Haunted in West City - Chapter Four: And So It Begins

Author's Notes... And the fourth chapter raises its head. I'm greatly obliged to Death101- Fox Version, ultranx, duhorcommonsense, KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913, LoPe21, and RoronoaZoro87 for their reviews on Chapter 3! Also, thanks go to LoPe21 for the reviews on Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. And LoPe21, yep, you've gotta love Vegeta. He's my favorite character. I'm positively flattered by all of the nice comments I'm getting! I'll see what I can do about your requests and comments. As for romance, I'm meaning to make this eventual Gohan/Videl, but I'll see what I can do about a mini-pairing with Erasa. Now, without further ado, I present to you the fourth chapter of "Haunted in West City"!

###

Videl Satan dragged a hairbrush through her unruly hair, already knowing that it was a fruitless endeavor. She winced as a rather large knot was cruelly torn from her head, and plucked the round mass of hair out of the brush gingerly. Deciding to give up on ever de-knotting her midnight-black tangles, she plunked the terrible instrument down upon her desk with a loud clump. Mentally, she recounted the plans she had made to rid the world of superstition forever. She would expose the "ghost" as a total phony and reveal the identity of Saiyaman, killing two birds with one stone. She yanked open one of her drawers and unfolded her special sneaking outfit. Now to call Erasa and Sharpener so I can make more plans, thought the teen as she hunted for clothing to fit her friends.

...

Gohan had begun to scare himself with the way he felt as he made the journey home. Is this how Vegeta feels most of the time? The young boy speculated as more malicious emotions welled up inside of him in a never-ending fountain of malignant thoughts. The details of Bulma's foolproof plot buzzed through his brain, mixing with the demi-Saiyan's newfound evil impulses. The plan had covered everything: his identity as Saiyaman, the press's hunger for ghostly tales, and even the fame of Capsule Corp. into one neat, unbelievably fun little package. The only real obstacle that remained was explaining the whole ordeal to the overprotective parent known as Chi-Chi Son. He winced as recollections of past scars due to his mother's exploits with her vengeful frying pan invaded the sacred territory of his now evil-corrupted mind.

He considered allowing his mother to play a part in the events that were inevitably going to transpire on the grounds of Capsule Corp., thinking that perhaps she would add something wonderfully terrible to the activites Bulma had planned. First, however, he knew he would have to inform Chi-Chi of all the happenings, and would have to kindly suggest Bulma's desire to have Goten involved as well.

The sparkling lights of the now darkening Satan City whizzed by, blending together into a rainbow of color as he passed over them. Hovercars with the Capsule Corp. logo emblazoned upon them sped slowly down the gravel roads in the magnificent town, the humans inside appearing to Gohan as tiny ants, gullible and easily squished. He swiftly rebuked himself for such uncharacteristic thoughts, and wondered if it really was such a good idea to spend so much time with the Saiyan Prince and his wacky family. Why did I think of humans as able to be "squished"? That's not right! I'm supposed to protect those weak-OOPS!-humans, not violently squish them! Well, at least it's practice for my role! This reminder of the excitement-filled days to come did a fine job of turning Gohan's musings from the ethical side of things, and he was soon dreaming up more additions to Bulma's plan as he sped across the horizon toward his home.

...

Erasa and Sharpener, both with their hair freshly dyed, appeared at Videl's door, ringing the bell. They were surprised at the sight they came upon as they entered the luxurious mansion of Hercule, Defeater of Cell. Videl, with messy hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, crouched in the shadows, appearing almost completely invisible. Atop her head, she wore a black bicycle helmet adorned with a collection of leaves which made her look like a plant in the shape of a girl. Her shirt was black, and she wore camouflage capris, both articles of clothing covered in leaves as well.

Videl grinned. "Hey guys! You ready to get your own makeovers?" Both of her minions nodded in excitement, pointing to their own black manes. Videl held up their intended outfits and ushered them into her room, taking the extra precaution of closing all of the blinds and dimming the lights as to prohibit anyone from spying. By the end of the procedure, three human-shaped plants were conversing together about the possible ways they could unravel the truth about the rumors.

...

Shades of indigo tinged the crimson horizon, and the earliest stars twinkled brightly in the serene evening sky. Waves of soft pink harmonized with the dull orange hue of the atmosphere, casting its seductive spell of slumber upon the shadow-dappled forests brushing by below the flying demi-Saiyan. Streaks of blood cut gaping lines though the dying day, dripping downwards in puddles of dazzling scarlet glowing with the last of the sun's light. A periwinkle haze settled over the valleys, and Gohan's eyes began to slowly flutter closed, lulled gently to sleep by the reassuring beauty of everything. Thin, wispy clouds were drawn in pearl-white puffs across the shady sky, and he flew through them, the mist enveloping him and then finally releasing him once he exited each one.

Lazily, he began to descend, letting the quiet breezes ruffle his charcoal hair and caress him in their cool, comforting embrace. He pushed open the door to the cute, spherical home in which he made his living each day, and instantly, the most heavenly of all smells hit his nostrils in an all-out attack against his senses.

The unmatched, tangy scent of his mother's flawless sushi.

And Goten was already seated at the table, licking his lips in anticipation.

In a moment, Gohan had joined his little brother, with hands propped expectantly upon the table and fists clutching a fork and knife tightly. His nose picked out the tantalizing aromas of oriental spices and sauces, and the salty odor of salmon. His mother placed the tempting dishes upon the table, and there they sat in all of their glory, vulnerable to the hungry admiration of the two demi-Saiyans.

Needless to say, the sushi did not last very long in this world. Let us take a moment of silence to honor the painfully short lives of Chi-Chi's award-winning cooking before we continue on with this story.

Gohan then clanked his fork against the crystalline side of his water glass for attention. The jolly tone tinkled though the house, and his mother's face twitched slightly with interest. "Well, what do you have to say to us, Gohan?" She quizzed.

Grinning, the teen in question slurped down the remaining water in said glass, cleared his throat, and announced, "I have some good news, and some bad news, mother. I will begin with the bad news so that I can get it over with."

Chi-Chi frowned slightly, but indicated that her son should continue.

"The bad news is that your son has officially turned evil," Gohan began.

Due to Gohan's light-hearted tone, his mother did not take her son's proclamation within a grain of salt and simply waited for the good news.

"The good news is that my changing sides is actually for quite a beneficial cause. You see, Videl is convinced I'm Saiyaman, which is true. But I don't want her to think I am Saiyaman. She's very suspicious of me, though, and this has caused problems when we fight crime together in the city. She wants to take any chance she can get to find out the truth about my identity. And that's going to be terrible for us! Just think of the press!"

His mother grimaced at the unappealing thought of the nosy press members hounding her and her son for more information about Saiyaman and his mythical powers.

Lowering his voice, the demi-Saiyan entered into conspiracy mode. "And today, there was a report of a ghost sighting at Capsule Corp., and the witnesses say they saw a 'man with glowing yellow hair, teal eyes, and a yellow aura wanting to murder Bulma Briefs'. I think we all know who that is. It came up on the news today. So on the way home, I stopped by Capsule Corp. to warn Bulma and Vegeta about it. And then Bulma did the unthinkable."

Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow. "The unthinkable, hmm?"

"She came up with a plan that will protect my identity as Saiyaman, scare Videl out of her wits, and even shield Capsule Corp.'s reputation should the press come calling! It's totally foolproof! But she needs all the living Saiyans to help. That means me, Goten, Trunks, and the original haunt of CC. - namely, Vegeta."

Gohan's mother gave the appearance of being deep in thought for a second or two, and then she asked, "What, exactly, does this plan entail? Is it dangerous?"

Gohan shook his head. "Nope, not dangerous at all! In fact, it's going to be lots of fun!"

He leaned closer in, and Goten and Chi-Chi followed suit, their eyes widening with the same manevolent glee Gohan had first felt upon hearing Bulma's plan. Goten began to bounce up and down in his seat, already impatient for the festivities to begin. Chi-Chi even volunteered to play a part in the brilliant scheme! She got in touch with her inner prankster - a side she never, in her wildest dreams, knew she possessed. To her suprise, it felt so refreshingly wonderful to be a villain! She now understood why Vegeta acted the way he did.

Chi-Chi instantly dialed up Bulma Briefs to review the plan over.

"Hello?" Bulma asked into the reciever.

"It's Chi-Chi," came the voice.

Bulma jumped back when she heard the Vegeta-like tone in her friend's voice.

"Well hi, Chi-Chi! Did Gohan tell you about my plan?" Bulma asked her.

"Yes, he did. And I'd just like to review it with you so I know all of the details again," replied that ominous voice.

"Ok!" Bulma settled into her maniacal-genius act, grinning from ear to ear as she explained.

"Capsule Corp. is known for its fantastic inventions that can perform almost limitless actions. Some capsules contain hovercars. Others contain important machinery for factories. Vegeta's personal favorite capsules are the ones which contain Gravity Rooms. But you know all this, of course. Now, in these past decades, the Earth has experienced traumatic events, such as various enemies arriving on Earth to do various levels of damage to it, and the more obvious Cell Games. Ever since then, superstitious beliefs have been on the rise. People are more likely to believe in things such as alien invasions, superpowers, and ghosts."

"All of which that have happened, although thanks to Hercule everyone is doubtful," Chi-Chi reasoned.

"Precisely, Chi-Chi. Now that Gohan is growing into a man, he has decided to take up crime fighting in his spare time, and he uses an alter-ego named Saiyaman as his cover. But once again, you have knowledge of that. As your son has told you, Hercule's daughter Videl also fights crime, and is growing mightily suspicious of Gohan. So he struggles with taming his Saiyan side no matter how much he wants to bring it out, and on top of all that he has to hide it from a prying female. He even juggles schoolwork in addition to his already highly stressful troubles."

Chi-Chi had begun to get bored. None of this was new to her. She continued listening to her friend anyway.

"Recently, it has become apparent that His Royal Highness has been spotted by witnesses, and at such wrong times! Threatening to murder me, even if he doesn't mean it, will come off horribly bad in the eyes of the world. The reporter talked about it on the news, and then Videl saw this and decided to check it out, being the crime-fighter she is. So I've come up with a plan to distract her from Saiyaman, cover up for Capsule Corp., and allow the boys to have plenty of fun at the same time!"

Now this was getting interesting! Chi-Chi tuned in.

"Of course, I will play a big role, and it would be nice if you could, too. Together, we will convince Videl that ghosts are real, and create a scene for her and Saiyaman to work together in their crime-fighting style as well. Here's how we will do it. All of the Saiyans will act as if they are ghosts, and use the Afterimage Technique at times to add even more ghostly confusion to it all. Then Gohan will sneak away, switch into Saiyaman mode, and come flying back to fight the spectres alongside Videl."

Chi-Chi grinned. This sounded like fun.

Bulma continued, "Now, this will only work if we do this again and again. One day of it will not sufficiently convince Videl. We will let her do her spying for several days before Saiyaman can jump in. And as for how Capsule Corp.'s reputation will be upheld, here's what will happen. You see, my father has been working on a way to enter Otherworld without dying. A portal, if you will. Of course, it's primitive and has not been tested yet, but don't you think this is the perfect time to use it? During the fight, I can bring out the contraption and fire it up so that it looks like the 'ghosts' will get pulled into Otherworld. In reality, I will turn the thing off before it actually gets the chance to do anything, but the 'ghosts' will zap away from the scene at their inhuman speeds so it appears they actually went into Otherworld."

"Ok, Bulma, but I must ask, what if the press are decieved into thinking the contraption really works?" Chi-Chi inquired of her friend.

"Well, that's the thing. This will be an actual test that's not actual, if you get what I mean. It will be the very first time I've ever turned the thing on, and yet it won't get the chance to do its magic. I will situate the machine so that it is hard to see from the Capsule Corp. lawn as well as hard to see from Videl's perspective, and so neither the press nor Videl will be able to get a good picture of it. The ghosts will disappear, and everyone will suspect that either they went away because of Saiyaman's appearance or CC.'s new invention. But no evidence will be able to be made clearly, and everyone's reputations will be protected."

"So basically it will be one large prank that will give Videl a scare and protect Saiyaman and Capsule Corp. at the same time," Chi-Chi said, recounting everything Bulma had told her.

"Yep. That about sums it up," Bulma replied.

"I'd better get ready then." Chi-Chi was already formulating ideas on how to help the procedure.

"We're doing the same over here!" Bulma answered, grinning.

The next couple days were sure to be hectic and outrageously enjoyable for all parties.

###

Author's Notes... Okay, well, I'm not sure if I did this one so well. Is the plan too confusing? Is the chapter boring? Please tell me your opinions. *Gulp* Once again, I appreciate any reviews! Thank you! :)