Author's Note: IMPORTANT!!!!!! If you want to be on my MAILING LIST, then please leave your e-mail address in your review or e-mail me. I also got AOL IM!!!! My name thingy is Shinigamigal2002 (Duo Maxwell rocks.) ANYWAY, I need a new title for my story. If anyone has any ideas, please e-mail me. However, you might need some extra info from me on the story to come up with something good.
Of course I don't own DBZ. But I am going to own a Son Gohan poster VERY soon AND I have a Son Gohan wallpaper on my desktop! Yay for me!
In addition, I neglected to read over this because I was bitten by the lazy bug, so pardon any mistakes.
Part I
*~* Chapter Eleven *~*
Fight Me!
When Gohan opened his eyes the next morning, he was a little confused. Uh, where AM I? He sat up and kicked the soft sheets from around his legs and yawned. Gohan looked around the lavish room. Oh, yeah. Videl's place.
He trudged into his bathroom and turned on the shower full blast. Gohan yawned again, stripped and stepped under the stream of hot water.
I wonder what I'm going to do today . . . I suppose I can ask Videl when I get down to breakfast.
Once he was done, he dressed quickly and made an attempt to comb his hair as he did every morning. And this morning, just like every other, his hair refused to be tamed.
Gohan left his room, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him. He stared at Videl's door. He couldn't hear anything coming from the other side. Is she even up? Gohan resisted the impulse to knock on her door and walked slowly down the hall.
As he was walking, he realized that he had no idea how to get to the dinning room. Overnight, he'd forgotten the way Videl had shown him. Oh, this is great. I could be lost in here for days . . .
After wandering for a while, he found himself in the foyer. Gohan scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Okay . . ." he muttered. "Now where?"
He stood there with is hands in his pockets for a while, until a woman with bright red hair twisted into a tight bun walked by. She stopped when she caught sight of Gohan, her mouth forming a slight 'o'.
"You must be the winner of the drawing," she said, a big smile appearing on her face.
Gohan shifted nervously. The woman was giving him strange looks and the smile she had was beginning to look a little sinister. "Yeah, that's me. I'm Son Gohan."
"Ah.' The woman looked him over again and giggled like a little girl. "I'm Iria, a housemaid here. You . . . wouldn't happen to be the young man who took Videl to the dance, now would you?"
"Uh . . . that's me!"
Iria winked at him. "Aren't you a cutie! You know, if I weren't so old, I'd ask you out."
Gohan flushed, then placed his hand behind his head and grinned. Oh, boy. "He, he . . . thanks . . . I think . . ."
"Well what are you doing down here? Are you lost?"
He nodded. "I'm trying to get to the dinning room."
The housemaid smiled at him and tugged on his arm. "I'll take you there! Follow me." She led Gohan thorough the house, talking almost non-stop the whole way there. "You and your little friends yesterday almost ate us out of house and home! The people in the kitchen were practically up all night making that food and you all wolfed it down as if it were your last meal! I've never seen anything like it! Oh, here you are!" She shoved open the wooden doors that seemed familiar to Gohan.
I remember now. Silly me . . .
To Gohan's dismay, Hercule was sitting at the head of the table, his face buried in a newspaper and his right hand shoveling food into his mouth with a silver fork with the words 'world champ' engraved in it. He looked up when Gohan entered. "Oh, kid, you're awake! And so late? Why, when I was your age, I was awake at the crack of dawn . . ."
Gohan wanted to point out that it was only eight fifteen in the morning, which, on the weekends was pretty early, but wisely decided against it. He took a seat, leaving an empty chair between him and Hercule.
"I hope you're ready, boy!" Hercule was exclaiming. "You're gonna be fighting against some of my strongest students today!"
"Um, excuse me?"
"I'm gonna have you fight some of my students to see where I should place you in my school. See, there are LEVELS, boy," he said, waving his fork around in the air. "Normally, my students would start at level one, the lowest you can be and WORK their way up to level ten, the highest. But since you're not going to be here that long, I'll need you to fight against some kids in different levels to see where I need to place you."
Gohan nodded. "I see."
Hercule's chest puffed out with pride. "Videl's at level ten. I'm not sure you'll get to fight her, seeing as in how you're all skin and bones."
SKIN AND BONES?!!
Gohan didn't say a word as Iria placed a plate full of food in front of him. She winked and said, "I'll go get Videl. That girl, sleeping in when she has company . . ."
He watched reluctantly as Iria left him alone with Hercule. Gohan began to eat his breakfast, trying to ignore the heated looks he was receiving from the older man.
"So, kid. I notice you hang around my daughter a lot."
"Um, yes, sir, I do . . ."
Hercule eyed him suspiciously. "Why don't you have any guy friends? Only sissies hand around girls all the time. Oh . . . don't tell me . . . are you gay?" [1]
Gohan blinked several times. "No . . ."
"Hopefully, one of my more manly students will take you in and you'll make some friends. You know, when I was a boy . . ."
*~*
Iria pounded on Videl's door, then opened it and invited herself inside. Videl was just getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom.
"It's about time you decided to get up," Iria said.
"Hn," Videl grunted. It was too early to get up! It was a Saturday morning and Videl didn't usually get out of bed till around noon.
"That boyfriend of yours is a hunk," the housemaid murmured as she began to make up Videl's bed. "You're one lucky girl. I told him that I'd ask him out if I weren't so old . . ."
Videl choked momentarily on the toothpaste in her mouth. She spat in the sink and glared at the older woman. "YOU WHAT?!!"
"Aw, don't worry about it, Videl. But if I were you, I'd hurry down to breakfast. Your dad's probably talking the poor boy to sleep."
"Yeah, probably telling him his 'when I was a boy' stories." Videl emerged form the bathroom, dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt. She began to pull her hair into her regular ponytails when Iria stopped her.
"I KNOW you're not going down there looking like that," the woman chided, shaking her head.
Videl rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "I'm proabaly going to be fighting today. There's no need for anything fancy."
"Fine! But if you want to keep your boyfriend, then you should at least look semi-presentable."
"He's NOT my boyfriend! WHY does everyone think that Gohan and I are dating?!!" Videl did her hair in her ponytails and left the room quickly.
When she entered the dinning room, she almost laughed out loud. Gohan had his head resting in the palm of one of his hands as he pretended to listen to the story that Hercule was telling about his 'glory days' as a teen. His eyelids looked as if they weighed a ton.
She cleared her voice, abruptly ending her father's chatter. "There's my girl! I was just telling the boy here that you were at level ten in my school."
Videl walked up to the table and took the empty seat between Gohan and her father. "The boy has a name," she mumbled.
"What? What was that?"
"I said, the boy has a name. It's Gohan, remember?"
"Oh, right, right." He stood up from the table and flexed a bit. "I'm going to go down to the blue room and gather some boys. You'll take him to the blue room at ten so we can start his 'test'."
"Blue room?" asked Gohan once Hercule was gone.
"The room has a regulation sized fighting ring in it, like the Tenkaichi Budokai and the walls are blue."
"Oh." He stood up and stretched. "No offence, but your dad has some boring stories. I thought I was going to fall asleep."
She snickered. "Good thing I came when I did."
He let out a loud yawn. "Oh, boy. I need to move!"
Videl was slightly distracted by Gohan stretching in the middle of her dinning room. For some odd reason, images of Gohan's tightening muscles came to her mind, along with the memory of Gohan in nothing but his swimming trunks. She flushed and pushed herself away from the table. "I don't think I'm hungry anymore," she announced.
Gohan looked concerned. "You're not on a diet, are you? You don't need to be on one. You look just fine."
Just fine? That's it?
"No, I'm not on a diet," she said, her voice full of irritation. "I'm . . . just not hungry."
"Sure."
"Let's go." She quickly stalked out of the room, forcing Gohan to practically run to keep up with her.
"Where are we going?"
"YOU are going to get a training gi on so that you can be warmed up by the time my Dad is ready to test you."
"Ah. Okay."
Videl eyed him for a while, then said, "You DO have a gi, don't you?"
"Of course!" he exclaimed, sounding a little put off. After all, if you were a Saiyan male, then you had to have a gi. It was an unwritten rule.
Videl led Gohan to his room, then went into hers. The second she entered, the phone rang. Videl snatched it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, girl!"
"Hey, Erasa."
"I just called to see how things were going. Gohan moved in yesterday, right?"
"Yeah."
Erasa laughed a bit. "He's such a hottie! Man, you're lucky."
Videl just chuckled. "If you knew where he was staying, then you'd think that I was extremely lucky."
"Where's he staying?"
"Across the hall from me."
There was silence from the other end, then . . . "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! YOU'RE KIDDING?!!"
"No."
" . . . Oh, I see."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Since your rooms are so close, I bet you're hoping that he'll sneak across the hall for a little late night rendezvous . . ."
Videl rolled her eyes. "Right. In your wildest dreams, Erasa."
"No, in YOURS! Haha!"
"VERY funny. Say, how about you come over? Gohan's going to fight some guys from my Dad's school. Maybe you could watch."
"LOVE to! What time?"
"Just be here by ten am."
"Great. I'll see you then. Bye."
"Bye."
Videl hung up the phone and crossed her arms over her chest. I'm going to have to set Erasa straight! There is nothing, and there never will be anything, going on between Gohan and me!
As she finished that thought, there was a knock on her door. "Hey, Videl? I'm ready," said Gohan from the other side.
She opened her door and looked Gohan over. His gi looked like the clothes Goten wore all the time. Videl tilted her head to one side, the picture she'd seen of Gohan's Dad coming to mind. "You look just like your father in that, you know."
Gohan grinned. "That's what I was aiming for. My Mom made this for me. Pretty good, ne?"
She just nodded. "I'll show you down to the blue room."
When they got there, there were already some of Hercule's students inside, warming up. Others were standing around the ring, awaiting the start of Gohan's test.
Gohan was amazed. The room was huge! Videl was lucky to have a place like that in her home, available to her whenever she wanted.
A young man and a few of his buddies approached them as they entered the room, eyeing Gohan the whole time. "Hey there, Videl. Looking cute as always," said the man and his buddies smiled, looking smug.
"Sommers," she muttered, "NEVER call me cute."
He laughed. "Sure thing, cutie." Sommers then turned his attention to Gohan. "Who's this?" he asked, gesturing in Gohan's direction.
"Son Gohan, the contest winner. Gohan, this is Ken Sommers."
Ken puffed his chest out a bit. "That's me- Ken Sommers, level ten fighter. So, kid, you ever had any fighting experience?"
More than you'll ever know. "Some."
"Well, SOME isn't going to get you anywhere in this school. This place is only for the best fighters. I doubt you'll last very long here."
Videl rolled her eyes and shoved Ken out of the way. "Shut up. Your intimidation technique isn't going to work, Ken. I know for a fact that Gohan here is an excellent fighter. He has to be. After all, his father is THE Son Goku. I'm sure you know who HE is?"
Gohan was about to freak out. WHAT IS SHE DOING?!!!!
Everyone in the room froze, hearing those words.
"R-r-really?" sputtered Ken. "THE Son Goku? His fights in the Tenkaichi Budokai are legendary!"
Gohan grinned with pride, forgetting his prior apprehension. "Yep, that's my Dad."
Ken and his buddies stepped back, clearing a way for Gohan and Videl. "Sorry, man, I didn't know. Even though your Dad isn't as strong as Hercule, he's pretty good. I'm sure you'll do fine here."
Gohan chose to ignore the thing about his Dad, giving the guy a smile. "Thanks." It seemed as if he'd made a friend here. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad . . .
*~*
"Damn it, Sharpner, you are SO annoying!" snapped Erasa. She jumped out of her car and returned it to it's capsule.
He just grinned. "Like I'm going to pass up the chance to see Gohan make a fool of himself!"
Erasa had made the mistake of telling Sharpner about Gohan's assessment test and that Videl had invited her to come and see him fight. Of course, Sharpner had begged to let him come with her until Erasa cracked and said yes. Now they were outside of Hercule mansion, walking up to the door.
Before they even knocked, Videl threw the door open. "You're just in time, Erasa. We're just about to . . . what is HE doing here?"
Sharpner looked hurt. "Aw, Videl, I just wanted to wish Gohan good luck."
"Good luck my ass," Videl said. "Since you're already here, I GUESS you can come in." She stepped back, allowing the two to enter her house. She led them down to the blue room, where her father was waiting with a group of fighters. Gohan was standing in the ring, stretching and awaiting the commencement of the mini-tournament.
He was a little uncertain if he should whip out early, if he should pretend to be weaker than he actually was. Something in him screamed no. Gohan would try his best, though it seemed as if no one there would be a true challenge to him.
"It's about time you showed up, Videl," shouted Hercule. He then caught sight of Sharpner and grinned. "Welcome, Sharpner! You here to watch the test?"
Sharpner nodded. He glared a bit at Gohan, who was watching him closely, and then went up to Videl's father. Maybe if I get all buddy-buddy with Videl's pop, then I just might have a chance with Videl. "This is a really nice place you got here, Mr. Satan sir."
"Thanks! You know, Sharpner . . . you'd be a fine addition to my school. You've got the makings of a fine fighter. Maybe we can work something out later . . ."
Videl cleared her throat loudly. There was NO way she wanted Sharpner going to her father's school. "Can we PLEASE get this started, Dad? We don't have all day!"
"Oh, right. Let's see. What level should we start him out with? Maybe a level two fighter . . ."
"LEVEL TWO?!!!" squeaked Gohan. What an insult! "I'm a whole lot better than that, Mr. Satan."
Erasa giggled at Gohan's shocked expression.
Videl rolled her eyes. "How about in the middle? Level five sounds good."
Hercule shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. Alright, Bakura, you're up!"
Gohan raised an eyebrow as a skinny climbed into the ring. THIS was Bakura? The guy was at least seven feet tall and probably weighed less than a twig. Is this a joke? Gohan shook his head. Looks could be deceiving . . . He lowered himself into a fighting stance.
"GO GOHAN!!" shouted Erasa, giving him a thumbs up sign.
He flushed, then smiled at her, and then noticed the bored look on Videl's face. It's nice to know that at least one person is rooting for me out there.
Hercule clapped his hands once. "FIGHT!!!"
Bakura immediately took to the offensive, attacking Gohan swiftly. Gohan wasn't really surprised at the boy's speed- after all, he probably weighted sixty pounds. The twig boy aimed a punch at Gohan's face.
Gohan laughed at bit, then danced around the boy, dodging the punch. "You're going to have to be faster than that to hit me!"
Bakura growled. "HIYA!!!" He kicked at Gohan's stomach. Gohan quickly grabbed the boy's leg and yanked gently. The twig boy stumbled forward, then whirled around . . . his face connecting with Gohan's fist.
Bakura fell onto the floor with a thud and remained there. Videl went up to inspect the young fighter. "He's unconscious," she announced, sounding a bit startled. Her eyes flew to Gohan's grinning face. He's good and he knows it. He was just playing with that kid.
Everyone was a bit shocked, Hercule and Sharpner most of all. They were gapping at Gohan, unable to say a word.
Videl dragged the unconscious boy off out of the ring and handed him to another fighter.
Hercule suddenly found his voice. "Well, kid, that was a good start. Let's see how you do against a level EIGHT fighter. Probably won't last a second," he added as a side note to Sharpner. "Okay, Yumi, step up."
As Yumi emerged from the crowd, Gohan took a step back. A girl?!!! He was going to fight a GIRL?!!! Of course Gohan had learned from his mother not to hit girls, but . . . this was different. It's okay, Gohan. Just don't hurt her . . . too much.
Videl vacated the ring and rejoined Erasa. "He's good, isn't he Videl? That first match was cool!" the blond girl exclaimed.
"He's good, alright. But let's see how he does against Yumi. She's a really good fighter," muttered Videl. She kept her heated gaze on Gohan. He looked a little hesitant about fighting a girl. Videl grinned. I hope she beats his ass!!
"FIGHT!!" shouted Hercule.
"You sure are cute," said Yumi, loud enough for everyone to hear her. Gohan flushed as usual. "It's too bad that I'm going to have to beat you."
"Is that so?"
She nodded once, then ran forward and gave him a hard punch in the face. "WHAT THE HELL?!!" she exclaimed. The kid is still standing? AFTER THAT?!!
Gohan sighed. Time to end this. Gohan launched several attacks at her, pushing Yumi to the very edge of the ring. Gohan then lifted her up, ignoring her cries of protest and the kicks she aimed at his privates with her short legs, and placed her outside of the ring. "I win."
"JERK!! You didn't even hit me!" she cried. "We should have a re-match."
Gohan shook his head. "I won fair and square. You landed out of the ring, therefore, you lost."
"UHHHHH!!!!" Yumi stomped off.
Hercule cleared his throat. "Er, okay . . ." Now what? Who was he going to put him up against? He had no one in mind- he hadn't thought that Gohan would make it as far as he did. Suddenly, he had an idea. [A/N: YES, Hercule had an IDEA! Alert the press! It thinks!] "I've got a little surprise for you, kid. The next fighter is . . . VIDEL!!"
Gohan gasped. NANI?!!! This was NOT happening!! He had to fight Videl?!! Gohan gulped nervously as Videl stepped into the ring.
Videl smirked at him. She could tell that he was backing away from her. "You know, Gohan, you won't be able to beat me the way you beat Yumi. You're actually going to have to fight me."
"Er . . . I know!!"
"Good." Okay, Son Gohan. Let's see what you're made of.
"FIGHT!!!"
Videl dropped into a fighting stance. She eyed Gohan's stiff form. "Come on, Gohan. You're not going to wimp out on me, are you? Scared to fight a girl or something?"
When Gohan didn't answer, she attacked him with a growl. He just blocked her fierce attacks. "You . . . WILL . . . fight me . . . Son Gohan!" She punched him- hard- in the stomach.
Gohan gasped. Woah! She's stronger than I thought!
Then Videl socked him in the face. Gohan fell back onto the ring floor. Videl sat on Gohan's stomach and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"Fight me, damn you," she hissed.
Gohan couldn't think. She was WAY too close to him for comfort . . .
She glared down at him when he did not reply. She could hear someone counting in the background. " . . . eight . . . nine . . ."
Videl growled, then yanked Gohan up off of the ground. "FIGHT ME, STUPID!!!!" she roared, clenching her fists.
Oh, great. She'll kill me if I don't fight her and she'll probably hate me for beating her. Now what?
Gohan made up his mind. He began to fight her back, carefully controlling his strength. Videl was good. So far she was keeping up with him, but neither of them managed to get any hits in. Videl backed away from him and took several deep breaths. "You're pretty good."
"So are you."
Videl attacked again. Gohan defended himself, then went into the offensive mode. They switched between defense and offense every once and a while.
An hour and a half later, they were STILL going at it. Neither of them looked as if they were ready to give up anytime soon. Erasa plopped onto the floor with a sigh and the other fighters shifted restlessly.
Hercule himself was getting a little bored. He glanced at his watch. This had gone on way too long. "OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH!!! STOP, STOP, STOP!!"
Gohan and Videl stopped in their tracks. "DAD!!" Videl shouted. "It was just getting good!"
Hercule just waved his hand. "I say the boy has earned a place in level ten. Besides, we don't have all day to wait of one of you to win."
Gohan gladly stepped out of the ring. "Good work out, ne, Videl?"
She just glared at him. "We WILL fight again. And I will win."
A sweatdrop rolled down the back of his head. Boy, she sure is feisty! And persistent! "Uh, sure, Videl. Whatever you say."
Erasa jumped up off of the ground and ran over to Videl, throwing an arm over her shoulder. "That was great, girl! Amazing."
Videl could only glare at Gohan, who was now surrounded by some of his father's female students. "Where did he learn to fight like that?"
Erasa just shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"
Videl felt that there was more to Gohan that met the eye. In fact, she was almost positive. Whatever you're hiding, Gohan, you won't be hiding it for long. I'm going to uncover your mysterious past, if it's the last thing I do.
Author's Notes: Okay, so it was a boring chapter. (Ha! You all thought he was going to lose on purpose! Well, he did . . . sorta.) Again, if you want to be in my MAILING LIST, please leave your e-mail address in the review.
[1] I have nothing against gay/lesbians. I just thought it was something that Hercule would say. You've gotta admit, he probably WOULD . . .
ADVERTISING: This cool epic story is by Brandon B called 'Dragon Ball G: Generations'. It's basically a continuation of DBGT, so if you haven't seen it, it contains spoilers and such. So far it has three parts, but, since it's an epic, there are many more coming! Oh, yeah, there's some Gohan/Videl in there too. Check it out!
NEXT CHAPTER: Hercule leaves town to attend to some business, leaving Gohan and Videl 'alone'. Erasa convinces Videl to throw a party while Hercule is away and Sharpner secretly invites Angela to the party. Hmm . . . Angela has something sneaky planned for Gohan . . .
