Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball GT.

~Telepathy~

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 8: Surprise!

"... so that's the situation." Gohan said. Instead of his usual two hours workout before school, he told his mother about his first month of High School. He went into detail about everything; his peers, the police, his social life, grades, Goten's progress and even a bit about Icarus.

"Hmmm, that's unusual. I know most humans have problems grasping the stuff we can do, but most would be grateful if someone saves them." Chichi responded, worry was visible in her eyes as she looked at her oldest son. A silence filled the kitchen, Gohan eager to hear his mother's opinion and Chichi thinking about the situation Gohan had on hands.

Then, suddenly she broke her gaze and stood up. "Honestly, Gohan this is weird behavior. I'm not surprised your peers like you, don't get me wrong. You've had plenty of social interaction at Dad's castle, Bulma's parties, your colleagues and don't get me started about those two years." She added, emphasizing the last part with a fire in her eyes.

Gohan knew she had to mention the last part, but he still wanted to hear her opinion and his mother seemed to just getting started so he waited patiently, his hands folded on the kitchen table and nodded.

"I don't think your alter ego can do anything about it. So far, you have Mr. Satan, the police force and the general opinion running against you. The media know if they portrait you positively they won't sell so that's a dilemma. You could have chosen a nicer name to start with, most people don't try to befriend demons or their associates you know." Chichi said while winking at the last part. Gohan knew she had warmed up to Piccolo over the years, so he didn't take offense, but he was hoping she would hurry up with the advise. If she didn't know, what was he supposed to do?

Finally, after boiling 20 eggs, Chichi spoke up. "Have you asked Dende or Chiaoutzu for help? It's probably Hercule's influence over the people, I mean he's been doing it for 7 years now, but it never hurts to double-check if there isn't some evil alien brainwashing people."

Gohan slapped his head. "Of course, they'll know what's up! I haven't seen Dende since our last movie marathon and Chiaoutzu since... well you know, forever. " He started walking to the door, planning on leaving as he suddenly froze. Then he turned around and walked to Chichi and enveloped her in the biggest hug he could muster.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much I missed you." Gohan said. Chichi gladly returned the hug, although with some trouble. 'Gohan's even bigger than Goku was.' She thought smiling and feeling her eyes getting watery.

"Oh Gohan, I'm glad you still need your old mother. You've grown up way too fast."

Gohan released Chichi with a grin. "I wouldn't call you old mom, maybe older but definitely not old. I've seen you busy at the Dojo, no old lady can strike like that."

"Yeah yeah, no need to butter me up. You can meet up with both of them before school, just don't miss too much classes alright? I'll be teaching at the Dojo today and Goten's going to be with me so no need to rush back home."

"Thanks, you're the best!" Gohan shouted as he ran to the window and blasted towards the Lookout.

Chichi watched him fly away, her arms hugging her own frame with a far away look in her eyes as she whispered. "Oh Goku, if you could only see your son right now you'd be so proud." A single tear strolled down her cheek, but she smiled nonetheless as she headed back to the stove, searching for her trusty frying pan. "No time to reminisce, I've got myself a Saiyan to feed."

Kami's Lookout

"Well well well, it seems you do know I still exist." A certain green skinned 'god' stated with a frown.

Gohan had just landed and smiled as he looked at his childhood friend. "Dende, don't be like that. You know how busy I've been. Besides, I haven't seen you stop by my house either." A said with a smirk.

"I've been busy as acting Kami, there was a huge meteor shower last week I had to disintegrate. Wasn't easy you know, especially without Piccolo to guide me." Dende said. His eyes were betraying him, even though he sounded all serious and formal, Gohan could see his amusement behind them.

"A meteor shower? That's been keeping you busy? Man, you've been slacking! You could stop those years ago, what happened?" Gohan said, faking his disappointment. He knew Dende was playing around, but he was curious why he mentioned the meteor shower.

"This one had meteorites large enough to burst through Jupiter and unlike some of us, I can't just shoot them all down with ki blasts. Piccolo demanded that I would stop the next shower by enhancing the Earths atmosphere with my power." Dende said with a huff, arms crossed and turned his head away from Gohan.

"Wow, you can do that? Guess I'm not the only one training. That's awesome!" Gohan said to his long time friend. He knew Dende had been training with Piccolo, but he figured it would follow his Sensei's own style of handling things. 'More in a 'Special-Beam-Canon' frenzy.' Gohan thought with a coyly smile. When he noticed Dende didn't continue after his response he waited a moment. Dende didn't seem in a hurry to start talking so Gohan took the initiative again.

"Was there something different about this meteor shower, other than the size?" Gohan finally asked.

Dende fidgeted around with his staff and suddenly seemed to be rather interested in the white tiles on the Lookout.

"Well, not really. Only the timing was... suspicious to say the least. They came out of nowhere and would collide with Earth the day after you send Piccolo, Vegeta and Yamcha on their mission." Dende said, unwillingly looking Gohan in the eye, completely forgetting he was supposed to be faking irritation.

"Hmmm that's strange. You think someone is sending them this way? Or was it more of a diversion so they can attack those three? How is their mission progressing?" Gohan asked, his tail wagging wildly. It always had a life on it's own when it wasn't wrapped around his leg or waist, especially when Gohan became anxious.

"Good, as always. I mean you've seen their 'good cop- bad cop- worse cop' routine. 16 is with them as a bodyguard for Yamcha, you know he's easily scared." Dende said with a smile, before walking to the edge of the lookout. "But I think we should be on our toes, I feel something bad is about to happen. I just can't pinpoint what, where and how."

Gohan's shoulders slumped hearing that. With a dejected tone he asked. "So you probably don't know why they're reacting that badly on my powers in Satan City either? I was hoping to find some answers."

"Sorry Gohan. I'll contact Chiaotzu for you, but I'm not sure if the meteors and your problem are related." Dende said. When he saw his friend still standing there chewing on his cheek he put his hand on Gohan's shoulder and added, "Hey, don't sweat it. We can handle anything the universe throws at us."

Gohan smiled at that. "Yeah I know, I just hope the demi's are ready before everything comes down. They've been training for a while and I want them to experience some real fighting without being in danger of dying you know?"

"You mean unlike us?" They both started laughing at that. It took them a while before they caught their breath again. Gohan looked fondly at his friend, they had been through much together.

"Anyway, I'll be back Saturday so we can have our monthly movie marathon. You get to pick again, since you saved me yesterday." Gohan said, while walking to the edge.

Dende smiled brightly at that, giving him a thumps up. "You know I got your back buddy." Hearing that, Gohan jumped off the edge, flying at a comfortable pace to Satan City.

Mifan Empire- Conference Room

"That settles it then, we will be intensifying the relationship with Central city by increasing our coal imports to them, they'll need it the coming winter." Chiaotzu said. He stood up from his chair central in the Conference Room. His subordinates all bowed to him, mumbling their gratitude to him before leaving the room.

Chiaotzu never felt better, his empire was thriving like never before, Earth hadn't been invaded in a while and he assisted Dende wherever he could using his telekinetic abilities and teaching the young guardian how to do it himself as well. If he was honest to himself, he never thought he would be useful again as part of the Earth's Special Forces after he witnessed the gruesome powers of Frieza, the Androids and Cell. Luckily, faith had other plans for him.

'Heh, Faith. More like Gohan had other plans with me.'

Flashback

Mifan Empire- 4.5 years ago

"I understand you feel left out, most fighters vastly overpower you both now." Twelve year old Gohan said. He stood in front of Chiaotzu, who levitated so he could speak face to face. Gohan hadn't really grown that much, but Chiaotzu had been shorter than him after Gohan's adventure to Namek.
Tien stood by him, arms crossed and the look on his face made it clear he didn't like the way Gohan was speaking about his friend.

"But that doesn't mean we'll just drop you as a member of our group, you're the only psychic in our mids. You're even better than Piccolo when it comes to telekinesis!" Gohan pleaded. His posture made it clear he was frustrated. After telling the Z-fighters of the new hierarchy of command he'd come up with and who he figured should play which part, Chiaotzu and Tien were the only ones who still needed persuasion.

'Dammit, even Vegeta didn't struggle this much.'

Gohan spread his arms, palms to them in a gesture of surrendering he continued his monologue. "You aren't needed on the battlefield anymore, Vegeta, Piccolo, the Androids and me got that covered. The little ones will be joining our ranks when they're ready. However, you have huge political power. Together with grandpa Ox, you can make a difference. Make changes that'll turn this world around. There's still a vast gap between poverty and wealth, slavery still happens, power abuse, you name it. I know you can play that part." Gohan paused to see how his words would affect the small emperor. He seemed in thought, floating still in the air. He didn't meet Gohan's gaze and had his eyes fixed to the ground. Tien was the first to break the silence.

"So, you just want Chiaotzu to do all the boring political stuff you can't be bothered with? You're a prince you know, you could do it yourself. Goku wouldn't push us out of the fray like this." Tien growled. He seemed angry because of the dismissal of their abilities, something Gohan immediately regretted.

"You know I don't mean it like that Tien. But the truth is, we have enough brawl, but few brains. No disrespect for my father, but he wasn't known for his tactical skills. He was an amazing inspiration for all of us and probably the best fighter this world will ever know, but the guy couldn't put 2 and 2 together sometimes." Gohan said while smiling when he remembered doing homework while his father had walked in. Never would he hit his father hard enough to make his head spin like the day Goku met partial difference equations.

When Gohan got back from his daydreaming, he tried to reason with them again. "Chiaotzu, and in effect you Tien, won't be only doing the boring stuff. You will be fighting opponents we can't. In board rooms, political playing fields; I haven't got the experience yet to do so. Grandpa Ox could really use an ally, especially now Satan has gained followers without a real brain to back it up."

Chiaotzu finally spoke up. "What about my abilities, you won't need a psychic in politics, just someone with half a brain willing to help you. Why me? Why not Bulma, Chichi, Yamcha or even 17 or 18? They're all capable."

"You're already an emperor so we don't need to buy our way into the fray." Gohan said, while smirking, he knew he had Chiaotzu interested. It was just a matter of time now. "And because, the political work will only be one of your responsibilities. While doing that, you can utilize your telekinesis to survey the Eastern part of the globe for aliens, humans making weapons they're not ready to use and even check if we're not destabilizing the Earth while training. Of course, there's more to it but we'll discuss that when we reach that hurdle."

Chiaotzu's eyes lit up hearing that, he knew he could do it and even have some fun doing it. Tien noticed the change in attitude of his friend but wasn't convinced himself.

"What about me?" Tien asked. Tien knew he wasn't a man for long political meetings, or public speeches. He was able to convince villages that he and Chiaotzu were heroes in the old days as InoShikaCho because they were hopeless, this was an entirely different stage.

"You'll still be Chiaotzu's bodyguard, but also our field agent so to speak. If Chiaotzu finds anomalies, you're the one who goes investigating first. For example, if there's trouble on this side of the globe you'll be the one to kick their asses. And if Dende or Chiaotzu notices an alien invader coming to Earth, they'll target Kami's Lookout first because Dende's there attracting all attention. Chiaotzu will be the one keeping up our defensive barrier if that happens, strengthened by Capsule Corps machinery." Gohan started to explain, waving his hands frantically. He knew his strategy was good, so he always lost himself in his enthusiasm about it.

"When they notice the barrier is strengthened from here and they can't blast us from outer space, they'll try attacking Chiaotzu. You'll be more than enough to take care of anyone that isn't part of the main assault group Tien, or at least keep them busy before I get here."

Tien nodded, his third eye sparkled a bit, Gohan took it as a good sign. Then Tien bowed his head, "I'll let you decide Chiaotzu. It'll take me a while to get used to this new role, but I'm not opposed to it."

Chiaotzu on the other hand, was ecstatic. Bouncing in the air up and down, chanting, "I'm still useful!". After a minute of that, he sobered up and gave Gohan a hug.

Gohan, not really sure how to respond; he never had that much contact with the small Emperor, hugged him back awkwardly. When Chiaotzu released him, Gohan said, "I'm glad you like the plan. Every three months we will evaluate how things are going, if you're dissatisfied with something you can always contact me. For now, your most important role is to train Dende."

"Yes sir!" Chiaotzu saluted him while smiling. Gohan smiled back and put two fingers to his head and teleported away.

Tien looked at his friend, who seemed much happier than he had been in years. Chiaotzu was still staring to the place Gohan had been, whispering "Thank you." Before making a link with Dende.

End Flashback

Chiaotzu never thought the son of Goku had it in him to be the new leader of the Z-fighters, he was glad he had been mistaken. When the boy- no man, came back 5 years ago he took the reigns and whipped everyone into shape. He had observed other planets, Yardrat, Namek, Winter, Gelba, Shamo and many more and had figured out a strategy to secure Earth in a way none had thought possible. Even Bulma had said she couldn't find a flaw in his plans.

Chiaotzu snickered to himself. "Lucky for us Gohan inherited Chichi's intellect."

Chiaotzu figured he could do with an early lunch with then, when he suddenly became aware of Dende's presence in his mind. ~Chiaotzu, can you hear me?~

~Loud and clear, something wrong?~

~I just had a disturbing chat with Gohan, wait I'll project it to you.~

Chiaotzu smiled, he had been the one to teach Dende that trick. ~Alright, I understand the situation.~ He was silent for a moment, thinking through every scenario. ~Have you guys thought of a stealth invasion? Someone might be manipulating them without us knowing.~

~Yeah, but I think I would've noticed an alien trying that. Most aren't as sneaky as they think they are. Remember that giant spider-guy? He watched Harry Potter and thought all spiders were supposed to be that big.~

Chiaotzu could feel Dende delight through the link as he recalled that memory, he hadn't forgotten either. ~I remember him, and the traumatized people I had to erase the memory off. But I did notice some more activity in a couple of the secluded factories a while ago, but I don't think it's an alien threat to the world.~

~I understand, it's not our business to check on every little factory. If the keep acting suspicious, can you send Tien or contact me? I really have a bad premonition.~

~Will do, I'll let you know if I find anything.~ With that the link was terminated.

Chiaotzu sighed, his shoulders slumped a bit. He didn't feel like eating anymore, "I just had to be happy and jinx everything didn't I?"

Orange Star High

"Hmmm, where's Gohan? It's not like him to miss two hours in a row." Erasa asked out loud , craning her neck while scanning the room, not talking to anyone in particular.

"Yeah, most of the time he's here for a solid 15 minutes before leaving again." Sharpener snickered. "Maybe he finally fell through that cloud of his."

Videl's interest was sparked hearing that. She had been falling asleep during class but in the blink of an eye her investigator mode was on. Determined to learn more about Gohan, she sat up straight turned to Sharpener with her patented Satan glare. "What do you mean? Where does he go? And you can't own a cloud!"

Sharpener nearly fell out of his chair, it'd been a while since he'd been on the receiving end of Videl's glares. "Jeez babe, point that thing somewhere else. You know I hate it when you do that!"

When Videl's glare softened a bit, Sharpener continued. "I meant exactly what I said. Most teachers are lenient to Gohan since he already knows everything they teach. And Gohan does owns a cloud, he flies to school on it. It's really fast and awesome! You should ask him if you can try riding it."

Videls' eyebrow went up. "What do you mean, try? If he can ride it, it's probably not so hard." She wasn't sure how to process this piece of information. 'Four possible scenarios, Sharpener's making this all up, Gohan found a way to disguise an illegal vehicle as a cloud, he actually owns a cloud and flies on it or Sharpener got hit too hard on the hit again.' Nodding to herself while keeping an eye on Sharpener, she confirmed her suspicion, 'probably the last one.'

Erasa piped up, "No, you need to have a pure heart to ride it! Me and Sharpy rode it and I think Nicole did too. It was super-duper-cool!" Erasa, in her enthusiasm, hadn't noticed she had stood up, while drowning all other sounds in the classroom with her sheer volume, the teacher included.

"Miss Erasabell, would you mind? I am trying to educate people here." The teacher called out. She didn't even remember what class she was supposed to be in, so she quickly apologized to the teacher, with the promise to keep quiet.

"Thank you. Now that I have all of your attention, I'd like to introduce another new student to you. You can come in miss."

The door slowly opened, a pretty girl strolled in, confidence oozing off her. She was of average height, but had a perfect hourglass figure.
Her tight blue blouse, which showed just a little bit cleavage, matched perfectly with her dark jeans and she looked very feminine with her red hair curled down. She had a cute yellow purse casually hanging beside her, even though it was filled with books. She didn't wear jewelry, only a simple ring with a small sapphire on her right hand. 8 centimeter black high heels completed her outfit, which didn't seem to bother her at all while walking. She scanned the room before speaking up.

"Hi, my name is Lime Lao-Son. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

That's the end of it. Don't worry, I know it's shorter than you're used to but since I have a week to study for my final exam I figured it would be okay to post this part earlier, so I can give you the rest somewhere next week.
I want to thank everyone for their input about the power levels (the reviews went through the roof!). I won't reveal them yet, but they won't play as large a role as in the original series. I think technique or speed can make up for the lack of power. Also, I'm glad most of you liked me putting Lime in the story. I seriously thought hard about it, but she seems to be the only friend of Gohan's age that's human before he entered high school so my options were limited.

Finally, is it normal that the favorite/follow ratio stays almost exactly 0.5? Also, we broke 10,000 views with last chapter (It's over 11,500 now) AND with this chapter we broke through 25,000 words! I thought I would've been halfway through the story before reaching those goals, but we're just getting started!