In the Eyes of a Child

Chapter Five - Rules Were Made to be Obeyed

Gohan was losing his edge as he desperately tried to wake Goku up. The older saiyajin would merely turn around, and then he'd continue sleeping. "Dad! Please, wake up!"

"Buu... give that back," Goku muttered as he grabbed one of his pillows and started chewing the edge.

"Dad! You have to come with me! Please!" he begged as he yanked the pillow out of Goku's mouth. However, Goku sat up and attempted to grab the pillow from Gohan but to no avail. "DAAAAAAAD!!!!"

Goku managed to get a hold of the pillow and started to tug it free from his son's grip, as he continued to mumble, "Buu, give me back my chicken! Buu! Give that back! That's my chicken!"

"Dad! I'm not Buu! It's me, Gohan, and you've got to wake up!"

"My chicken!!" Goku yelled as he pulled. His force was so strong and sudden, however, that Gohan lost his grip and he went flying out of the window.

"Mmmm..." the older Son whispered as he hugged his pillow tight. Despite the loud crash Gohan made, he slept on.

"What are you going to do with me? And Gohan-kun?!" Videl asked as she tried to break free from the ki-rings that pinned her to the wall. "Let me go!"

"We're going to play," a voice replied, though it was deep yet Videl could tell that it belonged to a kid. However, the word play made Videl brighten noticeably.

"Really?! We're going to play?! COOOOOL! Am I part of it?!" she squealed excitedly. "Please? Please let me join your game! Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

"SHUT HER UP!" a loud voice snapped from the darkness. "MAKE THAT BRAT SHUT UP OR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU THREE RIGHT NOW!"

Chichi ran out of the house to check on what just happened, gripping IT for security purposes. As she saw Gohan sprawled on the ground, she gasped. "Gohan! What just happened? You didn't... fall out the window, did you?!"

"Dad... threw me..." Gohan replied, as he was still quite dizzy.

"Goku?! But how? What happened? You tell me right now or---"

Gohan cringed at the sight of IT. "I was trying to wake him up, but he was dreaming about Buu trying to steal his food. He was chewing his pillow and I grabbed it from him. And we had a little session of tug-of-war, but he caught me off-guard. He yanked the pillow towards him and I flew out of the window. That's pretty much it." And then, he fell on his knees, his eyes begging. "Mom, you HAVE to wake dad up! I only have until sundown to rescue Videl, and I need someone to go with me!"

"Sundown?!" Chichi gasped. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" she snapped as she ran back in the house, and up to her room with Goku.

Gohan covered his ears and winced as he heard a few deafening yells of Get up! Up! Up! shortly followed by a sound of metal hitting a rock, and then, a painful scream. Seconds later, Goku and Chichi emerged from the house. IT had a large dent in it, while Goku was rubbing the extra-large lump on his head.

"Thanks, mom," Gohan said sheepishly.

"Anytime," she answered, and then, her eyes narrowed. "Now go! You have to rescue Videl at any cost! If you have to, then DIE TRYING!"

"But Chichi," Goku began in his own version of whining. "I'm starving!"

All it took Chichi was to wave IT in front of her husband's face, and dragging Gohan along, Goku went running away from her in no time.

"Trunks, it's my turn!" Goten whined as he tugged Trunks' sleeve. "TRUUUUUUUUUUNKS!!! MY TUUUUUUURN!!"

The lavender-haired son of Vegeta did not move from his spot.

"Trunks! Come on! It's my turn already! Gimme that one!"

"Goten, be quiet," Trunks scolded. "I'm trying to check things out here!"

The spiky-haired demi-saiyajin pouted. "You've been checking things for hours already!"

Trunks did not reply. He continued to look for something using his binoculars, until he found it. "I found it, Goten! There they are!"

"Where? Where?" Goten exclaimed as he took the binoculars from Trunks and looked into it. "I can't see anything, Trunks! Well I can, but it's foggy and all..."

"Baka!" Trunks snapped. "You're holding it the wrong way!"

The other saiyajin pulled the binoculars away from his face and looked at Trunks. "How am I supposed to hold this, then?"
"This way," the other replied as he turned the binoculars the other way around, for Goten was not looking through the eyepiece earlier, but through the lens.

Goten smiled sheepishly. "Well mom never buys me these things," he reasoned out as he put the binoculars back to his face again, to check out what Trunks just spotted earlier. However, a few seconds later, he pulled it away from his face, then put it back closer, then away, then closer.

"Goten, what are you doing?! We're going to lose track of them!"

"I can't see anything!" the younger warrior answered, exasperated. "This stupid thing doesn't work!" he complained, but when he saw that his best friend was on rolling of the floor in laughter, he stopped. "Trunks? Trunks? What's the matter?

Trunks continued to laugh, and then when he finally calmed down, he said, "Goten you idiot! You were covering the lens with your hands! Of course you can't see anything if the lens are covered! You are such an idiot!"

"I am not!" Goten replied defensively. "Mom just doesn't buy me these stuff."

"What does she buy you?" Trunks asked. "Books? Or---" he was cut short with his teasing, however, as a loud voice thundered from inside the building.

"BRAT! WHERE ARE THEY?!"

He grabbed the binoculars from Goten and searched for two figures. When he finally spotted them, he yelled back, "THEY JUST LEFT THE HOUSE, OTOUSAN!"

"GET BACK IN HERE! I NEED HELP!" the Saiyajin no Ouji shouted back, and Trunks came running back inside the building. Now that Trunks was gone, Goten took the opportunity to experiment with the binoculars and see how it would really work. It didn't take him long enough to master how to use it, though, so he began sightseeing.

He stopped.

He magnified the image so he could confirm that what he was seeing was real. And when he saw that it was indeed happening, he turned his head and yelled, "VEGETA-SAN!!"

"WHAT IS IT, BRAT?!"

Goten peered into the binoculars again, and then replied, "THEY'RE FLYING!"

"Dad... does that still hurt?"

Goku had an ice pack sitting on the lump on his head. "Now that you asked me, it still does," he whimpered. "I hope Korin has some senzu beans to spare when we get there."

"Dad... that's just a lump by mom's frying pan. You don't need a senzu bean for that."

"But your mom is stronger now than ever."

"Oh. Goten and I must've gotten used to her already," Gohan said, then he turned to his father. "Dad, do you think this is a good idea? I mean, they told me that there'll be no flying... and what if they see us?"

"Don't worry about it, son. Everything will be fine. Trust me."

"NANI?!" Vegeta's voice thundered as he rushed out to Goten's side and yanked the binoculars away from the little boy. His eyes then narrowed significantly, but a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Kakkarot, Kakkarot. My, I'm starting to like this."

"You actually do?" Trunks asked, looking up at his father.

"You're going to do a great job in the future, son," Vegeta said, ruffling Trunks' hair. "You've already proven that to me."

"Wow, Trunks!" Goten squealed. "I hope we'll get lots of candy for this!"

Vegeta snorted. "Is that all you ever want, brat? Is that all your father ever taught you? There will be greater rewards for other exploits better and greater than this one. That includes wealth and power."

"And candy?" Goten asked hopefully.

"And candy..." Vegeta answered with an exasperated sigh.

"How much will you give us, Otousan? Will you give us toys too? And a few hours in the Gravity Room?" Trunks asked, trying to get a good bargain.

"If you'll manage to take over the world I'll give the Gravity Room to both of you," Vegeta joked in reply.

The two demi-saiyajins looked at each other, and then... they smirked.

The evil plans forming in their heads were stopped, however, by the Saiyajin no Ouji's words, set in with a mischievous tone. "Okay, brats, we've prepared this emergency measure! Let's get this done quickly!"

Gohan stopped.

"What's wrong, son?" his father asked as he stopped as well.

"We're being watched."

Goku looked around, looking for eyes watching them, but to no avail. "Gohan, don't worry too much. We'll rescue Videl. So don't worry about it."

"But dad... What if... they know... that we disobeyed the rules...?"

Goku took his son's hand, and then he put two fingers to his forehead. "Then let's hurry up so they won't notice," he muttered as he shut his eyes, locked on to Korin's ki, and teleported themselves there.

Korin was walking around his tower, as a routine of his, when he bumped into a tall figure that he hadn't seen for sometime.

"Hello, Master Korin."

"Goku?" he asked as he looked UP. "Ah, yes, it is you."

"Long time no see, Master Korin."

"And Gohan is here as well! What brings the two of you here? You seem... in a hurry."

Gohan then narrated what happened, and when he finished his story, Korin seemed to be in deep thought. "Mmm... I wonder who could have done that? Well why don't you ask Dende? I'm sure he knows what's going on."

"The clues given to me on the last phone call all pointed to this place!" Gohan exclaimed, but then he added sadly. "Or so I thought..."

"Why don't you check the tower? Maybe those kidnappers came in and put whatever they wanted to put somewhere in the tower without me noticing..."

Korin's words made Gohan stop. Put whatever they wanted to put somewhere in the tower... how could he make such a detailed guess...?

"GOHAN!" a voice suddenly thundered from under the tower. "Do you think you can deceive us?! You broke the rules, and for that... a loved one of yours will pay."

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE HURT VIDEL!" Gohan screamed.

The enemy burst into laughter. "Hurt Videl? Oh no, who said I was gonna hurt her?"

"Nii-chan! Help me! Daddy! Help!" Goten exclaimed.

Goku's eyes narrowed. True, Goten was in trouble, but his scream wasn't too convincing. And Goku heard Trunks' laughter in the background, though it was... very faint.

To add to Goku's suspicion, he heard a very faint, "Do it properly!" before a more convincing scream escaped Goten's lips. "NIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-CHAN!! HEEEEEEELP MEEEEEE! DAAAAAAAAAAAADDDYYYYY! HEEEEEEEELP!!!!!"

However, Gohan was too panicked to notice.

"Oh no..."