Secondly, before someone asks, the reason there's no guest appearances in this chap is because I wrote it before the idea was suggested…and yes I went back fully intending to slot a scene in somewhere, but for the life of me I can't see a spot to put it…I'm blind I to my work I know, but that's why people review ne? Next chap though, I promise…thanks again to those who reviewed!
Lastly the disclaimer: if it looks like a DBZ character, smells like a DBZ character, sounds like a DBZ character, feels like a DBZ character, and even tastes like a DBZ character…then I don't own 'em.
Chapter 5NB: this chapter is set about 3 years after the last. Do not ask me why. I don't know. The me that writes has only just decided to talk to me again and I don't want to scare her off. -_-
()-()-()-()-()-()-()
It was a casino themed night. Gohan, now a tall and lanky teen of 15 years, had confided in Kat of his disapproval when it came to gambling and so they were currently engaged in a game of billiards; no stakes. Well, none that Gohan was supposed to know about.
There were a few more people now who had joined the ranks of the underage, but Kat and Gohan were still the original duo they had been for over three and a half years.
"Don't look now Gohan, but they just brought out a gigantic cake." Kat said slyly, indicating behind Gohan who was lining up a shot.
"Where?" Gohan eagerly whipped around. As soon as his back was turned Kat took the liberty of switching the places of a few of the brightly coloured balls. Gohan turned back, disappointment written across his face.
"You're just trying to throw off my aim." He accused. It should be made known at this point that the two were playing on opposite teams.
Kat gave a delicate shrug. "Can't blame a girl for trying."
"Hn." Gohan grunted looking down at the table. He blinked. "I coulda sworn I wasn't aiming for the eight ball before I turned around." He drawled, leaning his elbows on the edge of the table. Kat copied his pose.
"Trick of the light?" She offered.
"Trick of the Dark more like." He returned. It was a running joke between them that where Gohan was all innocence and light, Kat was roguish and dark. They'd overheard the terms been thrown around by adults at the club before, and since no-one had bothered to explain to them what the Light and the Dark actually were, apart from general forces of good and evil, they'd adapted them to suit their own purposes.
"Mayhap you should find a new target then?" Kat smirked.
Gohan raised one eyebrow as he surveyed the newly arranged table. "I guess so." He said with a defeated air.
Kat high-fived her partner, a guy called Joey, behind their backs. They turned back just in time to see Gohan execute a perfect shot that glanced off five different balls with just enough power to send them into a pocket each.
"I didn't think I could do that before because I thought the eight ball was in the way." Gohan commented calmly in the shocked silence that surrounded their table. "But I guess I was wrong."
Kat just shook her head and threw up her hands, admitting defeat. The others were slightly more easily impressed.
"Gods! How'd ya do that?!" Joey exclaimed. Gohan grinned and launched into a fast yet concise explanation of calculating the velocity, rebound angles, and predicted trajectories of the different balls. When he finished there was yet again complete silence.
"Are you quite finished showing off?" Kat asked, unmoved.
He grinned at her before shooting a very tiny stream of ki at the eight ball, the last ball not completely white left, causing it to roll steadily into a side pocket. "I think so." Gohan said smugly.
"Alright we won!" His teammate, a 17-year-old girl named Sharon cried, breaking out of her shock-induced stupor.
"Next time I'm going with him." Joey declared. "No offence Kat." He belatedly added.
"Remind me to trip you up the next time I see you carrying drinks Joey." Kat sneered, before stalking away.
"What a sore loser." Sharon huffed.
Gohan watched her retreating form with concern. It wasn't like Kat to get upset over losing a stupid game. As far as he was aware the only thing riding on it had been the inconvenience of going to order more drinks. That and Sharon having to give Joey her phone number if she lost. Gohan had only played so competitively to see if she would still give it to him anyway. They'd worked out last night that they came from the same dimension.
He was about to go after Kat but a hand on his shoulder held him back.
"Bert? What are you doing here?" Gohan asked in surprise.
"You're needed at home." Bert grunted.
Gohan's eyes widened as the possibilities for this answer raced through his head.
"Follow me." Bert commanded, leading him out of the main room. Gohan glanced back at his group who were giving him worried looks, before stepping through the doors into the hallway and out of view.
He turned around to ask Bert what was wrong but before he could open his mouth the old man tapped him on the forehead. In a flash of bright light Gohan disappeared from the Nightlife plain.
()-()-()
The panic Gohan had been feeling in those last few moments before Bert had sent him home caused him to wake up with a gasp.
His eyes opened on darkness. It was still night. The next thing he perceived was a warm heavy lump on his chest.
Goten was lying curled up in a ball on top of him, and seemed to be crying over something.
"Goten? Mm'what's wrong." Gohan mumbled sleepily.
Goten's head shot up at the sound of his big brother's voice. "You're alive!" He cried happily, wrapping his arms around Gohan's chest in an uncomfortably tight hug. He was amazingly strong for his age.
"Yeah so what. So are you." Gohan grunted, twisting around to turn on his bedside lamp.
Goten's eyes glittered with tears in the light. "I t'ought you were dead." He sniffled. "You wouldna wake up." Just the memory of it seemed liable to set off the waterworks again, so Gohan quickly replied,
"I was breathing wasn't I? My chest was rising up and down?"
Goten considered this for a while, before slowly nodding his head. "Then I can't have been dead could I?" Gohan reasoned, offering his upset brother a smile.
Goten returned the smile, a little sheepishly. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry."
"That's okay. Why were you trying to wake me anyway?" Gohan asked, sitting up and pulling his Nightlife journal out from under his pillow.
"I had a bad dream." Goten replied with another sniffle.
"Oh? I know all about those. They're awful aren't they? What was yours about?" Gohan asked, curious as to what a three year old dreamt about.
Goten looked down, picking at the cotton sheets. "I dun remember. But it was really scary."
"You're lucky then." Gohan muttered, remembering some of the dreams that used to haunt him not so long ago. Shaking those thoughts away he picked up a pen and started recording his night at the club. He particularly wanted to note Kat's strange behaviour, so that he'd remember to ask her about it tomorrow night. His clock read 3:26am so there was little chance he'd be able to return now.
"What're you doing?" Goten asked curiously, tears and dream soon forgotten.
Gohan looked at his brother's innocent face as he debated whether or not to confide his secret in him.
"Well, promise you wont tell?" Gohan asked. Goten nodded enthusiastically. "No I mean really. You can't tell anyone this even if they threaten to take away all your food." Goten's eyes widened at the seriousness now placed on the promise.
"I dun know…" He said reluctantly.
"Well I don't know if I can tell you then." Gohan replied.
"No tell me tell me!" Goten quickly answered.
"Promise?" Gohan said seriously.
"Uh huh uh huh!" Goten said, almost bouncing up and down in his eagerness.
"Okay okay!" Gohan replied, in an imitation of Goten's habit of repeating himself when excited. "Most nights when I fall asleep I get taken to this place called Nightlife where I can meet people and uh, play games and stuff." He rubbed the back of his head. Explaining this to a three year old was tough.
"Where you there tonight?" Goten questioned.
"Yup." Gohan answered, starting to write.
"But you were still here!" Goten protested. "How can you be there and here at the same time?"
"Magic." Came the distracted answer. In truth Gohan didn't quite know how it worked, but explaining what he did know to Goten probably wasn't going to be beneficial to his sanity at this point in time.
"So, what're you writin'?" Goten asked looking at the paper, which was upside down from his position.
"I'm recording the stuff I did at Nightlife." Gohan replied. "It's sort of like a journal so I don't forget things. It's hard to remember about Nightlife after a while."
"Oh." Goten said, though his tone made it clear he didn't really understand. After a while he asked, "Can you read it to me?"
Gohan looked up at him. "What for?"
"'Cause."
"Because why?" Gohan smiled.
"I wanna know what it's like is all." Goten said, determined to get his own way.
"Oh all right." Gohan caved under the belligerent glare of his little brother. "But remember, you promised never to tell anybody. Not even Trunks."
Goten seemed a little disconcerted at not being able to share something with his best friend, but under Gohan's serious eyes he replied,
"Okay Gohan."
Gohan smiled and hoped his brother would be able to keep a secret. It was a risk considering his open nature, but hopefully he'd remember to keep his mouth shut should any questions arise in the future.
()-()-()
"Hi Bert!" Gohan greeted the doorman cheerfully the next night.
"'Evening Gohan." Came the standard reply.
"Thankyou for coming to find me last night." Gohan said, ever courteous even after knowing people like Kat and Vegeta for so long.
"It's my job." Bert grunted. "But tell your brother if he needs something while you're here he should put a hand on your heart and say my name and then the message. I'll come deliver it to you." He added.
"Wow thanks Bert." Gohan said in surprise.
"Only important messages mind." The old man grumbled. "I'm not a messenger boy."
Gohan laughed. "Okay, I'll tell him. I'm sure he'll be pleased."
Bert gave a non-committal sound in reply, settling himself deeper into his chair.
Shaking his head Gohan walked into the club. The loud music caught him unawares, and Bert heard him give a startled cry before the door shut tight as the sound assaulted his sensitive hearing.
With his hands clapped over his ears Gohan made his way over to the booths in the corner where the younger generations usually met. Sharon stood up to meet him as she saw him arrive.
"Is everything okay? You didn't come back last night." She shouted over the din.
"Yeah." He shouted back. "My brother had a nightmare that's all."
"Aw how cute!" She exclaimed. Gohan rolled his eyes.
"Where's Kat?" He asked. Sharon pointed to the dance floor. Gohan levitated a few centimetres in the air to see over the heads of the many people crammed onto the square wooden floor. Narrowing his eyes to peer through the irregular lighting he finally located his target dancing close to one of the large speakers that were set up at the front of the stage and to one side.
Either the location she'd chosen to dance in was a coincidence or she didn't want to talk to him, knowing as she did how painful high volumes of sound were to him.
Gohan pursed his lips and decided to believe the former even though the real reason was more than likely the latter.
He dropped lightly back down to ground and headed towards his friend.
As he reached her he was forced to jam the palm of his hands firmly over his ears due to the intensity of the sound. He could feel the sound waves hitting his chest and the vibrations travelling from the floor up his legs.
He yelled her name when he was one metre from her. Unfortunately this coincided perfectly with the heavy silence in the sudden absence of sound at the end of a song. Many people jumped away from him in fright as his shout was heard all around the main room. The rest all laughed at his misfortune.
"Gee Gohan you don't have to yell. I'm right here you know." Kat said, pretending to have gone deaf from the volume of his shout.
"Yeah yeah, rub it in." Gohan replied, also grinning at his great timing. He could see Kat's facial expression darkening as she anticipated he was about to ask to talk with her, so instead as the next track started playing he asked, "May I have this dance?"
For a brief instant Kat looked relieved, but she quickly hid it and smirked. "As long as you don't go shouting at me again."
Gohan laughed. "I'll try extra hard. Can we move back a bit?"
Kat nodded and they wormed their way back towards centre of the floor. They danced a few songs but were soon asked to leave once they started a war of treading on each other's toes, and accidentally getting a few innocent by-dancers in the process.
"Eh, I need a drink anyway." Kat said, ignoring all the glares they were receiving. Gohan turned around as they walked to the bar and sent the disgruntled dancers his father's trademark grin.
Kat laughed. "Yeah! Take that!"
They sat at one corner and ordered soft drinks. While the bartender went away to fetch their orders Kat leaned her elbows on the bench and asked casually,
"So, where'd ya go last night? You just disappeared."
"Bert came and sent me home." Gohan replied. "Goten had a nightmare and was trying to wake me up. He thought I was dead."
"Heh, what did you tell him?"
"Everything." Gohan replied, thanking the bartender as he gave them the drinks.
"Everything?" Kat repeated in surprise. Gohan sipped his lemonade.
"Yup. I told him about the club, about Bert, about you."
"Not all good things I hope." Kat grinned, stirring the ice in her drink around with her straw.
"Nah." Gohan replied. "I said how bad the music can be here." Kat laughed and flicked icy cola at him from the end of her straw.
"And what about you?" Gohan remarked, wiping the liquid from his cheek and eye. "What was with you last night?"
The smile on her face froze, and took on a forced quality. "Oh, nothing really. Just in a crappy mood was all." She took a sip from her drink, not meeting his eye.
"Liar." Gohan accused, determined to keep the tone of their conversation relaxed. He didn't want her to go on the defensive. She'd just end up shouting at him and he wouldn't find out what was wrong until tomorrow night when she'd cooled down and felt bad for taking out her anger on him.
"That's me." She was quick to reply.
"Was it something I did? Truthfully Kat." Gohan asked, finishing with a touch of the puppy dog eyes.
He was rewarded with a small laugh for his efforts. "No, not really." She replied, looking down into her fizzy drink.
"Then what's bugging you then? If it's not me then it's obviously not worth worrying about." Gohan said slyly.
"Better watch out or you'll get ice down your shirt." Kat threatened.
"Ha, I'd like you see you catch me." Gohan replied. Kat immediately scowled.
"See that's just it! I can't catch you. I can't do anything!" She spat in self-disgust.
"What do you mean?" Gohan asked with a concerned frown for her sudden mood swing.
"I can't teleport like Joey, or have any magic powers like Sharon. You're super strong, fast, smart, super everything and everyone else has at least some sort of special power but me…I'm just…just a useless nothing!" She was shaking slightly with emotion.
"Kat…" Gohan started, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away from the contact.
"Don't touch me! Just don't…" With an angry growl she swiped the tears from her eyes and stalked towards the exit into the hall. Gohan waited until she was through the doors before fazing out and reappearing in the hallway. He saw her stomp though the doors of one of the smaller rooms in the back parts of the club and slam it shut behind her.
He gently opened the abused door and slipped into the room. Tonight it was a covered balcony from which a starry night sky could be seen. Small strings of fairy lights were the only illumination.
Kat was leaning against the rail of the balcony, staring at the bright stars. Tear trails glistened on her cheeks.
"I feel like such a baby." She sniffed, scrubbing her face with her hands.
"I suppose it would get frustrating, to see every night people doing things you'd never dreamed could be done." Gohan said, going over to stand next to her. She just sighed. "And I guess me showing off wouldn't help either." He added apologetically.
"It's not your fault. I mean, what's the point of having cool powers if you don't show off occasionally anyway." She replied with a sad smile. "I just can't help feeling as though I don't belong here."
"And what would make a bright young lass like you suppose that?" A gruff voice said behind them. Both whipped around at the same time in alarm that someone had snuck up without them knowing.
"Bert! What are you doing here?" Gohan asked, exhaling the breath he'd taken in that split second fright.
"I came to tell you to inform your brother in the morning that I received his message. And you can tell him that he's a very polite young man." Bert coughed.
Gohan grinned. "You can thank mum's frying pan for that."
Bert gave a dry chuckle. "Everyone has power in some shape or form. Your mother just utilises her capabilities to their fullest extent."
Gohan laughed, but Kat immediately pounced on his words. "Then what power do I have Bert? Please, you have to tell me. Why should I be invited to Nightlife?"
"Patience Katina. In time you'll come into your inheritance." Bert replied hoarsely.
"As virtuous as I am Bert, patience has never been an aptitude of mine." Kat answered acidly.
Bert gave a bark of laughter in appreciation of her understatement. Ignoring this Kat pressed on. "How long will I have to wait? Why do I have to wait at all?"
Bert paused as he debated what he should and shouldn't tell her. In the end he sighed and sat on the deck chair behind him.
"Miss Katina, I can't in all honesty tell you what your path will be. Destiny has not allowed me to see it yet. But even if I did know I would not tell you. These things need to be discovered on their own. That, at least, I have learned in my years of service."
Kat sighed in disappointment.
"I know it is hard for you Katina. But believe me when I say that everything happens for a reason. It is not for mortals to question Fate."
Gohan nodded his head in acceptance of these words of wisdom. Bert sounded as though he spoke from harsh experience. Kat seemed to struggle within herself for a while, before too accepting what had been said.
"Don't let it get to you." Bert stood up as he offered this last piece of advice.
"Peh, I'll try." Kat replied, sounding as though she didn't believe this would work.
"And I'll try to stop showing off." Gohan vowed.
"Unless you're on my team." Kat quickly amended and Gohan grinned.
"We've been slacking off lately haven't we? We were a great duo not so long ago."
"Yeah, but winning all the time got boring." Kat snickered. "Hey, did you see Bert leave?"
Gohan looked around. "No, I didn't."
"Show off." Kat said with a shake of her head.
"Should we go see what the others are doing?" Gohan suggested.
"Forget them." Kat replied with a devilish grin. "Those bartenders have had a long enough vacation I say. I'm in the mood for some 'strange tasting fruit juice'."
Gohan rolled his eyes. "Well excuse me for being uneducated in the ways of alcoholic drinks."
"Mwahaha. That will change. Trust me." Kat smirked, rubbing her hands together. Gohan made as if to run away but she grabbed his wrist. "But first, a trip to the change room! I'm thinking something black…something leather…"
Gohan gulped but couldn't help grinning. Kat was back.
()-()-()
Bert shook his head. In the past hour more part-time bartenders had fled the establishment than ever before recorded. It seemed team 'No More Sodas' had returned.
Ah well, he thought leaning back further into his chair, as long as they were happy.
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AN: In case you were wondering Joey and Sharon are original characters. They were included because I basically wanted more people for Gohan and Kat to interact with. However they will be the only new characters of 'original' origin included from now on…with so many great guest character ideas originals are hardly necessary. ^_^
And yes I am super sorry that it has been OVER TWO MONTHS since my last update…time flies when you have serious writers block…but I'm over the 'bottomless pit of no inspiration' now and hope to get this story back on the rails. Till next time!
~_^