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

Chapter 11: Training the Demi-Demons

(Marron is 7, Goten is 7 and Trunks is 8 in this fic).

"Again, I'm sooo sorry my father thought you were circus attractions." 10-year old Gohan pleaded. He was in a Courtroom, facing several important looking Yardrats. They were all focused on Gohan, who was the lone figure standing in the entire round room. The judging Yardrats were sitting in a stance, looking down on him.

"He really didn't mean anything bad by it! And he was hurting badly because of his fight with Frieza, who, may I remind you, was as much of a threat to this planet as he was to the rest of the Universe!" Gohan looked anxiously around the room, hoping for a positive reaction or a nod. Any reaction would be nice at the moment, but nothing came. After a minute of silence, or telepathic communication, the middle Yardrat stood up.

"We know what your father did for us. That is why we learned him the Instant Transmission technique. What we're interested in, and haven't heard so far, is why you should be granted the same privilege."

"Oh." Gohan's shoulders slumped. He hadn't thought about that yet, he just wanted to make sure they weren't offended by his dad.

"Wellllllllll, I haven't really thought about that to be honest. I'm trying to fill my father's place as guardian of Earth, and possible more planets. Instant Transmission would make protecting other planets much easier." Smiling the patented Son-smile, this time with both hands behind his head, Gohan hoped to persuade the judges.

Another Yardrat, this one had a more blueish tint to his face, spoke up. "So, you just want to learn our techniques to protect other planets?" His eyebrows were creased, as he wasn't certain if he understood his motives.

"Yes, that's all sir." Gohan bowed.

The jury was silent again, probably pondering about his blatant honesty.

Finally the head spoke again. "My name is Yuki, I am the Head of Yardrat. You seem sincere and our techniques will make it much easier for you to accomplish your task. However, we will not do so without getting something in return."

"Thank you sir, whatever you want!" Gohan said, but he feared his demands would be too much for him. 'What if they ask for my ship. Or worse, something or someone from Earth."

"We'd like to see a demonstration of your power. If we're satisfied, we would like to be placed under your protection.

Gohan exhaled, "That's all?"

When the jury didn't respond he explained. "I'm sorry, I was expecting some valuable resource from Earth or my spaceship. I will gladly assume position as your Guardian."

Yuki smiled, "Well then, let's assess your power to finalize the deal."

Two months later

Yuki stood alone in the middle of a desert, apparently waiting for someone. Suddenly, Gohan appeared and he was wearing ridiculous large sunglasses.

"Excellent work Gohan, I think we can put you up for testing soon."

"Thank you Master Yuki. I hope Master Roshi won't miss them too much." Gohan happily said, relishing the memory of Krillin wearing the same glasses years ago when his father showed him the technique. Unconsciously, he had started playing with the glasses. Flicking them up and down, amusing and distracting Yuki with his antics.

While he was gazing of in the distance, he didn't notice a scared looking soldier running towards them.

"You're a master at Instant Transmission and your Shielding is excellent. It's a shame you can only show the basic theories of fu-," Yuki started, but was interrupted by the soldier.

"Master Yuki! They have arrived and killed 20 civilians, they're heading here!"

Gohan immediately sprung to action, eyes wide when he realized he missed their approach because he was daydreaming. 'This is my fault!'

Anger started to manifest within him. Without noticing he transformed into the first level and almost over the barrier of the second. 'NO, I have to keep control. My training isn't finished.'

Suddenly several ki beams raced towards the trio. Gohan pulled up a shield and blocked most, but one exploded, harming the trio behind it. The explosion and the sudden loss of a ki-signature signaled Gohan that something was really wrong. Turning around he saw the soldier sobbing over the body of Master Yuki. He had protected the soldier with his own body but was too slow to put up a shield of his own.

'No. No. This can't be. I failed. Again.' A blinding golden light illuminated the area, silencing the soldier's sobs. Gohan's aura was pulsing irregularly, lighting adjourned his body. As he faced his opponents, who appeared numerous, savage and most importantly, weak.

'I'm going to make them suffer.'

Son Household

"NO!" Gohan woke up with a gasp and shot up. 'It's only a dream. Only a dream. Relax Gohan.' As his breathing steadied, his thoughts became clear. It hadn't been a dream, this was a memory. One he rather didn't remember.

"Another nightmare big bro?" Lime walked into his room and moved to open the curtains. "You're lucky I sensed your distress and sent Goten out, otherwise he might've caught on." Smiling softly, she moved and sat on the bed and grabbed his hand. Her soft squeezing relaxed him.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Gohan shook his head. "No, Yardrat and what happened there came back to bite me in the ass. But I'm okay now. Thanks Lime." His troubled features slowly ebbed away the longer they sat in silence. After a while Goten called them to have breakfast.

Chichi had made breakfast fit for a king. As Gohan sat down he noticed his mothers' happy mood. "Mom? What's up?"

Chichi beamed at him, she hadn't looked this happy since he had returned from space and she opened the Dojo. "I've decided. If you train hard for the tournament I'll let you all enter and I will too."

Lime jumped up to hug her, "I knew it, thank you thank you thank you!"

"Don't celebrate too soon, we still have to train hard you know." Gohan piped up, but he too was smiling.

After breakfast Gohan called Goten and told him to wait for the others before starting his workout. Goten, hyperactive as always, had some difficulty waiting patiently. Gohan then decided he could give him something to do.

"Alright Goten, listen up. I want you to sense where Trunks is. He's pretty far away but he's not disguising his ki like he should be, so you might feel him already."

Goten nodded, smiled and then closed his eyes. "Eeeeeehm, Trunks is flying. Alone. He's somewhere between Big Blue Lake and the Spooky Forest. I think he'll be here in ten minutes."

Gohan acknowledged that, ruffling Goten's hair. "Good job Squirt, I think he'll be faster since he always speeds up after flying over Toto's nest. Can you sense Marron as well?"

Goten closed his eyes again and concentrated. After a moment, his eyes shot open. "She's flying here as well, alone but way too fast! We've got to stop her." He looked at his big brother in fear, but to his confusion he just chuckled.

"That's where you're wrong little guy. When has Marron ever flown alone to here? 18's carrying her, don't worry."

Relaxing at his brother's reassurance, he exhaled slowly. But his lapse in concentration made him fail to notice Trunks' approach. He landed on top of Goten and soon the two were just flailing limbs and fighting to be on top. Gohan let them both fight it out till Marron and 18 arrived.

"Uncle Goh, I'm hereeee!" The young blond girl tried to get out of her mother's hold but she just clutched her tighter to her chest.

Gohan smiled, 18 always wanted to ensure Marron's safety before leaving her behind. "Hi Sweety, 18. Good to see you both." Marron smiled as wide as she could and was finally released by her mother. She ran at blinding speeds towards him and gave him the biggest hug she could muster.

"Wow, you've grown since the last time I saw you sweety. How's my favorite little goddaughter in the world?" Gohan asked her while spinning her around in his arms. The shouts of glee reached the two wrestling demi-saiyans as well and they jumped Gohan's shoulders. Gohan lowered Marron in his left arm so they could talk more easily.

18 smiled as she took in the sight. She trusted no one but direct family with Marron and as far as she was concerned, Gohan's status as Godfather made him and the Son-family just that. She cleared her throat to get the attention of the living playcenter, who waved at her when she approached them.

"I take it you're ready to look after her the whole weekend?"

"Hi 18, good to see you as well. I'm fine thanks for asking." Gohan said with a wink, then continued. "I'm ready for the three little rascals, they're always at their best behavior when I'm around."

"Good. I'll pay a visit to your mother and Lime and then I'll be off." She walked towards the area where the Anonymous Dojo had been build 5 years prior, but stopped in her tracks." That reminds me, let me know if you hear something from 16. This is his first mission without 17, so I want to make sure he's doing okay." With that she was off.

"Will do, Bye!" Gohan shouted, before turning his attention to the three children hanging around him. "So, are you ready for a tough workout?"

"Yeah!"

Piccolo's Waterfall

The three children were all standing in a straight line, while Gohan was pacing back and forth like a General inspecting his troops. He suddenly stopped and smiled at Marron. She was wearing a gi, similar to his but the color was yellow and her undershirt was dark blue, while her signature said 'Demi-Demoness'. "I can see you've been training hard. Good job sweety. He held out his hand, which she took smiling and they walked to the other side of the lake. Icarus was sunbathing and let out a happy yelp when he saw them approach.

"Marron, I want you to make a energy shield to protect yourself while Icarus is going to blast you with his flames." When he received a determined nod from Marron, Gohan turned to Icarus.

"Icarus, I want you to start out slow and test her shield if it's solid enough to keep your flames away. Then, every ten minutes you make it harder for her. After fifteen minutes of warm up you can move around so she'll have to move her shield as well. Got it?"

"Kiyaaa." And a lick was all Gohan got as response, but it was good enough. Turning back to where the two younger demi-Saiyans were waiting patiently, he assessed their abilities. Trunks was wearing a dark green gi and no undershirt, with orange sweatbands. Goten was wearing the same outfit Gohan wore during the Cell games, minus the cape. They both had "Demi-Demon" as signature on it.

'Hmmm, Trunks is still ahead of Goten but lacks discipline. What to do, what to do?' Gohan thought to himself as he walked back to the two youngsters. Suddenly, as if a lightbulb went on in his head an idea came to him.

"Trunks, I want you to levitate those five boulders while meditating." Trunks' face fell when he heard that assignment. He hated meditating when he could be sparring.

"Don't make that face, you haven't heard the whole routine yet."Gohan said with a wink. "Goten, I want you to blast all boulders with Special Beam Cannons at full power. You have two hours to blast them all. Trunks, you can move the boulders around to protect them, as long as then aren't touching the ground." Trunks' eyes lit up when he heard that.

"Psssst, hey Goten." Trunks wispered to his friend when he thought Gohan wasn't listening anymore.

"Yeah Trunks?" Goten asked with wide, curious eyes. He knew that tone, 'Trunks is going to make it more fun!' He thought excited.

"Let's make a game out of it. If there's even a single rock left after two hours I win and I get your desert. If you blast them all, you get mine."

"Oooh wauw! Two deserts! I'm in!" Goten hastily spit in his hand and Trunks did the same. They shook hands and then put their hands on each others' heart.

"Brothers in arms, brothers in heart, we solemnly swear to do our part." Trunks started.

"We honor our part, we'll do as we say, otherwise we no more play." Goten ended. With that the ritual ended and they started their training. Soon Trunks was meditating and the five boulders were frantically moving around, while Goten's "Special Beam Cannon!"-shouts were filling the silence.

Marron on the other hand was having a blast, literally. She liked playing with the cute big dragon. Every time he tried to hit her, she started giggling and moved her energy shield. Icarus had started flying around her to hit her from all sides, but to no avail.

Gohan was carefully observing them all. He turned his back on Goten and Trunks when they performed their ritual, as they thought it was really cool and secret. 'They've been doing that for 3 years now, I wonder when they're gonna make the grammar work...'

Marron was doing fine as well. The daughter of Krillin wasn't as strong as Goten and Trunks, but made that up with excellent ki control and powerful techniques she learned from both parents.

'Maybe I should make their clothing heavier. Marron looks like she doesn't even notice she's carrying ten times her body weight and the boys are even faster than before with twenty-five times...'

Dinner

"And then, I blasted Trunks instead of the rock and he let all the rocks drop so I won!"

"No you didn't, you cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Before Chichi had to interfere, Gohan raised his voice. "Boys!" That was enough to shut both up, swiftly two "Sorry Gohan"'s were said and the meal continued in peace.

Before desert came, Trunks spoke. "Hey Gohan? Can I ask you a question?"

Gohan smiled and started putting their bowls away. "You already did tough guy, but you can ask another."

"Uhm, thanks. I was wondering why we're calling ourselves Demi-Demons and why you're the Demon's Disciple. We're Saiyan's and Marron is... something."

Lime chuckled. Nobody really knew what to call Marron and she was glad he didn't ask her. 'Mecha-Human sounds cool. She does have some android parts in her, so she should have a cool hybrid name as well.'

Gohan cupped his hand in his cheek before answering, "Well, I am the Demon's Disciple because my primary style is the Demon style from Piccolo. I've incorporated attacks from your dad, mine and Krillin in it with some of my own but it's a cool name so I kept that."

The three youngsters nodded, so Gohan continued. "And we don't want to emphasize that we're not entirely human. What if they link Saiyan to Vegeta? We'd be put in a zoo, or worse experimented on if they found out."

Everyone in the kitchen shuddered at the idea. "But can't we just blast them if they're not nice to us?" Trunks voiced his thoughts, while Gohan figured this must be Vegeta's influence.

"No. Just because we're stronger doesn't mean we can bully Earthlings into doing what we want. It's not right and as good guys we always try to do the right thing." Lime smirked at the sight of the trio looking at Gohan in admiration, but immediately winced. 'Even smiling hurts. Next time Lime, remember to dodge when fighting Sensei.'

When the meal finished (Gohan acted like he didn't notice Chichi giving Trunks two deserts), the trio headed for the tv to play video games.

Gohan watched them play on their Wii, and thought about the differences between their childhoods and his own.

'They're so playful. By the time I was their age I already killed more people than Goten has video games. Would I be stronger, better if I had friends like that when I was little?'

As he kept on thinking he didn't notice Chichi and Lime observing him and exchanging worried looks. He snapped out of it when Chichi pulled his sleeve. "Gohan dear, shouldn't you be heading for the Lookout? You promised Dende."

"Crap! Thanks Mom, I'll be back tomorrow." He hastily jumped out of the window and flew at neck-breaking speeds towards his friend.

Lookout

"So, what are we watching?" Gohan asked as he was making enough popcorn for the both of them. Handing five pieces to Dende and taking a bathtub-sized bucket for himself, he sat down on the deluxe couch he had given Dende years ago.

"I thought it would be fun to watch The Hobbit, and then Lord of the Rings the next time you come up here." Dende said, while nodding his thanks for the popcorn.

"You're still looking for similarities between yourself and Gandalf ey?" Gohan said smiling and then shrugged. "Sure, they're really good so I don't mind."

"Hey, he has a staff, I have a staff. We both perform magic. I destroy meteorites, he makes fireworks. I watch over this world and set the pawns at work to save the day from Cell and Broly, Gandalf watches over Middle-Earth and makes alliances and fellowships to destroy dragons, overthrow evil wizards and even stops one of the greatest terrors of his time. If you don't see the resemblance you're blind my Saiyan friend." Dende said, while puffing out his chest. Gohan knew he was playing, but he responded anyway.

"So, that's all I am to you? A pawn? I'm hurt, at least give me Aragorn or something, I'm royalty as well you know. Plus, Gandalf's way too cool to have any resemblance to you."

"Hey! You're supposed to be my best friend, you shouldn't tell me that I'm not cool." Dende said, but the tone he said it had Gohan worried.

"Dende? Is something bothering you?" Gohan asked seriously. When Dende refused to turn away from the TV, he was slightly alarmed.

"It's just something I read in those girl magazines. I can't seem to get it out of my mind!" Dende responded while clutching his head in his arms. He then turned to Gohan to look him in the eye.

"Gohan, be honest with me. Are we, you know, Nerds?"

If Dende wasn't looking at him like he was on the brink of tears, he would've laughed at him for the rest of the night. Hell, maybe even the entire week. But since his oldest friend was obviously troubled by it, he kept his face serious. 'I'll make fun of him later.'

"Well, depends. We do enjoy the most stuff most nerds do, I mean you've compared yourself to Gandalf. Plus we're nice and smart. Most people associate nerds with being nice and smart. But it's just a label, we're also the Protector and Guardian of Earth. If that doesn't make us cool, I don't know what will."

Dende smiled at his words, "Thanks Gohan. I'll remember that."

"No problem. That's what friends do remember?" Gohan said, while making himself more comfortable in the couch. "Did you hear anything from Piccolo, Vegeta, Yamcha or 16 this week?"

"Well, yeah. Yamcha reported that they were making progress, but not much. They aren't as keen as the others to be part of the alliance, even though they really want your protection."

Gohan smiled, 'so they'll be back soon. They might even make it to the WMAT!' "That's good, I hope Yamcha's having fun without 17 to keep him company."

"You can say that again, he met with the diplomat from Atlantis and they hit it off immediately. He likes to negotiate with her in private so don't worry about him." Dende said with a wink, while making exclamation marks with his fingers when he said negotiate.

"For an asexual alien, your knowledge about that subject is... slightly disturbing." Gohan while laughing uncomfortable.

The rest of the night they watched TV, had fun reminiscing, joked around and far too soon the time for Gohan to leave had arrived.

Anonymous Dojo

"Come on Lime, it's only 25 times gravity! I taught you better than that." Chichi coached her pupil, who was trying to dodge Goten's attacks. They started training an hour early, because Goten wanted to play with Big Sista' before Big Brother would come home.

A jab in her side made her realize she wasn't paying enough attention. Spinning on her heel, she tried a roundhouse kick, but Goten had already moved out of her reach. Using her momentum, she jumped towards him with her hand ready to hit a pressure point. As her hand moved closer, he suddenly grabbed her hand and slammed her into the floor.

Not one to give up after her first try, she tried to get up but then felt a hand on her shoulder. "Lime, honey. Maybe you shouldn't train with Goten anymore. You've done the best you could but you're not strong enough yet."

Lime's eyes became watery hearing that, she knew she was weaker than the Saiyans, but to hear it from her own mother hurt her more than she was willing to admit.

"No.." Lime said softly. Her menacing tone made Goten step back. "I will continue and I will prove that I'm not weak just because I'm not your biologic daughter."

Before Chichi could respond, Lime had shrugged of her hand and flew towards Goten and punched him in the solar plexus. Goten hadn't been ready so he didn't defend himself.

"Humph" Saliva dropped out of his mouth, mixed with a small amount of blood. Using his arm to clean his face, he dropped back in his 'Demon Stance'. As Lime moved into her own stance, Goten suddenly fazed out of sight. Sensing his ki behind her, she slammed her elbow to where she felt him. Before it could connect, Goten ducked under it and kicked her right kneecap.

The blinding pain shooting through her leg made her lose focus, but she knew better than taking her eyes of Goten. She tried a barrage of punches to get him on the defensive, but he simple moved out of the way instead of trying to counter them. As she got frustrated she gave one hard screwdriver punch, which Goten caught. The pressure he was applying to her fist made her drop to her knees. She tried to look him in the eye, but saw that he had moved his hand in front of his face, with two fingers outstretched.

Realization dawned on her, as his ki focused in his fingers. "Special Beam Cannon". Before she could tell him she gave up, or move out of the way, Goten yelled "Fire!". The only thing she could do was close her eyes and hope Goten wouldn't blast her brains out.

The flicker she felt against her forehead was not what she had expected. Opening her eyes, she was face to face with a smiling Goten. "Gotcha Big Sista'! That was fun, I hope we can do it again soon."

Releasing her fist, he stepped back and pulled her up. They both bowed, before Goten ran outside. Lime shook her head before exiting the gravity room and searched the Dojo for her Sensei. Chichi was talking to Suno, who seemed to have trouble with a kata. Eighter was sitting on one of the benches who could modify gravity just for the user. He never trained, but always accompanied Suno when she came. Lime waited patiently for her Sensei to finish her explanation and scanned the Dojo. She hadn't been here in a month, but nothing had changed. The members' list was hanging prominently at the entrance; Bulma and Tights as honorary members, Gohan and Goten as part-time instructors were portrait as a group next to the reception. Chichi's secretary, Miss Fanta, had the difficult job of screening each call and visitor to see if they were worthy of joining the Dojo.

So far, 97% of the applications were rejected.

Suno finally understood what she needed to do, so Chichi walked up to Lime. The look in her eyes said enough, Lime gulped.

'This is going to be a long conversation. Thank Dende she doesn't have a frying pan here.'

Son Garden

"Stop! Trunks has won the spar by ringout!" Gohan exclaimed. Goten had been trying to slow down, but his toes hit the bark of a nearby tree so he lost his spar. Dejected, Goten walked back to the group where Marron was busy congratulating Trunks. When he joined them he felt a hand on his shoulder. He had expected Gohan to say something, but Trunks beat him to the punch. "You were great, shooting the ground to change directions to me was genius!"

Goten blushed. "Thanks, but you still won. Congrats."

Gohan watched the exchange with glee. 'Trunks might make a good team leader after all.'

Clapping his hands, he got the attention of the three in front of him. The were all battered and bruised, but happy. "Good job to all of you. I'm really proud of the progress you made. I want you all to train extra hard, because you have earned yourself a spot as the 'Demon Dojo Representatives' in the Satan City Tournament."

Cheers erupted and they all hugged Gohan; Marron his torso, Trunks his legs and Goten was on his back.

"Hey! I wasn't done you know. I also wanted to let you know that there's a two versus two battle. I want Trunks to pair up with Goten and Trunks is your team captain. I will be fighting alongside Marron. Is that okay?"

Three tiny fists shot up in the air. "Yeah!"

Space, Neutral Zone

Yamcha had been walking around the common room, he was bored! If only Vegeta hadn't insulted that Atlantean guard they would've been done a week ago. Piccolo and Vegeta were now sparring in their shared room and 16 was sitting in the common room watching the other diplomats interact.

Scanning the room, he searched for the one diplomat he was interested in. Vegeta had laughed when he caught Yamcha trying to crawl back into the room unnoticed after their first week. It was a horrible experience, almost enough to make him forget about the wonderful evening he had with her.

Suddenly, someone attached to his arm. Turning around, the blue-skinned beauty with bright yellow eyes looked at him seductively. "Looking for me, handsome?"

"You know it babe. Want to go somewhere private?"

Her giggle was enough encouragement and he tried to get them to her suite as swift as possible without looking too eager. Her fishtail was wagging happily behind her and it accidentally slammed a couple of diplomats away. Flustered Hejtuo apologized.

'So much for leaving the room fast and discreet.' Yamcha thought amused. He then focused on Hejtuo's face, which had become purple instead of red out of embarrassment. 'Interesting. I wonder what else reacts differently.'

16 had been watching Yamcha. He didn't understand his urges and needs to fornicate. It was apparent by his heartbeat, but he seemed to be the only one around to notice this. They girl with him had a similar reaction, how peculiar. Maybe he should ask him later why he wanted to fornicate with her, but for now he was happy to watch the fish in the tank in front of him swimming circles around his hand which he placed in the tank. 16 smiled.

Life, after all, was precious he was savoring every moment of it.

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it and had happy holidays. I've been really busy with school and I'm still a bit sick so my updating speed won't increase, sorry about that. As always, Reviews are appreciated and the number of favorites and follows is awesome! Thank you for your support!