Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. If I did, this wouldn't be a FAN-FICTION, would it? DBZ and all names, characters, and like thereof, is the property of Akira Toriyama.

Author's Notes: Italics are used for Gohan's human side.

Bold Italics are used for Gohan's Saiyan Instincts

-AHC-

Chapter 3: Meetings and Confrontations

It was now 2:00 PM. Chichi had caught Gohan and gave him a well-placed whack, before leaving him to study for the past five hours. He hadn't been studying as diligently as she believed, though. He was daydreaming about training.

"Maybe I should start training with Vegeta…" He mumbled. "That's sure to make us both stronger."

He didn't particularly like Vegeta, but he did have a gravity machine, and Gohan had seen firsthand what training under hundreds of times Earth's gravity could do. Plus it would give him a reason to visit Bulma and Trunks. He could even bring Goten to play with Trunks, since he and Goten were only a year apart as well as them being best friends.

"Gohan!" Chichi called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom?" he called back, still caught up in the reverie of his daydream.

"I need you to go to the city for me and buy some groceries."

Gohan snapped out of it abruptly and groaned quietly. He hated going to town, since the closest one to home was five hundred miles away. The distance wasn't a problem, though. The problem was, however, the city itself: Satan City. Every time he went to Satan City, there was some kind of press conference, or parade, or…something else that involved the buffoon who "beat" Cell. And since it was his city, Every TV, radio, and computer had something covering the events.

Gohan's Saiyan nature also came back full force when he was confronted with having to hear that loud moron's constant bragging, and the dismissal of his father and friends' fighting against Cell and the Cell juniors as "light shows and tricks." It was always tempting to upstage Mr. Satan, and expose him for the weakling he truly was. He just thanked Kami that he didn't ever come face-to-face with Hercule, because there was no telling what could happen.

"Alright." He said finally, afraid that he would have a third meeting with his mother's beloved Frying Pan of Doom. He walked down the hall, and into the kitchen where his mother stood.

"You can't go out in that, son" She said.

"Huh?" He replied, looking down at his gi. "Why not?"

"You'll attract attention. Change into something casual, please."

He sighed, and trudged back to his room and changed clothes. He was now wearing a white button-up shirt, black pants, and black shoes. (A/N: The same outfit he wore in the ten days before the Cell Games, only a little bigger, because he has grown a bit.)

He walked back into the kitchen where Chichi was waiting by the door, list in hand, and grinning. He smirked back and ran full speed at her. He grabbed the list as he sped by, and flew off to his destination.

Chichi watched as her son disappeared toward the horizon, still smiling, when she felt a small tug on her dress. She looked down at the chibi version of her husband, rubbing his eyes.

"Okaa-san, where's Gohan going?" He asked in a small voice.

"He had to go to the store for me." She replied. "Did you have a good nap?"

"Mm-hmm" he replied.

"Good, because starting today, I'm going to be training you to fight, son!" She exclaimed.

"YAY!" He cheered.

-AHC-

Gohan had only been flying for thirty seconds when he saw the tall buildings of Satan City: Office Buildings, the TV station tower, and the spire of Orange Star High School. He smirked. 'Those weights must really be paying off!'

He slowed down and began to look for a place to land. Humans had a tendency to freak out when they saw someone flying around, and Gohan didn't want to be the cause of something so troublesome.

Finding a secluded alley, he touched down and casually walked out. He gave the list a quick glance, and then wandered around for a bit, trying to remember where the supermarket was. He walked past a bank, and a bulled whizzed by, missing him by a hair…literally.

'Just my luck,' He thought bitterly. 'A bank robbery, and in broad daylight too.'

He was about to spring into action, when a girl, who couldn't be any older than he was, charged into the fray. She was wearing a blue T-Shirt and Denim shorts. Her long black hair flew behind her as she flew.

'Is she Crazy!' He asked himself, staring intently at the girl's back. He took a step forward, but stopped short when she began to easily dispatch the armed criminals. He quickly checked her ki level.

"Not bad. She's clearly had some training, and her ki is unusually high for a normal human, much less a girl" he muttered under his breath.

She stopped for a split second and glared at him with large cerulean eyes, as if she had heard the girl comment. That lapse in concentration proved costly however, as one of the thugs leveled his gun at her face

'Go time!' Gohan thought excitedly. In the span of a single heartbeat, he rushed forward, caught the bullet a split second before it could do any damage to the female fighter, grabbed the gun, crumpled it up like a piece of paper, and kicked the goon through the wall of the bank.

The unknown girl, who had closed her eyes in anticipation of her end, heard the gun had discharged, but nothing had happened. She opened her eyes, and gave herself a quick check to make sure that the bullet had missed her. Once she had seen that there was nothing, she glanced up at where the thug had been and noticed Gohan standing in front of her with one foot out, and a thug-sized hole in the wall of the bank

"Huh?" She squeaked out.

Gohan heard this and turned his head slightly, so that one of his onyx eyes met her sapphire eyes. "You alright?" he asked her.

She nodded, and then heard her father's frantic voice. She turned toward the voice.

"Videl!" He called, rushing to her side. "Are you okay sweet pea?"

"Yeah dad, I'm fine," she responded. "That boy helped me out."

"Huh?" he said, looking around. "What boy?"

"He's right…" she started, but when she turned around to where Gohan was standing a second before, he had vanished. "But he was there a second ago…"

It was at that moment, his daughter's words had registered. "A BOY!" he raged. "Videl you're entirely too young to be looking at boys! You know the rule. Only a boy that can beat me, the mighty Satan Hercule, can date you!"

Videl blushed at her father's ranting, and mumbled, "I wonder who he was…" She blushed a little more when she thought about his black eye peering into hers, as if it could see into her soul. 'He was pretty cute…' She shook her head violently, trying to rid herself of the thought. 'I can't think like that. That's how people get weak.'

Hercule had just finished his usual "advice to a daughter" segment, and noticing he had drawn a crowd of screaming fans, began to pose for the cameras. Videl just slapped her forehead with her left hand and casually began to walk away. She felt a major headache coming.

-AHC-

Gohan wasn't one to stick around for recognition of his good deeds, mirroring the behavior of Goku. Needless to say, as soon as all of the crooks were down, he used his super speed to disarm them, destroy their weapons, and took off.

Now, as he was walking through the supermarket, his mind kept wandering back to the mysterious girl whom he had eventually saved, but not before she took care of business herself. Her haunting azure eyes remained in his thoughts, despite his best efforts.

'Why can't I get her out of my mind?' He thought, while checking the expiration dates on the milk jugs. 'She was kind of cute…NO! I can't think like that. That's how people go soft.'

'Amen kid.' Shadow Gohan cried.

'Then again, dad was the strongest person I knew, and he had mom…'

'Yeah, and look where that got him.'

Gohan abruptly cut off his telepathic link with the avatar of his instincts. Those words hurt. Who was he to say that? To badmouth the greatest protector Earth ever had. In his rage, Gohan had inadvertently released a quick burst of his aura, knocking down three aisles, which caused everyone in the store to turn around and gawk at him.

Gohan flashed the 'Son Grin' and scratched the back of his head, while blushing profusely. He then grabbed his shopping cart and backed away slowly, before running to the register and paying for his items.

'That was smooth.' He thought sarcastically while placing his goods in a storage capsule. 'It's a good thing that those people couldn't sense ki, or else I'd have a LOT of explaining to do, and quite frankly, I don't feel like it.' He decided to spend a little more time touring the city, because his unexpected speed boost afforded him a little sightseeing time.

He turned the corner and saw the bank that he had given a new door, as well as the moron doing goofy poses in front of it. His blood started to boil, but he kept his cool, and clenched his jaw as he walked past, keeping his eyes focused forward.

He noticed the girl whom had intruded on his thoughts a short distance away rubbing her temples as if she were trying to get rid of a headache. He started to walk over to her, until he got an idea. Smirking, he used his speed to get behind her without her noticing. He grabbed her shoulders and whispered "Boo."

She gasped and quickly whirled around to see…nothing. She knew she wasn't crazy and she could still feel the lingering aftereffect of physical contact. She turned back to see the boy who had saved looking her in the eye.

"Umm…Hi" Gohan said.

"Hi yourself," Videl answered.

"Glad to see you're alright," he said, with a slight blush.

"Thank you. I would've been a goner if you weren't there…Then again, if you hadn't made that comment about me being good for a girl, I would've never been distracted in the FIRST PLACE!"

'Damn her mood changes fast!' Gohan thought, and then said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to distract you, but a true fighter wouldn't been distracted by a whisper, anyway."

She was going to respond, but Hercule had noticed the teens talking.

"YOU GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER PUNK!" He raged, marching up to the couple. "Run along now, sweet pea. Daddy and this kid have some serious talking we need to do." Videl nodded, and jogged away. 'Man, that boy is going to get it!' she thought.

Gohan simply crossed his arms behind his head, and looked at Hercule out of one eye. "Don't blow a gasket, windbag." He replied nonchalantly.

Hercule's head resembled a tomato with an afro and a mustache. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME! I THINK YOU NEED SOME RESPECT, KID! I'M SATAN HERCULE! THE MAN WHO BEAT CELL!"

Gohan's eyes snapped open and he glared at Mr. Satan with pure malice in his eyes. "Oh really? From what I saw, Cell bitchslapped you into a mountain!" By this point all of his hair was standing on end, save one bang that hung over his right eye. His eyes had also changed from ebony to teal. "From what I gather, that delivery boy was the one who beat Cell!"

"HOW DARE YOU BRING THOSE TRICKSTER FAKES INTO THIS! THOSE WANNABES COULDN'T FIGHT THEIR WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG!"

Gohan snapped at hearing this. His aura flared up and had turned a gold color and electricity was coursing around him. The only thing stopping him from completing the transformation to Super Saiyan 2 was his hair was still black, instead of the brilliant shade of gold the transformation warranted.

"MY FATHER WAS ONE OF THOSE SO-CALLED 'TRICKSTERS!' HE GAVE HIS LIFE SO THAT YOU COULD CONTINUE YOUR UNGRATEFUL EXISTENCE! HE DIED...because of my mistake…" Gohan trailed off, tears forming in his eyes. He lowered his aura, and the electricity dissipated. Without saying another word, he powered up and took off, the excess energy knocking Hercule to the ground as he gaped at the rapidly disappearing youth.

-AHC-

Author's Notes: Gohan met Videl and finally confronted Hercule in this chapter… Hmmm…Gohan and Videl don't know one-another's names…yet. Only time will tell what's in store for the firstborn Demi-Saiyan. See ya in the next Chapter!

POLL TIME! I need help in deciding Gohan's Superhero Persona. The Choices are:

The Great Saiyaman – 0 votes

The Gold Fighter – 4 votes

Super Saiyan – 0 votes

Gohan's superhero fate rests in your hands…