Hey! It's Demi here and this is my forth chapter! Of course you already knew that though...
Anyway, Gohan and the Sisters are now in the thieving business together and it's time for them it lay down the foundation of this criminal housing! Hope it's a sturdy one; the risk outweighs the reward!
It was three in the afternoon when Gohan was finally done with his daily studies. His eyes throbbed and his head ached due to the complicated mathematic problems in the way too small print the company decided to use. Even though he was not feeling like planning his double life today, it had to be done since he had already agreed on a time and place to meet his team.
Gohan sighed deeply to himself and began to put away his materials as he took a break once in a while to rub his eyes or yawn. He felt like he could just lie down and take a small nap but with the up coming meeting, he could not afford to. The boy only had thirty more minutes to be in the meeting area and beginning late was not the best of ideas. The Sisters were never late to anything, though that was because Demeter had a silly fear of being late to anything; in fact, she would time herself and find the fastest route to any location.
He chuckled at the thought of having Demeter timing him to see what route he should take to the loot on a mission. Gohan could almost hear her yelling in his ear, telling him that he was going the wrong way or if he was a second off the practiced time.
After he finally cleaned and organized his countless books, he told his mother that he was off to play outside and that he would be back in time for dinner. Gohan then ran out the front door and took to the sky. He left later than he would have liked but he would still make it on time and not get yelled at by the crazy, twin-like sisters.
Gohan landed by a huge weeping willow that hung over a clear creek. The soothing sound was like a soft song to his numb ears and achy head. He felt a wave of sleep coming over him and could not help but yawn as he made his way over to the large tree that seem to welcome him with a place in the foliaged sun so he may stay warm and safe as he gently napped there.
Birds seemed to whisper through the woods as they glided on the sweet smelling wind that caressed his body when he would get too hot. Gohan felt his body relax and his muscles slowly ease as his mind began to wonder into another world that only held dreams and wishes.
" ...GOHAN!"
" WHA-WHAT?" Gohan nearly coughed as he quickly opened his eyes and glared at the source of the sound. It was Artemis and Demeter, just standing there looking at him.
" Good, you're awake." Artemis smiled sweetly at her startled friend.
" I told her to let you sleep, but she never listens. Sorry about that." Demeter sighed as she sat down beside her friend and began to play with a rubix cube. She was always playing with one, so seeing her with one was not surprising.
Gohan sighed and held his head in attempt to stop the slight pain he felt. He felt worse then before and not only that, but now he had the sisters to deal with.
"Hey, Gohan. Are you not feeling well? Got a headache or something?" Artemis kneeled down to her groaning friend and felt his head. It throbbed beneath her palm with a painful force. She sighed as she rose to her feet. " We could make you a potion I suppose..."
" What's gotten into you?" Gohan chuckled as he teased the annoyed sister.
" Shut up! I just don't like to see you in pain that I haven't caused you is all!" Artemis summoned a caldron to her and began to drop different herbs into it.
" Why do you already have the ingredients? Did you-?"
" I don't carry them for you, I carry them for Demi! Those stupid cubes she plays with always give her headaches if she stares at them for too long." Arty snapped as she poured him a small cup for him to drink.
The mixture was warm in his hands and oddly smelled like grass. It was green like grass too; but not fresh grass, but the dead brownish grass that was cut and left in the sun to rot. The sight of the mixture was enough to make him think twice about drinking it. He was about to hand it back when Demeter pinched his nose and Artemis forced the drink down his throat.
After swallowing the foul tasting liquid, Gohan gasped for breath and glared at the two.
" She did the same thing with me so I understand what your going through!" Demi chirped.
" Thenwhy did you help her then!" He growled as he got to his feet and glared at the two of them.
" Feel better though, don't you?" Artemis smirked, for she knew the answer. She enjoyed the look that over took Gohan's face. It was a look of realization, and of defeat.
" Yes. I do feel much better." He sighed as he sat down and cleared his throat. " Now, about the business."
" I was thinking about that actually." Demeter spoke, though never taking her eyes away from her cube. " We need a place that we can get to easily get to."
" Yeah, and a place that can be hidden, but in plain sight." Artemis sighed to herself.
An idea popped into Gohan's head, two in fact. " Well...we can either use the sewer systems below the city, or we can build our own near Master Roshi's!"
" What? The sewer system! I won't do it!" Artemis roared as she crossed her arms and turned her nose up at him. " And how are we to build near Uncle? He lives on a small island."
" Can we build underneath the waves?" Demeter asked as she dropped her cube and held her hands in a bundle, as if she was holding a fragment of Hope and she did not want to lose it nor let the world see.
" I'll need time...and some magic if we are going to do that option. I thought we could use the sewer system so we have a run on the town." Gohan explained as he scratched the back of his head.
" True...Demi could clean it out and draw us a map of it's tunnels and such." Artemis looked to Demi, who was a tad sad that they weren't going to live underneath the calming waves and watch the many different types of fish swim by them.
" Okay, but since Demeter is doing the work, she gets to design the layout of the base." Gohan said with a smile; which only grew in size his he watched her eyes light up with joy.
" Really? I'm going to make it the coolest base EVER!" Demeter jumped up and down, then ran off to do her job.
"...But...We're not done..." Gohan sighed as he then looked at Artemis. He knew that without Demeter here, there was no one to keep her from harming him.
" Too bad. Once she's on a project, she won't stop til it's done." Artemis smirked, then leaned against the tree. " So...I guess you're going to be doing the ninja stuff, I'll drive the getaway car, and Demeter will be the walkthrough guide?"
"...Sure...I guess that will be fine." Gohan then gave Artemis a pair of keys.
" What's this?"
" Keys to a van I've been saving for you."
" But I hate vans."
" I know." Gohan smiled at her while she flipped him off. He knew she hated vans, that's why he bought it for her. " Anyway, once the base is built and we have the maps made, our first crime is to steal a candy store."
" What! Candy? You want to steal candy? Some master thief you are!" Artemis growled. Was food the only thing he though about?
" It's for Goten! He wants the candy!" Gohan shot back as a light blush crossed his face. Sure, he wanted some candy too, but she didn't need to know that.
" Whatever." Arty sighed as she gave Gohan an odd look. " Does your mom know?"
" Huh?" Gohan was taken back by the question and was going to yell back a 'no', but know that he thought about it...did she know?
She always seemed to know everything when and where it happened. So what made this different? What if she DID know; but then, wouldn't she try and stop him? Maybe she wanted him to do this or maybe she DIDN'T know! Maybe she stopped spying on him and only did so when he was studying!
"Are you done thinking yet? Geez! I hate it when you and Demi do that!" Artemis growled as she tapped her foot with impatience. She hated waiting, so having people zone out on her was an easy way to get under her skin.
" Sorry, Arty. I was just thinking." Gohan nervously smiled as he scratched the back of his head.
" Anyway, go home and wait for us to finish the base."
" I thought Demi was doing the base?"
" I know, but that doesn't mean I can't watch her." Artemis then patted Gohan's shoulder and flew off.
He smiled, then took to the sky as well.
~~~~~~ At the Son house~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Gohan arrived, he found that his dad was playing with Goten and his mom was watching tv. The idea of having a normal life and a night life made him smile. He always felt like he was living in his father's shadow, but now he was going to be in his own light...even IF it is the Light of Crime.
" Hey, Gohan! Wanna play with us?" Goten asked as he ran up to his older brother and began tugging on his hand.
Gohan looked down at the younger one and smiled. He loved his brother very much and wanted nothing more but to make him happy. He wanted Goten to live the way he truly wanted to and to enjoy being a kid as long as he could.
" I was going to go relax some in my room, Squirt." Gohan spoke as he ruffled up his brother's hair.
" Did you have a tiring day?" Goten asked. His eyes were filled with wonder and concern. When Gohan said he had a tiring day, that meant that he went on an adventure and had a story to tell him, but it also meant that he didn't want to spar.
" Hey, Gohan!"
The boys turned to see their father come up to them. His clothes were dirty and had small rips in them from playing rough with his youngest.
" Hey, Dad." Gohan said as he gave his father a slight wave. He was still felt a tad hurt and anger toward his father for just leaving them. True, he caused his father's death, but he didn't even try to think of a way to return.
Gohan understood his father's reasoning, in a sense, but who was to say that there was a greater evil out there? Or that staying away would prevent the arrival of their next foe? He thought about this for years and countless times and never understood how the choose his father made was the lesser of the two evils.
Goku caught the slight tension in his son and was confused by the action. Was he mad at him? Did he do something he was ashamed of and felt awkward in his presence? Did he smell?
" Gohan! Demeter and Artemis called! They said that they need your help moving some stuff for Baba!" Chichi yelled out from the living room.
" Okay, Mom!" Gohan was happy that the base was finished so soon and that his destiny was about to play out before him and to countless others. He quickly flew off and headed toward his friends energy signatures.
~~~~~ Base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" It looks and smells wonderful down here, Demi! Good job!" Artemis gleamed as she patted her sister's back as she vomited.
" Shut...up, Artemis...It was the WORST thing...EVER." Demi panted as she made a glass of water appear so she could clean her mouth from the horrid taste.
" It must of been! You have the strongest stomach I know!" Artemis helped her sister up and then smiled, " Look at our beautiful base because of you! You would never be able to tell it's in a sewer!"
" Yeah...I guess you're right!"
" Speaking of which, where is all of the shit going to go? I mean...we ARE in a sewer."
" I developed a whole new maze of tunnels that run to the indented locations." Demeter smiled as she then took out her pocket watch and flipped it open. Gohan was , late.
" I'm here!"
" Gohan, you're late! How are we going to run a smooth operation if the thief is late?" Demeter tapped her foot and shook her head. " Try again next time."
" Well, I was thinking on the way over and I've hit a MAJOR snag in our operation." Gohan sighed as he twirled his thumbs together. This was what Gohan did when he was very nervous or shy.
" What is it? Didn't you bother to think all this out before you asked us to help?" Artemis yelled at her friend.
" Don't you ask for help when you NEED help?" Demeter asked out loud.
" Anyway," Gohan growled and then cleared his throat, " The problem is how do we hide our energy without...hiding it? I mean, we can't just disappear off of the radar and not expect everyone to not get worried."
The sisters nodded and then began to give Gohan a full tour.
The sewer was the perfect place for a base. It's winding tunnels and many dead ends were wonderful traps they could use to avoid capture was ingenious! The place was lit up with small, over head lights that hung and swung from the arched ceiling, which gave the tunnels a type of 'homey' feel to it.
The smell was of a clean, earthy one that seemed natural even for a place were 'waste' was to be stored until cleaning. The base walls were made of concrete but had a smooth finish to it. It was cooling to Gohan's heated hands, which were starting to itch again.
The main area was in the center of the sewer and was quite large. It had a very detailed map painted so very cleanly against the back wall. The map was of the city and all of the roads and stores that laid littered next to the sewer's tunnels. The key and legend too, was detailed to a point that it was as if Demeter's life depended on the map and how accurate it was.
A large computer was in the front portion of the space and had many different tables, stands, ledges and shelves coming off from it. Objects were neatly organized on those storage units as if they were merely a display.
" Do you like what I did?" Demeter asked as she hugged her friend and noticed his scratching. " Are you nervous? You're going to rub your hands raw and bloody if you don't quit!"
" Oh...yeah...sorry, Demi." Gohan chuckled and cleared his throat. " I love it! We can have everything we need in order and within arms reach."
" Speaking of 'arms reach', where did my wand go? I thought I had it in my hair but...it's not there." Artemis stated as she looked on the floor to see if she had dropped it like she had done so many times before.
" I don't see it Arty. Did you leave at home?" Demeter asked as she helped her sister look for her missing wand.
" No. I brought it with me." Artemis sighed and noticed Gohan cleverly looking through Demeter's satchel. " GOHAN! DID YOU TAKE MY WAND?"
Gohan jumped and then quickly closed the satchel he was going through. " N-no!...Maybe...yes." Gohan removed the wand from his sleeve and handed it over to Artemis, who was fuming with anger at the red-handed thief.
" Really? Good job, Gohan!" Demi cheered as she watch Gohan run from her sister, but only yelped as she began to shoot him with bursts of lighting that she chanted to come from her newly found wand.
Sorry it took me so long! I had a lot on my plate! So in order for me to say sorry, I wrote a SUPER CHAPTER! So enjoy!
