Chi-Chi nearly fainted when Gohan proceeded to nibble at his dinner. Sure, she knew Bulma would never let him and his voracious appetite starve, but he would usually welcome her home-cooked meals with fervour. Pushing away the stubborn lock of hair hanging in front of his face, she felt his forehead.
"Mom, I'm not sick," he said, sullen.
"Then why are you sad, Gohan?"
The two older relatives looked at the little boy across from them. Goten had paused to speak, his mouth stuffed with bread and two more rolls clutched in his small fists. "Manners," Chi-Chi chided. Goten swallowed before grinning apologetically.
"Why are you upset, Gohan?" Chi-Chi asked, knowing that those trained in the energy arts were fairly adept at sensing people's emotions. So, if Goten said something was wrong, she knew something was definitely wrong. "Did you not have fun at Bulma's?"
"I did actually," Gohan said curtly. "And that's the problem."
Confused, the woman looked at her son with concern, urging him to continue with big, black eyes.
"I think you were right," he said. "I think it'd be best if I was homeschooled again."
He had never been one to run from trouble. In fact, he had been trained from a young age to jump into trouble head first. He had been taught to strike, undermine, and counter. Yet some of his crucial lessons included blocking, and dodging altogether.
However, his relationship with Videl wasn't something he could fight, or even avoid. He felt backed into a corner, with no choice but to flee. After all, she had been the first to disengage. It only made sense now to run, regroup, and gather his wits. Only instead of returning with a new strategy in place, he wouldn't return at all.
The Son matriarch had been all too happy to have her eldest son home again. Goten had been eager to play and train with his big brother again. Piccolo would probably look forward to resuming training, as he hadn't been fond of cutting back on their sessions while the boy attended school in the city. And now Videl would have the space she apparently desired.
Everyone got what they wanted, except Gohan.
He reclined onto his narrow bed, staring at the smooth ceiling before him. He had spent countless hours of his childhood in here, studying until his fingers went numb from taking notes. He had enjoyed the content, but hated the structure and limitations it came with. So, Gohan supposed, he was used to having things not go his way.
He glanced over to the photo on the middle shelf of his bookcase. It featured his father, slightly thinner than he remembered. The photo was clearly taken before Gohan had been born- before his uncle Raditz had arrived and their lives had been plunged into chaos.
He had been kidnapped, forced to watch his father die, fought the Saiyans, went to another planet, had his neck broken, looked on in horror as his father became the first Super Saiyan. A year of his mother's heavy hand passed by quickly, and soon Frieza had returned. Then news of the apocalypse came, followed by three years of intense fear and training. Then several androids appeared, and a radical new heart virus chipped away at his father's life.
And then Cell.
He turned over on his side, willing the memories to go away. His family, along with the rest of the Earth, had finally gotten a break. Seven years of peace had passed by rather uneventfully. Gohan sighed, frustrated that his turbulent emotions threatened to overtake him once more.
Only normal teenagers occupied their time with such petty problems. Gohan wasn't normal, that much was true. No amount of wishes on the dragon balls could change that.
He sat up, realizing he had nearly forgotten about the situation with the warrior Tagoma.
His commander was seeking the dragon balls… but for what?
"Get out, brat."
"Vegeta, please I need to talk to you-"
"The woman already told me about your mate," the man said in a clipped tone. "And I do not care for such trivial matters." Without so much as a second glance, Vegeta left the kitchen, heading in the direction of the GR.
"I ran into the Frieza Force the other day," Gohan yelled.
Vegeta froze.
Erasa sighed, doodling across her notes with a highlighter. Finally, their teacher dismissed them, and the blonde girl practically dragged her best friend out of the classroom.
"Spill, Videl," she said. "What was up with that alien invasion yesterday? It's all anyone can talk about."
Videl glanced around the courtyard, checking that no one else was in earshot.
"You're not gonna believe this," the girl said, "but Gohan is the Gold Fighter."
Erasa nearly squealed. "Oh my gosh, he finally told you?"
"Told me?" Videl asked, stepping back. "What do you mean? You mean- he told you?"
The colour drained from Erasa's face as she saw the look of betrayal. "No, Videl, of course not!" she said, panicking. "I found out by accident. I walked in on him while we were at Capsule Corp!"
"Seriously, Erasa?" Videl seethed. "You knew, and you didn't tell me?"
"He asked me not to!" Erasa argued. "Please, Videl, just listen-"
"No, not you, too," Videl said, shaking her head. "I can't do this again."
Thin fingers wrapped around Videl's forearm and the pigtailed girl sighed.
"V, we've been friends since forever," Erasa pleaded. "The least you could do is listen to me."
After what felt like an eternity, Videl turned around.
"Let's go to the roof."
Vegeta frowned, the expression quite natural for his hard features.
"I don't recall a Commander Sorbet," he said, deep in thought. "Though I can only imagine what dregs of the Frieza Force are now in charge with the lizard and his lackeys all dead."
"But do you think they'll come back here?" Gohan pressed.
The Saiyan shrugged. "Probably," he said carelessly. "Not that they'd be an issue for us."
"Vegeta, they want the dragon balls!" The teen reminded. "What if they wish for something crazy, like immortality? Then we'll never defeat them."
Vegeta looked at the boy oddly. "That's rich. I didn't think you'd take after that clown Kakarot in terms of intelligence, not with all the studying the harpy makes you do," he said.
"What?" Gohan asked, unsure of what he had missed.
"Isn't it obvious?" The man scoffed. "They intend to bring Frieza back to life."
Videl searched the ground between her feet for answers. Finding none, she looked back to her best friend.
"He wanted to be normal, Videl," Erasa explained patiently. The wind whipped her short blonde hair across her round face, but for once, she didn't seem to care. "He didn't ask to have those powers. But he has them, and he's trying to help make the world a better place while living his own life."
"I don't understand," Videl said. While she had thoroughly calmed down, she just couldn't comprehend why Erasa had so readily agreed to hide this from her. "I still don't understand why you went along with it. Why you agreed to keep it a secret."
"I think it's because I've been around you for so long," Erasa replied, much to Videl's surprise. "I see you help people all the time, all while trying to live a somewhat normal life. I mean, you have friends and you go to a public school like me and Sharpener. Sure, you're rich and have housekeepers, but you still insist on making your own bed every morning. Heck, you don't even care for the fame and recognition when crimefighting. So why do you keep insisting that you and Gohan are so different?"
Swallowing hard, Videl mumbled, "I guess it just hurts. It hurts that the only people I've ever trusted have kept all this from me. You, my dad, and then Gohan…"
"I did it to protect Gohan, and Gohan only did it to protect you."
"And what about my dad?" Videl demanded. "Who was he protecting?"
She watched as the blonde grew eerily serious. "Videl, if your dad didn't actually kill Cell, imagine what the rest of the world would do," she said. "Yeah, he lied. But the fact that he's kept it up this long…"
The Satan girl felt tears stinging as the realization struck her. "Everyone would be so mad," she said, breathless. "The people who try to kill me on a regular basis would be nothing. And yet… Gohan kept my dad's secret."
"Probably to protect you," Erasa nodded, smiling softly as her friend's eyes filled with rare tears.
"And the tricks," Videl continued, her mind racing. "If everyone knew they were real…" she thought back to how she had reacted to the Gold Fighter's awesome power. "Everyone would live in fear."
"Well, I didn't think about it that way," Erasa said, placing a comforting hand on Videl's shoulder. "I always thought Cell was scary, even just on the TV. I remember having nightmares about it for weeks! But if all the stuff he did was real, and not tricks- if I had known that was all real at 11 years old, I don't think the nightmares would have ever stopped."
Another nightmare left him gasping for air. It had been several days since he had spoken with Vegeta, yet no one had been able to locate the dragon ball radar thus far. And Gohan's nightmares had only gotten worse.
On this particular night, he had dreamt of Imperfect Cell's long, cold tail wrapping around his throat. He tried to fight the inferior being as Frieza watched in amusement, but the little boy never quite managed to break the android's grip. And then the teenage Videl had come in her yellow jet copter, expecting to save the day. In all of his dreams so far- no matter which past foe he fought- every scenario ended the same.
The implosive blast that killed Krillin on Namek flashed through his mind, except Videl took the bald man's place. Closing his eyes, Gohan could feel the power pulsing through Frieza's finger as the proud teenage girl drifted upwards. No matter how hard she fought, she was never truly able to fathom the raw power she had tried to face. The fear in her eyes shook his dreamself to the core.
And every time she died, he went Super Saiyan for the first time.
"Could I have Gohan's homework?" Videl asked politely as she could. "I'd like to stop by his house and give it to him while he's out. I take it he's not feeling well?"
The teacher looked at her funny. "I'm sorry, Miss Videl, I thought you two were friends," the old man said. "I thought he would've told you."
"Told me what?" Videl smiled through clenched teeth, a small amount of anger simmering beneath her polite façade. What else was she the last to know about?
"I'm afraid Son Gohan is no longer attending school here," the teacher informed her with a sad look. "His mother mentioned something about the curriculum not being challenging enough, and quite frankly, I'm inclined to believe her. That boy is special."
"He sure is," the girl muttered, eye twitching.
She said her goodbyes before running straight to the main office. Unfortunately, her trip was a waste. Gohan's personal information had been taken out of the student registry after his unenrollment. And since he hadn't been answering her calls, she didn't have very many options left.
She fumed as she marched outside to take off in her jet copter. She was jumping through too many damn hoops so she could properly apologise to the boy. She needed to fix things and Videl Satan wasn't exactly known for her patience.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Bulma screamed.
The boy stood shame-faced before her. After days of searching, Bulma had finally located the dragon ball radar in her son's bedroom.
"We have a possible alien invasion on the horizon," she stressed, looking at her son. "And you decided to steal the world's failsafe?"
"How was I supposed to know trouble was coming?" Trunks complained.
She sighed. "What were you and Goten even going to wish for, anyway?" She asked.
"I dunno," he said, rolling his eyes. "We obviously didn't get that far."
"Go to the GR," Bulma huffed. "Your father can deal with you."
The boy began to groan, but silenced himself with a scowl. "Her again?" He grumbled. "Why does she keep coming here? Is she Gohan's girlfriend or something?"
"What are you-" Bulma gasped as her child's words registered. Nudging the boy in the direction of the GR, she then ran down the hallway to reach the front door.
"Uh… hi," Videl said, her hand still raised. She hasn't been expecting the door to open before she could even knock.
"Come in!" Bulma said, pulling the girl inside. "Now, what can I do for you?"
"It's about Gohan."
The older woman sighed. "Yeah, I figured," she said. "How are you holding up? I know it's a lot of information to process."
Videl put a hand to her temple, as if to steady herself. "It hurts my head to try and understand it all," she admitted. "But right now I just really need to talk to Gohan and let him know I don't hate him. And then we can figure out what to so from there."
Bulma nodded. "Right. But why are you here?" she asked. "Not that I don't want you here, it's just that he isn't here right now."
"I know, but I don't know where he lives," the girl sighed. "He dropped out of school and hasn't been answering my calls. I figured you'd know how I can get to his house, especially if it's in the middle of nowhere like he says it is."
"Middle of nowhere," Bulma laughed. "That's putting it lightly. Do you know where the Ox Kingdom is?"
After receiving a nod in confirmation, Bulma pulled a pad and pen out of her lab coat. "Start off in that direction," she said, scribbling down some numbers. "These are the coordinates of his home."
She ripped the piece of paper out of her small notepad and Videl accepted it with gratitude. "Oh, and just be sure to lay it on thick with Gohan's mom in terms of manners," Bulma added. "She's kind of old-fashioned."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Videl absently yelled, already out the door.
Bulma simply grinned, amused at the girl's attitude.
"I don't find your attitude amusing, missy!"
"Look, lady, I just came to talk to your damn son!" Videl yelled in frustration. "I didn't come here to get an ear full!"
Chi-Chi growled, her hands digging into her hips. "You must be that persistent little girl who keeps our phone busy! If I had known you were a hussy, I would've changed our phone number sooner."
"I am not a hussy," Videl snapped. "And I'm not a little girl, either. I already told you. I'm Gohan's girlfriend, and I need to speak to him right now!"
The older woman scoffed. "Like I would believe that my sweet boy could ever be friends with you, let alone more than friends!"
The girl smirked as a plan for vengeance shaped in her mind.
"Well, he doesn't seem to mind my attitude when we're alone," she said, shrugging. "In fact, he can't seem to keep his hand off me!"
At the insinuation, smoke practically flew from Chi-Chi's ears. "My Gohan is a gentleman!" she yelled, pointing a long finger at the teenager. "He would never do such a thing!"
"I don't really mind that big, swirling scar on his left shoulder, though," Videl continued, making the mother's eyes widen in surprise. She would never forget seeing that mark for the first time on her 11-year-old son's body.
"After all," Videl added with a sinister grin, "I had more important things on my mind with his head stuck between my boobs."
The girl looked satisfied as Chi-Chi's face turned blistering red, and a vein started to pop on her forehead.
"Oh, it's you!" Goten interrupted, appearing from the house with a cordless phone wrapped around his chubby fingers. He ran to hug Videl around the legs.
"Trunks said you and Gohan like each other," he giggled, gesturing to the phone. "When you two get married, does that mean you're gonna be my new sister?"
Ignoring the Son matriarch, who nearly choked on her tongue in outrage, Videl looked down at the little boy. "Where's your brother, Goten?" she asked, ignoring his innocent question. "It's really, really important that I talk to him."
Goten cocked his head. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again, his eyes lighting up. "Ooh, he's in the city getting ready to fight!"
"What?" Chi-Chi demanded. "Who is he fighting?"
"He's all powered up," Goten continued, growing more excitedly by the second. "And there's some really strong bad guys with him. They don't feel human, though."
Videl scrambled to catch Chi-Chi as the woman fainted. "What do you mean they're not human? And how do you know all this?" she said, not sure why her instincts told her Goten was being truthful.
He smiled, proud of himself. "I can sense their energy," he said matter-of-factly.
Before Videl could further interrogate the boy, her communicator watch rang. "Chief?" she inquired, never taking her eyes off Goten, who was gently fanning his mother.
"We need your help," the chief gasped. "There's more of them, Videl! More strange men like the Gold Fighter! He's fighting them off as best as they can, but-"
The chief choked for a moment before responding. "Several buildings have already fallen, Videl. These guys- the tricks they're using are insanely powerful. The Gold Fighter has already lost his left arm. I don't know if he'll make it…"
Her heart grew cold as she realised she would never make it back to the city in time to help out. And tears brimmed around her blue eyes as she realized she actually wouldn't be able to make a difference regardless.
"We need you, Videl," the chief said, straining to be heard over the various screams and explosions in the background. "I hate to involve you in such a dangerous situation, but we need you. And we need your father."
"My father… can't make it," Videl lied. "We're five hours away, in the mountains. We'll never get there in time to help."
The chief sputtered in shock.
Videl opened the door to the Son residence as she spoke.
"Don't worry... I trust the Gold Fighter to handle this."