+Super Dragon Ball
Chapter 1- Son Gohan
There was a loud screeching that rang through the sky, followed by an earth shattering crash.
'They couldn't have found me,' Son Gohan thought to himself as he paused his morning meditation, a cold sweat quickly engulfing his whole body. The view from the old man's home gave him a wide vantage of the Paozu forest valley, so it didn't take long for the old man to locate the source of the noise. His eyes traced the upturned foliage that the object had scarred into the ground upon its landing, and almost as if in a trance, began his journey to the crash site. As the aged martial artist waded through the forest toward the crash, the animal inhabitants rushed passed him, fleeing in the opposite direction. Fear gripped his heart as the crashed object finally came into view, and without thinking, the chirping of raw electricity screeched to life in his right palm. It was an Frieza Force attack pod. "N-no.." Gohan gasped out as he slowly inched toward the pod. The sight of the ship caused old wounds to ache and his head to spin. "Not me." The electricity strengthened, zapping the ground around the man as he raised his hand to fling the raw energy at the pod, "Not me!" The screeching of electricity filled Gohan's ears as he prepared to fire his mentor's move before a barely audible sound stayed his hand. The sound drained all the adrenaline that had been flowing through his body, dissipating his attack. Without the screeching of energy in his ear, Gohan could clearly hear the muffled sound. It was the cry of a baby. A loud hiss cut through the air as the door to the pod slid open, and the wails of the child inhabitant inside rang throughout the surrounding forest, unhampered by the steel that had dampened it before. The old man slowly approached the pod, resting one hand on its exterior as he glanced at its inhabitant. 'It's a baby boy,' Gohan thought as he reached towards the crying child. Just as the man was about pick up the child, he recoiled slightly as he saw inhabitants tail swishing from its behind. The aged fighters mind raced as he stared down the child, who's crying had began to lessen upon the sight of the man outside his pod. The child sniffed twice, and then reached up with his stubby arms towards Gohan. The aged fighter stared down at the child, stone faced for a moment before he gingerly reached in and picked up the child, holding him away from his body. "...Hello, er- boy.." The old man greeted the child, who responded by simply studying the figure who was holding him. "I-I'm not really sure what i'm supposed to say to… You're the first person I've seen in… I'd say about five-er-six years, I reckon." The infant tilted his spikey haired head to the side, confusion on his face from not understanding basic language. "But.. Then again, you're not really a person, per say are you?" The infant yawned in response, "I've seen that tail, that hair before.. You're one of them say-yuns.." The infant, still incapable of actual response, simply continued to stare. 'Why would they send you here?' Gohan thought to himself as he studied the boy. The old man let out a heavy sigh, as he finally cradled the child against his body, much to the infants delight. He then took one last glance inside the pod, and noticed a folded piece of red cloth on the seat where the child had once been sitting. Gohan picked up the cloth and placed it on the inside of his Gi, finally deciding to head home with the infant child in his arms. Just before the pod was out of sight, the old man quickly turned on his heel and pointed his unburdened hand at the device, arm once again wreathed in electricity. "THUNDER SHOCK SURPRISE!" Gohan bellowed as the lightning cracked from his hand, striking the attack pod in an instant, destroying the device. The forest was bathed in an almost all consuming white light as the electricity met the pod, and the resounding explosion knocked over nearby trees and dispersed what animals that hadn't already fled the area. The old man turned away from the newly created smoking crater in the ground, and with the young saiyan cradled against him, made his way back home.
12 years later.
The sound of swift air movement was the only thing to alert Son Gohan that he was behind him. The old martial artist twisted on his left heel towards the noise and blocked an astonishingly fast kick, catching the foot of the attacker in the process. The old man pulled hard on the foot, bringing its small user over the old martial artist's body and straight into the ground. "Three more minutes, boy." Gohan grunted out sternly. The boy being mentioned freed himself from the earth and brushed the dirt off of his tattered dark purple gi. The boy who was no older than 12 stumbled to his feet, dazed from being slammed into the dirt. He glared at his mentor and settled into the stance the old man had drilled into him, doing everything in his power to ignore his nauseating dizziness and maintain focus. The boy gave his messy, black-haired head a quick shake before blurring towards his mentor. Deciding to use his short stature as an opening, the young fighter went low with a jab intended to hit his mentor in his right kidney. The punch was redirected by a slap to the wrist, sending the wild haired boy stumbling. Goku growled, following the stumble into a full body roll. The aged fighter watched mildly impressed as his apprentice followed the roll into a lunging kick, "Slow boy!" Gohan taunted as he tilted his head out of the way of an air borne kick that would have shattered his nose. The aged fighter seemingly teleported to the ground, and from his position lashed out with a leg that caught the attacking boy in the stomach. The blow launched the boy higher into the air, but instead of falling back towards the ground, the boy threw out his arms and completely halted his descent. "What now?" Gohan called from the ground, "Come! Let us finish this, Slow boy!" The boy had caught his breath again at that point, and the glare on his face became smoldering. The child's black eyes began to glow, and the spot that his master had been standing at erupted in a sudden explosion. The blast threw up dust into the air, obscuring the slow boy's opponent, and the open field they had been fighting in. "S-shoot!" The boy cursed as he began to run out of energy, and began to slowly descend into the dust cloud. Slow boy tried to sense his master's presence, but the toll of the fight rendered him too weak to even do so. Slow boy let out a cough, and his knees buckled as the dust cloud was instantaneously dispersed by a gust of wind. The source of the wind, his mentor, stood directly in front of him. The old man's shirt was partly burnt off, revealing scarred muscles underneath. The boy studied his mentors scars silently, before working up the confidence to meet the old man's eyes. Gohan glared down at him, and the boy returned the glare at the man between heavy breaths. "That's enough for today, Son Goku." The man said finally, causing Son Goku to pout, despite his fatigue. "Go wash up. I will prepare dinner soon." And with that, the old man walked back into the surrounding forest. Once Son Goku was sure his mentor had left the area, he finally let his legs give out and collapsed to the ground, face first.
When Goku finally gained enough energy to rise feet, the sun was beginning to set. The boy sniffed the air and let out a small grunt of annoyance as he began to make his way into the forest. After a couple minutes of walking through branches and bushes, the boy made his way to a small river. He stared at the lazy current, examining the vague outline of his form for a couple of minutes before stripping his clothes off and jumping in. After a minute of being completely submerged, Goku rose to the surface, shaking his wild hair like a dog. The young fighter sighed and grinned as the cool waters relaxed his muscles and soothed his bruised body. 'The old man has gotten stronger again,' the boy thought to himself as he allowed himself to float on his back,' I don't think he's ever knocked me on my butt that quick, and my new attack didn't even phase him!' Goku frowned and let out a small grunt, "I ain't no slow boy!..." He said aloud to himself, "I'm ... a fast boy, and...he's the slow boy!" The water splashed as the wild haired boy sat up, thrashing. "I'm a fast boy!" Goku declared, thrusting his fist into the air, "I'm the fastest boy around, this I SWEAR!"
By the time the boy had made his way home, his mentor had finished dinner and was now relaxing in the corner, eyes closed with a smoking pipe in his mouth. "Ah, Son." Gohan greeted warmly, "Come in boy, I just finished cooking. Tuna delight!" Goku entered their small abode, gave a quick bow to his mentor, and then quickly made himself a plate. As the young fighter scarfed his food down at their small dining table, his master watched him from the corner. The old man could tell the boy had something to say, so he sat in silence and waited. "I couldn't lay a single hit on you, master," the boy began, "My new technique, nothing…..! You're so strong.. And I'm not.. I'm not good enough." The aged fighter let out a sigh of smoke and closed his eyes, reflecting over his students words. "Son Goku." Upon hearing his full name being called, the young fighter looked up from his empty bowl, a small pout still on his face. "Yes, master?" The old man stared at him, the look on his face unlegible. "Why do want to be stronger than me?" The question actually surprised the young fighter, and he absentmindedly scratched the back of his head, thinking of a response. "I, um…. I just do." There was a silence, the master clearly wanting a more substantial response. "Ever since I first saw you training when I was little, I wanted to fight and be strong like you…. Stronger than you… I feel like if im not strong, I-I.." Gohan stood from his seat and went to look out the window, back turned towards his young ward. "That I've failed…" The boy concluded. The old man had always had his reservations about training the boy. He was an ill tempered and violent toddler, and the old man was worried that the traits would remain a constant throughout his life. The hermit refused to let this be the case however, and thoroughly disciplined the child. Intensive training and showing of dominance through strength is what kept the young alien in line, whether he knew it or not. A long moment of silence passed, leading to the young alien to believe he had said something to upset his master. "M-master, if-I meant no disrespect I-" The old man raised his hand, silencing the child. He then turned to face his adopted student, and their eyes met. "As long as you fight yourself, you will never surpass me."
After the conversation concluded, the two prepared for bed. Master and student had settled into their respective cots and the lights were out, but the younger fighter found himself restless. "Master Gohan?" There was a minute of silence before his master responded with a deep and tired, "what?" Not wanting to upset his mentor, he answered quickly and honestly. "Master what do you fight for?" The old man's eyes shot open, and sorrowful memories caused the scars that decorated his skin to cry out at once. The horror of invasion and the conquering of his world made him fight. The eradication of half the population made him fight. But the death of his master and fellow peer had all but knocked the fight out of him. 'That was so long ago… over two decades now,' Gohan mused to himself. Life on Earth had adjusted to Frieza rule well enough not to be completely wiped out, which was a small victory in itself to the old martial artist. "I fight for what's left of Earth, I suppose," the old man said morosely.