What Zangya found was not what she was expecting, in regards to her supposed job.
She stood in front of what Bulma called the gravity room, and the sounds of Vegeta's yells reverberated itself inside it.
"Bulma... THIS is the job you were offering?" Zangya asked as she looked to the blue haired woman.
"That's right." Bulma nodded, puffing out a cloud of smoke from her cigarette.
"... Seriously?" Zangya questioned.
"I figured you'd be better suited to this than the last one, given your talents."
Zangya stared at the woman for a good while, frowning in displeasure at both this and the shade Bulma was throwing at her.
"My job is telling Prince Prick when to come for dinner?"
She understood the value of being grateful for the things she had, especially second chances, but THIS was just insulting, especially since what happened last time wasn't even THAT bad.
She'd only destroyed a few THOUSAND zeni worth of stuff, that was NOTHING to this woman, and the THING Zangya had accidentally made wasn't even hostile. At first.
"Hey, he's not THAT bad, once you get to know him." Bulma said, visibly upset at her calling Vegeta Prince Prick.
"How DO you know him Bulma?" Zangya asked.
Bulma tried to give a natural answer, but the brief pause she gave before she did told Zangya enough.
"He may be abrasive, but deep down he's got a good heart to him." Bulma said.
"Right..."
Bulma sensed the diplomatic sarcasm radiating off her tone.
"Oh come on, it's not like YOUR track record's all that better." Bulma said defensively.
"At least I ADMIT my ex was an ass!" Zangya shot back. "At least mine PRETENDED to care, before he tried killing me. What's YOUR excuse?"
Bulma scowled, eyes flaring with anger, as she tried to give a retort of her own.
Yet, in that moment, Zangya managed to do something no other creature could even fathom doing when Bulma got worked up.
She made her shut up.
"Even ignoring that, assuming there's actually SOMETHING good about Prince Prick... That doesn't mean I have to like him."
"That's the point of work." Bulma said. "Doing things for money, even when you don't want to."
Zangya sighed.
"Alright... Thank you for letting me work here, anyways." Zangya said.
"You're welcome." Bulma nodded, smirking in silent victory at the fact that, no matter Zangya's arguments, she was still the one to sign her paychecks.
Leaving her to her own devices, Bulma walked away, leaving Zangya to hear the muffled yells of Vegeta from inside.
Zangya walked along to the nearest couch and plopped herself down, sighing.
After several minutes of hearing yells and grunts, Zangya made a game of tapping her middle and index-fingers against her open palm to answer an unspoken question she had.
"... It DOES sound like that." Zangya mused to herself after half a minute of yells and... Tapping.
"Sounds like what?"
The young boy's voice caught her attention, and she looked up.
"Oh, nothing important." She said, lowering her hands. "Trunks, right?"
"Yeah." Trunks walked over, hopping onto the seat next to her.
"I was just curious about something. You'll get it when you're older."
"What's with this "til you're older" stuff?" Trunks muttered. "It's so lame."
"You're lame, shush." Zangya crossed her arms.
"Did Mom give you your old job back?" Trunks asked her after a moment.
"No, she gave me a new one. I'm here to help your dad with getting some food or... whatever."
"You're all dressed up just for that?" Trunks asked, face marred with shock at her formal attire.
"I know, don't remind me." Zangya groaned faintly. "I didn't know this was the job. Does he spend a lot of time in there?"
"Yeah, most of the day actually." Trunks said. "He doesn't really like Gohan for some reason, so that just gave him another excuse."
"Does your dad like ANYONE though?"
"Sort of." Trunks shrugged.
"What did Gohan even do?"
This question came from a place of genuine curiosity; Gohan was about as likable as could be, as far as she was concerned.
"I don't really know." Trunks shrugged again.
"Huh... Well, I guess I'll have to ask him myself." Zangya said when she looked to the door.
For the duration of the trip home, Videl tried to adjust to all of the things that she'd learned that day.
"I'm still half wondering if this is all a really weird dream or not." Videl muttered to herself. "I met Master freaking Roshi today and learned how to fly."
Despite the many interesting things she'd learned however, she couldn't help another concern from reaching her mind.
"Will this be enough to even the odds though?"
Her radio blared as she said this, her looking to it.
"What's wrong?" Videl asked after answering.
"Videl! It-It's those gang members again." The static-laced transmission of the officer calling answered her, her hearing the sounds of pained screams and gunshots ringing through the air. "They're attacking the police station!"
Videl's eyes widened at this news, before she scowled.
"I'm on my way! Hang in there!"
This gave little solace to the man as a ball of ki shot down into the machine, the ensuing explosion sending him flying back to the floor.
"You really think calling for help is going to change anything?" A young man asked as he smirked down at the defenseless man.
The officer scowled, then scrambled onto his feet, eyes narrowed.
"Do you even realize what you're all doing?" He asked. "Do you even care?"
"It's a matter of pride." The boy said, and the second he moved, the cop reached his hand to his firearm instinctively, the young man placing a hand over his chest. "We can't have you annoying us anymore."
A ball of ki blew a hole through the man's chest, blowing him back as the rest of the precint fell into chaotic disorder.
When Gohan would hear the phone ringing, he didn't think much would come of it.
When his brother called him however, both he and #18 were roused from their conversation, Gohan carrying their daughter as he walked out to go to Goten.
"Yeah Goten?" The elder brother asked the seven year old.
"It's Videl." Goten said as he held the receiver up to him, a curious but slightly worried tone to him. "She sounds serious."
The word "serious" often translated into "something is in danger" when it left Goten's lips, and Gohan tensed, and even Pan, in her innocence, seemed to grow silent as she saw her father's expression change.
"Okay. Thank you." Gohan nodded, taking the receiver and bringing it to his ear. "Hello? Videl?"
"Gohan," Videl said on the other end of the line, "can you fly over to Satan City? The gang is trying to kill everyone on the police force. Can you come over and help me fight them?"
Gohan mentally cursed.
"I'll be right there." Gohan said, and Videl said her goodbye before they hung up, Gohan walking back to his room to find #18 at the door.
"What's wrong?" #18 asked him, frowning faintly.
"It's Videl. The gang she was fighting, they're attacking the police right now. She wanted my help taking care of them."
#18, understanding implicitly, nodded.
When he had told his wife that he was training the girl earlier, she had voiced her concern over whether he was sure he wanted to take on a new student again, after last time, but he had told her enough of the situation to know it wouldn't do to leave her be.
Gohan's initial intention, in training Videl, was preparing her to deal with such threats by herself, but #18 doubted that someone could close the gap in power in just a few hours, and it was with this understanding that she acted to take Pan out of his arms.
The infant had other plans however.
She flew up, blue eyes gazing up at her father briefly before she did a gesture to hug her father.
"Win Papa." She cooed the only two words she spoke to him in her young age, and something inside Gohan immediately melted at this action.
"I will Pan." He smiled down at her with the warmth only a father could hold for their child, and Pan floated away, landing into #18's arms again as she snuggled up to her mother's bosom, #18 smiling down at the girl as she began rocking her.
She then looked to Gohan, nodding firmly in support, and with great determination, the gi-wearing man turned, running out of the house and speeding away by flight.
#18 walked to the door to watch him go, Pan clapping her hands after her Papa, and the nearby Bido quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Gohan flying away in such a hurry, looking to #18.
"Did something come up?" Bido questioned from the field.
"He's going out for a fight." #18 said, before Pan began floating up again, reaching out after her father before #18 caught the baby. "Not yet Pan."
She brought the baby closer to her again, and Pan looked up to #18, then gave a small little pout to her mother.
"Don't give me that look." #18 said, bringing the baby closer to her and rubbing her nose against Pan's, this act inciting the girl to lose her false expression and burst into a fit of giggles. "You'll get to help Papa when you're older."
"Why not let her have a go?" Bido questioned. "She has the power, that much is apparent."
"I'm not letting my baby go and fight these kind of battles." #18 replied curtly.
"You have to admit it'd be hilarious though." Bido said, the bearded man chuckling. "Just this baby girl floating over a pile of people beaten up, and they're all just losing their minds over how a baby can kick their asses so much."
He instinctively ducked when he saw #18 raising her foot up, the act a normal reaction to her whenever Pan was in the midst of cursing, and seeing him doing this, the message was clear enough that she didn't attack immediately, letting the folly slide.
"You know it'd be funny though!" Bido called.
As Gohan flew, he sensed out the high concentration of power levels as he neared Satan City at immense speeds, him landing on the ground, speeding forward as he neared the police station.
Outside, a gaggle of people were lounging about, and when Gohan stopped in front of them, a gust of wind came with him, alerting them of his presence.
"What the hell?!" One the gang members gave a shocked sound at this, it looking as though he appeared out of nowhere.
The sight of pedestrians gathered, injured and dying, made Gohan scowl, and though one of the gang members attempted to attack him, he was far too quick.
The group saw him one second, and then, the next, punches connected to all of them, them all crumpling on the ground with looks of shock frozen onto their faces.
Standing at the door, Gohan did the Multi-Form technique, his doppelganger crouching down and pouring ki into the bodies of those who were attacked, some of them being healed greatly with this, while the real Gohan sped inside to fight all of those remaining.
When Videl finally arrived, she landed her coptor to find ambulances taking people onto gurneys as Gohan stood outside, waiting for her with his hair golden, him having transformed before she arrived.
She got out, and didn't even capsulize her vehicle as she sprinted towards him.
"Gohan... You're already here?" She asked in shock, confused that he managed to make it there first, when she had a two hour head start on him at least.
Gohan looked to the pig-tailed girl, nodding solemnly.
"I am." Gohan said. "I took care of things here."
"What did you do exactly?" Videl asked as she heard this.
"I knocked them all out." Gohan said flatly. "I would've done worse, if there weren't already people wounded and dying."
Videl's gaze flickered with understanding, and looking to the people inside, she sighed.
"Why would they do this?" Videl questioned to herself while crossing her arms.
"Someone sent them." Gohan said, sighing. "Someone who... Wanted to draw me out."
As Videl's expression morphed into one of confusion, he began walking forward, eyes downcast.
"You? Why you?"
"I need to go." He said to Videl. "Can you hold down the fort here?"
"... Sure." Videl nodded, deciding to just let him handle it. "What are you going to do though?"
"Find the person responsible for this."
He crouched down briefly, and with a push of his legs, he sped through the air at the speed of a bullet, energy covering him as he sped off through the night sky.
As he went, he thought back to one of the gang members he'd fought, the conversation they'd had.
He had been visibly frightened, the gang member's previous arrogance shattered in the face of someone who could so easily mop the floor with all of them combined, Gohan standing over him with naught but ruthlessness in his eyes after punching him to the ground.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?" He questioned Gohan at that time, his immense power causing him to say this in recognition. "We're doing just what you said to do!"
Having mistaken him to be in league with someone else, he had said this.
Gohan took a firm grip of the young man's neck and lifted him up, the carnage present all around the room, of policemen who did not deserve this sort of fate, rendering all parts of Gohan's mind that vied to give mercy in a fight moot.
"Who are you talking about?" Gohan questioned, his glare making the helpless man grow more fearful.
For all this time, the gang member had been completely unaware of the existence of others who were so powerful, beyond the people who'd given them this power in the first place.
"T-That army doctor!" He said hurriedly, trying to claw at the hand gripping his jugular, desperate for it not to squeeze and crush his neck. "He's been doing experiments, and he sent us to kill the cops!"
"Why?"
Gohan, sensing his fear, gave the smallest tense to his unyielding grip, and this act was enough to remind him of his position.
His life, despite his power, was completely at Gohan's mercy, with him utterly helpless to do anything about it.
"H-He wanted to us to draw out the Golden Fighter!" He said frantically.
Gohan narrowed his eyes.
"Where is this doctor? WHO is he?"
"I-I don't know!" He stammered, and Gohan narrowed his eyes. "That's all I know, I swear! Please, don't kill me!"
"... Heh." Gohan's small chuckle made his blood run cold, a smile creasing the Saiyan's lips. "That's what you're worried about, after all this?"
Gohan knew very well that this was the truth, but anger had brought out the darker impulses dormant inside of his usually kinder mind.
Every shred of mercy inside him dying with this killer's desperate, hypocritical plea, Gohan forced an illusion into the man's mind, one where Gohan gripped the man's neck fully, feeling the bones crack under his grip with the frailty of twig, splintering into many smaller and smaller pieces.
Yet, as the man had requested, Gohan did not let this kill him.
With the same motion, he channeled ki into the man's body, so that his body could still live despite his neck being snapped and tubes crushed in.
He dropped the body of the man to the ground, and proceeded to leave him to his fate of feeling his body dying slowly, but him unable to move or do anything to stop it.
In reality, Gohan did not injure him at all, but he let his body fall to the ground, unconscious from the shock of the vision, leaving him with this near-death experience to traumatize him enough to impress upon him the evil of his own actions placed against him.
Thinking back on the man's moment of desperation, in light of him killing policemen and policewomen without a second thought, Gohan scowled.
The temptation to kill him had been present, in the face of how many that man and his friends had killed, along with those they WOULD have killed if Gohan hadn't intervened, but Gohan refrained.
As Gohan had told Bido, despite everything, even that one member desperate to live could very well have been someone else's loved one.
They would be someone who loved a mass murdering coward, but they were someone nonetheless.
Gohan didn't plan on killing unless absolutely necessary.
But that didn't mean he enjoyed the sensation, every time he let someone undeserving live.
Reaching his destination, the Lookout, Gohan ran up to his long time friend.
"Dende?"
The Namekian had grown much taller over the years, and he looked back to Gohan as he gripped his predecessor's cane.
"Hello Gohan." Dende said. "I take it you needed something?"
"Yes," Gohan said, sighing, "sorry to ask this of you so suddenly, but can you locate someone?"
Dende looked over the edge of the Lookout.
"I'll guide you to who you're looking for." Dende told him.
Gohan blinked.
"You already know who it is?" He asked in surprise.
"I see everything here." Dende replied placidly, giving a tired smile to his friend. "So... I know what you're trying to do."
Gohan gazed at him briefly, then nodded.
"Alright."
That saved him time explaining, at the very least.
"Come with me."
Dende walked along towards the building in the Lookout, Gohan following.
"If you know, do you mind telling me who exactly's responsible for all of this?"
"They're a group of scientists, that splintered away from the Red Ribbon Army." Dende replied. "They've been doing experiments with a different groups around the world for close to a year."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Gohan asked. "I could've helped."
"I was taking care of it, in my own way." Dende assured him, and as they entered the building, he began crouching down over a ball on the floor. "I can't always rely on you to fix the world's problems after all."
"But... how are you even doing it?" Gohan said. "Are you even allowed off the Lookout?"
"I can leave whenever I need to." Dende said, but looked to Gohan. "I have to be careful of the things I encounter though. I can't afford to become impure hearted, as a Guardian."
"I see. But, again, how have you been dealing with this?"
"I've had Mr. Popo go about gathering and training disciples for me." Dende replied, him picking the ball up before unraveling it, it unfolding into a carpet. "These disciples have been acting as my emissaries in some conflicts up to now."
"How did you manage to convince them?" Gohan asked, curious.
"I provided for each of their needs, on the basis that they train hard and fight for the good of others." Dende said. "I've been doing this for several years now, honestly."
"... Why? What made you want to do this?"
"Well... Because you have a different job than I do." Dende said. "Your father left you as the one to guard the Earth against evil, that much is true. But that kind of evil isn't the same kind I deal with. There are problems that are too much for me to deal with personally... So I rely on you when that's the case. In a case like this though, I wanted to see if I could be of any real help without relying on you."
"I see."
"To that end, I've been doing training of my own. I'm not as strong as you, but... I'm stronger than I was before. That being said, going where we are, it's likely that I'll need your help."
Gohan smiled.
"That's fine. There's nothing wrong with us working together. Why don't we work together for this?" He asked. "We could probably make a good team, if we learned to fight together well."
"We'd have to decide that after today then." Dende said, optimistic, him stepping on the carpet before it floated up. "Can you step on?"
Gohan complied with a nod, and as they moved, the speed they moved with was great, them appearing at what appeared to be a base.
"It's here?" Gohan asked, eyes narrowing as he felt a potent energy lying dormant inside.
"Yes."
As the pair descended from the carpet, a figure trekked along from the fort, walking towards them in a non-hostile manner.
Her skin was a snow white, brown hair coming out in short locks, her eyes a piercing blue shade.
"Son Gohan." The person spoke, expression blank as she looked to the much taller of the pair. "Is that who you are?"
"Yes." Gohan nodded simply.
"Understood." She replied, before looking over to Dende. "Who are you?"
"Dende."
Her pale blue eyes flickered with light, and yet she gave the faintest sign of a frown.
"Data Insufficient." She said to herself. "I am not aware of who you are."
"Who are you?" Gohan asked her, the blank-faced girl looking up to him.
Something about her looked familiar to him, but he couldn't place his finger on what exactly.
"Designation: SEED Project 3, Subject Sierve." She responded. "My current purpose is collecting you and bringing you to my maker. For you to arrive so quickly did not align with his expectations, but he finds it simpler regardless. He did not mention what to do with a Dende, however."
"Dende is an old friend of mine. He wanted to have it so that we could come together." Gohan said.
Sierve studied him, gaze unblinking as her pupils gained a reddish hue.
As Gohan tensed at the sight of this, he realized that he was on edge.
He could tell by her complete lack of an energy level that she was an Android (though, strangely, the Red Ribbon Army insignia that was another trademark of androids was notably replaced by a symbol that read "G.R.").
Despite this, her lack of outward hostility was perhaps what set him off most; Dende had brought him there, to the people who'd sent teenagers to try and kill a police department for the sake of drawing him out.
He was unsure what these people wanted with him, but their blatant ruthlessness in achieving their goal was unpleasantly familiar to Gohan, the same sort of unscrupulousness the likes of Frieza and Cell had exhibited, if not by their hands, then by those that followed their mark.
The dissonance he felt from an Android in the form of a little girl being the first to greet him was therefore great.
When the android Sierve's eyes returned to normal however, she nodded mutely.
"Very well." She nodded, then turned away, beginning to walk inside. "My maker is willing to have Dende accompany you. Please follow me."
Gohan looked to Dende, who looked back.
'I should be ready for a fight, right?' he asked the Namekian telepathically.
'Be prepared for the worst.' Dende replied. 'If all goes well, we won't need to fight. If it doesn't... Well, you know the drill.'
His body felt heavy with the liquid engulfed around him, the man slowly opening his weary eyes.
"Hello again." The shimmering, blurry image of that scientist said as they smiled up to the Saiyan. "I'm glad you were finally able to wake up again. I was starting to worry the DNA transfusions were taking too great a toll on your body."
The Saiyan's hands tensed faintly, eyes narrowing in dulled anger at the person.
"I will need for you to stay awake a bit longer... If you can." The scientist told him. "It's alright if you fall asleep. I only hoped to test your skills against someone else who had similar powers."
Broly mentally frowned, not understanding still where he was, and how weakened a state he found himself in.
Despite his confusion, his exhaustion was as palpable, and he closed his eyes slowly.