DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ. I do not even WANT to own DBZ!!! (Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much pressure to get more episodes out. I have enough problems with a single fic, I'd rather not think about a TV show!)

Okay, because ff.net doesn't allow author's notes anymore, I put this notice up with a transition chapter. I have one or two more chapters in the works that I managed to squeeze in before I'm going to need an idea of some kind for Gohan's 'costume.' If you have any ideas, tell me in a review!

Also, I need fics to advertise. I've practically drained ff.net of every good DBZ story on it, but I need more! If you know of a good fic (even if it's your own) tell me in a review! I get inspiration by reading good fics!

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Silence is Golden

Chapter 7: Rumors

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"BIGBROTHER!BIGBROTHER!" A hyper chibi saiyan yelled happily as he hopped up and down on top of his older brother.

"I'm up, Kami-" He was tempted to add a curse, but opted against it for two reasons; one was that his brother was around, two was that he knew Kami, err, Dende, was listening and the namek wouldn't be too happy hearing that!

*Geesh, Gohan. I know that you're angry that your dad is dead, but don't take it out on me!* A voice echoed in Gohan's head.

*Heh. Back to getting into people's minds again, Dende?* Gohan teased as he got off his bed to get ready for school.

*Gohan, I know that you're unhappy with everything. Don't try to act cheerful when you're talking to me, we both know that you don't have a lot of cheer at the moment.* Dende told him.

Dende was right, as usual. Gohan had been up most of the night thinking about everything. Watching Goten transform had brought back more memories than he cared to ever see; memories of his dad's return when he was gone after Namek exploded, there were thoughts back from when they were training before the Cell Games as well, all of which made Gohan feel as if a piece of himself had been ripped away . . . painfully. *Is there anything that I can do for you?* He growled through the mental link that Dende could create.

*I know about that dream that you had last night.* Dende began.

Gohan grimaced, his dream had been a near perfect reenactment of the fight the day before, except this time the person killed him after punching him into the ground, then he went on to kill Goten, his mom, and, surprisingly for Gohan, Videl.

*You made that?!* Gohan yelled in anger through the link.

*NO! I wouldn't do that to you, Gohan. That fight was a memory that your mind can't forget. It's what you're really afraid might happen.* Dende yelled in his defense.

Gohan didn't have a lot he could say to that, so he got back to the point. *Then why are you calling me?*

*Okay.* Dende began, *The problem is that I have no clue as to what this guy is. However there is one thing that I'm sure of, his aura is not that of a human's!*

*You have no clue?!* Gohan muttered in the link, his saiyan temper rising, *Oh well. I couldn't sense him, he had no ki that I could feel, so I guess that I have no right to get mad at you since you have more information than I do, even if it is that little.*

*Okay, with that cleared out, you'd better get ready for school, your mom has been calling you for the past ten minutes.* Dende cut off the connection before Gohan could send a wave of curses at him.

"SHIT!" Gohan yelled as he hurried to get dressed.

Five minutes (and not nearly enough food) later, Gohan was being shoved out the door by his mom.

"Women." Was all Gohan muttered as he took to the sky in the direction of OSH.

The flight to the orange building was a silent one. There were no screams or bullet sounds so Gohan could actually enjoy the feeling of flying again. 'I still don't get why I get such a rush out of just flying like this, it's . . . nice. So quiet and peaceful.' The young demi-saiyan thought, adding as an afterthought, 'and no frying pans.'

But everything good has to end some time.

In this case, it came in the form of a yellow jet copter. He could sense a familiar ki coming from inside, but the shock came when he realized who it was. Videl.

Gohan quickly transformed into a super saiyan, allowing him to fly even faster than before. If he was lucky, she would get some call or something that would make her turn away from him.

Too bad for Gohan, such a thing didn't happen. He considered using the Instant Transmission to get himself to school, but he wasn't familiar enough with the area and he didn't have any ki's that he could use to pinpoint the location.

Powering up so that a golden glow surrounded him, he flew forward even faster, this time leaving a gold trail of ki behind him.

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"What's that?" The pilot of the jet copter asked herself. It almost looked like there was a flash of golden light in front of her. It was pretty bright too, almost blinding her.

Deciding to speed up, Videl pushed the handle beside her chair as far forward as it would go.

The copter lurched forward, quickly getting to the area where the flash had been. Apparently the reason for the flash had disappeared. 'Wha?! There has to be . . . ' Then she remembered it. The only time there had been a flash like that was yesterday, when the gold fighter showed up.

As she continued flying, she realized that there was what appeared to be a beam from a strobe light beside her copter. But it was day, way too bright for a light. And it was gold!

Following the beam, she realized that it actually bent a little bit in front of her. 'That's not right! Light can't bend without a mirror or something.' Videl thought in mild shock. In all her years of working with the police, she had never seen anything like that.

Following the trail even further, she saw what looked like a golden comet. Briefly wondering what it was, she followed it with as much speed as her copter could muster. She quickly realized that the 'comet' was going towards her school!

Videl opened up a panel on top of the handle beside her. Under the panel were two small buttons and one large red one, shielded with a plastic flip- lid. She pushed one of the small buttons, feeling her copter shake as another panel in the back of her jet copter slid open, revealing a large gray engine. Videl next pushed the other button, the ship started rumbling even worse than before as the engine started to build up power. Then she flipped up the plastic lid and waited for the small gage in front of her to reach the full mark, then she pushed it. The copter lurched forward at an incredible speed, quickly gaining on the golden comet.

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Gohan felt a strong shockwave of energy crash into his body. He turned around to see the jet copter, now with its own tail of energy from a large engine in the back part of the hull.

"DAMMIT!" Gohan yelled as he powered up to full, still staying in super saiyan form. He flew forward as fast as he could. With the school getting closer, he'd have to land before her by at least five minutes to stop her from seeing him when he landed. He didn't really mind her knowing anything, but he'd gotten his fair share of looks just by flying here.

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Videl's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at what she saw. First the comet just disappeared, and then there was another flash of light as it reappeared; now going faster than before.

Looking beside her, she could see the tail of light getting thinner and thinner. The comet was pulling away from her, now getting to the point where she was just at the end of the tail.

Before she knew it, the comet tail beside her was gone and the ball of light at the head was now out of view. Whoever, whatever, it was, had gotten away. She could still see the tail in front of her, but it was getting further and further away, at the same time the gage on how much power her extra engine had reached zero.

The copter slowly went back to its normal speed as its engine was automatically withdrawn back into the hull and the panel slid back into place. It would take nearly five minutes to recharge the engine, but in less than thirty seconds even the tail had vanished from her sight.

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Gohan smirked slightly a bit as he landed on the roof. He'd lost her by a long shot. He transformed back to his normal form before running through the door that led to the main stair-case.

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Gohan had been back in the classroom for at least ten minutes by the time Videl walked into the room with a scowl on her face.

"What's up with you, Videl? I haven't seen you with a scowl like that since you got your math test back three weeks ago." Erasa asked her friend.

"I'm fine. I just saw some gold comet that flew towards the school only to miraculously disappear." Videl sighed. "It was really fast. I used the afterburners and I still didn't catch it. Then it was just gone!"

"Vid, I think that you've been under too much stress lately! Golden comets?" Erasa said with worry on her face. "But something big from yesterday made the newspapers this morning!"

Videl sighed. Of course, nobody would believe her! Then what Erasa had said sank in, "What?"

"The Gold Fighter, from yesterday, it's about him!" Erasa said in her usual 'blondish' (AN: Kami-sama! Any blonds that heard that and contradict that statement, forgive me! It was the only way that I could think of to say that! If anyone has a better, less offensive, word, tell me in a review. I mean no offense!) tone of voice as she opened up a capsule with her school books on it. On top of the pile was a newspaper clipping from the morning edition. Clear on the front was the heading 'GOLDEN FIGHTER CAUGHT ON FILM!'

Taking the piece of paper, Videl began to read the article.

(ARTICLE START) Scientists are baffled at the appearance of a strangely glowing boy yesterday. Dr. Crazzee of the Satan City Center of Science says 'I've never seen a show of such amazing abilities! Being shot at point blank and surviving, simply incredible!' Although there have been some theories that aliens are invading the planet. Most electronic equipment started to spark immediately following the flash of light. Because of this, most cameras weren't able to get a shot of the new hero of Satan City. However, one camera was able to get an image of the boy, although professionals say that there must have been too much interference as it appears that the boy is releasing odd blue bolts of lightning. We were able to get Mr. Satan's views on this new hero. 'Give me a break!' He told us, 'He's probably just some wannabee who's trying to get attention! We all know that there are no such things as glowing people that can fly, it's all just an elaborate hoax to make himself look good; it's all mirrors and ropes.' The hero of the world says. More information will come as we find out more about this new boy. (ARTICLE END)

Videl looked to the left of the article where there was the usual black and white image. It showed the boy as she remembered him, but it really did look as if he had electricity sparking around him.

'The day he first appeared and saved me, I could have sworn that the air was charged with static. I even got zapped when I touched the handle on the door while getting into school.' Videl thought as she tried to remember everything that had happened. It had all gone by so fast that it was harder than she thought.

Her thinking was cut off as she noticed Gohan looking over her shoulder at the picture.

"Hey, Gohan! I forgot you were there." Erasa chirped in her usual voice as she noticed the boy peeking over Videl's shoulder.

"Yea, I'm here. At least I think so, anyway." He muttered as he returned to his textbook. He'd been hoping that the shockwave from his transformation would have blown the cameras. Apparently, someone had gotten lucky.

'Was that a joke?!!?' Videl thought in stunned silence. She'd never heard Gohan sound, well, almost nervous. It was barely detectible, but she could have sworn that there was an underlying level of nervousness in his words. Add that to the list of things to question Gohan about when she got a chance.

Then the teacher walked into the classroom and classes began.

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As the teacher began the class, Lime was thinking over the news that she'd overheard from Erasa and Videl. Golden energy, that definitely was like the Gohan she'd met before the Cell Games. Things were starting to fit together.

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Gohan slipped into the bathroom of the boy's locker room to change into his gi. He'd originally thought that the ability to change his clothes would be helpful, but it was a namek based technique; his body wasn't meant for abilities like that. It tired him out a lot every time he changed, almost to the point of cutting 1 / 4 off his regular power after he'd done it twice in one day.

He growled a bit as he felt his energy leave his hand which was pressed against his chest. There was a flash of white light then the energy solidified into his usual 'Piccolo-style' gi.

Two minutes later, Gohan was leaning against the gym wall waiting for the other students to get out of the lockers. There were only two other students out of the lockers, and they were the ones that had forgotten their change of clothes. His human side was tempted to help them, but his saiyan side won out for two reasons: 1) they can help themselves. 2) (For his conscience) he wouldn't want to show the weaklings too many of his powers. Something in him doubted that their fragile little worlds could take too many revelations.

Instead of just standing there, he slid into his usual defensive stance and started a simple kata. Something even the humans would be able to do so he wouldn't get stared at.

Gohan's mind went calm and blank as he kicked and punched at the invisible enemy of his training. Then he just stopped. There was no point behind the training. There was no challenge in it. So Gohan went back to leaning against the wall, choosing to examine the changes in the gym he'd ignored earlier.

There were now four stages set up, split apart by walkways between the stages. The stages took up most of the gym, leaving just enough room for the bleachers to be left out. Gohan recognized it as the same style set-up as the trials for the WMAT (I'm too lazy to write the whole thing -.-*). He'd never seen one before, but his dad had told him about it during the time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Apparently the teacher was planning on giving students practice in actual rings. He was slightly shocked that the school would get so elaborate, but just hoped that the stages were stronger than normal. There would definitely be no good training there if they weren't better than normal! (AN: He'd probably blow a hole in the floor . . .)

Another couple of minutes late, the rest of the class was out of the lockers and class was ready to begin.

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AN: Well, that's it for this chapter. I think that I managed to make it longer! OH yea, next chapter will be the beginning of the practice matches!

Here's the list of changes that I've made for the story:

[1] Going through chapters and tying up loose ends (It's a work in progress).

[2] Pairing decided: It will be a Gohan / Videl fic. Lime will be in it, obviously, but she will be a friend, nothing more. I don't feel like toying with love triangles!

[3] Costume 'Contest': Still undecided! I barely got any responses to it and I really need some ideas.

[4] Contest on who Neo-Gohan is based on will end February 29, 2004. So far only one person has gotten it right, that's my only hint! And that one person will have a chapter dedicated to them! However, I'm considering a second and third place prize, so keep on entering!

-Ligar Zero X

PS: As usual, tell me if you see any errors. I've been sick for the past two weeks and still feel a bit crappy so my checking might be worse than usual. I certainly hope not though!

Oh yea . . .

PLEASE REVIEW! JUST CLICK THE LITTLE 'GO' BUTTON DOWN THERE!

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