When the Past Doesn't Die!

by sookuke-adek

Goku and Vegeta encounter a wormhole while training in deep space. They're sucked in and transported to a reality where Vegetasei wasn't destroyed by Frieza. How did Bardock save the planet? And, is the threat really gone or is it just beginning?

6. Too Cool For Skool

DISCLAIMER: Yet again, I do not own dragonball

CHAPTER 6: TOO COOL FOR SKOOL

Bardock rolled over in his bed and looked at his clock. It was five-thirty in the morning, Monday. He hadn't slept the entire night. He couldn't help it. His thoughts dwelled on the revelation he had had a few days earlier. This morning he was finally going to put it to the test. The past two years of training with his son had gotten him to a point where he was physically capable. Now that he had the power, all he needed to do was call it out.

He sat up and sniffed the air. "Hmm…I guess Tanni left me some tea on the stove."

Tannipu was usually only home on the weekends. Due to her busy job as an ambassador to the peace treaty with neighboring planets, she was almost always off world trying to keep a political relations disaster from erupting. Bardock tried his best to train only during the week so he could spend his wife's days off with her. And although he hated politics, he would pretend to be interested in her ranting about work because he knew she needed to vent to someone.

Bardock sluggishly pulled himself out of bed and stretched on his clean blue elite bodysuit followed by polished armor. If he successfully became a Super Saiyan today he would need to immediately seek an audience with the king and his old, out of date, low-level uniform just wouldn't cut it. His family had technically been elite since the junior tournament two years ago, but he and Goku never left their land so there was no reason to ever upgrade their garments.

"Damn, this thicker material is itchy as hell," Bardock complained as he adjusted the cloth around his neck.

He walked into the kitchen, still whining about his outfit, and poured himself a cup of tea.

"What's the occasion?" Goku asked from a chair with his feet propped up onto the table. He was already sucking down a cup of his own.

"I've got an appointment with destiny. Oh, and I've got one with the king too…sort of. Anyway, I need to look sharp today. If you're going to be going to school with Tatalia, I suggest you do the same."

Goku sprayed tea out of his mouth and onto the table. "Crap, I forgot about that already! Damn, this sucks!"

"Hey, uh, where is she anyway?" Bardock looked around curiously after taking a sip of his tea.

"I'm right…here," Tatalia struggled to say as she took baby steps into the kitchen.

"Hey, what's with you?" Bardock asked.

"Weights…huge," was all she could get out before pausing and gasping for air.

Goku laughed when he saw her. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about those too. School wont be so bad." (SMACK).

"Shut…up!" Tatalia shouted through her teeth as she suddenly appeared behind him and socked him upside the head.

"Ouch!" Goku yelled as he frantically rubbed the back of his skull.

"Well, now we know you've definitely got enough strength in you for those weights," Bardock chuckled. (SMACK). "Ouch! What was that for?"

"I…just felt…like it!"

"Uh…good luck with that son," Bardock said after finishing the last of his tea in one gulp. "I'm gonna head out and start my day now. Have a good day!" he waved as opened the patio door and stepped out. "Oh, and remember what I said about changing your clothes. See ya!"

"Huh?" Tatalia looked curious as he blasted off. "Where's he going?" she asked Goku as she took a seat. "Aren't you going to train him anymore?"

"To tell you the truth, he hasn't really needed me for a while. I've just been sitting back and waiting for him to figure out the rest on his own." (SMACK)."Hey! Why'd you hit me that time?" he asked while rubbing his jaw.

Tatalia was on her feet again and looming over Goku like a specter. "This whole time…you wasted…with him…when you could've…spent with me?" she breathed angrily with a fist up and an eye twitching.

"I- I don't like that look in your eyes. W-wait! What are you doing? Noooooo!" (SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK)(SMACK).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bardock landed in his usual training spot and immediately began stretching. He wanted to start his power up feeling totally relaxed, and that meant warming up his muscles.

When he finally finished, the sun had already come up.

"Ah…" Bardock breathed in and exhaled. "Nothing beats this morning air. Well, I guess it's do or die. Here goes nothing," he said, assuming a power up stance. "Haaaaaa…"

Wind began rushing away from Bardock in all directions. It was the kind so intense that you could spit and it would fly for miles. Bardock ground his teeth and ignited his white aura. He powered up normally for the first part just to get to the point right before finding the golden energy. Then, his new method came into play. Closing his eyes and clearing his mind of all thought, he stopped screaming and let go of all of his doubts and worries. Without being hindered by thoughts of failure and negativity, his energy burst forth unrestricted. Instead of a hint or flicker of golden energy, a steady flow erupted and replaced all of his normal ki. Bardock still did not open his eyes.

His state of meditation kept him from over concentrating and over tensing his body, thus allowing the golden ki to fully transform him. His hair lifted and shined golden before settling into blond. His muscles became stronger and more dense, but did not suffer the same problem as before. Finally, he opened his eyelids and viewed the world through a set of teal orbs for the first time. Bardock was a Super Saiyan.

He looked at his reflection in the water and was stunned. His blond hair looked exactly like his son's. Except for his bandanna and the scars on his face, he was a dead-ringer for Goku.

He touched his face and ran a hand over the blond spikes hanging in front of his forehead. Somehow, he had achieved what was once thought impossible. He, who was born a low-level, was now a Super Saiyan and an elite.

"This," Bardock started, "is so FUCKING AWESOME! Yes! Hell Yes! Who's the man? I'm the man! Don't fuck with Bardock 'cause he's the man! Uh-huh! Oh Yeah! What's up!"

Bardock began dancing around and cheering for himself in the third-person, the whole time looking like an idiot. Lucky for him, nobody was around. He went on like that for about a half hour before remembering that he was supposed to head to the capital to see the king.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Goku emerged from his room dressed in his new blue elite gear. Tatalia, meanwhile, sat in the living room clad in the same green female elite attire that she had worn for the past two years. Goku fidgeted in his outfit, just as Bardock had, and rubbed his sore black eyes. He also scratched at the itchy bandages around his forehead.

"You didn't have to go and abuse me, you know," Goku started. "If we were on Earth, I'd take you onto the Dr. Phil show for counseling. We're supposed to love each other, not try to kill one another with his own boots."

"Keh. Shut up, bitch," she breathed from her spot on the couch, which happened to be severely sunken in where she was sitting. She shot Goku a look that said 'I'll hurt you if you don't obey me.'

"Yes dear," he replied fearfully. 'A Super Saiyan cowering in fear? What a pathetic sight I must be…But she did adjust to those weights pretty quickly. Maybe I should be scared.'

"Let's get going, Kakarot. School starts at seven and it'll take about an hour to fly there. Oh and, by the way, you're carrying me."

"No problemo. You probably wont be able to fly for a few more days anyway."

"I also want you to power down."

"But why? I went out to that restaurant like this."

"Because the instructors at school are more observant than some half-drunk club hoppers looking for a fight. And, thanks to your father's research, all new instructors are trained to be highly skilled in detecting ki. So power down, okay."

Goku stared off into space and seemed lost in thought for a few seconds. He smiled when he sensed Bardock's transformation. 'I guess he really doesn't need me anymore…' "Alright, Tal," he sighed as he reverted to his normal form.

'That was easy,'she thought.

"Well," Goku said as he walked upstairs toward the roof exit. "Let's get this over with."

"Hey, wait up," Tatalia called out as she jumped off of the couch with great effort.

By the time she made it up the stairs and onto the roof, she was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Goku was laying on his back and watching the clouds float apart.

"There you are," he said. "I've been waiting for like ten minutes. Let's go before we're late." (SMACK). "Ouch! Sorry!" he quickly apologized before getting up and allowing Tatalia to hop onto his back. Goku glared at her over his shoulder and then blasted off, totally unaffected by the extra amount of weight she carried. "So, what are we gonna be doing once we get there?" he asked as they ascended above the clouds.

"Well, this last week is for our final exams. So, you're most likely going to just sit in and watch."

"Man, how boring. Isn't there anything more constructive I can do?"

"Um…" Tatalia paused in thought. "You might be able to participate if you want, but it depends mostly on what the teacher says."

"Why'd you make me commit to a whole week if you knew I wouldn't get to do anything?"

"It was to teach you the consequences of failing to keep your word, but I had no idea you were actually interested in taking part."

"Yeah, of course I am. I've never been to school in all of my years and I'm curious."

"I guess I could try and convince my teacher to treat you like a student."

"Cool!"

'Man,'she sighed. 'I thought he hated school. Now I find out that he's never even been to one. His expectations are way too high. It sucks.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Yaaaaahhhooooo!" Bardock shouted ecstatically as he performed twists and zigzags in the sky at velocities he used to dream about. His path was marked by a rapidly spreading gap in the clouds that stretched on for hundreds of miles. "This is amazing!"

He appeared over the capital a couple of seconds later and accelerated toward the center of the mega-city where the royal complex stood. He passed over a few main streets as he wove in between skyscraper, leaving many citizen's scouters dysfunctional. He burned with excitement as he landed on the steps that led to the entrance of the main political operations building, where the king resided during the day.

He jogged up the steps and through the revolving doors, passing a few lawyers and foreign diplomats on his way. Once in the lobby, he jogged directly up to the front desk.

"May I help you, sir?" the secretary behind the desk asked as she typed away on her computer, not bothering to take her eyes off of the screen.

"I need to see the king, right away," Bardock announced while jogging in place.

"Do you have an appointment?" she continued, still not looking at him.

"Here," Bardock said, tossing his VIP badge onto her keyboard.

The secretary stopped typing and picked up the badge. She held it up as her eyes drifted back and forth between Bardock and his picture. "Hmm…you're Bardock?"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," he said, unable to stand still.

"Are you sure?" she looked at him skeptically.

"Yeah, what's the problem? Oh, wait. Hold on," Bardock said, realizing that he appeared differently as a Super Saiyan. He ceased his hyperactive fidgeting and powered down.

The lady stared at him, unblinking, and her jaw hung open as she watched his gravity-defying blond hair turn black and fall down, right before her eyes. She was in a state of confused silence.

Bardock leaned in close to pick up his VIP badge and whispered into her ear. "I'll let you in on a soon to be open secret. You just saw a Super Saiyan." He pulled back and stuffed his badge back in between his chest armor and the cloth of his blue suit.

The secretary stared into space for moment and considered what Bardock had just said. She doubted his statement, but decided to check the scouter data that was always recorded with the security cameras. She leaned down and opened a cabinet under her desk, intending to hit rewind on the monitor equipment, but instead found it melted and warped from an overload. 'What the…' She immediately popped back up and looked at Bardock curiously. 'Nah, couldn't be. It was just a coincidence,' she thought.

"So are you going to page him?" Bardock asked anxiously.

No sooner than he had spoken, the voice of King Vegita blared out of the intercom. "Terani! I just felt an immense power approach the building and then disappear. What's going on down there?"

"I- It's nothing, sir. I just have a visitor for you. He says his name is Bardock."

"Bardock? What are you waiting for, Terani? Send him in right away!"

"Yes, sir! Right away, sir!" She pulled a keycard out of a drawer and handed it to Bardock. "Bring that back here when you're done."

"Yes ma'am," Bardock waved as he took off down the huge, ten story high atrium behind her. He eagerly made his way through the crowd of senators and lobbyists that littered the, subway station sized, corridors and soon came to a silver elevator with a kiosk mounted in the wall to the right of it. He slid the keycard across the bottom of it, causing the doors of the elevator to open along with a chiming noise. "Almost there," he said to himself after stepping inside.

The doors closed behind him and the hum of the moving cables kicked in as he began his lift to the top floor. The ride lasted about five minutes, and when the doors opened to Vegita's office, Bardock walked out holding his ears and mumbling something about 'That damn elevator music' and not being able to get it out of his head.

"Yes, I've tried to get that fixed," the King started, "But it just keeps getting worse. I should fire whoever's in charge of making that crap."

Bardock immediately straightened up and saluted. "Good morning sire."

King Vegita chuckled. "No need to be so formal, Bardock. You need to loosen up a little bit. Remember what I said about only doing that in public? You're on my buddy list, so be cool."

"Yeah, heh heh, It must've slipped my mind."

"So," Vegita said, propping his feet up onto the desk, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said as his eyes lit up with excitement once again.

Vegita saw the look in Bardock's eyes and knew it was something major. He only had that look on special occasions. Vegita slid his feet back down to the floor and stood up. He looked Bardock square in the eyes. "Is it higher than an eight on the 'Oh shit' scale?"

Bardock nodded and smiled. "Before I say anything, I need you to agree to think openly."

"Uh…okay."

"I unlocked the door to Super Saiyan!"

The King looked at him skeptically. "What! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Are you trying to say that you're a Super Saiyan or something?"

"Yes!"

Vegita broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter and fell to the floor. He laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes. He held his gut in pain as he continued to laugh hysterically. After a few minutes, gaps in his laughter allowed him to breathe and return to his seat. He wiped a few tears from his eyes and looked at Bardock, who wasn't the slightest bit amused. "You're serious?"

"That's what I said didn't I ? Think back to the power you felt earlier…that was me!"

"Nonsense! Terani said it was nothing! I was bored, I let my mind wander and it ended up playing a trick on me."

"Just give me a chance to prove it."

The King pondered for a few seconds before answering. "Fine. What the hell. If you were anybody else, I'd slap a straight jacket on you, but the fact that this is coming from you has me intrigued."

"Brace yourself," Bardock warned.

Bardock stood there in silence as the room filled with wind. The steadily growing tornado picked up all of the propositions and bills on Vegita's desk and flung them around the room. It wasn't like Vegita enjoyed office work anyway. Then, golden ki erupted from Bardock, accompanied by seismic tremors that shook the office like a bottle of chocolate milk.

Vegita's eyes widened as he recognized the ki. "Holy shit! This is fucking amazing!" he shouted over all of the noise.

In an instant, Bardock's hair was blond again and his eyes gleamed teal. He calmed his aura a bit and walked over to the King, who had an ear to ear grin spread across his face.

"I- I can't believe it. You've done it. I know I should feel disappointed that I wasn't the first, but all I can think about is how we're going to rub this in Frieza's face. This is great!" the King shouted. "Man, I feel like dancing!"

"I had the same reaction!" Bardock laughed out loud.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Goku's eyes darted from side to side as he descended toward the school grounds along with a crowd of other kids his age. A lot of the kids were staring at him and it made him uncomfortable. He could hear them talking amongst each other.

"Hey, Tal," he whispered over his shoulder.

"What?" she whispered back.

"Why are they looking at us like that?"

"They're probably wondering why a kid half covered in bandages, whom they've never seen before, is hauling me around on his back."

"Oh."

"Let me down, okay."

"Are you sure? We're still pretty high up."

"Yeah, I'll be alright."

"Okay, whatever you say," Goku reluctantly agreed. He released his hands from the back of her legs so she could move.

Tatalia jumped gracefully off of Goku's back and flipped through the air before falling thirty feet to the ground. She channeled ki down her legs to strengthen them and positioned herself to land feet first. She slammed into the concrete hard with one knee down and virtually disintegrated the walkway within a ten foot diameter. 'Ouch,' she thought. 'Play it off, Tatalia. Look cool.' She stood up, dusted herself off, and began walking through the open gates like nothing happened. 'Smooth.'

"Nice landing," a few kids mocked as they walked right past her.

She ground her teeth in anger but was distracted when Goku landed next to her.

"Hey, that was a great landing," he said sincerely. "I'm surprised you didn't create a crater with all of your extra weight. You were able to slow your descent enough to lessen the impact. That's a sign of you having better control of your ki."

"Oh, thanks." She was caught off guard by the unexpected compliment. Sometimes Goku annoyed her and vise versa, but he had a way of changing your whole mood in an instant. He could make you forget about whatever it was that had you worried, or mad, or afraid. It was a unique gift.

"Those kids are ignorant if they couldn't spot something so obvious like that."

"Yeah, I guess," Tatalia said, already over it.

They started walking down the main concrete path and past a few rows of portable classrooms. The school was a series of small portables grouped together, most arranged in rows of five classes per block, and a slightly taller, cylindrical, building at the center was the office. The only, really big, indoor parts of the school were the four towering gyms that were lined up behind the rest the buildings. One for every two blocks of classrooms. They dwarfed the rest of the school.

Tatalia led Goku to the office, where he was given a guests badge to hang around his neck, before taking him to her class.

"So, what's the first class we're going to?" Goku asked as they walked.

"Actually, we're only going to one class today."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, I've normally got five classes, but since it's finals week, it's going to be one class per day on a half day schedule."

"Oh. So what is it called?"

"It's Advanced Ki Location Tactics."

"Huh?"

"Ki sensing."

"Ohhh…Really? They're teaching that in school already? It hasn't been that long since my dad started sensing ki himself."

"It's been over two years, Kakarot."

"Has it been that long already?"

"You're so dense. You know that Bardock sees the King about new discoveries and whatnot, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, as soon as the King has this information he acts. He expands the curriculum of the educational system to include whatever he thinks is useful to us. It's an effective way of spreading the knowledge throughout the population. Teachers are trained to instruct the students, who go home and show their parents what they learned at school. Everybody is exposed. As a result of the new classes required, school is always getting longer. Five years ago, there wouldn't have been a middle school for anybody to attend. And now they've just recently extended school another four years. So I'll be entering a whole other level of school next year."

"Man, that sucks. You have my pity."

"Yeah, it does and no thanks. I guess its for the greater good, though. Here it is," she said as they came up to the first portable classroom in a set of parallel blocks north-east of the office.

Tatalia led Goku into the classroom, followed by a few other students. The classroom was bland and looked as if it wasn't particularly used frequently. There were three rows of desks arranged facing forward toward the teachers desk which sat at the front of the room, looking dusty and unused. The interior walls were a plain brown and the blackboard had something written on it that Goku couldn't understand. Both of them took seats in the back of class.

Goku counted the number of kids as they filed in and sat down, fifteen, not including the few who were already present. Then, he leaned over to Tatalia and whispered at her. "Hey, is this little classroom really used for kids experimenting with sensing out other ki?

"No. This is just for the opening lecture where our sensei explains the class agenda."

"Oh, okay," he nodded in understanding.

"Shh, she's coming."

A few seconds after all of the students had stopped talking, the female instructor walked in. She was dressed in the traditional green elite jumpsuit for women, except her armor was missing and her lower left leg was wrapped in gauze from her boot to just above her knee. She didn't appear to be injured, though. It must've served another purpose. Her big eyes were piercing and looked as if they'd seen many battles, but she didn't appear a day over the age of twenty-five. She had boyishly short black hair that swooped forward in two-inch long spikes, but it did not detract from her naturally pretty face, which had faint freckles on the cheeks just under her eyes, and a set of full lips like Angelina Jolie.

A kid in the front of class raised his hand and addressed the teacher. "Curi-sensei! Where is you're armor?"

Apparently Goku wasn't wrong to think that that was strange. This must've been the first time she came to school without it.

"I am wearing armor," Curi said matter-of-factly. "This is a new style that few have access to. The reinforcing properties of normal armor have been integrated into the fabric of my second skin," she said referring to her skin tights. "It allows for complete flexibility and maximum protection. After wearing it for awhile, you don't even feel it."

"Awesome! I want one!" the kid who questioned her exclaimed.

"Me too!" a few other kids yelled.

Curi folded her arms and leaned on the front of her desk. "If you want to be like me…then pass this class."

The kids who had yelled out suddenly paused and stared at her. Then they saluted and sat up straight, facing forward, each with a look of a serious determination on their faces.

"That's the spirit," she encouraged them without enthusiasm. Peoples initial impressions of her might've been that she was an emotionless ice queen. This was untrue, however. She was just the type of person who didn't like to show emotion unnecessarily. She would keep her cool and stay objective in every situation, never getting too attached to anything in anyway possible. It helped her maintain a level head at all times, especially in dire battle situations. "Now, if you're ready," she continued, "I can explain the final to you."

She paused for any questions and, when no one raised their hands, she proceeded.

"You'll each be picking a partner to pair off with. Each team of two will receive blindfolds. The object of this final is to rely on your ki senses as you spar with you partner. Your score will be determined by how many vital hits you land on your opponent, not by knock out. The time limit for each match is thirty minutes. You may select your partners now."

Right away, everyone jumped up and scrambled around the room, looking for buddies. Tatalia and Goku were the only ones who remained calm.

Tatalia pulled Goku over to the front of the class where Curi was. "Curi-sensei, is it okay if he's my partner?"

Curi moved her eyes over Goku real quick and answered. "No."

"But why?" Tatalia whined.

"Because he doesn't belong to this school. Find someone else."

Tatalia didn't have to look very far as a young, pencil thin, little boy with buck teeth came up to her and chose her. 'Gross!' she gagged silently.

After about five minutes of chaos, the pairs of kids began lining up by the door. However, there was a chubby kid left in the middle of the room without a partner.

"Well," Curi sighed, "the numbers are uneven." She turned to Goku and waved him over to the chubby kid. "I guess we can use you for something."

"Alright!" Goku cheered as he ran over to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Go- I mean Kakarot! What's your name?"

"Hi! I'm Ander!" he replied with equal enthusiasm, just happy to have someone talk to him.

"It looks like we're partners. I can't wait!" Goku jumped up and down in anticipation of the action.

"Everybody follow me," Curi ordered as she walked outside.

The whole class marched after Curi for a few minutes. Curi halted them at the entrance to Gym number four, which towered over them at five stories high. She pulled twenty blindfolds out of her sleeves and passed two to each team. Then, she opened the huge double doors and led them inside.

Goku awed at the interior of the building and how huge it was. The surface area, of the floor alone, was the size of six football fields laid out next to each other. The walls and floors were lined with white rubber mats and the support columns were chiseled marble. Also, narrow wooden benches ran along the inner length of the walls. Everyone else was unphased by the gyms appearance. They had seen it hundreds of times and it was ordinary to them.

Curi noticed Goku's expression and looked at him curiously. "You look like you've never seen the inside of a gym before. Your school should have ones just like this or similar."

"Oh, I'm not in school," Goku responded without taking his eyes off of a ten foot thick support column that stretched all the way to the ceiling.

"Excuse me?" Curi raised and eyebrow at him.

"I was never much of a school person."

"Well, if you aren't up to the level of my students, I'm afraid I can't let you participate."

"He's more than capable of handling himself in any situation," Tatalia cut in. "Besides, look at him, he's an elite. It's obvious he's strong."

"That doesn't mean a thing," Curi said turning to look back at Goku, who was still taking in the sight of the enormous gym. She seemed to penetrate Goku's soul with her eyes as she attempted to read him. He appeared to be an average teen on the surface and he was indeed on level with everyone else, but there was something that told her she wasn't seeing everything. It nagged at her so much that she closed her eyes and delved into his mind. She was immediately rejected by a powerful barrier. It was then that her suspicions were justified. No person as young as him should have a mind constructed so complexly. That only came from years of hard battles and life experiences.

All of a sudden she felt herself being probed and realized that she let her guard down when she dove into Goku's mind. She opened her eyes and saw Goku's two orbs of endless black fixed on hers. For a split second, she thought she saw a grown man standing in front of her, but it disappeared as soon as she blinked.

"So can I still be in?" Goku asked as if nothing had happened.

"Fine…but go easy on Ander."

The two shared a silent stare for a second before she addressed the entire class.

"Everybody listen up," she started in her cool voice. "As you can see we're not the only ones using this gym." She pointed to the corners at the opposite end of the gym where other instructors had their students engaged in various activities. "It is important that you stay on this side of the gym. Not just to keep out of the way of those other classes, but to show me how good you are at sensing boundaries while blinded. Also, there's two ways we can carry this out. If you agree to be silent while each team has their spar, I'll let you guys keep your blindfolds off until your turn comes up. But if any of you cheer and give them a point of reference to judge their distance from the boundary, then I'll be forced to blindfold you all. And then nobody will see the action. Are we agreed?"

Everyone nodded silently.

"Good. Then you can all sit along the wall," she motioned to the wall to the right of the doors. "As soon as all of you are seated, I'll call up the first two examinees."

In less than a minute, all students had a seat next to their partners. Curi waved the first two people over and tied each of their blindfolds around their eyes. She guided the two opponents, a low-level boy and a mid-level girl, a short distance away and set them ten feet apart, facing each other. Then, the boy and the girl each took starting poses.

The girl stood bladed with her left shoulder facing the boy and her knees bent slightly. Her left elbow was held up to just below eye level and her right fist was tucked tightly at her side.

The boy stood tall, facing forward, with his feet spread shoulders length apart and his right fist rested on his left palm out in front of him.

Neither had the slightest sign of nervousness. Their faces were stone frozen in concentration as they tried to align their senses to one another.

"Begin," Curi said unceremoniously.

Both stood there motionlessly as they continued to feel out the others ki. For a couple of minutes they battled it out by running scenarios over in their heads and deciding how to start. Finally, when everybody was just about to pass out from boredom, they acted.

The boy sprinted forward and made to tackle the girl like a football player. His style was more rough and straightforward whereas the girls' was more fluid. She lifted her elbow and straightened her arm as she leaned to the side and deflected his body. He was flung over her head and thrown to the ground behind her. The boy spun his body and landed on all fours like a dog. He used all his limbs as springs to launch himself at her once again, this time twice as fast.

This girl was no clay statue, however. By the time the boy was in the air again, she was gone from the spot she previously occupied. She appeared underneath him and, using her hands for support, she double-kicked him straight up, left leg followed by the right, and sent him barreling toward the ceiling. She phased out of sight and reappeared in his path for an obvious rebound punch.

The boy anticipated this even before he sensed it. His back was toward her as he approached so he held his palms a short distance apart and formed a ball of ki in front of his chest. Then, at the last possible second, he flipped around to face her and shoved the ki ball into her face, detonating it. He immediately curled up into a ball to shield himself from the explosion he caused and flew in one end and out the other of the resulting cloud of smoke. He grinned a little as he sensed the girl falling to the floor. He took control of his flight and followed her.

She was not unconscious, though, merely allowing herself to fall freely to give the impression that she was. As she sensed him move in closer she fully ceased using her ki so it would settle to a level low enough to blend in with their sitting classmates. She landed on the padded floor, rolling to disperse some of the impact pain, then hopped up and moved to the wall near where the rest of the class was.

The boy, without his opponents strong ki to guide him, became unsure of his own position and slammed into the floor at an ultra high velocity.

The girl took this opportunity to strike. She got up from her seat by the wall and flipped over to the boy in an instant and commenced raining a barrage of ki blasts down on him, leaving no time for him to even stand. She continued on like that until she could no longer breathe. She stumbled backwards a couple of steps and took a knee while she panted heavily from smoke inhalation.

The boy's ki was severely depleted due to defending against the blasts, but he wasn't as hurt as everyone expected. He had noticed her a split second before being attacked and had just enough time to turn his back to the blasts. Because his ki was so low, his signature was disguised by the still dissipating ki cloud left by the girl. If she tried to locate him she'd only pick up her own remaining ki. He needed to act fast, though. He couldn't hold his breath for much longer.

By now, the girl was on both feet again and rubbing her temples, easing her headache while she searched out his ki.

With the last of his ki, the boy formed a single palm blast and left it to levitate in the girls cloud of ki. Then, on pure physical strength alone, he dove out of the cloud and flipped clear over the girls head. He detonated the ki ball while in mid air, fooling her into thinking he was in front of and not behind her.

She took a step toward his supposed location.

'I've got her,'he thought as he landed right behind her and reached out to land the ultimate hit. He swung down a karate chop motion aimed at her lower back, right above where her tail protruded from. Although he could not see, he could sense the collection of nerves that were vital to ki circulation in her body. They were right above the tail. If he struck her there, her ki flow would be temporarily paralyzed and the match would be over. Just before his hand hit, though, he was stopped by something tight around his neck.

The girl had her tail wrapped around his neck. "Tsk, tsk. You were about to resort to a dirty little trick there," she said condescendingly.

"B- but how?"

"You think I couldn't hear you pass right by my face?" she laughed. "You're ridiculous!" She then repeatedly slammed his face into the matted floor with her tail, causing his blindfold to come off. She couldn't see, so she didn't know it was off and kept going.

"Stop it there," Curi interrupted as she caught the boy's face with her foot right before it hit the floor again. "Remove the blindfold Anyun, you ended it early. You knocked his blindfold off. Are you okay Nomato?"

The girl, Anyun, lifted her blindfold as she unwound her tail from Nomato's neck. "How disappointing…" she sighed.

"Well," Curi sighed tiredly, "Since we're ahead of schedule, I'll accept team volunteers for the next match. And do me a favor. Make it interesting, will ya?"

Goku quickly raised his hand and waved it around. "Oh, oh. Pick me!"

Ander glanced at Goku and panicked. He didn't want to go this early so he shook his head frantically while moving his hand past his neck, motioning for him to cut it out.

"Alright. It looks like we have our next team. Ander and Goku, get over here so I can tie your blindfolds."

Goku eagerly jumped to his feet and hopped over to Curi. Ander reluctantly followed. Anyun and Nomato glanced at Ander in passing. They both gave him looks of disgust. Goku noticed this but didn't say anything. 'Maybe they think he's weak…'

When Curi finished tying their blindfolds, she spaced them ten feet apart like the two previous competitors. "Start."

Unlike the last match, this began right away. Curi barely had time to step out of the way. Ander leaped forward and ran at Goku, his legs moving in a blur. It was so quick that Goku didn't even have time to react. Ander was up on Goku in a millisecond and put all of his weight and momentum into a powerful right punch that hit Goku right in the nose. He followed up with a left palm across his face, continuing to drive Goku backwards. Using his right fist, once more, he socked Goku in the gut, causing him to bend inward a little bit. Then, he brought his right leg up and kneed him in the forehead, lifting him a few feet off of the ground. And finally, he finished with a supercharged uppercut that sent him flying backwards through the air. He accomplished all of this in less than three seconds.

Goku was flipped upside down by the uppercut and he narrowly missed landing on his head when he slammed back down to the ground. 'Holy shit! I underestimated him. I was going to fight at everyone else's level, but it seems he's stronger than everyone else. But then why do they give him dirty looks and not pick him as a teammate?' His question was quickly answered as he lifted himself from his hands and knees. As soon as he stood, he caught the scent of a horrid stench. It was Anders' gas. Apparently he was incredibly flatulent and released farts with every blow he landed. 'Oh God! That's why they don't like him! He's the strongest in class, but they don't pick him because his farts are terrible!'

Ander came running at him, full speed. He threw a wild right cross which Goku sidestepped and brushed away with his left hand. Ander kept his momentum and flip twisted around, this time bringing his left fist at Goku's face. Goku leaned to the right and avoided it. Ander came back with a flurry of punches that Goku slapped away just as quickly. Ander switched to a high right sweeping kick that Goku pushed away, causing Ander to spin on his left foot. He used the spin and switched feet, bringing a left back kick that Goku jumped away from.

'I can't let him hit me,'Goku thought just before planting his hands on Ander's back and flipping over his dive tackle.

Ander turned around and ran speedily at Goku with another weight packed punch. Goku ducked under it and returned a quick one-two punch to his ribs. He brought his elbow up, swept it across Ander's face and followed through with a punch to the shoulder. Then, he pushed Ander back and laid a powerful energy laced punch on his face that sent him flying backwards a ways.

Goku caught up and continued the assault with a right uppercut, then a left across the face, and a spinning backhand that knocked Ander back to the floor.

Ander landed on his feet whipped around and tried to high kick Goku under the chin, but Goku leaned back enough to miss it. Goku flipped in the air and spun around, landing a heel kick right on top of Ander's head and slamming his face into the floor.

Ander curled up on the floor in pain while Goku took a cautious step toward where he lay. Ander didn't move. Goku sensed that Ander's ki was in a state of weakness, but knew that he might be faking. Just then, a couple of Ander's palm blasts burst out of the floor behind Goku and caught him off guard.

When Goku turned to slap away the blasts, Ander leapt up and, using Goku's shoulders as a boost, pushed off into the air and propelled himself higher. Ander twisted around and threw blasts, like fastballs, from both hands as he flew backwards. Instead of exploding, the blasts stretched out like wires and flew around a pillar that was behind Goku. Ander landed about a hundred feet away and yanked the ki wires, that were attached to each of his fingers, causing them to swing around both Goku and the pillar. As the wires became taught, they dragged Goku against the giant marble column and bound him to it.

'Damn, these wires are strong. I could get out using my power, but I promised myself that I'd keep to his level. This is certainly going to be interesting…' Goku ceased struggling and waited for the next move.

With Goku successfully tied up, Ander slapped his two hands together and ignited his aura. The aura shined brightly all around his body just before migrating down through his arms and exploding like a flamethrower toward Goku.

The beam struck Goku dead on and burned as hot, and as brightly, as the sun. It was so hot that it burned a hole through the marble pillar behind Goku. The heat singed away at the cloth of his tights, as well as the cloth of his blindfold. Goku tightly shut his eyes so he wouldn't ruin the match by seeing anything. The protective ki shell he had formed around himself was effective at shielding the body, but not much else. When the blast dissipated, Goku was left without armor and just barely enough cloth to cover his bits and pieces. If you know what I mean.

"Wooh! Yeah! Take it off baby!" a few of the girls in the class yelled out.

"No talking," Curi said as she waved her finger at her sitting students. "It's blindfold time."

"Aw, man," the majority of the class sighed.

Ander breathed heavily from the effort put forth and couldn't believe it when he sensed that Goku was unharmed by his strongest attack. And he was also curious as to why all the girls were whistling.

Goku raised his hand and waved it around to get Curi's attention while still holding his eyes tightly shut. "Curi-sensei! I'm all out of blindfold!" 'And why is it so breezy in here all of a sudden?'

Curi appeared at Goku's side, quickly replacing the blindfold and then rejoining the rest of the students.

"Ah, thank you," Goku sighed relief as he could finally relax his tense eye muscles. 'No more messing around…'

Goku spread his feet shoulder length apart and channeled ki into them. Then, he power sprinted toward Ander who had recovered somewhat.

Ander took off as well and, in a matter of seconds, was engaged in a furious punch out with Goku. They delivered lightning fast blows back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. They'd disappear every now and then, and come back into focus only once in awhile. After a stalemate in the flash fighting department, they resumed a less sophisticated style.

Ander flew at Goku with a sweeping backhand across his face. Goku caught the hand and pulled Ander close in, head-butting him, then repeatedly kneed his gut. His attack was nullified by Ander's farts and he was forced to back off to get fresh air. Ander used this to his advantage and began chasing Goku around in a cloud of fart. He wanted Goku to run out of oxygen and let his guard down.

All of a sudden Goku stopped and spoke. "This is…a little trick…I learned from my friend…Tienshinhan," he breathed. Then, he assumed a power up stance and began screaming while clasping his hands together.

Ander couldn't see what was going on so he wasn't worried in the least. He heard Goku, and it sounded like he was powering up, but he couldn't sense a rising power level, so he let Goku proceed.

Curi was the only one to see what was going on as she was without blindfold. 'That boy is out of this world…'

Goku began to separate. His body literally split apart at the seams. Down the middle, his body divided and became two Goku's. Then, the two new Goku's each spawned an extra Goku, leaving a total of four. Because only his body multiplied and not his power, Goku still registered as a single person.

Ander was utterly confused. One moment, his opponent was in front of him and the next, he was surrounding him. It didn't make sense. He couldn't understand why Goku would use a speed based illusionary technique to fake like there was more than one of him. It was pointless since neither of them could see. Little did he know, that it was in fact four bodies, each with one fourth the power of the original.

All of the Goku's closed the distance and tackled Ander from all sides, who hesitated because of his uncertainty. One wrapped his arm around Anders back from behind, while two others grabbed a hold of his legs and held him still. The final one came in front and landed a powerful double fisted blow into his chest, knocking the air out his lungs.

Ander absorbed the full force because he was immobilized and coughed up a little blood.

The three Goku's holding Ander released their grip and allowed him to slump a bit. Then, the fourth pulled his arms back and, with open palms, began chanting. "Ka-me-ha-me…Haaaa!" he shouted as he pushed his arms forward and unleashed the wave at point blank range. Ander didn't defend and was hit by the blast, but it was only strong enough to push him, not engulf him.

All four Goku's took off, ran past Ander, and got in the distant path of the blast that was carrying him. They lined up single file and waited a little bit while crouching. Before Ander got close enough, the two in the back jumped off of the second ones shoulders and flew into the air. When Ander got right up on the first two Goku's, the Kamehameha curved vertically and, with two kicks from the Goku's on the floor to help it, launched Ander into a ninety degree climb. The third and fourth were waiting for him and, when he reached their height, they spun their bodies and repeatedly slammed kicks down on him like two windmills. Ander fell off of the blast after it dissipated and was sent flying back down by the windmill twins. They followed him all they way to the floor and, right before hitting, they gave an extra slam onto his back with intertwined fists.

The floor exploded as Ander impacted, shredding the rubber mats and cracking the marble. He twitched and rolled onto his back. He raised his hand and held up his blindfold, signaling forfeit. "I'm done. My ki has run out." Then he let his arm drop.

"So…did I win?" the Goku's asked.

"These matches are for the purpose of determining the students' proficiency in adapting ki sensing for battle purposes. You don't have to beat your opponent to prove that your skills are sufficient. This was just a showcase of your abilities, not a contest," Curi explained. "If you had listened earlier, you would know that already." She walked over to Ander and helped him up. "You've passed."

"W- what about me?" the Go-clones asked, removing their blindfolds.

"What about you? You're not even enrolled in this school."

"Oh, yeah," all of the Goku's laughed in unison, "I forgot."

"Besides," Curi continued, "I doubt school has anything to offer to someone like you," she said before carrying Ander to the bench on the wall, where the students had already uncovered their eyes. "Nice show though."

The Goku clones shrugged and followed Curi back over to the wall bench and sat next to Tatalia and her partner. All of the other students moved away because they were freaked out at Goku's multiplicity.

Tatalia leaned over to the closest clone and whispered into his ear. "Hey, Kakarot, do you think you could lose the crowd?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow towards his clonage.

"Oh, sure. It almost slipped my mind." The one right next to Tatalia whistled and the other three jumped onto him and melted into his body. "There we go," he said as he yawned.

'Disgusting…'Tatalia shuddered.

"The next match is…" Curi announced, "Tatalia and Kinto. Both of you get over here."

Tatalia gulped as she realized that she was going to have trouble fighting to her full potential with her weights on. She stood up and walked slowly over to Curi. She glanced at Goku one more time before reaching Curi. He just nodded at her. 'A nod? What the hell? How is that supposed to help me? If I'm hindered to the point that I fail this class, I am so gonna kick you're ass.'

Tatalia and the bucktoothed boy, Kinto, were positioned by Curi after being blindfolded. "Alright you two, you know what to do. When I give the signal, go for it. And don't think that because of the last match my action quota has been satisfied. You'd better keep me awake, otherwise I wont be able to grade you." She turned to the rest of the class. "Put your blindfolds back on."

Everyone, including Goku, retied each others blindfolds and left convenient, yet unnoticeable, gaps in the thickness that allowed them to see.

"Start."