A/N: Hey all!! Another chapter for all of your enjoyment! How has everyone been? I have been sooo busy (but, hey, what else is new, right?)... Things have just been really crazy at work, and I am surprised that I was actually able to get this chapter written and typed up as quickly as I did... I know, I really need to spend more time on this story, but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!!
Last weekend, I spent fixing my car (it was having some braking issues). But now my car is fixed and stops when it is supposed too (Yey! We like that!) And I spent most of today changing the brakes on my girlfriends car (saved us a grip of money doing it myself rather than taking it to a shop) So now tomorrow I have to go shopping for body parts for my car cuz back in April I got in an accident and the insurance just now settled and cut me a check on Friday... I dont even have the check yet, but I am so anxious to get my car fixed (after almost a year!!) It just sucks cuz once I find and buy the parts, I have to prime and paint them, and then put them on... So much to do... ARGGG!!
Oh well... welcome back everyone, and now that I officially bored all of you to dead with the lame happenings of my life, on to the reviews!!
Shiva: Thanks, here is another chapter for you, enjoy!
Btstfn: Wow, South Floria? One of the few places in the US that actually get less snow than me here in Southern California, haha!! I am glad to hear that you are doing good. How did you break your wrist? I've never had to get a cast, but there was one time that I tore a tendon in my knee and I wished that they would have put it in a cast, haha!! Anyways, welcome aboard and enjoy the new chapter!
Mecrolos: I know, I used to update a lot more often... I am just always so busy now... I can never seen to find time to write the story and type it up... I hate it so much, but unfortunately it just seems to happen that way... Anyways, thanks and enjoy the new chapter!
Milfors: Yey! Your not gonna hate me!! I've only been to Vegas once, and it sucked because I was way to young to do anything that would be any fun. I couldn't gamble, drink, stay out late, or anything (I must have been only 11 or 12... wow, that was a long time ago...) Anyways, here is another update for you, enjoy!
Rohan:Thanks and welcome, enjoy the next chapter!!
Ultimate: Thanks and welcome! I wont tell you the answers to your questions cuz it would spoil the surprise!! haha!! j/p... I cant really answer your questions mostly because I dont know the answer to them. I will be making a new "outline" soon cuz this chapter ended my last one... But who knows where this story will go? Haha, anyways, enjoy the next chapter!
Well, now that all of that is over... we are one step closer to the story... Now I just gotta write the last time section, and then you all get what you came here for... me!! haha j/p... Anyways, lets move on... Maybe this will bring you all back to life after that boring A/N at the top...
Last Time:
The video from the latest jewelry store robbery with the Masked Man was shown on the morning news, the day after the event happened... Man those police work fast...
Celer sure was excited about the video, and that seemed to make Videl mad.
Videl went to the station to see if the Raptors were awake yet, and after a seemingly civil conversation with Hanley, finds out that they weren't.
Meanwhile, back at Capsule Corp, Bulma pokes a little fun at Gohan due to his spot on the morning news.
A little later that day, Videl gets a call that the prisoners are awake, and when she goes in finds out that Hanley had already been interrogating for almost three hours!
When she "asks" Hanley about it, he explodes on her which causes her to almost beat the crap out of him... But then her frustration and anger get the better of her, and she beats the crap out of the prisoner in order to "make" him talk.
A little later that same day, Alexx gets an odd call from the Mayor, thanking him from "keeping" his promise of helping with the Raptors.
Of course, Alexx has no idea what is going on, but plays along until he finds out about a news spot about this Masked Crime Fighter and how he captured 3 Raptors...
Unhappily, he calls his assistant, Jackson.
"Tell me, Jackson," Alexx started once Jackson was seated, "heard any big news lately?"
Jackson shook his head.
Alexx turned his chair around to look out the window behind his desk. "It turns out there is a new person in town, some kind of masked crime fighter..." Alexx let his words trail off
"Understood," Jackson said.
Alexx let out a sigh and folded his hands in front of him. "Last night, there was another attempted robbery by the Raptors..." Alex turned the chair back so he was facing Jackson, then set his folded hands on his desk. "He showed up last night, and foiled their robbery..." Jackson's eyes got wide. Alexx continued, "he disabled three of the four robbers..." Jackson fidgeted slightly in his chair, "... and the police captured and arrested the three that were disabled."
"Understood," Jackson said again, and this time there was a slight waver in his voice.
"Good, I am glad to hear that," he said. Then he leaned forward and his eyes narrowed. "Now take care of it."
Jackson stood and walked quickly for the office door.
"Jackson?" Alexx said, stopping the man in the doorway. "It sure would be a shame if these captured men didn't say anything to the police. Ever."
Jackson nodded and closed the door behind him.
WWWWW
"Did you hear what happened with Videl and Lt. Hanley?" Burt the mid-late shift watch asked.
"No, what happened?" Bradon asked, eager to hear. Bradon worked the late overnight shift as security in the station. He also kept an eye on the prisoners over night. He had just arrived, but Burt had been there for a handful of hours already. They were the only two in the station this late.
"Well, you know those new prisoners, the three Raptors guys? Well, they had been awake for three hours earlier today before Videl was even notified that they were awake, and Lt. Hanley was interrogating them. Then Videl came in pissed at him for not letting her know they were awake and he exploded at her." Burt was so excited to be telling Bradon. He loved the gossip and was always prodding people to get the most info out of them as possible.
"Oh man! Then what happened?" Bradon said, hanging on Burt's every word, as eager to hear as Burt was to tell.
"Well, she picked him up and threw him around a little before barricading herself in the interrogation room with one of the prisoners."
"Why did she do that?" Bradon asking, hoping to draw the info out of Burt, even though he knew it was coming.
"Well, she beat the shit out of that prisoner she had in the room with her. Broke four of his ribs, his jaw, one of his cheek bones, both his arms, dislocated both of his shoulders, he bit a chunk of his tongue off, and was cut and bruised to shit, And she did all that within like 3 or 4 minutes." As Burt described the injuries, he touched the same part on his own body.
"Wow..." Bradon said. "Remind me to never piss her off."
"Seriously," Burt responded. "The prisoner has threatened to sue of force, The Chief isn't to happy with Videl or Lt. Hanley right now. I overheard that he is going to fire Lt. Hanley and let Videl out of her position on the force."
"Damn, that's serious-.." Bradon was cut off by an explosion that shook the building, and knocked both of them off their feet.
"What the hell?" Bradon asked as he looked over at Burt.
"That came from the holding tanks!" Burt yelled as both stood, regained their footing and took off towards the cells.
While they were running, they heard the crack of three loud, consecutive gun shots.
A few seconds later, they arrived at the holding tanks and the three captured Raptors' cells had the wall blasted open and all three were lay in pools of blood. Each one had a bloody hole in their forehead, just above their eyes.
The two officer's jaws hit the floor. Their three most promising leads to stopping the Raptors now lay dead a few feet in front of them.
Two more quick gunshots rang out from the darkness beyond the smoking remains of the wall. The first shot struck Burt in the forehead, same as the three Raptors, but the second shot was low and struck Bradon in his shoulder, spinning him to the ground. He pulled himself behind Burt to use him as a shield.
He pulled the radio receiver from him shoulder and started shouting, "Help! Officers down! Shots fired! I've been hit in the shoulder..." he dropped the radio when he realized that the shot had severed the wire between the receiver and the radio. Then he looked up and saw the barrel of a gun pointed at him, only a few inches from his forehead.
BANG
AAAAA
A very tired Videl drug herself into class the next morning.
"Oh my gosh, you look like crap! What happened?" she heard Yami ask once she had stepped her foot onto the first step up to the campus.
"Gee, Yami. So nice to see you, too," she shot back very sarcastically.
"No, seriously Videl. You look like shit. What happened?"
"Ugh... I didn't have a very good weekend..." Videl let her voice trail off. She looked over at her friend and the concern on her face was almost painful for Videl to see. She let out a sigh. "I might get fired off the force."
"Oh no! What happened?"
"I got into a fight with Hanley-" she started
But she was interrupted. "Did he hurt you?" boomed the deep voice behind her. "Want me to kick his ass?"
Videl turned to see Celer standing behind her and Yami. "It's fine, Celer. I already took care of it. Don't worry about it."
"If someone hurt you, let me know. They will be sorry that they did," Celer said as he balled his fists and slam one fist into the other, then threw a series of punches at the empty air next to him
Yami chuckled. "Like you could do any better than Videl could. So, anyways, what happened with Hanley?"
Did you see that thing on the news yesterday?" Videl started. Yami nodded. "Well, those three that we brought into custody woke up mid-day yesterday and that asshole Hanley didn't tell anyone to call me in so when they finally did, he had already been questioning them for almost three hours."
"Oh man. It took them that long to call you? That's not right." Yami said
"I know; when I found out, I got pissed and when I confronted him, he started yelling at me and calling me worthless and shit like that. So I picked him up by his collar and slammed him into the wall and the table."
"Damn!" Celer shouted, "That's my girl!"
"I'm not proud of what I did, Celer," she said. She fought back her anger at herself over what she had done to the prisoner. She had to keep her calm.
"Why not? That Hanley guy is a jerk. He got what he deserved. What is wrong with that?" Celer said, beaming with pride.
"They might kick me off the force! That's what's wrong with that!" Videl snapped, surprised by how harsh it had come out. Her eyes started to well with tears.
Yami tried to comfort Videl and shot a glare at Celer, but Videl pulled away from her friend and took a deep breath. "I'm ok," she said as the bell rang. "Let's just go to class."
AAAAA
Gohan walked up the steps of the school with his hands in his pockets. He could still hear people snickering as he walked by. 'Aren't they done yet?' he thoughts to himself as he let out a sigh and continued walking. A few steps onto campus, the bell rang so he head for his first class.
It went the same as last Friday, he just sat there and people around him giggled.
'Maybe I should just leave...' he thought to himself more than once during that class.
But it ended quickly. So he made his way to his next class.
When he got there, he head for the same seat in the front row that he had been in last week.
"Hey, Gohan!"
He looked up to see Yami with one hand up in the air waiving it. When she saw that he was looking at her, she motioned for him to come over and pointed at the empty seat next to her.
Gohan blinked, thinking his eyes were playing a trick on him. When he realized that they weren't, he head over to the seat in the back.
"I see you came," Yami said as he took the empty seat.
"Yeah, I almost didn't-" he started but was cut off by Yami.
"But you did, and that's all that matters, right?"
"I... guess..." Gohan said as the teacher walked into the classroom, so he turned his attention forward.
"When will you find out if you are off the force?" Yami asked Videl in a low voice as the teacher starting talking.
"I'm not sure, but no doubt I am under review right now," Videl said, also in a low voice.
"What is there to review? You go in when called, do your work, fill out your reports, and leave," Celer said, in an equally low voice.
"I don't know..." Videl said
'She is under review? I wonder what happened...' Gohan thought as he listened in on their conversation.
The rest of the second class went well. Gohan didn't hear any laughing or anything about him. Maybe they forgot? Or did they just get over it? Or is it that they won't say anything because he is sitting with Yami, Videl and Celer?
Whatever. At least they aren't saying anything.
When the bell rang, all the kids filed out of the class room and into the hallway.
Gohan looked over at Celer. He was a fairly tall and very broad shouldered guy, whose brown eyes seemed fixed on him. And the look on his face didn't look like a happy one.
Yet every time Videl looked at him, his face would soften, and then she would look away and that same unhappy face came back.
When they got to the next class, Yami again asked Gohan to sit with them.
Gohan just followed along and listened to the three of them talking. They didn't talk about anything important, but it was still nice to hear people talk about anything but him.
A few minutes before the end of the class, they did start talking about something that interested him.
"You saw that thing on the news, right Videl?" Yami asked.
"What thing?" Videl asked, unsure of what her friend was talking about.
"About the Masked Man," Yami clarified.
"I actually found the tape that they were playing. I was the first person to see it."
"Really? Did you get to meet him?" Yami's voice perked up a little.
"No, he was gone before any of us got there." Videl said, and Yami's face sunk slightly.
"Did you see that news piece, Gohan?" Yami asked
"Y... Yeah, I did," Gohan answered, hoping that they didn't recognize that it was him.
"What do you think about the Masked Man?"
Gohan let out a small mental sigh. "I think that he must be very strong," Gohan replied
"And very brave, huh Videl?" Yami said as she poked her friend.
"And very stupid," Videl responded to Yami's poking.
"Stupid?" Yami asked.
"Yea," Videl said. "On unarmed man charges head-on against three armed men. That is the very definition of stupid."
"Maybe he knew what he was doing?" Yami countered. "I know I wouldn't do something like that unless I knew that I would be able to."
"Maybe he is a vigilante. And if he shows his face again, the police are going to arrest him. At least, that is how Hanley would want it."
"Maybe that is why he wears the mask?" Gohan chimed in, surprising the other three.
"Ha, I said that very same thing, huh Videl?" Celer put in
"Maybe he wears a mask because he is afraid to face responsibility?" Videl shot back at Gohan
"If he didn't know responsibility, he wouldn't have acted. Maybe he just doesn't want the attention," Gohan countered.
Videl shot a glare in Gohan's direction that almost made him shudder.
Then the bell rang, and all the students stood and started out the door. Again, Celer stared daggers at him.
The four of them were the last ones out of the class room, and Celer hung back behind the group. Yami was walking next to Videl a few feet ahead of Gohan in the hall, but Celer wasn't up next to Videl.
"Hey," Celer called. Gohan turned to see Celer standing in the door way of the class room. "Come here," Celer said and motioned with his hand for Gohan to come back into the room.
Gohan shrugged and walked back into the class room.
When Gohan entered the room, Celer was leaning up against the desk in the front of the class, the one the teacher usually used. "Gohan, right?" his deep voice boomed.
"Yes, that's right," Gohan replied
Celer stood his full height and walked right up to Gohan. He extended a single finger in shoved it into Gohan's chest. "Let's get something straight..." Celer started as he pulled his finger away and again shoved it into Gohan's chest. "... Videl is my girlfriend. If you piss her off, you are pissing me off. And when I get pissed, you get hurt. Do we have an understanding?"
"What are you talking about?" Gohan asked innocently.
"What am I talking about?" Celer repeated under his breath. "I asked you if we have an understanding."
"I guess we do," Gohan replied back, still unsure what he was talking about.
"You guess?" Celer said with a laugh. "No, no, no... You don't guess, you know. If you don't know, you hurt. It is as simple as that. Is that clear enough for you? Or are you to dense to understand that?"
"Yeah, it is clear enough."
"Good," Celer said as he walked past Gohan and hit his shoulder into Gohan's, then walked out of the class room.
'What is that guy's problem?' Gohan thought as he shrugged and walked out of the class and into the hallway.
AAAAA
After the short break between the classes, they split up and went to their next ones. This one, Gohan and Videl had together, but both Celer and Yami had different ones.
Videl looked over her shoulder at the tall skinny guy walking almost silently a few paces behind her. The thought of what Yami had said crossed her mind. 'Maybe she is right about him... He seems honestly confused... Maybe he isn't so bad?'
She thought back to that day last week when she had first met him and showed him around the school. Thinking back on it now, his question did seem sincere enough. But could it have been a fake?
During those two classes she had with him, he did seem like a nice guy... A little off, but otherwise fine.
She walked into the classroom and started for her usual seat near the back of the room. She noticed Gohan going towards the seat in the front, the same one he was in on Friday. 'Maybe I should follow Yami's advice and give him another chance...' she thought as she let out a sigh. "Hey," she said, getting his attention. She motioned with her head for him to follow and join her where she was sitting.
She sat down and he took the empty seat next to her. There were still a few minutes before the class started.
All the people around were talking, but the two just sat there in silence.
"I just want to say..." Gohan started, breaking the silence between the two of them, "…that I'm sorry."
Videl turned a confused look to him. "For what?"
"For last week. I'm sorry if I offended you. When I greeted you, you seemed to get upset. I was just trying to be polite, so I just wanted to say that I am sorry if I did offend you..." Gohan's voice trailed off
Videl let out a sigh. "Don't worry, it's really not your fault. I was sort of having a bad day... And you were polite. I just thought you were being pompous... And..."
Gohan held up his hand. "You have no need to apologize to me. And don't worry, you don't need a reason. It is in the past now, and we can't change the past." the bell rang. "Now class is about to start."
Videl looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. Was he being sincere? Or was he being pompous? God he was so annoying!
AAAAA
The rest of the day went smoothly.
Gohan spent most of the day just listening to the various conversations. He had Videl or Videl and Yami in every one of his classes, so at least there was always someone to sit with.
Other than that weird incident with Celer, his day was pretty good. Yami was right, that he just needed to give the people a chance. After that first class, he didn't hear anyone talking about him.
He was wandering the streets after the classes for the day had ended, looking for an empty alley that he could take off from.
He looked up at the lady walking in front of him and the man just behind her. The man was walking faster than her and as he passed her, he put his hand into her purse and grabbed a wallet. Then he took off running down an alley to the left.
The lady looked at the man, but continued walking like nothing had happened.
She didn't notice the wallet!
He turned into the alley, and when he noticed no one looking, he pressed the red button on the side of his watch.
When his clothes were replaced by the black uniform, he took off running the same way that other man had down the alley.
He reached a T at the end of the alley. He looked to the left, and then to the right, but there was no sign of the man.
He lifted off and landed on the roof. He saw the man down the alley to the left and then another turn to the right and was standing between two buildings a block away. Gohan ran across the roof and jumped the gap to the roof on the other side of the alley.
He stopped when he was standing on the roof directly above the man. He looked down and saw him looking and digging through the wallet. When the man had taken out all the money and credit cards and put them in his pocket, he threw the wallet to the ground and started walking out towards the street.
Gohan dropped from the roof top, landing right in front of the man. "You shouldn't steal from others," he said.
"Are you gonna stop me, freak?" the man said as he sent a punch aimed at Gohan's stomach.
Gohan easily deflected the punch away. "You had better return what you have taken."
The man threw another punch aimed at Gohan's stomach, which was also easily deflected.
The man threw a combination of punches, left and right at Gohan's face and stomach. Gohan easily deflected each one using only one hand.
When the man was finished, he took a few steps back and was breathing rather hard.
"You should really return what you have taken, or you will regret it." Gohan said as he took a step towards the man, who then took a few more step back and reached into his pocket.
From his pocket, the man pulled a small knife. "You had better get out of my way..." the man said as he swung the knife back and forth between the two.
Gohan heard a quiver in his voice. This man was afraid. He raised his hand up in front of him. "Put the knife down, give up, and no harm will come to you."
The man lunged forward and Gohan grabbed the extended hand holding the knife then pulled forward and raised his knee. The man's stomach came into contact with Gohan's knee, knocking the wind from his lungs. He fell to the ground holding his stomach and gasping for air. Gohan then delivered a chop to the back of the man's neck, knocking him unconscious.
Gohan pulled the money and credit cards out of the man's pocket, then went deeper into the alley to retrieve the wallet. He picked it up and put the items back into it, then walked back over to the man, grabbed him, and dragged him out to the street.
He looked at the first person he saw and said, "Call the police. This man is a pick-pocket. He stole this," he held up the wallet. "Tell them to contact the wallet's owner. Don't try to take the money, because I will be watching." He handed the wallet to the person and took off back into the alley he just came out of.
Once he had turned the corner, he lifted off and landed on the roof of the building.
He pressed the red button on the side of his watch then walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down. The person on the street was on his phone and a few minutes later he saw sirens approach, pick up the man, talk to the person who had called, then pulled their guns and ran into the alley he was in before. They looked around and they found the man's knife, picked it up, bagged it, then went back out to the street.
Once on the street, they got into the car and drove off.
Gohan stood on the roof for a few more minutes, watching the people below him before he went back to the alley, and walked back into the street.
AAAAA
Videl rushed to the station. She had just heard the news of what had happened the night before.
Once she got there, she was greeted by many sad faces. All of the officers there were grieving; morning the loss of the two officers, Burt and Bradon.
Videl hurried past them all to the cell blocks. When she got there, she saw the back walls of the cells blown open and the outlines on the floors, three inside the cells, and two in front of the cells.
Videl balled her fists and pound on the wall behind her and let out a scream of frustration.
They finally had a lead, something to go on... But now they were dead, and now they wouldn't be able to get anything.
Just like before...
She spent a few minutes staring at the scene, before she felt a hand set on her shoulder.
"Ahem," said the voice of the person behind her, in an attempt to either clear their throat or to not startle her.
She turned to see the chief standing behind her. Before she could say anything, he held up his hand. "Don't get me wrong, Videl," he started, "I hate to say this, and it goes against everything I stand for as the chief of the police force, but..."
'This is it, he is letting me go, I know it,' she thought as she felt her eyes starting to tear.
The chief let out a sigh. "I hate to admit it, but you actually got some information from these guys, and Hanley didn't. Like I said, I in no way approve of your methods, but at least you got results. Now, regarding what happened with Lt. Hanley..." he held up a single finger in front of her, "...I do NOT want to hear anything else like this again. You need to work this thing out, or I will have to let both of you go. I have already told this very same thing to Hanley, and he has agreed to it. He wasn't too happy about it, but he did agree. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir..." she said under her breath.
"Good," he said. "Now, you two need to work things out. I don't want my station to become a war zone." He turned and started to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and turned back around. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Both you and Hanley are on probation and are under review. From here on out, make sure you cross all your Ts and dot all your Is. That means no more stunts like what happened with Lt. Hanley or like what happened with that prisoner. Your best behavior, Videl." He turned and started walking away again, then said over his shoulder, "I sure would hate to loose you..." and then left.