A/N: I'm back earlier than expected! I'll explain why at the end, but this chapter was always meant to be short. Don't expect my normal uploads to be under 5,000 words, this is an exception. Once the story gets off the ground and we get to the meat of things, I expect 5k+ every chapter.

Alright, I'll keep the A/N short just like the chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2: The Warrior's Despair

Goten...Trunks...Piccolo...no, it can't be…

Gohan let his power go, dropping to his hands and knees. Partially due to needing a break from yelling his lungs out, and partially because he couldn't stop the despair and sadness that was creeping into his mind. He had failed again, and he simply couldn't handle the emotions that sent through him. His last failure had cost him his father, and this time it had likely cost him his whole world.

I have to put my faith in Gotenks, but from what I've seen they were evenly matched. That automatically pushes the fight in Buu's favor, because unless Gotenks caught him off guard, there's no way he could have beaten that monster before the time ran out...which means…

Tears started to brim at the corners of his eyes, his fingers scraping across the dirt and his hands balling into fists. His world was gone, there wasn't any hope left. His father was dead, Vegeta was dead, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, all dead. Now his brother, Trunks, and Piccolo were all dead too, there was nobody left to defend the Earth. There wasn't even any point in trying to get back, what would be left for him there? The universe was at Majin Buu's fingertips, and it was all his fault…

"DAMN IT!" he shouted, his voice cracking slightly as he cried. He raised his fist and slammed it down, creating a web of cracks in the ground surrounding the saiyan. What was he to do now? Everyone he ever knew or loved was dead, and he was stuck in an entirely different dimension. What meaning did his life even have at this point? He was simply a failure of epic proportions, the strongest in the universe that could never protect what mattered to him.

With Cell he'd gotten cocky, and his father had to step in and fix his mistake. He could still remember their last conversation before he'd teleported Cell away.

I'm really proud of you, my son.

Dad? What are you…

You listen to your Mom and keep hitting those books, okay? Tell her I'm sorry, but I'm not going to make it home this time. Goodbye, Gohan.

DON'T LEAVE US!

But it was too late, his father was already gone. The moment stung even more when he remembered that it had all been for nothing, the bio-android had simply come back minutes later and immediately killed Trunks. He'd been ready to give up again when Cell charged his Kamehameha, but only his father's words of encouragement had been enough to snap him back to reality.

This time, he'd foolishly let Gotenks fuse, his cockiness getting to him once again. As if he hadn't learned his lesson the last time. The Majin's original plan hadn't succeeded, but Gohan still lost anyway the moment he let Buu get angry. It was clear that he was hopeless without the help of others, and now he had no one.

The worst part was that he knew nobody would be angry at him. Nobody would blame him even a little bit. It had been the same with Cell, he'd messed up so many times yet everyone had tried to convince him that it wasn't his fault. Gohan had said he understood at the time, but he knew better.

I'm sorry everyone, I truly am. I let you down again, and this time there's no way to fix it. I hope you all find happiness in Other World, I'll never forget you.

He brought himself to his feet and looked up towards the sky, wiping the tears from his eyes. It was time to figure out what he was going to do for the rest of his life on this world. The first order of business would be to find the basic necessities, food and shelter. While it was true that he would probably be able to find a wooded area and live on his own, that wasn't a favorable option for a multitude of reasons. The first of which being that he knew next to nothing about the world he now resided on. If it was Earth, he wouldn't have thought twice about building a house on his own, but that was because he knew the landscape, how to survive, and exactly what all the dangers would be. On this world he didn't know if that knowledge would translate, so for that reason alone he decided living on his own wouldn't be an option until he learned more about Remnant.

Which brought another thought to mind. How would he go about learning more of this world's secrets. He could try and find a library to read up on it, and he had just flown from what looked to be a reasonably sized city. It would only make sense for him to go back there, and he had already met four of its inhabitants. If they were still around, he could ask them for more information, and possibly ask them if they knew of a place to stay.

Alright, so I have my plan. I'll go back to that city...what was it called again, Vale? I think that's it...I'll go back to Vale, find myself a library, and start to le-

At the last moment, Gohan noticed a presence coming from behind him and rolled to the left, just in time for him to dodge a strange creature taking a slash at him with its claws. He immediately got back to his feet and assessed the threat, panicked because he hadn't sensed any ki signatures around him. He still couldn't, yet in front of him stood a beast that looked like something out of a nightmare.

It appeared to be an animal that walked around on all fours, with fur that was as black as the night sky. The face had no such fur though, it looked as though it was made from bone. Its fangs were sharp, and its eyes glowed a menacing shade of red. From its limbs and back jutted many spikes of the same bony material, completing the terrifying look.

The beast simply stood there with its head tilted, as a low growl escaped its throat. It seemed to be judging how to best tear Gohan limb from limb. Normally the saiyan wouldn't have been worried, he'd been able to take down dinosaurs since he was 5. However, what unnerved him was the fact that he was still unable to sense any ki from the monster standing before him. It had snuck up on him while he was distracted, and had almost landed a hit on him. He still knew nothing of this world, or of the threats it presented, and he was not going to take any chances. No more mistakes.

As those menacing red eyes looked him over once more, the beast stood up on its hind legs and howled. Gohan was confused for a moment, but when he saw about fifteen more of the same species pop out from the treeline, he realized what was happening. It was calling more to the area, the pack closing in on fresh meat. He turned around to find about twenty more closing in on him from the opposite direction. They had him surrounded, there was no way to go.

Well...not quite surrounded.

Soon the beasts broke into a charge, as they all began a stampede with intent to kill. The saiyan smirked and dropped into a horse stance, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his power, his white aura of energy forming around him. When the beasts were within ten feet of him, Gohan shouted and pushed his arms out to each side, letting go an incredibly powerful kiai wave that blew all of his attackers away.

With that, he took to the air and started blasting away at every one of those beasts he could see. Blast after blast of ki left his palms, and after a minute or two there was so much smoke that he couldn't see the ground anymore. Which was a problem, considering that he couldn't sense their ki. He took a moment to let the smoke clear, and by the time it did there was nothing but destroyed landscape left. Gohan couldn't be sure whether or not he'd actually killed them, they would have had plenty of time to run away while the smoke had obscured his view.

He shook his head. It doesn't matter anyway, they won't be a problem as long as I'm in the sky. What the hell was that though? I couldn't sense their energy at all, how is that even possible!? Whatever, like I said it doesn't matter right now. I just need to get back to Vale so I can learn more about this world, and I'll probably find the answers about what those things are too.

Gohan took a moment to try and sense the energy of the people in the city where he'd just come from. When he locked onto it, he began flying off in that direction, intent on finding the answers to his questions.

"Thank you for helping me put my fruit stand back together, I really appreciate it!"

"Not a problem sir, we were happy to help. It's the least we could do."

Team JNPR had spent the past hour trying to help repair some of the damage done by the arrival of Gohan. Pyrrha still couldn't quite wrap her head around the fact that he had come from another dimension, it was all so strange. How was that even possible? A question well worth asking, but one of many it seemed she'd never receive the answer to unless they were to cross paths again.

She turned back to her teammates. "Alright, good job everyone. We've done as much as we can here, we should leave the rest to the police."

Jaune nodded in agreement. "Pyrrha is right, we need to get back to Beacon soon. Reporting this to Ozpin should probably be our first stop. Then I need to get some rest, before the craziness of what just happened ruins my relaxing day!"

The other three chuckled at this, and the group started walking towards the airship station once again. Before they could make it around the corner though, they heard a shout from behind them.

"What the hell is that up there in the sky? It looks like someone's flying over here!"

All four members of team JNPR turned around to search the skyline for the person they assumed it to be, and sure enough within a few seconds Nora shouted out, "Look over there, it's Gohan again!"

The mysterious boy was rapidly approaching their location, and soon he came to a stop above them and dropped down to the ground. It was clear to Pyrrha that something serious had happened in the hour he'd been gone. There weren't many changes in his appearance, but those that he did have were obvious indicators of the kind of situation he was in. His eyes were red, so she assumed he'd been crying, and his overall expression looked far more troubled than before. If he had come back to them after saying he needed to go back to his home, she could only guess that he'd been unsuccessful and was returning due to the fact that he had nowhere to go and was at least somewhat comfortable talking to them. She already knew these things to be true, but decided to let him tell them on his own.

Tentatively, she spoke a soft greeting to him. "Hello again, Gohan. Is everything alright?"

His attempted neutral expression turned to a frown. "Well, I might be here on Remnant for longer than I thought. I wasn't able to figure out how to return to my own dimension, so I guess I'm stuck here. Normally I'd just go out and live on my own, but I don't know what dangers this world holds, so I'd rather not risk it. I was wondering if you knew of somewhere I could go, or someone I could talk to so I can learn more about Remnant. I also need a place to stay for the time being, but I have no money obviously. I'm sorry to keep causing you trouble like this, and if you don't want to help me I'd understand." Gohan bowed deeply to team JNPR, and it seemed he would stay that way until one of them responded.

Jaune took the lead on this front. "It's fine Gohan, we'd be glad to help you. From what I can tell you seem like a pretty nice guy, and if I was somehow dropped into a random new place with no way to get back home, I would hope the locals were nice enough to at least point me in the right direction. I think we have just the person you're looking for, but you'll have to follow us back to school. Our headmaster, Professor Ozpin, will probably want to meet you, and he can answer most of your questions too. Sound good?"

It didn't take long for him to nod in agreement. "Yeah, that's fine by me. Not like I have anywhere else to be I guess. Thank you for helping me out guys."

"It's not a problem Gohan, I'm actually glad you returned. I know you may not wish to speak to us right now about your world, I am unaware of what occurred and so I can't tell if the memories would be painful or not. However, if you do end up staying, I would very much enjoy talking with you. After all, it's not everyday that you get an opportunity to speak with a person from another dimension." She gave her brightest smile to the boy, then turned on her heel and began to walk. "Come on everyone, we need to move quickly if we're going to make the next airship!"

For the next ten or so minutes, they walked in relative silence. Every so often Nora and Ren would have small side conversations, considering that it was impossible for the orange haired girl to stay silent for long periods of time. Other than that though, the walk was peaceful, with Pyrrha leading the way and the other four following closely behind. The airship ride back was mostly the same, although Gohan tried to stop and take a look at the different parts of the ship multiple times out of curiosity.

Once they returned to Beacon Academy, they made their way to Professor Ozpin's office immediately. Every time Pyrrha looked at Gohan over her shoulder, the boy seemed in awe of every feature of the school, almost as if he'd never seen one before. Which, now that I think about it, is entirely possible. I really know next to nothing about him.

Pretty soon they were on their way up the elevator that led to the headmaster's office. Jaune had called ahead to Professor Goodwitch and told her the situation, and as expected they were told to come speak with Ozpin as soon as they returned. Now as the doors opened, they could see that Ozpin and Goodwitch were waiting patiently for them, and the five young warriors entered the room.

Both professors stood to greet their new arrivals, and Ozpin was the first to speak. "Hello Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, Ren, thank you for coming. And who might you be?"

The young man bowed. "My name is Son Gohan, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

A faint hint of a smile played on the lips of the grey haired man. "Likewise. Now, I understand you have some things you'd wish to discuss with me, but please sit down first. I'd like to hear team JNPR's report on the events of the past few hours, then I will dismiss them and speak with you privately." Gohan nodded his head, and with that Ozpin began his questioning of the students.

After they had relayed all the information they'd learned through the encounter to the professors, Ozpin hummed in thought. "Well, this is certainly an...interesting development. Thank you for sharing this information with us, I believe we can take things on our own from here. Your assistance is no longer required. Team JNPR, you are dismissed."

As Pyrrha got up to leave, she took one last look at the young man they'd brought in. "Good luck, Gohan. I hope you're able to find whatever it is you're looking for. Don't hesitate to ask us for help again."

With that, the four members of team JNPR piled into the elevator, and as the doors closed they could only hear Ozpin's opening line.

"Now, Son Gohan. I believe we have many things to discuss."

Well, he's certainly not wrong. But I'm not sure how much I want to tell him just yet. Obviously he already knows I'm from another dimension due to what JNPR said, but the only ability he knows I possess is that of flight. I can't seem to get a read on his intentions, I guess I'll just have to play this by ear.

"Yes, I believe we do. As you know, I have nowhere to go, none of your currency, no knowledge of this world, and no way to get back home as of now. However, I doubt I'll ever be able to find a way back, as the circumstances under which I got here are beyond my understanding. Your students told me that you'd be able to help me with most of my problems, but I assume your next questions will be directed towards learning more about me in an effort to discern what kind of person I am and what my intentions are. I will answer whatever questions I feel comfortable with, and I'll have a few for you myself. Does that sound agreeable?"

The silver haired man seemed to think about this for a moment, then nodded his head. "Yes I believe that will be fine. Now, as for my questions…" He leaned towards Gohan. "How did you come to our world? I understand from the prior explanation my students gave me that you entered through a portal, but how was said portal created?"

Gohan figured he could answer that question while being relatively honest. "I was fighting the most terrifying being I've ever had the displeasure of meeting, a beast known as Majin Buu. From the limited knowledge I have of him, Buu is evil incarnate, and I mean that quite literally. He has been around since the beginning of time, and was recently awoken by a dark wizard named Babidi. Ever since then he has been going on a rampage, destroying practically everything on my planet. He's wiped out nearly the entire population, and prior to my disappearance, there were only six people left alive including myself. I'm sure that they've all died at this point though, since I was the only person powerful enough to put a stop to that monster." He balled his fists and clenched his teeth, trying to keep his anger under control. "I had a chance to kill him, but I failed. As I was about to deliver the finishing blow, he got angry and ripped open a hole in space, which I was sucked into. After that I ended up on your world, and you know the rest." He decided to leave the part out where he yelled like a fool for half an hour, and then cried like a child.

Ozpin's expression was still surprisingly neutral, but his eyes told Gohan that he was listening intently and judging his every word. He leaned back in his chair once again. "I see...that's incredibly unfortunate. I'm sorry for all the pain you've endured. The monster you described is something we can discuss later if you're willing, but for now I'd like to focus on another aspect of what you said. You were fighting this monster, which would lead me to believe you are a warrior, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm a martial artist. What about it?"

A small smile appeared on the professor's face. "From what I gather, if you were able to stand up to this beast, you must be very powerful. It just so happens that we are constantly in need of new fighters to help defend our people from the creatures of Grimm. I may have an offer for you that will suit both of our needs, but first you may ask any questions you have of me."

Gohan had one immediately. "Creatures of Grimm? What are those? Are they those black furred monsters that tried to attack me earlier?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "So you've already come into contact with them? Well then, I can spare you the physical description, but know that there are many more species of Grimm than the ones you saw today. If I had to take a guess, you likely saw either Beowolves or Ursai, they are the most common in the areas outside of the city. As for what the Grimm are, they are creatures of destruction and malice. They are living, but lack a soul, and they are drawn to negative emotions. The stronger those negative emotions are, the more Grimm will come. They have been around since the dawn of mankind, and are our eternal enemies. We are unaware of their origins, or how to stop them from appearing. The best we can do is continue to fight them off. That is why we train warriors to protect our people, in fact you've already met four of them. Beacon Academy is no ordinary establishment, it is a combat school designed to train the future Hunters and Huntresses of this world to protect mankind from the Grimm. Does that answer your question?"

Gohan took a moment to absorb the information. So that explains why I wasn't able to sense the Grimm that attacked me, they don't have souls so they can't possibly have ki to detect!

"Yes, thank you sir. As for my other questions, well I don't really know where to even start. If I'm going to be living on Remnant I need to learn as much as I can."

The silver haired professor leaned towards Gohan. "I believe I may have a solution to your problems, if you'd like to hear it." Gohan nodded, and with that he continued to speak. "As I told you, this is a combat school. However, we don't only teach our students how to fight, it also acts as a normal school. Of course, most of the classes are based around combat, but there are ones you may find interesting such as History and Grimm Studies. What I'm trying to say, is that I would welcome the opportunity to have you here as a student. However, if that doesn't suit your needs, we are always in the market for new assistant combat instructors." He gestured to the blonde haired teacher, who had been silent so far. "Professor Goodwitch does a lovely job running the class herself, however I'm sure the extra pair of hands would be appreciated. I can also assure you a relatively good salary, which would help with your money situation. So, what do you say, Son Gohan?"

The saiyan hadn't been sure what to expect going into this conversation, but it certainly wasn't this. A teacher, or a student? Well, one thing is for sure, either way I would be able to solve all of my problems in one fell swoop. But which is better? If I'm a teacher, sure I can get money, but I'll have to do all of my learning in my free time, as well as deal with students and the stress of the job. If I'm only a student, I just need to keep up with my schoolwork, which shouldn't be too hard. My mother has basically prepared me for this my entire life, I think I'll be fine. I guess it's decided then.

"Professor Ozpin, I would be honored if you'd take me in as a student at Beacon Academy."

The man smiled once more. "I'm glad to hear it Gohan. I hope that we are able to help you find your way in this world. There's one more thing I'd like to make you aware of though. In our school, each student is assigned one peer as their partner, and each partner group is paired with another to make a team of four. This was done during initiation at the beginning of the year though, and seeing as you will be entering late, I cannot give you a partner or a team normally. You will be your own one man team, and will not have a partner. However, what I can do is assign you to be escorted by another team, essentially making you an unofficial member. May I ask how old are you Gohan?"

"I'm seventeen years old sir."

"Ahh good, that's perfect. This means I can fit you in with team JNPR as your escort, you're the same age as the rest of the first year students. Is that alright with you? I'd assume it will be an easier adjustment since you've already met them."

Gohan smiled for the first time since he'd gotten to Beacon. "Yes sir, that would be wonderful. Thank you again for the opportunity."

"No thanks is necessary. Now, it's getting late and I'm sure you're tired considering what you've been through today. I will arrange for you to be given a new scroll, a few sets of uniforms, school supplies, and whatever combat gear you require in the morning. Your first day of class will be on Monday, which is the day after tomorrow. " He turned to the blonde once again. "Professor Goodwitch, would you show Gohan to one of our spare dorm rooms?"

"Certainly Professor Ozpin. Please follow me Mr. Son." The blonde professor started walking towards the elevator.

With that, Gohan rose from his seat and bid his new headmaster farewell, then followed Professor Goodwitch into the elevator. As the doors shut, he could see Ozpin looking out from his windows at the moon, which Gohan had only just noticed was cracked into many smaller pieces on its right side. How could it have possibly ended up that way? This was one of the many mysteries which Gohan hoped to find the answers to on his new journey at Beacon Academy.

Gohan facepalmed as he realized that in his excitement he'd forgotten to ask one crucial question. "Hey, Professor Goodwitch...how much food do you guys serve around here?"

So...this chapter...I hate it with all my heart and soul.

I wouldn't be a very good salesman, would I?

Seriously though, I don't like this chapter. Not because it sucks, I think I wrote it relatively well. It's obviously not my best work, but it's passable. I focused most of my efforts on helping with Power Within this week, so I had little to no time for working on this. Ozpin's talk with Gohan definitely could have been fleshed out more, but I was kind of creatively drained after the PW chapter. I could have waited to release this, but I figured it wasn't worth waiting a week for minor improvement. I'd rather just move on to the next chapter and get you guys closer to the good stuff.

My main problem is that there's not enough happening in this chapter, it's kind of a "get from point A to point B" kind of situation, and I find that to be boring. I was having huge writers block trying to figure out an interesting way to get around the boring crap, so I think it reflected in a product that wasn't totally up to my own standards. If I find something boring, I'd assume you all found it boring too, and I apologize for that.

Realistically the only things that happened in this chapter were Gohan's pity party, him meeting the Grimm, and Ozpin's offers. Speaking of which, I am making Gohan kind of a debbie downer here, but that's the point. It's always been in his character to be sort of a crybaby, and in this situation it's kind of warranted. Everyone he knows and loves is dead, at least that's what he assumes, who wouldn't want to cry if that was their reality? I promise he won't be constantly sad and emo, but it will factor into his personality for quite some time.

Now, time to get to the review responses!

SaintMichael95: Thank you, I will try to update as frequently as I can but I make no promises. While I won't be nerfing Gohan here, I do disagree on your stance about the point of writing crossovers. That's a whole other conversation though which I won't get into here.

Dralcorn: Already said this to you in PM, but I'll put it here too in case anyone else is confused. In this story Gohan is aware of how Buu and Gotenks escaped the HTC. It's never explicitly stated in DBZ that he DOESN'T know, so I just imagine him having the conversation with Piccolo after Buu blows himself up and they were catching up on what happened to each other. Gohan is intelligent enough to realize what happened. He didn't have enough time to react to what Buu did, but after he got sucked into the portal he understood what had occurred.

X3runner: Thank you for the compliment! Gohan at this point believes that Earth is likely destroyed, and there is nothing left for him in his home dimension. Since all of his potential is already unlocked, he won't train to get stronger, but simply to keep up his strength. I won't focus on scenes like that too much in the story though, just assume it goes on in the background. He may very well train others though. IF Gohan ever goes SSJ, which would be useless and purely for aesthetics since Elder Kai unlocked his potential, it will look like regular SSJ and not Rose

gokumystic02: Thanks for the support, I'll do my best!

Gold 1992: Already discussed with you in PM, thanks for the tips!

SomeOne Random: Thanks for the review! He can still go SSJ, it would just be a total waste of power to do so. Normally I would say no to this, but considering that Gohan has gone SSJ in Super, Toriyama muddied the waters on fact or fiction. So I can do whatever I want :)

Gojosin: Thanks man! Also, I agree that there's something more to it, which is why Gohan can't. I think Buu did it by accident, but Gotenks is a prodigy and was able to replicate it just by seeing it. Gohan didn't see it happen, so he couldn't possibly know how to do it.

Sid89: Thanks man! I'm glad you liked Buu's perspective, it was fun for me to do. Sorry if everything seems rushed, I don't think this chapter will have helped that viewpoint. I promise things will slow down soon.

Alright, that's all for now. I'll try to get another chapter out before Christmas, but if I can't, then Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it!