Hello! Son Gohan and his friends. Babidi Saga (Chapter 15)
?
I'm going to be completely honest, I have no idea who this guy is.
Three men stood with stoicism on a desolate planet. Dark clouds hovered above and terrifying purple lightning tore across the sky. The thunderous rampage roared, screaming across the vast stretch of wetted stone chasms. One of the men looked very regal, dressed in well ornamented navy blue robes in a wizard like appearance. He also wielded a silver staff adorned with a ruby orb at its apex. His pale white skin was contrasted harshly with his shock of maroon spiked hair.
"Go on!" The regal man waved his staff and looked towards the smallest of the three, he seemed to have a great deal of malice in his eyes.
"Uh~ yes, Lord Demigra." The small wrinkly mustard coloured creature whimpered out in a nasally voice.
The yellow imp waved its hands with sparkling blue colours. The creature wore orange robes with a sky blue skirt. He possessed a belt buckle segmenting his bottom and top half. A black and curved stylised M shined in the purple rays of the planet.
KA~KOooOOOOOoooooOOOOMMMM!
The thunder roared and roared off in the distance as heavy droplets of rain pounded into the three men's robes over and over again. The slick stone was dripped to the jagged edges, marinating in the constant barrage of rain drizzling the planetoid over and over again. The wear and tear the atmosphere caused the rocky cliffs etched in permanent fissures and crevices, forcing the trio of interesting-looking individuals to meander carefully, lest they get their foot caught in one of the many openings.
"I'm not seeing a lot prooogressss, Babidi!" Demigra rang out in a commanding yet mocking tone, cracking his knuckles in the air.
"My apologies, sire! Buu had not been awakened for hundreds upon hundreds of years! You must be patient."
"I've waited plenty long, Babidi. Are you really related to Bibidi? He would never make me wait so."
"Of course, sire! I would never do anything to ruin his reputation!" Babidi shot glances back at Demigra as he fiddled with the large plain gravestone in front of him.
The gravestone was somehow unaffected, drenched, sure, impossible not to be under these conditions, but there was no sign of any affectation other than the appearance of liquid dripping down its face. It had no cracks, no indentations, perfectly pristine and shining under the lightning's throes. Just a slimy wet tomb with mysterious letters at the bottom. Babidi chanted out an ethereal incantation and his eyes shined brightly.
"His energy is…" The other man finally spoke.
"Astounding."
"Yes, your majesty, Babidi really is something."
The tomb's lid shot up from out of the ground and bursted into nothing. What looked like a yellow pulsating mound of gum or taffy surged with ooze and pink lights.
"Your majesty!"
"Fantastic! Ahh-ha-hahahahaha!" He laughed with a pompous air, his weighty red hairdo flailing wildly under the pressure of the wild winds of the crevice-laden land of storms..
Babidi smiled wide.
"Curse these fools! I've been waiting to awaken Majin Buu! Demigra might be a God but he has no idea the true scope of Buu's power!" The thoughts raced through his mind. "MAJIN BUU! ARIIIIIISE!"
Ka-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!
At that moment purple lightning struck the gooey sphere of flesh and pink lights shot back, tainting the line of electricity and lashing back with its own. Hot pink reverberated into the air and pushed back the group in a devastating flash.
Za-VWEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~
Babidi stood still, the massive concussive force not seeming to impact him at all. Demigra and the other large creature were thrust to the wayside.
"Majin Buu truly is strong…" Demigra looked on in awe as the pink glow gleaming from the tomb.
Standing up with his staff, Demigra sharpened his focus. The purple light shined for a moment as another lightning strike touched down near the trio. Crimson dots floated from the orb atop his staff and the regal lord also chanted an incantation.
"From this time I am not, and for this time you shall reign! Majin Buu! Receive the energies of your incarnation from the nearest timelines!" Swirling red particles spun around Demigra's staff and launched at the pink glow.
A tightly packed banana yellow creature rose from the grave. His white pants wavered in the wind intensely. The red sparkles of energy impacted Buu and Babidi looked back with malice.
"What are you doing!? Buu is my creature!"
"Not anymore, Babidi! He's mine to-"
The newly summoned creature looked down at his yellow boxing gloves before blasting a turquoise static-like ray at Demigra with a whipping headbang. Demigra's eyes sharpened and he hit his regal staff against the wet canyon stone effective immediately. Red runic symbols shot out in every direction and covered the space he inhabited in a gigantic clock that surrounded the entire raining rocky plateau of a 'planet'. Time slowed to a crawl as the beam impacted him. Demigra looked down at his right hand. It had turned into a brown substance of some sort and the alteration spell traveled up his arm quickly.
"What is this!?" He cried out in his mind.
Demigra took his staff and shot out a focused red laser, slicing his arm off in a flourish, red liquid spraying in slow particles. His brown statuesque forearm floated up limply at a snail's pace. Demigra looked to Babidi's agonisingly slow cackles and then to the skinny abomination known as Buu. The brown substance didn't falter and commanded Demigra's attention.
"What!?"
The brown matter stopped his wound cold and then traveled up his being like a ravenous virus, eating up his body faster than the rain slowly cascading onto the stone. Even though he had cut off the portion of his arm before it had gotten to that point, whatever the beam or spell was, endeavored to keep pressure, continuing to mount. The brown substance caught his attention at its smell alone.
"Is that chocolate?"
Demigra peered at the top of his staff which had beads of sand draining from it.
"Damn it! I wasted too much! I'll just have to reverse it!"
He slammed the staff down in a slow motion maneuver as fast as he possibly could.
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~Dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!
The red sand particles shook slowly as the brown matter covered his vision on the right side.
"Faster! Faster! Come on!"
The enormous crimson clock shaped rune binding the planet reversed exactly one minute, clicks and clocks playing out as the hand shifted along the spell.
"-ome ON!" He shouted out loudly, beading with cold sweat.
Babidi and the other man looked on with raised brows. The yellow imp continued his incantations as the other man questioned:
"Sire?"
"Buu is unreliable, we're out, Dabura!" Demigra grabbed hold of the red demon and slammed his staff to the ground once more before teleporting lines drew over their position and the pair disappeared.
The decision would prove to be a smart one for who I now know is Demigra. That is the man Chronoa has been designated to defeat. And he wanted Majin Buu? Interesting.
Hello?
Oh~ Chronoa? How are you? Your hair looks amazing.
Thank you~ You're being too modest, you always look rather dashing yourself.
Hnn-Hnn-Hnn. To what pleasure do I have speaking with you?
Demigra has control over time, he's infinitely stronger than I am outside of The Time Nest.
Right. I think I knew that.
The reason you didn't know what he looked like is because he has the power to erase that time from history.
That's why I couldn't go searching for him on my staff, then.
Correct. Well… expect my boys to come and help out if this Majin Buu situation gets too dire.
I'm going to be honest, Chronoa, I think Beerus wants it to get out of hand so that he can fight Majin Buu. The poor thing.
"You're getting Buu on that thing?"
"Mmhmm. He's right here."
"Okay, I might actually watch this one."
"Finally! I'll go get the popcorn!"
"You always put way too much salt in there! Slow it down this time will you!?"
"On it!"
"Could you say Ah-hem for the viewers!?"
"What viewers?"
"I'm always streaming Son Goku and friends!"
"Those Earthlings are fighting Buu!?"
"Yes! You remembered!"
"Ah-hem for the viewers. Alright, does Whis ever get comments on this thing?" I said as I waved the staff around and looked at the camera. "Hi camera! Lord Beerus doesn't care about the 4th wall, I'm a God after all!"
Who's this midget? I bet he's whack.
Babidi raised a brow as the pair fled into the aether, leaving behind nothing but the howling winds and pouring rain. He turned back with a smile and conjured the spell in his hands, blue arcs of mystical aura winding around his fingertips and wrists.
Is he the one reviving Buu?
The ground quaked in the wake of his intense magic and the lid of the tomb popped high into the air before getting struck by lightning.
Oh shit! That was hype!
"MAJIN BUU! ARIIIIIISE!"
A pink cone of light shot out from the depths and it caused a massive bang to ring out through the air. The canyons erupted, jumping up and down at the power's release. The red surging aura of Demigra's influence Still on the creature, an red pulsating hourglass shape taking form over before dissipating in the pouring rain.
Da-DOOOOOMMM!
Okay! Tell the people, Buu!
A yellow malnourished looking creature rose to the surface. He wore a black vest with gold trim. He matched the trim with a gold belt buckle, sharing the same M Babidi had on his attire and gold boxing gloves as well as boots. His white parachute pants and deep navy blue cape flailed wildly in the sharp winds the planet provided.
Welcome back.
"Yes! YESS! Buu!" Babidi cackled loudly as the lightning thundered. "We will now resume our plan!"
Buu cracked his neck and looked sharply to the uneven, crooked, cracked, wet ground in front of him. The single floppy antenna atop his head wiggled around as he shot look after look about the place.
"Bibidi…" He finally let out.
"I am not Bibidi. I am Babidi."
Buu furrowed his thick yellow brows, glaring down at the mustard coloured goblin, about the same size as the green fellow he knew long ago but far more wrinkly. He also didn't wear a black cap nor was the same colour. Buu craned his neck over.
"..."
"He Sealed me."
"..."
"I Didn't Like That."
"Buu, you can cooperate or I will force you into completing my objective."
The yellow ghoul rushed Babidi as the rain pittered off the rock, ricocheting once or twice off each surface as a glow enveloped Buu's forehead, the magic M drawing into place.
"RAGHHH!" Buu shouted as he stopped short of caving the little goblin's head in. "RRRRRR~"
No matter how much things change, some things are destined to stay the same.
"Beeeeeeeeeruuuuuuuuss! I made sure not to put too much salt on it this tiiiiiiiiiime!"
"The butter?"
"You know it!"
"The boba?"
"Right here!"
"Yuh, that's my shit!"
"Mmhmm. Well… Aren't you going to say Ah-hem to the viewers?"
"Nah, I'm taking sippies."
"Fine!"
"Ah-hem."
"YOU WRETCH! I'll Kill You!"
"You can go ahead and try, Buu, but let me get one thing straight. My objective is the only thing that matters. It just so happens that you're on the way."
"..." The characteristic hot steam chimneyed out of the yellow ghoul's orifices, clashing with the cold wet air of the crevices, sizzling against the water as he shook with unbridled rage.
"My father promised that he'd get you your wish. Over these many years I have cultivated a spell that should break any Guardian's Lookout Barrier."
"..." The teakettle whistle that accompanied his smoke died down as it did, his thick veins receding back into his skin-and-bone body.
"You want to fight Kami? So be it." Babidi remarked as he spawned a spellbook of sorts, an ethereal green barrier forming around it so as not to get soaked under the pelting arrows of rainwater.
Vyuoinn~
In his other hand spawned a crystal ball. Within it was a litany of names, stars, celestial bodies, constellations, asteroid belts, and planets.
"You know the way, don't you, Buu?"
Buu stepped forward and placed his finger over his forehead.
Vwa-Vuish!
Ksssssssss~
KSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Gohan
Gohan walked into the school as usual, looking around at the many inhabitants prowling the halls and fiddling with their locker combinations. By himself that day, Gohan filed into the seat at the top without Erasa or Sharpner.
"Are they gonna be late?" He questioned aloud as other students started to take their seats one by one.
The son of Son Goku tapped his fingernail on the desk and waited with a dash of impatience, eyes out the large window on the right side. Before he knew it Erasa entered the classroom.
"Hey~" She sassed, sitting down to his right.
"Where's Sharpner?"
"Beats me, I'm not his mom." She said as she leaned back and yawned.
Gohan kept eyes locked on the door with his head on his hand before the bell ultimately rang, signaling class to start.
Bu-Bo-Be-Bu-Bu-Be-Bo-Bu~
"Mornin'!"
"Morning!"
Gohan was the only one in the classroom spirited enough to shout. Everyone else was dog tired or too numb to function.
Erasa snickered at Gohan's volume.
"Someone's an early bird. Keep that withya' kid. Thassan' asset."
Class went on as normal until Sharpner finally arrived about halfway through the period.
Chucggle~Chuckle~Shuggle~
"Look what we have hea'." Konkichi stated with a sly smirk as the blonde youth attempted to turn the door handle from the outside with no success. "I think we got ourselves a late one. Class started 30 minutes ago, Brotha'! Whattayou doin' out dea'!?"
"Uhh, not a whole lot. Just trying to turn this doorknob, brah."
"It's locked!"
The class laughed at his misfortune.
"I can see that."
"Howa' you gettin in here den'?"
"Maybe if you unlock it, I could-"
"I don't know~ maybe you shoulda' got in class on time, Brotha'."
"Noted."
Sharpner just left the premises, much to Gohan's dismay.
"Aww man~"
"How long have you guys known each other? You seem pretty bummed out."
"Met him yesterday." Gohan replied as Konkichi went on about this and that.
"Huh. You make friends fast, don't you?"
"..? I guess so. My mother and my father always told me to be nice to others so… I guess it just works out that way."
"Youa' all senias so in this class we're not really gonna be coverin' English in the 'how do I spell dis hea'' kinda way. We're gonna do a lot of readin' and a lot of analysin'! So~"
The green fox pointed up at the board in front as an image displayed on the screen.
"Can someone tell me what connotations this word has?"
Sharpner stealthed around on the grass outside, avoiding teachers like the plague as he stuck firm to the brick walls. He shielded himself with trees and shrubbery trying to make his way to the window. Like an animal stalking its prey, the blonde teen hobbled around, slipping his way into position as he hid behind a particularly big tree near the red brick of the outside wall.
"This is it, right?" He furrowed his brow at the window and checked to see how clear the coast was.
No teachers on the field.
Sharpner backed up to get a full view of the classroom. The window side wall was elaborately designed, having an escalating window that looked to be in the shape of stairs. Unfortunately while the lad had looked out for teachers on the field, the fact that he was on the window side meant that the teachers could see him if they were looking.
He got lucky.
"Okay!" He hyped himself up as he saw a nearby tree.
The man athletically leaped onto the tree and then jumped onto the wall, catching it with a very tight grip.
"Oh shit~" He let out unintentionally as his foot caught the brick just wrong, scraping it on his sneaker in a smeary mark.
Skfuff~
Erasa widened her eyes as she saw the boy struggle from just below the window. She almost freaked but kept it cool, putting her hands on either side and opening up the window.
"Gohan."
"..?"
She didn't say anything else, only nodding her head to the window. The son of Son Goku pulled up and laughed his ass off at Sharpner climbing the outside, everyone in Konkichi's English class giving the pair the side eye as Erasa' couldn't contain her laughter either.
"Way to blow my cover, dude!" Sharpner couldn't help but chuckle out himself as Erasa and Gohan pulled him through and into the room.
FWOMPP!
Sharpner shot up quickly, pretending that it didn't hurt at all, red cheeks lying for him.
"Da nose didn't know dis time. I gotta give it up. Hey! Galaxy Brain!"
"Heh-Hah~" Sharpner laughed as he popped a seat in the very back next to Gohan. "Yeah?"
"Nice thinkin', welcome back."
"Good to be back, brah. What are we learning?"
The class reverberated in whispers as the three students in the back laughed it up like clowns.
"How'd you get up here? It's a pretty long way."
"Lots of practice. I do gymnastics too, ya know. Most people think it's a girl's sport but I mean~ they're kind of right and I started doing it so I could look at girls butts but it's actually pretty cool."
Erasa giggled dumbly as did Gohan.
"What are you guys doing after school? I don't got anything lined up."
Erasa raised a brow, looking at Gohan. Gohan did the same, shifting his gaze from the girl to the inquisitor.
"I… uh… I don't Think I'm doing anythin-"
Wssst! Whapp!
Gohan barely dodged a book thrown at him from the podium.
"Eyes up, Brotha'! What connotations and meanings does 'Cap' have!?"
"Uhh~ It's an item you wear on your head..?" Gohan stated matter-of-factly as he took off and showed his own Titans cap.
"And?"
"Uhhh~"
Sharpner chipped in to help a brother out.
"And it means to call someone out for lying! When someone says something that's not true you call cap on it."
"True, true, but did I ask you, Galaxy Brain?"
"... Nah. You didn't."
"Then I think I made my point."
"It was my bad tho, Mr. Konkichi. I was talking to them so they were just responding."
Erasa shot a glance over Sharpner's way as he explained his situation before sitting back down.
"At least youse honest. Now I don't mind jokestas or clowns, but we've got lessons to get through, understand?"
Sharpner nodded from the top row.
"Good."
"Wait, I thought you couldn't see?" He joked back from the top, causing a bit of a stir.
"I was just fuckin' with yas. Alright, next word."
The class bellowed out in laughs and class soon ended, the characteristic ring of Orange Star High School's bell tolled and told the students to find their next period.
"We'll see what's up at lunch!" Sharpner yelled at Erasa and Gohan as he was swallowed up in the crowd.
"For sure!" She yelled back before waving off to Gohan and disappearing herself.
Gohan walked by his lonesome to his class, a few passing thoughts while en route.
"That Videl girl seems to not like me very much… Am I just annoying her or is there something else going on? Maybe I'll just leave her alone for a bit."
Gohan was about to enter through the doorframe but was stopped as Videl looked to enter it at the same time. The two hit a double take before she adamantly stepped through, making a point to frown, huff, and bat her pigtails at him.
"Oh great… I don't think she's kidding. She really Doesn't like me." Gohan laughed it off as he entered the classroom. "Oh well." He reiterated with a shrugging of the shoulders and a few chuckles as he made his way up the steps.
"Bold…"
"He's doing it again."
"Did you not see how she entered class?"
"This guy is tough."
"Ohr~Huh-Ha~ stupid."
Of course, Videl and Gohan sat next to each other for two whole days in a row. Videl blushed and kept her gaze forward at the chalkboard.
"Does anyone know what this is?" The teacher asked, fixing his round glasses and peering out into the class as he projected something onto a pull-down screen.
Gohan raised his hand, and seeing how he was the only one to do so, was called on effective immediately.
"Yes?"
"Aren't those The Kyodai Pyramids?"
"Yes! By jove, you've got it right!" The man seemed unnecessarily excited. "Do you know who was buried there?"
"If I remember correctly it was Pharaoh… Toten… hotep?" Gohan cringed out half way through, shrugging his shoulders a bit.
"Correct again! Looks like we have someone in here who actually knows how to read! This is Son Gohan everyone, he was the only student to score perfect on his entrance exams!"
The class stared daggers at him and he just waved back. Videl retreated inwards as eyes on Gohan were inadvertently eyes on her as well.
"I went on an expedition here a few years back but I fear in my old age I'm not cracked up to be out in the field. So I switched to teaching~"
Dr. Challenger left out a few details for fear of no one believing his crazy story and the equally harsh reality of no one caring.
"Sharpner, Erasa, and I are trying to get together and do something after school today. Are you interested?"
"..."
"Come on, at least say something. I don't mind if you say no."
"Hang out with you? I'll pass."
"... Why do you push people away?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said it. I can maybe see why you don't want my attention because I'm a little loud but Sharpner's been nothing but nice to you and you're still really cold to him."
"I just met you guys."
"I just met Sharpner and Erasa too and they're both really nice people."
All the girls in the class tuned out of the professor's words and right into Videl and Gohan's. The whispers were in number enough to not be so quiet anymore.
"Look. I'm not interested in hanging out, got it!?"
"Cool. That's all I wanted to hear."
"Who is this guy!?" One of the girl's shouted lowly.
"He's just tanking the hits like it's nothing!"
"I don't think I've ever seen someone stand up to Videl like that!"
Videl and Gohan sat next to each other for the rest of class, tolerating each other's existence enough to get through it.
As the bell rang, Gohan shot up and stretched it out. The class stomped out into the halls and the pair walked to the cafeteria in pace with each other. Many people from all around the school (mostly the girls) gabbed it up as they actually saw a guy standing next to Videl for extended periods of time.
"Whoa~"
"Who is that dude?"
"Yo! That's the guy who was jumping on the tables yesterday!"
"Bruh."
The two paid for their meals and walked out onto the grass, Erasa shouting at them as they walked through the double doors into the outside.
"Heyyy!" She shouted before giggling.
"I know we haven't made plans yet, but Videl's not coming." Gohan started with as he sat down with his tray.
"What!? Why not?"
"..." Videl just frowned, gripping her apple tightly before making a few low-key facial expressions.
"Ohhh~ be right back!" Erasa shouted as she grabbed Videl's hand and ran into the cafeteria with her.
"Hey ladies." Sharpner waved at them as he passed through. "So?"
"I mean yeah. I got nothing to do. I can hang out. I just gotta text my mom first."
"Knnn~" Sharpner just about snorted a line with his chortle before he busted out laughing. "Are you for real, brah!?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're an adult! Make your own plans!"
"No I'm not. I don't live on my own yet." Gohan replied as he sat up against the tree, typing in something on his phone.
"Yo…" Sharpner furrowed his brow. "I didn't expect HomeSchool to have the newest phone on the market…" He ruminated. "You got Capsule Corp. money, brah?" He nudged Gohan in the elbow before belting out a surfer-brah laugh.
"No. I just know Bulma."
His eyes just about shot out of their head.
"You know Bulma!?"
"Mmhmm. My little brother is best friends with her son."
"You're cappin'!"
Gohan just shrugged it off and went right back to messaging Chi-Chi.
Videl and Erasa discussed plans in the bathroom, the blonde girl caressing her jawline and gazing deeply into her pores with an inquisitive eye.
"Why not? Could be fun."
"You just want a boyfriend."
"I mean hey, even if I do, what's the problem in hanging out? We've been flying solo for too long, Bestie."
"Boys don't work that way." Videl responded with a cold demeanor, crossing her arms. "They don't just make friends with girls."
"So what!? We're young. Better to make some mistakes now then later on down the line when we got kids to worry about~" She replied as she wiggled her fingers in the air like a wizard casting a spell.
"Kids!?" Videl just about screamed, face beet red as she slapped her hand away. "Who said anything about kids!? That's Way too far off to be worrying about now!"
"HaHaHa!"
"Shut uhup!" Videl laughed.
"We're literally just hanging out. That's all it is."
"That's what a Boy said it was." Videl tried to insert diplomatically as they pulled up to the counter and let the faucets run.
"Amen!" A girl from the stall yelled out. "Don't text him back! Ever!"
"Uhh~ " Erasa let out dumbly. "We don't even know their numbers."
"Oh… Never mind me, bitch, do yo thang."
"So what's your number?" Sharpner asked with a cheeky grin, phone already out by the time the pair arrived back at the tree.
"It's~ (Redacted)."
"Alright, sick. I have one little thing to go do before but why don't we meet up back here at 4?"
"You mean back at the school?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah."
"Why would we meet up here?"
"I've got a few ideas~"
Lunch ended and of course, Gohan and Erasa were now in Drama class with Cocoa.
"Acting is about faking it until you make it. You can give a terrible performance but if your heart is in it, the audience will still buy it. Now~ I want you up here, on the floor."
"Me?" Gohan asked, pointing to himself.
"Get up there!" Erasa smiled, shoving the son of Son Goku onto his feet.
"And get rid of that despicable hat." Cocoa stated as she looked up at the white T in the middle of the cap.
Gohan frowned and threw the Titans hat on his chair, rotating his shoulders as he stood on the tape.
"Over here?"
"Yup. Follow after me." She furrowed her brow and looked out. "You two, up here!" Pointing at two more boys. "You two read for Abram and Benvolio. Gohan and I will read for Gregory and Sampson."
"Am I Sampson or..?"
"Sampson will be just fine."
Gohan stared down at the page and swallowed, his throat stuck stock still until he inhaled as much as his nostrils would allow. He shot glances all around the room as they looked at him. Cocoa moseyed behind the curtains, almost dancing during her stride and the lights dimmed.
Ga-Thunkk!
"We'll finish our read through right at the fight."
"How do I pronounce some of this?" Gohan thought to himself as Cocoa stepped back into frame.
"Chop-chop! We don't have all day, Son Gohan!"
"Ahemn!" The son of Son Goku cleared his throat a single time with great volume.
Sampson: Gregory!
The class laughed at his hammy faux-british delivery.
Sampson: Ha-ha~ O' my word! We'll not carry coals!
"Did mom buy the modern versions? I guess she would have had to, because I know this scene by heart but the dialogue is different." Gohan made sure to keep to himself as he scratched the side of his head in earnest.
Gregory: No, for then we should be colliers.
Sampson: I mean, an we be in choler, we'll draw.
Gregory: Ay, while you live, draw your neck out O' the collar.
Sampson: I strike quickly, being moved.
Gregory: But thou art not quickly moved to strike.
Gohan postured up, sharpening his brow towards Cocoa, getting into it with more assertive movements, swinging his arms out in some of the gestures and pointing at their teacher.
Sampson: A dog of the house of Montague moves me.
Gregory: To move is to stir; and to be valiant is to stand: therefore, if thou art moved, thou runn'st away.
Sampson: A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I shall take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.
Gregory: That shows thee a weak slave; for the weakest goes to the wall.
"These next few lines are wild." Gohan chuckled a bit as Ms. Cocoa read from her passage. "I'm gonna go all out."
Sampson: True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels~
Gohan held a grin and looked out into the crowd of mostly schoolgirls, all of the boys up on stage with him besides one.
"Haha~ Gohan~" Erasa laughed it up. "You-can't-just-say-that~"
Sampson: Are ever thrust to the wall.
THMM!
Gohan's stage presence was elevated by a thumping of his hand on the black wall.
Sampson: Therefore I will push Montague's men from the wall and thrust his maids to the wall!
Ms. Cocoa took centre stage and eyed Gohan curiously, tossing the reading material aside. It fluttered daintily on the air before Erasa stepped out and caught it in her hands just in front of the stairs on the right side.
Gregory: The quarrel is between our masters and us their men.
Sampson: 'Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids~
He stepped forward to the edge of the stage, miming a pirate's execution with his thumb.
Sampson: And cut off their heads!
The crowd roared with a fit of boisterous laughter and clapping, Gohan partaking in the silly antics as well on stage.
Gregory: The heads of the maids?
Sampson: Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads. Take it in with what sense thou wilt.
Gregory: They must take it in sense that feel it.
Sampson: Me… they… shall feel while I am able to stand, and 'tis known I am a~ pretty piece of flesh.
Gohan claimed as he smiled to the crowd, not able to totally get it together and bursting out laughing again, almost folded over from it.
Gregory: 'Tis well thou art not fish. If thou hadst, thou hadst been poor-john.
"What does that even mean? I'm lucky I even know the material." Gohan thought as he loomed over the equally confused crowd.
Before Gohan could really finish his thought, Amaguri brushed up against Gohan's frame and tugged at his shoulder feverishly. One of the two boys at the end of the stage cleared his throat big time as Ms. Amaguri separated and spoke her line.
Gregory: Draw thy tool!
Cocoa shouted to the heavens, miming pulling out a blade from her hip.
"She bussin' out the toolie, hold on." One of the boys to read for Abram and Benvolio quickly interjected.
The class giggled.
Gregory: Here comes the house of Montague.
Sampson: My naked weapon is out!
"Hahahaha~"
Sampson: Quarrel! I will back thee.
Gregory: How? Turn thy back and run?
Ms. Amaguri fired back, miming a sword in her hand and shrugging high as a kite.
Sampson: Fear me not.
Gregory: No, marry. I fear thee.
Sampson: Let us take the law of our sides. Let them begin.
Gregory: I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they list.
"This part is so silly." Gohan chuckled at himself, shaking his head as he looked down at the script.
Sampson: Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them.
Gohan hyped it up with some jazz hands, looking out to the crowd as he did it before putting his eyes back on the page.
Sampson: ~If they bare it~
Gohan strutted up to the two shaggy looking high school students, bobbing up and down before dramatically biting into his right hand thumb like it was an apple. One of the two on the other side pulled the script high to his eyes, not making any movements and just reading straight from the page.
Abram: Do… you… bite… your… thumb… at us, sir?
Sampson: (Aside to Gregory) Is the law on our side if I say "ay"?
Gregory: (Aside to Sampson) No.
Sampson: No, sir. I do NOT bite my thumb at YOU, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.
Gregory: Do you quarrel, sir?
Abram: Quarrel, sir? No, sir.
Sampson: But if YOU do, sir, I am for you. I serve as good a man as you.
Abram: No better.
Sampson: Well, sir.
The other teen stepped around, looking down at the white page lined with text and nodding his head.
Gregory: (Aside to Sampson) Say "better." Here comes one of my master's kingsman.
Sampson: (To Abram) Yes, better, sir.
Abram: You lie.
Sampson: Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy washing blow.
Gohan took centre stage, unleashing an invisible blade and dashing towards his foes with lazy but spirited steps.
"Annnd Scene!"
The rest of the class laughed and clapped, especially Erasa, she lost her shit giggling up a storm on the outside steps.
"What?" The kid reading for Benvolio cried. "I ain't even get to Read? I'm just a piece a meat, huh?" He murmured, stepping off stage and shaking his head.
"You're so good, Gohan! I didn't expect any of That." She remarked as the son of Son Goku marched down the steps, rubbing the back of his head.
"Heheheh~"
"Gohan?"
"Yes, Ms. Amaguri?"
"Not bad."
Bu-Bo-Be-Bu-Bu-Be-Bo-Bu~
Gohan wore duck lips as he gazed up at the ceiling and then back to Erasa.
"See you at four I guess."
"See you around, Gohan." She replied, waving him off as she jogged out of the large room.
Gohan smiled as he picked up his red cap off the ground and snuggly put it over his somewhat wild hair.
"Hey, Gohan."
"Hmm?" The Half-Saiyan hummed, turning to his left only to see the bushy redheaded girl, Angela.
"I did a script read with Ms. Amaguri after school yesterday and she says that she'll consider me for Juliet."
"Oh, that's great." Gohan answered with a goofy thumbs up.
"That means we're gonna kiss." She said with a cutesy voice, brushing her elegant shiny red headed curls behind her ears and batting her long eyelashes at him.
"Okay." He answered simply, just kind of shrugging his shoulders. "What does that have to do with me? I've read Romeo and Juliet before."
"..."
"..."
The two stared at each other for a while and Angela couldn't help but blink sort of dumbly.
"See you tomorrow, Angela." Gohan remarked before walking straight out the door.
"Who is this kid?" Was her first thought, but her second, more powerful thought was: "Who's he kidding? No boy can resist me, and I'm going to prove it to him by the end of the year. No, by the end of the first semester."
"That girl was weird." Was the only passing thought Gohan possessed before he landed himself on the track and field outside the school.
The dirt kicked up from that day was immense as he and the other students ran around the dusty track over and over again for their final laps. Videl shot a fierce glare his way, as if issuing a challenge.
"Meet me at the starting line."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Gohan stopped on a dime as the other kids ran past the pair.
She just held the same pouty face she always did and marched right through the students running directly into her, carefully and tactfully weaving out of the way.
"What's she doing!?"
"That's Videl for ya'!" Another schoolgirl laughed out as she haphazardly jogged with her phone out.
"Okay, so why did we meet at the starting line?"
"We race one lap, and if I beat you, you have to sit somewhere else during history class."
"Oh, okay! Interesting. I accept." Gohan stated with a cheery white smile and a thumbs up.
"Coach!"
"Hmm?" The man's mustache quivered a bit at the loud shout.
"Count us down! Gohan and I already finished our laps but we're gonna race!"
The coach shrugged and placed the blue whistle against his lips. He put his left hand in the air and counted down. Three… Gohan's foot dug into the dirt. Two… Videl got real low, placing the tips of her fingers on the ground. One.
"Tweeeeeet!"
The pair absolutely tore up the field, running past classmates and the like, blitzing up the dirt into a huge cloud of smoke as they hit the starting line.
"Hah! You lost!"
"I think you need to get your eyes checked. Huh-Heh-Hah!" Gohan laughed out as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Nouw." She annunciated kind of weirdly. "I was Definitely here first."
"I mean, I could be wrong but it looked to me like I hit the finish line first."
"Coach!"
The pair were arguing behind a voluminous plume of dirt and it hadn't even cleared before Videl yelled at their teacher.
"Who won!?"
She swatted away at the slow plodding clouds angrily, her pigtails jumping up and down, brown dust marking her long white orange star tee.
"I couldn't see any of that."
"Rrrr~"
"Huh-Hah-Hah-Hah!" Gohan laughed from the belly.
School ended and Gohan was left to his devices in Orange Star City.
"I have like a whole hour to waste. What am I gonna do for an Hour?" Gohan thought to himself as he laid down on The Nimbus and soared through the blue sky.
He looked down onto the streets below only to see a barrage of cars and filming equipment, people running in and out and a few stretches of tape segmenting the area from the outside. The son of Son Goku raised a brow and investigated effective immediately. He watched as the group ran through the motions, yelling out to the rest of the actors, and filming staff. A giant bear was in the midst of striking before getting pelted with some gas from a can of some kind and a familiar voice rang out before one of the employees yelled:
"Annnd Cut! We can get rid of that in editing."
"What the hell!? I didn't know I was gonna take that one for real~"
"What are you gonna do, it was an epic shot."
"Am I gonna get a Zeni raise for that, or are you guys gonna fuck me two times today?" The large brown creature growled as it wiped its eyes.
"Fine. Here." The man in the director's cap stated with a bit of bite as he handed a yellow envelope to the bear.
Bom!
"Oolong!?"
"Hah? Whoa~ heya' Gohan. Whattaya… doin' around here?" The Pig asked as he squinted his eyes as far as they would allow while still able to see the blurry blob that possessed Gohan's voice.
"I should ask the same thing."
"Well, an oinker's gotta make money somehow."
"You do TV? Cool."
"Nah, it ain't much~ hey-"
Before Oolong could really protest, Gohan was already dabbing in and around The Pig's eyes with a loose handkerchief.
"Thanks, kid."
"No problem." Gohan claimed as he tossed the paper towel into a trash can across the way.
Oolong blinked a few times and lazily stared around the street to reassess his environment.
"So you were saying?"
"What..? Ohyea'! Well, I just kind of been doing whatever jobs I can get my hands on. Once I realised how bougie those West City apartments were, I could never go back to Roshi's Island. A pig's gotta make money somehow."
"Huh-Heh-Hah!"
"Ohyea'? You think me getting pepper sprayed is funny?"
"I'm sorry. No, it's not funny." He chortled out.
"You in school kid? Shouldn't it be about that time?"
"Oh well, yeah. I'm enrolled in Orange Star High School now."
"Ahh, I see."
"School just let out so I'm just trying to kill some time."
"Makes sense."
"..."
"..."
"So how did Goten's transformation schooling go?"
"It went great, let me tell you what. Trunks and that boy got me back into it in a big way. I've got a lot more stamina for it then I used to. I can go like 20 minutes a transformation now."
"Nice."
"Yeah…"
"Well I should probably let you go, Oolong. I'm sure you have a lot of important things to do today."
"Sure." The Pig answered back as he marched down the busy street. "Good seein' ya, Gohan! Stay in school!"
"You too! Huh-Heh-Hah! Maybe not the school part but it was good to see you!"
"..."
Gohan looked around the city and glared at the big numbers on an electronic billboard not too far off.
"I still got like an hour left…"
So the son of Son Goku got something to eat, walked the streets, met some new people and waited anxiously for 4 P.M. to roll around.
"Oh shoot, I should probably already have been at the school by now. Nimbus!"
Vwernnt! VVYUUUuuuuuu~
Gohan's cloud crept along the skyline until he neared the high school, at which he jumped off and landed with an epic touchdown before shooting a look all across the grounds. He gazed down at the watch on his left hand and waited out the last little bit of time on the front steps of the school, letting his face lay limp on his hand as he did so. Soon enough a car pulled up to the premises, alerting Gohan's sensitive Half-Saiyan ears. He blinked a few times for good measure as the windows rolled down and Erasa shouted from the road in front of the school.
"Wow! He's on time!" She laughed loudly from the driver's side window.
"And you're not!" Gohan shouted back, cupped hands and a smile.
"You gonna get in!?"
"Where's Shapner!?" Gohan asked as he patted Nimbus, got up and marched down the steps.
"What is that, dude? Is that a cloud?"
"Yup! It's our family friend! His name's Nimbus. Say hi." He asked of said friend, turning to the orange blob as he stepped in front of Erasa's automobile.
The Nimbus straightened up and grew a fluffy arm which to salute with. Erasa broke out in giggles and Videl raised a brow from the passenger side just to the left of her.
"Uhm… I don't know where Sharpner is."
"You'd think He'd be the one on time considering he's the one who wanted to hang out." Gohan lamented as he put his hands on his hips and scanned the empty schoolyard.
"Yo!"
The three of them all looked down the street, Erasa and Videl craning their necks over the car windows to do so.
"What took you so long!?"
"My fault!" Sharpner laughed as he waved back at the three of them. "So what are we doing!?"
Erasa's previous smiling demeanor turned dissatisfied, eyelids drooping.
"Bruh." Is all she said to Videl who then let out some pity snickers.
Gohan and Sharpner high-fived before the eldest son promptly swung the car door open and filed in.
"Whoa~ Whoa~ Whoa~ who said you could come in?" Erasa laughed as Gohan scooted to the end so that his friend could enter on the same side.
They locked eyes through the rearview mirror before Gohan raised an index finger and answered.
"You did."
"... I was just messin' with ya."
Klm.
"Sheesh. Could you have closed it any harder?" Erasa replied, raising a brow and looking over her shoulder at the last passenger.
"Oh. My bad."
KLM!
Erasa fixed all the things in her vehicle before shooting another glance at the rest of the group.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't even know why we're in this car." Videl spoke back with some venom. "I thought we were supposed to hang out here. You said you had some ideas, right?" She stated, making eye sharp eye contact with the boy named Sharpner.
"Yea."
"So what are they?"
Sharpner smirked and brought out the little baggy hanging from his waist, revealing spray cans, canisters and paint.
"Voila. Anybody interested?"
"Ayy!" Erasa got hype, leaning over the seat to snatch one of the items.
"Is that graffiti?"
"Yuh. I didn't bring enough to tag the whole school or nothin' but we could do a little trollin'."
"My mom says only delinquents do graffiti."
"My dad says the same thing." Videl let out limply from the front seat, gazing out into the modest city streets of Orange Star.
"Can't you get arrested for that stuff?"
"Not if you don't get caught."
"..."
"I mean if you're a lame, Gohan, you can just say that. I'll barely think less of you for it."
"Well I don't think the school wants you to get paint all over it."
"So where do you suggest we tag then, genius?"
"..."
Gohan's nerves got the better of him as the rest of the group stared right at him, Erasa and Sharpner because they wanted to do it and Videl just because she wanted to see Gohan squirm.
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure most cities look down upon graffiti." He said while shrugging.
"Well… I guess we don't do it then."
"Aww Mannn~" Erasa let out which forced a disgruntled hyped-up grumble from Videl which in turn made Sharpner sigh enthusiastically.
Gohan sat blinking in the middle.
This is what we call peer pressure.
The eldest son of Son Goku took out his Capsule Corp. phone and dialed the number aloud.
Dururururu~
"He's calling his mom to come pick him up, guys~" Sharpner teased, waggling his fingers and forcing an unwanted bit of laughter out of Videl
Bu-Rui~
Gohan pressed on the speaker icon and the machinery droned on out of the phone.
"Hey, Bulma?"
"..."
The whole car got quiet in a heartbeat, everyone's eyes practically popping out of their sockets.
"What's up, kid?"
"Can me and my friends come hang out and do some spray painting at Capsule Corp?"
"..!" Everyone shot wild-eyed glances at each other before Bulma responded on the other end.
"Oh wow~ you made some friends, Gohan?"
"Yeah. They're alright."
Bulma laughed coyly from the other end and let it out.
"Sure thing, kid. Knock yourself out. You can even paint that training room on the front lawn. I've got a couple complaints over the years of the reflections and stuff. The robots in the front desk haven't been replaced in years, since they don't really take a lot of maintenance. We've only updated the software so if you want to paint those guys you can go right ahead."
"Okay, thanks Bulma."
"Gohan?"
"Hmm?"
"When are we gonna watch Space Wars 4? It's already released on-demand."
"Uhhh~ I dunno. When's Piccolo free?"
"Probably every single waking moment."
"Yeahhh~" Gohan laughed sheepishly as he scratched the side of his face. "Alright, well I'll see ya in a few, okay?"
"Alright, be safe."
"I will, thank you."
Be-Duu.
Gohan, flashing an earnest smile, looked out to the rest of the stunned group.
"Are we going?" He asked with a wide but not shit-eating grin, for he was incapable of doing so.
"You're not shitting us, right?" Erasa asked from the driver's seat, leaning over it like she was a little kid again, hiding her face behind the upholstery.
"What do you mean?" He laughed out, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"That was really Bulma Brief of Capsule Corp?" Sharpner questioned with fervor, shaking Gohan violently by the shoulders.
"Yeah, I already told you guys that."
"Let's go."
Cha-Chigg. VRNNNNNNN~
The car shot down the road but Erasa bemoaned her existence just as quick as she exited the scene.
"What?" Sharpner asked as he put his hands on her seat.
"The tube tunnels are the fastest way but the tolls are totally fugged."
"Fugged?" He laughed from the chest.
"Ignore her." Videl let out with rosy cheeks, shaking her head. "She says the dumbest shit."
"Shid."
Videl couldn't help but laugh.
"I mean if it's a problem, I got you." The blonde youth offered, bringing out a white card.
"What's that?" Gohan asked, pointing to the little piece of plastic in the boy's hand.
"This is a tube tunnel toll card. Usually just called a TTT card."
"Huh. I guess I just never needed one." Gohan mused, remembering all the times he just soared along the air with his orange companion.
"You live in the city or sum'?" Sharpner asked as Erasa turned her car on a dime and made way up the ramp onto the tube tunnels of Orange Star City. The blonde kid flashed his card and the highway patrol let them through the gate and the older model clamored onto the open tunnel street.
"No."
Sharpner just furrowed his brow and shook his head:
"Whatever."
Before the four of them zoomed down the somewhat stuffy road. At the many stops they had to make along the way Erasa lamented.
"Damn. Why'd we have to leave at four? Traffic suggs at this time." She said, letting her head fall into her palm with her other hand caressing the wheel softly.
Her brow turned downwards as she took a better look at Gohan's Titans cap. On the left side of the brim was a frilled edge with white padding exposed and a scruffy black burn mark at the tip.
"Hey Gohan, I meant to ask you the other day but what's up with that hat? You burn it in the kitchen or something?" She recounted with a slight smirk as she edged along the backed-up street, getting closer to the four way intersection of thick glass tubing.
"This?" He asked, taking it off and looking at the front brim, running his hand along the edge. "Well my dad took this into space and I think he burned it in a fight."
"Brah!" He let out the most emphatically he ever had. "Stop makin' shit up!" The blonde youth shouted, slapping Gohan's shoulder.
"Space?" Erasa laughed out. "Mayve I could believe your dad's an astronaut or something but he was fighting too? In Space? What is he, an alien?"
"Yep. I'm half alien."
Videl couldn't stop herself from turning over in her seat and making wide eyes at the eldest son of Kakarot.
"HAHAHAHA~" Sharpner and Erasa laughed up a storm as the light turned green and they motored down the winding roads of the tube.
"Brah, you're a riot!" He slapped Gohan again. "So I guess we're not going to Capsule Corp. after all and you're just great at lying!"
"Yeah~" Erasa chipped in, wiping a tear from her eye between laughs. "You almost sounded convincing. Must be all that Shakespeare."
"No. I'm not lying. I used to have a tail." Son Gohan claimed with a bright smile as he put back on the Titans cap and raised an index.
"Dude. Enough. You don't gotta stunt just so we want to hang out with you. That's little kid shit." Sharpner stated as he reclined into the leather and crossed his arms behind his back.
"I mean it really doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not."
"So are we really going to Capsule Corp?"
"Yeah. Bulma's waiting on us."
"Ogei~" The girl replied sassily.
A bit of trepidation crawled into Erasa's hands as she gripped the steering wheel ever so slightly harder. The more spread out nature of Orange Star City dovetailed into the sprawling network of many more tube tunnels and giant cylindrical buildings lining the landscape of West City. Gohan watched as the main billboard dictating so on their right side zoomed by on the high-speed lane. Erasa and the crew got lucky when they came into West City, most folk heading out at this time rather than back in. Gohan stared out the window with not much to do but realised just how prominent the name:
Capsule Corp.
was on practically every advertisement. He blinked at the strangeness of it all, scratching his head.
"Is West City usually like this?" He posited to the rest of the group, pointing at another billboard for a sports drink and not even a capsule or new vehicle model.
"I wouldn't know."
"Me neither." Videl chimed back, checking her nails as she leaned deep into her seat.
"I mean I still think you're lying, brah. There's no way that you just Know the fuckin' CEO of Capsule Corp."
"Huh." Is all Gohan had to comment as they drove down the road, took an exit and finally parked outside the huge grass lawn of the facility.
The dome looked massive and the gigantic rectangular chrome prism shined brilliantly in the afternoon lighting, fine most of the time, but if one was unfortunate enough to catch the sun's rays glinting off the rectangular training room it was as potent as a flashbang.
"Whoa~" Sharpner let out dumbly as he placed his arms on the top of Erasa's car and looked up at the massive monument before the four of them.
"Oh hoi! Gohan! Nissaya ta visit!"
"Hello, Mrs. Brief." Gohan greeted, walking up to Panchy to give her a hug.
The elderly lady waved her hand at him after departing.
"Me and the mista' are goin' out ta eat, you want anything."
"No thank you ma'am."
"Buh-bye~" She waved before stepping into another vehicle, a muscle car lined with a more sharpened edge in comparison with the more rounded styling of the average skycar, including Erasa's.
"See ya, Gohan!" Dr. Brief shouted as he peeled out onto the street.
"Bye, Dr. Brief!"
The trio shot a few glances at each other but it still hadn't sunk in fully yet.
"Who the hell were those geezers?" Erasa whispered lowly.
"I dunno, but they sure weren't Bulma."
"Guys!" Gohan shouted from the double doors leading into the half-mansion, half-laboratory. "You coming!?"
The trio gulped down big time and followed in after Gohan, walking the halls and gazing at all the machinery. Loud beeps punctuated the lobby as Erasa, Videl, and Sharpner passed the threshold and stepped foot onto the black mat.
Be-Bee!
"Hello, Gohan. New Visitors."
Be-Bee!
"They're with me."
"... Affirmative." The blue robot claimed before turning back to its duties behind the desk.
The group sneaking behind Gohan at this point got more nervous instead of taking that relieving breath.
"Yo, I don't think he's lyin, brah."
"His dad's an astronaut?" Videl asked.
"He's an alien?" Erasa said with wide eyes.
Gohan led the trio following behind him up the metal stairs to the loft with a bright beaming smile on his face, the bewilderment of his posse only growing in scale until it couldn't be contained and their excitement reached its peak at the sight of the scarred blue haired CEO of Capsule Corporation.
"Hey Bulma."
"Hi Gohan."
"Aaaaaaaaaa~" Erasa screeched out without thinking.
"Brah, why is she hot? She's like 50 or sum'." Sharpner let out, meaning to keep it to himself but failing to do so.
"Wow."
Videl looked out to the other two, the only one of them to keep her cool besides Gohan.
"These are my friends. Uhh, that's Erasa. That's Sharpner, and that's Videl."
"Hi, Mrs. Brief." Videl greeted, striding up to the woman wearing glasses and presenting a handshake to her before shooting a quick glance at the young boy playing a video game of some sort on the gigantic monitor in front of the couch.
"Hello, Videl."
"Name's… Sharpner. Nice to meet you… miss."
"Pleasure."
"Hiii~ My name is Erasa and I'm a Huuuge fan. I think you're an inspiration to women everywhere."
"Oh please~" Bulma laughed, rolling her eyes so hard she took off her glasses and rubbed them as a result.
"You're living proof of just how smart any young girl can be if they put their mind to it."
Bulma tried to play it cool but she definitely couldn't hold back a building smile at the praise. After grumbling and griping, and almost throwing his controller, Trunks looked back only to raise an eyebrow at all the strangers in his house.
"Gohan?"
"Hmm?"
"Who are all these people?" He questioned, pointing right at them.
"These are my friends."
"They look whack."
Gohan just laughed as Bulma stared right through the little boy.
"... sorry." He said meekly before hopping off the couch and trotting down the stairwell. "Hey dad."
Yamcha said nothing, only smiling and rubbing the Capsule Corp. kid's fluffy mop head of black hair before entering the loft.
"Hey babe."
"Hey."
"... Yo! You're number 0! Uh~" Sharpner barely got out, flabbergasted at the sight, even more so when he went in for a kiss on the CEO of Capsule Corp. "Brah!"
"Where do you think I got the hat from?" Gohan answered plainly.
"That's cute. Didn't think you'd still be wearing it." Yamcha teased, snatching the cap right out from under him and putting it on himself as he switched the channels and started lazily watching some TV.
"Daaad! I was playing Rocket League!"
"You just got bodied, dude. This is a good time to reflect on your losses."
"What does that mean?" Trunks let out before he sprawled out like a gremlin and let himself be gobbled up by the couch leather.
"Told you I wasn't lying."
"You got any More interesting stories, Gohan?" Erasa prodded, sitting down at the counter with Bulma, a sly smile coming into form as she stared at him.
"Uhh… let me think." He proposed, crossing his legs while standing, looking up at the ceiling and grasping at his chin. "Uhh… my dad died one time."
Yamcha snickered.
"Oh! And my uncle tried to kidnap me."
"Huh!?"
"And a demon did too."
"HUH!?"
"There's also that time where I went to an alien planet."
There wasn't any gas left, the trio just stared at the boy as he recounted his tail, Bulma and her man content to just laugh dumbly at their disbelief.
"This one really isn't my best moment, but I took my baby brother on a dangerous mission with four ninja because I was supposed to babysit him while my father went to attend The 25th Tenkaichi Budokai."
"Alright, Gohan, whatever dude. I need to sit down before I explode." Sharpner stated as he plopped down on the couch next to Yamcha.
"You're one interesting guy, Gohan." Erasa claimed, staring him up and down.
The CEO of Capsule Corp. spared a glance for the way she was looking at him and ultimately flashed a smile Gohan's way but the boy was ultimately more concerned with thinking up any other stories he could remember.
"So are we gonna tag anything or..?" The blonde youth suggested to the rest of the group.
Chronoa & I
I walked through the aetherium and arrived at a pretty timely manner if I do say so myself, sorry not sorry for the pun. The Time Nest has always been and will always be one of the most beautiful little hideaways I've ever seen. I touched down on the green water and watched Chronoa's face light up at my visit.
"Whis!"
"Hello, darling, you look fabulous as always."
We embraced in a friendly manner before she hopped back onto the grass and ushered me inwards towards the rest of the abode.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was just in the neighbourhood. You know."
"I most certainly Do know that you went out of your way to see me. It's not so easy to just come and go how you please."
I played coy, only giggling a trifle.
"So?" She asked, her large girly eyes looking at mine.
"I just wanted to ask how your Time Patrol is going? We talked not too long ago and I would like to meet them."
"Is Lord Beerus not coming?"
"Why bother, you know he doesn't care."
"Touché."
I placed my staff on the shining green grass and looked up at the glittery glass lining the circular dome of the atrium.
"Are we going to have to wait long?"
"Hmm. No. They should be back… Riiight now.."
DWAOIWWW~
A rectangle stood up like a door opened from the beyond, blistering and blinding sky blue light fluttered in with faint purples and greens as a trio of rambunctious and beat up individuals piled out of it.
"Interesting. I always knew Gohan was special."
"Hmm?"
"I find that so interesting." I claimed pretty loudly, stroking my chin as I did it.
"What? Are you just gonna leave me hanging here?"
"You're the one with all the expertise here, Chronoa. I don't get to just look at the timelines for free. I have to ask you, Xeno, or The Grand Priest first."
"..." She put her hands on her hips sassily and then nodded her head to the regal cream coloured owl perched on a high stand far off in the distance. It cawed a single time, its cry piercing and true.
"Apologies. Tokitoki as well."
The man resembling Gohan strutted forward with bated breath, practically dragging a boy with a purple bowl cut along the grass with him, arm over his shoulder.
"Chronoa, he needs… help right away. Tapion too."
"I'm fine, Gohan." The white elf claimed as he took a restful lay near the door until it warped out of existence.
"That's bullshit." Gohan barked back pretty immediately as he handed off the purple haired boy to The Supreme Kai of Time.
"You be nice to Whis while I'm gone, you got that, Gohan?"
"..."
Vwa-Vuish!
"Who… are you?"
"I'm Universe 7's Angel Attendant."
"... What..?" Gohan raised a brow, still unwilling to open and now that I know better, unable to use his missing left eye.
"It's not all that important, Son Gohan. Just think of me as a friend of Chronoa."
The tall man looked me up and down with a predatorial glare and backed off. There was an impressive scar over the same eye he couldn't use, the arm on that same side was gone as well.
"You look to have had a rough go of it."
"Heh. I don't need You to tell me that." Gohan remarked as he marched over to pick up Tapion. "Come on, stand up."
Va-Vsh! Vwa-Vuish!
Gohan was left stunned as Chronoa teleported in and then immediately stole the red haired Konassian right out from under him.
"Hehh…" Is all he let out, a smile escaping him as he shook his head.
"There is one thing I wanted to know."
"What is it?" He shot back with a bit of bite.
"Ooo, fiesty. The only thing I do know about Chronoa's newest Time Patrollers is that there is a… Super Saiyan amongst them. Would it be wrong to consider you the prime suspect?"
"..." Gohan's already standoffish attitude increased and he sharpened his brow at me. I could tell that there was a lot more Saiyan in this Half-Saiyan than in the one from my timeline, that's for sure. I smirked.
The way Gohan looked at me that day, I really couldn't help myself, I just had to wear the smuggest grin.
"Yeah. I am. What about it?"
"Super Saiyans are already an incredibly rare occurrence, Son Gohan. To even be able to retain the transformation for more than a few seconds without a tail is astonishing and to do so while only being Half-Saiyan only compounds on how tremendously impressive it is. I fully applaud your tenacity."
"... Tcheh." He practically spit in my face, just scoffing and taking away his eye contact from me mid-clap.
"Oh?" I stated, wearing duck lips.
"It's not even that useful. I gas out far too quick to even rely on it consistently. The only thing my ascended state does is allow me to push past my limits. I don't need you to come and tell me how impressive it is because it's Not. Something truly impressive would allow me to fight at full strength without having to take any inventory on fatigue management."
Va-Vuish!
"Chronoa, can you hurry up and finish your chat with this guy? I want to have a leg up on the next scroll."
I laughed to my heart's content as Chronoa blew a gasket, her jaw dropping to the floor of the grassy atrium.
"Gohan! That's The Angel Attendant of Universe 7's God of Destruction! You can't just call him That Guy!"
"I called him This Guy, Chronoa. But uhh… whoops." He said back, totally not caring in the slightest.
"It's fine, Chronoa. I would be a pretty poor Angel if I let things like this get to me."
"You never answered me. What are you here for?"
"I just wanted to watch Gohan open up the next Time Scroll. That's all."
"You had a feeling?"
"I did." I answered back, pulling a smile to the forefront of The Supreme Kai of Time.
"Follow me, boys." She sing-songed, skipping along the cobblestone tile up to the gigantic palace of white and pink. Gold clung to the outside of the regal hall and a gigantic tree was sprung up just above the abode as the stair led down into a pit where massive and well maintained scrolls loomed with dark auras, purple energies with destructive powers and- "Whis?"
"Hmm?"
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?" I answered back in earnest.
"Narrating."
"Gosh, I AM!?" I let out, blood rushing to my cheeks as I placed a hand in front of my lips and laughed out silly.
Gohan raised a curious brow and I just laughed it off as Chronoa sifted through roll after roll of paper trying to find the correct script, the only ones she cared to check being that of the surging malicious auras of reds, blues, purples, and blacks.
Skrllllaaaahh~
"Here." Chronoa stated firmly as she rolled out a decently long scroll over the gigantic marble table in the middle of the pit she called The Time Vault.
A fabulous tale spanning centuries. A tale of a father, and a son who never knew him. A tale of exciting chases, breakout escapes. A tale of death, and a tale of slumber. Gohan's eyes absorbed the information as it came to him from the live feed of the scroll.
"Buu is the one we're after and the one Demigra influenced. Babidi is also required to be dealt with as he is the one who contracted Demigra in the first place. How he even got in contact with Demigra is beyond me but I think Demigra was interested in Buu and saw potential in Timeline 8's version specifically."
"Got it. How many Timelines did Demigra channel into Buu?"
"He got Timeline 21, Timeline 88,800,912,812, and Timeline 44. So Buu has the extra energy of all three of those versions."
Gohan scrubbed his hand along the bottom timeline of events of the scroll, walking past each event in search of something specific.
"You went by this too fast the first time. This guy Zauyogi. Buu absorbed him, right?" Gohan asked as he paused the video feed and showed Chronoa and I the yellow ghoul.
"Correct."
"Yeah, that's my only assumption considering he turned yellow after the fact. So that's his power?"
"Mmhmm. He gets all the characteristics from the person he assimilates. He will be very dangerous if left alone for a-"
"..."
"Whis, could you back up a bit?" She asked me as I practically craned my neck over her shoulder.
"Hnn-Hnn. Sorry."
"Thanks. He's going to be a dangerous foe to fight, and there are really only three places you've got a good chance at fighting him. Right when he touches down on Kami's Lookout of Planet Majin, I can get you through the Kami barrier, right when he touches down on Earth, or mid-way through the fight after he absorbs Tienshinhan."
"... Excuse me?"
"..."
Chronoa talked a little faster than she wanted to for sure, not realising exactly what she said before it happened.
"What did you say?"
"This Timeline? Timeline 8? It's practically a mirror image of your Timeline, the point where it diverged wasn't the androids, it was the fight against Cooler and Frieza. In This Timeline-" She claimed, pointing down at the scroll. "-Cooler and your father's friends won the battle, and neither Lapis or Lazuli were taken in to have body modifications, they trained under Krillin instead."
"You know that didn't answer my question, Chronoa."
"You are going to see your friends again."
"..."
I took a couple steps back, Gohan clearly needed the space. I saw his tongue worm its way around his jaw in deep thought. The only son of Son Goku from Timeline 9 composed himself with a deep breath, hands a bit shaky.
"So I'm assuming that if Buu absorbs Tien, that changes the Timeline?"
"Yes. It's technically the easiest Timeline."
"Why?" Gohan fired back sternly, placing his only hand left promptly on the table and glaring deep into Chronoa's eyes.
"Buu becomes much stronger when Tien is absorbed but that's also when Goku decides to use The Spirit Bomb. If you intervene before combat starts it's going to be practically impossible with you, Trunks, or Tapion's skillset to actually Kill Majin Buu. His Ki pool is practically limitless and he can regenerate from almost anything. The Spirit Bomb was designed for entities like Buu that need to be cleansed, not killed, and that is technically a valid elimination in Time Patrol Law."
"..."
"And you cannot Tell Goku to use The Spirit Bomb until that idea would naturally manifest in him."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
"You can ask questions but remember, suggestions are out of the-"
"-I got it… Chronoa."
"I trust you, Gohan. But you came incredibly close to violating Time Patrol Law last time so I have to say these things."
"..." Gohan took a double take at me before speaking. "You're still here? What, are you going to help us?"
"No, no." I answered. "Angels are forbidden from fighting. That, and an Angel cannot be sworn in as a Time Patroller either."
"Figures. You would rather leave all the suffering to us mortals. Tcheh."
"It's not that simple, Gohan."
"Feels that way to me." The son of Son Goku responded as he fled the scene, stomping up the stairs and thrusting open the double doors of The Time Vault.
Chronoa gazed up at the man's backside before letting out a disgruntled sigh.
"What are you gonna do?" Is all she said before placing her hands on her hips. "He's a little tough to deal with but he's just fantastic when he's on the battlefield. I just… I don't know how to get through to him yet. I don't think he wants my help either."
"You have to let them find their way on their own. You can guide and you can help, but ultimately it's their choice to find another outlook on life."
"I just can't believe him and Trunks are so different."
I took the scroll off the wall, the one labeling Timeline 9.
"It's simple. Gohan knew what life was like before. His adolescence was ripped right out from under him but Trunks was born in hell and just had to match the pace presented to him, and in doing so he blossomed into a beautiful yet careful soul."
"If that's true, that just rings more questions. Trunks is Gohan's student, how come he didn't negatively influence his student more than this?"
"You tell me." Is all I said before I left her behind, entering The Transmission Hall.