Videl Satan is a fighter. Plain and simple.
From the time that she was a young girl, she had been captivated by her father's feats of strength and exploits in the ring. This drove her to want to get better. Better than anyone.
So when she won the Junior World Martial Arts championship at the age of 10, everything that she had been working towards was validated.
It was just after that tournament that she was exposed to a hero for the first time.
Her father had done what no one else could. Not even the combined might of all the militaries in the world. When the demon known as Cell had appeared, her father had rose up as the worlds shining savior.
The hero of the world.
Then just one year ago, a power deep within herself had manifested.
While she wasn't sure what had caused it, the feats of strength that she was now capable of were like nothing that she had ever imagined.
Suddenly she had the ability to do what her father had done.
She had the opportunity to be a hero.
Sure, she could have joined the hero association with her father. But that would mean that she would be following him.
How could you possibly surpass someone that you're always behind?
Gohan was in a dark room. A single suspended light swung it's beam back and forth across the room. In front of him was a table with a single microphone facing him. He could barely make out a camera in the upper corner of the room.
Moments passed and a voice cracked to life. From the quality of the audio, Gohan could tell that the intercom must have been quite old.
Please make sure that all answers are spoken clearly into the microphone.
"Uh.. Okay." He said while looking around the room, trying to make out more features.
Into the microphone, please!
"Ah! Sorry.." he said, leaning forward to the microphone this time.
From the tone, Gohan could tell that it was a man. Probably somewhere in his upper 50's talking to him. He was currently at the police station giving a statement of the events that had transpired earlier that morning.
Much better. Now. What is your name?
"Gohan Son"
Where do you live?
"Well.. My home is in the 439 mountain area.. but I was just enrolled at the Orange Star Academy. I guess I'm living there."
Very good. Now then. What do you remember seeing at school today?
"IT LOOKS LIKE THAT GUY IS BEING MUGGED!"
Gohan's head snapped to the window. Everyone in the room ran over windows to see what was going on. The instructor tried to get everyone under control, but ultimately decided to watch the situation herself as well.
"Someone call the police!"
Just across the street outside of the school grounds, there was an alley between two businesses.
A man dressed in all black with what appeared to be the head of a boar had another man pinned to the side of a building.
Suddenly Gohan noticed one crucial detail. The boar-man had a gun held to the chest of the victim.
He was pulling the trigger.
Gohan didn't have time to think. He couldn't let a man be killed before his very eyes.
In an instant he channeled his energy and entered a state of hyper awareness. From his perspective, it was as though time was frozen.
Standing up, he shot himself over to the nearest open window. No time to waste, he charged at the soon to be murder.
Landing on the ground with enough force to crumble the concrete below him, a cloud of dust was sure to envelop the scene. He grabbed the barrel of the pistol just as the bullet was exiting the chamber, ripped it from the assailants grasp, and crushed it in his hand.
Throwing it to the ground, he then turned to the boar-man and bitch slapped the side of his snout with enough force to render the creature unconscious.
Gohan took just one second to look over his handiwork. The victim was officially safe and the mutant was disarmed. With the speeds he was moving at, he literally had all the time in the world. That said, he realized that he had to get back to the classroom or he would have to answer to a lot of uncomfortable questions.
Satisfied with his handiwork, he returned to the classroom through the same window he had used to exit. He returned to his seat, careful to sit in exactly the same position that he was in when he first left. Not that it would have mattered. Everyone was still looking outside, completely unaware of what had just occurred.
Settling his energy back down, Gohan allowed his hyper focused state to disappear.
BOOM
Everyone on the classroom jumped back in fright as the scene that they were previously looking at exploded into a cloud of dust.
"HOLY CRAP! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" a random student in the room yelled as a cloud of dust appeared around the area that everyone was looking at.
Then Gohan felt an energy moving rapidly on top of the building. His head snapped up and tried to get a feel for it. A second later, it stopped at the crime scene.
"HEY LOOK! IT'S POWERGIRL" a girl in the room shouted.
Gohan looked out of the window and his breath caught in his throat.
Standing on top of a building overlooking the alley – was the hero herself.
She wore a purple spandex bodysuit with an oversized teal shirt and white sash. Her white boots and gloves made all the colors pop, especially her pink cape.
He couldn't see her face as her head was covered with a large white helmet
He took in her form for what felt like an eternity, though it was only a few seconds. He watched her take in the would-be crime scene.
He watched her with bated breath. What if she had seen him?!
She curiously picked up the gun and he could see her deeply frown at it. She shook her head and picked up the unconscious mutant and jumped off toward the sky. Had Gohan known the city at all, he would have know she was headed to the police station.
Regardless, he relaxed at the fact that she hadn't looked over to the school building once.
Rationalizing it in his head, he realized that the energy he felt was far inferior to even Yamcha. There was no way that he could have been detected.
He pondered it for a few seconds and had a feeling that he had felt that energy recently. Holding onto the feeling on that energy, he mentally filed it away for later.
Plus, now there was a scapegoat. Everyone would think that SHE was the one that dealt with the mugger.
It was only a half hour later that the police were on scene and asked everyone in his class to come down to the station to give statements.
Thinking about his answer for a second, he felt greatly reassured that he hadn't been caught diffusing the situation.
The rest would be a piece of cake. The pressure that they're trying to put on him in this room was nothing compared to his past experiences.
"I saw a man being mugged." Gohan said. "Everyone in class gathered at a window, and then there was a loud noise. Like an explosion or something. A lot of smoke appeared around the street. When it cleared, the mugger was unconscious on the ground.. Power Girl was there.."
Very well. We are getting reports that Power Girl may have been responsible for disarming the mugger. Did you see anything that could possible counteract this.
Smirking a little bit, Gohan once again leaned forward to the microphone.
"No Sir, I did not."
Very well.
Feeling a bit bold, he looked straight at the 'mirror' in the room where he sensed two energies. One was most definitely the heroine that had shown up at the crime scene. The other must have been the man he was talking to.
"Will there be anything else?" He asked.
No. That is all. Please exit the room and ask that the next person enter.
Standing on the other side of the glass, Power Girl was not happy.
"I'm telling you chief – I'm not the one who did this!"
The police chief – a shorter man with a thick brown hair and matching mustache and belly of a donut eater – rubbed the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses in annoyance.
"Be that as it may Power Girl, we just don't have any evidence to determine who else may have come to the rescue."
"What about the gun or the footprints? You know for a fact that this wasn't me. Don't get me wrong here, I'm more than happy to save the day when I'm needed, but I refuse to have my stats padded by heroics that I didn't perform! And what about that guy who was just in here! Did you see how calm he was in that room? That's not normal!"
"For the time being, we'll just have to report this incident to the association as Anonymous. Now you're right. Based on the evidence, we can safely determine that whoever it is must have been wearing a men's size 12 shoe. Unfortunately, when we tried to pull finger prints off the crushed gun, it was completely smooth. Almost as if it was melted as it was crushed" the police chief explained.
"But what about that last interrogation! That stupid smirk! He knows something!" She exclaimed.
"Power Girl! You should know better than to accuse citizens." He looked at her expectantly.
"I don't have proof sir. But don't you just get a feeling in your gut sometimes? It has to be worth looking into.."
"What exactly would you have us do here? What are you accusing him of again?" The chief pointedly asked.
Power Girls expression faltered under her helmet.
"well… I'm not exactly sure myself sir.."
"Sigh. Listen. You should know that I've overseen countless interrogations. His behavior means nothing."
"Ugh. Yes sir. I'll just be on my way."
Once all the interviews were completed, Gohan's English class returned to the academy. Upon their arrival, rumors started to circulate the school that Power girl had made her appearance.
Coincidentally at the same time, lunch was being served at that Academy. Everyone, particularly the girls of the Academy, were chatting their heads off.
"OH MY GOSH! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT SHE WAS ACTUALLY HERE?"
"LIKE! IT'S JUST UNREAL!"
Just a few tables away from them, sat Videl Satan. Taking in all the gossip around her, to say that she was annoyed would be an understatement.
Why was this exactly? Well it's simple. Despite all the credit that Power Girl was getting for taking care of the mugger – Videl Satan a.k.a. the actual power girl, knew firsthand that it was a load of crap.
It wasn't just the fact that someone out there took care of a mugger. Let alone in such an extravagant way. It's the fact that she hates taking credit for something that she didn't do.
Then there was that Gohan guy! Out of everyone that was interviewed, he was almost cocky about it!
And at the end there! How the hell did he know where the one way glass was at?!
It all just pissed her off. So she decided to just sit and stew in her anger.
Looking for something to hurt, she angrily chomped at the apple formerly sitting on her tray.
…
Ah. Anger was good.
…
CRUNCH
…
"Hey Vi!"
"Jiminy Cricket!"
She turns towards the intruder and prepares to chuck the uneaten portion of her apple at her newfound adversary.
Upon seeing Erasa standing right behind her, she halts her motion instantly.
The resulting pose was one Erasa would not soon forget. Videl standing in front of her. Arm cocked back with half an apple just begging to be thrown.
The juices from the other half slowly dripping down her chin. And a look of dismay on her face that was just too cute to handle.
"BWAHAHAHA! What the hell are you doing?" Erasa laughed at her, clutching her sides at the ridiculousness.
"ERASA! You scared me half to death!" Videl shouted at girl, putting her arm back down and blushing a bit at the awkward scenario.
Erasa was about to defend herself when the TV's in the cafeteria once again came to life.
BREAKING NEWS!
"THIS MORNING THERE WAS AN INCIDENT REPORTED JUST OUTSIDE OF ORANGE STAR ACADEMY. A WOULD-BE MUGGER WAS SPOTTED BY STUDENTS JUST AS HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO ROB LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER, BRENT MOMASA. WITNESS REPORTS ARE SAYING THAT POWER GIRL SWOOPED IN AT THE LAST SECOND AND STOPPED THE MUGGING BEFORE ANYONE WAS INJURED."
Bunch of bullcrap! I didn't do jack! Videl angrily thought to herself. The distraction that Erasa had given her was gone and she was back into full bitch mode.
"I'M ERIN MAVIS, AND THIS IS…"
The reporter suddenly stopped talking and held her hand to her ear.
"HOLD ON JUST ONE MOMENT! I HAVE JUST LEARNED THAT THE EVIDENCE DISCOVERED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SUGGESTS THAT IT WAS NOT POWER GIRL WHO DEFUSED THE SITUATION, BUT AN UNKNOWN MALE VIGILANTE . UNTIL THIS PERSON IS IDENTIFIED, POLICE AND THE SATAN ASSOCIATION ARE CALLING HIM "ANONYMOUS". IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR TIP LINE IMMEDIATELY!"
With that, the screens flashed the tip line number a few times then once again went dark.
Damn Straight! Videl thought to herself. With the press involved, they'd find this imposter in no time!
"Wait, so it wasn't you who took care of it this morning" Erasa whispered to her friend.
"Nope.. Though your new best friend, and the rest of his class was brought to the station to give their accounts of what happened." Vides mumbles back.
"Jeez.. What's up your butt?" Erasa asks. "Wait.. are you talking about Gohan?"
Videl nods.
"That's so cool! I wonder what it was like down there!" Erasa says. "I bet there was a good cop and a bad cop!"
Videl looked at her with an incredulous look.
"Wait.. Why would there possibly be a bad cop?"
"I dunno.. haven't you seen Law and Order?"
"Nope"
"NCIS?"
"Nope."
"Blue bloods?"
"Nope."
…
Erasa looks at Videl with a blank look.
…
"Inspector Gadget?"
"Oh yeah!"
"DAMNIT!" Erasa shouts in frustration. "Ugh.. Never mind."
The two fall back into a silence.
…
…
…
"I think Gohan did it." Videl suddenly said out loud.
…
Erasa looks at her.
…
"Who did what now?"
"I think he stopped the mugger."
"Why would you possibly think that?"
"I dunno. Call it a hunch?"
"that's a stupid hunch."
"I was at the interviews you know. With the police chief. He was completely different from what I saw yesterday. Calm. Cocky." Videl ponders.
"You're crazy."
"Is it really a coincidence that a new vigilante appears just outside his classroom, on his first day?" Videl asks in return.
"YES!" Erasa nearly yells back. Seriously. What the hell was Videl on about.
Videl looks at her for a moment. Ultimately she decides to drop it.
…
Erasa then has a thought.
…
"Wait, so there was a good cop and a bad cop then!"
..
"What the hell are you on about?"
"You and the captain. Duh."
Videl looks at her again.
"Oh? Pray tell then. Who was the bad cop, Erasa..!"
Erasa smirks.
"Shouldn't that be obvious, Miss Videl?" Erasa says just a little bit too sweetly.
"I hate you sometimes." Videl griped. She hated that name.
The two girls began to eat their lunch together. Neither one of them said a word as the cafeteria exploded with chatter that there might be another hero out there hiding in the shadows. A few minutes passed and Gohan eventually came out of the serving line to find an empty seat.
"Hey Gohan, how's it going?" Erasa asked once he got seated.
"Oh, not too bad. It's been a crazy morning though." He responded.
"Oh really?! Up to anything.. interesting?" Videl asked.
"Hush you!" Erasa said and threw her apple at Videl. "Just ignore her Gohan. She's crazy."
"Uhh. Okay.." He looked at Videl for a second. The girl had caught the apple. In her mouth. "Yeah, it was a pretty busy morning."
"I heard that they took your entire class down to the police station!" Erasa chirped. Determined to ignore Videl.
"Yeah.. They wanted to interview us about what we saw. It was kind of a waste of time to be honest." He answered back. "Thank goodness power girl was there though."
"Yeah. Good thing Power Girl came to save the day." Videl had a bone to pick with him. She still didn't quite know why she suspected him, but her instincts were kicking in.
"Geez Videl, what's your deal?" Sharpner asked as he too sat down at the table.
"Just ignore her Sharpner. She's acting weird today." Erasa says.
"Isn't that every day?" Sharpner quips.
"Why I oughta!" Videl started to lurch at him
"Okay! I am officially changing the topic! You! Sit!" Erasa expertly snapped at Videl. "Are we still going to the pier tonight?"
"Of course we are." Sharpner answered back.
"OH! Gohan, you should totally join us!" Erasa energetically invited him on their Friday-night adventure.
Gohan flushed and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I guess I could do that. Sounds like fun." He replied. "So.. Uhh. Is this bickering normal for you guys?"
"TOPIC HAS BEEN CHANGED!" Erasa chirped. "THE PEIR SOUNDS GREAT!"
"Awh man, nerd boy is going to come with?" Sharpner asked as he flipped his long blonde hair back over his shoulder. Erasa grabbed it and have a hard yank "OUCH!"
"Be nice to Gohan Sharpie!" she scolded him. "He's new here and I'm officially making him a member of our group!"
"Yes ma'am.." Sharpner briefly rubbed the throbbing part of his head then pulled out his trusty hair brush.
"Great! It's settled then! We'll leave here at 5:00!" Erasa said triumphally. Crossing her arms in satisfaction.
Then a realization hit and her smile faltered.
"Videl's driving…"
"YES!" Sharpner yelled out in glee.
"I don't get it." Gohan says in confusion.
"Just you wait nerd boy.. just you wait.."
Videl just rolled her eyes at Erasa's antics. She wasn't really all that bothered by Gohan joining them. As far as she was concerned, it gave her more time to try and figure the guy out.
That evening Gohan left the front gates of Orange Star Academy.
"Over here Gohan!" he heard a voice call out to him.
Looking out to the street, he spotted a red sports hovercar with Videl in the drivers seat and Erasa standing on the passengers seat waving him down. Sharpner was sitting in the back just behind her with his head cocked back and his hair blowing in the wind.
Chuckling to himself, he lightly jogged over to them.
"Hey guys! What's up?"
"We're going to the pier, duh. You getting in or what?" Sharpner grunted out with an obvious tone.
"Come on! Let's go!" Videl called out impatiently.
"Oh. Right!" He said and climbed into the car, taking the back seat next to Sharpner. Erasa jumped down to sit in her seat.
"Buckle up!" Videl yelled to the passengers and slammed her foot on the gas. The car took off down the road like a bat out of hell. She wanted to know just what made the new guy tick.
"AHH! Videl! Stop it!" Erasa screamed at her best friend.
"Come on! Let's see what this thing can do!"
"AHHHHH! I hate it when you get like this!" Erasa screeched from her spot in the front. She was clutching the handles of the car with all her might.
"WOOO HOOOO! I love it when you get like this!" Sharpner yelled in satisfaction. His arms were waving in the air as though he was on a roller coaster.
"Uh, hey Videl, don't you think you should slow down a bit?" Gohan asked. He wasn't terribly worried since they weren't going that fast, by his standards it was more like a crawl. Regardless, he could see the told that it was taking on Erasa and felt bad for the poor girl.
When the girl didn't seem to respond to his words, he settled back into his seat and gave up. They were coming up on a dead end in the road, and Gohan noticed that there was a cop car up at the next light.
"VIDEL! It's the police!" he yelled over the wind, trying to talk some sense into her.
"LET'EM TRY AND CATCH ME! MUHAHAHA!" she shouted to the passengers.
She pushed the acceleration pedal as far to the floor of the car as it could go and the car once again picked up an insane amount of speed.
"AHHHHHHHHHH! YOU'RE GOING TO CRASH!" Erasa shouted at her friend.
Videl was ten steps ahead however, mere moments from the T intersection, she smashed the brake pedal and turned the wheel hard. The car shot upwards and drove onward, using the buildings themselves to assist the turn.
The sirens started blaring behind her and they could all see red and blue lights in the mirrors.
Smashing the accelerator once more, she ran from the police.
"COME ON THEN! JUST TRY AND CATCH ME!" Videl yelled out in pure confidence.
"ARE YOU SURE THAT THIS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA?" Gohan yelled to the car. Speeding was one thing, Running the police was sure to get him grounded!
"WHAT'S THE MATTER GOHAN! LIVE A LITTLE!" Sharpner yelled over to him.
Looking back towards the cop car, Gohan paled.
He recognized the models of hover cars, and knew for a fact that Videl's car should be able to far out preform the police car chasing after them.
But it wasn't.
The police were gaining on them.
And Gohan knew why.
Making eye contact with the driver of the police car, he paled.
Back in the car chasing the hooligans tearing up the streets in downtown Satan city, was none other than SCPD Officer 3821. Otherwise known as the number three hero on the hero registry.
"Seriously. Why can't kids in this city just follow the laws. These pointless chases really cramp my style."
"Alright. That's about enough of this." The officer decided.
Using his energy, he accelerated the vehicle forward far faster than the specifications would have normally called for.
As he neared the car, he instantly recognized two things.
1. Once again, he was chasing the delinquent Videl Satan through the streets.
2. He had made eye contact with a new member of her delinquent crew.
"Oh, to hell with this job."
Thinking over his options, he realized that he had none.
"Chi-Chi is going to kill me for this."
Looking at the rear view mirror, Videl cursed her bad luck. In all the SCPD, there was only one cop that had the annoying ability to catch.
"Ah, crap. It's this guy again." Videl complained. Deciding that she'd been through this song and dance enough in the past, she decided that she may as well pull over.
In the back seat, Gohan was sweating bullets.
Sharpner was brushing his hair.
Erasa was clutching her seatbelt with a death grip. Her face was completely pale and she was unresponsive.
The officer got out of his car and walked forward to Videl's door. As he passed Gohan, he shot him a look, but continued forward without saying anything.
"Miss Satan. A pleasure as always." The officer said.
"Officer Krillin." She replied. A bit miffed that she had been caught once again. "I take it you don't need my license or registration?"
Krillin looked at her and rubbed the bridge of his nose… or.. rather… the bridge of where his nose should be. If he had one that is.
"Why do you insist on doing this every single week? We already have enough court dates scheduled, don't we?" Krillin asked.
"Oh officer! You make it sound like you don't like me anymore!" Videl answered with a sarcastically offended tone.
"Come on Ms. Satan. This is getting out of hand. I have no choice but to write up your friends this time too. They should know better by now." Krillin cast a glance towards the passengers of the car. His eyes stopped on Gohan.
Gohan looked back with a pleading look. There wasn't any way that he could get a ticket here. His mother would kill him if he was turned into a delinquent on his very first day in the city!
Krillin was having very similar thoughts. His name would be on the ticket too.
"And you. How about you come back to the car with me. I haven't seen you before." He lied. It was probably best if she didn't know that they knew each other.
Gohan got out and followed Krillin back to his car. They both got in, sat down, and shut their doors. They were both pale and sweating bullets.
"Gohan." Krillin started. "WHAT THE FUCK!"
Gohan jumped at the language and sudden volume, and looked to defend himself.
"I didn't know that she was crazy! I thought we were just going to the pier. You know, eat some cotton candy or something!"
"You do realize that we're both dead, right?! I've literally written Videl a speeding ticket every week for a year! YOU'RE ON CAMERA IN HER CAR! I CAN'T NOT GIVE YOU A TICKET!" Krillin was panicking. Gohan was panicking.
"I know! I know! It's not like I planned this you know!" Gohan looked at the car in front of them. Videl was looking right back. He shook his head and looked back at Krillin. "I didn't even want to come to this stinkin' city! Did you know that I've been here less than a day, and they're already making a hero out of me!"
"Wait, you're the one who stopped that mugger this morning? There's practically a city wide manhunt looking for you right now!" Krillin exclaimed. He relaxed back into his seat and looked at his steering wheel. "We have to come up with a plan."
Gohan did the same, looking at the dashboard in front of him. "Well, I'm open to ideas."
…
"I don't suppose running away is an option. I've done it before. Even killed a dinosaur by myself."
"That's not going to happen." Krillin looked up at the convertible in front of him. Specifically the license plate. Satan4. "Satan."
"What was that Krillin?" Gohan looked over to the officer.
"The Satan association." Krillin began his thought. "They could make this go away."
"Why would they possibly do that?" Gohan asked.
"Because. We have leverage… though it might not be enough.." Krillin continued.
"What are you talking about Krillin?" Gohan asked again.
"Videl Satan is Power Girl."