"There was a bank robbery this morning and those guys all had power levels in the hundreds," she apologized as she bowed to her teacher. The other students began rapidly flickering their eyes between Gohan and their classmate, Videl, daughter of Hercule Satan, the man that tried to steal credit for what Gohan had done.
"Thank you for finally joining us Ms. Satan," the teacher said with disdain. Hercule had been made a laughing stock of the community and some of that was shared to his daughter, who admittedly worked very hard to reclaim some pride in the Satan name. "Now it would seem that we have run out of before class time so if you would all take your seats we may begin. Mr. Son it would seem the only empty seat is in the back; will that be a problem?"
Shaking his head Gohan replied, "No sir, I'll be just fine in the back." He turned and began to follow the girl to the backrow of chairs. His enhanced hearing picking up pieces of chatter.
"Do you think he's going to do anything to her?"
"Oh man this fight's going to be crazy."
"How long until Bitch Queen realizes who he is?"
The comments confused the half-Saiyan because he wasn't sure why he would even fight anyone here, let alone someone who he just met. So, he quietly sat down and listened, to his classmates, since he had no understanding of how public school worked he felt it better to observe and learn what to do. The teacher cleared his throat as he realized the class was just watching their newest classmate like an exhibit, "Now class, seeing as we just had a big exam last week, we will be reviewing the questions, and where you all seemed to fail." This caused the class to groan as that meant the next few hours were going to be tedious. The teacher seeing this smirked, "Cheer up, it's not all bad, last class of the day is M.A.."
At this revelation the students cheered up, Gohan looked confused, and leaned over to the pigtailed girl next to him, "M.A.?" he asked.
"Martial Arts," she whispered back to him, not turning to look as she pulled out stacks of notebooks.
"Oh, that makes sense," Gohan responded as he shifted back into his seat. For the most part the review was on topics he had learned on his way to Namek when he was much younger. As a result, Gohan, for the most part zoned out as the topics were covered, providing answers when called on. He was pulled from his thoughts when the bell rang, signifying it was lunch time, a Saiyan's favorite time of day, if you don't count breakfast, dinner or fighting.
Looking out the window Gohan decided that eating outside would be a nice change of pace, so he casually walked outside to find a nice empty spot to open his capsule, not noticing the crowd of people that were following him. As Gohan dug into his food he was unaware of the whispers behind him.
"Holy schmoly look at him eat."
"Where does it all go?"
A soft ping to his sense made Gohan look up from his meal and face the horizon, "Oh no," Gohan groaned. The half-saiyan flipped up and extended his arms to catch a speeding object, the impact of which send him sliding back on the grass, carving deep grooves into the lawn.
"Goten," Gohan scolded the giggling boy.
"Hehe, hi big brother," the smaller Goku look-alike chirped. "I'm playing tag with Trunks."
"Uh-huh, and did you have to come by the highschool?" Gohan asked.
"Well I didn't get to see you today and dad has to do his chores, so he can't play with me yet," Goten pouted.
Gohan sighed, "I get it squirt, you miss having all the options, dad, trunks, me, eighteen, mr. piccolo, and the rest of the Z-fighters." His little brother bristled at that.
"It's so boring without you, why do you have to come to this boring place anyway," the young boy asked.
"So, I can get an education and go on to college and have a career, bills don't pay themselves," Gohan repeated what his mother had told him growing up.
"But Vegeta says that's unnecessary with how much money you earned by stopping Cell and Bojack," Goten questioned. "And that you should spend your time training instead."
"Vegeta is always training though, he's no fun to be around, why else do you think we send you to him when you get grounded," Gohan poked his brother's nose making him laugh.
"That makes sense, uh oh, here comes Trunks, bye Gohan, bye Gohan's school," the half-saiyan flew off at almost dangerous speeds, as another figure bathed in white ki rocketed passed by.
"Hi Gohan, bye Gohan," the sometimes purple, sometimes blue haired son of the Briefs family careened by, so he could wave at his friend and mentor. Having taken a fascination with the future time line version of himself and thought it was the coolest thing ever, so he wanted to also be trained by Gohan.
Gohan sighed and thought back to the fun times he had as a child. "Oh wait, my childhood was a nightmare of constant threats of planetary destruction and seeing most if not all my friends and loved ones die, sometimes more than once," Gohan nodded to himself. "So, this is why mom insisted I go to school." Concluding that maybe his mother had better intentions than just his academic future when she made him attend a public high school, regardless of his fame.
He quietly turned back and noticed that more than a few students and faculty members had been watching his conversation with his little brother. Blushing the teen, scratched the back of his head and chuckled, in the way that only Son men can. "Sorry, I'll make sure the lawn is taken care of, little brothers, what are you gonna do," Gohan tried to play off the interaction as completely normal. He quickly sat back down with his lunch and ate, unsure of how to handle the constant stares and muttering going on around him.
The bell rings, signifying the end of lunch and Gohan's salvation. Quickly joining in with the crowd of students who are marching back into the school, even if the window is open to the classroom, Gohan isn't sure if it would be okay to just fly back into the room.
"So Martial Arts yeah, who's the instructor?" Gohan asked a spectacled boy walking next to him as they exit the locker room. The half-Saiyan hoping to get some information before the class started.
"Oh well uh, it's mister-," the teen had started to answer before a large, booming and egotistical voice shouted out.
"Kakabrat."
Gohan paled, "Oh no."
The Prince of All Saiyan's, Vegeta stands in front of the students, with all his impressive five-foot five stature. "Well well well well well, it seems that even though the woman has forbidden me from finally trouncing that buffoon you call a father," the full-blooded Saiyan threateningly states as he marches up to Gohan. "I am not only given permission, but it is a requirement that I make sure you and the rest of your pathetic classmates are adequate to compete in the next World Martial Arts Tournament," Vegeta slowly raises his hand and digs his finger into Gohan's chest, twisting the nail firmly. "So come child, we shall show these earthlings how true warriors fight."
Vegeta turned and walked towards the mat. "According to the school's charter, you will lose if you are knocked off the platform," looking back at Gohan who was following him. "Oh and if you turn Super Saiyan I will make you do fifty laps around the planet."
Gohan tried to ignore the rapid conversations his classmates were having, most if not all excited to see two of the most powerful people on the planet, let alone the universe do battle with each other. "Listen up brats, today is a special day, I finally have someone I am allowed to not only hit, but hit really hard," Vegeta shouts to his students. "Now you will all sit quietly and watch how we spar, so boy, are you ready to be trounced in front of all your friends," Vegeta chides Gohan who places himself in his signature style.
"3," Gohan begins to count down.
"2," Vegeta responds.
"1!" they both shout and rocket towards each other in a blur.
The students begin to cheer for Gohan to beat their mean martial arts teacher. The few reasons that those students were even able to keep up with the fight being, that neither had entered their super saiyan forms and the small arena size prevented them from picking up a lot of speed.
"So Vegeta, since when did you get a job," Gohan asked, using the ease of the warm up to chat with one of the few people he respected in terms of power. He sent a spinning kick at Vegta's torso hoping he would duck it, the more experienced fighter springboarded the attack and vaulted over Gohan to land a hit to his back instead.
"Last year," Vegeta said as he doled out a flurry of swift jabs, in an effort to push his opponent back or suffer the, admittedly weak, blows. "The woman," Vegeta started his tale.
"Bulma," Gohan corrected him, stepping into the punches to limit Vegeta's already short reach.
"The WOMAN," Vegeta snarled as he pivoted into Gohan's gut and flipped him over his shoulder and rolled him off his back. "Decided that I needed to do more than just train and that having a job would make me seem more, approachable, to the earthlings."
Gohan rolled and went to the ground before pushing off his hands and planting his feet into Vegeta's guarded chest, the firm arms blocking his attack. "Okay, but why teaching, no offense but you are not the type to "impart wisdom to the next generation"," Gohan said mimicking what he always heard about teachers.
"Ha, I thought so as well, but menial labor jobs do nothing to train the body," Vegeta answered the obvious question. Before landing his own spinning axe kick to the tip of Gohan's nose disorienting him. "But considering most other jobs are so, people oriented, I hate people. I figured that I could at least train some of your pathetic race into being halfway decent warriors," He followed up the strike with a few blows to Gohan's gut before finishing him off by spinning his opponent out of the ring. "And it is fun that I can wail away on some children who are not my own for a change."
"Love you too Vegeta," Gohan groaned as he sat up from his place on the gym floor, other students shocked that the savior of the world had been defeated in a fight, even if it was to another Saiyan.
Vegeta proudly walked to the edge of the mat, then pointed to Gohan who was sitting cross-legged on the ground. "Look at him, he was your savior, and now he has been defeated," Vegeta taking the chance to make an excellent point. "This is what happens when you neglect your training. The boy may have at one time held more power than me, but he got complacent, so someone else came along and took his position. Remember this moment, that someone who is more dedicated, more driven, could come along and defeat you if you slack."
Vegeta paired off his students based on power level, leaving the daughter of the disgraced former world champion off to the side. He personally didn't give a shit about the politics behind it all, to him it was all a game of who was the least weak human. However, the girl showed promise, for a human to reach a power level close to 2800 was impressive, considering that at the time of him showing up on Earth baring Kakarot not a single one of them broke even three thousand.
"Videl," Vegeta shouted, causing the girl to jump in alarm. Which wasn't unique, everyone in the school jumped when he yelled at them. "You will spar with the brat," Vegeta instructed the only student whose name he bothered to remember.
Gohan walked over to the same mat that he had fought Vegeta in, "Hey, how's it going?" Gohan waved to his opponent.
Videl closed her eyes and breathed deeply, she was trying to psyche herself up against what was literally an insurmountable opponent. "Okay, it's just the guy who has saved the world, twice, at least. And the guy daddy tried to steal the credit from," she whispered to herself as she sorted out her thoughts, bouncing on the mat to loosen up. "Oh crapbaskets," she muttered as she opened her eyes.
Gohan knowing that going all out would be a dick move, decided to patiently wait, no need to rush someone, this was more for their benefit than his. "Oh hey, you say that too," Gohan laughed as he heard her say a common phrase. He noticed that she was really tense, so he raised his hands up, "You look a little nervous there."
Videl's eyes widened in disbelief. "How could I not be nervous, I have to spar with a guy who probably hates my guts and could reduce me to a red smear on the wall before I could even blink," she shouted at Gohan. Drawing attention from the nearby fighters.
Gohan tilted his head in confusion, "Hate you? I've never met you, why would I hate you?" he sought clarification from his opponent.
"Duh because I'm Videl Satan, remember my dad, the guy who tried to take credit from you for defeating Cell and called you a fraud," Videl stomped her foot on the ground.
Gohan paused and thought for a moment, sifting through his thoughts to finally remember the human who showed up at the Cell games over half a decade prior. Gohan snapped his finger, "Oh him. Well if I'm being honest here. I never really cared one way or another" his nonchalant comment making all the students in listening distance pause.
"Wuh wait, what, you don't care," Videl half shouted half screamed at him.
"Yeah, I mean I had just defeated Cell in my toughest fight ever, my dad was dead, we had to use the dragon balls to wish back everyone he killed. I didn't really care if anyone knew I stopped him or not," Gohan explained his lack of care for the fame he had amassed. "So I guess it never even crossed my mind that there was even profit to be made off of that fight, I don't think my dad did either when he confronted your dad," Gohan hissed as he remembered that news interview. "Sorry for him doing it live on television though, guess it kind of looked bad."
"You, you, you, you can't just," Videl in frustration stomped her foot on the mat. "You can't just not care about this."
Gohan looked at his opponent in confusion, "Why not, I mean, you seem heavily invested in this, so I might just not really understand."
"You can't be this good," Videl shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks, her emotions reaching a rolling boil, a mixture laden with confusion, anger and regret. "It just, it just makes me look so bad."
"I don't get it," Gohan shrugged.
"After my dad became a laughing stock, after everything he tried to build crumbled, after everyone turned on us," Videl ranted. "To finally meet the guy who is the real deal and he's so Kami-damned perfect. It's not fair, I can't even be mad at you because you didn't do any harm and you never meant to hurt any of us little people."
"Videl," Gohan said with concern, as he watched his classmate that he knew for all of a day have a mental breakdown and a breakthrough at the same time.
"All I did was try harder, I learned all the techniques from Turtle style to chin-star, I raised my power level as high as I possibly can, I go out and beat up criminals just to try and drag my family name out of the mud," Videl rubbed her cheeks. "And you never even noticed, you never had any hatred to my dad. What was it all for."
Most of her classmates, taken aback at the earnest feelings that the person they formerly idolized for having such a cool father, thought on their actions of how they treated her since the day Hercule Satan was exposed.
"Was everything I did meaningless," Videl's bloodshot eyes looked across the mat to stare into Gohan's.
Gohan shrugged, "I don't think so, I mean you got stronger and you said you've been saving people and that's pretty cool I think. More than what I've done really."
Videl opened her mouth to object but Gohan's raised hand stopped her, "I've only ever stopped big threats, ones that would have killed everyone, myself included, but I haven't done things for people, just saved them. Maybe because I didn't think to. I think that's pretty damn cool that you put yourself in danger to help the little guy," Gohan heaped praise on Videl for his vigilante tendencies.
"I guess it sucks that people treat you bad because of your father's mistake and I guess I'm not really all that phased by it because I've met people who have destroyed planets," Gohan said as he aimed a sidelong glance at Vegeta.
"It's been twelve years, give it up brat, I won't apologize," Vegeta cackles. The long running debate between the half-saiyan and the Saiyan prince about whether he should apologize for trying to kill everyone never reaching a conclusion.
"So maybe someone just doing something for money isn't something I'm used to dealing with," Gohan continued. "I guess what I am trying to say is that I don't hate you because you haven't done anything wrong, your dad was already stripped of his title and banned from further competition so I don't see the need to hold a grudge."
Gohan watched as Videl's face contorted into various unreadable expressions before she puffed out her cheeks. "Dammit why is it so hard to be mad at you," Videl pouted, coming to terms with herself after finally having a chance to vent her anger at someone who could say something that might help her.
Chuckling Gohan rubbed the back of his head, "I dunno, ask my mom or Bulma, apparently it's a Saiyan's talent to frustrate women."
Vegeta's blood pressure rose and he waved a fist at Gohan, "Why don't you say that to my face."
Gohan electing to ignore his teacher, turned his focus solely to his opponent, "So you mastered all those martial arts huh."
Videl nodded, "Yeah, it took a while, I mean the Kameha wave was one of the hardest."
"Oh yeah, that took me a while, not sure how my dad did it after seeing it only once, but he's always been like that," Gohan said as he interlaced his fingers behind his head. Then for a moment his head quirked up, "Hey, I know a style you wouldn't have learned yet."
Videl taken aback, "What."
"Well two, but Vegeta refuses to teach non-Saiyans Saiyan style," Gohan pondered. "I think I could teach you Demon Style," he thought about how future him had taught Trunks and how he was also teaching the kid in the present.
"Demon style?" Videl asked.
Vegeta laughed loudly, "You think she has what it takes to learn the Namekian's fighting style."
Gohan glared, "She's stronger than I was when I learned, besides, you know she can learn it if she's already learned all those other styles."
Pausing his amusement, Vegeta thought for a moment, "It is true, she's one of the few earthlings not in your merry band of fighters who show promise enough. Very well, she's your project now brat. Teach her the Namekian's way of fighting by the next World Martial Arts Tournament," he ordered Gohan as he waved off the two of them and walked over to instruct, i.e. berate his other students.
"Wait what," Gohan shouted at his retreating teacher.
"Oh, and just to make it more fun, if you fail, and I will know because the Namekian will also be at the tournament, then you fail the class," Vegeta added on.
Gohan slumped, he really wanted to argue, but he knew that a class like this would be all but useless unless he spent it sparring with Vegeta, which while on occasion an invigorating workout was not something he wanted to do every day. He looked over at the person he was supposed to originally spar with and has now been thrust into the role of teacher.
"Well I guess that's fine," Gohan sighed.
Across the room a few students groaned in jealousy, some because Videl was going to be personally training, in an exceedingly rare martial arts style, as Piccolo didn't take any more students, others because she would be spending a lot of personal time with the World Savior and everyone because they still had to put up with Vegeta yelling at them.
Author's Notes: I'll just skip to Review Review
Justanius, here's the next part. I might see where this takes me.
TheLifeLongEditor, I do enjoy the Eighteen/Gohan pairing as well, feels like there is more that can be done.
Maybe I'll try to put some chapters that do some inbetweens, show what some of the others have been doing.
Okay Ill Try, I do want to discuss this more. Assuming Pilaf got his wish, what exactly does it entail to be the ruler of Earth, seems like he would have some measure of control over the people who lived there or else they would all just say, no you aren't and continue as normal.
It's never actually stated in canon how Raditz became aware that Goku was on Earth, just that he showed up one day. I think the wiki mentions that Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta were nearby conquering some other planet, but that still leaves some questions with the whole one year away so dunno how space travel works in DBZ.
So maybe everything is contained on Earth for a while.
But going from DBZ timeline, it was about year 767 when the Broly movie happens, so assuming without Goku on Earth no one brought Raditz, they never got stronger the Namek Saga never happens, so assuming Paragus hates Vegeta, he would still be a stooge under Frieza since there was no super saiyan to stop him.
If Broly got into it with Frieza then it's likely that North Galaxy would have been destroyed anyway because I doubt Broly would hold back against Frieza throwing planet destroying attacks at him.
That's the point I was trying to make, without Goku it's all to wonky to know what would have happened without Goku on Earth and it likely isn't a good result.