Happy birthday to me! In the spirit of birthday goodwill, I gift to you the ninth chapter. Gosh, aren't I swell?


Chapter Nine

"Oh, Videl! My darling angel!" Mr. Satan blubbered, holding his daughter tightly to his chest. All around them, red and blue lights flashed and officers were picking up bodies and loading them into cop cars but neither father nor daughter took any notice. "I was so worried when I received that ransom call! You're not hurt, are you? I swear to any god might be listening that I'll go to the prison myself and give that Rex Rodney a taste of my patented Satan Fist if he touched a hair on you!"

Videl smiled and patted her father's back. She was glad to be back with her father but she was a little embarrassed to be doted on in front of her friend. "Dad, I'm fine," she assured him. Over his shoulder, she shared a look with Gohan. She wasn't going to tell her dad about the condition she'd been in when Gohan had shown up. It wasn't worth the drama, especially since she was already perfectly healed.

Anyway, there was another conversation she wanted to have with her dad and it was much more important. "But I need to ask: where were you? Why did Gohan come in your place?"

Mr. Satan's body stiffened. Suddenly, his hands on her felt clammy. He cleared his throat a little awkwardly and said, "Oh, um, well… That's because…you see…"

"It was my idea."

Videl looked up from her dad back to Gohan. She raised an eyebrow at him, inviting him to explain.

"I convinced him to let me go as a distraction. The plan was for me to show up first in order to make Rex lower his guard and then Mr. Satan would jump him." He looked at her father then and smiled. "Right, Mr. Satan?"

Her father pulled away and nodded quickly. "T-That's right! I was gonna blast him away with my Megaton Punch! Hyah!" He made a show of punching the air several times in demonstration.

Videl frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "But if that was the plan, then why didn't you come out? You didn't show up until after Rex and his goons had been defeated."

"Ah, well…that's because…" He seemed to flounder for a moment and then his confidence returned and he said, "That's because I had to direct the police to the crime scene! You know how these mountain roads are. I had to stay on the phone with the police to help them navigate. We couldn't have them getting lost and not showing up until it was too late."

Videl hummed. She supposed that made sense. It was a good thing Gohan was a skilled fighter, though, otherwise they would have been in a lot of trouble. In fact, that brought her to another question she was hoping her dad would answer for her.

"But Dad, why Gohan? I'd think you'd want to bring one of your students instead. I mean, Gohan's just a kid. How did you know he wouldn't get pulverized?"

Once again, Mr. Satan didn't respond right away. Gohan opened his mouth as if to answer for him again, but this time, her dad raised his hand, motioning for him to stop. The champ inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled and said, in a much more serious tone, "That's because…" he paused and seemed to gather his resolve. "Gosh, I just can't keep this from you anymore. The truth is, I've seen Gohan fight before and I knew he could handle it."

Videl's eyebrows shot up. "You've seen Gohan fight?" She rounded on her friend and gave him a confused look. "But when would you have seen that? Gohan doesn't like to fight. Today was the first time I've ever seen him actually fight for real and I've known him for months."

Gohan shifted somewhat uncomfortably. The corners of his mouth tugged downward into a frown and he shook his head. "Mr. Satan, you don't have to—"

Her father held his hand up again. "No, it's only fair. If you're going to be Videl's friend, it's only right that she knows."

Videl looked back and forth between them feeling completely lost. "Know what?" she demanded. "Are either of you going to tell me what's going on here?"

Her father glanced around before speaking again. It seemed to Videl that he was checking to make sure nobody was listening in. When he was satisfied that the officers were all otherwise occupied, he said, "Videl, this boy—Gohan—is very strong. And I don't say that lightly. He might just be the strongest person on this planet."

Videl blinked. Was her dad joking with her? Was she supposed to laugh? She looked at Gohan for some kind of clue as to how to respond, but he was merely watching her and her father wordlessly. She looked back at her dad and shook her head slowly. "But Dad, you're the strongest person on the planet. Gohan's good, but there's no way he's better than you."

To her amazement, Mr. Satan shook his head. "No, Videl. Your old man's a tough cookie, but your friend here is on a whole different level. I knew that if anyone could be trusted to bring you home safely, it was him."

Videl looked back at Gohan full of confusion and uncertainty. She'd never heard her dad talk like this before. He'd never admit that anyone could be stronger than him. Much less a kid from her school.

"You've never seen him fight like I have so you wouldn't know," he father continued, "but there's a time in every martial artist's life when they have to accept that there's someone out there they'll never be a match for, and for this old man, that person is Gohan."

Videl couldn't believe what she was hearing. If this was supposed to be a joke, it had been dragged on way past the point of being funny. What her dad was telling her was even more unbelievable than Gohan confessing that he was an alien.

"But…when in the world did you see Gohan fight? And why didn't you ever mention it before?"

Mr. Satan placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You probably won't believe me unless I show you myself." He looked back at Gohan and motioned him toward one of the waiting cars with a nod. "Why don't you kids come back to the house with me. I've got something I think you'll both want to see."

o0o


Gohan looked like he was just as confused as she was when they arrived at Satan Manor and Mr. Satan led them to the room where he'd set up his home theater. He instructed them to sit on the large, black leather sofa, and as they watched he punched some number into the keypad of a safe hidden in the wall. The safe opened and the champ rummaged around inside for a moment before producing an unmarked DVD.

"What's that, Dad?" Videl asked as he popped the disk into the player and changed the input on the TV to connect the devices. The screen flickered to life and without even going to a menu first an image that Videl was sure the whole world was intimately familiar with appeared. It was a large stone ring just like the one at the World Martial Arts Tournament. And at the center stood a creature Videl still saw in her dreams sometimes.

"That's…Cell…!"

It was Gohan who spoke this time. His eyes were large and he was gripping the edge of his seat tight enough to make his knuckles turn white.

Mr. Satan nodded and picked up the remote that controlled the DVD player. "That's right. This here is the only raw, completely unedited footage that exists of the Cell Games. It was captured via satellite and I'm the only man who has ever seen it in its entirety."

Videl whipped her head away from the screen to look at her father. "But how did you get this? I thought footage of Cell's defeat didn't exist."

Mr. Satan said nothing. He merely pressed the fast forward button and Videl watched in triple time as her father showed up on the scene followed shortly by his two star pupils and the odd company of fake fighters who would put on a light show later. Her father continued to fast forward through the part where Cell knocked him into a mountain and then finally let the footage roll normally when the first of the fake fighters stepped into the ring. Videl remembered the orange-clad man. Cell had been oddly happy to see him.

Beside her, she heard the sound of leather crinkling. She turned her face to see Gohan watching the orange fighter with an expression that was clearly pained. Looking back at the man on the screen, Videl noticed for the first time that his hair and eye color matched Gohan's uncannily. Suddenly, realization hit her like a jetcopter. "Gohan, don't tell me that's your—"

"Dad," he breathed, confirming her suspicions. His eyes were still fixed on the screen and she could see hurt mixed with longing in them.

Videl suddenly had a very bad feeling about the fate of the man on the screen.

"I'm sorry, son," Mr. Satan spoke for the first time in minutes. "I know this must be difficult for you to watch. But I thought you'd like to see a little glimpse of your dad again."

When Videl looked back at Gohan again, she was shocked to see tears in his eyes. He was watching the orange man like a thirsty man watching a water fountain. He smiled a watery smile and brought a sleeve up to rub at his eyes. "Thank you."

Mr. Satan nodded and proceeded to skip forward again. Gohan's dad had a short match with Cell that Videl recalled from when she'd watched the games live, and then, suddenly, he was resigning and calling forward another fighter to challenge Cell in his place. Here, her dad slowed the footage again and Videl watched the fighters up on the cliff argue amongst themselves for a moment before one of them, a boy, shed the top part of his clothes and flew down into the ring. Videl remembered this, too. He was the kid the reporter had called the "delivery boy". They'd thought he'd been brought in to deliver snacks for the tournament. Everyone had been shocked when he'd challenged Cell himself.

The boy had a conversation with the orange man which Videl couldn't hear since the Satellite footage had no sound, but even without voices, Videl was fairly certain by this point that she knew who this boy was. Her suspicions were confirmed when the camera zoomed in on where they stood and she was able to get a good look at the challenger's face.

It was Gohan. Without a doubt. Videl had thought when she'd first met Gohan that she'd seen him before somewhere. Now she knew where.

"Gohan," she breathed, turning to him once again. "You were there that day. At the Cell Games. You fought that monster." She was telling herself as much as she was him. She felt as though she couldn't process the truth unless she spoke it aloud.

"He didn't just fight him, Videl. He beat him."

Videl whipped her head around to look back at her father. "Beat him? Gohan did?" She shook her head. There was no way she could believe that. First of all, there was just no way a child could have beaten Cell. It wasn't possible. And secondly, that would mean her father had lied.

"But we all saw Cell pummeling him. He was getting beaten to a pulp when the cameras cut off."

She looked at Gohan again and this time found him watching her silently. He wasn't making any move to defend himself and he wasn't confirming or denying what either of them were saying.

Mr. Satan shook his head and lifted the remote again. "Just watch."

He hit the fast forward button and once more the scene sped up. Just as Videl remembered, Cell and the boy on screen proceeded to fight a very one-sided fight in which the so-called 'delivery boy' got his ass handed to him. It was a very difficult thing to watch, seeing a boy her own age get tossed around like a ragdoll. Now knowing the boy was Gohan only made it worse.

Cell eventually seemed to grow tired of beating on Gohan and instead turned his attention to the fighters on the cliff. She watched the large, redheaded robot man grab Cell from behind and attempt to blow himself up, only to be blown up by Cell. She continued to watch in revulsion as Cell began spitting miniature versions of himself out of his tail. The mini Cells took off for the cliff and proceeded to terrorize the fake fighters. When Videl had first seen this, she'd thought Cell and the fakers had been putting on a show for the crowd, but now, witnessing Gohan clenching his teeth and glaring at the screen as if the people there were in real danger, she was beginning to believe she'd been mistaken.

The beating continued and the Gohan on screen could only watch in fear and anger as his friends were pulverized by Cell's progeny. He continued to stand there, seemingly immobilized, until her dad appeared on screen carrying the head of the busted android and threw it at his feet. The head was still operational even with the loss of its body and Videl saw its lips moving, speaking to Gohan. Cell stood nearby watching the exchange with an amused smirk. He said something Videl couldn't hear and then crushed the head under his foot.

Beside her, Gohan flinched and screwed his eyes shut. His shoulders were shaking. Videl placed a hand on his back. Whether what she was watching was tricks or reality, it was clearly a very bad memory for her friend.

The Gohan on screen screamed. She could see tears on his face and his body language spoke of terrible grief. As if in response to his screaming, the ground around him began shaking and breaking apart. Videl saw her dad duck for cover behind a rock and the cameraman get swept away as if by a violent wind. This would be when the video feed shut off and the whole world was left to wonder if they were all about to die. Videl had always wanted to see what happened after this point but she'd long given up hope of ever getting to. Her dad had been very insistent that no alternate footage existed. Now, she was getting her wish at last.

The satellite camera continued to roll, and when the wind and debris died down, there was a wide crater in the ground around Gohan. His tears were gone and in their place was an expression of such fury as Videl had never seen before. He was only there a moment, then he disappeared and in the next moment one of the mini Cells was being torn in half by his foot nearly fifty meters away. Videl watched with wide, unbelieving eyes as Gohan made short work of the rest of the mini Cells in a deadly calm manner.

The real Gohan was now watching the screen with a look of shock and borderline horror on his face. "Is that…really what I looked like?" he murmured, sounding like he was speaking to himself more than either of them.

When all the mini Cells were dead, the Gohan on screen turned his sights on the original. Videl could only look on in shock and wonder as he calmly and, dare she say almost cruelly, returned the beating Cell had given him tenfold. Videl might not be able to understand or follow all the weird light tricks they were using, but the difference in their power was clear. Cell, clearly panicking now, rose high into the sky and began charging another one of those lightshow attacks. His expression turned smug then, as if he thought this next attack would be sure to end his opponent. The fighters on the cliff began to visibly panic but Gohan kept his cool. She watched him mirror Cell's movements and then the screen was suddenly full of light and Videl had to turn her face away.

When the light faded, Gohan still stood in the same position completely unharmed, but Cell had lost an arm and a leg and was bleeding profusely where he hung in the air. Videl could only gape at the screen in amazement. There was no way Gohan had just blown two of Cell's limbs off with a light trick. As she worked to find some way to rationalize what she'd just seen, the Gohan on screen smiled up at Cell with eyes full of wicked glee. The expression looked all wrong on her friend's face. It was different from the expression of joy a martial artist wears while having a good match. This was a smile of arrogance coupled with bitter hatred. He was smiling because Cell was suffering; because he'd been the one to cause that suffering.

At this point, the orange man, Gohan's dad, yelled something to his son from the top of the cliff. Gohan turned his head to look at his dad and his lips moved in answer. From the orange man's expression and return shout, whatever Gohan had said to him hadn't been what he'd wanted to hear.

Videl nudged her friend to get his attention. "What did he say to you?"

When Gohan answered, his voice was thick with emotion. "He told me to hurry and finish Cell. I told him no."

Videl looked back at the screen. She watched Cell regenerate his lost limbs and go into a rage. His muscles visibly bulged and he returned to the ground and redoubled his assault on Gohan. Gohan merely dodged each blow as if they were the speed of mud and the assault ended when he delivered a powerful kick to Cell's gut that made him spit up a blonde-haired woman who Videl vaguely remembered seeing on the news before.

At the loss of the woman, Cell's appearance began to morph, changing dramatically. He grew less humanlike and more monstrous and he wore a look of fear like he knew he was going to lose.

Once again, that little sadistic smile appeared on Gohan's face as he stood before the now greatly weakened Cell. Videl thought they'd reached the end of the fight, but then Cell's body began morphing again, this time expanding as if he were a balloon being blown up by a pump. A look of victory appeared on the monster's face as he continued to expand to several times his original size. He spoke to Gohan then and a look of horror appeared on her friend's previously confident face. He fell to his knees and slammed his fists into the ground.

Before Videl could ask what was happening, Gohan took it upon himself to explain. "He turned himself into a living bomb. He was going to blow himself up and take the planet with him. I couldn't do anything without risking setting him off."

Videl wanted to ask how in the world they'd possibly escaped such a situation but she knew her question would be answered if she just continued to watch so that's what she did. She watched Gohan yell and shake and she could tell he was beating himself up for not finishing Cell when he had the chance. Then, suddenly, his dad was there, standing between his son and the bloated demon. Videl didn't know how he'd gotten there, but after all the crazy stunts she'd seen pulled so far in this battle she wasn't going to question it.

Gohan's dad had two fingers held to his forehead and the other hand rested on Cell's bulging body. He smiled at his son and said a few words to him and then his expression turned serious and he, along with Cell, abruptly vanished.

"That was the last time I saw him," Gohan spoke again, his voice cracking slightly. His hands were now gathered in his lap and he looked worn; small. "Dad sacrificed himself to get Cell off Earth before he exploded. He saved us all."

Videl couldn't say she understood the details, but she did understand that she'd just watched her friend's last moments with his father. She reached out and took Gohan's hand in hers, entwining their fingers in a gesture of support. She could only imagine what her friend was feeling being made to relive his dad's death like this. She tried to imagine watching her mom die all over again and the thought made her queasy. She never wanted to go through something like that ever again.

"So, that's how Cell was defeated?" she asked softly. "I-I had no idea."

Gohan shook his head. "No. My dad didn't survive the explosion, but Cell did."

He pointed back to the screen where the footage was still rolling and Videl saw that the fighters from the cliff had all gathered on the ground. A short bald man was helping Gohan to his feet. When he was finished with Gohan, the man moved to the blonde woman and lifted her into his arms. He appeared to have some kind of argument with another short man with spiky black hair and then the group made as if they were preparing to leave. Clearly, they, like her, believed the battle was over.

This was proven to be very much false when suddenly a beam of concentrated light shot out of the sky and straight through the chest of a young man with lavender-colored hair. The group watched in shock as their teammate fell to the ground and a pool of blood formed around him. Their faces turned to the sky and there Cell was, somehow back in his perfect form.

On screen, Gohan's teeth clenched and he took a step toward the hovering monster. Videl thought he was going to fly at Cell, but then the black-haired man who had argued with the bald man screamed and launched himself at Cell before Gohan could move. His hair turned from black to gold and he made to blast Cell into next week, but Cell batted him away as if he were nothing. His body went flying back into the ground and he hit the earth with enough force to leave a skid trail. Cell powered up a blast in his fingers and sent more light hurtling at the fallen fighter but then Gohan reacted, speeding to the man and throwing himself in front of the blast.

Videl sucked in a breath and covered her mouth with her free hand at the sight of the devastating explosion that followed. There were a long few moments when the scene was obscured by dust and smoke and then the air settled to reveal Gohan lying on top of the spiky-haired man. His clothes were shredded and he was covered in burns and scrapes and Videl would have suspected he was dead had he not in the next moment shakily pulled himself to his feet. His left arm dripped blood onto the dry ground. The appendage hung uselessly at his side, apparently unusable.

Despite the graveness of his injury, Gohan didn't back down. He stood in defiance all the while as Cell began to charge up another blast. The monster's arms moved in a familiar pattern and Videl knew that he was going in for the kill now. fifty meters away, Gohan once again followed suit, his lips moving in a chant that she could hear in her head even without the sound. Cell's beam shot out in a straight line directly at Gohan and Gohan released his own beam back at him. The twin beams met in the middle and a great dome of light formed between them as they dueled for the win.

The stalemate lasted a long time. Both fighters were giving it their all and while Cell appeared to have the upper hand, Gohan wasn't giving in. His body was covered in visible injuries and his arm was still leaking blood but he held his ground, fighting for the fate of the whole world. Just when it looked like Cell was going to overpower him, the other fighters from Gohan's team flew in and began launching a barrage of magical beams at Cell's back. Their assault gave Gohan the opening he needed and with a great cry, he gave his attack a final push and his beam overwhelmed Cell's. Videl could only watch in awe as Cell's body disintegrated before her eyes until nothing was left of him; not even dust.

Videl knew without a doubt that this time the battle was truly over. The light from the blast faded out and Gohan fell to the ground in a heap, his hair fading from blond to black in the same way that the spiky haired man's had previously turned from black to blond. She had absolutely no clue what the deal was with that, but as curious as it was, it ranked far, far below the other much more pressing questions she had following the battle she'd just witnessed.

"That…" she said after a long silence in which she attempted to absorb everything she'd just seen, "that was all real, right? That wasn't some kind of crazy movie that was put together with Cell Games footage?"

Mr. Satan shook his head. He turned off the TV with a click of the remote. "What you saw there was one-hundred percent real, Videl. I couldn't believe it myself at the time and I witnessed the whole thing firsthand."

Videl looked between her dad and Gohan, feeling lost. "So, Gohan was really the one who defeated Cell that day?" She looked to Gohan for confirmation and he nodded. He looked uneasy, like he was scared of her reaction. Videl squeezed his hand to show that she believed him.

Looking back at her dad, she asked, "Then why did you tell everyone you did it? If Gohan was the one who saved us, the world should know. Why are you taking the credit? It doesn't make sense."

Mr. Satan looked uncomfortable. He sighed and scratched his head as he seemed to search for the words to answer her. "You see, Videl. At the time, I was very confused. I thought the fight I was watching was all staged—just a bunch of tricks. There was no way I could believe everything I was seeing was real, and when it was all over and the dust had cleared, Cell—and those fighters, too—they were all just gone. Like they'd never even been there. I had no idea what happened and suddenly I was being asked what became of Cell and I just panicked 'n said it was me. I figured nobody would believe me if I gave the truth and it wasn't like Gohan's lot stuck around for questioning." He sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck. "It was a shameful thing I did, taking the credit and glory for what your friend did, and I knew one day it would come back to bite me."

Videl's face scrunched up in anger. She couldn't believe what her dad was telling her. He'd lied to the world—told everyone that he was the hero who saved them all—and everything they had now, their mansion, their fame, their money; it was all thanks to that lie. She was confused and hurt and ashamed and she didn't know if she wanted to yell or to cry.

She didn't get the chance to do either because Gohan squeezed her hand, getting her attention, and said, "Videl, I don't mind. Actually, I prefer it this way. Even if he wasn't the one who beat Cell directly, your dad was still a hero that day. If he hadn't put himself in danger to deliver Android 16's head to me, I never would have been able to let go of my reservations and find the strength inside me to put Cell down."

Gohan was smiling and Videl didn't know how he was doing it. He didn't look mad at all about what her father had done, even though the fight her dad took credit for was the one that had taken his own dad from him along with another of his friends. She'd seen her friend be put through the emotional ringer on that TV screen and here he sat telling her that her dad deserved to accept all the credit for the battle he'd nearly killed himself to win. "But, Gohan," she protested. "Don't you think the world deserves to know who their real savior is? You could be living like a king instead of way out in the mountains. Your mom could have servants! If everyone knew the truth, you'd be set for life."

Gohan's smile faded. He shook his head and looked at her seriously. "I didn't fight Cell for glory or money. I did it to protect the people important to me." He looked up at her dad then and his smile returned. "Mr. Satan is doing a very important thing for the people of this world. He's giving them a face they can look to for guidance and reassurance. He's the kind of hero they need. I won't take that away from them."

Mr. Satan sniffed and Videl could hear a great deal of emotion in the sound. He walked around the back of the couch and placed a hand on the top of Gohan's head. "You're a good kid, son. No, you're the best I've ever met. I'm sorry about what I did and I'm sorry about what happened to your dad. I might not have the right to say this, but if you ever need anything at all, you can come to old Mr. Satan. I'll look after ya."

Gohan responded to her dad's promise by giving him a genuine smile and nodding. "Thank you. That's really kind of you."

Videl wanted to protest still but she held her tongue. Despite Gohan's reassurances, she still didn't think leaving things like this was completely fair, but as long as Gohan wasn't making a fuss about it she felt bad pushing the issue any more. To be honest, she was shocked at how well her dad and Gohan were getting along. There should be an ocean of hurt feelings between them but here they were acting as if they were suddenly best buddies. She didn't understand them at all.

What she did know was that now she had more questions than ever. "Gohan," she got her friend's attention again. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly were all those light beams you and your friends were using. If they aren't tricks, then what are they?" She wanted to understand Gohan and the group of fighters she'd written off as fakers for all these months.

"Oh." Gohan unthreaded his fingers from hers and brought his hands up in front of him. His brow furrowed in concentration for a second and then, to the shock of both her and her father, a glowing orb appeared between them.

Mr. Satan's eyes popped nearly out of his head. "Magic! Sorcery!" he yelped, recoiling from the couch and holding his hands up to make a barrier between himself and the glowing light sphere.

Gohan laughed and shook his head. "It's not magic, it's energy." He held it up for her dad to see and when it was clear that it wasn't going to spontaneously combust, Mr. Satan crept back over and cautiously put his face near the orb to examine it closely.

"This is…energy? What?"

Gohan pulled his hands away from each other and the orb split into two, one hovering over each palm. "This is ki. It's the energy that exists within every living thing—people, animals, plants. A master martial artist can harness this energy and make it manifest physically." He closed his palms and the lights disappeared. "Even you could do it, Mr. Satan. It's just a matter of understanding how."

Mr. Satan scratched his chin contemplatively. "So, this energy…this ki… It comes from inside you?"

Gohan nodded. "That's right. It's a pure, natural force and it can be very destructive if you know how to use it."

The moment Gohan said anyone could use it, Videl decided immediately that she was going to learn. She would definitely master this ki, no matter how long it took or how tough the training.

"What about flying?" she pressed, her excitement building. Was that also something she could learn to do?

Gohan laughed at the eagerness in her tone. "That's also done using ki. Instead of detonating it, you place it under yourself and let it lift you up. It's an easy thing once you get the hang of it."

Videl nearly squealed in excitement. She was absolutely, positively going to make Gohan teach her everything he knew about ki manipulation. Flying had been her dream ever since she was a little girl. She couldn't believe it was something humans could actually do.

"I'm guessing you're interested in learning," Gohan said, amusement thick in his voice. "How about you, Mr. Satan?"

Mr. Satan's face paled. "Who, me? Golly, I don't know if I'm really comfortable… I mean, that stuff's dangerous, right? Maybe it would be best if I didn't… Oh, but I do kind of want to try. Maybe just once…"

Gohan laughed at her dad's rambling. "We'll start slow. How about that? If you want, I'll teach the two of you together."

Videl shared a look with her father and the two of them nodded. Mr. Satan grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Well, shucks. If that's alright with you, Gohan."

Gohan nodded. "Of course. I'll be happy to teach you. We can start tomorrow."

Videl grinned broadly and pumped her fist in the air. "Alright! I can't wait." Turning back to Gohan, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I'm going to learn to fly! This is the coolest thing ever!"

Gohan patted her back with a chuckle. Behind him, Videl saw her dad reach out as if he wanted to separate them, but he shook his head and retracted it. This caused her smile to broaden. This was proof that her dad had accepted Gohan. She couldn't be happier for it.

It would take some time for Videl to fully come to terms with everything she'd seen on that screen, but just like her friendship with Gohan, it was something that she'd take one step at a time. She'd known when she took Gohan's hand that day three months ago that her world was going to change. She'd felt it as certainly as she knew that summer would change to fall. Nothing would ever be the same for her after the truths she'd learned today, but that was fine. She and her dad and Gohan would forge on together. There was no need to rush.

oO0Oo


Whew! That was a beast of a chapter. It was about twice as long as all the rest. Yay for you!

So, we've touched on a bunch of big things here. Gohan and Mr. Satan finally had a proper, on-screen conversation, Videl now knows the truth about the Cell Games, and Gohan got to relive his greatest mistake on his friend's dad's home theater. I sincerely hope I did that justice, btw. I know the whole Videl-watching-footage-of-the-Cell-Games cliché is kind of old and tired but I felt like it needed to happen. I wanted Mr. Satan to be the one to reveal the truth instead of Gohan because I think it's an important step in Mr. Satan's character development and it's better for Videl to hear the truth from her father.

There's just one more chapter after this. I'll be very sad to end this story because I've had a blast writing it and hearing from all of you about the things you liked as well as the things that you thought could have been done better. I'm really interested to hear what you thought of this chapter in particular since it was such an important one. Did it go the way you wanted? Did it make sense? Did I let you down horribly? Feel free to tell me your thoughts.

To Iwik: It was a bit of a tough decision deciding how to write Videl's rescue in the last chapter. It would have been amazeballs to watch Gohan go mental on Rex and his thug brigade, but ultimately I decided that the fight needed to belong to Videl. If she were just to be rescued by Gohan after being put in a position where she felt so helpless and powerless it would have shattered her pride and confidence as a martial artist. I couldn't do that to her, even if it meant sacrificing a yummy platter of Gohan-brand slasher rage. As for how long Videl was kidnapped for, it was only about six or seven hours. As you said, there's no way Gohan would have let her be kidnapped for long.

To Snorby: I absolutely agree with you about G/V fics being formulaic and that's why I wanted to do something a little different with this one. We've still got a bunch of the fun clichés, I just changed the recipe a bit. Gave it some zest. I guess you could consider this another universe in the DBZ multiverse. (One where Gohan actually becomes the main character after the Cell Saga. Boo, Toriyama. Boo.)