Author's Note: I personally think this is a rather weird and confusing chapter, clarity promises to come in future chapters.

'Italic' denotes thoughts

Italic denotes mind voices

Endless Nightmare

Chapter 2: Reality Check

Son Gohan was a teacher at Satan City University, a respected college and a place to find good work with knowledgeable students. Gohan was respected there, for the most part, and seen as a good teacher to those who took the time to listen to his helpful words. Others, the ones who only noted his younger features, were often the ones who didn't make it pass first quarter.

It was a typical day for Gohan. Lecturing at the head of a large classroom filled with people in their elder teens, some in their twenties like himself. He hadn't been working long for the University but they already seemed to like him there. The thought always seemed to make him smile, he liked it. He liked having a job and making his mother proud with his line of profession. She had always wanted him to grow up to be something big, after all.

Gohan let a content sigh ring from his parted lips as he gently straightened a stack of papers on his desk, absently putting them in order before slipping them inside a folder and into his bookbag. He always carried the bookbag around when he taught, finding it much simpler and easier to use than anything else. He chuckled softly at his own musings before standing to leave his classroom, flicking off the lights on the way out as darkness enclosed around where he had just been.

Soon, so soon…

Gohan stopped in his tracks not more than three steps out of his classroom. His dark eyes narrowed and his chin tilting downward as he slowly turned around. He blinked through the darkness that encompassed the room around him, the shades in all of the windows shut, leaving the place blanketed in a dark veil. Gohan peered through the darkness, his hand unknowingly clenching around the line of his bookbag. "Who's there?" he called out into the darkness. He couldn't sense anything but he could have sworn he had heard the lightest whisper, the words sending a shiver down his spine.

He received no answer to his calling, a tilt coming to his head as he just stood there, for a moment, listening to the sounds around the area. Trying to pinpoint the…

"Son-sama?"

Gohan didn't catch the soft call of a woman's voice, his mind too into the task of what he had heard. Something was wrong and he wasn't about to make a mistake by just turning his back and walking away. If his father, Son Goku, had ever taught him anything it was to never turn and flee from a feeling or fight.

"Uh, Son-sama? Are you there?" called out the voice again, an annoyed tone etched into the back of the woman's voice as she reached out a hand to tap Gohan lightly on the shoulder. "Son-sama?" she repeated quietly, hoping he would hear her from her close distance.

Gohan screeched softly, jumping a step back into his classroom and the darkness as a hand gently tapped his shoulder. He blinked, adjusting his glasses atop his eyes as he glanced at the woman in front of him. Her name was Victria, one of the front office and admission workers for the college. He had spoken to her a few times in a meeting or two with the headboard of teachers when discussing the incoming students for the year. He was quite surprised to see her, his head shaking slowly at himself for not paying attention to someone calling him. His cheeks blushed a small shade of red, Gohan working quickly to smoother the look of embarrassment at the woman's stern features.

"Sorry, I was out of it for a moment there. You wanted to speak to me?" asked Gohan slowly, a friendly smile floating on his lips with each word. He tried to keep the focused look onto his features, his mind still drifting away back toward his classroom and the soft voice that he had heard in his mind. There was something familiar behind the words. Gohan's muscles tensed at his thoughts, his head shaking slowly as he tried to push them away from his mind for the time being.

Victria chuckled softly, a hand reaching up to cover her mouth as she looked at Gohan, an amused smirk written across her features. "I noticed. Sorry to disturb you, I know your shift is over with, but we just received a call for you at the front office." Said Victria after calming her chuckling down. She absently pulled at the long sleeves of her red dress, straightening the cover of her business-type suit before turning around and leading the way to the front office for Gohan.

"Did you catch a name?" asked Gohan softly, his ebony eyes blinking at the thought of who would possibly call him at work when he would be home shortly. He shrugged his shoulders nonetheless, following beside Victria as he absently listened to the sounds of her high-heeled shoes clicking against the solid stone ground underneath them.

"Yes, a Son Goku. Family I presume." Replied Victria singly, straying a glance to see the slightly bewildered look on Gohan's face. "Something the matter, Son-sama?" she asked gently, turning away from him as they headed into the main office, the hallways vacant, classes having ended more than an hour ago.

Gohan blinked, his head shaking slowly. "No, nothing. My father just doesn't use the phone that much." Explained Gohan slowly, a little surprised that his father had not just used his Instant Transmission to come to him himself instead of phoning him at work. He sighed softly, really hoping it was nothing serious.

"Right this way, Son-sama. You can use this phone." Stated Victria as she walked into one of the offices within the school's admission office, picking up a phone and handing it to Gohan. "Your caller is on line two." With that Victria left the small room, closing the room behind her so as to give Gohan his privacy.

Gohan nodded a thanks as he picked up the phone, looking to the phone's base dashboard as he pressed the line two button, a small click sounding through the receiver before the line was open. "Dad?" called out Gohan lightly into the phone, his dark eyes absently looking through the clear windows that encompassed most of the room and walls half way.

"Oh hey Gohan!" was his reply, the obvious sound of Goku's voice ringing through the other end of the phone. There was a small pause as Gohan waited to see what his father wanted, his eyebrows raised in a curious expression to figure why he had called him.

"Um, Gohan, can you come straight here after work? There's something I have to tell you and not over the phone or anywhere else but at home. Don't stop at your place to see Panny or Videl, just come straight here. Okay?" Goku spoke slowly through the other line, his voice drowned in seriousness. He lost his cheerful attitude in one a second, replacing it with one of intense concentration and focus. Something was obviously wrong.

Gohan couldn't help but worry at the tone of his father's voice, nodding slowly to his words as if it would help him cope with that voice. "Alright, I'll be over in a minute." Replied Gohan tentatively. He sighed softly, saying a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone on the receiver, a deep breath racing between his lips. "Wonder what's the matter…" asked Gohan aloud to himself, shaking his head slowly as if the answer should just pop into his mind suddenly. He really wasn't too worried about it though, even though his father had been specific in him not going to see Pan and Videl first, he shrugged it off however, figuring it was because of some serious situation that needed to be spoken about only in person. He knew if it had been a life-threatening thing he would have told him right then and there or see him in person, but since he had not Gohan figured there was no reason to worry. It was probably just something trifling, like planning Pan's next birthday party or something along those lines.

A sigh rang from Gohan's parted lips, shrugging of his worrisome thoughts as he ran a hand through his uplifted raven hair. He grabbed his bag and walked out of the room casually, his mind pensive as he waved a goodbye to Victria and headed out of the university's front doors.

*******

Gohan walked up to the front door of his parent's home, his eyes scanning around the small house that he had grown up in and lived in until he had become a father and moved out to live with Videl. He smiled at his thoughts, determined not to worry about whatever his father had to tell him, as he walked to the front door and knocked on it lightly.

He blinked, a smile forming on his lips as the door was opened in front of him a few moments later, Chi-Chi smiling softly at her son. "Gohan! I'm so happy you're here!" said Chi-Chi quickly, moving to embrace her eldest son in a tight hug, a chuckle admitting from Gohan's mouth as he slowly pried himself from her grasp and walked inside the house behind her.

"Goku's in the kitchen," said Chi-Chi softly once Gohan was inside and the door shut tightly behind him. She flashed her son a sad smile, pointing toward the kitchen before brushing aside strands of black hair, sniffling lightly before turning her back and walking away into another room adjacent from the front door's entrance.

"Mom…?" called out Gohan questioningly toward his mother, a befuddled look written across his face. "What's the matter? What's going on?" he asked, a slight edge to his tone as he heard his mother whimpering softly. She was crying, that much was obvious to Gohan. He blinked, moving to take a step toward her as he gingerly rested a hand on her shoulder, his mouth opening to speak though he was cut short as Chi-Chi merely pointed in the direction of the kitchen, shrugging off his hand as she left the room completely.

"Alright…" he said softly, turning toward the kitchen as he slowly walked for the doorway. His ebony eyes widened as he saw his father sitting at the table, his hands clasped around a cup with a steaming liquid inside of it, the vapors rising from within its confines. "Dad?" called out Gohan slowly, alerting his father his presence verbally; even though he knew he could sense him easily.

He slowly walked over to the table, setting aside his bag by the doorway as he sat down gently in a seat across from Goku. His hands rested on the tabletop, his fingers intertwined together as he looked at his father quizzically. "Dad, what's going on? And what's wrong with mom?" asked Gohan slowly, his eyebrows raised as he reached up a hand, removing his glasses from his face and setting them on the table. He never liked using them when he didn't need to since they often made him dizzy in the head at times.

He blinked as he watched the silent Goku. The man didn't look well at all; his eyes downcast and toward the table, his raven strands blocking most of his face as the thick strands jolted to cover his features with his down-tilted chin. The Saiyan's head slowly looked up after a silent pause, tension building in the room, as a serious and sorrowed expression was cast into Goku's normal sprite features.

Gohan waited in silence for his father to speak, his breath caught in his chest. He didn't like this at all. His father was never so silent, why didn't he just tell him what was the matter?

"Gohan…Videl died."

The simple words caused Gohan's world to black out as he toppled out of his chair and onto the ground, darkness enclosing around his vision as he fell unconscious. The thing he saw before his eyes fell shut was his father's startled and worried façade.