Chapter 8: Interrogation

It was quiet. The only thing that made a sound was the frequent dripping in the background. Other then that? Nothing. It felt so lonely, and to top it all off, it was very cold too. Goosebumps appeared on her skin. Videl couldn't bear the thought of lying here on the ground for six days, consumed by emptiness. Not knowing what was going on in the outside world, not knowing if help was on its way, not knowing if... or better, when you'll going to die.

Fortunately it was all over now. Her friend was in capable hands, and although the near future of his well-being is uncertain, he will now have the best chance of recovery. At least that's what the shorter man told her. And though she didn't know who they were, these strange men seemed genuinely concerned about Gohan. They must be close to him.

"Videl? ...Videl? I'm not sure if you can still hear me, but I'm sorry, I have to go. They are here. I'll keep you posted," a voice echoed through her cell phone speakers, followed by a click. She had forgotten her connection to Bulma, but now that Bulma had hung up, she felt even more alone. What should she do now? At this point, she'd done all she could, and now it was in their hands. Staying here in this depressing building wouldn't help either.

Videl got up and reached for her water bottle on the ground, which had fallen to the floor when Gohan had risen so suddenly from her lap, and had emptied its contents in the process. Next to the bottle, however, something caught her eye. It was a kind of hypodermic needle with a red plume attached to it. This had to be one of the darts that hit Saiyaman at the state bank. Suddenly she knew what to do!

The teenage crime fighter ran from the abandoned storage building to her jet-copter. There she searched through the contents on the passenger seat that she had thrown from her backpack and took an eraser out of her pencil case. She made her way back to the storage building and very carefully picked up the dart at the end of the plume. Whatever residue was in it, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. She knew she couldn't take any chances with it, so she stuck the tip into a small piece of the eraser. That way she couldn't accidentally stab herself with it. She stuffed the whole thing into the empty water bottle and put it back into her backpack before heading back to her vehicle.

Videl threw her backpack on the seat next to her and noticed the flyer from this morning lying on the floor. She picked it up and unfolded it, only to be met with the smiling picture of Gohan. She never really got a good look at the boy and she had to grant him, he was quite handsome in that photo – dorky – but handsome. No wonder Erasa had a crush on him. She blushed a little unconsciously as her eyes went over his features. Though his posture was quite slim, it was still respectfully muscular. Everyone used to joke about how wimpy, nerdy and weak he was. It's almost humorous how wrong they were, how wrong she was.

Her eyes lingered on the word 'missing' written above of the picture. That's old news, she thought, and tore the word off. Much better! And with that, her mood lifted. Everything is going in the right direction from now on, she decided. She pinned Gohan's photo to the right side of her dashboard so he could keep her fictitious company on the long journey back. If she rushed, she'd be back in Satan City within 2.5 hours and was still able to do whatever she had in mind to do.

An hour into her journey, Videl saw a strange yellow dot in the distance. As it got closer, she was surprised to see a cloud flying very quickly toward her, carrying two traditionally dressed individuals: a little boy and a woman in her mid-thirties. Another boy with lavender-colored hair flew next to it. This strange occurance lasted only a few seconds, though Videl was sure she and the older woman were making eye contact at some point.

When it was all over, she looked to the picture on her dashboard and sighed. "No wonder you never talk about yourself, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me your mother is flying around on a yellow cloud," she muttered to the photo, "or that you are friends with a green alien-like creature with fangs and pointed ears; or that you are the godson of the Bulma Briefs; or that you are actually a flying superhero in a goofy costume who can deflect bullets with his fingers." She paused for a moment and added with a chuckle, "I still doubt everything, even though I've seen it with my own eyes."

Arriving at her destination, Videl landed her copter in front of Satan City Prison. She went in and walked over to the receptionist. "I'm here to meet the sheriff," Videl told her, and the receptionist directed her to a room down the hall. She knocked on the door and the Sheriff opened it for her. "Come in," he grumbled, motioning for her to sit on one of the chairs in the room. While Videl did what the sheriff requested, the sheriff himself sat down in the other chair at the far end of the table. "So, can you tell me why you called me here?" the sheriff looked at her questioningly.

"Well, I can't go into details, but I need to speak to one of the crooks involved in the state bank robbery last Tuesday." Videl looked at the mustachioed face of the man in front of her. "It's the guy who guarded the entrance, the one with the glasses."

"Their case is still pending and I can't just let people talk to suspects without good reason," the sheriff gave her an insinuating look.

"Look Barney, I need to talk to him," the young crime fighter insisted, "someone's life is in danger."

"How so?"

"It has to do with the gun he used," she decided, in part, to give him some details. "Someone got hit by it and I need to know what the guy shot at him."

"So, why hasn't his doctor contacted us? Why didn't we hear about this victim before?" he doubted her sincerity.

"It's Saiyaman," Videl admitted, "But his real identity must be kept secret."

"That's rubbish, Saiyaman helped us evacuate the casino after an ATM robbery explosion this afternoon. "He was perfectly fine!"

"That's a stand-in."

"Hm, as if there were several people to choose from with such powers," he said scornfully. "Videl, I think highly of you, but don't abuse my trust."

"I'm not," she said firmly, without breaking eye contact with the man in front of her.

After a while, the Sheriff gave in. "Okay, I don't know what your real intentions are, but I'm doing this for you because you've been such a great help to us with fighting crime." He gave her an intense look, " But don't make me regret my decision."

"Thank you sir!" Videl rose from her chair and bowed before him.

"I must warn you, though, he hasn't spoken a word since his arrest. Maybe you can get him to talk," the sheriff got up form his seat and walked to the door. "But be aware that no matter what happens, no violence should be used between these walls," the sheriff warned, "that would be a crime in itself."

Videl nodded and followed the sheriff through several hallways until they came to a door with a 'Interrogation room 5' sign on it. She was let into an adjacent room, a small room with a large window on one wall. From there, Videl could see the interrogation room clearly.

"Please wait here, I'll get your guy," the sheriff said, then left her. About ten minutes later, the interrogation room door opened and the bald, lanky-looking man in orange prison garb was ushered in. The sheriff handcuffed him to its seat so he couldn't move from it. Then the sheriff left the room and joined Videl again.

"Well, he's all yours," the sheriff waved a hand towards the door. "You have fifteen minutes."

"Thank you," Videl said and walked to the door, but turned and looked at the sheriff. "Do you have any additional information about the guy who can assist with my questioning?"

"Like I told you, he doesn't talk," said the man. "All we know are the basics. His name is Habas Erpeto, he is an unemployed herpetologist in his early thirties. He has a chronically ill child and he had a wife, but when she learned of his involvement in the state bank robbery, she left him. That's basically all we know."

Videl nodded and walked to the interrogation room. When she entered, the man looked up and was somewhat surprised to see Videl. The teen lowered herself into the chair on the other side of the criminal, only to have a table separate them.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" said the thug sarcastically, looking at Videl.

Videl ignored him and looked straight to the man in front of her. "Mr. Erpeto, or should I call you Habas?" He didn't respond, so she went on, "I need to know what poison was in those darts you fired at the state bank," she said straight-forward.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You ain't no cop, why the interest?"

Videl stayed silent and waited patiently for him to continue.

"The only one I fired those darts at was that stupid costumed hero, nobody else, and according to multiple sources, he's still flying around Satan City and putting criminals behind bars. So then I ask you again, why the interest?"

"Why did you want to poison him in the first place?" ignoring his question yet again.

"What does it matter? It obviously didn't have the desired effect." Hadas got irritated, "the guy ain't human, I tell ya."

Videl still remained silent and folded her arms, not losing eye contact with him.

"No, wait?! It did work, didn't it?" the prisoner grinned, twinkles appeared in his eyes. "But who flies through the city then?"

"I just want to know what was in those darts, nothing more, nothing less. Saiyaman is still flying around, as you know," Videl told him coolly.

"Well, I'll have to keep you in the dark then," he pushed a little further.

"I need to know," she said a more firmly.

"Then tell me why. If you ain't tellin' me what I want to know, I ain't telling ya what you want to know." The thug smirked at his power over the conversation.

I NEED TO KNOW!" Videl now lost her composure, rose from her chair and slammed her hands on the table. "My friend is in a very bad state and he needs to be treated as soon as possible," anger and despair ran through her voice. "If your goal was to take out Saiyaman, then you're out of luck. There is a line of people with the same powers who are willing to take his place without hesitation. If this one will disappear, another will take his place. There will always be a Saiyaman! Be glad you only have to deal with one."

His grin grew more intense. "That he's still alive is astonishin' in itself. The guy ain't human, I tellin' ya." He looked inquisitively to Videl, who sank back back into her seat. He sighed and relaxed his posture, "They deceived me, ya know, promissin' me the salvation I needed to help my daughter: all the money for her treatment, rescue from prison, a new name, a new identity, protection," there was some hurt visible his eyes, "All I had to do was to eliminate this one guy. But because they all think I've failed, they left me to rot in jail."

"I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, but this is what you get for making a deal with thugs. They only care about themselves, not about others."

"Hm," he looked away and stared at the wall in thought for a moment. They both remained silent. Then he looked back at Videl, and it was obvious that he was considering something. "You want to be a detective, don't you?" he finally asked, and Videl nodded in agreement. "Let's play a little game then. A crime is like a puzzle, collecting small pieces of information and puttin' them together to discover the real story. It's almost like a riddle. I'll give ya your answers disguised in four riddles."

He looked at her defiantly, "Wanna play?"

Hi there!

And again the chapter got too long, so I've cut it in half.

I'm sorry, you'll have to wait for the answer on the Haiku from the previous chapter until the next one comes out.

It's already written, it just needs to be spell checked.

It will appear tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Sorry for the inconvenience!