Captain Blues: And a new chapter is upon us. I wanted to give a quick update on the pairings.
PAIRING UPDATE:
Gohan/Videl, Goku/Chi-Chi, Vegeta/Bulma, Future Trunks/Future Android 18, Android 17/Erasa, Android 18/Krillin, Tapion/Zangya, Yamcha/Android 21, and Tien/Launch.
Captain Blues: Poor Yamcha lol enjoy the chapter
Merging Spirits: Legacy of Gohan Unchained
Chapter Five: Seven Years Later…
"Gohan!" Goten shouted out as he circled his older brother, who was hovering in the air in deep meditation, his short spiky black hair flowing in the wind gently.
In honor of his teacher, Gohan took up not only meditating but also took up Piccolo's clothing. Gohan knew his subtle tribute would touch Piccolo, and that made him happy on the inside.
"Gohan!" Goten frowned when he realized his brother didn't respond the first time he had called him and stood up on his toes and tugged at the end of his brother's cape.
Gohan opened his eyes and smiled at the mini-clone of his father.
Gohan unfolded his legs, placed them on the ground, and then patted his brother's head, which caused Goten to laugh happily. "What's going on, Goten?" Gohan asked his little brother
"Mom and Dad want to talk to you about something. It seems very, very important," Goten answered.
Gohan could only sigh at this.
It seemed that both his mother and father needed to have that same tired talk they did a few years back.
"Let them know I'm on my way, little brother," Gohan instructed.
Goten smiled at this and ran back home while Gohan watched him with a gentle smile.
It has been seven years since the legendary battle between the fierce Gohan and the diabolical Cell, which ended with the latter being wholly dominated but without sacrifices.
Piccolo lost his life when he took a powerful blast. After explaining the situation to Gohan, Piccolo decided not to return to the earth with the help of the Dragonballs, which shocked them all.
The Z-Fighters then received another shock when they saw Gohan merely smile and nod at Piccolo's request.
Krillin then used the final wish to remove the bombs from the bodies of Seventeen and Eighteen, which the latter repaid with a kiss on the cheek and a small but sincere smile.
While Gohan had decided to give them a second chance, he still did not trust them, and with a mere glare and changed into his Super Saiyan 2 form, He silently got his threat across to them.
After this, Gohan and Goku returned home to Chi-Chi, who scooped them up in her eyes and cried tears of relief.
But that didn't last long when she swiftly began to push Gohan into his room for bed so he could start on his studying, wanting him to put all of this behind him, but Gohan knew he had to put a quick stop to his mother's coddling.
He told her with a loving but stern voice that he wasn't just going to drop everything and let his skills die to study, despite understanding how important it was in the world.
After ten minutes of talking about it, Chi-Chi decided that he'd better study as long and as hard as he did with his training if he was going to train.
Usually, she wouldn't have caved on this, but knowing that Gohan had lost his sensei, who decided not to come back as well as saving the world, she had no right to refuse him anything right now.
Besides, she had news of her own to give regarding the new addition to the family, but this was not the only surprise that would come to the close-knit group.
To everyone's shock, Krillin and Eighteen had gotten together, then got married, then had a daughter named Marron, which had Goku very confused about how an android could have a baby, which a tired but glowing Eighteen explained to him.
Tien and Launch then married and had their child.
But while everyone was in a time of peace, Gohan knew that all of it could come crashing down at any time. Gohan didn't allow himself the usual luxuries of love or friendship outside of his team.
For the last seven years, Gohan trained with Vegeta and his father, meditate, eat and study, and the last one was more of what his mother had wanted.
He knew it was a nomadic way of experiencing life, but he felt that this was the best. Besides, he had his large family along with Dende and Lime as his friends.
That's all he needed.
Gohan walked to his house and opened the door where a happy Goten grabbed his hand and pulled him to the kitchen where Goku and Chi-Chi were waiting for him, both of them sparing him a worried look.
"Sit, son," Goku said while motioning to the chair across the table.
Giving Goku a quick look, Gohan pulled out the chair across from them and sat down with a smile. Despite their fight near the end of that day seven years ago, the father and son duo were still as tight as ever.
It also helped that he made up for his years being dead during the last seven years.
"Sweetie, we need to talk to you about something we feel is important," Chi-Chi started while giving her son a small smile, which he returned. "The thing is Gohan is that you need to have some interaction with people your own-."
"That won't be necessary, Mother," Gohan interrupted with a tiny frown.
It was what he feared.
They had tried this trick once a few months after he had defeated Cell, but he had fought against it, saying he wasn't sure it was a good idea, especially after what they watched on the news three days after Cell was killed.
Flashback
"Hey, guys, that goofy martial artist in on the news, and he's talking about Cell!" Krillin exclaimed, his voice traveling throughout the Son home. Gohan, Goku, and Chi-Chi walked into the living room towards the TV and sat next to the bald monk to hear what this guy had to say.
After hearing the Mayor of Orange Star City yelled out, "Here's Hercule!"
A man with a goofy black afro, a mustache as well as a five o'clock shadow, a brown Gi, white martial arts pants, a white martial arts belt, and black boots with white straps on it came out to an unseen crowd cheering his name, but the man did not respond to these cheers.
Instead, he silently walked to the podium and gave a stare to the cameras, and said, "Hello, people of the world. I'm Hercule Satan, and I have something to say, so listen to what I have to say…."
The audience fell silent as the residents of the Son house fell quiet as well, curious to what the man had to say.
"I've heard rumors that I was the one responsible for defeating that horrible monster Cell at his tournament, but the truth of the matter is that I wasn't the one to do him in," Hercule told them.
Gasps were heard throughout the audience when Hercule said this, but the man lifted his hand and continued.
"We all saw the damage that monster could do. How could I, a mere mortal man, defeat something like that? The answer is that I couldn't do it. I tried, Kami knows I tried, but whatever I threw at him, Cell didn't even bat an eye at. I lost outright."
"Then who defeated him?" A random person in the audience asked.
Instead of telling them, Hercule walked off the podium and asked for a projector. After a few minutes of waiting, the machine finally arrived, and that's when Hercule placed a picture that shocked the audience and the Son household.
For on that picture showed Gohan, in his super Saiyan two form, ripping off Cell's arm then another with Gohan floating in mid-air in his base form. Luckily, no one could see the boy's face in both pictures due to the camera being too far to capture the boy's face.
"That," Hercule said while pointing to the boy in the picture. "Is the savior of the world…And that is the person you should be thanking instead of me…."
End Flashback
After that shocking incident, Chi-Chi instantly caved into Gohan's plea to stay, but now she realized that it had been seven years since then and everyone would be passed what had happened and saw to it that he would get the life she knew he deserved.
And what Gohan deserved was a life filled with happiness and safety.
Gohan then tried to argue that he had no time for school and that he was smart enough to bypass all of it due to his years of endless studying, But Chi-Chi wouldn't hear any of it.
She had to watch for seven long years of her watching her son close himself off to the outside world and didn't want to see that happen to her firstborn. She wanted him to make friends and find a girlfriend and give her lovely grandchildren, and she felt that now was the time for that to happen.
"No arguing against it. It would help if you didn't become a hermit. Now, I signed you up for that school, Orange Star high, down in Hercule city," Chi-Chi told him.
Despite Hercule telling the world that he did not save them all, the vast majority of people refused to believe that a child had saved him and claimed them as their savior and named a city after him.
"Mother…." Gohan protested.
"No," She interrupted immediately, a firm tone in her voice. "You are going to do this, Son Gohan, and that is the last I'll say it."
Gohan merely sighed at this.
"I cannot believe I'm doing this."
Goten giggled playfully at his big brother's annoyance as an uncomfortable Gohan stood in front of a mirror.
Gohan's typically spiky black hair slicked down, a white button-down shirt with a black tie underneath his collar, as well as a pair of black slacks and a pair of black leather shoes.
Gohan growled and ripped off the tie, then messed up his hair (ironically making his hair similar to Mirai Gohan's) before tossing the tie aside.
It had been two weeks since his conversation with his mother, and Today would be the first day of high school.
"I cannot believe I let mom talk me into this," Gohan grumbled. "This has to be the dumbest thing I've ever done."
Gohan sighed while looking at himself in the mirror with a frown on his face.
He did not want to be doing this at all.
Sensing his brother's annoyance, Goten grabbed his hand and softly asked, "Big Brother…Are you ok?"
Gohan nodded absentmindedly at his brother before rubbing the chibi-Saiyan's hair, once again causing Goten to smile.
Gohan would admit it to anyone that he adored his baby brother more than anything in the world, and it always made him happy to see Goten happy.
"Gohan, it's time for you to go!" Chi-Chi yelled from down the hall, making Gohan sigh as he was forced to remember his predicament.
"Alright!" Gohan yelled back before turning back to the mirror warily.
He realized that these clothes would be more suitable for him.
Gohan gave his little brother a hug, which Goten returned with a sad expression as he murmured, "It's gonna be boring without you…."
"Don't worry, Mom said she'll be taking you to see Trunks today," Gohan told him with a smile on his face, causing Goten to yell in excitement before bouncing away, causing Gohan to laugh.
Gohan then walked out of the room into the kitchen where Chi-Chi stood cooking breakfast for Goten and his father.
Gohan grabbed an apple from the bowl, gave his mom a quick kiss on the cheek as he said. "I love you," before running out of the house.
Gohan could hear his mother shout, "I love you too! Have a good day!" as Gohan flew into the air to his destination.
Out of all the things Gohan loved to do, flying had to be the number one thing. He always felt truly free while he was in the air, unchained from the world beneath him.
If only for a short time.
Seeing Hercule city slowly come from the horizon, Gohan let out a small sigh while gently descending towards the ground until he landed just outside the city gates.
Gohan adjusted the book bag in his right hand and started to walk inside the city, taking the map of the town from his back pocket and digging his face into it, trying to find the school on his map, but that's when he heard screaming ahead of him.
He saw a gang of bank robbers with a woman in their grasp and a gun to her. Without caring for the consequences, Gohan dropped his map and began to run towards the group of robbers, his body slowly flickering out of existence.
The robber that held the woman captive never saw it coming. One minute he was holding the woman. The next minute, he fell to the ground from a kick to the face, luckily not firing his gun and killing the woman.
All of the robbers turned around at the sudden attack of their partner, only for a flash of black to appear in front of them, leaving them unconscious moments later.
The group of people who saw this shocked at the sudden but vicious attack the teen dealt out while Gohan shook his right hand slowly, not aware that one of the men he had put down slowly stood up.
"You'll pay for that!" The robber yelled as he threw a punch to the back of Gohan's head, only for Gohan to catch it without turning around.
Gohan gripped the fist that caught in his hand, making the man yell in pain before slowly lifting his leg and kicking the man in the stomach while simultaneously letting go of the robber's hand.
The man flew fly back into the bank, shattering the glass windows and slamming into one of the desks.
Gohan adjusted his book bag that rested on his shoulder and started to walk away when the crowd of people surrounded him, congratulating him, but Gohan told them, "I don't need any thanks," Which was true to him.
As a hero to Earth, he would protect them at all costs and would not regret a single thing.
With a smile, Gohan got out of the crowd and jogged away from the group. When Gohan noticed them following him, the Demi-Saiyan waited until he turned a corner to activate his super speed, flickering away from sight in an instant.
But just as he did, a girl with black hair tied in pigtails, sparkling blue eyes, a long white T-shirt that fell to her knees, black bicycle shorts, green boots, black fingerless gloves came running around the corner.
"Now, Now, settle down, everyone. Today we have a new student joining our class," The voice of the teacher said from inside the classroom while Gohan stood outside in the hallway, his body resting against the wall next to the classroom door.
Any moment now, the teacher would call him in, thus beginning one of the worst experiences in his new, peace-filled life, and he savored the last little moments he had left. Unfortunately, he heard a feminine voice shout out, "You!" effectively ruining his peace.
Gohan turned his head to the left; his eyes gazed upon the girl he had briefly seen before vanishing during his earlier exploits. Gohan had to admit that she was cuter this time around, but that frown that marred her face kind of ruined her pretty features.
"Me?" He asked as he pointed to himself, which only grew when she frowned more.
"Who else would I be talking to in an empty hallway?" The girl asked.
Glancing around, Gohan let a small grin play on his lips.
It was empty.
"So you are talking to me then?" Gohan asked.
The girl stepped forward until she was right in front of him and cut right to the chase, to her at least. "I heard that some mysterious blacked haired man stopped a bank robbery today," The girl began. "He was wearing the very same clothes as you were, so I'm deducing that you are that guy."
Gohan couldn't help but let a smirk form on his face.
"Ding, ding, you guessed right," Gohan answered with a grin. He watched the girl's unnaturally blue eyes sparkle in delight but then that quickly died as she poked his chest.
"Well, I'm personally glad you were able to get there and stop it without anyone hurt, but protecting this town is my duty. So leave the heroics to the professionals," The girl explained to him with a proud smile on her face.
Gohan knew he shouldn't have laughed, but he did, which caused the girl's smile to morph into a scowl which then deepened when he began to laugh harder, but then Gohan stopped when he saw her angered face.
"I'm sorry," Gohan chuckled out. "It's just t-that, you're my age, are you not? Shouldn't you leave the "Heroics" to the police force?"
The girl merely scoffed and turned away from him and said, "Yeah, but I can respond quicker than they could. Besides, I can practically do whatever I please in this city due to my father defeating Cell, so I happen to protect everyone. Just like him."
Gohan simply gave her a look.
'So…She's the daughter of Hercule, huh? Interesting,' Gohan thought to himself with mild interest before sighing. So it seemed that she belongs to the group of people that believe Hercule had beaten Cell.
He honestly felt terrible for the martial artist now.
If his daughter even couldn't believe the truth from his mouth, then no one would unless he or any of the others got into a battle where someone was recording it.
"As…admirable as that may be, you shouldn't put yourself in dan-"
"I got this speech from my father already. I don't need a repeat from someone that doesn't even know me. Just stay out of the way, got it?" She interrupted with a glare before walking into the classroom he would be entering at any moment, but then a vision floated into his head.
Gohan's Memory
Orange City was the first city that the menacing androids had attacked, and the town was also the resting place of both Yamcha and Krillin.
The androids must have realized that there were some survivors because they returned after a year to wipe it out, but this time, Gohan was there to stop their merciless slaughter.
Gohan was brutally beaten and nearly died after the battle had it not been for the androids getting bored and the survivors finding him and taking them to a surprisingly intact mansion where only fifty people remained after the attack.
After Gohan recovered from his wounds, Gohan was asked by the man who owned the last stable place of Orange Star City to meet him in his chambers by a few nurses.
At first, Gohan didn't want to meet with the man, especially finding out that he looked nothing short of a goofball. Still, after the remaining citizens begged him to see the man, Gohan reluctantly accepted and now found himself sitting in front of the man and found himself looking at a darkened version of the man.
"So, you had a daughter?" Gohan asked with his arms crossed as he looked at the martial artist sitting before him in an oversized leather chair, the man's eyes gazing at him sadly.
"Yeah,…Her name was Videl. My sweet-pea was one of the greatest things that had happened to me, next time my lovely wife, Persephone." As he said this, the man handed Gohan a photo of Videl with a shaky hand which Gohan looked at and smiled slightly.
"She's lovely, Mr. Satan," Gohan replied while handing him back the photo before he asked, "Where is she? I haven't seen anyone like her during my time here."
The immediate silence overtook the entire flame-lit room made Gohan uncomfortable, but it didn't last long because the man began to speak. "When the androids first attacked this city, she and a large group of my best students went to fight them and stop them from destroying this place….T-They didn't stand a chance."
"Where were you during this?" Gohan asked with an edge in his voice and a piercing stare which only softened when he saw the man look down at his lap, a scowl forming on his lips.
"I was fighting a high fever during the time. I had wanted to fight them regardless of my health, but my sweet pea said she would handle it. If only I had known what would befall her, I would have traded places with her in an instant…."
The man looked as if he was holding back tears, but before Gohan could ask what happened to her, the man continued.
"She had taken my best students to defend this city...Telling me that she would come back before dinner but a-after a few hours, I didn't hear from her, so I grew worried, and despite my high fever, I left my home to find her and what I found was nothing short but a slaughter…."
The man then fell onto his hands and knees in front of Gohan, and with a tearful tone, the man said, "When she died, I had given up hope in trying to try for a better future for these people but seeing you fight them…It gave us all hope…." The man then looked up at Gohan with tears streaming from his eyes and pleaded with the demi-Saiyan, "Please…For my daughter…Please kill them."
A few days later, after Gohan left, the androids had returned for one more sweep and not only killed all who were in that place. And when Gohan finally arrived, he found Mr. Satan's headless body amongst the dead.
Vision ends
Gohan blinked away the vision and looked back at the classroom where the girl entered and felt a saddened feeling overcome him.
'I-It seems she was like this in her alternate life also…Well, it seems I need to change this before this Heroic girl finds herself suffering the same death she did then…But how?' Gohan thought with a deep sigh and looked out of the glass window next to him, but he didn't have time to think about this because he suddenly heard.
"-Now it's time to introduce our new student, Son Gohan!"
Captain Blues: And that's that….What will happen in the next chapter? Find out next time. See you then!