Dragon Ball Z 1. Chapter 1 It Begins

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Chapter 1- It Begins  
  
May 31st 771- 6 years after Cell 7:05am  
  
All was quite and peaceful in the area surrounding the small cottage in the middle of nowhere. But peace never lasts long.  
  
"GOHAN get up now or you're going to be late again"  
  
"Yes Mum"  
  
It was another typical morning in the Son household. Since Gohan had started school, which was just 3 short weeks ago, he had been forced to endure the practice of getting up at the unpleasant hour of 7am. He accepted that his mother Chi Chi wanted him to make some friends of his own age rather than only having friends that he had inherited from his father. The only problem with this was that the school started at 8.30 so with an hour fight it meant he had to be up early to make it there on time. At first he had hated it, mainly due to the early start and missed training time, but as the weeks went on he now is almost enjoying the daily experience.  
  
Despite the disadvantages, he had found it an almost pleasant way to keep his thoughts off the events of 6 years ago. It had also made his mum happier and that alone was enough to persuade him to continue at the school. He quickly sped to get ready and then ran out the door grabbing a handful of the assorted foodstuffs arranged on the table as he left.  
  
Although he was intelligent Gohan had no intentions of being known as a nerd. After the number of comments he got on his first day due to his mothers choice of clothing he had taken drastic action. He smiled lightly to himself when he thought how many clothes he had brought in that one shopping trip with Bulma, having completely restocked his wardrobe and then some.  
  
The startled looks he got the next day when he walked into school in a pair of loose black trousers and a short sleeved black shirt had been well worth the effort as far as he was concerned, and there were very few people who had called his a geek or any other derogatory term since. It was that same outfit that he now wore, having gone through most of the other cloths in his wardrobe over the last 2 and a half weeks.  
  
"Bye mum, Bye Goten" he shouted as he took off at rapid pace, he had already been late this week due to a untimely robbery on one of the city's major banks and he didn't fancy getting his mother any more annoyed than she already was. It was only as he was flying he realised what day it was. "Six years tomorrow, six years since the worst day of my life."  
  
***  
  
300 miles away in a small apartment in Saturn city another 17 year old stirred. But unlike Gohan this teen was only just starting Orange Star High so had no worries about being slightly late. He was about 6'3" and had long black hair. He had often been described as good looking by girls but his appearance didn't really bother him.  
  
He got ready quickly and then left the apartment he owned about half a mile from the school. He was dressed in a strange mix of a traditional Gi top with a pair of black jeans. This was covered with a long flowing black leather jacket. As he made his way to the school he got a few strange looks from passers by but he quickly disregarded them and, as he always did, focused on the task at hand.  
  
***  
  
Gohan arrived at school a few minutes before the first bell went. Luckily for him there were no robberies occurring this morning. Since he had started at Orange Star High he had taken the identity of the Gold Fighter to allow him to fight crime in the area without being discovered. It is surprisingly easy, he had found, to make people think he was a completely different person by using the Super-Sajin transformation to disguise himself. Who would ever make the connection between 2 people who had completely different hair colour. Add to that Hercule's continuing claims that it is all just a big trick made his life even easier.  
  
He quickly rushed down the stairs from the roof quickly getting his books out of his locker and then taking his place in the class.  
  
"Hi Guys"  
  
"Hey Gohan" reply both Erasa and Sharpener simultaneously. Gohan smiled to himself as he sat down and lent back in his seat. Erasa and Sharpener were 2 necessary evils in his school life. Although he didn't get on particularly well with either of them they were reasonably easy to speak to and by having the odd word with them he made himself slightly more tolerated him the school social structure, which seeing as one of the main reasons he was there was to make friends seamed a sensible idea.  
  
"Do either of you two know where Videl is cus its not like her to be late" As he said this Gohan picked up a sudden ki spike but quickly dismissed it as it completely disappeared again a second later.  
  
"Calm down Gohan" replied Erasa, "she's probably just helping out the police as usual." It was common knowledge that Videl, as the daughter of the 'Great Hercule Satan' was often called upon by the police to help them in dangerous situations.  
  
"That what I was worried about" he says under his breath, not wanting to voice his concerns to his fellow classmates. Although strong, Videl was not yet bullet proof. And the danger she continually put herself in worried Gohan slightly.  
  
A few seconds later the door burst open to reveal a slight warn out and flustered Videl. "Sorry I'm late sir, but my jet copter was out of fuel so I had to run all they way here"  
  
"That's ok Videl but make sure it doesn't happen again" their teacher replied in a firm but fair voice. As she walked up the stairs to her seat her eyes and Gohan's met briefly, causing both of them to smile slightly.  
  
From the day he met her Gohan had realised that she seamed to have a lot more in common with him that most would think. Both had lost a Parent in their lives and had both taken to training because of it.  
  
What had originally caught Gohan's attention however was the recognisable trait in her ki, one that he knew only to well. Much like him he had a large amount of untapped potential, not as much as him, but enough to quite easily make her the most powerful human if she was able to gain control of it, possibly even taking her up to Frieza's level of power. But she didn't have that power yet, and with the fact that the previous generation of Z fighters were getting continually older, it would be a catastrophic loss to lose someone with her potential before she had been able to harness even the smallest part of it. That was why he continually worried about her.  
  
Now all he had to do was convince himself of that fact.  
  
After everybody in the class had settled down the teacher made another announcement.  
  
" People we have another new student today" he then looked towards the open door and then finished his statement "Come in lad"  
  
As the teacher moved away the pupils saw the new kid. He was dressed head to toe in black and had black long hair. His black leather jacket swayed around is if it was in a breeze although there was none. He was quite tall and seamed to have a very commanding posture, as if he wasn't used to taking orders from anyone.  
  
"Hi my name's Yanrit Gallic but most people just call me Yan"  
  
Gohan quickly recognised the teens ki from the spike he had felt a few minutes before and it took him less than a second to realise that there was something extremely strange about it. It almost seamed to pure, as if the person was completely pure of heart, but the appearance of the person standing at the front of the class seamed to completely contradict that observation.  
  
As he looked at the boy again he was met with a glare, which would make Vegita proud. This on its own wouldn't have affected the young demi Sayjin but it was as he met the glare he noticed something that startled him. 'His eyes, there just like a Super Sayjin's.' After that momentary shock Gohan chuckled to himself slightly. "Well, at least the weeks going to be interesting"  
  
In a small lightly decorated room a small purple skinned figure with a large white mohawk shook his head slightly. "You have no idea young one, no idea at all." 


	2. Chapter 2 Organised Chaos

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'His eyes, there just like a Super Sayjin's.' After that momentary shock Gohan chuckled to himself slightly. "Well, at least the weeks going to be interesting"  
  
Chapter 2: Organised Chaos  
  
May 31st 771 8:40am  
  
The teacher quickly told Yan to find a seat. Gohan smiled inwardly when he realised the only seat left was right next to him. 'At least I'll be able to keep an eye on him this way.' As Yan sat, Gohan turned to him.  
"Hi, I'm Gohan"  
"Why do you think I care about who you are?" Gohan didn't even give Yan's response second though, having gotten used to the customary arrogance of his peers and instead opened his mind, relaxing into a light meditation that would allow his to continue his role as the earths protector, a task that had been passed onto him since his fathers death.  
  
***  
  
As the day went on Gohan found his thoughts continually drifting to the enigma that this new character formed. In chemistry, the last lesson before lunch he once again found himself mulling over what little information he had managed to piece together so far. 'He seams to have a very pure ki but his attitude and appearance contradicted that fact. He's also in all my classes which means he's reasonably intelligent yet he also has an aura of strength around him.'  
  
"SON GOHAN" The shrill high-pitched voice of this chemistry teacher pierced through his subconscious and brought him out of his thoughts. Most teachers had seamed to accept the fact that he was acing their classes with minimal effort so tended to leave him alone and ask other members of the class to make sure that the answer given was suitable for the level of work being studied. His chemistry teacher on the other hand hadn't seamed to catch on to this trend.  
  
"What on earth are you doing? I have been asking you this question for 3 minutes and you haven't even responded. Now I will ask once more, what is the weight of a mole of water"(1)  
  
"18grams" replied Gohan rapidly, a hint of annoyance in his usually calm voice, his frustration increasing due to the recently added ringing in his ears.  
  
***  
  
To avoid further pain from his sensitive ears Gohan had been forced to pay full attention for the rest of chemistry. This meant that by the time lunch came around 25 minutes later he was extremely frustrated and on the verge of losing his temper. Couple that with the fact that Videl had been called out to 4 separate incidents already that day, all of which he had been force to sit out due to his inability to escape from class meant that his frustration had reached planet-destroying levels. After eating his usual huge portion he moved towards a nearby tree and sat down under the dappled shade it provided and waited for the person who he usually spent lunch with. It didn't take her long to arrive, and from the looks she was giving people as she walked towards the tree he could see that she was probably in a worse mood than he was.  
  
"Bad Day"  
  
"What the hell do you think Son Gohan" Videl's response was accompanied by a look that Vegita would have been proud of.  
  
"Wanna talk bout it." Despite an uneasy start, over the 3 weeks that Gohan had been at Orange Star High he and Videl had formed a surprisingly strong friendship. This was in a large part thanks to the fact that Gohan was one of the very few people in the school who didn't hero worship her father.  
  
"No really much to say, just getting fed up of the complete incompetence of the police force, as they don't seam to be able to do anything on their own these days." With that out of her system Videl visibly calmed and proceeded to lie back against the tree and shut her eyes, relaxing in the heat of the midday sun.  
  
The peace was not going to last however as unfortunately the schools resident gang had decided to go after Miss Satan this day. It was no secret that a week or so ago she had palmed a major role in the arrest of one of the cities major mob bosses. The leader of the group was a large muscular man called Toney Tribiany who just happened to be the nephew of the man she had helped arrest. He was a big guy; being about 6ft 2 with quite a muscular build, and add to that his long and unruly hair, created representation of what Gohan guesses his uncle would of looked like at the age of 17.  
  
Gohan saw quite quickly what was going to happen, and quickly taking stock of the situation, he proceed to alert the dozing girl by his side to the possible danger.  
  
" Hey Videl, though I'd wake you as it looks like someone want a word with you." Tony arrived next to the two just as Videl was sitting up. Without warning he threw a powerful punch at her face planning to break the girls nose. It would of probably worked, but unfortunately Tony hadn't counted on the intervention of a rather frustrated Demi-Sayjin. Gohan quite easily caught the thug's fist and proceeded to stand while gradually applying pressure until he heard the bones in Tony's hand start to click and dislocate.  
  
"Get lost Tony, I'm not in the mood to deal with people like you at the moment so why don't you go take a hike." As Videl became fully aware of the situation she went to tell Gohan that she could take care of herself. She stopped herself however when she saw the look in his eyes. Gone was the usual tolerant and happy expression that he usually held, and in its place was the look of an experienced fighter. This caught her off guard momentarily before something inside her clicked and she realised where the nagging felling that she had heard his surname before came from.  
  
'He's got the same surname as Son Goku who was the finalist in the 3 tournaments before my father won, could he be.' her thoughts were cut off as Tony replied to Gohan's comment with verbal assault.  
  
"Well, what do we have here, a nerd thinking he can take me on, what do you say boys, why don't we teach this monkey what happens to those who mess with us." If Tony had known what affect those words would have on the usually passive person in front of him that he would of probably kept his mouth firmly shut. In his angered state, it didn't take much to set Gohan off, but once again being called a monkey by opponent brought back memories of Frieza that had been all but forgotten by Gohan. Videl visibly cringed as Gohan swiftly drove his knee deep into Tony's stomach before delivering a swift elbow to the back of the neck that caused the muscular boy to be introduced to the taste of soil as he connected face first with the ground. The rest of the gang visibly paled and quickly fled from the scene, eager to get away from the infuriated 'nerd'.  
  
As they fled Gohan calmly walked over to Tony's prone form and proceeded to easily lift him up by the front of his shirt. Although Tony was considered reasonably tall, he was still a good 4 inches shorter than Gohan, meaning that when he was pulled face to face with Gohan his feet were dangling about an inch above the ground.  
  
"A little tip Tony, make sure you know who your taking on before you start throwing around insults. And I would advise staying well clear of me or Miss Saturn for a fair while, as if you don't I will be quite happy to make sure you won't be walking for a nice long time." And with that Gohan dropped him in a heap on the floor and proceeded to grab his bag.  
  
"Lets go Videl," his normal demeanour had returned in full force and Videl could find no trace of the calm calculated warrior who had been standing before her mere seconds ago.  
  
"What the Hell happened there Gohan, you know I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, I don't need you taking care of me." although secretly Videl was slightly flattered that Gohan had helped her, she had a reputation to keep up, and therefore felt obliged to at least make it seam that she was ungrateful for his help.  
  
"Videl, in the position you were in if that first blow had hit you, you would have been out cold, and with the mood I'm in that would of pretty much guaranteed him being carried out of the school on a stretcher, and trust me when I say that I'm perfectly capable of doing that to someone of his strength." For that brief moment Videl could of sworn she was the look of the warrior return to his eyes for a split second while he spoke but again it disappeared without trace.  
  
"But how did you get so strong?" at this question Gohan smiled slightly.  
  
"I think you know that already Videl, How many people do you know with the surname Son." Just as he finished the bell for period 5 went, causing Videl to curse, she would have to finish her integrations of her mysterious friend later, as something was telling her that there was a lot more to him that he had let out, and that the fact he was the son of Son Goku was only the tip of an extremely large iceberg.  
  
(1)- If you didn't know a mole is a measurement used in chemistry, not in this case a small rodent 


	3. Chapter 3 Old Friends

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Last Chapter:  
  
Just as he finished the bell for period 5 went, causing Videl to curse, she would have to finish her integrations of her mysterious friend later, as something was telling her that there was a lot more to him that he had let out, and that the fact he was the son of Son Goku was only the tip of an extremely large iceberg.  
  
Chapter 3 - Old Friends  
  
May 31st 771 1:20pm  
  
Gohan quickly made his way towards the gym, hoping to avoid any more questions from Videl this day. Just as he reached the door that led into the male changing room he realised why he had been dreading this lesson. Today they would start a new P.E. module on Martial Arts, which would be concluded in 2 months time by a mini tournament between the members of his group. This in its self didn't worry Gohan as he could quite easily breeze through the class. What worried him was that due to his Sayjin instincts he would find it very difficult to reduce his strength while fighting, but more worryingly he would have to explain to whoever was teaching them that it was likely that the teacher would be unable to teach him anything about the subject.  
  
'Well at least Videl may be able to vouch for me after seeing what I did to that guy outside.' With a slight chuckle Gohan resigned himself to his fate and bravely stepped into the changing room.  
  
When he emerged a few minutes later he saw that the entire class had changed in record time and was now sitting on the benches that surrounded the gym waiting for their lesson to being. He was dressing in piccolo style training Gi, its dark purple material a stark contrast to the while shirts that most of the class was wearing. After a few minuets of waiting the class became restless. Gohan was about to consider trying to find what had happened to their teacher as the principal walked into the large room.  
  
"I'm sad to inform you that Mr Salvotty will not be taking you again for P.E. this year due to the development of a serious knee injury" there was a mix of murmurs and suppresses cheers form the class as this news sank in. "However I am glad to say that you will not lose out because of this as the school has managed to find a very capable replacement. A previous champion of the World Martial Arts Tournament actually."  
  
As a mummer of surprise and confusion washed over the class two members of the class were thinking the exact same thing, although one of them had a slightly more persuasive hint to it.  
  
'Dende please don't let it be my father'  
  
'Dende if you even considered placing Hercule Saturn in here I would first kill him and them come and have roasted kami ribs for dinner this evening, am I making myself clear'  
  
***  
  
Wile Dende would usually of purposely changed fate to make the large egoed fool take the class he didn't fancy facing up to a clearly irate Gohan, especially at this time of the year. Sighing he also quickly discarded the idea of replacing the teacher with Vegita as he realised that would be even more devastating for his future chance of survival than placing Hercule there. Oh well there was always next week.  
  
***  
  
Gohan smiled a few seconds later as a familiar bald member of the Z Fighters entered the room His distinctive green gi and muscled stature making stand out by themselves, let alone the other noticeable feature he possessed. There was a collective gasp issued from the class as they realised that the third eye was not just a very realistic tattoo as its gaze started to carefully scan the class before settling upon one person. "Oh hey Gohan, almost didn't recognise you there. Boy you've grown kid," said Tien as he started to walk into the room.  
  
"Yeh, that's what happens to 11 year olds if you don't see them for 6 years, you and Choutzu really need to stop round more often" replied Gohan cheerily  
  
Tien smiled as he turned round and walked to the centre of the gym, preparing to start the class. "Ok as you lot hopefully already know we will be doing martial arts for the next term. To save us all some time could all of you who know any martial arts come up to the front. Oh and Gohan could you come over here for a sec.  
  
"Ha, I guess he can see how weak Gohan is so is saving him the trouble of embarrassing himself and allowing him not to do it." Came the cocky shout of one of the jocks that had moved to the front of the room.  
Tien's response was firm, his voice showing his little tolerance for the arrogance of some of the class quickly disappearing. "Now usually I'd let a comment like that be left as the random blabbering of an arrogant fool but seeing as the first lesson I was going to give you today was to never underestimate your opponent well." Tien's trailed off as if in though before allowing a slight smile to grace his lips.  
  
"Right kid, looks like your comment had earned you the right to go first. Today I'm going to judge the level of the fighters who have had prior training. As I want to observe you carefully you will not be fighting me, but instead you will be fighting Gohan here." It was at this point that another member of the class spoke up.  
  
"You're having a laugh aren't you? If your using anyone to test people it should be Videl cus she Hercules daughter and therefore the strongest here."  
If anything Tien's smile just increased at that remark,  
  
"We'll see shall we, Gohan if you go over to the ring that been marked out on the floor and stand on the left for me. Your opponent will approach you from the right and then speak his or her full name clearly, I will then signal for you to begin. Got it."  
  
He waited for the mummer of agreement from the seven fighters sanding before him before continuing. "The rules are simple, if you give up, end up out of the ring or are knocked unconscious the match is over and I'll give you a grade based on your performance. This process will be repeated again at the end of the time you have with me and I will be handing out detentions to anyone who hasn't improved, got that." He again waited for the murmur of agreement before sitting down on one of the benches.  
  
"Right Number one" the jock that made the earlier comment quickly made his way over to the ring and fell into a sloppy fighting stance. As he did this Gohan also quickly moved into his own stance. After the event at lunch Videl was extremely eager to try and see just how good Gohan was at martial arts. The stance he used however made her gasp in surprise. She had expected him to fall into a quite tight stance, as would many fighters of medium experience when faced with someone like this jock but instead his stance was extremely lose, his weight evenly distributed across the pads of his feet, allowing him to adjust his position instantly to attack or defend. She was pulled out her thoughts however by Tien's stern voice.  
  
"Name"  
  
"Wane Faland"  
  
"Right, Begin"  
  
As the fight started Wane rushed straight towards Gohan, aiming to deliver a quick hit to the face. He hadn't counted on Gohan's tightly honed reflexes however, for as he moved forward into range and threw the punch Gohan darted nimbly under the jock's outstretched arm, grabbing it around the wrist and then proceeded to use the boys forward momentum to easily throw him out of the ring.  
  
"Next"  
  
The next four opponents were quickly and rather unceremoniously dispatched of, none of them lasting more than one or two blows with the young Demi- sayjin.  
  
"Next"  
  
"Videl Satan"  
  
As Tien heard this name his interest was sparked and he proceeded to stand up and approach the ring.  
  
"Well, well, well, the daughter of the currant world champion against the son of the former world champion, this should be interesting."  
  
There was a collective gasp form the rest of the class, and a slight sigh from the five jocks that had been quickly beaten as there ego's suddenly felt less bruised seeing as they had been beaten by the son of a former world champion, who also happened to be one of the most well know figures in martial arts before Hercule. .  
  
"This should be a good fight, I hope I won't be disappointed Miss Satan." With a quick turn Tien made his way back to his seat. "Right, Begin."  
Neither of the two fighters moved, both standing silent waiting for their opponent to make the first move.  
  
"Ladies first I believe" Gohan's voice cheery but still held the slight undertone of aggression.  
  
"Don't mind if I do." Videl launched in to a vicious but calculated attack meant to try and gauge her opponent's defences. She quickly reminded herself that she was not fighting a street ganger who's defence she could brake through with sheer power but instead was fighting someone who seemed to be an extremely experience and proficient martial artist who would undoubtedly capitalise on the smallest of mistakes she made. She quickly slowed her attack, tying to find a way around Gohan's defences but found that his stance allowed him to react quickly to block any attack she made. As she became more frustrated her attack became less precise and she quickly made a dangerous error as she went for a vicious right hook, but rather than the blow being blocked it hit thin air as Gohan ducked under it and counter attacked, pushing Videl back as she tried to stage a decent defence against his seemingly random attacks, his blows never striking in the same patter twice, casing her to continually adapt her stance to compensate.  
  
It was this mastery of multiple fighting styles that won Gohan the match as Videl quickly found her self tiring form the number of movement she was having to make while Gohan was only having to slightly alter his attack pattern to force her to change to a completely different stance. It was during one of these stance changes that Gohan managed to slip a low kick through her defences striking her knee as she moved her leg, causing her to lose her balance and end up sprawling on the floor with Gohan's fist less than an inch form the end of her nose. Videl quickly acknowledged her defeat and tried to stand. As she tried to move her knee to stand however she once again collapsed on the floor, cringing as she grasped the damaged joint. 'Bloody Hell, how hard can this boy hit' she cursed mentally. Just as she was about to try and stand again she felt a strong arm wrap itself around her back and was quickly pulled to her feet by Gohan, who lead her over to the benches and placed her down next to Tien.  
  
"Sorry about that Videl, I guess I got a bit carried away." Gohan smiled at her before quickly returning to the make shift ring drawn on the gym floor.  
  
"Right, now that's over with could I have the next fighter up please?"  
  
Gohan couldn't see who it was but it only took him a second to recognise the distinct ki signature of the person who he now considered the greatest threat to the world's safety.  
  
"Name"  
  
"Yanrit Gallic"  
  
'Well, it looks like I'll get to find out a bit more about this guy after all' as he turned to face his opponent Gohan smiled despite himself. 'This is going to be fun'. 


	4. Chapter 4 Power Revealed

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Disclaimer: I Don't Own DBZ  
  
Last Chapter: 'Well, it looks like I'll get to find out a bit more about this guy after all' as he turned to face his opponent Gohan smiled despite himself. 'This is going to be fun'.  
  
Chapter 4 - Power Revealed  
  
May 31st 771 1:50pm  
  
The 2 fighters stood 10 meters apart. Although both of the fighters were the same age and members of the same school there were several striking differences between their choices of clothing. While Gohan stood confidently in a piccolo style gi, minus the cape and training weights, Yan was in a very simple black affair, having just removed his overcoat, having bluntly refused to wear the standard issue school P.E. kit. Both had looks of confidence on their faces but Yan's showed he was a little bit too confident, a mistake that many of Gohan's opponents had made, and all had quickly regretted.  
  
***  
  
Gohan watched an arrogant smirk make its way onto Yan's face as his opponent slipped into a balanced stance. Gohan however had quickly decided that he didn't want to risk drawing this fight out any longer than he needed to. Shifting from the carefully balanced stance he had used against his six other opponents he focused his stance completely on offensive techniques, moving his arms into a position where they would be perfect for executing quick powerful punches but would be no use for defence, relying on his speed and agility to get him out of harms way if needed.  
  
Tien watched with growing agitation as Gohan change his stance, and at the same time felt the Sayjin ki gradually raising to the level that Gohan would use in a battle situation, not what should be a friendly spar. What worried him more was that Gohan's opponent's ki was also rising, and it wasn't long before both of them were well above anything Tien could hope to achieve.  
  
"What is he doing, that stance is completely useless against a skilled opponent." Videl's voice, although seemingly critical was full of concern.  
  
" I wouldn't say that, I haven't seen a fight yet where Gohan has lost when using this stance, and that included beating me, his father and his first mentor at various points. I'm more worried about Yan, as Gohan has enough knowledge and skill to allow him to make most strikes he uses with this stance lethal." Videl looked at Tien carefully as he spoke. Not many martial artists would complement another as strongly as Tien had unless they deserved it, and the fact that Gohan had said he hadn't seen Tien since he was 11 meant that as a child Gohan could beat a previous World champion, something that even Videl doubted she could do.  
  
"Begin when your ready" Tien's voice now held a serious tone that had been absent in his prior announcements, having realised there was a chance that Yan would not be alive by the end of this 'Spar'.  
  
As Tien called for the fight to start Gohan stood and waited. He could feel that his opponent was about as strong as his normal form, which put him in a bit of a dilemma. He knew that he might have no choice but to go super if the fight became to intense as he didn't want to risk drawing it out and bring Vegita into the situation, as the city was not really a place where Vegita's usual collateral damage tolerance could be observed. He was pulled out of his thoughts as he realised that he had subconsciously blocked Yan's first 3 attacks, returning his full attention to the fight.  
  
Yan's next 3 attacks, against any other opponent would have won the match. But against Gohan they didn't even class as a threat as he dodged them and then blocked the swift kick aimed for his head. The next attack volley was more calculated, causing Gohan to regret the choice to focus on offence as it was forcing him to move around a lot more than he wanted. Deciding that he needed to take the offensive, Gohan stepped back causing Yan to stretch out to try and attack, which left a huge hole in his defences, which Gohan happily capitalized on, driving his fist fight into the other fighters stomach. Yan's entire body came to an abrupt halt and Gohan took full advantage of this, delivering a potentially lethal attack to Yan's neck before stepping back and waiting for his opponent to rise again.  
  
The response was not the one he expected as Yan lunched a powerful ki blast from his prone position, hitting Gohan full on.  
  
"Fool, you should of never given me the chance to." Yan's victorious tone was abruptly silenced was the dust cleared showing Gohan standing there as if nothing had happened.  
  
"I'm truly disappointed, I though you may of at least qualified as a good warm up but obviously I was mistaken." Gohan wasn't the least bit surprised when Yan suddenly phased out, reappearing at the other end of the ring.  
  
"Oh I can do a lot more than that, I just didn't think it was worth powering up for someone of your strength, but it seams I was mistaken." Against any of the other Z fighters the huge surge in Yan's power may have been enough to allow him to quite easily win the fight. But unfortunately for him, the young Demi-Sayjin standing before him hadn't even been phased by the tremendous jump in power his opponent had made.  
  
"You know that against almost anyone else on this planet you would now be pretty much guaranteed to win, but I'm afraid against me you just don't cut the grade. Now observe."  
  
Tien's worried expression intensified when he realised just what Gohan was about to do. "Oh Shit."  
  
"What's wrong?" A huge explosion of energy drowned Videl's question out as Gohan's power up reached an explosive climax. Although he hadn't transformed, the increase in power Gohan had gained from the last few years of training meant that he was now almost as strong in his normal form as he had been during the period he was a permanent Super Sayjin. This however was the first time Gohan had truly accessed the power he had developed, having kept it as a trump card until this point.  
  
"Looks like you're slightly out of your league kid, why don't you just give up while you still have the chance." The vortex generated by Gohan's aura caused the ground to buckle up around him and a strong wind to develop in the gym building.  
  
"Never." Yan's word cut through the excited voices of the students and the noise created by the air moving at fast pace around the room.  
  
"So be it." Gohan spread his legs apart and stared to focus the energy in his body. 'Just Hope I cam still do this properly, been a good few years since I've practised it.' Bringing his head up Gohan met the aggressive glare Yan was giving him and smirked slightly.  
  
"KIO KEN TIMES 10." The area around Gohan exploded as his now bright red aura expanded, further buckling the gym floor and causing his hair to stand up in a style reminiscent of his super Sayjin transformation. Red bolts of energy intermittently discharged from his form, his body not being fully able to control the huge amount of energy now being focused through it. Both Tien and Yan stared at Gohan in amazement, neither of them having any idea that he could use the Kio Ken. Yan didn't have long to contemplate this fact though as he was brought out of his shocked state by the feeling of Gohan's fist planting itself firmly in his stomach. The blow knocked Yan straight out of the ring, and caused him to embed himself nice and deeply in the gym's main wall.  
  
Gohan didn't make any move to check weather his opponent was still conscious and instead just stood in the middle of the ring, his aura still raging around him. His arms hung loosely by his sides as he focused on Yan's ki signature, waiting for the boy's next move. As Tien stood to declare Gohan the winner a blast of energy suddenly shot out of the hole, but not towards Gohan's stationary form. Instead the blast was fired directly as the young woman sitting next to Tien, Videl. The second he saw this Gohan knew that if that blast hit her Videl would be quite easily reduced to a pile of ashes, and Yan would be surly killed by the blast Gohan would use in retaliation. Gohan instantly disappeared from view, just before an explosion engulfed the area in which Videl was sitting.  
  
Tien drew in a sharp breath as he realised what had happened, quickly checking over in his mind the members of the class, which he couldn't see. He came up only 2 short, and as the smock cleared it became apparent that both Gohan and Videl had disappeared.  
  
"Stupid fool, I knew he would fall for that, but now he's dead, as there's no way someone could of survived that blast, now its just time to remove the witn."  
  
Yan visibly paled when the raging form of son Gohan appeared 5ft in front of him, right in front of the remainder of the class as the unharmed from of Videl Satan ran through the door adjoining the Gym to the playing fields outside. It was at that point Yan noticed the ten-inch diameter ball of energy that Gohan was holding between his palms. As a look of shock made its way over Yan's face as Gohan smirked, uttering a single syllable as he brought his arms forward sharply. "HA" 


	5. Chapter 5 Fate’s Warrior

"." Indicates speech '.' Indicates thoughts  
  
Disclaimer: I Don't Own DBZ  
  
Last Chapter: As a look of shock made its way over Yan's face as Gohan smirked, uttering a single syllable as he brought his arms forward sharply. "HA"  
  
Chapter 5 - Fate's Warrior  
  
May 31st 771 1:57pm  
  
The beam discharged at point blank right into Yan, but instead of exploding as expected, it hit him with blunt force, smashing him heavily against the wall before disappearing without trace. Gohan lowered his stance before tilting his head in a slight bow and turning back to Tien, indicating to the older fighter that the mach was now over.  
  
Turning away from the unconscious figure of Yan, Gohan made his way to the changing room's to change into a new gi for the remainder of the lesson. After walking into the room Gohan sat and went into a light trance, remembering the process Piccolo had taught him to allow him to create his own clothing at will. Although his Sayjin ability to quickly remember and copy any ki based technique he had seen helped to some degree, ki was only part of the process, most of it having to draw energy directly from the other world, a force which had been dubbed 'Magic' by the ignorant masses. This meant that he still needed a lot of training to get to the point where he could crate the clothing without having to meditate to gather the energy needed.  
  
After a minute a light glow surrounded him as the tatter remains of his gi darkened to black and new material was created to rebuild the gi to its former style. After another minute he stood up, bracing himself for the bombardment of questions, and the berating from Tien he was going to receive the second he walked out the door.  
  
As Gohan had guessed, when he entered the room he found Tien standing silently in the rooms far corner. As Gohan entered the elder Z fighter motioned for him to join him. "What the hell do you think you were doing Gohan, you could of really hurt someone there." Tien was about to go on but stopped when he saw the pointed look Gohan was giving him.  
  
"Tien, count yourself lucky that his last attack didn't hit Miss Satan else we would probably now be in an open air courtyard and Yan would be in the Other World. I saw him as a possible threat and reacted accordingly, and while the burden of this worlds safety primarily lies on my shoulders I will take the measures I deem necessary at the time to ensure its safety." With that Gohan turned form his old friend and slowly made his way back to the remaining members of his class, sitting silently non the edge of one of the benches, his head bowed in sorrow.  
  
Tien raised his head to the skies quickly before returning to the class and asking the previously untrained members of his class to spread out on the now slightly bucked gym floor. 'Goku be proud of your son, for he is a wiser man than many of us'  
  
***  
  
The rest of the lesson went without a hitch, that is if you ignore the frenzied whispers the entire class was making concerning a certain Son Gohan who was now every thing from an escaped convict to the most powerful being in existence come to take over and rule the planet. There were even a few remarks that he may also be a strong as Hercule but all of those were quickly ridiculed. It was a pity though, that they would probably never have any idea how close to the truth the last two theories were.  
  
As soon as the bell went the entire class started to leave for last period, until all of them remembered that they had to make their way to their form rooms instead. For tomorrow, for all but two of the class was the most joyful day of the year. Mr Saturn Day. This fact did not escape Gohan and although dew to his schooling he had been able to keep high sprits until the day it's self, where as before he had gone into self imposed isolation for weeks before to stop himself causing any damage to his friends or the planet, he still felt the heavy tug on his heart as he remembered that he was not without blame for Goten having to grow up with out Goku being there.  
  
Videl, noticing the pained expression on Gohan's face walked over to him. Although she was continually trying to find out more about him, she still considered Gohan as one of her only friends, as he at lest had the honesty to tell her that her being Hercule's daughter made no difference to the way he was going to treat her, which pleased her no end. She got rapidly fed up of the fact that almost every body yin the school continually trued to use her to get lessons or autographs from her father.  
  
"Why the sad face Gohan"  
  
" No reason" he replied solemnly, not even trying to disguise the pain he was felling.  
  
" Has anyone told you that you are a really bad liar" she joked earning a small smile from the teen standing in front of her.  
  
"I'd rather not talk about it" Gohan said, the pained expression replacing the smile again. With that he placed his back on the wall and sighed, crossing his arms in a very Vegita like pose, waiting for the teacher to come so he could get back home. Videl however continued to press the subject.  
  
" Come on, you should be happy" she said, putting aside her own hatred of 'Hercule Satan Day' momentarily. " Tomorrow is a celebration of the fact that we are still hear thanks to the defeat of Cell" As she mentioned Cell something in Gohan's posture changed, and she later swore that she saw his eyes flash a light turquoise briefly before his response.  
  
"WOULD YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE" Came the angry shout before Gohan turned away from her and the rest of the class, moving further down the corridor and resuming his pervious stance against the wall where there was a gap in the long row of lockers.  
  
The rest off the class stood awe struck, amazed at the face that a so- called nerd would shout at the daughter of Hercule Saturn, but even more amazed that rather than shouting back at him Videl, just stood there, with a look on her face that could be considered as almost regretful. Quickly though her normal demeanour took over and she quickly shouted at the rest of the class for staring at her and turned away from them before walking down the corridor, to end up leaning on the wall a few meters away form Gohan.  
  
Gohan on the other hand was trying desperately to control his temper. He was still felling the hurt of his early thoughts but that had now been added to by the regret he felt for shouting at Videl, and the reminder of the monster that caused all of his currant suffering, however indirect the link between the two were. All this added up to a near lethal cocktail, just weighting to be relived. At that moment Gohan decided that a certain Saiyan Prince was going to have his backside handed to him on a platter later on that afternoon.  
  
***  
  
30 minuets later Gohan was flying at top speed towards Capsule Corps. The next day was going to be extremely interesting. There were going to be no lessons during the day and instead there were going to be a large number of assemblies. Four in total. There was going to be two during which the school would be talked to by various famous people on there feelings about what happened that day 6 years ago. There was then going to be a screening of some previously unrealised footage of the cell games, followed finally by a entire hour of the big fool Hercule himself before the students were let out of school forty mins early to allow them to watch the parade that was held in the big man's honour.  
  
Gohan laughed despite himself at his last thought. However much pain he felt on the anniversary of Cell's death he had always been able to laugh at Hercule whenever he made a speech or came out in the open on that day. The fact that the public ate up even the most ridiculous things he said made it all the more entertaining. Realising he was getting close to Capsule Corps. Gohan sped up slightly, eager to get rid of some of the anger he had accumulated that day. Vegita was most likely not going to be happy, and probably in a fair bit of pain in a few hours. 


	6. Chapter 6 Painful Memories and Incoming...

"." Indicates speech '.' Indicates thoughts  
  
Disclaimer: I Don't Own DBZ  
  
Please read and review  
  
Last Chapter: Gohan sped up slightly, eager to get rid of some of the anger he had accumulated that day. Vegita was most likely not going to be happy, and probably in a fair bit of pain in a few hours.  
  
Chapter 6 - Painful Memories and Incoming Catastrophe  
  
May 31st 771 4:53pm  
  
Bulma sighed as she sat in one of the many living rooms at Capsule Corp. Tomorrow was the 6th anniversary of one of the worst days in her life. Goku, possibility the greatest person to have ever set there feet on Earth had sacrificed himself to save everybody on the planet. The worst thing for her though was the fact that he had never been recognised or even commemorated except of a minuet of silence observed by his close friends and family every year on that day for the last 6 years.  
  
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA."  
  
There was a large explosion as the entire wall of the living area caved in due to the force of a Sayjin prince being thrown through it at several times the speed of sound. There was another thud as he hit the foot thick titanium walls that had been built onto the outside of the capsule corps main dome to prevent damage to the surrounding city if a 'Friendly' spar got out of hand, which with Vegita involved they often did.  
  
" VEGITA" screamed Bulma, "What have I told you about taunting Gohan before you fight him. One of these days you may end up getting seriously hurt" Bulma scolded before shoving a senzu bean in his mouth and telling him to swallow. She then quickly sent in the cleanup drones to rebuild the wall and clean up the living room before rebuilding the gravity room. She reminded herself that she needed to find away to prevent the titanium alloy interfering wit the gravity generator. Or she could just start using one of the other living rooms, but that would be admitting defeat, something that she was not quite willing to do just yet.  
  
A few seconds later the forlorn figure of Son Gohan stepped out of the tangled mess of metal and stone that remained of the wall a joining the gravity room and the rest of capsule corp. What surprised Bulma was that rather than the golden aura and bright gold hair she expected to see she instead was faced with a raging blood red aura, one that she had never seen the young Demi-Sayjin with before. Her question was answered before she even got chance to ask it.  
  
"Are you mocking me Brat, using the same blasted technique your father used to beat me when I first came to this pathetic mud ball of a planet." His voice was a growl, but anyone who had spent a lot of time around the Prince would of realized that it had lost a lot of its usual power and gusto.  
  
"It's called the Kio-Ken Vegita, and not I'm not mocking you, I just don't believe that with all the pent up aggression and anger I have at the moment I would be able to control myself if I went super and I would rather not have to explain why half of west capital city had vanished in a ball of energy if I got out of control."  
  
Gohan wore a weary and smile, the same one he had used whenever he was sad or angry for the last 6 years to prevent his friends and family worrying about him. They had enough to think about rather than worrying about the emotional state of the Earth's young defender. It wasn't really a disguise any more but they all left him to it, knowing that he would talk to one of them if he really needed any help.  
  
Allowing the technique to fade away again Gohan ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture as he apologized to his deceased father's long- term friend.  
  
"Sorry about the mess Bulma, Just lost my temper, and well you can see what that led to."  
  
"No problem Gohan, this time is taxing on all of us, plus it'll only take a few minuets for the bots to rebuild the wall and repair any other damage." Bulma's cheerful tone was underplayed with concern for the young man she considered as almost a second son, having seen him grow and mature from a timid 4 year old to the strongest fighter earth had seen in living memory. Though through all this she continued pitied him for the fact he was never given a childhood, or the chance to just have fun and mature at a normal rate.  
  
"Well I better get going, mum's going to be wondering where I've got to." With a wistful and tired smile Gohan turned from the room and disappeared into the many corridors of Capsule Corp's main building, making his way out to the compound so he could take off unnoticed.  
  
As Gohan left the room Vegita gently sat down on the comfortable sofa and seeing the pain she felt allowed a rare moment of affection to pass between them, placing his arm behind her and giving her shoulder a light comforting squeeze before standing again and making his way towards one of the smaller gravity chambers.  
  
***  
  
Videl hit her head lightly against the computer desk she was working at. However hard she looked she could find no concrete information on either Gohan or the Son family in general, it was as if they didn't exist. All she had found was an old recording of one of the earlier tournaments, showing a fighter using an attack identical to the one she had seen Gohan use in the P.E. lesson against another Fighter. All there was to accompany the Video was a short caption titling the attack as the 'Legendary Kame Hame Ha wave'. Everything else had just confirmed what she already knew, that Son Goku had won the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, reportedly blowing up the ring in the process. Realizing she was getting nowhere fast, and that in her frustrated state she was not going to be able to think clearly enough about the information she had gained, she quickly she changed into a gi and went do to her father's huge training room to get rid of some anger on a punch bag or two. As she neared the door she was certain she herd a voice in her head, one which conveyed a simple message  
  
"You will find your answers soon enough" Thinking it was the random thoughts of her stressed mind she entered the room, and quickly forgot all about it.  
  
*****  
  
Almost 500 miles away stood the soul lonesome figure of Son Gohan. In front of him on another wise empty field stood an unremarkable 5ft tall slab of granite, roughly shaped as a memorial to a person who was sorely missed. For there, about a mile away form the Son household stood the memorial to Son Goku, the only member of the Z- fighters to have been permanently killed and the third strongest being to have existed in the earth's long history, both Gohan and Vegita now being a lot more powerful than he had been at his death.  
  
The stone was blank, apart form the single name etched onto it, for all of the Z fighters had decided there was no real fitting tribute they could make to the friend who would be sorely missed, so left it blank, each making tribute to him in there own way. As usual on this day it was raining, a freak unseasonal occurrence during this period of time as the earth its self seamed to weep for its loss, all courtesy of the planets resident Demi-God, his way of reminding the celebrating people of earth that there had been losses during the conflict with Cell, even if only a small handful of people knew the true significance of it.  
  
Gohan often came to this place to think as although this place brought him great sorrow it also brought him clarity, reminding him of his vow he had made to the people of this planet to make sure that a being as powerful as Cell never causes as much destruction again during his life time. And it was this solemn vow that he renewed every year, on the day before the anniversary of his father's death.  
  
" I swear on the grave of this planets previous defender to this planet and its people that wile my body still draws breath that I will protect it and is people to the best of my ability." As he spoke he removed a small knife form his belt and drew it across his palm, allowing 10 drops of his blood to hit the sodden soil, cementing the vow he made with a part of him self, as he had always done.  
  
As he turned away from the stone and started the short trek back towards the house he added in an even more serious tone than before "And may the daemons of hell have pity on any one who should cause grief such as I have suffered on any of my friends or family again"  
  
Little did Gohan know that he would shortly be called upon to keep the vow he made, and that the challenge presented would be the toughest test of his life so far. And on an unidentified Planet unreachable form Earth sat a silent purple skinned figure, a being that would soon make actions to change the flow of events in this timeline forever. 


	7. Chapter 7 Love and Anger

"." Indicates speech '.' Indicates thoughts  
  
Disclaimer: I Don't Own DBZ  
  
Please read and review  
  
Last Chapter: As he turned away from the stone and started back towards the house he added "And may the daemons of hell have pity on any one who should cause grief such as I have suffered on any of my friends or family again"  
  
Chapter 7- Love and Anger  
  
June 1st 771 5:33am  
  
As Gohan awoke the first thing that struck him was that he had been allowed to awaken naturally this morning, meaning that Goten was probably still asleep and his mother was not expecting him to attend school that day. A few seconds later he remembered exactly why that was. A single tear fell from his eye, the small bead of salty water hitting the bed and soaking into the dark blue martial. Quickly pushing away the unpleasant thoughts, Gohan stood, reminding himself that he owed it to his mother and younger sibling to be strong this day.  
  
Looking over at the digital clock beside his bed he realized with a slight chuckle why no one else was up yet. The red digits read 5:34, almost and hour and a half before he needed to be up for school.  
  
Realizing he was wide awake and would not get a meaningful amount of sleep before he needed to get up again he decided to get in some early morning training and meditation, hoping that by calming himself at this point he would be able to go through the rest of the day without losing himself in his anger.  
  
Quickly showering, Gohan returned to his room and started to decide what to wear. After a minute of looking through his wardrobe he closed it and walked back to his bed, knowing exactly what he would wear this day. He drew a small; previously unopened box from under his bed, and after a moment of deliberation opened it, drawing out an almost exact replica of his father's Gi. The only noticeable difference was that rather than having his father symbol on the front, followed by the symbol of King Kai, the now deceased watcher of the North Segment, on its back, it instead had Gohan's own symbol on its front, and a much larger copy of his father symbol attached to its back.  
  
Quickly changing into it before he changed him mind about the choice of clothing Gohan then proceeded to make his way outside, spending the next half hour slowly going through various katas, honing the skills he had built up from the age of 4. He then turned to meditation, trying to subdue the raging emotions inside him, calming himself and preparing himself for the many trials that this day would surely bring. After another half an hour Gohan removed himself from his trance, the early morning sun having now illuminated the rolling fields and forests that surrounded him remote home.  
  
Decided that his mother would probably have a hard enough day without needing any extra work he returned to the house and quickly set about the monumental task of making food for 2 growing Demi-Sayjins  
  
***  
  
About 20 minuets later Chi-Chi awoke to the smell of cooking bacon and eggs. Her surprise doubled a second later as she realized that Gohan was the only one in the house who could be cooking. She quickly dressed and rushed down the stairs, almost feinting at the slight that greeted her. It took a few seconds before she registered fully the significance of what Gohan was wearing but when she did a small smile graced her face. She knew that the emotional scars would still run deeply, but at least now some of the seamed to be healing.  
  
"Hi Mom" Greeted Gohan, knocking his mother out of her slight stupor  
  
"Gohan, why you up this early? I though you would be in bed." Replied Chi- Chi a voice carrying a slightly surprised but quite joyous tone.  
  
"Well I got to leave for school in 15 minuets and I didn't fancy skipping breakfast again." It took a few moments for Chi-Chi's brain to register exactly what had been said, and then a few more seconds as her brain comprehended the implications of the statement.  
  
As all the information sank in Chi-Chi made her way quickly over to a nearby chair and sat down as she felt her legs become unsteady and threaten to give way.  
  
"Gohan are you sure that's a good idea, You know how you are when you lose control, and imagine the devastation that would cause in the middle of a populated area."  
  
"I know, but if I'm ever going to fully recover from this pain I'm going to need to try to live my life on this day, not hide from civilization because of what might happen." Seeing his mother nod her head in silent agreement Gohan rose form the table and then proceeded to lure his younger brother from the kitchen. As they entered the living room he turned to his younger brother and looked at him. He reminded him so much of his father that this was the first time Gohan had been able to look him in the eyes on the anniversary of there fathers death without braking down completely.  
  
"You be good for mom Goten, ok."  
  
"I will big brother."  
  
"K see you later then." After returning to the kitchen and saying his good bys to his mother he ran out of the door and took off, rapidly making his way towards Orange Star High School. Gohan noticed that there had been a respite in the rain that usually plagued the world on that day. He silently thanked Dende and looked at the bright sun. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to survive this day without loosing his temper.  
  
***  
  
Powering up as far as he could without going super Sayjin he sped forwards. The Gold Fighter would not be present to protect Saturn City this day, as Gohan knew he would probably lose all the control he had managed to gain through the morning's meditation if he transformed into Super Sayjin, and probably become the cities destroyer in the process.  
  
As he came into land on the school roof he ran into an interesting problem as he noticed the teenage daughter of the man who had stolen the credit for his defeat of Cell sitting on the edge of the roof, looking in the direction from which he would usually approach the school building. Adapting to the new situation quickly he increasing his speed suddenly blurring out of view, and becoming temporally invisible to the untrained eye, hoping to make his way to the single door leading to the roof unnoticed  
  
All this when out of the window when he got close enough to notice why she was on the roof. She was gently sobbing, legs dangled over the edge of the fifteen-story building, completely oblivious to the world around her. He felt a pang of guilt as he remember how unpleasant he had been to her the day before when she had questioned him about being upset, how he had all but attacked her when all she was doing was showing concern for his well being. Putting aside his own pain and grief he silently phased in behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"You ok Videl?"  
  
***  
  
Videl sprang around as she heard a voice and felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder, ready to cause an immense amount of pain to whoever had caught her in this moment of weakness. However her body decided to rebel against her at that point and rather than throttling Gohan's face with a well placed punch she instead collapsed against him, sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
Seeing that she was not going to be in any state to relate the cause of her distress for a while Gohan brought his arms lightly around her, supporting her comparatively small form against his own, as many had done for him in years past. After a few minutes Videl's sobbing lessened but she made no move to remove herself from his warm embrace, enjoying the comfort his arms offered.  
  
Silently she dwelt on the thought that this was the first time for almost 7 years that she found herself being able to let down her emotional guards, not having to keep up the tough façade she wore to protect herself from the rigors of her everyday life. She was expected to be a hero, to be her father's daughter, and consequently was unable to be an average teenage girl, worrying about the state of her hair instead of worrying if the next bank robbery she stopped would be her last. Since her mothers death she had never had an opportunity to let down all the shields she had built around herself and let all the stress and pain she felt flow out, at least not until now.  
  
Her moment of peace and tranquility was unceremoniously shattered as Sharpener walked onto the roof.  
  
"Hey Nerd Boy get off my girl." As usual Sharpener spoke without thinking, completely forgetting the events of the previous day when Gohan had proven quite clearly that he was anything but a nerd.  
  
Even armed with all the information about his character that she had gathered over the last few days, Gohan's response to Sharpener's command shocked Videl as much as it did the commands issuer. Gently removing his arms from around Videl, muttering a quiet sorry to her as he did so, he turned to face the blond jock, fixing his icy glare on Sharpener as he did so. As if in anticipation of the coming conflict the rain started its characteristic down pour, this time punctuated by feint claps of thunder.  
  
A light but menacing growl escaped Gohan's lips as he drew himself up straight, standing almost 4 inches taller than the other boy. At was as he did this a blot of lighting flashed across the sky, illuminating the now darkened city. It was at that moment that Videl first noticed the Gi Gohan was wearing. As another clap of thunder struck she took a slight step back as a sharp realization hit her.  
  
She realized just how calm Gohan seamed, even with the elements raging around him, and at that point she realized that for the first time in 3 weeks Gohan didn't look out of place. This was where he was at home, and for the first time in her life she felt the inkling that somehow even the power and savagery of nature could be dwarfed by a being of flesh and blood.  
  
"Sharpener, in the few weeks I've been here I've lost count of the number of times Videl had forcibly removed part of your body from touching her yet some how you can still come to the conclusion that she is 'Your Girl', and that you have some god given right to her that overrides even her own wishes." Gohan's voice was deathly calm, and as he spoke his usually obsidian eyes flickered to a dark teal.  
  
'Crap, I really hope he shuts up now, I don't think I can control myself any more, and if I lose it now there's no telling what damage I could cause to the city.' Gohan's mind raced, trying to calm down his Sayjin instincts, which were telling him to quite plainly kill the pathetic human standing in front of him. Any control Gohan had left however was instantly lost with Sharpeners next comment.  
  
"Well at least I'm not the one coming into school dress up like a light show using fraud." Sharpener had no idea of what he had just done, nod there was little doubt even his minimal brain power would of told him to keep his mouth shut if he had know the affect those few words would have.  
  
The storm above him suddenly began to rage even more heavily, lightning bolts started striking the ground below them. To any body watching the scene unfold, it would seam the people involved had gained the personal enmity of a god.  
  
Someone who had personally angered the greatest of the gods would most likely be in a better position than Sharpener currently was. As he looked back at Gohan his glance was met by a look of pure unadulterated Rage. The pained scream that followed brought him back to his senses as the entire roof exploded in a ball of light. As Videl opened her eyes she almost fell over in shock and surprise.  
  
Where Gohan, the naive passive school nerd had been standing mere second ago there now stood the imposing form of the city's resident super hero. The increases in muscles mass and the enlargement of the bone structure that accompanied it meant that Gohan now stood almost 8 inches taller than sharpener, his usually athletic build now dwarfed Sharpeners usually impressive build. As the Demi-Sayjin's icy glare settled on Sharpener the blond made one of the most intelligent decisions of his life and quickly made a run for it.  
  
***  
  
Videl watched awe struck as Gohan instantly ascended to the second level of Super Sayjin. 'So Gohan is the Gold Fighter' she thought, almost jumping for joy as she realized this. Her joy at making this discovery was almost instantaneously once again replaced with shock and fear as she felt the pure power radiating from Gohan's stationery figure, a black shadow in the raging aura that engulfed him. His aura rose to almost 20ft in the air and extended 5 foot around him in every direction, giving the school the appearance of a giant candle burning in the middle of the darkened city, the heavy cloud cover blotting out almost all of the natural light.  
  
Even though Videl had no ability to sense ki, she could still feel the huge amounts of energy emanating from his body, the rage he was giving off almost tangible, causing her to struggle to draw breath. "Gohan Calm down" she said, her voice horse from her earlier crying and her inability to get a full breath of air into her lungs.  
  
As Gohan herd the fear and trepidation in her voice all the rage vanished from his body being quickly replaced with a deep sorrow that he had hurt her. The raging aura quickly dimmed, and his expression eased form one of anger and hatred to a slightly hesitant and remorseful smile. He felt Tien's familiar ki stop halfway up the last flight of stairs that led to the roof and slowly return to the ground floor of the school, the elder fighter having felt the subtle change in Gohan's ki that meant the Demi- Sayjin had once again got full control over his emotions.  
  
"I'm Sorry about that Videl," he whispered, his now soft voice a stark contrast to the cold tone he had taken with Sharpener a few short minutes ago.  
  
" Sorry about what" she replied, holding back her tears and trying desperately to pull her own emotions back under control, resisting the urge to brake down into tears again.  
  
" About acting like that, it just seams that whenever a friend of mine or someone I care about is threatened I loose control." He said quickly before adding " and I'm ashamed to say that the end result is often a lot more unpleasant than what just happened."  
  
As he said this he moved quickly forward and embraced the now sobbing Videl. As he gently held her his thoughts returned to all those who had been on the receiving end of his lose of control, and how almost all of them now occupied a permanent placement in hell, in which he hoped they would spend the rest of eternity. A pained expression crossed his face as he remembered the fate of his uncle, and how different things could have been if his uncle had stood with his father on that day, rather than standing against him.  
  
It was this pained expression that Videl saw after she had found herself unable to shed any more tears at that moment in time. 'Even when he is suffering he still manages to find the ability to comfort others around him, though what burdens he so much that on a day when most are rejoicing he is still suffering'  
  
There was a uneasy silence between the two of them as Videl thought, Gohan not wanting to say any thing that night upset the girl further. Videl then broke the silence as her mind processed his earlier words and her usual inquisitive nature took over.  
  
"What do you mean buy that?" She regretted the words the moment she spoke them, the careful and tactful question she had though over in her head having never appeared.  
  
The look of pain in Gohan's eyes intensified as she asked him the question and he took a second to compose him self before he replied, his voice barely more than a whisper "That is a tale that I don't have the time to recite at this moment" He was quite for a second but then continued, his voice louder and less strained than before.  
  
" Image the anger you feel when someone hurts a person you care for, and then increases it ten fold, and take into account that whenever that happens your strength and fortitude increase dramatically. Now think what you would try to do the person that caused you to feel that pain." As he finished he turned away and added so quietly that she could barely hear " And add to that the pain and guilt of your father dieing, knowing that you had the power to prevent it and your mother and brother now have to live without him. Then you can star to image what I was felling a few seconds ago, and start to comprehend just what I could do." With that Gohan turned away, dropping out of Super Sayjin and walking through the still open door leading down to the rest of the school.  
  
Videl on the other hand stood there shocked. She didn't even notice the rain beginning to beat down on her face even harder. She thought over the lazy few words he had uttered. "Comprehend just what I could do" she whispered the words to herself, adding this to what he had said to her earlier, and what Tien had told her about Gohan's fighting abilities the day before. All of a sudden she understood the full extent of what he had meant by the consequences of anger being a lot more unpleasant that what had happened today, and she rushed towards the stairwell, hoping to confront his about her revelation before classes started. 


	8. Chapter 8 A Rival's Thanks

"." Indicates speech '.' Indicates thoughts  
  
Disclaimer: I Don't Own DBZ  
  
Please read and review  
  
Last Chapter: All of a sudden she understood the full extent of what he had meant by the consequences of anger being a lot more unpleasant that what had happened today, and she rushed towards the stairwell, hoping to confront his about her revelation before classes started.  
  
Shadows Light - Chapter 8 - A Rival's Thanks  
  
June 1st 771 9:02am  
  
In her mad rush to catch up with Gohan, Videl failed to recognize that there was still rain falling, and consequently the concrete roof of the school was still rather wet. At the speed she was moving at, this fact made her realization the door down from the roof was still open from Gohan's earlier exit a rather interesting situation. And as she rapidly approached the stairs leading down form the roof she realized there was no grip to help her now fast moving form slow down.  
  
So the only option left to her was to slide straight though the door and crash down the stairs, piling right into an unsuspecting Gohan consequently causing both of them to go tumbling down the remainder of the steps before crashing to a halt in a heap of limbs on the first landing. As they both reorientated themselves, they quickly realized just how embarrassing their currant position was. Gohan was on top of Videl, his grater weight and bulk causing her to be pushed roughly against the wall. The fact that both of their hair was wet and splayed everywhere from the tumble down the stairs just added to the hilarity moment.  
  
Gohan quickly stood up. "You know, I'm glad no one saw that. They probably would have got the wrong idea," he said with a laugh, proving that the naivety that Goku continually showed had not been passed no to his eldest son.  
  
Videl blushed furiously, her skin turning several shades of red deeper than was supposedly possible. She tried to stand but was quickly forced down to the floor again as an excruciating pain spread through her ankle.  
  
"Ah, crap that's not good" she said through gritted teeth.  
  
"What's not?" replied Gohan, concern evident in his voice.  
  
"Think the fall did something to my ankle." Videl replied.  
  
"Do you want a hand?" She nodded and he placed his arm under hers, pulling her up and supporting her weight. She was surprisingly heavy for her size, which he quickly concluded mean that she had more muscle than was immediately apparent from her appearance. It didn't bother Gohan though; his extensive training making him used to carrying much heavier objects in gravity of up to 500g's.  
  
Videl was surprised when he turned back up towards the roof rather than the stairs leading down to the rest of the school. "Why we going up here?"  
  
"Well seeing as most of the school will soon know who I am from the stunt I played on the roof earlier I though I might as well take the quick route down."  
  
"The quick route?" she asked quizzically.  
  
"You sure you didn't bump your head, or do you still think flying is another 'Trick' which uses mirrors and cables." He replied with a Vegita like smirk  
  
Before she could reply he jumped over the edge of the roof and free fell 9 of the 10 stories before slowing and landing softly on the ground.  
  
"SON GOHAN! Next time you intend to jump off a 10 story building please tell me before hand!" Videl shrieked, causing him to cover his ears.  
  
"Now all she needs is a frying pan," he muttered under his breath  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing Videl, Nothing. Now lets see about getting you to the nurse's office. We're already going to be late as it is." Looking at his watch he quickly realized that although he was at school 20 minutes before it started, he was still going to be late to class.  
  
"Don't worry about that, I'll just tell the teacher what happened." Videl said, almost smiling.  
  
"No," Gohan stated firmly "If you aren't able to walk on your ankle you should be at home resting, not at school, I'm sure I can cope with being late again" he finished, grinning as he did so. Videl looked him in the eye. Where earlier all she had seen was anger now she saw a whole range of emotions, the most dominant being concern.  
  
"No, I'll be ok. Plus, my dad will be disappointed if I'm not there to see his 'speech' about how he beat Cell." Suddenly her inquisitive side took over again "And talking of Cell, you've got a lot of explaining to do Mr. Gold Fighter," pointing Gohan in the chest while she said this to emphasize her point, "Or everyone will know who you are, not just me; I doubt Sharpeners pride will allow him to say he got scared of a nerd."  
  
Both of them shared a chuckle at this last statement and after a few seconds of deliberation Gohan finally said "'Ok you've got a deal. We'll talk about where and when at lunch as I don't really want to come in during the middle of one of the guest speakers."  
  
*****  
  
5 minutes later, Gohan and Videl walked out of the nurse's office. Videl had been allowed to stay at school but the nurse had made it clear she was not to use her ankle and appointed Gohan to help her get around. Gohan had also suggested to Videl that they stay near Erasa, as there were a few places where he couldn't help her especially as people could get the wrong ideas. She had blushed at this comment but thankfully, Gohan didn't make mention it. As they entered the classroom Gohan was forced to cover his ears as a teachers high pitched voice cut through the general murmurs and almost deafened him.  
  
"SON GOHAN! Why are you late to my class? I have a good mind to." She was quickly cut short as Videl entered the conversation.  
  
"Miss, Gohan was helping me. I went up to the roof to think and it started raining. As I was coming back in I slipped and sprained my ankle. Gohan saw me and helped me get to the nurse. I didn't want to miss the assemblies today, so she allowed me to stay but said that Gohan should help me walk if my ankle starts playing up again." The teacher seemed to grudgingly accept this explanation though Gohan swore he heard her whisper "I'm going to get you some day Son Gohan" under her breath. He shrugged and when up to his seat next to Videl.  
  
As Gohan looked over at Sharpener he saw that he was visibly shaking.  
  
"Its not that cold in here is it?" he remarked innocently, causing Videl to smile slightly at the annoying blonde's discomfort at the current situation.  
  
Suddenly the teachers voice cut through the room again. "People, start making your way down to the main hall for the guest speakers." There was a mixture of groans and shouts of excitement as the class stood up and joined the rest of the mass of people moving through the halls.  
  
There was complete chaos when they reached the assembly. People were running around everywhere trying to find their friends and chatting loudly as excitement took over. For a few figures in the room, the noise was almost unbearable. Gohan covered his ears and followed Videl, muttering the occasional sorry to people who ran into him or otherwise hindered his movement, as they were usually sent sprawling on the floor as they hit the moving 'brick wall'. After a few minutes of searching they finally found some seats which offered a good view of the stage but weren't too cramped together. Just as the two of them managed to get sat down the principal stepped up on to the stage and tried fruitlessly to quiten everybody down. Of course, even with the P.A. system turned up full, many people didn't hear, while most just blatantly ignored him. That was until one of the guest speakers got up onto the stage.  
  
"SHUT UP BRATS!" Gohan cringed as he heard Vegita's voice cut through the ruckus, without any need for the aforementioned P.A. system. Everybody was silent almost immediately.  
  
"Thank you sir" said the principal, his voice quivering slightly "Now that you're all quite, I would like to thank you for your hasty arrival today. Well, without further ado, I would like to welcome our first guest, Bulma Briefs"  
  
There was a round of applause from all present, apart from one. Gohan was sitting, praying to Dende that no one made any remarks about Bulma's appearance, or anything else to do with her for that matter, he didn't fancy going head to head with Vegita today, least not in the middle of a school assembly. His prayers weren't answered, as several wolf whistles and other remarks were made by a number of student in the front row. Not really wanting to beat the hell out of Vegita in front of his entire school Gohan instead raised his ki level sharply as a clear warning to the Sayjin prince, gaining a look of apprehension from Vegita, as well as preventing him from killing any of the students.  
  
"I want to make it clear that if I hear any more inappropriate remarks about my wife you will wish you hadn't uttered them." Vegita stated menacingly.  
  
Gohan shrugged. It wasn't the best way it could have been dealt with but it was about as good as he was going to get from Vegita. Just to enforce his silent threat to Vegita he shot a piercing glare his way, which ended up with him starting a battle of wills with the Sayjin prince.  
  
*****  
  
Vegita slowly made his way over to Bulma who was composing herself for her speech, keeping his eyes on Gohan and meeting his glare.  
  
"Bulma, Kakarrot's first brat is here." He said quietly.  
  
"Let me guess, that's why you moved away from those kids. And I thought you had actually gained some self control" she responded in a quite but smug tone.  
  
Vegita almost chuckled at that last comment, and he broke off his staring match with Gohan, not willing to risk putting his life on the line for his pride on this occasion.  
  
At this point Bulma decided to start her speech, hoping that her chosen subject wouldn't cause Gohan too much harm.  
  
"For all but a very small number of the people sitting here the defeat of Cell was a moment for celebration. Despite this there are some people here who suffered a great loss that day as a good friend to them was killed on that battlefield 6 years ago."  
  
Some smart alec in the front row decided to comment. "Well then they should've left it up to the great Hercule and not relied on tricks and light shows."  
  
Bulma cringed at this expecting retaliation. It came but not from the source she expected. Instead she watched in awe and silent appreciation as her husband walked purposely towards the front of the stage, his icy glare carefully looking over each of the students in turn, making them feel as if he was looking directly into there souls  
  
"You people really are completely worthless fools. You take Hercule as a champion yet the truly great people of the world are passed by as you look for the loudest and most ignorant fool to name as your champion." Spoke Vegita's gruff voice, almost a whisper, but still strong enough to cut through the light mummer spreading across the auditorium at his first comment, His voice commanding respect, and the students not hesitation to give it.  
  
What surprised Gohan was amongst the strong tone of anger and intolerance there was also the slightest hint of pity, pity for the human race as a whole, there lives so shrouded in lies and half truths they wouldn't believe the truth if it was rammed into there faces at high velocity. Vegita returned his glare back to the boy who had spoken, someone who probably had no idea of what loss felt like, and no idea of the stupidity displayed by his words.  
  
"So, brat, what do you think makes a great man?"  
  
The boy looked at him and then said "Someone who's big and strong." A slight cheer went up from the surrounding Jocks, but they when silent again when they saw the look of barely contained fury on Vegita face.  
  
Vegita looked at the boy with distaste and disgust before slowly continuing. "So you say that's what you look for in a great person. Yet you worship a foolish, arrogant buffoon rather than a person who died to allow you to live? A person who was prepared to sacrifice everything for people, even though he knew that he would never be thanked, but ridiculed, because a fool said that his techniques, that he had spent all his life mastering, were tricks, because the fool wasn't skilled enough to use them." With that Vegita turned and walked to the middle of the stage and then said quietly but with barely hidden venom.  
  
"And if any of you think yourselves deserving of such people, then the least you could do was offer a moment of silence on the day of his death." With that he turned back to the school children and stated "Trust me when I say that a being much more powerful than me stands in this hall, and I doubt they will be as forgiving as I am if you pay disrespect to this mans memory"  
  
As he finished Vegita looked over at Gohan and nodded, signaling to both of them that the gratitude Vegita had for Gohan saving his life at the cell games was still present, along with the deep if slightly grudging respect he had gained for the Son family over his years as an inhabitant of the earth, however well it was hidden.  
  
"That one was for you kid, and your baka father," he whispered, a rare smile spreading over his face as he said it, though it was quickly replaced by his characteristic scowl. For the one it was intended for however that was all that was needed.  
  
Bulma stood in shock as Vegita walked quickly to the edge of the room. Quickly noting to 'thank' Vegita for his speech later, she turned back to the assembled students and prepared to finish off.  
  
*****  
  
"Thank you, Vegita" said Gohan with a whisper. He knew how much it took out of a person's pride to stand up and admit that your greatest rival was a truly great man, but Vegita had done it, and would gain respect from many people because of it. Gohan, at that moment knew that his father had heard all of it, he didn't know how, it was just a feeling in this gut, the same feeling that came over him whenever he felt like giving up, reminding him of what his father had strived for and how it was now his place to take up. For the first time in 7 years, on the anniversary of Cell's defeat, Gohan truly smiled.  
  
Bulma's voice cut into his voice at that moment and he listened to her words, although he already knew what se was going to say. "As my husband has just said, I would ask you to all spare a minute of silence now, not just for those who died at the hands of Cell, but for anyone else who had died fighting to keep your lives safe."  
  
With that a respectful silence spread over the room. Even the most stubborn students had been moved by Vegita's words and now sat in quiet remembrance of the many heroes that had fallen over the years to keep them safe.  
  
That was until Hercule burst uninvited into the hall.  
  
A/N: You may notice that I am using the occasional Japanese words in my writing. I'm only going to do this occasionally, mainly if I feel that the Japanese word fits into the mood better than the English would. If anyone objects to This then please say and I will try not to do it. 


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