Rule of Threes baby!

And I think I'm losing the war against the instant gratification monkey, as odds are this is getting posted early because I was, rather excited for this one

Nevermourned: hehe

thewittywhy: yeah, that'll be addressed a bit later
And honestly, if the show won't acknowledge Goku literally giving his name to reporters after the D3emon King Piccolo fight, I will
And yeah, that works. I don't really have an in world reason, I just needed a way for the Ultimate not to be completely stupid.

JCINNABAR: Aw, thanks ^.^

OnTheTidesOfEvermore: thanks ^.^
And yeah, technically it'd be more, canon if I made Sharpener more of a jerk...but that's boring and I will not be doing that. Sharpener is just a dude, and I shall utilize him as such. Including not just pretending he doesn't exist after the, not even Buu saga, they were out after that world tournament

You know, I thought that Videl finding out that the hero me used female pronouns that she'd stop suspecting me entirely. I was almost worried about how that'd affect the grand scheme, but turns out I didn't have to worry because if anything I was catching more suspicious glances from her than ever.

Which seemed odd but I mean, saves me the effort later.

Rescuing the mayor from some gang that wanted to fight Mr. Satan only seemed to make her take suspicions further for some reason?

I don't understand how she did it. Is it the way I talked? Something in my mannerisms? I can't think of any direct clues I've given. The only real throughline is like, the fact that I like Digimon and I put that in the outfit's design, but it's not like I'm the only person in the world who likes it.

I guess there's also the fact that I disappear from class around the same times but there's not much I can do about that.

I'll need her to find out eventually but I want to see how long I can drag it on, which at this rate, not very.

I pondered this as I got ready to leave once again for school. The distance was, inconvenient. Time wise I never had an issue and it wasn't exactly tiring either. It just felt longer the more I had to make the trip.

'Course it also felt like I was just complaining for the sake of it considering how not difficult it was to do.

"Gohan?" I turned at Goten's voice, "I can't find Dae-dalus." The boy had dirt sneered over his face, like he'd just been outside and rummaging. Which is quite likely.

"Oh? Well, I'm sure he'll pop up. I'll help you look for him after school. Or, why don't you ask dad for help?" Goku was better with the outside stuff anyway.

"'Kay," the boy accepted, but was still pouting. Not that I had time to worry about that, school was set to start in like, ten minutes. I might have to fly at an above moderate pace.

Over the years Icarus grew and matured, eventually finding another of his draconic species and having yet another baby dragon. I named him Daedalus, reversing the roles in that the Greek Daedalus was Icarus's father.

I'm sure the little dude was fine, just out exploring or something.

And yet as I entered the school building Chico ran up to me to grab my hands.

"Oh Goh, it's awful!" She said.

"What is?"

"You don't know?" She asked, incredulous, and immediately pulled out her phone and pulled up a video.

And immediately my attention was focused on a baby blue baby dragon being showcased in a circus tent.

It was, not great. The mere idea of those people using a whip on any animal was appalling, but a baby dragon that I have watched grow? It was all I could do not to rush out that very moment.

But no, there wasn't much good in doing anything about it in broad daylight. So instead I seethed to myself throughout the day and resolved to sneak out that night.

That didn't do much to quell Goten's worry as he couldn't find the dragon throughout the day, only worsened by seeing an ad for the circus that night.

I assured the boy that I was going to take care of it. "That's what superheroes are for after all."

And that night I headed out. Whether or not Chichi noticed, I didn't get pushback from her on the matter. Either she didn't notice and I was in the clear, or she did and agreed. Either way, the current mission was what was important.

The baby dragon staying there wasn't even the worst case scenario. The worst case was his mother finding them. I hadn't seen her much, not nearly as much of a people dragon as Icarus, which was exactly the problem. If she found the little dude here, well, I don't think the owners know just how big Daedalus could grow up to be.

I donned my disguise and flickered my way through the tents of animals, my speed keeping me out of the sight of any lingering guards. I could release the other animals, but that would probably do more harm than good. Both in the sense of the local wildlife, I wouldn't know where to put the rest of the animals after all, and in the sense that then the circus could probably get some insurance claim or pity donations.

Eventually, I found the correct cage and crouched down to examine it.

"Hey buddy, c'mon, you can recognize me," I said softly as the little guy looked scared, but he recognized my voice it seemed, or at least the soft tone placated him enough to calm down.

I didn't bother trying to pick the lock, I just snapped it off and the door opened with a creak. I winced at the sound and could only hope it didn't bring attention.

Of course, I'd never be that lucky as I didn't make it through half the tent carrying the baby, but still definitely too big to be carried comfortably dragon, before alarms started going off.

Welp, didn't have to worry about being seen anymore as the two guards that were on duty rushed to the nearest exit and most definitely saw me.

I darted forward and knocked them out. Never losing hold of the little dude.

I dimmed my hair as much as possible as I stuck low to the ground to avoid being spotted in the sky.

I managed to get through half the city before hearing sirens behind me.

Great great great.

Whatever, dodging the cars was hardly difficult. I turned a few corners and hopped over a building to lose them.

And then I heard the blades of a jetcopter.

Videl's jetcopter.

Perfect.

"Well, didn't take you long to show your true colors, did it?" Videl announced as she leaped from her copter.

"If by that you mean saving the city from an inevitably furious mother dragon, sure."

"Oh please, if there was something wrong there are plenty of legal channels to go through. Instead, you skulk around in the middle of the night to steal things that don't belong to you."

"Well sorry I don't know how to address dragon kidnapping in a court of law, especially since his parents are currently tearing down a forest looking for him and it's only a matter of time til they follow the tracks here."

"That brat's lying!" Some big shot in a suit came barreling through the crowd, "I got the proof of commerce right here. Got him from a breeder from Mount Frappe."

I tilted my head.

"You sure it wasn't Mount Paozu?" I asked, voice dry.

That made the man stumble and Videl pause, but the man held firm regardless, "of course I'm sure! I got the proof right here!" He shook the paper, "you girl! Get my property!"

Videl glared back at him, but whether it was because she had doubts or because of how he spoke to her I couldn't tell.

Still, she faced back toward me, "next time, if you have an issue, be sure to address it within the law," she emphasized before shooting forward.

I hate to admit that it somewhat took me by surprise, and I just managed to dodge it. Her follow ups were quite easy to avoid, however.

"What part of-" I ducked under a kick, "time sensitive do you not understand? Every minute Daedalus remains here as another minute-"

Daedalus began to cry out.

"Oh, no," I said, though honestly, I'm surprised it took this long.

The first warning was the sound of the wind being kicked around by the wings, then a shadow blocked out the light from the tallest buildings.

I sighed in silent relief that the scales shone purple in the lights that managed to catch it.

"You got lucky. Icarus got here first, not his," I nodded to Daedalus, "mother. I might be able to salvage this."

Icarus's eyes locked onto the clearing.

He was furious.

I grimaced, taking up into the sky to intercept him.

"Hey buddy, Dae is fine, see. I got it all handled. I was just about to bring him back to-"

And he wasn't listening. I don't think he recognized me. Hopefully just because of the Super Sayain thing and not the rage.

He flew right past me on course to the baby. And Videl. And other civilians who for some reason decided to gather-

I intercepted him again.

"C'mon buddy, you recognize me, right? I get that I don't look like I usually do but-"

I flew forward to block him off entirely.

"You know me. C'mon," I lifted my goggles up and all but sat on his nose.

He growled and brushed me off and remained the course.

Great great great great.

I stopped in front of him again.

"Hey," I stated firmly, "calm down. It's-" I glanced down. Videl was still plenty visible.

I grabbed Icarus's face and turned him along as I flew back until I was blocked from view by his own body. I then let the blond fade from my hair.

"See? You know me. You trust me. Dae is just fine. I just need you to calm down and we can go see him, ok?" I kept my voice as calm and light as possible.

This time, Icarus listened. I smiled backing away and sparking my hair back up.

I dropped to the ground and walked towards Daedalus, who was being calmed somewhat by Videl.

Guess she got the message.

Much slower Icarus landed behind me, remarkably mindful of his surroundings.

Daedalus didn't even bother to wait for my help, only immediately rushed to Icarus.

It was very cute, to see Icarus doting on the baby so much.

"I'm sorry."

"Hm?" I glanced over at Videl.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, "you were right. That dragon did belong somewhere else. And while you still should have done it the official way- I understand why that wasn't an option in this case."

"Oh, uh sure. No problem.

Videl's ire grew once again, this time directed behind her, "and you!" She turned facing the literal ring leader, "tell me, do you expect me to believe that that dragon-" she pointed at Icarus, "-flew all the way here from Mount Frappe?"

The fool's blubbering excuses meant nothing to anyone here to witness, and as he tried to run away, because that made you look real innocent, I intercepted his path, grabbing his arms and holding them behind his back until a cop took my place.

"Guess you can say, he flew too close to the sun with that one," I grinned.

A beat passed, then Videl sighed.

"C'mon that was a good one. It was! See because Icarus- his name-"

"No I got it."

"So it's funny!"

"So Mount Paozu-"

I froze, "you know you're right. It is late my mom's probably worried, and I gotta get these two back before Daedalus's mother comes looking too. Byeeee!" My voice tilted up as I left.

Yep. That did it. I was busted.

Eh, it's a long weekend so I got a few days to spare before I had to deal with it.

…

And those days were spent loitering around the city, waiting for shenanigans and taking care of them.

It was fun. The stakes were low and it was direct action. Sure it did nothing to solve actual problems, like whatever the heck is causing these stupid crime rates. I genuinely had no idea, the politics in this world were either so squeaky clean that there should be no underlying issue, or incredibly well hidden to the point where I had never heard of them.

Either way, it's enough for now to treat the symptoms.

And when it was time to get back to school, I purposely didn't show up until class started. And then just so happened to be anywhere Videl was not throughout the day.

And it worked great! Videl didn't once have the chance to question me, despite obviously wanting to.

That was, until the last class of the day.

Videl's watch went off and she headed out.

The teacher denied my request to go to the bathroom.

Which, fine. I'm sure Videl would be fine in one skirmish that I wasn't around for. She'd been doing it for a while before I showed up. There's no reason why she shouldn't be now.

Still, I scanned out to the direction that Videl was-

Ok no. Scratch that. Whoever this was had to have a power level of at least a couple hundred, definitely higher than Videl's. Out I go.

I leaned back and place my arms behind my head. As small as I could, I fired a beam through the wall, and directly at a fire alarm I'd previously marked.

The alarm went off and an evacuation was ordered.

And as the class went one way I went the exact opposite, quickly rushing off to catch up to Videl.

That led me to an apparent bank robbery.

The first thing I noticed, was that the girl was injured.

The second thing I noticed was the man standing there with a pink outfit and braided hair and-

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

Just how far must he have fallen to get here?

I blocked a Dodon Ray aimed to kill Videl.

"And just who are you?" The assassin asked.

"Oh don't play dumb. You know exactly who I am," there wasn't much levity in my voice. Dude tried to kill a teenager. Wasn't exactly jazzed about that.

I could practically hear Raditz's "I told you so's" at not killing him before.

"I, do?"

"Of course you do," I walked forward, "we've met before."

I lifted my goggles and stared him down, it didn't take long for recognition to register.

"You-you're that kid! So-" I covered his mouth.

"Careful, you don't want to make me angrier than I already am."

Mercenary Tao tried to back away, but I had his wrist locked in a grip, he wasn't going anywhere.

I considered the situation. Technically I could admit Raditz was right. The guy was obviously a menace and it's not like we could chuck him in any normal prison, he'd break out with no issue.

Still, I glanced back. Even if I was willing to kill, I certainly wasn't going to be in front of a teenager.

So instead I pulled him closer, "I will never hear of you again. You will never do anything that catches my attention again. Am I clear?" I asked.

The assassin furiously nodded, still trying to escape.

"Good. You'd better stick to that, or else, well," I tightened my grip until I'm sure it was on the verge of snapping his wrist, "let's not let it come to that."

I released him and he nearly fell over. Instead, he quickly scrambled away and broke one of the beams.

He tossed it through the air in his signature form of travel.

"And learn how to fly! It's so much easier!" I called after him.

A beat passed and I sighed.

The bank itself was damaged but still standing. There were a few guards dead or unconscious and Videl was injured. I walked over to assess the damage.

Nothing that needed a Senzu or immediate attention at least.

"You ok?" I asked anyway.

It took a moment but she nodded, accepting my hand to get to her feet.

She physically shook her head before changing her expression.

"I can't believe that guy! Using tricks like that!"

"…"

"I mean, it's one thing with you! At least you're using them for a good cause!"

"Videl-"

"But that guy! He could have ki- really hurt someone! Where'd he even get something like that! It needs to be shut down!"

"Videl."

This time the girl looked back at me.

I took off my coat, and let it fall to the floor. Then the goggles, and the gloves and boots and belt and watch until the only thing I was left in was the bare suit that was barely thicker than Vegeta's. It didn't even cover my arms, as a short sleeve instead that you could even see my scar from Namek with.

"Check."

"What?"

"Check for any tricks. Any gizmos, any setups.

I hovered, sitting cross-legged in mid-air as she blinked at me.

Until slowly she reached for my belt, going through the pockets and not finding much beyond hand sanitizer and pencils, and snacks.

And then The coat, which didn't do her any better.

She tried the boots, trying to find some secret to their making. Which of course there was none.

Then she looked back at me, as I was still hovering in mid-air.

I didn't move as she tried to trace her hands along my waist or legs trying to find something out of place, only to come up with nothing.

"I don't, understand."

"There are no tricks Videl. I haven't corrected this long because, it hasn't really been an issue, but this, was too dangerous. Tao isn't even that strong, he is compared to like, a normal person, but, in the grand scheme, he's really not. It's- look I'm probably not the best one to be telling you this, but you need to take this kind of thing more seriously. See you tomorrow."

I then left her with her thoughts for the day. She, probably needed the moment to adjust, I'd explain more tomorrow, if she asked.

…

Sharpener-

Alright fine, he admits it, he isn't the smartest guy around. Whatever, that's what the nerds were for. They did their thing and he did his. It all worked out.

So that probably should have been his first hint that something was wrong when even he noticed Videl acting off throughout the day.

Well, she'd been acting off ever since that new superhero showed up and started showing her up.

For some reason, she seemed to think it was the art nerd. Which obviously didn't make any sense. Nerds can't be superheroes, that only happened in comics and movies and stuff.

Especially when she said that the superhero was a chick. The art nerd was introduced as a guy on day one.

That had nothing to do with today though. Or maybe it did because part of Videl acting off was her glancing up at Gohan more than usual. The other girl, Chico wasn't here today so, bad luck for him. No one to help run interference.

Whatever was up though, Videl didn't say anything. Not until the four of them were up on the roof.

From how he'd been acting, Sharpener was kinda surprised Gohan had even followed, even if it was the usual at this point.

The mood seemed, tenser. Erasa tried to initiate conversation, but it didn't really lead to much.

Until Videl spoke.

"Let's play a game. Gohan."

"…a game?"

"Yes. A game. The rules are simple. I'll ask yes or no questions, and you answer honestly. I cannot repeat questions And you get three passes."

That didn't seem like much of a game to Sharpener, more like an interrogation. And Gohan only raised an eyebrow at it.

"And what if I just like, lied?"

"Then I guess I'd have misjudged you."

And damn if that wasn't a good enough reason.

"…ok, sure why not."

"You showed up on the same day as the unnamed superhero, yes or no."

"Sure, I guess."

Videl frowned and Sharpener was sure she'd call him out on not answering with just a yes or no but, she didn't.

"The unnamed superhero has blonde hair, but you have black, yes or no."

"…yes?"

"Do you believe either is a wig of any kind?"

"Uh, no?"

These questions, seemed weird. Sharpener thought her whole thing was to prove Gohan was the hero, but those last two seemed against it.

Videl seemed to consider her next question, like she was unsure. Which seemed wrong because Videl was never unsure. Of anything.

"On your first day of school…you hit a baseball further than a person should be able to, yes or no."

Did she, chance her question midway through? No. She probably just wanted precise wording or whatever. For, whatever reason this was.

"Uh, yeah, you could say that."

"Were you telling the truth when you said it was just a lucky break?"

"…pass."

Sharpener turned his head. Technically a pass wasn't a yes. He could just want to pretend to be cool or something. But it still seemed, off.

Again, Videl hesitated, "on your first day of school," she shook her head, " on your first day of school Chico referred to you with female pronouns. She stated that was a mistake. Was it?"

Gohan paused, "it, was a mistake in that she hadn't meant to say it."

"That is not what I meant."

"…no. No it was not.

"In agreeing with me, or in response to my question."

"..both."

…nothing…of that last question made any sense to Sharpener.

He glanced over at Erasa who already seemed about ready to interrupt, whatever was happening here.

She didn't.

For some reason, he wished she would.

He couldn't seem to put words to his confusion for some reason.

"The unnamed superhero uses female pronouns."

"Yes." The earlier confused almost amusement was gone from Gohan's voice now.

"Are you her?"

Gohan frowned, and even Sharpener could tell that was a dumb question, "pass," he- or, she? Maybe? Sharpener was still confused by that question.

Either way, obviously that's what, Gohan, would say. The nerd seemed to like the suspicion from Videl, like it was some kind of game.

At least he- she- whatever- did before.

It still didn't make sense anyway. Even if that were the case, they still looked really different.

"The unnamed superhero has a tail. Yes or no."

"Uh, yeah."

"Seven years ago, were you at the Cell Games?"

"What?"

Sharpener's head turned at the sudden change in questions.

Videl went further to explain, "at the Cell Games one of the people there was a child with blonde hair and a tail."

"Oh, so that's your throughline. Hm. I think, Pass."

That was Gohan's third pass, Sharpener noted.

Videl seemed to too.

Immediately she straightened, her eyes intensely trained on Gohan, as if not wanting to miss a single detail.

"You know Gohan. Yesterday, was a lot. Ignoring all that had happened before, the unnamed superhero claimed that there were no tricks. That everything was real and people could fly and make explosives from their hands. It seemed absurd, but I couldn't figure out how to refute it. So I asked my father. You know what he said?"

The more Videl talked the more Sharpener felt like he shouldn't be there. That something about him hearing this conversation was, wrong somehow. But it's not like he could leave so he just resolved to keep his mouth shut for once.

"He said that she was right. That they weren't tricks. He said that he'd stopped calling them that before he'd even learned the truth, but didn't correct them after either. But that, made even less sense to me. Because if that were the case. Then how. How could my father have possibly beaten Cell? If it wasn't tricks and Cell could actually destroy mountains and cities and whatever else, how did my dad beat him? Do you know what he said?"

Gohan didn't answer. In fact his- her hands had fallen uncharacteristically still.

"He said that he didn't. That it'd been a lie. So then who? Who could have been the one to beat Cell? There was only one other person shown to fight before the cameras were shut off, and it wasn't him. Do you know what he said?"

…

Nothing Videl had said for the past, several minutes made any sense. Sharpener wasn't even sure most of it had registered in his mind.

Mr. Satan hadn't beaten Cell? That, that was absurd. Obviously. There was no one else as strong as he was.

Right?

"He said that he didn't beat Cell," Videl repeated, "he said that it was a child. A child with blonde hair, and a tail. That at first was blonde but later had black hair. Who he'd later learn in a different tournament was named Gohan."

Suddenly the rest of Videl's near rant almost made sense, if only by comparison to the far, far more, just, out there claim that somehow, the nerd had beaten Cell? Please. He knew Videl was smart and all, but even she had to be wrong about some things he supposed.

Still, obviously the absurd claim didn't seem to register as such to his friend, as she didn't back away from it.

"So. My last question. Did you? Gohan? Did you defeat Cell seven years ago?"

Surely Gohan would find the question as absurd as he did. Surely that was why Gohan hadn't said anything, just because it was, just a dumb claim, and she didn't know how to react.

So why did the nerd look pale? And shocked? And so stock still that Sharpener was almost worried something was wrong until the nerd straightened again.

"Well!" She said, beginning to, gather her stuff?

"This has been an, interesting conversation!" She was. She was putting stuff in her backpack.

Gohan stood up and walked over to the other side of the roof, almost making a show of shaking her jacket's sleeve down her wrist enough to show her pushing buttons on the watch.

And just like that, her outfit changed, to that of the superhero's. A moment later her hair sparked that same spikey blonde.

"Goodbye forever!" She waved as she leaped from the roof.

Erasa leaped to her feet, but her concern was unneeded as, apparently Gohan, was flying away without an issue.

Gohan. Flying. Hero. Cell?

And she was gone.

Sharpener still had no idea what had happened.

Well, he supposed there was one thing.

"You were right about the identity thing. I guess."

I've included Mercenary Tao twice in the Cell Saga so I figured what better way to round out the rule of threes by including him here.
I just find the concept of him, really funny, because he was one of the first major threats in the original Dragon Ball, only to be reduced to a joke before DBZ even started

...

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that happened this chapter