Chapter Seven

"What?! You took Gohan to meet your dad?!"

Videl leaned back on her hands to distance her ears from Erasa's shriek. Beside the two girls, Gohan and Sharpner continued to eat as if the blonde's elevated decibels didn't affect them in the slightest.

Erasa rounded on Gohan. "How'd it go? Did he yell at you? Did he forbid you from ever talking to Videl again? If so, you're a very brave person to be sitting here eating with her like normal."

Gohan finished chewing his bit of sandwich and swallowed before responding. "He was really nice, actually," he said, to the surprise of everyone present. "We had a talk and he gave me his blessing to be Videl's friend. I don't know why he has such a bad reputation with boys. He seemed very reasonable to me."

Sharpner dropped his chopsticks. "Dude…" he said, his tone caught between amazement and disbelief. "I don't know what you said to him, but you must have really impressed him to not be immediately run off."

Gohan looked at him with large eyes. "Is that what he did to you?"

Sharpner recoiled and waved a hand violently. "Are you kidding? I've never gone to meet him. I value my life!"

"But Sharpner wants to," Erasa chimed back in. "He's been training really hard to become Mr. Satan's student someday. The champ won't take just anyone, though. You have to be really strong."

Videl smiled. Erasa had just given her the perfect opening. "Speaking of which," she inserted herself casually into the conversation. "Gohan, what did you think of my dad? Pretty strong, huh?"

Gohan took another bite of his sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. After a moment, he said, "Yeah, he's definitely no pushover. But you could beat him."

On either side of them, Erasa and Sharpner's jaws hit the floor. Videl herself recoiled in surprise. "What? No way! It'll be a million years before I'll even come close to being a match for my dad. He's the strongest fighter in the world!"

Gohan popped the last of his sandwich in his mouth and said nothing. He just looked at her impassively.

His expression caused Videl to raise her eyebrows. "I mean…right?" She looked to Erasa and Sharpner for confirmation.

Sharpner nodded furiously. "Well, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're a beast, but Mr. Satan is on a whole other level. He beat Cell. There's not a person in this world who could touch him. Not without an army, anyway."

Videl turned back to Gohan and nodded. "Right. So thanks or the vote of confidence, Gohan, but I think I'll pass on fighting my dad for now. Maybe in a few more years I'll give it a shot."

The group, sans Gohan, laughed and went back to their lunch. Belatedly, Videl realized that she'd forgotten to ask Gohan about the tournament, but she shrugged the matter off and elected to visit the topic again another time. It wasn't as if the tournament was going anywhere.

o0o


"Any progress on the Gohan front?" Krillin asked, once again standing beside Piccolo on the edge of the lookout. This time they were joined by Dende and Mr. Popo.

Piccolo cocked his head and frowned seriously. "He still isn't training," he reported in his gravelly timber. "But I think his resolve is weakening. He's been dipping his toes into kung fu."

Krillin's eyebrows shot way up. "Kung fu? Really?" He scratched his head where a black carpet of stubble had begun to grow. "Why'd he decide to do that?"

Piccolo continued to look down from the lookout, watching something Krillin couldn't see. "It started as a project for school but I think he's taken an interest. He's got a friend encouraging him."

Krillin made a show of leaning out over the edge of the lookout as if trying to see what Piccolo was seeing. "Like, a school friend?"

When Piccolo didn't answer immediately, Dende chose to insert himself into their conversation. "She goes to his school, yes, but he's been consorting with her longer than that. She's the one who convinced him to go to school."

Krillin nearly toppled off the edge of the lookout and was forced to swing his arms wildly to keep his balance. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!" he exclaimed when he'd righted himself and was safely away from the edge. "Did you say she? As in a girl?"

Dende nodded. "That's right. She's been trying to get him to resume training. Very persistently."

Krillin rounded on Piccolo. "Why didn't you say anything about this? Oh, my god, does Chichi know? I can't believe Gohan got himself a girlfriend and didn't tell any of us! I thought we were bros…"

Piccolo sighed and turned from his observation to glare at Krillin. "Gohan is entitled to his privacy. When he wants to tell us, he will. Anyway, Bulma, Yamcha, and Vegeta already know."

Krillin's shoulders drooped. "Great. Everyone knew but me. Typical." He straightened and placed his hands on his hips. "So, do you think he's planning to introduce us anytime soon?"

Piccolo returned to his vigilance, his body language giving nothing away. "We'll see."

o0o


Videl yawned and stretched her arms high above her head. School had been exhausting that day what with back to back exams in history and Math and their triannual fitness test in P.E. She was well and truly pooped.

Gohan walked beside her with his nose buried in a textbook. Their English teacher had assigned a new chapter for homework and as usual Gohan had jumped on his homework the minute the last bell had rung.

"Careful," she said to him as they came to a point where a large tree root had broken through the sidewalk. "One of these days you're going to trip doing that."

Gohan hopped over the root and hummed to show he was listening.

Videl yawned again. "Man, I'm beat," she announced as much to herself as her companion. "Hey, what do you say we chill at my place today? Play some video games or something. I need a break from the physical stuff."

Gohan finally looked up from his textbook. "Go to your place?" he repeated. "Sure. I don't mind. I'll need to call my mom, though."

Videl nodded and fished in her bag for her phone. She dug it out and handed it to him. "Here. Use this."

Gohan took the phone and dialed his home number. Videl heard ringing in the speaker and then a feminine voice answered. "Hi, mom?" Gohan started, "I was wondering if it would be alright if I'm a little late this evening…"

Opting to give her friend some privacy, Videl walked a little further up the street. They were near a park and she could see a couple of children playing on an elephant shaped jungle gym. A man who she assumed was one or both of their father sat on a bench nearby reading a newspaper. As Videl wandered toward them, a woman dressed in a business suit called to across the playground. "Come on, Ethan! We're heading home now!"

At her call, one of the children hopped down from the jungle gym and waved goodbye to his friend before running off toward the lady.

Videl had nearly reached the play area when the man on the bench closed his newspaper and pulled out a phone. He appeared to type a message before closing it and stuffing it back in his pocket. Not a minute later, a white, windowless van drove into the parking lot near the playground and stopped right by the jungle gym. As Videl looked on, the man stood from the bench and approached the child still playing by himself.

At once, warning bells began going off in Videl's head. These bells only grew louder when the man appeared to introduce himself to the child and then pointed to the van. Videl's eyes narrowed and she picked up her pace. "Hey!" she called to the man who was now leading the child toward the vehicle. "Do you know that child? Where are you taking him?"

The man froze momentarily at the sound of her voice, then, suddenly, he scooped up the kid and began running for the van. Videl cried out and immediately began giving chase. "Stop right there! Kidnappers!"

Unfortunately, no one else was around to hear her scream. The van's door opened and the kid was thrust inside into a pair of burly arms and the man followed quickly behind, jumping in and slamming the door behind him. The van's engine roared to life and Videl reached it just as the tires squealed and it began to move.

Before the vehicle could drive out of range, Videl lunged for it and managed to grab a handle on the side. As the van took off out of the parking lot and onto the main road, she pounded on the side with her fist. "Hey! Open up! Where are you taking him?!"

In an attempt to dislodge her, the van whipped hard around a corner, causing horns to blare in protest. Videl hung on for all she was worth and managed to keep from flying off only to be thrown the other way when the van turned again and began plowing down a narrow side street. Videl cried out in pain as she was slammed hard into a dumpster and finally she let go, rolling onto the street and skinning her unprotected arms and legs in the process.

She though the van would drive away, but the moment she was off, it stopped. The door opened and the man from before hopped out. Videl tried to scream at him, but her body was in too much pain from the combination of her collision and fall. She could only groan as the man hoisted her up onto his shoulder and returned to the van. The next thing she knew, the back door was sliding open and she was being thrown inside. She lost consciousness just as the van began to move again. The last thing she saw before darkness took her was the mustached face of a man she vaguely recognized, but from where, she couldn't recall.

o0o


The next time Videl opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar location and everything hurt.

She tried to move, but to her dismay, she found that her hands and feet had been bound. She tasted blood and ran her tongue over her teeth to found that she'd broken one. Just great.

She groaned and attempted to lift her head to see if she could get any clues as to where she was. The room she was in was dim and chilly. She saw crates with fancy writing on the sides and shelves packed with dark colored bottles situated along the walls. The evidence pointed pretty clearly to her being in a wine cellar.

She attempted again to struggle out of her bonds and that's when a door opened, flooding the room with light. A person-shaped shadow appeared against the glow and then a man was walking down the short set of steps leading up to the door. It was the same man from the van. The one with the mustache.

"Videl Satan," he greeted, his voice familiar in her ears just as his face was. It was a gravelly, unhurried drawl. "Well, if this isn't my lucky day. Not only were we able to nab the governor's kid, I got my hands on the champ's in the process. Someone up there must be lookin' out for me."

Videl grunted and craned her neck to see him better. "Who are you?" she croaked, ignoring the pain in her body. "I've seen you somewhere before."

The man chuckled and grabbed a bottle off the shelf closest to him. As she watched, he pulled a corkscrew from his pocket and made short work of opening the bottle. He threw the cork over his shoulder and took a long draught. "Ahh," he said after he pulled the bottle from his lips with an audible pop. "That's the good shit. Perfect to celebrate my good fortune today." He brought the bottle back to his mouth and took another long pull.

Being ignored only served to stoke Videl's ire. "Hey! I asked you a question!" she reminded him, giving him the fiercest glare she could muster from the floor.

The man grunted and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I heard ya, y'runt." He let the bottle slide through his grip until he held it by the neck and stalked over to where she lay. She continued to glare up at him petulantly all the while, showing him she wasn't intimidated. Her stubbornness was quickly doused, however, when without warning he whipped his arm down and smashed the bottle right by her head. Wine and glass flew everywhere and she barely managed to close her eyes in time to protect them from the jagged shrapnel.

"Not feeling so confident now, I'd wager," the man said, his tone suddenly deadly serious. "I don't play around, honey, and I'm not a patient man. You're going to sit there quietly and respectfully or I'm going to put a bottle through your face next time, am I clear?"

Videl's face went white and she nodded mutely.

"Good girl," he said, running the broken edge of what remained of his bottle over her cheek. She felt stinging pain as the glass sliced into her flesh but she didn't make a sound. "Now, you'll be pleased to know that I've already notified your daddy that I have you. I'm expecting him to pay me very handsomely for your return. That being said, it's of no consequence to me if you make it back to him breathing or not. I'm going to leave that up to you."

The man stood and threw the broken bottle away, allowing it to crash indiscriminately against a wall. Videl fought not to flinch at the sound.

He turned around and began walking to the door and Videl thought that would be the end of it, but then he stopped and spoke again. "Your daddy ruined my life, you know. That last world championship was meant to be mine. I'd turned away from crime and trained honestly for seven years to enter that competition, but your old man was scared of losing so he exposed my past in order to get me disqualified. As far as I'm concerned, this is justice."

His bit said, the man tromped back up the steps to the door and left without another word, slamming it behind him and engulfing her in darkness once more.

Now Videl knew where she'd seen him before. He was Rex Rodney, a famous martial artist once hailed as the best of the best. She remembered him getting disqualified from the tournament but hadn't known why. So, it had been her father's doing. She spit put a glob of blood and saliva and glared at the door Rex had disappeared through. Even if what he said was true, she had no sympathy for a man who would turn to violence and extortion to get what he wanted.

God, but she was in trouble this time. She'd had no way of knowing that chasing after a kidnapper would land her in such a mess. She couldn't even use her phone to call for help because she'd given it to Gohan.

Her eyes widened. Gohan. He was probably so confused. She'd just up and disappeared on him. She wondered if he was still out there looking for her. How much time had passed? She had no way of knowing.

The one thing she did know was that she needed to get out of here. She wouldn't allow her mistake to cost her dad the fortune he'd earned honestly. Her eyes fell on the broken pieces of the bottle that lay around her head and she got an idea. If she could get her hands on a big enough piece, there was a chance she could saw off her bindings.

The next half hour was dedicated to putting her plan into motion. It was difficult to grasp the wet glass and she ended up cutting herself several times in the process, but eventually she got her hands on a piece large enough and the right shape to saw through her bindings. She hissed as the glass slipped and cut into her wrist but she didn't stop. She was determined to free herself from this hellish cellar.

She'd made it about half way through the rope when the shard she was holding cracked and broke off, one half getting lodged between her wrists. She cried out as the glass dug into her skin and warm blood ran down onto her hands. Tears of both pain and frustration pricked at her eyes. There was no way to remove the piece with her hands bound and now she could no longer move her hands to saw without risking opening an artery. Just her damn luck, she lamented in her head. How could a day go so right for a criminal and so wrong for her?

She lay there for a good twenty minutes, unable to move and unable to remove the glass that had buried itself deep into her skin. Movies always made escaping from captivity look so easy. They never accounted for things like breaking tools.

With nothing else to do, she thought about her father and her friends and what was going to happen to her. She wished she'd never chased that van. The kid's fate was out of her hands either way. She should be at home playing video games with Gohan and pigging out on junk food. This was supposed to be her rest day. Now she was locked in a cellar bleeding out onto the floor and she didn't know if she'd ever see her dad or Gohan again.

Eventually, Videl fell asleep. With nothing else to do but regret her actions, she was happy when darkness finally took her.

oO0Oo


大ピンチ!めっちゃ危ない状況に追い込まれた。悟飯君助けて!

Got some new art from this chapter.
cabbage-foam. tumblr (dotcom) /post/178576480727/even-more-doodles

To Iwik: lol! You're actually counting! I didn't think anyone would actually do it. Every smile counts so long as it's from Gohan. Other characters' smiles aren't counted. I was going to reveal that at the end, but since you're already counting, I suppose I should specify that. (Though it looks like you've figured it out regardless). To help you out, I'll tell you that the number of smiles in the first five chapters was eighteen.

I've had a few people ask me how it is that nobody recognizes Gohan from the Cell Games footage. This is a very good question and the answer is underwhelming. Basically, what it comes down to is that nobody expects the nerdy transfer students to be some badass fighter/actor. Imagine if you saw a dude with a purple mohawk Evil Knievel over the grand canyon on TV one time and then six months later you saw a similar-looking dude hanging out at an arcade. You probably wouldn't instantly suspect the two were the same person. You'd more likely think, "Hey, that dude has the same hairstyle as the guy who jumped the grand canyon," or "Wow, purple mohawks must be in right now." It's like that.