Chapter 9

Erasa looked at Gohan for several second before she looked at her aunt, who looked similarly stunned, and she then looked at Dende, "Is he lying?"

Dende shrugged, "Well, not that I know of. I only met him a few years ago, and from what I've heard, he's been at this most of his life."

Erasa wasn't satisfied with that so she glared at the green kami, "What kind of stuff could he have been fighting at FOUR?"

It was Piccolo who responded, "He was five when he fought them, first of all, four is when he started training, and you have one of the people he fought as a teacher."

It was Gohan's turn to groan, "Smooth, Piccolo, really smooth."

Eighteen looked first at Gohan, then at Piccolo, before she turned to the one other person in the room that seemed to be in on this, "You, genie-boy, what's going on?"

The dark-skinned man frowned at her, "My name is Mr. Popo, and it is a long and often confusing story to tell. There is an easier way to do so, if you are willing to follow me."

Erasa was right behind him, Eighteen right behind her, and Dende was behind the three of them while Gohan and Piccolo both stayed where they were, both of them now in a meditative position and probably mind fighting from Dende's assessment, and the four of them went down to a chamber that was rarely used anymore.

It had a large pendulum swinging from the ceiling, and had a large clock face-like design on the floor, and Mr. Popo waved at the black walls, "Welcome to the Room of Time. In this room, we can watch any time that has passed here on Earth or anywhere else within this universe."

Erasa blinked. Cool!

Eighteen frowned. This was… disturbing, "How very voyeuristic of you."

Dende arched an eyebrow, "Funny, Gohan said the same thing when we showed him this." He turned to Mr. Popo, "What does that mean, anyway?"

The dark-skinned genie flushed even as Erasa blushed and Eighteen smirked, "Um… ask Piccolo when you are older, Dende. Now, as I was saying, we can look at any time in the past and watch events as they unfold…"

(Later)

Gohan opened his eyes and grinned a little as Piccolo opened his eyes and snorted, "I almost had you there, Piccolo."

The Namek chuckled darkly, "Keep thinking that, Gohan, and one day it might even be true. You may be able to beat me in a physical fight, but I still have you when it comes to mind-fighting."

Gohan nodded and stood, stretching out a bit as he looked around, "Hey, where are the others?"

As if in answer to that question, Erasa came storming out of the room that Dende and Mr. Popo had taken them into, and for an instant Gohan was SURE that he was going to be slapped, beaten, mangled or possibly made to eat Bulma's cooking, but Erasa stopped short of him as Eighteen showed up just behind her, "Is it true?"

Gohan arched an eyebrow at her, "Is what true? You need to learn to be specific with me, Erasa."

She glared at him even as both Piccolo snickered and Eighteen smirked, "Is what we saw in that funny room true?"

Gohan shrugged, SURE he was going to get hit for this statement, "I don't know, because I don't know what you-" Erasa lashed out and smacked him on the cheek, "Ow!"

Erasa shook out her hand, "Did you or did you not fight Aunt Juu?"

"Don't call me that, Erasa," Eighteen absently said as she scanned both her niece and Gohan. It was amusing to see her niece trying to deny what she knew to be true, then again humans in general were fun to watch and were high entertainment.

Gohan looked at Dende with an arched eyebrow again, "What exactly did you show her?"

The little green Kami shrugged with a chuckle, "Well, think of it as a… highlight reel, Gohan. Nothing TOO specific, but just a brief overview and one of them MIGHT have happened to contain your fight with Android Eighteen."

Gohan shook his head, "It wasn't a fight – she had me dead to rights and never took the shot." He looked at Eighteen, "Why is that?"

Eighteen looked at him and deadpanned, "Because I thought you were cute and wanted you to live long enough for us to date."

Dead silence reigned in the local area as Gohan's jaw dropped, Erasa alternately flushed, gaped, glared and sputtered, Piccolo and Dende arched an eyebrow at the Android and Mr. Popo sighed and shook his head.

Eighteen looked at Gohan, "Hey, kid?"

"Huh?"

"Gotcha." There, let THAT prove she had a sense of humor…

AN: Sorry, folks, I know it's been a while and this one seems a little weird, but my muse seems to have gone MIA on this one. I hate to say it, but this one may go up for adoption. Reviews, please.