Hey folks, ShadowMajin here. It's been quite a while since I ran around the DBZ section, mostly because of my current project. That one doesn't seem to have an end in sight lol.

So here's a story: about five years ago, several reviews came in on Dragon Quest Z, each asking for a sequel. Up until then, I didn't really have any thought as to a sequel. But after those reviews, I spoke to my favorite gal, Ms. Videl Son, and the both of us thought, "Why not?" That day we hammered out a plot with gusto, much like we had for the original DQZ. I even started writing on it right then and there.

And then I got distracted.

Kinda explains the five years, doesn't it?

But here it is, ready for your reading enjoyment. MVS and I hope you enjoy the return to the Dragon Quest Z world.

The sound of a crow cawing echoed throughout the dense forest. The sun was high in the sky, sending out heat that seemed to beat down on anyone that felt it. A brown, dirt path carved its way through the brown tree bark and green leaves until it reached a fork. At the intersection stood a tall, wooden post with boards nailed into it. The ends of the boards had been whittled down to form arrow points, dark paint forming letters that indicated what lay in each of the arrows' directions.

Gohan stood in front of this sign with squinted eyes. According to the sign, Kame City was to his left and to his right was Nappa Valley. The road in which he came indicated some village called Seven Village lay in that direction, though the young man hadn't really noticed. Such was the life of a vagabond.

"Which way, which way?" he muttered to himself as he considered his options. Although he would had preferred staying in a shaded spot at the moment—especially with this heat—Gohan knew better. He had to keep moving, or some unsavory people he had met in the last year, especially in the last three weeks, would catch up with him and he did not want that to happen.

Lifting up one of his arms, Gohan rubbed his bare forearm over his forehead, wiping away sweat. The sleeves of his white shirt had been rolled up to his elbows to help make his day a little bit bearable. Glancing to his right, he stared in that direction for a moment before looking to his left and doing the same thing. Both paths looked the same from the trees and bushes to the dirt road. So deciding on looks was out…

A rustling sound caught the young man's ears, causing him to stiffen. The crow was cawing again, but Gohan barely took note. Someone was close by, he could feel it. The hair on the back of his neck was sticking up, a clear sign that that someone had less than favorable intentions.

Immediately, Gohan took off down the left path, walking as fast as possible. He didn't want to alert whoever was nearby to him knowing they were there. The more they thought he was off guard, the more likely they would make a mistake in trying to capture him.

Nervously, the young man reached up and gripped the hem of his black vest. Adjusting it on his frame, he dropped his arms to his sides, doing whatever it took not to look back. He needed to play this cool, smart, and above all not make any mistakes.

The sound of a snapping twig caused Gohan to freeze in his tracks, his eyes wide as he frantically searched around for the source. That was when he felt something tighten around his ankles and jerk his wool-covered legs together. The next thing he knew, the young man's feet were jerked into the air, causing him to fall onto his back on the ground roughly before being dragged into the air. When everything stopped, Gohan found himself hanging upside-down, his arms dangling over his head uselessly.

Well, so much for not making mistakes.

Doing his best to ignore the blood rushing into his head, not to mention the dizzying sight of the upturned world, Gohan tilted his head towards his chest, finding the bottom of his vest bundling towards his chest. His shirt was tucked into his brown pants and held with a belt, so at least his stomach wasn't showing. Further up, he caught sight of a rope descending from the greenery of a tree and wrapped around his boots.

It was the simplest of trap designs ever conceived and he had fallen right for it.

Annoyed, Gohan let his head fall back down as he tried to fight his annoyed feelings. After all this time running around the countryside, it was a trap that only an idiot would have fallen for that caught him. Guess that made him the idiot then. Alright, don't get frustrated. This is just an inconvenience, nothing more.

A bush to his left back rustling then and shortly later a man emerged from it, leaves sticking out of his clothes and hair. Looking to him, Gohan couldn't help the groan that escaped his lips. Not this guy again…

"I finally caught you," the man declared haughtily, pointing a finger right at Gohan. "You gave me a good chase there, but you should have known that no arch enemy can defeat a hero."

Not this again; please, not this again. Gohan could feel a vein pulsing on his forehead as the blond man began his prepared speech once more. And yes, he had heard this before. "You have fallen far, my former sidekick. We had done great things together, fought the forces of evil, saved damsels in distress, and all kinds of other hero-y things. But then you were seduced by the dark side and became my Arch Enemy. As the hero, I cannot allow you to commit more evilly things and in order to get my sidekick back, I will do everything ness…nesses…needed."

Gohan began ignoring the blond at that moment. This was the fifth time he had heard this speech, weird half-words and all. He had given up listening to him around the third time and just focused on getting out of whatever hair-brained trap the man had set up. Oddly enough, those were the only traps that seemed to catch the dark-haired youth, not something he was proud to admit. And when the one person that could actually catch you was a guy that blabbered about heroes and arch enemies and sidekicks, that wasn't something you went about sharing.

Sighing, Gohan then took in a deep breath and swung his torso up. Grabbing his legs, he held on tightly to them before using them to steady his effort to reach the rope around his feet. Bending his knees to help, the young man managed to grasp the toes of his boots before getting a hold of the rope above them with his left hand. With his right, he reached towards a small handle protruding from his boot. Grabbing it, he pulled it towards him and revealed a small dagger. Due to some of his recent encounters, he had taken up the habit of keeping one there in case of emergency.

Letting out a grunt, Gohan directed his attention back to the blond guy to make sure he was still in mid-speech. "…is with a heavy heart that I have to do this to my old sidekick, but bad guys have to be punished." Yep, he was still talking. Looking back to the rope, the dark-haired man tightened his grip and raised the dagger to it, sawing the blade into it right beneath his hand.

It took a minute, but eventually he succeeded in his endeavor, despite the growing strain in his stomach from his uncomfortable position. Once his feet dropped towards the ground, his hand still holding onto the rope, Gohan let out a groan of relief. Keeping his stomach muscles locked had been quite tiring after all. Dangling from the cut rope, he looked down to the ground and judged whether he needed to try to reach the tree and climb down, or to simply let go and not fear about breaking a leg.

He chose to let go.

Landing on his feet, he instantly crouched down in response to his fall. Cutting the rope that was still wrapped around his feet, he made short work of it in seconds and tossed it away. Sheathing his dagger back in its sheath, Gohan looked back to the blond man and found him with his back turned for some odd reason, still talking.

"…do not take it personally, Former Sidekick. You know as well as I that you had this coming and it is only naturally that the hero beats up the bad guy. You would do the same thing if you had managed to become a hero yourself and I had become the villain, though the chances of that happening are one and a half to one against it."

Rolling his eyes, Gohan began leisurely walking away. By the time the guy figured out he was going, the dark-haired youth would be a league or two away. That's how it had happened every time they had met, from the hole covered in palm tree leaves three months ago, to the wooden cage that had been sloppily put together with strange silver bonds a week ago, to a sign that said FREEE FUUD. The young man was still trying to figure out what fuud was.

"Hey! Where did you go Arch Enemy?"

Gohan's eyes widened as he jerked his head around. The blond-haired man was looking around with exaggerated motions before he spotted him. The dark-haired youth immediately took off running down the road, trying to put as much distance between him and the idiot behind him. Unfortunately, the blond had instantly given chase, fully intent on running him down. "Oh no, you don't! You won't escape me this time, Arch Enemy! Your time has come!"

Okay, this hadn't happened before. As he ran, Gohan glanced over his shoulder behind him and found the blond keeping pace with him. Oh great, this guy was in shape too. Though the same could be said about Gohan, he really didn't want to be chased all the way to whatever city he was heading towards. He needed to do something and do it quick.

Unfortunately, his brain decided to be difficult at that moment. Why wouldn't it give him a good idea? Now would have been a good time for one after all. About the only thing that was coming to mind was giving him a distraction, but there wasn't anything to use as one. This guy didn't exactly seem like the kind of person that was fascinated by birds and plants.

Going for broke, Gohan came to a stop and turned around. "What's that!" he cried out as he pointed towards his pursuer. "Is it a beautiful princess in need of rescuing?"

Immediately, the blond man skidded to a stop and swung around to look behind him. "Where?!" he exclaimed as he looked about frantically. "Where's the hot princess? Where? I know she wants a piece of the Sharpenator!"

Blinking his eyes, Gohan stared at the guy, wondering if he was really that foolish. His better senses kicked in a moment later and he dove behind a tree, doing his best to hide behind it. He didn't bother sneaking a peek at the Sharpenator guy since he could still hear him.

"Come out, Princess, where ever you are! Hey, you there? Hello? Huh, I guess she went back to my place to wait for me," the man said as he scratched his head. "Yeah, that's it! Now, all I have to do is catch Arch Enemy and I can—hey! Where did Arch Enemy go? Drat! He escaped again! Oh no, he doesn't, not this time!"

Gohan just continued to listen as he heard the blond man run off further down the road. Waiting for a few moments, he finally stepped back onto the dirt path and looked down it, seeing only a small dust cloud floating higher into the air. Well, at least that took care of him.

Well, he should head the other way now that he finally got rid of that Sharpen…what ever his name was. By the time that guy realized Gohan wasn't that way, he'd most likely be in the next kingdom over. At least that's what he thought—he wasn't too good with geography.

That was when an exploding pain erupted on the back of his head, causing stars to flash before his eyes. Letting out a cry, he fell to the ground where he was mercifully taken into darkness.

I know, it seems pretty short, doesn't it? Fear not, there's plenty of story to go, all of it much longer than this.

Much like the previous story, there's fanart for this one lol. Gohan's outfit here can be found on megaminoeien's DeviantArt page, called D2Z Casual Sketch. She is the fashion designer for this story lol.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.