DRAGONBALL Z
STEP BEHIND HUMANITY
SAIYAN UPGRADE
Prologue
4 years after the Cell games
Son residence
Chi-Chi was busily preparing food in the kitchen for her two half Saiyan children, Gohan and Goten. Goten, who was present in the dining room was sitting at the table playing with his knife and fork and waiting for the food to arrive while Gohan, being absent like he always was, was outside training.
But, being the woman she was, Chi-Chi knew that young 15 year old Gohan would always come back home for an hour and a half for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or if he was needed for urgent business or a job. She didn't have to worry though because Gohan was nearly never home and was mostly outside, by himself.
Even though she didn't know what other emotions were flowing through the young Saiyan's mind these days she did know how he felt. Following the incident after the Cell games Gohan was taken up to Kami's lookout and healed back to full health, well… about 80 anyway. At which Gohan was finally healed the young Saiyan remained unconscious for some unknown reasons.
For the entire half hour the Z-fighters were up on the look out Gohan remained unconscious. And for another five hours Gohan remained fast asleep as he was taken to Capsule Corp and was surgically operated on, a procedure that was personally overseen by every single Z-fighter that was present at the Cell games. They all held there breath and watched intently as Gohan went through a rare change and applied with technology rarely used, a situation that wasn't very enlightening to them.
When the procedure was complete, Gohan finally came too, only to find that he wasn't exactly… him anymore.
The instant he woke up he took off for home where he explained to his mother the day's events and what had happened to him only briefly, after which he headed up to his room and stayed there for the next few days before he started to occasionally exit his room and for the outdoors for some severe and punishing training sessions.
The fight at the Cell games had left Gohan scarred because of the bit of his humanity ripped from him, literally. Not only had he lost that huge chunk of his own being on that day, but he had also lost a part of his soul. Now, almost every day, Gohan would keep to himself, keep silent and never talk and walk around with that same state of unhappy glimmer in his expression and eyes. At nights Chi-Chi could hear Gohan training outside, heck he didn't even sleep anymore, he was so restless. And, on rarer occasions, she would sometimes walk by his room and hear the faint sobbing of the crying Saiyan, an emotion he refused to show and had discarded long ago.
In the past, Chi-Chi and the entire family would usually get together with the other Z-fighters and try to celebrate their freedom with each other. But what was there to celebrate now that Goku was dead and their now strongest and beloved fighter, who was once the worlds most happiest and gifted child was now a cold, emotionless teenage boy that didn't believe in anything.
They had tried to help Gohan, even tried curing his injuries that were now a curse with the Dragon balls but were unable to. The Dragon Shenron said that it wasn't within his power to grant because Gohan's injuries were beyond repair. Gohan considered it a curse and a punishment of his own doings back at the Cell games because it was something you could never be rid of and something that would remind you of the costly mistake you have done all those years ago for the rest of your life.
Chi-Chi was so busy humming to herself while she cooked lunch that she jumped at the kitchen door slamming shut, causing the Son woman to turn in the direction of the person walking through the door beside her. She nearly screamed when she saw the bloodied up and battered state that was Gohan, his hair all messy, his black and red gi torn in several places as well as faded and dripping wet with sweat and blood. Gohan was breathing heavily, his breaths coming out raspy as his eyes stared at his mother. Because of his height and age, he was only just a few centimeters taller then Chi-Chi.
The Son mother breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized Gohan.
Lightening up a bit and deciding to have another try at getting to Gohan's good side, Chi-Chi smiled up at him and spoke. "Hi there sweetie, how did training go today?" she asked in a gentle tone of voice while addressing her son.
Gohan stared at his mother with the same, cold expression he wore whenever he was in a bad mood but, unexpectedly shrugged and turned on his heel, heading towards the dinner table. "I'm fine…" he replied in a softer voice that surprised the Son mother. And that was it. Those were the only words he spoke before he reached the table where Goten was sitting.
The miniature version of Goku lit up at the sight of Gohan and shuffled in his seat, waving his hands towards Gohan as if wanting to be in his brother's arms. "Nii-chan… your home", chirped Goten happily.
The fifteen year old Gohan turned towards his little brother, seeing the right young child smiling up at him happily. The instant Gohan laid eyes on his brother, the young Saiyan's expressions softened into a smile and, turning his attention away from the chair, walked over to Goten and collected him up into his arms. Goten laughed happily and gave his brother a big hug around the neck while Gohan nestled the young child in his arms and rocked him gently.
Pulling off slightly, Goten smiled down at his older brother and ruffled his hair. "How was training big brother", asked Goten. Gohan grinned slightly and set his brother back down in his seat.
"It was fine Goten", replied Gohan, ruffling his little brother's hair just like he had done to him before taking his seat next to the chibi. As soon as Gohan sat down, Goten began jabbering and talking about what he had done in the morning and talked about other interesting stuff that happened. Gohan listened into Goten as he talked and nodded every time so to inform his little brother that he was listening.
Unbeknown to the pair, Chi-Chi was watching them from the kitchen, a smile spreading across her lips and happiness forming in her eyes. Of all people, the only person Gohan would only ever show any signs of life and kindness too was towards his little brother.
No matter how hard anyone else tried to get to Gohan, they had tried and failed miserably, only getting nothing or a mere growl in return. Gohan's emotional wall that barricaded him and the world around him from reaching each other made him a soulless figure among society. An empty shell…
Chi-Chi took her seat at the table after piling up the tons of food she had cooked especially for and soon enough, the Son family of three began to eat. While Goten was shuffling down food like there was no tomorrow, Gohan and Chi-Chi ate at a steady pace. There was another thing Chi-Chi had noticed about her son, he had lost almost all bad habits and habits he had inherited from his father besides the urges to train. He just didn't eat, sleep or make himself useless. If you asked him something he would do it without any complaints. Well, he wouldn't say anything anyway.
As they ate, Chi-Chi could not take her eyes off of her eldest son who was at all times, lowering his left hand and cracking his fingers as he moved them about stiffly. However, there was something else keeping her eyes on her son and it wasn't just the cracking of his fingers and knuckle on his left hand.
It was the same reason that made Gohan the way he was, cold and emotionless as well as impossible to reach. The same chunk of his being that had been replaced by a colder, soulless material was making those cracking noises. Gohan's left arm also stuck out from the rest of his limbs and form as it was shining bright silver and making a strange, inaudible whirring sound with each movement.
At the Cell games, Gohan had saved Vegeta's life on that day when the Android came back to life, but at a terrible price. He had lost his left arm on that day, and there was no way of replacing it but with a mechanical limb. Bulma had done Gohan a big favor but even though Gohan had thanked her for it, he couldn't bring himself to face his family and friends anymore for what he believed to have done, believing his overconfidence and Saiyan side at the Cell games had blinded him, leading to his father's death.
His entire left arm had been cleaved off from the shoulder. So to not stand out from the rest of his body parts too much he reluctantly wore a thick, black glove of leather material over the mechanical limb so to cover up all the components and itself. The material used in his full arm glove had the same thickness as his regular skin and muscle tonnage but was less lifelike then ever.
Whenever he was indoors, he could remove the glove and use his new custom-made limb freely without drawing attention and thanks to his ki manipulative abilities, the arm was practically unbreakable, completely resistant to heat, cold, high voltage and any other source of harmful resource or energy. Gohan had learnt to use this new limb over his years of having it and because of his knowledge on technology and math, he was able to tinker with his artificial arm, enhance its abilities and improve it to allow the same flexibility and sensitivity as his other, real limbs.
All in all, his new limb was so well made it could be classified as his actual and/or original left arm. But there was one complication that made it incomplete. The arm he had was constructed without the living tissue to cover it up. Bulma had offered to apply the same living tissue to his arm just like how Android 16# or 17# had but Gohan refused, wanting to keep his metallic arm in plain view so to remind him of the mistake he had made at the Cell games.
After a painfully silent dinner, Gohan finished his meal and carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen for cleaning. He helped his mother with the dishes, the older woman hoping to get at least a small conversation going with him. But after futile tries, she was unable to reach him.
When the dishes were finally washed, dried and stacked away along with the kitchen utensils Chi-Chi had used, Gohan left upstairs to take a shower and then on afterwards would retreat to his bedroom for some study time. He brought Goten with him so that he could teach the chibi Saiyan a little about the stuff he learned. He did this on a regular day to day basis, the small study sessions giving Gohan the little time he had to spend with his little brother because Goten was usually over at Bulma's playing with Trunks and what not.
But if you ignored the fact that Gohan was not acting his usual self, life as everyone knew went on as normal.
Two months later…
It as night time and the entire Son household was silent. Chi-Chi and Goten were already in their beds sleeping off the day that had just passed by. It may have been tough for them but has been equally tough for Gohan who was still sitting awake in his room at his desk, tinkering away at his arm.
The young Saiyan's room was dark and with his door locked no one would be able to intrude while he was repairing himself. The only source of light that made visibility possible was the lamp at Gohan's desk that was lit, lighting up the entire wall and side of the room and giving Gohan the light he needed to see what he was doing.
Laying across the wooden surface of Gohan's desk were not just books on Capsule Corp. technology and pencils but warehouse tools as well as other instruments Gohan used to fix up and fiddle on his arm. There was also a drawer next to Gohan where he kept some spare parts and extra gear so he could use in emergencies or as just in case pieces.
A small key welder was held firmly between the young Saiyan's fingers of his right hand as he busily welded a new support joint on his upper wrist close to the finger ligaments. His knowledge on technology served him well as well as his knowledge on human anatomy, allowing him to combine both subjects together and have a better understandment on his own self. It was this ability of intelligence that allowed Gohan to improve and enhance his arm to meet his purposes and right now, he was just making some final adjustments to his arm before he applied a new piece of technology he had been designing over the past few weeks.
Once his joint was in place he busily hacked away at the melted metal, taking out the unnecessary melted tacks before pulling out from his drawer a small piece of machinery that looked to be a small motor. It was actually a pivot device that allowed Gohan's limb to perform movements of his hand the same way it did on his right hand. He was thankful for the gear Bulma had lent to him, using the spare parts to create his own device of his own creation.
With his left arm still lying on the desk with his wrist still facing towards him, Gohan took out a small pocket knife and started digging into one of the flexible armor pieces donning the lower part of his wrist. With a few hacks, Gohan managed to flip the metal away and, after laying his knife down, he pulled out a screw driver and stated screwing out the four nails holding the shock metal of his lower wrist in place.
The rectangular metal soon came free when all four, brand new nails were screwed out and the metal flipped away, still attached to the arm on a single hinge. Underneath the shock absorber metal was the old system that Gohan used to move his upper wrist that was linked to his upper arm, allowing his brain waves to pass through and command his arm like a regular arm. It was this small system that also allowed flexing of his joints as well as movement of his wrist.
After carefully examining the small piece of machinery embedded in his arm, Gohan took out a tube like tool with a silver, smooth cylinder surface and pressed a button on the bottom of the tool. Instantly, a metallic suction cup with drills on the four sides surrounding it appeared on the other end of the tool and, using this, Gohan held the plunger like took above the exposed piece of machinery and brought it down, the four drills connection with the four sides of the box motor.
With a loud hissing sound, Gohan pulled the old motor out, the shiny surface dotted with all sorts of microscopic computer chips. The moment Gohan had disconnected the small piece from the rest of the motor systems in his arm he could feel his hand and wrist go limp; his metallic, smooth fingers stopped twitching. He ignored it though.
Examining the less durable piece, Gohan dropped it on the desk and used the same tool he had used to pull it out to put the new motor into the now empty space.
With a loud click and a hiss, the motor fitted into place and held firmly, small wires and components surrounding the motor appearing and sticking into the small device, connecting and holing it in place. it was a new, upgraded version Gohan made so that it didn't have all the exposed microchips dotting it.
With the new motor in place, Gohan felt his arm come to life again and sensitivity return to every part of the limb. Gohan could feel his fingers start to tremble and twitch, just like his regular arm.
After flexing the tight flexi armor across his arm and moving his fingers about to get used o the new feeling, Gohan laid his arm back down and flipped the shock system over the motor, pressing it in so that it fitted and then pulling out his screw driver, drilling the nails back into place and tightening the fitted piece of metal in. When the shock metal was placed back over the new motor Gohan pushed the flexi armor piece covering the shock system back over the shock absorber, using his small welder to weld it in where it fitted.
When the process was complete Gohan lifted his arm effortlessly and started moving it around. He smiled in success as this new limb felt just like his right arm, completely replacing his left arm.
"Finally' Gohan thought, pulling his glove from beside him and slipping it back over his arm, pulling the straps and tightening it into place. "Good as new…"
After flexing his gloved arm a couple of times, he caught a shine of silver out of the corner of his eye and looked back onto his desk. What he saw was the shining arousal can with the words CC replacement skin written over its smooth surface. Gohan stared at the can for a moment or two in thought but frowned and, grabbing the can opened his drawer and shoved it in.
That can was the latest invention he had created in his free time. He made it in the form of a idea that had crossed his mind after one of his training sessions but had discarded it, figuring that he deserved the arm he had now and had no need for a layer of artificial skin over it.
He still hadn't gotten over that day at the Cell games.
What do you think? Its just something that I thought about while watching I-robot and Terminator and after watching the Cell games when Gohan was hit by Cell's attack while saving Vegeta, this story came into my mind. Its experimental and I'm giving it a whirl.
Please review...
TO BE CONTINUED…