I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 20: Touch and Go
Gohan sighed as he listened to the details concerning what had happened over at Capsule Corp. Trouble was following his friend a lot lately, about as much as had followed him in recent years. Verto was currently recovering in bed from extreme exhaustion, a twisted knee and a slight concussion. Lenz was doing fine, though she claimed it was only because of Verto that she was still breathing. It was Bulma and Vegeta's reaction that caught particular interest. Well, almost. It was typical for Vegeta to blow up out of anger, but the fact that he kept it contained to a several minor blast marks over a rural area was surprising. Bulma's reaction was one of puzzlement. Once the investigation started, she became more and more confused as to how her program may have malfunctioned. According to the computer, nothing odd had happened until the moment Verto's blast smashed through the ceiling and wrecked the place. It recorded that the gravity setting had been set by Verto to steadily increase until it hit maximum. Lenz argued fiercely against this to the angry Saiyan prince, who wouldn't listen to reason until he had blown off some steam. Gohan didn't have to tell Bulma that it just wasn't something Verto would do, not intentionally anyway. It was no secret that Verto had a habit of tearing up artificial opponents in any way, but Gohan doubted it would have been to this extreme unless necessary. Bulma was skeptical of Verto's behavior lately, but agreed for the time being. It wasn't until she discovered inconsistencies in the programming logs that she truly acknowledged it though. There were gaps of information that had been erased, such as the security cameras around the room, as well as the command log. There were lines of code wiped out everywhere, including in the hologram files. While there was plenty of evidence suggesting that the gravity level was at least close to the maximum away from the blast point, she couldn't find the programmed fail safe triggers anywhere. When she dug deeper, she found that the safety protocols were missing.
"Well that at least explains what might have gone wrong to begin with, doesn't it?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah, but how? I'm the only one who has access to the holographic mainframe. And there hasn't been anyone in here snooping around, I've checked!" she replied in an annoyed tone.
"Is it possible that one of your employees is working for someone else then Bulma?"
"I suppose its possible, but why would they want to? They would just be asking for trouble!" Gohan knew she had a point; there weren't many that were suicidal like that. Even the crazies that lurked in the West City poverty sections knew to stay away from Capsule Corp out of fear of her husband. While her employees were considered brave to just be in the same building, most of them trembled in his presence.
"I don't know Bulma, fear can make people do stupid things," Gohan said.
"You think so, you ought to see this mess! Argh! It's going to take forever to clean all this up! Why couldn't he have just vaporized the whole thing and be done with it?"
"Who, Verto?" Gohan asked.
"No, Vegeta! Keeps telling me what a dumb idea it was to create the hologram-training program. It was his idea to begin with! I did all that work and he's done nothing but complain about its efficiency! Why that stubborn, pig headed…he's lucky that he wasn't in there instead!" she growled. Gohan stopped in thought; it had been just random chance that Vegeta wasn't in there. He was a man that was on a tight schedule all the time, rarely making exceptions when it came to training. And the middle of the afternoon would have been the time for his heavy workout. Instead, he and Goku had gone to the lookout for a match in the time chamber so they could fight as hard as they wanted without doing any damage to the Earth. That was their thing ever since Goku learned that Piccolo had used Shenron to remove the limitations on that room prior to Majin Buu's appearance.
"Bulma, are you completely sure you're program wasn't sabotaged by someone else? You did mention all that trouble at that temple you uncovered," Gohan said. He heard a slight gasp of breath from her, but patiently waited for an answer.
"Well, I suppose its possible," Bulma said slowly.
Gohan sensed the tension in her voice, "Bulma, tell me what's going on. Does this have something to do with that?"
"Maybe, I don't know. I'll talk to you later kid," she said, a slight tremble in her voice. Gohan grimaced slightly as he hung up the phone, there was something going on all right.
"Gohan, you're running late!" Chichi called up from the kitchen. Gohan frowned more notably, he had more pressing matters today that he was sure to be reminded about more than once in the next several minutes. Midterms.
"You sure look concerned. A little odd for you isn't it? And premature, the tests aren't until this afternoon! You always ace the midterms, along with everything else! If anything, I'm the one who should be worried. I was away from school for almost a year you know!" Videl pointed out shortly before class began as she sat perched on the table of their row.
"It's not that, I'm just a bit distracted today," he said from his seat next to hers.
"Don't tell me it's because of Verto. That kid will hold up fine. He's just a bit unlucky when it comes to trouble. At least he's taking the load off your shoulders," she replied.
"Knock on some wood," Gohan muttered.
"The last time you said that, I broke Dad's prized coffee table with barely a tap. Do you really want to explain to everyone here about how I'm so much stronger than before?" Videl whispered.
"Yeah, you are a handful," Gohan admitted.
Videl grinned slightly, "How mad was Vegeta this time anyway? I didn't hear of anyone dying by a random dimensional shift, or whatever they're calling it now," she said, glancing over her fingernails.
"More verbal than usual, though I can't say the same for the forest he blew up," Gohan replied.
"Figures," she scoffed.
"Anyway, I have a feeling that Vegeta will press the issue a little more than he should when Verto recovers. Knowing him like I do, he's going to pick a fight at a bad time. Someone will get hurt out of this one," Gohan said as he shuffled his feet nervously.
"You don't actually think that Vegeta will do anything rash do you? The kid will crush him if Vegeta pisses him off. Trust me on this one, I saw most of the action in Other World," Videl said.
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of, he's changed. What I saw out of him during the war was just a preview. To what end though, I have no idea. When you know who had control of me, I had my doubts that Verto would be able to win since Viro had my memories. Had that virus not been involved, it would have been a landslide despite my strength advantage. Hate to see what he could do if he truly got angry again. Enraged to the point where he loses control. I mean, if someone like me is a quiet mountain, then he is definitely a raging volcano," Gohan replied with a frown.
"Nice analogy. I think you're worrying too much. He may be a little bad ass with a crap load of abilities, but he does well. He won't go too far with Mister high and mighty, just a beating he probably deserves," Videl said reassuringly as she glanced over. She promptly noticed the few rarely vacant seats close by, namely the ones usually filled with Sharpner and Erasa.
"Hmmm, I wonder where those two are," Videl commented. Gohan glanced up from his deep thinking, seeing the empty seats.
"Well, maybe they're just running late. You know how they can be, they've been joined at the hip ever since Buu," Gohan pointed out.
"An interesting way to put it, not to mention accurate. But that doesn't write off the fact that they usually beat us to class," Videl said, looking concerned.
"And the fact that we usually are running late due to a bank robbery or something excuses us? For all we know, they might be late everyday too," Gohan suggested.
"Yeah, you got me there. Sure felt different not answering a call this morning," Videl said with a shrug. Her watch promptly beeped at her, causing the rest of the class to stare.
"You were saying?" Gohan asked with a chuckle.
Videl rolled her eyes, "Argh, never mind!"
Upon their return, Videl and Gohan found Erasa sitting angrily in her seat, and Sharpner sitting straight up with a glazed over expression. The glare she kept shooting him said enough, though no one pressed the issue just yet, despite the social science teacher lecturing about Eskimos. She avoided conversation until intermission, as she didn't want to start an uproar just yet. That didn't stop it from happening; it was only a matter of time by the look of things.
"Okay, what's wrong with you two?" Videl asked once the bell rang. Erasa snorted and cast another darkened glare at Sharpner, who sat unaffected by it.
"So, what did he do this time?" Videl whispered.
"No need to whisper, that pig probably won't even notice you. He hasn't noticed me for a few days now!" Erasa growled. Gohan glanced over towards his classmates, seeing a dull, gray-eyed stare coming out of Sharpner. It was like he was fixated on the wall and was never looking away.
"So, did he dump you or something?" Videl asked.
"I don't know! One minute he's fine and the next he's going on and on about some other chick we come to school with. But most of the time he's like this!" Erasa whined.
"Well slick, have you anything to say for yourself?" Videl asked, irritated.
"So cute. She's so cute," he said as a drop of drool spilled from his quivering jaw. Just as he said that, Gohan noticed a young red headed girl enter the room, eyes sparkling in the light. She was short and petite, wearing a plain yellow skirt cut just above the knees with a matching top. He had seen her before in the hallways, but to his knowledge she was one year younger despite sharing the same level classes. She was very bright for her age, but also very shy, especially in her first year. Though Gohan hadn't been around her long enough to engage in a conversation or even know her name. She had roughly bumped into him a time or two in the hallway before the Zerg war, and she had run away before he could even help her up. Her appearance managed to snap Sharpner out of his mental lapse, but only so that he focused solely on her instead of the wall.
"I wonder when she transferred in," Videl whispered.
"You know her?" Gohan asked.
"Only by reputation. Despite having the poorest family in the whole school, she has managed to go from least popular to high status among the grapevine. Happened while I was gone I think, but no one seems to know how," Videl pointed out.
"Well something must have changed, other than temporary location of the school," Gohan replied.
"Yeah, but she still seems the same to me," Videl said with a curious expression. Several of the male students whistled as the new arrival casually smiled and glanced around the room, looking for a place to sit. Despite having many available seats elsewhere, she chose the full row near the top of the room and stopped right next to Sharpner.
"Excuse me, but I can't seem to find my seat, can you point it out to me?" she asked in a sweet tone.
"Right there babe!" he pointed without looking, right where Erasa was sitting. The intensity of the glare she gave him reminded Gohan a lot of his own mother.
"What am I, chopped liver? Well sorry your majesty, but you'll have to find somewhere else to sit!" Erasa replied in a vicious tone.
"Oh, hello there, I don't believe we've met. I'm Ranso Teziwari," the new girl said as she walked up to Erasa and offered out her hand.
"Hmph," Erasa grunted, not returning the favor.
"You shouldn't get all tied in a knot dear. After all, it's only a game. Now how about letting me sit here?" Ranso asked with the same smile.
"Get lost, I was here first!" Erasa retorted.
"Hey! The lady asked nicely, now move along!" Sharpner barked as he stood up and forcibly pulled Erasa from her seat and lifted her into the air. Videl was on her feet very quickly, and Gohan wasn't far from it. Sharpner had an angry look on his face, like Erasa had seriously wounded him, emotionally anyway.
Erasa gasped in surprise, "But Sharpie!"
"Now now, that won't be necessary. Things don't have to get unpleasant here," Ranso said calmly as she gently graced Sharpner's arm with her hand. The blond jock set her down without a word and returned to his seat like nothing had happened. The resounded gasp of uncertainty from both Videl and Gohan spread like a plague around the room, but it didn't have anything on what happened next.
Ranso cupped Erasa's soft cheek with one hand and spoke softly, "You are obviously too tense and nervous about today's exams. There now, doesn't that feel better? You should sit somewhere less cramped!" Videl watched as Erasa's once rigid body suddenly relaxed and gave in to every word the girl was saying. Gohan glowered as Erasa picked up her books and promptly moved to a different seat without one hint of contradiction. He sensed the energy in the room shift just slightly as Ranso sat down next to a wary Videl, and he had a very good idea who had caused that shift. He couldn't sense anything overly strange coming from Ranso, but her confident smile was very unnerving. He could sense some of the thought patterns forming from Videl as the next teacher passed out test papers. Videl eventually glanced back at him with similar narrowed eyes.
"You feel something strange about her?" she asked silently.
"Yeah, she has some sort of mental power. Like you said, you don't go from ultra shy to popular overnight. The question is, how and when did she get it?"
Videl looked down momentarily, "Want to trail her after school?"
Gohan stifled a grin, "So, Miss punch first and ask questions later wants to go black ops for this one eh?"
Videl rolled her eyes slightly at his joke, "Damn kid is teaching you too much, though it's a nice personality quirk. But seriously, I want to know how she did that!"
Gohan snorted slightly, "Don't tell me you're jealous?"
"Hey! Well actually that would be a pretty neat ability to have!" Videl smiled dreamily.
"Don't go getting any ideas, I seem to recall not long ago when you thought flying was just a cheap trick!" Gohan retorted.
"Fine, but I do want to at least keep an eye on her. Wanna join me for the spy game? We could turn it into an impromptu dinner date!" Videl suggested.
"I'll have to pass tonight, I plan to look in on Verto before going home. And besides, Goten has been bringing home dinosaurs almost every day for the past week, and Dad isn't doing the best job of damage control. Rain check?"
"Spoil sport," Videl huffed aloud, earning the teacher's annoyed look for a brief moment.
After watching Gohan fly off on Nimbus, Videl set out to trail Ranso wherever she went. She did so by jumping from building to building through the newly rebuilt Satan City. Over half of the city was destroyed during the Zerg war, most of it by Vegeta and the rest by the combat that went on in the surrounding areas. She was still adjusting to the new streets and such, aptly named for courageous war heroes of late. Normally, she would have flown, and while that was not an uncommon sight for her lately, she didn't want to draw Ranso's attention by way of a crowd. Ranso quietly made her way through the city streets alone, only carrying her school bag and the occasional glance of anyone nearby. Videl started regretting tailing her when they hit the poverty stricken sections of town, the sections that didn't have to be rebuilt, but also were not in the best of shape. Knowing Ranso's family was poor was one thing, seeing it live and in person was another. While Videl was one of the richer students around, she didn't feel any more special than others who came from poor families. The only thing she boasted about was her ability to fight, along with Gohan's, not that anyone ever wanted to argue against that. About three blocks from the edge of town, a small cluster of thugs came out of the woodwork and also began to follow Ranso. Videl remained on the rooftops, but was content to jump down at the first sign of trouble. A few catcalls followed the girl and she stopped, with that same grin displayed all over her face. She then took off running and screaming as the thugs gave chase. Videl saw Ranso stutter to a stop next to a dark alley, and then she intentionally ran into it, right below Videl's position. The thugs cornered her, but that's where the actual danger ended. When the first one grabbed her, she remained completely calm and didn't even struggle. The thug also relaxed, a bewildered expression all over his face.
"Yo, what's wrong man?" the second thug asked.
"Please clear them out of my way, I have to get home," Ranso said sweetly, but with a deep frown. The first thug turned and smashed his friend in the face with an unannounced fist that broke the guy's nose.
"What the hell Jimmy?" The third asked as the second held his face protectively. Jimmy didn't bother answering before rushing his other partner and flattening him as well. Jimmy turned back to Ranso with an eerily similar glazed over look to him like Sharpner had earlier. Ranso barely gave him a second glance and walked past him, leaving all three punks to themselves. Careful not to move right away, Videl kept an eye on Ranso's slowly walking form while monitoring what would transpire in the alleyway next. Jimmy suddenly shook his head and looked around, as if bewildered how he had gotten there. He tried to rouse his buddies, but that ended in a short scuffle between the three, leaving Jimmy with a bloodied and confused face. Videl had seen enough, and took off quickly for Ranso, who was still within sight. Videl sudden landing scared her, but she regained her composure easily enough.
"I see the great daughter of Mr. Satan has a nasty habit of following people," Ranso sneered.
"I want to know how you did that," Videl replied straight away.
"Did what?"
"Don't play dumb! How you were suddenly able to control that guy, and Sharpner, and Erasa? How does it work?" Videl asked.
"Oh that, my little talent. I really don't know how I do it, I just say what I want after I touch them and poof, they obey. I found myself with that ability one day while at home, its pretty neat isn't it?" Ranso said proudly.
Videl remained skeptical, "It is a nifty trick, but do you have any idea what something like that could be used for? It's not something you want to be flaunting around!"
"Well, if it gets me what I want, then who's going to say no? It's not like I can control it, once I touch someone, they do what I say until the spell releases and I'm very far away, I'm not sure how far. The spell won't release until they've fulfilled my wishes. Even if they do it though, I have to be at a distance, otherwise they remain under my control and await further commands," Ranso explained.
"So Sharpner should be normal now…well as normal as he can get?" Videl asked.
"No, I told him to be my boyfriend and no one else's until I say so! You can't have him! And he doesn't want you!" Ranso shouted back.
"Clearly, you don't know Sharpner. And it just so happens that you couldn't pay me to want him, I already have the perfect guy. But going around and stealing people away from their own lives is wrong. It's wrong to make them do what you want against their will. Sharpner may be a bag of hot air, but he and Erasa were meant for each other. Release him immediately, along with anyone else you've hypnotized," Videl ordered.
"What if I don't? What are you going to do about it?" Ranso snapped back. Videl lifted an eyebrow at this challenge. This girl, no matter how out of the social loop she might have been, had to know that Videl was one of the strongest humans on the Earth. The fact that she hadn't even taken a step back since the initial stare down showed she had guts; at least while she had power over others.
"Tell me, how long do you think it would take me to beat you to a pulp? I'll give you a hint, not very long," Videl boasted.
"Humph, I'd say you're the bag of hot air!" Ranso declared as she reached out for Videl's arm.
Videl jumped back immediately, "Oh no you don't!"
"Well, it will be pretty hard for you to beat me to a pulp then if you won't get close enough to make due on your empty threats," Ranso said with confidence as she turned on her heel and walked away. A quick golden burst of energy went flying past her and left a sizable hole in a nearby brick wall. Ranso turned, stunned at this latest development.
"Who said I needed to touch you again?" Videl asked as she held up a small blast in her hand. Ranso panicked at this and started running, with Videl in quick pursuit. Ranso rounded a corner and fled into the street just as Videl was ready to fire again. Ranso tripped and fell to the concrete right when Videl let loose, missing her completely, but throwing up some debris and smoke from the road. It hadn't been Videl's intention to hit her anyway, just give her a good scare to put her back in line where she belonged. A loud horn sounded, startling both girls as a large truck barreled down the road, right towards Ranso, who was completely covered in smoke. Videl dashed in and pulled Ranso from danger as the truck skidded on through, crashing into the curb before the driver recovered and pressed on. Ranso opened her closed eyes to see a determined Videl carrying her far above ground.
"Um, thanks," Ranso said, looking away with a guilty expression. They landed on the side of the street a moment later, and Ranso looked apologetic.
"Just let Sharpner go and we'll call it even. I'll even lend you a hand in finding a real boyfriend, but not with your ability. The real way," Videl promised as she held out her gloved hand to shake. Ranso accepted it and bid her goodbye with a gentle wave. Videl flew away feeling satisfied, but somewhere down deep, her gut was telling her that something was wrong. Far behind on the city streets, Ranso smiled evilly.
"So, how are you doing?" Gohan asked.
"Well, let's just say I'll won't give you anymore crap about taking it easy with gravity training," I replied with a painful chuckle.
"I'm surprised that it held up so well. Shows how good with technology Bulma really is," he remarked.
"Yeah, a little too good if you ask me," I said, recalling the events of that day.
"I take it Korin was out of Senzu beans then if you're still hurting a little?" he asked.
"Not sure, haven't been anywhere in the past few days. I think that extreme gravity was just too much and has me all burned out until I can recover. I haven't slept this good in awhile though, maybe too good. Almost forty hours of sleep in three days sounds like too much," I admitted.
"Well, it's not completely unexpected, that is a lot of strain to put on yourself, and a concussion on top of it. Why would you want to do that anyway?" he asked.
I frowned right away, "Enough with that load of shit. I've gotten enough flak from Vegeta about it. Trust me, it wasn't intentional. And even if it was, I wouldn't have put Lenz in that situation."
"Easy killer, its just that Bulma's investigation has been coming up a bit short on all ends, though your story of computer errors does corroborate," Gohan grinned back.
"Probably because it's the truth, not a story," I said, returning the look.
"Well, at least you won't have to worry about any nasty old hologram coming back to haunt you. She said she's going to scrap the whole program," he said, which was a surprise to me. I figured Bulma would want to at least find out what went wrong, and then try to fix it. And really, it was a good training program, but something had fouled up, and I didn't want anyone going near that equipment until it was operating normally.
"It's not like there's a room to use it in anyway, looks like a total war zone after your blast," he added.
"That was the only fail safe that was left, and I couldn't exactly move real well at the time, even at full power. I didn't have time to debate the repercussions, Lenz was in serious trouble," I explained.
"No need to derive the details to me, she's gotten real defensive of you when it comes to what went on in there, so its obvious enough. It's not like you can play mental games with her head or anything," he said, suddenly looking concerned.
"Well not to worry, telepathic communication is enough for me. I had to play with my own demons for awhile if you recall, no need to mess with someone else's," I laughed. Gohan remained serious for the moment, deep in thought.
"What is it?" I asked.
"You know, it was the strangest thing today. We got to class and it seemed as though Sharpner and Erasa were breaking up over something. I couldn't tell what, until someone new came to class. Well almost new, I've seen her at school before, even bumped into her by accident once. But it was the weirdest thing I ever saw," he started.
"Not that it matters to me who tweedle dump is dating, but go on," I said with a grin.
"Well, this girl wanted Erasa's seat for some reason, even though there were plenty of spots elsewhere. Sharpner made Erasa get out of her seat, kind of pushy about it. This girl touched him once and he instantly calmed down. I thought she and Erasa were going to have it out, but then she did the same thing to Erasa and she moved without question. I know I sensed something from her, I just don't know what. Videl said she was going to check it out after school and… what's wrong?" Gohan stopped short when he saw my raised level of alertness.
"You say this girl could literally tell them what to do with just a tap on the arm?" I asked.
"Barely even that, strangest thing I ever saw," he admitted.
"Debatable, considering our history. Was she always like this?"
"That's the confusing part, she was one of the shyest students in the entire school. I doubt she could have ordered a dog around, never mind someone as stuck up as Sharpner," he said.
I sighed slightly, "So, another one."
"Another one? What do you mean?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"I have something to tell you, and you probably want to sit down for this one," I began.
Gohan left with a constant expression of shock and surprise a short while later. My telling of the potential for mutations in everyone around us was a bit much for him. Especially when he realized that he had been emitting that power for a slightly longer time than I had, which meant that more people had been exposed. He had noticed the change in Bulma and Vegeta, if only slightly, but he pointed out something else that I hadn't thought of. Who had possibly been afflicted prior to the Zerg war? His guess was anyone that had been near him for long periods of time before the Kais had unlocked my power. That led us both to only one sure-fire conclusion: Videl. Now things made sense, her increased strength and her ability to telepathically communicate were not just a coincidence. Saiyan friendship and mating bonds and whatever else had absolutely nothing to do with it other than the amount of time she spent around Gohan. Hell, that might have all been a load of bullshit made up by Vegeta for all I knew. While there was no way we could have known that ahead of time, it made a lot more sense to both of us. The strength increase from both mutation and the fact that their baby died with her during the war had been substantial; her training with King Kai revealed every bit of that. I suspected she could now communicate silently with anyone if she tried hard enough, but that was hardly the point. The mystery now was how many more had been afflicted, and what kind of abilities would they have? Gohan said he hadn't seen any other signs of strange activity at school or around Satan City, but that was bound to change if it hadn't already. Healing the planet of Viro's virus sure didn't help any. And given human kind's nature for evil, there could only be a big vat of trouble brewing if too many emerged. Once our discussion was over, Gohan departed for the newly rebuilt Satan mansion directly, wanting to know how Videl was doing now that he knew what was going on.
Predictably, once he was gone, Lenz wanted to know what we were talking about immediately. I hadn't told her anything about mutations yet, but I wanted to hold off until I had to. The fewer people that knew, the better, we didn't need the public going crazy about it. She was disappointed as usual about my lack of information, but was scared into her own silence by Vegeta storming into the room. Once he did, I sensed something coming from him that I hadn't sensed for some time. Pure, nearly unrestrained anger, and it was mostly directed at me.
"Boy, tomorrow we have a few things to discuss, I suggest you get all the rest you can. You will need it," he growled angrily.
"That's just fine with me," I glared back. He left the room with the same intensity, showing he still blamed me for the gravity room incident.
"What are you going to do?" Lenz asked.
"What do you think I'm going to do? He just dropped a challenge to my face," I said simply.
"Oh sweet, you two are finally going to spar?" she asked, excited.
"No, we're going to fight," I replied.
"What? For real?" Lenz sounded shocked.
"You saw the look on his face, he's still pissed at me over wrecking his precious gravity chamber. A quote "discussion" means beating. Well, he'll have to push pretty hard for that; I'm not in a great mood either. It might be his pride kicking in or something again, hard to tell when he's still stewing about something a few days later. Funny, you wouldn't think we were still capable of the occasional rough match after all this time, but some things never change," I said, smirking slightly.
"He's not going to push so hard that someone could get hurt, is he?" Lenz asked with a concerned expression.
"Hard to tell, I haven't seen him that angry with me in a while. I wouldn't worry though, we just need to work a few things out," I answered as I turned and headed for my room.
"But what if he does push it that far?" Lenz called out.
I turned and gave her one sharp look in the eye, "Then I'll deal with it!" I could sense that her apparent concern never wavered even after I left for bed.
Interlude 20.1: Meeting
Once Verto was asleep, Lenz promptly left the Capsule Corp grounds. No one bothered asking her where she was heading in the late hour, since it likely involved heavy drinking considering her track record of late. Tonight was slightly different though. She took to the ground, slowly running out of town and into the nearby forests just north and east of West City, trying to stay out of sight until she arrived at her destination. The entire time she had a sneaking suspicion that she was being trailed, but she always had that feeling whenever she did this. I can't believe I agreed to continue this subterfuge crap. Bad enough doing it around Frost all these years. Now it feels like I'm betraying family. She arrived at a small clearing the woods a few minutes after entering, and scanned the area thoroughly before stepping to the middle of it.
"I'm here," she said softly.
"Are you now? You are late tonight," a feminine voice answered from the trees, sporting a British enunciation.
"Sorry, I was held up. Complications at home," Lenz replied with a slight bow.
"Whatever the case, I don't have reason to believe that punctuality is one of your strengths," the voice responded with a hint of distaste. Lenz frowned but let it go for the moment, as the woman from the shadows was not waiting for her excuses.
"What do you have to report?" she asked.
Lenz took a deep breath before speaking, "The holograms are destroyed, just like you said would happen. Bulma already said she wouldn't rebuild the program after seeing what a disaster it turned out to be. Vegeta hasn't been too happy about it, and it looks like he blames Verto all the way. He was very extremely exhausted afterwards, more than I've ever seen before. But now I'm worried, Vegeta challenged him to a fight tomorrow, probably a real one," Lenz explained.
"Hmph, typical Saiyan. Always starting a war with someone just because he can't control his anger. As usual, he has picked the wrong target," the mystery voice exclaimed.
"I'm not so sure about that, Verto is still pretty tired from the other day. And I haven't seen those two go at it before so I can't really compare them. Sure the kid has cool tricks, but the prince is such a master at fighting," Lenz said thoughtfully.
"You haven't been around the both of them long enough to make that assumption yet girl, do not presume to be an expert on the subject. You still have much to learn! I doubt that will affect the boy at all by the time they fight, hell he's probably ready for that egotistical Saiyan right now!"
Lenz scoffed slightly at this, "Well it would sure help if you would tell me what this is all about rather than keeping it a secret!"
"Keep what a secret?" a sharp male voice snarled into the air. Lenz gasped in surprise, but didn't have to turn around; she already knew who was there. The other shock was the other ki signature that popped up just above her, and she looked up to see Piccolo dropping down and landing behind her, next to Vegeta.
"You were followed?" the voice asked.
"I didn't know! I kept my energy completely hidden and I kept checking back to make sure, I'm positive they weren't there before!" Lenz shouted back.
"Oh please girl, with the Namek's ears, I doubt it would have mattered even if we hadn't seen you leave. Besides, you seem to be a bit out of practice in the whole spy game. Now who is your accomplice, that's what I would like to know!" Vegeta said with a victorious grin.
"Reveal yourself!" Piccolo growled. Lenz looked back at them, and then back to the shadows, unsure of what to do.
"I only reveal myself to those who I deem worthy," the voice answered. Vegeta's grin faded, but was quickly restored when his palm lifted towards the forest ahead.
"Come out, or I'll force you out!" he ordered.
"I wouldn't suggest doing that," the voice replied calmly.
"And why not?" Vegeta chuckled. A very slight whooshing sound filled the air, and there was instantly a dagger leaning against Vegeta's back, right between the shoulder blades.
"Because you would miss," she said. Vegeta gasped but didn't dare move, while Piccolo was trying to figure out what had just happened. He did recognize her though.
"It's you!" he proclaimed. Leira snorted slightly and backed off a step to give Vegeta his breathing room.
"You can go home girl, I'll settle things with these two," Leira said sharply, motioning Lenz to fly away quickly.
"If you think you're off the hook girl, you can forget it. You might as well stay for this!" Vegeta growled.
Leira's glare deepened, "No, if you want answers, you'll get them from me and me alone. She can go!" Vegeta huffed slightly, but didn't seem to care either way; he had his new target in sight.
"Well, now that you've come out of hiding, perhaps we can learn what you want on this planet. You are no human," Vegeta said.
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, former Saiyan prince. It's such an amazingly dull talent you possess. But, with the current situation on this planet, I doubt you will be able to tell human from alien with anything other than looks before long," Leira replied, pushing another one of Vegeta's buttons.
"Is that your way of saying you wish to die?" Vegeta asked, completely ignoring the second part of her statement. Piccolo picked up on it though, and stepped in before things got difficult.
"What do you mean by the current situation for Earthlings?" he asked.
"So, not even the former Guardian has noticed yet. Very well. Verto and Son Gohan have power and abilities far beyond normal Saiyans. This you know, what you may not know is that exposure to this uncontrolled power will cause adverse effects to those around them. No one is immune, at least not humans or Saiyans anyway," Leira began.
"You are speaking of the mutations?" Vegeta asked directly.
"Mutations?" Piccolo asked, stunned, as this had been the first time he had heard about it.
"I prefer to call them anomalies, but that is correct. Their powers have not only driven back your most dangerous enemies, but have also begun to change the entire evolutionary cycle here on Earth. The Kais couldn't possibly advise you on this matter because their ability to see the future has been clouded by their own actions. Ironic isn't it?" she grinned.
"I thought they had mastered their new powers by now, they can certainly control it!" Vegeta claimed.
"That really depends on your definition of control. And they are far from mastering it. They are still both amateurs in the art of using Spirit power," she replied.
"While I agree that they probably still have much to learn, that doesn't explain how they can use Chi energy so well," Piccolo said.
Leira snorted at this as well, "Spirit energy may not be that strong compared to Chi, but it's certainly just as potent, if not more so. You have to understand that they are probably more adept at using Chi because it is so similar to life energy. Spirit power, or Psi energy as they call it, doesn't cause as much exhaustion when used correctly. Since Saiyans are more or less ki generating machines by default, it would certainly be difficult switching from one to the other all the time. Verto appears to be better at generating Psi than Gohan is, thus why he can maintain balance much easier, plus his age. If Gohan's hidden power had all been released at a younger age, he would enjoy the same advantage. Spirit power tends to be stronger at a younger age, at least when its still mostly untapped that is. But, that's beside the point. Novices that use Spirit power so regularly on a planet like this one can significantly alter those around them. I trust that you, Vegeta, have noticed the effects by now," she explained. Vegeta rubbed his left shoulder in thought, recalling how he nearly had lost it not long ago.
"That may explain the odd happenings on Earth, but that doesn't explain who you are and why you are here," Piccolo pointed out.
"Quite right, but my involvement here is limited. I will tell you this though; some very interested parties will be watching Earth from now on. I warn you once, most of them are on a higher level then the Supreme Kai," she explained.
"What do they want with us?" Vegeta growled.
"Oh it isn't you they are interested in. They've seen enough failures like yourself," Leira remarked, popping a few of Vegeta's veins almost instantly.
"Calm down prince, you still have a great honor bestowed upon you. The stories that have passed down as your Super Saiyan legends are true to an extent," she said calmly.
Vegeta froze in some sort of realization, "You mean, all of it is true?"
Piccolo glanced at him, confused, but Leira continued anyway, "A lot of it has been muddied and modified throughout the years, but the core of the story remains intact. I highly doubt that the version you know will be very accurate, I should know, I was there," she said with a slight bow.
"Not the mysterious past bit again," Piccolo groaned.
"You will probably find out everything when it is your time to know. It isn't yet. Whether he tells you or not is completely up to him, but I do not recommend it," Leira said sternly.
"What about the boy then? Why are you using the girl to spy on him?" Vegeta asked, snapping back to a familiar subject.
"I am not allowed continuous contact with him during my mission, only isolated encounters at most. She is nothing more than a messenger of information for me. As far as he goes, you must allow him to walk his own path. He is still rather young and we have chosen to approach the situation cautiously. That being said however, you may continue as his guide and teacher at your leisure. It is after all, your right. However, know that he will need his own room to grow, and soon," Leira replied, getting a nod out of Vegeta.
"Why do I feel as if I should know you from somewhere?" Piccolo asked once Vegeta was quiet.
"You are referring to the time I spent on this planet shortly before Kami was appointed Guardian. Kami was training and competing with Garlic at the time, and it may be a difficult thing for him to recall. Let's just say your former master called me in for favors. Pray you never find out why," Leira said vaguely. Piccolo bit his lip, he still wasn't sure who she was, but now at least he had an idea as to why he knew her at all.
"What about the girl and her people? We were given explicit instructions regarding that. Not telling the boy is becoming difficult to morally handle. He will be very – upset, if we wait too long," Piccolo spoke before notably pausing in dread. Leira sighed a bit, as if she wasn't expecting that particular question yet.
"He'll probably be upset about it anyway. This will be a very trying time for him without worrying about that. It is out of your hands now," she said nonchalantly as she spun on her heel and walked back towards the shadows.
"So, do you still need the time chamber tomorrow?" Piccolo asked once she was gone. Vegeta didn't even turn his head to acknowledge his question as he watched the shadows.
"I'm not completely sure about it now, but there's only one-way to test the boy. An all out battle. I have to see everything he can do. If I die in the process, so be it," he replied as he stared into the darkness.
"He won't go that far Vegeta," Piccolo claimed.
"Then I'll make him!"
Next time on DBV: Vegeta pushes Verto during their fight in the hyperbolic time chamber, bringing out some of his ferocity. Their fight eventually threatens the safety of Earth, and a new complication arises.