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 24 – Timetable Revealed

"Come on guys, it'll be fun," Gohan insisted.

"I don't know," Krillin remarked. The entire Z-Fighter group was arrayed in a Capsule Corps room while Gohan explained his idea. To his surprise, most of them seemed reluctant to enter the Tournament.

"Why not? Think about it guys. All of us competing against one another…it'll be great." Gohan added.

"Except we'll be doing it in front of the entire world…" Eighteen interjected.

"So. I say we enter," Travis stated firmly. As the others looked at him, he said, "I've never fought in a Tournament before, and I'd like to see how I'd do,"

"I didn't teach you so you could showboat," Tien chided.

"Master, you fought in several World Martial Arts Tournaments," Travis protested.

"That was different…the Tournament was different," Tien defended, "I've gotten a look at what its going to be now, and frankly I'm disgusted. The Tournament used to be about talent, skill, a way to test your abilities against the best in the world. THIS Tournament looks to be nothing but televised nonsense. I for one want no part of it, and I don't want you involved either."

"Master Tien," Travis began.

"NO," Tien interrupted. "We have better things to be doing than competing in this abomination."

"I agree with Tien. Besides, I haven't trained in a long time, not since Marron was born," Krillin added.

"And for me it's been even longer," Yamcha supplied.

Gohan hid a frown; he couldn't believe how stubborn they were being, "Come on. Some of us have never fought in a World Martial Arts Tournament, and I want to make sure our first is a good one. If all of us compete, I know it will be one to remember. And if we compete, we can show the world how Martial Arts is supposed to be done."

Vegeta snorted, "Save your breath Gohan. It doesn't matter if they enter; the only match that will be important is when I defeat you. They'll be lucky to make it to the quarterfinals."

Gohan expected the rest of them to viciously retort; after all, Vegeta just insulted them deeply. To his surprise, they just winced. Krillin glared at Vegeta for a moment before he said, "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. That's the other thing; with you Saiyans competing, what would be the point? Even if we had continued to train and were at our best, you'd still defeat us easily."

Gohan sighed; maybe he had been hoping for too much. "I can't make you," Gohan admitted sadly. He turned to look at Vegeta and Piccolo, "I guess it's just us and the boys."

"Count me in too."

Gohan froze; he knew that voice. It may have been years, but Gohan could never forget the strength and inflections present in only one person. Swallowing, Gohan whispered, "Dad?"

"Yes Gohan, it's me," Goku's voice reverberated throughout the room.

Gohan's mind seemed unable to process; he was barely able to keep from collapsing in shock. After all these years, he had finally made contact again. "Why are you contacting us?" Gohan finally asked. He tried to keep his voice from trembling, but he wasn't sure how successful his attempts were.

"I've got good news Gohan…your mother and I are coming back," Goku announced.

"What?" Gohan stammered. He doubted anything else in his entire life could have made him this shocked; his entire soul seemed to be quivering, and Gohan wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

"You're really coming back?" Krillin gasped.

"Of course. You know I'd never miss a tournament," Goku teased.

Of course…the Tournament. Gohan thought bitterly. Those words were like ice water slamming into his veins. Calm and cool filled Gohan, and he found his voice again. "You're going to compete?"

"Both your mother and I have been training really hard up here. The Grand Kai decided to let us return for one day, given our track record. We decided to come back to compete in the Tournament," Goku explained. He was tempted to mention the fact that Chi-chi might be coming back to life, but he decided not to at the last moment. After all, she was unsure whether she could adapt given how much time had passed. Goku didn't want to get his son's hopes up in case she decided to return.

"I see…" Gohan stated softly. Inside, he was torn between anger, sadness, bitterness; a hundred different emotions raged within him, but he let none of it show on his face. He was stronger than that…stronger than them. "I look forward to seeing you in the ring," Gohan finally announced. His comment sounded lame to him, but it was all he could say at this point.

"So do I," Krillin added.

"What? Krillin, I thought you weren't competing?" Gohan demanded.

Krillin grinned, "That was before I found out Goku was coming back. You can count me in."

"Me too," Tien decided, "I may not like how the Tournament has been changed, but I'll put up with it for a chance at you Goku."

"If Krillin's fighting, so am I," Eighteen announced.

"I suppose I could give it a shot," Yamcha stated.

"GREAT! Chi-chi and I will see you at the Tournament. Until then, train hard. I want you to give it your best when I'm there. Good luck, and see you then,"

"Dad, wait. Let me get Goten so he can…dad? DAD!" Gohan shouted, but it was too late. His father had severed the connection, before he could have Goten speak with him. Gohan wasn't sure if it was the best idea, but Goten deserved to hear his father's voice. But that wouldn't happen today.

"Kakkarot…" Vegeta hissed. Gohan turned to see a feral grin on Vegeta's face, a look Gohan hadn't seen in a long time. Gohan could imagine what had brought it on; a chance to defeat a rival Vegeta thought dead would definitely make him salivate at the thought.

As the others broke into excited whispers, Gohan slipped out. He had no real desire to hear them right now, not after what he had heard. He made his way to the Gravity Room, his mind awhirl. His parents were coming back…he'd see them again. After all this time, he'd be confronted with something he never thought would happen.

"Computer, activate program Gohan 2," Gohan barked as he entered the Gravity Room.

"Acknowledged," the computer responded. Immediately the gravity began to increase. Gohan screamed and ascended to Super Saiyan 2 as rapidly as he could. The very ground shook slightly from his transformation speed, but Gohan didn't notice. Before he even finished ascending, Gohan was off. Punches, kicks, ki blasts; Gohan was training as hard as he could. His friends could detect his efforts; however, they probably thought he was just trying to be his best for…him. No doubt Vegeta would be in here soon, for the same reason Gohan was supposedly doing. But that didn't matter to Gohan.

Gohan was furious; he could count the number of times he had been this angry on one hand, and never outside of a battle against an evil being. HOW DARE THEY! Gohan raged. Thinking after all this time they could just announce they were coming back for a day, and everything would be okay. That he would be okay. And his supposed friends…

"TRAITORS!!!" Gohan screamed as he fired a massive ki blast at the wall. He couldn't believe them; he had been trying his hardest to convince them to fight, and they turned him down. But one word from him and they were falling over themselves to fight. Didn't they know how much it hurt, that they weren't willing to do it for Gohan, but they would for him? Didn't they care?

Of course they don't care Gohan thought bitterly. Why should they? Their real friend was coming back, and he was just their friend's kid. Not even worth worrying about, or being nice to. After all, Goku was returning, and that was all that mattered. Besides, Gohan was probably just as excited as they were, right?

Gohan laughed sadly. That was the crux of it; that was why he was angry. He wasn't mad at his parents, or his friends; he was angry with himself. Because for one second, he had been happy to hear they were coming back. He had even begun…looking forward to it. Gohan had worked hard to bury what they had done to Goten, to him, but he had obviously failed.

How can I feel this way Gohan demanded. They had abandoned him, walked away from him when he needed them the most. They'd left Goten in HIS care, because they couldn't be bothered. And despite all of that, Gohan still…cared for them, wanted them around. What the hell was wrong with him?

Gohan landed heavily. This wasn't working; his rage hadn't even been slightly diminished, and no amount of sparring here would fix that. He didn't want to fight invisible opponents; he wanted to pound something to dust, to vent his rage at full power. But that couldn't happen here. It could only happen in one place.

Gohan knew what he had to do.

"Hello Gohan. Tonight I thought we'd start by doing some basic meditat…" Sensei began.

"No," Gohan interrupted. "We're going to spar, RIGHT NOW!"

Sensei was about to comment, but something in Gohan's gaze stopped him. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay."

Not another word was said as they both began to power up. In the time since Gohan had reached Super Saiyan 3, the gap between them had been shrinking. Now, Gohan could give Sensei a tough fight, and even win if he kept a cool head and fought well. But not tonight.

Gohan went at Sensei with the force of a freight train. His moves were erratic; he overextended himself often, and if Sensei made even a half-effort, Gohan would be beaten. But Gohan didn't care; he put everything he had into his fists and legs. He tried to break through Sensei's body every single time, but that didn't happen. Sensei didn't fight back; he simply defended as Gohan poured all his anger, his bitterness, into the fight.

Seconds, minutes, hours could have passed; time was irrelevant in Dreamscape. Finally, Gohan fell out of Super Saiyan 3 and collapsed to his knees. He was panting heavily, and he could barely summon the energy to move. But it didn't matter, because he felt…better. Oh, he was still angry about the situation, but a lot of it had been pushed out of him with this fight.

A hand settled on his shoulder. Gohan looked up and met Sensei concerned gaze, "What's wrong Gohan?"

Gohan sighed; he knew this was coming. Sensei had a right to know, "My parents are coming back." Gohan announced.

"What?" Sensei questioned.

Gohan laughed bitterly, "They want to come back to fight. They aren't coming back for me; they're just coming back to fight in some stupid Tournament. Everyone's so excited it's sickening. Even people who didn't want to fight in the Tournament are joining, just for a chance to face…him. It is so…STUPID! I don't even think I'm going to enter the Tournament anymore."

"No, you need to enter the Tournament," Sensei stated firmly.

Gohan shook his head, "What would be the point? No one would care; after all, they're coming back. They might notice for a second, but once my parents show up no one will give it a second thought. And I can't face them. So tell me Sensei, what would it matter if I don't enter?"

"If you don't enter, the universe is doomed," Sensei responded.

"What?" Gohan gasped as he turned a sharp gaze to Sensei. That was definitely not what he was expecting Sensei to say.

Sensei took a deep breath, "Gohan, everything I've been preparing you for: Babidi, Majin Buu…the Destroyer. It all begins the day of the Tournament, AT the Tournament. You have to enter; you have to be there or all this preparation will be for nothing and the universe will end."

Gohan's mind raced; he'd been wondering when he was going to face the Destroyer, but to have the exact date pinpointed was still a shock. Before, she was simply a nebulous foe sometime in the future; now things are more concrete, and Gohan was still adjusting. Suddenly something occurred to Gohan. He glared at Sensei, "Whenever you talk about the other monster, this Majin Buu, you always reassure me that there will be others to deal with him. I know Vegeta is one of them but…my father is another, isn't he?"

"Yes Gohan, he is," Sensei responded gravely.

"Then you've KNOWN he would be coming back, and you didn't TELL ME!" Gohan shouted. His anger was beginning to return full force; he couldn't believe Sensei would keep this from him.

"Yes Gohan, I have," Sensei replied.

"WHY?" Gohan demanded.

Sensei sighed, "I have my reasons…are you sure you want to hear them?"

Gohan frowned; this worried him slightly. It wasn't a typical response from Sensei. "Yes, I do."

"First of all, I didn't want you to be distracted any sooner than necessary," Sensei explained, "I knew you'd have the same response you're having now, but sooner: I couldn't afford that kind of delay. Not when every second counts."

Sensei was holding something back; Gohan could tell. "That's not the main reason, is it?"

Sensei sighed, "No Gohan, it isn't. Gohan, your entire life you've been taught that Goku was the hero, that he could defeat anything. It has been so ingrained in you that you believe it heavily. He was your safety net; as long as he was around, you didn't have to go it alone. There was someone you knew could do the job if you failed. But Goku can't defeat the Destroyer; only you can. If you knew he would come back any earlier, you would have believed he could defeat her, no matter what I told you. As long as you were the only hope, you gave it your all; if you'd believed there was someone else that could do it, you would have slacked off. And I couldn't let that happen; too much hangs on this Gohan."

Gohan wanted to be angry, but he couldn't. Because Sensei was right. The more Gohan thought about it, the more he realized that whenever his father was around he never gave it his all. Oh, he might have seemed like it, but that wasn't the case. Because he always believed that his father would be the one to save the day, and so it didn't matter how strong Gohan became. His father would fight the big evil and win, and all Gohan had to do was be strong enough to stay alive until his father won. And strong enough to stay alive is vastly different than strong enough to win.

Sensei put a hand on Gohan's shoulder, "I know how hard this is on you Gohan, and I wish there had been another way. But there wasn't, and still isn't. This is your task; you're the only one who can do it."

"You should have told me," Gohan insisted.

Sensei shook his head, "Knowing my reasons, can you honestly say that? Can you look me in the eye and tell me I was wrong, and what I felt you'd do wouldn't happen?"

Gohan slowly looked into Sensei's gaze, and tried to speak the words. But they wouldn't come, and Gohan saw the desperation in Sensei's eyes. Once again, he was reminded that Sensei was fighting to save the future, and that required him to do things that weren't the popular choice. So, Gohan dropped his gaze and said softly, "No, I can't."

Sensei smiled, "Don't worry about your father; he'll have his own evil to battle. But you're meant for greater things, and with my help you'll be able to face it. Now, our time is running out. Are you able to continue?"

Gohan nodded; he wanted to stop, to let his mind digest everything he had learned. But he knew now how short his training time was; every second count, "What are we going to do?" Gohan asked.

"I was originally going to have you meditate and focus your mind to prepare, but I think we'll skip that step. Instead, I'm going to teach you a new technique. I've saved this technique till now because you can't practice it here, and practicing it on Earth will arouse suspicion. I wanted to limit the time for people to suspect, but it's time."

"What is the technique?" Gohan questioned. Despite all that had happened to him today, he was genuinely curious. It sounded interesting, and maybe it could help get his mind off of…other matters.

"Teleportation."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Another part finished. Please read and review. I hope you guys liked the scene where Goku announced he was coming back, and Gohan's reaction. I also hope you don't mind that Tien has been included in the Tournament. It always bothered me in the show that he wasn't there, and no real satisfactory explanation was given as to why he chose to be absent.

I'll get the next part out as soon as I can.