I'm on a roll!
Warning: This chapter may get a little violent for some people. So read at your own discretion.
Chapter 14: Gohan snaps.
Cauli was taken in high esteem in saiyajin society because of her gifts and the extreme loyalty and willpower she showed. She was Ou's prodigy, admired by most, and hated by some. She was also very proper and respectful. She was not one you would hear putting down another, even if that other happened to be of a lower caste. She was not one to pound on a weaker or humiliating another just for fun. She was simply and bluntly, fair. Even though considerably picky when it came to her interests. As a fact, she would only receive training from Ou's better men, only be taught by Cole himself, only be tested at Vest'har alone
Never be hunted unless she wished so.
As many suitors as she had since her coming of Age, Ou had never interfered with her choices, only giving advice when the time called for. Silently, even he was puzzled at her not accepting any Offering presented so far. She would always turn them down, no matter how promising they seemed
And among them, there had been Asparu.
He had observed, courted and decided, but he never presented an Offering, this saving him a great deal of humiliation. He had solely (and smartly) asked, and upon receiving a negative response, he quietly backed down. But of course, that didn't mean they hadn't shared their bit of intimacy
~*~
It was several days after, at the end of the cycle, when Gohan and Videl left Warfare Tactics to go to Free Combat, both glad it was the last class of the day. But of course, with Gohan you couldn't tell what pleased him anymore because his face had adopted a persistent frown since they set foot at Vest'har soil until they left it.
At first, it had worried Videl to no end, but after talking to Cole she'd learned that it was a "hormone thing". However, that didn't rush away her feeling of unease, since the taunting and comments of the other vest'harians were making it worse. She wasn't worried of Gohan getting hurt physically, since she knew that was rather unlikely. But she was worried about his mental state. It was all those things at once, and she didn't know if his psyche was able to handle it all.
First, it had been the comments about the loss of his tail, and then it had been his mixed blood. Then he was being outcast, which had been a very hard blow for him. After that, they had started attacking him about her, calling her a whore and a shame and scandalized at knowing they shared a room without being properly mated. Of course, it wasn't the fact that they shared the room what provoked the scandal, but rather the fact that somebody had spread the info with the enthusiasm of the Crescent Festival. It was the indiscretion, and the fact of the assumptions that they did sleep together. Videl being a ningen was just sprinkled marshmallows on the cake.
And as if all that hadn't been enough, all Vest'har also learned that Gohan was born under the shadow of a third class father. The fact that Goku had been promoted didn't matter to them; as also didn't matter that the king did it himself.
That day, it would get worse. The day they started attacking his pride
"Alright! Formation #1! Step forward and get on to it!" Avocco yelled.
Gohan and Videl were stretching to the sidelines, Gohan being in formation #3 and Videl in formation #5. The deaf thumps and splats of bodily battle resounded around them.
"Feh. We're in the same formation as the half-breed. Degrading." A masculine voice drifted up to Gohan's ears.
"And I still wonder what possessed Ou-sama to promote his House. It's disgraceful the way they carry themselves. And now he brings his polluted blood to Vest'har."
"I agree with you entirely. Only natural born high class saiyajins deserve to be called vest'harian."
Videl saw Gohan's fists clench and looked in the same direction he was. A couple of boys, haughty by appearance, were talking not too kindly about him. They looked their way. One of them smirked directly at Gohan.
"Petty House with no roots. What kind of warrior looses his memory by a hit on the head?"
"They say he's a bakana* onore*. Half-breed boy should be ashamed of his idiot of a father."
Videl saw something in Gohan's eyes snap. It was an eerie feeling to watch his face go emotionless while his coal eyes burned with homicidal promise. She saw so much hatred and hurt mixed in those depths that she thought she saw teal flames in the bottom of his eyes.
"Formation #3!" Avocco's voice drifted off, as if in the distance.
Gohan wordlessly moved to the center of the roofed arena, never taking his eyes off the pair as they kept whispering to each other. At least they were whispers to Videl, as she couldn't do more than look from one face to the others.
Gohan was angry. No, Gohan was more than angry; he was furious. And what was more frightening about it was the calmness of his fury. Just like the eye of the hurricane.
"Go!" Avocco yelled at the formation.
Gohan immediately cut through the group, sidestepping his assigned opponent in his way to the two bastards. His opponent appeared in his way, blocking his advances.
"What's the matter half-breed? Running from a challenge?" he asked.
Gohan lazily trained his eyes in front of him and without warning, brought his knee in the boy's solar plexus that caused his eyes to bulge out. Gohan attempted to follow through his path, only to once again being stopped by his opponent's hand, as it turned him back around to a fist smashing against the side of his face. The boy looked shocked upon seeing Gohan's face barely reel back and felt even slight trepidation at noticing he didn't even flinch. In a desperate attempt to overrule any fear he might have showed, the boy recklessly attacked all flanks he could, hitting with all his might, trying to defeat Gohan. The middle Son absently blocked, deflected and countered those attacks, all the while never betraying a facial expression besides blankness.
He had gotten fed up. But his target was not the miserable boy that so desperately tried to bring him down. His targets were the two that now knocked out their own opponents and cockily strutted over to him, going on with the taunts and snide comments after disposing of his already tired opponent with ease. If the earlier words had been enough to make Gohan want to kill them, when they started to verbally attack Chichi, it was when the glass spilled
Gohan grabbed one of the guy's arms and pulled back by the wrist, twisting clockwise and effectively breaking the elbow and forearm in a sickening crunch.
The saiyajin's pained scream seemed to paradoxically silence the room, to which followed the sound of Gohan's growl as his energy skyrocketed. His body seemed to burn in a white aura as his hair stood on end and his eyes flashed into a furious emerald, instants before a massive explosion of ki turned the white aura into golden flames that finally corrupted his natural jet black hair into golden waving spikes.
A collective gasp of awe filled the room.
The young saiyajin's scream died out slowly, as he stubbornly trained his face in a red snarl. Gohan bared his new fangs at him. The challenge clearly written in the prone figure's eyes finished plundering him from any merciful scrap he'd been unconsciously clinging to. Gohan brought his knee into the guy's face, relishing in the feel of the other's nose breaking against it and noticing with satisfaction how the river of crimson flowed through both orifices.
The shorter young man was still frozen in place at the sight of Gohan, his mouth agape and his eyes wide at the golden figure, which was now beating on his comrade. However, the sight of the taller guy being punched repeatedly before being kicked to the other side of the room, made him snap back into reality. His fists clenched at his sides, while his warrior pride battled with his instinct of self-preservation. But it was not he who would decide this, as just a minute later, Gohan turned to face him, nailing his teal pupil less eyes at the shorter of the two, as his aura seemed to ignite further in compass to the deep rumble that came forth from his chest.
The guy took a fighting stance, refusing over his fear-induced hammering heart to go down in front of a born third class, who didn't even have a tail!
They both launched at each other. Gohan punched and kicked with the speed of light. The other boy only realizing he'd done so due to the agonizing pain in his sides, stomach or face.
Videl didn't know what to do. She'd never seen Gohan in battle or so angry before, and she had to admit it was pretty scary seeing it up close like this. She could feel her hands sweating as she compulsively cracked her knuckles one by one, biting her lower lip and frantically searching for a solution and failing drastically. She was distracted from the fight enough to notice Trunks and Goten run through the door and stopping at her side, one carrying a wary scowl and the other a worried frown.
"What are you doing standing there? You're super saiyajin too. Go and stop him before he kills them!" she shrieked, earning grimaces from the saiyajin around her. Trunks was ready to launch himself at them, only to be stopped by Goten. The youngest Son was holding his upper arm, without taking his eyes off his brother, who was violently battling with the young pureblood.
"No, Trunks-kun. It's too dangerous. I've never seen shakei so angry. I don't know what he might do."
Trunks could read between the lines in Goten's words and tone, the unsure semblance of his posture, the concerned frown gracing his usually carefree features. He nodded once and went back to his former place next to his black haired friend.
"I understand." He simply said.
"Nani!? But you have to stop him!" Videl yelled again.
"He went berserk on them. What happened?" Trunks asked her watching Gohan too, mentally cringing at the excessive violence the teen was displaying.
"They started talking about him you know. Then they insulted Goku-san and Chichi-san. It was enough to make him lose it."
"He's angry only at them now. If we try to stop him he might get it out on us too, maybe turn on everybody. And he's still more stronger than us."
"It's he's still much stronger than us' Goten", the chibi prince corrected without humor.
"You're right. We can't do anything. But Goku-san could. I wish he was here." She said, wishing with all her heart that there were some way to stop the situation with the best of outcomes.
"It's not that bad." Trunks said casually. "That might teach them not to mess with a super saiyajin half-breed."
Videl smirked lightly, noticing in the corner of her eye how the other saiyajin behind her looked at them strangely. She was thrown out of her train of thought though, as Goten grabbed her arm and pulled her down hurriedly.
"GET DOWN, QUICK! HE'S GOING TO THE SECOND LEVEL!" He shouted. Trunks also got in front of her to shield her from the release of power.
Gohan's scream then filled the room, his ki expanding around him and burning with more intensity. His hair stood straighter, his muscles bulged out as thick bolts of electricity sizzled through his ki. The floor below his feet sunk in a crater and the building shook dangerously, a large chunk from the dome breaking and falling almost on top of a group of teens in his Free Combat class.
All three saw Gohan punching the shorter guy mercilessly to the floor, once in a while thrusting a ki ball in his stomach. When that one was down, he phased out next to the taller one, which was leaning on the wall to the other side. He smashed his knee in his stomach, making him cough up blood, only to elbow him in the head, taking the broken arm to throw him in the same direction as his companion. He made his way to the two barely conscious saiyajin without any rush, only to be distracted by a ki ball zooming in from his left. Gohan stopped long enough to deflect it to the side, before a gruff, and clearly angry voice caught his attention from the hole in the domed roof. He looked up to find the hovering figure of the Saiyajin no Ouji, clad in casual royal attire, looking down at him with a hard expression on his face.
~*~
Cauli entered the arena to find Sensei Avocco was, in fact, caught up in his Free Combat class. Great. Now she had to wait for a break in the matches to ask him where Sensei Mato had gone off. It was not that Avocco was a bad teacher, far from that. But Mato was better, and he was a veteran with more years of experience, since he'd been under Furiza's direct orders in the Aisusaigetsu *.
He was supposed to test her that day and Cauli was definitely not in the mood to waste her time watching a middle course Free Combat class. After idly watching the prelude of the first formation, she made her way to Avocco and waited in the sidelines after receiving a nod from him.
After offhandedly scanning the crowd of vest'harians, her eyes fell on a corner, which curiously was only occupied by two people she recognized on the spot: Gohan and the ningen. She couldn't take her eyes off the boy. The way he stretched his compact legs, the way he bent backwards with the flexibility of a leaf, how his arm and chest muscles tensed and relaxed and pulled and
Groan.
And how he made that split! She could feel shivers run down her back at the mental picture produced that millisecond.
Cauli grimaced at her own frivolity, kicking herself mentally at her hormonal foolishness. She deserved better, she told herself. He was only an exotic treat, nothing more, and she always got the best.
Now she couldn't help but notice the expression on his face. She found it so out of place as she'd always seen a glowing happiness that almost cloyed you with its abstract sweetness; that almost seemed contagious. She unconsciously frowned, wondering the reason for his discomfort. His lips were moving. He was talking to the ningen girl, the one who brought out the worst of Asparu's inner spoilt child, as much as he tried to cover it. Cauli noticed the tension in her jaw and realized she was pressing her teeth together in contempt.
I deserve better' she told herself again. I do not want a half breed.'
The concerned look on the ningen's face got her frowning again. What was happening? Was there something wrong with Gohan?
Gohan
Such an odd name. It was incredible the way it rolled off the tendrils of her mind, as she had never brought herself to say it.
A mental growl.
Her musing had just distracted her enough to not notice the call signaling his formation's turn. He was already on stance, but the curious thing was he wasn't paying attention to his opponent. A snort almost managed to leave her throat, but then a sudden idea seemed to pop into her mind. Maybe, it was not carelessness, but overconfidence what got him so loose in this exercise, and exercise that signified alone the ascension from middle course to advanced course, in which she herself had been basking in for a couple of years now.
That train of thought was enough to pique her interest grandly, having her actually twitching in excitement at the idea of watching him fight for the first time. She remembered observing Vegeta-ouji and the gaki in the training grounds. The prince had a mix of saiyajin royal style that faded into free and was tinted with the military ruthlessness of the aisujin* army style. The gaki though, especially Gohan's brother, used moves that possessed a grace and complexity she was not adept in. The way he used all his body to fight, just like the saiyajin, but with moves and techniques that didn't search to inflict pain or kill violently, but actually like just countenance, skill, endurance an art.
How did Gohan fight?
She didn't have to wait long, as Avocco's yell got them all into motion.
A raised eyebrow was her only reaction at seeing him desert his match and fly up to his right, evading the random assaults that blocked his path to wherever he was going. Gohan's opponent caught up with him only to get kneed in the stomach.
Another frown.
Surely, an attack so simple couldn't have done much damage, so why the rival's wide eyes? Gohan attempted to fly off again, buy the boy pulled him back and hit him in the side of the face.
Dark eyes narrowed in silent appreciation. He didn't even flinch. Interesting.'
It seemed this blow had awakened something within them, as a volley of punches and kicks followed in a blur. But the curious thing was, Gohan was blocking them all.
What was this?
A pair of fighters launched at Gohan's opponent, finishing him up with surprising ease, and then stopping to say something to the puzzling half-breed. Hn. It must've been a wrong thing to say, as she watched the usually quiet and pacifist boy she found so exotic, become a bloodthirsty warrior worthy of going to the front.
Muscular limbs broke like twigs in his hands. His dense energy filled the room and it caressed in warm currents and tingled in your senses as if you could grasp it firmly. It moved and danced and could be seen just before exploding into a bright golden bonfire that left her mind numb, speechless, and seemed to make time stop altogether, as the mouths opened in slow motion to gawk at the pinnacle of her race, the dream of every gaki since the story left a parent's lips, the fantastic goal all saiyajin unconsciously thrived for
The legendary super saiyajin.
The pounding of her heart seemed like a galloping horde of horses. To be witness to such a transformation, to be able to see with her own eyes and somehow sense the godlike power, raw, wild, that oozed from the fair figure in the middle of the arena. It was it was indescribable.
Exciting. Amazing. Incredible. Orgasmic. Shocking. Relieving. Enviable. And more.
If Cauli's mind had been properly cognizant right then, she would have remembered she'd seen the transformation before, in two people actually. But she was too caught up in the majesty of the moment to get her mind off its track.
Beautiful.
Feral.
Enthralling.
To just see him find his roots, follow his instincts and revel in them, show his aggressiveness. Growl. Stronger than anyone she'd ever seen, stronger than her expectations. Powerful enough to take what he wanted, when he wanted and to get away with it. A super Elite.
"GET DOWN, QUICK! HE'S GOING TO THE SECOND LEVEL!" A child's voice broke into her musings. She turned to the voice to find the chibi ouji and Gohan's brother, shielding the ningen that was against the floor. However, her attention was snapped back to the source of a scream, an expanding golden aura and the ascension of the mighty young warrior she'd been so transfixed at. Her skin bumped at the sudden electric charge that drifted in the air, and she knew without actually thinking it that it was his entire fault, before the blue bolts coursed his form as part of his flaming ki.
The power, oh delicious power! Overwhelmed her senses as she absently noticed the crater in which he now stood and the tremors that rocked the building like in synch with those that rocked her body while the pieces of metal fell from their place in the domed ceiling.
Oh, it was poetry in motion the way he hit and punched and kicked, punishing his opponents in a dangerously deathly dance that was sexy as it was frightening. The blood that coated his hands, like an Offering, the proof of his own worthy blood at being capable of shedding another's. And all that was shattered as his thrilling, almost ritual dance was interrupted by a blast of blue energy, kusotare* blast to break the magic spell, so addictive, his power had cast in her. That is until everything came back to her and actually made sense, as a royally attired Vegeta-ouji caught her attention from the gap in the ceiling.
~*~
"Snap out of it brat!" Vegeta yelled at him.
Gohan turned his head in the direction of the voice, without ever glancing back at the mess of broken limbs on the floor. His flaming aura was still burning around him, externalizing his fury.
"Leave me the fuck alone. I'll do as I please." He said in an even voice, devoid of everything but anger.
Vegeta's left eye twitched, before both his eyes narrowed into slits. "Don't ever again dare to talk back to me like that. If you want to get into trouble, suit yourself and kill them."
"I'm sick of them putting me down all the time, like I'm some garbage because I'm a half-breed. Well, that's enough! I can't take it anymore! Hell, I'm third strongest in this quadrant of the galaxy only to my father and you! I deserve respect! And that's exactly what I'm going to get." He finished sneering at the crowd of onlookers that had gathered around them.
"What fulfillment is there in beating those bastards to an inch of their life? They pose no challenge to you."
"Would you rather take their place!? I'm feeling like pounding on something right now and I'll damn well take on anything that comes my way." Gohan said to Vegeta gesturing with his open hand at the gargantuan gap in the structure. The dangerous gleam in his once gentle eyes shone with promise of battle, and if he knew Vegeta, the man would not hold anything back.
The prince looked at the irate boy before him for long seconds, finally nodding faintly and taking off in the direction of the white sun. Gohan didn't even turn to look at Videl, just approached the former opponents on the floor and proceeded to deliver a merciless kick to the side of one of them.
As he was about to fly off, a hand clamped on his shoulder. He didn't even have to try to sense the ki to know who it was. He could never forget the feel of that hand.
"Don't even say it, father. If I don't let this out somehow I'll finally snap." He finally turned to look at Goku, letting the hand fall in the process. "And you know what happens when it comes to that."
Goku's face was twisted in concern. An unfitting frown that had nothing to do with the usually happy expression he wore graced now his face. He, for once, didn't want Gohan to fight. The boy was in such a state that if his anger didn't fade way, somebody could get really hurt most likely himself.
Goku's thoughts were interrupted by a small hand holding his own. He turned to find the dark gaze of his wife, imploring him apprehensively, but at the same time benevolently, to let their son go. She turned her gaze to Gohan, locking eyes with him in silent agreement. After a few seconds, Gohan nodded just like Vegeta had done before and took off in the direction of the now amplified ki.
~*~
The awed silence still clung in the air, as the rage-fueled teen left the arena. It was just as he was out of sight when the shocked-shot crowd seemed to snap out of their individual stupor, the comments flying, some in repentant admiration, and others in indignant disbelief.
She was still frozen in place, unconsciously refusing to ponder on anything. Her thoughts running wild and seemingly bumping randomly with each other.
So much happened in that short instant. So many things, little things, that completely capsized every one of her convictions. She could not think, she didn't know what to think. But she didn't need to. Her mind had decided it all on its own, without consulting her or warning her or giving her time to take it in. It just came careening to the front of her consciousness.
Her eyes widened, that alone an odd fact in itself, since she usually went out of her way to remain completely impassive. Realization caused a rain of tumultuous thoughts, memories and pondering, all of which brought her to the same conclusion
She hastily made her way out of the arena, running at double pace through the halls, gaining the attention of students and teachers alike, since she was considered at Vest'har as a role model of propriety. She could feel her lungs trying to adapt to the constant oxygen provision to the blood running through her veins, that same blood heating and pumping with haste and anxiety. She thought she'd run all the corridors in the school, all the twists and turns of metal and stone alike, glimpsed in every classroom and meeting room, in every office, the auditorium and the shower room.
Cauli came in the library, startling more than a few and thwarting the librarian's duty to scold her due to his shock. She skimmed through the faces hurriedly; bolting through the same door after making sure the one she searched was not in there. There was only one other place she had not looked, and that was the pool. She broke into a run, dashing down the stairs and flying through the yard until the pink expanse* came into view. There, by the right side at the end of the pool, just done with putting on his uniform, was Asparu.
She called up to him and watched him turn to face her, frowning at her tousled look and her rushed manner. She stopped in front of the young man, smiling brightly like a ningen schoolgirl, which in time caused him to raise an eyebrow in bewilderment. Catching her breath, she fixed her gaze with his. Her eyes twinkling with Eurekan excitement, as an awed phrase left her lips in a low voice.
"He's worthy."
Asparu's frown made itself more prominent, the questioning in his eyes undeniable.
"Gohan He's a super saiyajin." She explained in the same demeanor, immediately wrenching a reaction from the saiyajin male. There were actually several of them, but the most notorious was astonishment. So she said the one thing that had been running through her mind the whole time she searched for him, the one thing she was forced to realize just a few minutes before
"I want him."
Bakana = stupid (adjective form)
Onore = bastard
Aisusaigetsu = the Ice Years, the period of time Furiza had ruled the saiyajin race
Aisujin = icejin, Furiza's race
Kusotare = goddamned
Pink expanse = water masses seem to always have the color of the sky. Note Earth and remember Nameku-sei in the series.
Hi! I told you this would come out sooner. So how did you like it? Thank Kami I got this chapter out! It was nagging at the back of my head.
Another thing. I noticed that nobody even caught the slight inconsistency in the last chapter. As it is, it has a very large relation to a question lots of you have asked: How does Vegeta-sei still exist? I'm not going to tell you, it will all be revealed in due time, and those with enough insight will figure it out eventually. ^ ^ Don't you just love me!? For the next time, I just advise you to pay attention to the details. I don't just put them all there to make the story longer.
I'm having problems. I'm not able to log on FF.net after 9:00 pm. Must be the traffic. Well, I'll just have to post this tomorrow.
Special thanks to:
Net, BeyondLSD (this is to compensate your feeling "cheated"), D-chan (Gohan sniffed Videl cause well let's just say that our dear demi-saiyajin can detect pheromones already ^_~), All pro Autocare, Majin Gohan, Kagome Rowena Gryffindor (*grins wolfishly*), Andromeda of the Moon, CleverWitch, DEE, Immortal (here it is!), WeirdSister (glad to be of service *bows*), RedDawg, Saturn-hime and elf-princess.
Whoah! That's weird. I've been getting reviews from Xing's account when they're actually other people's. Way weird.
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