Chapter XII: The First Date

"Gohan!"

He suddenly saw her there. Gohan could have killed himself right then and there. He had so much on his mind he had not bothered to sense if anyone was on the roof. He was dumbstruck. Erasa was standing there, staring at him, and she had seen him change from Saiyaman into Gohan. All he managed to sputter was; "Er-Er-Erasa!"

Her hand went straight to her mouth. "Oh my God."

His hands were held straight up. "Wait!"

Erasa began to smile as she clapped in gleeful shock. "Oh my God!"

She was happy. She found out. His secret was out. Gohan never felt so screwed in his life. Cell seemed better than this. "Oh . . . crap." He pouted. It was all over.

She skipped over to him without waiting another moment. Erasa stuck her head low enough that her gaze could meet his. "You're Saiyaman." He nodded solemnly. "You're Saiyaman!" He nodded again. "Oh wow, this is so cool!" She reached out and shook him. "Gohan I can't believe it! Not only are you cute and smart but you're a hero too!" That just made him the number one bachelor in this school.

He was feeling desperate now. "Erasa, please, you can't tell anyone about this!"

She paid no attention. Erasa gave him a hard shove that seemed to barely make Gohan flinch. "You're the Great Saiyaman!"

"Would you keep it down?" He prayed the roof was clear with the exception of the both of them. Gohan had managed to miss Erasa. There was no telling if another student had hidden themselves as well.

"I still can't believe it!" Erasa was clapping again. "Gohan this is amazing!"

His mother would kill him for this. Gohan grabbed Erasa by her arm and walked her to a secluded part of the roof. Just for good measure, he checked one last time to see if they were alone. "Look, Erasa, I am Saiyaman. I didn't want anyone to find out, but now you did. I don't want you telling people, okay?"

Erasa was about to nod, but she stopped herself. What are you doing, girl? You've been trying to make something happen since he first came here and now you got the some leverage. Use it! "Well, I guess I could keep it a secret." Her hands clasped behind her back and she leaned towards him. "If you'd go out with me, that is."

"What?"

He's so cute when he's being shy. Erasa giggled. She wrapped her arms around one of his. "Come on, how about it?"

"A date?"

"Yeah! Let's have some dinner together after school. It'll be just you and me."

The dreamy look in her eyes felt a little unnerving to Gohan. "Are you blackmailing me?" She only shrugged in answer. "Well . . . I . . . all right, I suppose we can. I mean . . ."

"Great!" She gave his arm a squeezing hug and then released him. "I'll be waiting by the back of the gymnasium. See you after classes, stud." Erasa gave a warm wink and then disappeared.

This was all too surreal for him. "What just happened?"

- DBZ -

He gently rolled the chip between his fingers. This particular memory module could hold a good portion of the vast information in the world, and it cost a great fortune to create. Chadorick set it back inside the protective casing and set it down on his desk. "Well done."

The warrior standing before did not bow or acknowledge the courtesy. He only stared at Chadorick with his blank, uncaring eyes. He was tall; easily seven feet high. He had no hair, wore white baggy clothing befitting his profession, and a long sword sheathed behind his back.

"Once again, I do thank you for coming on such notice. I know your life is very busy, Yoshi."

The ninja paid no attention to his small talk. "My payment has been deposited accordingly I presume?"

"Yes." Chadorick nodded. "I included a small bonus as well."

"I hear there is a great fighter in this city."

Yoshi was never one for strong conversational skills. He was blunt, to the point, and very straightforward. "Yes. He goes by the alias of Saiyaman, but I believe this data from the Capsule Corp. archives may prove to be one piece of the puzzle in proving his identity."

"His true name is unimportant. I wish to do battle with him."
"You'll lose." Chadorick grinned at Yoshi's offended reaction to those words. The mysterious warrior had blinding pride. In truth, there were no equals to him. He had unexplained strength, speed, and cunning in battle. Even Chadorick had never unlocked those secrets. "I suggest you leave Saiyaman to me. There are better ways of dealing with him."

Yoshi took a step towards the desk. "I will decide my own course of action. Now, you will tell me where to find this Saiyaman. We will see if there is substance to the stories."

Chadorick had little say in the matter now. Though he was powerful in many respects, those who stepped too far over the line with Yoshi did not live to tell about it. He had no loyalties outside his contracts. He was feared and respected by all. It was best just to give him what he wished. "If you want to find him your best bet is to use bait to draw him out. Saiyaman has developed a friendship of sorts with Videl Satan. Use her and he will come out for certain."

That was the end of it. Yoshi absorbed this new information, turned, and left. Charlie was quick to move out of his way as the ninja strode out the office doors. Chadorick shook his head in resignation and flipped the switch on his desk. The walls disappeared into the floor and sunlight came through the windows.

He did not miss the look on his friend's face. "Is something on your mind, Charlie?"

"Are you using him?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

Charlie sat himself down in one of the two chairs before the desk. He rubbed his chin while thinking. "It's not wise to manipulate Yoshi. Our first dealings with him were bad enough. Besides, I thought you wanted to keep Videl alive."

The crime lord nodded. "And she will stay that way. Yoshi will harm her at the most, but she will be kept alive until Saiyaman arrives to save the day. But you should know I did not plan this. Yoshi's interest in fighting Saiyaman only presented another opportunity to further observe his abilities."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Charlie muttered. He eyed the chip case still sitting on top of the desk. "What exactly is in that thing? Sending Yoshi into Capsule Corp. was pretty risky."

Chadorick grasped the case and examined it closer. "I had him take a small device with him. It's a type of AI search module. I loaded in specific search parameters and it pulled every file pertaining to them."

"What were those parameters?"

"For one, I had it search for our young Mr. Son's name. Another would be Saiyaman. The third parameter was to search for any files with direct correlation to the first two. This chip now contains all that data."

Charlie nodded as he watched his boss begin rolling it in his hands again. He waited another minute before shrugging. "I don't get it. Why aren't you looking at it?"

"I'm no where near as foolish as to do that." Chadorick set the case back on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Bulma Briefs is a most intelligent woman. Brilliant actually. There are no doubt very sophisticated safeguards imbedded in the files. I need my people to study the code first before we dare open them."

"So what do we do until they make the files safe to open?" Charlie asked.

Chadorick thought on that for a moment before reaching for a small object in one of the desk drawers. He waved the remote control at Charlie. "I'm sure today's news coverage will be fun. Why don't we sit back and wait for the show to begin?"

- DBZ -

The last bell rang and the halls of Orange Star High became flooded with large crowds of students eager to escape the building. Videl stretched her arms as she walked out of her biology class. She knew it was frowned upon to sleep during class, but could she be blamed if the teacher could not make a single thing sound interesting?

People waved to her, said goodbye, some of the lesser half of the school hit on her, but they were all things Videl was accustomed to. She saw Erasa with her head buried into her open locker. Videl knocked on the open metal door as she stopped next to her friend. Erasa came out with a smile.

She had lipstick on. Videl narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Just what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Erasa glance at the mirror inside her locker door and brushed a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear.

"What I mean is that you were going to study with me for the algebra tests next week and it looks like you're getting ready for a date." The word struck her. "Wait a minute. Erasa, are you getting ready for a date?" Her friend's smile said it all. "No way, with who? When?"

"Just some guy." Erasa closed the locker and slung her bag over her left shoulder. "It was a sort of spur of the moment thing. We're going to get something to eat. You know, talking over dinner."

"How romantic." Videl did not bother hiding the sarcasm in her voice. "And what about the algebra test?"

"We'll study during the weekend. Look, I have to go. He's waiting for me. Wish me luck!" Erasa spun on her heal and began jogging past other students who were discussing the events of the day.

Videl wanted to punch something. Her best friend just blew her off for some guy. It was probably a muscle bound jock at that. Some cute idiot. That would be Erasa's style. Videl angrily wondered who this guy was.

- DBZ -

I am such an idiot. Gohan could not remember the last time he paced back and forth lost in thought. There he was, at the back of the gymnasium, and he was as nervous as he had ever been in his life. How could he have been so careless? Erasa was a friend, granted, but he had never actually thought about revealing to her his secret, and now she knows it anyway. He prayed that she had told no one else.

Someone was approaching from around the corner of the gymnasium's large brick walls. Erasa showed up just a moment later. She had the same clothes on as before, but she looked different. She looks . . . nice? Gohan felt sweat in his palms. This was not going to work.

"Look, Erasa . . ." How do I get myself out of this? "Listen, I don't think this is a good idea. I mean, we're friends and it would be a bad idea to let anything get in the way of that. Don't you think so?"

"Well, I remember a little agreement where if I didn't tell anyone we'd go out on a date." Erasa slipped herself around Gohan's arm just as she had earlier that day. She laughed at how tense he became. "Oh don't be so worried. This is going to be fun! Come on handsome."

He never felt as helpless before as Erasa pulled him away from the school. The both of them were soon walking through the streets of Satan City. Gohan followed her lead. He had no idea where they were going, but it was a moot issue now.

"Erasa . . . I've never actually . . ."

"Been on a date before?" She asked with a smile.

Gohan shook his head. "No. I mean, I don't really know what to . . . to do."

"Now you're just being silly." She slapped him on the arm. "We're just going to go get a bite to each and talk. You know. Get to know each other better. That's all."

That sounds a lot simpler than it seems. Gohan's nose twitched as he picked up the scents of cooking meats and boiling pastas and rice. They were on the infamous 'Eat Street.' Well, infamous to Gohan at the least. He nearly went crazy every time he came within sniffing distance. All that wonderful food in one little area. He truly was his father's son.

"What are you in the mood for?" Erasa asked while scanning the various restaurants.

"Anything really. I don't think I have ever had preferences to be honest."

"Same here." She winked. "See? We're getting to know each other better already." She pointed across the street to an Italian place with outdoor seating. "Let's go there. There'll be some privacy with all the noise out here."

"Uh, sure." Gohan had no clue what he was doing, but food was food.

They took their seats at a small circular table and were immediately greeted by a waiter. He handed over two menus and said he would return shortly. Erasa and Gohan opened them up, but while he was paying attention to the selection her eyes never left him. "Can I ask you something?"

"I guess." He blinked. "You've probably been thinking of things to ask all day, haven't you?"

Erasa nodded. "Well, wouldn't anyone?"

Gohan flipped over to the entrees and sighed. "There's not much point in lying anymore. Go ahead." He reached for his glass of water and started to sip from it.

"Are you that boy from the Cell Games?"

Gohan suddenly choked as the cool water slipped down the wrong tube. He set the glass down and slammed his fist to his chest as he coughed it back up. Okay, I hadn't expected that. Erasa was staring at him. "Um . . . what if I said no?" Nice cover up there.

"I might be blonde, but I'm not that naïve."

Too much to hope for I guess. Gohan looked up Erasa in a new light. There's a bit more too her than I thought. "Yeah, that was me."

"Oh wow." Rather than jumping up and down nearly screaming as she had when she saw Gohan changing outfits on the roof, Erasa sat across the table in quiet awe. "Gohan, that's amazing. It was you all along, wasn't it?" He nodded. "But . . . Mr. Satan said he did it. He . . ."
"He took a lot of unwanted attention away from me." Gohan cut her off. "My family's done a lot of amazing things since my father was a kid, but neither he, my mother, nor I ever wanted celebrity for it. It was bad enough seeing the news crew at the Cell Games, but when Hercule took the credit it was like a huge weight off my shoulders."

"I don't think anyone would have known it was you anyway. You look so different when you're . . . well, when you have the golden hair. I mean your face changes a bit when you're like that. Just how do you do it?"

"Oh, well it's . . ." Okay, how do I explain this one? Gohan fumed over it for a moment. "Well, it's complicated. That's actually a kind of transformation. It increases my speed, power, and strength a lot."

Erasa was now leaning forward on the table with her hands cupping her face. "Just how strong are you, Gohan?"

That was not something he wanted to truthfully answer. "Me? Well . . ." That's a good question. I probably wouldn't want to tell that at Super Saiyan Three I could destroy the entire solar system with one attack. That might not go over so well. "I'm not really sure. The last time I had a serious fight was with . . ." He stopped himself before mentioning Jugger. ". . . well, it was with Cell."

"So all that wasn't just a bunch of magic tricks?"

Gohan laughed and picked up his menu again. "No, no, they aren't magic tricks. Anyone can do anything I can if they just train properly." He noticed the dreamy look in her eyes. "What is it?"

Could Erasa's smile be any warmer? "Nothing, it's just . . . do you know how amazing you are, Gohan?" She laughed as a blush began to spread on his cheeks. "You're a hero, you're smart, you're cute," he was beet red now, "and you're probably the nicest guy I've ever met."

Gohan looked around to see if anyone was staring at him yet. "Gosh, thanks. I don't really remember anyone ever saying those things to me before. You know, you're not so bad yourself, Erasa." That doesn't sound right. Come on, Gohan! You have an IQ that rival's Bulma's and yet you can't talk straight to a girl. "I mean, I think you're really great too. You've always been really nice to me and a good friend."

She winked at him. "You've very welcome."

I wonder what's gotten into me. Gohan wondered as he returned to his menu. She blackmailed me into this date; I didn't think I'd be having this good of a time. Erasa wasn't afraid at all when she saw me change. Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's nice to have someone that I can be open with.

The crowd walking along the street suddenly became a lot louder. Gohan and Erasa looked up to see people shouting at something across the road. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." They set down their menus and walked over. Pushing their way to the curb, Gohan and Erasa saw several TVs in a shop window. It was a news broadcast. They could not hear the announcer, but they could see the police opening fire on someone with a sword. The entire crowd cried out when the assailant stabbed one of the officers to death.

Erasa sharply elbowed Gohan in the ribs. "Gohan! Isn't that your cue?" She whispered as loud as she dared.

"Huh? Oh, right." He leaned down to her ear. "I'll come back as soon as I can." He promised. Gohan then turned around and pushed his way back through the crowd to an alley.

Erasa turned her attention back to the screen. As much as she was worried for the police, just as anyone else here, she was more worried for her friends. Gohan she felt could handle himself, but Erasa knew Videl would show up. She winced as the attacker killed another officer.

"Look!" Someone shouted. Everyone, Erasa included, looked up to see the signature golden streak of Saiyaman flying through the skies. "Go get him, Saiyaman!" The crowd began chanting it.

Erasa said nothing. She only hoped both her friends would be all right.

- DBZ -

There were bodies everywhere. The normally blue uniforms of the Satan City Police Department were stained in blood. Some of them were missing limbs. It sickened Videl. She felt the urge to throw up. She knew some of these men. They were friends, and they had been eviscerated by the sword wielding fanatic she had seen on the television. She had to stop him.

Videl broke into a sprint when she heard another scream coming from the next street over. She ran from around the building in time to see the white clothed man lifting another officer up with the blade. Just as he pulled it out, the man threw a hard, fast kick that sent the already dead policeman hurtling into a brick wall.

She blanched at the spray.

The man turned to face her. Videl could see blood splatters and specks all over him. He looked unto her with cold and uncaring eyes. The man was as static as the vacant street they stood on. He could have passed for a monk with his lack of hair.

"Who are you?" Videl shouted at him.

She could swear she saw a flicker of light in the man's left eye. It disappeared just as quickly as it had started. He held no emotion in his face. "My name is Yoshi. That should be sufficient enough for you." The sword in his hand came level with Videl's eyes. "You have a high fighting power for a normal human. A power level of thirty to be precise. While impressive without proper training, it is still quite insufficient."

Power level? What the hell is he talking about? This guy is nuts. Videl finally had a good look at the weapon he carried. "That type of sword is typical of a ninja, isn't it? You're an assassin."

"I am a mercenary. The jobs I am given are quite varied, but many do involve murder." His other hand came to the hilt. He grasped the weapon with both hands now. Yoshi gracefully switched his posture from relaxed to aggressive.

Videl backed away a step. He's very calm. The police were unloading everything they had at him but there's not one scratch. He's good. She brought her fists up. "Don't think that I'm going down easy."

"It's not you I'm interested in." He spoke coolly. "You're only bait for him."

Videl frowned. "Bait? Let me guess; you're after my father, aren't you? Who paid you to go after him? Tell me!" Threats against her family and friends were unforgivable.

"I am not interested in your weakling father. I am here not for money, but for challenge. Once he arrives I shall finally pit myself against a worthy adversary."

Threats were bad, but insulting her father's strength would not go unpunished. "Don't you call him weak!" Videl roared as she threw herself into a head on attack. She swung her left leg with all her might and aimed directly for Yoshi's head.

He slipped to the left just as she reached him. "Over here!" The sword whistled as it sliced through the air for her back. Videl sharply twisted and barely avoided the lethal attack. She landed on her hands and kicked Yoshi in the knee.

"Ouch!" Videl rolled to a safe distance and grabbed her foot in pain. That felt like she had just punched solid brick!

"Impressive speed and agility." Yoshi was pointing the tip of the blade at her again. "Your power level had just risen to thirty-five with that attack."

"Shut up!" Videl growled as she pushed herself back up. "What's all this crap you keep spewing about my power level? Just what are you talking about?" For the first time, a smile showed itself on Yoshi's face. It only pissed Videl off even more. "Don't ignore me!"

She was attacking again. Videl threw a vicious left hook, made three quick kicks, and jabbed at Yoshi with her right fist. Each time the ninja moved out of the way and let the attack pass through the air harmlessly. Videl put all of her strength into a roundhouse kick, but Yoshi ducked under it at the last moment.

"You missed." Yoshi's sword whistled again as it sliced down Videl's back. The young woman screamed in agony as the blade bounced along the bone of her spine. Yoshi quickly followed with a kick to her kidney, and Videl was silenced by the shock of the pain. She felt herself slam against the brick wall of a building and land on her stomach. Blood freely flowing over her. At least three of her ribs had been shattered. There was so much pain.

"I have changed my mind. You are not even worth keeping alive for bait." Yoshi was standing over her again. He slipped his foot under her and then threw Videl into the air with a kick. The teenager wailed as she spun above the streets and crashed back into the pavement.

She could hardly lift her head to look at him. Yoshi made no effort to advance on her again. "I am sure he will come." His empty hand came up and a small glowing sphere came to life in the palm of it. "You are no longer required. Die knowing how truly weak you are."

Videl was afraid. She tried to pull herself to safety, but cried out as the pain from moving was too great. She was stranded, helpless, and unable to defend herself. Videl was going to die.

The light from Yoshi's hand flashed and she saw a deadly beam shoot out at her. Time seemed to stand still. It was right there, about to hit her, and suddenly the shock of the explosion washed over her and Videl found herself staring at a smoking crater nearly twenty feet away. She felt warmer despite the blood loss. Someone was holding her. Videl forced her head to turn as she looked up into those reassuring teal eyes. "S-S-Saiyaman?"

"Don't' die on me Videl!" Gohan demanded as he set her down. "I'm going to take care of that guy, and then we'll get you to a hospital. Everything will be all right, I promise!"

"Medical attention will do her no good." Yoshi lowered his hand and turned to face Gohan. "I cut her spinal cord and have punctured many vital organs. She is bleeding to death, and you can not stop it."

Gohan's fists shook as he faced down this new enemy. "Who are you to delight in the torture of others?"

Yoshi did not answer. He frowned as the same flickering of light in his eye returned just as Videl had seen it. "Strange. I am unable to accurately read your power level. It is immense, but my scanner is unable to assign value to it."

He's trying to read my power level? How? I don't see a scouter on him. He's definitely not an alien. I can't even sense him! Gohan began walking towards him. "If you don't surrender right now you're going to find yourself in as bad of shape as her."

Yoshi gripped the sword with both hands again. "Doubtful. I have never met an equal before. You are powerful, yes, but you do not know what you are dealing with." Yoshi's body vanished as he shot at Gohan at great speeds.

This was unexpected, but Gohan had far too much training to be taken by surprise so easily. He could see every movement Yoshi made. Gohan cross his wrists and moved them in the way of the ninja's sword as it came down on his head from an angle. The blade impacted, and it shattered.

Gohan quickly swept a kick under Yoshi, further off balancing him, and landed a second one square in his chest. With a loud clunk from the hit, Yoshi was pummeled straight through a parked car and stopped by a cement wall.

"Oh my God . . ." Gohan watched as Yoshi pulled himself back up. "You're an android!"

Yoshi flew from his position and tried to strike Gohan with a powerful punch. The apt Saiyan grabbed him by the wrist and then severed the arm off with a hard chop. Sparks flew from exposed wiring and Yoshi fell to the street.

"Who built you?" Gohan demanded. He vividly remembered the blueprints of android Sixteen Bulma had used. The similarities between those designs and the robotic arm he held were unmistakable.

Yoshi struggled to his feet as he took in his damage. "I . . . do not understand. How is it . . . how are you are this powerful?"

Something's wrong here. Gohan tossed the arm away. Doctor Gero's androids were all radically powerful. This guy has the same design and construction, I can tell, but from the way he's been fighting I don't think he could even take on Krillin. He repeated the question. "Who built you?"

Yoshi's once calm and collected demeanor had now become sullen with rage. "You will not defeat me!" The ground shattered as he threw himself at Gohan at full speed.

I can't let this go on. He's far too dangerous to be kept around. Gohan phased out just as Yoshi reached him and reappeared to the side. His elbow flew down and crashed through Yoshi's artificial skull. The android fell to the ground rigid. It was dead, or at least as dead as a machine could be.

Gohan jumped over to Videl and quickly picked her up in his arms again. "Videl, are you still alive?" She said nothing. Gohan could still feel her life force, faint as it was. He powered up and flew into the air. "Hold on, Videl! Everything will be fine, I promised!"

The Author's Annotations:

I think you're all going to overload from the action that's coming up.

I'm surprised to hear that I brought back a reader literally. Ssdaman says he left when I stopped writing. Glad to see DBZ-Chick 1 is back too. It's like a rush when I see all these old fans reading.

And don't be so worried about Vegeta's soft side. If there's one thing I know about his character it's that he bottles in his emotions until it boils over. It's just building and building . . .