Author's note: This is a fic about Gohan. There may be other characters
that have big roles in the story, but it focuses mainly on Gohan. Some
characters may be OOC depending on how you view said characters. I have
many plans for Gohan and a general outline for the story, so things should
be updated pretty quickly unless I get stuck on something. I hope you enjoy
reading the story!
Summary: Gohan is blinded by what happened at the Cell games. What will happen to him now that he can no longer see? Story will span time from Cell games to high school, the world martial arts tournament, and maybe further.
Disclaimer: No I don't own dragon ball z otherwise Vegeta would be mine. All credit for characters go to their creator.
Author's note2: Hello again everyone. This is a new chapter. I know a lot of you are unhappy with the prediction of Gohan's life ending at such a young age, but I guarantee you that it is necessary for my plot line. In this story Ox King's castle was never destroyed. Roshi put out the fire but it didn't destroy the castle. Also, this chapter has a lot of swearing in it - at least I think it's more than the other chapters have had, but I don't really know. Anyway, I hope you like the new twist I put in here! This chapter is also a sort of transition chapter. Not really, but there are some parts that may seem like transitioning. Well, on to the story!
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//...// Is telepathy
Are thoughts or rather hearing character speaking to themselves inside their heads
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Explanations and Reassurances
Gohan snorted at Vegeta's question before answering, his voice still rough from crying.
"I think it would be better if I start from the beginning, back when I was still at school."
Vegeta just humphed while Piccolo nodded approvingly. Feeling exhausted and depressed, Gohan just wanted to sleep and brood over what had happened in that strange place he had gone to. It had been wonderful having his sight back for even a little while, and now he was depressed that he was back to being permanently blind. Knowing Vegeta and Piccolo wouldn't let him get any rest until he had explained everything to their satisfaction, Gohan collected his scattered thoughts, took a deep breath, and began to speak.
"I was in Home EC, the last period in school, when that Videl girl got called by the police to help with a robbery - apparently she's some sort of crime fighter. Anyway, I got curious so I decided to meditate so I could follow her mentally. The only problem was that I've never tried to do that while still on Earth - I've only done stuff like that to get to Otherworld. I quickly found out that it's a lot harder to maintain an image body when your real body is still in the same plane of existence - my mind kept trying to return to my real body and it was causing me some pain."
Piccolo was nodding in understanding at Gohan's explanation. Vegeta looked just a little confused, but he nodded as well. Even though he couldn't see them, Gohan could feel Piccolo's interest and Vegeta's confusion. Deciding it was time to continue, he started speaking again.
"While I was dealing with the difficulties between my mind and my image body, Videl got herself in a jam. So I rescued her. It was lucky I'd decided to make my image as me in SSJ3 form, or I would have been screwed for sure: I had to shield us from some bullets and Zanzoken to another part of the room. At that point the pain in my head was severe, but I was able to exchange a few words with Videl before I went back to my body. As soon as my mind returned to my real body it exploded into pain. There was so much pain I lost control of everything. I couldn't use my senses or anything so I grabbed for the first telepathic link I could find, which happened to be Vegeta's. I sent out a call for help and was sucked into the pain."
He paused again and Vegeta spoke.
"I got your message, brat, and when I tried to talk back to you I was hit by some of that pain you're talking about. It took me a minute to close the link, but I did and took off towards your ki. I found you rolling on the ground with a bunch of weak humans surrounding you and your ki going fucking nuts. I grabbed you and brought you back here. By the time I got you to the lab, you were in SSJ2 form. The woman tranquilized you and you fell unconscious. Green bean came in a few moments later wanting to know what happened, and when he tried to touch you he got shocked because your mind went somewhere else. Now where the hell did your mind go, brat?"
Gohan shifted on the bed, settling into the more comfortable lotus position. He was trying to decide how much he should tell Vegeta and Piccolo about what happened. He knew he could tell them most of it - like the tests he had to go through - but he really didn't want to tell them that he was apparently going to die before he was thirty, or that he wouldn't have a mate. That would just worry them too much, and probably make them pity him. That alone would just be too much for him to handle. His decision made, he began to speak softly.
"It was weird. I'm guessing it was the tranquillizer that triggered it, or maybe it was just a matter of time before it happened, but anyway - all of a sudden the pain vanished and I felt like I was waking up. To use that term, I woke up in an all white room almost exactly like the Room of Spirit and Time at the Lookout. The most amazing thing, however, was the fact that I could actually see. Then this weird voice began to speak to me inside my head. Now, mind you, these days no one - not even the Grand Kai - can get into my head unless I let them, but this voice was able to."
Gohan told Vegeta and Piccolo everything the voice had told him about where he was and why he was there, as well as what was supposed to happen. He then went on to talk about how everything changed, and how he found the lake with the five beings. He had fun describing what each of the women had looked like and their reactions to him. He could feel both Vegeta and Piccolo's shock at what he was telling them, and didn't blame them at all. He was having trouble believing it, and he had been the one to go through it all!
He went on to tell them how the beings had introduced themselves, then talked about the tests each of them had led him through. He was very meticulous with the details about each test, making sure to leave out nothing. By the time he'd gotten to the final test he could feel pride, along with the confusion and shock, coming from both Vegeta and Piccolo. It made him feel a little better, but all that good feeling disappeared as he began to talk about the fifth test.
"Tsuyosa took me out to some dessert. She didn't expect me to make it through her test at all - apparently only one person had done so before. So I turn around, and there in front of me, about a hundred yards away, are Cell, Cooler, Frieza, Android 17, and the Ginyu force. I had to fight them all at once and win in order to pass the test. For some odd reason I felt nothing when I looked at them. Whenever I thought of them before it was always with anger for the things they had done, but for some reason I just felt empty. I jumped up to SSJ2 and we began to fight."
Gohan went on to describe how he had decided to take out the Ginyu force and then Frieza, the weakest fighters first. Then he went on to describe the rest of the battle with the other four villains. When he got to the showdown with Cell, he had to make an effort to keep himself together and not fall apart again. Cell had been his nightmare for years and, while he hadn't felt anything during the battle, he was looking back on it now and it was tearing him apart. It was too similar to the fight seven years ago that had cost his father his life and his own eyesight. Pulling himself together, he managed to talk about the ki blast duel that had ended everything, just like the very first battle.
By now he could feel that Vegeta and Piccolo were both a little stunned by everything he had said, before especially about that last battle with Cell. He could also tell that they were worried about him and how it was affecting him. He didn't want them worrying about him - they probably already thought he was weak for breaking down in front of them. He knew both Vegeta and Piccolo detested crying and showing weakness; they never did, and they expected others to do the same. Especially if they were fighters. Taking some deep breaths, Gohan continued with the story.
He told them how all five beings had surrounded him afterwards, put their fingers on his wrists and after a few minutes of glowing white light the tattoo had appeared. He explained what the tattoo was, and that it was supposed to show everyone that he had passed all of the tests and earned the honor of carrying that mark. He then went on to explain that he had been sent back to the white room and the voice telling him that he was going to see glimpses of his future. This was the point in the story where Gohan was careful not to give out too much information. He didn't say that the voice told him he would see images up until the point he died, he just led Piccolo and Vegeta tto believe that he was only going to see a little bit of the future.
He went on to describe some of the scenes he had seen - like the one where he was graduating, and the one where he and Vegeta were in some arena in weird Saiyan battle armor. He took care to describe the outfits to Vegeta, who was very interested. He avoided telling them about the scene with the little blue haired child because, if he guessed correctly, it would be Vegeta's future daughter and he didn't want to mess that up. He also told Piccolo and Vegeta about the dojo scenes with Videl. He left out the last scene of where they were all at some cabin together. Somehow he felt that it wasn't one of the scenes he needed to tell them about. When he finished speaking he felt empty, as if he had nothing left inside of him. Drained of all energy and emotions, all he wanted to do was sleep, but he knew Vegeta and Piccolo would have something to say. He was right. A couple minutes after Gohan finished speaking, Piccolo opened his mouth.
"I don't know what to say, Gohan. I can't put a name to the place you went from Kami's, Nail's, or my father's memories. I think the next time you make a trip to Otherworld you should ask King Kai or the Grand Kai to tell you about it - I have a feeling it's important, especially since I'm getting a weird feeling from that tattoo. Other than that, I'm proud of you for making it through those tests."
Gohan was little surprised. When Piccolo had talked about the tattoo, he seemed really disturbed, and a disturbed Piccolo was not a good thing. When Piccolo said he was proud of him, Gohan just about had a heart attack. Piccolo had only said that a couple times in the past, and every time he heard those words Gohan felt like he could walk on air. Piccolo didn't give out praise easily, especially to his students. Just as Gohan got over his shock at Piccolo's words, Vegeta made him go right back into shock by clearing his throat and saying the last thing Gohan ever expected to come out of his mouth..
"You did well boy: you've done our race proud with those battles. Now go to sleep. I expect you to be back in sparring shape by tomorrow morning."
With that, Vegeta turned and walked out the door. Gohan decided it wasn't worth the effort to walk upstairs to his own bed, and instead he began making himself comfortable under the covers of the lab bed. Piccolo watched him for a minute before speaking.
"I know you're upset, Gohan, come talk to me if you need to."
With that, Piccolo also turned on his heel and walked out of the lab, presumably to go back to the Lookout. Gohan was already half-asleep when Piccolo spoke, and by the time Piccolo was out the door Gohan was snoring away.
Outside the lab, Piccolo walked towards the front of the house. Vegeta leaned against the wall just outside the door, a pensive frown on his face. Piccolo turned to face him and spoke.
"I take it you noticed he was hiding something as well, Vegeta?"
Vegeta glared at Piccolo before responding.
"Of course, Namek. That boy can't lie worth shit! Anyone can read his face. He's hiding something all right, something he doesn't want us to know. Do you know anything about that damn place he was talking about?"
Piccolo sighed and replied in an acid tone.
"No, Vegeta. Like I said - I don't know what the hell it is, and that's what unnerves me. Also, Gohan fighting Cell again has obviously gotten to him; that's probably why he broke down in there. As for what he's hiding. We know he won't tell us, so we'll just have to wait."
Vegeta snorted and pulled away from the wall. He began walking towards the elder Briefs house where he could feel Bulma, calling over his shoulder as he went.
"The boy can take care of himself, Namek - he isn't as weak as you think him to be. He can deal with it and he'll come out of it for the better. Whatever he's hiding is his business - we'll find out sooner or later. Now leave me the fuck alone."
Saying that, Vegeta disappeared around the corner leaving an irritated Piccolo behind. Mumbling to himself about rude arrogant monkey princes, he took off into the air towards the Lookout - where he'd hopefully find some information on the place that Gohan had gone to. It made Piccolo uneasy that, even with Kami's memories, he didn't know what the hell had happened to Gohan or what that place he described was. If it was something to do with the Universe like he had said, then Kami's memories should have provided at least some information. The feeling he got from the tattoo on Gohan's wrist was also something to be concerned about. It felt like something along the lines of King Kai's or King Yemma's ki signatures; like something otherworldly or connected to the Otherworld. If he couldn't find anything at the Lookout, he would just have to wait until Gohan visited the Otherworld to find out what was going on - and one of the things Piccolo hated most was not knowing what was going on. Landing on the Lookout, Piccolo strode into the palace intent on finding out something.
Back at Capsule Corps, Vegeta was telling Bulma most of what Gohan had said to him and Piccolo while Goten and Trunks listened with wide eyes. Bulma had been dealing with things like this for years, however, so wasn't all that surprised at what she was told. She had figured something weird like that had happened. Things like that had happened on a pretty regular basis before Cell came. Goten and Trunks, on the other hand, were fascinated. They hadn't grown up with weird mystical things or life and death battles. Ever since Cell died things had been relatively peaceful. The only thing they could relate to was the descriptions of the fights, since Gohan and Vegeta had trained them; everything else was like something out of a book or cartoon. Sure they had heard about past battles, but never really connected them with their own reality. They thought it was the coolest thing ever, and they couldn't wait to talk to Gohan about it and ask him questions.
Gohan slept through the rest of the afternoon and most of the night. He finally woke up at about two a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep, so he sat in the bed and began to think. He was going back to school tomorrow, and he'd have to have a good explanation about what happened to him and why the hell Vegeta had to come get him. Finally he decided to tell everyone that one of the devices Bulma created to help him had malfunctioned and, since the device had been placed in his ear, it caused him pain in his head. Vegeta had been alerted by some alarm back at C.C. and had come to get him so they could fix the device. If anyone noticed his new tattoo, he could just say that Bulma had let him get it as a sort of apology or something.
His explanation settled, Gohan looked at the clock. It was three thirty in the morning and he didn't have to get ready for school until seven. Stuck with three and a half hours to go, Gohan decided to go spend some time in the Gravity Room to make up for all the time he'd lost because of school. Making his way out of Bulma's lab, Gohan once again thanked Piccolo for teaching him to sense where everything was with his ki. He could move around in the dark as easy as in the light, and he wouldn't disturb anyone by turning on lights so early morning. As he approached the GR, he could sense Vegeta's ki already in inside. Although the Saiyan Prince had mellowed somewhat over the years, he still had that driving urge to constantly train till all hours of the night. In deference to Bulma, he now only did it a couple days a week but always complained that it wasn't enough.
Placing his hand in the pad to open the door, Gohan waited patiently. A minute later the gravity shut down and the door opened. Stepping inside, Gohan waited until the door had closed again before speaking. Turning his head in the direction of Vegeta's ki, he grinned as he spoke.
"Another all night training session, Vegeta?"
When Gohan had come into the gravity room, Vegeta had absently swiped a towel off a rack and was now wiping his face with it. Snorting, he wrapped the towel around his neck and replied.
"Stupid question, brat. Now have you come to train or will you just stand there asking stupid questions."
Gohan shook his head; Vegeta would always be Vegeta, and sarcastic comments would always be normal. In truth, if Vegeta ever stopped making sarcastic comments the world would probably end. Gohan started walking towards the changing room, calling out over his shoulder along the way.
"Don't worry Vegeta, I think I have used up my quota of stupid questions today. I'll be out in just a minute."
Vegeta watched as Gohan disappeared into the changing room. He was glad to see that Gohan was somewhat back to normal and not falling apart anymore - it just wasn't fitting for a Saiyan, especially one who was as strong as Gohan. He knew the boy hadn't told them everything and that it had affected him greatly, but Vegeta wasn't about to ask him. If the boy wanted to say something, he'd say it eventually - it was just the way he worked. One thing still puzzled Vegeta though - anyone could tell that the tattoo Gohan had received was something significant, but significant of what? From what the boy had said, it was to show that he had passed those tests; but Vegeta knew there had to be something else to it. Either Gohan wasn't telling them, or he didn't even know himself. But like all things that puzzled him, Vegeta shoved it into the back of his mind for later examination as Gohan walked out of the changing room dressed in his gi. When it came to Vegeta's training, nothing was allowed to interfer.
When seven o' clock rolled around, Gohan dashed out of the GR, leaving a beat up Vegeta behind in favor of getting ready for school. He made it up to his room and put on the outfit Bulma had thoughtfully laid out for him. Running into a hyperactive Trunks and Goten in the hallway, he sent them out to Vegeta before going downstairs to grab some breakfast. As he sat at the kitchen table across from Bulma, he could sense that she wanted to say something but waited until he had a plate of breakfast in front of him before speaking. Picking up two envelopes off the table, she began to speak.
"You got some mail yesterday, Gohan."
Gohan's ears perked up at that, but he continued shoveling food in his mouth without speaking. Taking that as her cue, Bulma continued to talk.
"Actually, to be more accurate, you got two letters. The first was a notice from the court system. You now have legal guardianship of Goten until he is eighteen years old."
On Gohan's eighteenth birthday he'd expressed to Bulma that he wished to have legal guardianship of Goten, now that he himself was legally an adult. Bulma had no arguments, and they'd set out right away in filling out the paperwork. That had been a while ago, and they'd been anxiously awaiting the decision of the judge. Gohan stopped eating for a moment and sighed in relief. He'd almost thought that his request would be refused because it was taking so long for them to get a decision. He felt relieved now that all the waiting was over, and happy that his request had been granted. Bulma smiled as she saw the relieved look on Gohan's face. She'd been a little worried about the outcome of the decision as well. Putting that letter aside, she opened the next.
"The second letter is from the guy you hired to manage the land and Kingdom the Ox King left you. It looks to be the quarterly report - we should probably look this over later tonight."
Shortly after Chi Chi's death, a lawyer had come to Capsule Corps looking for Gohan. Apparently he was the Ox King's lawyer and the executor of his will. Upon his death, Chi Chi had inherited all his belongings - including the old Ox Kingdom and all the land, as well as the castle and all of the treasure inside. Chi Chi had, at the time, decided to let the village elder run things and send her the reports. When she died, the condition in the Ox King's will had stated that everything would go to Gohan. Needless to say Gohan had been a little shocked, and the same went for Bulma, Piccolo, and Vegeta. Gohan had totally forgotten that his mom was a princess and that she actually had a kingdom. He'd gotten so used to everyone referring to his Grandfather as the Ox King that it became more of a nickname than a title.
Years ago, when the mountain the castle stood on had been engulfed in magical flames, Goku had met Chi Chi for the first time. He helped them by bringing Master Roshi to put out the flames. Back then the Ox King hadn't been very nice, and he'd earned a fierce reputation for hoarding gold and fighting people. After Master Roshi had put out the flames, the Ox King stopped doing bad things and began helping the villagers that lived in his kingdom and on his land. Over the years, the Ox King began selling pieces of the land to the villagers. In the end he only kept some of the land around the castle and the land the castle was on, plus all the gold hoarded in the castle. The villagers still looked to him as their king, however - but since he had dissolved the kingdom, the title was more in name than anything else. Now, since Chi Chi was dead, Gohan was next in line to inherit the title and land that was left. In short, he was the Crown Prince of the Ox Kingdom and Mt. Frying Pan.
When Vegeta heard the story he just about had a heart attack. It was one moment where Gohan wished he could have his sight back for just a couple seconds so he could see the look on Vegeta's face. The Prince of Saiyans was totally thrown for a loop. Kakarrot's harpy of a mate had been a princess all along, and Gohan a prince - which in turn put him on more or less equal footing, status wise, with Vegeta. So in other words: Vegeta had spent the next few hours in denial, while the lawyer, Bulma, and Gohan worked out all the details and signed all the papers. Vegeta eventually accepted Gohan's new status, but made it clear that he still considered himself to be superior since he was Prince of a whole race instead of just a kingdom.
Gohan hadn't really wanted to inherit the kingdom, but in deference to his Grandfather's wishes and respect for his mother, he took over the kingdom and the responsibility. Gohan and Bulma decided to travel to the Ox Kingdom to meet with the village leaders, look everything over, and to let everyone meet Gohan. When they got there the villagers had welcomed them with a huge feast. Apparently the Ox King had told his people about Gohan and the things he had done, and everyone remembered Bulma from when she'd been there last time. Gohan had been a little surprised by the welcome, but had gone along with it. He assured the villagers that he had no intention of interfering with their everyday activities and that he planned on doing what his mother had done - have someone look after things for him and contact him if there were problems.
The villagers understood and were happy about it. The one thing they wanted, however, Gohan adamantly refused. They wanted to have the ceremony to make him King. Gohan told them that he would remain Crown Prince, but that he would not go through the ceremony to proclaim him King. His reasons were one: he was thirteen years old, two: he didn't want the title, and three: he didn't want the fame that would surely come from them proclaiming him the new King. The village elders were disappointed, but they understood. However, they did make Gohan promise that when he turned twenty- one he'd reconsider it. Gohan made the promise only because he knew that he still wouldn't want to be King when he turned twenty-one.
Gohan and Bulma stayed there for a couple days; going over the castle, checking out the land, and making arrangements for someone to oversee Gohan's inheritance and send him reports. The land belonging to Gohan around the castle was being used for farming. The villagers would farm the land and, when the profit came, a small percentage went to him for the use of the land. They finally found someone to oversee Gohan's land and hired him. It was decided that the man would send Gohan quarterly reports on how the land was doing and how the villages were doing. The castle was maintained in top shape just in case Gohan ever decided to come back and stay. Once a year Gohan would make a visit to see how everything was going, unless he needed to come back earlier to solve a problem. It was an arrangement suitable for everyone.
Because they had planned on being there for several days, Bulma and Gohan had brought Goten and Trunks along with them. The village elders were pleased to meet Chi Chi's second son, and they proclaimed him to be the second prince. Gohan was Crown Prince and Goten was simply Prince. All of the villagers were happy to have Gohan as the Crown Prince, and when they found out about Goten they were even more excited and began to send gifts. Right before Bulma and Gohan left, the villagers held a ceremony to mourn Princess Chi Chi's passing.
It had been five years since Gohan had inherited the Ox Kingdom and everything was doing fine. He still got the quarterly reports on how the villagers and the land were doing, and he still made his yearly visit. In the beginning Gohan hadn't understood the reports that he got, but Bulma had taught him how to read them and what everything meant. It became sort of a habit for them to read them together. Now whenever he got a report, he and Bulma would go over it together: Gohan didn't really need Bulma's help anymore, but it had become a ritual. In fact, Bulma had educated Gohan so well and, combined with his book knowledge, he could run C.C. if he wanted to, and occasionally Bulma would come to him if she was stuck on a problem with C.C.
As he was finishing his breakfast, Gohan absentmindedly listened to Bulma as she read the beginning of the letter out loud. They would go over everything later that night and send a letter back to the manager, making suggestions if any were needed, and the man's paycheck. Pressing the button on his watch that spoke the time, he realized he only had twenty minutes to get to school. Cutting Bulma off in the middle of her reading, he pointed out the time and dashed upstairs to get his school stuff. On the drive to school he explained to Bulma what he would be telling people in regards to what happened yesterday. Bulma congratulated him on thinking up such a good explanation, and quickly wrote a note to make it more authentic.
As Gohan walked as quickly as he could through the hallways of the school towards the office, he heard snatches of conversations from kids in the halls.
"Hey, isn't that the blind kid?"
"Stay away from that guy. They say he's crazy - freaked out in class yesterday."
"Did you know that Bulma Briefs is his foster mother?"
"He's a freak. It's not natural for a blind kid to be able to walk around like that."
"They say that he fought with the guy named most dangerous man in the world yesterday during P. E. - and the guy turned out to be his foster father!"
Gohan almost snickered to himself as he heard what they were saying about him. It seemed he had made somewhat of an impression on the other students yesterday. From what he could figure out, half of them thought he was crazy and the other half thought he was a freak. He didn't mind what anybody thought about him - he might have a couple years ago, but ever since he was able to take pride in his Saiyan side, he became more confident and less worried about what other people thought. The only people whose opinions really mattered to him were Piccolo, Vegeta, Goten, Trunks, Bulma, King Vegeta, Bardock, Krillin, Marron, 18, Tien, Chaoutzu, and Yamcha - in short, the Z Gang. Other than that he didn't give a flying fuck what anyone else thought - especially a bunch of shallow, self-absorbed human teenagers. Stopping that train of thought before it got out of hand, he arrived at the office, opened the door, and walked in. Immediately the secretary behind the desk noticed him and jumped up out of her seat, calling loudly towards the principal's office door.
"Mr. Nakanori! Son Gohan is here!"
As soon as the secretary called out his name, Gohan could hear the office door opening and sensed the principal walk towards them. He decided to wait for Mr. Nakanori to speak first. Mr. Nakanori had been in his office, agonizing over what had happened yesterday and was hoping to get some explanations from Mr. Son if he came in. He'd spent all yesterday trying to get a hold of the Briefs, but received no answer. So when the secretary called out that Gohan was there, he practically leapt out of his seat towards the door. As he walked out of his office, he noticed Gohan standing by the desk, his sightless eyes staring at some point on the wall behind him. He looked to be just fine, nothing to indicate that he was injured or sick. Walking over to the boy, Mr. Nakanori opened his mouth and began to ask questions.
"Mr. Son, you gave us quite a scare yesterday. What happened? Did your foster father actually come to pick you up? Are you sure you're ready to be back in school?"
Gohan listened with a little amusement as the Principal asked his questions - apparently the man couldn't find any other words to explain Vegeta breaking a window and flying off with him as anything other than his foster father coming to pick him up. Not letting any of the smile show on his face, Gohan began to answer his questions.
"Well Mr. Nakanori, apparently one of the devices that helps me move around normally malfunctioned and, since said device is in my ear, it caused me to, as you would say, freak out. The machines that monitor the devices back at C.C. alerted my foster father, and he came to get me so we could immediately fix the problem. A normal doctor and ambulance wouldn't have known what to do. It was something that could only be fixed back at Capsule Corps. The device is now fixed, and I'm just fine. I have a note from my foster mother explaining things, if it helps."
Gohan held out the note in the direction he sensed Mr. Nakanori was, and as soon as the man took it he let his arm drop back to his side. Unconsciously he began rubbing the new tattoo on his left wrist, not caring if the principal saw it or not. It itched a little and he could still feel that weird ki coming from it. Bulma had picked out a short-sleeved shirt for him, so he couldn't hide the tattoo even if he wanted to. Mr. Nakanori quickly read the note through, noticing that Mrs. Briefs corroborated Gohan's story perfectly. Glancing up from the note, he noticed the boy rubbing his left wrist almost absently. Mr. Nakanori was astounded to see that the boy was actually rubbing a tattoo. The principal was sure that the tattoo hadn't been there yesterday, but decided now wasn't the time to comment on it. Clearing his throat, he spoke to Gohan again.
"Well Mr. Son, it seems the note has explained everything satisfactorily and you may go to class now - I think you have about ten minutes left until the bell rings. Come to the office if you need anything or if you are feeling unwell."
With that, Mr. Nakanori turned around and walked back into his office, shutting the door behind him. Shrugging his shoulders, Gohan left the office and headed off to class. He got there with two minutes to spare and was immediately bombarded with questions from Erasa and Sharpner. Amazingly enough, Videl didn't join in, but Gohan had a feeling she was just waiting for the right opportunity. Gohan fended off the questions by telling them the same story he had told the principle, and when he was asked about Vegeta flying, he reminded them that the fighters at the Cell games flew, but that he wasn't supposed to talk about it. Class started and Gohan got wrapped up in schoolwork. He still finished ahead of everyone else, but it did take a little time. Once he finished, he leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head and opened up his mind a little. He decided that finding out what everyone was thinking might help stave off his boredom. Erasa's thoughts were the first he heard.
//Hmmm I wonder if Gohan likes blue? Maybe I should wear the blue miniskirt that shows off my legs! Then he won't be able to resist me. Or maybe the pink one would be better. //
Gohan almost burst out laughing, instead it came out as a muffled snort. He couldn't believe the blonde was air headed enough to forget that he was blind and couldn't see her clothes, let alone her legs. As if it would matter if he could - he still wouldn't look at the ditzy blonde like that. The next thoughts he picked up were Sharpener's.
//Man, I can't believe that Gohan guy! How the hell did he get to be so strong and be smart at the same time? I've been training with the great Hercule for four years and I am one of his best pupils. Also, what is with the chicks liking him so much? The guy isn't that good looking! //
Another muffled snort of laughter escaped Gohan before he could stop it. Sharpner was just as bad as Erasa. The guy only thought of himself and how strong he was. It wasn't surprising that the guy was weak - training for four years with that fraud Hercule would do it to anyone. As for Sharpener's other comment about girls, Gohan just brushed it aside. He had no interest in the shallow bimbos that seemed to infect the school. Moving on the next person, he listened in on the teacher Mr. Annotare.
// Damn stupid kids. Not a brain among them except for that Son boy. Absolutely amazing intellect; I'm surprised he hasn't been sent to a University yet. Oh well, at least I have one capable student among all of the other dunderheads. Videl used to be the best in the class, but now all that crime fighting has made her grades drop. I really hate this job. Hmm I wonder what Mr. Son is snickering about up there. He's been done with the work for a while. //
Gohan caught himself just before another snicker escaped his lips. He really didn't need the teacher to ask him why he was snickering. He couldn't help it though - it felt nice that someone, especially the teacher, held the same opinions as he did towards the other students. Gohan was also pleased by the compliment Mr. Annotare had unknowingly given him. Gohan wasn't surprised that the man hated his job. He knew he would if he had to teach a bunch of empty-headed teenagers every day.
As he thought about that, he remembered one of the scenes from the future that had been shown to him by the voice. It had been of him teaching in a dojo with Videl. Gohan was a little skeptical of that actually happening since he didn't particularly care for the girl at the moment, and couldn't imagine himself dealing with a bunch of human kids. Giving a mental shrug he pushed those thoughts out of his head and searched for someone else's thoughts to occupy him. It wasn't surprising that it turned out to be Videl.
//Damn that Son Gohan! There's something strange about him on top of the facts that he's blind but can move around fine, can fight well, knows the fighters from the Cell games, and lives with Bulma Briefs and her husband. It was creepy enough yesterday when he fought with Vegeta Briefs, but after what Sharpner and Erasa told me about Home EC it seems even worse. Especially since they said Mr. Briefs flew. I really want to go digging up some information, or at least interrogate the guy a little, but I'm trying to remember that I told him I wouldn't do that to him anymore. Hmm what's that dark thing on his wrist? It almost looks like a tattoo, but he didn't have it yesterday and I thought he was sick later on. Damn, I'm right - it is a tattoo! Oh well, I'll just have to ask him about it later. //
Gohan closed his mind off from Videl and everyone else's thoughts. Shaking his head mentally, he concluded that Videl was worse than a cat when it came to curiosity. That girl just couldn't leave anything alone! At least she was trying to remember to be nice and not bombard him constantly with questions and piss him off. However, he had a feeling that Videl would find a way to get around all that. Another thing was that she had noticed the tattoo. Both Erasa and Sharpner hadn't noticed it, either because they were so focused on asking him questions they didn't see it, or they just had no observation skills. It figured that Videl would be the first to notice it. She would have to have good observation skills to be a good fighter, as well as work with the police. Sighing quietly, he resigned himself to thinking up a plausible story for the sudden appearance of a tattoo that hadn't been there yesterday when he'd supposedly been sick. He finally decided to stick with his original story and tell Videl that Bulma had let him get it as an apology for the device malfunctioning and that he'd gotten it done late last night.
The bell rang and everyone grabbed their stuff and struggled to get out the door as fast as they could. As Videl, Sharpner, Erasa, and Gohan were walking to their next class, Videl asked Gohan about the tattoo. As soon as Erasa noticed that Gohan did indeed have a tattoo on his wrist, she squealed so loudly that Gohan had to cover his ears in pain. As Erasa began to babble about how cool it was that Gohan had gotten a tattoo, Gohan told Videl the story he'd cooked up. Gohan held up his wrist so everyone could see it better. After looking at it, Erasa went back to her babbling, Sharpner admitted it was cool, and Videl grabbed his wrist to examine the tattoo more closely. As soon as she touched it, Gohan felt an increase in the weird ki infused into the tattoo. Quickly pulling away his wrist, the ki faded back to what it had been before. Gohan knew Videl was looking at him oddly, but he just shrugged it off as the tattoo still being a little sore.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, except for when Vegeta came to PE. With a nod to Krillin and Yamcha, Vegeta and Gohan went outside. Thankfully Vegeta had brought a capsulated gravity chamber, so even though they couldn't train normally, they at least had somewhat of a challenge. Krillin and Yamcha avoided all the questions thrown at them about Gohan and Vegeta, and began to teach the class. Yamcha taught the less inexperienced and Krillin taught the more advanced students. The class ended with a sparring match between Krillin and Videl. Needless to say Krillin won it easily, but he gave Videl a workout instead of just beating her right away. Videl had been overcome with curiosity about the big dome that sprung up on the lawn outside but, remembering her promise to not interrogate Gohan, she kept her questions to her self and simply made a note of the capsule number, hoping to find out what it was from the Capsule Corps capsule list later.
The days began to pass a little more quickly, and soon they settled into a routine. Gohan woke up, had breakfast, went to school. Was bored for most of the day until PE. Spar with Vegeta in the gravity room for PE. Be bored again in the rest of his classes, go home. Spend some time with Goten and Trunks either training or playing, occasionally spending time with Marron as well. Later on before dinner, spar and train with Piccolo. After dinner, once again spar with Vegeta. The only break in that routine was whenever the police called Videl. When this happened, Gohan would mentally follow her and appear as the Golden Man.
Apparently the name had stuck ever since Videl first called him that. He let Videl do most of the work and only stepped in if it looked like she couldn't handle it but he never did anymore than that. Videl always tried to get him to talk but most of the time he would just disappear on her. Thankfully Gohan didn't collapse every time he went to help Videl - he and Piccolo had figured out what he'd done wrong. Apparently when he was out of his mind and formed another body, the other body used Gohan's mind power instead of his ki - Gohan had been trying to use his ki that first time. He had pretty much been trying to channel ki through his brain, and that's what caused him so much pain and made him lose control. Now that he and Piccolo had figured that out, Gohan didn't have any more problems - he didn't even have to meditate to do it.
A month after Gohan had begun to go to school, something unbelievable happened. Or at least in Gohan and Vegeta's minds it was unbelievable. It was during a late training session with Goten and Trunks; Gohan was fighting Goten while Trunks fought Vegeta. As usual the boys began to get frustrated at their inability to hit the older men. Vegeta was making his usual taunts about the two boys not being fit and that they would never be able to hit him or Gohan. It was during one of these taunts that it happened. Vegeta had just let loose with another insult when Goten and Trunks became so angry that unexpectedly they ascended to Super Saiyan form and managed to land a punch on both the shocked Vegeta and Gohan. The form only lasted for a couple minutes, but the boys had done it and would be able to do it from now on - they just needed a little training. As Vegeta stalked away muttering about how the level of Super Saiyan was now a child's toy, Gohan just chalked it up to the good genes and a child's body being unable to contain a lot of ki energy. After that day, Gohan began to train the boys as Super Saiyans.
The only other major event was when Gohan first visited the Otherworld after his experience in that strange place with the voice and the five beings. The first thing he'd done after getting to the Otherworld was mentally search for King Kai. Unfortunately since King Kai was currently with his father and mother, Gohan decided not to stop by. Instead he went directly to the Grand Kai. Along the way, he somehow felt that everyone was looking at him strangely. Shrugging it off, he walked into the Grand Kai's palace. As soon as he walked in the Grand Kai's voice boomed out.
"Hey Gohan man! Good to see you again. So you're the one responsible for the vibe I'm sensing - I should've known. Come over and talk to me, dude - let me know what's shakin'!"
Gohan had long gotten over his surprise at the Grand Kai manner of speech and as he walked over and sat in the chair next to the Grand Kai, he began to tell the watcher of the universe all about what had happened, except that he was going to die young and without a mate. As he finished the story by leaving off where he finally woke up at Capsule Corps, there was a stunned silence in which Gohan started to get a little nervous. The Grand Kai was apparently too shocked to speak. Finally he snapped out of it and spoke.
"Whoa man! You certainly have been busy. The place you went to is called the Hall of Fate and Destiny it's a radical place, and everything that voice told you is true. Not very many dudes or dudettes get to go there, let alone pass more than one test. It's absolutely amazing a cat like you was able to pass all of the tests! Only one other mortal has done it ever. It's the second highest honor a mortal can achieve in the Universe, man. Let's have a look at that tattoo now."
As Gohan held out his left wrist for the Grand Kai to examine, he felt a little overwhelmed. He had halfway thought that the whole thing had been some weird magic joke or something, but hearing the truth from the Grand Kai kind of made it reality. This time, however, Gohan managed to not breakdown crying because he had such a fucked up life. He just sort of smiled and talked nonsense with the Grand Kai for a couple minutes before taking his leave and setting off for hell to visit his grandfather and King Vegeta.
When he talked to King Vegeta and Bardock, he decided to tell them everything - including the parts he didn't tell Piccolo, Vegeta, or the Grand Kai. Both Saiyans were completely shocked by the time Gohan was done. It took them a few moments before they were able to speak, but when they did they wanted to see Gohan's tattoo. After examining the tattoo, they stated that they believed everything Gohan said. Both were upset that Gohan would supposed to die before he was thirty, and without a mate, but they seemed to be optimistic that Gohan would find a way around it in the end. Finally Gohan left hell and returned to his body on earth.
Months began to go by, and every thing seemed to be going well. Gohan had somewhat become friends with Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa - Videl more than the other two. They often spent lunch together, talking about different things. Videl would talk about how things were so difficult at home ever since Hercule had taken credit for defeating Cell. Videl privately expressed her doubts that her father actually beat Cell to Gohan, and Gohan was really tempted to tell Videl that her suspicions were right, but in the end he decided it wasn't time. They also talked about things that were happening at the moment, and sometimes Gohan would help Videl with her homework if she needed it. Videl still tried to figure out what was so strange about Gohan. She'd looked through the capsule list posted by Capsule Corps, but she didn't find the strange capsule that Vegeta brought to PE every day. She also couldn't find any information about Gohan on the net. It seemed that all of his information was at Capsule Corps, and Videl couldn't hack into those computers any day. Instead, she went back to just observing him.
Everything concerning what had happened in the Hall of Fate and Destiny was shoved into the back of Gohan's mind, and after he told Vegeta and Piccolo what the Grand Kai had said, they too shoved the information into the backs of their minds - writing what had happened off as part of the general weirdness that was a part of their everyday lives. The only real tangible reminder they had was the tattoo on Gohan's wrist.
It had been three months since Gohan's first day of school when, in the middle of English class, the principal came in with an announcement. Everyone knew that if the principal interrupted a class, it was for something really important. Mr. Nakanori waited until the class stopped their excited chatter and calmed down enough to be silent and listen. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his suit jacket pocket and began to read.
"Attention all citizens. As you know, the World Martial Arts tournament is seven months away and all of the greatest fighters in the world will be attending - including the world champion Hercule. This year the committee that oversees the Tournament has decided to do something special. One month from now the first of eight mini tournaments will be held in East City. Each mini tournament will be held in a different city. The first is East City, the second is Green Star City, the third is West City, the fourth Satan City, the fifth North City, the sixth Blue Star City, the seventh South City, and the eighth in White Star City. The tournaments will be held every two weeks, beginning the first of next month and the last tournament will be held exactly two months before the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament. This is a great chance to get some experience fighting against skilled fighters in an arena. All participants are required to be eighteen years of age or older. There will be no junior divisions, but there will also be team matches of two people against two others. Team matches have been included in the World Martial Arts Tournament as well this year. Participants may compete in as many mini tournaments as they like. We hope you all have a great time. Signed, the commissioner of the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament."
Immediately after Mr. Nakanori stopped speaking the room burst into excited chatter about the mini tournaments. Up where Gohan was sitting with Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa, it was no exception save that it was mostly Erasa and Sharpner talking. Erasa was exclaiming that when the mini tournament came to Satan City it would be an excellent chance to check out some hot guys, while Sharpner was loudly proclaiming that he would be competing in the Satan City tournament and win. Erasa noticed Gohan and Videl's silence and decided to ask about them.
"Hey Videl, Gohan, will you guys be competing in any of the mini tournaments or the WMAT? You guys are the two best fighters in the school!"
While Sharpner bristled at that comment, he too turned questioning eyes towards Gohan and Videl. Videl was the first to answer.
"Well, I'll be competing in the Satan City mini tournament, but I don't think I'll be able to do any others because of my police work. However, I will most definitely be competing in the WMAT."
She turned to look at Gohan who was still facing the front of the class. Videl lightly poked him in the arm and spoke.
"What about you Gohan? Will you do any of the mini tournaments or the WMAT?"
Gohan looked startled at the question. In truth, he'd only halfway listened to the conversation. He had been concentrating more on deciding if he even wanted to compete in the WMAT or the mini tournaments. He had just decided that he would do both and possibly drag Vegeta along to the mini tournaments and the WMAT - in disguise of course - when Videl poked him. He pretended to consider it for a moment before he answered.
"Nah, I don't think I'll compete in either. It's not my thing right now."
Needless to say, all three were stunned at his casual dismissal of the greatest martial arts to happen for the next several years. Finally Videl came out of her shock to blurt out another question.
"Do you know if any of the Cell games fighters will be competing in the WMAT? I know some of them have in the past."
Gohan's face got the irritated look it always did when someone asked about the Cell game's fighters. He still answered the question, but with a hint of irritation in his voice.
"I really don't know since I haven't asked any of them. If they choose to enter it's their business and no one else's."
Just as he finished this statement, the bell rang and Gohan was up from his seat and out of the door before they could ask more questions. The more he thought about the mini tournaments and the WMAT, the more he thought it would be a good idea to enter under a disguise and get Vegeta to enter as well. He decided to also ask all of the others to enter to make it more interesting. Besides -he and Vegeta would want to have some sort of challenge besides each other! He figured it would be a good way to train for a while because he knew that they wouldn't be able to use ki blasts, transformations, flying, and most likely ki enhanced punches or kicks - unless they wanted to give themselves away and beat everyone else into the ground in less than a second, of course.
Lately he had been noticing that he and Vegeta were concentrating more on their power than on technique or skill. They had become lax in those areas, and even though there wasn't anyone stronger than Gohan at the moment, that didn't mean there never would be. If a person like that ever did appear, Gohan would need all the advantages he could get, and hopefully his techniques and skills could become the deciding factor. He was pretty sure Vegeta had noticed it as well, but in his quest to become SSJ3 shoved it into the back of his mind. Participating in the mini tournaments would give them the chance to practice their skills and techniques, as well as get Vegeta used to having so many humans around him with all of their noise. Gohan really didn't want the WMAT to be littered with the bodies of fans because Vegeta decided they were annoying him with their cheering. Giving a mental shrug, Gohan made his way to his next class. Deciding he would bring up the subject of the mini tournaments at home rather than during PE, he turned his full attention to his next class.
It was a little after noon when Gohan made his way to the gravity room at Capsule Corps where he could sense Vegeta's ki. He was thankful he had memorized the route a long time ago, since he was seriously pissed and couldn't focus his senses all that well. Just after lunch the Principal had announced there was going to be an assembly with a guest speaker. As soon as Gohan stepped foot into the gym where the assembly was being held, he stopped dead in his tracks in disbelief and anger. Hercule Satan, supposed savior of the Earth and the Martial Arts Champion of the World, was there - no doubt to be the guest speaker. If Gohan could have seen colors, they would've been all blood red. Out of instinct his mind reached out to listen to Hercule's thoughts. What he found nearly made him lose what was left of his control. Hercule had been mentally going over his speech, and Gohan knew that if he heard Hercule speak that out loud there would be one dead world's savior.
Fighting the urge to turn Super Saiyan and expose the afroed fraud, he quickly exited out a side door, using the crowds of students for cover. Once outside he had blasted straight up into the sky above the clouds so no one would see him, and sped off towards C.C. not even caring that he was technically skipping school - he just felt the urge to beat on someone. Or at the very least train until he was exhausted and his anger had faded away. Landing on the lawn of Capsule Corps, he stalked towards the gravity room where he knew Vegeta would be.
Finally reaching the GR, Gohan searched for the panel that had the open and close buttons in it. The GR was new - Vegeta had blown up the last one three months ago in an attempt to reach SSJ3. Ever since Gohan had come to live with Bulma and Vegeta, he had started training in the GR. Because of his high level of power, he tended to get carried away sometimes and, as a result, eventually blew up more GRs than Vegeta - which was certainly saying something. It was only two more than Vegeta, but it was still more than the Saiyan Prince. Nowadays they kept a running tally, a kind of a silent challenge between the two of them. Of course, they didn't intentionally blow them up - it just seemed to happen often.
As he searched for the panel, Gohan gave a mental sigh. It seemed that every time Bulma fixed the GR she put the panel in a new place. Maybe it was some sort of subtle revenge directed towards Gohan, or maybe she just always forgot where it had been originally. Finally finding the panel three feet to the left of where it had been on the old GR, Gohan found the button that had open on it in Braille and pushed. Immediately the gravity began to decrease back to normal, and a moment later the door opened and Gohan stepped inside.
Vegeta could practically feel the anger rolling off of Gohan in waves. He had felt the boy's ki as soon as Gohan had landed on the lawn. Even then he'd felt the anger in his ki and through the bond they shared. It perked Vegeta's interest to know what had gotten the brat so wound up. As he expected, Gohan headed straight towards him and the gravity room. Vegeta looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it had been only an hour and a half since he had left the boy at that school after that PE thing. The brat was supposed to be in that school for at least a couple more hours. This only made Vegeta even more curious, and he decided that as soon as Gohan came inside he would ask. As Gohan put his hand on the open button, Vegeta felt the gravity decrease and return to normal, then watched as the door opened and Gohan walked in.
As soon as he walked inside, Gohan headed for the middle of the room and the gravity controls. Not even bothering to change into his gi, Gohan waited until the door closed, then set the GR to six hundred times earth's gravity. He waited for a moment to adjust, then went to sit in the middle of the floor in Piccolo's lotus position and began to take deep breaths. He knew Vegeta could tell he was angry and he knew Vegeta was curious, but he wanted to try and calm down a little before he answered anything. Besides - he knew that eventually Vegeta would get impatient and would just ask whatever it was that he wanted to know. Gohan was right - not even five minutes later there was a snort from behind Gohan and Vegeta's voice called out.
"Well, it's not like I care or anything, but aren't you supposed to still be in that weakling school? You know the woman is going to be pissed that you skipped. Besides, you're interrupting my training, brat."
Gohan took another deep breath before replying.
"Once she hears my reason, she'll understand. Unless she really did want the so called 'world's savior Hercule' publicly humiliated, beaten, and probably killed in front of a whole bunch of high school students in the middle of his 'I am the greatest speech'..."
As soon as Gohan said the name Hercule, everything clicked in Vegeta's mind. If there was anyone Gohan hated besides Cell, it was Hercule. Gohan hated the man not only because Hercule had the nerve to take the credit for defeating Cell, but also that he simply turned around and denounced the real fighters as fakes and frauds. People who had worked hard their whole lives and sacrificed a lot to be able to do those things and keep their skills sharp. The only reasons Gohan hadn't actually killed Hercule yet was because he couldn't kill someone in cold blood, and he hadn't actually heard the man speak live. If Hercule's name was mentioned, Gohan's ki tended to rise and he'd have to work to control his anger. If he heard the man on the television, said television was blasted into the next dimension. Same thing went for radios. Gohan had already vowed that one day Hercule would get what was coming to him, whether it was by his hands or someone else's. Finally Vegeta responded.
"Good job restraining yourself, brat. Now what the hell are you doing?"
Gohan chuckled, and it wasn't exactly a nice chuckle either.
"Well, right now all I want to do is beat the living shit out of someone, so I'm trying to control myself. Don't even think of challenging me to a fight right now. At this point I'd most likely go SSJ3, beat the hell out of you, kill you, then completely lose control and blow up the whole planet. So, I warn you not to provoke me."
Vegeta scowled, the brat knew him too well. Gohan had been right - he had been about ready to challenge him to fight. But now that Gohan mentioned he could lose control, Vegeta wasn't too keen on the idea. Being on the receiving end of an out of control SSJ3 Gohan was not something he wanted to experience any time soon - instead he decided to smart mouth.
"So what the hell is this breathing shit you're doing?"
Gohan's head turned in Vegeta's direction as he spoke.
"I am reverting back to one of Piccolo's old methods. Something he used when he first trained me and constantly got pissed off at me for being a sniveling, whiney brat."
With that said, he turned his head back to facing forward and continued his breathing. Vegeta studied him for a couple more minutes before throwing his hands up and stalking over to the other side of the room and his towel, shouting as he went.
"For Kami's sake boy! Is that all your going to do for the rest of the day?"
Gohan's head swiveled in the direction Vegeta's voice came from. With a huge grin appearing on his face, he replied with relish.
"Actually, no Vegeta - I do have something else I need to talk to you about."
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Well, every time I write a new chapter I seem to write more pages. I'm getting into the twenties now! I hope you liked this chapter - it was sort of a transition chapter, but not really. I hope it sort of explained a couple things that maybe people didn't get from the last chapter. Oh well. It's time to review!
Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Want to swing me by my tail and throw me into the trees? Let me know, be a reviewer.
Next Chapter: Mini Tournaments (??)
Summary: Gohan is blinded by what happened at the Cell games. What will happen to him now that he can no longer see? Story will span time from Cell games to high school, the world martial arts tournament, and maybe further.
Disclaimer: No I don't own dragon ball z otherwise Vegeta would be mine. All credit for characters go to their creator.
Author's note2: Hello again everyone. This is a new chapter. I know a lot of you are unhappy with the prediction of Gohan's life ending at such a young age, but I guarantee you that it is necessary for my plot line. In this story Ox King's castle was never destroyed. Roshi put out the fire but it didn't destroy the castle. Also, this chapter has a lot of swearing in it - at least I think it's more than the other chapters have had, but I don't really know. Anyway, I hope you like the new twist I put in here! This chapter is also a sort of transition chapter. Not really, but there are some parts that may seem like transitioning. Well, on to the story!
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//...// Is telepathy
Are thoughts or rather hearing character speaking to themselves inside their heads
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Explanations and Reassurances
Gohan snorted at Vegeta's question before answering, his voice still rough from crying.
"I think it would be better if I start from the beginning, back when I was still at school."
Vegeta just humphed while Piccolo nodded approvingly. Feeling exhausted and depressed, Gohan just wanted to sleep and brood over what had happened in that strange place he had gone to. It had been wonderful having his sight back for even a little while, and now he was depressed that he was back to being permanently blind. Knowing Vegeta and Piccolo wouldn't let him get any rest until he had explained everything to their satisfaction, Gohan collected his scattered thoughts, took a deep breath, and began to speak.
"I was in Home EC, the last period in school, when that Videl girl got called by the police to help with a robbery - apparently she's some sort of crime fighter. Anyway, I got curious so I decided to meditate so I could follow her mentally. The only problem was that I've never tried to do that while still on Earth - I've only done stuff like that to get to Otherworld. I quickly found out that it's a lot harder to maintain an image body when your real body is still in the same plane of existence - my mind kept trying to return to my real body and it was causing me some pain."
Piccolo was nodding in understanding at Gohan's explanation. Vegeta looked just a little confused, but he nodded as well. Even though he couldn't see them, Gohan could feel Piccolo's interest and Vegeta's confusion. Deciding it was time to continue, he started speaking again.
"While I was dealing with the difficulties between my mind and my image body, Videl got herself in a jam. So I rescued her. It was lucky I'd decided to make my image as me in SSJ3 form, or I would have been screwed for sure: I had to shield us from some bullets and Zanzoken to another part of the room. At that point the pain in my head was severe, but I was able to exchange a few words with Videl before I went back to my body. As soon as my mind returned to my real body it exploded into pain. There was so much pain I lost control of everything. I couldn't use my senses or anything so I grabbed for the first telepathic link I could find, which happened to be Vegeta's. I sent out a call for help and was sucked into the pain."
He paused again and Vegeta spoke.
"I got your message, brat, and when I tried to talk back to you I was hit by some of that pain you're talking about. It took me a minute to close the link, but I did and took off towards your ki. I found you rolling on the ground with a bunch of weak humans surrounding you and your ki going fucking nuts. I grabbed you and brought you back here. By the time I got you to the lab, you were in SSJ2 form. The woman tranquilized you and you fell unconscious. Green bean came in a few moments later wanting to know what happened, and when he tried to touch you he got shocked because your mind went somewhere else. Now where the hell did your mind go, brat?"
Gohan shifted on the bed, settling into the more comfortable lotus position. He was trying to decide how much he should tell Vegeta and Piccolo about what happened. He knew he could tell them most of it - like the tests he had to go through - but he really didn't want to tell them that he was apparently going to die before he was thirty, or that he wouldn't have a mate. That would just worry them too much, and probably make them pity him. That alone would just be too much for him to handle. His decision made, he began to speak softly.
"It was weird. I'm guessing it was the tranquillizer that triggered it, or maybe it was just a matter of time before it happened, but anyway - all of a sudden the pain vanished and I felt like I was waking up. To use that term, I woke up in an all white room almost exactly like the Room of Spirit and Time at the Lookout. The most amazing thing, however, was the fact that I could actually see. Then this weird voice began to speak to me inside my head. Now, mind you, these days no one - not even the Grand Kai - can get into my head unless I let them, but this voice was able to."
Gohan told Vegeta and Piccolo everything the voice had told him about where he was and why he was there, as well as what was supposed to happen. He then went on to talk about how everything changed, and how he found the lake with the five beings. He had fun describing what each of the women had looked like and their reactions to him. He could feel both Vegeta and Piccolo's shock at what he was telling them, and didn't blame them at all. He was having trouble believing it, and he had been the one to go through it all!
He went on to tell them how the beings had introduced themselves, then talked about the tests each of them had led him through. He was very meticulous with the details about each test, making sure to leave out nothing. By the time he'd gotten to the final test he could feel pride, along with the confusion and shock, coming from both Vegeta and Piccolo. It made him feel a little better, but all that good feeling disappeared as he began to talk about the fifth test.
"Tsuyosa took me out to some dessert. She didn't expect me to make it through her test at all - apparently only one person had done so before. So I turn around, and there in front of me, about a hundred yards away, are Cell, Cooler, Frieza, Android 17, and the Ginyu force. I had to fight them all at once and win in order to pass the test. For some odd reason I felt nothing when I looked at them. Whenever I thought of them before it was always with anger for the things they had done, but for some reason I just felt empty. I jumped up to SSJ2 and we began to fight."
Gohan went on to describe how he had decided to take out the Ginyu force and then Frieza, the weakest fighters first. Then he went on to describe the rest of the battle with the other four villains. When he got to the showdown with Cell, he had to make an effort to keep himself together and not fall apart again. Cell had been his nightmare for years and, while he hadn't felt anything during the battle, he was looking back on it now and it was tearing him apart. It was too similar to the fight seven years ago that had cost his father his life and his own eyesight. Pulling himself together, he managed to talk about the ki blast duel that had ended everything, just like the very first battle.
By now he could feel that Vegeta and Piccolo were both a little stunned by everything he had said, before especially about that last battle with Cell. He could also tell that they were worried about him and how it was affecting him. He didn't want them worrying about him - they probably already thought he was weak for breaking down in front of them. He knew both Vegeta and Piccolo detested crying and showing weakness; they never did, and they expected others to do the same. Especially if they were fighters. Taking some deep breaths, Gohan continued with the story.
He told them how all five beings had surrounded him afterwards, put their fingers on his wrists and after a few minutes of glowing white light the tattoo had appeared. He explained what the tattoo was, and that it was supposed to show everyone that he had passed all of the tests and earned the honor of carrying that mark. He then went on to explain that he had been sent back to the white room and the voice telling him that he was going to see glimpses of his future. This was the point in the story where Gohan was careful not to give out too much information. He didn't say that the voice told him he would see images up until the point he died, he just led Piccolo and Vegeta tto believe that he was only going to see a little bit of the future.
He went on to describe some of the scenes he had seen - like the one where he was graduating, and the one where he and Vegeta were in some arena in weird Saiyan battle armor. He took care to describe the outfits to Vegeta, who was very interested. He avoided telling them about the scene with the little blue haired child because, if he guessed correctly, it would be Vegeta's future daughter and he didn't want to mess that up. He also told Piccolo and Vegeta about the dojo scenes with Videl. He left out the last scene of where they were all at some cabin together. Somehow he felt that it wasn't one of the scenes he needed to tell them about. When he finished speaking he felt empty, as if he had nothing left inside of him. Drained of all energy and emotions, all he wanted to do was sleep, but he knew Vegeta and Piccolo would have something to say. He was right. A couple minutes after Gohan finished speaking, Piccolo opened his mouth.
"I don't know what to say, Gohan. I can't put a name to the place you went from Kami's, Nail's, or my father's memories. I think the next time you make a trip to Otherworld you should ask King Kai or the Grand Kai to tell you about it - I have a feeling it's important, especially since I'm getting a weird feeling from that tattoo. Other than that, I'm proud of you for making it through those tests."
Gohan was little surprised. When Piccolo had talked about the tattoo, he seemed really disturbed, and a disturbed Piccolo was not a good thing. When Piccolo said he was proud of him, Gohan just about had a heart attack. Piccolo had only said that a couple times in the past, and every time he heard those words Gohan felt like he could walk on air. Piccolo didn't give out praise easily, especially to his students. Just as Gohan got over his shock at Piccolo's words, Vegeta made him go right back into shock by clearing his throat and saying the last thing Gohan ever expected to come out of his mouth..
"You did well boy: you've done our race proud with those battles. Now go to sleep. I expect you to be back in sparring shape by tomorrow morning."
With that, Vegeta turned and walked out the door. Gohan decided it wasn't worth the effort to walk upstairs to his own bed, and instead he began making himself comfortable under the covers of the lab bed. Piccolo watched him for a minute before speaking.
"I know you're upset, Gohan, come talk to me if you need to."
With that, Piccolo also turned on his heel and walked out of the lab, presumably to go back to the Lookout. Gohan was already half-asleep when Piccolo spoke, and by the time Piccolo was out the door Gohan was snoring away.
Outside the lab, Piccolo walked towards the front of the house. Vegeta leaned against the wall just outside the door, a pensive frown on his face. Piccolo turned to face him and spoke.
"I take it you noticed he was hiding something as well, Vegeta?"
Vegeta glared at Piccolo before responding.
"Of course, Namek. That boy can't lie worth shit! Anyone can read his face. He's hiding something all right, something he doesn't want us to know. Do you know anything about that damn place he was talking about?"
Piccolo sighed and replied in an acid tone.
"No, Vegeta. Like I said - I don't know what the hell it is, and that's what unnerves me. Also, Gohan fighting Cell again has obviously gotten to him; that's probably why he broke down in there. As for what he's hiding. We know he won't tell us, so we'll just have to wait."
Vegeta snorted and pulled away from the wall. He began walking towards the elder Briefs house where he could feel Bulma, calling over his shoulder as he went.
"The boy can take care of himself, Namek - he isn't as weak as you think him to be. He can deal with it and he'll come out of it for the better. Whatever he's hiding is his business - we'll find out sooner or later. Now leave me the fuck alone."
Saying that, Vegeta disappeared around the corner leaving an irritated Piccolo behind. Mumbling to himself about rude arrogant monkey princes, he took off into the air towards the Lookout - where he'd hopefully find some information on the place that Gohan had gone to. It made Piccolo uneasy that, even with Kami's memories, he didn't know what the hell had happened to Gohan or what that place he described was. If it was something to do with the Universe like he had said, then Kami's memories should have provided at least some information. The feeling he got from the tattoo on Gohan's wrist was also something to be concerned about. It felt like something along the lines of King Kai's or King Yemma's ki signatures; like something otherworldly or connected to the Otherworld. If he couldn't find anything at the Lookout, he would just have to wait until Gohan visited the Otherworld to find out what was going on - and one of the things Piccolo hated most was not knowing what was going on. Landing on the Lookout, Piccolo strode into the palace intent on finding out something.
Back at Capsule Corps, Vegeta was telling Bulma most of what Gohan had said to him and Piccolo while Goten and Trunks listened with wide eyes. Bulma had been dealing with things like this for years, however, so wasn't all that surprised at what she was told. She had figured something weird like that had happened. Things like that had happened on a pretty regular basis before Cell came. Goten and Trunks, on the other hand, were fascinated. They hadn't grown up with weird mystical things or life and death battles. Ever since Cell died things had been relatively peaceful. The only thing they could relate to was the descriptions of the fights, since Gohan and Vegeta had trained them; everything else was like something out of a book or cartoon. Sure they had heard about past battles, but never really connected them with their own reality. They thought it was the coolest thing ever, and they couldn't wait to talk to Gohan about it and ask him questions.
Gohan slept through the rest of the afternoon and most of the night. He finally woke up at about two a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep, so he sat in the bed and began to think. He was going back to school tomorrow, and he'd have to have a good explanation about what happened to him and why the hell Vegeta had to come get him. Finally he decided to tell everyone that one of the devices Bulma created to help him had malfunctioned and, since the device had been placed in his ear, it caused him pain in his head. Vegeta had been alerted by some alarm back at C.C. and had come to get him so they could fix the device. If anyone noticed his new tattoo, he could just say that Bulma had let him get it as a sort of apology or something.
His explanation settled, Gohan looked at the clock. It was three thirty in the morning and he didn't have to get ready for school until seven. Stuck with three and a half hours to go, Gohan decided to go spend some time in the Gravity Room to make up for all the time he'd lost because of school. Making his way out of Bulma's lab, Gohan once again thanked Piccolo for teaching him to sense where everything was with his ki. He could move around in the dark as easy as in the light, and he wouldn't disturb anyone by turning on lights so early morning. As he approached the GR, he could sense Vegeta's ki already in inside. Although the Saiyan Prince had mellowed somewhat over the years, he still had that driving urge to constantly train till all hours of the night. In deference to Bulma, he now only did it a couple days a week but always complained that it wasn't enough.
Placing his hand in the pad to open the door, Gohan waited patiently. A minute later the gravity shut down and the door opened. Stepping inside, Gohan waited until the door had closed again before speaking. Turning his head in the direction of Vegeta's ki, he grinned as he spoke.
"Another all night training session, Vegeta?"
When Gohan had come into the gravity room, Vegeta had absently swiped a towel off a rack and was now wiping his face with it. Snorting, he wrapped the towel around his neck and replied.
"Stupid question, brat. Now have you come to train or will you just stand there asking stupid questions."
Gohan shook his head; Vegeta would always be Vegeta, and sarcastic comments would always be normal. In truth, if Vegeta ever stopped making sarcastic comments the world would probably end. Gohan started walking towards the changing room, calling out over his shoulder along the way.
"Don't worry Vegeta, I think I have used up my quota of stupid questions today. I'll be out in just a minute."
Vegeta watched as Gohan disappeared into the changing room. He was glad to see that Gohan was somewhat back to normal and not falling apart anymore - it just wasn't fitting for a Saiyan, especially one who was as strong as Gohan. He knew the boy hadn't told them everything and that it had affected him greatly, but Vegeta wasn't about to ask him. If the boy wanted to say something, he'd say it eventually - it was just the way he worked. One thing still puzzled Vegeta though - anyone could tell that the tattoo Gohan had received was something significant, but significant of what? From what the boy had said, it was to show that he had passed those tests; but Vegeta knew there had to be something else to it. Either Gohan wasn't telling them, or he didn't even know himself. But like all things that puzzled him, Vegeta shoved it into the back of his mind for later examination as Gohan walked out of the changing room dressed in his gi. When it came to Vegeta's training, nothing was allowed to interfer.
When seven o' clock rolled around, Gohan dashed out of the GR, leaving a beat up Vegeta behind in favor of getting ready for school. He made it up to his room and put on the outfit Bulma had thoughtfully laid out for him. Running into a hyperactive Trunks and Goten in the hallway, he sent them out to Vegeta before going downstairs to grab some breakfast. As he sat at the kitchen table across from Bulma, he could sense that she wanted to say something but waited until he had a plate of breakfast in front of him before speaking. Picking up two envelopes off the table, she began to speak.
"You got some mail yesterday, Gohan."
Gohan's ears perked up at that, but he continued shoveling food in his mouth without speaking. Taking that as her cue, Bulma continued to talk.
"Actually, to be more accurate, you got two letters. The first was a notice from the court system. You now have legal guardianship of Goten until he is eighteen years old."
On Gohan's eighteenth birthday he'd expressed to Bulma that he wished to have legal guardianship of Goten, now that he himself was legally an adult. Bulma had no arguments, and they'd set out right away in filling out the paperwork. That had been a while ago, and they'd been anxiously awaiting the decision of the judge. Gohan stopped eating for a moment and sighed in relief. He'd almost thought that his request would be refused because it was taking so long for them to get a decision. He felt relieved now that all the waiting was over, and happy that his request had been granted. Bulma smiled as she saw the relieved look on Gohan's face. She'd been a little worried about the outcome of the decision as well. Putting that letter aside, she opened the next.
"The second letter is from the guy you hired to manage the land and Kingdom the Ox King left you. It looks to be the quarterly report - we should probably look this over later tonight."
Shortly after Chi Chi's death, a lawyer had come to Capsule Corps looking for Gohan. Apparently he was the Ox King's lawyer and the executor of his will. Upon his death, Chi Chi had inherited all his belongings - including the old Ox Kingdom and all the land, as well as the castle and all of the treasure inside. Chi Chi had, at the time, decided to let the village elder run things and send her the reports. When she died, the condition in the Ox King's will had stated that everything would go to Gohan. Needless to say Gohan had been a little shocked, and the same went for Bulma, Piccolo, and Vegeta. Gohan had totally forgotten that his mom was a princess and that she actually had a kingdom. He'd gotten so used to everyone referring to his Grandfather as the Ox King that it became more of a nickname than a title.
Years ago, when the mountain the castle stood on had been engulfed in magical flames, Goku had met Chi Chi for the first time. He helped them by bringing Master Roshi to put out the flames. Back then the Ox King hadn't been very nice, and he'd earned a fierce reputation for hoarding gold and fighting people. After Master Roshi had put out the flames, the Ox King stopped doing bad things and began helping the villagers that lived in his kingdom and on his land. Over the years, the Ox King began selling pieces of the land to the villagers. In the end he only kept some of the land around the castle and the land the castle was on, plus all the gold hoarded in the castle. The villagers still looked to him as their king, however - but since he had dissolved the kingdom, the title was more in name than anything else. Now, since Chi Chi was dead, Gohan was next in line to inherit the title and land that was left. In short, he was the Crown Prince of the Ox Kingdom and Mt. Frying Pan.
When Vegeta heard the story he just about had a heart attack. It was one moment where Gohan wished he could have his sight back for just a couple seconds so he could see the look on Vegeta's face. The Prince of Saiyans was totally thrown for a loop. Kakarrot's harpy of a mate had been a princess all along, and Gohan a prince - which in turn put him on more or less equal footing, status wise, with Vegeta. So in other words: Vegeta had spent the next few hours in denial, while the lawyer, Bulma, and Gohan worked out all the details and signed all the papers. Vegeta eventually accepted Gohan's new status, but made it clear that he still considered himself to be superior since he was Prince of a whole race instead of just a kingdom.
Gohan hadn't really wanted to inherit the kingdom, but in deference to his Grandfather's wishes and respect for his mother, he took over the kingdom and the responsibility. Gohan and Bulma decided to travel to the Ox Kingdom to meet with the village leaders, look everything over, and to let everyone meet Gohan. When they got there the villagers had welcomed them with a huge feast. Apparently the Ox King had told his people about Gohan and the things he had done, and everyone remembered Bulma from when she'd been there last time. Gohan had been a little surprised by the welcome, but had gone along with it. He assured the villagers that he had no intention of interfering with their everyday activities and that he planned on doing what his mother had done - have someone look after things for him and contact him if there were problems.
The villagers understood and were happy about it. The one thing they wanted, however, Gohan adamantly refused. They wanted to have the ceremony to make him King. Gohan told them that he would remain Crown Prince, but that he would not go through the ceremony to proclaim him King. His reasons were one: he was thirteen years old, two: he didn't want the title, and three: he didn't want the fame that would surely come from them proclaiming him the new King. The village elders were disappointed, but they understood. However, they did make Gohan promise that when he turned twenty- one he'd reconsider it. Gohan made the promise only because he knew that he still wouldn't want to be King when he turned twenty-one.
Gohan and Bulma stayed there for a couple days; going over the castle, checking out the land, and making arrangements for someone to oversee Gohan's inheritance and send him reports. The land belonging to Gohan around the castle was being used for farming. The villagers would farm the land and, when the profit came, a small percentage went to him for the use of the land. They finally found someone to oversee Gohan's land and hired him. It was decided that the man would send Gohan quarterly reports on how the land was doing and how the villages were doing. The castle was maintained in top shape just in case Gohan ever decided to come back and stay. Once a year Gohan would make a visit to see how everything was going, unless he needed to come back earlier to solve a problem. It was an arrangement suitable for everyone.
Because they had planned on being there for several days, Bulma and Gohan had brought Goten and Trunks along with them. The village elders were pleased to meet Chi Chi's second son, and they proclaimed him to be the second prince. Gohan was Crown Prince and Goten was simply Prince. All of the villagers were happy to have Gohan as the Crown Prince, and when they found out about Goten they were even more excited and began to send gifts. Right before Bulma and Gohan left, the villagers held a ceremony to mourn Princess Chi Chi's passing.
It had been five years since Gohan had inherited the Ox Kingdom and everything was doing fine. He still got the quarterly reports on how the villagers and the land were doing, and he still made his yearly visit. In the beginning Gohan hadn't understood the reports that he got, but Bulma had taught him how to read them and what everything meant. It became sort of a habit for them to read them together. Now whenever he got a report, he and Bulma would go over it together: Gohan didn't really need Bulma's help anymore, but it had become a ritual. In fact, Bulma had educated Gohan so well and, combined with his book knowledge, he could run C.C. if he wanted to, and occasionally Bulma would come to him if she was stuck on a problem with C.C.
As he was finishing his breakfast, Gohan absentmindedly listened to Bulma as she read the beginning of the letter out loud. They would go over everything later that night and send a letter back to the manager, making suggestions if any were needed, and the man's paycheck. Pressing the button on his watch that spoke the time, he realized he only had twenty minutes to get to school. Cutting Bulma off in the middle of her reading, he pointed out the time and dashed upstairs to get his school stuff. On the drive to school he explained to Bulma what he would be telling people in regards to what happened yesterday. Bulma congratulated him on thinking up such a good explanation, and quickly wrote a note to make it more authentic.
As Gohan walked as quickly as he could through the hallways of the school towards the office, he heard snatches of conversations from kids in the halls.
"Hey, isn't that the blind kid?"
"Stay away from that guy. They say he's crazy - freaked out in class yesterday."
"Did you know that Bulma Briefs is his foster mother?"
"He's a freak. It's not natural for a blind kid to be able to walk around like that."
"They say that he fought with the guy named most dangerous man in the world yesterday during P. E. - and the guy turned out to be his foster father!"
Gohan almost snickered to himself as he heard what they were saying about him. It seemed he had made somewhat of an impression on the other students yesterday. From what he could figure out, half of them thought he was crazy and the other half thought he was a freak. He didn't mind what anybody thought about him - he might have a couple years ago, but ever since he was able to take pride in his Saiyan side, he became more confident and less worried about what other people thought. The only people whose opinions really mattered to him were Piccolo, Vegeta, Goten, Trunks, Bulma, King Vegeta, Bardock, Krillin, Marron, 18, Tien, Chaoutzu, and Yamcha - in short, the Z Gang. Other than that he didn't give a flying fuck what anyone else thought - especially a bunch of shallow, self-absorbed human teenagers. Stopping that train of thought before it got out of hand, he arrived at the office, opened the door, and walked in. Immediately the secretary behind the desk noticed him and jumped up out of her seat, calling loudly towards the principal's office door.
"Mr. Nakanori! Son Gohan is here!"
As soon as the secretary called out his name, Gohan could hear the office door opening and sensed the principal walk towards them. He decided to wait for Mr. Nakanori to speak first. Mr. Nakanori had been in his office, agonizing over what had happened yesterday and was hoping to get some explanations from Mr. Son if he came in. He'd spent all yesterday trying to get a hold of the Briefs, but received no answer. So when the secretary called out that Gohan was there, he practically leapt out of his seat towards the door. As he walked out of his office, he noticed Gohan standing by the desk, his sightless eyes staring at some point on the wall behind him. He looked to be just fine, nothing to indicate that he was injured or sick. Walking over to the boy, Mr. Nakanori opened his mouth and began to ask questions.
"Mr. Son, you gave us quite a scare yesterday. What happened? Did your foster father actually come to pick you up? Are you sure you're ready to be back in school?"
Gohan listened with a little amusement as the Principal asked his questions - apparently the man couldn't find any other words to explain Vegeta breaking a window and flying off with him as anything other than his foster father coming to pick him up. Not letting any of the smile show on his face, Gohan began to answer his questions.
"Well Mr. Nakanori, apparently one of the devices that helps me move around normally malfunctioned and, since said device is in my ear, it caused me to, as you would say, freak out. The machines that monitor the devices back at C.C. alerted my foster father, and he came to get me so we could immediately fix the problem. A normal doctor and ambulance wouldn't have known what to do. It was something that could only be fixed back at Capsule Corps. The device is now fixed, and I'm just fine. I have a note from my foster mother explaining things, if it helps."
Gohan held out the note in the direction he sensed Mr. Nakanori was, and as soon as the man took it he let his arm drop back to his side. Unconsciously he began rubbing the new tattoo on his left wrist, not caring if the principal saw it or not. It itched a little and he could still feel that weird ki coming from it. Bulma had picked out a short-sleeved shirt for him, so he couldn't hide the tattoo even if he wanted to. Mr. Nakanori quickly read the note through, noticing that Mrs. Briefs corroborated Gohan's story perfectly. Glancing up from the note, he noticed the boy rubbing his left wrist almost absently. Mr. Nakanori was astounded to see that the boy was actually rubbing a tattoo. The principal was sure that the tattoo hadn't been there yesterday, but decided now wasn't the time to comment on it. Clearing his throat, he spoke to Gohan again.
"Well Mr. Son, it seems the note has explained everything satisfactorily and you may go to class now - I think you have about ten minutes left until the bell rings. Come to the office if you need anything or if you are feeling unwell."
With that, Mr. Nakanori turned around and walked back into his office, shutting the door behind him. Shrugging his shoulders, Gohan left the office and headed off to class. He got there with two minutes to spare and was immediately bombarded with questions from Erasa and Sharpner. Amazingly enough, Videl didn't join in, but Gohan had a feeling she was just waiting for the right opportunity. Gohan fended off the questions by telling them the same story he had told the principle, and when he was asked about Vegeta flying, he reminded them that the fighters at the Cell games flew, but that he wasn't supposed to talk about it. Class started and Gohan got wrapped up in schoolwork. He still finished ahead of everyone else, but it did take a little time. Once he finished, he leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head and opened up his mind a little. He decided that finding out what everyone was thinking might help stave off his boredom. Erasa's thoughts were the first he heard.
//Hmmm I wonder if Gohan likes blue? Maybe I should wear the blue miniskirt that shows off my legs! Then he won't be able to resist me. Or maybe the pink one would be better. //
Gohan almost burst out laughing, instead it came out as a muffled snort. He couldn't believe the blonde was air headed enough to forget that he was blind and couldn't see her clothes, let alone her legs. As if it would matter if he could - he still wouldn't look at the ditzy blonde like that. The next thoughts he picked up were Sharpener's.
//Man, I can't believe that Gohan guy! How the hell did he get to be so strong and be smart at the same time? I've been training with the great Hercule for four years and I am one of his best pupils. Also, what is with the chicks liking him so much? The guy isn't that good looking! //
Another muffled snort of laughter escaped Gohan before he could stop it. Sharpner was just as bad as Erasa. The guy only thought of himself and how strong he was. It wasn't surprising that the guy was weak - training for four years with that fraud Hercule would do it to anyone. As for Sharpener's other comment about girls, Gohan just brushed it aside. He had no interest in the shallow bimbos that seemed to infect the school. Moving on the next person, he listened in on the teacher Mr. Annotare.
// Damn stupid kids. Not a brain among them except for that Son boy. Absolutely amazing intellect; I'm surprised he hasn't been sent to a University yet. Oh well, at least I have one capable student among all of the other dunderheads. Videl used to be the best in the class, but now all that crime fighting has made her grades drop. I really hate this job. Hmm I wonder what Mr. Son is snickering about up there. He's been done with the work for a while. //
Gohan caught himself just before another snicker escaped his lips. He really didn't need the teacher to ask him why he was snickering. He couldn't help it though - it felt nice that someone, especially the teacher, held the same opinions as he did towards the other students. Gohan was also pleased by the compliment Mr. Annotare had unknowingly given him. Gohan wasn't surprised that the man hated his job. He knew he would if he had to teach a bunch of empty-headed teenagers every day.
As he thought about that, he remembered one of the scenes from the future that had been shown to him by the voice. It had been of him teaching in a dojo with Videl. Gohan was a little skeptical of that actually happening since he didn't particularly care for the girl at the moment, and couldn't imagine himself dealing with a bunch of human kids. Giving a mental shrug he pushed those thoughts out of his head and searched for someone else's thoughts to occupy him. It wasn't surprising that it turned out to be Videl.
//Damn that Son Gohan! There's something strange about him on top of the facts that he's blind but can move around fine, can fight well, knows the fighters from the Cell games, and lives with Bulma Briefs and her husband. It was creepy enough yesterday when he fought with Vegeta Briefs, but after what Sharpner and Erasa told me about Home EC it seems even worse. Especially since they said Mr. Briefs flew. I really want to go digging up some information, or at least interrogate the guy a little, but I'm trying to remember that I told him I wouldn't do that to him anymore. Hmm what's that dark thing on his wrist? It almost looks like a tattoo, but he didn't have it yesterday and I thought he was sick later on. Damn, I'm right - it is a tattoo! Oh well, I'll just have to ask him about it later. //
Gohan closed his mind off from Videl and everyone else's thoughts. Shaking his head mentally, he concluded that Videl was worse than a cat when it came to curiosity. That girl just couldn't leave anything alone! At least she was trying to remember to be nice and not bombard him constantly with questions and piss him off. However, he had a feeling that Videl would find a way to get around all that. Another thing was that she had noticed the tattoo. Both Erasa and Sharpner hadn't noticed it, either because they were so focused on asking him questions they didn't see it, or they just had no observation skills. It figured that Videl would be the first to notice it. She would have to have good observation skills to be a good fighter, as well as work with the police. Sighing quietly, he resigned himself to thinking up a plausible story for the sudden appearance of a tattoo that hadn't been there yesterday when he'd supposedly been sick. He finally decided to stick with his original story and tell Videl that Bulma had let him get it as an apology for the device malfunctioning and that he'd gotten it done late last night.
The bell rang and everyone grabbed their stuff and struggled to get out the door as fast as they could. As Videl, Sharpner, Erasa, and Gohan were walking to their next class, Videl asked Gohan about the tattoo. As soon as Erasa noticed that Gohan did indeed have a tattoo on his wrist, she squealed so loudly that Gohan had to cover his ears in pain. As Erasa began to babble about how cool it was that Gohan had gotten a tattoo, Gohan told Videl the story he'd cooked up. Gohan held up his wrist so everyone could see it better. After looking at it, Erasa went back to her babbling, Sharpner admitted it was cool, and Videl grabbed his wrist to examine the tattoo more closely. As soon as she touched it, Gohan felt an increase in the weird ki infused into the tattoo. Quickly pulling away his wrist, the ki faded back to what it had been before. Gohan knew Videl was looking at him oddly, but he just shrugged it off as the tattoo still being a little sore.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, except for when Vegeta came to PE. With a nod to Krillin and Yamcha, Vegeta and Gohan went outside. Thankfully Vegeta had brought a capsulated gravity chamber, so even though they couldn't train normally, they at least had somewhat of a challenge. Krillin and Yamcha avoided all the questions thrown at them about Gohan and Vegeta, and began to teach the class. Yamcha taught the less inexperienced and Krillin taught the more advanced students. The class ended with a sparring match between Krillin and Videl. Needless to say Krillin won it easily, but he gave Videl a workout instead of just beating her right away. Videl had been overcome with curiosity about the big dome that sprung up on the lawn outside but, remembering her promise to not interrogate Gohan, she kept her questions to her self and simply made a note of the capsule number, hoping to find out what it was from the Capsule Corps capsule list later.
The days began to pass a little more quickly, and soon they settled into a routine. Gohan woke up, had breakfast, went to school. Was bored for most of the day until PE. Spar with Vegeta in the gravity room for PE. Be bored again in the rest of his classes, go home. Spend some time with Goten and Trunks either training or playing, occasionally spending time with Marron as well. Later on before dinner, spar and train with Piccolo. After dinner, once again spar with Vegeta. The only break in that routine was whenever the police called Videl. When this happened, Gohan would mentally follow her and appear as the Golden Man.
Apparently the name had stuck ever since Videl first called him that. He let Videl do most of the work and only stepped in if it looked like she couldn't handle it but he never did anymore than that. Videl always tried to get him to talk but most of the time he would just disappear on her. Thankfully Gohan didn't collapse every time he went to help Videl - he and Piccolo had figured out what he'd done wrong. Apparently when he was out of his mind and formed another body, the other body used Gohan's mind power instead of his ki - Gohan had been trying to use his ki that first time. He had pretty much been trying to channel ki through his brain, and that's what caused him so much pain and made him lose control. Now that he and Piccolo had figured that out, Gohan didn't have any more problems - he didn't even have to meditate to do it.
A month after Gohan had begun to go to school, something unbelievable happened. Or at least in Gohan and Vegeta's minds it was unbelievable. It was during a late training session with Goten and Trunks; Gohan was fighting Goten while Trunks fought Vegeta. As usual the boys began to get frustrated at their inability to hit the older men. Vegeta was making his usual taunts about the two boys not being fit and that they would never be able to hit him or Gohan. It was during one of these taunts that it happened. Vegeta had just let loose with another insult when Goten and Trunks became so angry that unexpectedly they ascended to Super Saiyan form and managed to land a punch on both the shocked Vegeta and Gohan. The form only lasted for a couple minutes, but the boys had done it and would be able to do it from now on - they just needed a little training. As Vegeta stalked away muttering about how the level of Super Saiyan was now a child's toy, Gohan just chalked it up to the good genes and a child's body being unable to contain a lot of ki energy. After that day, Gohan began to train the boys as Super Saiyans.
The only other major event was when Gohan first visited the Otherworld after his experience in that strange place with the voice and the five beings. The first thing he'd done after getting to the Otherworld was mentally search for King Kai. Unfortunately since King Kai was currently with his father and mother, Gohan decided not to stop by. Instead he went directly to the Grand Kai. Along the way, he somehow felt that everyone was looking at him strangely. Shrugging it off, he walked into the Grand Kai's palace. As soon as he walked in the Grand Kai's voice boomed out.
"Hey Gohan man! Good to see you again. So you're the one responsible for the vibe I'm sensing - I should've known. Come over and talk to me, dude - let me know what's shakin'!"
Gohan had long gotten over his surprise at the Grand Kai manner of speech and as he walked over and sat in the chair next to the Grand Kai, he began to tell the watcher of the universe all about what had happened, except that he was going to die young and without a mate. As he finished the story by leaving off where he finally woke up at Capsule Corps, there was a stunned silence in which Gohan started to get a little nervous. The Grand Kai was apparently too shocked to speak. Finally he snapped out of it and spoke.
"Whoa man! You certainly have been busy. The place you went to is called the Hall of Fate and Destiny it's a radical place, and everything that voice told you is true. Not very many dudes or dudettes get to go there, let alone pass more than one test. It's absolutely amazing a cat like you was able to pass all of the tests! Only one other mortal has done it ever. It's the second highest honor a mortal can achieve in the Universe, man. Let's have a look at that tattoo now."
As Gohan held out his left wrist for the Grand Kai to examine, he felt a little overwhelmed. He had halfway thought that the whole thing had been some weird magic joke or something, but hearing the truth from the Grand Kai kind of made it reality. This time, however, Gohan managed to not breakdown crying because he had such a fucked up life. He just sort of smiled and talked nonsense with the Grand Kai for a couple minutes before taking his leave and setting off for hell to visit his grandfather and King Vegeta.
When he talked to King Vegeta and Bardock, he decided to tell them everything - including the parts he didn't tell Piccolo, Vegeta, or the Grand Kai. Both Saiyans were completely shocked by the time Gohan was done. It took them a few moments before they were able to speak, but when they did they wanted to see Gohan's tattoo. After examining the tattoo, they stated that they believed everything Gohan said. Both were upset that Gohan would supposed to die before he was thirty, and without a mate, but they seemed to be optimistic that Gohan would find a way around it in the end. Finally Gohan left hell and returned to his body on earth.
Months began to go by, and every thing seemed to be going well. Gohan had somewhat become friends with Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa - Videl more than the other two. They often spent lunch together, talking about different things. Videl would talk about how things were so difficult at home ever since Hercule had taken credit for defeating Cell. Videl privately expressed her doubts that her father actually beat Cell to Gohan, and Gohan was really tempted to tell Videl that her suspicions were right, but in the end he decided it wasn't time. They also talked about things that were happening at the moment, and sometimes Gohan would help Videl with her homework if she needed it. Videl still tried to figure out what was so strange about Gohan. She'd looked through the capsule list posted by Capsule Corps, but she didn't find the strange capsule that Vegeta brought to PE every day. She also couldn't find any information about Gohan on the net. It seemed that all of his information was at Capsule Corps, and Videl couldn't hack into those computers any day. Instead, she went back to just observing him.
Everything concerning what had happened in the Hall of Fate and Destiny was shoved into the back of Gohan's mind, and after he told Vegeta and Piccolo what the Grand Kai had said, they too shoved the information into the backs of their minds - writing what had happened off as part of the general weirdness that was a part of their everyday lives. The only real tangible reminder they had was the tattoo on Gohan's wrist.
It had been three months since Gohan's first day of school when, in the middle of English class, the principal came in with an announcement. Everyone knew that if the principal interrupted a class, it was for something really important. Mr. Nakanori waited until the class stopped their excited chatter and calmed down enough to be silent and listen. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his suit jacket pocket and began to read.
"Attention all citizens. As you know, the World Martial Arts tournament is seven months away and all of the greatest fighters in the world will be attending - including the world champion Hercule. This year the committee that oversees the Tournament has decided to do something special. One month from now the first of eight mini tournaments will be held in East City. Each mini tournament will be held in a different city. The first is East City, the second is Green Star City, the third is West City, the fourth Satan City, the fifth North City, the sixth Blue Star City, the seventh South City, and the eighth in White Star City. The tournaments will be held every two weeks, beginning the first of next month and the last tournament will be held exactly two months before the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament. This is a great chance to get some experience fighting against skilled fighters in an arena. All participants are required to be eighteen years of age or older. There will be no junior divisions, but there will also be team matches of two people against two others. Team matches have been included in the World Martial Arts Tournament as well this year. Participants may compete in as many mini tournaments as they like. We hope you all have a great time. Signed, the commissioner of the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament."
Immediately after Mr. Nakanori stopped speaking the room burst into excited chatter about the mini tournaments. Up where Gohan was sitting with Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa, it was no exception save that it was mostly Erasa and Sharpner talking. Erasa was exclaiming that when the mini tournament came to Satan City it would be an excellent chance to check out some hot guys, while Sharpner was loudly proclaiming that he would be competing in the Satan City tournament and win. Erasa noticed Gohan and Videl's silence and decided to ask about them.
"Hey Videl, Gohan, will you guys be competing in any of the mini tournaments or the WMAT? You guys are the two best fighters in the school!"
While Sharpner bristled at that comment, he too turned questioning eyes towards Gohan and Videl. Videl was the first to answer.
"Well, I'll be competing in the Satan City mini tournament, but I don't think I'll be able to do any others because of my police work. However, I will most definitely be competing in the WMAT."
She turned to look at Gohan who was still facing the front of the class. Videl lightly poked him in the arm and spoke.
"What about you Gohan? Will you do any of the mini tournaments or the WMAT?"
Gohan looked startled at the question. In truth, he'd only halfway listened to the conversation. He had been concentrating more on deciding if he even wanted to compete in the WMAT or the mini tournaments. He had just decided that he would do both and possibly drag Vegeta along to the mini tournaments and the WMAT - in disguise of course - when Videl poked him. He pretended to consider it for a moment before he answered.
"Nah, I don't think I'll compete in either. It's not my thing right now."
Needless to say, all three were stunned at his casual dismissal of the greatest martial arts to happen for the next several years. Finally Videl came out of her shock to blurt out another question.
"Do you know if any of the Cell games fighters will be competing in the WMAT? I know some of them have in the past."
Gohan's face got the irritated look it always did when someone asked about the Cell game's fighters. He still answered the question, but with a hint of irritation in his voice.
"I really don't know since I haven't asked any of them. If they choose to enter it's their business and no one else's."
Just as he finished this statement, the bell rang and Gohan was up from his seat and out of the door before they could ask more questions. The more he thought about the mini tournaments and the WMAT, the more he thought it would be a good idea to enter under a disguise and get Vegeta to enter as well. He decided to also ask all of the others to enter to make it more interesting. Besides -he and Vegeta would want to have some sort of challenge besides each other! He figured it would be a good way to train for a while because he knew that they wouldn't be able to use ki blasts, transformations, flying, and most likely ki enhanced punches or kicks - unless they wanted to give themselves away and beat everyone else into the ground in less than a second, of course.
Lately he had been noticing that he and Vegeta were concentrating more on their power than on technique or skill. They had become lax in those areas, and even though there wasn't anyone stronger than Gohan at the moment, that didn't mean there never would be. If a person like that ever did appear, Gohan would need all the advantages he could get, and hopefully his techniques and skills could become the deciding factor. He was pretty sure Vegeta had noticed it as well, but in his quest to become SSJ3 shoved it into the back of his mind. Participating in the mini tournaments would give them the chance to practice their skills and techniques, as well as get Vegeta used to having so many humans around him with all of their noise. Gohan really didn't want the WMAT to be littered with the bodies of fans because Vegeta decided they were annoying him with their cheering. Giving a mental shrug, Gohan made his way to his next class. Deciding he would bring up the subject of the mini tournaments at home rather than during PE, he turned his full attention to his next class.
It was a little after noon when Gohan made his way to the gravity room at Capsule Corps where he could sense Vegeta's ki. He was thankful he had memorized the route a long time ago, since he was seriously pissed and couldn't focus his senses all that well. Just after lunch the Principal had announced there was going to be an assembly with a guest speaker. As soon as Gohan stepped foot into the gym where the assembly was being held, he stopped dead in his tracks in disbelief and anger. Hercule Satan, supposed savior of the Earth and the Martial Arts Champion of the World, was there - no doubt to be the guest speaker. If Gohan could have seen colors, they would've been all blood red. Out of instinct his mind reached out to listen to Hercule's thoughts. What he found nearly made him lose what was left of his control. Hercule had been mentally going over his speech, and Gohan knew that if he heard Hercule speak that out loud there would be one dead world's savior.
Fighting the urge to turn Super Saiyan and expose the afroed fraud, he quickly exited out a side door, using the crowds of students for cover. Once outside he had blasted straight up into the sky above the clouds so no one would see him, and sped off towards C.C. not even caring that he was technically skipping school - he just felt the urge to beat on someone. Or at the very least train until he was exhausted and his anger had faded away. Landing on the lawn of Capsule Corps, he stalked towards the gravity room where he knew Vegeta would be.
Finally reaching the GR, Gohan searched for the panel that had the open and close buttons in it. The GR was new - Vegeta had blown up the last one three months ago in an attempt to reach SSJ3. Ever since Gohan had come to live with Bulma and Vegeta, he had started training in the GR. Because of his high level of power, he tended to get carried away sometimes and, as a result, eventually blew up more GRs than Vegeta - which was certainly saying something. It was only two more than Vegeta, but it was still more than the Saiyan Prince. Nowadays they kept a running tally, a kind of a silent challenge between the two of them. Of course, they didn't intentionally blow them up - it just seemed to happen often.
As he searched for the panel, Gohan gave a mental sigh. It seemed that every time Bulma fixed the GR she put the panel in a new place. Maybe it was some sort of subtle revenge directed towards Gohan, or maybe she just always forgot where it had been originally. Finally finding the panel three feet to the left of where it had been on the old GR, Gohan found the button that had open on it in Braille and pushed. Immediately the gravity began to decrease back to normal, and a moment later the door opened and Gohan stepped inside.
Vegeta could practically feel the anger rolling off of Gohan in waves. He had felt the boy's ki as soon as Gohan had landed on the lawn. Even then he'd felt the anger in his ki and through the bond they shared. It perked Vegeta's interest to know what had gotten the brat so wound up. As he expected, Gohan headed straight towards him and the gravity room. Vegeta looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it had been only an hour and a half since he had left the boy at that school after that PE thing. The brat was supposed to be in that school for at least a couple more hours. This only made Vegeta even more curious, and he decided that as soon as Gohan came inside he would ask. As Gohan put his hand on the open button, Vegeta felt the gravity decrease and return to normal, then watched as the door opened and Gohan walked in.
As soon as he walked inside, Gohan headed for the middle of the room and the gravity controls. Not even bothering to change into his gi, Gohan waited until the door closed, then set the GR to six hundred times earth's gravity. He waited for a moment to adjust, then went to sit in the middle of the floor in Piccolo's lotus position and began to take deep breaths. He knew Vegeta could tell he was angry and he knew Vegeta was curious, but he wanted to try and calm down a little before he answered anything. Besides - he knew that eventually Vegeta would get impatient and would just ask whatever it was that he wanted to know. Gohan was right - not even five minutes later there was a snort from behind Gohan and Vegeta's voice called out.
"Well, it's not like I care or anything, but aren't you supposed to still be in that weakling school? You know the woman is going to be pissed that you skipped. Besides, you're interrupting my training, brat."
Gohan took another deep breath before replying.
"Once she hears my reason, she'll understand. Unless she really did want the so called 'world's savior Hercule' publicly humiliated, beaten, and probably killed in front of a whole bunch of high school students in the middle of his 'I am the greatest speech'..."
As soon as Gohan said the name Hercule, everything clicked in Vegeta's mind. If there was anyone Gohan hated besides Cell, it was Hercule. Gohan hated the man not only because Hercule had the nerve to take the credit for defeating Cell, but also that he simply turned around and denounced the real fighters as fakes and frauds. People who had worked hard their whole lives and sacrificed a lot to be able to do those things and keep their skills sharp. The only reasons Gohan hadn't actually killed Hercule yet was because he couldn't kill someone in cold blood, and he hadn't actually heard the man speak live. If Hercule's name was mentioned, Gohan's ki tended to rise and he'd have to work to control his anger. If he heard the man on the television, said television was blasted into the next dimension. Same thing went for radios. Gohan had already vowed that one day Hercule would get what was coming to him, whether it was by his hands or someone else's. Finally Vegeta responded.
"Good job restraining yourself, brat. Now what the hell are you doing?"
Gohan chuckled, and it wasn't exactly a nice chuckle either.
"Well, right now all I want to do is beat the living shit out of someone, so I'm trying to control myself. Don't even think of challenging me to a fight right now. At this point I'd most likely go SSJ3, beat the hell out of you, kill you, then completely lose control and blow up the whole planet. So, I warn you not to provoke me."
Vegeta scowled, the brat knew him too well. Gohan had been right - he had been about ready to challenge him to fight. But now that Gohan mentioned he could lose control, Vegeta wasn't too keen on the idea. Being on the receiving end of an out of control SSJ3 Gohan was not something he wanted to experience any time soon - instead he decided to smart mouth.
"So what the hell is this breathing shit you're doing?"
Gohan's head turned in Vegeta's direction as he spoke.
"I am reverting back to one of Piccolo's old methods. Something he used when he first trained me and constantly got pissed off at me for being a sniveling, whiney brat."
With that said, he turned his head back to facing forward and continued his breathing. Vegeta studied him for a couple more minutes before throwing his hands up and stalking over to the other side of the room and his towel, shouting as he went.
"For Kami's sake boy! Is that all your going to do for the rest of the day?"
Gohan's head swiveled in the direction Vegeta's voice came from. With a huge grin appearing on his face, he replied with relish.
"Actually, no Vegeta - I do have something else I need to talk to you about."
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Well, every time I write a new chapter I seem to write more pages. I'm getting into the twenties now! I hope you liked this chapter - it was sort of a transition chapter, but not really. I hope it sort of explained a couple things that maybe people didn't get from the last chapter. Oh well. It's time to review!
Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Want to swing me by my tail and throw me into the trees? Let me know, be a reviewer.
Next Chapter: Mini Tournaments (??)