Chapter 3
The whole way to school that morning, all Gohan could think about was what he was going to say to Videl. Even though it was just a dream, it felt so real that it actually made him nervous just to think about her. He didn't even have time to think of anything before he noticed that he was about to pass over the school. He hopped off the nimbus cloud and drifted down to the roof as he checked his watch. He would actually be on time to class today, which was always a nice way to start the day. But today it just meant that he would have to face Videl that much sooner. He almost wished that someone would rob a bank or hold up a store. Gohan just stood for a moment and stared at the door to the stairwell, hoping that maybe an idea would pop into his head at the last second. With no white light at the end of his tunnel, he took a deep breath and walked down the stairs.
As he walked down the hall, he kept thinking about how he was going to get through the day, completely blind to the fact that there was nobody there. He opened the door to the classroom and stopped in his tracks when he saw every single seat empty. Not even the teacher was in the room. The bell rang. It sounded even louder without people in the halls and rooms as the piercing ding echoed throughout the building. As the sound of the bell disappeared, another sound caught Gohan's attention. It was footsteps walking down the hall towards the classroom. He swung around just as the footsteps brought that person into the doorway. Gohan's breath caught in his throat.
"Figures you'd be here.", Videl said as if she had expected him. "I guess you forgot that my dad was giving a presentation today. Everybody's in the auditorium. The teacher figured you'd be late and sent me up here to get you."
"Oh...uh...okay.", Gohan barely managed out of his constricted throat. Gohan couldn't help but stare at her while she stood there in that way that gives the idea she was trying to seem masculine, but in a cute way. She cut him off just before he started drooling.
"Well are you coming or are you just going to stand there?", she asked.
"Yea, let's get goin, heh heh.", Gohan said as he put himself back together and started out the door and down the hall.
"You're so weird, Gohan. I just don't get you.", Videl said as she shook her head and led Gohan down the hall.
The walk seemed to last forever. Gohan watched Videl as she walked just ahead of him. He couldn't help but notice how her steps worked in perfect harmony with her body. No matter how strong she tried to make herself look, she still mananged to have such grace. He admired her in that sense, but he still had that thorn in his mind, trying to tell him that it was something more. He repressed it, but it brought up something to talk about on their way.
"So uh...what happened yesterday afterschool?", Gohan tried to ask as if he didn't have any idea.
"What do you mean?", she responded.
"Well, you know we were talking yesterday afterschool and then you got a call and ran off."
"Oh it was nothing. Just some psycho that blew himself up in the middle of downtown.", she brushed off the question.
"Nothing? It doesn't sound like nothing. Was everything alright?", Gohan tried to get back onto the subject.
"Yea...", she said as she trailed off in a thought, which Gohan could only imagine was about her encounter with Saiyaman. He couldn't tell any emotion from the look in her face. She could've been thinking how much she hated him or appreciated him. Then he thought he saw a smile drawn across one corner of her mouth before she caught herself. "...well the guy died, but other than that no one else was hurt."
"So you saved the day.", Gohan said, hoping she might say something about Saiyaman.
"Well here we are Gohan. Our class is seated over there. I'm going up on stage with my father.", she said as she pointed to a section of seats and walked off. Gohan was a little disappointed that he didn't get what he wanted to hear, but he figured he'd get another chance.
* * *
The helicopter overhead could not be heard inside the auditorium even as it hovered rather low. It was some kind of stealth chopper as all you could hear was the sound of the blades cutting the air. Three men in thugged out army fatigues repelled from the hovering metal body and landed on the roof. After detaching themselves from the rope they took their assault rifles from around their shoulders. They lined up at specific windows overlooking the entire room. They could see the seats, the stage and everything inbetween while staying out of sight. They quietly opened the windows and prepared to make their move on the signal. And the signal would be walking on stage any minute now.
* * *
As the lights dimmed and the crowd settled down, the spotlight came on and highlighted a podium at stage right. The principle of the school stepped out into the light and stood behind the podium as he prepared to introduce the special guest of the show.
"Good morning.", he said trying to get the crowd's attention. Of course the response is never good enough the first time for any principle and so he repeated, "Good morning." Being pleased with the response the second time he proceeded to give his introduction. "With us this morning we have a very special guest. He's responsible for all that we have today and has made this city one of the greatest around. There is so much I can say to praise this man, but without further adieu I give you, the World's Martial Arts Champion, Mr. Satan!"
The crowd went wild as the curtain split in two and each half receded to the sides, revealing the man of the hour, standing center stage. His white cloak completely covered his body and he had his head down. The crowd started chanting the name 'Satan' over and over again until he lifted his head to face the audience. That huge stupid grin crossed his face and he threw his hands out, his cloak spreading out like an eagle's wings as he let out a resounding yell. The crowd got even rowdier. They started jumping up and down and yelling and stomping their feet. Mr. Satan threw up one hand and gave his famous 'victory' sign. The crowd was so loud that they didn't even notice that above them, three assassins were dropping down in position.
"Oh yeah, baby, I'm on fire!", yelled the enthusiastic Mr. Satan. Being blinded by the stage lights he could not see the men descending from the ceiling. And so without fear, he untied his cloak and threw it up into the air. Three gunshots were heard over the noise of the crowd and before the cloak touched the ground, Mr. Satan and his two guards offstage lay there, bleeding from the chest. For a split second, everything was quiet. And then...complete pandemonium. Everyone was running wild trying to get out in case there were more bullets flying around.
Gohan looked up, where the shots had come from, but saw nothing. He did notice, however, that one of the windows in the ceiling was open. One of the assassins had gotten careless on the exit. Gohan immediately ran out of view and pressed the button on his watch. He flew up through the open window and looked for the assassins. He saw nothing, but he could feel the presence of something in the air. He flew straight up and looked around. He couldn't see anything, but he felt the vibrations of the chopper blades.
'It must be in the clouds somewhere.', he thought as he tried to find the chopper from what he sensed. He could tell he was getting closer as he flew just below the clouds. He had gotten so close when a missle flew straight out of the clouds and was on a collision course with Gohan. He noticed it well in advance and headed right for it. He caught the missle as he followed its point of origin right into the cloud the chopper was hiding in. Gohan simply threw the missle into the helicopter, completely destroying it. Two men jumped out of the chopper at the last second and Gohan went after them. He grabbed them before they cratered on the streets below.
When Gohan made it back with the two criminals, they were loading Mr. Satan onto an ambulance, Videl in tears at her father's side until they lifted him up and closed the doors behind. Gohan gave the two men to the police and explained who they were before going over to Videl. The sirens and lights seemed silent and dark as Videl fell to her knees and began to weep. Gohan ran over to her and tried to talk to her, but she was taken by the Satan body guards who were making sure she would not be harmed by another attack.
"Videl!", Gohan yelled. She looked back as she was being led by the body guards. They locked eyes for a brief moment, even with a crowd of people between them. Her wet eyes were like daggers to Gohan's heart, he couldn't bear to see her like that. Not someone as strong as she. She turned back around and got into the car that would take her back to the mansion. Gohan just stood there and watched as her car drove away, and at that moment he wished he could tell her how much he cared.
The whole way to school that morning, all Gohan could think about was what he was going to say to Videl. Even though it was just a dream, it felt so real that it actually made him nervous just to think about her. He didn't even have time to think of anything before he noticed that he was about to pass over the school. He hopped off the nimbus cloud and drifted down to the roof as he checked his watch. He would actually be on time to class today, which was always a nice way to start the day. But today it just meant that he would have to face Videl that much sooner. He almost wished that someone would rob a bank or hold up a store. Gohan just stood for a moment and stared at the door to the stairwell, hoping that maybe an idea would pop into his head at the last second. With no white light at the end of his tunnel, he took a deep breath and walked down the stairs.
As he walked down the hall, he kept thinking about how he was going to get through the day, completely blind to the fact that there was nobody there. He opened the door to the classroom and stopped in his tracks when he saw every single seat empty. Not even the teacher was in the room. The bell rang. It sounded even louder without people in the halls and rooms as the piercing ding echoed throughout the building. As the sound of the bell disappeared, another sound caught Gohan's attention. It was footsteps walking down the hall towards the classroom. He swung around just as the footsteps brought that person into the doorway. Gohan's breath caught in his throat.
"Figures you'd be here.", Videl said as if she had expected him. "I guess you forgot that my dad was giving a presentation today. Everybody's in the auditorium. The teacher figured you'd be late and sent me up here to get you."
"Oh...uh...okay.", Gohan barely managed out of his constricted throat. Gohan couldn't help but stare at her while she stood there in that way that gives the idea she was trying to seem masculine, but in a cute way. She cut him off just before he started drooling.
"Well are you coming or are you just going to stand there?", she asked.
"Yea, let's get goin, heh heh.", Gohan said as he put himself back together and started out the door and down the hall.
"You're so weird, Gohan. I just don't get you.", Videl said as she shook her head and led Gohan down the hall.
The walk seemed to last forever. Gohan watched Videl as she walked just ahead of him. He couldn't help but notice how her steps worked in perfect harmony with her body. No matter how strong she tried to make herself look, she still mananged to have such grace. He admired her in that sense, but he still had that thorn in his mind, trying to tell him that it was something more. He repressed it, but it brought up something to talk about on their way.
"So uh...what happened yesterday afterschool?", Gohan tried to ask as if he didn't have any idea.
"What do you mean?", she responded.
"Well, you know we were talking yesterday afterschool and then you got a call and ran off."
"Oh it was nothing. Just some psycho that blew himself up in the middle of downtown.", she brushed off the question.
"Nothing? It doesn't sound like nothing. Was everything alright?", Gohan tried to get back onto the subject.
"Yea...", she said as she trailed off in a thought, which Gohan could only imagine was about her encounter with Saiyaman. He couldn't tell any emotion from the look in her face. She could've been thinking how much she hated him or appreciated him. Then he thought he saw a smile drawn across one corner of her mouth before she caught herself. "...well the guy died, but other than that no one else was hurt."
"So you saved the day.", Gohan said, hoping she might say something about Saiyaman.
"Well here we are Gohan. Our class is seated over there. I'm going up on stage with my father.", she said as she pointed to a section of seats and walked off. Gohan was a little disappointed that he didn't get what he wanted to hear, but he figured he'd get another chance.
* * *
The helicopter overhead could not be heard inside the auditorium even as it hovered rather low. It was some kind of stealth chopper as all you could hear was the sound of the blades cutting the air. Three men in thugged out army fatigues repelled from the hovering metal body and landed on the roof. After detaching themselves from the rope they took their assault rifles from around their shoulders. They lined up at specific windows overlooking the entire room. They could see the seats, the stage and everything inbetween while staying out of sight. They quietly opened the windows and prepared to make their move on the signal. And the signal would be walking on stage any minute now.
* * *
As the lights dimmed and the crowd settled down, the spotlight came on and highlighted a podium at stage right. The principle of the school stepped out into the light and stood behind the podium as he prepared to introduce the special guest of the show.
"Good morning.", he said trying to get the crowd's attention. Of course the response is never good enough the first time for any principle and so he repeated, "Good morning." Being pleased with the response the second time he proceeded to give his introduction. "With us this morning we have a very special guest. He's responsible for all that we have today and has made this city one of the greatest around. There is so much I can say to praise this man, but without further adieu I give you, the World's Martial Arts Champion, Mr. Satan!"
The crowd went wild as the curtain split in two and each half receded to the sides, revealing the man of the hour, standing center stage. His white cloak completely covered his body and he had his head down. The crowd started chanting the name 'Satan' over and over again until he lifted his head to face the audience. That huge stupid grin crossed his face and he threw his hands out, his cloak spreading out like an eagle's wings as he let out a resounding yell. The crowd got even rowdier. They started jumping up and down and yelling and stomping their feet. Mr. Satan threw up one hand and gave his famous 'victory' sign. The crowd was so loud that they didn't even notice that above them, three assassins were dropping down in position.
"Oh yeah, baby, I'm on fire!", yelled the enthusiastic Mr. Satan. Being blinded by the stage lights he could not see the men descending from the ceiling. And so without fear, he untied his cloak and threw it up into the air. Three gunshots were heard over the noise of the crowd and before the cloak touched the ground, Mr. Satan and his two guards offstage lay there, bleeding from the chest. For a split second, everything was quiet. And then...complete pandemonium. Everyone was running wild trying to get out in case there were more bullets flying around.
Gohan looked up, where the shots had come from, but saw nothing. He did notice, however, that one of the windows in the ceiling was open. One of the assassins had gotten careless on the exit. Gohan immediately ran out of view and pressed the button on his watch. He flew up through the open window and looked for the assassins. He saw nothing, but he could feel the presence of something in the air. He flew straight up and looked around. He couldn't see anything, but he felt the vibrations of the chopper blades.
'It must be in the clouds somewhere.', he thought as he tried to find the chopper from what he sensed. He could tell he was getting closer as he flew just below the clouds. He had gotten so close when a missle flew straight out of the clouds and was on a collision course with Gohan. He noticed it well in advance and headed right for it. He caught the missle as he followed its point of origin right into the cloud the chopper was hiding in. Gohan simply threw the missle into the helicopter, completely destroying it. Two men jumped out of the chopper at the last second and Gohan went after them. He grabbed them before they cratered on the streets below.
When Gohan made it back with the two criminals, they were loading Mr. Satan onto an ambulance, Videl in tears at her father's side until they lifted him up and closed the doors behind. Gohan gave the two men to the police and explained who they were before going over to Videl. The sirens and lights seemed silent and dark as Videl fell to her knees and began to weep. Gohan ran over to her and tried to talk to her, but she was taken by the Satan body guards who were making sure she would not be harmed by another attack.
"Videl!", Gohan yelled. She looked back as she was being led by the body guards. They locked eyes for a brief moment, even with a crowd of people between them. Her wet eyes were like daggers to Gohan's heart, he couldn't bear to see her like that. Not someone as strong as she. She turned back around and got into the car that would take her back to the mansion. Gohan just stood there and watched as her car drove away, and at that moment he wished he could tell her how much he cared.