Dragonball Z
Gohan: Protector of Earth
Disclaimer:This is a Dragonball z fanfiction. I do not own or in anyway profit from Dragonball z or any of the characters in this story. This fic centers on Gohan, and begins right after the cell games. It is an AU, and reviews are welcome and much appreciated.
Chapter 3:
Flying at nearly full speed, Gohan approached Capsule Corp from the sky. Vegeta had told him to get there by 10:00 in the morning and he did not want to be even a second late. Gohan had been anxious to learn about his dream to the point he could barely get any sleep the night before. He decided to go training instead and spent the whole night by the mountains practicing his fighting techniques. To say he was tired at this point would have been an understatement.
As Gohan walked into the main building, he saw Bulma making her way outside. She was carrying Trunks in her arms and looked to be in a hurry.
"Hi Gohan. Vegeta told me to tell you to hurry up and meet him in the gravity room. God forbid he has to take an extra minute out of his day to wait for someone."
"Hi Bulma. Thanks for letting me know," and with that Gohan hurried off to the gravity room.
"Wait a second Gohan. Hmm there he goes. I was going to ask him if he wanted to stay for lunch. Oh well."
As Gohan entered he expected Vegeta to be busy training but surprisingly the gravity setting was turned off and Vegeta was standing in the corner looking impatient. He was wearing normal human clothing, something Gohan had not seen Vegeta do very often.
"About time you got here. Now sit down and let's get through this."
"Uh ok, sure," Gohan proceeded to sit down on a chair that was conveniently placed in the middle of the room.
"We'll start off with the history of-"
"Actually I was hoping we could start off with what happened in my dream when Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta," Gohan interrupted Vegeta. "I know it's a hard thing to talk about, but I just want to know everything I can about it."
Vegeta stared at Gohan for a minute with an irritated look.
"I don't know how much I can tell you about that. I was just a child when it happened. At first I thought a meteor had hit the planet because that's what Frieza had told me. I never really believed that though. There was no way a little meteor could put an end to such a mighty race. There would have been several capable warriors who could have destroyed the meteor. I later found out from some people who were close to Frieza that it was indeed not a meteor that destroyed the planet."
Gohan listened intently to what Vegeta was saying. He had never heard Vegeta talk this way about any subject. He was neither angry nor mocking in tone, but completely serious.
"What I learned is that Frieza had decided long before that he could not allow our race to survive. He was scared of what we saiyans were capable of. This is actually a result of your grandfather Bardock. He was only a third class warrior but he and his crew were doing things only Frieza's elites would have been capable of. They showed how much potential there was for a saiyan warrior and how much of a threat we posed to Frieza's dominance over the universe."
"How strong were they? How strong was the strongest saiyan back then?"
"My father, King Vegeta, was the strongest saiyan at that time. His power level was probably 20,000 or so. Nothing compared to what mine is now. I have far surpassed any saiyan from back then; even you would have been the strongest if you were alive back then. Although we saiyans had potential to be the strongest fighters in the universe, most could not even break through the 10,000 power level barrier."
"Was your father on the planet when it exploded?"
Vegeta gave an angered expression and looked at the wall. It felt like forever until he decided to answer Gohan's question.
"He along with many of the saiyan elites tried to kill Frieza right before the planet was destroyed. He was able to make it to Frieza's chamber before he and the rest of the elites were killed by Frieza. It was as if they had been nothing."
A few moments of silence passed.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Vegeta looked at Gohan. "They're all dead now anyway, including Frieza. They should have been stronger back then when they decided to revolt against him, and there should have been more who revolted. But all the saiyans were afraid of him like he was invincible, pathetic. You're grandfather was a great warrior, standing up to Frieza and his minions. He was one of the only saiyans who deserved to call themselves a saiyan warrior."
"Wow." Gohan thought back to the dream he had of his grandfather. "Bardock looked just like my father, down to the exact resemblance of their hair."
"Saiyans tend to take after their parents quite a bit in looks. Definitely more than these humans do. Okay that's enough for today I have training to get too. Come back tomorrow for the sparring session and make sure not to be late."
Gohan got up from his chair and proceeded to make his way out of the room.
"Hold on a minute." Gohan was stopped by Vegeta's voice. "Take these with you. I'm not going to waste my time telling you more about saiyan history if you can't even speak the language. Take these books and learn everything in them. It includes how to speak our native tongue as well as some other important things to note."
"You're giving me homework?"
"Yes, now get out of here and read what I gave you."
Gohan gave a smile as he left the chamber. A short time ago Vegeta had been upset with Gohan and told him that he wasn't a teacher, and here he was handing out homework assignments and giving lectures. This was definitely a different side of Vegeta than Gohan had ever seen before. He would have mentioned this as a joke but he knew Vegeta would have gotten upset and probably put a stop to the lessons.
Gohan decided to read up on the study material right away. He decided to fly to the lake he had taken Goten to. The area was nice and relaxing, the perfect place to read up on his saiyan ancestry. It seemed fitting after all since it was the dream he had while here that made him decide to learn more about it.
Gohan sat himself down next to a tree and lied in the shade. He started to open up the books and looked through what Vegeta had given him. The material was not very interesting; there were sections of the book on how to speak the saiyan language as well as chapters on common customs. After a while Gohan decided to place the reading texts down next to him and take a nap. It took only a couple minutes for Gohan to fall asleep thanks to the peaceful environment surrounding him.
On a barren planet stood two warriors each facing the other in their own unique fighting stances. The planet did not have any forms of life and seemed to be deserted. It was the perfect place for a battle since there was no other form of life on the planet that could get destroyed from a battle. The warrior on the left was wearing something similar to saiyan armor, except much older. The armor did not appear to be nearly as effective as the one Vegeta wore when he came to Earth. It seemed to be much bulkier and not as durable for quick movements. The fighter's black hair stood on end and his tail stood straight out pointed up in the air. He was obviously a saiyan warrior. He was taller than Goku but not as tall as Broly had been. He had a build similar to that of Goku's.
The fighter facing this saiyan warrior was far different in looks. He was much taller than the saiyan, nearly 8 feet tall in height, and was definitely not a saiyan. His skin was purple in color and his hair stood on end similar to the saiyans except it was more whitish grey instead of black. His clothes did not seem to be that of a warrior's. His clothing was grey with what seemed to be a blue vest that extended down to his knees. The clothing was definitely odd and it seemed more likely it would be worn by a diplomat instead of a warrior.
"Why are you doing this? You can't beat me in battle," yelled the saiyan warrior.
The mysterious purple warrior smiled to himself. "You're a bigger fool than I thought. You really don't know what you're up against, do you. This battle will end with your demise."
"We'll just have to see for ourselves then, won't we?"
The saiyan warrior charged at the larger fighter and tried to hit him with a barrage of punches and kicks. Every attempt made by the saiyan was easily blocked by the larger warrior. The purple warrior did not attempt to counter any of the moves; he was content to just toy with the saiyan. After a while the saiyan broke off from the fight and retreated back to his initial position.
"Is that all you have?" yelled the purple warrior. "You're even more pathetic than I thought. Why not just give up now? Do this and I'll try to make your death less painful than if you try to fight me."
"You haven't seen my full power yet!" the saiyan roared back in anger. "Let's see if you're still laughing after you experience what I'm truly capable of."
With that the saiyan geared down and started powering up. Rock debris started flying everywhere as the saiyan's aura exploded around him shifting in color to yellow. His hair quickly turned from black to yellow and his eyes turned to the color blue. A huge windstorm formed around the warrior affecting everything in its path, except for the purple warrior. He did not seem to be bothered at all by this new development.
"What is going on," Gohan thought to himself. "He's a super saiyan."
Gohan was standing on the side watching the fight as a spectator. He was invisible to the battling warriors as if he was watching a movie of their fight.
The saiyan warrior did not stop after reaching the super saiyan level though. He continued powering up as his hair started to stand more on edge than before and blue bolts of electricity appeared in his aura.
"He's achieved super saiyan level 2. Who is this guy, or a better question might be when was this guy alive?" Gohan thought. "Did this actually happen or am I just imagining it all."
To the shock of Gohan the saiyan did not stop powering up. His power level was incredible, far above that of Gohan's when he fought Cell. His power level continued to increase at an incredible rate. His hair no longer stood straight up in the air but started to curve behind him and grow in length. It curved around his body and extended down nearly to the back of his knees. His face began to distort a bit as well, his forehead started to protrude outwards. Along with this, his muscle mass increased greatly similar to when Mirai Trunks first fought against Cell. Gohan could not believe what he was witnessing; with this new transformation the saiyan warrior's power level experienced an incredible spike even greater than the difference between super saiyan level one and two.
"What is going on here? Is there another level beyond super saiyan 2? Exactly how many levels are there, this is crazy. Is there no limit?"
"There is, but this is not it," said a mysterious voice behind Gohan.
Gohan turned in shock.
"Whose there. Where are you?"
"That's not important."
"What do you mean? I think I have a right to know, this is my dream after all," Gohan yelled at the mysterious voice.
"Dream! This is no dream. What you see now actually happened. This battle took place over a thousand years ago."
Gohan stopped looking for the voice and focused his eyes back on where the battle was taking place. The saiyan warrior stopped powering up and stood glaring at the purple skinned fighter. The purple fighter stared back calmly at his opponent as if this new power level was nothing he couldn't handle.
"Is he at super saiyan level 3? Is he at the level beyond that of an ascended super saiyan?"
"Super saiyan? He is not a super saiyan. He has transformed to a more powerful form of a saiyan, the third transformation form to be exact, but he is not a super saiyan. A super saiyan is the final form a saiyan can achieve; there is only one form of it and there is nothing beyond it in power. It is unmatched in every sense."
Gohan could not believe what he was hearing. He thought the form he achieved was a super saiyan, was that beyond a super saiyan. His head was spinning, as if everything he held to be a fact was being disproved.
"So then I'm not a super saiyan. My father wasn't a super saiyan, Vegeta isn't a super saiyan."
"Do you know nothing of the legend of the super saiyan? Do you know nothing of your saiyan heritage; there is only one super saiyan every millennium. Only one. Not every saiyan can become a super saiyan; only a select few even hold the potential to achieve it.
"How do I achieve that form then? How do I become like the warrior out there. I have already reached the second form if that's what you call it."
"The third form is not difficult to achieve, only to maintain. The key is to look deep inside of you. You have already achieved the second form; all you have to do is look inside of you, into the pit of your stomach. Once you find the power, just try to bring it out. Here, I will help you out."
Suddenly Gohan was no longer looking at the battle taking place. He was staring into nothingness; it was as if he was back in the hyperbolic time chamber. Except that there was no strange gravity surrounding him like in the chamber. The gravity felt exactly like on Earth, everything felt entirely normal except that there was nothing there. In the hyperbolic time chamber he could feel comfort knowing there was a door to escape into the real world, but there was nothing here. There was no way out that Gohan could see.
"Where am I?" Gohan screamed hoping the same voice would answer him.
Suddenly the saiyan warrior Gohan had seen at the battlefield appeared in front of him.
"You're the saiyan fighter. You are the one that was fighting that giant guy back just a few moments ago. But how, what is going on?"
"I can not answer those questions now," the saiyan warrior replied. You are here for a purpose are you not? You wanted to achieve the third level of saiyan."
"Yes. Are you going to help me?"
"Power up to your full power. Reach the second level as you say you can."
Gohan obeyed the saiyan warrior. His aura flared up around him as Gohan passed the first level of saiyan and reached the second level. He was able to do this much quicker now than before and he was much more powerful in this level now thanks to all the training he had been doing since the Cell Games. His power level had increased substantially since then along with the ease in which he was able to hold this form.
"Now what do you want me to do?" Gohan calmly asked the mysterious saiyan warrior.
"Now you will delve down deep inside of yourself and reach for the power. It's in you, you just have to find it."
Gohan tried powering up more and tried to reach for this mysterious power.
"I can't get it. I don't know how to."
"Yes you do," the saiyan warrior yelled at him. You have to find it, or everything you hold dear in your life will be lost."
"What are you talking about?"
The saiyan held out his hand and an image started to form.
"This is your mother and brother are they not? If you don't get stronger this is what will happen to them."
The image of Chichi and Goten appeared on the saiyan's hand. Then a mysterious dark force approached them from behind. The images of Gohan's family started to scream as they were engulfed by the dark force. It was as if a darkness engulfed them whole and left no traces they were ever there. Then there was nothing on the saiyan's hand.
"What's going on? What happened to them?" Gohan screamed at the mysterious man, tears starting to fall from his eyes.
"They're going to die. All because you couldn't protect them. You were just too weak," the saiyan said in a mocking tone. "Once again you couldn't stop a person you loved from dying. They'll end up just like your pitiful father, Goku. You remember don't you, he had to die because you were too weak."
"Noooooooo! You know nothing of my father. Don't ever mention his name again!"
Gohan let out a scream and started powering up as much as he could. He leaned a bit forward and tried to pull the power from within. He could feel it deep within his stomach and he tried desperately to grab onto it.
"I won't let them die!"
With that Gohan grabbed onto the power he felt and let it loose. His hair changed from spiking upwards to curving down his back and extending in length. His power level skyrocketed as his aura flared even more wildly than before. After Gohan finished his transformation into what was once considered super saiyan 3, he collapsed to the ground unable to hold onto the awesome power that is involved in the transformation.
Reverting back to his base form, Gohan looked up at the saiyan warrior who was now staring down at him on the ground.
"I have so many questions I need to ask."
"Now is not the time," replied the saiyan warrior. "I will see you again soon. Until then, be ready for what awaits you. I suggest you continue to train and learn about your saiyan ancestry. That is the key to your future."
The saiyan warrior disappeared from sight and Gohan laid there by himself in the middle of the nothingness.
Gohan awoke suddenly from his dream. He was completely exhausted and he could feel the sweat dripping profusely off of him. Although he had no marks or bruises, he felt as if he had just gone through an intense sparring session with Vegeta.
"Was that just a dream or was it more than that. Did I really reach a level beyond that of a super saiyan 2? But he said that I wasn't a super saiyan. I need to find out if this is real or not."
Gohan stood up from the grass and put two fingers on his forehead.
"I'm glad dad taught me instant transmission before my battle with Cell. I can't let anybody feel the power I've reached if I have actually reached this new level."
Gohan used the instant transmission and suddenly disappeared from the lake that had given him all of these mysterious dreams.
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