The Dragon Balls. Seven mystical orbs of unknown and extraordinary power. These artifacts are shrouded in mystery for those who are ignorant of the legend that surrounds them. They are described as round orange crystal spheres the size of an apple that has a specific number of red stars from one to seven that are impossible to break. If one were to collect and gather these seven Dragon Balls, the sky will darken, and the clouds will gather together to allow lightning to crackle. Using their power, the orbs will glow in the union to summon a mighty ray of light skywards, revealing the Eternal Dragon known as Shenron. From there, the green auspicious Dragon shall grant the caller any wish they desire if it's within Shenron's power.
Because of the existence of such a power, the legend of the wish-granting Dragon God's power has been passed down until it has become a legend or a myth. However, that did not stop those who were curious about the Dragon Balls to hunt for them. For some, it was for their own personal gain that could be considered harmless or convenient. For others, it was to fulfill darker desires.
Whatever the case may be, the influence that the seven Dragon Balls have changed the lives of those who look for them, bring people together in search for what the common man would perceive to be nothing more than a fairytale.
But for one man as a youth, the hunt for the Dragon Balls turned into an unforgettable experience. His Mystical Adventure.
Of course, this is referring to the man known as Son Goku.
With the fateful encounter with a teenage girl, his quest for the Dragon Balls had led to many different skirmishes over his lifetime. Goku faced opposing rivals, evil tyrants, alien invasions, earthly and galactic armies, a supposed demon lord, and even mechanical and biomechanical superweapons.
Despite these obstacles, Goku still manages to rise to every challenge and fight them off with the help of his friends, and former-foes-turned-allies. Sadly, a particular fight that involved a great gamble had gone horribly wrong in which he was at fault. So in a last-ditch effort to save the world, Goku took it upon himself to sacrifice himself, saving everybody.
The death of Son Goku left an impact on the lives of those he touched. And none more so than his very own legacy in which this tale centers on. As of now, the fate of the planet earth rests on the son of Goku.
This is the legend of Son Gohan, the Saiyan of Earth.
Hercule City, Age 774
Forty feet from the ground flew a figure on a golden cloud. The figure turned out to be a young man in his late adolescence. His short gravity-defying spiky hair flew, with his small dark-haired bang waving over his pale-skinned forehead. He sat criss-cross on the cloud with his arms folded as he waited patiently to arrive at his destination. The guy had an innocent shine in his onyx-colored eyes. He wore a nice white long-sleeved shirt, a black vest that had a button with an orange star on it, brown khakis, and black dress shoes. We also wore a tan messenger bag around him.
This was Son Gohan, seven years after the day of fate that took place in the Cell Games.
"Man," Gohan said, speaking his thoughts to himself. "It's the first day of class. It's kind of hard to wrap my head around it. ...I still can't believe it. After all this time, Mom actually got into a High School. Though, I still see why she did so."
-Flashback, Mount Paozu, Two Week Prior-
It was in the middle of March. Two boys were running around at speeds that weren't considered normal by human standards. If one were two observed carefully, one could make out blurs of purple and orange. Voices, both older, and younger exchanged playful banter and words such as "tag" and "you're it" around, But it all came to a stop when a cry caught their attention.
"Gohan-chan, dear! Could you come inside?" A motherly voice rang outside, resounding throughout the field.
The two blurs almost instantly stopped. Gohan stood in place, wearing his training gi that was purple with red wrist bands and red shoes. The smaller boy, on the other hand, was a child about seven years of age with a pile of messing spiky locks that shared similar facial features as Gohan. He wore a navy blue long-sleeved shirt under a bright orange gi which was paired with a black sash tied to the left side of his hip, and black shoes.
This was the youngest son of Goku and the younger brother of Gohan, Son Goten.
Goten quickly looked at his older brother and asked, "Big brother, I think Mommy wants you."
"Yeah," Gohan nods, "I heard her, kiddo. Let me see what she wants."
Not wanting to seem like he was ignoring his mother, Gohan answered, "I'll be there in a second!"
"Are you in trouble?" Goten asked with worry in tone.
Gohan blinked before scratching his head as he honestly answered Goten, "Kami, I hope not. The lasting I want is a bash from that frying pan."
Both boys cringed at the thought of such a deadly weapon of Saiyan discipline to be brought down on their thick skulls.
All of a sudden, Gohan brought a comforting hand on Goten's shoulder.
"Hey, now," said Gohan. "Don't worry about me, I'm sure Mom's got a good reason to call me. Why don't you go explore around the backyard? I'm sure Icarus would love to play with you."
Goten's frown quickly left his face as he chirped, "Okay! See you later, Big Brother!"
Goten went racing towards the backyard, leaving Gohan to head inside his home to where his mother was.
Making his way to the living sat a beautiful woman that was in her prime. Much like Gohan and Goten, she had dark eyes with a matching hair color along with a nice creamy skin tone. For her attire, the woman wore a yellow uniform with a purple cloth tied on the back with turquoise pants, blue martial art shoes, and with all of her hair put into a bun, and also wore white Chinese earrings.
This was Son Chi-Chi. Wife of the late Goku and mother of Gohan and Goten.
"You wanted to see me, Mom?" Gohan asked, glancing at his mother to gauge her mood.
Chi-Chi, as a person, was a very outgoing and passionate woman with a fiery personality and temper to go along with it. Whenever she put her mind to things, she puts a ton of effort and hard work to achieve goals and get things done thoroughly. If she believes in values that mean something to her, she is not afraid of voicing those values and instilling them in her children. Gohan, being the scholar that he was since he could comprehend things, could attest to this, given that he has an IQ that could rival some of the most brilliant scientists in the world as a teenager. And if somebody were to anger or challenge her, Ch-Chi's fury turns into extraordinary power (for a human earthling). Paring that with her previous martial arts background and being the daughter of the Ox-King, Chi-Chi is considered to be one of, if not, the strongest woman in the world.
To Gohan's relief, she carried a gentle, yet serious expression to her beautiful face.
"Yes, we have something important to discuss regarding your next move." Said Chi-Chi, patting the empty spot on the couch next to her.
Understanding the gesture, Gohan walked to the couch and sat next to his mother respectfully.
"Next...move? Uh... Alright then," Gohan started. "What's going on, Mom?"
Chi-Chi sighed, mentally reflecting on the last thirteen years of her eldest son's life. She knew that Gohan had a tremendous amount of pressure placed on him. And she's not just referring to the traumatic world-ending or galactic threatening battles he, his father, and the other warriors went through, but her own part of keeping him from experiencing society from an earthlings perspective by keeping the poor boy in a room on a desk with nothing but books, papers, and other educational materials. He was all alone with nobody else to be around his age. Bottom line, after Goku's death, Chi-Chi realized that both she and Goku had socially stunted Gohan's growth. Something that she could never forgive herself for as she wept in her room for hours on end last night.
But that doesn't mean that it was too late. And Chi-Chi was going to make it up to her firstborn whether he liked it or not.
"Gohan, I haven't had a chance to apologize to you for my failure as a mother to you," Chi-Chi said, causing Gohan's eyes to widen out of utter shock.
He could believe his ears.
"W-What?! Mom, how could you think such a thing! You're not a failure. Y-You've been a great mother! The best!" Gohan insisted sincerely.
Chi-Chi simply held a finger, prompting the teen to say silent.
"Sweetheart, as much as I adore your kind words, I also taught you to be realistic. The truth is that I'm far from perfect, Gohan. Other than your father and his gang taking you away to fight those crazy monsters in Kami-knows-where, I've always kept you in your room for you to stay on top of your studies. It also didn't help that living in the mountains makes it so that others outside of our inner ring of family friends don't come here very often. Although our intentions were for your best interest, it took me until… your father's passing that we both never gave you the chance to make friends your own age. We robbed you of your childhood, Gohan. And I'm sorry for doing that to you. Could you ever forgive us?"
Watching his mother shed a few tears, Gohan embraced his mother with a warm hug.
"Mom, it's okay. I was never mad at you. But if it makes you feel any better, I forgive you. Both of you."
Chi-Chi thanked her son as she cleaned her face up with a tissue.
"Good. Now, Gohan-chan, there's something you need to know. Remember those worksheets I gave you yesterday?"
The eldest child of Chi-Chi thought back to those exercises he's done. To be honest, they were basic Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, History, Literature, then assignments revolving around Foreign Languages. Nothing too hard enough to challenge the teen critically.
"Oh, those? Yeah, I recall them… Honestly, I thought they would be a lot more difficult than I imagined. I guess I didn't have anything to worry about. Hehehehe!" Gohan admitted, scratching the back of his head, much like Goku would.
Chi-Chi nodded with a small smile, seeing her late husband in Gohan.
'Just look at our baby boy… Even now, He's just like you in many ways, Goku-sa,' Chi-Chi said in her thoughts as she spoke to her son.
"Well, those papers that I gave you were actually an admission test to a high school nearby."
Gohan blinked for a minute before reacting comically.
"EEEH?! What do you mean by that, Mom?! A-Are you saying that–"
Chi-Chi cut him off, positively confirming, "Yes, son of mine. You are going to school."
"B-B-But Mom, I can't go to school! You know that I'm...different from other kids! And I'm not just talking about my heritage! I don't know the first thing about social calls there! What if I do something weird? What if I mess up? And what if I do slip up with my power on top of that? I might never get any friends then…"
Chi-Chi placed a hand on top of his.
"Gohan, Gohan! Calm down… It's okay. Deep breaths."
Gohan then decided to breathe and hear his mother out.
"Listen, Gohan-chan. I know we had an agreement that you could continue your training if you keep up with your education. You also have a bigger responsibility to this world, as much as it terrifies me. But your schooling isn't necessarily for learning primarily given your academic level. ...This is for you to learn how to socialize in society with people your age. Understanding?"
Gohan nodded.
"It's okay to make mistakes, Gohan-chan. As I said earlier, everybody messes up. But what's important is that you learn from them and make sure not to repeat those mistakes. You have to get back up after falling."
The young man couldn't help but grimace from a particular time in his life when he felt like he failed his family.
'But my mistake made our family incomplete…'
"This opportunity could help you with getting a scholarship for college so I wouldn't waste this chance if I were you, mister. Besides...how can I expect any grandbabies running around if my son's too shy to talk to a girl? Come on, Gohan! I'm not getting any younger, you know!" Chi-Chi suddenly teased playfully.
"Mother!"
Chi-Chi giggled at Gohan's face that turned as red as a tomato on their farm. Settling down, Chi-Chi got up from the couch and spoke one more time.
"Seriously Gohan-chan, try and give this a consideration. Goku-sa may not have been educated, but he viewed every opportunity given to him as a new adventure. This could be the same for you. If not, think of this as a social experiment. Or both. Either way, you'll be starting in two weeks on a Monday. And if you're worried about your power, you should try and seek help from Piccolo to help you with self-control. Understand?"
"...Alright Mom, I'll take your word for it," Gohan said, still unsure how to process this.
"Excellent!" Chi-Chi chirped. "I'm going to the kitchen to prepare lunch. I'll call you and Goten when it's ready."
"Okay… Hey, Mom?"
Chi-Chi stopped for a moment and turned around, looking at Gohan, saying, "Yes, Sweetheart?"
"What's the name of the school and where is it?"
"Oh, you'll be attending Orange Star High. It's in the city where that burly oaf lives." She answered, before leaving Gohan to head to the kitchen.
-Flashback Ends-
'...A social experiment adventure, huh? I guess that's a good way of putting it. Who knows, maybe the school could be fun. I just hope I can blend in enough to fit in.' Gohan thought to himself as the golden cloud descended to a city not as big as West City, but still large.
The cloud moved quickly until it made a stop at a sign that had a man with a boastful grin on his face. He had tan-skinned with a dark mustache and an afro sporting a peace hand sign. The sign depicted him wearing a maroon gi on, but his whole body was not shown.
Gohan hopped off the cloud while waving at it.
"Thanks a bunch, Kinto'un!. I'll take it from here."
The cloud then returned up to the skies until it was our sight. Gohan then turned to the sign that read "Hercule City".
"Ah, that's right," Gohan remembered. "Everybody and their pets believe that Mr. Satan defeated Cell all those years ago. It would make sense that he'd get a city named after him in his honor. ...It's for the best, I suppose. My family and family friends are safe, that's all that matters."
Shaking his head, Gohan made his way to the city by lightly jogging at a pace of an average human. Looking at his watch, Gohan had the revelation that Kito'un wasn't moving as fast as hoped. An idea sprung from his mind as the hybrid looked both ways, to see nobody. From there, he used his ki to make a break for it at inhuman speeds. A car passed Gohan, making the driver stop as he and his female passenger couldn't help but look back in awe.
The teenager was going directly to the school when his Saiyan hearing detected sounds of gunfire. Gohan stopped and backpedaled to see Satan Bank being robbed by a group of crooks armed with assault rifles and other weapons.
"Hahahaha! Keep 'em coming, blue boys! We can do this all day! You's too weak to stop us!" One masked criminal said while firing at the cops, damaging Satan Bank.
Seeing this, Gohan couldn't help but sighed as he placed his messenger bag down by a bush.
"Seriously, more criminals? Give me a break."
Focusing his ki and Saiyan biology, Gohan increased his battle power instantaneously, allowing the energy around him to flicker and flow in a golden light, turning his eyes teal and his hair blond. If it had been seven years ago, his hair would have stood straight up.
Gohan had turned into a Super Saiyan.
Pushing his ki down to his feet, Gohan jumped ten feet straight into the air and descended behind the first crook with a front kick to the back of the head with great restrain, then floated to another criminal as he laid a haymaker that grounded the gunman unconscious.
Coming from behind the bank was an older citizen with receding but still present gray hair wearing a blue suit and glass.
"My Kami… what is he!?"
Gohan landed on the blue truck when a daring criminal came up to Gohan with his semi-automatic pointed to the Super Saiyan.
"You think you're hot shit, do ya punk? Well, now you're dead!" He bellowed in a twisted manner as he opened fire in Gohan's direction.
Gohan simply caught each bullet in succession, crushed them, then dropped each bullet on the truck's trunk. The criminal squeaked in fear before being met with a flying kick from a serious Son Gohan, rendering him unconscious.
The final two crooks from in the getaway car had their jaws wide open in utter terror from the power displayed by the teen.
"N-No way… that's no guy. That's a monster!" Said the criminal on the passenger side.
"Yeah, no kidding! Screw this," The driver agreed. "Let's get out of here!"
The blue capsule car began driving away at a high speed. Gohan, realizing this, held out his hand and manipulated his ki toward the getaway car with a mighty shout.
The force of his ki pushed the back of the car up, making the vehicle tilt and tumble a few times before it landed on its roof, making it stop altogether.
The older gentleman looked at the product of the heroic efforts of Gohan.
"Wow, incredible…" He said as he turned to find Gohan had mysteriously vanished from sight.
"Huh? He's gone."
The cops also wondered who had taken the criminals down, along with everybody else looking around.
Little did they know, our young hero was standing by a street pole in his base form.
'Phew! Glad that's all over…'
"Hey, you!" A strong young voice with a feminine tone cried behind him.
Gohan cringed slightly startled, only to find a girl roughly his age standing behind him with a stern and demanding expression.
The young pale-skinned teenage girl with vivid blue eyes. She wore her black hair tied in pigtails, and on a long white t-shirt that went past her waist, black biking shorts, purple socks, and orange strapped boots with black tips. Her accessories consisted of fingerless black gloves, and she wore the emblem for the Orange Star High School on her shirt.
Gohan awkwardly answered, "W-Who, me?"
"Duh! Who else could I be talking to?" The girl said while rolling her eyes, obviously not amused. "Did you happen to catch the person who took down those robbers? I doubt the cops handled them."
"Uh… sorry, I'm just as lost as you are." The raven-haired boy fibbed.
The young girl couldn't help but scowl at the sight, punching her fist into her hand.
"Damn it! I flew out here for nothing! ...Somebody's trying to take my shtick!" She said, allowing our hero to quietly slip away undetected.
The old man from the bank spotted the young girl and called out to her, "Videl! Thank goodness you came, Ms. Videl! I saw everything with my own two eyes! It was the Golden Warrior that appeared before us!"
"The Golden Warrior, he came back again?" The girl, now known as Videl, questioned.
The old man continued, "Yes, it was astonishing! He descended out of the sky with a golden light surrounding him. He swiftly made mincemeat out of the robbers and stopped a car by moving his hand and hollering at it before disappearing altogether! You should have seen it!"
Videl took the time to process the information she had just received.
'From the way he's describing it, this Golden Warrior sounds awfully like the handiwork of those tricksters from the Cell Games from seven years ago… Still… I need more to work with that theory to really confirm that.'
"Now that I think about it, I believe that he might be one of your classmates from Orange Star High, Ms. Videl." The older gentleman stated.
Videl looked at him in shock, saying, "Wait, what was that?"
"I saw that he wore the same school badge that you are wearing." He said, pointing at her badge. "So I assumed that you knew him."
Videl remained silent for a moment before saying, "You're kidding. The Golden Warrior goes to Orange Star, does he? That flashy showoff. Whatever the case may be, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Count on it!"
Orange Star High, Hercule City
Everybody in the class had been seated as the teacher with white hair wearing a white collared shirt and brown trousers. He walked onto the podium with a book in hand as he stared at his students. The teacher, Mr. Kenichi had spoken to his class.
"Good morning, class. I hope you had a well-rested weekend. Today, we have a new student that is joining us. And today is his first day here at Orange High. Don't be shy, young man. Come on in."
Following his cue, Gohan walked into the classroom with a slightly shy but excited demeanor.
"Um, hi. T-that would be me," Gohan said, looking around the room full of teenagers around his age. "So, uh, I'm Son Gohan. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I hope we can get along well in the future."
One girl, a blonde whose bust was very generous for a young lady for her age, couldn't help but gush with her hands on her face that turned a bit pink at the sight of Gohan.
"Oh," The blonde who sat on Videl's left hand gasped, "This new kid looks super hot! ...Let's hope he has a thing for blondes~."
Another student, a male redhead wearing glasses commented by saying, "Tch. What kind of name is Gohan? Did his folks name him after a to-go special?"
Videl couldn't help but stare at the half-Saiyan half-human hybrid as her mind began to move like a working gear.
"I swear I've seen this guy from somewhere." The pig-tailed girl said, holding her pen close to her.
"It's obvious," An arrogant blond-haired boy said, who sat on Videl's right-hand
side with his arms on the back of his head. "This guy is one of those model geeks that made it to the cover of Nerd Monthly."
Mr. Kenichi then stated, "As it turns out, Mr. Son here has done extraordinarily well in the admissions tests. He aced all the sections, including Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics. History, Literature, and Foreign Languages. Everything.
The other kids cried out in outrage and hidden jealousy.
"Alright! That's enough!" Shouted Mr. Kenchi at the kids, causing them to cease the ruckus. Mr. Kenichi then turned to the son of Goku with a small apology. "Please choose a seat so we shall begin."
"Yoo-Hoo~!" The blonde girl called out, prompting everybody to look at her. Her thumb was pointed towards the empty seat next to her. "There's an empty spot over here. It's all yours."
Gohan blinks before walking over towards the direction of the seat with a genuine smile. "Wow, thanks a lot."
Videl then kept a curious eye on Gohan as he approached the seat her friend gave him and watched him sit down as the lecture began.
"Hi there, I'm Son Gohan." The scholar introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, Son-kun," The blonde beauty winked. " My name is Erasa Papel. With an "E", of course. And grouch behind me, she's Videl."
Gohan and Videl locked eyes for a moment, giving them a chance to silently recognize each other.
Gohan, however, was brought back to reality as Erasa began to mention something to him.
"You know, Son-kun, Videl is kind of a big deal around these parts."
The dark-haired tomboy upon hearing where the conversation was going could only groan, anticipating Erasa's routine of telling people all about her.
'Great, here comes another superficial fanboy that only cares about being associated with the Champ's kid. Being related to Dad can really be a royal pain in the ass sometimes!' Videl thought to herself.
A curious expression forked on the face of Gohan as he questioned the buxom blonde.
"What do you mean by that, Erasa?"
Holding up a finger, Erasa responded by saying, "Her Pops happens to be Mr. Satan himself."
Gohan merely blinked intelligently for a second then looked directly at Videl. He then turned back to Erasa, mildly shocked.
"Really? Do you mean like Mr. "Hercule" Satan? The guy the city's named after?" Gohan inquired, making sure that he was not heading things wrong.
"Yup, the same man," Erasa confirmed in a happy-go-lucky attitude.
The half Saiyan then took a moment to sense Videl's ki and noticed the striking similarities between her and Hercule's energy. They were very similar to each other.
'Yeah, there's no doubt about it. She's definitely Mr. Satan's daughter. Wow… she looks nothing like him. Not by a long shot.' Gohan concluded, surprised at his discovery.
Gohan then told Videl with a genuine but calm demeanor, "It must be amazing, having a famous Dad and all…"
Videl simply gaped at Gohan's modesty. She then started to begin to feel as if she misjudged Gohan. Still, Videl would rather not draw to any conclusions until she investigated him more. She sat there silently and began to recognize him further.
The buxom blonde agreed, stating "Uh-huh! If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't even be sitting here alive. He's a hero."
"It's you!"
Gohan turned his complete attention to Videl Satan, daughter of Hercule with a clueless gaze on his face.
"You were the guy standing idly right after those robbers were caught down at the bank, weren't you?" She asked with a demanding tone.
"Erm… I guess. Yeah." Gohan responded with, getting a lot of Chi-Chi vibes from Videl.
"Oh, wow," Swooned Erasa. "You didn't happen to catch the Golden Warrior by any chance, did you?"
The words "golden" and "warrior" being passed around caught the attention of the young dark-haired boy as he mimicked those words into a question towards Erasa, looking for context.
"Oh, that's right. You wouldn't really hear about it being new here," Erasa considered. "See the Golden Warrior is a new vigilante crime fighter that appeared three times in the last ten days. He even got a few baddies locked behind bars. They say he's as strong as five adult bulls and he's covered in a golden glow that also matched with spiky blond hair, hence the nickname."
The mixture of both Erasa's words and Videl's almost analytical glare made our hero sink down to his book as he retreated to his thoughts for a moment.
'...Crap Baskets! That's me they're talking about! The last two times were when I was finishing signing up for school! This is not good, not good at all!'
The half Saiyan was then interrupted by a stern Videl, saying, "Say, Gohan."
Gulping from the intimidating time of Videl, Gohan replied, "Y-Yeah?"
Videl's glare was reinforced with these next words, "I happened to get a description of the guy who was allegedly the Golden Warrior. You never guess what the guy wore. A white shirt, black vest, and brown pants with black shoes. Sounds familiar, right Gohan?"
"Wow! Talk about trippy! You must totally follow similar trends!" Erasa said in her perky tone.
The only thing Gohan could do at this point was to pull a Goku and scratch the back of his head cluelessly and laugh while stressed out.
Hahaha! Oh man, what are the odds that we got the same kind of sense in style? That's an amazing coincidence!" Gohan laughed wearily and was mentally thinking that he was a goner.
'Dang, she's got a sharp mind and keen eye! ...well, there goes my chance of making new friends and having a life outside of the Dragon Team.'
The longer-haired blond boy simply scoffed at the notion, saying, "Come on, Videl. Don't tell me that you actually believe Brains over here is playing superhero. What's he gonna do, bore criminals to death with seminars? I mean, just look at the guy. He's as skinny as a stick. I bet he hasn't thrown a punch in his life. Not to mention that he had the wrong colored hair. Give it a rest."
This prompted Erasa to slap the muscle-headed blond male in the back of the head as she hissed in a whisper, "Quit being a jerk, Sharpner! I bet Son-kun is quite the beefcake underneath those baggy clothes and we just don't know it yet."
The blonde then winked at Gohan, making the said boy blush.
"Besides, there is nothing wrong with having a brain over brute strength. I mean, what's the point with having all that muscle if you can't use your head in a fight?
Sharpner Crayon, the number one student at the Satan Dojo and jock of Orange Star High had turned red in the face out of embarrassment before grumbling under his breath about stupid ditzy blondes.
Gohan simply chuckled awkwardly with a giggling Erasa. Videl, however, started at Gohan, remaining suspicious of the newcomer.
'...Although he was a prick about it, Sharpner does raise a good point. This Son Gohan guy's hair isn't blond, nor does he seem to possess a fighting bone in his body. Still, according to Dad, a few of those tricksters were stated to have similar powers while being blond. One of them even had the ability to change from dark to gold on command… And from the way this goof of a nerd behaved after hearing about the Golden Warrior...it makes me wonder… Ugh! Damn it! The more I look into this, the more questions I have! No matter, one thing is for sure. I'm going to figure you out, Son Gohan.'
-Timeskip, Lunch Period-
Most of the day went smoothly. Gohan went through his four periods without an issue or anything out of the ordinary occurring. Much to Gohan's surprise, in almost every class he had, he shared them with Erasa and Sharpner. But when showing and comparing classes, he shares every single one of them with Videl.
Now that the thirty-minute lunch period started Gohan made his way over to the cafeteria, only to find it filled with other kids who were prone to being loud and crowded.
Much like a certain green-skinned alien, Gohan was too big of a fan of high-pitched sounds or loud noises, let alone any possible reaction to how much a Saiyan (or half Saiyan) like himself eats. Gohan ultimately decided that he would eat elsewhere in solitude, so walked upstairs to the roof of the school and his lunch out underneath the sun while a cool breeze flowed through.
'Finally, a place to dig in without any prying eyes. I can't wait to see what kind of dishes Mom packed this time!'
But before he could unpack his lunch from his DynoCap, a voice called out to Gohan, making his head towards the voice's direction.
"Hey, Son-kun!"
Standing by the door to the staircase were Erasa, Sharpner, and Videl once again.
"Oh! Uh, hey guys!" Gohan greets with a polite wave. "What brings you all the way up here?"
Sharpner merely shrugged off, cooly stating, "I rather not be here, but it's not like Erasa's given me much choice. Right babe?"
Of course, the flirtatious remark was towards Videl, who simply elbowed the long-haired jock, making him wheeze in pain as he held his midsection.
"Can it, Sharpner! And I'm not your 'babe' either!" Huffed Videl.
Erasa walked over to Gohan while talking.
"We were looking for you, silly goose," She answered with a sincere smile "I figured with you being new here that you could use some company, so we planned on inviting you over to our table. But since it's nice up here, do you mind if we could sit here with you?"
The youngest member of the Dragon Team tilted his head, thinking about it for a moment with slight hesitation.
'Should I invite them? ...I mean Sharpner-san doesn't seem to like me all that much, and Videl-san looks neutral despite her cut-throat demeanor. At least Erasa-san is nice to me. Maybe I should… I just hope they don't mind my lunch. Here goes nothing, I guess!'
"Sure," Gohan agreed. "I don't mind at all."
Videl and her friends moved over near where Gohan sat and unpacked their lunches. Seeing this, Gohan decided to get comfortable and tossed out his capsuled lunch, revealing a box containing ten club sandwiches, five bottles of water, seven apples, and three bags of mixed nuts. The group watched as Gohan tore through his food without a care in the world.
The three friends couldn't help but stare at the newcomer in fascination and shock.
'...Where does it all go?' The trio questioned themselves.
Snapping out of their stupor, Erasa, Videl, and Sharpner decided to eat their food. But being the conversationalist that she was, Erasa made small talk with the eldest son of Goku.
"Say, Son-kun, where have you gone before being transferred here? Like a private school?"
Sharpner snorted, commenting, "Yeah, I bet it was that all-male school, Sugimori Private Academy. Only stick boys like Brains could go there."
"Hm? Um," Gohan tried speaking while he took a bite out of his last club sandwiches. He swallowed the food so he could respond with manners. "Truth be told, I've never gone to school prior to this. My mother's actually been homeschooling me for a majority of my life."
"You're pulling my leg here," Videl suddenly spoke. "You mean to tell us that all of that schooling and book smarts came from your mom teaching you and throwing books at you?"
Gohan nods, explaining, "Well, yeah, when you put it that way. She taught me everything I know thanks to all the books and papers she would give me to work on. I even wanted to be some kind of professor when I grew up as a kid. The only reason why my mom sent me here is to learn how to hang out with my own age group and make friends."
Erasa was taken back by this. Sharpner simply shook his head, almost feeling bad for the guy. Mind you, the keyword was 'almost'.
Videl, on the other hand, had a knack to press on for more information.
"But you couldn't have not met other kids your age. You've got to be staying around the city, are you?" The pig-tailed girl assumed in a questioning manner.
"No," The dark-eyed boy said negatively. "I stay in the 439 District. You know, the village in the East Mountain."
All three city teenagers once again looked at Gohan as if he had grown a second head.
"What?!" Erasa cried out in surprise. "But that's like a three to five-hour ride in a jet copter! How did you manage to even make today's commute!?"
As he ate his food, Gohan said "Uh…well I guess I'm just that dedicated to my studies."
The vagueness of that comment rubbed Videl the wrong way, giving more reason to suspect Gohan.
-Timeskip, During the Last Period of the Day-
The last period of the day that Gohan and his high school classmates had was Physical Education. Fortunately for the son of Chi-Chi, the unit that they were starting was baseball.
Now Gohan was quite familiar with the sport due to certain retired martial arts in his family friend group that took a career path that paved his way to becoming famous. However, he's never actually played the sport but knows the basics of the game from a book.
The teacher of the class, Coach Ateele, was a tan-skinned man with short cut black hair, a black tank top that revealed a decent muscle build, blue slack, and brown shoes.
Alright, class! Today, we're going to be continuing the intro to the baseball unit from last week! Now, we're going to be splitting this class into two separate teams. So let's get to it." The coach instructed.
Gohan, Sharpner, Erasa, Videl, and a few other kids stood around in a small group, speaking amongst themselves as they started picking the teams.
"Ever heard of baseball, Brains? Or do you not have cable over in the mountains?" Sharpner asked Gohan while throwing a verbal jab at Gohan to once again get a reaction out of him.
"As a matter of fact, I have. But I can't really say I'd be any good at it since I've never played it before. Sorry." The half-Saiyan admitted in honesty.
Feeling his (over)confidence soaring through the roof, Sharpner chuckled in a condescending fashion shaking his head.
"You're kidding right," Sharpner commented. "
Ah, who am I kidding? If it's not in boring flavor text and no first-hand experience proves that you know jack squat on how to play the game. Wouldn't expect less from a kid from the boonies."
The blond guy then tilted his head towards Videl, saying, "You can take him off my hands. Have fun getting him up to speed."
"Oh yeah, thanks a lot," Videl grumbled begrudgingly.
"Don't listen to him, Vi! Remember, Son-kun's super smart! I bet he could come up with some really great tactics that could benefit our team!" Erasa reasons, trying to convince Videl and encourage Gohan at the same time.
A reluctant, but satisfied Videl sighed, "Fine, I'll take him. Gohan, you'll be in right field. You do know where that is, do you?"
Gohan responded, saying, "No clue, but I'm sure that I'll figure it out."
Videl had half the mind to feel insulted, but she couldn't exactly tell whether or not he was genuine or simply being cheeky.
"...I didn't sign up for this. Look, just head over to the right side of the field and try and catch the ball once it's been hit. And don't act stupid." Videl barked as she took her place on the pitcher's plate.
Gohan did what he was instructed and walked to his place.
The game of baseball went on as normal, with both teams being tied with two points on each side. The young Saiyan stood there and watched as his classmates batted, pitched, and ran on the line and bases.
'Okay, I've got to play it cool. I need to hold back if I'm going to fit in. Any major slip up with my strength and I'll ruin any chance I have in normal school life. I can do this, just try not to stand out!'
Sharpner walked over and onto the backing plate, eager to dominate in one of his favorite sports once more. Videl, over at the plate where the pitcher operated at him with a confident smirk on her face.
"Time to take this guy down a peg or two!" She said, preparing her pitch.
Videl threw the ball with her whole strength into the throw, making her cap fall off her head.
While the fast-moving object whirled, Sharpner's keen eye and time made it easy for him to take a swing, hitting the ball at a far enough distance to impress the average earthling.
"Holy cow, talk about a home run!" One of the other students said with hype as the others began to praise Sharpner's skills.
Just as everyone is about to celebrate Sharpener's feat that is his home run, the Orange Star Senior Class gaped at the sheer mind-boggling sight that was Gohan as of late. Now, normally, anybody who catches the ball would get kudos, but nothing too major.
...But the son of Goku did so while he was fifteen feet from off the ground!
Many of the students stared at Gohan's feat, effectively dwarfing Sharpner's usual, marveling at the sight. But none was more shocked more-so than the trio that was Sharpner, Videl, and Erasa, who were closer to Gohan than most.
"Oh! Looks like runner on third has left base," The half-Saiyan analyzed. "If I throw it to the catcher, he'll be out for sure! Alright. Come on, Son. Tone down the Saiyan and ki strength. Throw it nice and easy..."
The student of Piccolo tossed the baseball from the air as gently as possible. However, due to his natural strength, gravity, and the descent in which the ball accumulated, the ball came falling down at a fast speed towards the student assigned as the catcher.
The guy could only catch a glimpse of the speeding object and get startled him as said blurry sphere that was coming towards him.
Fortunately, his initial reflex to keep his upper body safe came to aid him as the ball ended up landing in his mitt. But the force of the impact caused him to fly back a bit.
The umpire and other random students checked to see if the guy who caught the ball was okay before calling the out.
"That's an out," The student who was the umpire said, allowing the teams to change sides.
Gohan landed on the ground while heading over to switch over, excitedly saying, "That's three outs, guys! Come on and change sides, I want to get to batting next!"
His enthusiasm, however, was short-lived by the silent stupefied stares he was getting from his entire class, Videl and the other two friends included.
Judging from the expression. Gohan made his trek to the other side reluctantly while trying to hide his face using his baseball cap.
Gohan mildly cursed in his mind, 'Dang it, I overdid back there! I thought I was holding out as much as possible! How am I supposed to explain that?'
Coach Ateele caught this demeanor and spoke to Gohan earnestly and sincerely.
"What's with the look, Son? That was phenomenal, what you did. You must have at least cleared fifteen feet."
"You're too kind, coach. But that's not possible. Hehehe!" Gohan nervously dismissed as he made his way toward his destination while hearing the other kids come to out the teenage member of the Dragon Team being able to break the laws of Physics.
"Alright," Coach Ateele called out, "Which one of you haven't gotten a chance to bat yet?"
"Um, hey. Aren't you up next? Your number is 8." asks one of Gohan's team members who was currently sitting next to him.
"Oh, that's right," Gohan thought for a second before getting up. He grabbed a bat and jogged to the batting plate. "Here I am, Coach! Excuse the wait time, guys!"
While Videl critically eyeing Gohan's movement like a hawk, the other students on his team were questioning his skills in batting.
Gohan took the right side to bat.
Coach Ateele spoke, "Ah, should have guessed you'd be a left-handed batter."
"Is that bad, Coach?" Gohan asked, wondering if he was playing correctly.
"Oh, no," Ateele reassured. "Do whatever works best for you, Son. Show me what you can do."
"Okay."
Sharpner stood at the pitcher's area, ready to do something that he loves more than batting, which was throwing the ball.
Sneering, Sharpner spoke to himself while staring Gohan down, "So this little nerdling from the sticks has the nerve to steal my clout and catch my homerun, eh? Alright, Gohan, let's see how fair after I'm done with you with this pitch."
Meanwhile, Gohan was too busy to notice this as he had his own internal affairs in his mind.
'I can't afford to hit this pitch. I've shown people enough things as it is.' Gohan muttered, preparing himself to be struck out.
Not wasting any more time, Sharpener took his hand back, then threw the ball aiming towards Gohan as The young hero never moved from his spot.
'Better think fast, hotshot! You best duck if you value your dignity and life. I wouldn't say the same for your reputation…' Smirked Sharpner, anticipating the expected response normal people would have.
"Gohan, look out!" Shouted Videl, hoping he would react to her words. However, it was too late with the baseball making contact with the side of Gohan's head, knocking his cap off.
Nobody expected this, making Sharpner and the other students watched in fear and shock once again after the ball landed on the ground. Any average earthling would have been knocked out from the force of the ball coming into contact with a person's he'd, but Gohan defying that logic proved to be another enigma on its own.
"Brains, you numskull! Why didn't you duck when a ball that fast was coming your way?!" Sharpner shouted comically.
Much to Sharpener's frustration, Gohan inserted Goku's cluelessness as Gohan looked to Coach Ateele and asked him a question.
"Excuse me, Coach" He asked politely, "I get a walk when I am hit by the pitch, right?"
The coach stood there bewildered by Gohan before answering Gohan, "Uh, yes. That is correct."
Getting the green light, the dark-haired teen dropped the bat from his hands and jogged over to first base.
'Yes! This is perfect! Didn't have to hit the ball, I'm running over to first, and I didn't have to show any more of my powers! Maybe Mom was right about school after all!' Gohan thought happily.
All Sharpner could say was, "...I'm starting to think that guy might be more than a simple nerd from the mountains."
Videl's rising suspicion of Gohan as a person ascended to a new level.
She thought to herself, pondering, 'Who in the world is this guy?'
-Timeskip, After School-
The bell tolled once more, allowing the students to head out of their classes. The half-Saiyan went over to his locker to get some materials out of it and placed them in his messenger bag. He was planning on leaving when a voice stopped him.
"Hey, Brains!"
Gohan closed his locker to see Sharpner standing by him.
"Have you picked a club yet? Boxing Club's got a few spots open. If you can take a hit to the head like that and stay conscious, you can be a decent fight. Maybe you can gain some muscles on that scrawny body."
"Oh, uh...I haven't really thought about it in all honesty." Gohan admitted. "Though, I don't think I can because-"
"Of course, he can't, Sharpie. Son-kun's got a crazy-long ride to get home to a village in the East Mountain, which is far from here." Erasa intervened, finishing Gohan's sentence for him. "How could the guy find time to join any clubs and participate in them with a commute like that?"
After giving Erasa a thankful glance, he politely apologized to Sharpner as he passed for any clubs.
"Son-kun, do you think you could give me a ride home since you'll be on your way?" Erasa aaked with a charming smile.
"Oh, I'd be happy to do that, but I'm afraid that my….vehicle is only a one-seater," Gohan said in a vague manner.
"That's fine, she can ride with me in my car," Sharpner suggested with his usual smirk.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Gohan said, turning to go home. Anyways, it was nice meeting you guys. I'll catch you tomorrow!"
Erasa waved Gohan goodbye as the two blond(e)s him exit the school.
As Gohan walked down the street, Videl was hot on his trail. She had been analyzing Gohan's behavior all day and with every new piece of information she had mentally jotted down, the weirder he seemed to have gotten for her. It was almost like he was hiding something.
To Videl, Son Gohan was a mystery. An enigma.
And where there were questions, Videl Satan was out to get answers.
Videl thought while hiding behind a tree, 'What's up with this Gohan-guy? First, he tells us that he lives a million miles away, but now he's walking home like it's a Saturday night stroll downtown.'
While walking casually, Gohan had long since sensed Videl's ki following him. So he decided to shake her off the next chance he got.
Videl went to follow him right as he turned a street corner. The daughter of Mr. Satan tried to sprint so she couldn't lose him, only to find him out of sight.
"Huh? Wha–? where did he–?" Videl tried finishing as she looked around to find her target.
Unbeknownst to her, Gohan was watching her, standing all the way on top of the building he had jumped on when they had both hit that corner.
"Phew! Talk about cutting it close..."
As she eventually got tired of searching and went on home, Gohan called on the Flying Nimbus Cloud, Kito'un.
He sat on the cloud and began to fly home for a bit before thinking to himself alone.
"I may have had a better day than I thought, but school was pretty tough too. That Videl girl narrowed down who I was pretty fast. That means that I have to find a way to help people without using the Super Saiyan transformation to have people tracing back to the Cell Games or having my civilian identity compromised. Hmm… Perhaps I can get Bulma. Maybe she could help me with a better disguise. Oh, that's right! I can finally ask more questions while I'm at it!"
Getting excited, Gohan told Kito'un about the new destination and then started towards the direction of the Capsule Corporations.
To Be Continued...
And so Son Gohan has finished his very first day at Orange Star High School. But how will he manage to balance his schooling with his endeavors as a crime fighter? And what questions will he be asking, and to whom will he be asking? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z: PRIMAL!
Author's Note: Hey guy, I'm back with a brand new story. I had this idea for about two years but I never knew how I was going to approach doing this kind of trope. Not until I watched Super Dragon Ball Heroes' animations earlier. So I had been thinking of a villain, the main hook to this story, and what goals I set for myself with this story, and here we are.
Please note that concepts like movie characters and side story transformations among other forms of lore may be recontextualized to fit with this fanfiction's narrative. If you do not like certain things as I do, please stop reading this here.
With that being said, let me know what you guys think about this as the story goes on. I'll be saying y'all later! Have a blessed day!
-DarkShadowGames451