A/N- Wow! Thanks for the reviews everyone! Note to reviewers at bottom. I feel like this is a setting the stage chapter. Hope you guys like it!
"OH MY GOD!" Erasa squealed. Gohan plugged his ears as the screech could have broken windows!
Bulma stood there smiling clad in a casual T-shirt with the famous Capsule Corporation logo on it. "Are these your new school friends Gohan?" Bulma asked happily.
What impeccable timing. Does she know what she is even doing? She will ruin everything! Gohan stood there trying to get control of the situation. There is nothing I can do Gohan thought as looked at Videl in the corner of his eye. She had a look of shock. Gohan then turned back to Bulma.
"Umm yeah. This is Erasa and Videl" Gohan said pointing at each of his friends. This is just perfect. Gohan let out a loud sigh.
"I can't believe it's you!" Erasa squeal as she immediately shook hands with her. Her excitement was totally evident to Bulma.
Videl felt like her jaw had dropped. I can't believe what I just heard. If I heard correctly, Ms. Briefs is Gohan's godmother? No wonder he treats me like everyone else. He knows even more important people than me. She is even more important than my father in some respects! Videl tried to clear her mind as she had so many questions.
"It's a great honor to meet you Ms. Breifs" Videl said. I can't believe I am meeting Bulma Briefs, President of Capsule Corporation and an incredible scientist.
"Please call me Bulma." she said as Videl and Bulma shook hands. "Pleasure to meet you Videl-"
"Videl, Videl Satan." The crime fighter of Satan City finished.
"Satan as in Mr. Satan the one that defeated Cell" Bulma forced out of her mouth.
"Y- Yes" Videl stuttered.
"Well that's interesting. It's a pleasure to meet someone as brave as yourself. I have heard of your crime fighting career in Satan City." Bulma said praising the girl.
"You HAVE to tell me who does your hair!" Erasa interrupted. Bulma chuckled at the comment.
"Sure." Bulma said with a smile. "Did Gohan bring you here for a tour?" Bulma asked looking at Gohan.
"Not exactly" Videl said narrowing her eyes slightly looking at Gohan. "We didn't even know you two were close."
Ignoring Gohan's frantic shushing sounds, Bulma went on to say "Oh yes we go way back. I have known Gohan since his dad brought him over to the island that one time. What a day that turned out to be."
Gohan sighed. This wasn't getting anywhere. "Yeah" Gohan mumbled as he felt like this situation was hopeless. Ok fine. So what if Erasa and Videl know that Bulma is my godmother.
"So what did you come for then?" Bulma asked kindly.
"Well before Gohan came through the door, we were talking to Akiko about this research project and we were wondering if we could go through your files. I came to a dead end which leads me to Capsule Corporation." Videl said.
Gohan's eyes bulged out of his head once again. Oh no! I forgot about that project! Crap, crap, crap. Gohan felt really hot all of a sudden.
"Sure Videl. What is the project on?" Bulma asked when she saw Gohan who didn't look to well.
"Gohan you doing okay? You look like you have a fever." Erasa said concerned. Gohan looked like he needed some air.
"Don't worry, I am fine Erasa" Gohan said with a sigh. "Bulma?" Gohan asked. This situation seems hopeless.
"What's up kid?" Bulma asked.
"Can I talk to you?" Gohan asked. "Alone?" Gohan pointed down the hallway.
"Huh? Wait a second." Videl protested.
"Sure Gohan." Bulma said. "Akiko can you help these students with this request?" Akiko nodded her head yes while Bulma and Gohan began to walk away.
What on earth is that for? What is Gohan hiding now Videl thought.
"Bulma!" Gohan shrieked once they were in a totally separate room.
"What? What is it?" Bulma asked innocently.
"Do you know what you just did? They all know that I am part of your family! How am I supposed to be a normal kid in high school now that they know I know you?" Gohan said with a frown on his face.
"Oh Gohan. It didn't even occur to me." Bulma said with her hands up.
"Oh well. I will think of something." Gohan mumbled. "There is one more problem."
"What is it?" Bulma said to her godson.
"The project we are doing is on King Piccolo and his reign of terror! I don't know how they connected you and Piccolo but we need to do something fast!" Gohan said getting louder at the end.
"Don't be such a drama king. Relax. Akiko won't let them get any information regarding you. So what if they do their project. It's not like they will find out that you were Piccolo's martial arts student." Bulma said
"Are you sure?" Gohan asked.
"Certain. You know Akiko. She wouldn't do something like that" Bulma said reassuringly.
"Okay. Let's go back out there but make sure you don't say anything about me being a Saiyan, Cell, Freeza, Namek, or any other fights I have been in. I don't need any more attention than I already have." Gohan said.
"Relax Gohan. I promise I won't say anything" Bulma reassured however she had ulterior motives. I think Gohan needs more attention but maybe not right now. Bulma thought as the two headed back.
The two walked back out in the room they came from but only to find that nobody was there. Gohan began to sweat a little getting worried. He immediately tracked Videl's ki as they were deeper within the Capsule Corporation compound.
"They are somewhere over there." Gohan said pointing his finger.
"Akiko must have taken them to one of my offices so they could look up files in our computer database." Bulma said and began to walk in that direction.
"Are you sure they won't find too much information?" Gohan asked.
Bulma stopped. "Gohan. Deep breaths. I told you Akiko wouldn't do that. Akiko knows a lot about you already and she knows where to take them and where not to take them. There is hardly any information about Piccolo anyways." Bulma said.
"Okay. Thanks Bulma." Gohan said as they began to walk towards one of her many offices.
After walking down a long hallway, they found the office Erasa and Videl were in. Akiko walked out the office before Bulma and Gohan walked in.
"I showed them some of the files in our database but I don't think they are going to find much." Akiko said.
"Thanks Akiko. I will take over from here." Bulma said.
"Thanks." Akiko said and walked back to the lab she came from.
Bulma and Gohan walked inside the office and saw Erasa sitting in the chair while Videl was leaning on the desk with her elbows. I really hope they don't find anything Gohan thought.
"Any luck?" Bulma asked.
"Not yet but can I show you something?" Videl asked as she pulled out a small binder. She opened it to the page that had the small excerpt she found in the police files. She took out the piece of paper and gave it to Bulma.
Bulma read over the small paragraph. Interesting. I wrote this a long time ago. I wonder how it ended up in the Satan City police files.
"You probably won't find much more than this in our files." Bulma said. Because most of that information is hidden deep within this building.
"Dang" Videl said slightly frustrated. I don't even think Mr. R knew that it was impossible to find information on this King Piccolo Videl thought. "I can't believe Mr. R gave us this project."
"Sounds like a hard project. You are in the same class right Gohan?" Bulma asked.
"Yeah. This is going to be tough" Gohan tried to sound convincing.
"Well, I need to help Akiko with this new invention I am working on. Gohan knows the way to my lab if you need anything!" Bulma said.
"It was a pleasure meeting you Ms. Briefs." Videl said with a smile.
"It was great meeting you too. I think I will see more of you two." Bulma said as she left the room. Gohan let out a sigh of relief.
After a few seconds of silence Videl broke it. "Gohan!" Videl yelled.
"Umm?" Gohan mumbled. Oh great. Here it comes!
"Why didn't you tell me you were THE godson of Bulma Briefs? Do you know how famous she is?" Videl questioned loudly.
"Uh. You never asked?" Gohan said softly.
"Whatever Gohan. Is there anything else we should know?" Videl asked getting closer to him. She looked him right in the eyes.
"Umm. I don't think so." Gohan said softly starting to feel hot again. Videl stood up staring right at his eyes for a minute.
This was really uncomfortable for Gohan as he never got this close to a girl and he didn't feel like had a lot of control of the situation. A soft blush began to spread across his face.
Videl also realized this was getting a little awkward as her face heated up slightly as she looked deep within Gohan's eyes. Something about his eyes made her feel like this boy had a lot of dark secrets. She began noticed a faint blush on her face which didn't go unnoticed by Erasa. Erasa stared at the two for a second gathering her thoughts. Wow Videl sure is giving a lot of attention to Gohan Erasa thought.
Videl's glare didn't seem to work well on Gohan. Normally it would tear a person apart forcing him or her to admit whatever she was trying to squeeze out. This was the first time it didn't really work which gave her a questionable look. Why isn't it working! Videl thought as it always worked on criminals. It even works on Sharpner and Erasa. Even her dad has fallen to The Glare™.
She even made sure to get very up close and personal. She saw Gohan staring right back at her with a questionable look on his face but still nothing had happen. Normally he should have cowered away scared, begging for mercy through whimpering and facial expressions but it had virtually no effect. Dang. I am going to have to change tactics with him.
"So umm, the only thing I found was the same excerpt that Videl printed out." Erasa said breaking the silence. Videl immediately backed down from Gohan. That was strange. I will have to ask Videl about that later Erasa thought as she gave a questionable look towards Videl.
"What about Son Goku?" Videl asked.
Gohan now became much more alert. At the sound of his father, his chest got tight as he never truly got over what had happened even when his father forgave him. What? How did she even- His thoughts were interrupted.
"Let me look. The excerpt from the police files did mention him now that you mention it Videl." Erasa said as she entered Son Goku into the search text box.
Videl eyed Gohan and noticed his posture and facial expression changed drastically when she mentioned Son Goku. You are so confusing Gohan! Videl thought as nothing added up.
Please let there be nothing Gohan thought. Gohan let a small sigh of relief go. The search came up as invalid.
"Nothing." Erasa said.
"Dang. Apparently he fought Piccolo at a World Martial Arts tournament many years ago. I remember my dad saying that it was a bunch of tricks but I am pretty sure it's all real." Videl said.
"What makes you think those tricks are real?" Gohan asked as he was curious to know also.
"Don't tell anyone but I know firsthand that those are not tricks from fighting crime with Saiyaman." Videl explained. Can't believe Gohan took interest in that Videl thought.
"Didn't your dad say they used like wires and jet packs? Didn't he say Cell planted bombs or something like that?" Erasa said.
"I don't know about those people at the Cell Games, but Saiyaman doesn't use tricks" Videl said affirmatively.
Gohan smiled at the exchange of information. He was happy to hear Videl backing him up as when they first met it was all anger from her. Even though he knew Saiyaman and Videl were far from friends, it was nice to her backing him up.
"Well I guess we did all we could here." Videl said even though they didn't make any headway with their research projects.
"Yeah, guess we will have to figure something else out. Any ideas Gohan?" Erasa asked as she got up from the computer.
"Umm, not yet but I will try to think of some though." Gohan said unsure how to go about this project himself.
"Well I guess we should probably get going." Videl said.
"I will show you the way out. It can get kind of confusing in here." Gohan said happily.
The three of them walked down the long hallway they came from towards the front room in which they came in. This is too nerve racking for me Gohan thought.
"I still can't believe you are the godson of Bulma Briefs. Do you know how cool that is?" Erasa squealed happily.
"I don't really think of her as famous. She is just family." Gohan said genuinely.
"Still it's cool!" Erasa said.
"Uhh yeah. So I guess I will see you two tomorrow?" Gohan asked.
"Of course!" Erasa said and gave Gohan a hug. Gohan just stood there not sure what to do but decided to hug back. She is just that type of person I guess.
For some reason Videl felt a tiny knot tie itself inside of her chest. For some unknown reason she didn't exactly like the scene. Maybe Erasa likes Gohan like that. I was pretty sure that she liked Sharpner more. Gohan knows even more famous people than I do. Too many secrets. Something is just not right about him and I will figure it out someday.
"Uh, bye Videl." Gohan said with a wave after Erasa let go.
"See you tomorrow Gohan" Videl said nicely as she shut the door behind her. Gohan let out a big sigh of relief.
"Wait!" Gohan said opening the door back up. Videl was surprised at how the door jerked back open when she was trying to close it.
"Please don't tell anyone that Bulma is like family to me. I would rather people not know about it." Gohan said worryingly.
"Of course we won't!" Erasa said.
"You're still the same person before we came here. I know what it feels like to be in the lime light." Videl explained with a smile.
"Thanks a lot." Gohan said.
He knows exactly how I feel sometimes Videl thought as she finally shut the door.
That was so close. Just imagine if Vegeta came out of the gravity room! Imagine if Trunks said something he should have! That could have gone a lot worse than I thought. Gohan sat down on the nearest couch to relax.
"Well that was pointless" Videl said as they were flying back towards Satan City.
"We did learn something about Gohan though. He sure knows important people" Erasa said still surprised.
"I don't get how Gohan could know Bulma. Bulma said something about Gohan's dad. They must know each other." Videl said.
"Yeah but who is his dad? Your average person isn't going to know Bulma Briefs so personally." Erasa said. Videl thought about that for a second.
"Gohan is a very careful not to talk much about himself. Have you noticed that? Even when I was glaring him down, he didn't budge!" Videl confessed.
"What was up with that? I haven't seen you get that close to a boy in a long time. You were practically in his face!" Erasa said with a suggestive tone.
"Don't you even dare" Videl said slowly.
"I am just saying! I can see why you might go for him" Erasa said jokingly getting a rise out of her best friend. Erasa was surprised to see a faint blush on Videl after she said that. Maybe there is something there Erasa thought.
"I know what you are thinking and I would never reduce myself down to that level. I don't even like him like that" Videl said.
"Down to what level? He clearly is at a high level if he knows Bulma Briefs" Erasa said. This is fun Erasa thought.
"Doesn't matter. I don't know a thing about him and he looks really weak" Videl said. "You know my father wouldn't allow it."
"Contemplating it now huh?" Erasa said with a suggestive tone.
"NO!" Videl fought back.
"His smarts make up it. Your brawns and his smarts! It's perfect!" Erasa said with a smirk.
Videl sighed. It was pointless to argue about boys with her. She is like in love with every single boy at school. Poor Gohan.
"Anyway, he sure felt buff when I was hugging him back there." Erasa said.
"Please Erasa, not now." Videl said.
Erasa pouted. "Fine!"
After a long day, Videl decided to continue this project on her own. She had taken Erasa home and now she was comfortable in her personal office researching online. She began her search which wasn't going well as she couldn't find anything the first time around. This time she went at it in a different approach. The only person who had personal contact with King Piccolo was Son Goku who supposedly beat him.
She finally ended up finding some information about Goku. Apparently he had fought in the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. He was a finalist in the first two and won the third one in which his opponent was King Piccolo who went under the alias Junior. Hmm. This is interesting. Son Goku must have been really strong. I must find a way to contact him Videl thought. She decided to go through the police files as they have a lot more contact information than the internet.
After a thorough search she found nothing. Dang! Maybe if I contact the World Martial Arts Tournament people they might be able to help me. They must have their contact information.
She called the WMAT (World Martial Arts Tournament) office on Papaya Island.
"Hello. You have reached the WMAT. If you are interested in participating in the next tournament, press 1. If you want to know general information, press 2. If you have a question to ask, press 3. If you –"
Videl pressed 3.
"Please hold." An annoying song began to play in the background. Videl finally felt like she was getting somewhere.
"Hello? How may I help you?" the answerer finally picked up.
"Hi, this is Videl Satan and I need some contact information on a former champion."
"I am sorry. We don't give out personal contact information."
Videl sighed. She hated using her father's image to get something. "This is Videl Satan of the Satan City Police Department, daughter of Hercule Satan."
"Oh my apologies. Who's contact information do you need again?"
"Son Goku."
"One moment please."
A few minutes passed. What is taking so long? Don't they just type in their computer? Videl thought as she looked at her watch.
"Ms. Satan?"
"Yes."
"Strangely enough we couldn't find his information. We are not sure why as we have almost everybody's contact info on here."
Videl sighed. "What about a finalist named Junior?"
"Junior was just an alias for King Piccolo reincarnated. We most certainly do not have his contact information."
"I really need to contact Son Goku if possible."
"I have an idea. Let me transfer you to the announcer of the WMAT's as he may be able to help you with your request. I will be transferring you to his personal number so he may not pick up but leave a message and he will get back to you."
"Thank you." This is good. He has seen King Piccolo and Goku with his own eyes Videl thought. After a few rings someone picked up on the end of the line.
"Hello?"
"Hello. This is Videl Satan."
"Oh hello Ms. Satan. What do I owe this pleasure for?" the WMAT announcer said.
Finally somebody who knows me Videl thought. "I am at a dead end and I was trying to find Son Goku's contact information. One of the people who work in the office said that the contact information didn't exist and I was wondering if you could help me."
"Sure let me just put my things down and log into the WMAT database."
"Thank you."
"Son Goku huh? He was an incredible fighter." The announcer said as Videl could hear him imputing something into the computer.
"Can you tell me more about him? Were those tricks real or fake? You know the one my father always says were fake."
"Videl, I shouldn't be saying this but I am positive they were real. The fights with Goku were far more incredible than your father's fights. I hope you don't take offense."
Videl was taken aback. Nobody ever talked bad about her father before. Deep inside of her she felt happy that finally somebody didn't feel her father measured up to his hype. He may have defeated Cell but the way the world worshiped him just wasn't right.
"No worries. I understand. Can you tell me more about Goku?" There was a slight pause in his voice.
"His fights were the most incredible I have seen. He was always in a group of fighters who always seemed to make it past the preliminary rounds. Jakie Chun, Yamcha, Krillin, and Goku always made it to the finals. I just tried to look up all of them and the only contact information I have is on Jakie Chun."
"Dang. He was the Champion of the 21st right?" Videl asked.
"Yes he was. Son Goku was just a boy when he fought him and it was the most incredible fight I had ever seen. They were evenly matched. That was my first tournament I hosted also."
"So Jakie Chun knew Son Goku?"
"Yes, yes he did. They seemed to be close."
"Hmm. You see I am trying to do a project on King Piccolo and there is hardly any information on him. I think it would be wise to contact Son Goku or someone like that."
"Good luck on your quest. I will forward you Jakie Chun's coordinates. I am not totally sure this is his current address but I hope this helps."
"Thanks. I can't wait for the next tournament. I will be old enough to compete!" Videl said excited.
"That's just the type of energy we need Ms. Satan." The WMAT announcer said.
"Great! I will talk to you later." Videl said over the line.
"Until next time Ms. Satan" and the line went dead.
Videl smirked. She finally had some useful information and next weekend she was going to take the long flight to where Jakie Chun lived. She typed the coordinates in her navigation system and strangely they seemed to be in the middle of a vast ocean. She zoomed in and saw there was a tiny island. Perfect. This project was getting more interesting to her every passing moment.
A/N- Alright. Now things are going to go downhill with Gohan as things get more confusing for Videl next chapter. Perhaps she may finally make some connections. I hope you guys liked this chapter as I didn't want to spill everything at Capsule Corp. just yet. I am contemplating a few ideas for next chapter so give me meh 5 days or so. Ideas welcomed! I'm guessing this fic will probably be closer to 40K words.
Reviewers-
Damex- Thanks so much.
NANLIT- I don't want Piccolo to come in just yet however I am sure things will go downhill for Gohan soon. You are right as this may have been a little rushed. I want to develop Videl's and Gohan's friendship a little more also in the coming chapter or two. Thanks for the review and I hope you liked this one!
Mr. Blue22- Gohan is going to get it really soon!
skyeofskynet- I was always interested in the humans (Gohan's friends) finding about Piccolo and his evil past while Gohan stands there helpless.
The0Blind0Writer- updated! I will update the next chapter pretty quickly if school doesn't get in the way. Hope you liked this one!
DesertStar87- Hmm, you bring up an interesting point. I am trying to keep Videl in character but as she gets closer with Gohan she will loosen up not before she learns more of mysterious Gohan.
Agent 004 Taco Cat- Naturally Bulma would huh. Life just isn't going to be easy for Gohan in this fic!
TheJulesTee- Gohan is really shy as this is the first time he has *hung* with teenagers. Some of the Gohan torture isn't original but I hope some of the other ideas in this fic will be original. Thanks for the review!
AaronLeach- Thanks!
KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913- Vegeta will definitely come in and make things hard for Gohan. I feel this fic will be a lot longer than I previously thought.
MrSuperSaiyan- lol… Trunks and Goten will also come in very soon. Poor Gohan… :(
MysticGohan87- Here you go! :) *puts hands up* I am trying to keep a good update speed. Next one will come out later this week!
Mr. Satan's big mouth- Thanks! Nice name lol