Eh, I'm doing this for fun anyways. And with writing this story, one chapter at a time just isn't enough, heh heh. I've never had this much fun writing a story. Why did it take me so long to get into pure DBZ Fanfiction again?

All that aside, I'm beginning this one about 48 hours after the last one was uploaded. So it should be out soon. Enough out of me, on with the fic!

Chapter 5 - Circus Break

Gohan let out a breath and sat back. It wasn't so much that the work he had to do was difficult, so much as it was time consuming. He already knew all the material, but he had to write it all out by hand, and show all his work to boot. Not hard, but long and tedious.

It had taken him the better part of an hour and a half to finish up, but he had done it. That had been a couple hours beforehand.

The sun was now setting in the sky, leaving it a deep purple, and Gohan was looking out the window, eyes closed in concentration. It took him a while to notice due to what he had to do, but someone was missing.

"Goten, where are you?" he muttered as he extended his senses even further across the planet. Billions of lives were on his radar, powers like Vegeta and Piccolo easily located. But his brother was nowhere to be found.

His mom hadn't had an idea about where his brother had gone either. Last thing she heard was that he was going upstairs to take shower. He had stuck his head in the bathroom to make sure, but Goten sure wasn't in there.

He wanted Goten to come home. He had a habit of getting into trouble, especially if Trunks was involved. And out of all the powers on the planet, he hadn't sensed Trunks either. They could get in some serious trouble, but at the same time, he didn't want him to come home for the exact same reason. He didn't know if Goten could survive their mother's onslaught.

Letting out a sigh, he turned away from the window. He had just searched the entire planet, and Goten was obviously masking his ki. If he was out there, it was impossible to differentiate him from any other normal human being.

Turning around, he let himself flop down on his bed. It was getting late, almost ten at night. He had to sleep soon if he wanted to prepare for another long day. "You know what? Goten's strong enough that no bad person on this planet could hurt him. The only way he'd be in trouble is if he did something to get on Vegeta's bad side." He blanched briefly, wondering if Goten had in fact bothered Vegeta. Looking like a clone of his father wouldn't have helped his chances. "If worst comes to worst, I kick Vegeta's ass into the ground, and wish Goten back when we wish Buu's memories away." He sincerely doubted that the grumpy Saiyan would have done his brother in, so this was more humorous thoughts anyways.

Yawning wide enough to rival a Great Ape, he reached over and switched off his lamp. Another thing that bothered him slightly was that Icarus hadn't returned yet. Icarus' ki signature wasn't large or unique enough for him to track, so he had no way to tell of the dragon was just moving slow, or if he had decided to go home instead of coming back by. If Icarus was able to make it all the way to Korin's Tower in a single night when he was only an infant, then the flight shouldn't take him that long for the purple dragon. It must have just been too late for him, he probably wanted to sleep too.

Gohan rolled over. "I can't worry about Goten anymore tonight, and I'll be able to see Icarus tomorrow" he thought. He closed his eyes. "Besides, he'll just come home when he's hungry."

In just a few minutes, he was sound asleep.

?

Gohan's eyes snapped open, his body tense. He grew confused, however, when he found himself walking the streets of Satan City. It was busy, many people going on their way down the sidewalks, with vehicles bustling through the streets.

Another moment, and Gohan noticed that he wasn't walking alone. Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner were all beside him, and seemed to be in conversation. He could hear them talking, hear the words they were using, but at the same time, he didn't understand anything they were saying.

"What's going on?" he asked to himself, speaking quietly. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't have fallen asleep at school and woken up walking around the city. How would his body even do it for that long?

He heard his friends laugh, and Sharpner hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Right, Brains, what's that, you having amnesia?" he chuckled.

"What, no, I just-" Gohan began to say, but stopped. He wasn't quite sure about what to say, so he just gave up and shrugged. "Never mind" he said.

The group turned the corner, coming onto another busy street, large buildings towering over both sides of them. They continued to walk and chat, Gohan trying to keep with the situation. They had walked about halfway down the street, when a deep pit formed in Gohan's stomach. His body tensed again, going on high alert.

He barely felt it coming. Moving as fast as he could, he tackled the three others to the ground as a thin wave of purplish pink energy sliced through the air above their heads. There was an ominous creaking sound as the building beside them began to tilt towards them, the building in the direction the attack had come from.

He grabbed the three of them by the collars of their shirts and shot into the air, out of the way. The top half of the building was sliding down towards the street, almost like in the cartoons, a completely flawless cut existing diagonally in the structure. There was a massive crashing sound and a plume of dust, mixed in with the sounds of countless terrified screams as the upper part of the building crumbled to the street.

A combination of a sick feeling in his gut, and an anger that raged through his veins, filled his mind. He seethed at whoever had done this, and his anger clouded his vision just long enough that the next attack almost hit.

A storm of powerful ki blasts raised towards him from all angles. Gasping, he dashed out of the way. With his friends in his hands, he couldn't even try to deflect them for risk of them getting hurt. He flew to the side, weaving between the blasts, unable to stop them as most of them rained down on the street below, detonating and washing it in flames. Buildings burst and began to crumble, shrapnel flying out and increasing the destruction, as towers of flames began to tint the sky red.

Descending to a clear spot in the carnage, he deposited the three, not noticing that they weren't reacting. He looked around for the attacker, for the source of the destruction, but he couldn't see it. When he tried to feel it out, he only grew more confused, as the energy was completely surrounding him.

A blast flew towards him from behind. Feeling it coming, he twisted and batted it into the sky, just before he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Turning back around, he saw a massive stream of green energy bearing towards them. It had come so fast, he had no time to react. It enveloped Sharpner, Erasa, and then Videl, continuing straight for him. He could scarcely raise his arms to block before it hit him and exploded, forcing him backwards.

Arms bruised and bleeding, he lowered them, eyes wide in shock. The entire city around him had disappeared, only rubble remaining, and no signs of any of the life that had been in it. No drivers in their cars, no workers in the buildings, not his friends…

It was as if a cavity opened up in his chest, he completely froze in pain and shock. What, whatever was out there, had just murdered thousands, and he hadn't been able to protect even a single one of them. Not even Sharpner, not Erasa, and not… Not Videl…

The sky glowed red, black clouds hanging in the air. In the glow of the raging flames, he finally saw his adversary. An outline of them, at least. Standing tall, tail whipping through the air, cruel horns spiraling up. He couldn't even make out any details besides that basic shape, yet somehow, he felt that all hope was lost just looking at it. It looked almost familiar, like Super Buu, or maybe even Frieza…

The creature vanished from Gohan's sight, leaving no clue as to where it might have gone. He didn't even feel it reappear behind him, until a hand filled with deadly purple energy pressed its way into his torso. Gasping his head turned around, only making out a pair of sharp, yellow, evil eyes, before the energy washed over him, burning his body away atom by atom…

Gohan's eyes shot open as he sat bolt upright, a scream bottled in his throat, just barely contained, but a small yelp made itself known. It sounded childish, but that didn't matter. Terror was still seizing his heart.

He panted heavily, clutching his chest where the energy blast had been burning into, his body coated in a cold sweat. "Just a dream, just a dream" he told himself repeatedly, trying to reign in his emotions, but try as he might, the panic wouldn't leave his system.

The sound of hurried footsteps came to his ears, and the door opened up, his mom standing there. "Gohan?" she asked, running over. "Gohan what happened?"

"It's, it's nothing, Mom" he said, panic weaving in with his voice. "I just had a nightmare, is all."

Chi-Chi gave her son a stern look. "Gohan, I'm your mother. Normal nightmares don't wake you up like that" she said. "What really happened?"

"I'm telling you, Mom, it was just a nightmare" Gohan maintained.

"The last time you woke up from a nightmare like this, it was because of Cell" Chi-Chi said. "Was it Buu this time?"

Gohan shook his head. "I, I don't think so" he said.

"You don't think so?" Chi-Chi asked.

"There was some… thing, in the nightmare, but I didn't see what it was" Gohan said, beginning to calm down slightly.

Chi-Chi sat down on the bed next to her son. "Gohan, do you want to tell me what happened in your nightmare?" she asked.

His mom wasn't often the 'hold your hand' type, but right now, he was glad for the comfort. Taking in a breath, he nodded. "Well, when it started, it wasn't really a nightmare" he said. "I woke up walking with my friends Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner through Satan City…"

He went on to explain the nightmare, how it started like that, but then the unknown attacker began to attack, laying waste to the city and killing everyone. He couldn't bring himself to recall the image he had seen of whatever it was, so he left the part about what he saw out. Except, the eyes. No matter what, he couldn't get those eyes out of his head. They seemed as cold as Frieza's, as calculating as Cell's, and as heartless as Buu's had been, all at once. They were the only details, that no matter how hard he tried, he could not rid himself of.

"-And then I just, woke up" Gohan finished. "It was all just a dream, but it felt so real that my mind just wouldn't accept it." He fell silent, having told his mom about it, and rubbed his temples, trying to disperse the images in his head.

Chi-Chi looked at her son, her face now much softer. For all he had experienced, even the image of losing someone close to him still hit him hard. Standing up, she straightened out her clothes. "Gohan, try to go back to sleep for now. Get some rest, alright?"

Gohan nodded. "I'll try, Mom" he said, not sure if he wanted to go back to sleep after his nightmare. He didn't know why it felt so real to him, just, he didn't know.

Laying back down, he tried to adjust into a comfortable position. Head rolling to the side, he immediately sat back up. "Wait, Mom, I can't go back to sleep now!" he said. "I'm already almost late for school!"

The nightmare hadn't seemed to have lasted very long, but it was already almost seven in the morning. If he flew as fast as possible after getting ready, he might just barely stand a chance of getting there on time.

"I know what time it is, Gohan, now lie down" Chi-Chi said, slightly more forcibly.

Gohan gaped at his mother. "Wait, you want me to sleep in and miss school time?" he asked in shock. "Am I still asleep?"

Chi-Chi frowned. "You are not, when you should be" she said. "You, sir, need a day off."

"A day off?" Gohan echoed. "Okay, say I am awake. Who are you and what have you done with my mom?"

"Gohan, enough of your cheek" she said sharply. Her face softened slightly. "As strong as you are, Gohan, you're still a growing boy. You obviously aren't as fine after your last 'adventure' as you thought. Today will be a day of relaxing. No work, no fighting, just recovery. Got it?"

Quite ironically, her tone at the end inspired anything but relaxation. Gulping, Gohan nodded. "Yes ma'am…" he said, pulling the covers up.

"Good" Chi-Chi said. "Now, sleep tight, Goha-"

"Mommy?"

The sudden presence of the squeaky voice in the corner of the room made itself known to the two others, who looked over at the source. Pulling covers up, Goten's spiky head looked blearily around the room. "What are you doing in here, Mommy?"

"Goten?" Gohan asked. "When did you get here?"

"Yes, I would quite like to know the answer to that myself, mister" Chi-Chi said, the anger in her voice quite evident now. "Goten, why did you leave last night?"

Goten tried to hide under the covers a bit more. "I'm sorry, Mom, me and Trunks went to go play, and we didn't know it was getting late."

"I'll be having a word with Bulma later about letting Trunks drag you into that kind of stunt" Chi-Chi grouched. "Goten, next time, let me know before you go. We were both worried about you."

"Ok, Mommy" Goten said.

Chi-Chi sighed. "And I guess that takes care of the other problem. You two, sleep as long as you need. I'll have breakfast ready whenever you wake up."

"Thanks Mom" Gohan said.

"Thank you!" Goten chirped.

Nodding, Chi-Chi walked out and closed the door behind her. Once it was shut and she had walked away, Gohan looked over at his brother. "So, I'm guessing that you were plotting to go play with Trunks on the phone when I left?"

"Heh heh, yeah" Goten chuckled bashfully.

Gohan rolled his eyes. "You're going to get in serious trouble one of these days, Goten. One time, I left with Grandpa, just for a couple hours in the middle of the day. Boy, did I get an earful when we came back." He paused. "Well, Grandpa got it worse than me, but that was only because it was his idea."

"Poor Grandpa" Goten said. "Okay, Gohan, I'll ask first in the future."

"Good" Gohan said, looking back up at the ceiling. His mom told him to go to sleep, but his eyes wouldn't close. Rest would have been good, but his body didn't want to go back to sleep. He didn't want to see those images again.

"Big brother, Mom was saying you were having a nightmare?" Goten's voice spoke up.

"Almost like he was reading my mind" Gohan thought. "Yeah. But that's all it was. Just a bad dream." For some reason, as he said those words, his mind rejected them, made him feel like they were lies. "What was that?"

"Oh…" Goten said, leaning back and looking at the ceiling himself.

The two brothers sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them doing anything, nor falling back asleep. Gohan, realizing his mom wouldn't let him come out so soon, came up with something to pass the time.

"Hey Goten?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to do some image training?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright then."

Videl looked around in confusion. "Where's Gohan at?" she asked.

School had started almost fifteen minutes ago, and while Gohan had a track record of arriving late, it was never more than by a few minutes.

Sharpner nodded. "I'm right there with you" he agreed. "Brains wouldn't miss school unless he was also missing all his limbs. Even then, he would probably find a way to make it."

Exaggerations on Sharpner's part aside, Videl agreed with his sentiment. Gohan hadn't missed a day of school yet, as short of a time as he had been attending, and from what she knew about him, he wouldn't miss a day for the world, either. He was dedicated to his education.

Videl almost didn't attend today either. And now, the one reason she did was absent.

She had been up quite late, mulling over every little tidbit of information she could find and knew about. She did as much digging as she could, but still couldn't find any information on the fighter Son Goku beyond his final encounter with the Demon King Piccolo. She did find a couple small pieces of information, such as the fact that one of the most inspiring fighters to enter the tournament, Anonymous, had ran off with Goku following the tournament, presumably they got married. At this point, Saiyaman had two parents who were quite powerful and had a good amount of fans. There was still no hard evidence that Gohan was there son, as there could be any other family on the planet with the surname 'Son.' But she doubted any other possibility. It all fit, the way it was laid out.

She hadn't come up with any surefire way to catch Saiyaman off guard yet, which was why she was counting on Gohan to be at school that day. She still planned to try her hardest to catch him in his trash suited glory, but any extra tidbits she could wriggle out of him would be useful. But the spiky-haired teen hadn't even bothered to show up for class!

Luckily, class was slow going today, so she didn't have to pay too much attention. She was exhausted from her research the previous night. She was about ready to lay her head on the desk and close her eyes, and it took all her willpower to not.

Sighing, she resigned herself back to the paper in front of her. One way or another, she'd make it through the day alright. Of course, she was having enough trouble focusing as is. It was a bit more difficult to do work when there was conversation going on all around her. Couldn't people talk about a new attraction at the circus or whatever after class?

Goten's head jerked back, hitting the headboard with a painful smack as he let out a groan. Gohan opened his eyes as well and looked over at his brother. "Sorry about that, Goten" he apologised.

Even through their image training, Goten hadn't been much of a chance against his older brother. It all ended when Gohan got behind him and took him down with a swift blow to the neck. The shock caused him to flinch in his bed, and what resulted followed.

Goten rubbed his head. "It's not fair, Gohan, no matter how much I train, you're just way too strong" he complained.

"Hey, don't be mad, squirt" Gohan said. "Look at what you have done. I mean, I trained and trained and trained for a threat to the Earth, and was a prodigy, and didn't become a Super Saiyan until I was twelve. You're almost ten, and you became a Super Saiyan quite a while ago. Now THAT'S impressive. Not to mention, the only reason I have my power that I do now is because the Old Kai unlocked it all for me. That's kind of an advantage I have."

"So you're saying that if I got the Old Guy to unlock me, I'd be as strong as you?" Goten asked hopefully.

"Er…" Gohan paused. That one was a bit trickier. "That all depends on you, Goten, I had all my power, he just brought it out. So if you have the power in you, then he'll be able to bring it out too."

"Oh" Goten said, sounding like he understood.

Gohan sat up and threw off his covers. "Well, we've probably 'slept' long enough, why don't we get some breakfast?"

Goten was almost out the door by the time he finished saying the word 'breakfast.' Looking over at the clock, he saw that it read almost eleven clock. Holy Kami! Were he and Goten seriously image training for almost five hours? Time really flies…

Getting up, he went out after Goten, heading towards the kitchen to soothe his growling stomach. For how much Goten complained, though, he had really put up a good fight. It was a lot better than anything he had expected from his little brother. He had done well.

Although…

He rubbed the side of his head again. He couldn't help but be distracted for a lot of their little mental spar. Maybe that helped Goten out, he didn't know, but he just couldn't get that nightmare out of his head. All the carnage, the destruction… It wouldn't leave him be. It was as if his body was actively searching for the threat in real life.

Walking into the kitchen, he tried to put his brooding aside. Smiling he greeted his mom good morning, and sat down at the table, ready to tuck into the spread that had been set out there.

For the sake of those of you unfamiliar with Saiyan eating habits, the gory details will be spared. Suffice to say, for how fast it disappeared, it might of well have been blasted with a Super Kamehameha from Gohan himself. The monstrous mountain of chow was no match for the two demi-Saiyans. Even Goten seemed to be attacking it fiercer than normal.

"Geez, Goten, if you don't slow down, you're gonna puke" Gohan chuckled.

"But it tastes so good, it feels like it's been forever since I had Mom's food" Goten responded.

"Yeah, you did miss dinner last night" Gohan noted, knowing how long even missing a single meal could feel like.

"Heh heh" Goten laughed as he continued to plow through the food.

Five minutes. Five minutes later, food was done, dishes were washed, and the table was clear. No leftovers. The bottomless pits that the two boys called their stomachs were sated for the moment.

With their mess taken care of, Gohan and Goten walked into the living room, where Goten jumped onto the couch, wanting to watch some T.V. Gohan turned to go back to his room. He planned to go grab his gi and do some training, work off some energy. As he made to leave the room, however, his mother's words came back to him.

"No work, no fighting, just recovery" she had told him. He didn't desire to be on the end of her wrath any more than Goten did, and he had a feeling that going out to train violated all three categories she set for him.

Making a split second decision, he changed his course and went towards his brother on the couch, and sat down next to him. "So, squirt, what are we watching?" he asked.

Goten gave his older brother a huge grin. "It's my favorite cartoon!" he chirped happily.

Chuckling lightly, Gohan leaned back and tried to watch the show that Goten enjoyed so much. He tried to pay attention, but a couple things got in the way. Besides still unable to forget his dream, the show was just a bit too unrealistic. Like, come on, an entire planet of aliens that all looked like various monsters in Earth culture? But, that was the minor part of it.

Gohan zoned out a bit as he retreated into his thoughts. He tried to dissect his nightmare. He didn't get a very good look at the antagonist, sure, but he was beginning to try and understand everything. He was no psychologist, but he knew a thing or two about dreams.

"Maybe the reason it felt so real, was because it was so many experiences I've had in the past mixed together?" he pondered. His friends dying, well, he had experienced that too many times for comfort. The monster that had appeared, from what he saw, was almost exactly like Buu's Super form, except for the horns. The more he thought about it, it almost seemed like it had been Super Buu combined with Frieza's second form. Slightly wider, a jagged torso outline that suggested armor, and horns… It fit.

His mind was still freaking out a bit from what had happened just recently. Between the entire Earth being wiped out, he himself dying alongside it, and Buu's rampage, it made sense. Maybe his mom was right, the experience did more to him than he cared to admit, or felt. "It was just a stress dream" Gohan thought with conviction. Somehow, his body didn't believe him…

An hour or two passed, and Gohan grew bored of the couch. He didn't like the feeling of being still when he wasn't able to focus on something. Sadly, Goten's choice of television didn't entertain him much.

Standing up, Gohan made for the door. Seeing him walk away, Goten bounced to his feet. "Where are you going, big brother?" he asked.

"I'm gonna go see Icarus" Gohan said.

"Icarus!" Goten exclaimed. "Wow, I haven't seen Icarus in forever!"

"Well, I saw him the other day when Buu was over" Gohan said. "He did me a favor and carried Buu home when Mom told me I had homework to do, but he never came back. I'm guessing he went home because it was getting late. So, I figured I'd drop by and play with him for a while."

"Oh, okay" Goten said. "Hurry back then, Gohan, I don't want to be alone for too long."

Their mom had left to do some shopping at the nearest village a while back, leaving the two boys alone. Gohan hesitated briefly, knowing Goten would literally not have a soul in sight, but he figured that the young tyke couldn't get into too much trouble if he was distracted by the television. Nodding, he gave Goten a wave. "Alright, bro, see you in a little while."

Stepping out the door, Gohan darted into the sky, flying high above his house to the point where the entirety of the area for several miles around was revealed. Acres of forests, several large mountains, with lakes and streams in between, all beneath him.

He floated in the air for a moment, getting his bearings. He turned in the direction where he and Buu flew off to the other day. "Icarus came at us because he felt threatened. Our fight must have been out of normal for the area, which meant for him to have known that, he would be living somewhere nearby." Of course, nearby was a relative term when you were flying back and forth over the forest at the speeds he and Buu had been going at, but it gave him an area. Besides, Icarus was a huge honking dragon, how hard could it be to miss him?

White aura flaring up around him, Gohan began moving rapidly towards their battlegrounds of the previous day. Taking but a moment, he found the small platform that they had started out on, and decided to set down there. It gave him a good vantage point.

He surveyed the area. Deciding to give the easy method a try, he took a deep breath, brought his hands to his mouth, and let out a shout. "ICARUS! ARE YOU THERE, BUDDY?!"

A flock of birds scattered from the trees at the booming of his voice, nearly shaking the mountain he was on. Lowering his arms, he looked around. A few moments passed, and there was no sign of the purple dragon. He shrugged. "Well, I doubted that one would work anyways" he admitted to himself. Jumping off of the platform, Gohan descended into the forest, landing on the soft earth beneath the trees.

On ground level, Gohan closed his eyes and became completely still, except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. He willed his senses to broaden, spreading across the entire land. A flood of reception entered his senses, every little lifeform, from the miniscule, almost impossible to sense energies from the ants in the ground, to the much easier ki signals from large animals such as the deer that wandered the forest. His radar kept spreading wider, and wider, and his eyes snapped open as he felt a signal that was massive compared to its surroundings.

Grinning, he ran off in the direction of the signal he felt. Weaving between the trees, he made straight for it, rapidly approaching the energy. Winding around the final corner, he recognized the space he had stepped into as the one Icarus had charged out of when he first attacked him and Buu. He was ready to greet his friend, but stopped short when he entered the clearing.

There was not one, but two dragons in the clearing. And neither of them were Icarus. One of them was slightly smaller than Icarus, with a light blue color to its scales. The horns were shorter, and the top ones curved forward, rather than backwards. The other dragon was obviously an infant, slightly smaller than Icarus had been when he first met him, and with dark indigo colored scales.

As he entered the clearing, the larger of the two, the blue dragon, raised its head in the air and sniffed. Growling, it wheeled at Gohan. From the tone of the growl, he guessed that the dragon was female. He quickly came to a halt, not wanting to appear threatening. Her sharp green eyes bore into his own, and he did his best to relax his muscles, willing himself to appear smaller.

The female dragon growled again, briefly turning away from Gohan to sniff the ground. Raising her head back at him, she sniffed again, and growled much louder than before.

Gohan blinked. He recognized the pattern that the dragon was going through. She was searching for something, and judging by the circumstances, and the area, he had a good idea about what the dragon was searching for.

"You're looking for Icarus, aren't you?" Gohan asked, loud enough for the dragon to hear.

The dragon's growl lessened slightly as she studied Gohan. Dragon's may have been animals, but they were among the most intelligent. Gohan could tell that she recognized the name, which gave him an idea. "Wait, you must be Icarus' mate" Gohan realized. "Which means, that that little guy must be Icarus' child."

He had no idea that Icarus had started a family, but considering the situation, and the way the female dragon kept reacting every time the word 'Icarus' left his mouth, it seemed obvious.

Gohan frowned. If they were out here, searching for Icarus somewhere he had been the day before, that meant that Icarus wasn't anywhere nearby. He hadn't returned to his house, and he hadn't gone home. Where did that mean he went.

"Did Icarus make it to Satan City, or did he get lost…" Gohan mused aloud. It was a bit worrying, the dragon had known where to go, and should have had more than enough strength to make it there and make a return trip.

He looked off in the direction of Satan City, floating into the air. Dashing off, he began to fly towards the city, keeping his speed down so that he wasn't prevented from seeing the ground below.

The earth flew past him as he made his way through the air. The trees began to clear out, and he saw that he had already made it back to his home. Frowning, he pumped extra energy into his legs, beginning to move faster…

A yellow blur darted in front of him, hitting him in the chest and stopping him in his tracks. He stared in shock down at his brother turned Super Saiyan who was clutching him as if his life depended on it. "Whoa, Goten, what is it!?" he asked.

"Gohan, you have to come quick, it's terrible!" Goten exclaimed.

Gohan sighed internally. "Great, what kind of mess did he make this time?" he wondered. "Lead the way, Goten" he said.

Goten didn't waste time, turning in the air and diving towards the house, which was a little ways away now. He found himself slightly shocked by Goten's speed. "Since when did he get so much faster?"

Landing right behind his brother just as he ran into the house, he followed him in, ready for the mess to great him. His confusion grew when the house was spotless. "There's nothing wrong here?" he asked.

Goten shook his head. "No, Gohan, not here, come here!"

Goten pulled on his older brother with surprising force, leading him into the living room. Gohan almost stumbled from force Goten was exerting, and he came to a stop right in front of the television.

"Look, Gohan, look!" Goten cried out.

Gohan raised his hands in defense. "Okay, alright, geez Goten, I'll look just calm dow-" Gohan suddenly found his voice cut off as he did as his little brother asked.

Goten no longer had any cartoon on screen, it was live feed from a circus performance. There was a massive crowd surrounding the ring, spilling out so far that it would have been surprising if the outermost people could see anything going on inside of the ring. But Gohan could see. Gohan could clearly see what was inside.

A large, scared purple dragon was standing in the center. Turquoise eyes wide with fear, heavy chain wrapped around his snout, and a red band laced around the base of each wing…

Icarus.

Icarus, in a circus. He was completely terrified, and Gohan swore he saw pain in his eyes. His wings, why were they just hanging there, Icarus could fly away if he chose two. Only, what was with that angle they were hanging at…

Goten backed away as slowly as he could as the house began to tremor. A clattering noise came from the kitchen as plates in the cupboard were rattled around. Gohan's fists were clenched tight as sparks began to shoot across his body. Goten was a little scared of his brother's reaction, and for a split second, he could have sworn he saw a teal flash in his brother's eyes.

The tremors stopped, and Gohan wheeled on the spot, making it to the door of his room in a flash. Goten ran after him. "Wait, big brother, what are you doing?" he asked. He rounded the corner just in time to see Gohan slip his watch onto his wrist.

"I'm going to get Icarus back, and make sure no one gets in my way doing it" Gohan said, anger evident in his voice. Pressing the button on his watch, he transformed into his green tunic and orange helmet. Almost too fast for even him to track, the window was thrown open and Gohan was gone. By the time he had fully caught up with the speed, Gohan was but a small black speck in the distance.

Satan City

Gohan made the trip in record time, jumping from his house to the outermost buildings of Satan City within five seconds. Settling down on the nearest rooftop, he took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. As angry as he was, and as much as he wanted to make sure whoever did it paid, he also didn't want to do anything he'd regret.

Having taken a brief moment to calm himself, Gohan launched back into the air, hanging high above the city as he surveyed it through his visor. Quickly finding the large purple canopy of the circus tent, he flew to the nearest clear spot nearby, landed, and removed his suit. Stepping out, wearing a baggy long-sleeve green shirt and black pants, he tried to blend in with the crowd that was entering the circus. Paying up while resisting the taste of bile at the thought, he got his ticket and made his way inside the tent.

Making his way through the crowd, he managed to work his way close enough to get a clear view of the ring, and his stomach dropped.

For everything he saw on the screen, the details were much worse in person. He doubted anyone else in the whole place had keen enough eyes to notice, but Icarus was in terrible shape. Icarus' eyes darted around nervously, like a caged animal ready to pounce. Around his snout, beyond the chain, which appeared to be barbed to further deter him from moving, there were several scratch marks. His wings were folded, not by choice. They had fixed some creation to him, that had pierced through each wing near the tip, and tied the two together beneath him. But further beyond that, the wings were being held at an unnatural angle, and a close look showed that near the base of each wing, at the joint, that there were injuries.

Gohan saw red. He felt like tearing whoever had done this limb from limb, a very Saiyan emotion he didn't experience often. His friend had not only been captured against his will, but abused heavily as well. A faint wind picked up around Gohan, one that thankfully, none of the crowd noticed. However, someone apart from the crowd did.

Icarus caught sight of him, green eyes locking with his own. Gohan gave a sympathetic smile. 'Icarus, I'm coming to help. Do what they want for now to keep from getting hurt, I'll bust you out when there's a chance' he sent the telepathic message. Rather than put all his effort into exerting those exact words, he worked on the sentiment behind them. As intelligent as Icarus was, he didn't completely grasp human language.

Icarus blinked, and visibly relaxed, even if only just slightly, and Gohan breathed easier for it, knowing that his friend had gotten the message. Icarus froze almost completely, stopping struggling. "If he can keep this up, just until he's done, I can spring him" Gohan thought with conviction. "Just hang in there."

Looking around, he tried to locate where the boss of the show might be at. He noticed an entrance in the back of the tent, but that probably just led to the backstage. Which meant, since that was the only opening, that the main office was probably somewhere else. He would have to sweep the surroundings as Saiyaman, then see about being diplomatic.

Making his plan, Gohan turned on the spot and made his way back through the crowd, doing his best not to hurt anyone on accident. He stumbled outside and walked off, back off to the spot where he had landed. Covering himself in the alley, he pressed the button on his watch, phasing back into his Saiya-Suit before leaving the ground once again.

Hovering in the air, he studied the area. Surrounding the main tent, there were several smaller structures, small buildings, almost like movie set trailers without wheels. Locating the largest one, he hazarded a guess that that would be where the boss was.

Descending quickly, Gohan landed in between two of the structures, safely out of sight, before transforming back and walking out. He made his way towards the larger building and opened the door, surprising the man who was sitting inside. A rather short round man, in an expensive looking suit, nearly fell out of his chair as he came in.

"Hey, whadda yous doing here?" he demanded in a somewhat angry tone. "Didn my people try an' stop ya?"

"I didn't see anyone outside" Gohan said evenly.

"Oh, them lugheads is gonna get a pay cut for this one" the man grumbled.

Gohan cleared his throat. "So, are you the manager of this circus?" he asked.

"Yeah, kid, I'm Mr. Musuka" he said. "Is that all ya' came here to bother me for?"

Gohan frowned. He could tell from the man's tone (besides the fact that he was busy counting stacks of money) that he wasn't the negotiable sort. Still, he had to try.

"Well, sir, I wanted to take to you about that dragon you acquired recently" Gohan said.

"Whaddyou got to do with Rocko?" Musuka asked him.

"Rocko? What kinda name is that?" Gohan thought, frowning. "Well, the dragon, he doesn't appear to be in good health. He's terrified and wounded, and you keep parading him around. I believe that that's classified as animal abuse."

Musuka rolled his eyes. "Listen up, kid, show me the letter of da' law on dragon care, then we'll continue this conversation."

Gohan began to feel quite annoyed with this little man. "Okay, Musuka, let's get down to the law. How did you acquire your dragon? I'm sure such rare animals must have a dozen preservation laws, especially against poaching."

"No poachin' about it, found this thing wounded in the outskirts of the city" Musuka said.

"That's a blatant lie, you pig" Gohan thought with enough force to kill him should it become tangible. Icarus wouldn't even be in a position to be injured in such a way, considering his route. This cretin attacked Icarus to keep him from getting away.

He narrowed his eyes. He couldn't prove that Musuka was telling a lie, so he changed tact again. "I happen to have seen this dragon living far away from here, sir, so the odds of it coming all the way here are slim to none" he stretched the truth a bit. "It has a family and everything, are you really going to steal a father from a family."

Musuka stood up. "Now listen here, runt, these are animals! A-N-I-M-A-L-S. They don't cares about their families, they won't even notice that they're gone. I ain't hurtin nobody!"

"With all-" Gohan began.

"Get outta my office before I call the cops on ye' for trespassing" Musuka said threateningly.

"How bad would it be if I just blasted him? It would be quick and painless" Gohan thought, before internally making a face. "I need to stop spending time with Vegeta."

Turning around, Gohan walked from the room, keeping a cap on his anger. Closing the door behind him, he let out a sigh. "Some people just can't be reasoned with" he muttered. Making sure no one was in sight, he flashed into the air, making sure he was out of sight before phasing into his suit.

He looked down at the tent. "Icarus is probably going to be forced to be in the ring until the end of the performance" he reasoned. "Once they take a break, I'll wait for a moment where activity inside is low, then I'll grab Icarus and we can get on home. Buddy, just hold on for a little while. I'm coming for you."

He hung in the air for another hour, never wavering. He was high enough up that no one could see him unless they were in a plane, which he could sense coming if there was. He floated in the same spot, meditating to pass the time. A little while after the last person left the tent, he opened his eyes again. Looking down at the tent, he felt out, finding very few human life forms still present inside.

Satisfied, he slowly flew down from the sky. Most of the signals that he felt were animals, with humans being sparingly spaced throughout the tent. The largest signal by far came from Icarus, who had a single human energy near him.

"I need to get whoever that is out of the way" he thought. He dropped just outside of the tent, close to where he felt the dragon, and stealthily moved beneath the flap, going into the tent.

Ducking behind some boxes, he saw a man, dressed like a guard, sitting close to the center of the room, looking bored.

Frowning and apologizing mentally, Gohan shot forward and lightly tapped some pressure points on the man's back. He went rigid, then fell forward, unconscious.

"He probably wasn't involved and he didn't deserve that. I hope he doesn't ache at all after that" Gohan thought, before turning towards Icarus, who was looking at the young Saiyan with a confused look in his eyes.

"Hey there, Icarus" Gohan said lowly, making sure no one else in the tent could hear him. Walking towards the dragon, he picked his helmet up off of his head so that Icarus could see that it was him. "I'm here to bust you out, just give me a second."

The dragon seeming happy, Gohan put his helmet back on and got to work. Studying Icarus' bindings, he noted the muzzle, the band holding the wings, and chains around each leg and tail. "Ok, I think I can do this" he muttered, looking down at his hand.

He had vague recollections of the fight through Buu's eyes once he had been absorbed. Vegito had done something, a ki blade, a technique he had never heard of before. Trying to remember what it had looked like, he held his hand out in a knifehand stance, with the three middle fingers fully extended, and the thumb and pinky beneath. Aiming at the ground just in case, he began to channel ki into his hand.

The results were instant. A rather long blade-shaped blast flowed out of his hand, piercing into the ground. Eyes widening, he reduced the ki flow to almost nonexistent levels. The blade shortened, retracting from the earth and coming to a stop at about a foot's length.

"So how much power you put in is how long it gets" Gohan realized. Keeping the ki even, he turned back to Icarus. Grabbing the shackle around his nearest leg, he pulled it away ever so slightly, and cut downwards.

The blade cut through the metal like a hot knife through butter, severing the manacle in two and falling off. Grinning, Gohan quickly went around, cutting off each chain on his legs and tail and separating his wings, carefully removing the beams that had pierced them and the bands that held his wings down. Floating up, he did the same to the muzzle on Icarus' mouth, completely freeing the dragon.

Floating backwards, he gave Icarus a chance to stretch. Front paws moved way forward, but Icarus yelped as he attempted to extend his wings.

"His wings must be broken, or just about so" Gohan thought. "This isn't good. It's going to be a lot more difficult without being able to fly." He might be able to carry Icarus, but his size would make it difficult to make sure he didn't hurt his friend in any way, be it dropping him or grabbing a wounded area on accident.

"Icarus, can you still run?" Gohan asked. The dragon looked back, unblinking, and gave a low rumble, one that Gohan interpreted as a 'yes.' "Alright, then we better move quickly" he said.

Making sure no one was coming their way, and that the guard was still safely unconscious, he ran over to the wall of the tent he had come in from. Willing a small amount more ki into his hand, the blade extended to about a yard out. Swinging the blade, the plasticy fabric fell away and left an opening large enough for Icarus to get through. Waving him after, he flew out of the hole he had made, and waited for Icarus to follow him. Grabbing the fallen sheet, he held it up to the edge of the hole. Grabbing both the edge and the sheet, he heated his hand with ki until the two pieces fused back together. Moving quickly, he resealed the entire flap, and turned back to Icarus. "We're in the clear, let's move buddy."

Flying low, Gohan moved as fast as Icarus could handle, making their way out of the circus grounds and onto a nearby backstreet. Since it was the middle of the day, most of the houses were empty, and he was able to move quickly through the street without raising an alarm. Icarus was heavy, but managed to gallop in such a way that his audio presence was minimal.

Once they had made it to a fairly empty spot, Gohan slowed for a minute and concentrated. Locating Goten's ki, he got a basic idea of which way out of the city they'd have to go. Looking over at Icarus, he smiled and scratched the dragon between his top horns, an old favorite spot of his. "Give me just a second, Icarus. I'm going to fly up and try to find a good way out of this city." They had been lucky so far, but a dragon wasn't exactly going to be able to blend into the bustling midday city. Let alone once they noticed Icarus was gone.

As he flew up, he had a brief moment of panic, wondering if Musuka would be able to piece together his freeing the dragon with his confrontation of him earlier. That fatcat could potentially spill his secret identity if he put the pieces together. Hopefully, his facade of looking weak would push that scenario from his mind.

Hovering in the air, he took a brief glance around the city. Finding a decent route, he flew back down. "There's a large park running through the city" he told the dragon. "If we make our way there and stick to the trees, we could get most of the way out without being seen. Can you get through a forest with your wings right now?"

Icarus locked eyes with Gohan and nodded. "Alright, then let's get going."

Orange Star High School

Videl was jolted out of a near slumber state by the shrill ringing of her communicator going off. Shaking off her grogginess, she answered the call. "This is Videl, over" she said.

"Videl, we've got a case on our hands, assault and theft" the voice of the police chief came on through. "Apparently, the circus' new dragon was stolen at lunch break today. The guard stationed there was found unconscious."

"Wait, a dragon?" Videl asked incredulously. "You're kidding me."

"The circus acquired it recently, today was the first day it was part of the act" the chief affirmed.

"Wait, the dragon was stolen?" Sharpner asked. "Aw, man! I heard about it, I was really looking forward seeing it later today."

"Chief, we are talking about a dragon here" Videl said. "How do we know it didn't escape and knock a head or two on the way out." She had never seen a live dragon, nor heard of one being anywhere within a few hundred miles of the city, but a large powerful reptile would surely be capable of something like that.

"Negative. According to Mr. Musuka, the dragon was bound, and the chains holding it were cut perfectly" he shot down that theory. "The guard has not even been bruised, so it wasn't an impact that knocked him out. I've got a feeling that we're dealing with a pro here."

"Roger that, chief" Videl said, standing up. She didn't even need to ask her question, the teacher was already holding the door open for her. Nodding her thanks, she ran out to the roof and tossed her jetcopter down. Taking to the air, she turned back to her communicator. "If we're dealing with a dragon, couldn't it have flown away by now?"

"Again, according to Musuka, the dragon was also in no condition to fly. Its wings had been injured sometime prior to its performance today" the chief replied. "If it's being smuggled away, the odds are it's still in the city."

"I see" Videl said. "Get eyes around town, then. Halt every semi and cargo truck for inspection. Chances are great that they're using a vehicle to get the dragon away."

"Roger that, Videl" the chief said.

"I'm on my way" she said, cutting the connection.

BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING! Ok, one of you did. Really, good job, I didn't think that I left a single clue that would have let you guess that, but somehow you did. Kudos, Guest.

So onto the content. Gohan had quite the nightmare, eh? It's probably just PTSD induced… Maybe. Instinctually, he's not so sure. And Goten randomly came back and surprised Gohan a couple times with speed and strength. Most of you already guessed it, but I'll refrain from outright saying it. And, of course, Icarus takes the place of Chobi as the victim of Mr. Musuka's greed. How Musuka captured a giant dragon? Next chapter, folks. And with Videl on the way, it's sure to be a doozy.

Before I go, I'll go ahead and answer you guys real fast.

Guest - well, Icarus really just carried Buu there and dropped him off. Dragons are intelligent, he knows to not land somewhere out in the open.

Aiwataru1 - we'll just have to see, won't we?

RainGain - maybe I teased a bit at the future here. I have plans, which may or may not be along the lines of something you mentioned

Delais Starlight - I don't know, don't you feel like Gohan would have been able to sense to two in the gravity chamber, exerting themselves like that

ShadowMaster71 - Buu has always been a powerhouse, just less so after he became purely good. If that recent episode of Super didn't remind people of that, I aim to

Mineng101 - yeah, the basis here is that after his potential was unlocked and he went through the fight with Buu, he's a bit more mature and serious. He's still loving the costume, because that's who he is, but poses are a bit unnecessary now for his current character

Guest - nice catch

TheGodfather93 - well that was quite the smile inducing review :D. I don't plan to go too in depth on the Tao debacle, the job was simply a matter of 'all politicians have enemies.' And Yeah, I'll know little things like that. I'm the kind of guy that reads wikis for fun. And the Hercule thing, I'm no martial arts instructor, and I couldn't think of any other way to test fighting skills then actually seeing them in action. Plus, he was a little shaken and needed some recovery time. I'm glad you've enjoyed about everything up to this point.

I hope you all enjoyed, and if you did, please drop a review on the way out. Until the next time!

And enjoy the more peaceful antics while they last...