Author's note: Hello children. I just posted chapter three yesterday and I'm starting on chapter four right away. You must be so proud of me, even though I don't really give a crepe about what you think. ) So yes, now I'm busier than ever: I'm juggling college, rehearsals for two orchestras, two sets of private lessons, homework, boyfriend phone time, and now a job. And I'm still writing this story. That's right. You'd better appreciate it. D
Disclaimer: The characters and most of the plot belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Akira Toriyama.
Chapter Four:
The scouts and Darien were sitting at the secluded corner booth of Crown Fruits Parlor, next door to the arcade, with their feline advisors Luna and Artemis. They had already received their shakes and were at an inaudible distance to the rest of the customers, so Luna cleared her throat and announced the reason for such an urgent meeting:
"As I'm sure you've all heard, a mysterious figure by the name of Saiyaman stopped a bank robbery and saved several hostages this morning. While it was a good deed, we still have reason to suspect him of evil because he holds many of the characteristics that our former enemies have possessed. I witnessed the scene myself and took this picture of him. Give me your thoughts on the matter."
The purple cat pulled out and passed around a picture of Saiyaman hovering three feet above the ground with a wide grin plastered on his face, along with his sunglasses and headscarf.
"Oh my…he-he's floating!" whispered Amy, who examined the picture first. "I know all of our previous enemies have had the capability to fly, but he looks really friendly!" Amy couldn't explain why, but looking at Saiyaman's picture made her feel very comfortable, safe, and even happy.
"It's all fake, I'll bet." Raye was next to see the picture. "He's just trying to fool us, so he can strike when we're least expecting it."
"Oh shut up, Raye!" Mina snatched the picture from the dark-haired girl. "Oh my gosh! He's so hot! Except his outfit is kind of ugly, but otherwise, just look at those muscles!"
Lita leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look and started drooling. Darien, meanwhile, frowned darkly; he was rather jealous of all the attention this Saiyaman was getting.
"Molly said he doesn't fight monsters, though," Serena remembered. "She said he fights crime, and he's stealing our position as the defenders of Tokyo!"
Artemis gasped. "So that's his evil plan! He wants to turn the public against us! That settles it then. The scouts will have to take up crime fighting as well. We'll beat him at his own little game and show him who's boss!"
All the girls agreed enthusiastically to the proposition. All, that is, except for Amy. Though she agreed nonetheless, she did not seem to feel that Saiyaman was a threat. If he is though, she thought to herself, it might not be as easy as everyone thinks to beat him.
"Oh come on, all this talk of Saiyaman is getting on my nerves!" Darien finally let out his building frustration. "I have some news that's far more important."
"What could possibly be more important than a potential enemy?" Luna yelled.
"The exchange student I'm hosting! There's something really weird about him. He has all this insanely advanced technology – "
Amy perked up on hearing this.
" – and he eats more than Serena! And faster!"
"Wait, we met an exchange student who eats like that today at school," Lita recalled dreamily. "I made him lunch."
Raye narrowed her eyes. "His name wouldn't happen to be – "
"Gohan Son!" Mina exclaimed. "Oh my gosh, he lives with you, Darien? This is so perfect! Now I'll get to see him more often!"
"You mean I'll get to see him more often!" Lita yelled while balling her fists as her temper rose.
Thankfully, Amy broke the impending fight with a question. "You mentioned something about technology, Darien?"
"Yeah, he has these capsule things that shrink stuff. I thought he didn't bring any clothes or luggage, but it turns out it was all stored in a small box, shrunk down to the size of pills."
"That's incredible! I've never heard of anything like that!" Amy exclaimed.
"That's what I thought too," continued Darien. "But when I questioned him about them, he covered it up by saying that he didn't think they were too popular in Japan yet."
"They'll probably be popular in Tokyo really soon." Raye was frowning. "I'll bet he's a disguised enemy and those things will be distributed as energy sucking devices. That's what the enemies always do!" She noticed the astonished looks on her friends' faces. "What! You know it's a possibility! You saw what he could do in PE!"
"What did he do in PE?" Darien asked, his curiosity spiked.
"He could run faster than both Raye and Lita," Serena giggled, then stuck her tongue out at Raye. "She's just jealous."
"And he knows martial arts…" Lita sighed romantically.
"Well that about confirms it then," Darien nodded. "I don't think Gohan can be trusted. Besides, he's smarter than me, and that's not normal."
This earned gasps from Raye, Amy, and the two cats.
"I think we should run an investigation on him." Luna was beginning to sound worried. "Anyone have any ideas on how to go about this?"
Mina raised her hand and gave a slightly evil smirk at Lita. "I'll take him on a date and find out as much as I can."
Lita began fuming and Artemis asked if anyone had any better ideas.
When no one replied, the cats agreed to let Mina follow through. "Be careful though," they reminded her. "He may be cute, but that doesn't eliminate the possibility that he might be evil."
Mina rolled her eyes.
"Speaking of evil," Raye interrupted while putting her hand on her forehead, "I'm sensing some evil energy coming from the park. We'd better transform and get over there as soon as possible!"
"Right!" the others repeated as they threw some money on the table to pay for the shakes and ran out the door.
(Page break, because Fanfiction is being a synonym for a donkey and won't let me edit.)
Gohan, meanwhile, had realized that he knew relatively nothing on the current dimension's past, and had situated himself in the library where he was furiously memorizing history texts. However, he abruptly stood up and rushed out the door upon feeling a surge of familiar, but evil, energy.
When he reached the source of the energy, which turned out to be a public park, he observed a scene already unfolding between the famed Sailor Scouts and a villain whom he recognized immediately.
"Stop right there!" Sailor Venus shouted at the scoundrel who was laughing maniacally as he blew up a dozen trees as a demonstration for the frightened onlookers.
The hulking man turned around and grinned evilly at the five girls and tuxedoed man. "Who's going to stop me, huh?" Nappa gave a roaring laugh. "You little girls?"
"Yeah we'll stop you!" Serena stated heroically. "We're the Sailor Scouts! The defenders of love and justice!"
"You'll pay for scaring these innocent people and destroying public property!" Sailor Mars yelled, putting her hands into position for an attack. "Mars Fire Ignite!"
The attack shot from her and rushed towards Nappa in a wave of blazing fire. However, he merely flicked it away with one finger and held his menacing grin. "You call that an attack?"
All the scouts gasped. Raye's attack was one of their most powerful, and it didn't even faze their opponent!
"Jupiter Thunder!"
"Moon Tiara Action!"
Serena and Lita's combined attack was once again proven useless against the warrior. He gave a malicious chuckle and also flicked away an incoming rose. Smirking and without giving any warning, he released an energy blast at Raye, the first attacker, which hit her dead on, breaking the arm she had put up to block it and four of her ribs. She fell to the ground in pain as her friends rushed to her side.
"How could you?" Amy shouted furiously, stepping out in front of her friends.
Nappa merely smirked wider in response. "How could I do that? Quite easily actually. It wasn't even a fraction of my true power!"
"Mercury, stop! He's too powerful! He'll hurt you too!" Mina protested and tried to grab her friend's arm to pull her back.
Amy pushed her off while trembling with fury. "I won't let anyone hurt my - "
She was cut off by a giant ki blast hurtling towards her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to scream, waiting for the deadly impact, but it never came. Slowly, she opened her eyes, revealing to herself her caped savior.
"Saiyaman!"
He turned around in mid-air, grinning. "That's me!" Reaching into his costume pocket, he pulled out a small bean and tossed it to the gaping girls. "Give this to the one who was hurt. Trust me, she'll feel much better."
He then turned around to face Nappa, was also gaping. "You-you blocked my blast!"
"Of course I did. You haven't improved much since the last time we met."
They know each other! The scouts and Darien collectively thought.
"We've met before?" Nappa repeated.
"Yeah, about thirteen years ago. On Earth."
Nappa scratched his head, obviously confused. "Earth, eh? Well, you're definitely not the short guy, and you're not that pathetic Namek…" His eyebrows twitched in deep thought. "You were that kid, weren't you? Kakarrot's brat! Haha! You couldn't beat me back then, so what makes you think you can beat me now!"
"Believe me, Nappa, I've improved a lot since then." Gohan's patience was growing thin. Smirking, he slid into a fighting stance. "I'll prove it to you and send you back to HFIL, from which you never should have escaped."
Nappa grinned evilly, then flew at Gohan with incredible speed. To the scouts he was barely perceptible. Before Nappa's fist could impact with his face though, Gohan phased out and reappeared behind Nappa, kicking him to the ground and forming a small crater upon his collision.
Nappa flew up from the indentation in the ground; he was enraged and the energy radiating off of him was visible to the scouts, who were utterly frightened by the massive display of power from both beings. He charged up a ki blast and threw it at Gohan with a yell. Gohan merely flicked it towards the sky, smirking.
As Nappa's facial expression turned into a fearful one, Gohan intoned the last words he would hear before he arrived at King Yenma's station for the second time:
"Ma…Sen…Ko…" He pulled down his hands that were positioned at his forehead and mightily shouted, "HA!"
Nappa was completely obliterated in the surge of energy.
Saiyaman landed next to the group of petrified scouts with his hands on his hips. "Well, he's all taken care of!" he said while mindlessly catching the rose that came flying at him. He shot a puzzled glance between the rose and Tuxedo Mask from behind his sunglasses, then shrugged. "Uh, thanks, I guess."
The group apprehensively moved back a step; they were now aware of Saiyaman's capabilities and truthfully were quite frightened of him. However, when they stepped back, they revealed Raye, still lying injured on the ground.
"Why didn't you give her the senzu bean yet!" Gohan exclaimed.
"You m-mean this? Mr. Saiyaman, s-sir?" Serena stuttered and held out the bean.
He smacked his forehead in frustration. "Yes, that. It will heal her injuries if she eats it."
"I won't eat anything from you!" Raye gasped from the ground. "You're dangerous; I'll bet it's poison!"
"Mars, give all the mistrust a break, will you? He just saved Mercury's life, and all our lives!" Jupiter broke in angrily. "Just eat the bean already. If he wanted us dead, he would either let that Nappa guy kill us, or he would blow us up right now the same way he got rid of Nappa."
"Speaking of Nappa, how did you know him Saiyaman?" Mercury asked inquisitively.
Gosh, these girls' personalities seem really familiar!, he thought to himself before scratching the back of his head and replying, "Ah, well, it's kind of a long story. I fought against him previously, and although I wasn't the one to beat him that time, he was defeated and killed, by his own superior actually, who eventually ended up on our side. Needless to say though, he found a way out of HFIL, and I don't think he did it alone. He's not smart enough for that. No, he must have been working for someone." By this time, Gohan was thinking aloud to himself. "That means there will be even more powerful beings arriving soon. Darn. Maybe I should get some training time in…"
"Uh, Saiyaman, you're going off on a tangent." Mercury interrupted. "I had another question really quick: what did you mean by 'on Earth?' We're on Earth right now."
"Oh. Yeah." He gave a nervous laugh; he was obviously hesitant to answer the question. "It was a different Earth, a parallel universe of sorts. Their escape route from HFIL apparently led to the wrong Earth. Whether it was an accident or on purpose, I don't know. Anyway, I came here to help get rid of them. You're lucky it was me who came too. Vegeta wouldn't have been as, um, helpful." He laughed at his own inside joke.
"On the topic of being helpful," Saiyaman was suddenly more serious as his gaze focused on Raye. "Are you going to eat the senzu bean already, or would you rather spend a month healing in a hospital?"
Raye grudgingly took the bean from Serena, stuck it in her mouth and began to chew. "This tastes disgusting," she muttered before slowly swallowing. Within a few seconds, she was completely healed. "Impossible…" she breathed while flexing the joints on her previously broken arm.
"How – " Amy began, amazed.
"Magic," Saiyaman grinned. "Literally."
He then hovered up four feet in the air, preparing himself to leave. Before he could strike one of his horrific poses, though, he was interrupted:
"Saiyaman, wait!" It was Amy. She ran within a few feet of him, closer than any of her friends would have dared after seeing his frightening display of power. "I-I just wanted to say thank you. For saving my life." She was blushing furiously.
"Anytime." His grin turned into a genuine and gentle smile as he replied. He landed momentarily and light blush of his own appeared on his face as he continued nervously. "You can, ah, have this back too. I mean, I really don't have much of a use for it. Watch your fingers on the end though; it's a little sharper than they usually cut them at those flower shops." He shyly handed her the rose Darien had thrown at him.
Her blush grew deeper as she accepted the flower. As soon as she took hold of it though, and Saiyaman released his grasp on it, he shot up a good twenty feet in the air, his embarrassment obviously overwhelming him. "Uh, I guess I'll see you guys around!" he shouted back down at them with a quick wave. Then, to everyone's astonishment, he placed two fingers on his forehead and disappeared into thin air.
As soon as the scouts overcame their shock at his odd manner of leaving, their eyes turned to Amy, who was still clutching the rose, and an awkward silence ensued.
"Let's get out of here before those reporters that are hiding behind the trees try to interview us." Raye broke the silence and the girls left the area.
(Page break)
Inside Crown Arcade, the group had once again gathered and was just finishing up a retelling of the episode to their feline advisors.
"And, oh my gosh, Amy has got to be the luckiest girl in the world! I'm so jealous!" Mina exclaimed on completing the story. "Did you see how even more perfect his muscles were up close? And he was tall too! Almost as tall as Darien!"
From the corner, Darien, who had eventually reclaimed his rose, silently grimaced. He was steadily growing more and more jealous of Saiyaman. Not only was he getting all the attention from the girls, his amazing powers made Darien feel completely useless.
Amy merely remained quiet and smiled to herself as she imagined Saiyaman's gorgeous smile.
"Well, at least that leaves Gohan for me," piped up Lita.
"Please Lita, he's mine." Mina said smugly. "I'm on scout orders to date him."
As the two engaged in a verbal battle, Amy silently contemplated the new puzzle that had arisen on the mention of Gohan's name. Well, I seem to be falling for Saiyaman, but earlier today I seemed to be falling for Gohan. So which do I choose? Gohan has brains, but Saiyaman is an amazing fighter, but, then again, I don't know anything about him. Also, I know I'll be seeing Gohan everyday at school, but I don't know the next time I'll see Saiyaman. And he's only seen me as Sailor Mercury too, and we're not recognizable in our scout forms! Who would have thought that, I, Amy Mizuno, the most brilliant girl in Japan, could have possibly become so confused over a pair of boys? By the conclusion of her thoughts, he smile had turned into a worried frown.
Raye was also pondering the same two beings as Amy. Gohan and Saiyaman. Gah. They both irritate me. Even though Saiyaman is mysterious, powerful, and probably very handsome under those ugly sunglasses. They're both too secretive though. But why doesn't anyone but me notice it? Well, I guess that leaves it up to me then. I'll find out all of Gohan's secrets, and I'll unmask Saiyaman! And then both of them will be so impressed with my cleverness that they'll forget about being fought over by Mina and Lita and forget about Amy. She's too shy for them anyway. I, Raye Hino, will be the winner of this game! Her angry expression had turned into a satisfactory smile.
Meanwhile, on the roof of a nearby building, Saiyaman was also confused over two groups of girls he had just met. Little did he know, they were the same people. Gosh, what's with those girls at school? Mina and Lita act really strangely around me, Serena just whispers secrets to the two of them the whole time, and Raye scares me. She's just too suspicious! Amy is the only normal one out of them. She's so smart and nice. And she has a beautiful smile. Wait, where did that come from? Since when was I interested in girls? Gosh, my mom would be giving me such a hard time right now! But, what about those Sailor scouts? There something about them that's really familiar, like I've met them before. Especially the blue-haired one, Mercury, was it? She was really pretty - I shouldn't be thinking like that! And that one that was hurt, she almost looked familiar… His frustrated expression didn't change during the mental struggle.
(Page break)
For the rest of the week, life was calm for the band of superheroes. Gohan managed to do nothing ridiculously revealing in PE, though, although he was unaware of it, Melvin had decided to share a deadly secret about Gohan's underwear to a few of the girls. The city was relatively quiet as well; there were no major crimes, nor inhumanly powerful monsters to fight, so no appearances were made by either Saiyaman or the Sailor Scouts. It wasn't until after school on Friday that another enticing even occurred.
As Gohan was closing his locker at the completion of the school day, he was surprised to turn around and find himself face to face with Mina, who was smiling far to widely to be harmless. He tried to back up, since the less-than-a-foot distance between them was too close for comfort, but only succeeded in hitting the back of his head against his locker and leaving a fairly large dent in it.
"Hi Gohan!" Mina chirped. The smile didn't even twitch in the slightest. "Guess what! I just had the greatest idea!"
"Wha-what could that possibly be?" Gohan laughed nervously, pressed up against the locker.
"I think that you should take me to the movies!" She grabbed hold of his arm, surprised momentarily by the muscle definition she felt, but soon regained her unmoving smile.
"What? I mean, uh, that sounds like fun, but I'm kind of busy today! I, uh, have to, um, study." He scratched the back of his neck while trying to ease out of her grasp enough to run for dear life. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful.
"Nonsense. You're too smart to study. There's supposed to be this really great movie that just came out! Besides, if you don't take me on a date, I'll tell the whole school your secret!"
My secret? Could they have possibly figured out that I'm Saiyaman? "Okay, okay!" he relented. "I'll go. Just please don't tell anyone!"
"Great!" Mina giggled before finally releasing him. "Meet me at Crown Theatre at 5:00! Don't be late!"
Gohan checked his watch as he watched her skip off. "3:00. Great. Only two hours to mentally prepare myself for the most frightful day of my life so far." Groaning, he walked off in the direction of the park to try to ease the pain on his mind.
On his way there, much to his surprise, delight, and embarrassment, he ran into Amy. Literally.
It happened around the corner from Crown Fruits Parlor, near the bus station. She was reading as she walked along, not really paying attention to her surroundings, and he was yet again mumbling curses at a certain little green god whom he couldn't even seem to escape in another dimension.
She let out a small "oomph" as they walked straight into each other, but was surprised when two strong arms reached out to help her up. Gohan mumbled a quick "sorry" and was just about to walk away, when he finally noticed to whom he was speaking.
"Amy! Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't mean to run into you. It was a complete accident!"
"That's alright Gohan," she assured him warmly, feeling a faint flutter in her chest knowing that he had held her arm to save her from falling. "Where are you headed in such a hurry?"
"I was just going to the park to relax for a bit. My day ended quite…unexpectedly…to say the least." He grimaced slightly, and noticing Amy's puzzled look, explained a bit further. "I was bribed into a date."
Mina. Amy's face fell. "You know Gohan, she really seems to like you."
"I think it's more of an infatuation," he replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. "And, I don't like her like that in return. I mean, she's really nice and everything, but I'm just not attracted to her. I know we haven't known each other for very long, but I think I might be falling for, um, someone else." By this time, he was blushing grandly.
Probably Lita, Amy thought. Especially with all that food she makes him. He does seem to like eating.
Before their conversation could continue any further though, they were disrupted by the screams of bystanders from the bus station and a rapidly approaching bus.
"Look out!" Gohan yelled, then grabbed Amy to pull her out of the bus's way. As it shot past them at a mere few inches away, the two could see that the driver had been knocked unconscious and a mean-looking thug was trying to gain control of the wheel. Gohan, with his superior eyesight, could also see two other thugs pointing guns at the frightened passengers.
"Are you alright?" he hurriedly asked Amy. The concern was obvious in his voice, but his eyes were narrowed and following the bus. Sirens from police cars had just begun to sound a few blocks away.
"Alright!" she practically screamed. "Gohan, you just saved my life! That bus would have killed – "
"Don't say things like that!" he shot back angrily, but then his face softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to be harsh. But Amy, I have to go now. Please understand; it's really important."
She was about to protest, but he ran off faster than she could get any words out.
She watched him disappear around the corner, then decided to follow the commotion coming from where the bus was headed. She turned a corner and looked up to see the bus speeding along a high overpass, followed closely by police cars. To her horror, she watched as the other members of the Sailor team appeared a good distance in front of the bus to try to halt it. I've got to help them! she thought, while transforming and running onto the overpass, only to find herself too late. She witnessed her friends' expressions turn fearful as they realized the bus would not stop for them and was closing in too quickly for them to escape.
Just mere seconds before their impending dooms, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, and Venus were pulled out of the way much like Amy had been by a streak of black, red, and green, then lifted into the air and placed next to the newly arrived Sailor Mercury. Gasping, all five of the scouts looked up to see Saiyaman return their amazed and thankful looks with an angry one of his own before streaking back to the bus.
They watched in incredulity as he broke through a window from the side and proceeded to beat up the criminals. However, to the terror of the scouts, the police, and the onlookers, the bus lurched and swerved over the edge of the overpass.
No crash from below sounded, though, and the crowd made a simultaneous sharp intake of breath as the top of the bus, then the rest of it rose back up, lifted with one arm by Saiyaman. In the other arm, he held a screaming, terrified thug by the ankle.
He flew slowly, so the passengers in the bus didn't get shaken up too badly, over to where the police and the scouts were standing in awe. He tossed the thug in front of the police officers, then backed up a bit and with a quick "watch your heads" landed on the ground and slowly lowered the bus in front of him. As soon as it was placed on the ground, the crowd broke into a wild applause. Reappearing on the other side, where the onlookers were, Saiyaman gave the bus a hearty pat, accidentally leaving a dent, and said to the police, "The other two crooks are unconscious in the bus."
The police just nodded dumbly in response as the rest of the crowd, including the scouts, gaped at the amazing rescue. Saiyaman grinned widely and the applause abruptly ceased due to an unsightly pose he struck, which also, though unintentionally, put him out of the way of a jealous rose aimed at his head. He then checked his watch and gave a yelp of his own:
"4:45? I'm going to be late!" With a rushed "gotta run!" he took off towards the center of the city.
"Oh no! I'm going to be late too!" Sailor Venus gasped as she began running off in the same direction as Saiyaman. She dashed into a vacant alley to transform and was surprised to find the other scouts following her.
"Where do you all think you're going?" she asked angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
"Darien and I were going to catch that new movie that came out at 5:00 today!" Serena giggled while clinging to her boyfriend.
Mina's jaw dropped.
"You're seeing it too?" Raye asked. "Lita and I were planning to go as well, and we bought you a ticket too, Amy."
"Thanks!" Amy smiled.
Mina was on the verge of tears. "You guys! How could you do this to me! I'm going to see that movie for my date with Gohan! You're all so horrible to me!"
The other girls only giggled at her misfortune as they all made their way to the theatre in their normal attire.
They were met there by Gohan, who was also just arriving. The group walked into the appropriate room and sat down in the seats. Gohan was unfortunately placed next to Mina with Raye on his other side and Amy behind him.
Unlike the girls, Gohan was not interested in watching the movie and took the opportunity to fall asleep during the previews. He was, however, abruptly disrupted from his slumber by the introduction to the movie:
"Brats!"
"It can't be!" Gohan's eyes shot open and he stared at the screen in horror, which earned him odd looks from the girls sitting around him.
"Hi Dad!"
"Hi Mr. Vegeta!"
Trunks and Goten were smiling on the screen as –
"They've gone super?" Gohan and the on-screen Vegeta collectively gasped in shock.
All the members of the group were beginning to just dismiss Gohan as weird. All, that is, except Raye and Amy who gave each other quick glances as the name 'Vegeta' was mentioned. They both remembered Saiyaman saying that name.
"Kakarrot's second brat! My own brat! How? When? And why on this blasted Earth are you filming yourselves?" It was almost amusing to Gohan to see Vegeta so dumfounded.
"We wanted to show big brother that we could be super saiyans too! But he had to go with that weird lady in the short skirt to save people," Goten explained.
Amy and Raye both recognized the mention of 'Kakarrot' from Nappa, as well as the word 'saiyan' which pertained to Saiyaman's name. They gave each other surprised, but knowing looks. Gohan, meanwhile, could not close his jaw.
The introduction to the movie thus ended and the action movie theme began, followed by large capital letters in which the title was written:
"Cell Games: The Movie!"
"…" Gohan was incredibly pale in the face. "Impossible," he whispered.
"Gohan, are you alright?" Amy asked from behind.
"Not at all." He was currently covering his face and peeking out through his fingers at the movie screen.
The title of the movie was followed by actual footage of the Cell Games that could only have been filmed by Bulma because it contained details that were not present in the Hercule version. There was occasional narration added by whoever had produced the film: he had guessed correctly as to who was who at the tournament with Cell for Vegeta and Trunks, though he had assumed incorrectly that young Gohan was Goten, and Goku was Goten's before-mentioned older brother.
As Gohan watched the movie, the events of Games began to replay in his mind as well as on the screen; he was reliving the horrific events of the day. He watched fearfully as his friends were beaten and bashed, and he watched himself be called to face Cell after his father's fight. Finally, he couldn't take it any longer: he absolutely could not bear to watch his father go again, even if it was on film. He abruptly stood up, gave the girls a quick "I don't feel so well," which would have easily been believable according to the look on his face, and ran out of the theatre.
"I'm going to make sure he's alright!" Amy stood up and rushed after him.
It had grown dark since they entered the movie but it was not hard to spot Gohan. He was leaned up against the wall and a barely visible tear was sliding down his cheek. It was hardly audible, but Amy could just hear the words "Dad, I'm so sorry," escape from him.
"Gohan," she whispered as she approached him, so as not to surprise him. He was surprised nonetheless, and quickly wiped his moist eyes. "Why'd you follow me?" he asked in an unemotional voice.
"I-I just wanted to see what was wrong. Are you going to be ok?"
"Ok?" She thought she saw an angry teal color flash across his eyes, but just dismissed it as a trick the movie theatre lights were playing on her own eyes. He continued, having regained a bit of composure. "At the moment, no. I don't know if I ever fully will be either. But I'll be back to my normal self soon enough." He started to walk away.
"Gohan, wait." She grabbed his arm and the physical contact froze him. "I know there was something in that movie that disturbed you. What was it? And what did it have to do with Saiyaman? I know those people in the movie were connected to him somehow!"
"And why do you care?" Gohan's voice had become dangerously quiet. "If you must know, it…reminded…me of my father's death." His teeth were clenched as he stressed the word 'reminded.' "But why are you asking me about Saiyaman? What makes you think I'd know anything about him? And how would you know that the movie was connected to him anyway?"
Amy was speechless and a bit shocked. She hadn't expected him to be defensive about the subject, and then turn it around on her.
"Well, I was, uh, hiding and I, um, saw him come and fight with the Sailor scouts," Amy lied. "I remember that villain, the big bald guy, say something about a 'Kakarrot,' which that Vegeta character in the movie mentioned several times, and Saiyaman even mentioned the name Vegeta. And Saiyaman and the people in the movie fought the same way! With blasts from their hands!"
Gohan had paled considerably, and made a mental note to himself to be less careless about what he said both in and out of costume. He could think of nothing to deter her from the assumptions she had already made, so he chose to escape from her presence before he made any more mistakes. "Well, uh, if you're so desperate to find out who Saiyaman is, then just ask him next time you see him. I really need to be alone right now though. I'll see you around, Amy." He turned on his heel, grimacing. Brilliant, Gohan. Just brilliant, he thought to himself. That was about the stupidest thing you could have ever said, telling her to ask you who you are next time she sees you. I'm such a genius when it comes to ruining my own life! His face sadly softened though, as his thoughts turned to his father.
Amy cheerlessly watched him walk off, vaguely wondering how a movie like "The Cell Games" could have reminded him of his father's death. She couldn't think of any reasonable explanations for it, nor for the movie's connections with Saiyaman, so she dejectedly walked back to the theatre, took her seat while shrugging off looks from the other scouts, and watched the end of the movie, in which the characters sought out the Dragon Balls and Shenlong restored many lives.
Author's Ending Note: So, young readers, are you enjoying the story? I'm thinking that it's getting a tad boring. I have another brilliant idea for a fanfic starring our favorite teenage demi-saiyan, but should I finish this one first, take a break and work on the new one for a few chapters, or try to do them both at the same time? Keep in mind that the last option will most likely mean waiting longer for updates. Let me know in the reviews, that is, if you're not a vegetable and you actually have an opinion. Sayonara.