Chapter 29
Sometimes Videl wondered if this was all just some bizarre dream and she'd wake up in a tangle of sheets having slept through the alarm somehow with Erasa banging on her door to get up or they'd be late for school as would often happen if the Satan girl got called out in the middle of the night to help the police track down a perp that ran on them. But it wasn't. She wasn't even attending Orange Star High anymore thanks to her father. Or even allowed to assist the police anymore. Yes, Videl Satan had become a princess trapped within an ivory tower. One small consolation was that Erasa and Sharpner were allowed over. For the first week and so the three teens were dumbfounded for lack of a better term. Kidnapping aside, the daring rescue itself had haunted their dreams. Gohan in particular for Videl. It was all just so surreal. Videl had tried from time to time to talk about it with her father but every time she brought it up the man practically ran away and locked himself in his study which now secretly concealed a semiautomatic complete with armor piercing rounds. Stuck somewhere between denial and depression, Videl nearly resigned herself to her less-than-charming fate. That's when he came.
Erasa and Sharpner were over so they could at least work on their home school work together. Their books and papers were spread out on the living room floor as though someone had simply dumped out all the contents of a school locker onto the plush cream-colored carpet. Hercule reclined in the armchair nearby with a cold beer in one hand and the remote to the nearly wall sized flat screen in the other despite the fact that it was barely past noon. At least he wasn't lounging about in nothing but his terrycloth robe and soft fuzzy slippers like he tended to do, much to his daughter's mortification. Like usual he had just paraded into the study session as the man of the house he thought himself to be and proceeded to do as he pleased. Though clearly perturbed, Videl stubbornly refused to budge. The atmosphere between father and daughter was tense as it had been since the incident. Erasa could see the frustration in Videl's face while the girl wrote down furiously on her paper like it had just insulted her where as Hercule's eyes never wavered from the TV, occasionally taking long nervous pulls from his amber bottle. Sharpner, on the other hand, was more concerned about figuring out the differences between endosmosis and exosmosis than the cold war taking place in front of him. Suddenly the doorbell rang, prompting Hercule to jump out of his seat and hastily answer it. Videl glared in his wake but turned back to her paper. But a startled yell made her head pop up with a mixture curiosity and alarm. Mr. Satan slowly backed away from the door, shaking like a leaf. Standing before him was a short bald man that Videl recognized as one of the guys that was with Gohan when he had rescued them from Shin and Tao. Next to him was a just as bald elderly man dressed as though he was going to the beach. He was hunched over slightly and clutched an old wooden walking stick in his gnarled hand.
"Y-you people! Y-your friends o-of that f-freak!" Hercule stuttered out.
"'Freak'?" the old man exclaimed. "Is that any way to call someone who just saved your ungrateful ass?"
"Are you out of your mind?" the younger man hissed to his older companion. "The others are going to kill us!" The old man waved away his concerns as though they were cobwebs.
"We're doing this for Gohan's sake and the sake of his friends! They'll understand!"
"I'd like to see you tell that to Piccolo and Vegeta!" he countered.
"Who are you two, exactly?" Videl asked, ignoring her father's not-so subtle gestures against doing so.
"Roshi, master and founder of the kame fighting style and this is Krillin, a former pupil of mine." The Satan girl stared at him in shock. Roshi was a legend amongst the martial arts circles. He himself was a student of Mutaito, reputedly one of the greatest martial arts master to have ever lived and the one who had defeated the evil King Piccolo when he first rose to power. But that was a long time ago which meant Roshi had to be about three hundred years old. Was that even possible?
"What makes you think you can just come over and waltz in here? This is private property!" Hercule bellowed, some of his confidence returning.
"You don't have to yell." Roshi told him with an edge of annoyance in his voice. "I'm right here. I may be old but that doesn't mean I'm deaf." Her turned back to Videl. "Now, how would you like to learn real martial arts? You certainly have the potential for it…" To say that Videl was flattered was an understatement. After all, it wasn't often a veritable legend would find a comparable novice's skill anything to write home about. Naturally her father was against it. He yelled, ranted about how dangerous 'that boy and his weirdo pals' were, and went on about how Videl was going to settle down with a nice normal boy of his choosing. "You're in no position to tell your daughter what to do anymore." Roshi thankfully interrupted. "She's stronger than you and you know it. Besides, you'll like Gohan if you just got to know him. Ever thought about that?"
Before Videl knew it, she was whisked away to Roshi's tiny island. Krillin's wife and young daughter welcomed her warmly and made her right at home. Her father hovered nearby protectively while Erasa and Sharpner were there for moral support and to sate their curiosity. Roshi exposed them to an all new world, a world where it was possible to fly and aliens were all too real. Hercule didn't take it as well as his daughter and her friends did. It was a real shock to the system but Roshi, with Krillin's assistance, didn't allow her to dwell on it for very long. Their training was some of the toughest Videl had ever experienced. Her first exercise was to swim laps around the island, 'building her strength and spirit for what was to come. Muscles she really didn't know she had burned as she powered through the cold gentle surf. She took some comfort in the fact that it could be worse. She could be swimming laps in the dead of winter. This went on for about a week. Then they had her wear a weighted turtle shell for a month. As unconventional as it all was, Videl didn't complain. Hercule never trained her. All she knew was from reading, watching videos, and self-taught. She was eager for a taste of the real training. And she never felt better. Her father and friends made it a habit of dropping by at least once a week to see how she was doing since the island was far too small for all of them to stay there. Eighteen's brother Seventeen and the gentle but stoic Eighteen dropped in from time to time. At first it was a little startling, however, the two were more like some of her old classmates than anyone intentionally malicious. They didn't seem to mind her though they did tease her about her relationship with Gohan and more than once pondered out loud whether or not he should tell the others, the guys that she suspected were with Gohan when he came to her rescue, that Roshi and Krillin were training her. Eighteen made sure he didn't follow through with that threat. The Satan girl was genuinely happy since the whole kidnapping incident. But it still couldn't get Gohan off her mind. Nothing probably ever could.
Then the day of reckoning came. With her father and friends looking on, Krillin taught Videl how to harness her ki. She looked on with bated breath as a small ball of light slowly appeared in his hands. Her own hands shook slightly in nervous anticipation as she carefully followed his instructions. Don't force it. Just let it flow out. Gradually a warm tiny orb appeared. A sense of elation washed through her. Hercule could only stare at his daughter as though he didn't know her. Sharpner and Erasa unabashedly cheered loudly for her. Little Marron even jumped in joy, caught up in the moment. Krillin continued to instruct her on harnessing her ki and by late afternoon she was levitating off the ground. Roshi was amazed. He wasn't expecting her to progress so quickly. None of them did. But then the happy expressions on Krillin, Roshi, and Eighteen's faces suddenly turned serious. As one they turned to face the north, looking up at the sky.
"What is it?" Videl asked.
"I told you!" Krillin exclaimed at Roshi. "I told you!"
"M-maybe h-he's just curious…" the old man stuttered unconvincingly. Eighteen turned to Videl.
"Get everyone inside!" The Satan girl didn't hesitate or question the android. She carefully scooped up Marron and, with Erasa and Sharpner's help, pulled her father, eager to prove his martial powers, inside the pink bungalow. Turtle buried himself under the couch cushions like he knew what was coming. Curiously, Videl peeked through the window. For several long moments nothing happened. Suddenly a figure swathed in a fiery golden aura appeared on the beach. Even from where she stood she could feel the raw power radiating from him, like the heat of the sun or thousands of small electric shocks. It was Vegeta, Bulma Brief's husband. She had seen him when her father had taken those weird devices the Red Shark Gang used to wreck an entire city block in downtown Satan City to be examined by the renowned scientist. The man didn't say a word but the expression on his face clearly told anyone who cared to look that he wasn't all too thrilled that Mr. Satan was in his house. That expression was nothing to the one on his face now…pure primal furry. It sent chills down her spine. Next to her she felt Hercule slowly draw back, putting as much distance as he could between himself and Vegeta.
"H-hey V-vegeta!" Roshi stumbled out as casually as he could. "W-what a surprise!"
"Just what the hell is going on." Vegeta gritted out between tightly clenched teeth. It was a wonder he didn't crack a tooth.
"'G-going on'? Nothing is 'going on'." Krillina replied a little shakily.
"Don't lie to me!" he bellowed. That golden aura flared brighter for a moment. There was a resounding rip. Something long, brown, and fuzzy was now twitching erratically from the seat of his odd blue skintight outfit. Roshi and Krillin backed up against the house with wide eyes. Eighteen didn't so much as flinch.
"Leave." she told him. His angry teal gaze turned on her. "Get out of here!" she yelled at him furiously. "You will not come here and threaten my family! Especially not in front of my daughter!" Vegeta gave a primal roar.
"No one tells me what to do! No one makes a fool of me! No one disrespects me! I am the prince-!" In the blink on an eye he was thrown back several yards, skipping across the cool gentle waves the same way a smooth stone would. Gohan abruptly landed on the beach with a heavy thud. Videl could only stare at him. She hadn't seen him on so long. But he looked exactly as she remembered him. Only his face was stony, cold, serious like it had never been before. Electric bolts crackled about him. His eyes were flashing teal but his own golden aura was absent. There was another heavy thud and a tall green being landed on the sands next to him. Piccolo…the Demon King…Vegeta recovered quickly and was back on the beach, now looking like an angry drowned cat. "You were in on this, weren't you boy!" he shouted accusingly.
"No." Gohan replied emotionlessly. "I didn't know a thing about this."
"None of us did." Piccolo added. "Now, why don't you just turn back and we'll all forget about this."
"Don't start with me Namek!" Vegeta growled.
"Don't do this Vegeta." Gohan said quietly.
"No! I've had enough of this!" he snarled. There was a crack like thunder. A large golden aura, far bigger than Vegeta's, flared up around Gohan.
"I'm getting too old for this shit…" Piccolo muttered.
xXx
Omake
Roshi just loved life. Sure, there were some tough times for him in the past and there's still the occasional bad guy that needed to be put back in his place, but life was good for him nonetheless. Not many people could boast about having beachfront property. Or their own private island for that matter. He was surrounded by friends, waves, and sunshine. Yep, life was good. And having an attractive young woman swimming laps around said island in only a baby blue bikini didn't hurt either. At that moment he was happy that he had remembered his sunglasses and newspaper…
"I can only imagine what Gohan would do if he was here right now…" Eighteen mused aloud behind the old man's lounge chair. Roshi jumped a little in surprise.
"Really?" he replied nonchalantly, feigning reading his paper while wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Would he sit back and enjoy the view as some would or take after his lovely mother?" she continued. "You have to admit, they do have quite a lot in common. Hardworking, honest, temperamental at times…"
"H-he takes after his father more in my opinion." Roshi mumbled.
"I don't know." Eighteen said in an unconvinced tone. "Goku doesn't have such an explosive temper like Gohan does…"
"Alright! You've made your point!" he shouted. "Would it really be so bad if I enjoyed myself every now and then?"
"Depends on whether or not you want to pay hospital bills for the next six months." With that the android sauntered back into the house to check on a napping Marron, leaving a rather pale Roshi in her wake.
Translations:
Ki- energy
Kame- turtle
AN: Please review!
