"That's odd," Gohan said to himself. No one was around to hear him but the nimbus cloud. He had been riding on the magic cloud, edging closer and closer to Satan City when he felt a burst of energy radiating from the metropolis. It may have been years since Gohan did any martial arts training but some skills were still pure instinct to him. The last time he had felt such a powerful presence on Earth was the unexpected arrival of Frieza and his father coming to destroy Earth. Gohan remembered the first time he had felt the tyrant's energy, it had been like someone dumped a bowl of ice cubes down his shirt, overwhelmingly dark, cold, and evil. This was not like that, it was— But before Gohan could come up with the right thoughts to describe it, the mysterious presence was gone.
Gohan kept a keen eye out as he reached the edge of the city looking for anything out of the ordinary. Looking at his watch, he broke into a run; this was supposed to be his first day of school and his mom was scarier than Frieza could ever be. She would kill him if she got a call saying he was late or didn't show up. Still, he debated whether or not to follow up on the enigmatic energy signature.
He wasn't too far from making it to school when he noticed a commotion near the bank. "Another crime? What is with this town?" Gohan muttered to himself. Mysterious energy and school will both have to wait. He ducked behind a building ready to jump into action as a Super Saiyan like he had done previously when he had come into the city to register for classes. He was ready to jump up into the air and drop kick any ne'er-do-wells, but when he turned the corner he saw all the bad guys had been knocked out and being carted away in police cars.
"Huh?" Gohan couldn't help but utter. Forgetting where he was due at the moment, he slipped into the crowd unnoticed. He craned his head around to see if he could catch a glimpse of the hero slinking off; he even honed his senses to try and feel any ki that stood out but came up with nothing. Could the same person who foiled the crime be the same energy he felt only moments ago. It would be an incredible coincidence if it wasn't—
"Who did that?" a voice cut through his musings. "There's no way it was the cops."
Gohan turned to see a girl around his age looking a little out of breath. "Are you talking to me?"
"Of course I am," she said looking visibly annoyed. The crowd began to disperse leaving Gohan to jump around trying to get out of people's way; however, it seemed people didn't have a problem going around the girl as she stood her ground and stared him down waiting for an answer.
"Um, I don't know," Gohan answered honestly. He was just as curious as this girl and just as clueless. "I didn't see anything."
"Oh! Miss Videl!" an older man—one of the last stragglers—came up to the two teenagers excitedly. "I saw the whole thing! It was another Golden Fighter."
Golden fighter? Gohan knew he should have slinked off to school—after all, no one was in danger anymore—instead of listening in but he needed to know who this person was, strange visitors hadn't boded well for Earth in the past.
"Him again?" the girl known as Videl narrowed her eyes. What? Again? Are they talking about me? He hadn't exactly had his ear to the ground regarding the happenings of Satan City.
"No! Not him. A girl this time, maybe a partner," the old man revealed. At least Gohan now knew he was looking for a girl. He looked to the school building, biting his lip, torn between learning more and getting to class on time. He looked down at his watch again and gasped. Only a few minutes before class starts!
"Incredible!" the old man said, mistaking Gohan's gasp for awe. "She came in like a rocket, she did. Her hair was all blonde and spiky! She even had this light around her, just like the other golden fighter."
Blonde and spiky hair? A glow around her? Uh oh. If Gohan was deducing things correctly, it sounded a lot like there was another Super Saiyan around.
"The would-be robbers even had guns and fired but she caught their bullets and had them all down quicker than a blink of an eye," the old man continued his story. "She looked a little put out at the end, even a little roughed up but I never even saw them touch her! And then she just disappeared!" he said seemingly still caught up in the excitement.
"Thanks for the info," Videl said, still looking a little tense. Gohan certainly felt more than a little tense. A girl? There were no female Saiyans left—no Saiyans, full stop, except those on Earth. At least, that's what he thought, that's what he had been told. He was ready to be nervous, the last time Saiyans discovered the planet it didn't end too well for East City. Still, Gohan had to remember she wouldn't have stopped armed bank robbers if she was evil. He was even getting ahead of himself, he realized. Gold hair didn't mean Super Saiyan, it was common in humans, and Gohan knew that Saiyans didn't have a monopoly on martial arts prowess. For all he knew, it could have been Krillin's wife 18—but she didn't leave an energy signature or a glowing aura...
However, the old man wasn't done talking yet, "She might be one of your schoolmates. She looked mighty young. Didn't have a badge though..." he trailed off and walked away rubbing his chin in contemplation, leaving Gohan and the pushy girl alone. He finally got a good look at her and noted that she had the same badge as he did.
"Hey are you—" Gohan began to say only to realize she had already jogged away. Gohan looked down at his watch again. Yikes! I better get a move on too! At the very least I should at least be able to beat that girl there. Quickly, Gohan raced to the school he had visited a few times before, coincidentally when other major crimes were occurring or maybe it was no coincidence and the city was a hotbed for crime.
He figured the first Golden Fighter they were talking about was him; it certainly sounded like him. He resolved to keep his senses on alert for the same energy signature. If what the old man said was right, she might be injured and still around.
Gohan hightailed it to school making it just in time behind the teacher; however, if he thought he was going to just be allowed to find a seat and disappear into the crowd, he was wrong.
"Ahem," the teacher cleared his throat drawing the attention of the class to him. "I'd like you to meet a new student today." Uh oh, Gohan hadn't prepared for this and froze at the door. He had never been to a real school before and suddenly he was on the spot and beads of sweat started to form on his forehead.
"Come on in…" the teacher coaxed him but said nothing else.
"H-hello...my name is Son Gohan. It's n-nice to meet you," Gohan managed to stutter out to the class not knowing what else to do and just stood for a moment still frozen. He had faced death down and still he was intimidated when faced with his peers. There had to be at least thirty faces just staring at him. What were they waiting for? For him to do a little dance?
"Take a seat please," the teacher said somewhat annoyed after a few moments of Gohan just standing there and went to his desk to take a silent attendance.
"Y-yes," Gohan said, again stumbling over his words. "Um...uh…" he couldn't help but vocalize looking through the classroom to find an empty seat. It seemed all those faces staring at him previously, found themselves interested in other things and he had no idea where he would be welcomed.
To Gohan's immense relief, he heard a voice from a few rows up shout, "Over here!" Gohan looked to see a pretty blonde girl waving him over and indicating to an empty seat next to her. To his surprise, he saw the Videl girl from earlier seated next to the girl who invited him over.
"I'm Erasa, Gohan," the blonde girl said introducing herself with a handshake. "I'm a friend of Videl's," she added like Gohan was supposed to know who Videl was. I mean, I do, but she doesn't know that.
"Um, hi," he said to the girl with pigtails. They hadn't had a proper greeting earlier, he realized.
"Videl is Mr. Satan's daughter," Erasa said with a hint of expectation in her voice. What? Mr. Satan? Who is Mr. Satan? Gohan had to think for a moment before it hit him. That buffoon?
"N-no kidding," Gohan said settling into his seat. He didn't particularly think highly of the man though he knew everyone else did. It wasn't as if they hadn't renamed the city for him. All the same, Gohan kept his mouth shut regarding the fraud.
"Yeah, now I remember," Videl said looking him up and down. "You were at the bank robbery this morning."
Erasa began to giggle, "Oh would you stop, Videl. Can you believe this?" Erasa turned to Gohan. "She came in today accusing Sharpner and me of being a crime-fighting team, the Golden Fighters."
"Huh? What?" Gohan knew from the old man earlier this morning that the town had been buzzing about the "Golden Fighter" but he didn't realize his two incidents of heroism were blowing up but there was still the slim possibility they were talking about someone else.
"Oh yeah, you're new here," Erasa began to explain. "The Golden Fighter is this hero that's popped up two times in ten days and I guess he has a girl partner too. They're super strong with spiky gold hair. They're the talk of the town." There was no doubt now that they were definitely talking about Gohan. By all accounts, she and I have the same appearance. Gohan was running out of reasons not to suspect another Super Saiyan.
"Hey you three!" the teacher settled his attention on Gohan, Erasa, and Videl. "Quiet down!" he demanded.
Gohan stood up straight and was ready to pay attention. It wouldn't do well for him to disrespect the teacher on the first day.
"Whatever," Videl huffed quietly near him. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this," she said to herself.
Gohan buried his face in his book, feeling the threat coming his way.
Despite Erasa still whispering to him throughout the class, Gohan managed to take notes diligently until the class was over but his mind was still distracted by the other "Golden Fighter." He resolved to do the same as Videl and find out who she was. It seemed unfair almost. Trouble seemed to follow Gohan everywhere.
He impressed precisely no one when it came to playing baseball. He had been too anxious and couldn't wait to leave school so he could do some investigating of his own. As a result, he failed to catch the home run Sharpner had hit or any of the other balls hit his way. When it came time to bat, he was struck out easily or hit by a pitch. It was for the best he supposed. His mom and Bulma had said there would be too much of a fuss if people knew what he was capable of.
Finally, the day was over and he stood at his locker contemplating what course of action to take to find his female counterpart.
"Hey you," Gohan heard Sharpner call out to him. "What sport are you taking?
"Um...I hadn't thought about it…" Gohan answered honestly. He didn't have time for sports. How could he think about sports or even schoolwork when there was potentially another Saiyan running around with unknown intentions? Nevermind that his abilities would put him at an unfair advantage.
"Just make sure it's not baseball," Sharpner joked. "You should go out for boxing. You're sturdy enough considering all those hits you took to the head. I'm sure you'll do great," he said sincerely.
"Thanks but I don't think I'm going to try out for anything—"
"Yeah!" Gohan was interrupted by Erasa who had just approached the two. "He lives so far away, he doesn't have time for sports!" Then she quickly pivoted to Gohan. "Do you think you could give me a ride home?"
"Huh?!" I don't have a car! Wait, stupid! How else do they think you get here from East 439? "Oh um, my ride only seats one, sorry." Not technically a lie. "Speaking of, gotta go, you know how that commute takes forever! Bye!" he said when beads of sweat started to form from his nervous energy. He bolted without another word.
Frustratingly enough, Gohan didn't know how to start his search, should he go to Piccolo and Dende? They watched over the Earth, perhaps they had felt something? Instead, he opted to take in an aerial view of Satan City and look out for any odd movements with his keen eyes. After two hours of patrolling and growing restless, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Was she even staying around Satan City? What if she was just passing through? He had to ask himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Erasa's friend Videl rushing somewhere. She seemed to be in the know, especially when there was trouble. Maybe if he followed her, she might lead him to some key information? It was worth a try.
There were very few on Earth who could sense energy, but still, Gohan hid his just in case as he stayed out of sight while following Videl. He saw her rush into a police station and lamented the fact that he did not have the extraordinary hearing of his mentor Piccolo. It would be nearly impossible to hear through the walls. Luck, for once, seemed to be on his side, however. As soon as Videl walked in, she immediately came back out with an officer. Gohan stayed where he was hidden on the side of the building to listen in.
"Yup," Gohan heard the policeman say. "Just got a call of another Golden Fighter sighting. I'm on my way now. Do you need a ride, Miss Videl?"
"No thanks," she said. "Do you know if it was the male or the female this time?" Gohan edged closer in anticipation. It had to be her, after all, it hadn't been him.
"The girl," the officer said plainly. "Seems there were these wannabe thugs driving around recklessly and speeding, almost hit a kid. Witnesses say the lady came outta nowhere and got him out of the way in time. Heh, nearly destroyed those goons' car."
How had he missed this incident? Stupid! If you would have waited a little longer you probably could have caught her instead of following Videl!
"Where did it happen?" Thanks for asking the important questions, Videl!
"Down the street from the bank robbery earlier on the northside. Sure you don't want a ride?"
"There's no point, she's probably gone by now," Gohan heard her sigh.
"Alright, I'm going to interview the kid, I'll let you know if I hear anything new." Gohan then heard the tell-tale sign of a car engine revving up and a car pulling away but he hadn't able to discern the movement of Videl. He looked around the corner only to come face-to-face with said girl.
"Following a girl is really creepy, you know," she said, anger evident in her face. "Luckily for me, I'm the daughter of the strongest man in the world and I intend to carry on his legacy," she said cracking her knuckles.
Gohan gulped, this was definitely not the way things were supposed to be going. He was sweating bullets now, how was he going to get out of this? He didn't want to take a beating but he certainly didn't want to be discovered. He weighed his options and resolved to take the beating. He just hoped she wasn't as strong as he felt she was. Who was he kidding? She was way stronger than the average human.
"Just tell me why you were following me and maybe I won't beat you up. If this is a kidnapping and ransom attempt, I'm letting you know right away I've had my fair share. That and a police station is a really crappy place to try to abduct someone," she said smirking and getting into a fighting stance.
Gohan's eyes bugged out in shock. He of all people wouldn't be out to do anything nefarious, then again, Videl didn't actually know him. "No! I swear, nothing like that!" he let out in a panic and shook his palms out in front of him. "I'm doing what you are; looking for the Golden Fighter!" he told her the truth in his panic. Dammit! Why couldn't Piccolo's training have included how to lie properly?
"You thought I was the Golden Fighter?" she looked at him skeptically with an eyebrow raised. Much to Gohan's relief, she didn't seem primed to fight anymore. "You realize my hair is black? And we saw each other this morning after the robbery."
"Uh, not exactly, I just thought you might know something," he said rubbing the back of his neck and wishing he was far away from here.
"Okay, but why are you looking for the Golden Fighter and which one?" she said stepping toward him aggressively. She was tiny but somehow she managed to stare him down.
Under the scrutiny of her gaze, Gohan couldn't help but blurt out the truth, "The girl!" Trunks is a bit of a shifty kid, maybe he can teach me how to lie?
Videl looked at him with such an intensity he thought he might have burst into flames.
"Don't you live super far away? Shouldn't you have been on a jet plane hours ago?" she said, her features growing with suspicion. He was relieved for the change of subject.
"Right!" Gohan managed to choke out. His throat was incredibly dry all of a sudden. "You are absolutely right. Better get going. If you'll excuse me," he said running off like a coward. Thankfully, Videl let him go and didn't follow, he could tell by her energy signature still at the police station.
Maybe he should drop this whole thing. Investigating might only lead to him exposing his own power. He was far enough from Videl that he felt comfortable enough to call the flying nimbus to take him home. That was a close one, he thought as he was riding the cloud on his way home. He was just grateful he was able to get away without Videl escalating the kidnapping accusations.
On the next morning's ride to school Gohan lamented having to use the nimbus cloud as cover from above, he would get to school quicker if he was able to fly to school under his own power and therefore, sleep in. Maybe I can get Bulma to make me a disguise? He contemplated while he made it to Satan City. He was trying to make it into town a little earlier in case anything happened like yesterday morning.
"You're here early!" Gohan was greeted by his locker neighbor. Gohan didn't get in as much as a good morning before his neighbor launched into a spiel, "Have you heard about the new superhero who showed up yesterday? They're calling her the Golden Fighter's partner. She's super strong, maybe even more than the guy. Heard she's really cute too."
"Is that so?" Gohan said a little ticked off. "She can't really be stronger than the first Golden Fighter, can she?" And better looking than me? Though he left the second part unsaid for obvious reasons.
His classmate merely shrugged, "Don't know." He grabbed his books and headed off to class, "See you later." Gohan followed his lead and went to his own classroom.
He sat there trying to comprehend the words on the pages but his mind drifted back to the other Super Saiyan about. People milled in and chatted but Gohan found himself engaged in no conversation; he was entirely too preoccupied with keeping his senses honed, ready to act when he felt that spike of mysterious energy.
There was no unexpected ki but rather it was the beeping of Videl's watch in history class that eventually distracted him from his senses.
"Two armed robbers in Backpack Town! We're in pursuit along Route 8! Towards the mountain!" Gohan heard the dispatch coming from Videl's communicator that cut through the teacher's boring lecture. Videl hastily stood up and made a run for it.
"I have to go!" she shouted at the alarmed teacher.
"Be safe, dear!" she called out to Videl who was already out the door. The odd part to Gohan, however, was how no one really batted an eye.
"What's going on?" he turned to ask Erasa.
"It's Videl's hobby. She calls herself a champion of justice. She's pretty tough so the cops ask her for help a lot," Erasa explained and looked utterly unphased her friend was going up against armed criminals. From what Gohan knew, bullets didn't bounce of humans the way they did for his group.
"What?!" he said a little too loudly but luckily he didn't draw the attention of their teacher. "They ask her…?" He couldn't believe it.
"Don't underestimate her," Sharpner joined in their conversation. "She's way stronger than I am, she can probably rival her old man."
Rival her dad? Maybe at getting in over her head! Gohan tried to stay calm and focus on the lesson while putting trust in Videl's abilities. She said she's been in sticky situations before, should I just…? But before Gohan could complete his thought, he felt the shock of the same powerful and familiar energy that appeared yesterday. Of course! She's got this covered. Gohan began to relax. Wait! This is the perfect opportunity to draw her out!
"I've got to go too!" Gohan declared loudly, turning the entire class's attention on him. He didn't wait for his teacher to give him permission and just bolted for the door, rushing to the powerful energy. He didn't even bother using the nimbus cloud, he needed to get there as soon as possible lest she mask her energy again like she had been doing.
Gohan made it to the scene before Videl and her jet plane only to see the mysterious girl, who—by now—he could tell was definitely a Super Saiyan, struggling to stay in her form but he couldn't take the time to appreciate the sight of a female Super Saiyan. She had made easy work of the big guy but the smaller one had thrown a smoke bomb leaving her disoriented and went to make his getaway. What do I do? He didn't want to scare her off but he couldn't let the bad guy get away or kick ass in his regular form. No doubt Videl would be here soon and ready to expose him.
Before he could make a decision, the mysterious girl rose up from the smoke and flew after the other robber. The getaway car was a convertible and she managed to knock the guy out with a punch to the head. Gohan was impressed, to say the least, but very soon, he heard sirens and the whirl of a jet coming near. The girl did too and looked around jumpy and visibly hesitating until her eyes made contact with Gohan's. Did she not even realize I was here? Her mouth parted with a small terrified gasp and she sped away. Oh no, you don't! Gohan thought as he chased her, his mind barely registered how familiar her visage looked. There was no way he could catch up to her in her base form so he had no choice but to transform as well. She had gotten far enough from him that she seemingly felt comfortable in dropping her Super Saiyan form, effectively bringing her energy to zero, but another gift his Saiyan heritage had given to him was his acute sense of smell and he had managed to pick up her scent. She smelled a bit earthy like after a rainstorm but with an undertone of fruits and flowers, ones that weren't common on this part of the continent and therefore easy to pick out.
The trail led him to a dense forest on the outskirts of the city, there were no well-worn paths to walk, it was just Gohan and his nose finding the way to her. He hadn't had much time to study her visually but he noticed the old man yesterday had been right. She did appear to be injured but there was no way a human had done that to her. What on Earth could hurt a Super Saiyan? Where did she even come from? Then he finally saw in the middle of the forest, a capsule house and a blue-haired girl struggling to get in. Bulma?! Upon seeing her blue hair, he realized where he had seen her face before, but Bulma was no Saiyan and she didn't wear her hair that way when he last saw her.
Gohan hadn't noticed in the brief time he was able to observe her but now he could see how disheveled and tangled her hair was and how her clothes were torn and ruddy with stains. Blood?! He no longer cared whether he scared her off or not, she needed help and right away. Despite hiding her energy, he could tell she was getting weaker and Gohan could tell it wasn't intentional. Quickly, she turned but he wasn't able to see her face to confirm who he thought she looked like, as the weak blast she sent his way obscured his vision.
"Go away," she said shakily holding out a broken sword as she struggled to stay on her feet. When he flicked away her blast and powered down, he finally got a good up close and personal look at her. He couldn't hold back his gasp, he wasn't wrong. She does look just like Bulma! However, he had no time to question the girl as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she slumped to the ground, that last ki blast stealing away the rest of her energy.