Gohan vs Nappa | Gem, Forum | Complete

Gohan's muttering suddenly cut short and his eyes opened to the familiar world that had been rendered around him. Something tingled in his periphery, a small fraction of the energy around his body grating against another person's flow. The mental space that he had been using to meditate had been invaded, though the gentleness of his surroundings were yet undisturbed. The boy sighed as he stood up, bending his neck so sharply to one side that an audible crack echoed through the grassy field. He let his ki mingle with the air, carrying himself just enough that the grass licked his feet as he hovered.

Following the dissonance where his own energy met another's, Gohan kept his ki neatly circulating around himself. He had been sucker-punched more than enough times to know that sometimes, people who came to the astral realm were just battle junkies looking for their next burst of violence. It was best to have a little cushion prepared when coming face to face with a stranger, at least whenever possible. It didn't take him long before he came across a large man - so large, in fact, that Gohan almost thought it was a bear dressed in a person's clothes. It wouldn't have been the weirdest encounter he'd had in this place.

"Wow," Gohan said unceremoniously, coming face to face with the man. He looked the behemoth over, then glanced down at himself quickly before offering a thin smile. "We're kind of like opposites, huh. I'm Gohan."

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As soon as Gohan heard the larger man begin to speak, the cogs making up his memory began to grind together. Something about him was exceedingly familiar, but it wasn't until the man pointed an accusing finger and questioned the boy's lineage that he remembered fully. This man was likely a Saiyan too, and he looked remarkably similar to one from Gohan's own timeline. In fact, the behemoth had almost killed him, once-upon-a-time. But as much as he had the capacity to remember a timeline that wasn't this one, Gohan wondered how he had been recognized as Saiyan.

"I... never mind," he started answering the first question, but decided against it. He didn't want to be provocative. "I haven't met many other Saiyans here, so I'm surprised you can tell."

The boy lowered himself onto the grass, his feet sinking into the soft soil. Even at his full height, he was barely more than half the size of his opposite.

"Do the Saiyans in this universe love fighting as much as they do where I'm from?" Gohan asked, his words an open challenge. His stance was neutral, prepared to block or evade. It wasn't fair to this man for Gohan to project his childhood terror, but it was another step toward accepting where he was now. Either they would fight, or they wouldn't - but Gohan had no intention of staying helpless forever.

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Even if his name is the same, Gohan thought, regarding Nappa's thoughtful response, I don't think their personalities could be further apart. He hadn't realized it but since the start of their conversation, the boy's muscles had been unconsciously tightening. After hearing enough to form the earliest of impressions, though, Gohan's tension escaped him all at once, and he understood just how intoxicated he had become by the stress of an old grudge and some built-in fight-or-flight response.

"Gohan," he reaffirmed with a nod. "I see. There are only a few of us left, where I'm from. I never knew what Saiyans were like - I mean, there should always have to be trades and commerce. A whole civilization can't possibly be built off the military-industrial complex, can it? Eventually it would have to collapse. But by the time I was born, they were all gone. It was just my dad and a few others..."

Gohan paused, staring at the hulking figure for just a moment longer than was natural.

"They all loved violence, though. So now they're gone too."

When he first realized he was in the astral plane, Gohan had imagined a few things going down. First, he would begin an experiment of some sort, or otherwise make use of the time to train his mind. Second, most likely an overly-eager fighter would make their way into his newly established cozy space and try to beat the snot out of him. Third, they would probably succeed, and everyone would wake up a little more tired than they should have. This made twice in the past week that the formula had been broken. Rather than begrudge or question the fates, Gohan was going to make the most of it.

"You're right, Nappa. I don't like fighting, but I've always had to do it anyway. I'd rather read a book or do a science experiment. I'm glad to hear that that's okay for a Saiyan, though."

At the corner of Gohan's eye, there was just the faintest trickle of moisture. "There's a lot I don't know about this universe, but you seem like a good man. I'd like to learn more, at least about the... Empire? If you keep the peace, maybe you can help me. Everything I've seen so far seems like there's just so much war and fighting here, but if not everyone is like that then there must be more going on. And if some of you can get along, then maybe that's worth me learning so I can bring it back home."

A steady gaze looked up at the man, far too serious to be worn by just a 14 year old boy.

"Will you help me learn more about my people, and about this universe?"

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Gohan nodded, paying close attention to the bigger man. Nappa seemed to take the request seriously - more seriously than Gohan expected, at least - and answered with an honesty that continued to impress upon the younger boy. Keeping things realistic and manageable was all he could promise in response to Gohan's awkward request, but that was far better than leading him on or making a halfhearted attempt and giving up early. The boy took a deep breath as he closed and reopened his eyes, trying to readjust the social landscape quickly.

"Thank you," he made sure to say first. "I heard there was a great library in a place called 'Kelioux', so that's where I am now. I wanted to learn about getting back to my own universe, or to see if they had any information here. Or maybe it isn't a different universe, but just... a timeline?" Gohan scratched his head at his own question, suddenly unsure after giving some more thought to the existence of similar-but-different individuals.

"Originally, though, I'm from Earth," he continued, gesturing to the landscape around him. "If Planet Vegeta is your homeworld, then I would love to hear more about that. Where I come from, that whole planet was destroyed a long time ago. Or, you said you keep the peace for the Empire, but I don't even know who's in the Empire. Which Empire?" Gohan fought the urge to unleash a torrent of questions. He had already asked for something overwhelming by accident, so he didn't want to continue that trend. He just had to take a deep breath, blink, and start slow with the specifics.

"I don't really know how long this place will last if we're just talking, either. Usually when I come here, I just get beat up and sent home..." Gohan tried not to look dejected, but the reality was undeniably pathetic. "How about this: I can show you some fighting moves from my home, and in return maybe you can tell me more about the Saiyan Empire?"

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Gohan noted the key points as Nappa spoke, giving just enough of an overview that he had some good points for further investigation. All in all, though, it really sounded like the universe they were in was a scaled up version of the civilization on Gohan's own Earth. At some level it was nice to know that his home was a peaceful place here too, but just hearing that the same jobs were necessary made the young Saiyan feel a lot more comfortable in the unfamiliar setting. It would've been all too easy to take aspects of planetary civilization for granted when thinking about anything even more expansive, but it kept his feet on the ground to know those truths.

An easygoing smile popped up on the boy's face when Nappa mentioned he may be visiting Kelioux as well. He couldn't say that they were friends, but the implied offer to meet was enough to make Gohan more comfortable. "Thank you," he said, stepping back a little bit from the hulking Saiyan. "That may all be common knowledge to you, but reaffirming some basic things is really meaningful to me. And about Earth, well... that's good to hear too. Now for my end of the bargain."

The buffer of ki which Gohan wore still clung to his skin, moisture and static trapped within it. The young Saiyan visualized the energy racing along his body like lightning, ki circulating freely from his diaphragm as he breathed deeply. It was a physical manifestation of the tremendous power hidden within an adolescent body, a well of power that he had trained so extensively to tap into when necessary. Standing in the astral realm in a non-combative situation would not usually have counted as a "necessary" time, but for demonstration's sake, Gohan made an exception. As if plunging into water, the Saiyan teen momentarily gave up the fine control he had over his energy and let it splash around him freely.

Golden illumination wiped away the inky blackness of his hair and the blue of Earth's perfect sky was reflected in his eyes as Gohan returned to a power which was too familiar. "Where I come from, the remaining Saiyans had no idea this form was possible," he narrated, allowing waves of ki to flow uninhibited for long enough that even an unseasoned sensor would understand the relative strength between Gohan's base and transformed states. Seconds later he was back to recycling the energy his own body output, the thin barrier he wore before meeting Nappa returning with a new golden hue. "Soon, everyone could do that too, though. What my Father and I discovered was that if you can keep all of the energy bound together, it stays that way and you don't get tired."

To show off experimentally, Gohan threw a few jabs at the air. Each made a distinct and crisp sound, small afterimages of the golden aura tracing their path. He could have gone on to perform any martial arts forms that he had learned, or perhaps even a technique like the Masenko or Kamehameha, but Gohan figured that another Saiyan would be most interested in the "Super Saiyan" after all.

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