Here's another chapter for you all. And you didn't have to wait very long for this one.

I don't own DBZ.

Two Halves of a Soul

Chapter 7: Trouble and Lessons


An explosion rocks a small prison colony, buried deep within a large asteroid, setting off the alarms. The loud wail of the sirens sends the prison's population into a panic.

"What happened lieutenant?" The commander of the colony's police force asks his second in command as another explosion sends them stumbling.

"We don't know sir. Our sensors haven't picked up any life signs or ships. All we're picking up is energy. It's as though we are being attacked by…oh shit." The lieutenant says as he looks over his computer screen.

"What is it?"

"The attacks are centered around the high security area sir. The power has already been knocked out and the prisoners are out of their cells."

"Damn it…lock down the other sectors by remote then have all available guards suit up in full battle gear and send them to lock down the high security section. Once that is done, send out a SOS. We may need help when this is over." The commander says as he turns around and walks out of the room. 'We can't allow any of those people to escape.' He thinks as he runs to his quarters to suit up.

"Yes sir!" He says before quickly entering the required commands to lock down the less critical areas of the colony before turning to the transmitter. "This is Penal Colony Alph…" Is all he can send before his console explodes, killing him instantly.

~*~

The bands holding Videl's hair in two pigtails snap as her hair starts to rise up and change from jet black to gold. Her eyes change from a deep blue, filled with a mix of joy and sorrow, to a cold turquoise that only seems to hold hatred and anger.

'Videl…she's a…Super Saiya-jin.' Gohan thinks as he sits there, frozen in surprise, while his friend transforms into what was once a legend among the Saiya-jin race.

"What the hell was that?" The haggard man yells as he blinks his eyes repeatedly, trying to restore his vision when someone suddenly hits him in the stomach, bruising several ribs and sending him flying into the building behind him. As he sits there in a daze, gritting his teeth against the pain in his stomach, he can see the girl approaching him. But she looks different, her eyes seem to only hold hatred and loathing, her hair is gold and standing straight up, and she seems to be glowing with some sort of ethereal light that seems to be generated from within her body. "Who…what are you?" He asks, fear filling his voice at the look in the girl's eyes as she slowly walks towards him.

"I am the one who will make you pay for what you've done. Gohan was a good person, who only wanted to help people, and you owe him more then you can imagine. And how do you repay him? You kill him, that's how." Videl says coldly while glaring at the man as he cowers against the building. "This is for those who you've hurt before." She says while kicking him in the stomach. "This is for Gohan!" She says while kicking him in the stomach again. This time, however, she hits him hard enough to break several of his ribs. "AND THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER!" She yells while drawing back her fist, ready to pound the man's face into the ground, as the air is filled with the pungent smell of urine as the man's bladder empties itself.

The thought, 'No, this isn't right. She's letting her anger take control.' Flashes through Gohan's mind as he jumps to his feet and rushes to the fight.

Just before her fist can make contact, and shatter the man's skull, it is stopped by someone grabbing her arm. But she does not want to be stopped, she wants revenge, she wants to see the life fade from this man's eyes. She wants him to pay for his crimes even if some of the only exists in her mind. With a grunt she tries to punch him with her other arm only to have it stopped as well.

"Don't do it Videl. This isn't the man that killed your mother." Gohan says as he firmly holds her wrists.

"I don't care! He killed Gohan!" She yells, not realizing who it is that is stopping her from ripping the man's head off.

"He didn't kill me. It would take more then a gun to kill me Videl." He says while forcefully turning her from her target as sirens can be heard in the distance.

The instant Videl sees Gohan her anger fades, and with it so does the Super Saiya-jin transformation. And, seeing that she is no longer bent on killing anyone, Gohan releases her hands.

"Gohan!" She yells happily as she practically falls on him, giving him a hug. "You're ok. But how? He shot you in the head."

"Guns don't hurt me, and they won't hurt you either." He says while returning the hug just as several cop cars and an ambulance stop on the street.

"Get me away from her! She's some kind of…of freak! The man yells as he staggers to his feet and stumbles towards the cops.

"Drop your weapon and lay down on the ground." One of the cops yells.

The man looks down at his hand and is surprised to see that he does indeed still have his gun. "Oh, sure, whatever you want officer. Just keep those kids away from me." He says while tossing his gun away and practically falling to the ground.

Before the officers hand cuff the man they notice his injuries and have the paramedics take him to the hospital so his injuries can be treated. "Are you ok." One of the cops asks Gohan and Videl after the man was taken away.

"Yeah, we're fine." Gohan says before leading Videl down the street.

~*~

"What the hell was that?" Bulma asks the empty room around her, startled from her slumber by a sudden noise from outside. Looking out the window, she can see Gohan lying on the ground across the street and Videl standing there. In a sudden flash of light she sees Videl turn into a Super Saiya-jin and punch the man in the stomach, knocking him back into a building. ::What the hell? I knew she was strong but strong enough to change?:: Bulma thinks, not really meaning for Vegeta to overhear her thought.

::What are you blabbering about Onna?:: Vegeta asks while training in the gravity room as usual.

::Don't call me that! My name is Bulma! And Videl is a Super Saiya-jin.::

::So that's what I feel…damn brat definitely to take as his mate.::

::Is that jealousy I detect Veggie-chan?:: Bulma sends back playfully.

::Of course not. Now get out of my head, I'm trying to train.::

Bulma watches as Videl slowly walks over to the man and kicks him in the gut several times. In silent horror she watches as Videl pulls her arm back to give the man what is surely to be a deadly punch to the face. She is somewhat relieved, yet surprised, when Gohan suddenly jumps to the man's aid by stopping a punch aimed at his head. Gohan stands there holding Videl's wrists for several seconds before turning her away from the man. Almost as soon as Videl sees Gohan standing there next to her she changes back to her normal state. Bulma can not help but think how cute it is as they hug each other just before the cops pull up. 'Chi-Chi just HAS to hear about this.' She thinks as she goes off to find a phone.

~*~

As the commander is running through a maze of corridors and tunnels the sounds of battle begin to fade, almost as though he were getting further from the battle instead of closer. Running into a large room, he stops in tracks as he sees that the floors and walls are blackened by spilled blood and scorched metal. 'I've arrived to late…they're all dead.' He thinks as he looks around at the hundreds of dead bodies, both of his men and of the prisoners, littering the room. Bodies torn in half, bodies missing limbs, bodies with holes blown clean through them. Suppressing the urge to throw up, he wades through the carnage to try and reach the corridor on the far side of the room. Several times he almost falls, the blood coating the floor making it as slick like ice, and the smell of burning flesh causing him to gag.

Finally reaching the other side of the room he can hear people yelling down the corridor. Silently creeping down the hallway, he pears around a corner and sees a tall man dragging the two most dangerous criminals in the colony, as if they are sacks of flour, towards an air lock. The man is only wearing a pair of shorts, allowing anyone who looks to see the old scars left behind by fire. "Quiet, Lord Bishamon said he preferred that I bring you in alive. But he never said I couldn't kill you." This causes one of them, a slender woman with hair that fades from red at the roots to yellow at the tips, to settle down and be quiet, resigned to a fate yet unknown to her.

Raising his gun the commander fires a single shot at the hulking man, the smart projectile zooming through the air as the sound of the gunshot echoes through the corridors. At the last possible moment the projectile changes its course and hits the other prisoner, a man with deep blue hair, directly in the heart, killing him. 'What happened? It should have went for that big guy…unless…he's already dead.' He thinks as the big man stops and turns around to face him.

"Why thank you. That one was becoming quite annoying." He says while tossing the corpse over his shoulder. "I must leave you now. Good-bye." He says as he uses his, now free, hand to fire an energy ball at the commander. The small ball of energy incinerating him before he even knows what is happening.

~*~

"Wha…what happened to me back there?" Videl asks shakily.

"You turned into a Super Saiya-jin."

"It was like…like…I don't know what it was like."

"Like your blood was on fire? Like your only desire was to see that man dead?" Gohan says calmly as he looks ahead, not taking his eyes off of the sidewalk.

"Yes, exactly…how did you know?"

"Because I felt the same way when I first became a Super Saiya-jin…only I wanted to destroy myself."

"I can't believe what I almost did to that man." Videl says softly as a tear rolls down her cheek.

"Don't worry about it. It was a natural thing to happen."

"Natural? How can wanting to kill someone be natural?"

"It's your Saiya-jin half…the transformation into a Super Saiya-jin relies on emotions, especially anger. The transformation amplifies whatever it was that got you to transform. In your case it was anger and the want to get revenge."

"Oh…so…will that happen to me whenever I transform?"

"No, not really. The first few times can be tough and require you to think about something that makes you really mad. But once you're strong enough you'll no longer have to think of those things to transform. You can simply do it by powering up."

"That's good…I don't think I could stand it if I had to lose myself like that every time." Videl says as they stop in the shadow of a tall building. "So where did you want to go to teach me to fly and stuff?"

"I was thinking we'd go back to my house. Well, to a spot near my house."

"Ok…let's go then." Videl says with a yawn as Gohan simply nods and picks her up, taking off towards his home in the mountains.

~*~

The large man tosses the woman and corpse into the small ship docked at the air lock before grabbing a small package and throwing it down the corridor of the prison colony. Squeezing into the small ship, the man sits in the chair before the control panel. Slamming his fist down on one of the buttons, the ship seals itself and accelerates away from the colony at such a rate that the woman in back black out from the g forces. Soon after the ship departs the prison colony a bright, soundless, explosion covers the area where it was. When the light dims all that can be seen is empty space.

"Nappa to Lord Bishamon." The large man, Nappa, says into a transmitter. "I have the two you wanted master. The man was killed by one of the guards however."

"Very well. You did good Nappa. Now return to me with my new servants."

~*~

"Did you fly faster that time? It didn't seem to take very long." Videl says as they land near to Gohan's home.

"Nope, you fell asleep." Gohan says with a grin.

"I fell asleep? I doubt that."

"You did fall asleep. Until you get used to the transformation it takes a lot out of you." Gohan says as they walk towards the house only to have the door thrown open before they get near it.

"Hi Kaa-san." "Hi Chi-Chi" Gohan and Videl say when they see her standing in the doorway.

"What happened to you two? Bulma just called and said something about a guy with a gun, my baby lying on the ground, Videl turning into a Super Saiya-jin, and Videl beating the guy up, and…"

"We're ok Kaa-san. Yes there was a guy with a gun, yes I was shot, yes Videl turned into a Super Saiya-jin, and yes she beat him up." Gohan says, stopping her from going on for several hours.

"Oh, that's good…YOU WERE SHOT?! What are you doing moving around? You should be in a hospital!" Chi-Chi says in a panic, looking him over to see where he is hurt.

Gohan looks towards Videl for help but she just shrugs her shoulders. "I'm NOT hurt Kaa-san, what I meant was that I was shot AT but not HIT." He says in an effort to calm her down.

"Why didn't you say so? It's not right to make me worry like that." She says before turning around and walking back into the house.

Gohan and Videl just stare at the door in silence for several seconds after it closes. Videl is the first to break the silence when she asks, "Does she always act like that?"

"Yes…but it still surprises me every time. Come on, let's get something to drink." Gohan says as he goes into the house and to the kitchen where he sees his mother talking on the phone.

"Ok I'll tell her. Oh, you might want to cook more food for her, she will probably be really hungry when she gets home." Chi-Chi says before hanging up the phone and seeing that Gohan and Videl are getting some bottled water from the fridge. "Videl dear, that was Olivia. She said that you need to be home by five o'clock for dinner."

"'k, thanks Chi-Chi." She says before turning to Gohan. "So where are you going to teach me how to fly and stuff?" She asks as her tail lazily swishes in the air behind her, the fuzzy appendage drawing Chi-Chi's attention.

"T-t-tail?" She stutters out while looking to her son for an explanation, only to see a tail sticking out from him as well. "B-both of you? When did it grow back?

"Yeah. Videl's half Saiyan-jin too. Remember? And my tail grew back last night, while Videl's grew back when she fought that guy earlier." He says while giving Videl a look that says he'll explain later.

"Oh… You know you both have to have them removed."

"What for? There's no longer a moon. Come on Videl." Gohan says while going back outside. "How about we race to the spot I want to take you? It's down that path there, and not very far." He says, pointing to a path through the woods, once they are back outside.

"Ok, but no cheating by flying there. Go!" Videl says, taking off running before Gohan knows what is happening.

"Hey no fair! I wasn't ready!"

A minute later Gohan jogs out of the forest and into a small clearing next to a shallow stream. He sees Videl standing next to the stream, looking around the small grassy area. "This place is beautiful."

"Yeah, and it's peaceful. That's why I brought you here." Gohan says as he sits down on a bit of land, surrounded on three sides by the stream. "Now come here and sit down so we can get started."

"Yes master." Videl says playfully as she sits in front of Gohan. "So what do to fly?"

"First, you have to find your energy and learn to control it. Then you can learn to fly."

"You mean there's I can't just think about flying and then take to the air or something?"

"No. It's not that easy." Gohan says with a small chuckle. "Now close your eyes and look inside yourself. Look for what feels like a surge of power coursing through your body."

The sounds of the forest; water gently tumbling over rocks, birds chirping, buzzing insects, all slowly begin to fade as Videl focuses more on finding her inner power. She slowly begins to feel a rhythmic pulse flowing through her, charging every cell of her body. "I…I feel something…it's like warm, slightly glowing, water washing over me." She says almost twenty minutes later.

"Good, now follow it to its source."

Several minutes pass by in silence before Videl says; "I see it. It's like a brightly glowing ocean of energy."

"Good, good. Now open your eyes."

"So what now? How do I fly?"

"Now you have to learn to control that energy. I want you to try and form a ball of energy like this." Gohan says while holding his hands a few inches apart and forming a small ball of ki between them.

"Wow, is that ki?"

"Yeah, you can touch it if you like. It's not powerful enough to hurt you." Gohan says as Videl gingerly brushes her fingers against the glowing ball, which feels warm to the touch.

"Cool…so that's what I have to learn to do?"

"Yeah, now close your eyes again and find your energy. Once you've found it, try to coax it through your arms and to your hands. Don't force it or it won't work. Once it's in your hands try and form it into a ball."

Several minutes pass before Gohan can begin to see a faint glow between Videl's hands. "That's it, you've almost got it." He says encouragingly. The glowing energy between her hands suddenly coalesces into a ball.

"Look Gohan! I did it!" Videl says excitedly as she sees the glowing ball.

"That's great Videl. You're learning this really fast." Gohan says as the ball of ki is reabsorbed back into Videl's body. "Now let's try a ki blast."

"A ki blast? You mean I'll be able to blow stuff up?"

"Yeah. Now to do a ki blast you form a ball of energy like you just did, but instead of letting it go back into your body you force it away from you like this." Gohan says while firing a small ball of ki at a boulder on the other side of the stream, blowing a small chunk off the rock.

"Ok." Videl says after seeing the demonstration.

After a couple of hours, and many failed attempts, Videl finally manages to fire a ki blast at the boulder. The blast is not even powerful enough to scorch the stone, but it is enough to make her smile proudly. Once she has figured out how to charge up, and fire, the balls of ki she continues to practice launching them at the many tree stumps, logs, and boulders in the clearing. By the time Gohan and, a very tired, Videl leave a few hours later there are very few targets left.

"I should probably go back home now, it's almost four thirty.' Videl says with a yawn as they walk back to Gohan's house.

"Alright, let's go then." Gohan says with a smile as he picks her up and flies to Orange Star City.


Well, I had planned on Videl learning to fly in this chapter, but that obviously didn't happen. And as for the bit about Nappa, well…I need to make this chapter longer and someone said they wanted some more about Bishamon…so there it is. I will probably have an occasional scene involving him or his cronies every so often.

Please Review, I'd like to average at least 10 reviews per chapter.


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