The next couple of days not much interesting happened until Thursday. Videl had not asked Gohan yet about the article she read. Asking Gohan about it would be weird, she hadn't shown much interest in him so far at all, it was primarily Erasa that paid him attention. Maybe she'd have to talk with Erasa about it, Erasa was good at making others feel comfortable, she might be better at getting him to talk than Videl was. At the start of the lunch break, Videl received a call from Mac.
'Hey Videl, there's a hostage situation going on at the Satan Hotel, the guys are armed. We're still negotiating to stall for time waiting for backup, but we could use your help here.' Mac told her.
'Okay, it is lunch break anyway, I'm on my way.' Videl replied. She turned to Erasa and Gohan, who just sat down at their table. 'I'm sorry, but some thugs are busy at the Satan Hotel, I've got to go, see you guys later.' Gohan looked very confused, but Videl had no time to explain. Erasa would explain it to him.
As Videl uncapsuled her airplane and flew off towards the Satan Hotel, she thought about the Goldfighter again. How should she ask Erasa for help? Why was she even struggling with this, she was supposed to be good with this stuff? Come on Videl, there's a hostage situation at the Hotel, it's dangerous to get distracted! Videl then received a message on her phone. It was Mac, who sent her the photos of the thugs taken by the security cameras. It looked like there were four thugs. She landed her airplane behind the police barrier and put it back in its capsule. Mac was already there.
'Hey Videl, good of you to show up so fast. The thugs are still inside, but negotiations turned south, they got impatient and just set fire in the kitchen. I just called the Fire Department, but those guys will probably try to escape under the cover of the fire while we are focused on helping all the people inside. Could you watch the back entrance for us and ambush them if they flee that way?' Mac instructed.
'No problem Mac.' Videl answered and she quickly ran to the back entrance as suddenly a lot of smoke erupted from the central hall of the Hotel. She heard Mac shout to the other officers.
'Move in, fast, they're setting fire on multiple places of the building! Number one priority is to save the people inside!'
As Videl arrived at the back entrance she quickly saw one of the thugs try to sneak away, she recognised him from Mac's photo. Videl was prepared and tackled the guy. As he fell down she quickly cuffed him before he could become more trouble. The back entrance opened again. Videl quickly turned around and got into a fighting position, but it was a group of hostages making their escape from the burning building. As Videl looked closer, she recognised one of them in the back of the group as one of the criminals, he was holding a gun and threatening the hostages, trying to get away under their cover. Like that's gonna fool me. Videl had dealt with these kinds of situations before, she just had to disable him before he could react. She blended into the back of the group, and suddenly grabbed his gun arm and pulled it behind him, while kicking him in the lower back. The sudden push forward he felt while she had his arm meant she could quickly take his gun. As he turned around he was already too late, Videl had him at gunpoint. Some police officers that were part of the surrounding support quickly cuffed him and took him away.
'Thanks a lot Videl, we already got the last two as well, they tried to escape through the emergency exit on the west side.'
'No problem guys, it's good training for me and I'm happy to help out.' Videl answered proudly.
At that point there were screams coming from above, a group of people had been trapped inside of the building, and the fire was spreading rapidly, those thugs had set everything on fire!
Videl ran in quickly, she had to help. She didn't know how many people she could save, but she had to at least try. I could never live with myself if I just let those people die! Videl ran upstairs across the fire emergency stairs, which were fireproof. On the 3rd floor she found a family with a crying daughter, maybe about 5 or 6 years old.
'Come on, this way, get out of here!' Videl screamed, pointing at the emergency stairs. A loud sound erupted from below them, and when Videl looked down at the stairs she saw the wall had collapsed on top of the stairs, apparently they hadn't thought of making the walls fireproof as well. And the main staircase was already engulfed in flames. Looking up across the emergency stairs Videl saw a lot of people running down from the floors above, but they had no way to go either.
Now what?! She wasn't trained for fire hazards. She was a fighter, and she had received excellent additional training from the police to take down armed thugs, but she had no experience with burning buildings. I'm not going to give up, why isn't that fire department here yet! Wait, the airplane! She took out the capsule and looked around. There was no space anywhere for the airplane, uncapsuling it here would just make it fall down and crash. Darn! Then she remembered something.
'Get down everyone, the smoke rises and you don't want to inhale it! Crawl! We can't give up, the fire department is on the way!' Videl shouted as she quickly got down.
As Videl got down below the smoke, she could see a bit better, and looking outside through where once a wall was, she saw a figure approaching. But this figure was wearing the most ridiculous outfit she had ever seen, and he was flying through the sky! Darn, the smoke is getting to me, I got down too late! But the figure stayed in her view and flew towards them fast, it was not some smoke-induced illusion.
'Quick, grab hold of me, hold on tight!' The figure called out, and he quickly put his arm around the little girl who was in complete panic. He grabbed some other children who had come from the floors above, put one on his back, one on his right arm, and one on his left arm, and jumped out. What's he doing, we're high up! But he flew down gracefully, and dropped the children off on the ground near the ambulances that Videl saw down there. When did they get here? Videl couldn't think of an explanation as to why the ambulances were there. The mysterious hero flew back up to them, grabbed three more people, and flew back down again. The fire was still quickly spreading, there wasn't much time left, but only Videl and one old man were still left. The hero flew back up, the man quickly grabbed on, and Videl hesitantly also put her arms around him, holding on tight as the hero jumped.
'I'm taking you immediately to the ambulances, those guys will help you out, are you guys alright?' the hero asked.
The old man couldn't really speak, whether it was the smoke or the shock Videl didn't know. After a few moments he managed to mutter a 'thanks' to him.
'I'm alright.' Videl answered. 'Thanks a lot for your help. Who are you exactly?'
Now that Videl could see him a bit better, she saw that he wore a green outfit that was a bit too long for him, with a red cape that was connected to his green outfit with bright yellow buttons, and a helmet with antenna on them. He suddenly seemed hesitant.
'Well, uhm… just call me the Great Saiyaman.' he answered as he landed next to the ambulances. One of the paramedics quickly offered Videl an oxygen mask, which she happily accepted. With the fresh input of oxygen, she could see a lot clearer again, and her mind also cleared up. She hadn't noticed how much the smoke had been affecting her. Now it suddenly seemed obvious that Mac would have called the ambulances here, they were always called for hostage situations just in case. She looked at the Great Saiyaman, who appeared to be looking at the burning building, seemingly concentrating on something. Videl took her off her oxygen mask for a second.
'Excuse me, but what are you doing?' Videl asked. She had to cough, and the paramedics quickly helped her to put the mask back on.
'I'm trying to sense if there are still people inside.' the Great Saiyaman answered. 'I think you two were the last people in there. Most of the people managed to get out through the emergency exits, the people you were with were the only ones still in there.'
Videl recognised his voice, he sounded like Gohan. Why didn't she recognise it before while he carried her out of the building? And he was also just as tall as Gohan. Besides, only Gohan would be socially isolated enough to wear that outfit. Wait, did he just say he can sense if there are people inside? And didn't he fly? How did he do that?
'Well uhmm, I must be going again, maybe I'll see you again some time.' The Great Saiyaman said, and he bowed. Then he flew off before Videl could take off her oxygen mask and say anything else. Yes that's definitely flying. But how does he do that?
Before long Mac showed up.
'Thanks a lot Videl, thanks to you we caught all of those guys.' Mac said friendly. 'How are you feeling now?'
'The oxygen helps a lot. It was stupid of me to go in there, I couldn't do anything.' Videl said. Why did she have to be so stubborn?
'I won't lie to you Videl, it wasn't your brightest move.' Mac said calmly. 'But you made it out safely, and if those other people are telling the truth, you did help them out by telling them to stay low. Who knows, that might turn out to make some difference in the end for them.'
'I just feel so useless, that other guy showed up and saved us all, and without him we would all be dead right now!'
'Speaking of which, any idea who that guy was? He flew away before I could talk to him.'
For some reason it didn't feel right to share her suspicion of Gohan with Mac, even though it would make her a bit less useless here. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to share it with Mac.
'I've got a pretty good idea, but I'll need to confirm it first.' Videl decided.
'Did you see him fly?!' Mac called out in amazement. 'How did he even do that?'
'I don't know Mac, but if I'm right about who he is I will find out how he does that.' Videl stated confidently.
'Still as stubborn as ever, aren't you Videl?' Mac commented with a smile.
After about an hour of recovery with her oxygen, eating a bit of lunch provided by the police force, and a final check-up by the paramedics, Videl was finally free to go. When she got back to school she discretely entered the classroom. Erasa lit up seeing Videl again, she looked like she had been worrying. Gohan seemed intent on taking notes, he didn't even seem to notice her entering the room. Wow, he really is a dork, looking at it from down here it's obvious he's the only one in the classroom actually paying attention!
Videl sat down next to Erasa, and Erasa immediately focused all her attention on Videl.
'Hey Videl, are you alright? What took you so long?' she whispered. 'You've got some black smudge on your face, like you've been in a fire or something.'
'I'm okay, but those thugs set the hotel on fire when they got impatient, it got quite dangerous, but this isn't really the time to tell you. Let's have dinner together this evening at this place across the square, I'll tell you the entire story then.' Videl whispered back. Gohan still appeared oblivious to her appearance. She'd have to ask him after school.
Despite having missed over half of the class, it still felt like it took forever. Videl didn't pay attention at all, she couldn't focus on the lesson. The Great Saiyaman flying, him sensing whether there were still people left in the building, it consumed her thoughts, she couldn't think of a single way this could have been a magic trick. After an eternity, the lesson finally ended. As Videl walked out with Erasa and Gohan, she had to ask him. She'd make a total fool of herself if she was wrong, but she had to do this.
'Hey Gohan, can we talk somewhere private?' Videl asked him.
Erasa seemed surprised by this, but Videl quickly glanced over to her. Erasa understood immediately, she'd hear about it later.
'Uhmm, sure I guess?' Gohan answered nervously. 'I don't have much time though, it's a long trip back home for me.'
'This won't take long.' Videl assured him. She took Gohan back inside the school, which was now practically empty.
'Did Erasa tell you about where I went during the lunch break?' Videl started.
'Yeah she did, I think it's amazing that you fight crime all on your own.' Gohan answered. 'But uhmm, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?'
'I want you to answer this honestly Gohan,' Videl started, trying to sound much more confident than she felt. 'Are you the Great Saiyaman?'
'No, I'm not! Why would you even think that?! Me, the Great Saiyaman?' Gohan exclaimed.
'But you know who the Great Saiyaman is! I haven't told anyone about him, yet you know!' Videl concluded.
Gohan suddenly realised his mistake, and he seemed to be panicking internally.
'I, I, I thought you had already told everyone?' Gohan stuttered. 'Wasn't he on the news or something?'
'Come on Gohan, you're a terrible liar. I won't tell anyone, but at least be open with me, otherwise I'll have to tell the police about my suspicions of you being the Great Saiyaman.' Videl said.
Gohan seemed to realise he was stuck. Her promise to not tell anyone was his only option.
'How did you know it was me?' Gohan asked.
'Your voice is the same, your behaviour is the same, you talk in the same way, and the way you responded here was the final piece of evidence.'
'Please don't tell anyone Videl, I don't want all that attention.' Gohan begged.
'I told you, I won't tell anyone as long as you're open with me Gohan. After all, you saved my life, it's the least I can do.'
Gohan looked confused. 'What do you mean, be open with you? I already told you I am the Great Saiyaman.'
'A few days ago I read an article about this little kid Goku, Erasa talked about him in her story remember?' Videl started. 'He has the same family name as you, and he's a former World Martial Arts Champion. I'm pretty sure that he's your father.'
Gohan could only nod, stunned that she knew this.
'I knew it. It fit too well. What I want to know is, how do you fly? How did you sense those people in the building? Are those things your father can also do? Is it some genetic mutation only your family can do?'
'Oh no, flying and sensing people are skills you can learn with sufficient practice.' Gohan answered.
'How?'
'You want to learn how to fly?' Gohan asked.
'Yes, and how you can sense people.' Videl concluded.
'It isn't really something I can just tell you here and you can do it.' Gohan hesitated. Videl had already anticipated that answer, and she had her reply ready. She wouldn't let this opportunity slip that easily.
'You know what, I'll come to your house this Saturday, there's nobody living near your house right? You can teach me then.' Videl offered without really offering Gohan any possibility to refuse.
Gohan sighed. 'I guess that's alright. I don't know how long it will take you to learn, that really varies from person to person.'
'That's fine. I'll see you tomorrow Gohan, have a nice trip home.'
'You too Videl.'
That evening Videl had her dinner with Erasa. Erasa wanted to know everything about what happened at the Satan Hotel, so Videl told her.
'A guy that could fly?!' Erasa called out loudly.
'Yes, I'm sure he flew, everyone saw it! And he carried several people including me out of the Hotel.' Videl said.
'Wow!' Erasa called out in awe and jealousy. 'That's so cool! Last week this Goldfighter with superpowers shows up and stops those bank robbers, then this week another guy with superpowers shows up and saves you and several other people from a burning building. Has there been some leakage at a nuclear power plant or something that I don't know about?!'
Videl laughed loudly. 'I know right, if this continues I might be out of a job.'
'Did you ask him who he was?' Erasa asked curiously.
'He called himself the Great Saiyaman, he didn't say his real name.' Videl answered. She debated internally about whether or not to tell Erasa Gohan was him, but decided against it. Videl had promised Gohan to keep it a secret, and she still owed him for saving her life and teaching her how to fly. As if Erasa could read her mind, she then started talking about Gohan.
'By the way, what did you want to talk to Gohan about in private? You two didn't hook up did you?'
'Eww!' Videl exclaimed. 'Of course not!'
Erasa giggled at Videl's reaction.
'Alright then, I'm just saying. But what was it really?'
Videl didn't know exactly how much to tell Erasa. She had promised Gohan her secrecy after all. But that was only about Gohan being the Great Saiyaman, she could still talk about Gohan's dad.
'Remember that story you told me on Monday about that boy Goku who beat an entire army?'
Erasa nodded and motioned for her to continue.
'Well, I went online and looked up this Goku. Turns out he really exists, and he was the World Martial Arts Champion before my dad became the Champion.'
Erasa was surprised. 'Really? I thought it was just a weird story. But what does Gohan have to do with it?'
'Well, turns out that Goku also has a family name, his full name is Son Goku according to that article on the Tournament. Today Gohan confirmed that Goku is indeed his dad.'
Erasa almost exploded.
'NO WAY, NO WAY!' Erasa screamed out so loudly Videl feared they might get kicked out of the restaurant. Videl quickly shushed Erasa down. 'Gohan's dad fought off an entire army on his own?'
'Apparently he did. But please keep quiet about this Erasa, I don't think Gohan wants everyone to know.'
Videl didn't really understand why Gohan wanted to keep all these things a secret, shouldn't you be proud of such things? Once again, Erasa seemed to be able to read Videl's mind.
'That makes sense, Gohan has quite some trouble fitting in, he is kind of awkward, and I think he fears it would be even harder to fit in if people saw him as special or different.' Erasa said thoughtfully. 'But I promise, I won't tell anyone about this, not even Gohan. He seems like a good guy, he doesn't deserve all that obnoxious attention from random people who just want to know every little detail of those stories.'
Erasa got excited again.
'So Videl, does Gohan's dad really fly around on a golden cloud?'
