A/N:                Grr… I hate fanfiction.net!!! I can't update, I can't review and no new stories to read!!! Arrgh!!! I think I'm going to be insane, when I'm finally able again to do all of those things! At least you know that this time it isn't my fault that I couldn't update in time…

                        @ Crystal Lily: 18 will appear soon… Maybe just one or two more chapters… We'll also meet other characters then, but who, I won't tell you… I can just tell you, that the appearance of those characters will be one part of the basis of the Sequel to this story…

Well, I don't think there's much to say, except have fun reading the next chapter…

Chapter 16: "A new Rival"

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A small white lizard-like creature sat on a throne in a big room. He held a wineglass in his hand, swirling the red liquid in it, while his head was resting on his other hand. Next to him, on a pedestal, two oranges spheres were lying under a glass dome. He seemed to be bored, which was indicated by a short yawn, followed by a sigh. He absently stared to the large doors to the throne room and his face lit up ever so lightly, when they were opened and a man stepped in. He was large, his skin bluish and his braided hair of green color. He walked up to the throne and bowed down in front of it. "Lord Frieza."

"What do you want, Zarbon?" Frieza asked him, just keeping a hint of annoyance in his voice so that he wouldn't show his delight in front of his servant.

"We've got news from Vegeta's ship, sire." The man, Zarbon, noticed how the non-existent brows of his master were set in a scowl, angered by the fact that he had been 'disturbed' with the matters of a merely monkey, so he continued quickly. "But the most surprising thing is that the letter isn't written by Vegeta himself."

"Not?" he asked somewhat surprised. He knew that Vegeta always wrote his records alone. "Give it to me."

"Of course." Zarbon got back up and gave Frieza the letter. "I believe that this is the handwriting of the third class Saiyajin with the name Radditz."

The Lord chuckled lightly, as he opened the letter. "I didn't know that the monkey even knew how to write. But now let's see, what's in this letter…"

The green haired man watched, how Frieza read the letter and instinctively took a step or two back, when the look of slight amusement on the lizard's face was changed into a fierce expression of anger and eventually the glass was crushed in his hands, letting the wine drip onto the red carpet of the room. "Is something wrong, sire?" Immediately after asking this question, Zarbon regretted doing this, because his master's eyes were now directed at him. And to be precise, this look could kill.

"Zarbon! Get a ship ready and gather your crew! You'll be leaving in not more than two hours to Ginger Island!" he ordered.

"Yes, sire. But may I ask, what kind of mission that will be, or what's written in the letter?" He tried to remain a calm appearance, what was almost impossible under this gaze. Everyone knew that Frieza was stronger than everyone else and the most feared emperor on the whole world.

"You will retrieve the sphere from that island. According to the monkey's letter, our prince is searching them not for my benefit, but for his own. He had left Namek about three weeks ago and it will take you about one week to get there, so you have to leave as soon as possible. I can't risk that Vegeta gets the sphere." Frieza thought for a moment, before he raised his voice again. "Oh, and Zarbon. Another thing… It seems like another monkey had somehow survived twenty-five years ago. Radditz says it's his younger brother, Kakarotto and that he was raised by Humans as …Son Goku."

"The Son Goku?" he wanted to know, being more than a bit surprised.

"Apparently, yes. He, too, is after the sphere and after Vegeta… And now, go!"

"Yes, my Lord." Zarbon bowed again and then left the room, leaving Frieza alone with his thoughts.

A smirk crept on the lizard's face. Despite those disturbing new, there were also other things written in that letter, which he hadn't told his right hand man. In this letter were also mentioned other things that were slightly amusing and could work for his advantage. For example the princeling's new developed protectiveness over his new toy, this Human female. Vegeta seemed to be quite fond of her and that meant she was a weakness for him. Frieza was sure, as soon as he got a hold on this woman, he also got a hold of the rebellious prince. And maybe even of this other Saiyajin. But if Vegeta's loyal men pulled through with their plan first, he just had to worry about this Son Goku, or Kakarotto, or whatever his name was. But when he then finally had all of the spheres, the whole world would tremble under his power.

~*~

Son Goku was lying on the bed in the cabin he was now sharing with Krillin (A/N: just the cabin, not the bed! ^-^), trying to concentrate on the upcoming place they had to go and to shut out the noises from outside. It had been three weeks since he had told ChiChi about the probably hardest decision he had to make in his whole life, to stay away from him. He knew she didn't want to understand his motives, but how could she? She wasn't living through this inner turmoil like he had to. She didn't know, what it was to be him. She had no idea of the responsibility that was weighing on his shoulders. She didn't want to understand that he was just doing it, because she and Gohan were the most important people in his life and he loved them more than anything else.

But at least she wasn't prying him into anything unlike Gohan. Goku couldn't blame him. He was just a kid, after all. A kid who had just found his father and thinks that he had lost him again in a matter of weeks. What kind of father was he that he pushed his son away like this? Even if it was just for the best of the boy?

At the beginning Gohan had still tried to convince him to change his opinion, tried to get them to do something together. But Goku never said yes to anything. He had to concentrate on other things and most of all he didn't want to hurt Gohan.

But after the disappointed look on Gohan's face every time he turned him down changed into something else, in a look that told him his own son started to loath, maybe even to hate him, he decided that he had to look for more answers. The answers General Kaiou had given him were unsatisfying, so Goku wanted to look for the one person, who maybe had those answers for him. And he hoped that he would meet that person on Ginger Island, where the next sphere should be. He had only seen this person one time. Maybe this person was still there and could provide him with the answers he needed to continue his life like he used to …or not.

Just one more week and maybe then he could again be a husband for his soon-to-be wife and a father to his son.

Suddenly the door was thrown open and in the doorframe stood Krillin, panting hard. "Goku! You have to come!"

Startled Goku sat up on the bed. "What is it, Krillin?"

"It's Gohan! He's flipping!"

"I'm coming." Goku pulled a shirt over his upper body and followed his best friend outside, where he saw his son facing his mother and Piccolo. ChiChi was crying and Piccolo nervously clenched and unclenched his fists. Dende and the rest of the crew stood on the sidelines, all not knowing what to do, since they had never seen Gohan like this in the last weeks.

"Son Gohan!" Piccolo yelled. "Don't talk like this to your mother or me!"

"But it's true!" the boy screamed at him. It all had started with a serious conversation between ChiChi and the boy about Goku's behavior in their presence. ChiChi had tried to assure him that his father was just doing it, because he loved them and didn't want them to be hurt. But even though ChiChi thought that those words were sounding hollow in her ears, when she was saying them, she had hoped to convince Gohan with them. But the young demi-Saiyajin didn't want to hear any of this and started to throw a tantrum. "He doesn't care for either of us! The only thing he cares about are the Saiyajins! Nothing else. I'm sure we're just a burden for him and I hate him for that! I hate him for pushing us away! A real father wouldn't do that! He isn't my father and I hate him!"

Those words coming out of the boy's, his son's, mouth, almost broke Son Goku's heart. He had suspected that Gohan was angry with him, but hearing the word 'hate' from him in connection with his father was almost too much to bear and Goku thought that he had never felt worse in his life than in this moment. But Gohan was right and had every reason to hate him, so Goku just knew one way to maybe make this hate go away or maybe just lessen it a bit. "Gohan," he said seriously. The boy stiffened for a small moment, when he noticed that his father had probably heard every word he had said, but quickly dismissed this feeling of sudden guilt and turned around to face him, showing him that he meant every word of it. "Fight me."

Those two words sent a gasp through the small group of people standing on the deck of the Kintoun. None of them ever heard Goku saying those words with a calm like at this very moment; at least not when directed at his own son. "Goku? What are you doing?" ChiChi asked still sniffling.

Goku raised his hand in her direction, motioning for her to not say anything, the whole time not turning his gaze from Gohan. "What are you waiting for? When you really hate me as much as you say, then it shouldn't be a problem for you to fight me."

Gohan stared at his father for a few more seconds, before drawing his fist back and lunging at him, screaming, "I hate you!"

Goku, too surprised by the speed of the boy, couldn't react in time, so that the fist connected directly with his jaw, letting him stumble backwards. And it seemed just like Gohan had waited for his father to regain his posture again, until he sent a new assault of attacks at him and even though Goku was now more prepared, he seemed to have no chance to defend himself against his five-year old son. Now and then the warrior was able to land a good hit at the boy, which didn't seem to faze him at all.

What's going on? Goku thought, struggling to keep his defenses up. How could Gohan be so strong? Stronger than me? He is just a boy, a kid!

His thoughts were interrupted, when Gohan landed a hard kick with his knee in his father's guts, letting the older man double over, followed by a hit with both fists on his back, forcing Goku to hit the ground, hard. He rolled away, just in time, before Gohan's foot could connect with his face, and sat up panting. He wiped at his mouth and saw blood on his finger. But not just his lip was wounded, his left eye was also almost swollen shut and he had more than a few bruises on his body. One thing was sure, the boy's incredible speed and strength made up for the missing height. If Goku just knew what triggered this sudden burst of energy in his son…

But he didn't have time to think about that, because Gohan was already walking up to him again, completely calm, but was brought to a halt by a voice. "Gohan, stop! That's enough!" Piccolo shouted at him and much to everyone's surprise, the boy obeyed. His defenses dropped and he looked almost confused at his surroundings and at his battered father merely meters in front of him.

"Did I do this?" he asked, before he passed out of exhaustion.

The others finally let out the breaths they were holding, seeing that Gohan had obviously calmed down. ChiChi looked from father to son, irresolute to whom she should go, but a nod from Goku in Gohan's direction let her smile lightly. She walked over to her son, picked him up and disappeared with him inside of the ship.

After ChiChi had disappeared, Krillin walked up to his childhood friend, shaking his head. "Boy, Goku… You scared us there for a moment. But why did you hold back so much and let him beat you to a bloody pulp?"

"But I…" didn't hold back, Goku wanted to say, before his friend interrupted him.

"Come on… Let Dende treat you… Hey Dende! Can you help him?"

"Let him, Krillin…" Goku said loud enough, so that Dende could hear it. "I think I deserved that. Just help me inside, okay?" Krillin nodded and waved at Tenshinhan to help him getting their friend into the cabin.

"But to be honest, Goku," Krillin said, while they were helping him, "I think it was a good idea to let Gohan fight and win against you."

"But I… Ouch!" he said, when he had to stretch his body.

Later that day, it was already dark outside, Goku was again lying alone in the cabin he and Krillin were sharing, deep in thoughts. When he and Gohan fought, Gohan had been unbelievable strong. Stronger than him and Goku was considered to be one of the strongest men on this planet. And it had been the second time that Gohan had shown this kind of strength – at least in the time he had known him. The first time was on Namek, after Radditz had stabbed Goku with the knife and the second time today. But what was the trigger of it? When Goku knew this, then his son could maybe be an immense help against the Saiyajins.

Goku groaned, trying to remember the circumstances. Then suddenly it hit him! Of course! Why hadn't he seen it before? Both times Gohan had been furious about something. It's the anger that gave him this burst of strength! But how could he make Gohan angry enough so that he would develop this strength again? It always seemed to be pretty impulsive and depended on the situation they were in. And there was still the fact that, when the anger faded, the strength disappeared as well. Maybe he should talk to Piccolo about it. He knew Gohan longer than Goku himself and maybe he had more experiences with those kinds of outbursts.

Goku just wanted to get up, as there was a small and faint knock at the door. "Come in," he said through clenched teeth, because of the pain Gohan had inflicted on him earlier that day. Of course Dende could just heal him, but Goku thought that he, too, had to learn a lesson. And what was the better way than through pain? The door slowly opened and a small head was stuck inside. Goku smiled. "Hello son, come in…"

Hesitating and almost shyly, because Gohan never once raised his head to meet his father's eyes, he entered the cabin and closed the door behind him. "I-I wanted to say sorry…" he said barely above a whisper. "Everything I've said this afternoon was wrong. I don't know what had gotten into me, but I didn't mean it, as I said that I hated you. I don't know why I said it, but I was just so disappointed and angry. I was afraid that you didn't like me or mommy anymore, so I guess it had just slipped."

Goku smiled compassionately at his son, as Gohan was fighting so hard with the tears that were trying to flow down his cheeks. He raised his hand with some pain and ruffled through the boy's hair. "Hey, everything is okay… You don't need to cry… Come here…" He winced in pain, when Gohan was suddenly clinging to him like he never wanted to let go anymore, but he endured it, just for his son's sake. "Son Gohan, I know it is hard to understand, but I'm not staying away from you, because I don't like you, but because I do. You and your mom are the most important people in my life and I'm just doing this to protect you. As long as you're close to me, you're targets for the Saiyajins and I can't concentrate on fighting and freeing Bulma, when I'm worrying about you. Do you understand my reasons now?" he asked, not mentioning his self-doubts to his son, thinking that a five-years old wouldn't understand. Yeah, Goku thought to himself, chuckling lightly, a five-years old that kicked your ass.

"I think I do and I love you, daddy," Gohan said, slightly sniffling, when he let go of Goku.

"I love you, too, son. But now I think you should go back to your mom. It's already late and you should go to bed." Gohan wanted to say something in protest, but Goku raised his finger. "No. I know you've slept most of the afternoon after our fight, but you still go to bed, young man. Besides, I still have to talk to Piccolo."

"What about?"

"I can't tell you. At least not yet… And now go…" he ushered him out, while following him into the hallway. "Goodnight Gohan."

"Goodnight, dad," the boy said and then disappeared in the cabin of him and his mother.

Goku had a smile on his face, when he walked outside, where he found Piccolo meditating on the deck. "Piccolo," he said, trying to get his attention.

"Shouldn't you be in bed? When you don't want Dende's help, you should at least rest until your wounds are healed," the Namek said, not looking up once.

"That's one of the advantages of being a Saiyajin. In about two days all my wounds will be healed. But I'm here to talk to you. About Gohan."

"Speak."

"I wanted to ask you, if something like this afternoon or like it happened on Namek, had happened before?"

"Once or twice… Maybe even more. Yes, it had happened before. Every time the boy gets incredible angry, he develops an incredible strength. But today I was as surprised as everyone else. Usually this effect wears off pretty fast, but today was an exception. He must've been really angry with you…"

"So his anger is really the trigger of it… I wonder if there's a way to control it…"

"I'm sure there is. The boy just has to learn how to control his anger, but I think it's too much for a child of his age. I know you wanted to use this strength against the Saiyajins, but I think we should wait with training him to control it."

"I know…" Goku sighed in defeat. "But today he was a multiple times stronger than I am. The other Saiyajins wouldn't have been a problem for him… But I guess you're right. He's still a child and should enjoy it as long as he can, before he has to participate in fights like this… Even though Gohan's strength would've been a great advantage… The Saiyajins are the worst opponents I've ever faced…"

Little did any of them know that now a being far worse than the Saiyajins had decided to appear. A being called Lord Frieza by those who worship him and Beast by the ones who despise him. He had already sent his right hand man to Ginger Island to retrieve the Dragonball there, the same island Goku and his friends, as well as Vegeta and his men were heading to…

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Mmh… The plot thickens… I think I'm quite proud of this chapter… The appearance of new evil and a development of what would be important in the next chapters, though I'm not telling what. Hehe, I'm evil…

But please review, though, okay? Thanks a lot!

Eternally yours

ChibiChibi