Got writer's block again, so I started a new story. Lol. Meant to write a oneshot, but in the end I'm gonna need a few chapters to complete this fic. I'm thinking, maybe 10 in all? Well, we'll see how long the story ends up being. But know that I mean for this to be pretty short. It's mostly humor and romance with some action thrown into the mix. Can't imagine there to be much drama, if at all, but I guess we'll have to wait and see how things turn out.

Well, have fun reading the first chapter, and don't forget to leave a comment!

When You're a Superhero

1. You'll Need a Disguise

Gohan pulled back from the microscope and turned to his boss, who had the biggest grin on her face. He blinked. And blinked again. Did he hear her right?

"Me? Are you serious?"

"Of course!" Bulma clapped her hands. "I always had you in mind when I decided to add a new branch for Capsule Corp."

The young scientist stepped away from the lab table and sat on his swivel chair. He leaned his head back and massaged his right temple, letting out a deep sigh. "Bulma, I'm only twenty-three. Worse: I look like I'm barely out of my teens ━ if that. People already don't take me seriously here, and you expect me to be the boss? That's never going to work out."

Bulma narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "What do you mean, they don't take you seriously? Give me names; I ought to teach them a lesson!"

Gohan gave a nervous laugh and waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, it's not worth the trouble. As long as I can keep doing my job, I don't care about what others think."

"And that's exactly why you are meant to be the head of the new Capsule Corp. branch!" Bulma followed up seamlessly, her face brightening up once more. "You don't care what other people think and you'll always do what's best regardless of any opposition. You're meant to be a leader, Gohan, and you're more than qualified for the job."

He scratched his hair and looked to the side with a humble blush. "Gee, I don't know, Bulma. I've only worked for you for a few years and I don't have that much experience. Surely there are people who would be more qualified than me?"

The blue-haired genius looked deep into his eyes, her expression serious. "That may be true, but there is no one I trust more than you, Gohan. That's why it has to be you. I can't give the job to just anyone."

He pinched his lips together., his eyes dropping downward in deep thought "But I'm happy with my current position. I'm only twenty-three, Bulma, and I like the pace at which my career is going. And if I do become the head of the new branch, I'll start to be known in the scientific world and I'll become a public figure, and you know I don't want that. You know how much I value my privacy and my anonymity."

Bulma sighed. "Yes, and I get that, but with your contribution to science and the way your academic career is going, that kind of thing is bound to happen anyway, so what does it matter? I get that you don't want to stand out, but with your intellect, your youth and your good looks, you were always bound to be in the spotlight."

His brow furrowed at her words. He didn't like that she was right. Gohan had never been interested in fame and glory. He just wanted to keep learning and making scientific advances. Why couldn't he just be another random face in the crowd? Was he never meant to just fit in?

Maybe he was making a fuss over something trivial, and maybe he should be grateful to be given this opportunity. Bulma did have a point and, yes, Gohan was aware that he was bound to become well-known and even famous at some point, but was it so wrong to want to hold on to his anonymity for a bit longer? So what if it wasn't meant to last? It didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the time he had left out of the spotlight, however little that time was.

"Look, Gohan, I understand your reluctance, but you're the only one I trust for this position. If you're not going to do it, we might as well close the new facilities and forget about the new branch."

The young man frowned at Bulma. She was smirking, like she knew she had him, and he didn't like it. He wasn't going to let her manipulate him into accepting the promotion.

"You can't do that. You'd be putting hundreds of people out of a job."

Her smirk widened. "And you wouldn't want that, right?"

Gohan scowled. "Bulma, be serious. We both know you're bluffing. Can't you accept that I don't want the job?"

Her face turned serious. "No, I can't. It has to be you. You're like a son to me, Gohan, and this is a family business. Nobody else can take that position ━ at least not until Trunks is old enough to take over."

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs, his shoulders slumping. He let out a deep sigh that resembled a groan.

"…Fine. You win, Bulma. I'll take the job."

Her eyes lit up. "You mean it?"

He gave a wry smile. "It's not like I ever had a choice, did I? I can't win against you when you've set your mind on something."

"You're damn right you can't!" Bulma clapped her hands. "Alright! I've already found you a place to live and arranged the paperwork, you'll just need to sign everything and pack up to move to Satan City. Thank you so much, Gohan. You're gonna be a great leader!"

The twenty-three-year-old sighed in defeat, massaging the nape of his neck. Of course Bulma would get ahead of herself and get everything ready for his move to another city before he even accepted the position. That woman never doubted herself, so when she had decided he was going to be the new head scientist of the Satan City branch for Capsule Corp., she knew it was only a matter of time before he accepted the promotion. Bulma was as stubborn as her ego was big; she was always going to get her way, and Gohan would rather skip the part where she pestered him for days until he caved in, so he figured he might as well just give her what she wanted.

I guess I'm moving to Satan City then…

Everything had happened in a blur. Before he knew it, Gohan was already unpacking his belongings in his new, furnished apartment in Satan City. The place was too big for just one person, but at least the style wasn't too extravagant or overly fancy; Gohan wouldn't have felt at home if it were, and he supposed Bulma was aware of that. It had a homey, cozy feeling to it, with warm colors and throw pillows and oak floorboards, and he even had a fireplace. Gohan especially appreciated the library, his office, and even the home lab. Adding to that, he also had no less than two guest rooms, three bathrooms, an equipped kitchen, a dining room, and one big balcony that surrounded the whole floor, which happened to consist of his entire apartment. Oh, and did he mention that his place was on the highest floor of the thirty-seven stories building?

Frankly, Gohan would've been fine with a simple one-bedroom, but Bulma insisted that as the head scientist of the new Satan City branch, he had to look the part, too. What would it look like if Capsule Corp.'s newest director lived like a commoner? Gohan retorted that he didn't care what people thought, but Bulma reasoned that as a public figure, he did have to care about appearances. He would be the new face of the company, and that meant making some concessions.

"Besides, there are worse things than living in a big apartment!" Bulma said when she showed him the place. "Don't worry, I know you're gonna love it here. And who knows, maybe you'll meet someone and fall in love, and then, wouldn't you be glad that you have a big place where you could start a family with her?"

Pausing from filling the shelves in the library with his books, Gohan blushed at the recollection. But, the young man admitted that his friend had a point. He was at an age where he could see himself settling down, and he couldn't deny that the idea of raising children in this apartment sounded quite nice.

Not that he had any experience with women. Perhaps he simply hadn't met the right person yet, but Gohan just wasn't interested in getting in a relationship. A few women had asked him out over the years, but usually he wouldn't even know them very well so saying yes never felt right.

Oh, well. Gohan wasn't actually worried about that. It would happen when it happened, and he wasn't in any rush to meet his future wife either way. He was still young, and he was content focusing on his career ━ which would be taking up even more of his time now that he was the head scientist of the new Capsule Corp. branch, for that matter.

A thoughtful frown took up his features as he recalled what happened earlier today while he had been on his way to his new apartment. It was his first time in Satan City, and Gohan had heard about the high level of criminality here, but he hadn't thought it would be that bad.

He had found himself stopping no less than three crimes on his way to his new place: a purse snatcher, a bank robbery, and a car thief. Gohan had used his super speed so as not to be seen in action. He couldn't afford to reveal his face, especially now that he was going to be a public image. He had thought of turning Super Saiyan, but even if he did look different as a teal-eyed blond, Gohan didn't want to take any chances on being recognized. It would only take one sharp eye to put two and two together, and that was not something he could allow to happen.

It was bad enough that his life as an anonymous scientist was all but over.

Bulma, who had come with him to show him his new place, had suggested making him a disguise so that he could fight crime and hide his identity more efficiently. Gohan gratefully accepted her offer, so while he got to unpacking his boxes, Bulma set to his home lab and got to work, figuring he would need the disguise as fast as possible.

With how bad the crime was in his new city, the half-Saiyan figured his free time would get reduced even more. Hopefully, after a while he might be able to scare off criminals and discourage them from committing unlawful acts.

At the very least, he could make sure innocent people were safe.

Police sirens could be heard from the open window in the library. Gohan frowned deeply as they got louder and louder before they began to fade into the distance. Again? For real? What the hell was wrong with this city?

At that moment, Bulma barged into the library, a proud grin lighting up her face as she held up his wristwatch. "I'm done! Strap this on and push the red button, and you'll be ready to go!"

"You're just in time." Gohan stepped toward his friend and took the enhanced watch. The police sirens could still be heard faintly for a few moments before fading completely. "Thanks, Bulma. I owe you one."

She winked at him. "Consider it my thank you gift for accepting your promotion."

He cracked a smile as he pushed the red button on his watch. A flash of light surrounded his body and the next moment, his everyday clothes were replaced by a colorful suit. There weren't any mirrors in the library, however, and Gohan didn't have the time to inspect himself right now, so he simply rushed to the open window, threw a, "Be right back!" at Bulma over his shoulder, and took off to the sky.

Gohan figured that now that he had an actual superhero suit, he might as well have some fun with this whole crime-fighting gig. There was no need to use his super speed and deal with the bad guys as an invisible gust of wind anymore. This was an opportunity to make his grand debut as the new protector of Satan City.

As he followed the trail of the wreckage left behind the merciless criminals from up in the sky, Gohan caught his reflection in a tinted window of a skyscraper, and his face lit up. He couldn't help stopping in mid-air to admire his attire, turning a few times on himself.

He looked so freaking cool! Bulma had the best sense of style. He was wearing an orange and black helmet with white antennas, a black spandex suit, a green tunic held together by a black belt with a golden belt buckle, a long red cape that flowed gracefully to the wind, and he also had on white gloves and white boots with striped, golden tips.

Unknown to him, the office workers on the other side of the window were staring at him dumbly, wondering who on Earth would ever wear something that looked so stupid, and how the heck this man could be floating in mid-air!

The sound of police sirens snapped him out of admiring his own reflection. Dang. He'd almost caught up to the criminals before catching a peek of his super cool suit and getting sidetracked, and now he was back at the police cars' level ━ the ones that didn't get blasted off by the heavily armed law-breakers, that is.

The young superhero took off in a flash, his mouth pursing in a serious frown. He quickly flew past the police cars and sped up to catch up to what they were chasing. The armored truck was headed to the rural area through a lone, sinuous road that barely had any traffic at this hour.

So this time it was a high-jacked armored truck, huh. Well, it was time for his grand entrance.

The flashy superhero landed a short distance from the speeding truck and waited calmly with his arms crossed. The driver tried to brake but they all knew it was going to be too late. Gohan nonchalantly raised a foot and stopped the heavy vehicle right off its tracks, creating a dent the size of his boot. He heard three distinctive collisions as the robbers, who obviously didn't think strapping their seatbelt was important, were flung forward from the abrupt stop.

Always wear your seatbelts, kids.

Gohan smirked.

"What the hell!" shouted a raspy male voice. The windows were tinted and he couldn't see the robbers, but his heightened senses told him that there were two sitting at the front and one inside the truck, where he supposed the money was guarded.

Piece of cake.

The driver tried to restart the truck. Gohan didn't give him the time to make a second attempt and rushed in; he punched through the side window and hit him lightly on the top of his head, knocking him unconscious instantly. His accomplice squeaked in surprise and fright; he turned to the side door in a vain attempt to escape, but Gohan was too fast for him and he, too, was quickly knocked out.

Now, to the last robber who was inside the truck. Gohan walked around the armored vehicle to get to the back doors. Barely putting any strength to it, Gohan simply opened the double doors, easily breaking the reinforced lock.

Piles of secured cases were stocked inside, and at first glance, it looked as though nobody was in there. It was smart of the robber to hide and wait for the moment he could escape. Gohan would give him that. Unluckily for this particular law-breaker, the young hero did not need to see him to know that he was in there.

Or she, Gohan corrected himself mentally. It could be a woman, too. Although, it seemed unlikely since the other two were men. Still, he shouldn't assume it was a man; he knew better than to do that.

He hopped in the truck and approached the pile of cases behind which he knew the last robber was hiding.

Behind him, the sound of an engine got closer, coming down from the sky before settling on the road and turning off.

"Stop right there!" shouted a female voice.

Gohan paused in his tracks. Fast steps were approaching. He turned around just as a boot came flying straight to his face, or rather his helmet. He reacted out of instinct and caught the foot. Behind his black visor, he blinked at the young woman scowling at him. He could barely see her face inside the dark and cramped truck, but her eyes seemed ablaze with determination.

"What the…"

She attacked him again. Was she one of the accomplices? Did they plan for backup in case things went south?

Gohan swiveled around her to get out of the truck ━ fighting in such a restricted space was too complicated, and he might not be able to control his strength properly if he couldn't move around freely.

He hopped off the truck, and just as he turned on himself to face the woman, she jumped at him shouting, "I won't let you get away!"

Next thing he knew, she let out a war cry and his vision was completely obstructed by none other than… her crotch; her thighs tightened around his helmeted head and Gohan was too shocked and flustered to react. She then bent over backward and leaned onto her hands, and as the woman propelled him forward with her legs, Gohan snapped out of it before she should finish the headscissors attack and used his super speed to phase out of her clutch.

She leaped onto her feet and didn't even pause before rushing him again. Gohan's eyes widened behind his visor as he found himself dodging her vicious attacks.

This girl was way stronger than any normal human. Her fiery blue eyes narrowed at him, and her failed attempts to touch him only seemed to fuel her determination.

Gohan found himself detailing her traits. She had a round face with full cheeks and a delicately square jaw, and her nose was straight with a cute round tip. Her eyes were big and deep blue, and her eyebrows had the perfect balance between thick and thin. Her lips were tightly pursed in concentration as she sped up her attacks and put more force into each one of them, not getting worn down no matter how many times she failed to hit him. Her long, untied raven hair flew in all directions in rhythm with her graceful movements, and Gohan distractedly mused that it didn't look very practical. Letting his gaze trail down, he noted that she wasn't wearing very comfortable clothes, either. She had on a purple strapped top with golden lace on the cleavage, a pair of black shorts, and brown ankle boots. She was even wearing a necklace and some hoops around her right wrists.

The young woman jumped back and blew out a long breath as she dropped in an excellent fighting stance.

Gohan raised his eyebrows as a smirk tugged on her lips. Was it excitement shining in her eyes? Just who was this girl? Was she actually with the robbers or was this whole fight just one big misunderstanding?

"Finally, the day has come!" she said with a cackle. "I've been waiting for you ━ my first supervillain ever!"

Gohan's jaw hung open.

Did she just say…?

"Wait, there's been a misunders━"

But before he could finish his sentence, let alone complete that word, the girl let out a war cry and rushed him once again. He ducked under her punch and tried to scurry away from her to put some distance between them so he could explain that he was, in fact, one of the good guys, but the raven-haired beauty grabbed a fistful of his cape and made him lose his footing; he let out an embarrassing squeak and fell ungracefully on his bum.

"I've got you now!" she boasted in victory, grabbing a pair of handcuffs from her belt.

Gohan rolled around on the ground, but he wasn't able to get far because she was still clutching his red cape and the new hero didn't want it to get torn off.

"Wait! You've got it all wrong!" he exclaimed desperately. The girl climbed on him to try and immobilize him, straddling his side as she tried to grab a hold of his arms. "Stop! I'm not the bad guy here!"

"Like I've never heard that line before."

They could hear police sirens in the distance. The cavalry was finally arriving.

And this girl believed him to be a supervillain.

How the heck did he end up in this situation?

"I'm telling you!" Gohan kept trying to reason with his assailant against whom he was still struggling while she tried to cuff his wrists. "I'm not a supervillain! I'm the one who stopped the truck!"

Alas, the girl wasn't listening to him. He tried to push her off him but he was worried he might hurt her. She was too strong to be held off like he would a normal person, but he didn't how much power he would need exactly to get her off of him without harming her.

Somehow, she had managed to trick him into getting on his stomach. Gohan had no idea how he ended up in this position. She even managed to cuff one of his wrists!

He was half Saiyan, for crying out loud! How could a simple human fighter manage to gain the upper hand on him? Granted, him not wanting to hurt her gave her an unfair advantage, but this was just ridiculous!

"Seriously, cut it out!"

Using more force than he usually would against a normal person, Gohan pushed the girl off him and held her down on the ground with his hands on her wrists.

She did not admit defeat however and started thrashing her legs around to get him off her. Gohan growled in annoyance and used his knees to immobilize her legs as well.

He was blushing heavily from the awkward position. It didn't help that the girl was so incredibly attractive ━ the fire in her eyes only seemed to get fiercer as she glared at him, even though she couldn't even move. She was still struggling against his firm grip, not giving up even though she had no chance of winning against him, and Gohan wondered why her feistiness made her seem even more appealing to him.

"Will you listen to me already? I am not a villain," he affirmed earnestly. "I'm the one who stopped the truck ━ there's an imprint of my boot on the hood if you don't believe me! I knocked out the robbers who were on the front seat and I was about to…"

Gohan trailed off and froze as he realized the third robber who had been hiding in the truck was no longer there.

"Crap!"

He quickly got to his feet and looked around. Sure enough, the last robber ━ a man, in case anyone was wondering ━ was running away on foot, thinking he could escape while the good guys were fighting over a misunderstanding.

Gohan sprinted after him, and to an untrained eye, it looked like he phased out of sight. The last robber had managed to get quite a bit of distance between the squabbling heroes and him, but it was obviously not enough to guaranty his freedom. Gohan ran past him and stopped right in front of him.

The criminal bumped into him, bounced off his steel-like body and fell on his butt.

"What the… Who the hell are you?!"

Gohan started to smirk, but then he frowned, his lips pursed tightly. That's right ━ I forgot to give myself a name!

"Who I am…? Hmm… Let's see…"

He held his chin in thought. He needed to come up with a cool superhero name that would also be meaningful to him.

Now… What could he call himself?

The criminal stared at him blankly. "You need to think about it before telling me who you are…?"

"Oh, I've got it!"

At that moment, the woman from earlier had caught up to them. Gohan smirked. Just in time for the show.

"I am the defender of justice! The vanquisher of evil!" He moved his arm dramatically in a semi-circle motion over his head to accompany his cool intro. He held the pose and puffed out his chest. "I am… The Great Saiyaman!"

The sound of tweeting birds and of the wind blowing was his only response. He chuckled. They must be in awe of my super cool intro. This is so much fun!

"Fuck this shit!" the criminal growled, turning around to flee again.

Unluckily for him, the woman was right on his path. Despite being two heads taller than her and much bigger, the man didn't stand a chance against her. She pushed her palm onto his chin and as he took a few wobbly steps back from the powerful strike, the female fighter jumped and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick that threw him a good distance away ━ Gohan couldn't help but wince in sympathy as his heavy body landed painfully, the force of the impact cracking the asphalt.

"Damn, that girl's no joke," he mumbled to himself.

She dusted off her hands, her nose held high, before focusing her piercing blue eyes onto him.

Gohan felt his face heat up.

"Do you believe me now? That I'm not the bad guy here?"

She smirked. "I guess. Maybe next time, try not to look so incriminating. And what's up with the flashy costume anyway? You can't blame me for thinking you're a supervillain here."

"Hey! I resent that! I'm obviously a superhero! Look how cool I look, too!" He turned on himself to make his cape flow gracefully with the motion, before standing tall and pushing out his chest with his fists on his hips.

The woman turned her head and put her hand over her mouth to stifle a sudden fit of laughter. Gohan frowned and crossed his arms. Why was she making fun of him? She obviously had no sense of style.

"Anyway, the cavalry's coming," she said, unable to stop the twitch on the corners of her lips. "They'll need your statement and you'll also have to testify in court in the future, Mr. Singing Man."

"It's Saiyaman!" Gohan sputtered indignantly. "The Great Saiyaman! I put a lot of thought into that name, you know!"

Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold down another burst of laughter. "Right, right." She was grinning, her eyes shining with mirth.

Gohan scowled. She was still making fun of him.

"I think you guys can manage the rest without me. Everyone knows superheroes don't hang around after dealing with criminals. So, if you'll excuse me."

"Who are you, really?" she asked, the amusement still obvious in her voice. She was walking toward him.

Gohan rolled his eyes, not that she could see it with his helmet in the way. "Ever heard of secret identities? I'm obviously concealing who I really am for a reason."

"Is that so?"

He instinctively took a step back when she started getting too close. Behind her, the police officers were carrying the unconscious robbers back into their cars.

She smirked. Could she tell that he was blushing, even with his helmet on?

"And what's the deal with this city anyway?" Gohan complained out of the blue, not-so-subtly changing the subject. "I've only been here a day and this is already the fourth time I had to stop a crime! Is it like this every day? I barely got into unpacking my stuff when I heard the police sirens yet again! Geez!"

"The crime's pretty bad here, yeah," she conceded.

Gohan wanted to rake his hand through his hair, but his helmet was in the way. He settled with crossing his arms over his chest.

"So you're new in the city, huh?" She took another step toward him, leaning over to try and take a peek at his face from the low angle. He took another step back and turned his head sideways, scratching his cheek.

"I, uh…"

He probably shouldn't have told her that much. Not that she could ever figure out who he was with only those little tidbits of information, but he should still be more careful of what he allowed people to know about him when he was in disguise.

"I should get going."

She smirked. "To finish unpacking and all?"

Gohan turned away from her, getting ready to take off. "…Right."

"I'm Videl, by the way," she introduced herself without being prompted. She held out her hand to him, and Gohan eyed it warily. This felt like a trap. "I figure you ought to know since we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on."

"You're not in the police, right?" he asked as he cautiously shook her hand. He didn't know why he was being so suspicious of her, it wasn't usually in his nature to be like this, but he couldn't help feeling that this girl was up to no good.

"Not exactly. I've been helping them fight crime since my high school days, and I never stopped. You've seen how it is here ━ they really need all the help they can get."

"You're definitely competent," he complimented her sincerely. "I can't believe you almost had me there."

The officers walked up toward them to pick up the last robber and get him in the police car like his accomplices.

"Thanks for your help as always, Videl," a man in uniform said. He noticed the caped stranger in front of her and eyed him up and down with a grimace.

"Actually, I can't take all the credit here," Videl admitted. "The one who stopped the truck and knocked out the two other guys was the Great Tire Man here."

Gohan had started to smile as his new acquaintance recounted his good deeds and introduced him, but then his lips pursed in a scowl. She gave him a smug look out of the corner of her eyes. That little… She messed up his name on purpose, he just knew it!

"It's the Great Saiyaman!" he corrected her again. "I'm the Great Saiyaman."

The policeman got a notepad out of his back pocket and clicked on the top of his pen. "I'm gonna need your contact information, Mr. Great Saiyaman, as well as your witness statement about what happened."

Was everybody completely clueless as to how this superhero thing worked? Why was he still here anyway? He should've flown away as soon as the situation was under control.

He took a mental note not to let himself hang around after the crime was stopped. Well, he was still new to being a superhero, so it was only natural that he needed to learn the ropes on the job.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

Before the officer could protest, Gohan let his energy burst to get some space and jumped high. Videl's eyes widened and her jaw hung open as he just floated there. Everyone else at the scene was staring at him in shock.

With a smile, he raised two fingers to his helmet in salute.

"See you around."

And then he was off.

May 26, 2021