Haunted in West City - Chapter One: Rumors

Summary: Rumors are circulating that Capsule Corp. is haunted by a madman's ghost, and Videl wants to find out the truth. She even ropes Erasa and Sharpener into the mix! What could go wrong? Lots and lots of things could.

Author's Notes... This is going to be a multichapter fic full of fun, mischief, misunderstandings, and yes, some nice Bulma/Vegeta and Gohan/Videl romance too! You'll get it all in this fic: Veggie torture, Gohan torture, battles, love, laughter, gossip, and ghost stories. And plenty of huge, classic DBZ explosions.

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Gohan averted his eyes, finding a sudden fascination with the suspicious stains marking the otherwise drab tile floors of Orange Star High School. The nervous teenager squeezed himself as close against the wall as he possibly could, leaving a wide gap between himself and the rest of his mentally deranged peers. He decided that the best option at the moment was to put on his brilliant and well-kept façade as the nerdiest boy in school, playing the part of the reclusive kid absorbed in dull workbooks of trigonometry. He did find it especially hard, however, to suppress the urge to pummel the bolder jocks who snickered upon passing him. If they only knew what he and his powerful friends had been through, they would leave a respectful space vacant for him, the true defeater of Cell. But not all dreams come true, and this was one of those hopeless dreams.

Only three more yards until I reach the door into my advanced chemistry class, Gohan mused gleefully as his feet quickly closed the frightening gap between him and almost-freedom. For him, "almost-freedom" meant a class absent from the constant prying of the shockingly beautiful and deadly Videl Satan. Advanced chemistry was one of those rare times in which the Videvil and he parted ways until the next period rolled around. You see, Videl was skilled in many things, but chemistry was not on her list...unless you counted the blissful chemistry of a person's body and all the remarkably different ways it breaks and mutates upon being attacked. But that is not the kind of chemistry Gohan studied in this class.

Two miniscule feet remained before our favorite shy demi-Saiyan would be submerged into the peaceful yet so painfully brief realm of Videvil-free class time. Two short, meaningless feet measuring a grand total of twenty-four tiny inches. Dende was being good to him today! Gohan closed half of that space in a joyful yet still slightly jittery leap, his mind already singing eloquent anthems of the sweet liberty he was soon to immerse himself into wholeheartedly.

He had begun rejoicing far too soon.

For, out of nowhere, his worst nightmare appeared, with a perilous light glittering wildly in her positively gorgeous cerulean irises. Her messy, coal-black mop of jaggedly-cut hair spiked in all sorts of wacky directions, adding the perfect spark to her already highly dangerous appearance. With unrelenting hands propped menacingly on her shapely, jean-clad hips, the young spitfire looked as if she meant serious business. And she did. Growling darkly in a way which would rival Prince Vegeta himself, she offered Gohan her very best red-hot glare, laden with all of the hate she could muster.

"GOOOHAAAAAAANNNN..." Videl's fearfully feral rumble erupted out of the deepest recesses of her throat. "Going somewhere?" Her voice now changed to a sickly-sweet tone, laced with a malicious undercurrent that sent shivers crawling up Son Gohan's spine.

"O-Oh Hi V-Videvi-I mean, Videl!" The unfortunate boy choked, sneakily attempting to slip away from his ferocious interrogator.

The she-demon in question sent him a fatal glare which brought him back to his original starting place, so close yet so very far from his goal. He cowered underneath the fire of the oppressive reign that only women are able to hold over men, even those with the blood of hostile and temperamental aliens coursing through their veins. Bulma had managed to slightly tame the Prince of that terrible race, and now a new queen had come to force her dominant and strict rule over another doomed member of that once-undefeatable people. Gohan began to mentally record his will in hopes that Bulma Briefs would be able to create an invention that would read the minds of the deceased.

Let's see...to Mom I will give...well, what is there to give? She and Dad own all of the practical items in the house. I will give her an imaginary hug from Otherworld. No. Four imaginary hugs. Goten and Trunks can split my old toys between them, and Goten gets the Nimbus. Bulma can get my textbooks, although I doubt she will need them. Vegeta can get my book called "Dealing With Anger Issues," although I really don't think he will ever read it although it would do him good, and I guess Dende can get...umm...another imaginary hug. Master Roshi can have my motorcycle catalogs so that maybe he can stop his porn addiction and lust after better things instead.

He was interrupted by the sound of his inevitable doom calling him. "Gohan? Earth to GOHAN! What is it with you and having your dorky head in the clouds all the time? Sheesh! Sometimes it's like you're on another planet! What are you daydreaming about, being a chick magnet, or stupid aliens destroying Earth or something?"

You have no idea, thought Gohan with an involuntary chuckle.

The Videvil heard Gohan's expression of his inner thoughts and immediately exploded upon impact. "Were you LAUGHING at me, Gohan? And what's that smug look on your face? Would you mind TELLING ME what you find so AMUSING?"

The poor boy's jaw slammed shut with an audible click, and his face instantly took on a pale, ashen complexion that Videl never knew was possible for anyone. Momentary worries clouded her brain that perhaps this time she had taken things too far, as it was obvious she had hit a chord somewhere. But these sensible warnings were shoved aside, and Videl placed her hands even more firmly on her hips, feet posed in a resolved and determined stance. She cleared her throat expectantly and tapped one tennis-shoe-coated appendage, nodding at her victim sagely.

"Uhhh..." His head darted to and fro, searching frantically for an escape route. He had no idea what bone Videl had to pick with him now, but he could guarantee it would not be a pleasant experience in the least. He had places to be and things to do, but he knew that just telling her this would not make a difference, as she was a determined creature. Suddenly, as if Dende were once again lavishing him with his favor, the late bell rang loud and clear down the halls signifying that both he and the Videvil were tardy for their classes.

"Videl, I've gotta go, and so do you!" Son Gohan squeaked, taking advantage of the moment to scurry past his cruel captor and enter his classroom in a rush. His teacher eyed him suspiciously as he plunked into his seat, cheeks tinged a light pink as he buried his nose in his chemistry textbook. He only half-listened as the teacher droned on and on about chemical structures and the table of elements; he was more enthusiastic about his free time spent away from the Videvil and her bratty, conceited friends Erasa and Sharpener.

The uneventful period sped by in a blur, and soon it was time for the lunch hour. Gohan clutched his lunch-capsule tightly in his sweaty fingers, once again darting down the hallways unnoticed by his fellow students, praying to Dende that maybe he would not have to face Videl any time soon. He knew that the encounter with Videl during lunch would be inevitable, but he could at least try to salvage any remaining peaceful moments he had left before then.

...

His classmates watched in amazement as the nerd boy decapsulized the contents of his Saiyan-efficient food capsule, laying the wide variety of perfectly-cooked vittles spread out across the table. They were even more amazed, and quite disgusted, to watch him devour it all in a frantic haste. He demolished several racks of prime ribs, 16 oz. sirloin cuts, hearty mashed potatoes and an abundance of vegetables all in a few famished bites. His peers slowly glanced away, trying to forget the vulgar scene occurring next to them, and attempted to continue eating their own lunches but found that they had lost any and all appetite they had once possessed.

Z-TV displayed the dimpled face of Mr. Okaryu as he told of the day's happenings. "There seems to be a lot of traveling activity in the suburbs today, which is unusual. So far there have been reports of a major car accident on Highway 387, so expect bumper-to-bumper traffic there. Don't miss our special report tonight at 7, called 'Behind the Helmet: Speculating about Saiyaman,' featuring guest Hercule Satan himself and his opinion on the matter."

Gohan suppressed a snort as he downed another mouthful of shepherd's pie, trying his best to keep from roaring with laughter. He nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard another, much more feminine snort nearby. "V-V-Videl?" He whispered fearfully, cringing away from the azure-eyed female with the spicy attitude perched in a chair to his right.

"Yes, Gohan?" She replied with a deadly sweetness, scooting closer in a way which made the doomed demi-Saiyan sweat half of his weight away. Without warning, she whirled on him and shoved a finger into his chest threateningly. "Where were you yesterday at 2:00 in the afternoon during that crime scene?" The Videvil hissed, indicating yesterday's incident where she and Saiyaman had successfully captured a jewel robber.

"Ummm...in school?" Gohan tried, grinning sheepishly in the Son way.

"Wrong answer, Gohan! The teacher told me you WEREN'T in your appointed classroom at that time, and only later appeared after the crime scene was long over and-"

The poor boy was saved the trouble of answering when the principal came rushing into the cafeteria. "Turn up the TV! All you students, listen to this!" Everyone's heads popped up at the principal's frantic command, and teachers scurried to press the "+Volume" buttons on the respective TV remote controls for the different TVs. The scene shown on the screen depicted a young, moderately pretty reporter standing in front of Capsule Corp. with an ashen frown on her plastic-surgery-altered face.

"We have recieved reports of several different ghost sightings on the Capsule Corp. grounds! Witnesses claim to see a floating man with flame-like, golden hair and strange teal eyes, and supposedly this man also has a frightening golden aura that surrounds his body. This description seems to perfectly match those of the Gold Fighters, although eyewitnesses say this man looked different. One woman wrote to us, saying, 'He wasn't like the Gold Fighters we see sometimes flying through West City! He had the most evil look on his face, and he was yelling something about wanting to murder Bulma Briefs!' Other onlookers have reported seeing the same man, but with no aura and only black hair and black eyes."

Gohan immediately choked on his lamb chop, out of laughter or worry no one knows. He had quite a good idea of who the "ghost" might be. He noticed a handful of students glaring at him, and stuck his nose into a book about algebra as quickly as he could, while still keeping an eye on the television screen.

"...People say he has very harsh facial features, and can levitate giving the appearance of being a ghost. Is this creature a long-dead madman who is bent on the murder of the heiress of Capsule Corp.? Does he desire revenge for activities of the past? Is his intent to haunt the halls of the multi-million-zeni company for all eternity? While some critics will claim that ghosts aren't real, the eyes of the witnesses all seem to be telling the truth when they say that a guest from the worlds beyond is paying an unwelcome visit to the grounds of Capsule Corp."

Videl cocked an eyebrow in interest. She had been longing for something other than catching criminals all day. Perhaps ghost-hunting would be more fun. A grin began to spread itself slowly over her face, and she gently nudged her blond-haired friend, Erasa. "Hey Erasa, you hear that? About the ghost? You wanna have some fun?"

Sharpener heard Videl's last statement and mistook it to have an entirely different meaning. "Yo baby, are ya finally interested in the powers of Sharpie? Come to my house. Ten o'clock. Tonight. You want fun? I'll give you fun."

Videl shrieked in fury. "THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE GETTING IS A BLACK EYE!" And this was promptly accomplished. Afterwards, Videl stalked away proudly to throw her lunch trash in the garbage cans lying in the corners of the cafeteria.

Gohan finally finished up the last of his meal, and, rubbing his stomach contentedly, began the multiple trips to the garbage cans, wishing he did not have to restrict himself to mere human speeds while in public. He made a mental note to pay a quick visit to Capsule Corp. later that day to warn Bulma and Vegeta of this newest...*snort*...development. What he did not know was Videl's plans to root out the source of this "Capsule Corp. spectre."

The Videvil motioned for Erasa and Sharpener to follow her a little ways from the main student body. "Here's the plan," she explained in hushed tones, "We're going to do some ghost-hunting. I don't believe in ghosts, and I'm sure there is a logical explanation for everything those eyewitnesses saw. Also, this may give me the chance to have a lead-in on Saiyaman while I'm at it."

Erasa, the constantly clueless one, piped up, "Why would the ghost have any connections with Saiyaman, Vi?"

Rolling her eyes, Videl sighed and said, "The news reporter said that the man looked like a Gold Fighter. Saiyaman has been seen flying side by side with Gold Fighters before. If my hunch is right, and this 'ghost' really is one of the Gold Fighters, I can force him to reveal the identity of Saiyaman. And if my other hunch is right, Saiyaman is Gohan."

Now it was Sharpener's turn to submit a stupid comment. "But like, aren't the Gold Fighters kind of dangerous?"

Videl exhaled rapidly in exasperation. "No, Sharpener. Hasn't Hercule taught you anything? It's just some silly light tricks, that's all. I bet all of the Gold Fighters are total wimps. They'll probably cower at the very sight of Videl Satan, daughter of the strongest man in the world!"

Both Erasa and Sharpener giggled, and Sharpener added, "And just wait 'till I show them what I can do! They'll faint at the very image of my greatness!"

Videl seemed quite opposed to this thought, but smiled at him anyway and high-fived him. "You keep thinking that, Sharpener, and maybe one day it will come true. Rally to me, my minions! We are now the Virasener Ghost-Hunting Squad!"

This took some thinking on Erasa's and Sharpener's parts before they realized that "Virasener" was a combination of all three of their names.

Meanwhile, Gohan was thinking about when he would be able to go inform the Briefs about the news broadcast.

Things were definitely heating up.

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Author's Notes... That's the first chapter done! Oooh, the suspense! What will happen next? How will Vegeta handle the news? What evil plot does Videl have up her sleeve? Stay tuned for the next chapter of "Haunted in West City"! Please R&R! Thanks! :)