Title: Caught on Tape
Rating: PG ( K+ ) – cuz I cuss once or twice.
Disclaimer: Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an at tourney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you...
Spoilers: Gohan is the Great Saiyaman! (But you didn't hear it from me...)
Summary: TwoShot. A new face – fresh, young, and oddly familiar – appeared on screen before Videl's wide, disbelieving eyes... GhVi (Sort of).
Say no to drugs, kids.
Chapter One - Game Plan
"I'm gonna get that geek...," Videl promised herself, muttering mutinously under her breath as she parked her jet on the front lawn. The Capsule Corp contraption landed softly, the grass beneath it flattened by the whooshing air from the engine, and the teenage girl released her seat belt. "He can't hide the truth from me!"
Still grumbling to herself, Videl released the latch on her door and leaped out of the jet. After a short drop, her boots touched the ground and she emitted a small 'oof.' Why did they have to build the thing so high off the ground? Didn't the vertically challenged have rights, too?
Videl harped on her height deficiency for but a moment before encapsulating her vehicle. After depressing a button hidden behind the driver's side rear view mirror, there was a loud pop, a soft poof and a shrill whine as the gigantic, grasshopper-like jet crumpled in on itself and became conveniently travel sized. The tiny capsule – labeled "No. 1" with permanent marker – waited patiently in the grass for someone to pick it up.
The teenaged girl bent down to retrieve the capsule and, after reattaching it to her keychain, turned toward the vast mansion that lurked behind her like a hungry leviathan. Videl then proceeded on the familiar path to the front door, stomping and grunting with bad temper.
"I'm home!" Videl called after closing the door behind her. Her voice echoed off the high vaulted ceiling as she stood alone in the foyer, reverberating around the house in a baleful wail.
Great, nobody home.
Videl huffed in annoyance and tossed her keys (capsule and all) onto the table by the front door. They skidded across the smoothly lacquered surface, stopping only a few scant centimeters away from the edge. Satisfied that they weren't going anywhere, the teenaged martial artist readjusted the school bag hanging off her right shoulder and continued on into the house.
She cleared the marble foyer in less than a minute, skittering quickly toward the staircase. Just as she was about to mount the stairs, something to Videl's left caught her attention. With one hand on the banister, she turned her head to investigate. The door to the den was open.
"Daddy?" she called, noting the bright golden flashes illuminating the white door in an irregular pattern. Someone inside was watching television, the girl deduced.
Videl dropped her bag next to the staircase and changed directions; instead of going upstairs to do her homework and plot out new traps for her odd classmate, she decided to drop in on the man she called her father.
Videl nudged the door open with the toe of her boot and called out again, "Daddy?" Her greeting was met with a loud snort. "Is that you?"
When the girl came fully into the room, the mystery was instantly solved. There was Mr. Satan, the greatest champion in all the world, snoring loudly in his armchair with the television on in the background. Videl smiled indulgently at the figure bathed in artificial light and shook her head. He'd fallen asleep watching the old Cell Games footage again.
Feeling unusually affectionate, Videl picked up the blanket that had fallen off her snoozing father and onto the floor. Behind her, the widescreen television continued to play the video, unaware that its audience was paying it no attention whatsoever.
"Mr. Satan! Here's your chance! Go give that thing what it deserves!"
"Y-Yes! I'll strike f-fear into its...Argh! My...my stomach!"
The conversation between her father and the brave newsman carried on without them as Videl draped the blanket over her father's shoulders.
"...the person who'll go next?"
"You mean...you're serious?"
Videl shivered a little as Cell joined in; he'd always creeped her out. Maybe it was the thought of some giant green cockroach with the ability to blow away an entire city block effortlessly, or maybe it still freaked her out that her father had fought that nasty thing and (mysteriously) lived to tell about it. She'd been so sure that she would be an orphan that day...
"Where's the remote?" Videl muttered, falling easily back into the habit of talking to herself as she looked around for the gadget. It wasn't in Mr. Satan's hand, it wasn't on the floor...where had he put that damn thing?
"Do you mean to tell me there's someone stronger than you...and me?"
"Yup."
"Heh, heh, heh...Let me hear the name of this fantasy warrior, hm?"
"Ah-ha!" Videl proclaimed triumphantly as her fingers closed around cold plastic. She withdrew it from its hiding place beneath the coffee table and pointed it at the television. With her thumb poised over the power button, she was ready to shut Cell up with a single finger.
"You're up...Gohan!"
A new face – fresh, young, and oddly familiar – appeared on screen before Videl's wide, disbelieving eyes. His hair was golden, his eyes were green, and he was wearing the most ridiculous outfit she'd ever seen in her life. Could it possibly be anyone else...?
"'Gohan'...that means rice."
"What? Astounding...they're taking a lunch break! How can they...?"
"THAT'S IT!" Videl shouted, squealing in an undignified way. The remote, unsuited for such crushing pressure, was in mangled pieces within her fist by the time she'd jumped to her feet. Little shards of plastic littered the carpet around her feet as she practically danced in triumph.
"Wh-Wha?" Mr. Satan queried, waking with a startled snort. He was sitting up in his chair now and looking around for the source of the commotion, clearly confused in a sleepy way. "Videl? When did you get home...?"
Videl leaned down, pecked her father on the cheek, and dismissed herself. "I'm going out, Daddy! I won't be late!" she promised before launching herself at the still open door.
Before she could leave the room, however, she remembered something. Turning back around, Videl rushed back to her father's side and brought the remote up for use. Quickly realizing that the gadget was officially useless, she dropped it where she stood and instead rushed toward the television.
The girl dropped down to her knees on the floor and practically pummeled the "eject" button on the VCR. With a loud groan of protest, the device gave up the VHS to the impatiently waiting Videl.
"Can I borrow this?" she asked, turning to her father and waving the tape at him. The baffled man stuttered something that could have been either "yes" or "no," but Videl chose to consider it the former. "Thanks!"
With nothing else left to distract her, Videl leapt to her feet and rushed out the door and back into the foyer. Her father called after her, – "W-Wait! Videl!" – but she ignored him. She finally had proof that Son Gohan was something weird and spectacular and she wasn't going to waste another minute of precious time! It would take her at least a couple hours to get to his house, and she was hoping she could make it there before dark...
As she snatched her keys up off the table and flung open the front door, she shouted, "I've got you this time, Saiyadweeb!"
Author's Notes: I was re-reading the Cell Saga earlier today and this idea hit me. Riiiiight about the time that the cameraman says "'Gohan'...that means rice." I figured it would be an interesting way fro Videl to learn Gohan's secret XD
Oh, and in case anyone's wondering why Mr. Satan would be watching the Cell Games on an old school VCR, I'd like to remind y'all how long ago this was published, lolz. The Cell Saga, specifically, was originally released in 1993, back when I was about six or seven. Back then, it was allll VHS, all the time. The way I figure it, Mr. Satan would want to watch the original tape over the DVD; it's his trophy, after all.
This is just a short little OneShot. Nobody get greedy and ask for more, lolz.
. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .
– Who's your daddy? GohanVidel