This story i wrote long time ago when i was used to watch DBZ so i am posting. I have also posted this in many sites so now at PC
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There's a lot to be said about "The Story of Gohan." The ending had been edited several times to try and make a sequel work, but in the end it became "The Legacy of Gohan" which is now ongoing. It was my first story, ever, so don't be too harsh on me.
Gohan felt like crying as his father spoke to them from the Other World. Goku's words touched them all, "I know how you all feel, but this is for the best. Freiza, the Androids, and even Cell were all here because of me. If I just disappear, then maybe Earth won't have to live through another one of my battles."
"That's not fair, dad!" Gohan cried out, "What about me and mom? I know this was my fault, but we still need you."
"Hey, remember what I said? How this might have been the best way? Android 18 would have died with Cell had you finished him. This way, maybe she can have a second chance. Besides, King Kai and I are going to have lots of fun together!"
A low snort echoed through the Lookout, "Oh yeah, lots of fun. You lousy home wreaker."
Goku laughed, "Ah, don't be like that King Kai. I already said I was sorry! Well, I think it's time I got going. King Kai's going to burst, long distance call."
Gohan wiped the tears from his face, and smiled. He looked upward, I know I made a mistake, dad, and it cost you your life. But I promise I'll never let my guard down again. I'll keep going, and I'll protect this planet just like you have!
Little did Gohan know that his father could hear his thoughts, "I know you will. I've always been proud of you Gohan. Take care of your mother, and tell her I love you both. Good-bye, my friends." And then he was gone.
Piccolo looked over at the young Super Saiyan, who had just become the most powerful fighter in the entire universe. The genuine smile on Gohan's face was all the relief he needed. The child would be fine. Piccolo looked up at the eternal dragon and muttered, "Well, we still have one wish left. What should it be?"
Krillin stepped forth hesitantly and said, "I . . . think I have one."
"What is it?" Yamcha asked.
"Well, 18 is kind of alone here. What if we brought Android 17 back? That way she'd have a friend."
Yamcha's jaw nearly hit the floor, "Are you crazy!? What if he starts attacking us?"
"Well . . . if he did that, Gohan, Vegeta, and even Piccolo could easily deal with him. Everyone's several times stronger since he was absorbed."
The baseball player grinned, "Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Sure, I have no problem then." Everyone else nodded their consent, except for Vegeta who stood in a corner with his arms crossed. He didn't really care what the others did.
Krillin approached the dragon, "I ask that Android 17 be brought here, returned to life!"
The dragon's eyes glowed, and then died, "That is not within my power. Ask another wish."
The short man fumed at the dragon's inability. He wondered what else was left. Then it hit him, "Could you at least make Android 18 human again, but still retain all her power and ability?"
The dragon's eyes burned a second time, "Your wish has been granted. I have given you your wishes, I shall depart." With a mighty burst of light, Shenron returned to the dragonballs. Together, the seven balls lifted into the air, and shot out to distant parts of the planet.
Tien stared at Krillin, "I don't understand. Why make her human, but let her keep her powers?"
Krillin scratched his head, "If the dragon had taken them away, I'm pretty sure 18 would kill me!"
Everyone got in a good laugh at their cowardly friend, but understood his intentions. Only a short distance away, hiding behind the Lookout's walls, stood the newly transformed Android 18. An Android no more. She stared at her hands, feeling more alive now than she had before. But everything about her had remained the same. She looked over at the short, blushing man, Why would he do this for me?
Gohan's grin grew as the sky returned to a pale blue. He looked at the tired group of the Z fighters, "Come on you guys! This is the first day of the rest of our lives!"
* * *
Chichi stumbled backwards. Her face in tears, "He's dead? No . . . no, he can't be!" She cried. Gohan never liked to see his mother cry, but he knew better than to stop her. Chichi gripped her apron, nearly tearing it, "Why wouldn't he come back to me?"
"Mom, he said he loved us both. He's going to miss us as much as we'll miss him, but dad thought this would be for the best. He didn't want any more trouble coming after him and harming us."
"That stubborn, heroic fool. He'd say that." Then again, that's one of the things I love about him. Chichi looked up to her son, who for the first time in over a week was no longer a Super Saiyan. She smoothed his unruly black hair, "How are you, Gohan? You're so brave." She pulled her son close and hugged him tight.
The Ox King stepped toward his grandson, "You were great, Gohan. Just like your father."
Chapter I: How the Years Go By
Four years later . . .
Gohan gently settled down before Bulma's home at Capsule Corporation. He wished his mother hadn't forced him to bring along all the reading material in his grossly oversized backpack, but she wouldn't have let him go otherwise.
He walked through the front door of the enormous house only to be greeted by a familiar scream, "Vegeta!! Where are you!? Bring it back right now!!"
Gohan couldn't believe Vegeta had gotten Bulma so upset . . . again. Almost on queue, the prince of all Saiyans strolled into the main hall, a gallon of fudge ice cream in his hands. Gohan blankly stared as Vegeta spooned the dark dessert into his mouth, which had an evil grin about it. He noticed Gohan and smirked, "If it isn't the spawn of Kakkarot."
Gohan pointed to the ice cream, "That wouldn't happen to be what Bulma's screaming about, is it?"
"Hah," the Saiyan prince laughed, "Serves her right for thinking she could hide it from me." He scooped up another large amount.
They both froze when a loud tromping started to approach. Vegeta almost looked scared. Gohan walked up to him, "If you tell me where she is right now, I'll distract her long enough so you can hide the evidence."
Vegeta liked Gohan's train of thought, and pointed over his shoulder towards the lab area. As Gohan wandered off, Vegeta probed him with his mind. The boy had been masking his energy again. With Goku dead and the future version of his son returned to the future, Vegeta had no one to test himself against. He knew Gohan had been training, maintaining his power these past years, but every time he offered to spar with the younger Saiyan, Gohan would refuse. That only left his son, and Kakkarot's other spawn to fight against, and they hadn't even developed their powers. Vegeta would have at least liked to know where Gohan stood in terms of strength.
Frustrated, Vegeta returned to eating his stolen snack. He was so sure Gohan would have grown lax and sloppy with these peaceful years. Wasting his life studying and reading books. Instead, Vegeta had the suspicion that the reverse was true.
Gohan had just entered one of the labs and slammed into Bulma. Her first impulse was to grab Gohan's shirt with a look of rage, but stopped when she realized it wasn't Vegeta. Her face of anger dramatically turned to a smile, "Well, I wasn't expecting you for a while, Gohan. You wouldn't happen to know where that rat Vegeta is would you?"
Considering he wouldn't be around very long, Gohan decided to have a little fun. He pointed in the general direction of Vegeta's power signature, "He's off that way. I told him I'd stall you long enough to hide the ice cream carton."
Bulma seethed at that fact, "I'm going to nail him one of these days. I can never have a single thing to myself, in terms of food I mean. So, Chichi is really going to let you go?"
Gohan nodded, "Yeah. I'm ready, if you'll show me to the ship."
"Sure thing. Man, I was sure that she would have given you a speech on how your studies are more important, or how you need a future and not senseless exploration."
"Actually," Gohan motioned to the gigantic backpack, "She told me I could only go if I took all this with me. I have to finish at least half or she'll ground me for a year."
Bulma whistled, "Chichi sure can be strict. At least you'll have something of a vacation. I can't think of a single time any of us have gone into space where it wasn't involved with saving the Earth or training to defeat some monster somewhere." She began to walk down the halls, motioning for Gohan to follow.
The young man nodded, but didn't say anything. There was more to his little vacation than just rest and relaxation, but he didn't want to bring it up. Bulma stopped just before a large door and entered in a code. It slid open to reveal a state of the art spaceship, cosmetically identical to the one his father used to travel to Namek.
Bulma held out her hand, "The pride and glory of the Capsule Corp fleet. It has a lot of the advances from your father's pod when he came back to Earth after Namek, and it also has a slightly upgraded version of Vegeta's GR. Yep, I'm really proud of this thing." She fixed a glare on Gohan, "If you wreck it I'll kill you."
Gohan smiled, and ran his hand over the hull, "This is really neat. Does it operate like the old one?"
"Yes, it does. Now, there's enough food in there to feed a small village for a month. I'm guessing you'll have a least one week of supplies." Gohan laughed at her joke, "Just make sure you don't fly into a star, and you'll be fine. Have fun, I have to go hunt down that no good mate of mine." Once Bulma left the room, the ceiling opened up to allow the spaceship to leave.
Gohan walked up the entry ramp, which automatically closed, and sat down in the overly comfortable pilot's chair. He saw a preprogrammed course in the console. Wow, Bulma always thinks of everything! Gohan strapped himself in and pushed a blinking red button. The ship's engines hummed, and then fired. The G forces didn't bother Gohan one bit. The spaceship cleared the house, and lifted up out of the atmosphere.
Chichi jumped as Goten latched onto her leg. The spry three year old Saiyan had tears in his eyes, "Mommy, Gohan?"
Chichi smiled, and picked her son up. She poked his nose, "Aw, don't be so sad. He's only been gone four days. Gohan will be back before you know it, and he'll be more than happy to play with you." Goten perked up at those words, "Now, why don't we go and visit Trunks? I'm sure you'd like that."
Goten leaped out of his mother's arms and began to jump up and down. Chichi picked up a phone and dialed Bulma's number. The older woman picked up almost immediately, "Hello?"
"Hi, Bulma."
"Oh, Chichi! What's going on?"
"Listen, Goten's feeling a little lonely. I thought that maybe Trunks would like to spend some time playing with him."
"That's a great idea! Trunks would like it even more. Vegeta's been a pain, trying to keep him locked up in that GR. The poor kid says he's exhausted. But of course, the great prince of all Saiyins doesn't care. He says Trunks should be able to keep up with him no matter what the conditions. He's either going to make Trunks the most powerful four year old alive, or run him into the ground."
Chichi knew Bulma wasn't completely serious, as Vegeta would never deliberately cause harm to his own son, "We'll be there soon." She hung up and glanced down to Goten, "Ready to go?"
"Yay!!"
Gohan painfully collapsed on the floor of the GR at his latest attempt. He just didn't understand what he was doing wrong. He had tried everything, even bringing up the hatred Cell had caused all those years ago. Nothing worked. No matter what, Gohan just couldn't bring it out. He was so close.
Gohan was always careful about training. He made sure he trained in remote areas on Earth, and tried to keep the others from knowing. It was true that he had maintained his strength, as everyone knew, but what they didn't know was that he had been increasing it. Gohan made sure to mask his energy wherever he went. He didn't want the others to find out the full extent of his power, especially Vegeta. Gohan wasn't sure what the Saiyan prince might do if he knew the level Gohan had reached.
It was only a few months ago that he had felt it. Gohan had been training in the mountains. He was pushing himself as far as he could go, and then beyond it. While reaching his maximum in Super Saiyan Two, Gohan had discovered something. There was something there. Deep within him.
While he and his father had trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for the Cell Games, Goku had seen Gohan's hidden powers. Only Gohan was never aware of it until he finally brought them out. What he had found that day was much different, but also similar. He had tried to bring it out, but stopped once the planet had begun to tremble. The experience had also taxed him, drained great amounts of power from him. After going home, Gohan had decided that he could only try for this new power out in space.
Now he was here, and he couldn't do it. The pain was immense, but Gohan knew he should have been able to deal with it. He had to dig deeper, reach further. Having recovered from the last attempt, Gohan stood again, and prepared himself. Anger wasn't the key here. When he first became a Super Saiyin, and went beyond that during the Cell Games, he had relied on anger to bring it out. Maybe this would be different. Maybe this new power he found worked in another way.
Gohan breathed deeply, and began. His eyes swelled into a sky blue. His hair flashed, and then became a fiery gold. He had become a Super Saiyan. Then he started the process again. His muscles bulged slightly, his hair stood upright, growing an inch or two, and his body crackled. Lightning jumped between his arms, legs, and his torso. Super Saiyan Two, the level beyond.
Now he tried to go further. Gohan ignored his anger which came so easily in this form. He focused inward, reaching for that hidden strength. He could feel it. His energy rippled as he came closer. It wasn't enough. Gohan pushed himself farther, reached deeper, and forced himself to draw it out. It was coming. Gohan felt the power rising, but didn't lose his control. He fought for it, used every bit of his strength to hold on. It was coming. He could feel it. It was . . . it . . .
Goku stopped in mid swing, and regretted it as Pikan landed a solid kick to his stomach. The dead, green alien warrior blinked in surprise at Goku's sudden lapse in concentration. He backed off and let the fighter regain himself. Goku could handle the pain, but stared off blankly at the endless yellow skies of Other World.
King Kai walked up to him, "Um, Goku? Are you all right?"
Having recovered from the blow, Goku stood back up, "Yeah, but I thought I just . . . I thought for a second that I felt Gohan."
King Kai frowned, "I didn't sense anything. Did you?" He said to the West Kai.
"No. I think you're star fighter is going crazy from all the blows my Pikan has given him."
Goku ignored the two Kais as they began to bicker and argue. He turned to his sparring partner, "Did you feel anything just now?"
Pikan shook his head, "No."
Goku took another look at the direction he felt the . . . whatever it had been. It wasn't coming from Earth, but he knew Gohan's signature. It had to be him, but that was impossible.
Vegeta's eyes widened, and he abruptly pulled his head upwards, thinking he may be able to see the source of the great power through the ceiling of the GR. Not realizing his father's lapse in sparring, Trunks charged with a full powered kick to the head, and following right along Goten rammed a fist into the Prince's gut.
Letting out a discouraged squeal, Vegeta raised his energy enough to create a shockwave, sending both small boys into the walls of the room. Trunks rubbed his head furiously, "Ouch, dad! That really hurt!"
"Yeah, that wasn't fun!" Goten agreed.
"Quiet, both of you!" Through the surprising pain the two had managed to give him, Vegeta returned to searching out the power he had felt. Finding no traces he lowered his glowering face to his son, and rival's son. Then he smirked, "That's the spirit you two! Get in those attacks while you're enemy is off guard. Now, let's try this again."
With Vegeta's encouragement, both Goten and Trunks flipped onto their feet, and charged again.
Gohan fell backwards on the floor of the GR. This time he was not disappointed, or frustrated with himself. He had grin on his face that could only match when his dad had returned from Namek. He had done it. All that power felt incredible. The Super Saiyan Two paled in comparison. But the transformation had left him winded, and drained. Such power should only be used when there was no other option.
None of that mattered though. Gohan crawled to his bed, and pulled the covers up to his chin. Tomorrow, he would have to find a planet to test out his new power. He only hoped he wouldn't accidentally destroy it.
Ully blinked at his readout. He whirled in his seat and barked, "My lord, there is a small ship in this area. It is landing on the fifth planet in the system."
Jugger leaned back in his command chair, "Really? Can you tell me how many people are onboard?"
The pink alien's hands pressed buttons all across is board, "There is one, power level of fifteen. He is nothing compared to us, sir."
Jugger grinned wickedly, and stood up. The rest of his crew looked in his direction. He waved a hand and spoke, "We have been trapped in this system long enough! We shall use the rest of our fuel to land on this world, and then take this ship! We will be able to continue our quest to claim Freiza's empire for our own!"
The assortment of aliens all stood to attention and roared, "Hail Lord Jugger!!"
Gohan came to a halt about a hundred yards from his spaceship. He wasn't entirely sure what would happen if he powered up to his maximum, so he had to be certain the spaceship wouldn't be damaged. This planet had a green sky, and blue grass. It reminded Gohan of Namek, only the ground was jagged and rocky here. There were no trees. He didn't sense any life here, so Gohan was also sure that he wouldn't hurt anyone.
With a brief cry, Gohan readied himself for the transformations. He didn't have a chance to begin. Gohan's head whipped around to see several strange aliens descending on him at high speeds. They wore the same armor that Frieza's men wore.
One of the six, a fat blue skinned alien, cried out in a hysterical fit. Gohan raised his power as high as it could go, and sped behind the group. In actions so fast that they couldn't follow, Gohan took down each of his would be attackers with one strike. Just as quickly as he raised it, Gohan put his power back down to its normal level. A trick his father taught him when fighting an opponent. Never let them know how strong you are.
The six hadn't been all of them. Gohan looked up to see at least thirty more. Many were angry at the condition of their unconscious comrades, but others were obviously afraid at the sudden display of power.
Gohan called up to them, "Who are you?"
An ugly pink on answered, "I am Ully, second in command of Lord Jugger's army. We have come to claim your ship for our own."
"That's why you attacked me?" The group nodded in succession, "Well, I'll forgive you if you leave now. You don't want to fight me."
Ully laughed in the evil manner that Gohan hated, "You don't know who you're messing with, boy. We are elite warriors! Our powers are greater than the Ginyu Force, and they were very powerful."
Gohan knew the Ginyu Force. His father had single handedly defeated them all, and that was a long time ago. Gohan knew he was immensely more powerful than any of them. He smirked, "Too bad for you. I'd run right now."
Ully shook in rage, "Miserable punk! You might have bested those six, but they were the weakest of our group. Let's see how you do against the rest of us! Attack!!" The entire mass of alien fighters launched themselves at Gohan.
The Saiyan felt annoyed by these weaklings, and decided to end this in an instant. With a pulse, Gohan transformed. Using his incredibly speed, he kicked and punched his enemies into submission. Not one of them had time enough to even show fear or surprise as Gohan planted hit after hit into their bodies. Ully tried to make a run, but soon found Gohan phasing in front of him. With a quick chop of the hand, the young Saiyan put down the last of his attackers.
Gohan was surveying his handiwork when he felt another power. This one overshadowed all the others. It was still nothing compared to him, and Gohan acted it as he took in his next opponent. His armor was a pure black, and his skin a fierce red. Long white hair flowed around him as the alien flexed his power.
He glared at the state of his troops, "Impressive. I'm amazed you dealt with them so easily. You must be quite strong." He smirked, "But it won't be enough."
"And just who are you?"
The alien looked insulted that Gohan didn't know, "I am Lord Jugger! The one to succeed Freiza for control of the universe!"
Now that he mentioned it, Gohan noticed that Jugger's power was at Freiza's level, if not greater. Gohan was amazed he could remember something like that, "So, you were one of Freiza's henchmen?"
Jugger laughed, "Hardly. I spent thirty years of my life constantly training and improving myself. I was finally ready to take on Freiza, but he died."
Gohan grinned, "I know. It was my father who defeated him." Gohan didn't think to mention that Trunks was the one to finally finish Freiza off on Earth.
Jugger laughed, "I doubt that kid. Just who was your father?"
"His name was Goku. A Saiyan, from Earth."
That seemed to trigger something in Jugger, "A Saiyan? Impossible. How could a Saiyan have defeated Freiza?"
Gohan began to power up again, letting his golden aura overflow, "Not just a Saiyan, but a Super Saiyan. Like me. I'm his son!"
Jugger looked Gohan up and down, "You're a Saiyan? Hah, you don't even have a tail. Nice story kid, but I'm through with talking. I'm going to put you down, and then I'm leaving this place." Jugger powered up again and charged Gohan.
He might as well have been moving through molasses. Gohan's speed and awareness were so far along that he felt as though whole minutes passed before Jugger reached him. The punch, meant to take your opponent out with one blow, passed harmlessly through the air. Jugger's wide eyes scanned the area, "What!? Where did he go?"
"Behind you." A warm golden light played down over Jugger's shoulders.
Jugger didn't bother to turn around. He swung his leg back in an attempt to smite the young fighter. The child caught him. Gohan pulled Jugger towards him and placed a powerful kick into his back. The tyrant tried to cry out in pain, but was silenced as he dove into the ground.
Gohan settled himself down at the edge of the crater. He really didn't need to transform to beat them. It had only happened on instinct. Jugger's head lifted up and stared at the boy, "What are . . . y-you?"
"I told you. I'm a Saiyan." Gohan released his hold and the golden aura and hair vanished. He glared down on the defeated dictator, "If I were you, I'd never try this again. If you do, I might come back." Gohan turned and headed back to his ship. He would have to find a new planet to train on now, and make sure there really wasn't anyone else around.
"HAAAA!" Gohan leapt up and saw a final energy attack from Jugger pass under him. He cringed when he saw the beam heading straight for his ship. He transformed and tried to get ahead of it, but the power loss from the transformation cost him. The beam ripped through the ship's upper hull and clear through. The inner cabin lay exposed to the outside.
Gohan's eye twitched, "My . . . spaceship. Oh no! How am I going to get off this planet?" Jugger's laughter could be heard coming from the crater. Gohan powered up a ki blast and launched it at the deranged enemy. It wasn't enough to kill Jugger, just to put him out of commission for a good long while.
Gohan landed by the smoking remains. There was no way he could get it space worthy again. Gohan only hoped the communications systems still worked.
Chichi rolled her eyes as Vegeta walked off with the two boys. He had insisted on training Trunks more, and had decided to get Goten a head start. She didn't mind it at all. Her view on the world changed somewhat after Goku's death. That's why she allowed Gohan to train.
"Sorry in advance." Bulma said, "I just know Vegeta's going to run Goten into the ground with Trunks."
"If Goten runs out of energy I'd thank him." Chichi took another sip of her tea. She hadn't meant to stay the night, but she had surprised herself with how much she had to talk about with Bulma. Goten of course didn't mind staying. Trunks was happy with the arrangement too.
A video phone in the living room chimed. Bulma lifted herself off the plush couch and pressed it on. She was surprised to see who it was, "Gohan! Well, how are you doing kid?" She frowned when she saw smoke in the background, "Uh, what's that?"
The teenager glanced behind him. His face molded into a painful grimace, "Uh, Bulma, I had a little . . . incident over here."
"Like what?" Bulma felt her eye twitch.
"Uh, some alien guy blew up half the ship."
Chichi pushed past Bulma and pressed her face against the glass, "Gohan, are you all right!?"
Gohan had jumped back in surprise at his mother's face, "Mom!? Um, I'm fine."
"Whew," Chichi's worried expression changed, "Son Gohan, how could you wreck that ship when Bulma agreed to lend it to you?"
"Oh come on, mom. A bunch of weird aliens attacked me, it wasn't my fault." Gohan glanced off the screen, "I think they're getting back up. I'd really like to leave before I had to put them down again. Is there a way to get moving with half the upper dome gone?" Gohan regretted those words after they came out.
Bulma's face turned a dark red, "The upper dome what!!?"
Gohan noticed someone in the background, "Vegeta! Could you help me out here?"
The prince of all Saiyans growled, "After the tongue lashing I got thanks to you? Forget it kid."
Bulma's attention shifted from Gohan to Vegeta, "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting some food. What does it look like?"
"Where are the boys?"
"In the GR. I told them to knock each other around until I got back."
Vegeta made to leave for the kitchen, but halted when Bulma grabbed onto his ear in a painful way, "You jerk! They might mess with the gravity controls! You want to have a pancake for a son!? You're lucky you don't have that damn tail anymore." She glanced over at Gohan, "There are a bunch of escape pods in the lower level. If you don't want those aliens following, then just destroy the remains before you leave. As for you, we're going right back to the GR and you're going to apologize to those boys for leaving them."
Vegeta growled, "Damnit, woman! Let go of my ear!"
Gohan hovered the pod just above the wreckage and climbed out. With a quick pulse of energy, he incinerated the remains of his ship. Gohan sat back inside and let the computer plot an automatic course for Earth. The whole situation angered him. He didn't get to test out his new powers, he lost all that food, and now Bulma, Vegeta, and his mother were pissed at him. Vegeta he had expected, but not all three.
He doubted that Bulma would ever lend him another ship, nor would his mother let him go out into space again. Gohan growled. It didn't seem as though he would ever get a chance to test out his powers. At least he could comfort himself with the fact that his study materials survived. Maybe he wouldn't be grounded for saving them.
Chapter 2 :To be continued
.There's a lot to be said about "The Story of Gohan." The ending had been edited several times to try and make a sequel work, but in the end it became "The Legacy of Gohan" which is now ongoing. It was my first story, ever, so don't be too harsh on me.
Gohan felt like crying as his father spoke to them from the Other World. Goku's words touched them all, "I know how you all feel, but this is for the best. Freiza, the Androids, and even Cell were all here because of me. If I just disappear, then maybe Earth won't have to live through another one of my battles."
"That's not fair, dad!" Gohan cried out, "What about me and mom? I know this was my fault, but we still need you."
"Hey, remember what I said? How this might have been the best way? Android 18 would have died with Cell had you finished him. This way, maybe she can have a second chance. Besides, King Kai and I are going to have lots of fun together!"
A low snort echoed through the Lookout, "Oh yeah, lots of fun. You lousy home wreaker."
Goku laughed, "Ah, don't be like that King Kai. I already said I was sorry! Well, I think it's time I got going. King Kai's going to burst, long distance call."
Gohan wiped the tears from his face, and smiled. He looked upward, I know I made a mistake, dad, and it cost you your life. But I promise I'll never let my guard down again. I'll keep going, and I'll protect this planet just like you have!
Little did Gohan know that his father could hear his thoughts, "I know you will. I've always been proud of you Gohan. Take care of your mother, and tell her I love you both. Good-bye, my friends." And then he was gone.
Piccolo looked over at the young Super Saiyan, who had just become the most powerful fighter in the entire universe. The genuine smile on Gohan's face was all the relief he needed. The child would be fine. Piccolo looked up at the eternal dragon and muttered, "Well, we still have one wish left. What should it be?"
Krillin stepped forth hesitantly and said, "I . . . think I have one."
"What is it?" Yamcha asked.
"Well, 18 is kind of alone here. What if we brought Android 17 back? That way she'd have a friend."
Yamcha's jaw nearly hit the floor, "Are you crazy!? What if he starts attacking us?"
"Well . . . if he did that, Gohan, Vegeta, and even Piccolo could easily deal with him. Everyone's several times stronger since he was absorbed."
The baseball player grinned, "Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Sure, I have no problem then." Everyone else nodded their consent, except for Vegeta who stood in a corner with his arms crossed. He didn't really care what the others did.
Krillin approached the dragon, "I ask that Android 17 be brought here, returned to life!"
The dragon's eyes glowed, and then died, "That is not within my power. Ask another wish."
The short man fumed at the dragon's inability. He wondered what else was left. Then it hit him, "Could you at least make Android 18 human again, but still retain all her power and ability?"
The dragon's eyes burned a second time, "Your wish has been granted. I have given you your wishes, I shall depart." With a mighty burst of light, Shenron returned to the dragonballs. Together, the seven balls lifted into the air, and shot out to distant parts of the planet.
Tien stared at Krillin, "I don't understand. Why make her human, but let her keep her powers?"
Krillin scratched his head, "If the dragon had taken them away, I'm pretty sure 18 would kill me!"
Everyone got in a good laugh at their cowardly friend, but understood his intentions. Only a short distance away, hiding behind the Lookout's walls, stood the newly transformed Android 18. An Android no more. She stared at her hands, feeling more alive now than she had before. But everything about her had remained the same. She looked over at the short, blushing man, Why would he do this for me?
Gohan's grin grew as the sky returned to a pale blue. He looked at the tired group of the Z fighters, "Come on you guys! This is the first day of the rest of our lives!"
* * *
Chichi stumbled backwards. Her face in tears, "He's dead? No . . . no, he can't be!" She cried. Gohan never liked to see his mother cry, but he knew better than to stop her. Chichi gripped her apron, nearly tearing it, "Why wouldn't he come back to me?"
"Mom, he said he loved us both. He's going to miss us as much as we'll miss him, but dad thought this would be for the best. He didn't want any more trouble coming after him and harming us."
"That stubborn, heroic fool. He'd say that." Then again, that's one of the things I love about him. Chichi looked up to her son, who for the first time in over a week was no longer a Super Saiyan. She smoothed his unruly black hair, "How are you, Gohan? You're so brave." She pulled her son close and hugged him tight.
The Ox King stepped toward his grandson, "You were great, Gohan. Just like your father."
Chapter I: How the Years Go By
Four years later . . .
Gohan gently settled down before Bulma's home at Capsule Corporation. He wished his mother hadn't forced him to bring along all the reading material in his grossly oversized backpack, but she wouldn't have let him go otherwise.
He walked through the front door of the enormous house only to be greeted by a familiar scream, "Vegeta!! Where are you!? Bring it back right now!!"
Gohan couldn't believe Vegeta had gotten Bulma so upset . . . again. Almost on queue, the prince of all Saiyans strolled into the main hall, a gallon of fudge ice cream in his hands. Gohan blankly stared as Vegeta spooned the dark dessert into his mouth, which had an evil grin about it. He noticed Gohan and smirked, "If it isn't the spawn of Kakkarot."
Gohan pointed to the ice cream, "That wouldn't happen to be what Bulma's screaming about, is it?"
"Hah," the Saiyan prince laughed, "Serves her right for thinking she could hide it from me." He scooped up another large amount.
They both froze when a loud tromping started to approach. Vegeta almost looked scared. Gohan walked up to him, "If you tell me where she is right now, I'll distract her long enough so you can hide the evidence."
Vegeta liked Gohan's train of thought, and pointed over his shoulder towards the lab area. As Gohan wandered off, Vegeta probed him with his mind. The boy had been masking his energy again. With Goku dead and the future version of his son returned to the future, Vegeta had no one to test himself against. He knew Gohan had been training, maintaining his power these past years, but every time he offered to spar with the younger Saiyan, Gohan would refuse. That only left his son, and Kakkarot's other spawn to fight against, and they hadn't even developed their powers. Vegeta would have at least liked to know where Gohan stood in terms of strength.
Frustrated, Vegeta returned to eating his stolen snack. He was so sure Gohan would have grown lax and sloppy with these peaceful years. Wasting his life studying and reading books. Instead, Vegeta had the suspicion that the reverse was true.
Gohan had just entered one of the labs and slammed into Bulma. Her first impulse was to grab Gohan's shirt with a look of rage, but stopped when she realized it wasn't Vegeta. Her face of anger dramatically turned to a smile, "Well, I wasn't expecting you for a while, Gohan. You wouldn't happen to know where that rat Vegeta is would you?"
Considering he wouldn't be around very long, Gohan decided to have a little fun. He pointed in the general direction of Vegeta's power signature, "He's off that way. I told him I'd stall you long enough to hide the ice cream carton."
Bulma seethed at that fact, "I'm going to nail him one of these days. I can never have a single thing to myself, in terms of food I mean. So, Chichi is really going to let you go?"
Gohan nodded, "Yeah. I'm ready, if you'll show me to the ship."
"Sure thing. Man, I was sure that she would have given you a speech on how your studies are more important, or how you need a future and not senseless exploration."
"Actually," Gohan motioned to the gigantic backpack, "She told me I could only go if I took all this with me. I have to finish at least half or she'll ground me for a year."
Bulma whistled, "Chichi sure can be strict. At least you'll have something of a vacation. I can't think of a single time any of us have gone into space where it wasn't involved with saving the Earth or training to defeat some monster somewhere." She began to walk down the halls, motioning for Gohan to follow.
The young man nodded, but didn't say anything. There was more to his little vacation than just rest and relaxation, but he didn't want to bring it up. Bulma stopped just before a large door and entered in a code. It slid open to reveal a state of the art spaceship, cosmetically identical to the one his father used to travel to Namek.
Bulma held out her hand, "The pride and glory of the Capsule Corp fleet. It has a lot of the advances from your father's pod when he came back to Earth after Namek, and it also has a slightly upgraded version of Vegeta's GR. Yep, I'm really proud of this thing." She fixed a glare on Gohan, "If you wreck it I'll kill you."
Gohan smiled, and ran his hand over the hull, "This is really neat. Does it operate like the old one?"
"Yes, it does. Now, there's enough food in there to feed a small village for a month. I'm guessing you'll have a least one week of supplies." Gohan laughed at her joke, "Just make sure you don't fly into a star, and you'll be fine. Have fun, I have to go hunt down that no good mate of mine." Once Bulma left the room, the ceiling opened up to allow the spaceship to leave.
Gohan walked up the entry ramp, which automatically closed, and sat down in the overly comfortable pilot's chair. He saw a preprogrammed course in the console. Wow, Bulma always thinks of everything! Gohan strapped himself in and pushed a blinking red button. The ship's engines hummed, and then fired. The G forces didn't bother Gohan one bit. The spaceship cleared the house, and lifted up out of the atmosphere.
Chichi jumped as Goten latched onto her leg. The spry three year old Saiyan had tears in his eyes, "Mommy, Gohan?"
Chichi smiled, and picked her son up. She poked his nose, "Aw, don't be so sad. He's only been gone four days. Gohan will be back before you know it, and he'll be more than happy to play with you." Goten perked up at those words, "Now, why don't we go and visit Trunks? I'm sure you'd like that."
Goten leaped out of his mother's arms and began to jump up and down. Chichi picked up a phone and dialed Bulma's number. The older woman picked up almost immediately, "Hello?"
"Hi, Bulma."
"Oh, Chichi! What's going on?"
"Listen, Goten's feeling a little lonely. I thought that maybe Trunks would like to spend some time playing with him."
"That's a great idea! Trunks would like it even more. Vegeta's been a pain, trying to keep him locked up in that GR. The poor kid says he's exhausted. But of course, the great prince of all Saiyins doesn't care. He says Trunks should be able to keep up with him no matter what the conditions. He's either going to make Trunks the most powerful four year old alive, or run him into the ground."
Chichi knew Bulma wasn't completely serious, as Vegeta would never deliberately cause harm to his own son, "We'll be there soon." She hung up and glanced down to Goten, "Ready to go?"
"Yay!!"
Gohan painfully collapsed on the floor of the GR at his latest attempt. He just didn't understand what he was doing wrong. He had tried everything, even bringing up the hatred Cell had caused all those years ago. Nothing worked. No matter what, Gohan just couldn't bring it out. He was so close.
Gohan was always careful about training. He made sure he trained in remote areas on Earth, and tried to keep the others from knowing. It was true that he had maintained his strength, as everyone knew, but what they didn't know was that he had been increasing it. Gohan made sure to mask his energy wherever he went. He didn't want the others to find out the full extent of his power, especially Vegeta. Gohan wasn't sure what the Saiyan prince might do if he knew the level Gohan had reached.
It was only a few months ago that he had felt it. Gohan had been training in the mountains. He was pushing himself as far as he could go, and then beyond it. While reaching his maximum in Super Saiyan Two, Gohan had discovered something. There was something there. Deep within him.
While he and his father had trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for the Cell Games, Goku had seen Gohan's hidden powers. Only Gohan was never aware of it until he finally brought them out. What he had found that day was much different, but also similar. He had tried to bring it out, but stopped once the planet had begun to tremble. The experience had also taxed him, drained great amounts of power from him. After going home, Gohan had decided that he could only try for this new power out in space.
Now he was here, and he couldn't do it. The pain was immense, but Gohan knew he should have been able to deal with it. He had to dig deeper, reach further. Having recovered from the last attempt, Gohan stood again, and prepared himself. Anger wasn't the key here. When he first became a Super Saiyin, and went beyond that during the Cell Games, he had relied on anger to bring it out. Maybe this would be different. Maybe this new power he found worked in another way.
Gohan breathed deeply, and began. His eyes swelled into a sky blue. His hair flashed, and then became a fiery gold. He had become a Super Saiyan. Then he started the process again. His muscles bulged slightly, his hair stood upright, growing an inch or two, and his body crackled. Lightning jumped between his arms, legs, and his torso. Super Saiyan Two, the level beyond.
Now he tried to go further. Gohan ignored his anger which came so easily in this form. He focused inward, reaching for that hidden strength. He could feel it. His energy rippled as he came closer. It wasn't enough. Gohan pushed himself farther, reached deeper, and forced himself to draw it out. It was coming. Gohan felt the power rising, but didn't lose his control. He fought for it, used every bit of his strength to hold on. It was coming. He could feel it. It was . . . it . . .
Goku stopped in mid swing, and regretted it as Pikan landed a solid kick to his stomach. The dead, green alien warrior blinked in surprise at Goku's sudden lapse in concentration. He backed off and let the fighter regain himself. Goku could handle the pain, but stared off blankly at the endless yellow skies of Other World.
King Kai walked up to him, "Um, Goku? Are you all right?"
Having recovered from the blow, Goku stood back up, "Yeah, but I thought I just . . . I thought for a second that I felt Gohan."
King Kai frowned, "I didn't sense anything. Did you?" He said to the West Kai.
"No. I think you're star fighter is going crazy from all the blows my Pikan has given him."
Goku ignored the two Kais as they began to bicker and argue. He turned to his sparring partner, "Did you feel anything just now?"
Pikan shook his head, "No."
Goku took another look at the direction he felt the . . . whatever it had been. It wasn't coming from Earth, but he knew Gohan's signature. It had to be him, but that was impossible.
Vegeta's eyes widened, and he abruptly pulled his head upwards, thinking he may be able to see the source of the great power through the ceiling of the GR. Not realizing his father's lapse in sparring, Trunks charged with a full powered kick to the head, and following right along Goten rammed a fist into the Prince's gut.
Letting out a discouraged squeal, Vegeta raised his energy enough to create a shockwave, sending both small boys into the walls of the room. Trunks rubbed his head furiously, "Ouch, dad! That really hurt!"
"Yeah, that wasn't fun!" Goten agreed.
"Quiet, both of you!" Through the surprising pain the two had managed to give him, Vegeta returned to searching out the power he had felt. Finding no traces he lowered his glowering face to his son, and rival's son. Then he smirked, "That's the spirit you two! Get in those attacks while you're enemy is off guard. Now, let's try this again."
With Vegeta's encouragement, both Goten and Trunks flipped onto their feet, and charged again.
Gohan fell backwards on the floor of the GR. This time he was not disappointed, or frustrated with himself. He had grin on his face that could only match when his dad had returned from Namek. He had done it. All that power felt incredible. The Super Saiyan Two paled in comparison. But the transformation had left him winded, and drained. Such power should only be used when there was no other option.
None of that mattered though. Gohan crawled to his bed, and pulled the covers up to his chin. Tomorrow, he would have to find a planet to test out his new power. He only hoped he wouldn't accidentally destroy it.
Ully blinked at his readout. He whirled in his seat and barked, "My lord, there is a small ship in this area. It is landing on the fifth planet in the system."
Jugger leaned back in his command chair, "Really? Can you tell me how many people are onboard?"
The pink alien's hands pressed buttons all across is board, "There is one, power level of fifteen. He is nothing compared to us, sir."
Jugger grinned wickedly, and stood up. The rest of his crew looked in his direction. He waved a hand and spoke, "We have been trapped in this system long enough! We shall use the rest of our fuel to land on this world, and then take this ship! We will be able to continue our quest to claim Freiza's empire for our own!"
The assortment of aliens all stood to attention and roared, "Hail Lord Jugger!!"
Gohan came to a halt about a hundred yards from his spaceship. He wasn't entirely sure what would happen if he powered up to his maximum, so he had to be certain the spaceship wouldn't be damaged. This planet had a green sky, and blue grass. It reminded Gohan of Namek, only the ground was jagged and rocky here. There were no trees. He didn't sense any life here, so Gohan was also sure that he wouldn't hurt anyone.
With a brief cry, Gohan readied himself for the transformations. He didn't have a chance to begin. Gohan's head whipped around to see several strange aliens descending on him at high speeds. They wore the same armor that Frieza's men wore.
One of the six, a fat blue skinned alien, cried out in a hysterical fit. Gohan raised his power as high as it could go, and sped behind the group. In actions so fast that they couldn't follow, Gohan took down each of his would be attackers with one strike. Just as quickly as he raised it, Gohan put his power back down to its normal level. A trick his father taught him when fighting an opponent. Never let them know how strong you are.
The six hadn't been all of them. Gohan looked up to see at least thirty more. Many were angry at the condition of their unconscious comrades, but others were obviously afraid at the sudden display of power.
Gohan called up to them, "Who are you?"
An ugly pink on answered, "I am Ully, second in command of Lord Jugger's army. We have come to claim your ship for our own."
"That's why you attacked me?" The group nodded in succession, "Well, I'll forgive you if you leave now. You don't want to fight me."
Ully laughed in the evil manner that Gohan hated, "You don't know who you're messing with, boy. We are elite warriors! Our powers are greater than the Ginyu Force, and they were very powerful."
Gohan knew the Ginyu Force. His father had single handedly defeated them all, and that was a long time ago. Gohan knew he was immensely more powerful than any of them. He smirked, "Too bad for you. I'd run right now."
Ully shook in rage, "Miserable punk! You might have bested those six, but they were the weakest of our group. Let's see how you do against the rest of us! Attack!!" The entire mass of alien fighters launched themselves at Gohan.
The Saiyan felt annoyed by these weaklings, and decided to end this in an instant. With a pulse, Gohan transformed. Using his incredibly speed, he kicked and punched his enemies into submission. Not one of them had time enough to even show fear or surprise as Gohan planted hit after hit into their bodies. Ully tried to make a run, but soon found Gohan phasing in front of him. With a quick chop of the hand, the young Saiyan put down the last of his attackers.
Gohan was surveying his handiwork when he felt another power. This one overshadowed all the others. It was still nothing compared to him, and Gohan acted it as he took in his next opponent. His armor was a pure black, and his skin a fierce red. Long white hair flowed around him as the alien flexed his power.
He glared at the state of his troops, "Impressive. I'm amazed you dealt with them so easily. You must be quite strong." He smirked, "But it won't be enough."
"And just who are you?"
The alien looked insulted that Gohan didn't know, "I am Lord Jugger! The one to succeed Freiza for control of the universe!"
Now that he mentioned it, Gohan noticed that Jugger's power was at Freiza's level, if not greater. Gohan was amazed he could remember something like that, "So, you were one of Freiza's henchmen?"
Jugger laughed, "Hardly. I spent thirty years of my life constantly training and improving myself. I was finally ready to take on Freiza, but he died."
Gohan grinned, "I know. It was my father who defeated him." Gohan didn't think to mention that Trunks was the one to finally finish Freiza off on Earth.
Jugger laughed, "I doubt that kid. Just who was your father?"
"His name was Goku. A Saiyan, from Earth."
That seemed to trigger something in Jugger, "A Saiyan? Impossible. How could a Saiyan have defeated Freiza?"
Gohan began to power up again, letting his golden aura overflow, "Not just a Saiyan, but a Super Saiyan. Like me. I'm his son!"
Jugger looked Gohan up and down, "You're a Saiyan? Hah, you don't even have a tail. Nice story kid, but I'm through with talking. I'm going to put you down, and then I'm leaving this place." Jugger powered up again and charged Gohan.
He might as well have been moving through molasses. Gohan's speed and awareness were so far along that he felt as though whole minutes passed before Jugger reached him. The punch, meant to take your opponent out with one blow, passed harmlessly through the air. Jugger's wide eyes scanned the area, "What!? Where did he go?"
"Behind you." A warm golden light played down over Jugger's shoulders.
Jugger didn't bother to turn around. He swung his leg back in an attempt to smite the young fighter. The child caught him. Gohan pulled Jugger towards him and placed a powerful kick into his back. The tyrant tried to cry out in pain, but was silenced as he dove into the ground.
Gohan settled himself down at the edge of the crater. He really didn't need to transform to beat them. It had only happened on instinct. Jugger's head lifted up and stared at the boy, "What are . . . y-you?"
"I told you. I'm a Saiyan." Gohan released his hold and the golden aura and hair vanished. He glared down on the defeated dictator, "If I were you, I'd never try this again. If you do, I might come back." Gohan turned and headed back to his ship. He would have to find a new planet to train on now, and make sure there really wasn't anyone else around.
"HAAAA!" Gohan leapt up and saw a final energy attack from Jugger pass under him. He cringed when he saw the beam heading straight for his ship. He transformed and tried to get ahead of it, but the power loss from the transformation cost him. The beam ripped through the ship's upper hull and clear through. The inner cabin lay exposed to the outside.
Gohan's eye twitched, "My . . . spaceship. Oh no! How am I going to get off this planet?" Jugger's laughter could be heard coming from the crater. Gohan powered up a ki blast and launched it at the deranged enemy. It wasn't enough to kill Jugger, just to put him out of commission for a good long while.
Gohan landed by the smoking remains. There was no way he could get it space worthy again. Gohan only hoped the communications systems still worked.
Chichi rolled her eyes as Vegeta walked off with the two boys. He had insisted on training Trunks more, and had decided to get Goten a head start. She didn't mind it at all. Her view on the world changed somewhat after Goku's death. That's why she allowed Gohan to train.
"Sorry in advance." Bulma said, "I just know Vegeta's going to run Goten into the ground with Trunks."
"If Goten runs out of energy I'd thank him." Chichi took another sip of her tea. She hadn't meant to stay the night, but she had surprised herself with how much she had to talk about with Bulma. Goten of course didn't mind staying. Trunks was happy with the arrangement too.
A video phone in the living room chimed. Bulma lifted herself off the plush couch and pressed it on. She was surprised to see who it was, "Gohan! Well, how are you doing kid?" She frowned when she saw smoke in the background, "Uh, what's that?"
The teenager glanced behind him. His face molded into a painful grimace, "Uh, Bulma, I had a little . . . incident over here."
"Like what?" Bulma felt her eye twitch.
"Uh, some alien guy blew up half the ship."
Chichi pushed past Bulma and pressed her face against the glass, "Gohan, are you all right!?"
Gohan had jumped back in surprise at his mother's face, "Mom!? Um, I'm fine."
"Whew," Chichi's worried expression changed, "Son Gohan, how could you wreck that ship when Bulma agreed to lend it to you?"
"Oh come on, mom. A bunch of weird aliens attacked me, it wasn't my fault." Gohan glanced off the screen, "I think they're getting back up. I'd really like to leave before I had to put them down again. Is there a way to get moving with half the upper dome gone?" Gohan regretted those words after they came out.
Bulma's face turned a dark red, "The upper dome what!!?"
Gohan noticed someone in the background, "Vegeta! Could you help me out here?"
The prince of all Saiyans growled, "After the tongue lashing I got thanks to you? Forget it kid."
Bulma's attention shifted from Gohan to Vegeta, "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting some food. What does it look like?"
"Where are the boys?"
"In the GR. I told them to knock each other around until I got back."
Vegeta made to leave for the kitchen, but halted when Bulma grabbed onto his ear in a painful way, "You jerk! They might mess with the gravity controls! You want to have a pancake for a son!? You're lucky you don't have that damn tail anymore." She glanced over at Gohan, "There are a bunch of escape pods in the lower level. If you don't want those aliens following, then just destroy the remains before you leave. As for you, we're going right back to the GR and you're going to apologize to those boys for leaving them."
Vegeta growled, "Damnit, woman! Let go of my ear!"
Gohan hovered the pod just above the wreckage and climbed out. With a quick pulse of energy, he incinerated the remains of his ship. Gohan sat back inside and let the computer plot an automatic course for Earth. The whole situation angered him. He didn't get to test out his new powers, he lost all that food, and now Bulma, Vegeta, and his mother were pissed at him. Vegeta he had expected, but not all three.
He doubted that Bulma would ever lend him another ship, nor would his mother let him go out into space again. Gohan growled. It didn't seem as though he would ever get a chance to test out his powers. At least he could comfort himself with the fact that his study materials survived. Maybe he wouldn't be grounded for saving them.
Chapter 2 :To be continued
