Chapter Two: The Stalker
"Eat kid. Don't you want to get strong?" The guard hissed wafting the piece of bread in front of the starving Sayian's face.
Goten forced his face away from the pleasant smell as tears rolled down his red cheeks.
"You stupid child!" The man roared bringing his fist down upon the boy. "Say something!"
Goten cried out on impact of his stone like fists. These people. They were so mean. He missed Gohan. Where had he gone? Why were these people so strong?
"I want Gohan!" Goten wailed. "I want brother!"
"You want your brother?!" The man laughed. "You see this!"
The man lifted his sleeve showing Goten the deep scar that ran down his arm in the shape of a jagged bolt, "My brother gave me that when I stole his share of food," The man snarled. "And you brother gave you this."
He waved his hand about the cell Goten sat in. Goten cowered back in case the man was going to hit him again. The man only laughed at his fear.
"You think your brother is going to save you?! Your brother has forgotten about you, child! It's been far too long! He hates you! You should return the favor."
The man then walked out of the cell slamming the door behind him. Goten hugged his knees to his chest and wept uncontrollable. He didn't even look up when the young girl came in. Her violet hair shown bright in the moonlight with her dark blue eyes. She hugged him close to her and the two of them cried the whole night.
Gohan slammed his fist against his stubborn locker once the vision had passed. How often had this been going on? It had been almost three years since Goten had died yet he still clung onto the strange sense that he was out there, waiting for him.
"But I couldn't find you…" Gohan hissed, "I tried…"
Gohan finally yanked open his locker just as the bell rang. He fumbled through his books looking for his green English notebook. He spotted it wedged between the thick math and history books. He grabbed firmly on the spine of the notebook and pulled, ripping the whole contents apart.
Showered in papers, Gohan sighed miserably. He slowly began to pick up the papers one by one making sure he didn't miss any. He didn't look up until he heard his locker door slam. Gohan jumped a foot to see Videl standing there, one hand on the locker and a smug look on her face,
"Friday! Flying lessons, remember?"
"How could I forget?" Gohan moaned continuing to pick up his mess.
"What's wrong, Gohan? You can usually sense me coming a mile away."
Gohan shrugged, "Distracted, I guess."
"Is it the Martial Arts Tournament?" Videl inquired. "Are you nervous?"
"Far from," Gohan smirked getting to his feet finally. "I am ready for this tournament even if I wasn't training after school."
"Certainly aren't modest today, are we?" Videl smiled placing her hand on her hips.
"Don't have to be," Gohan sighed. "Videl, I have to thank you."
"For what?"
"For being my friend. It's hard being the new kid."
"To my memory I was very mean."
"Well, whatever you call it," Gohan smiled opening the door to his next class. "I still thank you."
Once he had gone inside, Videl stood out in the hallway blushing a bright crimson. She put her hand to her cheek and sighed lightly falling backwards into the lockers behind her.
"No… Thank you, Gohan."
She leaned out against the lockers for a few more minutes before she realized she was never entered the class room with Gohan. She raced to the door when she heard a voice behind her.
Gohan took his seat in the back of the classroom after getting a severe scolding from his Sensei. His eyes wandered back to the door. Where had Videl gone off to? She should have joined him when he first walked in? Wasn't she right behind him? Eraza and Sharpener seemed to want to know this too but with the Sensei's sharp eye on Gohan they couldn't utter a word. The English Sensei wasn't one to cross. She was extremely irritable and stubborn. Always trying to find ways to catch Gohan off his guard, she was Gohan's least favorite teacher.
Where are you, Videl? Gohan thought, Did you take a call without me again?
Videl stared hard at the young teenager in front of her. His face was dark but yet so familiar. His amber eyes bore into her blue. His stare chilled her to the bone as if she had jumped into a freezing lake. The clothes he wore were strange. It was made out of fine black and midnight blue fabric. It was a sort of like the training gi Videl had seen Gohan in a lot. Instead of purple and red, the long middle piece was the empty black and the straps were blue.
Videl took a step back from the man startled. She hadn't even sensed him until he spoke…
He wove his fingers through his dark hair and snapped, "I need your help."
"With what?" Videl asked flabbergasted.
There wasn't something right with this guy. Videl didn't trust him at all.
"Who is Son Gohan?"
"Who wants to know?"
"I'm new to this school. I simply wish to find someone to help me around. Some teachers offered him to me. Could you kindly point me in his direction?"
"Who are you?"
"My name is Taiyo," Taiyo replied. "And I am in hurry."
"Oh, right. I'm sorry," Videl laughed sheepishly. "I'm just a little paranoid, I guess. He is in this classroom actually."
Videl waved her hand over to the door of the room she was just about to enter.
Taiyo walked to the window in the classroom door. It was tinted so he could see in but they couldn't see him. A way to keep students on task. Taiyo peered in on the working students for quite some time. Videl wonder what he could be possibly doing. Finally he turned to her and hissed, "Which one is he?"
"Oh! Silly me!" Videl laughed smacking her forehead.
She was feeling rather skittish as she walked up to the window with the boy behind her. Her heart was hammering in her chest as if screaming at her that what she was doing was terribly wrong. She took a peak though the window and pointed strait the black hair in the back of the room.
Taiyo smirked and pushed Videl out of the way. He stared for a long time at the boy that was a mere couple of feet away.
That feeling…What is that? Gohan thought staring straight at the door.
Someone was behind the door. Although the glass hid their features, Gohan could just make out those piecing eyes that seemed to read his mind. Gohan sat frozen watching the door uncertainly. The power level he sensed was enormous and certainly the chills going down his spine do not indicate the purest form of ki.
'Who are you?' Gohan mouthed.
Through the door he could see the mouth move ever slightly, 'What, you don't know?'
"Son Gohan! Could you answer the question please?" His Sensei smiled sure that she got him this time.
"Odyssey means roughly translated, journey. And it's pronounced 'Odd-ys-ei," Gohan said rapidly.
The teacher was left speechless deprived of her victory.
"Sorry, I guess you were paying attention."
When Gohan turned back to the door the presence was gone. Gohan shivered. Was it another ghastly vision? Or was it real this time?
Videl watched Taiyo uncertainly. She sunk into a fighter's stance just in case he tried something tricky.
"So close, yet so far, Gohan…"
Taiyo turned on his heel, and walked right past Videl. He continued walking without looking back. Videl stood in shock for several seconds before she was able to walk into the classroom thirty minutes late.
Gohan was surprised to see the door open up and Videl standing there in a slight trance. She walked right past the teacher. When the Sensei tried to approach her to give her a reprimanding, Videl merely held up her hand to silence her and took her seat between Gohan and Sharpener.
"What's wrong, Videl?" Sharpener asked once the offended teacher went back to her teaching, "You look really pale."
"Ya! Like you saw a like ghost or something like that." Eraza chimed in.
Videl ignored both of them and turned to Gohan, "I think you're in trouble."
"No. You're in trouble. Ms. Mali is going to dock you some points for sure."
"Not that kind of trouble," She hissed. "There was a boy stalking you. I swear he wasn't human."
"What did he look like?" Gohan asked.
Videl's eyes suddenly went blank. She blinked several times uncertainly, "I can't remember…"
Taiyo made his way down the stone walkway to the beautiful violet haired beauty. He gave her a formal bow as if in a greeting, "I saw him, sister."
"And…" The girl asked.
"He is exactly as I remembered," The boy smirked.
To Be Continued...
Please R + R!
Read next chapter to see what the rest of the Z gang has been up too. Things have totally changed in this timeline just to let you know. For instance, Gohan has been training a lot the last couple of years… and Goku is already alive so that limits the amount of people who would go to the tournament. Just wait and see.