Chapter 2: The Meeting and Training
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Chapter 2: The Meeting and Training
Gohan landed on the ground as softly as he could, with Piccolo and Vegeta following his lead. All three of them sensed the general area they were in and found no one coming, so it was safe to do so. While they were amazed at the news they had been told, they weren't stupid enough to let their guard down for any length of time.
Gohan looked up to see the Capsule Corp. building in front of them, memories flooding through his head as he did. Vegeta pushed his way past them, since he went there much more often guards or whatever wouldn't bother asking for identification. Gohan grinned as guards cringed when Vegeta glared at them, scurrying around for something to do. They finally made their way to the nearest elevator, Gohan pushing the button to open.
"Who do you think will believe that we've completely lost it first?" Vegeta asked conversationally, making their way into the elevator. "I'm willing to bet the entirety of that accursed woman's money on that little runt friend of yours, chrome dome."
Gohan scowled at that that insulting comment to Krillin. However he knew it wouldn't affect Vegeta in the slightest, so he simply pressed the third floor button and watched the doors close in front of them.
"I don't think so," Piccolo replied, looking straight ahead, "Krillin's always had to believe stuff before with no real proof; I think he'll be a believer. Aside from that, he's grown up alongside Goku for too long to be a skeptic. But what do you think about Yamcha? He's always denied the first thing that seems impossible in his mind. Remember when he first heard you and Nappa were coming here?"
Gohan and Vegeta agreed with Piccolo's statement, the baseball player did have a streak as it were. It took seeing Kami and Mr. Popo for him to actually take them and the situation at the time seriously.
"I don't think so." Gohan said over the outside humming of the elevator. "I've got you two as witnesses to back me up, not including my mom. Yamcha is a doubter, but if there's proof involved more or likely he'd agree. He isn't very stubborn either; he'd believe Master Roshi was his father if you said that to him over and over. The person I'm pretty sure about is Bulma though. She's a techno-freak, even if she doesn't look the part. If the world suddenly ran out of electricity or something she'd welcome Other World with open arms. Not to mention her mind-set too; if anyone's going to call us kooks it'd definitely be her."
Vegeta smirked, "Well, your mind hasn't dulled when your body got weaker kid. The number of times I hear her complaining about technology being slow and outdated makes me an expert on her. That woman doesn't believe in anything involving wands, spells or white rabbits coming out of hats. Until I burnt all the blasted books, she was reading our son instruction manuals from her confounded father's workspace. She even still insists (despite my ignoring) that Baba's crystal ball is made up of cameras and mirrors in the interior. She once thought that someone had an earpiece hearing everything the witch said and shot the things he was told, and the crystal ball had a T.V. in it. I got a real good laugh out of that one."
Gohan chuckled hearing this, a voice saying they were on the third floor. As the doors opened they came out of last time and walked down the hall towards the room they were looking for, the guest waiting room. Gohan opened the door with a surprised expression, seeing more people than he expected in the above-average room. His mom with Goten in her arms, Bulma with baby Trunks, Krillin, Eighteen, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha and Master Roshi sitting around a table. Why were they all here? It wasn't like this was a planned reunion day or something.
Chi-Chi- looked toward her son and smiled warmly. Goten gurgled and giggled in excitement at the site of his older brother, extending his arms towards him. Gohan smiled in return, happy to see his sibling.
"Gohan honey," she said, "come here and sit down for moment."
Gohan grinned and walked toward his mother, sitting down next to her. Vegeta walked towards his wife and son, standing beside them (they were at the end of a couch) with his arms crossed and Piccolo went next to Gohan. Gohan looked around the room, getting peculiar stares from everyone except Piccolo, Vegeta and his mom.
"So…" Gohan started, choosing his words carefully, "did Mr. Dumbledore really talk to you mom? You know about the whole magic thing?"
Chi-Chi nodded, "Yes, and I'll admit it was the farthest thing that reached my mind. It was hard to grasp at first that my son was half alien, but a wizard too?" She laughed playfully, looking at her eldest son with pride. "I will agree with whatever decision you make, about going to the school or not. After all, I've just got to pay for your supplies and that's all to be paid for."
"Oh come on you two!" Bulma yelled suddenly, getting looks from the others. "How can you actually buy all that nonsense? You don't actually believe that that man is a "wizard" do you? There is no such thing as magic."
"Oh really woman?" Vegeta spoke rather loudly. "If there's no such thing as magic then how do you explain the "magic" Dragonballs?"
Bulma's face then became flushed, either out of embarrassment or anger no one could tell with the look on her face. The look of enragement faded, though the color did not.
"We have proof that that kind of magic is real." She replied. "But there has been no real proof that the wizard magic you're all talking about is real. How could it exist without anyone knowing about it?"
"I agree with Bulma on this." Yamcha joined in. "There's no such thing as that kind of magic. Kami and Dende created the Dragonballs, so their magic only really comes from their being Namekians. That old geezer was probably just some guy in a costume trying to milk money out of you Chi-Chi. After all, some people go after grieving widow's because of their money and gullibility."
Chi-Chi shook her head. "I don't think so. I know when someone is lying to me, and this man was really telling the truth. Besides," she glowered for a moment at Yamcha (causing all men to flinch and cringe), "I'm NOT GULLIBLE."
Yamcha grinned nervously, backing up as far as he could while the other man paled and Bulma and Eighteen snickered.
"You've got good instincts Chi-Chi, because Dumbledore was telling the truth." Piccolo said, looking across to all of them seriously. "Kami knew about this magic since it surfaced on the world, and fusing with him let me learn about it also. Besides, Dumbledore knew more than enough about us to have simply been an old man in a robe, right Gohan.
Gohan nodded, "When that Dumbledore guy told us what his school was, he mentioned me being half Saiyan, and Frieza up on Namek. He knew about Vegeta and Nappa coming to the planet, and even Dr. Gero and Cell. He has information on all of us because he knows Baba; in fact she herself is a witch, a Seer or something like that."
Everyone turned to Master Roshi, hoping to get some sort of answers from him.
"It's true." Roshi finally declared, adjusting his sunglasses rather awkwardly. "My sister is indeed a witch, or Seer as the case would be. I was always jealous of her abilities, predicting things seconds before they occurred, laughing about it in my face. She always told me I'd never amount to anything and that I'd be some loony old man. Then I became a martial artist and obtained by own powers and strength, so all in all it equaled out quite nicely."
Gohan grinned proudly, "See, and we have more proof. When he left, he disappeared somewhere. He left like a whip sound and some smoke. It was some sort of magic thing, I just know it!"
"He could've just used Instant Transmission or something." Bulma argued.
"That is true Gohan." Roshi spoke. "I've created a variety of abilities over the years, the Kamehameha Wave a well known example of that. This man could have done the same thing entirely to make you believe."
Gohan shook his head, "No he didn't. He's not an old guy with fighting experience like you Master Roshi, I can tell. His power level is equal to that of a regular person, maybe even lower. We didn't even detect his ki when we left and got there, just ask Krillin."
Everyone turned to Krillin, expecting an answer.
Krillin finally nodded, "I'm with my bro Gohan on this. I haven't sensed anyone's power except Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo when they were training. I was afraid someone wasn't going to come back after that. If anyone else was there, though it would have been hard, I would have sensed them if they had a lot of power. Gohan's a smart kid, so why are we questioning him like this? Besides, I think we can all agree this isn't the weirdest thing that could happen to the little man."
Everyone nodded in response, knowing full well with their history something even worse could have happened. Why question the situation further, they all knew Gohan was telling the truth deep down.
"Now that that's settled," Chi-Chi said, "are you going to go to Hogwarts sweetie?"
"…Yes" Gohan replied, his eyes shining with excitement "…yes I will."
Chi-Chi beamed lovingly, "Alright, now Gohan here is what will happen. Bulma's willing to give you all the money you'll need for you supplies along with extra, considering you're like a son to her (and we made a bet about this). I want you to come home on Christmas and Easter, but I'm willing to allow you to use Instant Transmission from here to there, since it will only be a couple of seconds to get here. Listen to Dumbledore and follow the rules. And you must do your work first, but not all the time though. You won't have to study what you usually do, since you are well above ten years ahead. Is that understood Gohan?"
Gohan nodded, "Let's go home. I've got to get ready for tomorrow and I'm hungry."
Chi-Chi smiled, and grabbed Gohan's hand while holding Goten. They all gave their proper goodbyes to their friends and they disappeared from the room, already on the way to their house.
…
It was the next day and Gohan was doing some morning training. He walked out in his regular attire, knowing that the level of intensity he'd be using wouldn't require a Gi. Usually he'd go out for some short interval training sessions, just so he could get a warm-up before Piccolo or Vegeta would surprise attack him. But today, however, it was for a different reason entirely. Today was the day this "Hagrid" fellow was supposed to get him so he could buy his school supplies.
Granted though, this simple task as it sounded made Gohan shiver with anticipation. He'd be shopping for "magic" supplies, for books that could tell him different spells he could use for any given chore. He could get potion ingredients for whatever potion needed for any given remedy or cure. He could also get magical items not even on his list, like brooms ("like they actually use brooms" he muttered) or something that could do stuff Bulma's technology couldn't even fathom accomplishing. But what he was really looking forward to was getting a wand for him, that one item that was the key to a door leading to a world that only he was allowed into. Not even the Prince of Saiyans or Piccolo had access to that world, to things that would leave their mouths gapped open.
He did some random melee attacks in the air, the air picking up around him as his actions continued. The dust picked up into the air, surrounding him and then going away from him as he changed directions. Ever since the battle with Cell, Gohan feared of another thing like Cell, who could use all their attacks against them. Not to mention with a power as great as Cell's. An even scarier thought was of a being that could potentially be even more powerful than the bio-android.
So not long after this epiphany he decided to teach himself the techniques that his friends used, urging each of them to divulge their secrets and skills. He mastered them all in four months of hard training, under the guidance of each of the Z-Fighters separately. They could hardly say no to the boy who saved the world, as well as a living heir and reminder of their dear departed friend. Some eagerly stepped up to the plate (Krillin), others passively agreed (Piccolo), while others absolutely refused to help the hybrid until their wife threatened them with no real food or training time (do I need to say who?).
Gohan flew into the air, sweat beginning to form as he intensified his speed and difficult attack patterns. After he finally learned all the different and complex attacks his training friends taught him, he decided to do a little experimentation with them. Over the course of remaining time until the present, he developed several attacks only known by him and developed by his own hand (and brain). These attacks had a variety of uses; while some were similar to other techniques used by his friends others were completely unheard of and of his own design.
Gohan decided to test his newest attack, which was an upgraded version of the Destructo Disk. He got permission from Krillin, something he did before developing any new attacks that were based on others. It was somewhat of a habit he picked up from both his mom and dad, to be polite yet in an innocent and carefree sort of way. The only one ever expressed protest to his request was Vegeta, though he did say Gohan could use his own attacks like the Final Flash or Galick Gun (probably as a way to amplify his smugness), rather begrudgingly though.
Back to the training, Gohan dug his feet into the ground as a preparation method. He quickly brought out his left hand above him and began charged up crimson energy in his palm. He then began to move his arm in a circular motion, the ball of energy flattening as he did so. Then it was flattened into the form of a disk because of the velocity of movement, causing it to look like a slenderer red version of Krillin's attack. But then, the disk began to rotate its position in all directions, at first rather slowly but then rapidly picking up speed. Only to the very well trained eye could one see that it wasn't a glowing sphere in his hand, but an ever revolving disk.
Gohan cried, "Gyro Sphere!"
The spherical blade headed towards a boulder near by, sunk into the earth with moss covering some of it. Just inches from the enormous mount of stone the disk grew to a size just large enough for it to slice the boulder. The sphere sliced through the rock as easily as butter, different edges of the spinning blade sinking through. But moments after the hardened sediment fragments touched the ground, the boulder crackled with red energy around it and crumbled into dust, blown away slowly by the wind.
Then, the red disk of energy rebounded from its original path, now accelerating towards the calm and non-moving Gohan. Gohan smiled, pleased with this unexpected choice and put his hand out slowly, his fingers parting. The boomerang slowly began to decrease in speed, almost as if someone were slowing down time itself. After a few seconds the radiant sphere of power stopped its movements, though still spinning in place.
Gohan then made an X movement with his arms, then released with very physical slashing movements directed at the attack.
As a reaction to this gesture the boomerang soared high into the sky, well above most people's visions, and changed shape into the shape of an X. all four sides now rotated similarly to a chainsaw's movements, each blaring out blood-red energy. Without a moment's hesitation the blast flew straight into the ground at top speed. One might assume that the blast was intended to hit Gohan, and that was exactly what it was going to do. Gohan simply looked up, watching the blade of energy descending straight to him at incredible speeds. In mere seconds the blade was already several inches from Gohan's being; and that was when his eyes narrowed, ready for concentration. Gohan phased out of the way of the crimson X, his imprint being sliced into four separate pieces. Gohan had to admit, he was rusty in reaction; the blades of the attack had come so close to harming Gohan that he could feel the heat being generated from their constant movement.
When the attack crashed into the ground it burrowed deep into the earths crust, even beyond Gohan's sight when looked down into the dark. A red light escaped from the hole, apparently signaling an explosion of great proportions. The ground beneath him shook, cracking in several places as his ears screamed from the sonic sounds emanating from the crevice. Dust and dirt kicked up around the area, slowly being carried away from the winds that were generated. As the dust finally faded into the atmosphere, Gohan went to see the crater and the extent of its damage. He smirked, seeing a rather distinctive X dent was made into the soil, leading down to about a well made cavern of great length.
"That's enough training for now." Gohan said, sighing as he looked down the enormous hole just spawned. "Okay, half a mile down I'd say. That beats my last record of a quarter mile. Alright, we're making progress Gohan."
"GOHAN," He heard, his mother's voice echoing through the thicket of woods separating them. "That man Dumbledore told us about, Hagrid is here! He's come to help you get your supplies for school!"
Gohan's eyes lit up, his expression now filled with excitement. FINALLY!
"ALRIGHT!" He shouted, unable to contain his enthusiasm. "I'll be right there!"
Without even bothering to phase he raced through the thicket of trees and brush, immediately landing by his mother's side outside the house in seconds.
Chi-Chi laughed, "Well, it took you long enough."
Gohan grinned sheepishly, messing with his hair like the way his father did. Chi-Chi smiled, eyes sparkling at the resemblance between father and son. She shook her head, finally remembering their guest was here. She gestured politely to their guest, causing Gohan to gasp silently.
The man was huge, and when Gohan meant huge he MEANT HUGE. There were sumo wrestlers and martial artists that couldn't hold a candle to the man. While on the subject, Gohan didn't doubt for a second he could hold his own in an arena (that is, against a regular fighter of course). He was well over ten feet, possibly near fifteen or sixteen at that. His girth was big, but probably to counterbalance his large height. He was wearing baggy and dirty clothing, like he didn't wear anything else or something. He was very hairy and shaggy, not including his face at that. His hair was wild and all over, some of it covering his face. His beard was very big, covering a great deal of his face and giving him an almost "young Santa" look. He seemed to be kind, taken from his smiling expression and status.
"Gohan," Chi-Chi started, calling Gohan from his observations, "this is Rubeus Hagrid. He'll be taking you for your magic supplies for school."
"Jus' call me Hagrid." He replied, his gruff English accent distinct. He chuckled, "I hate it when people call me by me firs' name."
Gohan looked at the Hagrid, sizing him up with a passive expression on his face. Finally, after moments, of awkward silence, the young warrior grinned.
"You know…" he started, choosing his words, "You're about as tall as my grandfather, and he's HUGE."
Hagrid smiled, chuckling a bit as he did so. "I think you're jus' exaggeratin' his height. I don' think a lot o' people get ter be around me height."
Chi-Chi- shook her head, giggling a little at her prodigy's observation.
"No he's right." She started wiping a tear from her face. "My father is pretty big, probably the largest from here to West City. In fact, he's probably a bit bigger than you Hagrid."
Hagrid raised an eyebrow, a smile creeping at the corners of his mouth as he did so.
"That a fact?"
She nodded, "Speaking of my father, he told me he's coming by to say good bye to Gohan. Maybe we could get a little glimpse of you two together, who knows." She then shot him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, is your height a sore subject?"
Hagrid laughed, "Nonsense. I know yeh mean no harm."
"CHI-CHI?" A voice called out, causing the three to turn around and look towards the woods.
"GOHAN?" The voice called again, birds moving out from the woods and squawking into the sky.
Trees and brush moved and swayed towards them, something huge and big pushing them out of his way. The sounds of feet stomping ringed in all three pairs of ears, pounding louder and louder as the source of the steps came closer. Then, without so much as a warning, a HUMUNGOUS figure stormed out of the woods. Gohan grinned, knowing who it was even before he stepped out of the trees.
Gohan's grandfather, the Ox King, ran up to his relatives laughing and huffing for breath. His usual attire of a tie, shirt, slacks, glasses and bull horns adorned his being when they saw him. When he finally caught their gazes as he slowed down beside them, he grinned and ruffled the young saiyan's hair while hugging his daughter to death with his other arm. Hagrid shuffled his feet, eyeing the display awkwardly while wide-eyed at the new arrival's stature.
"How's my favorite magical saiyan nephew doing?" The Ox king said, starting to tickle the young boy.
"Grandpa, you made it!" Gohan cheered, laughing as his uncle playfully wrestled with him. Chi-Chi looked at the display with a smile.
"Dad, nice timing." Chi-Chi observed, playfully hitting her father on the shoulder.
The Ox King ruffled his hair sheepishly, "Sorry I'm late honey. The hover-car broke down halfway here for no reason (yes there was), so I had to run the WHOLE way. Let me tell you, that's going to count as a lifetime of exercise for me!"
He looked down at Gohan, his eyes shining with pride and excitement. "But it was worth it. When your mom first told me about you being half saiyan, I nearly fainted at the thought of my nephew being part alien. But when she told me yesterday that you were a wizard to boot, I nearly had a heart attack!" The Ox King finally noticed Hagrid standing there, considering he didn't have to look down to see him! "Oh, I didn't know we were having guests. Who's your tall friend here Chi-Chi?"
Chi-Chi laughed, "This is Rubeus Hagrid dad. He's going to take Gohan shopping for his school supplies. Hagrid, this is my dad."
The two men shook hands friendly enough, though the Ox King seemed to be more enthusiastic about it.
"Pleased to meet you Rubeus… or is it Hagrid?" The Ox King asked, looking from his daughter to the other giant man.
"Er," Hagrid started, "jus' Hagrid is fine."
Finally looking Hagrid up and down, the Ox King broke out into a huge grin.
"So," The Ox King began, "Nice to finally meet someone I can talk to at eye level, wouldn't you agree Hagrid?"
Hagrid broke in chuckles, "I suppose so. I guess yeh weren' really exaggeratin' about him Gohan." He then turned to the mother and son. "I'm afraid that we've got ter go now Gohan, we don' have a lot of time ter spare."
Gohan nodded, "I understand." He turned to his mother and grandfather and gave them both hugs, basking in their warmth and love. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"
Chi-Chi beamed warmly, "Of course. You have fun Gohan, and listen to whatever Hagrid tells you. We love you."
"Love you too." He replied cheerfully.
Hagrid smiled, and then rummaged through his coat looking for something. Finally after several seconds he pulled out what looked like and old tin can, which caused Gohan to raise an eyebrow.
"It's called a portkey." Hagrid explained, seeing the peculiar look on the child's face. "It's one of the ways we wizards use to get around."
"….. It's a can."
Hagrid laughed, "Well, that's the point. Yeh see, a portkey is only to be used by magical people, set ter go a' a specific place a' a specific time. That bein', they are made ter be ordinary objects so as not ter draw attention, be inconspicuous."
"…. But it's a can." He repeated, doubting its initial use.
Hagrid smiled, "Just touch it."
Gohan returned the smile, and reached out to touch it as his family waved bye to him. Slowly but gradually, his fingertips finally reached out and just grazed the cold metallic exterior of the can.
Immediately he felt and almost rushing sensation about him, like the wind picking up all around him. His stomach, new to this sort of feeling, seized up and churned as a result. Gohan watched as the scene faded out, almost as if it were a combination of a mirage and a "wipe-away" sequence. He then almost felt like he was flying next; it had the same blood-to the-head sensation as when he first felt like flying anyways. It felt like the rush and feeling of nausea was lasting hours and hours, much worse way to travel than flying or- or anything else for that matter.
However, as long as it felt like was in actually the opposite. In a few seconds Gohan finally felt the churning and hyped up feeling cease, feeling solid ground at last. Gohan didn't fall, but his legs did buckle and he staggered for a moment. Gohan huffed and gasped, trying to take in as much breath as possible.
"Don' worry," he heard Hagrid's voice say, "most people get like that when they travel by portkey first time."
Groaning, Gohan's vision finally began to come back clearly, and he gasped at the site.
All around him it looked like he was in a medieval shopping mall; it reminded him of a low-tech version of West City. There were stone buildings all around him, lined up on either side of him. There were people dressed in cloaks and weird hats walking in and out of these buildings, some with bags and others without them. Gohan turned to his right and saw a child running out of a nearby store with animals in the window, and his mother walking out carrying an owl in a cage. There was a building with cauldrons out in front, the contents in them bubbling sickly. He saw a gigantic building, easily the biggest there, with people going in and walking out with small bags in hand. There was even a store with broomsticks behind the window, crowded around on all sides by children his age. The whole shopping area seemed to go on for quite a bit of distance, easily a bit larger than most malls.
Gohan felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Hagrid grinning down at him.
"Gohan…" he started, looking out at the buildings, "Welcome, to Diagon Alley."