A/N:  Okay, one person thought they shouldn't go to CC, one person thought they should go, someone thinks I should just send him back to school, and someone commented that because I am "the almighty author" I get to decide…  I did … and seeing as this is Chapter # 13, I'm going to go with the idea that 13 is an unlucky number, guess who it's unlucky for… hehehe evil author chuckle

      DISCLAIMER:  Looks at previous chapter and nods, yep, they're still right, I don't own DBZ!

      Beep…beep beep … beep … Delta Bravo, do we have confirmation … The Lion Sleeps Tonight?

      Beep…beep beep … That's a roger Gamma Charlie … Do we have confirmation on the next word?

Chapter 13:  Hit The Road, …

      "We've got to be able to make some sort of deal here…"  Mr. Kato said.  Rushing to try to get the rest of the plan out before Videl made good on her threat.

      "And what sort of deal would that be?"  Videl snapped back at Mr. Kato.  This had better be good.  Not only has this idiot accused me of lying, it's his fault I couldn't follow Gohan!  Videl's eyes narrowed at this point.  She conveniently forgot it was Mrs. White who had come in and stopped her from what she viewed as her divine mission.  Getting upset at Mrs. White was … inadvisable, so she decided to focus on the cowering principal before her.

      Mr. Kato swallowed nervously, and continued talking at breakneck speed.  "I was thinking.  What if I agree to let you all go, and you all agree to never talk about this again."

      The class appeared to be thinking this over.  On one hand, it would get them out of this hot stuffy room, in which they were beginning to sweat more than they would have in gym class, and a few of the girls were finding the whole sweaty thing too much for them, besides, their nail polish was getting all shiny.  As more or less a group, they nodded.

      Videl watched Mr. Kato carefully for any sign that he would stop them.  Then, spinning on her heels, she marched briskly towards the door.  For a room with so little extra space, the class managed to give her quite a large pathway.

      Swinging the door open, she stomped past the secretary, who watched in a bit of shock as Videl went by, followed (after a respectful space) by the rest of Mr. Shinara's 3rd period Gym Class, and at the rear, Mr. Shinara himself.

      Watching as the last of the parade went out the door and around the corner, Ms. Garth got up and walked into Mr. Kato's office, which seemed a lot warmer than usual.  Seeing him over at a window, trying helplessly to open the darn thing, she stepped over to him, and seeing the locks were still engaged, quickly and efficiently snapped them into the open position, and had to stifle a laugh as the window abruptly flew upwards, giving off a loud bang as it opened as far as it would go.

      Mr. Kato jumped a little at the noise, and swung around to find his secretary standing beside him.  Breathing a sigh of relief, he shuffled back over to his chair and proceeded to sit down.  Ms. Garth came over and seated herself in the guest chair, waiting for Mr. Kato to tell her what on earth had happened in here.

~*~

      "Yes, he's here… he's fine… they called you? … Calm down… it's nothing to be worried about… I already told you he's fine.  Piccolo just had to go pick him up at the school… how'd you know he wasn't there anymore? … Goten, huh…"

      At this point, Gohan's face became as pale as it could ever get.  He'd just figured out who the mysterious caller was.  None other than his mother, Chichi.  And she would not be happy her first-born wasn't at school.

      "Well, he's perfectly alright.  It's just that his tail…"  Bulma stopped talking abruptly as Gohan had just started madly miming something to here.

      Making ridiculous gestures, trying desperately to stop Bulma from telling his mother that his tail had grown back.  After all, he was planning on just getting rid of the thing … again … and letting her be none the wiser of the whole ordeal.

      Bulma, who for once in her life wasn't in a particularly brilliant state of mind, thought Gohan was trying to get her to let him talk to his mother quickly said "grew back" and handed the phone to Gohan, who was to stunned to do much other than take the dreaded device.

      Putting it to his ear, the others watched (some with more amusement than others), as Gohan had the following, um, conversation … "I … but … it … NO!! … But Mom … It's not like that … Yes … I was going to … yes … I know … I know … I'll go back … but Mom! … You don't understand … … … fine."

      Gohan stared at the phone, as the dial tone came back on, signalling Chichi had finished their little chat.  Looking up, he found Bulma looking curious, and Piccolo and Vegeta looking aloof, as they normally did.

      "Ummm… that was my mother."  Gohan informed the group.

      Bulma had to fight the urge to say "Well, duh!".  After all, that wouldn't exactly be appropriate for a genius to say.

      "She says I have to get rid of my tail and go back to school as soon as it's gone."

      Piccolo cleared his throat.  "That may not be as easy as it sounds."

      Three sets of eyes swivelled towards our green friend.

      "You see, on the way over, I tried to get rid of it."

      "Well you obviously didn't do it the right way, Namek.  Bah, pathetic weakling."  Vegeta was almost grinning (if you could call it that) while making this statement.  Nothing improved his day like insulting … well pretty much anyone.

      "That's just it.  I tried chopping it off, I tried ki-blasts, I even tried chopping it off with a sword."

      Even Vegeta, when forced, would admit that there was very, very little in the world that could stand up to a blade Piccolo created.

      Bulma appeared to be deep in thought, maybe her newest invention would do the trick.

      "Follow me!"  She proclaimed as she ran towards her lab.  The thought of finally being able to test her newest invention filling her with joy.

~*~

      Lurking in the shadows of Bulma's lab was her newest pride and joy.  The Lazer* was not really an intimidating machine.  It was really rather small, about the size of a stick of bubble-gum, and that's what made it so incredible.  Previous models had not been able to contain the great heat the Lazer produced when it was shooting.

      With a little time and effort, Bulma had found a new metal, which would not only withstand the heat, it wouldn't burn the person holding the weapon.  In tests, the Lazer had given great results.  Now it was time to try it on something … or someone.

      Steps were heard, as someone was making their way down into the lab.  The Lazer's time had arrived.

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A/N: * I know I spelt "laser" wrong, but this isn't an ordinary laser, it's Bulma's Lazer!

      Gomen, minna, this one took a while, I had about 13 (hehe) ideas, and had to sort out exactly which one I wanted to use.

            Next Time … Will the Lazer work? How will our young demi-saiyan survive school, with his new-found tail?  Heck, will he survive Videl?  Tune in next time for "Some Things"…