Disclaimer: Take a guess…is this Akira Toriyama's fanfic writing account? I can confirm it is unfortunately not :(

Unraveling

Chapter Two: Necessities

All living beings require some forms of sustenance to maintain their life force, whether it is food for nutrients, water for hydration, or shelter for protection, it is undeniable that a key quality and characteristic of all living beings is that they must have necessities. All of the above necessities listed could theoretically be acquired through violent means, but interestingly enough it is entirely possible, and in fact quite easy, to go through life taking these necessities without ever harming a single individual. But a problem soon arises when a necessity for one is the loss of life for another. Peace is out of the question at that point, as every fiber of your being and biology will fight to keep you alive by any means, even if it means killing.

Necessities often vary in importance, for example an organism can survive up to two weeks without water, 8-12 weeks without food, and in a saiyan's case, perhaps up to a year or so without bloodshed. Upon first glance, the saiyan's decision to work as mercenaries and planet purgers for Frieza might be viewed by many as obscene and perhaps a poor reflection on the species' character, but that is simply an emotional response of tautology that lacks context. In hindsight the alliance can be better viewed as a trade than anything. Just as humans might form trade routes with neighboring countries for necessities, so too did the saiyan's form an agreement with Frieza where they could help him conquer, and in exchange they could get something vital to their survival as a race, the ability to slaughter.

It wasn't a matter of bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed, or killing for the sake of chasing some silly goal like universal domination, but rather it was actually quite a stabilizing move for the saiyans. They could now have a peaceful planet Vegeta free from war, as they could easily get their fix of blood elsewhere. This allowed for the advancement of the peoples and a quite organized civil society. The benefits that arose from this killing, the quality of life improvements for the saiyans as well as the population boom which saw thousands of lives added, could perhaps even arguably offset the violence that it took to get there. But even if it didn't, at the end of the day we must ask ourselves, can we ever truly blame someone for prioritizing their own survival above all else, for doing whatever it takes to stay alive?

Gohan wretched, feeling the acidic bile rise slowly from his stomach all the way up to his esophagus and out of his mouth into the toilet beneath him. It was kind of ironic in a way, the putrid stench of vomit and the foul taste it left in his mouth made him want to throw up all over again, quite the vicious self continuing cycle if you were to ask him. His throat burned as he slowly tried to calm himself down, he had been in this situation before, curled up in a ball on his bathroom floor suffering from the withdrawals of murder. 'Withdrawals is a bad word, after all if a human was starving we wouldn't say he was having food withdrawals now would we,' Gohan mused. He wondered when he would reach the point of an empty stomach so he could start dry heaving and cease to feel the horrible burning sensation that lingered in his throat after puking.

He laughed to himself, 'What a fucking stupid biological design, the body sacrifices critical nutrients necessary for life by vomiting in order to remind me to get my other critical nutrient, what kind of stupid shit is that?'

The body had funny ways of forcing its hand on the brain. Think of it like this, when one holds his breath for as long as he can, he will eventually pass out as the body cuts off its oxygen supply to the brain, forcing the person into an unconscious state where they begin breathing automatically without even trying to whether they like it or not. Gohan knew he was reaching the breaking point, the point of exhaustion where he would "pass out" and his body would do what it needed to do without his consent. This was not ideal for him; for one it stole all the pleasure of the hunt and the eventual kill, and most importantly it jeopardized everything as it would likely be a sloppy kill or even one he didn't want to enact like on his family.

Fitzpatrick was a bum. A loser who really had no purpose in life, and his existence can mainly be summed up as just him running on autopilot acting on instinct. Gohan didn't want that; he had goals, ambition, higher level plans that would never be achieved if he simply became a lumbering oaf who killed without structure, without order. No one respects someone who eats without utensils, sloppily smacking their lips as they greedily plunge food into their mouths and spread it all over their disgusting faces. No no that wasn't what he needed when it came to killing. He was a serial killer, someone who did things with a methodical approach, he wasn't a caveman. But, he would soon become one and be reduced to his more primal self if he didn't get another kill in.

He had learned after his first kill to shoot a little bit further from home when it came to murder. The police had launched an investigation into the death of Fitzpatrick, which Gohan had expected; anyone with half a brain knows someone doesn't commit suicide by amputating three of their limbs then spontaneously combusting. But the police work had been laughable, which Gohan had also expected; after all, who in their right minds would spend time, energy, and resources towards bringing justice to someone who murdered and terrorized for sport? In the police's mind, this was an act of god meant to help purify and make right the situation in Mount Pazou.

In the end the investigation determined that Fitzpatrick's death had been the result of him carrying a bomb that had detonated early as he was making his way to another potential victim. This was absurd since there was no trace of any explosive chemicals or damage to the surrounding environment that would even be remotely indicative of an explosive ordinance, but hey, who was he to question the verdict of the law?

But the interrogation and interviewing by police of all local inhabitants, including the Sons, had not been very fruitful to his goal of subtlety. His mother had known he had been out that night, and despite swearing up and down he was simply on a walk, and doing a pretty damned good job of acting shocked at hearing the news of the murder, he could tell his mother still suspected something, if only marginally. But no, murdering locals just simply wouldn't do, so he instead sought out the nearest big city he could, Satan City, and began hunting. He targeted the homeless and criminals, people he knew no one would give two shits about vanishing, or even notice that they had vanished in the first place. He always took the time to form a semblance of a relationship with them, posing as a runaway or a bum himself, learning their names and giving them a sense of friendship and trust towards him. He would tell them he had found an abandoned apartment suite, offer them refuge there, and if they were a criminal, wait for them to attempt a mugging, and if they were homeless… also wait for them to attempt a mugging, and then he would take action.

Investing in an apartment to set up shop to do his business had been a very good use of his time. Zeni wasn't an issue, as it is quite easy to rob banks when moving just under the speed of sound. He had stockpiled several million in the past several months, as you never quite knew when money could come in handy, and in his line of work and for the purposes of fulfilling his ambitions, having zeni would prove to be very beneficial. Identity and age was a problem, but a fake ID and a little extra cash to the landlord to avoid too much digging into public records made it very easy to acquire one.

And lo and behold, he now had a place he could go to if shit ever hit the fan that no one knew about, a place of his own where he could be independent and operate in peace free from distractions. He had massive goals in mind, goals which he would never truly be able to achieve under the constant scrutiny of his mother. He wanted to be someone in this city, someone who people respected, feared, someone with power. 'Maybe politics would be my niche, manipulating and talking out of your ass is a strong suit of mine.' He considered his possible routes, one of which included blackmailing Mr. Satan, who he was certain would have political influence or connections given his fame, as well as just campaigning from the ground up with some bribes and threats along the way.

Gohan was always neat with his kills, after all one must not dirty up his dwelling if he can help it. And he soon realized that ki had the great advantage of ensuring little blood would be spilt on his nice mahogany floors. Cauterization ensured no mess, and a small incision at the neck just below the chin as the first blow ensured no detection. Seeing the look of panic in their eyes as he repeatedly would ask them what was wrong in a tone of mock concern while they struggled to choke out any noise never failed to make him smile. With a mute and bloodless victim, his urges could be dealt with with little consequence.

The body itself however proved at first to be problematic. Raising his ki to the levels necessary to fly would normally not alert anyone who could detect energy as the levels required to do so were relatively low. But, factor in he would be moving across the world to the ocean each disposal, and he risked someone noticing a foreign energy soaring through the airs and investigating. He would have just burned them to ash then chucked them in a nearby dumpster but then that posed the problem of smell. Burning flesh has quite the odor, and he couldn't have a fellow tenant finding out and then being traced back through the landlord who would no doubt give a description of him. And he couldn't just let the bodies rot in his room either as that created the same problem.

He wanted certainty. Certainty that no body would ever be found, that no investigation would ever be launched; this was the exact reason he chose a kinda shady area to be housed in since there were no security cameras, and people barely saw his face at all. All evidence needed to be disposed of efficiently and precisely; this was his standard, and he would not tolerate anything less. He toyed around with ideas like acidic disintegration of the parts, but then realized the level of suspicion that would be created between a bunch of disappearances and mass quantities of acid in the area being stolen or purchased. 'No no that still leaves way too much up to chance.'Cannibalization, or rather half cannibalization he supposed, was actually at the top of his list for a while as it was simply just such an untraceable method of permanent disposal, but he figured that would take to long, and he didn't even know if he was capable of consuming bone. He was beginning to get frustrated, but then smiled as an idea slowly formed in his head.

He realized that no one would question if his ki flared in Satan City, since after all he had been flying their consistently for weeks under the guise of him either training, going shopping, hanging out with friends, or just straight up exploring. This granted him the ability to go fast as fuck within the confines of the city without raising any suspicious scary eyebrows among the z-fighters. He would simply have to slice the body up into small enough parts, stuff it in a suitcase, fly at unseeable speeds to avoid potentially having the bag searched or knocked into, and then place the bag at the bottom of the Satan City waste dump. It was foolproof, and combined with his other methods he realized that not only would no one would ever tie him to the crime, but also that no one would ever even discover a crime to tie him to.

At first it was an incredibly easy way to satiate the urge, and for a while he was pretty consistently stable and could finally enjoy life and interactions with his family and friends. But then something bad happened. Chi-chi, in her infinite fucking wisdom, decided to install an alarm and camera system in the wake of the maniac's rampage. 'God fucking damnit you gotta be kidding me.' Sneaking out had been one of his main venues for getting to Satan city unnoticed, and now here he fucking was being trapped in his house all night long. This limited the time he had to get his work done by nearly 40%, and it also lost him the fairly strong cover nightfall provided. On top of this, his mother had decided to make him amp up his studies as she was planning on having him start high school pretty soon and wanted to be sure he was up to speed. This even further cut into the already limited time he had. He hadn't killed in almost a week. The universe had aligned in probably one of the worst ways possible the past week; his mother had needed him for chores, there had been extensive family gatherings to attend, and Goten had to be looked after while Chi-chi ran errands. He cursed his luck, 'if this is fate's way of telling me I need to stop what I'm doing it has another fucking thing coming.'

And so here he was, shaking and puking his guts out at 2 in the morning while his body began to be consumed in the unshakable urge to hunt, to fight, to conquer, to rip, to maim, to kill. 'Fuck fuck fuck fuck, I need flesh, flesh, flesh, FLESH, FLESH, FLESH.' He started clawing at himself, his body recognizing the calloused skin as something to be torn to bits, and he scratched himself like a wild animal. It did little to calm himself, after all once one murders it becomes hard to be satisfied by simply self mutilation. He calmed himself. 'Okay,' he breathed in and out slowly, 'I just have to make it through the night, and then first thing tomorrow I'll tell mom I need to go out and train.'

He ran through his goals, trying to orient his thoughts into a non murderous direction. Gohan desired power, control, respect, and adoration from all those around him. He wanted to be someone, and he was tired of this bullshit stay in the shadows and do all the dirty work while buffoons like Hercule swoop in to claim the fruits of his labor.

He liked his privacy sure, but that was something that could easily be acquired through fear mongering alongside power and control. He wanted to call the shots, and he wanted to be listened to, he wanted politicians and citizens to trust him. Waltzing in and destroying the government with his bare hands is certainly a fun idea, but it had to remain just that: an idea; because he knew the repercussions of an act like that would be devastating. He wasn't like the androids, programmed to kill? Fuck yes he was. But, he didn't want to be the sole dictator of a fearful population that submitted out of terror rather than respect. He wanted to rule over the populous with his charm, be well liked and powerful like Hercule except without the idiocy and lack of said power. He wanted to have power over the system, over an organized structure, not a shambled shell of a government in a post apocalyptic world.

He was too intelligent to just walk in and flex his muscles to get to the top, he needed to use his intellect, work his way up, employ powerful strategies, and win the support of the people. 'When I'm done they'll rename Satan city to Son city,' he chuckled to himself. He was cocky. But he wasn't a loud mouth like Hercule. He craved fame and glory, but he didn't let that be his only personality trait. No he was well rounded, and the walking stereotype of hubris Hercule could never hold a candle to him. Perhaps he would go visit him tomorrow right after he got a kill in. His mind would be calmed and his thoughts collected and organized.

He needed to formulate a plan, and so, it was then, whilst sitting on his bathroom floor in a fetal position craving for a fix like a junkie, that he began to craft his elaborate plan for political dominance and control. He would have to wait until he was 18 to actually run for office, but oh he knew damn well that those in office weren't always the ones calling the shots. He could rule from the shadows, be a smiling celebrity the people admired by day during his high school career, and by night strategize with political allies to make moves. He realized that he first needed to learn the system: what made it tick? Just how corrupt was Satan city? Who did he need to know? To meet? To pay? To threaten? 'I think it's settled then, after all what is the one common denominator among all politicians and those with power? Wealth.' Charity events, galas, parties for campaigners, yes he would have to be in attendance to make alliances and begin accruing power. But how damnit, how could he possibly go from being a nobody to being somebody that could get into these events, let alone make connections with the people inside?

'That's just it though isn't it? I'm not a nobody. I know Bulma fucking Briefs, head of one of the largest and most successful corporations in the world, I defeated Cell, a world class threat that dominated the global military and traumatized the world, I'm an elite level martial artist, and have the IQ and knowledge of a STEM graduate student. I can utilize all this.' He mulled over what his direct course of action would be. 'Perhaps curing myself of this murderous burden my psyche's put onto me. Surely it can't be beneficial in the long run to have to murder someone every other day just to survive. It's easy as hell now but when the average citizen knows my name and face...that publicity will make it a bit harder.'

Maybe he should talk to Bulma or Vegeta about this. Vegeta since he has likely experienced this to some degree, and Bulma because well, she's a genius with connections and wealth he couldn't even begin to fathom. 'A-ha! That's what I have to do as step one: Talk to Bulma. She can help get me involved in the political scene, no doubt she gets invitations to the most elite parties every day of the week. And on top of that, she can help me stabilize myself...maybe.' He knew it was a big risk, exposing one of his biggest secrets like that. He could always lie and tell her that he had it under control, but it is just a nuisance he needs to rid himself of. 'Ehh I don't know. Despite that, everyone and their mom knowing about my little problem would definitely make avoiding detection and dodging suspicion ten times harder. Am I really ready and willing to risk that.' The bile that rose to his throat answered the question for him. "Fuck it."

And with that, Gohan shakily stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. He was pretty damn attractive all things considered. 'Wow, such humility, that will certainly take me far. Ya know I hear the ladies love a humble man.' The dry sarcastic thoughts made him smile, but in all seriousness he was rather handsome, and that charm and disarming smile would certainly aid him in his quest. He looked over at his clock through the bathroom door. '7am in the morning; I made it.' Gohan's smile widened to the point where it looked like that akin to a small child upon receiving candy; but if one looked long enough, they would say they noticed something not quite right about it, something hidden below the surface, a facade in place so firmly that it unnerved them, something dark. Gohan stared at himself for a long time in the mirror, 'Now is no longer the time for plotting and lying low. Now? is the time for action. I will make something of myself in this world, so help me god.' And with that he opened his mouth and slowly choked three words out of his sore throat, "Initiate phase one." He chuckled to himself darkly as he made his way downstairs.

AN: HELLO! Okay, so while this initially started out as just a "Gohan is crazy psycho he kills people for fun!" fanfic, I feel like that limits what I can do with this concept. Gohan's drive to kill is something I plan to keep for the rest of the fic most definitely, but his killer instinct can simply be part of a multitude of symptoms that make up who this character is. A dark manipulative young man with charm, ambition, and plans. This Gohan can do so much more than be a senseless killer. It will be something he has to deal with, and something that makes him who he is, but it will not be the sole defining characteristic. I wanna see a strong, powerful Gohan who has REAL power, not just physical strength, but control, connections, resources, allies. And so, after putting my fingers to the keyboard for a couple of hours having no idea where to take this chapter, this is what I came up with. There will be some action next chapter I promise, Gohan will actually begin speaking to people and acquiring power, maybe even start high school who knows. No more boring Gohan thinking to himself while he sits in his bathroom in pain content I PROMISE.

AN 2: Huge shoutout to Hikari-J for reviewing and to TS24 and xXx-Dreamer-at-heart-xXx for following. This means the fucking world for real. I would not have been encouraged and inspired to keep writing if it weren't for you guys. I was so excited to get those notis you have no idea. The support, however small, makes me proud of myself. I love you guys, hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think.

-OG_POW3R 3