I do not own Dragon Ball Z, any of it's characters and any other property.
Chapter 4
It was the day after Goten, and Chi-Chi visited the Brief family. Gohan had spent the whole day training before they came home, and his body was completely sore. When the two of them had left he contacted Piccolo telepathically to inform him that he could finally get a real day of training done. Piccolo had flown down from the Lookout to meet Gohan in their usual training location and they began. He hadn't had the opportunity to train that much in one day in years and it showed. During their spar, it seemed like Piccolo was able to keep up with him and land hits that Gohan would otherwise be able to dodge. The lack of serious training seemed to be taking its toll, Piccolo couldn't defeat Gohan while he was in his Super Saiyan form, but it was closer than it should've been. Obviously if Gohan transformed into a Super Saiyan 2 he could've ended the fight quickly, but that wouldn't have been much use. In the morning he had sluggishly gotten out of bed and prepared for the day. When he was given time to go outside along with Goten he didn't particularly feel like training today.
Out by a lake was Gohan and Goten, with fishing rods in hand relaxing and trying to catch some fish to eat. When he was alive, Goku would always take Gohan fishing and so Gohan decided it'd be a good idea to bring his little brother with him and enjoy some time together. The lake they were at was surrounded by trees and the water was a deep blue, it was one of his favorite fishing spots. When they had to catch fish for food, Gohan would usually just dive down in the water and catch the fish with his bare hands, but right now he wanted to have some fun.
Goten reeled back in the line and cast it back out, the bait hitting the water and causing it to ripple across the lake. Ever since yesterday he's been thinking about what Trunks said. The idea of training with his big brother was awesome and getting to fight Trunks was too. Him and Trunks would be able to get stronger together and help save people. Gohan always told stories about their father. How he had destroyed the Red Ribbon Army when he was just a kid. How he defeated Demon King Piccolo not long after. Fought evil space aliens on another planet, becoming a warrior of legend, the fabled Super Saiyan.
He wanted to be just like him. That desire to help others must have passed down to him, just like it had been passed to Gohan. He knew Gohan was strong as well. He had heard about him saving the world from some green monster named Cell, but some weird guy with an afro had made the world believe he had done it instead.
Goten knew his brother still tried to train himself as much as he could. When he had found him out in the woods a long time ago, he had asked him about it. Gohan had told him, but asked he not tell their mother because she wouldn't like him doing that. That's what he was worried about, he definitely did not want to get his mom mad at him. Broken out of his thoughts, he feels his line being tugged and the pole started bending. He jerked the fishing pole to the side and started reeling it in.
"Hey nice job Goten, you hooked one!" his brother Gohan called
The fish didn't put up much of a fight, and Goten was able to pull the fish up to the bank they were standing on. It was about ten inches long and it was flopping around on the ground. Goten walked towards it and dropped his fishing rod to the ground. He grabbed the fish with one hand and pried the hook from the fish's mouth with the other.
"That's a decent sized one Goten way to go!" Gohan said enthusiastically. "You should set it back in the water soon, there's much bigger fish in here we could catch for food." All the time he's spent out here, he knows how big some of the fish living in this lake could be. Some were bigger than Goten down there they could be lucky enough to snag.
Goten nodded and looked down at the fish was last time before carefully setting the fish back in the water. As soon as he let go, the fish shot off further into the lake. Goten picked up his fishing rod and walked a few feet to a different spot on the bank. He put on some new bait and reeled it in a bit. In one fluid motion he pulled back his arms and swung them back forward casting out the line once again.
Back to thinking about ways to ask Gohan to train him, without their mom finding out, he doesn't notice Gohan talking to him.
Gohan hears his brother's fishing rod whine as the line is being dragged by another fish that had taken the bait. He looks over at Goten but sees him not doing anything to try and catch it. "Goten, you're going to let that fish get away if you don't do something soon." Goten still doesn't do anything and is just standing still, seemingly lost in thought, oblivious to the world around him.
Worrying, Gohan walks over to his little brother and puts a hand on his head. "Hello? Earth to Goten." Finally, noticing his older brother and the fish dragging his line he starts to reel it in but soon enough the hook comes undone and it gets away.
"I wasn't paying attention." Goten pouts and reels back in his line. He looks over at his brother who's still standing next to him with a quizzical look on his face. "What's wrong Gohan?" He asks
Gohan shakes his head, "Nothing is wrong squirt, but it looked like you were thinking about something and you let that fish get away." Goten nods his head. "So, what was it?"
Goten looks back up and asks, "What was what?"
"What were you thinking about just now?" Seeing his younger brother start getting a little nervous, he ruffles his hair and says, "Don't be nervous Goten. You can tell me anything, whatever you need, I'm there for you."
Hearing those encouraging words, Goten decides to ask him about it. He thinks that there's no better time than now to bring it up and speaks up. "Well, you know how mom and I went to Trunks' house yesterday?" Gohan nods in affirmation and he continues, "We were upstairs in his room playing some video games, and he asked me if you trained me. He said his dad started training him a few months ago and he thought it'd be a good idea if I started training with you. Trunks and I could spar together whenever we hang out and it'd be so much fun. You could teach me all you know, and we could spend even more time together."
Gohan starts thinking it over in his head. He's thought about this before, but he's been putting it off for a couple reasons. One is his mom, and the second is he doesn't want his brother to go through the things he did. Gohan had a rough childhood, having to train rigorously to survive all those fights him, and his friends were involved in. Eventually he did want to start training his brother, but only when he was older. "Maybe Goten, when you're older, but for now why don-"
Goten cuts him off before he can continue any further. "No Gohan, I want to start training now. Learning to fight and being able to do the things you do would be awesome. You've told me stories about dad, about how he helped people whenever he could. He would try his best to save them and make their lives better. That's what I want to do, I want to be a hero just like you and dad."
Gohan is taken back by how determined he is about this. Hearing his younger brother say he wants to be a hero just like him and their dad causes his eyes to tear up but doesn't allow them to fall. How can he say no now? His brother looks up to him and making him wait would just make Goten unhappy. Smiling widely, he chooses to help him out. He gets on a knee and hugs his brother tightly. "Alright then. If you want to train together, we can, but remember we can't let mom know about this." He lets go of Goten and looks at him.
Jumping up and down, Goten yells out, "Yay! We're going to have so much fun; I'll get even stronger than Trunks!" Giving Gohan another hug to show is appreciation.
Gohan laughs a little, picks up his brother and stands up, placing Goten on his shoulder. "Yes, we will, but I want you to know before we start that sometimes it won't be fun, and when we're done after each day you'll be tired and worn out."
"That's okay, I'll do whatever it takes to be as strong as you!"
Gohan gathers their fishing rods and leaves the lake with Goten on his shoulder. He takes him to his usual training spot and sets Goten back down on the ground. "We're here, now we need to get you in a gi so you don't mess your clothes up." He points his finger at Gohan, charges up some ki and releases, a bright light covers Goten and when it vanishes, he's standing there in an orange and blue gi, very reminiscent of their father's, but instead of short blue sleeves, Goten is wearing a long blue sleeved undershirt. After that, Gohan changes his own clothes into his usual training outfit.
"Now how should I start this. I've never actually done this before." Gohan starts muttering to himself, but Goten can still hear him. Gohan eyes light up as he gets an idea, "Maybe I should get Piccolo down here and help." After saying that his shoulders slump a bit, "No, he'd probably just toss Goten at a mountain to make him unlock his ki."
Goten hears this and starts freaking out. "WHAT?! Throw me at a mountain, please, please, please don't do that, that would really hurt!" Goten has seen Piccolo a few times training with Gohan. To him and many others, Piccolo scares him a bit based off his appearance. Knowing what Piccolo would do to him amplified that fear a bit.
Gohan turns to his brother and sees the fearful expression on his face and tries to calm him down. "No! Don't worry Goten, he wouldn't do that." Thinking to himself, 'At least I hope he'd have changed training methods by now' He proceeds to explain himself to Goten, "I was just brainstorming some ideas. Piccolo was the one that trained me, and was thinking about having him help me out, but not just yet. I'll teach you some of the basics first before I have him teach you some of what he knows." Gohan sits down on the grass and crosses his legs. He motions for Goten to do the same, before explaining what they're going to do.
"I'm ready, what are you gonna teach me first?" Goten asks excitedly
A smile appears on Gohan's face seeing how eager his brother is to get started. "Since we don't have much time left before we need to get home, I think I'll teach you how to bring out your ki first. For most people, learning how to use their ki might take a long time, but since you and I are half saiyan, it comes more naturally to us." He moves his hands close together and cups them, with his palms facing to the sky. A second later, a ball of ki appears. "This is just a small bit of ki that I pulled out. So, to do this, you need to close your eyes and keep yourself completely calm. Then you need to search within yourself, and find your ki, once you do that all you need to do is bring it out."
"Yes, sir!" Goten follows Gohan's lead by cupping his hands out in front of him. Ten minutes go by, and as what happened to Gohan earlier, a small ball of ki appears in Goten's hands.
"Okay Goten, you can open your eyes now." He does and once he sees the ball of ki in his hands a giant smile forms on his face.
"I did it, I did it!" Goten shouts out in delight
"Of course, you did, I knew you could do it. Now what I want you to do is to add a little more of your ki into that ball. After that, aim your hand at the tree over to your right. Release the energy from your hand and you'll have fired your first ki blast."
A few seconds later, Goten raises one arm and aims his hand toward the tree on the right. He narrows his eyes in concentration and releases the energy from his hand. The ball of ki flies through the air heading directly for the tree. When it makes contact, a small explosion occurs, gathering dust and dirt around where it hit, concealing the tree from their vision. When the dust clears, the tree isn't there anymore, as Goten's blast completely obliterated it.
"That was so cool!" Goten says
"Yeah, that was pretty great." Gohan replies. 'Man, I didn't think that he'd shoot a blast that strong, I thought he'd make a hole in the tree at most, not destroy it entirely.' Clearing his throat, he gains Goten's attention. "That was good Goten, but we'll need to get you to master your ki control. As you can see, it can be dangerous if enough energy is gathered in one blast."
Goten smiles at his brother before responding, "I'll be careful. I'm gonna try my best to get really good at it."
Gohan smiles gently back and says, "I know you will. Now what I want you to do before time runs out is to keep bringing out your ki and keep it in check. If you throw any ki blasts, make sure they're weaker than the one you just made, we wouldn't want to run out of trees around here would we?"
A few days had gone by, and Gohan has taught Goten more about ki control. He can form ki blasts with ease, and even fly a bit, but he can't fly long distances yet. He's having some trouble with focusing and maintaining a consistent amount of hi underneath him to aid him in flight. Today, Gohan decides to start teaching him the basics of the Turtle Style of martial arts. It was the first style their father learned and so Gohan thought it would be fitting for it to be the first one that Goten learns as well.
In the woods the two could be seen flowing through the motions of a basic kata. Gohan standing in front of Goten so his little brother could follow along with his movements. They two had started about an hour ago.
Turning his hips and throwing a fist out, Goten asks "Hey Gohan, when do you think we could spar?"
"Not for a couple more days, squirt. I want you to have some of the basics down before we begin. Then after that we can spar. That's what we will probably do most of the time." Gohan replies, sending out a kick with his left leg, and Goten following a long.
"I was wondering…"
"Yeah, what's up?" Gohan says
"Whenever I hang out with Trunks, he always says his dad is the strongest in the world, but I don't think that's true. You were the one who saved the world from that Cell monster, not Mr. Vegeta." Goten says
Gohan smiles proudly, and puffs out his chest a bit, "That's right Goten. I'm still the strongest in the world. It's true that Vegeta is really powerful, he's a Super Saiyan as well, but I unlocked a transformation that he doesn't have. It's called Super Saiyan 2, and when I transform, my power skyrockets, my hair gets spikier, and electricity surrounds me."
"Wow! I want to be a Super Saiyan 2 someday!" Goten says cheerfully
"If you put in the work, I'm sure you will be one day."
Gravity Room at Capsule Corp.
Just the same as every day, Vegeta is undergoing rigorous training by himself. Wearing his blue spandex suit and saiyan armor, a golden haired Vegeta is throwing punches and kicks at an invisible enemy. He hasn't left for days now. Bulma has started getting worried seeing him torture his body on his conquest to find greater power. With the cameras on the walls of the room, she's able to monitor him and she frequently watches to see if he's still going.
"Hey Vegeta." A voice calls out
He stops what he's doing and looks around at the empty gravity room. "Who's there? Show yourself before I blast you into oblivion." He turns around in a circle one more time to see once again he's all alone. 'Now I'm hearing things. I can't stop until I reach the second level. For a second there it almost sounded li—'
"Vegeta. Behind you." The voice says to him again.
Vegeta whirls around quickly to see who is there before they can vanish again. His eyes widen in shock when he sees who stands before him. His eternal rival, Goku. "What?! Impossible, you're dead." He says shakily
Goku smirks at him, "Just wanted to check in on you. See how weak you are." His smirk widens when he sees the angry expression on Vegeta's face. "Just as I thought, still weaker than me. You know you'll never catch up. My son and I will always be one step ahead of you."
"Don't make me laugh, that half breed of a son of yours barely trains as it is. I doubt you have gotten much stronger since you died." Vegeta replies
Goku grunts and immediately he transforms. Instead of the normal Super Saiyan form, his hair is spiked up even more. There are two bangs hanging off on each side of his head, while one larger one in the middle, falling right in front of his eyes. "Is that a fact?" Seeing the dumbstruck look on Vegeta's face and starts laughing.
"Don't you dare mock me!" Vegeta charges up his ki, a bright golden aura encircles his body and flares outward. He charges at Goku, launching a punch aimed at his face. Goku, dodges with ease, titling his head to the side. Vegeta attempts to uppercut him, but once again Goku dodges.
Goku moves to the side and backflips away. Landing on his feet, he looks directly at Vegeta, raising one arm and gestures for him to try again. "C'mon Vegeta, is that all you've got. I don't think you can even hit me." Enraged, Vegeta unleashes a large ki wave at him, but Goku phases away appearing in the air. The saiyan prince rockets off the ground to once again attempt to beat his rival into the ground.
"Damn it! Stop moving would you!" He sends a barrage of punches at Goku, but all of them miss. Goku moving just in time to dodge and keeping Vegeta from landing a hit.
Laughing in his face, Goku says, "What is this pathetic excuse of a fight, is this all you've got? I thought you were the prince of all saiyans. Someone as weak as you doesn't deserve that title. How could you let a third class like me surpass you?"
Screaming in rage, Vegeta sends a roundhouse kick right at his opponent's head, but that too misses. Panting from exhaustion, Vegeta lands on the tile floor of the gravity room. "Fuck you, Kakarot!" His aura flares out wildly, increasing in size. Gritting his teeth, he gets up into a powering up stance. He clenches his fists and bends his knees. "I'll show you what the prince of all saiyans can do! I'll show everyone! Your brat won't be the strongest warrior in the universe for long!"
Vegeta lets out a roar, powering up as much as possible. The whole room starts shaking, and the gravity machine display starts going out of control. His body starts aching in pain. The amount of ki he's outputting is more than he's ever done. A brief streak of electricity flashes by him. He can feel the barrier to the next level. 'It's right there! I can sense it!' He pushes through the pain to go even further. He needs to do this; he's never been closer to unlocking the next level than now. Screaming out in pain and desperation for one final time, he smashes through that barrier within himself, and the amount of ki he's outputting multiplies. A bright flash of light engulfs the entirety of the room, completing the transformation. Standing there taking deep breaths, is Vegeta as a Super Saiyan 2. His hair standing up firmer, and bolts of electricity encircles his golden aura.
"I've finally done it!" Letting out a laugh, before he turns around, he says, "Prepare yourself Kakarot!" He sees no one. He's all alone in the gravity room once again. "What? What the hell is going on?" He asks himself out loud. Turning from side to side to make sure to try and make sense of what's happening. He clenches his fist and flexes his arms. 'My power is unbelievable! It won't be much longer until I fight that brat to claim my right as the strongest saiyan alive. He better not disappoint.'