Chapter 4: Revelation

Saturday morning the whole group was standing in the long line of people wanting to get into the new virtual reality theater. Right down and including Naru and Umino. They were finally almost to the entrance of the place, and Usagi said with a scowl, "This is so barbaric, I can't believe /you/ would go here." She was addressing Naru and Ami and only half the other girls, but they all just shrugged, while Naru slung an arm around Umino's waist.

Gohan spoke up with a grin, "This is gonna be so cool. What do you guys say about girls against the boys?"

"Whaaat!?" Usagi exclaimed in disbelief, before adding. "We outnumber you three to one!"

"You're right, Bunny, that really isn't fair," Gohan answered with a mock frown, and then with a smile added, "four to one would be much better odds, right, Umino?"

"Uh," the other boy looked around nervously, seeing the half shock, half glares looks of the girls, except Usagi's whose full on death glare was centered on the oblivious Gohan. Then the other boy settled on the grinning Gohan, and deciding to stick with his only male friend, he dryly remarked, unable to keep the smile of his face, as Gohan's was contagious, "Yeah, although I think five to one would start giving them a chance." Gohan gave nod, smiling brightly. The girls look with shock at the normally shy and quiet Umino, then with some dark glares at the 'chauvinistic pig'. Naru grinned, she knew when Umino was kidding by now, and elbowed him playfully in the gut. "Oof," he said, and felt his stomach, looking at his girlfriend. She smiled back at him sweetly and gave him a wink.

Finally the group of eight got into the virtual reality theater, and got fitted with their armors and guns. They were set into a roller coaster like car and they sped into the depths of the theater, along the way, monsters of pure light emerged and roared. Gohan shot one and it disappeared. The others soon joined, except Usagi, who was still fiddling with her gun trying to figure out how to work it.

After a hair-raising two minutes, the car came to a sudden stop, and opened. The group got out and looked around the new vista, a giant maze. In the distance another person could be seen shooting a roaring monster, which disappeared after several hits. The helmets they wore had a plastic protective covering over their eyes, which also carried a heads up display. A 'today's high score list' appeared; first just for the entrance way.

"All right!" Gohan exclaimed excitedly, as he saw himself on number one. A Chiba Mamoru was second, and Ginga Seijuurou third, then came Umino and Ami.

"Mamoru's here!?" Usagi squealed out in surprise and elation. She turned to the group and looked at them with begging eyes. Gohan didn't know what was going on, but then the group sighed. Usagi squealed again, and sped off, looking for her potential boyfriend with memory loss.

"Wow, Umino, you're good," Rei said with some surprise at his fourth ranking, Minako nodded in agreement. The high score list turned to an overall score, and obviously none of them were anywhere near the top, since they of course still hadn't shot a monster while on foot.

"Ah, it's nothing, men have better hand-eye coordination, forty thousand years of flinging spears at prey paid off," Umino shyly dismissed his ranking.

"Having his own game console in his very own room, which he plays on every day helps to," Naru told everyone with a little pride.

"All right then," Gohan said, as he gave Ami a congratulatory glance, and looked around the others. "If we want to be in the same positions overall as well, it's time we get going, and get shooting." Then they set off into the virtual reality game.

*****

"Mamoru!" Usagi exclaimed with joy as she found the man she was in love with.

Mamoru slowly turned around, regarded her, and said, "Oh, hey, stupid." As he turned around, so did the person next to him, which revealed Natsumi, one of Usagi's classmates. Both the girls' eyes narrowed at each other.

"Usagi," a second male voice sounded, and from a side corridor Seijuurou, another classmate arrived. "I knew it was you." Natsumi's eyes became darker. Then Seijuurou's gaze settled on Mamoru and he too instantly gave a jealous gaze. Mamoru apparently was the only one who didn't care, and was seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

Just then a virtual monster jumped up, and Mamoru instantly shot it with his VR gun. The talking was over almost immediately as a few more monsters arrived at the stationary targets, ready to be taken out like the sitting ducks they were. Seijuurou took out a second with ease, taunting Mamoru to see who was best. The two young men started firing not so much to get the monsters, but to see which of them was better. Usagi aimed her gun at another monster, fired, and missed. Usagi blinked in surprise and fired again, once again missing the monster. Natsumi laughed hatefully as she blew away the monster with her VR gun. "You are so stupid, can't even hit a monster once," Natsumi told.

Usagi sniffed, and said, "It's barbaric, I don't like barbaric games."

"Usagi," a familiar voice called out in surprise, and she turned around, seeing her father and her brother standing there. "I didn't know you were here, if you wanted to go you could have come with us." Usagi gulped, really not wanting her father and brother there with her potential - five years older - boyfriend.

"I'm the best," Seijuurou stated with a snarl off to the side.

"No, /I/ am," Mamoru returned as he pushed the button on his VR helmet to show him the rankings. Seijuurou did the same, and both of them looked stunned at the rankings. Number 1: Son Gohan. Number 2: Gurio Umino. Number 3: Aino Minako. Mamoru and Seijuurou only came after that.

"Come on, Usagi," her father said with a smile. "We can have some father, son, /and/ daughter quality time, your friends can come along."

Usagi went with her father, as he and her brother Shingo shot down another monster. Mamoru followed them with a slight smile. Seijuurou and Natsumi however, quickly snuck away.

*****

Seijuurou and Natsumi arrived in a separate corridor, making sure they were alone, they transformed. Their human skin turned to pale green, their hair white, and their clothes transformed into skintight futuristic looking suits. They two looked at each other, and smiled evilly. Ann told Ail, as their real names were, "This is place is perfect to release a Cardian, and drain energy."

Ail nodded, and pulled out a few cards. "Choose my beloved." Ann grinned and pulled one of the cards. "Good choice." Ann grinned and threw the card to the floor. A whirlwind of energy exploded from the card, and a moment later the monster that had been depicted on the card stood real, and ready to kill.

"Go, find us energy," Ann whispered, and the monster bounded off.

*****

Gohan and Umino were at point of the group, and they were enjoying themselves. Virtual monster after virtual monster was shot down. Gohan's Saiyan reflexes and Umino's practice made them the superior marksmen. To Makoto's surprise and annoyance, Ami surprised her by being better. Her time with her Playstation 2, had helped in that regard. Minako however was better then both of them. She simply had more experience, she'd been fighting as a sailor soldier the longest of all of them.

Surprisingly Rei didn't do as well, and Naru couldn't really keep up. She was proud of Umino's performance though, it was visible on her face. When the group had shot their way through a particular hazardous piece of the dark arena, Gohan went to give Umino a high five. The boy was surprised but managed to get his hand up in time for their hands to slap, and Gohan to exclaim, "All right! We're the best. Just check out the score." Unlike Mamoru and Seijuurou who were competing against each other, Gohan and Umino, and girls had been working with each other; guarding each other's backs, and occasionally shooting in a crossfire, giving them a superior score.

"Congratulations," Naru told them all with a big smile, her eyes sparkling when hers met Umino's.

Suddenly Gohan's and Rei's head whipped about, and looked in the same direction. Unknown to any of them, a small device in the pocket of Ami's pants vibrated a warning. Then the screaming started.

*****

The monster just attacked a group of people, who screamed out in horror when it didn't go down after fired upon. Shingo, a littler further away screamed out in joy at the tougher opponent, saying, "It's so real!"

"Perhaps a little too real?" his father wondered, the momentary hesitation allowing Shingo to charge the monster. Mamoru and Usagi looked shocked for a moment as the little guy charged the demon. Then his father went into action, following his son, so he could rescue him, telling the other kids to stay back. Usagi looked around, trying to find a way to sneak out so she could transform into her demon fighting alter ego.

Shingo got snatched up by one of the demon's tentacles. "Stay here, I'm helping your father," Mamoru said with authority, and ran off. For a moment Usagi admired Mamoru and her father as they avoided the monster's tentacles to get to her brother, then she quickly went behind a corner, and pulled out a pen with a crown on top. She lifted it in the air, and said, "Moon Prism Power Make Up!" A cone of light encircled her, and she transformed. Her clothes disappeared and were replaced with her Sailor Moon micro skirt soldier's outfit. Jewels appeared in the knots of her odangos, and then she was ready, ready to fight the monster.

Sailor Moon returned to the site of the battle and taunted the demon, "You hurt some people very important to me! I will not forgive you even if you apologize! Now I will punish you!" Mamoru looked incredulously at Sailor Moon's yammering, while he was using the gun as a shield and club against the monster. Shingo was still in the monster's grasp, and Sailor Moon took her tiara from her fore head. Making a pirouette to give the tiara speed, she called out, "Moon tiara action!" The tiara started to glow and then she threw it. Halfway the demon the tiara stopped glowing, and just bounced off the monster's skin.

The monster roared as Mamoru said angrily, "I don't know who you are, but if you're going to fight, do it seriously!"

The demon then went to attack Usagi and she took a step back in fear. Then a white rose flew from nowhere, one of its thorns scratched the tentacle that was holding Shingo and the demon let the half drained boy go. His father caught him, and quickly carried him to safety, as Mamoru turned around to look at the Knight of the Moonlight in his Arabic white robe get up. "Oh, great, another freak," Mamoru said to himself in irritation. Usagi looked happily and swooning for a moment, before noticing that Mamoru and the Knight were quite obviously two very different individuals.

*****

Gohan, and the rest were heading toward the screams, they had already met a few people fleeing in the opposite direction. Just now he had felt a different, distinctly magical spike of energy, and the arrival of a very odd person with odd ki, but everything was too hectic, and magic energy too unfamiliar to Gohan to really connect it to anything. The only thing he could be certain of, was that the energy came nowhere in the vicinity of his own, and that he could no longer sense Usagi. Which was bad, Gohan hoped it was just the unfamiliar universe, and the unfamiliar energies disrupting his ability to sense her, because if it wasn't . . . Gohan was afraid for his friends' lives, and annoyed at his inability to help; he couldn't, this wasn't his world, it was not his place to interfere, but he was still forced to move toward the screams. A wall in front of them shredded, revealing the monster and several men, one of which was dressed in Arabic robes, confronting it. There was a blonde girl, but that was all Gohan could see, before his group had to dive aside for cover as a small, and to Gohan weak energy ball streaked by.

Gohan found himself and Makoto on one side of the hole, and the rest of their group on the opposite. He took a quick peak, and noticed the men keeping themselves from getting killed, and managed to get a few hits in, but not really making a dent in the thing. He looked across to Ami taking a peek of her own, and then their eyes met, as they pulled back to avoid another ball of energy. Ami gave a nod, and then turned around, ushering the others away, and then Gohan turned around himself and quickly pulled Makoto along by her elbow. He quickly navigated the maze, chewing his bottom lip in frustration, when Makoto asked a little surprised at the strength in his grip, "Where are we going?"

"Out," Gohan said curtly.

"I can't believe it," Makoto stated shocked as they rounded a corner. "You're not going to help? Are you a coward?" Makoto wanted to kick herself in the head for saying that. What was she thinking? But she wanted so bad to help, and with Gohan around she couldn't, and it frustrated her.

"No!" Gohan said forcibly, hating it. "You're my responsibility, I have to get you to safety first, then I can go back."

Makoto yanked herself free, a little angry, saying, "You've seen me fight. I can handle myself, I can help. I'm not some weak little girl that needs protecting!"

Gohan hesitated, thinking it over; on the one hand he didn't want to hurt Makoto's feelings, on the other he couldn't help even if he wanted to, which he did. "Alright fine," Gohan relented, turning around and walking back, Makoto walking along side him. "But if you get killed, I'll bring you back from the next dimension just so I can do it myself," Gohan added sternly, half serious. Gohan could kick himself, *You damn fool! What are you going to do!? With her by your side it'll make it even more impossible to help!! You can't reveal your secret!*

Makoto next to him was thinking remarkably similar thoughts, *STUPID!! STUPID!! STUPID!! What were you thinking, Mako-chan!!? If you had let him guide you out, you could have transformed! Now you won't be half as effective!! Me and my damn feminist pride! I should really learn to say, 'Yes, sweet chicks! Of course my man!' on occasion. Most definitely sweet cheeks.* That thought came as she looked down fleetingly noticing Gohan's backside. *FOCUS, MAKOTO, FOCUS!! Fighting demon, saving lives, fighting demon, saving lives!!*

The two of them arrived back at the battle site moments later, and they went to check out the battle from behind a corner. Both thinking hard about how to fight this thing, without the other finding out about their secrets, and in Gohan's case added to that without screwing up this world's own defensive capabilities, and unrightfully interfering.

They saw the Knight of the Moonlight uselessly attacking the Cardian, and Sailor Moon, her face turned away from them scrambling to avoid the demon. "Shabon Spray!" a voice called, and a blue-haired sailor soldier jumped into the room, - Sailor Mercury a.k.a. Mizuno Ami - firing bubbles at the Cardian which tried to get away from them. Since the girls were turned away from Gohan, and their magic transformation played havoc with their ki signature, he couldn't recognize them.

Next up was Sailor Venus, a.k.a. Aino Minako, in an orange micro skirt, jumping in and firing a crescent moon shaped beam, after yelling, "Crescent Beam!" The impact did quite some damage, and the demon staggered back under the onslaught.

"My tiara won't work any more!" wailed out Sailor Moon, and Venus picked up the tiara where it had fallen, now that the monster was no longer standing over it.

Venus handed the tiara back over, saying, "Don't worry Sailor Moon, your friends are here to help out."

The monster roared again, and Sailor Mars, a red skirted, black-haired girl - you guessed it - one Hino Rei, yelled, "Fire Soul!" A small orb of devastating fire left her hands, impacted on the demon, and it got burned to a crisp. It caught fire and the fire whipped through the monster's body, destroying it. The only thing remaining was a card, that just dropped to the floor and lay there. The danger was averted.

Gohan blinked, so did Makoto. Although to Gohan it had gone achingly slow, it had gone fast enough neither had the time to come up with a solution to their dilemma's, and so Gohan said still hoping it was the magic that was disrupting his senses was the reason he couldn't feel his friends - except Umino and Naru who he sensed outside - anymore, "Well, I guess we're not needed anymore. Let's go find the others."

"Good idea," Makoto said, and the two of them walked off in search for their friends.

*****

Gohan sat in his apartment doing nothing but pondering the day's events. First there were the two disguised beings from another planet. They had been in the theater. Coincidence with the monster attacking seemed just a bit /too/ convenient. On the other hand, the monster felt absolutely nothing like them, so created magically by a card or not, could it possibly be related? After all he was an alien, sort of, and he was also present when the monster attacked.

Then there were the Sailor Soldiers, and how their magic disrupted his ability to feel his friends, when they were close by the magical warriors. He and Makoto had found them quickly enough, but that simply would not do. He had to find a way to let his senses break through magic, and preferably quickly.

Gohan was startled from his revery when his communicator beeped. He got up from his chair and picked the device of his desk. He opened it, and looked in the dread-filled face of Bulma. "Your mother demands to speak with you," the green-haired woman said, and then her face disappeared from view, and it its place was an angry and concerned Chichi.

"Hi, mom," Gohan greeted her mother, and then winced at Chichi's tone of voice.

"Did you brush your teeth? Did you eat well? Saiyans need to eat a lot," she said, her voice a mixture of anger, frustration, and concern.

"Yes, mom. We've talked only two days ago, what do you think changed?" Gohan asked her innocently, wondering if someone in whatever dimension had found a recipe yet on how to do deal with overprotective, overbearing mothers.

"Don't give me lip, young man, I'm still your mother. You better make sure you do your homework!" Chichi told him.

"Yes, mom," Gohan answered, knowing it was best not to bring up the fact that this dimension was a little behind in the sciences department. Perhaps he should do extra on the side in that department?

"Well, good, you made any friends yet?" Chichi asked interested.

"Actually, yes, a few," Gohan replied again.

"They aren't the wrong kind, are they, Gohan?" Chichi practically interrogated the poor boy.

"No," Gohan answered thinking back at Makoto's insistence to fight the demon, and the bravery of what he later found out was Usagi's father, "they are practically heroes, mom."

"Well, good," Chichi stated resolutely, and then fell silent wondering what more she could ask. "Well . . . ok . . . by then . . . stay safe."

"Always, mom," Gohan answered her with a smile before she disappeared from the small screen, and was once again replaced by Bulma's (relieved) face.

Bulma looked to the right - Gohan guessed making sure his mother was out of earshot - sighed, and said, "That went better than expected. Shall we try some repair work?"

*****

"So Mamoru isn't the Knight of the Moonlight, huh?" Ami asked gently sitting down next to Usagi on the steps leading to Rei's grandfather's temple.

"No, I don't get it, I was so sure it was him," Usagi answered the fellow Soldier she knew the longest.

Ami nodded, and answered, "Well, it isn't Gohan either, so . . ."

Usagi smiled at Ami, and the blue-haired girl smiled back. "How /is/ the Gohan front anyway?"

"Can't really complain, it isn't going as fast as I would like," Ami started looking up at the stars dreamily. "And Mako is being all silly over this, like she could offer anything to someone that intelligent . . . anyway, I don't think Gohan has ever had a girlfriend before, he's quite dense when it comes to girls. Of course, I haven't had a boyfriend before."

Usagi shrugged, "He is almost a year younger then us, I believe. And before Mamoru I didn't have a boyfriend either." Usagi sighed deeply as she was reminded of the guy she was in love with, but couldn't remember what they had had. "Why did I have to make that stupid wish with the crystal? It's not fair," she whined at nobody in particular.

"I'm going to have to put more effort into it," Ami said resolutely.

*****

Next Monday morning Gohan casually walked to school. He was thinking over what he had found on ki fighting. Apparently there were ki users, which incidently was either spelled in 'standard' spelling as ch'i or q'i, but still pronounced ki. The former spelling led to the Western world on this planet to pronounce it 'chi', again like Littica had on occasion called it, when he slipped in the different pronunciations. It seemed this universe was very close to Littica's home dimension, although the whole super charged universe, can barely blow away a city, let alone the whole planet, didn't apply. To Gohan, he could destroy this planet with the same ease as his home world. He shivered, as once again he feared just how much power he really had.

The use of ki on this planet was very limited though: a few could expel some energy, make a few trees quiver, generate a nice wind, some fog, and even a short explosive burst of air, but that was pretty much it. Which was good for Gohan, it meant he could use some of his ki abilities in the upcoming tournament. He grinned; he could even use a little more without rousing suspicion. That tournament really wasn't fair, he would win just by showing up. He decided then that that was not the way to think. 'Don't ever underestimate your opponents,' he remembered Littica's lesson. He wouldn't be fighting in that tournament as a Super Saiyan, his energy would be low enough his opponents could hit him if they were good enough.

"GOHAN! Wait up!" Makoto's voice alerted him.

Gohan jerked from his reverie and saw the brunette with the pony tail quickly catching up to him. When she reached him, he said, "Oh, hey, Mako."

The girl stepped next to him, and the two of them started walking next to each other. "So what do you have first period?" Makoto asked the boy from another dimension.

"Math," Gohan sighed with dread. "I'm going to be asleep before the first quarter is over, I just know it. The guy is as boring as someone could possibly me."

Makoto chuckled, stumbled, and grabbed Gohan's arm. Suddenly Gohan stood still, and looked up at the brunette's face. "Why did you do that?" he asked her suspiciously.

"Did what?" Makoto asked innocently, but with a fearful face.

"Stumble and grab my arm," Gohan accused her, remembering Ami do it twice before, but hadn't really noticed it, he had been too wrapped up in their discussions. But this was Makoto he was talking to, and he added, "I've seen you fight, someone that coordinated and agile doesn't just 'stumble'."

"I . . . well . . ." Makoto started, almost ready to cry, suspecting she had blown it, "I just wanted to hold your arm."

"You're a weird girl, one day you don't want to be left out of fighting, next day you want to cling to my arm. You could have just held it, or better yet, asked if you can," Gohan told her a little upset, as he went over Ami's and Makoto's behavior toward him.

"Guys don't really like it," Makoto answered nervously.

Gohan turned around and continued walking, muttering upset as he saw a disturbing pattern emerge, "Perhaps there is a reason for that."

"Hey, wait up," Makoto said going after the boy.

*****

Gohan ate his lunch quickly sitting amongst his friends. He was kind of uncomfortable whenever he saw Ami or Makoto smile at him. If there was one thing he was not interested in, it was some form of romantic relationship. He may be thirteen years old, but he wasn't completely stupid. He was for too young in his opinion for something like that, and he certainly wasn't going to be part of some make believe 'going steady' like ten year olds. Besides, he felt absolutely /no/ attraction to either of the two girls.

Finished with his lunch, after politely declining Makoto's home made lunch, he got up and started to leave. "Hey, Gohan," Ami started.

"Sorry, Ami," Gohan apologized as he backed away from the lunch table. "I'm late."

"Late? What for?" Ami wondered softly, but Gohan had already left.

"Girls," Gohan muttered under his breath as he walked through the hallway of the school, "I don't understand them. Lime and Angeline back home are bad enough, and they don't want to be anything but friends." Gohan sighed, wondering how he had gotten himself in this mess, and wondering why the two couldn't just be that: friends.

Later that day, at the end of classes, Gohan arrived at the entrance to the school grounds. The whole group, including Umino and Naru - who stood close to Usagi - as well as a just arrived Rei and Minako were present. Gohan opted to go to toward Usagi and her two friends, and turned around to look at the group. Makoto and Ami, both with sparkling eyes took a step forward and both asked, "Gohan would you like . . ." The two whipped their heads around and looked angrily at each other.

"Oh, sorry, guys," Gohan said with a bright smile, and slung his arms around the shoulders of Umino and Naru who were on either side of him. Usagi looked with wide eyes at her friends going with Gohan. He continued, "But Umino and Naru and I have plans. See you all tomorrow." Before the two could say anything, Gohan had turned around, swinging his two friends along with them, and then walked forward. The two of them were too surprised by this point to say anything. Once they rounded a corner and Gohan was certain his two friends who wanted more were no longer in hearing distance, he sighed in relief, removing his arms from their shoulders, and said, "Thanks so much for not saying anything, you guys. If you want to lose me, I understand completely, but Mako and Ami . . . well, they want something they can't have."

Umino looked confused, but Naru asked observing Gohan, "You don't like them?"

"Sure, I like them, as friends, and no more," Gohan replied with another sigh. "So, you guys want to be alone, or are we going to do something together."

"Well, we were just going shopping for Umino's mother. Her birthday is tomorrow," Naru answered Gohan with a smile. "He wanted a girl's advice on what to get her."

"Yeah," Umino added with a big smile. "You can come along, we could see if we can get into a movie afterwards."

"Great, let's go have some fun," Gohan told them with a smile, and the three teens were off.

*****

"What about perfume?" Gohan asked as he looked around the department store. They had pretty much everything, and Gohan had looked with wide eyes when they first went inside. He had never seen anything like it before. "That always works for women, right?"

"And it also says, 'I had no idea what to give you,'" Naru replied looking over the cabinet with little statuettes.

Gohan shrugged, and looked around. "Uh, Naru?" Umino prompted after seeing the prices on the statuettes. "I don't have that much money."

"Oh," Naru said, pondering that information, "so how much /do/ you have to spend?"

"Well," Umino said, and opened his wallet, showing what he had. Naru looked around, and suddenly her eyes widened.

"Ooh!" she said, and dragged the two boys along. A moment later they arrived in front of a cabinet showing purses, and pointed at what was apparently a particularly stylish one. Umino checked the price and realized it was on discount, and well in his price range. His face lid up, and in the spur of the moment he grabbed Naru and planted a kiss on her cheek. Or intended to, Naru turned her smiling head to him at right that moment and his kiss landed square on her lips. Gohan chuckled, and his friends blushed deeply. Umino took the purse, still blushing, and the trio went to the cash register.

A few moments later the trio stood back outside, smiling satisfied smiles, as Umino held the wrapped up purse in front of him. "Gohan, Naru," Umino started looking at the other two, and when the two looked at him, he continued, "I got to keep it a surprise, you two have to help me distract mom so I can get the purse to my room without her noticing!"

So said, so done. A short time later the trio had arrived at Umino's home where they had made a good excuse for a temporary return, and while Gohan and Naru stood in front of the stairs, striking up a conversation with Umino's mother, Umino himself quickly went upstairs hiding his gift.

A short while later the three of them were back out on the street, debating what they would do next.