A Simple Change

Chapter 8

AN: Guess who's back, back again, Shady's back tell a friend! Now that I have hopefully gotten that song as stuck in your head as it is in mine, it's been a while. I've had the start of this chapter written for years but honestly didn't know what to do with it. I was struck with inspiration over the last few days and have thus completed it. Also I will not make the mistake of rewatching the High School and Buu Saga's again, that's actually what got me away from this fic in the first place.

With that in mind for those who don't know yet I've gone back and edited a few chapters. Biggest thing I did was made Videl human again, I just didn't like the idea of Hercule getting with a Saiyan. Also I'm not going to immediately go into the Buu saga, I know DBZ is about action and we will get there I just have a few things I'd like to do first. Also just for the record I don't watch Super, I thought it was stupid with broken power scaling but I'm thinking about including it in my own way.

Also Gohan's new suit is described and just so you have an accurate picture it is the Gold Ranger suit from Power Rangers Zeo. Anyway that's all I got for today, here is the new chapter.

Start Now:

In the few short weeks that he had been attending Orange Star High Gohan had settled into a bit of a routine. While he did the school thing from seven to three he had also found ways to occupy himself during that time. Classes themselves were boring and the subject matter was meaningless as he had learned everything they were going over by the time he was ten. As such he usually spent his day jotting away in his notebooks working on whatever project came to his mind at the time. The previous day he had gotten the idea for a hover cycle and had started the designs up for it which he had dropped off with Bulma by the end of the day. His teachers never bothered him about what he did as he always had his work done and it was always perfect.

He also took the time to do the majority of his paperwork while he was in class. He had taken the precaution to write everything that he wanted secret in the Saiyan language as the chance of someone deciphering it was incredibly slim. He had however been pleased to note that he hadn't had to leave school for too many crimes, in fact Videl had only been called out a few times. From what he had been able to learn the police usually left her alone and usually only called her when things needed to be quick, and the threat was considered serious. However for the large situations they had an elite taskforce that they used called S.T.A.R.S (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) a group of former military personnel who lent their skills to the police in dire situations.

On the plus side it had given Bulma enough time to actually finish the suit. While it was still composed mostly of Saiyan battle armor she had added a final piece to the ensemble. Bulma had created a new version of battle armor that started with a black one piece under suit that covered everything from the neck down. Over that he wore the armor which covered the entirety of his torso down to his waist. This model also boasted shoulder protection as instead of having simple straps the shoulders were covered by armor as well. The armor was also colored black with golden ab, back and shoulder sections. With this he still wore the white boots with the golden tips and white gloves however now to finish the look was a black helmet that covered his head completely, the front of which held a symbol over the face being a vertical line with six horizontal ones branching off from it. He wondered if Bulma was trying to be funny or something as the symbol was actually the Saiyan word for 'prince'.

The helmet was quite a marvel and did much more than just conceal his identity, so he didn't have to use his super Saiyan form was much more than that. The helmet incorporated the technology from the scouters and built upon it. This was due to the fact that it allowed him to see the energy level, health of others and it acted as an effective communications system. However it also boasted a head-up display or HUD capable of tapping into and giving him building schematics and the locations of enemies, allies and most importantly hostages. The display would also show him critical areas such as structural damage to buildings. Finally it was capable of tapping into news and police frequencies.

The first time he'd worn the suit out he'd used the excuse on Videl that the helmet just hadn't been finished when he'd been forced to act. Since then people had gotten used to seeing him in the suit. Goten had told him he should use poses, but he'd been swiftly reminded of the Ginyu Force by Bulma, and the idea had died then and there. As such his alter ego of Bardock, often called 'The Gold Fighter' was thought of as a serious no nonsense powerhouse by the masses. As for Gohan himself he had become quite popular to the girls in the school, with many asking him on dates. While he had accepted a few there were never any relationships developed and he usually left with a new friend. He had of course rejected far more than he had accepted but considering his criteria was based on more than looks it was understandable.

At the moment he was taking a leisurely flight on his way to the school decked out in his suit when he glanced over to see Videl racing towards him in her yellow jet copter. Smirking he offered her a two-fingered salute before blasting off with Videl quickly giving chase. Glancing over his shoulder a few minutes later he found that she was still hot on his heels a fierce expression on her face that he found quite striking.

"Okay Videl, let's kick things up a notch."

Smirking behind his helmet the demi-saiyan chose that moment to pick his speed up weaving between buildings and making sharp turns and was inwardly pleased to see that she was still giving chase. All good things come to an end as his fun did when his watch beeped out an alarm which alerted him to the fact he had about 15 minutes before the start of class. Sighing at his play time being ruined he gave her a salute in farewell before to her eyes he simply vanished.

"Damn it!" exclaimed the girl at the sight.

She hated it when he did that. This of course hadn't been the first time they'd engaged in this chase and just like every other time it ended just as it was getting exciting. Scowling she turned in the direction of the school by now knowing that she only had a few minutes to get there on time. Still she was starting to get seriously irritated as she knew her master knew exactly who was behind the helmet and she had the feeling they were only doing this as a joke on his part.

'That's it, this time I'm not going to let him distract me, he's teaching me how to fly this time.' Mused the girl with gritted teeth.

She had been training under her master since she was eleven when he had first invited her to train under him. Of course to train under someone like the Turtle Hermit is considered a huge honor and not one many could boast to have done. As such ever since then every summer she would go to train, since her mother wouldn't let her go year-round. Since then she'd learned much more about martial arts than she had thought possible however she knew she could have learned much more if she wasn't distracted by school. Sighing at all the training time lost to boring academics the girl hit the gas as she prepared herself for her day of boredom.

By the time Videl arrived Gohan was already seated in his usual place sipping on a bottle of water. As she went on one of her usual early morning confrontation rants concerning Bardock he did all he could to hold back a smirk. He didn't know exactly why but he had started to love getting this reaction from the girl. She was all fiery passion whenever they finished one of their little chases which was much different than the gruff tomboy she played at school. As the class began to fill up she stopped though clearly still frustrated and took a big gulp from her water bottle before sitting it down just as the bell rang signaling the start of class. The teacher was still not in which wasn't normal but was made moot by her arrival within two minutes alongside three figures that had Gohan raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Good morning everyone. As you can see we have a few new students joining us all of whom surprisingly achieved perfect scores on the exam. I'd like to introduce you all to Lime Lao, Vasha Shinhan and Sarada Briefs." Said the teacher.

Turning to the row behind him Gohan saw several seats were empty but were spaced apart.

"Excuse me, can you guys move over so my friends can sit there?" questioned Gohan.

Luckily the trio of guys didn't mind and before long people had shuffled over leaving the three seats behind Gohan, Erasa and Videl all open. Seeing the now open seats the teacher directed the three girls to take them before beginning the role call. As the first period today was homeroom the teacher left them alone after the role call was completed allowing them to converse amongst themselves.

"So what are you guys doing here?" questioned Gohan.

"Your mother convinced our guardians." Said Lime shortly and Gohan would have winced if he were a lesser individual, instead he smirked.

"It's not funny." Said Sarada.

"Yes it is, you're only here because you kept teasing me. You didn't really think she was going to let it go did you." Said Gohan.

"Wait Gohan, how do you know Lime?" questioned Videl causing both Lime and Gohan to blink.

"Oh we've known each other for years; Gohan pulled me out of a river, and we've been friends ever since." Said Lime.

"Wait I know you." Said Erasa looking intently at Vasha and then at Lime who looked at her confused.

"Erasa is a model." Said Gohan getting his two friends to blink before realization hit.

"Gohan why is your mom sending you here when you hang around girls this cute?" questioned Sharpner.

"His mom still wants Gohan to be a scholar." Said Sarada causing Sharpner to blink in confusion.

"So how long have you guys known Gohan?" questioned Videl.

"Almost 7 years now." Said Sarada.

"We're Gohan's harem." Said Vasha causing several sets of eyes to widen while Gohan rolled his.

"She's kidding." Said Lime

Word of the three new students, a group of beautiful girls spread quickly. Gohan was not surprised that they shared the same schedule as he, Videl and Erasa, all of whom attended the AP classes. Contrary to her initial appearance Erasa was really smart, which made sense considering the standards of Orange Star High. When neither Gohan nor the three new girls made an appearance at lunch Videl following a hunch stalked out to the roof where she found Gohan and the three girls all in the midst of what looked like a feast as there was so much food. Before meeting Gohan she'd thought she could eat a lot and seeing these girls keeping up with him honestly stunned her.

Over the next two months things settled into a routine once more. It eventually came out that Lime and Vasha were the creators and lead designers of Four-Star Clothing and that Sarada was the adopted daughter of Bulma Briefs. That resulted in the popularity of the girls skyrocketing within the school and they were suddenly on the same level as Videl, and consequently fending off just as many would be suitors.

Videl actually had an easier time of it, as her father had come out and stated that any boy interested in Videl would need to be able to beat him in a fight, his status as the World Martial Arts Champion had made many keep their distance as a result. It helped that the first challengers had all been beaten so badly they'd been hospitalized and while there were a few people who challenged the man since then they'd all been martial artist more interested in the challenge itself than with Videl. Gohan had surprisingly managed to keep the majority of his secrets, the only thing coming out was that Bulma was his godmother and that she'd known his parents since she was a teenager.

As for Videl herself it had not taken her long to warm up to the three girls, especially when she realized that they were playing bodyguards for Gohan, at least as far as other girls were concerned. On the plus side their presence had also caused Gohan to relax revealing a side of him that was willing to crack jokes and laugh. That said she still hadn't given up on finding out what it was Gohan was hiding, she was simply too deep to back out now. She'd thought perhaps that he was even The Gohan, the Worlds Savior who destroyed Cell 6 years ago.

Despite their best efforts no one had ever found him. People had tried questioning Bulma Briefs in the aftermath of the Cell Games, but she'd given them nothing on him. Yamcha was the next that was asked, considering he was both a famous martial artist and a baseball player, but he'd stone walled them as well. After she started training with Krillin she'd eventually worked up the nerve to ask about him but had never gotten a real answer, just that one day she might get to meet him.

People had tried finding him in other ways but the name Gohan had been very rare even back then and he apparently lived off of the grid, though as a consequence of his actions the name had grown incredibly popular in the time since then.

"Good morning class." Came a voice grabbing the attention of the class.

"I hope you all studied like I recommended. Clear your desks off, you've got a quiz today." Said the teacher causing several of the kids to groan.

Elsewhere a figure could be found sitting behind a desk within a high-back chair facing the window rather than the desk. Behind him the door opened admitting a rather tall man in a red suit with his black hair in a large pompadour.

"Everything is in place." Said the man.

"Good, begin the operation." Came a male voice in response.

"Commence the operation." Said the pompadour wearing man after bringing his hand to an earpiece.

As the order was given eight semitrucks supporting large trailers pulled to a stop in front of each of the four entrances of Orange Star High School. On three sides of the school the security guards had no warning before being shot in the head and falling to the ground. Once this was done one side of the trailers facing the school opened allowing people in black combat fatigues to pour out from the trucks and onto the grounds. At the main entrance the trucks were quickly noticed and in only a matter of minutes the doors of the school opened as three people in police uniforms emerged only covering half of the distance between the trucks and the doors before being victims of head shots of their own. Once they went down the side of the side of the lead trailer facing the school opened allowing the black fatigue wearing individuals to pour out.

The men swept through the school silently dispatching guards or police officers with ease. There was no chance for those in the main building to even move before the men poured in the barrels of their automatic weaponry more than enough of a threat to keep people in place. The security office was quickly secured as were the security bunkers on each side of the school with the guards and officers within having no chance to put up any resistance before being shot where they sat.

The sounds of gunfire could not go unnoticed forever and within their class any attention to the test was ended as the first rounds went off. Orange Star High having the children of some of the most high-profile people in not just the city but the country as students meant that they had top notch security, despite this the students could not help but tense up as the sounds echoed through the school until they finally stopped. Videl for her part moved to stand before Gohan's hand darted out and held her in place turning to face him she was met with an expression she'd never seen before.

"Your watch goes both ways right?" questioned Gohan giving her a significant look.

Understanding what he meant she moved up and pressed the call button on her watch with the face of the Chief of Police popping up after only a few seconds. Before either of them could speak the speakers came online as the PA system was activated.

"Attention students and staff my name is Lieutenant Colonel Green of the Red Ribbon Army. We have taken over this school and will be occupying it for the time being. Cooperate and no one will be harmed, refuse or resist and the same cannot be promised. We are aware that the daughter of Bulma Briefs is a student here as is the Ox Prince, surrender them within the next 30 minutes and we will leave peacefully. If you do not surrender them then we will search this school until we find them. I advise that you remain in your classrooms for the time being if only for your own safety." Came the announcement before the speaker shut off.

"Sit tight, do not do anything Videl. I'll have people there soon." Said the Chief prompting her to scowl even as she nodded her head and the transmission abruptly ended.

"The Red Ribbon Army, I thought they were taken out years ago!" exclaimed one of the students.

"Everyone stop!" exclaimed Videl bringing the rooms attention to herself.

"Don't talk, it can only lead to more panic which will lead to someone doing something stupid and getting hurt."

Videl had over the course of the last few years earned herself a lot of trust and goodwill and her efforts were no secret. As such her words had immediate effect and stopped the situation before it could escalate.

"Gohan?" questioned Sarada.

"Make the call. The police will send out the S.T.A.R.S for this. Not only are they closer but they are specially trained for such situations. If they fail backup will already be on the way." said Gohan getting a nod from the girl who reached for her own watch and pressed a single red button.

That button, a panic button connected her directly to a specific department in Capsule Corp, the defense department, men trained directly under Vegeta and Goku for the sole purpose of defending Capsule Corp, its leadership and their families.

True to Gohan's prediction the chief of police quickly had the S.T.A.R.S assembled and briefed them on the situation. Within fifteen minutes they'd armed and loaded up into trucks, vans and even helicopters and taken off. They split off in route so that they could come from all sides and as Orange Star High School was only five minutes away from the station it did not take them long at all to arrive. As they neared the school the sides of the second trailers facing the streets opened revealing mounted machine guns within which proceeded to open fire with no warning.

As the hail of bullets were released people nearby screamed even as the trucks, vans and regular police cars were torn apart from the bullets. On the roof of the main building two people could be seen with weapons mounted on their shoulders before shooting rockets that connected with each helicopter causing them to explode and leaving the remains to crash into buildings or the ground.

Within the main building upper-level classrooms many students could only look on in shock while others screamed at the carnage that had been unleashed. Gohan narrowed his eyes, he hadn't expected that type of defense from the terrorist, he knew they'd have something, but this was way beyond what he'd been expecting. Regular cops stood no chance against this type of armament. Looking to Lime, Sarada and Tasha he could see they'd come to the same conclusion, they would more than likely have to get involved themselves.

Unknown to Gohan the situation was not isolated and unknown and rather quickly made the news. In the Capsule Corporation headquarters in West City Bulma was in the midst of a meeting with the department heads when her secretary walked into the room without a word and turned on the TV.

"…pure pandemonium. We still have no clue what caused all of this but what I can say is that Orange Star High has been completely taken over."

At these words Bulma's eyes went wide and she immediately turned as Goku stood from his seat the expression coming over his face being one that would have made even Frieza run to the other side of the universe.

"Goku wait! I know you want to help but let's find out the full situation first. Besides Gohan is there and you know he'll act if they push him." Said Bulma.

"That's what I'm afraid of. Gohan has never faced human enemies seriously and every fight he's had has been high stakes. Lives are on the line and when has he ever held back once he acknowledged that." Said Goku causing the woman to pause.

"Ma'am Sarada hit her panic button, the CCDF is already mobilizing." Said the secretary.

"Tell them to stand down. Vegeta and I will handle this." Said Goku.

"Vegeta! You want Gohan to hold back and you're taking Vegeta!" exclaimed Bulma.

"Vegeta will know better than to waste his strength on these guys. Gohan will see that and will have a measure to gauge his strength against." Said Goku.

"At least stay until we find out what they're after." Said Bulma.

Goten was watching cartoons, something he was permitted to do because his dad insisted that he not spend all of his time studying like Gohan was forced to at his age. While he still spent time studying he also had enough time to take breaks for cartoons and to play with Trunks. Chichi was not far from Goten when he did this activity as she monitored everything Goten watched just to make sure it was appropriate for a six nearly seven year old boy. As such even busy as she was in the kitchen she heard it when the program was interrupted by the news.

Walking into the room she watched horrified as they played the footage showing the decimation of the Orange Star police and S.T.A.R.S forces.

"Mommy isn't that Gohan's school?" questioned Goten causing her to freeze.

"We have just learned that the force that have taken over the school are claiming to belong to the Red Ribbon Army. Furthermore they have demanded the surrender of two specific students, one they claim to be the daughter of Bulma Briefs and the other the Ox Prince." Said a reporter as the camera focused into the studio.

"Ox Prince, I thought the Ox King only had a daughter." Said one of the anchors.

"That's true. However she has long since married and has two sons of her own. While the names of the princes have never been released the Ox King has been known to be quite vocal in his pride of his grandsons." Said the other.

"Mommy is big brother in trouble?" questioned Goten his worried tone immediately catching her attention.

"Don't worry honey, your brother is one of the strongest people in the universe and only your dad and Vegeta can challenge that. Gohan will be fine." Said Chichi putting on her best brave face and thus reassuring her son causing him to grin widely.

"Yeah my big brothers the best! Those silly bad guys don't stand a chance!"

The door to the classroom opened admitting four people three of them in wearing black combat fatigues while the other was dressed entirely differently. The man wasn't overly tall and in truth quite average in height looking to be in his late 40's or early 50's with small, beady eyes, a pointed nose, and a small thin mustache with black hair tied into a braided ponytail. He wears a pink chang pao with the large kanji for satsu ("kill") on the front over his heart. Lime gasped which immediately caught the rooms attention as she stared at the man with wide eyes.

"Mercenary Tao." Hissed the brown-haired girl.

"Ah someone who knows me, a fan perhaps." Said the man looking at her.

"You tried to kill my grandpa. I'd never forget your face." Said Lime.

"I see, unfortunately I've killed a lot of people, so I doubt I'd even remember him." Said the man.

"But you should remember me Tao." Said Gohan standing and giving the man pause.

"Should I and why is that?"

"We've met before 6 years ago while you were threatening Lime's village. Granted I've changed a lot since then, but I know you'd never forget my father." Said Gohan causing Tao to pale.

"Y-y-your G-Goku's kid." Said Tao his fear catching everyone off guard.

"Correct. Unfortunately for you I'm not nearly as merciful as my dad was with you. If I'd known what all you'd done last time we met I wouldn't have let you run away." Said Gohan.

"Let's be reasonable now. I mean its just a job, I'm not actually part of this organization." Said Tao.

"You'd have better luck trying to reason with Enma." Said Tasha smirking.

"No. Let's give him a chance. How many men did you bring with you?" questioned Gohan.

"Two hundred, not including the drivers and passengers in the trucks." Causing both the students and soldiers to gape though for different reasons.

"I see and are any of them of any note?" questioned Gohan.

"Only the commander he's telekinetic." Said Tao.

"Right and who's paying for all of this?" questioned Gohan.

"Mazenta Raibon, he's the leader of the Red Ribbon Army and Red Pharmaceuticals."

"Ok that's all I needed. You can go." Said Gohan.

Tao breathed out a sigh of relief and blew out the nearest window with a ki blast. Quickly making his way over he was just about to jump out when he was grabbed by the face and slammed into the wall with such force he left a crater with his body. His men snapping out of it raised their weapons only to be quickly folded over by Videl, Vasha and Sarada the force of the hits knocking them out immediately.

"Lime you'd better hurry my dad and Vegeta are getting close." Said Gohan lightly.

Many people blinked as Lime's fists seemed to begin glowing before she began wailing on the man kicking up another cloud of dust from which only his pained grunts could be heard. While everyone was distracted watching Lime beat on Tao within the smoke cloud Gohan making sure no eyes were on him quickly made a single clone using the Twin Form technique, a derivative of Tien's Multi-form technique. Faster than the blink of an eye he was out of the room using the broken window as an escape and vanishing so fast it would seem as if he teleported.

Appearing away from the school he took a breath before pressing the button on his watch and transforming into Bardock. With his suit now in place he took off back to the school his white aura blazing around him. As he came within sight of the school he was suddenly within a hail of bullets as one of the machine guns fired on him. He did nothing to block or dodge yet not a single bullet touched him being destroyed by his aura alone. Closing the distance between himself and the truck he grabbed hold of the barrel and crushed it before quickly tapping the shooter on the head knocking them out. With that done he vanished only to appear on the roof between the two men up there surprising them. They had no time to react before he attacked chopping both in back of the neck and knocking them out.

"Looks like we're not needed here after all Kakarot." Said Vegeta causing him to smirk and turn to them even as his helmet opened the visor to reveal his face.

"Well you can help here if you want or go after the guy who ordered this thing." Said Gohan.

"I'll handle the leader on my own." Said Vegeta.

"Sure his name is Mazenta Raibon, he's the leader of both the Red Ribbon Army and Red Pharmaceuticals according to Mercenary Tao." Said Gohan.

"Tao is here?" questioned Goku frowning.

"Inside, Lime was beating on him when I left the room." said Gohan causing both Saiyan's to smirk.

"Right well I'm off, you and your brat can handle the small fry." Said Vegeta before blasting off.

"I'll handle the outside, you handle the inside." Said Goku getting a nod in return as Gohan's visor settled back in place.

Once his father was gone Gohan made his way back inside of the building through the window to find Lime only just backing away from Tao who was now a mess of dents and circuitry as his now android body was exposed for what it was.

"Feel better miss?" questioned Bardock causing the room to look at him in shock.

"Much better actually." Said Lime.

"Right well I don't think he's going anywhere but just in case." Said Bardock holding out his hands and firing several rings of light which quickly secured each of his limbs in place and noting that his left hand was actually crushed.

"Now then to deal with the rest of them." Said Bardock.

"Hold it, I'm coming with you." Said Videl.

"While I normally enjoy our team-ups I'm going to have to decline this time Videl." Said Bardock.

"Excuse me!"

"It's not that I doubt your ability, it's the spacing. There are too many people and if you dodged a bullet others may get hit instead." Said Bardock causing her to grit her teeth.

"Fine, but just this once." Said Videl.

Clearing out the rest of the school took barely any time at all, less than five minutes in fact. With the knowledge that his dad had everything handled on the outside he only had to focus on the interior of the main building. The soldiers didn't even have time to get a single shot off when he appeared before them. Only the leader Lieutenant Colonel Green offered any resistance, but he powered through the telekinetic hold as if it wasn't even there and knocked him out just as easily as the rest.

Rather than the police coming to take the men into custody it was military personnel who arrived on the scene. Deciding to be nice he decided to inform the man in charge that one of his companions had gone after the leader of the Red Ribbon Army and how to find them. When pressed he admitted that the man who went had fought Cell at the Cell Games and had been spoiling for a fight. With his part taken care off he'd blasted off before quickly doubling back and merging with his clone with no one but his closest friends aware of what he'd done. It took nearly an hour before the students were allowed to evacuate and Gohan had been led into a transport commanded by the CCDF alongside Sarada, Lime and Vasha.

The news when they arrived at Capsule Corp was still dominated by the attack on the school and its aftermath, including the arrests of all of the attackers. Bulma having learned about who was behind the attack on her daughter and godson went on the attack herself hacking the servers of Red Pharmaceuticals until she found what she was looking for and sending that information directly to the Earths Special Defense Force leader. The ESDF was an organization created by the king of the Earth in the aftermath of the Cell Games and the Intergalactic World Tournament which was a group of former special forces soldiers trained by Tien, Yamcha and 17 surprisingly.

Less than an hour after he arrived at Capsule Corp the ESDF, Vegeta, Piccolo and his dad launched an all out assault on the Red Ribbon Army base. Gohan had really wanted to go as well but his mother had called and demanded he stay put as she was on her way with Goten. Since he had no choice but to wait around he and the girls headed for the family cafeteria and joined Trunks who'd also been picked up from school for an early lunch.

AN: That's it the chapters over. I'll try not to go on anymore years long hiatus's from this story but sadly can't make any promises. Anyway thanks for reading and please leave a review. Until next time, LATER.