Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Love Beyond Hope ❯ Fight Club ( Chapter 1 )

DragonBall Z: A Love Beyond Hope

Author's Note: My second Dragonball Z fanfic! Yay… I decided to do something different from DragonBall: Vertigo. This is a very alternate AU fic. In this story, the Saiyans never came to Earth, Frieza is no where to be found, and none of the Z warriors have a power level over 500. There will be no fighting aliens with power levels in the multi-millions, and warriors like Hercule can put up a half-decent fight. So, if you're looking for fighters that can destroy a planet with their little fingers, look elsewhere. If you're looking for drama, romance, and pre-Z DragonBall type fighting, then stick with me! As always, please read and review. And feel free to stop by the Cross Road forum where I have a section where you can comment on my stories or ask questions or whatever, found here: http://invisionfree.com/forums/CrossRoad_Inn/ I hope you enjoy the story! And yes, I will continue to write both DBV and my Evangelion story. I needed a fresh story to revitalize my writing drive. Oh and I forgot to mention, this story is primarily a Gohan/Videl romance. Can you tell I like those? I just love Videl to pieces… Unfortunately, no Vegeta in this story. Hey, come back! Waaah!!!

Required Disclaimer: I don't own the DB franchise, I've never worked for them, I'm not making any money off this, and I'm dead sexxy baby! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 1: Fight Club

7th October 765 A.D.

Goku smiled at Gohan as he watched the boy practicing his forms. It had been a long, heated argument to convince Chichi to allow Gohan to learn to fight. Despite having to sleep on the couch for two months, the Saiyan (who didn't even know that word) finally got his way. Gohan, now 8 years old, was finally learning how to fight.

"He's pretty rough… but he's not bad." Krillin commented, from where he was sitting on a rock, glancing up at the taller man.

Tien grunted. "He's too hesitant in his moves. He doesn't commit. He may not be cut out to be a fighter, Goku…"

"Bah, he's got natural talent, Tien!" Yamcha remarked, watching the boy bounce off a tree to perform a spin kick. "Give him some time. He's barely started learning."

Goku nodded. He agreed with everything they had said. A part of him blamed Chichi for the boys sheltered existence thus far, trapped in a world of books and academia, and deprived of anything more physical than a brisk jog. But, that could change, given time. "You've been quiet, Piccolo, what do you think?" He inquired, looking at the green man.

Piccolo snorted. "I think he's pathetic. But he does show promise. We can teach him a lot." The alien glared at the others but made no further comment. Several years before, he and Goku had gotten into a fight that left both of them nearly dead and crippled. Luckily for them both, Krillin had found them and given Goku a senzu bean. Piccolo had thought his death had come, but Goku had shown mercy as he always did, and gave the Namek a senzu bean. They developed a mutual respect and though Piccolo wasn't exactly friendly with the others, he had stopped in his quest for revenge for his 'father'. There had simply been no point to it anymore.

"How long did Chichi say he could train before he had to start back into his studies?" Krillin inquired.

"Two years. I wanted five, she wanted six months, so we compromised." Goku replied. "Gohan, that's enough of a warm-up. Time for some sparring. Let's all draw lots."

Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo all reached into a jar and drew a number. (Note: Chaotzu stayed at home. I didn't want to deal with him. Haha… sorry Chaotzu fans… assuming there are any.) "Looks interesting." The bald monk commented and smiled at Gohan. "Guess we're last, kiddo. Sit back and watch."

Yamcha and Piccolo walked into the clearing that they used for their "fight club" and assuming fighting poses. "Fight!" Tien called.

Yamcha rushed forward and made several quick jabs at the green man but they were all dodged. He tried spinning for a back elbow, but was shoved and fell flat on his face. The former desert bandit shot his foot up and barely connected against Piccolo's chin as he had reared his head back to try to dodge the blow. The dark-haired human jumped up to his feet and grunted when Piccolo dodged his punch and buried his fist in the man's gut. With an "Oof!" he landed on the ground with a thud, clutching at his wounded midsection.

Tien started the count as everyone looked up, but Yamcha stood at the count of eight and rushed forward again. "Good, I thought you weren't going to give me a fight today." Piccolo taunted, and began to exchange a flurry of attacks with the former desert bandit.

"I'm not letting you off that easy, green man! Eat this!" He shot a quick but low-powered ki blast at the Namek and did a forward hand spring to close the distance between the two. As Piccolo was knocking aside he energy attack, he received a solid blow to the chin for his effort, knocked back and nearly out of the makeshift ring they had set up.

Piccolo started to lose his balance but recovered without taking a step back, so Yamcha stepped towards him to shove him out of the ring, but instead the Namek warrior grabbed the human's arm and pulled while leaping up and over the man. He landed in the middle of the ring as Yamcha tumbled forward and out of the ring. "Ring out!" Tien announced. "Piccolo wins again."

Yamcha stood up and dusted himself off, looking a little disappointed. He hadn't won a match in over three months now and it was beginning to frustrate him. "Good match, Piccolo."

The Namek nodded. "You were overly aggressive. You're usually more careful… watch yourself."

"You dropped your guard on your right several times, Piccolo." Goku commented. It had grown to be a tradition with them to give constructive criticism on the performance of the combatants.

"Yamcha, most of your kicks were overextended. And Piccolo, you didn't catch it." Tien added his input.

They both nodded and sat down to rest as Goku and Tien entered the ring. "Fight!" Krillin announced.

Everyone watched with interest as Goku and Tien began a long fight, exchanging punches and kicks both on the ground and in the air, neither seeming to gain any advantage until a slight opening on Tien's part let Goku land a solid punch to the three-eyed man's cheek, sending him down to the ground just outside the ring. He jumped back into the air but stopped when Krillin announced the ring out. Tien looked confused and glanced down, realizing he had indeed landed outside of the ring. "Damn! It was just getting good." He shook his head and smiled. "Next time, Son!"

"Looking forward to it, Tien!" Goku replied as they moved out of the ring. They then looked at the others for their observations.

"Neither of you used any special techniques. Things might have gone differently if you had." Piccolo stated.

Krillin frowned. "Up until Tien didn't recover fast enough from that last punch, your forms were flawless. All I can say is good show, both of you." He looked around but neither Yamcha nor Gohan had anything to add so he moved into the ring. "All right, Gohan, you and me! Do your best!"

Gohan bit his lip nervously and moved into the ring for his first ever spar. "I'll try, Mr. Krillin." He dropped into a crouch, awaiting the signal to start.

"Start!" Piccolo announced.

Neither of the combatants moved, each expecting the other to attack. Gohan frowned and glanced towards his father for a moment and instantly regretted it when Krillin ran forward and punched him in the cheek. He went tumbling and barely stopped himself before he went out of the ring boundary. The boy stood up on wobbly legs and gasped as Krillin ran forward again. Gohan ran to the side and then forward and twisted around to kick at the monk. He gasped as his foot passed through an after image and then crumbled to the ground when an elbow impacted against the top of his skull.

From what seemed miles away, he heard a counting. "6… 7… what's all that about?" He said to himself, before suddenly remembering where he was. Gohan struggled up to his feet and breathed a sigh of relief as the count stopped at 9. "Ow!" The demi-Saiyan complained, rubbing his head.

Krillin ran forward again and started punching at Gohan and smiled in satisfaction when the dropped onto one hand and kicked the monk in the stomach. The bald man paused, huffing to regain his breath and turned to see Gohan getting back to his feet a little slowly. <He's running out of steam too early… we'll have to put more focus on his endurance training for a while.> He dodged the boy's punch and grabbed the attacking arm and twisted, flipping him over and onto his back. The short man's foot came down but Gohan rolled to the side and clumsily regained his footing, tripping backwards and barely staying standing.

"Too slow!" Krillin announced, stepping forward to give the boy a hard push.

"Aaah!" Gohan cried, feeling himself being rapidly stumbling backwards and nearly going out of the ring. He dropped to a low crouch and then started running forward.

The monk had started to turn away, thinking the boy would go out of bounds, but blinked in surprise when the boy was suddenly in his face. "What th-" SMACK! Krillin fell flat on his bum and blinked, taking a few moments to realize he was down. <Shouldn't Piccolo be counting?>

"7…. 8…." Piccolo said.

"WHOA!" Krillin jumped up, realizing he had been too dazed to hear the prior counts and feeling amazed at nearly giving the boy a knock-out victory. "Looks like I'll have to get serious." He leapt into the air and brought his hands back for a low powered kamehameha wave. "Ka… me… ha…me… ha!!!" The energy wave blasted forward, his aim readjusted when Gohan jumped into the air.

The demi-Saiyan looked surprised when the blast hit him in the center of his chest despite taking to the air and the next thing he knew he was looking up at the other Z warriors. "Huh?"

"You were counted out." Goku informed him, putting his hand out to help the boy to his feet.

Gohan blinked in surprise and shook his head to clear it. "Wow."

"You put on a good showing for your first time, kid. But your inexperience showed. Pay more attention to where your blows land and don't compromise your defense unless you have to." Piccolo informed him. Despite himself, he had found himself growing quite fond of the boy, and his tone was usually a slightly less gruff tone than usual when he talked to the young Son.

"Your kicks are pretty good, still a little too stiff but they're getting better. Your punches are too wild, though." Goku informed his son.

"You dropped your guard on your left side a lot too. Krillin was going easy on you… otherwise the fight would have been over within seconds." Yamcha added.

Gohan looked down at his feet, ashamed at his failings. "Sorry." He muttered.

Goku shook his head and knelt down to look his son in the eye. "Hey, no feeling sorry. It's constructive criticism, we all get it. That's a rule here. Don't take it personally. You did pretty well for your first spar. Yeah, Krillin was going easy on you, but you surprised him a few times too. So chin up, son. Be proud of your accomplishments and work on your weaknesses. That's why we spar." He ruffled the boy's hair affectionately and gave him the classic Son grin.

"Yeah, kiddo. You kept yourself from going out of the ring twice when I was sure you were going to fall out! I was amazed… and surprised. With a bit more practice, you'll be doing rather well for yourself." Krillin grinned and patted Gohan on the shoulder. He then looked at Goku. "I think we should take him to Korin's tower tomorrow. His endurance is sorely lacking… and he should learn a lot from Master Korin."

"Hey, good idea, Krillin!"Yamcha grinned and then glanced at the sky. "Well I had fun but I gotta go guys. Bulma will skin me alive if I don't get home before dark. So… same time next month!" He waved and took to the air, heading towards Capsule Corporation.

Krillin shook his head and laughed. "Do you think that man will ever make an honest woman out of Bulma?"

"No." Piccolo replied. He took a moment to pat Gohan on the shoulder. "Good job, kid. See you next month." He then left as well.

Krillin chuckled and waved before leaving as well, Tien following a moment after. "Well, let's head home, son. Tomorrow morning I'll take you to Korin's." Goku informed his son.

"Ok, dad." Gohan smiled and they walked home to relax and eat.

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19th March 767 A.D.

For the next two years, Gohan trained every day and eventually was strong enough to give Krillin and Yamcha a good fight, even beating them sometimes, but Tien, Piccolo, and Goku were still much better and beat the boy on a regular basis. The now 10 year old boy sighed in frustration as he sat up in his room and looked at his study books, knowing that the daily training was now over as per the agreement between his parents. He could still practice, but only after all his studying was done, which took up most of the day. An hour of practice a day was all he could manage now, unless he skipped a meal. And there was no way he would skip a meal!

Four months later, as he was finishing up his science studying, Goku walked into his room with a grin on his face. "Heya, son! I was just talking to your mother. She agreed that you could take part in next year's Tenkaichi Budoukai!"

The young demi-Saiyan's eyes brightened in excitement. "Really!? Does that mean I get to train more?"

"Well… sort of." Goku shrugged and looked a bit sheepish, "Your mother said that you could skip some of your more advanced studies." The father then relayed the subjects that Gohan could do without until after the martial arts tournament.

The boy sighed and sank back in his chair. "That'll only give me about an extra hour, may an hour and a half. Oh well… I'll make do."

Goku grinned and slapped the boy on the back. "That's my boy! I'm sure you'll do well. It'll be a good experience for you!" <I really hope it's enough… I had to agree to learn how to drive to get this much for him!> The Saiyan thought as he left the room, shuddering in apprehension at the thought of trying to control one of the large metal beasts people called cars.

Gohan took a look at his books then closed them. "That means I'm done today. YES!" He jumped out the window and took off flying, laughing and doing aerial acrobatics until he reached his destination. "Hi Mr. Piccolo!"

The green man opened one eye and looked at the boy, then the other eye opened. His gaze turned up to look at the sky, confusion written on his features, then back at the boy. "Gohan? Aren't you early?" <I don't know why the kid has taken to me like this… I've never been remotely friendly to him. Still… he grows on you…>

"Yeah, my dad told me that I could train for the upcoming Budoukai and I have a few less subjects to study so I will be getting an extra hour or two to train. I was finished for today so here I am!" The young Son grinned.

"Then start your meditation. We'll spar in a half hour." The Namek replied gruffly. <Why am I training him instead of Goku? And …why do I care?>

"Of course, sensei!" Gohan sat down and began to float in the air in the same manner as his teacher, meditating silently.

After the half hour passed, Piccolo stood up and stretched. "Ready, kid?"

"Yes, sensei!" The young demi-Saiyan affirmed, standing and readying himself for combat.

Piccolo ran forward and smacked the boy against the side of the head. "Defense opening on the left side. Raise your guard!" He spun and kicked the boy in the gut. "Too high now!" Then punched again and this time he was blocked. "Good, much better. Now try to hit me!"

Gohan grinned and launched into an all out offensive barrage, throwing kicks and punches as fast as he could without sacrifing his defense overly much. He attacked anything that even looked like an opening, but more often than not the Namek simply dodged without even blocking. He wasn't getting frustrated, however, as he was having too much fun. They landed on the ground and started running sideways in the same direction, the boy still throwing punches as they ran.

"Good! Watch out for that tree though!" Piccolo yelled.

Instead of dodging or stopping or whatever else his sensei was expecting, Gohan instead jumped sideways and kicked off the tree to deliver a solid kick to the green man's chin and immediately followed it by a sideways punch into Piccolo's gut. He paused when he saw purple blood dribble from his teacher's mouth. "Oh no! Did I hurt you, sensei?!"

The Namek shook his head and chuckled, wiping away the blood with the back of his hand. "I'm all right. That was a good move, kid. You're getting much better. You went out of bounds, though."

Gohan blinked and looked down at the ground and groaned, realizing that when he landed after using rebounding off the tree, he had landed outside of their designated ring area. "Aw crud."

"Don't sweat it, kid. Now, let's start another match. I'm not going easy on you this time, so give it all you've got!" Piccolo cried, moving forward to start the match by grabbing his pupil and throwing him into the air and taking off after him. The gruff Namek would have never admitted it out loud, but he was having a good time training with his rival's son. Especially now that they had an extra hour to train with.

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6th May 768 A.D.

Gohan, Goku, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu walked into the preliminary area of the 27th Tenkaichi Budoukai and looked around at their competition. Goku had his trademark Son grin plastered on his face, excited by the upcoming fight. "Look at all the compeditors! Wow! A lot of new faces!"

Krillin chuckled and shrugged. "Most don't look that tough."

Yamcha leaned over to elbow the shorter man in the ribs. "Yeah, that's what you said last time and you were nearly eliminated by that red-haired girl."

The monk blushed at that memory. "Yeah well… she flashed me! You would have been distracted too."

"He was." Tien added, giving the dark-haired man a half smile. "Good thing Bulma wasn't around."

"Everyone come take a number to see what fighting ring you're in if you haven't already!" One of the officials called into a microphone, waving to get the attention of the new arrivals.

"All right!" Gohan ran forward and drew a number as the others looked on. "Ring 7."

"Over there." The official pointed the ring out for the boy.

Gohan waved at the others and rushed off. "I'm glad he's so excited." Goku remarked with pride in his voice as he drew his own number. "Ring 2."

The rest of them drew lots and all were in different qualifying rings except for Chaotzu, who was placed in ring 7. Gohan smiled nervously at the short white-skinned man. <I've never fought Chaotzu before… he's never participated in our monthly fight club meeting… This should be interesting. The boy looked around at the other competitors. Most fairly average looking, some were muscle-bound freaks, and there were even two old scrawny looking men who looked to be very experienced… and at a rivalry with each other. A small smile touched his lips then he fixed his eyes on the last of the compedtitors in his qualifying ring, seeing a dark-haired blue-eyed boy who looked so mellow as to appear bored. However, his bearing had an underlying intensity that brought chills to the young demi-Saiyan. <Strange guy…>

Gohan settled back and watched the matches, not only in his ring but those of the other rings as well. The other Z warriors were doing well and it looked like all of them would qualify. He also noticed in the last ring a lovely blonde-haired girl who bore a striking resemblance to the boy in his ring. <Siblings, no doubt. Twins even? She's looking at someone… dad. Does she know him?>

"Son Gohan and Goren, report to Ring 7." An official announced.

Gohan shook himself out of that train of thought and entered the ring. A giant of a man stepped in as well and laughed at the small competition he was facing. "This is my first match?! This shrimp? Go ahead and walk out now so I don't have to hurt you, little boy! Go sit in your mommy's lap!"

Gohan smirked. <Even my mommy can kick his butt.> "I look forward to a good match." He stated diplomatically. <I look forward to knocking you on your oversized rump, is what I mean of course.>

"Fight!" The official announced.

Gohan and the giant stared across the ring at each other for several long moments before the giant took a step forward. "Letting me take the first move? I was going to let you throw a few punches so you wouldn't feel too bad before I kicked you out of the ring, but I guess I'll just have to skip ahead to that!" Goren announced, running forward to throw a punch that would shatter stone.

Gohan dodged and countered with a punch to the giant's jaw, knocking him several meters into the air and backwards, and onto his rump outside the ring. The demi-Saiyan grinned and walked outside the ring and looked around, seeing over half the competitors now gone. He knew it would be a while before his next match so he wandered around to talk to the other Z warriors and watch matches before returning to his ring. His next match was against none other than Chaotzu.

"I look forward to our first fight, Mr. Chaotzu." Gohan told the white-skinned man-child with an excited grin on his face.

"Do your best so you won't feel bad when I beat you." Chaotzu retorted in a teasing tone.

"Fight!" The official announced.

Gohan rushed forward and started throwing punches and kicks. He had heard from Tien and the others about the little emperor's psychic powers and he was hoping his opponent wouldn't get the chance to use them. Chaotzu began sweating from the exertion of the fighting and landed a lucky kick that sent Gohan rolling, almost out of the ring. The white-skinned man brought his hands up as the demi-Saiyan was running back towards him and suddenly Gohan froze in place. "Got you." Chaotzu stated, grimacing in exertion.

"Oh no!" The boy cried, straining as hard as he could but not being able to move a muscle. <I have to get him to break his concentration…> "Chaotzu, I'm having trouble with my math homework. What's 9 times 14?"

Chaotzu frowned and started to count on one of his fingers but stopped when Gohan started moving towards him. "Oh no! I'm not falling for that trick again!" The short man cried, remembering years ago when Krillin had defeated him using the same method.

<Darn…> "I don't want to have to hurt you to get out of this, Mr. Chaotzu…" Gohan informed him, desperately trying to think of a way out.

"You can't move." The white-skinned man affirmed, as if the boy didn't know it.

The demi-Saiyan was sweating, seeing Chaotzu approaching him to knock him out of the ring. <Gotta think of something… I know!> "Are you alright? Did that spider on your shoulder bite you, Mr. Chaotzu?"

Chaotzu screeched and started brushing at his shirt all over. "Get off! Get off!"

Freeze from the body-freeze, Gohan ran forward and kicked the white-skinned man, knocking him out of the ring to the floor below. Despite being eliminated, Chaotzu was still desperately checking himself to see if he was rid of the spider. "It's gone, Mr. Chaotzu."

Not realizing he had been tricked, the little emperor breathed a sigh of relief and shuddered. "I hate spiders." He stated, walking off without a second thought about being eliminated.

"Next match, Number 17 versus Nara!" The official announced.

Gohan sat down to watch the fight. <That's the strange intense guy… I haven't seen him fight yet. I must have missed his first match.>

"Hey, kiddo!" Goku greeted his son, sitting down next to him. "I heard you beat Chaotzu. Good job! I wish I had seen that fight. I just had my own."

Gohan beamed in pride and they both turned their attention to the ring, noticing the dark-haired boy was glaring at Goku. "Do you know him, dad? He and the girl over there that I think is his sister have been giving you looks all day."

Goku frowned in thought and tapped his finger against his chin. "Nope, I don't think so. Unless I met them when I was younger."

"Fight!" The announcer called.

Nara, a blonde haired 'pretty boy', ran forward and started throwing some flashy punches, seeming to be paying more attention to the female compeditors, especially a certain lovely blonde woman in Ring 4. "A beauty like that deserves my attention!" Nara stated confidently, his thoughts turning hentai.

"She's out of your league, pal!" 17 yelled, jumping up to kick the pretty boy in the nose, breaking it. "Especially now."

"My nose! My beautiful nose!!! AAAAHHHH!!!!"

"Wow… he's pretty good." Goku commented, wondering why he couldn't sense much of anything of the dark-haired android's potential.

Instead of running out of the room and seeking immediate medical attention like Nara should have, he instead ran forward and started blindly attacking, unable to see through the tears caused by the blow to his nose (from both the physical and emotional trauma.) 17 grinned and grabbed the man's arm and spun him around, then jumped up and drove his knee into the blonde man's spine. A loud cracking sound was heard and everyone in the room froze and turned to stare.

"Oh Kami-sama, I can't feel my legs!!!" Nara cried from the ground.

"17! That's enough." The blonde android shouted over.

"Oh no… not by a long shot.Eat this!" 17 jumped up and landed on Nara's neck with his foot with such force that not only was his neck crushed but it completely separated from the man's body and started rolling. "Oh, I broke him."

The whole room grew deathly quiet as they stared in fascination, unable to look away from the grotesque image before them. It was the most shocking thing most of them had ever seen. Finally the official snapped out of his horrified trance. "Number 17, you used excessive force in defeating your opponent and you are disqualified! Furthermore, you are banned from being present during this tournament! Leave now!"

17 laughed and kicked the headless body out of the ring and flew out. Android 18 stared at the retreating form of her brother and shook her head. "What the hell got into him? We're here to defeat Goku, not slaughter morons."

"You're his sister, aren't you? You won't use excessive force, I trust." Another official stated more than inquired, glaring at the beautiful blonde woman.

18 fixed the man with a cold stare. "I'm not my brother." She replied simply, walking away to get a better look at all the rings and not just hers.

Gohan shivered and was finally able to turn away from the sick image of a headless corpse being removed. <That could have been me, if I had faced him…>

Goku shook himself out of his trance as well and patted his son on the back. "Sorry kiddo, I should have thought to shield your eyes or something. You all right?"

The demi-Saiyan nodded his head dubiously. He was glad no further grotesque incidents happened, and the rest of the qualifying matches went by quickly. The winners of each of the 8 qualifying rings drew lots to decide fighting order then looked around with eager looks on their faces.

"Match 1 is Son Goku versus Ma Junior! This one should be great folks, a rematch from the 25th Budoukai championship round! Match 2 is Son Gohan, the child of Son Goku, versus Yamcha! Match 3 is former champion Tien versus Number 18! And last but not least, newcomer Mondo versus Krillin! We'll see you all tomorrow for the tournament!" The blonde announcer (you know the one!) exclaimed, excited by this year's matches.

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I hope the story seems interesting so far. Next chapter: The 27th Tenkaichi Budoukai! And appearances by Chichi, Bulma, Lunch, Roshi, Puar, and of course Oolong! See ya then!