Title: Welcome to the Afterlife, son!
Author name: Trugeta
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Akira Toriyama and Funimation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
This story focuses on the Mirai timeline after Gohan has been killed by the Androids. It's an AU, and Reviews are welcome and appreciated.
Author's Note: yeah, I'm still alive and kicking. As for why I didn't update in so long, check my bio page. On reviewer asked if Gohan got his arm back. Yup, check Chapter 1 for reference. Now, without much further ado, on with the story.
Chapter
21: The first meeting and a lesson in Saiyan history
Last
time...
They
seemed to converse silently and agreed to meet in the hallway that
led to the arena. Gohan also noticed that the young woman was staring
optical daggers at the man with the afro, obviously for something he
had said. He saw her tell the man off, huff and leave. Shacking his
head in mirth he decided to leave too and proceeded towards the
meeting point.
'Hmm, taking her obvious temper into account
I'd say that she's quite the fiery one and quite the fighter. I
wouldn't have thought it possible, but it seems I'm finally
meeting a girl I could really like. That should be interesting...'
Now
the continuation...
A
few minutes later Gohan had reached the concerted meeting point, were
the young raven-haired woman, whose name Gohan still did not know,
was already waiting for him.
As
he approached her, the young demi-Saiyan studied her intently. Aside
from the obvious beauty and her confirmed temper Gohan noticed that
this woman was quite strong for a normal human.
'She sure has
potential. Gauging from her KI I'd say she's as strong as Krillin
was when we fought against the Saiyans so long ago.' He nodded
to himself, smirking, 'Yeah, with the right amount of training
we should be able to form a fine warrior out of her. Maybe she is the
mate I have known existed for me, and training her might present an
excellent challenge too. Gotta love challenges.' he mused.
Meanwhile
Videl Satan had also noticed the approach of Gohan, and she like
Gohan had done with her studied him intently, now that she had the
chance to do so from up close.
As
she had noticed during the tournament, Gohan was remarkably well
muscled and seemed to be in excellent health, despite being dead.
But
unlike some muscle-heads she had come to know (and whose attentions
and affections towards her she had stomped in its tracks) he did not
have the burly build of a bodybuilder, but that of a warrior.
Sure,
she had heard of Gohan's past from the announcer and knew, that he
had been part of an elite of warriors on Earth when he had still been
alive, but this close-up-view gave her all the proof that it had
indeed been so, and was not some trick like her dad had
claimed.
'Phew, was does dad know anyway? When the brains
were distributed he was probably some place else, boasting about his
greatness. Too bad he hasn't learned anything from his stay up
here. Ah, forget dad. Better check out this hunk of a guy, Videl.'
As
Gohan walked towards her through the crowd Videl noticed that he was
moving with a self-confidence he had not possessed when the
tournament had started.
She
knew that he had been fighting the Androids down on Earth when he had
still been alive, but now she realised that he had probably been the
only one to face them day after day.
Videl
could hardly imagine how Gohan must have felt when he had been unable
to stop those monsters from committing yet another atrocity, but she
could imagine how depressed the young warrior must have been when the
mechanical monsters had finally succeeded in removing the last
obstacle in their way to a free reign of terror, namely him.
She
herself had faced the murderous Androids too, and she remembered all
too clearly the overwhelming sense of helpless powerlessness when she
had failed to stop those beasts from killing her dad in the most
painful way.
And
those things had actually laughed the whole time! Their insane
laughter had also been the last sound she had heard in her worldly
existence, before they had shown her the 'mercy' of killing her.
Yes,
Gohan must have literally lived in a living nightmare, a nightmarish
hell. That he was displaying confidence and strength once again
showed that he had begun to overcome his depression caused by his
'failure' to safe the world from the mechanical monsters. If
Gohan still felt guilty for 'failing' the world, she would see to
it that he'd overcome it fast.
Videl
was raised out of her musings when she heard the sounds of footsteps
approaching, and she raised her head in time to look up into deep
brown, no coal-black eyes.
'Wow, I've never seen so
dark-coloured eyes. I wonder how he does the trick to change their
colour...'
Gohan
for his part looked Videl right in the eyes too, incidentally left to
his musings about Videl.
'Wheew, she has the most beautiful
eyes I have ever seen. And from up close she looks even cuter. Let's
see where this will lead...'
"Hello," he began, "you
must be my 'fan-club'." he said, and saw her blushing, "I'm
Gohan Son, and I thank you for your support during the tournament. It
helped at great deal." he finished smiling.
Videl
blushed once more (quite cutely, in Gohan's opinion), quickly
hiding it by looking down briefly.
"You're welcome." she
then said, smiling serenely, "I am Videl Satan, and it's nice to
meet you, Gohan Son."
Gohan
smirked before answering.
"The pleasure is all mine. And please
call me Gohan."
Videl
answered with a smirk of her own.
"Only if you call me Videl."
"Sure!"
Gohan answered, before coming to more practical matters. "Videl, I
suppose that you know the area better than me. Do you have any
suggestions where we could sit down and talk? I'd like to get to
know you better."
If
anyone had been so forward during her mortal life Videl would
supposedly given him a sound trashing, being the spoiled 'princess'
she had been, but her stay in the Afterlife had really been an
eye-opener.
Besides,
Videl knew from the tournament that Gohan possessed the skills and
strength to back up his forwardness, though Videl was sure that Gohan
would never have used his superiority in strength, speed and skill to
try anything indecent.
Thus
she only said, "That's fine by me. I'd suggest we walk to the
park that surrounds the arena. There we can sit down and talk."
Gohan
nodded at the suggestion.
"Lead the way, Videl." he said and
smiled.
Videl
nodded and smiled too, and the two young people sat themselves in
motion. Curious as Videl was she started asking questions.
"As
you know, I have seen all of your fights during the tournament. How
did you become so good?"
Gohan
looked at her. For the first time since his arrival in the Afterlife
he did not mind being asked this question. The young demi-Saiyan had
come to the realization, that he had given his all (literally!) in
his fight against the Androids.
At
the time he could not have done better, as the power-boost he had
received had kicked in too late to make a difference. With the
realization that he could not have done anything differently came
acceptance, albeit grudgingly. His only hope for Earth was, that
Trunks would somehow be able to make a difference.
He
shook himself out of his musings when he realized that he had not
answered Videl's question yet. Meanwhile they had arrived in the
park, and in a silent understanding they sat down.
"Sorry, I
spaced out for a bit." he excused, and Videl smiled
understandingly. "Well, I have been training ever since I could
walk. And it sure helps that my dad, Son Goku, as you might have
heard, is (or better was) one of Earths' best martial artists and
warriors there is. When I was five my evil uncle Radditz arrived on
Earth."
At
that Videl cocked an eyebrow. Sure, she knew from her stay in the
Afterlife that a lot of Aliens existed in the Universe, but what
Gohan had said implied that his uncle did not originate from Earth.
But Gohan looked human. So...
"I
know what you're thinking, Videl." Gohan said smiling. "Remember
the time when the Z-Fighters fought invaders from space?" he asked,
and Videl nodded. "Well, that happened after my dad and Piccolo,
the green-skinned Namekian you have seen in the tournament, managed
to stop my uncle. It turned out that my uncle was a Saiyan."
"A
Saiyan?" Videl asked, "One sec, I remember that the announcer
said that this Vegeta was the Prince of all Saiyans. But what is a
Saiyan, Gohan?"
"I
suggest you lie down, Videl. This will take a bit longer." Gohan
said, and Videl did as he had suggested. "Good. Well, what I tell
you know consists of facts I have come to learn from Vegeta and from
scientific studies conducted by Bulma."
At
that Videl looked up.
"Bulma? As in Bulma Briefs, head of
Capsule Corp.?" she asked.
Gohan
nodded a positive.
"Yup, exactly this Bulma, and incidentally
Vegeta's wife. But I'll come to that later. Videl, as you have
come to know from your stay in the Afterlife the universe is a big
place, and a lot of 'Alien' races live in it. The Saiyan race was
once one of them. You see, once, on a planet many light years away, a
long time ago, there lived a noble and proud warrior race. They had
given their planet the name Saiya. They were the Saiyan race."
Gohan began.
"Wow,
that sounds like the opening credits from Star Wars!" Videl joked.
"Yeah,
it does, doesn't it? Well, for a long time the Saiyan race
consisted of proud warriors who followed a strict code of honour, and
they strived to help and protect the weak. They often defended whole
races against threats no one else would have had a chance against. In
time, the Saiyans grew stronger and stronger as well physically as in
numbers, for you must know, that the strength and endurance of a
Saiyan increase each time he or she is wounded and heals."
Videl
cocked a brow at that.
"Wow, now that's what I'd call
extremely helpful!"
Gohan
nodded and continued.
"What I tell you now are the results of
the scientific studies Bulma conducted. She got some really
remarkable test results and insights into the Saiyan race. And trust
me, Vegeta did not like to play guinea pig for her, not one bit. My
dad on the other hand was easily swayed by the promise of a big
barbecue at that time." he said grinning.
"Anyways,
Saiyans have the remarkable ability to soak up damage that would kill
or incapacitate a lesser life form and still remain standing - and
even fight back furiously! A Saiyan will eventually use up his
reserves and fall; however, when he or she is healed he/she will be
that much stronger, directly proportionate to the amount of damage
inflicted on him/her. A Saiyan's metabolism and energy production
increases in strength and efficiency with recovery from damage, as
his/her body attempts to shield him/her from further injury of the
same kind. This type of recovery is extremely beneficial. However,
physical damage is the only damage that, if not permanently crippling
or lethal, is directly beneficial to increases in strength." Gohan
paused.
Videl
looked at him fascinated.
"Wow, they were the perfect warrior
race!" she exclaimed.
Gohan
nodded.
"That they were. But then something happened. Like all
times when a race gains power and respect, there were others who
envied them and wanted them removed from the picture. You see, there
was a rivalling race called the Tsufuru-jin, rivalling albeit they
were both members of the same Alliance. But the crux is, the
Tsufuru-jin only pretended to be allies of the Saiyan race and
went a long way to prove it, and the Saiyans of that time trusted
their allies. However, as said it had all been part of a plan to gain
the Saiyan races' trust in order to ultimately eliminate them. The
Tsufuru-jin felt threatened by the Saiyans, as they had witnessed how
fast the Saiyan race had been gaining power. They feared the Saiyans,
and due to their advanced technology, especially in bio-technology,
they designed a biological weapon of the worst kind, designed to
eliminate all life on the planet Saiya and render the planet
unhabitable."
"Oh
my, that is awful!" Videl exclaimed.
Gohan
nodded, looking dejected and sad.
"The Tsufuru-jin released it
and it started killing off everything on the planet immediately. It
is not cleared in detail how they managed to pull it off, but Vegeta
told me that the most probable answer to that is, that they used a
suicide commando to release the virus. A suicide commando that
consisted of Tsufuru-jin ambassadors, most likely. Although a lot of
Saiyans died in the initial release of the virus, a great many of the
Saiyans managed to escape from the planet just in time. After they
had evacuated the planet, which had become inhabitable due to the
virus, they called together their entire remaining fleet. Then they
sat out to find another planet. At first, the Saiyan race still
remained true to their values and still cared about not harming other
races, but as time went by and they wandered the galaxy they became
bitter and enraged, downright obsessed with plans of vengeance, and
they started hurting and killing people who didn't deserve it. After
many centuries they returned to their region of origin, not caring
any more whether they hurt innocents or not." Gohan said,
looking sad.
Videl
looked up at him, saw his sadness and lay a comforting hand on his
shoulder. This simple gesture suddenly held a lot of meaning for both
of them, and they looked into each others eyes before Videl looked
down, once more blushing.
'Oh my, I have never been so
forward in my mortal existence. Aww, screw that, who cares, I'm
dead, no need to play it slow.'
Gohan's
sadness had vanished, and he continued the tale.
"When the
Saiyans returned to their area of origin, they had become uncaring
warriors, dead set on preserving their species at any cost, and,
nearly equally important, getting revenge. And so that nobody could
betray the trust of the Saiyan race again, they simply started
attacking their former allies, good or bad. In the centuries that the
Saiyan race had spent wandering the galaxy their former allies had
figured out which of them had betrayed the Saiyan race, the
Tsufuru-jin. When the Saiyans had begun destroying planets of their
former allies, they offered the Saiyans the identity of their
betrayers, in the (vain) hope to pacify the Saiyans. They believed
that they could appeal to the Saiyans' honour, but what they did
not know was, that the honour of the Saiyan race had become
self-serving. And thus, after the Saiyans received the confirmation
and definite proof that indeed the Tsufuru-jin had been the
betrayers, they wiped their former allies out anyway. Not as complete
as what they planned for the Tsufuru-jin, for in several cases they
'just' bombed their former allies back into Stone Age and beyond.
After that, the Saiyans began plotting their revenge. It was decided
that they would punish the Tsufuru-jin in the same way the
Tsufuru-jin had intended to do to the Saiyans, namely by wiping them
out. To top it, the Saiyans planned to keep the planet of the
Tsufuru-jin as their own. After that was decided, the Saiyans set
their remaining fleet, which had degenerated over the centuries, in
motion and went to planet Plant, the home planet of the Tsufuru-jin.
But as said, the Tsufuru-jin were technological advanced, very
advanced. They had a really good defensive net around their planet,
not to mention planet-based defences. And my ancestors paid a severe
price for disabling this defence."
'I
can guess were this is heading.' Videl thought, and grasped
Gohan's hand.
Giving
the woman beside him a smile, the demi-Saiyan proceeded to tell Videl
the story of his ancestors.
"Right. The defensive net nearly annihilated the complete Saiyan fleet before my ancestors were able to destroy it and the planet-based defence. Only two large battle-ships had survived the battle intact, and numerous space-pods. Luckily for my ancestors the Tsufuru-jin had not populated the whole planet, and thus my ancestors abandoned the remaining ships and used the space-pods to claim the uninhabited region. This part of the world was ruled by harsh environmental condition. It was mountainous and inhospitable, the reason why the Tsufuru-jin had not populated this area until then. Though they were very advanced, they were small in numbers and had no need to claim more of the planet. But my ancestors were tough, and several ten-thousand had survived the space-battle. They spent years to recover in the mountains, and had to repel more than one attack by the Tsufuru-jin. But then came the day when they deemed themselves strong enough to take out the Tsufuru-jin once and for all. But they were not as ready as they thought."
Gohan
paused for a moment, trying to remember everything that Vegeta had
told him correctly. Once he had gathered his bearings, he went
on.
"As said, the Tsufuru-jin were highly advanced in science
and managed to repel the invading Saiyans at first due to their
superior technology. At first my ancestors were losing big time. But
not for long." Gohan paused.
One
look at Videl would have told anyone that he had captivated her with
his tale. She positively hung at his lips (and would most likely have
liked to do so literally too).
"What happened to make the Saiyans overcome the Tsufuru-jin albeit their better weapons, Gohan?" she asked.
Gohan
smiled.
"To answer that you must know another biological fact on
the Saiyan race. Saiyans are naturally born with a fully functional
tail, and this tail also serves another purpose. Under the right
circumstances it can be used to transform the Saiyan into another
form. This form is much stronger than the normal form of a Saiyan,
and this state is called 'Oozaru'. An Oozaru is a giant
were-monkey, capable of levelling mountains with his/her fists alone.
All the invading Saiyans had to do was to keep the Tsufuru-jin long
enough out of their hair, until the two moons of planet Plant had
set. This happened thirty days after the Saiyans had invaded, and
unlike the Earth moon the moons of Plant remain set a much longer
time. During these three weeks the Oozaru-army managed to destroy the
entire Tsufuru-jin army despite all their technological advancement,
and in the end, the Tsufuru-jin were wiped out completely. The
Saiyans took Planet Plant as their own and renamed it into Planet
Vegeta, to honour their King and leader. But that is not everything.
There is more..."
TBC...
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Next time: Gohan explains more of the Saiyan history to Videl, and
the first feelings show themselves. Stay tuned!
As
always very special thanks to my beta Rose Vaughn, who is doing a
great job! Thx, Ash!
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Thanks
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