The Torment 2: Someone Found Out!
Disclaimer: DBZ and Ranma ½ do not belong to me, and I make no money off this bit of my diseased imagination. Please, don't sue me.
Piccolo was having trouble adjusting to his new situation. If you could call suddenly turning into a human female whenever you were doused with cold water a 'situation'. He would have preferred to call it a catastrophe.
It was early the next day, after Piccolo's rather abrupt transformation. He was carefully drinking some water that he had heated with his ki so he could drink it without transforming. He grimaced at the taste.
Piccolo stood up from his usual mediating pose, and started his stretches for the day. He slid easily from the splits, to standing to kicks and swinging his arms, getting his muscles warm for the day. He was about to start his push-ups when the familiar voice of his student and friend, Gohan interrupted him.
"Ohayoo Piccolo-san! How are you doing?"
Standing, the green giant looked at him, his face expressionless, but he was thinking- Oh, hell, if he finds out-
He gave Gohan the silent treatment, the way he usually did. This didn't deter the young half-breed; he chattered along, and all Piccolo had to do was occasionally nod his head.
"I met this really nice girl at school, Piccolo-san, and she is absolutely amazing. She's pretty, she can fight, and-"
Piccolo wondered why Gohan was telling him this. Then again, considering that he had no real father to go to, which might be why-
"And I was telling her about my training, and she said she wanted to meet you. Is that okay?"
Piccolo was so busy nodding his head that he hadn't realized that he had been asked a question, and just kept on nodding. He did notice when a bright grin lit up Gohan's face, and the shout of thanks as he took off to school.
Then Piccolo remembered what Gohan had said. Groaning, he put his head in his hands. Could things get any worse?
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"Why are you so worried about my meeting your sensei, Gohan?" Videl asked, looking at her friend, whom she was starting to think of in other terms, as they flew on the Flying Nimbus.
"He tends to be rude, kinda, around people he hasn't met yet," he told her lamely, hoping to give as good an impression as he could.
"Honto? I always knew that martial arts masters could be a little conceited, but a lot of the ones that I have met were pretty polite."
Gohan winced.
"By the way, what is his name, anyway?"
This was the part that he had been dreading. Most people were still afraid of Piccolo, even though there was no real reason.
"His name is Daimou Piccolo."
Videl was suddenly falling off the Flying Nimbus.
"Videl!"
Clouds enveloped her, and Gohan tried to locate her ki.
She was gone.
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As the day had progressed, Piccolo had noticed several clouds starting to move in, but in the heat of training with himself, he had forgotten what it could mean.
He had been about to hit himself with a special beam cannon when he heard the shout.
He had been unconsciously noticing the approach of Gohan's ki, but he hadn't noticed the other person's, and when the scream happened, he had turned to investigate.
By then the clouds had gotten so thick they had covered the afternoon sky in hazy gloom, turning it a charcoal gray. The scream, a masculine one, then one that was feminine, had shattered the quiet. Looking up, Piccolo had seen a form falling, and he had reacted by flying to catch the falling person.
He had reacted instinctively, without thought, and only wondered later why he had done it.
Piccolo's arms closed around the form of a young woman as she emerged from the thick leaden clouds. She was still quite conscious, and yelling all the louder for it.
"Will you shut the hell up brat??" asked the Namek, his ears ringing as the low powered girl pummeled at his head. "I saved your worthless-"
Whatever else the disgruntled Piccolo would have said was lost in the roar of sudden thunder, and the clouds broke, drenching him and the young girl, Piccolo assumed she was Videl, with ice-cold rain.
Videl screamed again, this time because the arms holding her shrunk to the point that their grip loosened. It was then that she remembered that she could fly as well, and was able to shake herself loose.
Floating in front of her was a lovely girl about her age, where had once floated the boogey man of her youth. With a yip, that girl flew away as fast as possible, leaving behind a very, very confused Videl.
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"Videl!" shrieked a voice in her ear, but Videl didn't hear it.
Her mind was still confused with what she saw. The huge, green demon that she had been taught to fear not only was her boyfriend's (well, almost boyfriend) sensei, had saved her life, then turned into a girl.
Why do these things always happen to me? She thought.
"Videl! Are you all right? Answer me!"
There was a sudden burst of flame and Gohan had become SSJ. Videl did notice that.
"What? Gohan, is something wrong? Why did you do that?"
Clutching her arms, then pulling her to his chest, Gohan answered, "Don't ever scare me like that again!"
Then both Gohan and Videl noticed how close they were. Both blushed, and jumped away.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Piccolo-chan was watching, and rolled her eyes.
"Kids," she sighed.
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They got back on the Flying Nimbus, and went still looking for Piccolo-san. Gohan was baffled as to why he couldn't sense his teacher's ki. It had never happened before. But, as he explained to Videl, Piccolo was a private person.
Thinking about what she had seen, Videl agreed.
To be continued….