DRAGONBALL Z

Path of a Warrior

Gohan vs. Gohan

Silence echoed across the beach as every present eye was glued upon the newly arrived future warriors. Mirai Trunks allowed the realizations to seep in, and watched with quiet amusement as the Z-fighters recollected and restarted their engines… slowly…

Goku, Chi-Chi, Krillin, Android 18#, Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo, Vegeta, Bulma, Chouzu, Oolong, Puar, Master Roshi and perhaps everybody else who knew the Gohan from this time, as well as the story of Mirai Trunks, was practically gawking at this new Gohan, who looked to be in his late twenties, now standing before them. Of course, with the expression on his face as he was staring back at them, made it barely believable that he was a future Gohan from this time. His eyes were colder, and were like steel, and his more definite features distinguished him from the present, younger, adult Gohan.

"M-Mirai Gohan?" Goku murmured.

Future Trunks nodded with a proud smile. "Yeah!"

"I… I thought you said he was dead!" Bulma said, blinking.

The kids, who were hanging around the shoreline, watched from afar with curious expressions on their faces. After quickly checking out the newcomers, Kid Trunks turned towards his longtime best friend, and with a nudge to Goten's shoulder, attracted his attention.

"Hey, Goten, isn't that your brother?"

Aroused from his curious stupor, Goten looked back at his friend and nodded. "I think you're right, Trunks!"

"Y-Your brother looks different though," Marron said, walking up to the older boy, while still having her eyes pasted on the new figures. Looking them over some more, and how all the adults seemed to approach the pair with friendly handshakes and smiles of greeting, the very young, but bright girl, came to the conclusion that they too were long time friends from yesteryear. She looked up at the two boys beside her, who were back to looking over Mirai Trunks and Mirai Gohan. "D-Didn't he used to have two eyes?"

"…and both arms?" Trunks added.

"…and spikier hair?" Goten added himself.

Silence fell again, and the three children blinked as they took in the 'mystery' Gohan.

"He looks scary," Marron commented.

It was at this comment, Mirai Gohan turned to look over at the three children, as if from the distance he was from them, he had heard their innocent words. The three children let out simultaneous 'eeps', and ran over to where Launch and Ren were kneeling by the sandcastles, cowering behind them for protection. The two women, along with the androids and other familiar faces, were too caught up in staring at the new boys to take any notice of the children.

Watching the three kids run off and hide behind their nearest adult guardians, Mirai Gohan, with a Vegeta like glare in place, tore sights away from them and scanned the rest of the Z-fighters. As much as he tried to hide away his angst manifested as a mask portraying a stoic expression, he couldn't help but gaze from his pit of silent despair and sadness, at the ghosts of friends and family of his past. A hammer and sickle jabbed at his heart, as Future Gohan recalled all their faces, and he couldn't help but succumb to the feelings; the same feelings he experienced from the times he buried all of them, all in a single, private cemetery in Mount Paoz, all lined up.

Mirai Trunks looked up at his master as he took them all in, and the silver haired boy smiled as he gestured towards his family.

"Well, Gohan…?" Trunks exclaimed.

The adult half-Saiyan looked over at his apprentice and smiled, wallowing out of the shallows and patting the boy on the shoulder as he passed him. "Thank you, Trunks…" he spoke, his voice deep and husky, but sounding as though he hadn't spoken in a while. "It's been too long…"

Mirai Gohan stopped in front of his father, and his mother, and looked down at them. He was the same height as Goku, but was a little bit taller then his present self, even though he wasn't here for comparison.

Exchanging glances with his father and mother, the adult Gohan, smiled at them and let out a heavy sigh. "It's great to see you two again… mom… dad…" he said, looking at each of them in turn. Goku and Chi-Chi glanced at one another, smiled and then looked back at their older son, seeing him shrug.

"Hey… what's up champ," Goku said reaching out and patting his son on the shoulder. "Heh… never expected to see you all grown up… again?"

"Yeah… it's… kind of new to me too," Mirai Gohan explained. "But… don't be expecting more of this in the future. This'll be the last time…"

"Ahh, don't worry about it," Krillin said from the side, drawing both Sons' attentions. "We're pretty much used to these things happening at this point. But it still takes a bit to adjust to each situation…"

Mirai Gohan grinned at his friend and nodded to him, before glancing over at his mother, who approached him, and gave him a big hug. The two embraced for a few seconds, but to Mirai Gohan, who hadn't been hugged by his mother since he was eleven, tried to make it last for as long as possible. But, all good things must come to an end, and eventually they stepped away from each other. Smiling a small smile, he looked up at all of his friends and family that he had missed, taking them all in with great interest.

"It's great to see all of you… I… can't believe it. You've all changed so much…" Gohan said, scanning the crowds. "Except for you Piccolo… you haven't changed one bit."

The Namekian smirked at him from where he stood, arms folded and in the shade. "You'd be surprised, kid."

"Whatever you say…" Mirai Gohan paused for a moment, taking in his old master's energy signal and appearance. It didn't take him long, but from familiarizing himself with his master from years and years of training, and fighting alongside him, the future version of this time's Gohan came to a rather suitable conclusion. "Kamicolo…"

Piccolo seemed to choke, or cough on breathing air, while the gang around him laughed at the expression of embarrassment and shock on his face. The Namekian shook it off, and smirked up at the adult half-Saiyan.

"Well, at least you still maintain your sense of humor in the future…" the old fighter stated.

"Yeah, I guess…" Mirai Gohan said, but then gestured down at his arm in a sling He clenched that fist, only out of obsession. "Although, coming to assume what my present self in this time may look like, I have to say… comparing me to him… you'll definitely be surprised …"

"Hell yeah!" Lime exclaimed, suddenly appearing at his side, along with Erran and Anya. Gohan looked in the three girls' direction in surprise, not having a clue as to who these young girls were. Blinking in surprise as the three of them approached him and beamed up at him; the older half-Saiyan took a step back and glanced at his father and Krillin. Looking into their faces, and those of 18#, his mother's, Bulma, Mirai Trunks, Yamcha and Tien, he could see huge grins on their faces. It was the worst type: knowing grins.

"Umm… are they… the Gohan from this time's, girlfriends… or something," he asked his parents, completely oblivious to the connections these three had with this time's Gohan.

Lime giggled and waved a hand, jabbing him in the arm. "No, silly! We're just, to put it simply, your best friends, you know… girls you saved years ago from alien villains like Cooler, and the monster Cell, which is how we essentially met, and have had crushes on you for a long time, but have decided to stay best friends with you, you know, so we don't ruin the friendships we've made…"

Mirai Gohan blinked. "Really…?"

Erran sighed, head in her hands as she beamed up at the older Gohan. "Yeah…"

"You've gotten taller, Gohan," Anya said. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"Uhh…" Future Gohan was at a loss for words.

The girls crowded around him, while the rest of the Z-gang hung back and watched the sight with great amusement. The high school teenagers, having had their sights set on Gohan for a while now, had an opportunity to try and claim the half-Saiyan's heart. Unfortunately, all their efforts of trying to impress him and capture his attention were failing, due to Mirai Gohan's lack of association with girls in his time.

"You look so cool! I mean, our Gohan is cool as well…" Lime exclaimed, but then gave it some more thought. "Okay… both of you is equally impressive…"

"I can't tell who's hotter: you or our Gohan!" Erran said dreamily.

"Clearly, both Gohans are good lookers," Anya stated.

"Are you going to be staying for a while?" Lime asked.

"Do you want to go out some time?" Erran also asked, still whacked out of it with red cheeks, and stars in her eyes.

"Yeah! Do you want to catch a movie?" Anya butted in, shoving Lime out of the way. The brown haired girl pushed back to get in front.

"No! Go out with me! I can treat you to a big dinner, and a hot-spring resort!" Lime said loudly. Anya leapt on top of the girl and started wrestling with her to get to the front, but inevitably had the two at a stalemate. At the same time, Mirai Gohan was staring down at the pair a bit uncertainly, while Erran gazed dreamily up at him.

While the girls were awing over Mirai Gohan, and the rest of the gang was silently giggling and snickering on the side, there was a sudden change in the atmosphere on the island, which future Gohan immediately detected. Stepping back from the girls, he held a hand up to stop their advances, effectively silencing their questions. Quickly turning around, Mirai Gohan glared towards the space of land behind him. In a blink of an eye, he drew his sword and held it in the direction his eyes were focused.

At that exact same moment, the Gohan from this time suddenly shimmered into view, his own sword drawn and pointed straight at the neck of Mirai Gohan.

The Z-fighters jumped in shock when their Gohan suddenly materialized out of thin air, joined by Videl whom appeared standing a few feet away from him. Dressed in his own black fighting gown, the young half-Saiyan had his blade firmly placed against the neck of Mirai Gohan, whom had the tip pointed straight at present-time Gohan's own throat, one going in for a slash, the other a stabbing counter.

The two Gohans froze in mid-strike, both of them glaring at each other furiously. They stood there, floating in an almost suspended animation like state, seizing up their targets, while ignoring the gasps and murmurs of their family and friends.

"Wow… that was fast," Yamcha exclaimed.

"No foolin'," Tien replied.

"How the heck did Gohan appear like that without us knowing?" Krillin wondered.

"Instantaneous teleportation," Android 18# said, glancing down at her husband. "Remember?"

"Oh! Oh yeah! That's right!"

Piccolo and Vegeta remained quiet, standing in their corners and watching on curiously, along with Goku, who instead showed his surprise outwardly. Everyone else, such as Chi-Chi, Bulma, the Androids, and the other Z-gang regulars, were suddenly thrown on edge.

"I figured I'd run into you sooner or later," Mirai Gohan murmured, serious expression unchanged. This was until a small smile brimmed on his features. "It's nice to meet you… younger-me…"

"Cut the charade out, Scythe! I know it's you!" present day Gohan growled, moving the sword a bit more in emphasis. "Now surrender the sword…"

Mirai Gohan chuckled. "And I see I can still make blatant accusations without thinking. I missed those days…"

"Fine then," Gohan said, sliding the sword down Mirai's neck a bit, slightly cutting into the skin and drawing blood. "If you really are future me, then you'd know how to change your sword's shape at will…"

"Not a smart thing to do when it's pressed up against your throat," Mirai Gohan replied, slightly amused.

"Just do it!" Gohan stated.

Letting out a sigh, Mirai Gohan agreed to his past-self's demands, and in a flash of light and a flicker of atomic matter, the sword instantaneously changed in his grip. Present-day Gohan reacted quickly, leaping backwards through the air just as the blade of the sword in Mirai's hand grew in size, changed to a curved shape, and then solidify.

Standing back, Gohan watched as future Gohan's sword came into view in the form of an enlarged katana, with a thick blade that widened as it approached the end, broached with a golden broad-sword handle guard, and a white mane of fur surrounding it. The weapon shimmered in the light of the sun.

Videl watched silently where she stood, looking between the two Gohans as they faced off with a look of question on her face. She felt slightly uneasy, as she knew that there was only one Gohan on the face of this planet. So why did she feel she was staring at the same person? The headache she was getting from thinking about it was extraordinary.

"Okay… this is really weird!" she thought, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head.

She looked towards her Gohan, seeing him still locked in a staring contest with his older form. He glanced in her direction slightly, then back.

"Videl… get back a bit. Things might get a little messy," Gohan telepathically communicated with her. Videl blinked, nodding her head.

"Sure… just don't get yourself killed, and don't destroy the island we're on," she replied. Gohan smiled as he stared his future self down.

"Don't worry, I won't even dream of killing 'myself'," he replied cheekily. Videl shook her head and sighed.

"Geez, so immature," she muttered, and marched over to where Goku and the others were standing, who had also backed off at the sight of this sudden confrontation.

Gohan eased off a little, backing out into the shallows. The strangest thing as though, he was walking atop of the water, as if it were solid ground. Mirai Gohan meanwhile, followed suit, walking onto the water and circling around so that his back wasn't towards his past life's friends and family. Apparently both of them knew to position their line of sights out of harms way, henceforth, direct attention solely on each other, and make sure no one else was in view.

Twirling his sword around, Mirai Gohan sheathed it onto his back, whereas the present day's Gohan kept his out, holding it at an angle with the tip of the blade aimed towards his older, look-a-like. Everyone on the beach crammed around at the water's edge, wanting to catch a glimpse of the fight that was going to take place about a hundred meters out on the ocean right in front of them. The seas were calm, and the only sounds that could be heard were the seagulls flying overhead, a light breeze whipping through the palm trees, and the calm water rocking back and forth onto the sandy beach.

It was Gohan vs. Gohan…

Advantage… unknown…

However, all the Z-fighters, having seen their own, home grown Gohan in battle, knew that he was not going down without a fight. Everything on the scales was placed solely on him.

"I bet big brother is going to win!" Goten exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Go Gohan!" Marron cheered.

"Kick his butt, Gohan!" Kid Trunks exclaimed, waving his arms along with the others. "Fight! Come on!"

Bulma and Chi-Chi silenced their kids with bops on the head, whereas Android 18# picked up her daughter and shushed her with a look.

There was a tense moment of pause.

And then…

Gohan exploded into movement, charging his opponent down and in a blink of an eye (from the Z-fighters' point of view), appearing right in front of Mirai Gohan, who hadn't even bothered to move or let alone react to this Gohan's attack.

Sword brought up and over, the young half-Saiyan was about to bring it down upon Mirai Gohan's head, intent on slicing his opponent in two, and end this fight right now. However, just as the sword was inches from Mirai's head, something strange happened.

Mirai Gohan's eyes widened slightly, and his eyes flickered turquoise. In that instant, Gohan suddenly felt his whole body freeze up for a moment, his sword suddenly hit something rock solid and vibrate against it and his whole world flash a bright red, then a dark black. A split second later, motion returned to his swing, and Gohan struck down with full force, his sword unexpectedly striking the water' surface. The force behind the attack was so massive; he literally carved a deep trench straight through the ocean in the direction his sword was brought down, the walls of water ascending on either side to about 50 stories up. This transmission of force was backed by a distance carried over twenty kilometers, and Gohan's eyes widened in shock at the realization that his attack had missed.

He stared down the wide gap in the ocean he had made, water splashing everywhere. His mind was all a whirl with shock.

"What the…" Gohan glanced up to his right, seeing Mirai Gohan standing just a couple feet out, still staring in the direction he was before, and looking like he hadn't even moved at all. Gohan blinked. "What the hell was that?"

Gritting his teeth, Gohan quickly leapt back, speeding across the water before coming to a stop a good hundred meters out once again. Furrowing his brow, the half-Saiyan opted for a different approach. Powering up close to his utmost maximum, Gohan prepared for a second attack, assuming a stance with his sword held up. His blue aura kicked up the water around him violently, joined by sparks of golden electricity. In a blur, he flew across the water's surface, circling around his opponent a couple of times, before coming to Mirai Gohan's back, and charged at him.

Soon he was back in the same striking range he was before, and swung out, making sure he wasn't going to miss this time. He struck out, but just as his blade was inches away from Mirai Gohan's back, there was a flash of light that streaked through the air, crossing with his blade and with a loud clang, Gohan's force was reversed as his blade was unexpectedly knocked back with a force he had never experienced before in his life; the water around the two Gohans kicking up with the output of energy, and his attack ultimately being knocked away.

Gohan's look of shock as his blade was knocked away wasn't as extreme as his thoughts.

"What! How could he?"

Gohan tried to attack again, utilizing the sword's reversed force to swing his whole body and weapon around, and attempted to slash at Mirai's neck. The same thing happened again, a flashed streak of light, a loud clang, and the next thing he knew, his sword was batted away, and Mirai Gohan hadn't even moved a muscle. He was just standing there, staring ahead of him with his stoic expression in play.

Growling in frustration, Gohan began floating around his future counterpart, slashing and stabbing out with his sword again and again, only to be met with the same, strange and lightning fast counter. His blade was again and again knocked away, repeatedly by this unknown force. At the same time, Gohan attempted to figure out what the heck it was.

Yelling at the top of his lungs, Gohan went in for a final strike, his aura exploding around him with his massive output of energy, pushing it behind his sword as he brought it around his left side, and swung it straight back at Mirai with both hands holding the handle. His sword glowed gold with the power he put into it. It entered the perimeter his sword was previously being blocked, and for a moment, Gohan thought he was going to land a hit, but the next thing he knew, he was stopped.

Another loud clang was heard, and the momentum Gohan put behind his sword was stopped. Looking down his blade, he saw to his shock, and to the shock of all the gawking Z-fighters on the beach, that Mirai Gohan had stopped his counter-part's blade with the tip of his right finger. It wasn't the side or the nail; it was with the very point of his finger, and Mirai Gohan was holding Gohan's sword in place as if it was nothing.

Gohan was in disbelief.

The Z-warriors gaped as Gohan was held in his place, floating a meter above the ocean's surface, aura blazing, and Mirai Gohan standing where he was, effortlessly deflecting all of the young half-Saiyan's' attacks.

"What in the…?!" Vegeta chocked.

"Mirai managed to block all of Gohan's attacks!" Bulma exclaimed. "It's like… Gohan is nothing to him!"

"To possess that much power," Yamcha began with his voice shaky. "I don't even feel it! It… it… it's unbelievable!"

"That's my master for yah!" Mirai Trunks exclaimed, folding his arms. "He's incredibly powerful… in my time, the most powerful being in the universe. Not bad, huh?"

The present time's Gohan, having heard all the comments on the beach, shook his head and retracted his sword quickly, leaping backward a couple meters and landing atop the water's surface. He landed in a knelt position on the water, his aura dispersing. Swinging his Spirit Blade downward, it instantaneously morphed into the familiar form of his Lightning Blade. Blue electricity crackled and snapped around the skull at the handle-guard, and along the blade briefly, before suddenly erupting into a full sheath of blue lightning along the sword, crackling outwards and whipping at the water's surface.

"Not bad for my future self! How about this!!!!"

Gohan sent his sword straight towards Mirai, stabbing up and at his future self with full force. However, just before his attack could get within inches of his opponent, Mirai Gohan's eyes flashed turquoise once again, and another amazing thing happened.

There was a jolt in the air around the battling pair, and Gohan suddenly felt himself get thrown off his feet as he was struck full on by an invisible and powerful force. His attack stopped, Gohan, and the water around him was blasted away from Mirai Gohan in a thunderous roar of a powerful shock wave, or sonic blast, or… nobody knew what it was. Whatever happened, Gohan was launched away from Mirai, straight up into the clouds high above, while the Z-fighters only got hit by a portion of the blast wave, which was just like a violent gust of wind to them.

"GOHAN!" Videl cried, as she watched her lover get sent into the atmosphere.

"What the heck was that!?" Goku yelled out.

Gohan, sheathed his sword while still in mid-flight up towards the heavens, gritted his teeth and glared back down towards the planet. Progressively slowing his ascent from the force of the unexpected and unknown blast wave, Gohan cupped his hands behind him in a familiar way, and powered up his next attack quickly, no sign of it appearing as he took aim.

"KA-ME-HA-ME…" he chanted, and in a flash, threw his hands forward, "-HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The blue beam shot out with such force, a thunder like clap was heard, as it broke the sound barrier many times over. He poured energy into the lightning fast blast as it rocketed straight down towards Mirai Gohan, the half-Saiyan pouring a huge quantity of energy into his attack. He aimed so to make sure the blast range wouldn't hit Kame Island, so that meant the attack curved through the air, so that it would hit his target, and only his target.

Mirai Gohan looked up, expression unchanged as he watched the powerful attack approach him. Within seconds, it was upon him, and when it looked like Mirai would be consumed by the attack, he raised his right hand. In a snap, the Kamehameha blast wave struck an unknown barrier, the attack rippling against the invisible force barrier, with a splash effect across the transparent surface. Once all that energy was backed up against it, in a split second, it was reversed, and sent roaring back towards its user in a mass of brilliant blue energy.

Gohan gasped in shock as his attack shot straight back at him, covering the thirty miles he had put between him and his opponent in a blink of an eye, and before he could react, was knocked out of the sky in a fiery explosion. The next thing he knew when after opening his eyes was crashing onto a nearby but deserted island, rubble flying out of the dust cloud that formed from the impact.

Growling, Gohan looked up as he lay sprawled out in the crater he formed into the side of the slanted cliff he had crashed into, covered in stones, chunks of earth, and branches. Blinking, he tried to move his arms and legs, but his body was so badly bruised, cut-up and damaged from his own attack, that he couldn't. He just lay there, smoldering as he attempted to recover from the attack, and his hundred mile fall from the stratosphere high above. Not only was he badly bruised and dirt covered, but his clothes were also ripped, mostly the right side of his outfit.

He gritted his teeth and looked towards Kame island kilometers away, where he saw his family standing at the beach, and Mirai Gohan still standing on the water. They were all dots from where he lay.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT!" he shouted.

Gohan gasped in shock when Future Gohan suddenly appeared floating just a couple of feet away from him, still glaring seriously down at him. The young half-Saiyan from this time was speechless.

"No…" Mirai Gohan exclaimed in monotone. "I've still got more."

The older Gohan cracked his neck to the side, before holding his right hand up to Gohan's face.

"You may have mastered some of your abilities, but you still have much to learn. Not to mention I am thousands of times more powerful than you at this stage."

Mirai Gohan smirked as the younger Gohan stared back at him nervously, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face as he suddenly felt his future self's energy climb to unbelievable heights.

It was incalculable the amount of energy he felt radiating off of his opponent.

"You're going to have a hard time killing someone who was able to defeat Legendary Super Saiyan Broly without even having to go Super Saiyan himself…"

It was then; Gohan knew that Mirai was referring to himself…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Powerlevels:

Gohan

Base: 210,000,000

Super Saiyan: 420,000,000

Super Saiyan 2: 650,000,000

Super Saiyan 3: 2,000,000,000

Mirai Gohan

Base: 4,000,000,000