Author's Note: Slightly evil chapter ahead. Boring, too, nothing too exciting.
I don't own DBZ, just this idea and the people I made up.
II. Dark Passions
*~* Chapter Twenty Five *~*
The 25th Tenkaichi Budokai
Goku woke to the sound of someone walking down the hallway. He sat up in bed and stared out into the darkness. Who in the world would be up this early in the morning? He got out of bed, careful not to wake his wife, and stepped out into the hall.
He walked into the kitchen and looked around. Goku wandered over to a window and gazed outside. It was about three in the morning, and it was still very dark out. The tiny stars in the sky provided the only light.
Goku squinted to get a better look into the darkness. Was someone out there? Looks like . . . Gohan?! What is he doing out there?
Gohan cupped his hands before him and summoned his ki. A ball of yellow-orange energy the size of a basketball appeared in his hands. He bounced it around in his hands, then let go of it.
Goku gasped as it shattered into millions of teeny, TINY balls of light. They scattered around Gohan, then regrouped in smaller balls. These bits of energy floated around Gohan in a circle, then spread out further to make a wider one, lighting the area around Gohan.
It was one of the flashiest uses of ki Goku had every seen, and he'd seen a lot in his time. He watched as the balls stayed in place, hovering several inches off of the ground. Gohan sat on the grass and closed his eyes.
He's meditating . . . does this mean he's going to enter the tournament?
Goku watched a bit longer, then yawned. Gohan was just sitting there. Nothing exciting was going on, so Goku decided to go back to bed.
When he woke up again, this time at nine in the morning, then first thing he did was to go into the kitchen. He glanced out of the same window he'd looked out earlier. Gohan was STILL there, in the same position, except his lights were gone.
Look at him . . . He's totally focused! I bet if Goten went out there making a bunch of noise, he wouldn't even notice!
"What are you looking at, Goku?"
He turned around and smiled at Videl. He waved her over to the window and pointed out. "Look at Gohan! Isn't he something else?!"
Videl stared at Gohan's stiff form. "What's . . . what's wrong with him?"
"What's wrong with him?! He's meditating! I bet he's decided to enter the Tenkaichi!" Goku said excitedly.
Videl was still worried about what had happened last night. She was SURE that he had been crying, but he looked fine now. Maybe you were just hearing things.
"And get this- he's been out there since three in the morning!! He reminds me of Piccolo!"
"Hmm . . . I bet he'll come in for some food," she muttered.
Chichi walked into the kitchen and peeked out of the window for a second to see what they were staring at before moving to the stove. "What's up with Gohan?"
"He's meditating!" Goku announced happily. "He's going to enter the Tenkaichi, I KNOW it! Why else would he have woken up at three in the morning?"
"My poor baby's been out there for hours?" Chichi cooed. "Well, I bet he's hungry. I'll get right to work on breakfast."
Goku stayed by the window, watching his son happily while Videl sat at the kitchen table and thought. Why would Gohan want to enter the tournament all of a sudden when he didn't want to just yesterday? Something must've happened.
The phone rang. Seeing that Chichi was busy at the stove and that Goku wasn't going to move from his spot at the window, Videl picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Videl, good morning!"
"Trunks! Hey, what's up?"
"Not much. How'd . . . Gohan take the news?"
"Surprisingly well. TOO well, if you ask me."
"Hmm . . . I'm positively sure that he's jealous! We should keep it up for a while longer, okay?"
"Sure! Are you coming over later?"
"If you want me to. I'll be over in about two hours, okay?"
"That's fine. See you then." Videl hung up the phone and turned around, coming face to face with Gohan. His face was blank and so were his eyes, but she could tell that something was bothering him. "Um, morning, Gohan."
"Is Trunks coming over?"
Morning to you too, Videl! How are you this fine morning? Why I'm just fine, Gohan. What about you? I'm feeling great myself. Thanks for asking! Videl raised her chin and stared at him. "Yes."
He didn't say anything else to her and sat at the kitchen table. "Morning Mom, Dad."
Chichi, who'd noticed the frigid exchange between her son and Gohan, smiled hesitantly. "Good morning, Gohan. I hear you were up bright and early!"
Videl sat at the table, not sitting next to him. She glared at him as he continued to ignore her.
"I was. I wanted to get started on my training very early."
Goku sat next to his son and grinned. "So you're gonna enter the Tenkaichi, aren't you?"
Gohan turned to stare directly into Videl's eyes. His black eyes flashed for a moment, then went blank. "Yes, I am," he said simply. He kept his gaze on Videl for a second longer, then turned away.
Chichi placed a plate in front of Gohan. Goku looked hurt that he hadn't received a plate. "Aw, Chichi, where's MINE?" he whined.
"Don't be greedy. It's coming. I'm giving Gohan his first because he has training to do!"
Goku still looked hurt and poked out his bottom lip.
Videl watched as Gohan ate slowly, staring at a spot on the wall. He'd never acted this way toward her before, and she was shocked. What now? "Um, Gohan . . . are you still going to help me with my flying?"
He didn't even look up at her. "Why don't you get your new boyfriend, Trunks, to help you? I'm sure he'd be more than happy to."
In other words, he doesn't want to be near you. "Fine, maybe I will!"
"Fine!" Gohan got up out of his chair and stalked back outside, slamming the door behind him.
Goku looked confused. "Did I miss something?"
Videl glared at the closed door. Fine, if he wants to play that way . . .
*~* Three Weeks Later *~*
"This is getting way out of hand," muttered Chichi as she watched Videl and Trunks walk out into the backyard of CC where Gohan was busy working by himself. "He hasn't done anything but train all day for the past three weeks!"
Vegeta snorted. "And that's a bad thing?"
Chichi ignored him. "We've got to call this off, Bulma. It's a disaster! Videl and Trunks have gotten into the habit of KISSING in front of Gohan! The first time they did that, he got so angry that he powered up in the middle of the living room!"
"Well, he had a reaction!" protested Bulma. "Isn't that good?"
"WAIT A MINUTE!! MY BRAT'S BEEN KISSING THAT THING?!!!" demanded Vegeta angrily. That female was not worthy of a Saiyan prince!
"Videl assures me that they only did it once, to see what Gohan would do," Chichi said quickly. "They promised not to do it again. But that's not all! Gohan's gotten so serious and he hasn't said a word to Videl in weeks. He gives Trunks these evil death glares, and I even caught him reaching for Trunks' neck when he wasn't looking! I'm afraid he'll try to kill him!"
Vegeta just laughed. "Like he could if he tried!"
"Shut up! This isn't funny. I'm really worried about Gohan- this isn't like him at all," Chichi said.
Bulma sighed. She knew that Chichi would go on and on about this until something was done. "Okay, I'll go out and talk to him. He used to be able to confide in me . . ." Bulma went outside, leaving Chichi to annoy the hell out of Vegeta.
She walked right pass Videl and M. Trunks as they sat together watching Goku spar with both Goten and Chibi Trunks at the same time and up to Gohan. "Hi, Gohan," she said cheerfully.
He stopped in mid-punch and smiled hesitantly at her. "Hey, Bulma. What's up?"
"Nothing . . . I noticed that you were working very hard."
"Yeah . . . you could say I'm on am mission."
Bulma raised on eyebrow. "A mission? What do you mean?"
Gohan glanced over at Trunks and Videl, who were busy rooting on Goten and Chibi Trunks. I forgot . . . she's his mother. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."
"No you don't Gohan! Your mother is worried sick over you! She says you barely speak to anyone, you barely EAT, and that you're spending all of your time sparing or mediating! I demand an explanation!"
Gohan took a step back. "Calm down . . . you're acting like I'm about to kill myself or something!"
"That's what Chichi thinks, with the way you 'mope' around the house all day," muttered Bulma.
Gohan sighed and looked up at the sky. "I don't know if I can tell you what I'm feeling Bulma. After all, you are Trunks' mother."
"So you're worked up over M. Trunks and Videl."
"Of course! What else would I be so mad about?"
Bulma gave him a harsh glare. "Let me tell you something, Gohan, a girl isn't going to wait around all of her life in hopes that YOU will ask her out, no matter how much she may care about you! It may be hard for you to believe, but I bet Videl wants to have a family some day, just like all of the other teenaged girls on this planet!"
Gohan was startled by her outburst. "Bulma-"
"No, listen to me! You know that saying 'you snooze, you loose'? Well, you LOST! Giving her the could shoulder and ignoring her isn't going to make her love you or anything."
"Bulma-"
"You'll have to work hard to win her affections, Gohan! I-"
"BULMA!!! I know I screwed up royally okay?!" He ran a hand through his hair. "I should've told her how I felt sooner, but I never thought that some guy would come along and scoop her up. So much has been going on, and I thought that she could tell that I love her . . ."
"Gohan . . ."
"I've been loosing sleep because of her. I'm starving myself half to death for her! I'm working my ass off for her!" Gohan exclaimed passionately.
Bulma didn't say anything. If Videl could hear him now, she'd have no doubts that he loved her.
"I have to be strong for Videl, so that I can protect her. And I'll show her just how strong I am by defeat her boyfriend at the Tenkaichi Budokai tomorrow," Gohan sneered.
Bulma wanted to cry. It was just like one of those angst-y romance novels she loved to read. "Have you ever stopped to think, Gohan," said Bulma, "that she may not CARE if you're the strongest man in the world?"
"She may not care, but I do."
Bulma rolled her eyes. It must be a Saiyan thing. "Talk to Videl, Gohan. Tell her that you're in love with her! Please."
"I'm sorry, Bulma, but I have to go about this my own way."
"Okay, Gohan. I just hope you know what you're doing. Good luck."
Bulma walked back to the house and into the kitchen where Vegeta was shooting death glares at Chichi, who was bawling into her hands.
"Shut her up, woman!" Vegeta ordered, stalking out of the room to squeeze in some last minute training before the big tournament.
Bulma tried to sooth her friend by telling her what Gohan had said. This only made her cry more, because it was 'so romantic'. Bulma covered her ears with her hands to block out Chichi's crying. I hope you know what you're doing, Gohan.
*~*
"I wonder what my mom was talking to Gohan about," muttered M. Trunks, keeping his eyes on Gohan. The other teen was currently staring at the ground, kicking at the dirt with his feet. They both had looked pretty angry until one point in their conversation.
Videl glanced over at Gohan too. "I don't know . . ." But I'd do anything to get him to speak to me again. Videl pulled out the chalcedony stone from her pocket and stared down at it. She'd stopped wearing it around her neck, but it was always with her, in her pocket or somewhere like that.
It hurt being near him, but not being with him, not even as friends. He didn't look at her, didn't speak to her, didn't smile or encourage her when she was training . . . it was like she didn't exist.
She couldn't go on like this anymore. Videl turned to Trunks. "I think . . . I think we should call this off after the tournament, Trunks, if that's alright with you. I don't like the way he ignores me, like he can't stand the sight of me."
"This has gotten out of control. We never expected Gohan to withdraw like this," M. Trunks said, a hint of worry in his voice. "We'll call it off. But, Videl, Gohan doesn't ignore you. I've seen him watching you when you're not looking."
Videl's spirits rose a tiny bit at that. Was he? Really? "I'll tell him what we were up tomorrow. I just hope that he can forgive me."
*~*
Later that night, Capsule Corp was crammed full of people. Bulma had invited everyone to come over to spend the night at her place the day before the tournament so that she could fly them all to the island in her newest, biggest jet. Naturally, they all readily agreed.
Now they were having a huge barbecue out back, with Chichi and Bulma doing most of the cooking. Gohan, however, took the time to relieve the two women of their work so that they could have some fun. He flipped burgers and checked on the steaks, watching Goten and Chibi Trunks chase each other around the picnic table.
Videl, as he expected, was hanging around M. Trunks. He tried to ignore them, but was unable to. She was laughing at something he'd said . . . Gohan couldn't help but stare at her beautiful, silky soft hair, her creamy white skin, those blue eyes . . . Gohan sighed heavily.
"Gohan . . . Gohan . . . HEY, GOHAN!!"
He jumped, looking around. "What? What?!"
Goku grinned at his eldest son. "The burgers are burning."
Gohan looked down at the grill. Several patties were on fire, and the others were charred. "Oh, man . . ."
Goku winked. "We'll give all the burnt ones to Master Roshi. He's so old, he probably won't be able to tell that they're charred beyond belief!"
Gohan chuckled weakly, scooping the burnt patties off of the grill and placing them onto a plate. His father whisked them away, calling, "HEY, MASTER ROSHI!!! THOSE BURGERS YOU WANTED ARE DONE!!" As in well done . . .
Krillin, seeing Gohan's trouble, pushed the boy away from the grill. "If we let you cook, we'll never have enough food to feed all of these people! Go on, get out of here!"
Gohan wandered away from the loud excitement of the group and around to the front of the house. He sat on the grass underneath a tree and leaned back against it.
Tomorrow's the big day, Gohan. Tomorrow you're gonna fight Trunks, you're going to win, and you're going to tell Videl that she can't go out with Trunks because you love her. Simple, huh?
Right . . .
Gohan sat there, lost in thought until he felt Goten's ki raise slightly. Anytime that happened, he was about to eat. Deciding that he was hungry, Gohan left his spot and rejoined the party. He looked for a seat at the table.
The only one left was next to Videl, at the end of the picnic table. His mother grinned at him supportively. Great, they PLANNED this. Gohan slid into the seat next to Videl. Everyone attacked the food before them, but Gohan waited until everyone else had gotten their food before reaching for some himself.
Out of the corner of her eye, Videl watched as Gohan nibbled on his food, not eating much of it. Chichi was eyeing Gohan carefully, practically straining her neck to get a good look at him.
Bulma, who sat across from him, kicked his leg underneath the table. "Eat something," she hissed, "Chichi's watching!"
Gohan gave her a nod and eat more. Chichi seemed satisfied with this, but Videl was not. She cleared her throat and turned to Gohan. "Are you ready for tomorrow, Gohan? You've been working very hard."
She expected him to ignore her, and was surprised when he said, "I'm ready to take the championship belt, if that's what you mean."
Unfortunately, Vegeta overheard his remark and snorted. "Hardly. You think that a few weeks of hard training can make up for seven years lost?"
Everyone at the table stopped eating except for Goten and Trunks, who didn't see what the problem was with Vegeta's comment. The only sounds were of the two little boys wolfing down their food as the whole table leaned forward to see the action.
Gohan stared blankly at Vegeta. "No, but I can try to regain some of what I had. It's worth a try."
Bulma slapped Vegeta on the back of the head and glared heatedly at him. He glared back and growled, "Woman . . ."
Videl let out a huge breath. She'd thought for a minute that Gohan was about to attack Vegeta with the way he'd been acting lately.
"Jeez, Vegeta!" Goku was crying with his mouth full of food. "You haven't seen him work- he's amazing. Total concentration, great form, he's quick and-"
"DAMN IT, KAKKAROT!!! YOU'RE SPITTING FOOD ALL OVER ME!!!" roared Vegeta, brushing something that looked like a piece of half-chewed hotdog from his arm, giving Goku a murderous look.
This got everyone talking again. Gohan finished his plate and reached for seconds, receiving a big smile from his mother.
Gohan shot a quick look at Videl. She was staring dully at the table before her. Man, I miss her. I can't go on like this much longer . . . Tomorrow . . . wait until tomorrow . .
*~* The Next Morning: 3:00 am *~*
"EVERYONE UP!!!!!"
* BANG*
"GET UP RIGHT NOW!!!!!!"
* BANG *
WE'VE GOT TO LEAVE FOR THE TOURNAMENT!!!!!!!"
* BANG *
"GET UP!!!!!!! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!!!!!!" Goku shouted loudly, banging a pot he'd grabbed from Bulma's kitchen with a wooden spoon as he ran throughout the house.
* BANG BANG BANG *
People warily emerged from their rooms, shooting glares at Goku. He just smiled back and continued his trip through the house.
* BANG BANG *
On his way, Gohan, who was already awake, took the pot from his father's hand as he skipped by. "I think everyone's awake now, Dad."
Goku grinned at his son. "Are you ready to kick some butt?!"
Gohan laughed. "You know it!"
"Great! I'm gonna go talk to Bulma about breakfast . . ." Goku wandered off, leaving Gohan alone. He shook his head and went into the kitchen, putting back the items that his father stole, then went up to the room that Bulma let him spend the night in and grabbed his bag. He went outside, tossed his bag into the back of the huge jet Bulma reserved to take them all to the Tenkaichi and leaned against it.
Piccolo was also out there and went up to him. "Morning Gohan."
"Hey, Piccolo. Excited?"
He gave him a look. "Not like Goku, if that's what you're talking about."
Gohan just smiled.
"You've been working hard with your meditating," Piccolo observed, "along with everything else."
"I have."
"You were looking for that energy Pikkon spoke about, weren't you?"
Gohan nodded. "I'm still looking. I'm not sure how to go about finding it, though."
"Maybe you should stop looking for it, and let it come to you."
"What?"
"Just think. That energy you release when you fought Cell . . . it was there because you were mad, right?"
"Mad isn't the word . . ."
"Yes, well, you were angry. That energy you used, I think, was the pure energy, Gohan. When you were younger, all of those brief moments of incredible strength was the pure energy surfacing."
Gohan eyed his former sensei. "You've been giving this a lot of though, haven't you Piccolo?"
"Anything to help, Gohan." The others began to gather around outside. "Anyway, take my advice and stop looking. You'll just stress yourself out."
"Right. Thanks Piccolo."
Bulma came out of the house, looking very much like a drill sergeant, and did a head count. Once she was satisfied that everyone was there, she blew on a shrill whistle. The chatter immediately stopped al but Goku's loud whine of, "OUCH! That hurt my ear!"
"Alright, people!" Bulma shouted. "We're about to leave, so let me give you the run through of our day." Chibi Trunks handed his mother a clipboard. "Okay, it'll take us quite a while to get to this island . . . about six hours."
The little kids and Goku groaned.
"We should arrive around nine forty five if we make a quick stop for breakfast at six."
"But I'm hungry NOW," Goku whined.
Bulma glared at Goku, then said to Chichi, "Shut him up, please! Anyway, registration opens at ten-fifteen, qualifying round is at ten-thirty, and the line up is determined at eleven-thirty, leaving lunch for noon to one. Now, to explain how the Tenkaichi will work . . . let's see . . . oh, the junior tournament, which will span from eleven-thirty to one, is right after the qualifying round of the adults tournament. Then directly after that is the first round of the adult tournament. I've made reservations at a hotel on the island for all of us. The next day will be the second round at nine in the morning, then later that afternoon will be the third round. Finals will be held early the next morning and then a huge party will be after that. Everyone got it?" [1]
They all nodded. "Okay, then! Everyone put their bags in the back and we'll be off."
They all followed Bulma's orders and filed into the jet. Gohan took a seat by himself in the back of the jet. M. Trunks and Videl took the pair of seats in front of him.
"Buckle your seatbelts, everyone!!" Bulma ordered, taking the pilot's seat. She started up the jet and took off.
*~*
Almost everyone fell asleep immediately. Gohan, however, closed his eyes and chose to focus himself before the tournament. He went into deep meditation, catching Piccolo's attention. He watched him carefully, then decided to follow suit.
Gohan only opened his eyes when the stopped for breakfast at a fast-food restaurant. Bulma took everyone's orders and left the jet. As he waited for her to return, he checked out his competition more closely.
There's no way I'll get to fight them all . . . but I might as well act as if I will. I don't think M. Trunks will be much trouble for me to take down, or Krillin or Piccolo or Videl. Juuhachi should be easy to beat, too. That leaves Vegeta, Dad and Pikkon, who I've never seen fight before. But if he almost defeated my Dad . . . that could be trouble. Hmm . . . it all depends on the first round.
Bulma came back with a ton of bags and handed everybody one. Shortly after, then entered the air once again.
The flight was rather uneventful. When they finally landed on the island, Gohan eagerly got out of the jet and stretched, looking around. The place was crowded, full of fighters and spectators anxious for the fighting to start. All of the buildings were painted in bright colors and there was a vender at every corner. Everyone grabbed their bags and waited for Bulma to give them their instructions.
Bulma pulled a giant cart out of the back of the jet and told everyone to dump their bags in so that she could take them to the hotel.
All who were participating in the tournament began to look for the registration area after saying goodbye to the others. Registration was quick- a man took down their names and assigned them a number, then told them to go into the qualifying arena. Goten and Chibi Trunks protested adamantly to the junior division, but signed up anyway. Even though the little boys did not need to qualify for anything, then went with the others into the qualifying arena anyway.
Goku stared at the big red punching machine and frowned. "What in the world is THAT?"
Videl spoke up. "My Dad said that they've changed things a bit from last time. It's a punching machine. All you have to do is go up, punch it, and the machine will measure how strong your punch is. The fifteen people with the highest scores get in, but my father, since he was the last champion is automatically entered."
None of the Z fighters like the stupid machine, but did it anyway and all, of course, made it. As they finished up there, a monk called for all kids fighting in the junior division. Chibi Trunks and Goten went off, waving goodbye to their friends.
Next they moved to the room where the line up would be determined. They stood around, waiting for things to get started.
Videl was standing away from the group a bit, checking out two guys who were standing in a far off corner of the room. They both had brown hair that was slicked back in a weird way and they were staring directly at her with dark eyes.
Gohan noticed and went up to her side. He glared at the men across the room. "You okay?"
" . . . yes." He's speaking to me?
"Hello there."
Videl and Gohan turned around to see a short purple man with a mohawk, a very tall pinkish man and another person dressed in dark black robes standing behind them. Well, the short man wasn't standing, he was floating a few inches above the ground. And the man in all black had a hood covering his face, so Gohan and Videl couldn't see any of his features.
The purple man gave Videl a strange smile. "You must be Satan Videl. Am I right?"
"Um . . . yeah, that's me."
He stuck his hand out. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Shin, and this," he gestured to the pink man, "is Kibito." Shin did not introduce the other man. "We've heard so much about you and can't wait to see you fight."
Videl blinked several times. "Ah . . . thank you, I guess . . ."
Shin turned his attentions to Gohan. "And who might you be?"
"Er . . . Son Gohan."
The strange man looked a bit startled at that piece of information. "Are you . . . Goku's son?"
"Yes, that's me."
"And . . . Goku's here?"
"Yes . . ."
Shin smiled again. "Then this shall be quite a tournament, won't it? Well, it was very nice talking to you." He and his two buddies moved away.
"That was weird . . ." Videl muttered.
Gohan watched them carefully as they moved away. Why hadn't Shin introduced the other guy in the robe? "Try to stay away from those guys, Videl. And the others, too."
Videl nodded once.
The drawing started when Hercule finally emerged from another room. The results:
Hercule vs. Juuhachi Gohan vs. M. Trunks Videl vs. Krillin Shin vs. Asento ** Pikkon vs. Piccolo Goku vs. Mighty Mask *~* Vegeta vs. Kibito Sanme * vs. Pear **Author's Note: Who do you think is gonna win? I'm not telling, but I want to see your guesses! This 25th Tenkaichi Budokai WILL go all the way to the finals!
Other Notes:
** These are the two guys who were staring at Videl. The ones with the brown hair.
*~* The REAL Mighty Mask was there, not Goten + Trunks. They'll be there later, okay?
* Sanme is the guy in the dark robe that was with Shin. If you know some Japanese, then I'm sure you'll be able to figure out who this is. J
[1] Okay, I'm thinking that the Tenkaichi should be more than one day, because it's not really fair to keep making the people fight round after round, you know? I'll be doing my Tenkaichi differently. And to keep this from getting TOO long and drawn out, each round will be one chapter, okay?
ADVERTISING: 'Good Friends' by Mystic Dragon. Anything by Mystic Dragon.
Next Chapter: The junior tournament of the Tenkaichi, then the adult first round. Gohan's gonna fight Trunks!! Will he win? Will he tell Videl how he feels?!
