Role Reversal Chapter 10 - Videl III

Videl tapped her fist against the door with vigor. Beyond panicking she needed to speak to Bulma now.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" The scientist's voice blasted through the door as she approached it.

Right before it opened Videl noticed some sizeable dents on the door's surface.

"Videl?! What…" Bulma said taking in her mentee's state. Her voice got caught in her throat.

"What happened to your door?"

"The door?! What the fuck happened to your face?!" Worried, she pulled the girl forward and inspected the now swollen area surrounding her eye.

The teenager groaned. She had forgotten about the earlier incident. Where Gohan had appeared right before she was going to fight that crook and she had to pretend to be bad at fighting and thus literally took a punch to the face. There wasn't much pain coming from the injury in question but with every passing hour since it happened it looked worse.

"Woman, where are my trousers?" Vegeta asked harshly walking in on the two of them. He was only in his boxer shorts.

Videl turned away from the couple; her face red. Even with her father's profession, she had never seen a man that exposed.

"Vegeta! Put some clothes on!" Bulma screeched. Was he trying to traumatize the girl?

But Vegeta didn't move and instead stood staring at Videl's face. It made her uncomfortable. She only had limited run-ins with Bulma's...lover and frankly, he always gave her the creeps.

"Girl! What happened to your face?" He asked crossing his arms in disapproval.

Bulma gave Videl a look saying she needed to answer.

"I got punched by someone, what else?" Videl answered shortly. It was what happened.

"Punched?! By who?" Bulma asked her blood boiling.

"Well… it's complicated..." Videl began before telling them what had happened.

Videl was sweltering under the intense heat. It was a bit of an odd situation given that it was the beginning of winter and what should have been a boring uneventful Monday morning. Instead of sitting in a comfortable classroom listening to a teacher lecture about one of her favorite historical periods, the teenage heroine was currently on the collapsing roof of a burning building.

Taking the most cautious steps in her life Videl was trying to get to the building's main water repository. If only she could just release it the water stored inside would make a considerable difference in fanning the violent flames. The smoke billowing from the fire was thick and dark and if it wasn't for the technology of her suit, she'd likely be dead...

Clenching the curved handle of the tank her gloved hands attempted to pull with all her might. The muscles of her arms ached and her pulse was racing. Desperation began to flood through her, if she wasn't able to do this, would others arrive in time? There were definitely people still in the building; there was no doubt about that.

"Shit, why won't you move!" She cursed at it; there was no way it would budge.

The floor beneath her shook violently and the railing on the edge of the building snapped in half. A particularly sharp piece came towards her. She jumped, dodging it, but barely. Completely exasperated, Videl glanced around trying her best to fight off panic.

Eyeing the piece of metal, an idea formed in her mind. She could just pierce the stupid tank!

Newly motivated and focused, she grabbed the metal shrapnel and swiftly lifted it above her head and punctured the thin metal walls of the tank. Water trickled out slowly at first, but then it flowed out...

She grimaced as a few splashes hit her. She could feel the droplets make contact with the exposed skin of her face and hair refreshing her as she was burning up from the heat and smoke.

As the water began to flow through the cracks on the roof Videl was relieved at the sight of steam forming. Confirming what she had wanted the water was traveling downward and making contact with the flames underneath.

Hearing the high pitched sirens of fire trucks Videl decided it was time to make her exit. Making quick use of her grappling gun she propelled herself over several rooftops before scaling down into an empty alleyway.

Activating her watch the suit disappeared and she inhaled sharply finally free of that stupid helmet. Taking several deep breaths she tried to calm down. Out of all of her teenage superhero experiences, this one would take the cake as the most intense. Death had loomed over her in that fire.

As Videl re-entered the classroom she could feel the skin on her face was still scorching. The teacher made a remark towards her, but Videl was too distracted to care. She just said a courteous sorry for sitting down.

The rest of the day had proceeded as normal and luckily for her, she didn't have to talk much. Videl was more than ready to go home. Taking her usual route, she had planned to keep staring at the ground and not make eye contact with anyone. She just wanted to go home and take a bath.

"Listen, old man- don't play games with me!" a gruff voice said.

Unable to ignore the outburst, Videl looked up and saw a large beefy man. He was bullying a much smaller frail elderly man. She scrunched her nose at the despicable site... Seriously, how much of this was there in Satan City? Would it ever end?

"Don't make me have to tell you again!" The brash man projected as he pushed the old man onto the ground.

Videl rolled up her sleeves as her nostrils flared. She was going to give this guy a piece of her mind and now! It did briefly cross her mind that she should use her watch and put the suit on, but surely this time would be all right.

"Hey! Her voice was loud and clear.

The guy turned and his eyes wandered up and down her, so not only was he a bully but a pervert too. Great.

"Yeah, what do you want?" He asked coolly as the old man was still struggling.

"I want you to leave that guy alone!"

The guy's eyes squinted for a second before he obviously made a realization. "You're Mr. Satan's daughter!"

Videl despised being recognized, she could never get used to it and it always made her squirm. But perhaps now, it would be a good thing.

Maybe this low life would stop his horrible behavior at the risk of having to deal with Mr. Satan…

"Hey don't get up!" He yelled at the old man making him cower helplessly.

Or not.

Enraged, Videl screamed at the top of her lungs, "Stop! I'm warning you!"

The greasy haired guy stared at her. Having his attention, she demanded that he leave the gentleman alone.

"What are you going to do about it? Call your Daddy?"

That was it. She was going to beat the shit out of this guy and nothing was going to stop her. Moving her feet forward Videl got ready to make her move.

Until her blue eyes met those of Gohan Son's. Her eyes widened as he somehow appeared.

'What the hell is he doing here?!' Her mind screamed. Out of all of the people to see her fight, schoolmates were an absolute NO. If word got out to her father... and how was it that Gohan was always getting in her way?

"Oh hi, G-Gohan," She stuttered in a panic. This was not good; he could not see her fight!

Gohan continued to stare at the muscular person bullying the elderly person and then back to Videl. He frowned wondering what his classmate was doing.

She had no choice but to purposely lose her balance and slip. Letting herself be completely open for what happened next, the greasy mugger raised his fist and fighting every instinct Videl didn't block the attack.

"Fuck!" She cursed as the pain shocked her surprisingly so even if she had expected it. He had struck her right next to her eye too. That was definitely going to leave a mark. Instinctively, she clutched her hand over it and looked back up. Not having a choice but to cower.

Gohan had managed to pull him off of her unexpectedly. He had pinned the loser to the ground and was fuming. His piercing stare was among the most intense look she'd ever seen from him and reminded her of Bulma's husband. Actually, something about the two of them was similar but she couldn't quite place it... Just as she saw her classmate clench his fist in the air and was rooting for him to absolutely punch the shit out of that guy, police car sirens blared as they were approaching and fast.

Startled, Videl realized she had to leave. Still covering where she had been assaulted, she readied herself to begin walking away.

"Oh, Videl…" Gohan's voice called out to her full of concern. Her heart clenched hearing his caring tone, but she couldn't stop for him. She couldn't stop for anyone. Not after the promise she made. This was the price she paid.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Much to Videl's disappointment, he started following her. "What were you doing there? You shouldn't have gotten involved... Videl!" He voice was thick with concern and she almost wanted to answer him, but she couldn't.

She could never turn back. She had made this choice. So much of her life had changed because of it.

"You should really let me look!" Gohan insisted, his voice becoming more desperate he was still behind her.

"I'm fine Gohan really!" She snarled as she sprinted ahead, her hand covering the injured tissue on her face which still stung. Why couldn't he just leave her alone!

Her one eye failed her causing her to slip, again, in front of Gohan. Landing awkwardly on her knees. The contact of the rough pavement scraped against them and she could feel the cold air making contact with the bare skin of her left knee. Her tights had torn there.

Great how could things get any worse?

"Oh my gosh...Videl…" Gohan gasped as he had caught up with her now and he bent down offering his hand to help her up.

Getting a second glance at him, she saw how red his nose and cheeks had become from the cold. Making him seem rather boyish and cute. The throbbing pain from the side of her face, however, came back with a vengeance ending those thoughts.

Sighing she took his hand and let him help her up. Unexpectedly, his soft touch caused her heart to flutter momentarily. What was the point in running anymore?

Sitting in silence as he attempted to make light of the situation Videl couldn't respond. She had nothing to say that wouldn't bring up more questions, so she stuck to her usual strategy in this situation. Silence. If it worked with Sharpener and Erasa, it most certainly would work for Gohan.

She avoided his gaze as he inspected her face. He made a few comments here and there, probably just trying to be friendly, but she didn't listen. Her head was spinning.

At some point, he handed her a popsicle which she took and pressed against the swelling of her face. While she braced herself for the cold sensation, it still took her by surprise and she winced a little. She didn't have gloves and her hands were freezing and the feeling in them was beginning to go.

Growing more agitated, Videl began to tremble. It was all her fault, if only she had put the suit on. She knew she hadn't of tried to take that guy on as herself.

Gohan must have thought that she was an idiot. Why exactly his opinion of her mattered she didn't know, but she was doing everything in her power to keep herself from screaming the truth at him.

She wasn't an idiot. She wasn't being reckless and stupid. She actually did know how to take care of herself. But instead, she said nothing. After all, she had promised to keep her identity secret.

"You're going to have to pretend, no actually be helpless when you're Videl... Can you handle that?" Bulma's words from over a year ago echoed in her mind. It was what Videl had agreed to when she decided to fight crime.

"Oh, um, do you want my coat? You must be cold…" Gohan offered, being a such a gentleman. Any other girl would have been positively flattered.

But Videl was fuming. Seriously, he was offering her his coat?! Did she really seem like such a helpless little baby right now? Gohan was reminding her too much of her own father. Like she was just a useless damsel in distress that wasn't capable of doing anything on her own.

She tried to get up and walk away from him, but he insisted on calling her a taxi. Videl agreed and got in, finally free from him. Instead of going home though, Videl told the driver to go to the train station instead.

"Hmph. You shouldn't let your guard down even if that brat was watching…" Vegeta spat out as Videl finished her story.

Videl opened her mouth prepared to say something back, but Vegeta Continued.

"But, he should have been faster. It's repulsive how weak he's become."

"Vegeta! That isn't the problem! Videl, you should have used the suit!" Bulma chastised Videl like she was her own child. She was beyond upset that Videl had become so visibly hurt and she specifically developed that suit to prevent this.

"...you do know Gohan then and he is strong! I knew it! Was he also at the Cell games then? With you?" Videl asked Vegeta now not intimidated to speak to him anymore. So many of her suspicions had just been confirmed by him acknowledging Gohan in a familiar way.

Vegeta knew Bulma didn't want Videl to have the answers to these questions. "That doesn't matter girl."

"Yeah Videl, Gohan isn't really what is important here…" Bulma added on intending to deflect the teenager's questions. She didn't want Videl to know, at least not yet.

"You need to get stronger so you don't have to depend so much on that suit. Maybe you could even fly…" Vegeta went on. He may have been rough around the edges but the idea of girls with black eyes disgusted him.

Bulma's eyes went wide and she smacked Vegeta on the back of the head. Just when he was being reasonable he had to go and say something like that.

"I-I could fly?" Videl asked gasping. The mystery of Gohan left her mind and she was now wondering flying could be possible.

"Yes. I think you could. But Bulma has to agree to it first." He stated before walking away to avoid Bulma. He had already made her angry enough.

As he left Videl looked up at Bulma her expression asking if she could.

Sighing the blue-haired woman took Videl's hand, "Let's get someone in the medical wing to take a look at that eye kiddo… we don't want to have your pretty face ruined."

After being inspected by a doctor who came to the same conclusions as Gohan, Videl and Bulma were sitting and sharing a meal together.

"I'm guessing you're spending the night?" Bulma asked as she saw how late it had become.

"Yeah… I don't really have a choice do I?"

"No, I suppose not… you're lucky those high-speed trains exist now you know." Taking them made the usual hours-long journey from West City to Satan City to just forty-five minutes.

"Yeah, one of the first fundraisers my Dad threw was to start funding for them wasn't it?" Videl questioned beginning to feel guilty for going behind her father's back so much.

"Yes, it was. Has Hercule seen your…" Bulma pointed to Videl's face.

"No, he's out of town this week… I've been thinking of what to tell him… and everyone at school…"

Bulma began to feel remorseful. She agreed to help Videl as she reminded her so much of a young Goku and her sense of justice was a force to be reckoned with, but she didn't feel right going behind Mr. Satan's back. While he was too overprotective, he meant well. Maybe agreeing to help Videl with the crime-fighting had been a mistake.

"Oh, I got it! How I got this black eye, Apollo!" The sixteen-year-old exclaimed delightedly she had finally come up with something.

"Apollo…?" Bulma questioned as she thought it over. "Yeah, I guess that could work. It goes with what you already told Gohan, that you fell."

"Yeah, and it's the perfect rich girl excuse right?" Videl said rolling her eyes. She was aware of her public persona and that she had to embrace it in order to have her secret identity. If Videl wanted to fight crime it meant having to play up being a posh delicate heiress, even if it meant sacrificing her ego sometimes.

"Yep, exactly. You know, speaking of Gohan… you should thank him. He did help you."

Videl frowned hearing this. Currently, she didn't want to face Gohan. Something about him made her feel weird. And everything that happened today had been overwhelming.

"You should go visit Apollo tomorrow and take Gohan with you, I bet he would love that."

"What? He would?" Videl asked doubting.

"Yes, trust me. Take him."

Apologies for the late wait! I have kind of become much more into my other story, Mend My Heart, and I will admit that this one isn't nearly as well planned. I do have some ideas for future chapters, but in terms of a major direction for this story, I'm not sure!

Anyway, this is probably my least favourite chapter so far. I definitely wanted to have Videl's version of the last chapter's previous events, but I did still need to move the story forward. I am hoping to still keep this pov-a-chapter structure going, but move away from repeating events over and over. But we'll see.

Thanks for reading and leave some thoughts if you wish.