Chapter 3: Absence
Water trickled from her long raven-black hair as Videl made herself more comfortable. The warm water stung on her wounds a bit, but overall this bath was relaxing. She needed this moment for herself. Man, what a day!
After Saiyaman had stormed off, the press immediately dove in on her. The fact that she single-handedly defeated a Martial Arts Tournament semifinalist was apparently front page news. That the mayor had just been rescued from a imminent hostage situation was of secondary importance. Videl let out a big sigh, she was dreading of what those folks would write in tomorrow's paper.
Videl lowered herself deeper into the warm water and closed her eyes. She had never seen those darts coming. If it hadn't been for Saiyaman, she would've certainly have been hit.
An uneasy feeling came over her. Why was that criminal so excited that he managed to hit Saiyaman? Those arrows clearly had little to no effect on the guy. But what surprised her the most was that the criminal didn't even resist when Saiyaman attacked him to knock him out. He just stood there... and smirked.
She took a deep breath and submerged her head under water for a moment. This bath wasn't so relaxing anymore. Videl unplugged the tub, got out and wrapped herself in a towel. After drying off, she walked towards the sink where she wiped the condensation from the mirror with a flat hand. Ugh, her left eye will be black tomorrow. She shrugged it off and decided to call it a night.
That night she had a dream in which she was pinned headfirst to the ground. She couldn't determine if someone was holding her down or if her body was just motionless. The space she was in was pitch dark and a cold and lonely feeling came over her. She tried to shout out for someone to help her, but no words came out.
When she'd almost abandoned all hope, a warm hand touched her shoulder. "Is everything alright, Videl?" asked a familiar voice she recognized as Gohan's. The warmth of that touch radiated trough her body and suddenly she could move again. She wanted to thank Gohan for his help, but when she sat up to look at him, she met Saiyaman instead. His gloved hand went up and cupped her cheek. But to her horror, she felt his touch slip and saw his body slowly turn to dust, only to leave behind an empty pile of clothes.
In a blind panic, she searched throughout the clothes in front of her, hoping to find a clue as to what had just happened. But Saiyaman was gone. She got up and screamed his name over her lungs. Maybe he was still around, she thought hopefully. Videl gathered her courage and began to explore the darkness. Her first steps were cautious, but it soon accelerated to the point that she was running. That turned out to be a bad idea, however, when she found herself stepping into a void, tumbling over, and ended up into this free fall.
With a smack, she'd hit a surface. Confused, Videl opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor. Apparently she had fallen out of her bed. Her chest was heaving from all the tension she'd got from that creepy dream.
She sat up and rested her shoulders against the edge of the bed. Videl felt terrible. Since it was about twenty minutes before she normally got up, she decided there was no point in going back to bed. And so she slowly got up and prepared for her day of school.
###
"You look awful,"
Videl glared at her best friend, "Good morning to you too." As always, they met at the lockers before class started.
"Seriously, you could've tried to conceal it with some makeup!" Erasa continued. She took a closer look at her friend's black eye. "On second thought, there is no makeup in the world to cover that."
"Shut up," Videl bit her. "Look, I had a tough fight with this criminal yesterday and you should be happy that this is all I have."
"Ah, yes, this former semifinalist guy! You were all over the news this morning," her friend recalled. "They even speculated about your chances of winning the next tournament. Some even believe you have already surpassed your dad."
Videl looked up in surprise. "Yesterday's fight was a hard one, to be honest. And my dad defeated Cell, a monster that could have easily destroyed the entire world. I would never surpass that."
"Well, you've been training really hard all these years. That cannot be said of your old man. All I hear from you is your complaints about his drinking problem and that he never leaves his flat screen. When did you last see him train for that matter?" Erasa gave Videl a playful wink, "And, if you want to know, I'm with the speculators."
"Wow! Just wow!" Their conversation was cut short when their mutual friend joined the group. "I normally call you babe, but this -," Sharpener gestured to Videl's face, "This is downright hideous. You DO NOT deserve the babe-status today"
"And good morning to you too." Videl slammed her locker shut. "Let's go, class is about to start," and as Videl walked past Sharpener, she gave him a firm tap on the back of his head.
"Hey! What did you do that for?" the jock said indignantly, rubbing the sore spot at the same time.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not your babe."
"But I just said I wouldn't call you that today!"
"No, but you were implying I was every other day." Videl gave Sharpner a glare. "And, you called me hideous, too. So be thankful that I hit you just once."
The group found their usual seats and unpacked their bags. While the biology teacher was setting up a beamer, more and more students filled the classroom. Not much later the lesson started and with a brief introduction on today's topic, the teacher turned on some kind of documentary about the behavior of bonobo's.
"Brains is late again," Sharpener whispered. He leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head. "I hope he comes in soon, otherwise I have to take notes myself."
Videl looked over to Gohan's seat. It indeed was empty.
"Give him some slack, Sharpie, the boy lives trillions of miles away. No wonder he's always late." Erasa looked at Sharpener. "But I also hope he shows up soon, I'd rather look at his cute face than this stupid film."
"I thought you'd given up on him?" Videl looked at her intently. Normally she wouldn't care less if her blond friend went on a flirting spree, but somehow that comment left her with a nagging feeling she couldn't suppress.
"Look, it's clear he isn't into me – God knows why – but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy some eye candy," she giggled.
"Silence up there!" the teacher's raised voice suddenly filled the room. "If one of you interrupts my class again, I'll send you straight to detention." With a squeak, the trio immediately sat up and didn't dare to say another word.
When recess started, there was still no sign of Gohan. The three friends sat at their usual spot next to this large evergreen oak. After everything that had happened yesterday, Videl had been looking forward to talk to Gohan to get to know the guy a little better. There were all sorts of questions she wanted him to ask. Such as what he liked to do after school, which countries he had traveled to or what his favorite dish was. Instead, she had to deal with the usual chit-chat until even that unexpectedly died out.
"Still no sign of the bookworm, eh?" addressing the elephant in the room, Sharpener looked at the dejected faces of both girls. "I wonder if he's playing hooky again?"
"He missed out all morning. I know he sometimes walks out of class, only to return to us at the start of the next one. But he never missed this much," Erasa's voice was gloomy. "And I don't think he is playing hooky. I always assumed he occasionally walks out of class to get some fresh air as he probably is bored out of his mind. He's so smart, I bet he already knows all of this stuff anyway." She tried to smile. "Maybe he's just sick."
"I don't think he is," said Videl firmly. "I spoke to him after class yesterday. He looked fine to me." She threw her arms over her knees, "I have this bad feeling something has happened to him."
"Since when did you developed a caring heart?" Sharpener said amusedly, but was prodded hard between his ribs by Videl. He rubbed his sore spot and glared at his raven-haired friend, though he knew he deserved it. "Look, I'm with Erasa here. He'll probably show his face in a day or two."
But Gohan didn't.
Videl couldn't shake this bad feeling she had and found herself staring at Gohan's empty seat. She had tried to get his contact information at the school registry, but she was rejected to do so. Something to do with privacy legislation. And since Gohan didn't owned a mobile phone, they couldn't text or call him either. So, she was left in the dark.
Her watch went off.
The whole class looked up at Videl. This was the third time in two days. She pressed the button on the side of her watch to answer the call. "Videl, we are in need of your assistance at the city mall. Criminals are looting the place," spoke a tinny voice over her speakers.
"I'm on my way, sheriff!"
"Videl, I know you like to work alone, but we need Saiyaman too," the sheriff continued earnestly. "So if you are able to, please give him a call for us."
The line broke and Videl stared at her watch. Did the sheriff really just asked her to call Saiyaman? She knew that Saiyaman hadn't made an appearance at the last two cases, but those where minor and easily delt with. There was no need for him to show up. If this situation did indeed become as dangerous as the sheriff made it sound, she was certain that Saiyaman would come and help them in time, just as he always did. And how on earth was she supposed to get in touch with him anyways? It's not like she was friends with him.
"Psst, Videl." Videl felt someone tugging at her sleeve. "You should go," Erasa urged.
"Right!" And with that, Videl left.
The sheriff hadn't exaggerate. For every store the city mall contained, there were at least two or three criminals looting it. It was total chaos. The police already had some criminals in custody, and with Videl's help, about thirty of them where knocked out as well. These weren't very strong criminals, though, due of the magnitude to their operation, there was no end to it.
Videl became exhausted and struggled to pin this guy to the ground. She had the rogue in a headlock, waiting for a police officer to handcuff him. She looked up to the sky. "Saiyaman, where the hell are you," she thought out loud.
An evil snigger came from underneath her. "Haven't you heard?" said the criminal quirky. "We all came here today to test if what we heard was true. And man, if I hadn't been here today, I wouldn't have believed it myself.
"What are you talking about?" Videl tightened his headlock. "Spit it!"
A smirk appeared on the man's face. "Rumor has it that Saiyaman is dead"
And with those words, her world came crashing down.
Hi there, to give you a heads-up: I have an exam this tuesday, so I'm going to start writing the next chapter after that. This means it will take a little bit longer for the next update. But do not worry! I also hate unfinished stories, there is no need to panic ;)