Gohan woke up surrounded by white walls and a white roof. The place had a sterilised smell to it and nothing moved at all. Gohan found that he couldn't move a muscle.

"Well crap, just perfect, I'm dead." He thought apathetically and even mentally rolling his eyes until his vision cleared and he realised he was in a bed and that he hurt everywhere. He was confused for a moment as to where on Earth he could be before he remembered that he passed out in the Capsule Corp gardens and that Bulma had probably brought him in to rest. Boy he couldn't wait till those Saiyan regeneration tanks were completed, they'd really help right about now. At that thought he heard the hiss of a mechanical door opening. Bulma walked into the room and saw that Gohan was awake. She basically told Gohan, in short, that Vegeta had informed her of the entire situation and that he should be more cautious in who he gave second chances to.

Gohan chuckled at that but the mirth died as quickly as it came on and a confused angry look came over his face, "What do you mean Vegeta told you about it all!? You mean he saw it!?" Gohan damn near screamed at which Bulma chuckled momentarily before answering.

"Yeah. Vegeta also commented that you 'fought well for a rusty weakling'" she informed him, Gohan's face twisted into desperation to understand the situation.

"Why didn't he help me if he was there!" Gohan asked frantically only to be told by the source itself from the doorway.

"Tch, as if you needed my help. You dominated that fight." Vegeta remarked with a snort, which aggravated the younger fighter.

"Dominated? What about the horn through the shoulder and the massive death ball at the end?!" Gohan pointed out to which Vegeta snorted again, as Bulma remained intelligently quiet throughout this encounter, knowing better than to get between two grumpy Saiyans.

"Simple, those were mistakes. If you weren't so rusty I dare say that you wouldn't have been touched throughout that fight. You were superior loathe as I am to admit it. Maybe you aren't the lost cause of a warrior I thought you were." Vegeta said thoughtfully and slightly quieter. "Gohan, report here as often as you can a week for personal training with me, you will serve as a worthy punching bag." Vegeta instructed before turning to leave at Gohan's dutiful nod.

Gohan was about to relax back into his pillow when he heard a parting remark from the older Saiyan. "I told you the device was no match for Saiyan pride!" He yelled.

Gohan snorted at him but made no attempt to argue back, he simply leaned back in his bed before his eyes shot open, Gohan would have shot bolt upright in his bed if all the muscles in his body weren't torn apart due to the amount of power he stuffed into it earlier. "KRILLIN!" Gohan screamed, only for Bulma to put a hand on his forehead and making calming hushes at him.

"Krillin's going to be fine, that baddie messed him up pretty bad but he's better off than you are, 18 came by and helped him home." She explained slowly and quietly. Gohan exhaled in relief. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and locking eyes with his godmother. Bulma was taken back at how much emotion she could see in his normally cold eyes,

"Thanks Bulma" He said simply to her and she smiled gently at him. Gohan really was still Gohan deep down.

"You're a good kid Gohan." She told him before leaving him to rest.

The Next Day: Wednesday

Gohan was at Capsule Corp training with Vegeta and already all of Capsule Corp was rocking with the shockwaves and explosions. It was obvious to anyone watching that while Gohan was more powerful, Vegeta was the more experienced and skilled fighter of the two. The Black-haired warriors traded blows on equal grounds, neither landing a blow that was not soon returned.

Gohan ducked a straight punch and tried to come back up with knee. Vegeta caught the knee in his palm and pushed it back down towards the ground. The Prince fired off a head kick that Gohan stopped with his forearm. The Ox Prince threw a punch back but it was stopped by Vegeta's palm. Gohan threw his other fist into Vegeta's free palm and then roared with intensity as a white Aura burst to life around him as he used his superior strength to push forward. Vegeta tried to stand his ground but soon his training boots were sliding backwards along the red-lit metal floor of the gravity room. The sliding became faster and smoother as Gohan gained momentum before Vegeta's feet left the ground and Gohan shot forward slamming Vegeta into the wall of the GR. The younger warrior pushed and pushed pressing the older Saiyan against the wall. Vegeta managed to slip his hands away inside of the grapple, causing Gohan's hands to smash the walls either side of Vegeta's head.

"Oh I bet you treat all the girls like this" Vegeta remarked with a smirk before gently laying his hands on Gohan's stomach, "Mistake number one brat!" He screamed before blasting Gohan at point blank range in his center mass. Gohan flew back and seemingly had his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Vegeta moved in to capitalise on his advantage however realised his mistake as right as he got close, Gohan's eyes opened and a smirk formed on his own expression. Gohan tucked backwards and bicycle kicked Vegeta in the chin launching him into the roof of the GR. He hit the roof hard and then fell and hit the ground with 20 times Earth's gravity pulling him down. Gohan landed on the foot he hadn't used to kick as he came out of the backflip. He was panting and seemed to be struggling but his smirk firmly remained, he had won. It brought a strange satisfaction knowing that after all those years he still had it.

Vegeta struggled back to his feet and spat out some blood before walking over to the artificial gravity generator and switched it off. He turned to Gohan and nodded, "Not bad brat, you beat me I admit but while you aren't as rusty as I thought you'd be its still obvious that your fighting instincts have yet to fully return." Vegeta told him calmly, walking out the door of the gravity room into the hallway beyond. He grabbed one of the towels and water bottles that were waiting for them there.

Confusion passed over Gohan's face as he followed the veteran fighter. "What do you mean, I managed to nail you with that backflip kick in a tough position didn't I?" He asked.

"You did" Vegeta admitted, "But that shows that you have a good technique and an adaptable combat style. These are both good things. However you're far too confident in yourself sometimes brat. You invested too much into that kick. What would have happened if you missed it?" He asked calmly, though it was obvious he was irritated that he had to explain it. Gohan said nothing as he thought about it picturing the fight's possible outcome if he were to have somehow missed the kick in a serious situation. Images of Cell catching him wide open and blasting him to oblivion flashed through his mind. Vegeta, satisfied that Gohan seemed to get the point. "Now, training is over, get lost kakabrat." Vegeta told him non-commitedly as he moved in the direction of the kitchen.

Without a word Gohan took off out the window, this time aiming his flight path to his apartment in Satan City, rather than his old home in the mountains. Gohan arrived at the window of his apartment's bedroom and flew right in rather than using the elevator as he normally did. He ate enough food to feed a village before heading off to clean all the sweat, grime and blood from his body. Just as he finished changing into fresh clothes he heard a knock at his door. Looking at the time he noted that it was now 5pm. Who in the world would be at his place at this time? He walked over to the door and opened it to see his classmates. More specifically his 3 classmates.

"Gohan!" They cried unanimously as he looked at them surprised. "Oh we've been coming here for a while now knocking on your door to check on you but you haven't been back until now. Must have been a shock to get all that homework huh?" Erasa said, running her mouth almost faster than Gohan could keep up with.

"Uhhh...homework?" Gohan said confusedly as he tried to remember getting a call or being told by someone about homework. "To be honest I have no idea what you're talking about." He said bluntly to her which gave Videl a confused and suspicious glare. She didn't say anything but she seemed to be listening intently to Gohan now and he couldn't fathom why.

"What do you mean what homework? Every time we checked and you weren't here we'd take it down to the front desk and this one employee told us he had been to your room before and that he'd give it to you as soon as you walked back through the lobby doors. A look of understanding passed over Gohan's face and he chuckled before replying, not really thinking about it.

"Well that explains it, I haven't been through those lobby doors even once in almost a week, I'll have to get it before it all starts piling-"

"What do you mean you haven't been through those doors?" Videl questioned with a deceptively calm tone with an underlying hint of danger. "If you didn't come through the lobby doors how did you even get up to your room Gohan." She questioned and Gohan immediately knew he had made a terrible mistake.

"Shit..."

Videl looked as if she'd press her advantage while Gohan was vulnerable and Gohan took a mental defensive stance, readying himself for the girls onslaught of interrogation.

"What does it matter, he's back and he seems okay!" Erasa cried enveloping the hardened warrior who just looked stuck between disgusted and resigned to his fate. "There, don't you feel better after a hug from a friend?"

"Not really" he muttered quietly but not quiet enough Erasa wouldn't have heard him, regardless if she heard it then she made no reaction or indication that she cared about his response in the slightest.

"So dude, when do you think you'll be back at school?" Sharpener asked, in his usual bored tone though Gohan could tell by his careful speech and his measured tone that he was trying to be considerate and polite, which Gohan appreciated from the seemingly self-centered teenager.

"I'm thinking about coming tomorrow. I feel I've given myself enough time, I don't want to fall behind on work at school." Gohan explained and received some raised eyebrows from his classmates. He was already coming back to school? But it hadn't even been a week and he had personally witnessed the death of his friend, she died in his arms for christ's sake! How can he not have some obvious and evident psychological damage? Or maybe he did and he just didn't realise it yet. Either way no one was prepared to question him about it because no doubt it would bring up painful memories or otherwise unpleasant trains of thought.

"Well okay then, we'll let you go then, I'll see you at school tomorrow Gohan." Sharpener said turning around and waving, as did Erasa with a goodbye. Videl stood there staring into Gohan's soul seemingly contemplating whether or not she should interrogate him before her harsh gaze softened and she smiled slightly at him.

"Take care of yourself Gohan, talk tomorrow." She said to him simply, before turning and walking off after her friends. At that moment Gohan released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. He watched them step back into the elevator and at the end of the hallway and nodded as they waved him goodbye as the doors closed. Gohan closed his apartment doors and walked towards his phone.

"Fucking humans..." He sighed, sounding exasperated but surprisingly, even almost endeared. He picked up the phone and dialled the lobby number, asking for his homework to be sent up to his apartment. The staff made a big deal about them not even seeing him coming in but he just waved them off and asked the books before swiftly hanging up. He planned to at least do most of the work before he went to bed.

*THE FOLLOWING MORNING - Thursday*

Gohan opened his window and shot out faster than any unfocused human being would really notice up into the sky where he was safe from being noticed. He now thought to himself that it may perhaps be smarter to travel around as a Super Saiyan in case someone saw him flying around and took a photo or something of the like. Now that he knew he could control that power he figured there was no real danger... Gohan grunted in discomfort, perhaps it was best to play it safe and forget about that for now. After all, his pride told him that the legendary form was not to be used for such trivial matters. Gohan's eyes widened as he realised how much his subconscious sounded like Vegeta.

With a shake of his head to dispel his pointless thoughts he shot off across the sky heading for school, he was easily going to be on time and so was in no real rush. As he neared the school he figured he would just walk to the school from an alley. He dropped down into one and walked out. The easy attitude of the crowd assured Gohan that no one had seen him, damn he was good. Judging the distance between himself and the school building Gohan calculated that if he walked at a human pace he would make it to school in 10 minutes. He had 30 minutes to get to class so all was well. He began his trek and not 5 minutes later did he hear something alarming.

He heard the sound of gunfire not far from him as well as the screaming of civilians and the alarm of a building. Gohan growled to himself as people all around him continued on their way. He was the only one who could see it all. He turned back and nearly ran back to the alleyway he had come from before tossing his book bag behind a trash can. He pulled his shirt over his head and put it there too before he shouted and his hair shot straight up and burned a bright gold, his eyes lit up into a colourful teal and he shot off into the sky. He flew through the air unhindered by it as he moved faster than sound. He was there in a matter of seconds and stopped abruptly, as all the sound of his flight caught up to him the pressure disturbance waves radiated to the street below him, causing a loud boom and a shockwave to wash over the people knocking many over.

Gohan surveyed the scene and saw that a bunch of thugs were robbing a bank. "Tch, humans, they never learn." He remarked bitterly before dropping into the scene. A handful of the officers looked surprised at his appearance before screaming for him to get to cover and that it wasn't safe for him here. Videl had just arrived at the scene and was running forwards to the car where Gohan and the officers were about to admonish the guy for getting in her way. Eventually one of the reporters off to the side screamed in excitement.

"CAMERA MAN, FOCUS ON THE GOLD-HAIRED YOUTH THERE! I THINK THAT'S THE ONE WHO WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS FOR SAVING WEST CITY FROM AN ALIEN INVASION!" She squealed, eliciting gasps and wide eyes from everyone around them. This gave Videl pause and she looked in awe at the guy. She suddenly noticed that he was completely ripped with muscle and saw obvious signs of battle on him. There was a scar on his jaw running down his neck on the right side of and slightly above his adams apple. Then there was a scar that started on his collarbone above the front of his shoulder that got wider as it traveled to the beginning of his bicep where it widened into a jagged circular scar that then got thinner again down the outside of his bicep before tapering off to normal skin near his elbow on his left arm.

"Stand back everyone, I'll handle these guys." Gohan told the police before turning around and floating towards the banks front doors. Videl then saw there was a long thing scar across his back and on the back side of his left shoulder a jagged round scar was evident, Videl guessed that it was the exit wound of whatever happened to the front of his arm. Actually compared to the longer thinner scar the round scar looked very new and still slightly red. Videl remembered hearing on the news that in his fight with the aliens this gold-haired warrior had been bleeding from his arm and that he was in a bad way. But for a wound like they described to be already scarring was impossible.

A mental image of the destruction shown on the news flashed through her mind, maybe it wasn't so impossible after all if they could do stuff like that. She watched intently as this man approached the thugs. While she wasn't exactly keen to let someone take her job, she needed to see for herself what he was capable of. As she thought that, the shock factor seemed to wear off the thugs as apprehension at this potentially being the Gold Warrior began to shine through the surface like diamonds buried among dirt. "H-He's comin' right for us!" One of the criminals remarked in terror.

"Grr! We were just supposed to draw that Satan whore out and kill her! We didn't sign up for fighting super heroes! DUST THIS BITCH!" One screamed in panic and they all unloaded their weapons on the young hero while screaming, rockets and bullets flew into the dust cloud creating explosions. After they all ran out of ammo they paused, breathing heavily. The dust seemed to hang around for a few more moments before a golden flame swept it all away, revealing the unharmed Gohan, surrounded by a fiery yet liquid-looking aura. He did NOT look happy.

"I know your kind, the types who like to hurt others, to do harm for their own benefit, not thinking of the ramifications their actions have on those around them. From me its hypocrisy but I hate people like you..." He ended with his voice dropping even lower and more dangerous towards the end of his sentence.

"Agh! He's...he's some kind of...of demon!" They screamed as they desperately tried to reload and continue attacking him. Gohan smirked at their description of him as he moved forward. He appeared before the one outside the door and allowed a few bullets to bounce harmlessly of his face and chest. He grabbed the goon's gun and crushed it into a ball of twisted metal. The man whimpered before throwing a wild punch at Gohan who merely slipped the blow and elbowed him in the chest in the same motion. The man 'oof'ed as he flew through the slightly open doors of the bank before sliding along the floor. Gohan waltzed into the bank and looked around at the thieves before phasing right up to the one standing at the window with the RPG. The man flinched and put the RPG infront of him to try to shield himself. Gohan brought his hand down like a knife and chopped the RPG in two, before spinning and back-kicking him in the gut, folding the man over his foot and knocking him out cold.

Gohan sensed one of them charging from behind him and, without facing his opponent, he ducked the hook before he stood up and caught the stumbling off-balance criminal by the back of his shirt before tossing him out the window onto the steps leading down from the bank. Gohan saw one of the men turn their machine gun on him. Gohan caught every bullet effortlessly before jerking his head aside to dodge the last one, all with a dead-pan expression on his face. Gohan backhanded the man into the teller's counter.

Meanwhile, the thug that had been thrown out onto the steps looked up as he regained consciousness and saw the crowd looking up at the bank in awe of the Gold-haired warriors might. In the crowd, right up the front was his original target, Videl Satan. He smirked as he reached for his handgun, tucked into his waistband.

Gohan had just kneed a goon in the chin, instantly putting him out like a light. The last man had panicked at seeing Gohan effortlessly dispose of their whole crew and made a break for the double glass doors of the bank. Just as the man left the doors Gohan appeared behind him, jumped and somersaulted over the man, tapping him on the neck as he passed by. (A.N Think what that alien did to give Bardock the ability to see the future in the special) Gohan landed calmly on his feet right in front of the man who stared through the Saiyan with unseeing eyes. The man dropped unconscious right before him.

Just then the last criminal, at the bottom of the steps, cocked his weapon and aimed it at Videl, "Gotcha bitch! EAT LEAD!" He screamed suddenly, getting up to his knee. Videl's eyes shot down to the man and saw that she was in his sights and could not dodge in time as the thug's finger closed around the trigger. She merely stared emptily as not even fear could process on her expression in time. Just as the gun was about to go off, a bright gold beam with the diameter of an orange passed through the man's chest, right where his heart should be. The wound had been cauterised by the intense heat of the blast and the burnt flesh around the edges smoked slightly as the man's eyes emptied of life and his expression died on his face, he dropped face forward onto the floor and Videl merely kept staring in confusion and terror. What had just happened to that guy? Was she already dead? What was happening. Slowly her eyes drifted up away from the smoking body to the Gold Warrior who was standing side-on on the steps with his index finger and thumb extended into a gun shape. There seemed to be a tiny golden shine at the very point of his index finger and Gohan slowly relaxed this hand and slowly dropped it back to his side.

"I apologise, I didn't want to kill him but I had no choice" Gohan's face was extremely solemn and he looked like he was having an internal war with himself in his head. "The others are unconscious inside...goodbye." he said quietly before launching up into the sky without another word. Videl stood in the same place as a million emotions rushed through her being. This guy had come out of nowhere and started interfering with her work. Granted he HAD fought off the alien invasion and judging by the carnage she guessed she could not have done that and neither could her father. That meant that this guy was extremely powerful. She felt fear that she had almost died but also she felt light at heart at having been saved, like some accursed damsel, by the golden-haired hero. Suddenly her eyes shot open faster than any bullet could have.

"A GOLDEN-HAIRED FIGHTER!" She thought, feeling like an idiot for not realising this sooner. "JUST LIKE THOSE WARRIORS MY FATHER SAID HAD DIED AT THE CELL GAMES!" Her brain was on a roll now. She remembered her father coming back from the Cell games hurt and looking scared. He told her how no matter how much he could have trained before the Cell games, that all those fighters were on a whole other level, and even then they were no match for Cell. That is, except for the young boy who looked only 9 or 10. But that power apparently turned into his demise as their power struggle was stuck in the middle for so long that all of it gathered in the center of the clash and exploded, destroying them both.

"But he didn't look dead to me, just really scarred up" Videl thought with confusion. There was no way that kid was anyone BUT the Cell Games kid. So somehow he had survived that explosion her father talked about. If that was what happened then he was totally and completely out of Videl's league of power. She thought she and her father were powerful but this warrior was ridiculous. But something seemed off with him, he seemed empty in the eyes, lonely. She remembered that it was a miracle he survived and it was likely that all his family and his father would be dead, leaving him to live with his survivors guilt, poor guy. Poor her too, as she found her mind drifting momentarily to his graceful movements, his perfect technique, all while shirtless. She huffed angrily at herself for daydreaming about a guy she just met, but she couldn't deny she had been lucky to catch a view like that.

*WITH GOHAN: Meanwhile*

Gohan landed back in the alley he had come from and pulled his baggy long sleeve shirt back over his head and grabbed his bag. He powered down to his base form and walked out. He had managed to handle that all in about 10-15 minutes. Meaning he still had time to get to school easily. He began the walk when he saw a familiar yellow jetcopter flying in his general direction. Obviously she had flown in the same direction as him trying to catch him. It seemed to stop a little bit before the alley he landed in and it hovered momentarily. Gohan raised an eyebrow at it in confusion. Why was she just floating there instead of going to school? As he thought that the copter started flying in the direction of the school. It passed over his head before slowing down again and lowering to the ground. "What the hell?" Gohan thought to himself as she jumped out, spun and waved at him.

"Hey Gohan! Want a lift to school?" She asked kindly. Now don't get him wrong, Gohan thought Videl was nice, but that was just the reason he didn't want to sit in a confined space alone with her. She brought up some painful memories. But he didn't have it in him to decline her offer when she was so polite and seemed pleased to see him. He nodded and smiled back before approaching her, ignoring all the stares of the public at seeing their local hero land in the middle of the path, and said hello as he stepped up into the man-made machine. Videl lifted off with a smile on her face and once she was out of danger of crashing into something or someone, she allowed herself to unfocus slightly as she turned on autopilot.

"So, Gohan, you'd never believe who I saw this morning!" She said with excitement evident in her voice, she looked at him and gave him a once over, and her mental warning bells were set off when she saw the exact same pair of pants and shoes that the Cell Games boy had been wearing this morning. "I saw the..." She tapered off in her sentence, and Gohan raised a brow at her. He had an idea of what she was about to tell him but he had no idea what made her pause. She watched as she looked ahead thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Videl was noticing similarities. The guys voice this morning, she could swear it sounded very similar to Gohan's, only deeper and more raw. Then Gohan had similar eyes, only they looked livelier. Gohan's hair shape was even pretty much the same, only Black. They seemed to have a similar build. Her mind was racing at a million miles when she calmed herself down. "Stop being ridiculous Videl. All you've proven is that they have SIMILAR features but with crucial differences. Yes Gohan's hair SHAPE was the same but the Warrior's hair was GLOWING GOLD. That's a big enough difference. The Warrior's features were sharper, manlier. He looked a little older than Gohan was. Plus there's no way Gohan could have a figure like that." She reasoned to herself calmly, getting a handle on her emotions, "Still, just in case, I suppose it would be better not to tell him too much of what I know..." She decided internally. She looked back at Gohan and noticed his concerned expression so she smiled at him before apologising for spacing out on him like that.

She then continued to tell Gohan about the events of that morning without divulging her revelation on the identity of the hero in question, and Gohan was none the wiser as they made idle chatter and moved on to another day at school.

That's another chapter y'all. I have been absolutely murdered by school work as of late. Trying to balance my social life and doing school work doesn't leave a LOT of time to write but I make time. I feel that at this point I can divulge some information to you all. I eventually plan to cover the Buu Saga but it will likely be very different than it was in canon, and those differences will become extremely evident as they come. After Buu I will be covering material from Dragon Ball Super (the brand new series of Dragon Ball for those of you who don't know) and the movies. Though for Super I will mostly be sticking to the manga for details and feats of power. I will also likely incorporate ideas from Dragon ball multiverse but not many. Until next time then, and remember to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter or the story as a whole so far. Later.