(Eight months ago, Mount Paozu)
The loud beeping sound of a generic, bedside alarm clock resounded throughout the small, single-person bedroom of one Son Gohan, causing its sole resident to stir under his covers. When the incessant noise failed to rouse the youngster after the first few seconds, the volume of its screeching suddenly grew even louder; so much so that it looked as though the glass of his window was about to shatter.
This sudden increase in noise finally pulled the demi-Saiyan out of his dream world who, after giving a low groan of discomfort, reached over and slapped a hand down on the piece of plastic to shut off the damn thing. Unfortunately, due to the force of his actions he ended up not only flattening the entire clock, he also wound up putting his hand through the surface of his desk.
Hearing the noise of the device die completely as it shattered into a thousand pieces, Gohan's head surfaced from underneath his blanket, revealing him in his Super Saiyan 2 state.
A scowl framed his face while he slowly pulled his fist out of his now ruined bedside drawer, "Damn it. Again? Ugh…" He really needed to ask Bulma if he could buy some of that Vegeta-proof-stuff she was designing for the guy to use around the house. Kami knew that he could really use with some of it…
Maybe even beg her for a Gravity Room he could set up in the backyard somewhere while he was at it.
Anyway, after destroying yet another ten zeni timepiece and ruining his table in the process, the Super Saiyan 2 sat up and stretched, feeling his muscles pop one after the other.
According to his count, it'd been close to a week since the Kana incident; making that three, potentially earth-moving conflicts the Z-fighters had had to combat in just one year. But of course, the crisis had been successfully averted thanks to good old-fashioned fisticuffs and once law and order had been properly restored to the communities of the continent, the earth was once again allowed to continue turning as if nothing had ever happened.
This went to show that even in peacetime the Z-fighters were all hard at work.
It was probably the most ongoing trend for Gohan and his friends. All of them had saved the planet so many times and yet have received no acknowledgements for their actions. Though it didn't bother him or his family so much, since they preferred to peace and quiet, a couple of the others were feeling a little bit cheated out of their honors, namely Yamcha and Krillin. But, not being ones to hold grudges for the sake of wellbeing and serenity, they let the credit-taking slide, and returned as productive, hard-working members of society.
Gohan in the meantime tackled his training regimens even harder than ever.
With the knowledge that there were even more powerful fighters out there in the universe outside of Bojack and Frieza, the boy resolved to make some much needed amendments to his previous routine, starting with his extended study periods. After telling his mother about his little scrap with Kana across the planet that nearly saw all of them put up for public auction, the Son mother, satisfied with the progress her son had made in his education and studies, reluctantly allowed him to train more times during the week with the promise that he would be able to use his skills to provide a steady income for his family.
Feeling as if a great weight was being lifted from his shoulders, Gohan assured Chi-Chi that he would be able to get some part-time work at a construction company over in Satan City, similarly to what his father and Krillin had done while they had been training under Master Roshi. With his level of skill, strength and knowledge of building, the boy was confident he would be able to fill up an entire roster of staff for the business, thereby saving them a lot on big projects.
Gohan also had the incredibly attractive idea of entering the World Martial Arts Tournaments to get some extra spending money for his family, since they could surely use it.
Approving of his plan, Chi-Chi pretty much allowed Gohan free reign over the next couple of weeks so that he could get all of his priorities sorted before moving into anything big. So with an idea in mind and a new plan for the future coming to light, the demi-Saiyan spent a majority of his time training out in the fields.
Not only did it allow him plenty of opportunities to think, clear his head and make some independent arrangements for the coming years, it also gave him more time to become accustomed to his Super Saiyan 2 form. Having already stayed like this for several days since his battle against Kana, Gohan was really starting to come into his own.
Though he did experience sudden mood swings every now and then, his naturally kind side battling with the aggressive side of his level two state, he learned to get a hold of himself through quiet meditation and concentration. After long periods of settling his spirit and finding his true self swirling in the depths of all his monstrous power, the demi-Saiyan would then go out and do some physical exercises that focused on control above everything else, which really helped him in acquiring a firmer grasp of his Ascended Saiyan state. It also strengthened his body in general, as continuing to hold this form required a great deal of effort and focus.
Understandably, every once in a while he did have these surprising and unexpected bursts of strength, which led him to damaging one thing or another around the property.
This morning it had been his whole bedside station.
Granted it wasn't something as big as the dining room chair, the T.V remote or the front door, it was still another thing broken. Hopefully he would be able to fix that sometime soon.
After waking up early that Saturday morning and noticing that it was still dark out, the transformed boy flexed his arms and, upon rolling out of bed, quickly slapped on his orange and blue gi. Being sure to quietly tiptoe out of the house, the young half-Saiyan then retreated out onto his property's front lawn and, just like every other early morning, began a series of warm ups and stretching routines.
Going through the familiar motions of his father, starting with his legs, his arms, and then throwing a few light jabs and kicks for practice, kicking up a small gust of wind at the same time, Gohan then took off and headed into the hills. Being sure to put a big distance between himself and his home, the half-Saiyan quickly threw himself into several long rounds of shadow sparring. Holding his power at just the right level so that he didn't cause any unnecessary damage to the region, the spiky haired blonde's form blurred out and sprang into the sky, where he began his eloquent martial dance over the rolling fields of his homeland.
The next few hours practically flew by at a reasonable speed, with Gohan jumping from close combat skills to ki control. He even spent an hour of fighting against himself through use of theCloning technique, which he was able to pick up from Piccolo during the month to help him with his sparring practices.
To the orange haired form of Zangya watching the young warrior from underneath a nearby tree, there was no stranger sight than seeing the person she considered the strongest person in the universe fighting against three other copies of him. As she leaned against the trunk with her arms folded and a firm expression on her face, the female Hera kept her distance while she watched with interest as Gohan battled himself in an effort to discover and eliminate the weaknesses in his fighting style.
He was making cracking progress too.
Eventually, when the sun started to rise over the mountains, the boy ended his bout of fighting with his copies and promptly returned them to his body. After they jumped back into him from different sides and melded into a singularity once again, the demi-Saiyan continued on with a harder round of sparring, this time with a little more power in his blows.
Generating gusts of wind that cut across Mount Paozu's valleys and fields in all directions, the young Saiyan male blurred over the valleys and through the sky at terrific speeds. Eventually, after shadow sparring for several more minutes, the boy dropped to ground level and began back flipping rapidly across the terrain. Landing on his feet and sliding to a stop, the boy cupped his hands beside him and charged a blue ball of ki between his hands in an instant.
"KA-ME-HA-ME-" Its light blasting out across the grass, Gohan gritted his teeth before flinging his attack forward with a mighty bellow. "HAAAAAAAAA!" The blast rocketed from his hands and shot across the valleys, at first traveling in a straight line. But then, all of a sudden, the powerful attack started to curve and bend as the young Super Saiyan warrior took control of the beam's path and guided it safely over the hills and into the sky.
Bringing it around in a wide arc, he eventually brought the blast back down to the ground and directed it towards him. The blue energy wave honed in on his position, prompting the young warrior to spin around and catch the attack with his bare hands. The enormous attack slammed into his palms and burned into them with the ferocity of the sun itself. Eventually, after a full minute of struggling, the powered down Super Saiyan 2 then dug his fingers into the front of the blast and literally ripped it in half. The two parts detonated safely off to the sides with great force, shaking the countryside all around.
Zangya whistled at the size of the explosions. "Wow…" Despite the blast being low key, it still produced a fantastic result.