Chapter Two - First Day of School

Hercule High:

Gohan had parted ways with Videl shortly after the fight outside the school had ended. She'd gone off to her first class of the day and he'd gone off to the office to pick up his schedule. He sighed as he looked around at the crowd of students in the office. Three lines of kids led to the counter, some with registration papers but most with late excuses. It took almost an hour to get through one of the lines and about ten seconds to receive his schedule.

Walking out of the office he looked down at it. "Let's see... my first class is Advanced Calculus but that's over in..." he glanced down at his watch. "Five minutes. I'll never find it before it's over. Alright, second class is... History, Building 2, room 229, with Mr. Histora." Pocketing his schedule he walked down the nearly empty main hall and out the front doors again. Standing in the small courtyard he glanced over to the two side buildings. The one on his left was marked 3, the one on the right 2. Turning right he made his way over to the building and inside.

He found a small directory on the wall and glanced at it. 201-215 were on floor one, 216-230 on the second floor. The door beside the directory led to the stairs so he opened it and started up. By the time he reached the second floor the bell rang for class change. He made his way slowly through the throngs of students to the end of the hall and room 229. Walking in he found it almost completely empty, only three students and the white haired teacher were already present.

"Um, hello." he said tentatively walking up to the small man. He looked a lot like Bulma's father, but with a half bald head and much thicker glasses.

"Ah, yes, what can I do for you young man?" he asked in a gentle voice.

"I'm new here." he said showing him the schedule.

"Gohan..." he said looking from the paper to his book to find Gohan's name. "Ah, yes, here you are. Hmmm, now, where to put you...?"

"He can sit up here with us!" a voice called down that Gohan recognized instantly. A glance up the rows of seats revealed that he was right, Videl sat in the third seat in at the back of the class. He didn't recognize the blonde boy beside her or the blonde girl on the end of the row.

"Hmm, well, that will do nicely." the teacher said nodding.

Gohan pocketed his schedule again and moved up the aisle. "Thanks." he said as he neared. "Nice to see at least one face here I recognize, but how'd you beat me here?"

Videl and the other two watched as he moved down the row and took the seat beside the raven haired girl. "This is our first classroom too." Videl said at last. "We have study hall first thing. Anyway, these are my friends Sharpner and Erasa. They may seem a little strange at times but they're basically harmless. Guys, this is Gohan, the one I was telling you about."

"Him?" Sharpner asked incredulously.

Gohan just sort of shrank in his seat a bit at Sharpner's gaze but Videl didn't notice as she was looking at Sharpner and frowning. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's a nerd, not a fighter!" Sharpner said as though it was as plain as day. "I mean look at him, he's all skin and bones, not one muscle on him."

"And how would you know?" asked Erasa. "His shirt covers up his arms, so unless you have x-ray vision you can't possibly tell. Anyway Gohan, don't mind Sharpner, he's just a muscle head."

"Yeah, and you're an airhead."

"At least that means she's got room for some common sense." Videl said as more students began filing into the room. She turned over to Gohan again. "Just ignore Sharpner. So, how are you liking it here so far?"

"Well, I don't really know yet." he replied getting more comfortable. "So far all I've done is stand in line in the office."

"Oh, I think you'll like it here." said Erasa. "The teachers are all really good and they manage to make most of the classes fun."

Sharpner leaned forward and looked at Gohan. "Hey, can I see your schedule?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." he said pulling it out again and giving it to him.

"Let's see... Block I: Advanced Calculus, History, Phys. Ed., Advanced Physics, Astronomy, Intro to Criminal Justice, and Advanced Biology. Block II: Genetics, Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Archaeology, Robotics, and Co-op work at Capsule Corp... Yep, you're definitely a geek."

"I think they're interesting." Erasa said. "Not that I'd be able to do half of them..."

"Me either." Videl said as she took the paper from Sharpner. "And how'd you pull off Robotics and a Co-op at Capsule Corp. anyway? Robotics has been full for months and Capsule Corp. doesn't do Co-ops too often."

"Er, well..." Gohan said scratching the back of his head as he took the schedule back from Videl. "Bulma kind of wants me working for her so she made sure there was room in the Robotics class and set up the Co-op for me..."

"What, Bulma?" Sharpner asked. "Do you mean Bulma Briefs? As in head of Capsule Corp.? She set this up for you herself? Why would she do that for some kid she doesn't even know?"

"Well, we kind of do know each other." Gohan explained. "She met my dad years ago and they've been friends ever since. My little brother is going over there to play with her son today even, those two are practically inseparable."

"Oh wow, that's so cool!" Erasa chirped.

Gohan was about to say something else when the school bell rang again and the teacher cleared his throat to start class. The other students that had filed into the room quieted down instantly. "Well now, could someone tell me where we left off yesterday? Yes, Videl?"

"We were just about to talk about the destruction of River City back in May of 767." she said.

"Ah yes, right, right." the teacher said nodding. "Well then, I know you were only children then, it's been almost seven years now. But, what do you remember about that day? Yes, Sharpner?"

"It was all over the news, about 10:30 or so." he said. "Some kind of major explosion took out a good chunk of the city. We still aren't entirely sure what happened but there are a number of theories."

As Gohan listened in he tried to think back to what that may have been. And then it clicked. River City had been the town on the island where the Androids had first appeared. Gero had been behind the destruction of the city. Though Gohan doubted any of the theories Sharpner mentioned involved super powered Androids created to kill an alien that, until the Androids had been built, was the strongest being in the universe.

"What are some of those theories Mr. Sharpner?"

"Well, a terrorist bomb of some type or a meteor impact are the most accepted ones. But there are a few nuts out there that claim it was aliens and some others that swear it was caused by an old geezer with white hair shooting lasers from his eyes." Gohan blinked and couldn't help but laugh a little. Coming from Sharpner, in such a tone and form, and despite the fact he knew it was true, it sounded quite absurd and funny. Sharpner mistook his laughter, however, as meaning he thought the idea was ridiculous. "Yeah, I know. It's creative but that's about it."

Mr. Histora nodded. "Very good, very good." he said. "But you've forgotten one of the other accepted theories. That the explosion was, in some way, caused by the creature Cell. It's true that he was not seen on film until a few days later, and in Pepper Town at that, but it is a common and accepted theory. Now, speaking of Cell, what do we know about him? He is a major part of that time period. Ms. Jugs?"

"He was some kind of freak of nature, a mutant or something." said a red head near the front of the class. "At least, that's what I think. My mom says he was our payback for all the bad things we'd done over the years. That the Earth created him to kill off the Humans for damaging the planet. She says that Hercule only delayed the end of the world and that the Earth will send another avatar to finish what Cell started."

Sharpner laughed. "That's crazy. Besides, even if it is true, Hercule will just beat it down again anyway, unless Videl gets there first." Gohan just shook his head slowly as the class continued. They covered the series of events, as they knew them, up to Cell's televised announcement of the Cell Games. The entire time his mind wondered back to the events he knew had been happening at the time. It seemed strange to hear about what happened from the perspective of everyone else.

He couldn't quite grasp how something as big as the Androids and Cell could happen without the world figuring it out. They knew about Cell and that was it. They didn't know about Gero, 19, 18, 17, or 16. And they only knew about Imperfect and Perfect Cell. When the bell finally rang they had just gotten to talking about the day of the Cell Games. Gohan got up from his seat and started toward the exit when he heard Videl's voice. "Oh, er, sorry." he said. "I was lost in thought, what'd you say?"

"I said you can just follow us to the gym." Videl said slightly annoyed at needing to repeat herself. "It's our next class too."

"Oh, ok."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Capsule Corp:

Bulma walked around her newest invention examining it. As far as she knew the small device was in perfect condition, and yet, it hadn't worked. It stood about three foot tall, was cylindrical in shape, and about a foot in width. At the moment it looked more like a mess than an operational machine since wires and circuits were sticking out every which way. But then, she'd not put a shell on it yet, not until it was actually working.

Which, obviously, it wasn't. If it was working the light bulb she had wired to it would have turned on and it didn't. She couldn't figure out why though... She'd checked the water tank, the quart of water she'd poured in was gone, so obviously it had activated. The water would have been charged, sucked through the tubing, and then pumped through the machine with the electrical charge. The solution she'd added to the water would have generated high levels of heat which the machine would have absorbed as well.

The system would have then been running on it's own. The heat and electricity would have powered the continued process and the light. All it took was one little drop of oil to get it started and you had an infinite power source. So, why had the bulb not turned on? "Maybe... I'm not generating enough power? But I should be getting enough energy from this thing to power this entire room..." she stopped as a wind picked up inside the lab and turned to look behind her.

As she saw the sparking light inside the small cubicle she smiled. Blue lightning began to arc along the walls and encircle an invisible form. The space inside the cubicle distorted and shifted, colors began to form inside the distortion, and then the light faded and left behind an object that hadn't been there before. Bulma noted it didn't look the same this time as it had the previous year. Apparently they were on version five now.

As the dome of glass on the top opened and the occupant stood up Bulma waved. "Hey there Mirai! You're a little early this year, you usually don't come until the end of the month."

"Hey mom." he said pulling out of the time machine and stepping into the lab. "Yeah, I know. It was, well, your idea." Bulma knew what he meant, it had been her future self's idea. "We just finished up the last of the rebuilding work, everything's been restored at last. So, mom figured I should come back and relax with you guys for a while. Well, no, she pretty much forced me into the time machine."

Bulma laughed as she walked over to Mirai and hugged him. "Well, it's good to see you again. And Gohan's going to be thrilled you're here already! Not to mention Trunks and Goten." She turned and looked back at her new invention. "Now, maybe you can give me a hand fixing this thing?"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Hercule High:

Gohan walked into the large Gym with Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner and took a look around. The four of them were already in their gym clothes and ready to go. So were a handful of other students, but there was no sign of the teacher yet. "Hmm, that's odd." Sharpner said looking around. "Mr. Sentif is usually here before us."

"I heard he was in the hospital." Erasa said looking around for any signs of him or a replacement teacher. "Apparently he got attacked after one of his night classes over in Ginger Town."

"Who would attack Mr. Sentif?" Videl asked crossing her arms. "He's a nice guy..."

"Probably got jumped by some wannabe World Champions." Sharpner replied. "It wouldn't be the first time a known contender for the tournament got attacked to knock him out of competition before the tournament started. Wasn't your father jumped just last week?"

"Yeah, both of those guys are in the hospital now." Videl replied. "I guess that does make sense. Mr. Sentif did train with my dad for a few years and was planning on entering the tournament."

"It's too bad really." Sharpner said frowning. "I was looking forward to a good fight against someone I actually had a chance of beating. Now I'm just going to be stuck with nobodies, you, and your dad. Man, maybe I shouldn't even enter."

"I thought you were looking forward to fighting Bull?" Videl asked glancing over to him. "Gohan and I didn't hurt him that badly, he'll still be there. And if he's there you know Fellona's going to enter too."

"True enough. I may as well give it a try I suppose. But if I have to fight you or Hercule first I'm just going to forfeit." He paused as he looked around again. "Man, whoever they found to replace Mr. Sentif is really late..."

As Gohan nodded he thought he felt a familiar power graze his senses. It wasn't very high but he thought he knew it... and it was nearing his current location too. A moment later the Gym doors swung open and a man with short black hair and wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt entered. Gohan smiled instantly as he recognized his face and realized why the Ki wasn't easily recognizable. It had been almost a year since the last time he'd seen the man. "Hey Yamcha!" Gohan called out waving.

Yamcha looked up from his clipboard at the sound of someone calling his name and smiled when he saw Gohan. "Hey Gohan, is that you? I thought Chi-Chi insisted on home schooling you?"

"Just started here today." Gohan said with a shrug.

"Heh, that makes two of us." he said, before turning to address the class. "First of all, let me apologize for being late. The office was packed and they couldn't find my papers either. It was one problem after another all morning. That said, my name is Yamcha, as you've no doubt already realized, and I am Mr. Sentif's replacement for the rest of the year. The school has asked me to assure you that he's doing just fine, but he does have several broken bones and wont be able to teach the rest of the year. Now, if you'll just give me a moment to go over the roll call here we'll get started."

Sharpner leaned in toward Gohan. "So, you know this guy then?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he's a friend of mine. He was Bulma's boyfriend for several years. Dad met him shortly after meeting Bulma." Gohan explained.

"Oh?" Erasa asked still looking Yamcha over. "Well, he certainly is cute."

Videl rolled her eyes. "You say that about everyone." she said.

Sharpner had had a thoughtful look on his face since Gohan had answered his question. Suddenly his eyes widened slightly and he grinned. "I know where I've heard his name before! He used to play for the Titans!"

"The baseball team?" Videl asked.

"Yeah, had the most scores and home-runs of the entire team, but also got into the most fights."

"Heh, that sounds like Yamcha." Gohan said.

Yamcha finished up the roll call a few moments later and then flipped his papers over on his clipboard and read over a couple of pages quickly. "Ok, it looks like Mr. Sentif was going to do some martial arts exercises in honor of the coming Budokai next month. So I guess the first question I should ask is who here knows any martial arts?"

"You're kidding, right?" one of the kids asked laughing. Yamcha just gave him a confused look and the boy motioned back to Videl. "Her last name is Satan for a reason." The scarred warrior turned and looked at the raven haired girl beside Gohan and raised an eyebrow. The nod from Gohan confirmed his thoughts and he smiled.

"Well now, this I hadn't expected." he said. For the first time since walking into the room he scanned the powers present and his eyes widened a little further. He'd certainly not expected her to be that strong! But then, living under the shadow of Hercule the last seven years, he figured she'd probably trained her self to the bone. In fact, she was near the limits of normal Human power now. Unless she learned Ki control she probably wouldn't be getting much stronger, and with Hercule as her father he doubted she would.

"Alright then... who else here knows any martial arts?" he asked. The rest of the class raised their hands save one blonde girl. "Now this I wasn't expecting either..."

"Mr. Sentif does this course every year." Sharpner said. "He starts it sooner when there's a Budokai, but he always does it. We signed up for this class specifically for that reason. Well, except Erasa here. She just likes to watch the guys spar." The class laughed and Erasa just shrugged.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have you all pair up with each other then." Yamcha said nodding.

Sharpner turned to Videl but before he could say anything she was talking to Gohan. "Hey, what do you say you and I pair..."

However, she'd not finished before Yamcha's voice interrupted her. "Oh, and Gohan, could you come over here?"

"Er, sorry Videl." Gohan said waving to her as he walked over to Yamcha. "So, what's up?"

"I want see how good Videl is." Yamcha said. "She's definitely strong, stronger than her father. But I'm interested in her skill."

"Why the interest?"

"Need some cash." he said with a shrug. "That's why I took this job when I heard about the opening. Tried getting back on the Titans but it seems I've been banned from Pro Ball."

"How is her skill going to...?"

"Well, once I know how skilled she is I'll be better at teaching her, no?" he asked grinning. "I mean, if she's this good on her own she'll be great after some actual training." He watched as Videl paired up with Sharpner and the two began sparring. It was obvious she wasn't even really challenged. "Speaking of sparring, how's yours been going? I know if Piccolo's been bugging me he's been at you too."

"What? You mean he's come to you about his bad feelings?"

"All of us actually. I've not really bothered with training though, if anything is up I wouldn't be of any help even if I did train. Krillin said the same but 18's training with him anyway. Seems she's after the prize money at the Budokai. Probably wants to get away from Master Roshi, not that I blame her. And I've seen Tien using the gravity rooms at Capsule Corp. once or twice in the last couple weeks."

Gohan glanced over to Yamcha before looking back toward the other students. "I slacked off so much over the last seven years that even with the training I've been doing I'm still not even half as strong as I was then..." He shook his head. "If something is coming, though I doubt it's anything as big as Cell was, Vegeta's probably going to be the one dealing with it this time. He's not stopped training since the Bojack incident."

Yamcha nodded. "I don't like thinking he's our best chance of survival though... Personally, I'm surprised he's not tried to take over the Earth now that Goku's gone and he's the strongest of us. I guess Bulma's whipped him into shape. If anyone could do it, it's her."

Gohan gave him a sideways glance but didn't say anything. A moment later Yamcha called out. "Videl! Could you come over here?"

She paused in mid kick and turned to look. With a shrug to Sharpner she turned and moved over to where Yamcha stood. "What is it?"

"Well, I could tell you weren't really getting anything out of sparring with him. Poor guy could barely even keep up." Sharpner frowned at that but went over to sit with Erasa for now. "So, I thought you might want to spar with me a little?"

Videl raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Gohan who was stepping aside to give the two of them room. She turned back to Yamcha and smiled. "Sure, ok." she said slipping into her fighting stance. Yamcha followed suit. The other students slowed in their sparring to see just how good their new teacher was.

"Ready when you are." he said simply.

Videl nodded and then pushed out with a kick. She only used about a quarter of her speed and strength, obviously testing Yamcha, who deflected the attack easily. She smiled a little and launched a punch with more power than her kick. Yamcha dodged it and threw his own quick jab at her abdomen. Videl slipped around it and put all of her power into a kick for Yamcha's chin.

The seasoned warrior grabbed her foot inches from his face. Videl used her other foot to jump and swung it toward Yamcha's head. He ducked under that and twisted the foot he held before letting go, spinning her over in the air and dropping her onto her face. By now the others' sparring had come to a complete stop as they watched Videl and the teacher spar. The girl thrust her arms out as she fell and sprung back up to her feet in an instant. "You're pretty good." she said looking at him. "Are you going to be in the Tournament next month?"

Yamcha shook his head. "Me? No, I wouldn't stand a chance against a few of this year's entrants."

"I think you would." Videl said. "You're at least as good as my dad. Well, at least as good as he was last time he let me spar with him. It's been four years so he's probably gotten better, but you'd definitely have a chance." Yamcha and Gohan exchanged glances with each other but didn't say anything.