Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or DBZ. Wouldn't be much of a fanfic if I did.
Hey so this is a something I've been working on for a while now that I'm pretty excited about. Hope y'all like it.
Chapter 1: A Whole New World
"Gohan!" cried Goku.
The Attack pod had begun to whir with life as it rose up into the sky. "Wh-what?!" Gohan sputtered, his hands fluttering in vain as he watched the assortment of buttons flash.
"Dammit!" cursed a long haired Saiyan. Raditz, the brother of Goku and Gohan's uncle.
Gohan began to hyperventilate. He had only slammed a button in anger at what was happening to his daddy. He didn't mean to take off for outer space!
The half-saiyan looked on in horror as Raditz raised a glowing palm towards the Saiyan pod. Gohan sniffed as hot tears streamed down his cheeks. It was all over; he was going to die.
Suddenly, Goku locked his brother into a full nelson. Gohan watched in awe, pressing his face to the glass. "Yeah!" Gohan cheered. "Go get him, Daddy!"
Raditz tried to struggle out of his brother's grip, but Goku held tight like a man possessed. They seemed to exchange some words, but Gohan was too high up to hear.
"PICCOLO! DO IT NOW!"
Gohan jolted at the powerful command bellowed from Goku. He could barely tell what was going on as he left the atmosphere. However, he clearly noticed a sudden flash of light. The scene was etched into his mind. There was a shout as a beam shot through the landscape. Two warriors dropped to the grass. He didn't know how he knew, but he was certain that his father had died.
Gohan unleashed a whole new set of tears.
Gohan awoke with a gasp. He didn't need to feel his face to know that it was stained with tears, and his forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat. He sat up with a heaving sigh, wiping furiously at the tears.
Sitting next to him was his young friend, Shen. She was two years younger than him at a young age of ten. Her brown hair was like a rat's nest which fit well with her rumpled clothing and dusty cheeks. Her thin, wiry frame might've given off the inclination that she was weak, but, if you really knew her, you'd know she was anything but.
It definitely helped when you were living in an orphanage.
They got along swimmingly because they were both the "weird" kids. Gohan used to have a tail when he was younger that had long since been cut off. It had gotten him ostracized and ridiculed by his peers, but he also had a secret that no one else knew about.
He could see the future.
He'd been hard pressed to believe what he'd been seeing were actually visions, until they started coming true. At first, the visions had been simple, harmless things: finding out it would rain the Monday of next week, knowing who was going to get adopted next, figuring out what they would be having for lunch the next day. It seemed useful and a little bit cool, for the most part.
Then, he got his first awful vision.
Vegeta and Nappa, two Saiyans who worked with Raditz, arrived on his Earth. The Saiyan's who worked for Vegeta would be more appropriate. They had come to Earth for the Dragon Balls, but his father's friends tried to fight them off. They were able to kill Nappa, but Vegeta was too strong for them.
He could vividly remember each futile scream they gave just before they died. He was certain that he'd never forget them for as long as he lived. It looked like things would get better when his father returned, somehow from the grave. But it was useless. His father was killed by Vegeta. The prince tried to attain immortality, but his attempt was thwarted by Kami's self-destruction.
He couldn't breath a word of that to anyone if he didn't want to wind up in the loony bin.
That's where Shen came in.
She was different, just like him. Aside from being the only bender in the orphanage, she could also see spirits and sense their presence. They'd bonded quickly over their abnormalities, despite the instability of friendships in their environment.
"It's morning, kid. Get up!"
Gohan winced at that. He wasn't a big fan of her referring to him as kid, but there wasn't much he could do about it. However, he was grateful that she didn't baby him when he had his nightmares. Pity only made him feel worse.
"Alright, alright, I'm already up! Geez."
Gohan looked around in bewilderment. It was still considerably dark outside with only the slightest hint of the sun.
"Why'd you wake me up?" whined Gohan as he laid back down on his bed. "The sun isn't even out, yet."
Shen rolled her brown eyes. "C'mon Gohan, ya gotta seize the day! We're gonna have to head out early for our adventure."
Gohan blinked. Why did he not like the sound of this? "What 'adventure'?"
Shen grinned her mischievous little grin. "We're gonna raid the Beifong's house!"
Gohan snapped up out of bed. "Are you insane?!" he hissed. "You could get arrested for that!"
Shen shrugged. "Only if we get caught."
Gohan stared hard at her. "Nope. We're not going anywhere. I'm not getting in trouble for something like this."
Shen pouted as she crossed her arms. "All ya do is sit in here, go to work, and mope all day. What're ya gonna tell your children, huh? Ya gonna tell them that you just wasted your best years doing nothing?"
Gohan winced. He hadn't been doing nothing. He'd been living his life perfectly fine. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized he had only just been living. Not really ever doing anything more.
Still, he wasn't about to go do something so blatantly illegal. He could almost see his mother's disapproving glare. "I'm not going."
Shen scowled. "Well, I'm still going even if you aren't, ya coward."
Gohan sighed and rubbed at his bleary eyes. "You're actually going to do this?"
"Yep."
Gohan gave a mirthless laugh. Shen always did seem to know what to do to get her way. "OK, I'm going too. Can't have you getting caught."
Shen mock scoffed at the thought. "Pssh. I don't need your help. I'm an expert in this sort of thing."
Gohan chuckled. "Right, how could I forget?" The half-Saiyan slung his legs onto the floor and rose off his bed. "Let's go."
"Alright, cool!" chipped Shen as she headed out the window.
Gohan sighed, trailing after the girl. This was gonna be a long day.
The duo were standing across the path from the Beifong estate. It was probably the biggest building he'd ever seen. It was comprised of a tall gate that stretched into stone walls that encompassed the entirety of the compound. He could barely make out the mansion just beyond the gates.
Gohan watched the two guards stationed in front of the gates with apprehension. "Now, how do we get in? The guards will spot us!"
If Gohan thought that would dissuade her, he had another thing coming. Shen smirked, cracking her knuckles. "Leave it to me."
The brunette gave a hard stomp at the ground, and it soon gave way to a medium sized tunnel under the ground.
"Come on!" shouted Shen as she dove into the hole. Gohan took a quick look around to make sure no one was looking and hopped down.
Once Gohan was in, Shen made a swiping motion, and the earth above them knit itself back together. "Now no one'll know we're down here. The perfect crime."
Gohan glared at Shen, incredulously. "We could've been spotted! Or has that not occurred to you yet?!"
"But we weren't. Now follow me."
Shen began to stalk off in the direction of the Beifong home, making clawed swiping motions to part the earth ahead of them.
Gohan quickly felt his ire drift away as he became transfixed by Shen's bending. The ability to control elements was unheard of on his Earth. Of course, no one on this planet could use Ki blasts or fly, but this was a very interesting change in its own right.
Occasionally, Shen had Gohan listen for any sign of people before she opened a hole above them to see where they were. Then, she'd close it back.
"You've planned this for a while haven't you?" asked Gohan, noting the relative ease she had been moving with.
Shen rolled her eyes. "Do ya think I'm so impulsive that I can't plan anything?"
She continued this until the pair were underneath the mansion. She continued to sift until Gohan heard quiet.
"Hey," he breathed. "There's no one here!"
Shen nodded as she carefully opened a hole. She may have been reckless, but even she knew to be careful. They needed to leave no trace of their arrival.
Finally, with the hole completely open, Shen peeked out of it.
Gohan watched with bated breath, anticipating the worst. So, he was a bit startled when she dropped back down with her impish grin. "We're clear! C'mon!"
Shen climbed out of the hole followed by the half-alien as he took in their surroundings.
They were in the Beifong garden.
It was a beautiful feat of careful pruning and loving nurture. Flowers blossomed all around, ferns sprang up all around him. There was a small lake, not too far, off with fish of various sizes and colors swimming, frivolously. It was the closest feeling he'd had to being home in a long time. He couldn't help the twinge of heartache eating at him.
"Hey, Earth to Gohan."
Gohan blinked as he looked over to the annoyed child. He glanced back at the hole, or what used to be the hole, only to find grass. There was virtually no going back now. "Oh, sorry. I got distracted."
"I can see that," drawled Shen. "Let's go live the rich life, kid!"
Shen strolled out of the garden like she owned the place. Gohan shook his head and slowly walked after her. This kid was going to be the death of him.
The inside was even more extraordinary than the garden.
The marble floor was so polished that Gohan could easily view his reflection off of it, the ceiling seemed as though it reached to outer space, and the walls were adorned with artifacts probably worth more than his life. Despite this, Gohan wasn't able to entirely distract himself. Every odd sound had the half-Saiyan ready to duck for cover.
"We shouldn't be here," whispered Gohan as they ducked around a corner. "We'll get in so much trouble."
"Why are ya so squeamish?" asked Shen, stopping to glare at him. "Did ya get a vision or something? Is the roof gonna fall on our heads?"
"No but-"
"OK. We'll be fine then. Just follow my lead."
With that she turned another corner and headed down a wide corridor. "They've got servants everywhere. Don't you think we're a little bit too open?"
Shen shrugged. "I can just earthbend us out of here. It's no biggie. Besides, I've scouted this place before."
"What if they see us?" pressed Gohan.
"Will ya just drop it?!" hissed Shen. "If you're so scared, you can leave!"
But Gohan could see she was becoming antsy. They both knew Gohan's instincts were usually right, premonitions or not.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Gohan, eyes darting over to a room behind them.
Shen rolled her eyes. "Relax, crybaby. I'm just heading to the kitchen. The food they've got here has gotta be the stuff of legends."
Gohan's cheeks reddened in embarrassment as his stomach growled at the mention of food. 'Stupid traitor' Gohan inwardly grumbled.
Shen smirked. "Good to see your stomach agrees. C'mon!"
Shen strolled off, nose sniffing for some delicious treats, until she stopped in her tracks. Gohan glanced inside to see what stopped her, only to come face to face with a young girl. His heart dropped into his stomach.
"Who are you people?" asked the girl. Her tone was far more hostile than a kid her age had any right to be.
Gohan couldn't help but look down in shame and terror. "I-I didn't mean to. . We weren't guh-going to-"
"Oh for spirit's sake!" exclaimed Shen.
Gohan looked at the young bender in disbelief.
"Look, we were just looking around and stuff. We weren't gonna take anything."
The girl watched them for a while. Gohan couldn't meet her eyes, but he could feel her stare. It was unnerving, almost seeming like she was looking into his soul.
"You're lying."
Shen rolled her eyes. She seemed aloof, but Gohan knew better. She was scared.
That simple fact was enough to send shivers down the half-Saiyan's spine. She was almost never rattled by anything.
"OK, we were just gonna get some food, so what? That's all we were gonna take."
"We?!"
The girl just watched them for a bit, before cracking a small smirk. "Against my better judgement, I'm gonna let you both go."
Gohan dropped to his knees and bowed, letting go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank you so much, miss!"
His eyes widened as he felt that all too familiar tingle in the back of his head. He was about to have a vision.
He didn't recognize the area in the slightest. It was a singular, wide and dusty road, lined with a lively forest on either side. The trees were a mix between old, tall, weathered oaks and younger, fresher ones. Their leaves seemed to gain a more vibrant sheen in the daylight.
More importantly than all of that were the three kids hitching a ride on a cart pulled by some strange creature: one boy and two girls. He easily recognized the boy as himself. He seemed more than a bit different, however.
His hair was longer than normal, coming down to the middle of his back. His clothes were more dirty and tattered than usual, looking a lot more like rags than actual clothing. Besides the physical changes, the normal apprehension and fear still adorned his face, but there was also a quiet strength hidden beneath the surface. He definitely hadn't seen this type of fight from himself before. He couldn't help but watch his future self in awe.
Next to him was Shen. She looked like her typical self; her sly grin and wild eyes promising multiple boulders of pain and broken bones.
The last girl surprised him. It was the girl that they were currently talking to. She had a look of determined rage that almost made Gohan want to run away. She was set in a stance, different from Shen's earthbending stance, with her hands forward, her palms facing her body, and a foot outstretched.
It was then that he noticed their combatants. Two older men. One had long, black hair that draped down past his shoulders. A cold smirk marred his face along with a piercing, grey-eyed stare. It went well with his muscled frame to make someone Gohan really didn't want to anger.
His partner was far less intimidating. He stood in a separate stance with a frown etched across his features. His hair was held in a bun, and a wispy mustache sat disconnected from a thin, long beard. His brows were creased in a disappointed manner that made his heart ache. It looked far too similar to the look his mother gave him whenever he was caught playing with the wildlife instead of studying.
"Toph!" boomed the long-haired man. "Return with us now and no harm will come to you and your friends!"
"Look, man," snapped Toph. "I'm not going back! So you can stuff it!"
She jumped out of the cart and thrust a fist forward as a sizable piece of the road followed her movement, causing the men to duck.
"Ugh, get up, dude."
Gohan blinked, confusedly. It took a while to realize that he was back in the present. He quickly stood up with a slight blush.
The girl had already turned her attention to Shen. "Hey, I like your moxy, but you should be more careful. The Beifongs wouldn't be as nice if they'd found you."
Shen nodded as she turned away pulling Gohan with her. "We'll be going, but, uh, I've got a question. Why are you here? I thought the Beifongs didn't have daughter."
The girl tensed for the briefest instance. "I did say the Beifongs, didn't I? I'm the daughter of a family friend."
Gohan looked from Shen to the girl, rapidly. There was no way that this was working out this well, right?
"Ah, I see. Well, see ya! Let's go, Gohan."
Gohan followed the younger child out of the mansion and into the garden. Shen quickly reopened the tunnel, and they were soon out out of the Beifong's estate, much to Gohan's relief.
"I am never doing that again."
"What do you mean we're going back?!"
"C'mon, don't be a wuss, Gohan. It'll be fun playing spy or something."
Gohan rubbed his temples in exasperation. "Do you not realize any of the problems with doing this, like at all?!"
"You need this, remember. Ya need some excitement to jump-start your life."
Gohan bit back a retort and took a deep breath. "There's a difference between finding excitement and doing something stupid. And illegal."
Shen stared back at him and huffed. "Alright, I guess you're right. We've got to do something, at least."
Gohan sighed. "Well, maybe we could ask one of the adults or something."
Shen rolled her eyes. "They aren't gonna let us do anything exciting, Gohan. They're boring, stuffy old people who haven't done anything fun in years."
"Fine. What do you have in mind that isn't illegal?"
Shen paused. He could almost see the gears turning in her head. "Earth Rumble VI."
Gohan's eyes just about bugged out of his skull. "Are you kid- you know we can't do that!"
"Why not? It's perfectly legal."
Gohan threw his hands up. "Fine! Do what you want, but don't come crying to me if you get in trouble."
Gohan turned around to head back to his room, or anywhere that Shen wasn't in general. He couldn't believe the nerve of her, guilting him into doing stupidly dangerous things all the time.
"Wait, Gohan."
The demi-Saiyan turned with a raised brow. Shen looked away, apparently finding the orphanage's paint-chipped wall more fascinating. "I'm trying to do this for you since ya seemed so. . . miserable in here. You looked like ya needed some cheering up, y'know?"
Gohan stared hard at the girl before his gaze softened. "I appreciate that but I don't wanna do something illegal. Ever again. Got it?"
Shen nodded, perking up immediately. "Totally! Never again."
"You're lying, aren't you?"
"Me? Never."
Gohan wasn't able to get anywhere close to the realm of sleep after what had happened that day. He was still more than a little bit cross with Shen, although he did understand. The understanding seemed to do little to numb the fear from being caught in the Beifong household, unfortunately.
That didn't even account for the vision.
He hadn't had one in a long while. It usually only showed up when something bad was about to happen...
Gohan shook his head. No, he had to be wrong. Maybe this wouldn't be happening for a while or even at all. Maybe it was just some weird daydream or something. Everything was going to be fine.
"Yeah," Gohan muttered, stifling a yawn. "Everything is gonna be fine."
Gohan blinked, owlishly. He wasn't a lucid dreamer, and he was pretty sure that he'd never had a vision while asleep.
Yet there he was standing in some weird supernatural realm. Or at least, a version of him was.
The other him was standing in front of a tree. It was the largest one Gohan had ever seen. The aging trunk seemed to stretch up for miles before the branches even began to jut out. Oddly enough, at the base of the tree, there was a wide hole that was easily taller than himself.
It took him a while to grasp that something was inside it.
He couldn't tell what it was. It looked like a writhing mass of black energy with orange designs littered about it. Just being near it made his skin crawl and every hair on his body stand on edge. It felt wrong.
"Where is Raava?"
Gohan watched with wide eyes. The future him didn't look the slightest bit bothered by the being if his powerful glare was any indication.
'Wait.' thought Gohan. 'Are those muscles?!'
Indeed, this version of Gohan was far stronger than him. He was almost starting to resemble his father.
The creature gave a deep, rumbling laugh. "You are bold, Trespasser, to come here and demand this of me."
"Where is she?"
"Now, why would I ever tell you where to find my rival?"
"Because you're not nearly as omnipotent as you've allowed people to believe," scoffed Future Gohan. "You're tied to this world just like the other spirits. When Vegeta blows this joint up, you're going down with it. If he had such blatant disregard for Raditz, he won't care about this planet either."
Gohan could feel his blood run cold. Raditz. That wasn't a name he'd heard in a while. To be frank, he didn't think he would ever hear it again. Was Raditz alive somewhere?
'No.' Gohan tried to assure himself. He died.'
But it was a weak rebuttal, even to his own ears. He thought his father was dead too, but he had come back from the dead to fight Vegeta.
Even worse was the name Vegeta. He'd had a vision of that man years ago. He'd seen him and his partner Nappa kill all of his friends and destroy his planet. His fists shook with barely contained emotion as he forced himself to watch on.
The thing gave a another long laugh. "You are bold to assume that my power only reaches this planet, boy!"
Future Gohan shrugged. "That may be so, but this planet is your stronghold. If it goes, so does your chances of ever leaving this place."
Gohan stood amazed. He was actually bargaining with this thing. He didn't think he had it in him.
"Hn!" scoffed the creature. "She's in the bottom of a lake, somewhere near the Southern Water Tribe."
Gohan nodded. "Thank you. Also, I want to know something else."
The thing seemed to glare down at the half-Saiyan. "Haven't you asked enough of me, mortal?"
"I want to know if I can a way to the other afterlife. The one with my family."
Whatever hopes he'd had of returning home were dashed. Even if somehow he'd known that to be the case all along. He felt his legs give out as he dropped to his knees.
Gohan felt his body start to shake and his eyes start to burn. "They're really dead. It was all true-"
"Leave my sight mortal!"
Gohan jerked as his eyes snapped back to the scene in front of him.
The Future Gohan raised defiant eyes blazing with a determination Gohan hadn't felt in ages. "No! I'm not leaving until you give me an answer, dammit!"
The creature stared at his counterpart with an annoyed reverence. If Gohan didn't know any better, he'd say he had received the thing's respect.
"The Spirit World is a doorway to many planes of existence, filled with powerful beings," the thing remarked, listlessly. "Who knows what you may find?"
The Future Gohan smiled as if all his questions were immediately answered. "Thank you, Vaatu."
Gohan's eyes snapped open as he looked about him, warily. He was back in the orphanage. No weird, evil, tree-living Spirits in sight.
He should've felt safe back in his bed, but he couldn't help but wonder if he'd stumbled on something really, really bad this time.
A/N: Feel free to review or follow or fave if ya like to. I'm not too sure when the next update will be, but I'll prolly have it on my profile. Have a good day, evening, afternoon, or whenever you happen to read this!
Uploaded: December 29th, 2020
