beats of its enormous black wings it leveled itself with Gohan. Gohan felt himself at a strange calm as he looked at this great bird, which was now only inches away from his nose. And suddenly the bird looked straight at him, and Gohan noticed for the first time that its eyes were a pale foggy blue. The bird opened its black beak, and---
"Gohan. Gohan its time to wake up."
"Whaa?" Gohan groaned, blearily opening his eyes. The sun was bright, and he looked down at himself shocked that he had fallen asleep at his desk with his head on his calculus book and desk lamp still on.
His mother shook his shoulder again. "Come on now Gohan. Did my young scholar fall asleep studying last night?" she smiled at the thought.
Gohan stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah," he said, smiling too. "I had the strangest dream," he added, but just as he said this, the sharpness of the dream seemed to fade away from him.
"A dream?" ChiChi asked.
But Gohan didn't answer, he was trying to remember what had happened in his dream, but the harder he thought the quicker it seemed to slip away.
Seeing her son zoning out again, ChiChi let out a loud sigh. "Let's go Gohan," she repeated, sounding a bit sterner, "breakfast won't wait for you."
Gohan jerked out of his seat, and ran his hand through his hair, "Right mom, sorry. I'm awake now."
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Gohan shoveled down his breakfast, appreciatively and gave his thanks to his mom when he had finished. He got up, and headed towards the door when Chichi stopped him, looking stern.
"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked, hands once again settling on her hips.
Gohan shrugged "For a walk?" he said, unconsciously rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh no you don't," she replied.
Gohan closed the door reluctantly and walked back into the kitchen.
"You have an appointment with that nice tutor I'm paying for in a few minutes.
"Mom," Gohan complained, "I'm only eleven. Do I ever get a break? It's Sunday!"
Chichi shook her head and crossed her arms. "I don't know when my son got this slacker attitude, but if you want to become a scholar someday, you are going to have to study every day."
Gohan absently thought that he didn't have much interest in being a scholar. Instead of voicing this, he nodded slowly with a resigned expression on his face. If there was anything he understood about his mother, it was that she was trying to maintain a sense of normalcy. Gohan knew that the absence of his father, Goku, weighed heavily on his mom. Even though she didn't show it, he knew she missed him deeply. Sometimes in the dark of night, when Gohan would jerk awake from another nightmare, he would hear his mother crying in her bedroom next door.
"Alright mom, I'll go get my books together."
"Now, that's better," Chichi approved.
The tutor came knocking on the front door about twenty minutes later, and Chichi was quick to answer.
"This is Son residence, correct?" the tutor asked peering down at a chart he held in his hands. Chichi smiled.
"That's right," she said, inviting the tutor inside. "My son is just in the living room waiting for you."
"Thank you," the tutor replied. He fumbled with his chart as he stepped inside, and made a few check marks on it as he continued towards the living room.
Gohan was already set at the table, his papers and books spread neatly in front of him. The tutor approached him, eyes still on the chart scribbling a few last minute notes.
"Gohan, I presume?" he said, tucking his pen behind his ear before flipping a page and nodding his head.
"Yes," Gohan said and then quickly, he stood up bowing slightly to the tutor. "It's nice to meet you, Mr.—"
"Soplee," the man interjected finally placing his chart on the table and looking down at Gohan. A shocked expression came across as his face, and he adjusted his glasses. "Good grief, Gohan! How old are you?"
"Eleven, sir," Gohan replied, "Is there something wrong?"
"No," and the tutor smiled, motioning Gohan to sit down while he did the same. "I'm just surprised. You are studying some pretty advance subjects for you age."
Gohan again self-consciously rubbed the back of his head, and laughed, "Yeah, well…" he trailed off. Chichi walked up to them looking quite proud.
"My son is going to be a great scholar when he is older," she said confidently, causing Gohan to look even more embarrassed.
"Mom," he muttered under his breath, blushing a deep crimson and ducking his head underneath his arms.
Mr. Soplee just grinned. "There is nothing to be ashamed of Gohan," he said eyeing his new pupil, "keep up the pace you are at right now and I have no doubt that you will become what your mother hopes for."
Chichi beamed at the comment, and walked closer to the table. "Mr. Soplee, was it?" she asked brightly.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Would you like some tea, or perhaps lemonade? I just made some fresh this morning."
"Lemonade sounds wonderful thank you," replied Mr. Soplee, sounding grateful.
Chichi nodded then quickly scurried out of the room to the kitchen. Mr. Soplee turned his attention back on Gohan, and once again adjusted his glasses. Gohan shuffled through his papers very conscious that the man was staring at him, finally he turned and looked up.
"Where should we start?" he asked.
"How about calculus?" the tutor supplied as he lifted the textbook from beneath a stack of papers. Gohan shrugged his shoulders and nodded. They had just begun on the first problem, when Chichi had walked in carrying two glasses of lemonade.
Gohan was quick to thank his mother before he gulped down his lemonade with one giant swig. After that, the tutoring session proceeded and remained relatively uneventful. Gohan worked through each of the problems assigned by Mr. Soplee and didn't have any problems. When mid-afternoon finally arrived, Gohan felt wiped, but was pleased that he had managed to cover so much information. Mr. Soplee left with a wave and a smile, and once again, the Son house quieted down.
"He seemed nice, didn't he?" asked Chichi as she walked into the living room with a basket of laundry.
Gohan nodded, but remained silent. He felt stupid, but he couldn't help the wave of sadness that swept through him as he sat idly at the living room table. It was at moments like these when the house was exceptionally quiet and he nothing else on his mind, that his father's absence burned hardest. For something to do, he restacked the already stacked papers and packed them away in a folder while his mom folded the laundry. It was quiet for a little longer, and then just when Gohan went to put his things away in his room, he caught sight of his mother. Her eyes were misty, staring blankly out the front window, and a towel sitting unfolded her lap. Gohan stopped what he was doing all together, and moved gently to her side. She jumped a little in surprise when he sat by her, but still offered him a small smile through teary eyes.
"Mom?" Gohan said quietly wrapping his arms around her in a hug.
She returned his hug and lightly ran her fingers through his hair. "Hmm? What is it sweetie?"
"I love you. You know that right?"
"Of course, dear," Chichi said lovingly. "I love you too."
And they sat like that for a long time, silent tears stinging both of their eyes as they remembered a husband and a father.
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When the bright sun streaked through Gohan's bedroom window, he awoke slowly, stretching out his arms in a weary manner. The house was still quiet, the usual bustling noise in the kitchen absent. He must have woken up pretty early to have been up before his mother. Quietly, he peered in through the crack of the door to his mother's bedroom to find that she was still curled up in her bed, her comforter kicked off sometime in the night, and the white sheets tangled around her legs. Gohan shut the door without a noise, then walked outside, taking in the crisp morning air through his nose.
Suddenly he shot off in a huge whoosh sixty, seventy, eighty feet into the air. He flew to the big lake where he and his father used to catch prehistoric sized fish. His feet landed gingerly down on the grass still damp from dew.
"That was rude of you, you know."
Gohan flinched. He swore he had seen no one when he had landed, but somehow that man still managed to surprise him. Calmly he replied, "I thought I told you to leave me alone." He turned around to face Irons. "And stop sneaking up on me."
Irons smiled. "My deepest apologies, Gohan, but we never got the chance to finish our conversation."
"Didn't I tell you I wasn't interested?" Gohan questioned growing annoyed.
"You did. But you misunderstand." Irons weaved his long fingers in front of his suit and raised his eyebrows, inviting Gohan to question him.
Gohan's back grew rigid. "Did I now?"
Irons' smile deepened. "Yes, because I can tell you Gohan, you are very interested." His hands fell back into his pockets as he shifted his weight forward. "I know your type of person. You need a purpose, a chance to make a difference, help mankind, that type of thing." The breeze pushed back is speckled black hair. "I can offer you that."
"What are you saying?" Gohan said, though the edge in his voice was gone. He was looking at Iron's in a different way. There was so much that was odd about him. The way he could sneak up on Gohan, that was unnatural, and even now, as Gohan stared down at those pale eyes, he felt no energy source coming from the tall man, only an empty hole where he stood. Could he be trusted?
Irons noticed Gohan's skepticism and sighed. "I see you are still wary of me. It's alright, I understand. But you have nothing to fear from me, Gohan, you are far stronger than I."
Gohan's fists loosened.
"Who are you?"
"I think that will be my first rule," Iron's replied.
"What rule? What are you talking about?"
Irons' shoulders shrugged. "No questions. That's my rule."
Gohan stumbled. "I'm afraid, I don't know what you are talking ab-?"
Irons' thin hand extended forward, offering a handshake. "I want you to be my bodyguard."
"Your-"
"My bodyguard," Irons repeated firmly, his hand still extended.
Gohan looked confusedly from Irons' hand to his face. "Is this a joke? I'm supposed to save the world by guarding you?"
Irons head tilted. "Yes."
Gohan relaxed, this could not be serious. Clearly, this man was insane. "Right. Well, I think I'll be going now." He braced himself to take flight, when Irons stopped him.
"Had any strange dreams lately?" Irons pale blue eyes were staring unblinking at Gohan, arm still outstretched.
Gohan stared back. "I'm leaving." This time he took off before another word could be said.
He flew faster than he had in a long time. The wind thundered past him, whipping his hair out of his eyes. For a few minutes he kept this pace, until he gradually slowed down. Gohan spent a long time in the air, trying to make sense of what had just happened, but it was just a jumble of information. He had no idea who Irons was or what he wanted. For a moment, he had found himself nearly believing that Irons had a plan for him. He knew he was desperate for purpose, but he had no idea how willing he was to believe just about anything that was thrown at him. What made Irons think he was so important that he needed protection? Gohan looked down at the swirling landscape bellow zooming under him as flew by. More importantly, did the world really need saving?
A shriek ripped through his thoughts. Immediately Gohan screeched to a stop, wary eyes looking below. He had been flying over a city, high enough that anyone who had seen him would think he was only a bird in the sky. Squinting, he saw hardly any life in the streets, considering the early hour. Just when he was about to move on, dismissing the noise for his imagination, he saw a women near the blackened edge of the streets, her arms held up in fright, a gun pointing at her head. Pulse hammering, Gohan sped towards them. In seconds, he was down, cautiously landing just out of sight in an intersecting alleyway.
"Please, please," the women was murmuring. The street light was catching only half of her terrified face, but from Gohan's hiding spot he could make out every wrinkle. "That's all the money I have."
The gunman's hand was shaking, but Gohan doubted that even he noticed. The women's purse, clutched tight in his other hand, fell to the ground. "Five dollars? That's all!? Five…" His sweaty fingers were squeezing the trigger.
Okay that's enough of that, Gohan thought quickly. To him, the movement of the bullet was hardly anything. He leapt out of the alleyway just as the gun was fired. A cloud of smoke followed, the women clenched her eyes, and Gohan plucked the bullet out of the air half way before it reached its target. In a strange arc of silence following the gunshot, both the man and women blinked, surprised to find a young boy standing between them.
"Wha?" the gunman accused, looking at Gohan at then at his gun. "Where did you come from?"
Gohan swiftly pocketed the bullet, then turned to the women. "Are you alright ma'am?"
Her eyes were welling with tears, but she managed a nod, starring at Gohan like he was some sort of guardian angel.
"Hey! Hey! Didn't you hear me?! I don't know what you're thinking kid, but you're lucky my gun jammed, or else you be dead!"
"Go home," Gohan said quietly.
The man's eyes bulged, his face turning several shades redder. "I think you've forgotten who's got the gun here," he sneered. "I say you leave, or I put a bullet in your head! Don't think I won't just because you're a kid!"
Sighing, Gohan turned to face the man head on, staring straight down the barrel of his gun. "I said, go home."
The man looked taken aback, but quickly recovered. This time, his gun was held steady. "I warned you!"
His fingers squeezed air. Gohan bounced the gun on his palm before squashing it into a ball of useless metal. Terrified, the man stumbled backward. "What are you?" he stuttered. He spun away, tripping over his feet as he rushed down the empty street.
Gohan tossed the metal to his side.
"I've never…in my life…"
Gohan looked back at the women, noticing her pale and shaken complexion. Worried that he scared her, he smiled a little. "It's okay," he said.
"How did? What was? I don- But your just a little boy!" she stammered.
Gohan smiled a little more convincingly. "I'm sorry if I scared you. " He rubbed the back of his head. "But your safe now. I'm sure that man won't bother you again."
She nodded slightly, still gazing at Gohan in awe.
"Do you need me to walk you home?"
That seemed to jolt her out of her daze. Clumsily, she shook her head. "No, no, that's alright. I'm fine now, really." She laughed nervously. "It's just, well, that was amazing. Truly, absolutely, incredible."
Gohan picked up her purse from the ground and handed it to her. She accepted it, thanking him, then turned to leave. In mid turn she stopped, and doubled back to face him, "My name is Grace."
She waited.
"Gohan."
Grace smiled, her face brightening. "Thank you, Gohan." With that she walked away. Gohan watched her go, feeling a warm feeling filling his gut. Glancing both ways to make sure no one was watching, he shot back up to the sky and turned back home.
Gohan landed outside of his home, with the sun now high in the sky, surprised that his mom wasn't already storming out asking him where he had been. Maybe she was still sleeping? Quietly he opened the front door, in case his mother was still sleeping and stepped inside. The sight that greeted him, made his heart nearly leap out of his chest in fright. There sitting at the kitchen table with his mom was Irons himself, smiling in that annoying way. His mom was laughing about something.
"Mom? What is this?" Gohan demanded, trying to keep his voice calm.
Chichi looked up, surprised. "Oh Gohan! Where were you!?" She got to her feet, then brushed her head looking embarrassed before gesturing to the seated Irons. "Mr. Soplee couldn't make it today so he had his friend fill in for him. This is Mr. Monroe."
Irons looked up at Gohan, smirking. "Hello Gohan, nice to meet you."
"What happened to Mr. Soplee?" Gohan asked suspiciously as he edged his way into the kitchen.
Irons got up from his seat smoothly and gently ran his fingers down his suit to straighten the wrinkles. "Came down with a terrible case of the flu. But don't worry, he should recover quickly."
"Mr. Monroe here was just telling me some of the subjects he has studied," Chichi stepped in. "It's all very interesting. You'll learn a lot from him, Gohan."
Gohan glared. "Aren't you a little early?"
"Gohan!" Chichi admonished, but Gohan ignored her. His eyes still narrowed at his so called tutor.
"I believe in punctuality, practicality, and getting the head start," Iron's replied lightly. "The early bird gets the worm."
"So, what, am I the worm?"
"Gohan!!You can't ---!" Chichi began.
But Irons was laughing, shaking his head good-naturedly and Chichi immediately calmed down. "Now that's good Gohan. I'm not even sure you realize how good that was."
Still chuckling he sat back down, sweeping his hand out to invite Gohan to sit with him at the table. Under Chichi's death glare, Gohan complied. Irons cracked open one of Gohan's books. Gohan looked down, noticing that Irons had opened his biology book to the section about evolutionary genetics.
"All of this is so very fascinating!" Irons claimed after a few moments of silent reading. He looked up at Gohan smiling.
Gohan glared in return. "What are you talking about?" he hissed in a whisper, out of the corner of his eye watching his mother finally exit the room. "Aren't you supposed to be tutoring me? Shouldn't you know this by now?"
Irons tusked. "So many questions." He turned back to the book, leaning over the text and absorbing it like it was some kind of epic fantasy reaching its climax. He snickered once towards the end of the paragraph.
"It's amazing what you humans will come up with to explain controlled phenomenon."
Gohan blanched at Irons. "The theory of evolution has long been accepted by most of the science world. What are you trying to say?"
Iron's shut the book, a trace of a smile still on his lips. He leaned back, folding his hands on his lap.
"I'm talking about gods of course."
Gohan stared. The possibility of gods existing Gohan did believe in. How could he not? He had heard his father's voice through the veil of death. He knew of the Kai's and also of Kami, the Guardian of Earth. He had seen incredible things. He had been to an alien planet, knew of the spirit world, he'd even spoken with the great dragon who had resurrected everyone who had died in the cell games. These type of things, all this existence and life, Gohan was sure there had to be someone behind it. Someone with greater authority than Kami, and even greater authority than the Kai's. A creator. Someone beyond the veil.
He looked suspiciously at Irons. There was no way Irons was any of these things. He tried a different approach.
"The creation of life you mean?"
Irons' head titled. "What's that, Gohan?"
Gohan shuffled his papers, trying to be careful with his words. "The controlled phenomenon you talked about, you mean you think that creation was a controlled work." Gohan said this more confidently. Not a question, a statement. "Done by gods. Not one, but many. Is that what you think?"
Irons laughed heartedly. "I knew I had chosen well!" He slammed his hands on the table, using the momentum to stand to his feet. "I think it's time to start, don't you?"
"What?"
But Irons was already moving. He walked into the living room and pulled in Chichi seconds later. Gohan shot to his feet glaring, relaxing only minutely once Irons released his hold on Chichi's hand. Chichi looked surprised, glancing from her son at the table to Irons beside her. Before she could voice her confusion, Irons interrupted her.
"Chichi, my dear," he said, "this is short notice, I know. But well, I'm afraid I always get ahead of myself."
Gohan rolled his eyes.
"Mr. Monroe? What is it?"
Irons walked to Gohan, smiling in an unnaturally happy way. Looking down at Gohan like a proud parent. "Gohan's has agreed to come with me, to further his studies, at Charles University."
"Gohan, really? This is so---"
"I haven't agreed to anything!" Gohan yelled, jumping back from Irons close proximity like he was some kind of disease. He turned to his mom. "I don't know what he is talking about! He's crazy! Insane!"
Chichi was staring at her son, eyebrows knitted together. Gohan stared back, willing her to understand his sincerity through the look in his black eyes. "Gohan, what is this all about? You've been rude to Mr. Monroe since he walked into our home."
"Mom!" Gohan yelled, trying to communicate the reason for his distrustfulness, "he's not who he says he is!"
"I've had enough of this!" Chichi shouted over Gohan's voice. "This could be a great opportunity for you! Why would you want to turn it down?"
Gohan opened his mouth ready to argue.
"You're pregnant."
That caused both of them to jump, heads spinning to Irons who had moved to the counter at some point and was now munching on an apple.
Unnoticing, Chichi's hand went to her stomach. "How did you--?"
The half eaten apple fell into the garbage bin. Irons steadied his strange eyes on her. Gohan balked, eyes wide and unbelieving as he now glanced between Irons and his mother.
"You've suspected for awhile. But haven't told your son." He tilted his head again, glancing down at her past his nose. "Why haven't you told Gohan?"
Chichi had paled, her hand now rubbing small circles where it lay on her stomach. "I wasn't sure. I didn't…"
"You were sure."
She scrunched her face at him, looking angry. Then desperately she turned to Gohan. He saw her tears immediately. "Gohan," she began, hiccupping, "I don't know. I didn't know."
Gohan wasn't sure how to respond. He had a brother. How could his mom hide this news? He looked again closer at her and realized suddenly, with a pang, that he didn't care that she had kept this from him. All he saw was his poor mother, hurt and upset, looking to him for acceptance. He could hardly stand to stay still any longer. Quick as he dared, he moved to her and patted her on the shoulder.
"Mom, it's okay," he heard himself saying, "It's fine." A blossoming of warmth burst in his stomach. He realized it was happiness. It had been awhile since he had felt like this. A brother. Amazing. He was going to be an older brother. Suddenly exuberant, he hugged his mom, laughing. He heard her laugh too, and when he stepped away he saw a smile on her face, shining through her tears.
"I'm sorry, Gohan," she said, anyway, now embracing him. "It was such a surprise, I didn't know how to react. I was going to let you know, really, I just wanted the right time. Nothing seemed right. You're father would have blurted out the news right away…"
She was babbling, but it hardly mattered. Gohan just smiled. Letting the warmth spread throughout him. How could it be that they were arguing only a few seconds ago. Arguing because of…he shot a death glare to where Irons had been standing. The spot of was empty.
Chichi eyes followed Gohan's. "Where did he go?" she asked, glancing around the kitchen suddenly. She wiped her eyes, and circled the area. "He's gone."