Gohan: Development of a Hero

This is a Dragonballz fanfiction. To my eternal sadness, I do not own or in anyway profit from Dragonballz or any of the characters in this story. This fic, as you can guess from the title, centers on Gohan, and begins right after the cell games. It is an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Btw, from now on, when characters speak in Saiyago (the Saiyan language), the dialogue will be shown in Bold.

Part 20 - Need

"Is everyone ready?" Gohan asked as his gaze moved between them. He had been working for two weeks, preparing for this moment. He just hoped it was enough.

"Yes," Trunks replies solemnly. Though his face looked solemn, Gohan could almost feel his excitement. In his mind, this was just a prank, and one sanctioned by Gohan.

"I'm ready," Bulma assured Gohan. She had a steely look about her, one that told Gohan she would do what had been request of her.

Gohan turned to Lime, and said, "You know what to do?"

Lime nodded, "We've been through it enough, I could probably do it in my sleep." As she finished, she held up a small round orb. It had taken a lot of work, but Gohan was reasonably sure it would work as he intended. Unfortunately, he couldn't safely test it without alerting the Z-fighters and drawing attention. Therefore, Gohan mentally crossed his fingers and let none of his uncertainty show on his face.

"Okay, let's do it. Everyone to his or her positions." Gohan commanded. Trunks and Lime both nodded as they turned and moved. Gohan watched them go, and then took a deep breath. This was it; he was about to take the plunge and try and trick Vegeta. Gohan wasn't sure what the outcome would be, but he knew he had to try. If he didn't, Vegeta might never ascend. As he walked towards the Gravity Room, a thought continued to surface in his mind.

I hope Vegeta forgives me when this is over.

Where is he? Vegeta mused as he finished stretching. Gohan was late, a fact that annoyed Vegeta greatly. Gohan was rarely late, and to have it happen NOW of all times merely made Vegeta angrier. He knew he was close; Gohan had come out and said he was incredibly close to Super Saiyan 2. Since he'd been told, Vegeta had been determined that nothing would stop him. He'd begun sparring with Gohan, as often and as long as possible, stopping only when he was physically unconscious. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be accomplishing his goal. Vegeta could almost feel the barrier, the edge of where Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 met. But he couldn't seem to break through.

What am I missing? Vegeta wondered. He remembered his original ascension; it was hard to forget. He had been so angry; both at Kakkarot for beating him to Super Saiyan and at himself for allowing a third class idiot to become the legendary warrior and defeat the enemy of his people. His rage had festered for months, until it finally exploded in a manner that made him ascend. It was a scenario Vegeta could not ignore, and he determined that achieving Super Saiyan 2 should be no different. After all, in the battle with Cell he had seen Gohan's rage. He could still remember how the air seemed to almost taste of anger. Thus, if Vegeta got angry enough, he should achieve Super Saiyan 2. Yet no matter how angry he got, Vegeta was unable to attain it. What was the problem?

As more time passed, Vegeta had become more and more discouraged. A thought had begun to float in the dark recesses of his mind, the only place he would ever consider such a possibility. Was it possible he'd become soft, or in some way unable to reach his goal? Though Vegeta knew his body was stronger than ever, he'd begun to realize a very disturbing fact. He'd changed.

It was little things, subtle nuances in his behavior that even Vegeta had missed for quite some time. But as he'd considered the long run, it could not be ignored. Before he'd come here, he had been the perfect warrior. He had been ruthless, cold, and incredibly ambitious. Such qualities had served him well in his life, and yet Vegeta found they had decreased over the years. He could no longer say he was the same man he had been, and that bothered him. As did what caused him to change.

Bulma and Trunks. They were the ones who had caused him to change. Though Gohan and even Goten had played a small part, those two were the main causes. They'd somehow wormed their way past all his defenses and into Vegeta heart, a fact that appalled him slightly. He'd been in Frieza's army long enough to know what having a family did. It made them weak; created in them a need to protect others first instead of watching out only for them self. Vegeta had watched as they were destroyed by their weakness, and he swore he would never allow that to happen to him. Yet somehow it did, and Vegeta was at a loss as to what could have happened.

Something had to be done; the more he thought about it, the more Vegeta realized he could not allow this to continue. He was changing, into a person Vegeta did not recognize. He had to stop this from happening, and somehow reverse all that had been done. The obvious step to take would be for Vegeta to return to space, to leave this planet and its inhabitants behind. But when he considered it, a strange dull pain seemed to shoot up within him, a pain he was entirely unsure how to halt. It throbbed within him and stopped him from following through on his idea. What was he going to do?

Vegeta's musings were cut short as the door to the GR opened. Vegeta turned and watched as Gohan entered the room, a slight smirk creeping onto his face. He needed to stop these thoughts, and a spar was just what he needed. "About time you got here," Vegeta snapped.

"I had something to take care of," Gohan replied.

"Oh?" Vegeta muttered.

"It isn't important," Gohan interjected tersely.

"You're right, it isn't…don't be late again," Vegeta snapped. Without another word, Vegeta summoned the power within him and transformed into his maximum power. He could feel the energy flowing through him, but it wasn't enough. He could still feel the barrier, and he still couldn't get through it.

"Computer, activate training program 1," Gohan stated.

"Acknowledged," the computer commented. As the gravity began to increase, Vegeta watched as Gohan powered up. Though he still wasn't growing any strong, he seemed to be able to reach his maximum faster and faster. Within a matter of seconds, Gohan had passed through Super Saiyan to reach his full power. Vegeta felt a flicker of envy flow through him as he gazed upon Super Saiyan 2. I will reach that, no matter what Vegeta promised.

When the gravity finally settled, Gohan slid into a fighting stance, "Ready?"

"Of course I'm read…" Vegeta began, but trailed off. Something…was off. Vegeta had been a warrior his entire life, and he'd long mastered ki sensing. There was someone coming, a power source unfamiliar to him.

At almost the same moment, Gohan's head jerked up. His eyes lost focus as he turned his gaze, "Do you feel that?"

"I'm not dead, of course I feel it." Vegeta snapped, but it was half-hearted at best. Most of his concentration was focused on this new Ki. It was immense; it seemed to be almost as strong as Gohan at its maximum. And it was heading unerringly for Capsule Corps.

"I say we postpone our spar until we find out who that is," Gohan suggested.

"Agreed…" Vegeta responded. Though part of him was disappointed his spar had been cancelled, the rest was exhilarated. This strength might be just what he needed; a new opponent to test himself against, a way to push himself over the edge.

"Computer, end training," Gohan stated.

"Unable to comply," the computer responded.

"What?" Gohan asked. "Computer, end this program and open the door,"

"Unable to comply," the computer remarked.

Vegeta snorted. "Having problems with the computer? I thought you said this thing was working perfectly when you fixed it last week,"

"It was," Gohan muttered darkly. His face looked angry, and Vegeta understood. He took a great deal of pride in the Gravity Room, and he was obviously embarrassed. Vegeta was tempted to say something, but he shrugged it off. If Gohan had done poor work, no need to say anything about it. Instead, Vegeta walked over and hit the manual shutdown. But nothing happened.

Frowning, Vegeta hit the button again. When the gravity still did not drop, he snarled, "What did you do to this machine?"

"Nothing," Gohan protested. "It should work,"

"Well, it isn't," Vegeta remarked acidly. A sliver of worry crept into him; the power was growing closer to Capsule Corps, and they were still in this room.

"Computer, why isn't the door opening?" Gohan demanded.

"Program 1 disabled all manual and voice commands to end program or open door. The safety shutdown is also removed," the computer explained.

"WHAT!" Gohan roared. "Who made that change?"

"User Trunks," the computer elaborated.

Vegeta's face darkened, "I'm going to kill him." He knew what had happened; Trunks must have changed the program as some sort of practical joke. The boy always did have a humor like this, but this was going too far. Judging by the look on Gohan's face, he agreed. "Gohan, get us out of here so I may send my brat to the next dimension,"

A sick look came over Gohan's face as he said, "I can't…"

"What," Vegeta asked in a quiet voice. He must have misheard Gohan.

Gohan looked at Vegeta as he explained, "With the manual and voice commands off line, the only way to get out is for someone to let us out. I hate to say this, but we are stuck in here,"

Vegeta was furious; his boy was going to pay dearly for this insult. When Vegeta got out, he would…

The sounds of an explosion brought Vegeta out of his mental imagery. Vegeta glanced up, and a sick feeling rose in his stomach. He had been so preoccupied with Trunks that he had forgotten about the power, which was now near Capsule Corps…and firing. They were under attack, and neither Gohan nor Vegeta could get out to help.

"We have to get out there," Gohan stated firmly.

Vegeta was about to respond when he felt a new ki rise. He knew it instinctively; his son had just powered up. While his full strength was impressive for his age, Vegeta knew Trunks was no match for this new power. Vegeta turned and immediately strode to the wall. He would get out, no matter what. "FINAL FLASH!" Vegeta screamed as he fired at the wall. To his shock, the walls merely glowed for a moment, and no damage was done.

"Energy absorbers, remember," Gohan remarked.

Vegeta felt instantly foolish, and covered it with anger, "Your damn energy absorbers are keeping us in here,"

"I know," Gohan remarked quietly.

"VEGETA!"

Vegeta whirled to see the panicked visage of Bulma appear on the screen. Fear rose within him; his woman rarely ever showed fear. "Woman, what is going on!"

"We're under attack," Bulma shouted, "Trunks is getting pummeled. GET OUT HERE NOW!"

"I can't wench," Vegeta shouted, "The brat has locked us in,"

"I'll be right there to let…" Bulma began, when suddenly she screamed. As Vegeta watched, an explosion erupted around her, and the screen went blank.

"BULMA!!!" Vegeta shouted. He turned and slammed his fist into the wall. He began to pummel the wall with everything he had; he would get out there if he had to pound his way out.

"Vegeta," Gohan yelled, but Vegeta ignored him. His hands had begun to bleed, but Vegeta didn't care. The wall would give; it had to.

Gohan clamped his hands down on Vegeta's wrists as he said, "VEGETA!"

Vegeta turned and directed his fiercest glare at Gohan. Gohan's face was grave as he said, "She's okay. Her ki is low, but it's still here,"

Reaching out with his senses, Vegeta realized he was right. Though it was low, he could clearly feel Bulma's ki. He made to continue his work, but Gohan's grip held, "That won't do anything. You could pound your hands to dust, and you wouldn't get through the wall."

"YOU MORON!" Vegeta shouted, "What kind of idiot builds a room we can't get out of!"

"THERE are ways out," Gohan snapped angrily, "I just didn't anticipate Trunks turned them ALL OFF!"

"Well, there has to be some way out," Vegeta stated fiercely. He couldn't stay in here and let this battle go on.

"I'm telling you, there…" Gohan began, but he trailed off. He got a pensive look on his face as he said, "There might be a way…"

"What is it?" Vegeta demanded.

"The energy absorbers," Gohan supplied, "They might be able to absorb a lot of energy, but even they have their limits. If we can cause them to overload, the program should end automatically. I doubt Trunks would even know about the feature, much less how to turn it off. There's just one problem…"

"What is it?" Vegeta interjected when he saw the look on Gohan's face.

"I designed those absorbers to take a lot…I don't know if we can produce enough power to overload them," Gohan admitted.

Vegeta was stunned; he'd always known Gohan was smart, but he'd managed to make absorbers THAT strong. Vegeta merely looked at Gohan as he said, "Only way to find out,"

Gohan nodded, "I'll take point," Gohan supplied. Before Vegeta could respond, his ki exploded upwards as he cupped his hands. Gohan turned towards the wall and shouted, "KAAAA….MEEEE….HAAAA….MEEEE….HAAAAA!!!!!" As the blast left Gohan, Vegeta found himself being pushed back. Incredible Vegeta admitted. He wasn't even the target, and the sheer force of being near it was overwhelming. The blast slammed into the walls with immense power; the walls began to glow brighter and brighter as the absorbers tried to redirect the energy hitting them.

Finally, the blast died. As Gohan slumped forward, dropping out of Super Saiyan, the computer said, "Warning! Absorbers at 62 percent of capacity."

"Your turn," Gohan gasped as he took deep breaths. He was spent; Vegeta could tell that easily. And Vegeta felt fear rise within him. It had taken all of Gohan's power to reach 62 percent; Vegeta wasn't sure he had enough energy to push it over. But there was no choice.

Vegeta pulled in every ounce of energy he had, and shouted, "GALLIC GUN…FIRE!!!" As the blast left him, Vegeta found himself doing something he'd never done before. He prayed it would be enough. The blast erupted out and slammed into the wall a mere inch from where Gohan hit. Vegeta continued to feed more and more ki into his blast, waiting for the wall to give.

"Warning! Absorbers at 80 percent of capacity,"

Vegeta felt horror rise up within him. The absorbers were only at 80 percent, and he was already struggling. His power reserves were dwindling; Vegeta knew he couldn't hold it for long, much less generate enough power to get the absorbers maxed out. As Vegeta's head began to droop in weariness, fear and shame flowed through him. He was…failing.

"DADDY!!!"

Vegeta's head shot up as if hit. He knew that voice; though it had been faint, it was definitely Trunks. Trunks knew how much Vegeta hated 'Daddy'; if he was shouting that, he was in real trouble. Vegeta could feel his son's ki; it was incredibly low, and Vegeta knew with a warrior's experience that Trunks had only a minute, possibly two before it was all over. His son was going to die.

As that thought hit him, Vegeta found himself remembering Mirai Trunks. The boy had been rude and weak; Vegeta found him annoying, and could barely stand him at the time. But he remembered the feelings that had risen within him when Cell had killed the boy. Pain of a nature and scale Vegeta could not believe. Guilt. Sadness. Rage. It had torn through Vegeta with the power of a hurricane. Though he had pretended unconcern, Vegeta privately felt he could never survive such an event again. How would it feel to lose a boy he had watched grow from infancy? A boy who he had worked to shape into a proper Saiyan, a boy Vegeta privately admitted he was quite proud of.

If I don't get out there, he's dead Vegeta realized. It was true; Trunks and Bulma would be dead shortly if no one helped them. No other fighters were nearby, not that they could help. Gohan was nearly unconscious, and Vegeta doubted he could rise to fight. If Vegeta didn't get out there, then Bulma…Trunks…he would lose them both.

Vegeta screamed, and as he screamed he felt power rise within him. He was dimly aware of his body changing, of his hair growing straighter and his muscles expanding, but it didn't matter. All that mattered to Vegeta was he needed more power. He needed to get out there, to save Trunks, to save Bulma. He had to get out there to save his…family.

"WARNING! Absorbers at maximum capacity. Initiating emergency shut-down."

As soon as the words registered, Vegeta moved. He shot through the opening doorway and flew at full speed towards the unfamiliar ki. Vegeta erupted through the roof of Capsule Corps and let out a battle cry. He skidded to a stop when he saw what was before him.

Vegeta had been expecting a monster, perhaps a being like Frieza. He expected to find his son on his last legs, barely standing and Capsule Corps nearly destroyed. Instead, his son was floating next to Lime, acting as if the world were perfect. In Lime's hand was some sort of glowing orb, and Vegeta realized in surprise that the unfamiliar ki he felt was Lime's mixed with that orb. Somehow that device was enhancing and altering her ki reading.

"What is going on?" Vegeta asked quietly, barely suppressing his rage. Where was the damage, the monster? If Lime really had been the new ki, why had he felt Trunk's ki fluctuating? And why did Bulma send that message into the Gravity Room?

"You did it, dad," Trunks shouted in happiness. "I knew you could do it; you are the strongest warrior ever. There's nothing you can't do, cause you RULE!"

"What did I do?" Vegeta demanded. This was making less and less since; what in the Hell was going on?

"Um…reach Super Saiyan 2?" Trunks remarked in confusion.

"What!" Vegeta remarked. He looked down and felt shock rise within him. He was Super Saiyan 2; Vegeta could feel the new strength and energy flowing through him. It was…amazing, and it was much stronger than he'd been before. Vegeta had been so focused on getting out to fight, he'd never even realized he's ascended.

"Congratulations Vegeta,"

Vegeta whirled and saw to his shock Gohan floating next to him. Though he looked tired, there was a genuine smile on Gohan's face, and Vegeta realized Gohan had the answers. "Gohan, what is going on?" Vegeta demanded sharply.

"You were so close to Super Saiyan 2," Gohan explained, "but without a driving need, you would never have ascended. Since nothing was going to come along to create that need…I made one up for you."

Comprehension ran through Vegeta, and he stated, "This was a trick? All of it, the Gravity Room, the message, the 'new power'…all of it was to make me ascend?"

"Yes," Gohan offered with a nod.

Vegeta was furious; he wanted to pound Gohan into the dirt for tricking him. I could do it too Vegeta realized with amusement. Now that he was Super Saiyan 2, they were much closer in strength. In Gohan's weakened state, it would be no contest. Seeing the look on Gohan's face, Vegeta realized Gohan expected him to do just that. Gohan knew him well enough to know he would want vengeance for this, and he'd done it anyway. That fact alone stopped Vegeta.

As Vegeta continued to stare at Gohan, he felt a new sense of respect. He'd always thought of Gohan as a proper Saiyan warrior, at least physically. But Vegeta privately felt that Gohan lacked the Saiyan attitude. He lacked the ability to put aside feelings and do what needed to be done. No longer; it was obvious Vegeta had underestimated Gohan, and he vowed never to do that again. Nor could Vegeta argue with the results; Vegeta had finally reached the goal he had been working towards for over seven years, and it felt good. He knew what he had to do now, no matter how much it went against his nature…his old nature.

"Gohan…" Vegeta growled. Gohan tensed, and Vegeta hid a smile. Gohan expected Vegeta to attack, but Vegeta had changed. And for the first time in a long time, Vegeta didn't consider that a bad thing.

"Thank you…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Well, what did you guys think? Please tell me how you liked the way Vegeta ascended. I chose it for a specific reason, not only because he needed to reach Super Saiyan 2 but also to show his growth as a character. Vegeta reached Super Saiyan originally simply because he needed to be stronger than Kakkarot. It was his only driving desire, as several of you have pointed out in reviews. It always bothered me in the show how Vegeta reached level 2, and so I changed it. Spending so much time on Earth changed Vegeta, and I felt this was a perfect time to show that. His driving need to ascend has shifted, revealing some of the changes I feel should have happened to his personality on the show. Anyway, I hope you liked it.

On to other things:

Goleta: Sensei did not teach Gohan how to reach Super Saiyan 2. However, if you'll look but in my story, he tricked Gohan to reach Super Saiyan 3. He had Gohan convinced he had held out about Chi-chi's illness, which lead to her death. He gave Gohan the anger and need which allowed him to reach Super Saiyan 3.

Please read and review. I'll get the next part up as soon as I can.