Gohan: Development of a Hero

This is a Dragonballz fanfiction. To my eternal sadness, I do not own or in anyway profit from Dragonballz or any of the characters in this story. This fic, as you can guess from the title, centers on Gohan, and begins right after the cell games. It is an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Btw, from now on, when characters speak in Saiyago (the Saiyan language), the dialogue will be shown in Bold.

Part 9 - Suspicions

"Kamehameha!!!"

"Final Flash!!!"

The two blasts met in the center of the room and detonated in a cacophony of noise and light. Vegeta felt his heels sliding back on the floor, but he waited. He had to move when the moment was exactly…THERE!!!

Vegeta used his speed to appear behind Gohan, who was still intent on the explosion. Trying to catch Gohan off guard, Vegeta threw a right punch towards Gohan's back. Unfortunately, Gohan had sensed Vegeta's movements, and was prepared. He dropped to a crouch, causing Vegeta's punch to miss. In the split second that Vegeta's guard was down, Gohan shot a right back kick towards Vegeta. Unable to compensate, Vegeta quickly exhaled, trying to get as much air out of his lungs before the blow hit. The kick felt like a hammer had just slammed on his chest, and Vegeta felt himself being propelled backwards. Luckily, Vegeta had emptied enough of his lungs so he could still function. Using the smallest amount of his ki, Vegeta twisted his body so his legs and head switched position.

As soon as he felt contact, Vegeta pushed off of the wall as hard as he could. He shot towards Gohan with the speed of a lightning bolt. Vegeta saw Gohan's eyes widen in surprise, and that was just the opening he needed. Vegeta threw his left leg out in a front kick aimed at Gohan's head. Gohan immediately crossed his arms, forming a cross block to absorb the damage.

Before Vegeta had even retracted the kick, he began to fire off punches, trying to force Gohan to keep his cross guard up. Vegeta knew he could only fire three or four punches before Gohan became evasive, but it was just enough time to gather energy. Instead of a final punch, Vegeta shot an open palm out towards Gohan.

"Gallic Gun, FIRE!!!" Vegeta screamed as he pushed every ounce of ki he had towards Gohan. The blast slammed into Gohan, and Vegeta smirked as the explosion enveloped Gohan. He took a few deeps breaths, and tried to ignore the lancing pain coursing through his chest. It felt like Gohan's kick had cracked a rib, or possibly his sternum. Either way, this match was…

Vegeta felt something on the edge of his senses. Instinctively, Vegeta ducked as a ball of ki shot over his head. Vegeta whirled and crouched into his fighting stance. Standing in front of him was Gohan, also in fighting form. His clothes were torn and there were several cuts on his body, but Gohan still wore a smirk. "Not bad, Vegeta," Gohan stated, "I almost didn't get out."

"Almost isn't good enough," Vegeta growled as he tried to keep his vision from darkening.

"True," Gohan admitted. Gohan stared at Vegeta for a few seconds, and then stood up, "Well, I'm beat. That was a good enough spar for today, don't you think?"

Vegeta snorted as he too relaxed his stance. Gohan always called the end of the spars. It was a small sign of respect for Vegeta, who would never stop a spar no matter how hurt he was at the time. Yet, it always seemed that just when Vegeta was on the last dredges of strength, Gohan called it quits. Vegeta knew Gohan wasn't beat; but he also knew Gohan did this to spare his pride, and Vegeta respected that. "I suppose you've wasted enough of my training time."

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing," Gohan countered with a smirk. He then turned and said, "Computer, begin decompression sequence."

"Order acknowledged," the computer responded, and immediately Vegeta felt the gravity in the chamber going down. A few seconds later, the gravity had dropped from the 200G's they had been sparing at to normal Earth gravity.

"You're definitely getting better, Vegeta," Gohan commented.

"Of course, I am the Prince of all Saiyans," Vegeta responded regally in Saiyago.

"Yes, my Prince, may you rule with strength," Gohan replied in Saiyago, using part of the standard royal prayer. Vegeta felt a flash of pride go through him. Gohan had worked hard, and it was entirely thanks to Vegeta's efforts that the brat could speak a proper language. A small part of Vegeta felt glad that he could finally speak his native tongue with someone; but to admit to that wouldn't be regal. "I have to go, Bulma wants to work with me,"

Vegeta suppressed a smile that would be beneath him to show, "You know it's your own damn fault the woman works with you. If you'd never improved the Gravity Room, she'd never have noticed."

Gohan nodded ruefully, "True, but can you argue with the results."

Vegeta shook his head. Two years ago, Gohan had begun experimenting with improvements to the Gravity Chamber. Vegeta had been all for it; after all, a better room meant better training. There had been a few stumbling blocks, but now the Gravity Room was practically a work of art. The gravity could be increased up to 1000G's, a far superior maximum than the previous model. In addition, the walls were reinforced with a special alloy that could take up to 10000 pounds per square inch of pressure, making it nearly impossible for them to dent it, even in Super Saiyan. Perhaps the most impressive improvement was the energy absorbers. Gohan had managed to adapt technology from Dr. Gero's androids, specifically their energy absorbing hands. Now, the walls had the ability to absorb any excess power, such as an errant ki blast or the force of an explosion, and redirect it harmlessly. This meant the Gravity Room was almost indestructible, which meant it never went down, a fact Vegeta greatly enjoyed.

The only downside to these improvements came from the woman. Vegeta had always known Gohan was brilliant; after all, the harpy had pushed Gohan harder than most of Vegeta's instructors. But apparently, Gohan's designs for the Gravity Room had impressed Bulma; the new alloys, the energy absorbers, all of it spoke of a vast intelligence. His woman had decided that Gohan's intelligence needed guidance, specifically from the world's greatest technological genius; her. She had begun having Gohan help her in her lab for several hours of the day, an arrangement that Vegeta 'accepted'. After all, Gohan was part Saiyan; a part of Vegeta felt he should be training all day. In fact, the only reason Vegeta had let it slide was because Gohan seemed to enjoy the time, and it made his woman happy.

"I'll see you later, Vegeta," Gohan called out as he turned to leave. While his back was turned, Vegeta took a look at Gohan, and felt a flicker of envy. Gohan had recently topped Vegeta in height, a feat that annoyed the Saiyan Prince to no end. He'd known that Gohan would enter a Saiyan growth spurt eventually; it was inevitable. Still, ever since his fifteenth day of birth celebration about a year ago, Gohan had grown nearly a foot. He now topped 6', while Vegeta was 5'6 on a good day, not counting his hair. Gohan had never made a point of his height however, and Vegeta was too proud to bring up that it bothered him.

"Gohan, when you see the brats, send them my way. They're late for training," Vegeta called out.

A genuine smile came over Gohan's face, one whose reason Vegeta knew easily enough, "Sure, Vegeta," Gohan replied, and exited the chamber. Only when he was gone did Vegeta allow the barest hint of a smile cross his face. When Gohan had turned fifteen, Vegeta had decided to make a change. After all, he had proven himself in battle, and was an excellent warrior. Therefore, Vegeta had stopped calling him 'brat' and began referring to him by his name. It was a sign of respect, warrior to warrior, and Gohan recognized it as such. Even now, nearly a year later, Gohan still smiled whenever Vegeta used his name.

The boy's acting like a real Saiyan Vegeta thought with a fierce grin. That grin faded as that thought brought to mind a faint worry that existed within in. There was something wrong with Gohan. Vegeta and Gohan had been sparing for over four years, and while Vegeta wasn't Super Saiyan 2 yet, in that time he knew his strength had increased at least tenfold. Yet, Gohan's power level did not change. It worried Vegeta in the recesses of his mind; even though Vegeta wasn't incredibly challenging to Gohan (a fact that gnawed at him), Gohan's power level still should have gone up after every spar. It was the Saiyan way; they get stronger with every punch. Yet, Gohan's power level remained unchanged, even after four years.

Vegeta had wondered at times if Super Saiyan 2 was simply the limit. Perhaps Gohan had reached the absolute strongest that Saiyans could attain; however, Vegeta quickly dismissed such thinking. Every piece of Saiyan literature and knowledge contradicted that fact; it all stated unequivocally that Saiyans have no limit to the strength they could attain. There was no pinnacle; no peak of power a Saiyan could arrive at. Their powers could rise forever. Which left Vegeta with one other option.

Could it be the human blood? Vegeta wondered. It was a chilling thought, and one that greatly disturbed him. It had been considered a fact among Saiyans that mixing the Saiyan blood with other races did not produce strong offspring. Rather, it was felt that the breeding would result in a weaker Saiyan, an inferior one not worthy of life. Vegeta had always thought that humans must have been an exception. After all, Gohan was a Super Saiyan, and even stronger than Vegeta at a younger age. Now, Vegeta had begun to wonder. Could the human in Gohan have set a permanent cap, a limit to how strong Gohan could become? If that was the case, Vegeta felt horror rise in him. After all, if Gohan's power level were capped by tainted human blood, Vegeta's heir's power would also suffer limitations. Such a fate would be worse than death for true Saiyans. In addition, each generation of mixing between Saiyan and human would further weaken the blood, dropping the cap even lower. Within a few generations, the Saiyan race could become as weak as the idiot humans!

Vegeta shoved his horror down, and considered a final option, one Vegeta had only started to consider recently. He had first noticed it only a month ago; it was gradual, little things really. However, Vegeta had an excellent memory and was a master at reading fighting styles. It was a flicker of an eye, a turn of a head, a spark of frustration Vegeta seemed to sense sometimes. It seemed as if Gohan was used to having more power at his disposal than he'd ever shown Vegeta. But Vegeta had fought Gohan several times at Gohan's 'maximum'; the signs were still there. Could Gohan be hiding his power? If that were the case, it could help to explain the other thing Vegeta had noticed.

Gohan's fighting style was evolving. While Vegeta wanted to believe Gohan was just copying his own style, Vegeta wasn't stupid. True, Vegeta could see hints of his style within Gohan's; the aggressive attacks, some of the stances, even a technique or two. But the bulk of Gohan's adaptations were different than any Vegeta had seen. Also, Gohan seemed to have discovered dozens of new techniques over the past four years, a feat Vegeta couldn't believe. Even the greatest fighters in the universe took months to discover and create new techniques; they seemed to spring out of Gohan all the time. The final clue for Vegeta was the time frame. The new techniques and adaptations were happening too rapidly to be just Gohan's self-study and potential. No, this kind of change only happened when someone was receiving training from a master. Bottom line, the clues all added up to one fact; Gohan had a sensei.

Once he had stated it in his mind, Vegeta knew that was the case. But who could it be? Vegeta made a habit of routinely checking the power levels on this planet; after all, he wanted to see if any of the human weaklings were getting close to a challenge. While he had felt several semi-impressive levels, for humans, Vegeta felt no one of a strength parallel to his own, much less Gohan's. So who could be training Gohan?

Vegeta thought about it for several minutes, and then shook his head. Such idle thinking got him nowhere; he would have to be patient. For now, he would watch Gohan, and wait. And he would keep an eye out for someone with a fighting style similar to Gohan's.

Satisfied with his plan, Vegeta began to stretch. The brats should be arriving soon for their daily training, and Vegeta didn't want to be stiff for training.

After all, the brats deserved his best, and that was what they were going to get.

Gohan stepped out of the Gravity Room, and leaned against the door. He took a deep breath, and winced. That blast of Vegeta's had been closer than he'd thought; he had definitely burned his arms. Vegeta's progress impressed Gohan on some level. If Gohan was right, Vegeta was incredibly close to attaining Super Saiyan 2. That was when things would get really interesting.

Gohan frowned as he unconsciously fingered the necklace he wore. While Sensei had told Gohan the necklace hid his powers and was important, it had one flaw in Gohan's opinion. It didn't just hide his powers; it sealed them off. As long as Gohan wore this necklace and wasn't in Dreamscape, he could never access any amount of power greater than his strength against Cell. Oh, Gohan could feel it; his power was like a vast ocean, just out of his reach. It frustrated him at times, and even worried him some.

What am I going to do when Vegeta reaches my level of strength with the amulet on, and then passes it? Gohan worried. Vegeta already suspected Gohan was hiding something; Gohan could see it in his eyes. Would he believe Gohan was fighting at his maximum when Vegeta was as strong or stronger than the supposed maximum?

"I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Gohan mused aloud. It wasn't the ideal solution, but it would do for now. Perhaps he could talk to Sensei. Gohan was afraid to meddle with the necklace in an attempt to access more powers for fear it would sever their connection, but maybe Sensei could…

Two objects slamming into him with the force of a locomotive interrupted Gohan's thoughts. Gohan fell to the ground, and felt two dead weights sit on his chest.

"We got you, Gohan," Trunks exalted.

"Yeah, big brother. You didn't feel us at all, did you?" Goten agreed.

Gohan hid a grin; he had felt them coming from around the corner. However, he also knew they had been practicing their ki hiding skills a great deal, and so Gohan had decided to play along. Gohan had subtly altered his body position so they wouldn't hurt him badly, and let them 'sneak' up on him. Now, he gazed at them and said, "Wow, you guys are getting really good. I barely felt you guys getting closer."

"See, I told you the training would pay off," Trunks stated triumphantly.

"You were right Trunks," Goten responded. He then gazed down at Gohan for a few seconds, and then leaned in very close, "Did you pretend, big brother?"

Gohan stared right back at Goten. Privately, Gohan had promised himself he would never lie to Goten. So, he replied evasively, "What do you think?"

A huge smile came over Goten, "You're the best big brother!"

"Yeah," Trunks chimed in.

"Don't forget it, Squirt and Shrimp," Gohan commented with a grin, "Now, you two better get into the Gravity Room. Vegeta is waiting, and you know how patient he is,"

The two whirlwinds shot off right into the GR, and Gohan could faintly hear Vegeta lecturing them on 'being on time' and 'showing respect for the prince, you little brats'. He laughed, and headed off to find Bulma.

To this day, Gohan wasn't sure what made him upgrade the Gravity Room. He suspected it was a combination of boredom and curiosity, but whatever the reason, he had caught Bulma's eye. She had started having him work with her for a large part of the day. Their activity would range from going over Capsule Corp financial statements to trying to find the problem in 200,000 lines of programming code. She had said it was to keep his mind challenged as much as his body. Gohan definitely felt she was challenging him mentally, but he also thought there was another reason. Bulma was undeniably a genius, and geniuses tend to be lonely. After all, if you're that smart, who is there you can argue with or who can follow your reasoning?

Gohan had felt that slightly at his house, but he suspected for Bulma it was ten times worse. The only one Bulma could speak about work with was her father, and his mind was tragically starting to decay. Gohan suspected that Bulma saw in him an equal, someone who she could finally use to bounce her ideas off of and who could match her mentally. If that was the case, Gohan was glad he could help. Aside from the fact he greatly enjoyed what he was learning, Gohan also got to spend hours everyday with Bulma, a woman who had a special place in his heart. She was almost like his mother Chi…

Gohan's face darkened. He still thought about them sometimes, but only accidentally. It still hurt, what they had done to him and to Goten. However, Gohan wasn't going to let that pain hold him back. He had resolved four years ago not to cry for his mother or his father, and he was going to keep that promise.

Gohan's thoughts were interrupted as he found Bulma sitting in the kitchen reading a book. When she saw him come in, Bulma smiled warmly and said, "Hey Gohan. Can we take a rein check on today's lesson? There's something I need to do."

Gohan frowned. Bulma rarely cancelled the lessons, and when she did, it was usually because she was hiding something. Gohan took a deep sniff, and sighed. Vegeta had been right when he'd said Gohan would eventually be able to tell a person's emotions by smell. Right now, Bulma smelled like deceit.

"Okay Bulma, what's going on?" Gohan questioned.

Gohan watched to see if a guilty expression would cross her face, but nothing changed. Bulma simply said, "I just have something private to do, that's all. Why don't you go outside? I know the boys are with Vegeta all day, so why don't you go DO something for yourself?"

That confirmed Gohan's suspicions; she was hiding something. Gohan decided to play along, and let things drop. After all, he could use this time to go and train with Lime. Therefore, Gohan simply said, "Alright, I'll be back for dinner" before he walked out of the room.

Bulma waited a few moments until she was sure Gohan was gone, and then took a deep breath, "Man, that was close," She then reached under the table and pulled out what she was really working on. If Gohan had seen that, Bulma would have been caught. It was innocuous enough; mostly a list of names and phone numbers. However, it was the title that would have given her away.

It read, "Guest List for Gohan's 16th birthday party,"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hey guys, I've hit 100 reviews!!! Let me pause for a moment and savor this moment, as this is my first story to reach that level. Now then, I hope you guys liked this part. I decided to make the jump in age on Gohan, and I apologize if I made people feel cheated. This is the largest time jump I've done, and will most likely be the biggest I will ever do. Also, I would love responses to my spar between Vegeta and Gohan. I've haven't done many fight scenes, and would appreciate any advice or opinions about them so I can improve or keep them at this level. A few random notes:

Goleta: In answer to your tail question, I was always under the impression the tails are a genetic trait in the Saiyan DNA. Therefore, I figured it was a dominant gene that would show up in Saiyan children, overcoming any human blockage of this appendage. If you have any information to the contrary, please tell me. I won't change my story, but I will put it at the bottom of my next part. I hope this answers your question.

Anyway, please read and review. I will get the next part out soon.