Chapter 19
I'M BACK! I'M BACK, I'M BACK, I'M BACK!!! Oh, gomen, hehe!
Well, my depression is completely gone, and I feel as if I'm on top of the world! School's finished! Summer's here (I know, I know. Some of you have got Winter instead... but I'm sick of Winter at the moment! Besides, it's not as if it snows where I live! But then again, we're having water restrictions...)! Christmas is coming! And last but not least, 2003 is almost here! Phew! *Wipes forehead* That took a while!
I'd like to thank everyone who gave me support, EVERYONE! You all made me feel better, and I am so grateful for that! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get this up... After my depression disappeared, I had REALLY bad Writer's Block. *Sighs* I guess that's what happens when you haven't written anything for so long!
OK, I'll let you get to the story. Oh yeah, just a little Author's Note. Some of you might have been wondering why Vegita had decided just to watch the fight between Bodu and Gohan, instead of actually helping. It's all explained in this chapter! I believe that might have been the same reason why Vegita also refused to fight Brolli, though I'm not completely sure...
Please R&R. And again, THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
He continued to power up, the golden flames that enveloped him seeming to feed on the air itself, becoming steadily larger. The flames' golden tinge was forever brightening, seeming to take on the sheer brilliance of the great star known as the sun. The golden flares had grown to such an infernal blaze that their tongues were licking at the Cehang-jin's body.
The demi Saiya-jin's teal eyes seemed to twitch slightly, though only a trained eye would have been able to spot it. He knew that he could go no further unless he wanted to, no, needed to use the hidden power that drifted deep inside of him like a lake with the surface of a mirror, as calm as the dark sky of midnight. Whenever he began to feel anger, a stone was thrown right into the middle of the lake, causing ripples to emit from the center, steadily growing larger, until they reached the very shores of the lake when he was unable to feel anything but intense fury.
Just like during the fight with Ce-
No! Shaking his head violently to try and rid himself of such twisted and horrible memories, he reclaimed his focus on the current goal: to kill Bodu. As he cast his icy eyes towards the Cehang-jin who hovered below him - even Vegita-san would have shuddered if he received such a glare from the demi Saiya-jin - he was somewhat taken aback as he saw Bodu smirking. Not a trace of fear was written upon the Cehang-jin's serene face, not even the slightest quiver of a nerve.
Son Gohan's eyes widened unintentionally, as he sorted through all of the possible reasons to why Bodu the enemy, could be so calm. As suddenly as his eyes had widened, they became narrowed to slits once again, as he realized why the Cehang-jin seemed so relaxed.
Bodu can read every one of my thoughts. Not even one simple image that might flash within my mind will be missed by him; which means that he would be able to predict any attack that I try to use against him! That means that he cannot be beaten
Vegita's sharp Saiya-jin eyes were fixed to the incredible fight that was taking place, not missing even the slightest of movements from the two warriors.
He knew now what was happening; he had been suspecting that something was amiss for some time. Something had not seemed right when 'Gohan' had paid them a visit at Capsule Corporation, and it had become even more perplexing when 'Gohan' had fought him at Kami's Palace. It had seemed like like the two had been completely different, one innocent while the other was evil, though he had thought that such a thing could not be possible.
Deep down in the shadows of his mind however, his instincts had been practically screaming that something was not right about the 'Gohan' who had destroyed most of his home, though he didn't like having to admit that such a place could be where he lived.
He had only begun to suspect that two Gohan's, not one, were both breathing the air of Chikyuu-sei after the end of his battle with Kakarotto's cursed brat even if he didn't fully hate Son Gohan, it didn't mean that he would ever forgive him for some of the blows that had been made to his pride.
But now, he finally understood that his earlier presumptions had been true. Two Gohan's existed, and one of them was actually a Cehang-jin. He hadn't actually believed it when the word 'Cehang-jin' had popped up in his mind; he had even tried to laugh halfheartedly at how stupid it was to actually believe that any lone Cehang-jin could still be living. If it weren't for the Cehang-jin who called himself Bodu actually admitting that he was one, he would have begun to think that he was indeed going mad.
Instead of being confused about who exactly Son Gohan was, now he was confused about what he should do. He knew within his heart that he had to try and help the demi Saiya-jin, even if the boy did not deserve any acts of kindness from him; kindness was not a thing that he would show toward others very often. But the thing that was holding him back, that wouldn't let him go and try to stop the crazy Cehang-jin, were the horrible stories and memories that had been etched into his mind from the earliest point in life that he could remember.
Normally he would have looked down upon himself for even tasting the tiniest bit of fear, though things that were small could always grow into things larger and more unfathomable; but he was suffering from the distant memories of the stories that his Otousan had told him, memories that he just couldn't let go.
He remembered his Otousan once telling him that the Cehang-jin, who were then thought to be extinct, had been a powerful race, and were never ones to be underestimated. He had also said that if a Cehang-jin had been smart, or even lucky enough to have acquired the form of a powerful warrior with no individual, the chances of the Cehang-jin being defeated would have been close to nil.
Vegita had always believed anything that his Otousan had told him, in fact, the whole of the Saiya-jin race had always followed their King's words. For the King, from the very time that he could talk, was taught to be a wise ruler: to always think about every possible outcome. And if there was no other choice, the King's own death would be the only possible route that he could take. That had resulted in the death of King Vegita: trying to do the only thing that he could do to save the Saiya-jin race from Freeza, even if he had to be killed, which unfortunately, had been his bitter fate.
So, from everything that the Prince without a kingdom had learnt over the years, nothing was as important as knowing that everything his Otousan had said was something to be believed and followed, not something to be spat upon and ignored.
Bodu continued to gaze at Gohan as if he were a predator who had cornered its prey, a clear smirk upon his face.
He was concentrating on the many emotions and thoughts that were buzzing within his mind, especially the ones of fear and defeat. With every new thought of terror or defeat that he came upon, his body would seem to twitch as it became even more excited. He knew that part of the reason why he delighted in seeing so many thoughts of despair coming from the young demi Saiya-jin were because of the current Saiya-jin blood running through his veins; the other part was because ever since he had learned that he was the last living Cehang-jin, he had always had dreams and fantasies about one day killing the last of the Saiya-jin race, and now that time was at present.
The vehement fear that he was sensing from Gohan was so great, that at times he became confused, thinking that he was actually the one who was experiencing true horror. His body would begin to shudder, and he would actually begin to sweat. But at the same time, it was making him feel even more as if he had already won.
All of a sudden though, the feeling of fear that he had been concentrating on so intently disappeared quicker than the blink of an eye, and was replaced by a strong feeling of joy. Before he could try to read the thoughts that came along with the joy however, all emotions and thoughts that he could formerly sense coming from Son Gohan disappeared completely.
Because he had been concentrating on the hybrid's mind so intently, it was a complete shock to suddenly be detached from reading Gohan's mind at all. A sharp pain attacked his head, so painful, that he had to clutch his head in agony, small sounds of whimpering escaping his lips.
Cautiously opening one pained eye, he glared at the halfling with as much hatred as he possibly could, and managed to ask, "What d - did you do?!" As he saw Gohan's face, which he had remembered glaring back at him just a few moments before, he was surprised to see a clear grin on the other's face. Gohan's earlier frightened eyes had also taken on the sheen of true confidence.
Gohan was slightly amused by the pain that he had inflicted upon Bodu, that being part of the cause for his concerned frown turning into a happy smile. He was also feeling a bit stupid as well, as he had figured out how to evade the Cehang-jin's mind reading techniques, and his shield against that had been floating right in front of his very eyes the whole time.
He had formed a protective shield around his mind so that Bodu would not even be able to receive even the smallest thought from him, the shield once being one of his first instincts when entering a battle
A four-year old half Chikyuusei-jin half Saiya-jin was facing his mentor, Piccolo. It was one of their usual training sessions, training sessions that had been held every day for about the last three months, and today wasn't any different.
Gohan's ebony eyes were shifting, though the movement was so quick that only someone with a trained eye would have been able to spot it. Sometimes his eyes would be fixed upon the dusty ground, then they would change their gaze so that they were gazing at Piccolo's scowling face, and then they would return to the ground again.
His hands were trembling also - though really - it would have only looked like the slightest twitch to someone who was not a warrior.
But Piccolo could easily see those movements. Ever since a week ago, he had been very strict on the way that Gohan showed his body language, and he was mildly impressed that the boy wasn't trembling as much as he used to. It was something that was slowly improving, though he would have liked it if Gohan had already accomplished being able to hide his emotions from showing themselves by his body.
However, that was not what was irritating the Nameksei-jin. It was his student's mind that was troubling him. The aura of emotion that was radiating off of Gohan was so strongly made up of fear, that he could actually imagine the boy screaming in terror, with silvery tears steaming down his cheeks. The boy was scared, no, terrified was a better word.
Discarding all advice that it might be better if he kept a level tone, he growled, "Gohan! You may not have known, but I can read your mind. Every one of your thoughts is instantly sent to me."
There was the slightest whimper, so quiet that even the tiniest rustle of a leaf would have seemed to have been louder.
"What I am sensing displeases me. The fear that is flowing within you is as pungent as the smell of freshly spilt blood."
There was another whimper, though this time it had sounded as if the person who had emitted it was beginning to feel guilt.
"You will never know that your enemies can read your thoughts unless you are actually told, so you always have to be prepared to face such a thing; if you show such fear towards an enemy who can read your mind as clearly as if you were speaking, then you will have lost what chance that you might have had of being the victor. Because Gohan, there is nothing worse than for a warrior to show his or her fear to the enemy."
Something was puzzling Gohan, and it was something that just wouldn't go away. Taking a very dangerous risk in speaking when not directly being spoken to, he said softly, "How come you only seem to be able to read my mind? You've never told or shown such a thing towards Otousan."
Piccolo's eyes gave the slightest quiver, the only sign of his surprise. He knew that the reason was because that he had almost developed a bond with Gohan, a bond that would eventually let the two be able to speak with each other telepathically. But he did not want to speak of it now, so he ignored the question.
After Gohan had learnt that new lesson about having to keep his mind and emotions subdued, Piccolo had immediately begun to teach Gohan about how to conceal his mind. It was almost like using ki really, or so it had seemed to Gohan. He had been forced to master the technique by the end of the day - but truthfully - it was just as his Okaasan would have done. But instead of learning how to conceal his mind, she would have forced him to learn everything about algebra.
An enveloping feeling began to rise from Gohan's stomach as he thought of his Okaasan. He could hardly remember the last time that she had actually trusted him, as if an eternity had actually passed, though really, it had only been a little longer than a week.
Deciding to refocus on the fight instead of feeling pity, his grin turned into the slightest smirk as he asked himself why he hadn't thought of concealing his mind in shadow sooner.
To be continued