The Power Within

Hello, readers! Here's another chapter. It's a little short, so sorry about that, hehe. Taking your advice, I've made Gohan grow like a normal boy (that is, I've made him more mature...or, at least I hope I did). The intriuge is increasing in this chapter, and there is some conflict as well. Enjoy!

"Here you go, girls! Tea is ready!"

"Thanks, mom."

"No problem, sweetie. Call me if you need anything!"

After setting down the tray of decorative pastries and tea, Bulma's mother left. Bulma turned back to Chichi, who had been angry that morning.

"Can you believe it?" Chichi asked, taking a sip of her tea. "He thinks I'm oblivious to his escapades, but I'm not. I heard him sneak back into the house at 5:00 am!"

Bulma picked up a delicious strawberry-topped cheesecake from the tray and took a bite. "Maybe he's just growing up," she suggested. Chichi shook her head.

"No, he's always done this before, but never in the night." She buried her face in her hands. "When did my little boy become a rebel!?"

"Oh, speaking of which…where is he?" Bulma asked. The housewife lifted her head from her hands to glare at the door.

"Out visiting Piccolo," she said. "I mean, hasn't he had enough of that alien last night?"

"He snuck out to see him?"

"That's usually what he does, so I'm assuming that that's where he went."

"Oh."

They were silent for a couple of minutes, alternating between sips of tea and bites of cakes. Soon, Trunks' cries could be heard in the back, and Bulma excused herself.

"Sorry, Chichi. I'm going to go see what he wants," she said tiredly. Chichi nodded.

Bulma left and strode down the hall angrily, already knowing the cause of her son's cries. When she threw open the door to Trunks' room, she surveyed the sight in front of her with growing anger. Trunks' colourful toy blocks were spilled across the room and a broken tower lay in a heap in the middle. Beside the heap of blocks was Vegeta's foot, clearly indicating that he'd knocked down the tower. The Saiyan prince simply glared at Trunks, seemingly hoping that the glare would be enough to shut the bawling child up, but it wasn't working. Trunks, on the other hand, was screaming and crying and throwing blocks on the ground.

"Vegeta!" Bulma screamed, running up to her son and picking him up with the gentleness of a mother. "There, there." She turned to glare at Vegeta. "What in the world is wrong with you!? Knocking down a child's tower…I mean, honestly!"

"It wasn't my fault," he mumbled under his breath. "The child needs to learn some discipline."

"Discipline!?" Bulma screeched. "You're the one that needs discipline! Ugh!"

Vegeta stood up angrily. "Me!? How about you!? Stupid harpy!"

"Harpy!? Why, you stupid little—"

"Well, you shouldn't be talking! You annoying—"

"Waa! Waa!"

"Vegeta, look at what you did! You made Trunks cry! Again!"

Bulma took to soothing the baby while Vegeta scowled and turned away. Soon, Trunks dozed off, the exhaustion of crying finally getting to him. Bulma suddenly remembered Chichi in the living room and got up.

"I'm going to put Trunks in his crib," she said to Vegeta, who didn't seem to be listening. "I don't want you to wake him, otherwise you're not getting dinner."

She turned and left without another word. Vegeta's scowl deepened, only one thought plaguing his mind.

'Kakkarot…why did you have to die?'

Gohan flew slowly to Capsule Corporation, disturbed and saddened. His visit with Piccolo was still fresh in his mind.

"I forbid you from going Super Saiyan 2."

"What? But why? I need to train that form to gain more power. You told me so yourself. "

"Forget what I said. I don't want to see you in that form ever again."

"But Piccolo—"

"Never. Again. Is that clear!?"

The half-Saiyan sighed. His teacher's words still confused him. What had happened when he entered that form? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember. It must have been something bad if Piccolo wouldn't let him transform again.

'He's been really disturbed lately,' thought Gohan, frowning. 'He's been yelling more than he used to. It's an enemy, I can feel it. But why isn't he telling anyone? He's risking our safety by keeping this to himself!'

Gohan's frown deepened. 'Piccolo's changed.'

With that cheery thought in mind, the hybrid picked up his pace and sped off to Bulma's house. Because of his speed, he managed to reach the building in under 2 minutes. He tapped down right in front of the door and rang the bell. It was his mother who opened the door.

"Gohan! You're late!" she scolded, wagging her finger at him. When he didn't reply, Chichi sighed and gestured for him to come in. The black-haired boy entered the living room quietly and plopped himself down on one of the white couches. His mother, noticing his down mood, walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is something wrong, honey?" she asked softly. Gohan averted his eyes.

"I'm fine," he said firmly, silently hoping she wouldn't pry further. Last thing he needed was for her to say "I told you so!" in his face if he tells her that it was who Piccolo hurt his feelings. Gohan really didn't need that right now.

Just as he hoped, Chichi simply gave him a look of doubt and sat down on the other couch, not pushing the subject. Bulma walked in then and smiled at Gohan.

"Hey, kiddo, how've you been? It sure has been a while," she greeted cheerfully, sitting across from Chichi. "Help yourself to some cakes. Do you want my mom to make you some tea?"

The young half-breed shook his head. "No, thank you," he replied politely, brushing a stray bang away from his face. Getting up suddenly, he asked, "Where's Vegeta?"

"Oh, him?" Bulma asked, eyebrow twitching. "He's sulking in the other room." Her features softened a bit. "That man hasn't really been himself ever since he stopped fighting. Poor guy. I know he's frustrated because of Goku's…" She stopped herself to scan Chichi's face, and then continued. "passing, but the least he could do is train to let his frustrations out."

"I could go see if he wants to spar," Gohan offered. He'd been slacking on his training recently and needed the boost, but that wasn't the real reason he wanted to spar with the prince. Gohan wanted to turn Super Saiyan 2 and see what scared Piccolo so badly. For some reason, he had a strong desire to prove the Namekian wrong.

"I think that would help," Bulma said. "But try telling that to him. You'd be lucky if you could get it in his thick skull. He's in the playroom, I think."

Gohan thanked Bulma and trotted down the hall to the playroom. Once there, he opened the door and peered in. There sat Vegeta, looking out the window with a small scowl on his face. The hybrid, thinking that the prince hadn't seen him, entered the room quietly as to not disturb him.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Get out of here," Vegeta snapped, still gazing out of the window. Gohan flinched slightly but didn't leave.

"I want to spar," he said. "I know you need one, too."

Vegeta glared at him. "No, I don't. Now go away." His face betrayed his thoughts, though, for his eyes held a slight longing in them. Gohan took this to his advantage.

"You're a full-blooded Saiyan, Vegeta. You can't just stop fighting," Gohan said, stepping forward. "Think about it. Moving swiftly to block a kick, returning your own punch, the feeling of contact, the thrill of the fight, the—"

"Shut up!" Vegeta barked, getting up. "If you don't get out right now, I'll blast you out!"

"See? You want to fight!" Gohan continued, a bit afraid of what Vegeta would do. "Don't you want to let your frustrations out?"

Silence ensued. Then, "You want a spar? I'll give you a spar. This will be one spar that you're going to regret!"

Gohan swallowed hard. 'I wonder if this was such a good idea,' he thought. Then, he remembered Piccolo's words.

I forbid you from going Super Saiyan 2.

'Nope, it was a great idea.'

Vegeta pushed past Gohan and headed out of the room. Gohan followed.

"We're sparring outside," Vegeta said flatly, all signs of his earlier anger gone. "The gravity room is broken."

The hybrid nodded. Once outside and far from the house, both opponents stretched for the fight.

"You're going to regret bothering me, brat," said Vegeta, falling into his fighting stance. Gohan followed suit.

"We'll see," he said, and charged.

The fight went on for some time, both Vegeta and Gohan fighting in base form to further their stretch and warm up. It reached a point where they both broke away from each other for a small breather. Vegeta smirked.

"It seems you haven't ceased your training," he said.

"Same to you," Gohan replied. "Although I'm still a bit stronger."

The Saiyan prince's smirk faltered, then deepened.

"We'll see if you're still cocky after this!"

In one swift move, Vegeta became a Super Saiyan. His face was gleaming with pride and his stance was a boastful one, clearly screaming "I'm the best!" Gohan adjusted his own stance and began to power up.

'I just need to go Super Saiyan; from there, I'll push myself to Super Saiyan 2, and nothing will go wrong,' he thought. Just as swiftly as Vegeta, the half-breed went Super Saiyan.

Inside him, something snapped.

'Gohan…'

Elsewhere, Piccolo's head snapped up. He became angered when he realized what had awoken him from his meditation.

'Dammit! I told him not to go Super Saiyan 2! That fool!'

He sped off towards Capsule Corp., ready to stop Gohan.

Back at CC, Vegeta gawked at Gohan, who was uncharacteristically smirking and staring at his hands.

"What a weakling," he said, looking himself over. "I'm in Super Saiyan now." The smug look on his face angered Vegeta, who growled and clenched his fists.

"Who are you calling a weakling, brat!?" he yelled, stepping forward and throwing a punch at Gohan. Gohan dodged it easily.

"That was fast…," the half-breed said, deep in thought. "This is going better than I expected."

His words caused the prince's anger to rise. "The hell it is!"

Vegeta continued to throw punches and kicks. Gohan, without thinking, calmly dodged Vegeta's every attack. Of course, this angered Vegeta even more.

'He's only in Super Saiyan and he's beating me!' he thought, sweat building on his forehead. 'And that's besides the fact that he can go Super Saiyan 2…DAMMIT!'

Meanwhile, Gohan was thinking other thoughts. 'This is good…I'm getting stronger every day. At this rate, I'll be out of here soon.'

Vegeta caught Gohan distracted and immediately took the chance. He twisted his body around and landed a vicious punch square on Gohan's cheek. Gohan's head was pushed back, and he frowned at Vegeta.

"W-what? I put everything I had into that punch!" Vegeta yelled, taking a step back. The young Super Saiyan took a step forward.

"Vegeta…," he began, staring at the prince with an irritated look on his face. "You're a nuisance. I'm going to have to get rid of you."

"What!?"

Vegeta didn't see what hit him.

"There!"

Piccolo quickly touched down on the bright Capsule Corp. lawn and scanned the area. The large house was the image of normalcy; that is, there didn't seem to be anything out of place.

'Hmm…' Piccolo thought to himself. 'I could have sworn I felt…'

A rapidly draining power level suddenly assaulted his senses like lightning.

'Vegeta!'

The Namekian wasted no time rushing off to find the Saiyan prince. He soon located an unnatural clearing in the middle of the forest, as if it had been blown away by some powerful force. Piccolo abruptly remembered Gohan doing the same thing and snarled. The boy was an enigma in his own right, but this was going way too far. He landed and surveyed the area.

"Vegeta!" he yelled, walking around. "Where are you!?" He held no concern for the man as he knew he could hold his own; rather, the Namekian needed answers, and Vegeta might have them.

He hoped he did.

A few seconds passed in dead silence, until finally someone spoke up.

"G-g-g-go…away, s-stupid…N-namekian!"

Piccolo quickly located the source of the noise. He found Vegeta sprawled in a small crater in the ground covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. He stood over him and crossed his arms.

Before he could stop himself, Piccolo said, "You look like crap."

Vegeta chuckled, causing him to cough up a small amount of blood. "Heh…t-this is nothing…"

Piccolo offered his hand, which Vegeta rudely rejected.

"I-I-I don't…n-need your help!" he barked hoarsely. The Namekian pulled it back.

"Fine, keep laying there in the ditch with your face in the mud. See if I care," he snapped angrily. Then, in a slightly softer tone, "Where did Gohan go?"

Shame flashed across Vegeta's features for a millisecond, but was then replaced with a scowl. "Damn b-brat ran away. Coward knew he c-couldn't win."

They glared at each other for a couple of seconds, before Piccolo growled.

"What exactly happened here?" he demanded. Vegeta turned his head away.

"And why should I tell you?" he said stubbornly, voice smoothing out. "It is of no concern to you."

The Namekian's energy rose. 'Vegeta's getting on my nerves!'

"Just tell me before you rot into the ground, Vegeta! I don't have all day!" he shouted, clenching his fists. Vegeta chuckled.

"Bite me."

That was it.

Piccolo strode right up to the prince and grabbed him by the front of his torn, blue spandex, anger and frustration pouring off of him in powerful bursts of energy. He put his face right up to Vegeta's and snarled, showing off his sharp fangs.

"What the hell happened here!?" he growled through clenched teeth. Vegeta returned the glare.

"Get the hell off of me," he growled, jerking away. "I'll tell you. Kid went Super Saiyan and almost blew my head off." He managed to stand up and winced when he felt a cut on his leg re-open.

"What? Super Saiyan?" Piccolo inquired, confused. "He wasn't a Super Saiyan 2?"

Vegeta 'hmphed'. "Don't remind me," he hissed, brushing some dirt off of his cracked armour. "He was cocky and over-confident, unlike him at all. Seems like the soft-hearted brat has some Saiyan in him after all."

Piccolo frowned. 'Gohan…cocky and over-confident? Not to mention the fact that he was a Super Saiyan…'

His frown deepened. 'Gohan's changed.'

He suddenly remembered something.

'Wait…could that strange voice in Gohan's dream be causing this?'

"Fine, then, don't answer me. I'm leaving."

Vegeta's voice snapped him back into reality.

"What?" Piccolo asked. Vegeta laughed quietly.

"I thought your gigantic ears could hear sounds across the universe," he mocked. "It seems that they're good for nothing, just like you."

"Oh, haha," Piccolo retorted sarcastically, crossing his arms and turning around. "Do you know which direction Gohan flew off in?" he asked. Vegeta shook his head.

"Don't know, don't care," he said indifferently. "Anyways, I'm leaving. Have fun staying alive around the spoiled brat."

With that, Vegeta flew off. Piccolo grimaced.

"Grr…good riddance…" he mumbled, taking off in the other direction. He flew high above the trees, his cape flapping behind him as he cursed Vegeta under his breath.

'Stupid Saiyan thinks he knows everything,' he thought. 'Annoying, bratty little—'

He cut himself off immediately. 'No. I need to find Gohan before he destroys something else.'

Filled with new determination, Piccolo sped up his pace and shot across the sky, senses on the alert for Gohan's presence. He needed to find him, and fast.

Oh no! I wonder what's going to happen next chapter? (Actually, I already know :D). Don't worry, another chapter is on its way! Something is revealed next chapter. ;)