Editor and Beta Reader: ShaggyDiz
Shea Loner – Yeah, I try to limit the amount of cursing and bad talk in my fics because I deem it unnecessary and I don't curse much myself. I find it stupid in some sort of way. Just because you can curse doesn't make a person cool or popular.
Tenshi-Hotaru – I'm glad that you like what I have written so far, but I must say that I'm beginning to run out of ideas leading to what could pull Gohan out of his depression.
To all people – Yippee! I've got up to 100 hundred reviews. This is my first fic with that many reviews, so I've decided to make a little bonus for you people. This chapter is going to be longer than usual.
Previous Chapter:
Videl leaned back in her chair and thought over the acquired information. So, it looks like there's a lot of information on Gohan's father, but there isn't any listed on him. That's strange considering great martial artist's children has always been recognized, but for some strange reason, Gohan has not. This didn't really make any sense.
Gohan plopped down on his bed after the training session with the two little demi-saiyans. 'Only two more weeks,' he thought to himself. 'I only have to keep up this act for two more weeks, and then I'll finally be at peace.' A somewhat eerie smile crept up on his face as he closed his eyes, waiting for his dinner, which was to be served shortly.
Chapter 9
Peace that is Disrupted
As the ball of fire reached their home planet, the inhabitants of the planet screamed in agony as the precious earth was destroyed, leaving nothing, but dust of what was formerly a proud and strong race of warriors rivaling that of the saiyans.
Everything was destroyed, not a single organism or pieces of rock were in sight. All was lost.
Elsewhere, far away from the wreckage, a man stumbled out of the broken down space ship his family occupied. He looked up at the land around him, studying his surroundings before he fell into unconsciousness.
When he awakened, his son and his son's best friend were sleeping in beside him. His thirteen-year-old son's best friend was a girl and a very pretty one as well. It was sad what happened to the girl's parents. They were confronting Frieza for their freedom when they were killed, being used as examples of what would happen if a rebellion developed. He gritted his teeth as he remembered how ruthlessly and menacingly the two were killed. The father of the girl was his best friend. Tears threatened to escape his eyes and yet, he just blinked them away.
He looked over to his son and smiled. Even though everyone was seriously injured, he mustered whatever strength he had left to see his of his family's well being. He stumbled to the bedside of his offspring. "You are very strong, as you've always been. You've put up a great battle. Someday, you and your girlfriend will repopulate our race and get revenge against that tyrant. I also know that you will put a end to those awful saiyans whose been plaguing us ever since we were born. The day that happens will be the happiest day of my life."
The boy opened his eyes slowly and squinted as his vision cleared up slightly. He looked up into the bloody and bruised face of his father. "D-dad?"
"Do me proud, son…" Finally, his eyes closed and he collapsed onto the floor, never to be disturbed again.
"Oh no… Dad!"
A young girl closed her eyes and clenched her fists. She stared down at the dead carcass of her mother and father who had fallen victim to a deadly heart virus during their trip in space. She should've known better than to have obliged to their requests. She was forced to train at home while her parents trained in space, believing that the only way to become stronger is to train with other alien races. However, due to their lack of knowledge about the alien races, they were plagued with a disease that was spreading rapidly in the planet they were visiting.
"Stay at home and train. Outer space is not for little girls," she mocked. "Yeah, right. Look where you have gotten dad. Because of your ignorance, you and mom were killed from a stupid virus." The remaining alien survivors from the heart disease were friendly enough to bring the girl the remains of her parents, since they felt guilty spreading their infectious disease to outsiders.
Drops of water dripped onto the ground as a figure collapsed on all fours. "Why did you have to go? Why didn't you stay home and train with me like you used to do?" she screamed in agony as more tears threatened to spill from her emerald eyes. "Why?" she sobbed and cried out all the grief of loosing her two most favorite people in the world, her mother and father.
She opened her eyes from her long nap. She was lucky that the space shuttle her grandfather used to escape from Raishu's destruction. Finally the shuttle came to a stop and landed on a planet. She exited the machine and took her first steps onto the Earth. She glanced at her surroundings and pulled out a contraption from her pocket. Punching in a few buttons, the little electronic device glowed and beeped. "Yep, this is the place. This is where the dragon balls are. Don't worry, father, mother, and grandfather. I will accomplish your mission…"
The next day during school, everyone including the teacher, noticed how odd Gohan was behaving, which brought on suspicion. Suspicion came the most from Videl, who's been observing Gohan's behavior for the past couple of months. She still didn't understand how she was able to cheer him up. She was planning on bringing him to the carnival this weekend, but now she wasn't sure if she should still invite him or not. 'Of course it's a good idea to invite him! It would be good for the guy to get out once in a while and have more fun.'
Class passed by very quickly, which brought relief to students who dreaded going to school. Eventually sixth period rolled around, the period where Physical Education was held for the class of Satan Videl and Son Gohan.
"Hey, I heard that we would actually be starting to play baseball today," commented one boy with short blond hair.
"Yeah, I've heard the same thing too. It beats running for two months straight," agreed another boy with brown hair and glasses.
"Well, I can't wait until we start basketball. Basketball's my best sport and it's one of the things I could impress Videl with," stated a rather arrogant boy with slick black hair.
"You're always trying to pick up Videl, Yoshii. I swear, I'll get to Videl before you do," said Sharpner.
Yoshii grinned at the longhaired blond. "Yeah, right. I'm captain of the basketball team and you're captain of the baseball. Let's just see who'll get to young Miss Satan first."
"How about we make a bet. Loser at the tournament this Friday and our little Videl chase has to dress like a girl and be his slave for a week."
Yoshii smirked. "No way I'm losing two in a row. Prepare to buy your makeup supplies."
"I'd like to see that happen. We'll see who buys makeup."
"Say, shouldn't we hurry up? After all, almost all the boys are out of the locker room already," commented the brown haired boy.
"We'll be there shortly," answered Yoshii and Sharpner in unison.
On the other side of room, Gohan sat in front of his locker. With his sensitive saiyan ears, he was able to pick up the conversation easily. 'So, those two clowns were trying to pick up Videl.' This would be an interesting two weeks of Videl hunting with Gohan intercepting and making fools of the two clowns. He shut his locker abruptly and walked out of the locker room to where the other students were located.
Gohan walked out onto the fields of grass where the bleachers were and walked up the stands to sit by himself. He was wearing the gym shirt underneath the school's white sweatshirt with navy sweat pants. There was no use in showing off all his muscles, which would only attract more attention, to what attention he had already attracted since his first day of school.
"Hey Gohan," greeted a girl with short blond hair.
Gohan glanced up to the person to whom the voice belonged. "Hi Erasa. Hi Videl."
"Hey Gohan," said Videl as she took a seat to the left of him while Erasa took a seat to his right.
"Say, Gohan. Why are you always sitting by yourself during P.E.? It's not fun being alone all the time," commented Erasa.
"I'm used to it," came his simple reply. "So, we're really starting baseball, huh? I'm getting sick and tired of running all the time."
"What are you complaining about, Gohan? You're practically one of the fastest runners in our class, beside Videl that is."
Gohan laughed. "One of the fastest? I doubt that." 'Well, I guess that's pretty good since I was suppressing my energy to that of a normal human.'
"Don't be modest Gohan. I saw you run. It appears as if you don't even break a sweat running a mile everyday," commented Videl. "As for myself, I get somewhat winded, but not as much if I had not began training."
"Well, that's nice for you though. I'm just used to running long distances, but hardly consider myself a fast runner."
"Okay Class! Everybody line up and we'll begin picking teams!" yelled the PE coach.
Videl sighed in exasperation. Just when she was about to interrogate Gohan with more questions about his strange behavior, the PE coach just had to ruin it for her. The three teens headed down the bleachers and onto the baseball field.
"Okay, class. We all know that we're going to be playing baseball, right?" asked the teacher. The class nodded as a response.
"Well, I'm going to skip going over the basic skills and the sort and go right on to playing our games. Does anyone here do not know how to play baseball?"
Gohan out of everyone raised his hand.
"Well, don't worry son. You'll get the hang of it after a few games," reassured the coach. "Now, your team captains will be Yoshii and Sharpner. Choose your teammates carefully, your grades depends on the number of wins for your team."
"You go first," Sharpner commented with a smirk to Yoshii.
Yoshii glared at the blond. "Gladly. I pick him, the tall guy in the back with the baseball cap."
Sharpner's smirk only widened with glee. "I pick Videl."
"What!" exclaimed Yoshii.
"Great… I'm stuck on that idiot's team," grumbled Videl as she walked up to where her 'team' was supposed to stand.
Yoshii growled in his throat. "I pick that guy!" he shouted, pointing to a random guy.
Eventually most of the people were chosen, except for a few, including Gohan. Gohan just stood in line; a little bored, but waited to see which team he was appointed to. Finally, Gohan was the only one left and was assigned on Yoshii's team.
"Great… I get the nerd," grumbled Yoshii.
"I so pity you, Yoshii," Sharpner said with his ever so disgusting smirk.
"Shut up and play," retorted Yoshii.
"As you wish," answered the blond.
The two teams filed out onto the field, Sharpner's team up at bat while Yoshii's remain on the outfield.
"Prepare to lose," Sharpner said with a smile as he walked up to bat.
"Shut up and just play already, you loud mouth!" screamed Yoshii from first base.
Sharpner ignored the black haired teen and concentrated on hitting the ball. When the first pitch came, he swung the bat hard, hitting a homerun… or what they thought was a home run.
The baseball sailed through the air and across the field to the back. Gohan noticed a flying object coming towards him and identified it as the baseball. He ran nearly thirty yards at breakneck speed and caught the fly ball.
"Hah! Beat that!" screamed Sharpner as he prepared to run to first. It was then that the pitcher suddenly fell over onto the ground, hard. Yoshii's team members gathered around the pitcher to see the condition he was in. What they found shocked them to no end. In the glove was a smoky, but rather usable baseball, which was supposedly gone as a homerun, made by Sharpner. "No way…" Sharpner said as he looked up to see Gohan running towards them.
"You did that?" asked the blond.
"Who? Me? Well… It was a lucky catch!" exclaimed Gohan. 'Man, it is weird acting the way you used to 4 years ago…'
"Yeah… a lucky catch. Hah! Next time you won't be so lucky!"
"Yeah… maybe."
Yoshii patted Gohan on the back. "Good catch man!"
"Yeah… thanks. It was really nothing. I don't think I can do that again," Gohan said with a small grin.
"Of course you can! I bet that you can catch every ball with the skills you've got!" Yoshii exclaimed. 'This kid is great! He'll make my team and myself of course look better in Videl's eyes. She would be wondering why she's stuck on that bastard's team. This is just perfect!'
Sharpner glared at the blond boy who caught his homerun ball. 'I'll get that kid. He just ruined my chance of a homerun. Oh well, next time I'll make sure that I'll score a homerun and that kid eats dirt!'
"That's a great catch, Gohan. Now let's get back to the game," Sharpner said with as much forced kindness in his voice that he could muster.
Gohan nodded and returned to their positions like everyone on the field, minus the pitcher who had to be replaced. So now, Yoshii stood at the mound with the ball in his hands.
Sharpner's team had the game go into the second inning thanks to their third player up at bat. Yoshii's team currently sat along the benches, waiting for their turns to bat.
A brown haired boy went up to bat, but only managed to strike out. Next up on the plate was Yoshii. He took the bat and prepared for the pitch. As soon as the first pitch came from Sharpner, he swung. Unfortunately, he managed to make a fool out of himself as he missed the first two pitches. Eventually, when the third pitch came, he swung blindly and the ball sailed through the air for a short distance.
Unfortunately, next up to bat was Gohan. Gohan walked up to the plate and gripped onto the bat. He was a little nervous of what would happen, but this time was different. He wasn't as indifferent as the month before, so he was somewhat worried about revealing his true strength to his class.
Sharpner smirked to himself as he noticed who just stepped up to bat. 'This is going to be a piece of cake. I'll just run a few fastballs by him and he'll strike out in no time. That ought to embarrass him enough.' He prepared for the pitch and threw the ball, letting it sail through the air to whiz by Gohan's face.
Gohan gripped the rubber tape of the bat and waited for the ball to come by. As soon as the baseball left the pitcher's hand, he panicked. 'What a second, it doesn't matter if they discover my strength. I'm not going to be around that long anyway, so I might as well not bother to hide anything.' Pretty soon the baseball was in hitting distance. With his enhanced Saiyan vision and hearing, Gohan could easily locate the ball and swung. As soon as the ball had made contact with the bat, it flew off in the distance at an immeasurable speed.
A few classmates looked to the ground and noticed a white piece of fabric lying on the dirt filled ground. Videl approached this white fabric and picked it up. To her surprise, it was the exterior of the baseball, which had mysteriously disappeared. Everyone heard the baseball make contact with the bat and noticed a white blur fly through the sky, but thought nothing of it… until now. Everyone looked in the direction in which Gohan was in, or in this case, last seen. They scanned the area around them, but they could not find the demi-saiyan.
Meanwhile, in a nearby corner, adjacent to the soda machines, Gohan hid. He looked out of his hiding area every so often to ensure that no one was around. He made the decision to do whatever and he didn't care if the baseball flew out of the planet, but for some reason, he was a little paranoid. 'I guess I'm worried that someone might bother me too much. Besides, if I keep getting bothered, I won't be able to pull through with my suicide, especially if I get attached to someone after he or she finds out my secret.'
A girl walked down the hall, passed the soda machines, and glanced back at it. Giving a glare at the last machine, closest to the corner, she smirked and walked off.
As soon as the school bell had rung, Gohan rushed home at top speed in the air. This time he really didn't care if he got caught flying in the air. He still had the excuse that he was using a new product of Capsule Corp. It wasn't long till he reached home. He walked through the front door and was inquired by his mother.
"So, Gohan. How was your day?" asked the blue haired scientist.
Gohan shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't too bad. I'm going to head upstairs now." He quickly ran up the stairs to his room and threw his backpack on the ground by his desk. He finished off his homework in a few minutes, all the while listening to the radio in his room. His homework would've taken a normal student a few hours to do, but due to his genius capabilities, he was capable of finishing it off in less than a tenth of the time. Gohan dropped the pencil on his desk and leaned back in his chair.
'What to do? What to do? What to do for the next two weeks?' he asked himself.
After a few minutes of thinking up fun activities, he gave in and just changed into a tank top with a pair of shorts. He grabbed the big orange basketball that was by his oak dresser and headed down toward Capsule Corp's saiyan proof basketball gym.
'This ought to give me some fun,' he thought as he warmed up by shooting in random parts of the court. First he went for a two pointer, then a three pointer, and finally at the jump circle where the end of half the court is. Every time he shot the ball, he was able to make a swish. Eventually, he went up to do a couple of lay ups when Vegeta walked through the doors.
"How odd. You're not training in the gravity chamber with me like you usually do. Is there something wrong with you, boy?" asked the Prince of Saiyans.
Gohan twirled the basketball on one finger for a moment before replying, "I'm fine, Dad. I just wanted to play a little ball and take a break from training for a while."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Take a little break, huh? That doesn't sound like you, Gohan. Last time I spoke to you during our training, which was just two days ago, you were absolutely crazy about getting stronger."
Gohan stopped twirling the ball on his finger and said, "Well, that is true, but I just wanted to do other things for a while before going back to training."
Vegeta scoffed. "Sure you do. You'll probably never return to your training if you keep this up."
"I doubt it. Can't I have a little fun once in a while?" asked Gohan.
"I'll let you have your little fun time only if you show me the extent of your strength. If it is enough to satisfy me, then I'll play this game – basketball – with you. Deal?" Vegeta said with a smirk. The only reason he was even making this offer was because of his curiosity about Gohan's strength. Never once did Gohan return to his normal state, or ascend to level two. He always remained in level one, even though he was incredibly strong. Vegeta could tell that Gohan was slightly stronger than himself since Vegeta occasionally trained in his normal state, which increased his powers when he transformed into a Super Saiyan.
Gohan thought this over for a very short amount of time. It would be nice having Vegeta play a game of basketball with him; after all, the only thing he ever did with Vegeta was train in the gravity chamber. Vegeta is Gohan's new father after Goku's unfortunate death, so he believed that they should do some father-son activities, not just a simple spar and a small conversation. "Deal. But first show me your power. I want to see how I match up with you. Even though I have been training with you, I don't think that I'm that much stronger. Besides, it would be nice knowing how much power you've got."
Vegeta smirked at his reply. "Gladly." He dropped down into a slight crouch to keep his balance for when he began to power up. Slowly energy from Vegeta began to emit from his body, showed by the clear ki flare. Gradually as he transformed, the ki flare changed into a golden aura surrounding his body. His body grew stiff and the muscle mass increased, creating a bulky appearance for the man. Little pieces of dirt and rocks began to fly in the air until a massive golden aura surrounded the prince. Then, he ascended. He went to level two and still the power up continued. The ground shook slightly from the power and lightning appeared around Vegeta's body. He continued to power up until he was at his limit. He relaxed his body and the muscles shrunk back to normal size from the overly bulky size it once was in. "There you have it. Now it's your turn."
Gohan gawked at Vegeta. It seems his power had increased a lot since the Cell Games. Vegeta was now stronger than he was when he fought Cell. "That's amazing, Vegeta!" he exclaimed.
'What's with the kid? Suddenly he's all happy and annoying like his father when he was as calm as the seas for the past four years. This is really odd. I don't know how I seemed to miss this for the past two weeks until I started talking to him instead of demanding that he fight harder.'
Gohan dropped the basketball and quickly ascended to level two. "There."
"That's not your full power," Vegeta stated calmly.
"What do you mean?" Gohan asked in confusion.
"I can still sense that you are holding back some of your powers, even though you may not know of it. Now hurry up and power up to your maximum!"
"Are you sure?" Gohan asked. Vegeta shot him a glare, which shut Gohan up. "Okay… Here goes nothing." He clenched his hands into fists and began to power up even more, until the golden flare around his body stopped growing in size. Instead, Gohan's muscles remained the same size; his eyes had his pupils return, his eyebrows disappear, and his rather spiky hair grow out past his waist. The process took all of five minutes to go through since the slow power up to the next level took a great amount of power and time. Once he was finished, Gohan dropped to his knees and breathed heavily while sweat trickled down his body, as going to the next level took a great amount of power and strength from his body.
"A-amazing… you ascended to the next level, beyond the second level," Vegeta said slowly, still in disbelief.
"I wouldn't have gotten to the next level if it weren't for you pushing for me to power up to my maximum," Gohan said with a slight laugh.
"Awesome. It's just awesome, the amount of power you are producing. Looks like there's another level of Super Saiyan I have to work for."
Gohan continued his laugh and powered back down to Super Saiyan. "Come on, Dad. You said that if I satisfied you with my power, you would play a game of basketball with me."
"When did I say that!?"
Gohan looked at the older man in confusion. "But, but… you just said…"
During the time that he was mumbling, Vegeta grabbed the basketball from Gohan's hands and made a lay up. "Looks like it's 2-0," he said with a smirk.
"Hey!"
Videl came back from the mall after a shopping trip with Erasa. "Why is it that every time I say that I'm never going shopping with Erasa again, I always end up going the next time?" Videl mumbled to herself.
"Did you say something, Videl?" asked the blond.
"Yeah, I'm wondering why your trips to the mall are always hell for me!" Videl said with a grin.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all! Come on, let's get home before my father throws a tantrum," said Videl.
Erasa nodded in agreement and followed her friend. "Say… Videl, are you going to bring anyone to the carnival this weekend? I know that Sharpner is dying to go with you."
Videl shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I was thinking of asking Gohan to go since he was so depressed and all, but apparently he isn't anymore. So I don't know if I should still ask him to go."
"Ask him! It would be nice to hang around with Gohan," said Erasa.
"Wait, just why do you want Gohan to go anyways? I mean I have a reason. I wanted to cheer him up a bit since I don't like to see people with frowns on their faces. However, I don't know what's your reason is for wanting Gohan to go."
Erasa stopped in her tracks in the middle of the road. "Well… I um…"
"I'm waiting," Videl said impatiently.
"I sort of like him…"
"Sort of like him? Are you feeling okay Erasa? I thought you were still with Daisuke. You know that other guys are off limits as long as you two are together."
"Well… I kind of broke up with Daisuke two days ago. He was really getting on my nerves and we have absolutely nothing in common," responded the blond.
"Then why did you get with him?" inquired Videl.
The girls resumed their walk back home, continuing with their discussion. "I don't know. I thought he was cute, but now that I think about it… he isn't really that cute compared to Gohan."
Videl would've face faulted, but restrained herself. This was just like her friend to say something like that. "Whatever Erasa. So, are you going to come watch the school Martial Arts Tournament with me this Friday?"
"Martial Arts? No way! Everybody gets all bloody and stuff!"
"Come on Erasa. I'm going to compete. I would love it if you would come and watch," pleaded Videl.
"I don't know about all the fighting, but since my best friend is competing, I'll go watch."
"Thanks Erasa. You're the best."
"Of course! Hey, let's get back to my place faster. I'm just dying to try on my new clothes!"
"Yeah… all ten bags of them," said Videl as she looked at the amount of clothes in her best friend's hands.
"What are you talking about? You have a couple bags yourself," said Erasa.
Videl sighed. "That's true, but not all of contents are clothes for your information."
The next day at school, the teacher announced that Orange Star High School's Martial Arts Tournament was to take place next Friday. Everyone was excited, especially because of the fact that Mr. Satan was coming to watch their performance and was offering to teach students that had some potential.
'This is perfect! I've been taking lessons from Mr. Satan and I'm certain to kick that idiot Yoshii's butt,' Sharpner thought to himself deviously. He flexed a few of his arms muscle to assure himself that victory was his.
Meanwhile, in the other side of the classroom, similar thoughts were running through a certain raven-haired fellow. 'Wonderful. With all the private lessons Mr. Satan has been giving me, I will surely kick that moron Sharpner's behind.' Yoshii thought to himself with a smirk.
Elsewhere, Gohan sat at his desk with a small smile to his face. 'So, Mr. Satan is planning on coming to our school's little Martial Arts Tournament. This should prove interesting. I wonder if I should enter…'
'Oh no, Dad is coming? This has got to be a nightmare. He's going to embarrass me… again,' Videl thought. She groaned and slumped down in her seat.
"Wow, Videl. It's going to be awesome since your dad is coming this year," Erasa said to her friend.
Videl groaned and replied, "It isn't going to be good. The only reason he's coming is because I'm competing and he needs new students for his dojo. I wish he would just stay home for once instead of embarrassing me like crazy."
"It's not that bad. I mean, he came to other school events before."
"That's beside the point. You see, when I go up to fight, he's going to go crazy if I get even a little scratch and will force me to throw the fight. It's really embarrassing when that happens. That happened last year when you took a trip to Hawaii. Thank God you weren't there."
"Okay, class. Enough chitchat. If you are planning to participate in the tournament, please head to the main office and sign up there. Now, let's get back to the lesson," said Mr. Satoya.
Videl was walking through the halls with Erasa before they stopped in front of the main office. She walked into the room and grabbed a registration sheet for the tournament.
"So, you're still entering? Even after what your father did to you last year?" asked Erasa.
Videl nodded. "Of course. I've just got to make sure that I can convince the judges to allow me to stay in the fight and to restrain my dad." She scribbled down the needed information and dropped it down a slit in the box hanging beside it. Videl grabbed another registration sheet and scribbled down the name 'Son Gohan'.
"What's this? You're entering Gohan? What are you doing that for?" inquired Erasa.
"You'll see," responded Videl. She handed the sheet to the secretary and explained to her that Son Gohan had asked for her to help him sign up since he was busy. The secretary nodded in understanding and filled out the rest of the form before dropping it in the box.
Gohan arrived home shortly after school ended and plopped down on his bed. 'There's the World's Martial Arts Tournament coming up Sunday. Hmm… It would be nice to die right after the World Martial Arts Tournament.'
"Onii-chan!!" cried two chibi demi-saiyans.
Gohan picked himself off his bed and turned to the direction of the voice. "What is it Trunks and Goten?"
"We wanna train! We wanna train!" they squealed.
"Train? What happened to training with dad when I was at school?" asked Gohan.
"We don't wanna train with dad. We wanna train with you, nii-chan. It's much funner!" yelled Goten.
"Is it because dad goes rougher on you than I do?" asked Gohan.
Trunks closed his mouth and answered, "Well… Yes! Please train with us!"
"Please……!!!" pleaded the two chibis.
"Alright, alright. Just let me finish my homework. I'll go train with you in fifteen minutes," answered Gohan.
"Yippee!" cheered the two demi-saiyans.
Gohan couldn't help but laugh at their cheerful personalities and cheers. 'Do I really want to leave this when I leave? Should I reconsider my decision? No, what I decided is final.'
In Other World, the Son family was seated at a table eating like there was no tomorrow.
"Goku, would you mind if I spoke?" asked the Grand Kai.
Goku, being the man he is, tuned out everything when he eats. Instead of listening to what the Grand Kai had to say, he picked up another drumstick and began eating.
"Goku!!" screamed King Kai as he pulled the drumstick from Goku's grip.
"Hey! Give that back!" whined the saiyan.
"Goku, listen to the man or else I'll have to teach you manners again," warned Chichi. When she says 'teach you manners' she means beating and yelling at you like crazy and you eventually oblige and obey what she says.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good boy."
"As I was saying Goku… Earth is holding another Martial Arts Tournament Sunday. I know that you absolutely love to fight after your little battle with Pikkon. Anyways, I'm granting you a chance to go back to Earth for two days because of your sacrifice. Do whatever you want on Saturday, but I expect you to bring home the medal stating that you are the champion. If you don't… I'll whip you into better shape before you can say kamehameha." 'Wait, what did I say? There's no way I could keep up with Goku, let alone train him… Oh man, I am so screwed.'
"Oh wow! I can't wait to go back!" exclaimed Goku. He then yanked the drumstick back from King Kai's grip and resumed eating.
"And what about me?!" 'asked' Chichi with a huge frying pan in her hand.
"Y-you may go too if you like," squeaked the Grand Kai.
"That is absolutely marvelous! I'll be able to visit Gohan and Goten!"
"Yo, pops. Would you like to go too?" Grand Kai asked the Ox King.
The Ox King shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll stay here. This is my home now. Besides, I would've died anyway, so either way, I'd still be up here."
"But wouldn't you like to go back to visit?" asked King Kai.
"I would, but another time. Right now, I just want to relax and have some fun."
Pretty soon a week passed and Friday has come. Gohan has only a week and a few more days of his life left and decided to watch the school's martial arts tournament. That day, Gohan came to school dressed in a black T-shirt with a pair of blue shoes to go with his black sneakers. Gohan's 'family' also came to watch and was permitted with guest passes.
As Gohan strolled down the field to the bleachers where the tournament was taking place, he quickly noticed that the place was packed. Gohan scratched his head, not knowing what to do now that the seats were all taken.
"I guess we'll have to stand in the back or something," Gohan said to Bulma.
"Afraid so, but it wouldn't matter to you saiyans. You four have enhanced vision."
Vegeta smirked. "I could get us front row seats easily, with lots of leg room as well."
"Oh no you don't Vegeta! You will not threaten people to get seats! Do you know how much I have to pay for the damages you cause whenever we go out in public!" screeched Bulma.
"So what, onna. It's not like you're poor or anything," retorted Vegeta.
"Poor? Poor? I'll be poor by the end of this year if you keep up your little tirade wherever you go! You are so impossible Vegeta!"
Gohan slapped a hand over his face. Did this always have to happen wherever they go?
"Say, isn't that Bulma Briefs?" came a voice.
Gohan removed the hand from his face and turned toward the origin of the voice. "So, you know about my mother?" Gohan asked the person.
The girl stiffened immediately. A very cute, hot blond boy was talking to her, and the best part of that was he is the son of the famous scientist Bulma Briefs. The girl's eyes closed and she fainted. The girl's friend caught her before she hit the ground.
"Um… was it something I said?" he asked in confusion.
The people around the area hurriedly stood up from their seats and went in search of finding new seats.
"Mommy, why are all the people running away?" asked Goten.
Bulma shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Goten."
"Cool! Now we get front row, center! Awesome!" yelled Trunks as he raced toward the seats.
Gohan took a seat next to his family after the unconscious girl's friend dragged her away. "That's kind of weird you know. Usually people would be jumping all over the place, waiting in line for mom's autograph," he mused.
He was taken out of his thoughts by an announcement. "Boys and girls, we are proud to host our annual Orange Star High School Martial Arts Tournament once again. Only this time, we have the great and marvelous Mr. Satan joining us today!"
The crowd went wild by the mention of the name, minus a group of saiyans, a blue-haired scientist, and a raven-haired girl with pigtails.
"As you have all heard, Mr. Satan has agreed to watch our tournament and recruit new students to the Satan dojo! I hope you all do your best!" yelled the principal.
Once again, the crowd roared to life.
Vegeta could only gag in disgust. How could such a weak and pathetic human gain such praise and attention?
"We have our list of fighters right here: a total of sixteen fighters ready for our first eight matches. When I call your name, come up to draw a number, which will determine your opponent and the match you fight in. Good luck challengers!"
"Amagawa Yoshii."
"Pencil Sharpner."
It went like that with all of the students until Videl was summoned. "Satan Videl."
Videl strolled up to where she would be assigned a number.
"And finally, our last contestant, Briefs Gohan!" yelled the principal.
"Me?!!" screeched Gohan.
"I didn't know that you signed up for the school's martial arts tournament," Bulma said to her eldest son.
"I didn't know either," replied the bewildered boy.
"Briefs Gohan, please come up!" said the principal.
Gohan sighed and stood up. He walked to the ring and was given the last number available. It was just his luck; he was in the last match. 'Just how did I get into this anyway?' Gohan asked himself. He looked over to where Videl was and he noticed that she had a smirk on her face as she looked in his direction.
"You did this didn't you?" asked Gohan.
Videl nodded. "Let's just say we're going to have some fun kicking some butt in today's tournament. Right, Son Gohan, the son of Son Goku?"
He reeled back, slightly shocked. "What? How did you? Ah, forget it."
"Let's get the Tournament going!" yelled the principal before he announced the competitors of the first match.
'This should be interesting,' Vegeta mused to himself. 'I can tell that Gohan's going to have a little trouble restraining his power when in combat, which only brings trouble for him, but more amusement for me.'
"Go Gohan!" chanted the two chibis.
Mr. Satan sat in his lounge chair and calmly sipped his drink. "My Videl is going to dominate this tournament, but if she gets hurt, Daddy will beat the guy up for her."
Soon, the matches got on their way. Sharpner was paired up with Yoshii in the second fight. Gohan was paired up with some girl, other than Videl. Videl was paired up with a fat boy who looked to becoming a sumo wrestler.
The first match passed by rather quickly as the winner won through good fortune. Now, the second match was about to take place. Sharpner stepped onto the ring and smirked to himself as he glared at his opponent standing on the other side of the ring.
"Are you ready to have your ass kicked, Yoshii?" asked the blond.
Yoshii laughed. "Be ready to eat up all your words." He charged at his opponent and gave a blow to his opponent's head.
Sharpner stumbled back from the impact of the attack, but quickly regained his balance and dropped into a defensive stance as Yoshii continued his assault. After having a seriously bruised arm from all the blocking, Sharpner kicked Yoshii in the stomach causing the black haired boy to double over in pain. Just as Sharpner was preparing to claim victory, Yoshii grabbed the blonde's leg, pulling him to the ground as well. Sharpner gritted his teeth and tried to stand up, but was kicked in the face as Yoshii got on his feet. Sharpner clutched his face in pain and attacked blindly. He knew that there was no way he's going to loose two times in a row. He lost the first time against Yoshii thanks to having Gohan on his team, but this time was different. He should be able to dominate his opponent; after all, he's had a great deal of training from Mr. Satan.
"I'll defeat you, Amagawa!" yelled Sharpner.
Yoshii smirked to himself as he dodged the blonde's failed punches and kicks. "I'd like to see you try, Pencil."
Sharpner let go of his face and noticed a blur – supposedly Yoshii – to his left. Sharpner kicked the figure as hard as he could. The figure fell backwards from the attack and was now clutching his arm. Yoshii glared at the blond. It looks like this fight is going to be harder than he thought. He tried a leg sweep, but it was avoided. He tried to attack more, but due to his aching arm, his attacks were much too slow and weak. Finally, he succeeded in kicking Sharpner to the ground. Victory was to be his. He was about to put one foot on the blonde's back to signal his victory, when he felt himself pulled down onto something soft and green. He looked up and noticed that Sharpner had somehow managed to drag him out of the ring. It wasn't hard since the blond was already close to the edge anyway.
"What a wonderful performance, boys and girls. Let's hope that our next fight would be just as exciting as this one," the principal said with a smile.
The crowd went wild, minus Vegeta whom felt like gagging in disgust.
The other three matches went by pretty fast and it came down to Videl's fight with the sumo, and Gohan with the mysterious girl.
Videl stepped into the ring and waited for her opponent to do the same. The fight began and ended rather quickly. Videl had managed to knock out the kid.
Now it was Gohan's fight. As he walked up to the ring, he peered over his shoulder at his opponent. She didn't seem quite right for some unknown reason to Gohan. He stepped into the ring and took a defensive stance. His clothing wasn't really meant for sparring, but thankfully he wasn't wearing casual clothes that usually consisted of slacks and a dress shirt. He looked at his opponent who stood there calmly with a strange smile on her face. 'Was she always in this school? Weird, I haven't noticed her before.'
"That's because I'm a new student, Son Gohan," came the voice of the girl before him.
"What? H-how did you know my name?" he stuttered. He studied her mysterious smile for a little while. "Wait, just who are you?"
"It was easy getting your name. Since a super saiyan is so to distinguish, I just had to ask around for your name." The girl smirked. Her hair flashed gold and she dropped into an offensive stance.
"S-super Saiyan," Gohan muttered. "But how?"
"Not quite. Actually, I'm from an alien race similar to the saiyans, but we were stronger and more civilized. I am Victoria, a Raishuian, the last of my race."
Gohan raised an eyebrow. Thank god no one could hear them thanks to the volume of their voices. However, the crowd was beginning to get impatient and demanded that they begin the battle.
"Just why are you here?"
"To get the dragon balls, obviously." Victoria smile remained on her face, bringing uneasiness from Gohan. 'If I manage to get hold of the dragon balls, I could wish back my parents. Lucky I did a little research and found out that there was such a thing as a dragon radar. I was lucky enough to stumble across an article that was written by a witness of the Shenlong and who has the radar.'
"No, I mean why are you here at Orange Star High."
"Because I wanted to hang around you Earth people for a while, you know, a sort of way to blend in. That's beside the point. Once I get the dragon balls, which I know you are guarding and have the location of, I'm going to destroy this planet, saiyan."
Her fist began to glow and she charged at Gohan, punching him in the face.
Vegeta gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. 'Not those annoying Raishuians again! I thought that Frieza had taken care of them like he did to Vegeta-sei.'
Gohan fell back from the impact of the punch, but quickly regained his balance and landed his own punch at Victoria. She raised an arm and blocked. Gohan gritted his teeth. 'I can't let her get hold of the dragon radar. She would most likely wish back everyone of her race and then destroy the universe. Looks like I'm going to have to power up a bit. My punch didn't even faze her.' Gohan powered up enough so that a golden flame engulfed him.
"Ah, it looks like you're getting serious. Just like the saiyans, my people love to fight!" Victoria said as she fired a ki blast at the blond boy.
"Oh my god! What is that freakish light?" exclaimed mostly everyone from the crowd.
Gohan deflected the blast and attacked her with a few kicks and punches.
"That kid looks familiar," Mr. Satan muttered to himself. "Wait a minute, he looks just like that kid from the Cell Games. Ah! He is the kid from the Cell Games! He has the same hair, eyes, and should be around this age too! Oh no, oh no… he must be looking for revenge because I took credit for his defeat over Cell. Oh no, oh no…"
Gohan landed a powerful punch at Victoria's face. She flew back from the impact, but stopped herself before landing outside the ring. "This ring is so annoying," she said as she lifted a glowing hand. She flew into the air and gathered a ball of light in her hand and she aimed it at the ring.
Gohan's eyes widened as he realized what she was trying to do. "Everybody, run!" he yelled.
The crowd only looked at Gohan in confusion.
Victoria smirked to herself. "It seems that you're a little late," she fired the enormous blast at the ring. The great ball of energy flooded from the palm of her hand and came crashing down toward the earth.
Gohan could not block the onslaught nor save the people quick enough. He gathered some energy in his hand and fired it toward the girl's blast. As the two blasts collided, rocks flew everywhere and people were pushed back from the force of the energy release. Mr. Satan tried to keep his feet on the ground, but failed as he was forced to lay on his stomach after being thrown back a couple of meters. "It's just like it was at the Cell Games!"
Gohan released more energy into his beam as he felt Victoria's blast beginning to overpower his. Soon he was at his limit in his Super Saiyan state and could not bring out any more energy to overcome the beam. He screamed as he powered up to his newest level, Super Saiyan Three. Still the battle ensued for minutes. In the end, the blast still collided with the Earth. When the smoke cleared, Victoria was still in the air with a proud smirk on her face. She looked down at the massive crater that the blast had created. Luckily, people were smart enough to run away after the blasts collided with each other.
"Come on, Gohan. I know you could do better than that," she said tauntingly.
The smoke around the crater disappeared and a limping figure was standing amongst the rocks. Gohan stood there, glaring menacingly at the girl, his black t-shirt torn and soaked in blood, his jeans reduced to nearly nothing.
"It looks like you're in no shape to fight. Tell you what, I'll return later. That should give you enough time to recover and get a little stronger."
Gohan still glared at the girl floating hundreds of feet above him in the air.
"Good bye, Gohan," she said with a smile before flying off in a random direction.
Bulma wormed out of Vegeta's protective embrace and ran over to the injured demi-saiyan. Videl, who had somehow managed to hide nearby, came out of her hiding spot. "Where's that girl and Gohan?" she wondered. It was then that she noticed a blue haired woman run right pass her and towards a very, very deep hole. She decided to follow the woman to the crater and was a little surprised at what she saw.
Bulma slid down the edges of the crater to the middle where a boy, who was barely standing, collapsed. Videl jumped right down the crater herself and was really shocked at the site of the boy who collapsed onto the blue haired woman. "G-Gohan?" she asked uncertainly from the site of the long blond hair flowing down the boy's back.
The blue haired scientist looked toward the sound of the voice. "Who are you?" she asked sternly.
"I'm… Satan Videl, a friend of Gohan," she answered.
Soon Vegeta, Goten, and Trunks joined the scene. "His energy is dangerously low," commented the Prince of Saiyans.
Gohan was barely able to open his eyes as he mumbled something out. "G-get the dragon radar." Finally, his eyes closed and his hair flashed back from gold to black, reducing the hair to the length it was meant to be.
"Oh no! Gohan!" screamed Bulma as she tried to awaken the demi-saiyan. She reached out and put a hand over his neck to feel his pulse. Being in this situation, Bulma was very worried and panicked as she barely felt Gohan's weak pulse.
"Relax onna. The boy is just sleeping. All he needs is a senzu bean," Vegeta assured.
Videl on the other hand, had different thoughts running through her head at the moment. 'H-h-h-h-his hair!!! It was blond, then gold, and now it's black!! What happened?'
"His hair," she finally managed to whisper.
Vegeta heard her whisper. "There is nothing wrong with him. This is his natural hair color."
"Wow, nii-chan looks different with black hair," mused Goten.
Trunks nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he sure does. He looks more like you than he does me."
"Enough chitchat! We've got to get Gohan healed fast!" yelled Bulma as she held tightly onto the limp form of Gohan.
Vegeta stepped up to his mate and grabbed his adopted son. Having him in his arms, he said, "I'll fly him up there now. You may fly back home. Hopefully when we get back, he'll be alright."
Bulma nodded and watched as her husband and three sons took off into the air. 'I hope he'll be alright,' she thought worriedly. She reached into her coat pocket and threw a capsule on the ground. When the light smoke cleared, a jet copter was there in the place of the capsule. Just as the scientist was about to board the contraption, a voice called out.
"I want to come too!" exclaimed Videl.
Bulma blinked at her outburst. "I don't know if it's a good idea…"
"Come on, Mrs. Briefs. I really want to be there by Gohan's side. That's what a friend is for! Please…." the raven-haired girl pleaded.
Bulma thought over her request for a moment. "Look, as long as you don't cause any trouble… you can come."
"Really?"
"Oh Kami! What happened to him?" asked Korrin.
"Nii-chan's hurt!" exclaimed two demi-saiyans.
"I can tell. But I want to know how this happened," answered the cat.
Vegeta laid Gohan down on the floor before looking up at the cat. "Give him a senzu bean, now!"
Korrin jumped back at the command. "I-I'm sorry, but I haven't been growing them for a while. I'll start growing them right now."
Vegeta growled in annoyance and picked Gohan back up. "Damn, I've got no time for this!"
He looked over toward the two chibis and yelled, "Come on! Let's go!"
The two demi-saiyans stiffened and took off in the air right after their father. Up they went towards the lookout where the new
Kami looks over the Earth. Once they landed, Vegeta laid Gohan down on the tile floor. "Mr. Popo! Where's Dende nii-chan?" asked Goten.
Mr. Popo stepped out from the building. "Oh, nice to see all of you once again."
"Where's that blasted namek?" grumbled Vegeta.
Mr. Popo looked down and noticed how badly injured Gohan was. "Oh, my. What happened to him?"
"Answer my blasted question."
"Piccolo and Dende went to Other World for this convention and I'm afraid that they won't be back until tomorrow."
Vegeta gritted his teeth. He was very irked that both places where they could usually be healed backfired on him. "Damn."
Bulma sat in her lab chair working on her latest invention, the time machine. Ever since Mirai Trunks had traveled back into their time, Bulma had been determined to develop the time machine sooner in life than in the late years of when Trunks was a teenager.
Videl stood in the middle of the lab, absolutely fascinated by the inventions and the machinery in the room.
Suddenly, Trunks and Goten bolted into the room, followed by Vegeta who still had Gohan in his arms. "Where's that damn regeneration tank that you moved for the hundredth time!" demanded the Saiyan Prince.
Bulma opened the heavy metal doors behind her and pointed towards the machine. "It's always been here, Vegeta! I haven't moved it since I invented it!"
Vegeta, realizing that she was correct, only grumbled. "Shut up." He opened the doors to the machine and dropped Gohan's limp form inside. He closed the doors and punched in a few buttons. The tank soon filled up with mucus like liquid.
"Is he safe in there?" questioned Videl.
Goten nodded. "Nii-chan goes in there every time he gets hurt really bad during training."
'Great… just great, Videl. You just had to enter Gohan in the tournament and he fought someone who almost killed him. Real smart move, Videl.'
Whilst inside the regeneration tank, Gohan could feel some of his wounds healing and closing up. 'I can't believe that I wasn't a match against her! Even when I turned Super Saiyan Three, I still didn't stand a chance with her. It was like she wasn't even trying… Argh!'
:: Gohan, why are you yelling at yourself like that?::
Gohan's eyes snapped open and he looked around him to see if he could spot where the voice was emanating from.
:: Gohan, I'm right here, in Other World!::
'Dad? But how?'
Goku smiled. :: I'm talking to you telepathically through King Kai. Your mother and grandfather also says hi.::
'Mom, dad, grandpa… Why didn't you guys want to be revived?'
:: Because Gohan, we knew that Bulma would take good care of you if something happened to us. Besides, it always seem that every evil that comes to destroy the Earth was because of me. This was the only way that I could ensure that the Earth will be safe.::
'But what about Mom? Wouldn't she want to be with us?'
:: Your mother does want to be with you, but she says that she will return another time. Let's just say that we're having our very long second honeymoon, but in Other World.::
'So, Mom's going to come back, but another time… What about Grandpa?'
Goku stepped away from King Kai and the Ox King placed his hands on the Kai's back. :: Hello Gohan! It's me, Grandpa!::
'Grandpa! Are you going to come back too?'
The Ox King shook his head. :: I'm sorry Gohan, but I'm not going to.::
'But why?'
:: Well, I found out recently after Goten was born that I had heart problems and I was going to die a year later… it would've been futile anyway.::
'Grandpa…'
:: Don't be sad, Gohan. Tell you what. Your mother and father are going to visit you Saturday and Sunday.::
'This Saturday and Sunday? That's the day of the carnival.'
:: Then that's perfect! Grand Kai promised your parents a day back on Earth.::
Gohan smiled. 'Mom and Dad are coming back for a visit huh? I can't wait! Goten would also want to meet mom and dad.'
:: Yes, I'm sure he will. You have grown up to be a strong young man, Gohan. Opps… I got to go, I think I crushed King Kai… ::
Gohan chuckled to himself. 'Mom and Dad are coming back.' Then the guilt he held back from his conversation surfaced. 'If it wasn't for me, Mom and Dad would both be here right now.'
Finally the machine beeped and the all the liquid was drained from the tank. Gohan removed the oxygen mask and headed toward his room to change out of his tattered clothes. He opened his closet and pulled out a gi since he wasn't in the mood to choose clothes to wear. He went quickly went into the shower to wash off the excess liquid from the regeneration tank. When he was finished, he changed into the gi.
Right when he walked out of his room, he bumped into someone. Thinking it was a maid again, "Sorry, miss. You can go back to what you were doing…" Then he realized that it wasn't a maid he ran into. It was a girl with raven hair in pigtails that has beautiful cerulean eyes.
"V-Videl?" he asked.
She got back onto her feet, all the while rubbing her sore bottom from her fall. She turned her gaze at the boy who knocked her down. "Who are you?" she asked.
"What?" He pulled down a strand of hair and looked at it. 'Crap, it's back to black.'
Then it finally hit her. The resemblance between Gohan and this dark haired fellow was unmistakable, except for the hair and eyes part… "Gohan? Is that really you?"
Gohan nodded. "Yeah… it's me."
"Whoa, you look totally different with black hair and eyes," she commented.
"This is how I really look. Anyways, I'm hungry. I'm going to go get something to eat," he said before he took off in the direction of the kitchen.
She pinched herself to assure herself that she wasn't dreaming. Feeling pain in her cheek, she realized that she was definitely awake. She still wasn't sure that boy was Gohan even though he said that he was. This boy (black haired Gohan) has lots of muscles and a very good body, while Gohan (Super Saiyan Gohan)… he looks so normal. If she could get more proof that this boy is Gohan, then she would believe him. For instance, information from his mother or perhaps just getting the boy to perform a few of the light tricks he constantly kept doing during bank robbery incidents.
Videl pulled herself out of her reverie and walked down the hall where Gohan had gone. She felt somewhat hungry herself.
Victoria lay on her bed as thoughts run through her head. 'Frieza has already been disposed of. Now all that's left are the saiyans.' She reached for a picture on her nightstand and looked at it. It was a picture of her parents when they were young. 'I can't wait to see you two again,' she thought as a silent tear rolled down her face.
I'm not quite sure about what Victoria means, but the only reason why I chose the name was because it sounded kind of like victory. No offense to anyone who's name is Victoria, it was just a random name that I thought up of so don't yell at me saying that I'm calling you a bad guy because of your name. I don't know why I chose Raishu as Victoria's supposed home planet. I couldn't think of anything and this is the first thing that came to mind. So, if it doesn't match with Victoria's race at all, I'm not going to change it. The name sounds sort of cool. -
Okay, is this chapter long enough to satisfy all you people? Hopefully it is because I was going to write more to this chapter, but I got lazy and felt that it was long enough. You know, my description of action scenes suck so excuse me when I start writing scenes with action.
Oh, and give thanks to ShaggyDiz for his excellent revision. I dug myself into a little hole with a couple of mistakes, but thanks to his help, I was able to fix that along with other grammatical errors.
Next Chapter: Tomorrow's the carnival! Gohan and the gang are going to have some fun, especially with the return of Goku. However, what happens when a mysterious girl with black hair and green eyes (Victoria) decides to have some fun?
