Chapter 11
:The Room of Spirit And Time
:A Walk Through Gohan's Life
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Dragon Ball Z. All rights are owned by their respective owners,Toei, Toriyama, etc. This is purely a fanfictional work done by a simple fan done for fun. I do no get profit from this in any way.
Mr. Popo lead Videl deep down the winding corridors of the Lookout. Finally, Mr. Popo brought Videl over to a pair of large black archway doors with swirling vine-like symbols carved all over them. A mysterious red aura peered its way through the lining of the doorway's frame. Videl felt uncomfortable in the presence of the door but she was too determined to let herself give up nor to let Mr. Popo see her fear. Mr. Popo then opened the doors and lead Videl inside.
The room they entered was completely dark except for the middle of the room where a large black pendulum swung back and forth over a glowing red circle filled with strange triangular shapes and symbols. Videl looked around in wonder at the strange room. "In this place the past, present and future are mixed around and recreated in the form of a dream like world where one can explore past or future events from a possible future." Mr. Popo explained. "So your saying that I can see the past? What if anyone from the past see's me? Won't that disrupt the timeline?" Videl asked, afraid of causing problems in time.
"Don't worry, the events and people you might meet are what you might call simulations. Think of it like resetting a video game made from a historical event. You can't harm the past that's already happened in real life but you can see what people from the past would do if you met them. But in your case since you merely wish to view what has already occured I have modified it so that the characters inside the dream like past will not be able to see nor hear us." Popo explained at length. "Us? What do you mean us?" asked Videl but Popo merely motioned her inside the glowing circle before he answered. Popo also stepped inside shortly thereafter. "I will guide you through your journey. Now close your eyes and when you will next open them you will be in a different place and time."Mr. Popo simply stated. Videl didn't know why he asked her this but she decided to follow Mr. Popo's instructions anyway and closed her eyes.
The next time Videl opened her eyes she was in the middle of a beautiful forest. She was slightly startled by the sudden change of scenery at first but she quickly recomposed herself and started looking around to get her bearings. Suddenly she heard what sounded like a small child crying in the distance. Curious and concerned for whoever's kid it might be, Videl went off to find the source of the crying. Moving discretely from tree to tree and bush to bush. Videl finally peered from behind a tree trunk to see a very little boy in a green and yellow traditional garb and with a red cap with a beautiful golden ball with four stars on top of it. He was sobbing and crying for his father as he walked around the forest lost. Videl also noticed something very strange about him, he had a brown monkey-like tail. Videl's eyes widened when she noticed this. 'Who is this kid?' was the thought that went through her head as she observed him.
After a few more minutes of observation Videl could tell that this kid was innocent to the core and looked like he could or should never face the dangers of the world. "I wonder who this kid is and why is he out here without his parents?" Videl asked out loud to no one in particular. "What do you mean? Doesn't he seem familiar in the least?" asked a voice from out of nowhere. Videl jumped with a start a the sudden appearance of Mr. Popo standing next to her as if he was there the whole time. Videl grabbed her chest near her racing heart and tried to catch her breath. "*pant* *pant* Don't you know it's not nice to sneak up on people!?" Videl pratically yelled. Mr. Popo simply turned his head at her and smiled.
"The same could be said for you right now. But more to the point will you answer my question?" Mr. Popo reinterated. Videl decided to let his surprise entrance go and looked back at the boy. "Now that you mention it his face does seem familiar but I can't for the life of me place my finger on it." Videl stated, closely observing the boy. "Well, there should be something familiar about him. After all, he is Gohan approximatly five and a half years ago." Mr. Popo revealed. "What!?" shouted Videl, completely shocked at this revelation.
"What!? You mean to tell me that that scared little boy out there is Gohan?" Videl said, not believing how innocent a boy Gohan once was compared to the super powerful fighter that she knew. "Yes he is. That is how Gohan was before his life turned down the path he now walks. But we do not need to hide behind this tree. In this world, nobody can see, hear nor touch you. We are merely observers in this place." Popo explained to Videl. She then reluctantly stepped out from her hiding place. Now reminded that she was invisible to everyone but Popo she determined to stand and watch out in the open.
Over the course of what seemed like days of constant viewing, Videl watched as Gohan's life unfolded before her very eyes. She watched as Raditz arrived and told them of their origins for the first time. She watched as Gohan unleashed his hidden powers for the first time. She watched for parts of Gohan's training with Piccolo. She watched as Gohan fought his fears in his baptism of fire against the Saiyan invaders. She watched his adventures on Namek and his courageous stand against the superior power of Recoome. She then watched as he battled the tyrant Frieza alongside his friends and father. She continued to watch everything up to and including even the Cell Games. It was definately an experience watching that again, only this time from the perspective of the Z-Fighters. Guided by Mr. Popo, they skipped a lot of areas that Mr. Popo felt Videl didn't really need to see since he wanted to mostly concentrated on events from Gohan's point-of-view. Bottomline, she saw just about everything in Gohan's life except for the year long training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. She couldn't witness that because the dimension of that chamber couldn't be accessed by the chamber she was currently using. That precious time of his would forever remain only between father and son, as it should be.
Finally, both Videl and Mr. Popo opened their eyes to find themselves back inside the pendulum room. "So? We're finally back huh? How long have we been in there anyway?" asked Videl as she looked around the roon and readjusted back to her surroundings. "We have spend approximately five days inside the dream past so we must be..." Popo answered but before he could continue he was cut off by Videl's scream. "EEEEEEEEEK! We've been in there for five Days!? My dad is gonna kill for being away so long. He must be thinking that i'm missing and he's probably having half the world out looking for me. This soooo bad!" Videl ranted as she walked back and forth in a nervous panic. "But Videl, you've never left this place." said Mr. Popo. His statement made Videl curious and she stopped her panicking and turned her attention to Popo. "What do you mean I never left?" she asked. "Well, this room allowed your mind to create a dream body which lets you travel to the dream-like past. Your original body remained here the entire time and never left. As well, time is accelerated inside the past world which means that five days inside that world is five hours outside of it." Mr. Popo explained. Videl looked shocked but she was extremely happy for this turn of events. "*phew* That's a relief." she said while wiping the sweat from her forehead.
A short while later, both Popo and Videl were walking out of the temple and were greeted by Dende. "Well? Have you seen everything you needed to see?" asked Dende. "Yeah, I've seen everything. But tell me something. Why did you decide to have me see what happened instead just telling me what happened?" asked Videl, curious as to his decision. "It would've been too hard to explain some things that you really needed to have seen to understand. Plus I felt you needed to truly experience those parts of our lives in order to understand. After all, if you're going to be part of our little group from now on, you need to know who we are and what has happened to us." Dende explained. Videl simply nodded her head once to show that she'd accepted his reasoning. "Thank you Dende and thank you Mr. Popo for letting me see it like that. I'm glad I know the truth now." thanked Videl with a smile.
Videl then left the Lookout and flew off in search to find Gohan. Having seen almost his entire life, Videl now thought that she now understood what it was that Gohan was struggling with and she was now determined to help him.'I can't believe the things he's gone through and the things he's had to see. He's seen so many friends get hurt that it must weigh heavily on his heart. I can only imagine the feelings he's had to deal with since his dad's death. But no matter what, I'll help him with whatever he's dealing with.' Videl thought determinedly as she soared through the skies in search of her mentally confused friend.
While Videl had been out watching his life at the Lookout, Gohan had been doing some private soul searching. Gohan had been flying around aimlessly throughout the skies trying to find answers he could only find deep inside himself. Finally, he stopped flying and he found himself in the valley where he and his father had spent so many fun times relaxing, fishing and training during the three years they had together preparing for the Androids. Reminiscing about all those fun times caused Gohan to miss his father so much as to the point that a few tears fell from his eyes. This left him in a depressed state of mind as he then slowly walked over to a small stream running in the middle of the valley. Gohan started to look seriously at his reflection in the water.
'Whenever I've used my hidden powers all i've ended up going is create more destruction. When I transformed that day all I could think about was Cell and how he should suffer for what he did. All the other times before that were either for self defense or they brief moments of exploding fury. But this time it was different. I was aware of what I was doing the whole time and what was worse... I think I liked it!' Gohan shockingly thought about himself in his mind. 'Is that what my powers are turning me into? Is that the road my hidden powers will inevitably lead me to? Am I going to turn into that monster one day and never look back? Is it all that I am just a souless killing machine that doesn't care who or what it destroys so long as it is just in the way?' Gohan questioned himself harshly. 'If that's the case than there's no telling who I might hurt next when I get like that. Mom, Krillin, Bulma or even Videl! For them, I can't let that happen. I can't ever let that horrible power out!' Gohan determinedly resolved.
Gohan closed his eyes, went into a deep deep meditation and looked deep down inside himself. He went through places in his mind, heart and soul that never thought he had had nor wished to see. Finally he found that part of himself that he now loathed to admit that it was there. With all his will he closed the door on that part of himself, locked it up as tight as he could make it and sent it down into a corner of his himself where he would hopefully never find it again. Now it was as if he'd never had that awful power in the first place. While he would always remember that he had them and what he did with those powers. But now he could at least never willingly nor even unwillingly access them again.
Just for good measure that he couldn't use his ascended powers, Gohan powered up to super saiyan and then he tried to ascend. But no matter how much he tried he couldn't ascend to the next level. Gohan powered down to his normal state and smiled with satifaction. 'Mission accomplished.' was the thought that went throught his head. He then went back to look at his reflection in the water and he was quite pleased by what he saw.
Up above in the sky, Videl had felt Gohan's energy spike up when he transformed into a super saiyan and she headed straight for the signal. Videl touched down behind Gohan and she had on a concerned look on her face. Gohan turned around to face her but he didn't know what to say to her since he thought she wouldn't understand about his issues. "Videl? What are you doing here?" Gohan asked, genuinely curious as to why she'd come. "Looking for you obviously. I sensed yout energy level go up and I came directly here. I also came here to tell you that I now know." Videl said. "What? What do you mean 'you know'? What is it that you know?" Gohan asked confused. "I mean I know all about your adventures and what you've been through. I went to the Lookout to find out what it is about your past that made you all sad and miserable. So Mr. Popo showed me this room with a giant pendulum that let me go into the past and for the last five hours i've been watching almost your entire life. So now I know about it all." Videl explained.
Gohan was surprised by this turn of events at first but then he somehow felt satisfied that she now knew as much as any member of the Z-Fighters, making her a true part of the group now. This also made him glad in that wouldn't need to go into his lifes story in order to explain what he'd just done. "That's good to hear Videl, now we can think of you as one of us now. It's also good because I won't need to tell you as to why I've just locked away the hidden power that allows me to transform into that awful second state of fury." Gohan said. Videl was surprised by that announcement but then again she could understand given his history. "Why Gohan? Why did you do that?" Videl questioned. "You've seen me when I get like that. My anger is something very dangerous and what was worse is that at the Cell Games, I actually liked it. I'm afraid that someday I might transform and never turn back. I could hurt my mom, my friends, my family even you. I don't want to happen." Gohan sadly summerized. Videl couldn't understand how he could throw away a part of himself just like that but she could understand the reasoning behind it. "I understand." was what she said.
Gohan looked to the sky and saw that it was nearing sunset and it was probably a good time to call it a day. "Its getting late Videl. Maybe we should head back home." Gohan suggested and Videl agreed with him. They began walking back since they weren't that far away from Gohan's house. Videl slung one of her arms around Gohan's neck and over his shoulder as thay walked back. "You know something Gohan? That bowl cut your mother made you wear was pretty stupid." Videl said with a giggle. Gohan felt embarrassed and blushed. "Heh... You think so? Well you try telling her that." Gohan countered. "Hmmm... You know, I thought you looked very cute with that long head of hair you had. But I think that this short hair you have right now makes you look a lot more mature and way more handsome." Videl teased. Gohan again blushed but he liked the compliment anyway. They both continued on walking, talking and laughing with each other until they reached his house and went their seperate ways.
Author's Final Thoughts: So thanks to the miracle of The Pendulum Room, otherwise known as The Room Of Spirit And Time, Videl's now seen the basic extent of Gohan's life's story up close and personnal. now granted she already knew about or heard about most of it, but first hand experience is much different than jusst being told about an event. And so now this makes Videl a fully informed member of the Z gang. Basically she's seen what we've seen with exception of his time in The Hyperbolic Time Chamber. And also Gohan has sealed away his Super Saiyan 2 powers to protect his friends. So basically now he himself can't access it anymore. Now this was done so that it will play into my story futher down the line. So don't worry, it's all just part of the plot.