Disclaimer: DBZ (DB/DBGT) no owned by me humble self.
A/n: Warning: Videl OOC-ness, may cause some people to roll their eyes and say "oh please" and/or gag. You've been warned, so I don't expect to be killed/tortured/hunted down/flamed or just cussed at. I do expect some complaining reviews, but nothing that amounts to a flame, thank you very much.
If you do decide to flame me, do it anonymously, okay? Then I can remove your review. Thankies!
Previously, on Double Hate—
"…leaving a field that had just minutes before been a battleground, occupied by the two titans of OSH. This field would never see these two Titans on it at the same time ever again, either, for in the Park would be the final Duel, and Jeff for one was determined to make sure it stuck in Videl's mind forever.
:-:-:-:
However, Pan was legendary for her stubbornness, and she had presented a solid case for why she should go, and there was nothing they could do.
And so the stage was set, and the grand finale was just waiting to begin."
Chapter Fifteen: What Goes Up Must Come Down
Pan was panting by the time she landed in Murasimo Plaza Park fifty minutes later. She'd gone as fast as she could have gone to keep up with the Harrisons, who lived quite a ways away from Capsule, and who had started out for the Park without her notice. The Park was even further from Capsule than the Harrison home, or what Pan assumed to be the Harrison home, and that was why she was in such straits then.
She had had no qualms about hiding her ki now, for they had both proved that they were not ki sensors, which then cleared away, or tried to, some of the craziness the Z-senshi had concerning them. Still, she could not forget the feeling she'd had the first day of school, when Jeff had walked toward here with that crackling aura that could only be that of ki being suppressed.
She had never felt it again that day, or the days afterwards, but she had never let it escape her mind. In fact, as she crept towards the still kis of the Harrison Brothers, the memory caused her to contemplate another theory, one that she should have thought of before, to be frank.
What if it was only one Lost Son in the area, not the both of them? What if the Son brothers had gotten separated somehow, and only Gohan was present with them in Japan? It could easily be Goten, too, Pan reflected, but she thought that Jeff was too old to be Goten. After all, Jeff had not actually proved that he couldn't sense ki, only Marc had. And she had never actually seen Jeff fight, so there was still some possibility there. Although she did have to admit that Marc still bothered her, especially upon reviewing the excellent spar she'd participated in with him. There was just something off about it, but Pan could not for the life of her put her finger on it. She just could not figure it out, and she had been visited by those two strange voices again and again upon the subject, with the same message: STOP WORRYING!
She couldn't stop worrying about it, though, and continued to give herself headaches with the worrying and the two inner voices. Not a good combination; it was strong enough to beat two aspirin every four hours, Pan huffed. She stopped suddenly and unconsciously lowered her ki as she caught sight of a black-and-white blur heading in the same direction she was.
The black-and-white blur turned out to be who she thought it was: Videl. True to her announcement, Videl had not brought a second, and Pan would rather fight Cell in HFIL than admit she was glad about that. It was not just vindictiveness on her part towards the spawn of Satan (she smiled grimly at Vegeta's rather appropriate nickname for the Devil), but also worry on the part of the Harrison Brothers, specifically Jeff.
It was Jeff Videl was fighting, wasn't it, and not Marc, like Jeff had tricked Pan into sparring? Marc was well able to take care of himself, but since Pan had not seen Jeff spar before, she was rather worried that he would not be able to do the same as his younger brother. Brothers did have different interests, after all, and sparring might just be one of them. Of course, Pan was forgetting one teeny little thing that she'd been told by Marc himself, and that was, quote, "Mostly I spar against my brother, who is just as strong as I am, maybe a little stronger."
The Harrison brothers, when Pan found them, were positioned a little west of the center of the park with its giant stone plaza and the crane splashing in the middle of the fountain situated in this huge square. They had their van with them, parked in the grass, and were leaning against the hood. Jeff had his hands in his pockets and was hunched over slightly, adopting a relaxed attitude. However, Pan knew that he was anything but relaxed, as was Marc, who had his own hands behind him on the hood of the car. Marc's head was bent back as if to look up at the sky, but Pan didn't think that he was actually doing that. He had been looking forward to this too much for her to believe that.
Pan looked around for a suitable hiding spot that would afford her a good view of the pending fight and yet keep her out of the way. She didn't find one that seemed likely to do both of these things, but she picked a tree that was close to the Harrison van and crept to it, unconsciously forgoing her ability to use ki in such a high-pressure situation such as this. She had never been in a fight against any super-evil villains, but she had been in enough spars and training drills with Vegeta and Goku, and even Piccolo, to instinctively lower her ki whenever she was in a "dangerous" predicament. So it was, but as Pan was doing this, she didn't notice the slight movement of Marc's head or the sudden twitch of Jeff's cheek. These signs of acknowledgement were gone in the next instant, and thus Pan saw nothing out of the ordinary when she settled herself in her tree's welcoming branches.
Then, from the corner that Pan herself had just come from to get to her tree, Videl appeared.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Harrison," Videl drawled as she strolled up. Jeff and Marc greeted her stonily, especially as she added, "I was so sure that you were just leading me on, but I couldn't miss the opportunity. And look what I've got." She stopped and spread her hands out towards the Brothers, as if they were on display. "A fight, or two, on my hands." The "or two" statement was pronounced as if it were an afterthought, obviously as a jibe towards Marc as well as towards Jeff. Neither Jeff nor Marc moved, or even batted an eyelash. They only stared at Videl, clearly waiting for her to finish her pre-fight self-pumping ritual, but not showing signs of it.
Videl didn't seem to notice this, but she did start stretching, doing feats that made Pan roll her eyes. Kami, even in stretching Videl tried to show off! She really was a pathetic attention-seeker. Didn't she have anything else to do besides be so pathetic?
Apparently not, she answered herself as Videl finished warming up. Jeff only stepped up and slid into a fighting stance, which Pan viewed with a critical eye. Impressive, but then again, I expected no less. Not bad, Harrison.
Videl smirked and spread out her feet, lowering her center of gravity, and also moved her hands to spots in front of her face and behind her, curling them inward, like she was pretending her hands were sock puppets, but without socks (1). Her face lost the smirk and the cocky look, presenting an astonishing sight to Pan. Videl was seen as a girl who was committed and capable of handling herself. She looked much more human without that stupid annoying self-confident smirk on her face. Videl looked much more like a person with dreams, with hopes for the future, with a past, and it truly was amazing.
Jeff did not seem aware of the phenomenon that was happening right next to and behind him. He was focused on Videl, so much that his face was a mask of intense concentration. Suddenly Pan was sure that Jeff was going to win. She was so sure that she was actually willing to predict that Jeff was going to dominate this fight. It was just something about the way that Jeff stared his opponent down that told her that he was not intimidated, that he was going to fight and fight hard.
Videl did not have that same look, but she did look like she was going to give it her best, and she expected that she would win because she gave it her best. Of course, Pan reminded herself forcefully, Videl didn't usually fight against people who absolutely despised her, like Jeff, and so therefore she had no idea of what she was getting herself into. Oh, boy, did Videl not know what she was getting herself into. Pan grinned suddenly, ferociously. This was going to be good.
As soon as Jeff was settled, Videl charged.
Jeff blocked Videl's fist and countered, lightning-speed, with his own punch. He caught her cheek and sent her leaning away from him. It was only because he still had her fist clenched in his that Videl was not now on the ground, but as it was, she was pulled back straight into another punch, and this time Jeff did let her go.
Videl landed in a heap on the ground, but she didn't have long to remain that way. She rolled quickly out of the way of Jeff's stomp and swung her leg in an imitation of a split, trying to floor kick the middle Harrison. Jeff only jumped over her leg and landed lightly on the ground, but he jumped up again when Videl tried to grab him by the ankle. She almost succeeded, too, but Jeff was too fast for her and landed behind her this time. Turning slightly, Jeff leaned to the side and kicked out, forcing Videl, who had been in the middle of a handstand to get up off of the earth, back down on the ground. Videl gasped and gripped her ribs, but Jeff bore down on her, and she had to react now or get pulverized.
She brought her knees up and kicked with both of her feet, hoping to get Jeff straight in the face. Jeff only leaned back and punched at the same time, getting Videl's face again and knocking her head painfully against the hard dirt in the clearing that had been chosen for the fight.
Pan goggled as she watched Jeff go aboutbashing Videl into the dirt. He was so good! He was better than Marc in some cases! Thinking of Marc, Pan glanced at him, expecting to see a look of satisfaction on his mobile face. She was puzzled to see a frown instead, as well as a knit between Marc's eyebrows. What was that for? Jeff was finally fighting Videl, and he was beating her into a pulp. What was wrong?
She shifted and dropped from her place in her tree, forgetting that she was not supposed to be there in the first place. She walked five steps over to Marc and turned to watch Jeff and Videl again before she asked, "What's with the frown? Jeff's winning right now, in case you didn't notice."
Marc's expression didn't change as he answered, "Yeah, but he's not faring so well against her. She's getting in more shots than she should be."
Pan looked over at the fighters and looked back at Marc. "More shots? How do you mean?"
Marc held out his hands to prevent Videl from falling onto him and pushed her back to the waiting Jeff. "You're much stronger than Videl, so you wouldn't understand," he said, still not taking his eyes off of the fighters. Pan's own forehead puckered, still not comprehending what Marc was talking about. She told him so, and finally Marc turned to her, his black eyes concentrated.
"Jeff's stronger than I am, so—Hey, get back in there!" Marc pushed Videl away from him again, catching his brother's eye as he did so. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second as Jeff looked at him, and when Jeff roundhouse-kicked Videl again, when Pan waited for him to continue, he didn't. He just folded his arms over his chest and leaned back again on the van, looking obstinate. Pan was baffled as to why Marc was suddenly not talking to her anymore.
"Jeff's stronger than I am." The line Marc had just said suddenly flashed across Pan's brain. Her own eyes widened and she stared at Marc, but Marc wasn't looking at her anymore. So she swung to see Jeff and Videl again, and watched with rising incredulity as he trapped Videl's arms and slammed her head with his own. He released her as she fell back, letting her smack up against a tree as she stumbled backwards, which in turn made her pitch forward and splat face-first straight onto one of the tree's roots.
Videl groaned in pain, but made no other noise to suggest she was in pain as she sat up. Pan winced at the sight Videl now made, for not only was she horribly bruised on the face, but her nose also looked broken, and blood came streaming out of her nostrils. However, her face was not the only one that was battered and beaten beyond recognition. Her arms sported three already blue bruises from being trapped in Jeff's arms before the tree incident, and Videl's knuckles had the bright red liquid of blood all over them, from trying to punch Jeff's face but only finding his hands. The legs of this stubborn fighter had only one bruise, but as Videl struggled to get up, Pan deduced that her ankles weren't feeling that great, or the soles of her feet.
Still, Videl settled down again and re-formed her stance. Jeff wasn't buying it, though, and stood still, studying his opponent with ebony eyes. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Videl, and drew both eyebrows together upon hearing her erratic breathing. A faint look of concern appeared in his eyes, enough for Videl to growl at him.
"Oh, stop it, Videl. I know you're beaten, and you do, too," Jeff retorted sharply. Videl shook her head in denial, her black hair swinging wildly about her face as if to accentuate her point. Jeff sighed, a sharp explosion of breath, and simply Looked™ at Videl. "Videl, this is useless. You're beaten up so badly that I'm kicking myself for fighting you," he told her. Indeed, he did look like he regretted fighting her, which Pan just found strange. What was it with the Harrisons today? Why weren't they reacting the way they were supposed to?
"Just to make things easier, why don't you fight Pan instead?"
Pan froze. Did she just hear what she thought she'd just heard? She joined Videl in gaping at Jeff, although Marc did not appear to be perturbed.
"What? Are you telling me to fight her?" They both shrieked, simultaneously pointing an accusing finger at the other girl. Videl's effect was spoiled, however, as her finger was shaking more than slightly, which was a sign that Jeff's suggestion was more than reasonable. However, Videl refused to accept the proposition, as did Pan. While Pan settled for looking incredulously at Jeff, Videl took it one step further.
"Are you afraid to fight me now, Harrison? Do you think I'm so weak that I can't keep up with you?" she demanded. Jeff just nodded, and Pan could see that he really did think that she was took weak. Pan had to admit that Jeff was right, though. Videl, however, didn't seem to realize just how strong Jeff was, for she just kept on going.
"I don't need your pity, Harrison. I just want you to fight me!" she charged forward, only to be intercepted, once again, by a patient Jeff. This time, though, Jeff pulled her forward and locked his arms around her, preventing her from attacking him or doing anything anymore. He said to the shocked Videl, "It's okay, Videl. You don't have to constantly get in fights all the time just to keep up the Satan honor. You don't have to keep putting pressure on yourself just because you're the daughter of the champion, of Hercule Satan, the defeater of Cell. You don't have to constantly live in fear that your father doesn't love you, that he's ignoring you. You don't have to do the things that you do for your father, because, quite frankly, Hercule Satan doesn't deserve to have such a devoted kid. You don't have to live the life that you do now, you don't have to do any of that stuff.
"You don't, because you're not the person that everyone thinks that you are. You are really comfortable with fighting that much, but you do it because your dad does it. You do it to get attention from your dad, who seemingly ignores you and goes out with all these girlfriends. You do it because you love your dad, and you don't think he loves you, and when you think these kinds of things, you take out your anger, frustration, resentment, and all other negative emotions out on other people, mostly me, and then you get even more unhappy because the way you take out these emotions doesn't do you any good. You don't feel any better, and it's a vicious cycle that happens over and over and over again. Well, it's time to stop it. Stop fighting, Videl, and find something else to occupy your time, something that actually makes you happy."
Videl, by this time, was so utterly and completely shocked that she no longer tried to get out of Jeff's arms. She was staring at him instead, her blue eyes wide. Finally, she stammered, "W-where did that come from?"
Jeff smiled. "I've been watching you, Videl. I've seen you look unhappy whenever you hear that your father has gone out with yet another woman, or when you learn that someone wants to challenge you because you're the daughter of Hercule Satan. You can't completely hide your emotions, young Miss Satan, and I can see right through the facade that you put on whenever your father is mentioned. It's not hard to do that," Jeff added, as Videl started to tear up, "and it's hard to fight you when I think about your problems, and even harder when I compare them to mine. I figure that you bugging me is not so bad when I see you feeling miserable, even though it's really irritating when you constantly hound me for a fight."
Videl was crying now, tears spilling from her crystal blue eyes. She ducked her head at Jeff's last comment and sniffled out, "I'm sorry I did that to you. You were the only one who I hadn't fought yet, and it rankled me that I hadn't, that there was still someone out there that I didn't know the exact strengths and weaknesses of. See, if I knew the strengths and weaknesses of everyone at my school, then I could help my dad in recruiting for his dojo, even though he doesn't seem to care who comes or who doesn't. I—I just wanted to get my dad's attention, just once, or twice, so that I'd know that he still cared about me, still knew I was alive."
Jeff interrupted and said, "You don't have to explain yourself to me. 'Course, it would be nice to know why, but it doesn't really matter to me." Videl sniffed again and nodded. Jeff kept his arms clasped around her for a while longer, then let them fall as Videl drew away. She turned away from him and Marc and Pan, wiping her eyes to chase away the tears and hopefully get some composure. It took several minutes, but finally Videl was reasonably calm, enough to say,
"Again, I'm really sorry for constantly persecuting you, Harr—Jeff," she corrected herself. Jeff smiled again, but said once more, "It's fine. I do think that," he continued, "when you get home, you talk to your dad about this attention problem. It could be that your dad thinks that going out with other women, the fame, the luxury, and the other things that goes with fame, pleases you, and that you actually like this. If it isn't, though, then there's nothing I can do for you except suggest that you get out of there, immediately."
Videl had started crying again, but this time she was not as hysterical. "Do you really think that my dad's doing those things for me? For me? The daughter that he's been ignoring ever since the Cell Games—"
"Yes," Jeff told her. Videl swiped inefficiently at her tears again, but they continued to pour down like no tomorrow. "I believe that he'll listen to you, that he'll change his lifestyle for you. Just talk to him and see how it goes, okay?" the elder Brother Harrison continued. Videl nodded, once more trying to stop crying, and turned to go, limping as she did. She stopped at the tree she'd been knocked up against and turned around again to say, "Thanks."
Videl quickly turned and hobbled off, leaving a waving Jeff, a contemplative Marc, and a bewildered Pan behind her. As soon as she was gone, Jeff suddenly stretched, bringing both Marc and Pan out of their reveries.
"Well, that went well," he remarked, finishing his stretching. Marc snorted, "Yeah. You did just ruin my image of a jerkwad Videl forever just now. I happened to like thinking of her that way."
Jeff chuckled and slapped his brother on the shoulder, retorting sarcastically, "Poor you. Whenever is big bad Jeff going to stop tormenting you and your images?"
"Yeah, when?" Marc responded, warming up to the challenge.
"Never, baby bro," Jeff declared. Marc deflated, both from Jeff's answer and being called baby bro. "Now, on to Pan." Both of the Brothers targeted and locked onto Pan, who looked alarmed at the sudden attention. "What the HFIL are you doing here? I expressly forbade you to come here, and yet here you are."
Pan responded eloquently, "Uh...?"
Jeff folded his arms over his chest, as Marc had done already, and raised his eyebrow. "I'm waiting."
"Uh...because... I wanted to hang out with you...?" Pan stammered. Jeff shook his head pityingly while Marc Looked™ at her, as if to say, "Riiiiight."
"Okay, fine. I wanted to see you fight her, beat her into a bloody pulp," Pan proclaimed, giving in.
"And now that you have seen my brother beat Videl into a 'bloody pulp', are you satisfied? Will you go away now?" Marc questioned challengingly. Pan nodded, reluctantly.
"Good. Don't ever follow us anywhere again, even if you believe our lives to be in danger. Just don't invade our privacy anymore, for any reason, any time, any place, any anything. Do you understand, Son Pan?" Jeff demanded. Pan was struck by the usage of her full name, and she snapped her head up to look into Jeff's serious eyes.
"Do. You. Understand?" he repeated, refusing to let go of her gaze. Pan nodded, hurt, and looked down the next instant. Jeff sighed and ran a hand through his hair, while Marc continued to scowl at the human Son.
"I would have thought we taught you respect for our privacy with that spar, but apparently we didn't. You're the judge here, though, so I ask you, did we not say that we liked our privacy and would appreciate it if we were left alone? Huh? Answer me, Pan, please. This is important," Jeff pleaded, causing Pan to look up with a blaze of fire in her eyes.
"Why? Why is it so important that I not invade your privacy? Why the HFIL did you overreact so much when I showed up at Mount Meko to check up on you guys? I was just trying to find out something from you two that I wasn't sure I was going to get from you two personally, and, and, and I get beaten up for it! Tell me why it's so important for you two to be so mysterious and unhelpful about your past! Tell me!" Hot tears were beginning to make themselves known to Pan's eyes, and with a growl of exasperation she dashed them away, causing Marc to comment sarcastically,
"What is this, a tear festival?"
Jeff shot a look at Marc and said sharply, "Shut up, Marc. I realize you're angry, but this is no reason to take it out on Pan. She has a good point and she deserves to know why we're shunning her when she's done nothing to us at all."
"Besides spying on us, you mean," Marc muttered, but he subsided under another glare from Jeff. Pan was confused, her emotions changing as rapidly as the wind on a hot summer day, and she felt weird that she was the reason that the Harrison Brothers were arguing right now. It was extremely rare for the Brothers to argue; in fact this was the first time she'd ever heard them like this. It just wasn't right, and Pan found herself saying something she'd never thought she'd say.
"Forget it, guys. It doesn't matter."
Both the Brothers looked up at her. "Are you sure?" Jeff asked. "We could tell you, right now." Pan shook her head, repeating her earlier statement. Marc looked at her carefully, but Pan just turned and started through the Park, moodily jumping into the trees after she had passed out of sight of the Brothers. She kept a sense on their ki, monitoring them until they were out of the Park, then took to the skies, flying home in a sunset-filled sky.
Jeff and Marc looked after the moody fighter, then at each other, each asking the other, What was that all about? They both shrugged in answer, then stared after Pan again until she passed out of their sight. They looked after her some more, then turned to each other again and took up their everyday role.
"Well, that's over with," Jeff started. Marc added, "Yeah. So what do we do now? Do we tell her?"
"No. We have a spar."
"What!"
"I just got warmed up with Videl. You think I'm going to miss out on an opportunity to have a proper fight? Besides, you need to get rid of that anger of yours."
"...Oh, yeah. What if I don't want to fight?"
"Too bad," Jeff responded, clapping Marc on the shoulder again. "Prepare to be beaten into a bloody pulp!"
"I thought you told Videl that she didn't have to fight in order to take out her negative emotions?"
"Videl doesn't like to fight. You do."
"...You've got a point," Marc admitted, a ferocious grin spreading across his face. Jeff grinned in turn and fairly ran to the van, shouting that it was his turn now. Marc sped after him, yelling that it was his turn still; it wasn't yet six o' clock. So life returned to normal, but very important questions would be asked later in the Harrison household after Jeff narrowly won over Marc in their latest spar.
"Jeff?" Marc asked, his gaze trained on his homework, the newest English essay on Erin's Glass by Remi Massistcher (2).
"Hmm?" Jeff returned.
"Did you really feel sympathy for Videl? For her plight, I mean, what you were talking about earlier," Marc answered, trying to articulate his thoughts. He gave up and just waited for Jeff's response, which was not long in coming.
"Yeah. I would get really annoyed by her constant pecking, enough to actually take her up on one of those fights, and then I would look up and see such a sad look on her face that I just couldn't fight her," he commented. He looked over at Marc, who was still fiddling with his essay. "What about you, bro? Did you really hate her?"
Marc glanced up at Jeff and nodded. "Yeah. I hated her for always harassing you, for disrupting everything all the time just to try to get you to fight, even when you said that you had a no-fighting-anyone-besides-my-brother policy. I hated it, but I never knew why she did it. I thought it was because she didn't like you, that she thought you were strange, and I didn't like thinking that."
"Mm. I can understand why. I would hate Videl too, if I had thought that. Lucky for me, you and I are different people, sometimes."
"Sometimes, indeed," Marc laughed humorlessly. "Still... It's kind of hard to get over hating her straight away, even though I know why she kept harassing you. I don't think I ever will stop hating her."
"I don't expect you to. Time will heal all wounds, though, even psychological ones," Jeff commented. Marc burst out into silent chuckles at Jeff's usage of such a cliche, but Jeff pretended to be confused about it, which only made Marc laugh harder. Jeff smiled affectionately, and after a while, Marc calmed down enough to stop laughing long enough to ask another question.
"I noticed that after you stopped fighting you, you weren't angry anymore. Why is that? Usually when you're mad, you fight for longer than ten minutes," Marc remarked, grimacing. Jeff grinned.
"Well, bro, usually when I get mad, it's because I'm usually facing some evil super-villain who wants to destroy the Earth, that's all," he retorted, sending Marc into another brief round of laughter. "No, really, it's because Videl was so weak that it was just not worth it. I found my anger disappearing rapidly, so by the time I knocked her against that tree, it was gone, and concern for her well-being replaced it. She is only human, after all, so I couldn't fight her for very long or I would have pushed her beyond her limit. You know that," Jeff told his brother.
Marc nodded, but he couldn't help but whine just a little bit, "Still, couldn't you have made the fight just a teeny bit longer?"
Jeff guffawed and shook his head. Marc pretended to be sad for a while, ducking his head and frowning, as if he was going to cry.The older Harrison just shook his head again, so Marc grinned instead, garnering more chuckles from Jeff as a result.The Brothers returned to their homework and the atmosphere lapsed back to its relaxed state, until Marc ventured forth another question, one that was a little more tense than the last one.
"Are you really going to tell her why we hate having our privacy invaded?"
(1) It's confusing, I know. Just think of when you put socks over your hands and you pretend that those socks have faces and are puppets, and think of the way the hand is positioned. That's the way Videl's hands are.
(2) Erin's Glass is my creation. Mine! Do not borrow without my permission, or Remi Massistcher, the author of this made-up book. She's mine too! (Glomps creations possessively)
A/n: Well, I hope at least some of you are happy.Ten pages! Took me a really long time, butSundayI just sat down and started writing, and this chapter is the result. Sorry for the writing delay! School is evil, as it sucks out all creativity and assigns homework, which takes away any time for writing. Birthday celebrations also take away time for writing, but they're cool. My b-day was the 22nd, and I went to a friend's b-day party two days ago, and my family came over Sunday, as well, and then FF(dot)net would not let me log in or anything, and well, let's just say I was ready to use a mallet to bash my computer into a thousand million billion little silicon chip pieces (Sighs). Yeah. I also edited it a little bit to include a little more dialogue, and a bit more description of the fight, but it's here now though, and I've ended it on a cliffie! Whoohoo! I think that the interaction between Pan and Marc is perfect in the middle of the fight, gives it a little bit more of a plot, so I'm not going to take it out. Gives Pan something to think about, doesn't it? Let's see if she remembers... or at least snaps out of that funky mood I've put her in long enough to remember. Yup.
Lotsa dialogue this chapter! More than usual, at any rate. Poor Videl (for those of you who like her/don't really care either way about her). Now we know why she was such a "jerkwad", to use Marc's word for it. LOL. I like that word, jerkwad. It makes me laugh. Heehee!
I also included reasons for why Marc hated Videl and why Jeff didn't, but I'm sure that you all know why Marc felt the way he did. I wasn't sure that you all knew why Jeff didn't hate her, so that was why I included that last segment of the chapter. Mind you, I didn't exactly plan to write those in here; this chapter just flowed out of me like no tomorrow.
Anticipating at least one common question that will probably be asked in reviews for this chapter—
Will Jeff and Marc tell the Z-senshi who they really are?I hope you've formed your own opinion about that, but just so you know, I do know if they do or don't. Muahaha.
Are they really going to tell Pan why they overreacted at Mount Meko?I think this is the same question as the one above this, but I answer it the same way: Maybe. Bwahaha.
How do you pronounce 'Massistcher'?"Mah-seats-cher"
Is that a real last name?I don't know; I made it up on the spot. Tell me if it is, will ya? ;)
This question has been asked over and over again—
Are the Brothers Harrison ever going to forgive the Z-senshi?
Maybe! Bwahaha!
What's going to happen to the Brothers when the Z-senshi find out for sure that they're Gohan and Goten?First off, we're assuming here that the Z-senshi do find out that the Brothers are actually the Lost Sons. They may actually never find out and live eternally in darkness and ignorance until their last dying gasping breaths, and beyond. Now, if we assume that the Z-senshi actually do find out, what makes you think I'm going to tell you? Bwahahaha—(coughhackcoughwheezecoughhack) Whew! Gotta cut down on the cackling/evil laughing. LOL!
That's all the questions I'm going to answer. The anticipated ones, that is. ;)
The Oh So Lovely Corner of Reviews
1) Nooka—Yes, they kicked her butt. Muahaha...I can't not have Jeff/Marc rant at Chichi/Goku? Hmm...
Need ideas, eh? Well... so do I. Hehehe! My email's blocked, so I don't know if you can email me or not. I'lly try to unblock you so'z we can communicate. LOL.
The weather over there in England is BARMY! LOL! It was like that over here once, too, but that's gone now. /Shudders/ Thank Kami. When I saw that snow... I updated!
2) demi-legend—I'm glad you liked Linda. I don't have the same situation, but I imagine it's pretty sweet. (Sighs) Alas, my family is not that way.
It wasn't exactly a battle royale, was it? It almost become one, though. Sorries!
3) chris—YO! Haven't seen you in forever! I'm so glad you're back! Yeeee! Yes, I updated, late again, but I updated. Better than nothing! Thanks for your faith in me, but I didn't really have Jeff/Marc give it to Pan about her intruding. Videl's catharsis kind of overshadowed that. Heh! But! Videl's butt got kicked, and I'm glad you liked the flashback. I liked writing it. Next focus will be the parents, and then Jeff and Marc. Maybe the Z-senshi, too, though I'm not so sure. We'll see. Thanx for your review! It made me feel good. (Hugs)
4) DBZ Chick1—Good for you, and thanx!
5) Dark Willow aka Admiral2—Another late review! Hmpf! You're still not the last person to review, tho, that goes to Salazarfalcon, who just reviewed, like, last week. LOL! How wacky is that?
Videl's butt got whopped, and she got a major emotional makeover as well. We'll see what happens to Videl next chapter. (Wags eyebrows)
School. Don't talk to me about that DEVIL of an institution (I'm not using the word evil because I am evil, and school is worse than I am. Bleagh!) Staying up is way cool. I did that up to around 2 AM just this Saturday, 5/28/05. It awesome. I slept to about 9 AM. LOL.
You're definitely talking my ear off now! LOL j/k. Keep away from that super glue! It is the devil! LOL! Happy Mom's Day, Memorial Day, Dad's day, and b-day (whenever it is for you ;)) and all the other holidays on the calendar. :0) LOL. I updated!
6) Salazarfalcon—FALCON-CHAN! Yes, you totally forgot to review! TOTALLY!
A livejournal. Uh...
Black Oleander is UP! YAY! I think you told me already that you'd written Partners III before II. I was like "WHAT? That's so weird!" Btw, I found the written version of my review for the last chapter of Shinrai, so I should be coming over as soon as I make sure this chap is posted right. Damn QuickEdit... Life was so much easier when it WASN'T in effect... (And yes, I feel your angst)
is UP! YAY! I think you told me already that you'd written Partners III before II. I was like "WHAT? That's so !" Btw, I found the written version of my review for the last chapter of Shinrai, so I should be coming over as soon as I make sure this chap is posted right. Damn QuickEdit... Life was so much easier when it WASN'T in effect... (And yes, I feel your angst)...ouch... Word, how could you do that to poor Falcon-chan? (Takes mallet and prepares to beat computer into a million bazillion little silicon pieces) There! (Glomps Falcon-chan sympathetically) There, there, it's all fixed now...
Everyone: Clana4ever Goku-lover21, Nooka, demi-legend, chris, DBZ Chick1, Dark Willow aka Admiral2, Salazarfalcon, thank you very much for your reviews. Greatly appreciated. (Bows)
Sinon!
TheShadowPanther, Rei, and Autumn from AASN
AASN; Writing is what we do for you at AASN. Enjoy.
Updated 06.03.05
