I'm gonna try to get this one out as soon as possible. I've got that 'hot off the press fever' that makes me want to update this story excessively frequently right now, but don't get too used to it. I can only neglect my other stories for so long before I have to get back to them. But, in the meantime, enjoy!
Chapter 1 - Starting Anew
"Goooooooohaaaaaaaaaan!"
The voice reverberated through his mind, causing him to frown. It made him feel disturbed, for some odd reason that he couldn't put his finger on.
Suddenly, he sensed something. He couldn't see anything, but his body reacted reflexively, twisting and catching something.
"Ah! Gohan, let me goooo!"
Gohan's eyes cracked open, and he realized what had been going on. The object in his hands? The hairy head of his little brother Goten. Blinking, he released his hold, letting him fall to the floor, massaging his head.
"Man, Gohan, you really have a strong grip" Goten whined. "I was just trying to wake you up for school like Mom asked."
"School?" Gohan wondered. "Oh, wait, today's Monday. My first class is today."
"Sorry about that, squirt" Gohan apologized. He knew that Elder Kai had basically put his body in the peak condition it could be in, but he never expected that he would catch the furry bullet that was his brother in his sleep. "I guess my reflexes are better than I thought." Now that the battle against Buu was over, he wondered just how different everything would be with all the power Elder Kai gave him.
No, Elder Kai didn't give him anything. He said it himself. The power was all Gohan's. It was like was Grand Elder Guru had done for him, but on a much larger scale. He couldn't believe all that he had had inside of him. It was mind-boggling.
Once Goten left the room, Gohan stood up and stretched his arms above his head, dispelling the last of his grogginess. "Something tells me that the hardest part about going to school is gonna be how early I have to get up" he muttered.
He didn't know how well he had done on the entrance exam for the school, although he was confident enough about it. He had received a message telling him to report to the principle's office on his first morning. He hoped that was a good sign.
A look at his wall told him that the time was just a little after seven-thirty. And to his knowledge, his classes started at a quarter 'till. "I don't have to rush" he shrugged, walking over to his closet and reaching inside.
Five minutes later, he emerged from his room, having picked out his outfit. Wearing red slacks and a baggy white shirt beneath a black vest, he walked into the kitchen, where his mom was just serving breakfast. Looking up at Gohan, she smiled. "Come on, Gohan, you'd better eat fast if you don't want to be late."
"Hey, it's fine, Mom" Gohan dismissed. "I can reach Satan City in two minutes if I take it easy. If I was really late, you know I could make that trip in just a few seconds."
"Yes, but you should never wait until the last moment to show up" ChiChi said sternly. "It's bad form, and if something happens, then you really don't want to be late!"
Gohan nodded as he got done swallowing his mouthful. "Yeah, alright, Mom" he said. Class started in about nine minutes. Running to the door, he grabbed his bag on the way, before waving to his mom and Goten. "I'll head out right now, then! See you guys later!"
"Byeeeee Gohan!" Goten waved back.
"Have a good day, son!" ChiChi said as he shut the door.
Now out in the open field, Gohan looked at the sky. The day was slightly overcast, light gray clouds lightly streaking the sky, while the sun barely rose over the distant mountains, everything being covered in a dim hue.
In an instant, Gohan was powered up to the level of a Super Saiyan, effortlessly, and without changing a bit. "Man" he thought. His new power would take some getting used to, but being able to be at this level without transforming was a definite perk. He never really liked how angry he felt when he became a Super Saiyan. Especially when he ascended. Having the power without it was an amazing and free feeling.
Taking off, making sure to keep his speed down until he cleared the house, lest he shatter the windows with a sonic boom, he flew off in the direction of the city where he would be attending school.
It didn't take long. He wasn't exaggerating when he said that the trip could be done in mere seconds. He must have been going faster than he realized, though, because he wasn't trying to go fast, yet ended up showing up before he realized it.
"Whoops, I'd better get a handle on that" he grimaced. "So much for not trying. I'll have to try and suppress my speed."
Deciding that it wouldn't make a very calm first impression if he dropped out of the sky at his school, Gohan looked around for a deserted place where he could land. Even if school was about to start, the streets were still pretty deserted, and it wasn't hard to find a small alley he could drop into, before jogging out.
"Have I ever even been in a city before?" he wondered. "Besides when I would visit with Bulma, and when Dad was in the hospital after Vegeta, I don't think so." Everything seemed so alien to him, oddly enough, considering Namek had seemed more familiar than this place. Small towns and villages didn't compare.
Occasionally, cars would drive down the road past him, kids around his age driving them or at least riding inside. He took it as a sign he was going the right way, at least.
A sudden thunderous sound caught his attention, his neck jerking sharply to the side towards it. "What in the world is that?" he asked. After a moment, he noticed that the sound, while lighter, was constantly repeating itself. Ok, now he recognized the sound. Gunfire.
Curiosity getting the best of him, he quickly darted into a nearby alley. Using his super speed, he navigated the maze of passageways towards the sound in the blink of an eye, before emerging under the cover of the building next to him, in front of a bank.
Several police vehicles were stationed out front, but they didn't appear to be functional, what with all the bullet holes piercing right through them. Several officers huddled behind their cars, taking shelter as a group of four men outside of the bank shot at them. The police were armed with pistols, while the men in front of them seemed to be carrying much heavier weaponry. Combining the fact that they were shooting at the police, standing in front of a bank, and wearing masks, it didn't take any amount of time for Gohan to realize what was going on.
"You would think for a city named after the person they think is the strongest on the planet, that people would be much more afraid to do something like this" he thought. "What kind of lowlife robs a bank, anyways?"
If nothing happened, then sooner or later, one of those bullets would make it all the way through the cars, and it wouldn't be long until bloodshed followed. "I have to step in there. I can't just let innocent people get hurt!" Gohan was never one to enjoy the fight, but he hated it when people got hurt because of them.
He then realized, normal humans probably couldn't move faster than gunfire. He didn't want anyone to pick him out at school, he needed something else. "Maybe if I become a Super Saiyan? Yeah, then people wouldn't be able to recognize me!"
Backing up slightly, Gohan closed his eyes, and harnessed his power. His energy surged, a gust flew out around him, and there was a heavy thud as he launched a dumpster halfway down the alley.
Smirking, he opened his eyes, but that smirk faded as he realized there was no golden aura around him. He was still black haired, black eyed. "What?" he wondered. His power had increased, but he didn't change at all.
"Perfect, my body's so natural with the power, it's almost as if I forgot how to transform!" he mentally facepalmed. "Why would it need to, after all?"
Maybe with some practice, he could go Super Saiyan again, but that wouldn't help him right now. Right now, he needed a way to take them out without being seen. "Maybe a kiai?" he wondered. A kiai, an invisible force wave, could probably take them all out with a single blow with killing them. Just knock 'em into the wall and let gravity do the rest.
Moving his hand forward, he raised his palm and directed it at the robber operating the largest gun. He frowned, his aura became slightly visible…
And another cop car pulled up to the scene, directly between him and the robber. "Are you KIDDING me?!" he nearly groaned in frustration. "Fine, I guess I only have one option left."
Standing up, he took a deep breath, and calmed his mind. Willing his body, he powered up. To what level, he wasn't sure, but it would be enough. Immediately, he vanished from the spot.
To everyone watching, it seemed some multicolored blur swept in, all the robbers collapsed, and the blur vanished, all in the space of a split second. To Gohan, things couldn't be slower. Making sure he moved at a speed where he couldn't be seen by the others, he dashed in, and with simple blows, took out all four of the robbers. A light jab to the side, a small chop on the back of the neck, like that, before he flew as high as he could into the air, making sure he was out of sight before dashing back into the alley.
Putting on his best innocent and confused face, he stepped out of the alley just as the police force got over their shock, and ran forward to cuff the criminals. Satisfied that no one was in danger anymore, he began to back away from the scene.
"Hey, you!" a sharp voice behind him spoke.
Flinching heavily, caught off guard, he turned around and saw a young girl behind him. She obviously wasn't in a good mood. She had circles under her eyes, and a glare on her face that he suggested even Vegeta would commend. "Me?" Gohan asked, confused.
"Yeah, you" she spoke again. "What just happened here?"
"Uh, I don't know" Gohan lied. "I heard the guns and hid in the alley until they stopped." Hi figured that sounded like how a normal human would react to gunfire if they weren't trying to stop it.
"I see" she said coolly, looking away from Gohan and walking around him, towards the scene of the crime.
Gohan let out a breath. "Geez, it was like she was peering into my soul" he shuddered. "Humans that didn't give birth to me shouldn't be able to do that."
After standing there for a moment, something hit Gohan like a freight train. "Crap, school!"
Running as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself, Gohan sprinted in the direction of the Orange Star High School. "I can't be late, I can't be late, I can't be late!" he repeated the mantra in his head.
Videl was having a terrible day. No, it didn't start that day. It started about a week ago, when that monster showed up on their world and began killing people. Her father left to go fight the monster, but never came back. For the next few days, she lived in fear that her city would be the next to go, and that if her father came back, he, the strongest on Earth, what chance did any of them have?
It was very stressful.
After he managed to defeat the monster, he had another bombshell to drop on her when he came back that night. Couldn't he have been a bit more delicate about it? He tried, but when you're dealing with introducing your daughter to the old terror of the planet who's about to become your roommate, you really need to invest 100% into the plan to break the news lightly.
Her dad had explained it. Buu had shown up, and he was terrorizing the planet. As an alien, he had some abilities that they didn't, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. But he saw the innocence in Buu, and instead of killing him, decided to try and befriend him, to see if he could get him to change. It turns out, all he needed was a friend to learn about how what he was doing was wrong. He had been about to save the world again without throwing a single punch, before it turned out that Buu had a twin brother, who was much more consciously malicious.
He and the Buu that had become good hid for a few days, training, and confronted the evil Buu, alongside two others that had managed to avoid Buu's gas attack as well. The alien was strong, and he wasn't sure he could win. But the cheering of the planet managed to give him the energy he needed to really lay into the bad Buu and finish him off.
However, even after the story, it didn't change the fact that the roommate she now had was a monster who had been terrorizing the planet only a couple days prior. It's not exactly easy to sleep with that kind of pressure.
Buu was actually not as bad as he seemed. He was sweet and childish, very innocent and ignorant. Still, it took more getting used too than just one day. So, it was another night of fitful sleep.
She had her doubts, that even with her dad's influence, the world could see past Buu long enough to hear him out. When she asked him about this, saying that Buu probably couldn't stay inside forever, and that someone was bound to find out, Hercule waved his hand and said that it was all taken care of.
So, she dropped it. Then, after going two days with no real rest but plenty of stress, she got called out early in the morning to deal with some armed robbers, only to find that she wasted her time, as when she arrived, they were already in the middle of processing them. On one hand, she was grateful that she didn't have to exert herself right then. On the other, she was furious that she had made the trip for nothing.
Stopping at a coffee place on her way there, she sipped on the hot drink, hoping that she could at least stay awake through the day. She just had a week off from school, between the tournament and the fiasco with Buu. It was her first day back, and even with how understanding her teachers could be, she didn't enjoy being late.
She walked through the doors of her class five minutes after class had started. Her teacher welcomed her, understandingly, before she went to sit in her seat, next to her friends, Erasa and Sharpner.
"What's the matter Videl, you look awful" Erasa said. Tactful.
"Oh, just stuff at home" she muttered, barely resisting the urge to slump forward on her desk and close her eyes.
"Really? What's going on there?"
"Uh…" Videl thought. She couldn't very well say she had an alien staying with them. "My dad brought a dog home, and it barks and whines all night" she said. That was half true. Bee had been living with them too, but he didn't make much noise.
"Oh well, first weeks are always the hardest with new pets" Erasa said. "Just buy some earplugs, that oughta do the trick!"
Videl nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that" she lied.
"May I have your attention please, students?" the teacher called from in front of the room, gathering the attention of the class. "Now, today, I would like you to welcome a new student to our class."
The door opened, and a young man with spiky black hair stepped inside. He looked around at all the students, seeming a bit surprised by the number of them.
"Would you like to introduce yourself?" the teacher asked.
"Oh, uh, sure" he said, turning to face the class. "Hello, my name is Son Gohan. This is my first time in a public school."
"Gohan received perfect marks on his entrance exam" the teacher told the class. "You could learn a thing or two from him."
"He sounds like a total geek" Sharpner muttered, just loud enough for Videl and Erasa to hear. "And who waits to go to school until senior year?"
"Oh, hush up, Sharpner" Erasa said.
Videl's eyes narrowed. This boy, Son Gohan, looked familiar. She couldn't pinpoint it, but she knew him from somewhere. He definitely had the build of a generic nerd, slouched slightly, matching uniform, and looking slightly nervous.
"Anyways, take a seat wherever you want" the teacher said, gesturing to the classroom.
"Ok" Gohan said, looking around for free seats.
"Hey, come sit up here, cutie!" Erasa called down, waving and pointing to the seat right beside her.
Videl groaned. She really wasn't in the mood for Erasa's antics right then, and inviting a new kid who she apparently thought was 'cute' fell under that category.
Gohan walked up the stairs, setting his stuff down and taking a seat right next to where Erasa was. "Hi, nice to meet you" he said, offering his hand.
"Why, hello, Gohan, my name's Erasa" Erase grinned, shaking his hand. "This here's Sharpner, and of course, you already know who this is."
Confused, Gohan glanced over past the two blondes. At first, he had no idea why he would know who she was. She wore a baggy white shirt and had long black hair. "Um, who are you?" he asked politely.
Immediately, there were gasps all around him, and Videl looked up from her spot on the desk. Her eyes were wide, her eyebrows raised. And when they locked eyes, she remembered exactly who she saw him.
"You're that guy from the bank this morning" she remembered.
When she said that, she could see him look slightly uneasy. She had been too cranky and in a hurry this morning to get a good look at him, but now she began mentally taking note about him. He was definitely an odd character. Never been to school before, but aced the entrance exam. She had never seen him around town before that morning, and she had met just about everyone in the city. If he was from out of town, or even downtown, there should have been other schools that would have been easier to attend. OSH was a good school, but it wasn't the Stanford of high schools.
The new kid, the kid from the bank, Gohan, looked visibly surprised when she said what she did, and he guessed that he hadn't remembered her yet either.
"You know him?" Sharpner asked.
Videl nodded. "Yeah, he was hiding near the bank when I got called over there this morning, before that 'Phantom' character took care of it."
Gohan knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "Phantom?" he asked.
"That's what the police chief is calling it, anyways" Videl shrugged. "According to him, something unbelievably fast swooped in and knocked out all the robbers this morning and disappeared as fast as he appeared."
Gohan frowned lightly. "Shoot, I thought I moved fast enough that they couldn't even see me. I guess I held back a little too much."
"Wait, Gohan, did you see what this guy looked like? You were hiding around there, didn't you?" Erasa asked the young saiyan.
"Um, well, no" Gohan said. "I was kinda not in view of the bank when it happened, just around the corner."
Videl also took note of his tone of voice. He sounded, off. There were undertones of nervousness, but they almost seemed false.
"So, Gohan, where are you from, exactly?" Videl asked.
"Oh, I live up at Mount Paozu" Gohan said. "Really great place."
"Mount Paozu?" Erasa asked. "Where's that? I've never heard of that place before."
Truth be told, Videl hadn't heard about the place either. It must have been a long ways away, because that wasn't the name of any of the surrounding areas.
"Yeah, well, Mount Paozu is in the 439 mountain area, so that might explain why you might not have heard of it" Gohan explained.
Videl's eyes widened at the news. "Really?" she asked. "This 439 mountain area?"
Gohan looked back at her, unwavering. "Yeah, that's the one."
Videl shot a glare at him. "Even if you drove the fastest car on the market, that place is over three hours away, one trip."
"Yeah, well, that's how dedicated I am to my education" Gohan said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Angered by his smart response, Videl took a deep breath and turned away from the new kid. Taking another sip of her coffee, she tried to calm herself. She was sleep-deprived and stressed. The kid barely walked through the door and she was already grilling him. If she kept going, she'd be wanting his shoe size next.
So, instead of interrogating the person Erasa had called over, she turned back to the front of the room, where the teacher was talking.
"-not only defeated Cell, but delivered us from Majin Buu as well, now" the teacher said.
On second thought, maybe she'd be better ditching today. Groaning, she closed her eyes and slumped forward onto the desk, head banging dully. She didn't even feel it.
Gohan learned several new things that day. Not anything from the lessons, what hadn't been about Mr. Satan, he had learned sometime before he trained for the Saiyans.
The first thing he learned. The grueling curriculum that every student in the school complained about? Nothing compared to what he had gone to.
Second off, Videl had a very suspicious nature on a good day, which this was not. To tie into that, the four of them shared five out of six classes in the day, his only break being right before lunch, in english literature. If the classes were gonna be easy, he might as well take one he enjoyed, right?
After the first two classes, he tried to sneak away into a corner of a room where he could be semi-alone, but before he could manage to get settled, Erasa spotted him and invited him over to their usual spot. He really wished she wouldn't. He liked these three, for as much as he knew about them, but he didn't want to have every cough he let out dissected for deeper meaning by Videl at the moment.
"I'd better not blink too often, or she'll figure out that I'm half Saiyan" he thought sarcastically.
The only real break he got from them, besides during literature, was lunch, where he managed to phase up to the roof before they were any the wiser. It was risky, using his powers in school, but he didn't think that eating the entire donation bin for the salvation army as a light snack would be something kids normally saw.
It was down to the last class of the day by now, and admittedly, the one that had him slightly nervous. He knew that he wouldn't have a problem acing the class, but that was just it. How was he supposed to keep himself in check if this was the class where you were supposed to exert yourself?
After changing in a stall, he walked outside with the rest of the class. Blinking at the bright sunlight, he caught site of their coach in front of the group. According to what the other boys had said about him, he was a pretty cool, albeit tough, guy. His title was Coach Axe, but he let people call him Sam if they wanted to.
"Listen up, class!" he barked. "I know we just got a week off with the looming apocalypse, but that's no excuse to pick up right where we left off. But, last week was pretty intense. So, I decided that we're gonna have a bit of fun today while we're at it. Grab your jerseys, it's baseball time!"
"Oh yeah, time to dominate" Sharpner chucked. "I rule this game." He looked over at Gohan, who had grabbed a blue jersey out of the bin and slipped it on. "Hey, Brains, I assume you at least know the basics of baseball?"
For some reason, Sharpner had taken to calling Gohan 'Brains' over his real name. Besides his mom's titles, and Piccolo calling him 'Kid,' he never really had a nickname. So he just decided to go along with it.
Gohan nodded. "Yeah, one of my friends used to get us all together and we'd play sometimes. He's a pretty good player, so I've had some practice."
Calling Yamcha a 'pretty good baseball player' was a bit of an understatement. They didn't play often, but he has some experience at least.
"Yeah? Good. I was hoping that I wouldn't just have to strike you out without trying. It's no fun that way" Sharpner chuckled.
Gohan frowned slightly. "'Without trying'?" he thought. "We'll just have to see about that."
Videl walked up to him, permanent scowl still etched into her face. "So, it sounds like you know what you're doing?" she asked him.
For the life of him, he couldn't understand why every word coming from her sounded accusatory, but he went along with it. "Yeah, I've played a few times."
"Good. You're up to bat first, I want to get a read on your skill level" she commanded.
Gohan shrugged. "Alright" he said.
The teams filed out onto the field. True enough, Gohan was out to bat first, while Sharpner stood a good fifteen feet away, ball in hand.
Gohan maintained a very loose grip on his bat. He didn't want to distort the metal at all. He stood to the right of the plate, and looked down the pitch.
"Hey, kid" Coach Axe called over. "You sure you want to bat there? That's the spot for the lefties."
"Huh? Does it make a difference?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah, well, try it, and you'll see" he shrugged, giving a sharp blow into his whistle. "PLAY BALL!"
"You ready, Brains?" Sharpner called over.
Gohan nodded, moving the bat into position. "I'd better only give it a light tap" he thought.
Sharpner raised his hand, twisted, and sent the ball careening straight towards him. The pitch was quite good by human standards, for a teenager, but to Gohan, it seemed to be moving as slow as molasses.
Moving the bat ever so slightly, he stopped for a brief moment before the ball reached him, and simply tapped it about an inch forward.
With an deafening crack, the ball went sailing into the sky, being far out of sight within seconds. Wasting no time, Gohan dropped the bat on the ground and began to lightly jog around the plates. He made sure to not try to run either, so that he seemed normal enough.
However, he felt that something was wrong when he rounded third and noticed that no one had moved, and almost everyone had their jaws dropped. Slowing down as he made his way home, he paused and looked at Videl. "Uh, did I do something wrong?" he asked.
Blinking, she looked at him, the pure shock on her face replacing the anger that had been on it all day. "Gohan, you just hit that ball well over a mile away" she said. "I thought you said you've only played a couple times?"
Tensing up, Gohan felt like punching himself. "Geez, can I not hold back enough?" he wondered. Playing with Yamcha and the others, they would have caught that ball in two seconds flat. Then he realized, he was comparing Yamcha, one of the strongest humans on the planet, to a bunch of highschoolers. "Ok, now I really feel like punching myself..."
"Uh, beginners luck?" he offered. "I guess the ball caught the bat just right. My swings aren't usually that good." No. Usually, they would be a dozen miles away if they were missed.
Blinking again, Videl's scowl returned. "Right, sure" she said. "Well, you're done for now. You can sit on the bench until it's your turn again, or we change sides."
"Ok" Gohan said, not wanting any more of an argument. Walking back over to the bench, most of his team was buzzing about his home run that he just struck. He tried to tune them out, saying he just got lucky and hit it just right. The same excuse he gave Videl.
His team scored two more points before they struck out, meaning that it was time for the groups to change sides of the field. Now, Sharpner's team was up to bat, while Videl's team went out into the field. By this time, things had really calmed down, which Gohan was glad for.
"I'm putting you out in left field" Videl told him. "I assume you know where that is?"
"Um, on the left?" Gohan said with an obvious sort of tone. He immediately regretted his smart response. Not saying another word, he grabbed his glove and ran off into his position out on the field.
"Well, at least I can't really mess up catching a ball" he thought. Catching was more a sign of finesse than strength, anyways. "I just have to keep my speed down and everything will be fine."
As he was in the middle of thinking, the first person stepped up to bat. He snapped out of his mind to pay attention to the game. Videl wound up her pitch, and threw a fastball straight down the center of the pitch, which was met with another resounding sound as it was struck. The ball went high into the air. It wasn't as superhuman as Gohan's, but this one was going out of the park.
Blinking, Gohan realized it was going to soar right over his head. The ball was about twenty feet above him, so he ran ahead of it. Approaching the fence, Gohan took a big jump, landing on the top of it, before springing up even further and twisting in the air. Reaching as high as he could, Gohan made it looked like he barely reached it with the tip of his glove, before grabbing it and throwing it towards first base at lightning speed.
The student there stumbled to catch the ball, managing to ensnare it in his glove just before the batter reached first. Smiling at his handiwork, Gohan let gravity take ahold, falling to the ground and landing on the other side of the fence, before running back and hopping back over it.
His teammate closest to him, on second, gave Gohan an impressed thumbs up. "Geez, dude, first you knock the ball into orbit, now you're jumping fifteen feet into the air? What are you, some kind of superhuman?"
"There you go again, Gohan!" he internally groaned. "The ball was just luck, and the wind caught me mid-jump. I barely got it as is, after all."
His teammate on second laughed. "I don't care if you had no skill whatsoever at the game. If you're that lucky, I hope I'm always on your team."
Gohan cracked a nervous smile. "Let's just win this first, then we'll see if my luck is more than an isolated incident."
As it turned out, it was. Or at least, that's how Gohan tried to make it look. He no longer took any jumps, fence or no, more than five feet into the air, which he suspected was still pushing it. Luckily, people seemed to have him down as a frail build, which they used to explain his agility. As for batting, instead of hitting the ball, he waited for the ball to hit the bat, then pushed it away. It didn't earn him any more home runs, but it prevented another freakish hit that could have resulted in a car accident a few miles away.
And thankfully, his two instances of amazing feats were forgotten, for the most part, by the end of the game. It was a close game, altogether, but Videl's team won by a small margin. After the class rejoined, and congratulated each other on a game well played, the coach stepped up to the front of them and cleared his throat.
"Alright, kids, listen up" Coach Axe barked. "You did well today. We'll spend a few more days having some fun, then we'll be having a special unit starting up next week. So enjoy it while it lasts." He looked around. "Well? Class dismissed!"
There was a sudden scrambling as students, eager to go home, ran off towards the locker rooms to change back into their normal clothes. As Gohan, making his way towards the lockers much slower, avoided being shoved by the crowd, he let out a breath. "Finally. I take it all back. Figuring out how to keep under the radar was much harder than waking up on time!"
After changing back into his normal attire, Gohan looked around the hall. He seemed to be one of the last ones to come out. "Alright, let's head home" he said aloud.
Walking towards the nearest exit, Gohan stepped outside once more. Looking around hesitantly, making sure no one was there, he nodded in satisfaction and turned the corner. Once he was behind the wall, his light aura sparked around him, and he dashed skyward, not stopping until he was level with the clouds.
He took a deep breath of the fresh air. Up here, it was nice and cool, and perfectly clear. One of the reasons he loved flying so much, it was an experience you could never get down below.
He turned towards the direction he came from that morning, ready to fly home, back to his mother and brother. But before he could, something nagged at the back of his mind.
"This morning, I couldn't turn into a Super Saiyan anymore" Gohan remembered. "Not that I need it, but it would seriously help if I needed to do something without anyone noticing." He had learned the usefulness of the transformation as a disguise back at the tournament. Not a single person outside of his group of friends and family had been able to pair him with the golden fighter that had stepped into the ring when Spopovich and Yamu attacked Vegeta and his dad. "Maybe Vegeta would help me learn how to unlock it again."
He remembered, when Elder Kai told him how to unlock his dormant power, he described it as 'trying to turn into a Super Saiyan.' His body remembered that, and took it a step further, like it overwrote the transformation with his own power. He wasn't too hopeful, but there was a chance that Vegeta could help him train his body to differentiate between the two, his unlocked power, and the Saiyan transformation of legend.
Making up his mind, he turned away from Mount Paozu and towards West City. It wasn't difficult to point the right way. Besides himself, Vegeta was the strongest person on the planet. The only other one to even compare is Buu, but considering how odd his energy was, and how lazy he appeared to be, there could be no mistaking him.
Focusing on Vegeta's energy, Gohan's own jumped again, and he took off towards West City.
Videl walked out front of the school, Erasa and Sharpner by her side.
"For the last time, I'm not in the mood to go shopping today" Videl said, exasperated. "I still have to follow up on this morning before I can even go home."
To be honest, Videl wasn't sure whether she was in a rush to get home or not. On one hand, she felt like she was ready to sleep even longer than a corpse in a cemetery. On the other hand, going home meant seeing Majin Buu again. How was she supposed to sleep with that thing in the house?
"Then come with us, just for a little while? Relax for a bit before work?" Erasa asked.
"Hey, who's this us?" Sharpner asked. "I don't remember agreeing to anything!"
Videl threw her hands in the air. "Since when is shopping with you relaxing?" she asked, exasperated. "Not today, leave it at that. Please?"
"Oh, fine then" Erasa huffed. "But you won't be able to avoid it forever, Videl. Sooner or later, you will go-"
A dull roar shot through the air, booming straight down to their cores, stopping them in shock. The leaves in the trees rustled violently as a heavy wind blew across the grounds. The three of them, and everyone else in the yard, stumbled to keep their balance.
Videl rubbed the side of her head, sleep deprivation making whatever had just happened balloon into a full-on headache, which she was none too happy about. "Alright, now what was that?" she growled, looking up and around.
"It sounded like a damn sonic boom" Sharpner complained, massaging his own ears. "Geez, don't you need licenses that say you know better than to do that to fly something that fast?"
Videl scowled again. "I swear, that's another thing I'll ask. All reports of aircraft in the area." She looked thoughtful for a moment again, before huffing. "You know? New kid lives a long way away, according to him, and we haven't seen him since class ended. You think it could have been him?"
"What, you think he owns a supersonic jet?" Sharpner asked.
"It would explain how he manages to get to and from school from all the way in the 439 mountain area" Videl mused. "The only thing is, I don't know how he could legally get one. No jet on the market is that fast."
Erasa looked at her friend. "Geez, Videl, what's gotten so under your skin that you're investigating Gohan like this?"
"Something just doesn't add up" Videl pointed out. "Something's off about him. He looks like a generic nerd, but you saw him at baseball today. He says he lives hundreds of miles away, and still commutes, which could only be possible if he owns military level vehicles or is hiding something else."
"And yet you didn't question that kid who turned out to be an undercover cop" Erasa pointed out. "And heck, even I could tell something was off with him."
"Just leave it be, Erasa" Videl facepalmed at her friend's persistence. "You're the one who invited him to out group, four times."
"I was trying to help a new kid who had never been to a public school settle in" Erasa said, suddenly defensive. "Are you saying that we should have just left him to fend for himself?"
"No, of course not!" Videl said.
"Then what is it?" Erasa asked.
"I don't know, ok?!" Videl said, finally completely done. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the capsule containing her jet copter. "I've got work to do, and I am seriously not in the mood." She felt a bit guilty that she was snapping at her friends, but she was too tired to even really care at the moment. "I'll see you two tomorrow."
Tossing the capsule on the group, Videl hopped in and took to the skies before she could look back. "Please let there be a crime that knocks me out cold" she thought. "At least that way I might get some undisturbed sleep."
Sadly, luck was not on her side in that regard. Arriving at the police station, things were running smoothly, business as normal. Once she was greeted by the chief, she asked if there were currently any situations that needed tending to. Nope. Nothing for her to take care of.
Sighing, she made to walk out the door, but then behind her, the chief called out. "Actually, Miss Videl, before you leave, there is something you can do for us real quick. I almost forgot."
Videl looked back. "Yeah?" she asked. "What is it?"
"The robbery this morning, outside of the Satan Bank" the chief said. "The mysterious figure who took care of the crime for us."
"You called him the Phantom" Videl remembered.
The chief nodded. "Whatever it was, we managed to get something on it" he said. "A security camera outside of the bank caught traces of its movements. We managed to piece together a rough image of the Phantom. Perhaps you could take a look at it, just so you know to keep an eye out."
"Sure, but what for?" Videl asked. She may have been upset about her trip being a waste of time earlier, but that didn't mean that what the Phantom had done was wrong. It had clearly been trying to help.
"It's always best we keep an eye on these things" the chief said, digging through his desk, before emerging with a file. "Here we are. Even the clearest images were quite blurred, so it's not greatly accurate. However, we've done our best."
Nodding, Videl took ahold of the file, and opened it up. It really was rough. It looked more like smudges than anything else. The lower half was red, while the upper half was white and black. It seemed to be humanoid, if nothing else. She would guess male, based on what build she could read off of it. The head seemed to be topped in black, with what she could only assume was either hair or a helmet. Comparing him to surrounding objects, she estimated about six feet in height.
"Six foot tall male, black hair, red, white, and black outfit" she murmured, closing up the file. "I'll keep that in mind, chief."
"Sure thing, Miss Videl" he said, saluting.
Without another word, Videl turned and walked back through the precinct, emerging back into the warm sunlight. Hopping back into her jet copter, she set a course for home, and let out a breath.
"Dad says that Buu's really kind, he was just too ignorant to realize what he had been doing was so wrong before" Videl thought. "I guess I have to learn to get past that at some point. After all, all he needed was a friend, right? If I can accept him, at the very least, I can get some good rest again."
But something else was nagging at her, besides the Majin slumbering at her place. "That picture, of the Phantom. It seemed familiar, for some reason. I just can't put my finger on it…" she mused aloud. "I feel like the answer's right in front of me, but I can't seem to get it. Come on, think, stupid brain, think!"
Try as she might, she just couldn't nail it down. Maybe tomorrow, but it was impossible for the moment. "I'm going to drive myself crazy right now. Just drop it" she chided herself, just as Satan Manor pulled into view.
West City
Gohan dropped out of the atmosphere, slowing down rapidly as he fell towards the immaculate lawns of the Capsule Corporation. He was surprised, a moment later, when he was suddenly tackled from behind, and pushed to the ground.
Rolling on his back, he looked up to see the laughing face of Trunks above him. "Ha ha, got you good, Gohan!" he laughed.
"Yeah, you sure did" Gohan conceded. "You're getting pretty good at masking your power. I didn't even sense anyone out here."
"Yeah, and you weren't even trying to mask yours" Trunks said. "Honestly, I could have probably sensed you from that Kai planet thing our dads were on."
"I was in a hurry, a little bit at least" Gohan shrugged. "Hey, speaking of our dads, is Vegeta busy right now? I kind of wanted to talk to him."
Trunks tilted his hand. "He's in the gravity room, so he's about as free as he normally is" he huffed. He didn't hate it as much as his mom, but he was hoping that dying and coming back to life would have meant he'd have a bit more time to spend with him. "I doubt he'd do anything if you bothered him, thought."
"I doubt he'd even be able to if he wanted to" Gohan chuckled. "You want to show me the way there?"
Trunks nodded. "Yeah, sure thing!" he piped up, walking towards the living quarters of the grounds. As they walked, Trunks looked back up at Gohan. "Hey, do you know when Goten's going to be allowed to come over and train again?" he asked. "Me and him really want to get to the point where we could beat you as Super Gotenks."
Gohan smiled at the thought. Gotenks sure was powerful, especially as a Super Saiyan 3, but he knew that they were a long way off from his level. Not to sound cocky or anything. "I'll see, Trunks, but without a crisis, Mom doesn't usually let Goten do anything beyond basic training with her. He's not even supposed to become a Super Saiyan very often."
"Aw…" Trunks pouted. "Can you at least find some time for him to sneak out? We could get some time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber here and there!"
"Hah, you want me to help my brother sneak out?" Gohan asked. "You've definitely inherited your father's training obsession."
"Hey!" Trunks said indignantly.
"Calm down, it's not a completely bad thing" Gohan chuckled. "I'll see if I can find time that Goten is allowed to come play, but even if you guys are allowed to, you know you can't use the chamber too much, right?"
"Why not?" Trunks asked.
"Because if I'm waiting out there for two hours while you two train, that's a month in there, and trust me, your moms would be pretty upset if you suddenly were a whole month older."
"Oh, that's right, huh…" Trunks said, abashed. "Well, no problem. Thanks for helping, Gohan!"
"Sure thing" Gohan smiled. He would really have to watch out for these two at this rate. He was worse off before the whole Buu incident, but they'd catch up in no time at this rate, if only through their Fusion.
Emerging from the hall, Gohan found himself following Trunks right into the living room where Bulma was sitting. "Hey Mom, guess what? Gohan's here" Trunks said happily.
"Huh?" Bulma looked over, seeing the much taller demi-Saiyan behind her son. "Oh, hey there Gohan, what's going on?"
"Oh, not much, I was hoping to come talk with Vegeta for a bit" Gohan explained.
After walking over and giving Gohan a hug, she continued. "How come?" she wondered.
"Well, you see, ever since Old Kai unlocked my power, I haven't been able to turn into a Super Saiyan anymore" he explained. "I know I don't need it, but I was going to use it to disguise myself when I take care of criminals."
"Figures, the most powerful being in the universe would be out taking care of the local lowlifes" Bulma chuckled.
"Well, I'm going to school in Satan City now, thanks to Mom, and you know me. I've never liked people that harm others for their own gain" Gohan explained. "And I really don't want to stick out."
Bulma nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right" she admitted. "Tell you what. Even if Vegeta is uncooperative, or you're still having trouble, I can whip something up real quick that can be a disguise for you. Super Saiyan or no, you'll still be able to do what you want without drawing attention."
Gohan broke out into a wide smile. "Wow, Bulma, that'd be great!" he cheered. "Thank you so much!"
"Don't sweat it, kid" Bulma grinned. "I've always kinda liked you anyways, and it's not like it'll be for doing anything but good. Now go talk to that muscle-head and see if you can get your Super self back, and I'll throw something together. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes or so."
"Alright. Thanks again, Bulma" Gohan said cheerily, as Trunks pointed him in the direction of the Gravity Chamber.
"No problem" Bulma waved as he ran down the hall.
Sure enough, Vegeta was in the chamber, like usual. Gohan emerged in the control room, where he had a first row seat of the prince's performance. Gravity being set to 550x Earth's gravity, Vegeta dashed around, entire body tense as he struck each of the training robots.
"Hey there, Vegeta, how's it hangin'?" Gohan asked through the mic.
Vegeta, who had been flying on course for another target, stopped suddenly, and faced the control booth. "Brat? What are you doing here?" he grunted.
"I'll be right down there, one sec" Gohan said, pulling away from the controls and walking towards the entry hatch. Pulling the door open, Gohan stepped into the intense gravity zone. Raising his power accordingly, Gohan stood up, gravity change barely being felt as he approached the power of an ascended Super Saiyan.
Vegeta frowned as Gohan entered. "What, did you come to show off?" he growled, slightly put off that the child could surpass him at his strongest without transforming.
"Actually, kind of the opposite, Vegeta" Gohan admitted, closing the hatch. "I kinda need your help with something."
"Well, am I supposed to guess?" Vegeta asked sarcastically.
"Sorry, no" Gohan shook his head. "The thing is, ever since my powers were unlocked, I haven't been able to go Super Saiyan."
"So?" Vegeta asked. "I was under the impression that you didn't need the transformation to access that power anymore."
"Well, I don't, but I was hoping that I could still transform so that I could disguise myself as a Super Saiyan" Gohan explained. "It would be a lot easier than masking my power everywhere I go in public."
Vegeta huffed, and crossed his arms. "Well, brat, do you have any idea on what the issue is?" he asked sharply.
Gohan blinked, not having actually expected Vegeta to help him. "Uh, I think so" he said. "Old Kai said that to access the power he unlocked, I would power up like turning into a Super Saiyan." Vegeta nodded, cueing him to continue. "Well, since then, it seems like my body has kind of fallen into that groove, where whenever I try to transform, I just automatically ascend to that level, without actually transforming."
Vegeta nodded, taking in the information. "Well, it's quite simple, really" he smirked. "You can't turn into a Super Saiyan anymore."
Gohan blinked. "What?!" he asked.
Vegeta shrugged. "Not at the moment, anyways" he said. "Think of it like a circuit. Your power used to plug straight into the Super Saiyan transformation. But, you shoved it down, and placed your unlocked powers on top of it. The module containing the transformation is there, but now there is no path leading to it, and as such, you are cut off from it."
"But, so then, how do I make a path leading to it?" Gohan asked.
"You need to go through a similar awakening" Vegeta said. "The path was initially created by an intense burst of rage. A need, fueled by anger. To re-open a new one, you must undergo the process again."
"Oh, that's it?" Gohan asked.
Vegeta huffed. "You make it sound so easy" he shook his head. "Don't you understand? You're going to have a very hard time simulating the need for the power of the transformation, considering you can currently reach levels far surpassing ascended Saiyans by hardly trying. The powers you tap into now, and the powers of the Super Saiyan are two separate entities. Becoming a Super Saiyan won't push your powers even further now, instead, transforming will limit your powers to that level for the duration of the form."
Gohan frowned. "Oh, then that's a bit more difficult" he muttered. "Another thing. If I become a Super Saiyan again, will that lock me out of my full power? Since they're both really similar?"
"I suspect your true power is too ingrained by now to be so easily lost" Vegeta spoke. "However, if I were you, if you somehow manage to transform again, hold onto that feeling. That will be your harness for the form over the power."
"I think I get it now" Gohan said. "Hey, Vegeta, do you think that maybe if you fought me, it could push me to transform again?"
Vegeta laughed out loud, making Gohan frown again. "Brat, do you honestly think that as I am now, I pose a challenge to you?" he asked. "I'll come talk to you again once I reach Kakarot's Super Saiyan 3, maybe I'll be able to help you then, and you can be my punching bag for testing purposes." He smirked following the statement.
"Well, work hard, then, and I'll hold you to that" Gohan chuckled.
Vegeta laughed lightly, and shook his head. "A Saiyan wanting another to gain power so he can regain a lesser power. Ok, now I've seen everything. Get out of here, brat, and leave me to my training."
"Alright, Vegeta" Gohan paused. "Thank you, for helping me."
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "No sentiment, just go" he growled.
Gohan chuckled again, before walking out and closing the door behind him. Within seconds, he could hear that Vegeta was back at it again, seemingly even more furious than before. "He must really want to break that barrier" Gohan noted, before walking back down the hall.
Navigating the halls of the giant building once more, he found his way back to the living room where he had first entered. Trunks was sitting on the couch, playing a video game on the t.v., where he appeared to be a person covered in orange armor, with a gun for an arm. "Hey, Gohan!" Trunks waved. "How did things go with my dad?"
"Well, turns out things are going to be a little more difficult for me than I thought" Gohan said. "I don't think I'll be a Super Saiyan again anytime soon."
"Well, then it's a good thing that you're good friends with one of the greatest scientific minds in the world" Bulma said as she emerged from the other room. "What exactly is the problem with your transforming?"
"Apparently, my new powers overrode my transformation, so until I unlock them like I did the first time" Gohan said. "But because of my new powers, it would be a lot more difficult to simulate the need to transform."
Bulma nodded. "Yeah, that's quite the conundrum" she admitted. "Well, for now, here's your new disguise."
Pulling a capsule out of her pocket, she tossed it across the room, where Gohan grabbed it out of the air. With the okay from Bulma, Gohan pressed the button on the top of the capsule, and in his hands, appeared…
"A watch?" Gohan asked. It was a simple digital watch. Light grey metal links, basic green and black interface, and buttons on the side for setting it.
"Put it on and press the red button" Bulma instructed.
Looking at it again, Gohan slipped the device onto his left wrist, and clicked the button. A light blue energy sparked out of the watch and immediately spread across his entire body, coating him in the pale glow. His vision darkened as he felt something appear around his head, and a light pressure seemed to be applied to his entire body.
"Whoa, what happened?" Gohan asked.
Bulma grinned. "Take a look in the mirror" she said.
Turning, Gohan gasped at what he saw. His old clothes were no longer on his body, instead, he was in a completely new outfit. A tight black jumpsuit went from his ankles and wrists to his neck, which was covered by white boots and gloves, as well as a green tunic. Gold buttons fastened a flowing red cape to his shoulders, and on his head, an orange helmet with two antennae and a dark visor sat there.
"I figured if you were gonna be fighting crime, you might as well look the part" Bulma said cheerfully. "Well, what do you think?"
Gohan turned to Bulma. "Bulma, you know I can't lie to you" he said. Pausing, he broke out into a huge grin. "It's awesome!"
Bulma gave a thumbs up. "Then it looks like I've still got it" she said, a hint of triumph and pride in her voice. "So, what's your name gonna be?"
"Huh? My name?" Gohan asked.
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you need an alias. You can't very well go around as Gohan, can you? That would kind of be counter-productive."
"Oh, that's right" Gohan realized, striking a thinking pose. "Let's see here, I'm using this in place of my Super Saiyan transformation, so maybe something to do with Saiyans? Valiant Vegetable? No, that's too silly."
Bulma broke down laughing. "Ok, even if that's not it, that was too good" she said, eliciting a smile from Gohan.
"Let's see then… Super Saiyan… Super Saiya, hmm, this is difficult. Saiyan, Sai, Saiya something…" Gohan's eyes brightened. "I've got it!" he snapped. "How about Saiyaman?"
"Saiyaman, huh?" Bulma pondered. "Hey, yeah, that's got a nice ring to it."
"Yeah, sweet, so now I've got a disguise and a name, perfect" Gohan pumped his fist. Hitting the button on the watch again, he changed back into his normal clothes. "Gee, thanks a ton, Bulma."
"Sure, don't mention it" Bulma winked. "I sure hope you do good in school, kid. And tell your mom I say hi."
"Sure thing" Gohan nodded. "Speaking of which, I'd better get out of here before she gets too mad at me for being home late. Cya guys later!"
"Bye Gohan" Trunks waved from the couch.
"See you soon, Gohan" Bulma nodded.
"Yeah, will do" Gohan said, before turning and running back down the hall, reaching the front door in no time and running outside.
Taking to the air, Gohan made sure to fly up a long ways before really taking off. Once he was back among the clouds, Gohan's power spiked upwards, and he darted towards home, clouds clearing in his wake.
"So, I may not become a Super Saiyan again for a long while, if at all, but at least now I have a failsafe way of stopping criminals" Gohan smiled. "That costume was really something, and I'm glad I can put it to such good use."
Reaching home in no time flat once more, Gohan dived down out of the sky, flipping forward and landing lightly out front of his little house in the mountains. School was not as difficult as he had been psyching himself out for it to be, but all the same, he was really glad to finally be back.
Walking forward, he pulled the door open. "Mom, I'm home!"
That seemed as good of a place as any to stop as any. Chapter was done, anyways.
So, yes, for the time being, Gohan cannot become a Super Saiyan. His newfound strength makes things in that department a little more difficult. We'll just have to see down the line if he reclaimed the transformation.
Yes, Saiyaman is in the story. I know that most people didn't particularly enjoy Saiyaman, opting for either a new persona, or at least a redesign. However, I loved him, cringe-worthy poses, lines, and all. So, yeah, he's here.
This chapter was pretty similar to Gohan's first day of highschool, yet hopefully, with enough twists from the original that things are entertaining. If the original Gohan thought maintaining low power was difficult, what is a Gohan who can use Super Saiyan 3 levels of power without barely trying going to do?
Anyways, that's about all for now, besides one last thing. Usually, when it comes to reviews, I'll simply respond to the reviewer through PM. However, this time, I'm deciding to do something else that I see authors do, and respond to questions through these author's notes. I won't respond to each individual review, just the ones that ask questions, however, that doesn't mean that I am any less grateful for the people that reviewed their enjoyment of the story! So, here I go.
lancecomwar - I honestly haven't really decided. I kinda liked Lime's design, but haven't thought of a real way to include her. But, I do like to reference all forms of canon that the show forgets in my stories. I'm considering it.
Daikou - yeah, anything that didn't get mentioned, went basically the same as it did in the original, so Majin Vegeta and everything happened. I also agree, while Goku in Super is more what he was supposed to be, I much prefer him closer to how he is in Z.
I.C.2014 - more or less. He's not really going to get even stronger by much, but he won't be declining for a long time to come
Anonymous - well, you might be slightly confused. Goku was at full power against Fat Buu, because he had the built-up spirit energy allowing him his full power. It was only later, after he returned without the spare energy, that he was weakened. Also, Kid Buu was actually the weakest form, but the most chaotic. The other Buus had the power of the Kais and other absorbtees within them. Kid Buu was just unrestrained rage. Double power may have been a slight exaggeration, but Goku did say that he and Vegeta would be no match for Buu in the anime. No match vs. decimation means that being twice as powerful isn't too far from the truth.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and until the next one, have a great time. Drop a review if you want, and I'll see you then. Bye!