A/N: Hey, long time no see guys! Merry Christmas! For all my faithful fans for this story, I want to thank you so much for not giving up on me. it may take me a while to get my updates out, but I do eventually. So, I want to thank the people who reviewed my last chapter, which are-
Sheik's twin, gaul1, Shades of Phoenix, DemonVidel, MadnessLover, Luna's Meow, Gohan-Kun Shin, demi-legend, fireeyes, Shadow Dreamer 27, and to all you guys who reviewed for my other chapters, thank you, too!
Ok, this chapter you will see a lot of ooc-ness, but for me, it makes the story more realistic. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter cause I put a lot of effort into it. Oh yeah! And I think that a lot of the questions or comments you guys have had will be better answered with this chapter, that's why I didn't say anything.
So, as the saying goes, R&R please!
Chapter 4
The bright streaks of sun valiantly pushed their way through every small slit in the curtains of the apartment building, landing softly on top of a beautiful, tear stained face and whispered for her to wake up. The young women shifted slightly, hoping to stay asleep and cling to the last of her peaceful slumber. But, the rays of sun were persistent and refused to let her sleep any longer.
Slowly, a very tired Videl attempted to lift her heavy eyelids and focus her eyes on the ceiling. Her attempts were in vein though; her eyelids resisted the urge to raise. So, Videl simply let them remain closed and she climbed out of the bed, which was hard because the blankets did not want to let her go, and walked to the window. Once there, a large yawn escaped from her, causing her eyes to water. Well, like most people do, she reached one hand up to wipe away that water, but her hand did not rub tired eyes like she thought it would. No, it rubbed swollen, puffy eyes, the kind of eyes you get after crying for a long period of time. This caused her eyes to snap open completely.
Looking around in confusion, she slowly remembered the night before: terrible nightmares, kicking and screaming, waking up and yelling for someone to get out, Gohan in her room, another nightmare...Gohan in her room! Quickly, she snapped her head in the direction of the bed and found him asleep on the edge of the large mattress, dressed in nothing but his boxers and flimsy black tank top.
Before she even had time to think, she grew as angry and scared as she had been when she first arrived at UPO. Throwing all reasonable thoughts out the window, she screamed as loud as she could. "Gohan! You sick perverted man! I trusted you! I thought you were different! Get out of my room! Go away!" Tears would be streaming down her cheeks from the great amount of anger she felt, but it seemed she'd already used them all up during the night.
Startled, Gohan woke up with a start and fell clear off the bed, just happening to land on his bad arm. He gave a shout of pain, but quickly cut it off and held the arm tight. He looked up just in time to see a screaming Videl throw the phone at him. He ducked in time and watched as it hit the wall and crumbled to pieces. Turning around, he was just barely missed by a phone book.
"Videl! Let me explain! Please!" Gohan shouted to her, but she was in no mood to listen. His words even seemed to add fuel to the fire because now she was throwing things more rapidly. Pencils and pens flew passed him and stuck into the wall. They were followed by a lamp, which shattered even more then the phone did. And, scariest of all, chairs were being thrown at him. 'How the heck can she throw chairs like that?' Gohan practically screamed in his mind.
As fast as he could, which as we know to be extremely fast, he dashed out the door and slammed it behind him. He heard Videl still venting for a while, when she fell to the floor on her knees with her head in her hands. She was crying without the tears, making Gohan feel even more horrible then he already did. But, he couldn't concentrate on her long, though. When he fell to the floor, he reopened his wound, causing it to bleed almost as much as when he first got it.
Sighing, he sat down on the coach again and tried to examine his wound without taking off the wrap. He was able to see the stitches were still in place, but the wound itself had been split back open. It hurt an unimaginable amount, but Gohan was determined to tough it through. He was not about to go to some doctor to tell him what he already knew.
Videl, on the other hand, was also in pain, but it was all emotional rather than Gohan's physical hurt. After she screamed all her voice would let her, she dropped to the floor and cried dryly. She was too emotional to think anything through, but something in the back of her mind was telling her she made a mistake and she needed to calm down to think about it.
So, when she was too exhausted to cry anymore, she laid down on the floor and starred at the ceiling. She let her mind slowly go through all her thoughts and finally came to the conclusion that she probably had made a mistake. When she thought about it, she could remember him trying to calm her down with sweet words whispered in her ear. He had not even touched her then. Next, she remembered singing, which obviously had to come from him. It had calmed her enough that she nearly fell asleep. It had been her who laid her head on his shoulder before she slipped into a more peaceful sleep. Her untrusting, hurt side told her he could have taken advantage of her then, but she knew he had not. She was still dressed fully and she had no feelings of being violated. Also, he had lost too much blood to be able to do anything other than sleep.
Finally, she realized she could have killed him in her rage when he had done nothing at all. Knowing this made her feel horrible and she felt such self loathing at this moment that she wanted to die right there. 'What have I done? After that, he won't ever forgive me and I don't blame him,' she thought with hatred toward herself. Then, another side of her that always wanted to protect her pride thought, 'it's not your fault, anyone could have made the same mistake. Besides, you don't need him! All you need is to escape now while he's still confused.'
Curled into a ball, she hugged her knees to her chest and debated on what to do. It took her a while, but she came up with an answer, one that would not make her face the pain. Climbing to her feet like a dead zombie, she slowly walked to the door and opened it. She saw Gohan sitting ridged on the coach, obviously trying to ignore the pain of the overly bleeding wound.
Without emotion, she walked passed him and headed to the door. Before she got very far, she was stopped in her tracks by a deep voice. "Where do you think you're going?" Gohan asked, keeping all emotion out of it. He did not turn once, but he knew she was heading out the door. He knew she hesitated now and her pride would not let her leave just yet.
"I'm leaving and you better not try and stop me," Videl said coldly, her arms crossed over her chest in a challenge. Gohan did not turn around and face her like she thought he would. No, he just sat there in the same uncomfortable position he had been in the whole time.
"I won't, if that is truly what you want to do. Like I told you, my job is only to rescue you. But, I will NOT let you walk out of here before I get a chance to explain myself," Gohan replied sternly, still with the same disconnected voice.
"Whatever," was Videl's common reply. Gohan expected as much, so he was able to calmly gesture for her to sit down on the coach beside him. Videl did this, but she stayed as far away from him as she could, nearly sitting on the armrest.
Looking at her, he tried to get her to meet his gaze. She knew that's what he wanted, but she would not let him have the satisfaction of it. Sighing, he gave up and just said, "You know I didn't touch you in any way at all last night. I know you know that. I know now it must have been a mistake to go in and try to comfort you. I know now that it must have been a mistake to care for you. But I know, without a doubt, that I always will care for you and always will comfort you, whether it's a mistake or not. So you can put away the tough act cause it's not working for me. Please, Videl, I want you to stay, but I will not make you."
Videl's eyes watered with tears she thought she no longer had. She looked up at him and looked him in the eye, searching for any sign of a lie, but she found only a determined truth and warmth, causing the tears to flow unchecked down her face. She threw herself at his chest and hugged him tight, which he returned just as tightly. His words touched her heart when she thought it was impossible to get through the protective wall she had put up solong ago. Right now, she just wanted to cry into his chest and hold him tight, feel his hand gently glide across her hair, and never let go of this moment.
Unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door and Gohan's head snapped toward it. 'Who the heck could that be?' he thought to himself. He looked down at Videl apologetically, but she just gave him a watery smile and let go of him. He got up slowly, careful not to hurt his shoulder anymore, and grabbed sunglasses out of his pocket along with a beanie. Placing the said items where they belong on his head, Gohan opened the door only slightly.
"Hello, may I help you?" Gohan asked the strange man standing outside the room. The mysterious man was probably only a few years older than himself, but years of worry had altered his features into those of a much older man. He had dark brown hair and was relatively tall with light brown eyes.
"Have you seen this girl?" the man asked, with a surprisingly deep voice, while holding up a picture of Videl. Gohan's eyes grew large when he saw a picture of Videl, a year younger, standing in front of her high school with her usual outfit on. Gohan was very grateful at that moment that he put his sunglasses on before opening the door or else the man would have seen his startled face.
"You know what? I think I might actually have seen her. She's that one girl on t.v., right? What's her name. Oh yeah! Hercule's girl, right?" Gohan asked, trying to play it up as much as he could. If he acted stupid, maybe the guy would just go away.
Rolling his eyes, the man made a visible effort to stay calm. "Yes, that's her. Now have you seen her anywhere else besides the television?"
Gohan rubbed his chin to appear like he was thinking about it hard. Then, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Nope, can't say I have. So, why is it you're looking for her? Did her dad send you?"
Impatient, the man stuffed the picture back in his pocket and said in an angry tone, "no, her dad didn't send me. Actually, my master sent me to find her, since her dim witted father promised him Videl's hand in marriage. He was rather upset when he found out she had no money to offer him, but he is willing to look over that and take her in."
Surprised and angry, Gohan looked back out of the corner of his eyes to see Videl sit sitting on the coach, apparently not hearing this. Gohan focused his attention back on the man now and replied, "Is that so? Who is this master of yours that you keep speaking of?"
"Why, he's none other than Derek Tanning, son of Stewart Tanning, second richest man in Satan city now," the man said, proud of the position his master had. "Now look," he continued, "if you do see her, you will make sure to inform me. This is my card." Gohan was handed a small slip of paper with a name and number on it. Quickly, the man turned around and went to the next hallway to continue the questioning's.
Frustrated, Gohan slammed the door shut. 'My first mission and everything's going wrong! Not only do I have UPO after us, but now I've got some crazed idiot fiancé of hers to deal with, too!' Gohan thought to myself, not even noticing the questioning look on Videl's face when he plopped down on the coach.
"Who was that? And what did he want?" Videl asked, attempting to act normal once again. Gohan shook his head to get the troublesome thoughts out of it.
"Here, see if this rings any bells," Gohan said, then flicked the piece of paper from his pocket at her. She picked it up and glanced at it, her face perplexed. She didn't seem to recognize it at all. "No?" Gohan continued, "The guy back there, well, haven't a clue what his name is, but he serves a man named Derek Tanning. He's looking for a certain Ms. Satan."
Videl looked shocked at this, starring wide eyed at Gohan. She wasn't sure if he was angry by looking at him, since he still had on the sunglasses, but the way he had said her name like that startled her. Why would he be angry?
"Why didn't you tell me you're Hercules daughter! I know Ishould have recognized you, but for some reason, I just couldn't! It was like all memories of you disappeared! For some reason, I feel like I've met you before, but I just can't place it," Gohan said earnestly, trying so hard to bring the memory to his mind. But, as it usually goes, the harder he tried to remember, the more he lost it.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was that big of a deal! And I haven't even known you for more than a few hours! It's not like I'm proud to be his daughter either. He's a stupid, idiotic, fame seeking fake who can't do anything on his own!" Videl replied, upset.
"I'm sorry, Videl. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just, why do I get the feeling we met before this?" Gohan said more gently this time. He was honestly perplexed and Videl found it hard to not believe him.
"Now that you mention it, it does seem like I've met you before..." Videl trailed off, searching her memories for any sign of the man in front her. Peering at Gohan, she noticed he still wore the sunglasses and beanie hat. She was suddenly reminded of a kind man at room 78 who had helped her through rough times. Remembering this, she realized it had to be Gohan. "Gohan, it's you! You're the guy from room 78! You're him! I can't believe it! You're really him. For so long, I've wanted to say thank you for everything you did for me!" Videl exclaimed as she threw herself at Gohan once again in a tight hug. This time though, she was smiling widely instead of crying, a very welcomed change.
Although Gohan hugged her back, he hadn't a clue what she was talking about. He remembered living in room 78, he remembered Roberts and his wife, he remembered his room. But, what he didn't remember, was Videl. He strained against unseen bonds to bring the memory back to the surface. He caught a quick glimpse of a shivering body, of hot chocolate for two, of placing money at a doorstep. He pictured a face in his head then. It was blurred so much so that he could not recognize it. Slowly though, it began to become more and more clear. Then, just as the face was becoming clear enough to see, it vanished and no matter how hard he tried, he could not bring it back.
Something was wrong with him, he knew it. Usually, his mind was like acomputer, able to remember even the littlest things. But now, his memories of people, of places, of anything, were blurred and distorted. He was no longer able to recall his mother's voice, which scared him the most. Why was this happening to him? What was going on?
Just then, he heard a faint voice coming from the table. Both Gohan and Videl looked at Gohan's headphone set, guessing that was the source of the voice. Letting go of Videl, he walked to the table and put the headphones on and spoke into the mouth piece. "Hello? Head quarters?"
A muffled, small voice spoke into the other end, but Gohan was unable to make out what it was saying. "Repeat the message. I was unable to comprehend it," Gohan said, adjusting the reception on the ear piece. Finally, he fixed the frequency so that he was able to hear the person speaking from HQ.
"Gohan, man, I've got something important to tell you. I can't say it here, so I'm coming to you. Where should we meet, dude?" The person, now known as Sharpner, whispered. He seemed nervous about something, which got Gohan worried. If it was as big as a deal as to jeopardize the mission, then it had to be bad.
"Meet me at you know where. I'll be there in, let's say, 20 minutes," Gohan said hurriedly in the same low voice Sharpner was using. Without a reply, Sharpner hung up and left a very confused Gohan to think the new problem through.
Videl stood patiently to the side, waiting for Gohan to process the news in his head. She still had questions to ask him, but she knew that now was not the time. But, she didn't have to wait long because Gohan turned to her and said, "We've got to go now. Get whatever you need here and I'll explain everything in the car."
Nodding her head, Videl was about to go into the bedroom, when she remembered she hadn't brought anything. Instead, she put her shoes on and waited for Gohan to finish gathering his things. Her stomach growled in hunger, telling her she needed to grab something now or she might not get anything later. So, she went into the kitchen and grabbed enough of the provided food for herself and Gohan. After merely a few minutes, the pair were out the door and rushing to the car.
Gohan took off at full speed down the road, cutting in and out of cars as he went. He hoped Sharpner was able to get there before him because of where their meeting place was; they were risking exposure just by going there. The basement of a small, unpopular thrift store on the corner of a run down street, with Sharpner's kind, but ignorant uncle in charge of the establishment. He and Sharpner often went here to plan missions, hide objects, or simply talk somewhere outside of the office.
Holding on for dear life, Videl gripped the handle above her seat in an effort to avoid flying out of her chair, despite the fact that she was buckled in. So much for explaining everything in the car. But, to the great relief of Videl, they seemed to have arrived because the violent jerking had stopped. Peering out the window, she saw a very old, beaten neighborhood with what seemed to have only one store nearby; a small, ugly looking thrift shop. Why would they be here? No matter, as long as they were stopped, Videl was fine with just about anything.
Quickly, Gohan threw on his black hooded sweat shirt with the hood covering his head, the black sunglasses still on from before. Grabbing a few things from the back, supplies and the med kit was what Videl guessed they were, Gohan climbed out the car and rushed to help Videl out as well. Then, without any hesitation, Gohan waltzed down the street as smoothly as possible while Videl followed close behind.
As soon as Gohan pushed open the back door, Sharpner's uncle hastily escorted the two down the stairs, which was unusual because he usually only stopped by to give a quick greeting then leave to run his shop. 'This must be really important if he's escorting us. And he hasn't even asked about Videl yet,' Gohan thought to himself, a little uneasy. As they climbed down the old, creaking staircase, Gohan made sure to stay extra close to Videl. 'Just in case' is what he told himself, unwilling to except an other reason then for her own safety.
The lights flickered on and off, adding to the discomfort of the travelers creeping down to the bottom floor. When they reached the door, Sharpner's uncle knocked on the wooden door seven times in a unique rhythm, obviously a code only he and his nephew understood. Not even before the man had pulled back his hand from the last knock, Sharpner had flung the door open.
Dressed in black from top to bottom, Sharpner appeared himself in that sense. But with a haggard, tired face and dark circles under his eyes, he was very out of the ordinary. Before Gohan even had the chance to question him on this, he was pulled inside, along with Videl, and the door shut quickly behind them. Sharpner's uncle seemed not to mind that he had been kept out of the room because they could hear his nimble steps climb back from the way he came.
Gohan noticed Videl shiver from the sudden drop of temperature, so he removed his pull over sweatshirt and handed it to her. Hesitantly at first, but gratefully, Videl excepted the kind offer without a retort. This was an improvement as far as Gohan was concerned.
"Were you followed here?" Sharpner asked suddenly. Surprised slightly, since his friend never asked him that due to Gohan's great ability of stealth, Gohan shook his head in reply. "Good," Sharpner said, then pulled out a small stack of papers from his jacket and handed them to Gohan.
Starring down at the small print, Gohan asked bewilderedly, "What is this?" Pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back and keeping his eyes on the floor, Sharpner began his explanation.
"Exactly what I asked myself when I first stumbled onto it while searching for a less important document. At first, I discarded it as nothing, but something caught my eye. There at the top, read the heading: 'Cerebrum Alteration for use of Disobedient Subordinates by way of Nano Robotic Technology'. I knew that this had to be classified information, but from the tittle, I needed to know it's contents. Gohan, it's the PVPA! They've been using recently developed, very illegal, mind altering technology! And on all of us!" Sharpner exclaimed, now nearly yelling from the extreme amount of importance this held.
Stunned to the point of fainting, Gohan reeled backwards at this recently found knowledge. Hoping he had misinterpreted it wrong, Gohan said, "What, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying they've been changing our memories and ways of thinking, practically who we are, just in order to control us," Sharpner said simply, putting it into easier to understand words. He would like to see his old high school teachers' reactions to how far he had come now. In that point of his life, getting an education did not concern him. But after his sister was taken by a company like the UPO, he changed his ways to an extreme. Now, he was one of the smartest computer technicians in the whole, very educated, PVPA system. That meant that if there was a problem concerning the computers, he could fix it.
Now with his thoughts confirmed, Gohan had to sit down and think about all this new information. The PVPA were using mind altering technology to control them? But they were suppose to be the good guys! The UPO were who he was suppose to be concerned about, right? And nano technology? That means there were little robotic, what, creatures? Inside his body! This was all so very much to take in at once.
Continuing his pacing, Sharpner continued, "And that's not all! As I'm sure you've already found out, Mark crossed over to the UPO and as you remember, he was very high up in the PVPA social system. When he switched sides, he took along information of this technology to the representatives at the contact station in Chezerton, the same place you were just at last night! Since this was all recent to the men there, they have only just begun to act on it. They're planning on injecting exact replicas of the nano robots found in Mark's blood stream, into all the girls in the building! Worse yet, their knowledge of constructing the replicas is limited so much so, that it is certain the people who are injected, will be killed in a most painful way."
Frozen in horror, Gohan starred aghast at Sharpner, disgusted that such a thing like this could happen in the world. He seemed unable to form thoughts, let alone words. Videl, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble with this at all.
"E-erasa..." Videl whispered in shock. Finally, she found her voice renewed and with the most heart felt, agonized cry, she yelled, "ERASA! NO!" She dropped to the floor in anguish, hugging her arms around her body. Tears found their way down her tired face, spilling onto the floor. Her tormented sobs shook her body and echoed throughout the barren room.
Concern outweighing his dread, Gohan dropped to his knees on the floor next to Videl. He wrapped his arms around her unresponsive form, holding her like he once had held his agonizing brother. Whispering in a small, gentle voice, Gohan said, "Don't worry, Videl, we'll save her. I'll do whatever it takes to get her safely back to you. I swear to you on the name of my mother, I will."
Choking, Videl was able to sputter out between her sobs, "Sh-she's m-my only friend. The only o-one to l-love m-me." All this was said in a voice no louder than the smallest whisper, leaving a profound affect on the young man who had heard this.
Determined like never before, Gohan stood up and turned to the starring blonde man behind him. "Sharpner, we're going to save those girls in Chezerton, that is our mission. Do you accept?" Baffled, Sharpner could only nod his head and hope it was enough. Even if his friend was insane, he had gained his trust long ago and nothing he could do would take that away now.
Clenching his fist, Gohan gazed at the ceiling intensely. "Mother. I, I have not forgotten the promise I made to you, but, for right now, I need to put it on hold. Please understand," he pleaded so softly it could not be heard by anyone else. After his mother's disappearance, everything went down hill. Sure, he had never had a fairytale life, but he always knew he would have a happy ending as long as he had his loved ones. But now... 'ha, happy ending my butt,' he thought to himself.
Tapping his head in concentration, Gohan struggled through the excessively complex formula scribbled carelessly over the top of his paper. Trying to answer such a difficult equation while being flung from one side of the seat to the other though, was almost too much for the stressed young man.
Videl sat beside him, doing her best to stay calm in order to keep her wits about her. As soon as her two comrades had finished constructing their plan, all three adults rushed to Gohan's car, the one in which Sharpner was driving at this very moment. Videl made her own conclusion about the men of PVPA; they were all insane drivers!
Making a sharp turn onto a street, Videl flew onto Gohan, hitting her head into his chest, which seemed to go unnoticed by Gohan. Rubbing her head, Videl sat up and thought, 'Geez, what is he made of! Concrete!' Looking back over his shoulder for a split second, Sharpner asked, "G man, have you figured it out yet?"
Gohan growled in frustration, nearly breaking his pencil when he clenched his fist. "No! There's just something off about it all! I mean, there has got to be something I'm missing! This is so frustrating!" This being said, Gohan ran a hand through his spiky hair as a sign of his great agitation.
"Don't worry, if you can't get this, no one can," Sharpner said confidently. Gohan snorted and seemed to mutter a reply, but if it was understandable in anyway, neither Videl nor Sharpner could tell. Except for the occasional murmurs and curses Gohan said beneath his breath, the car went back to it's same loud silence from before. Indeed, with all the emotions and thoughts streaming through the air, silence had become louder than if someone had spoken.
Nudging Gohan in the side, Videl said, "We're here." At this remark, Gohan's head snapped up and he spotted the familiar, beat up building. He then turned his attention to Videl to see her reaction, but the only sign of emotion was her clenched jaw and fisted hands. For a small second, Gohan was tempted to reach out his hand and place it over her fists in comfort, but thought otherwise.
"Ok, I guess it's now or never. Let's put our plan into action," Gohan stated, taking the unofficial role as leader of the small team.
"Alright, alright! Who's ready for some butt kickin'?" Sharpner said with an excited smirk plastered on his face. He jumped out of the truck enthusiastically, followed by a much gloomier Gohan and Videl. They had driven past the building and parked a block around the corner so that Gohan, Videl, and Gohan's car wouldn't be recognized.
As Gohan remembered something, he reached into the back seat and pulled out a bag. In it was the supplies they would need. He unzipped it and pulled out a box of capsules and shoved it into his pant's pocket, then took out another capsule from deep within the bag. He tossed it to Sharpner, who knew instantly what it was and quickly put the object in his pocket without question. Since Gohan already had the rest of the equipment he needed strapped around his chest or in his pockets, the only things left in the bag were rope, a headphone set, a knife, and a very small box of capsules, which he handed to Videl. Finally, they were all set to begin their hurried plan.
Sharpner paused for a second, then asked, "Wait a sec, if this is to work, don't you think I need to look a little, well, more cleaned up?" Indeed, after his stressful last night and morning, Sharpner was quite the sad sight. This also caused Gohan to pause, but he soon discovered a way around the situation.
"Just brush your hair out, wash your face off, and, ah, take my sweatshirt. It's a lot cleaner," Gohan said as he stripped off his hooded sweatshirt, leaving him in only his tight, black tank top. Sharpner took the clothing from Gohan's hands gratefully, pulling it over his dirty, haven't-been-washed-in-days shirt, looking a lot better already. Then he pulled out his comb from his pants pocket and started combing out the large, ugly tangles.
Baffled, Videl starred at him like he had just grown horns. Out of all the things to have at a time like this, how the heck did he have a comb! Noticing the incredulous look on Videl's face, Gohan smiled, leaned over to her and said in her ear, "You'd think with the business we were in, he'd be more concerned about other things, right? Nope, he's still as vain as ever, especially when in comes to his hair. He ALWAYS has a comb in his pocket."
Obviously overhearing this comment, Sharpner sent Gohan a dirty look. "You say that now Mr. I-never-need-to-brush-my-hair, but you never know when a comb can come in handy," Sharpner said, then pocketed the small comb. "And I'm not vain," the blonde added as an after thought.
Gohan rolled his eyes, then wished Sharpner good luck as he headed in the opposite direction with Videl following courageously. Out of the corner of his eye, Gohan watched Sharpner confidently strut down the road toward the front entrance. 'Sometimes I can't help but wonder how that idiot can be so brave in a moment like this. Good luck, my friend, and be careful. I'm expecting your return,' Gohan thought to himself, silently cheering his friend on.
As soon as Gohan returned his attention to the mission at hand, he made a quick right into a blocked alleyway. He didn't make it very far though because when he looked back at Videl, she refused to enter the narrow space with him. Gohan was about to get frustrated with her, but then thought to try another tactic. He walked back to the place she stood frozen and looked deep into her eyes with his arms crossed, hoping that it would force information out of her.
Gulping, Videl crossed her arms also, but would not for the life of her look him in the eyes. Finally, in barely above a whisper, she said, "This looks like the place where it all started, where I was kidnaped." Shivering, she turned her back to him and stubbornly stood her ground.
Concerned, Gohan attempted to comfort her by putting his hand on her shoulder, but she flinched and shrugged his hand off. Sighing in frustration, Gohan tried to think of a solution quick before their time ran out, but his thoughts were too muddled.
"Look Videl, you're gonna have to trust me and face your fears here. Every second we stand here, the more time we waste in rescuing the girls, in rescuing Erasa," Gohan explained as patiently as he could, even though he knew it didn't sound comforting at all.
Videl spun around abruptly, Gohan's words obviously affecting her. Before Gohan even knew what happened, Videl took off down the alley with a determined expression on her face. Soon, Gohan was helping Videl over a brick wall, which he climbed over with ease, and found themselves heading toward the rear of the same wrecked building Sharpner was entering at that very moment.
Knocking loudly on the door, Sharpner stood outside with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. Secretly, he was enjoying this chance at role playing. When he was younger, he thought he might grow up to be a famous actor who got all the girls. Now, he's still an actor, but for an unknowing audience. And he was still getting all the girls, but not in the way he had planned.
Through the peep hole appeared a dark, dangerous looking brown eye searching around for Sharpner. Before Sharpner even had to say anything though, the man on the other side of the door opened the steel locked entry for Sharpner to see him. Not surprisingly, it was the same man that had first greeted Gohan when Gohan had played the part of a customer.
"Welcome. We hold a tight business here so I must ask for you to pay up front right here. We do not give refunds for a lousy lay," this man put as simply as he had to Gohan. Sharpner pulled out the capsule Gohan had given him before they went separate ways. He pushed the button on the top and out came a large bag full of jewelry ranging from beautiful necklaces to diamond studded rings. The vast amount even startled Sharpner, which the young man was able to hide well.
The greeting man's eyes grew large at the sight and he was about to take the whole bag when Sharpner snatched it away. Pulling out an especially expensive looking necklace, Sharpner examined it carefully first before handing it over to the man, trying his best to appear tormented about giving away one of his "prized" possessions. "This should pay for it wonderfully, am I right?" Sharpner said to the man who greedily took the piece of jewelry and with a nod, went into another room.
Coming back in with the necklace missing, the man who had greeted him told Sharpner, as politely as he could manage, to follow him up a stairway. As Gohan had done, he waited in a small room for someone to come get him to pick out his woman for the night.
Soon, within a matter of minutes, another man stepped into the room. This man was as equally large as the greeter, but he had a less intimidating posture. Impatiently, the man said to Sharpner, "Welcome to our establishment. My name is Dagger and I am stepping in for our boss, who regretfully couldn't be here for such a fine paying customer such as yourself. If you would just follow me, we have a rather large selection of ladies for you to choose from."
Confidently, Sharpner sprang up to his feet and accompanied the man, now known as Dagger, to another room in the small run-down place. As he passed a certain room along the way, Sharpner was hit with a very familiar smell. 'Oh no, they can't be starting yet! I must act quickly if we're going to have time to finish this mission successfully!' Sharpner thought to himself in a slight bit of panic. He noticed that they had stopped walking now and were standing outside a doorway.
The moment he entered into the room, his nerves went crashing to the floor. All the girls in the room looked deathly pale and scared out of their minds. Many of their faces were tear streaked with red eyes, hinting at long hours spent crying. What had they done to them to make the girls look so miserable? Sharpner was so disgusted that he almost forgot his role as a hungry customer, but quickly recovered before his slip could be noticed.
Whirling around on Dagger, Sharpner yelled, "What is the meaning of this! These girls look near dead! There's no way I'm spending my money on any of them!" Sharpner was now glaring at Dagger in anger, his breath coming faster and faster to him. He had to figure a way around this quickly, but nothing was coming to mind. Then it hit him and he knew exactly what to do.
Running his fingers through his hair in a sign of frustration, Sharpner pretended to calm down. "Look," he began, "how about I make you a deal? I'll give you this here diamond ring and gold watch if you let me have an hour with all these girls in this room right now. With as sickening as these girls look, you can't expect anything more."
Clearly hesitant, Dagger stroked his chin in thought. His boss would probably be angry with him for doing this, but what he didn't know can't hurt him. Besides, they've never made that much money in one night, let alone from one man!
"Ok, it's a deal. But only ONE hour, got it?" Dagger said gruffly, making a swipe for the items Sharpner held carelessly in his hand. Smirking, Sharpner let the greedy man take the jewelry out of his hand and stuff them into his front pocket.
"It's a pleasure doing business for you," Sharpner said with a mocking bow. He turned his back on Dagger and started walking toward the girls as Dagger walked out the door. "Oh," Sharpner called over his shoulder, "don't forget to lock the door. I do like my privacy." With that, the door was slammed angrily and locks could be heard hastily being fastened into place.
As soon as the idiotic man was gone, Sharpner's face made a complete change from confident jerk to determined hero. Quickly, Sharpner snatched his headset out from under his shirt and adjusted it so that he could communicate with Gohan. "Gohan, can you hear me?"
There was some interference, but nothing too bad that he couldn't hear the reply. "Yes, where are you?" Came Gohan's voice from the other end.
"You have to hurry. I'm in the big room, you know, the one where they put the girls when choosing. I have all the girls in here with me and the door's locked. I'll explain later, but for now, you have to hurry," Sharpner replied hastily as he quickly made his way to the window. All the girls scattered as he made his way toward their direction, but for the moment, he didn't care.
Crackling, Gohan's reply could barely be heard. "Ok, we're on our way. Don't do anything until we get there," Gohan said before his signal was lost completely.
Turning around, Sharpner let out a huge sign. This was going to be the hardest part yet. "Alright," he said quietly to the girls, "My name's Sharpner and I'm from PVPA, which stands for Predator Victim Protection Association. Actually, that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is my team and I have been sent here to rescue you all from the UPO. My team will be here any minute so I need you all to gather around so I can tell you our plan. And, please, we need to hurry!"
"Gohan, how are we going to get past those guards over there? I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to fight off a bad guy with a fully loaded gun!" Videl whispered heatedly in Gohan's ear as she crouched behind him in the bushes. They had finally made their way to the other side of the building where Videl told Gohan the "judgement room" was. Now, they were just trying to figure out a way to pull off their plan without getting caught.
"I have an idea. Wait here," Gohan said as he grabbed a large rock laying on the dirt beside him. When the guards had their backs turned for a split second, he hurtled the heavy rock to nearby bushes which made just the right noise he was looking for. Quickly, the guards chased after the noise and Gohan smirked. "I'll be right back," he said before disappearing into the bushes.
Silently, without making a single sound, Gohan crept to the area the guards were searching. He waited patiently for one of the guards to wander his way and when one did, he quickly chopped the man on the back of the neck. The burly man went down without even as much as a sound. Before any of the other four guards could find the man on the floor, Gohan changed his position to make another attack. Soon, he had taken down all the guards by surprise without a single utterance escaping any oftheir lips.
Only a few minutes after he had left Videl, he was back again. She gave him a questioning look, to which he replied, "Don't worry, I took care of them. They should be out for a while, but we still need to hurry. There's too many guards for me to sneak up on as I did with those five idiots."
Videl nodded, then followed closely behind Gohan as he made his way across the small dirt opening and right up to the back side of the building. With skills that surprised Videl, Gohan somehow scaled the brick building all the way up to the small window at the top. Once up there, he tapped on it lightly, hoping against hope that it was Sharpner who was on the other side. To his great relief and joy, it was Sharpner who lifted the glass window and greeted him silently.
Gohan pulled out a rope from around his shoulder and handed it to Sharpner, who took it quickly and stepped aside so that Gohan could climb in. Videl began to panic when she lost sight of Gohan, but was reassured when his head poked back out again as he lowered the rope to her below. Videl promptly grabbed her side of it and was about to start climbing when she was pulled up by Gohan faster then she would have been able to climb. He seemed to amaze her more and more every second she spent with him.
Within a matter of moments, Videl had climbed into the room, which soon filled with excited exclamations when she was recognized by the other ladies. Videl ignored all this though, she only had one person in mind. Searching through the crowd, she tried to find her favorite blonde friend, but Erasa was nowhere to be found. That caused Videl to panic and a sickening feeling rose in her stomach.
Suddenly, one of the few redheads out of all the girls whispered into Videl's ear, "you're looking for that one blonde girl, right? She's not in here. They took her into another room. They said something like she was going to be the first for something. With the way they've been acting, we all have been worried for her."
Upon hearing this new information, Videl whirled around to find Gohan. She rapidly crossed the room to where he was preparing to lower the first girl. When he saw her scared, panicked look, he knew something was wrong and stopped what he was doing. "What's wrong Vi-" he began before she cut him off.
"They've taken her! She's in another room, Gohan! They picked her to be first, of all the people, they picked her! Oh Kami, Gohan! We've got to save her!" Videl bitterly choked out as she pounded her small fists into Gohan's chest disheartedly.
Worriedly, Gohan said passionately, "I'll save her, Videl." Then he turned to Sharpner and said, "I need you to take care of these girls and get them out of here safely. I'm going to go take care of something first."
"No way, Gohan," Sharpner answered to Gohan's command. "I'll go and save the girl. No, don't try to tell me otherwise, Gohan! Listen, you know that the girls here are far safer with you then me. They're going to need you to get out of here. Kami, Gohan! If you guys were to run into trouble out there, we both know that you're their best bet to make it out alright! I couldn't do anything to protect them all! Besides, it's time for me to actually do something meaningful, you know? I can do this. I will save her."
Sharpner's profound speech left Gohan without words. What was he suppose to say to the determined man in front of him after that? No, he was going to put his faith in him and hope for the best. So, reluctantly, Gohan nodded and watched as Sharpner stealthily exited the room in search of Erasa.
Shaking out of his daze, Gohan glanced down at his watch. They'd already wasted a half hour! Rapidly, Gohan looped the end of the rope and placed it around one of the startled girls' waist. Gently, he let her climb out the window, shaking in fear, and lowered her with great speed to the ground. This he did over and over again until everyone except he and Videl were on the floor outside.
"Alright Videl, grab on and we can get out of this place for good," Gohan said as he tossed Videl one end of the thick rope. Videl hesitated though, then tossed the rope back at Gohan, which he was able to catch with ease.
"No, I wont go without Erasa!" Videl said stubbornly, shaking with worry and fear for her friend. As gently as Gohan was able to muster at the time, he wrapped his arms around the stiff girl and walked her toward the window. She saw his plan the moment he tried to lift her. She began to fight him, kicking and flailing fisted hands about.
Easily keeping Videl wrapped in his arms, Gohan said in a demanding tone, "Videl, there's nothing you can do for her now. You have to trust Sharpner to bring her back to you! Besides, I need you right now and I'm not going to let you do something as stupid as risk your life waiting around here for her!" With that said, he jumped out the window with her in his arms, completely discarding the rope as it fell to the floor below them.
He landed softly on the dirt, both he and Videl safe from the long jump. Videl had stopped struggling the moment he had leapt into the air. Whether it was his words that had made her stop or her fear of falling to her death, he didn't know, but whatever it was, he was glad for it.
Gathering up the girls with as much speed as he could summon at the instant, he led them back into the bushes, through a hole in the fencing, through an alleyway, and back to his car. When they reached the street, he grabbed a capsule from his pocket and threw it to the floor on the road. Out from the smoke came a large van, bigger than the usual size. For once he was glad that Bulma had sent him all her prototype vehicles for him to test out because this stealth van was just what they needed.
Gohan pulled open the doors in back of the van and instructed all the girls to climb in and squeeze together as much as they could. "Sorry for the close fit, but you'll just have to make due for now," Gohan said as he helped all the girls in one by one. Before long, all the ladies were tightly crowded together and Gohan was able to shut the door after them.
"Ok, now that that's taken care of, you and I are going to go see what we can do to help Sharpner with rescuing Erasa," Gohan said to Videl, then as an afterthought, opened the door to the van and said to the girls waiting, "Just stay right here for now and I promise we'll be right back. Yeah, so wait here and don't touch anything."
After that was said, Gohan shut the door again and hurried Videl back to the bushes, but this time, they went toward the side partof thebuilding to see if Sharpner had made it out of there already and whether he went through the front or back. They didn't see them anywhere and were starting to get nervous. The rescue team only had ten minutes left before the men in the "establishment" noticed that all the girls were gone. Talk about cutting it close!
Meanwhile, Sharpner was having an extremely difficult time weaving in and out of the rooms to avoid the guards walking around the hallways. He knew he didn't have much time left, but he didn't have a clue which room this girl was in! One time, while sneaking into a room, he accidently stumbled into a desk and knocked it over, creating a loud bang. He quickly scrambled to put it back into place and dove into a dark corner on the other side of the room. The second he had dove into the corner, one of the bulky guards opened the door and peered inside.
When the guard saw nothing worthwhile, he grumbled underneath his breath, "I could have sworn... ha, it must have been part of that stupid experiment they're doing. Maybe I should go check and see."
'Bingo, I've found my answer. Dude, I rock!' Sharpner thought to himself as he quietly inched out the door and followed the guard as he walked down the hall. Sharpner paused behind one corner and watched from his hiding place as the large guard knocked on a door at the end of the next hallway. The ugly red door opened, a few words were exchanged between the guard and a man on the other side, and the guard walked away to continue with his watch.
Sharpner waited until the guard went out of sight before he dashed for the door. He could only imagine what was happening on the other side or how many people he'd find in there, but his time was very limited at the moment. So, he knocked on the door and stepped into the shadows.
"What do you want now?" A gruff voice came from the small crack of an opening in the doorway. From the sounds of it, this man had been up all night working and hadn't had the slightest amount of sleep. 'This is good, it must mean that he has no one to fill in for him, meaning either he's the only one in there or there's only a small number,' Sharpner thought to himself before he replied.
"There's trouble downstairs with a new customer. He's quite the strong one and wont pay without talking to someone higher up," Sharpner lied, hoping that the made-up story would be bought. To his great relief, Sharpner watched the man step out the door grumbling, not even thinking to look back at who had given him the information.
"Perfect," Sharpner whispered to himself, then smoothly slid inside the room before the door was shut. The lights were dim, very dim, so much so that he could hardly see what was in front of him. Moments after he had found himself a hiding place behind a cart in the corner, the lights flickered back on, but still fainter then usually kept.
Now, Sharpner was able to see the room muchmore clearlythan he could before. To his utter horror though, what he saw now he almost wished that the lights had remained off. In the middle of the room, a beautiful blonde girl laid strapped into place on a metal table dressed only in herunderwear. Tears were flowing from her eyes, but her sobs were muffled by a rag shoved in her mouth, held in by tape. A creepy, large man in a white laboratory suit was standing over her with a needle in his hand, trying to find the best place to stick it into her skin.
Without even thinking about what would happen next, Sharpner leapt onto the man's back, startling him enough to force him to drop the needle, which shattered when it hit the floor.
"Nnnoooo!" The man cried when the glass needle shattered on the floor. With surprising strength, he ripped Sharpner from off his back and threw him against the opposite wall. Sharpner hitthe wallso hard,it collapsed in on top of him. Beneath the pile of wreckage, Sharpner laid in pain for long moments as he listened to his opponent's scream in anger. While ranting about, the man knocked over a bottle with a purple liquid in it, which, like the needle, fell to the floor and shattered.
The instant it made contact with the material from the needle, a spark began to take form. Pretty soon, the spark had grown to a large fire that was threatening to take over the whole building, let alone the whole room the three people were in at this very point in time.
Cursing the entire way out the door, the man wearing the lab coat ran for his life. The fire had now consumed the back wall and was now licking at the feet of the table the girl was strapped to. If Sharpner didn't hurry, he wouldn't be able to rescue her in time. And he had to rescue her!
Clenching his teeth, Sharpner attempted to shift the weight of the bricks from off of him, but as soon as he moved his right leg, unbearable pain shot up through his back and all throughout his body. He gasped from the pain the movement caused, knowing without a doubt he had broken his leg. Too determined to give up though, Sharpner pushed through the pain, screaming only once, and was finally able to remove the junk that had crushed him against the dirty wood floor.
Gasping in pain unknown to him before, Sharpner limped over to the terrified young women strapped to the table. Without a word, he unbolted the metal straps that bound her to the table, burning his hand when it came time to take off the ones on her forearms, which also burnt her skin a great measure, he noticed.
Free at last, Erasa jumped down from the table and removed the gag from her mouth in order to thank her rescuer. There was no time for that though because the fire had moved onto the door, which meant there only way out was to jump out of a two story high building through the hole made in the wall when Sharpner had been throw against it. Now what were they suppose to do?
"Look, fire!" Videl pointed out to Gohan from their hiding spot in the bushes. Gohan snapped his head in the direction Videl was pointing and saw one of the rooms on the other side of the building with a large hole letting flames escape into the night air. They only hadfive minutes left before they needed to be gone from this place, but now that a fire had been started, their time was up and still no sign of Sharpner and Erasa!
Squinting through the smoke, Gohan was able to spot two figures standing near the edge of the hole, ready to jump asit looked like. Knowing that it had to be Sharpner and Erasa, he sprinted faster than he'd ever allowed a human to see before. Right now, he didn't care if this rose suspicion with Videl, he was too worried about saving the two peopleto care.
Now standing below the two beings in the top room, he yelled above the roar of the fire, "Jump!" There was no time for them to hesitate so Erasa jumped first. Gohan easily caught her in his arms and placed her down gently, then returned his attention back to Sharpner. Even though this would probably hurt his pride, Sharpner jumped to save his life and Gohan caught him. When he put Sharpner down, Gohan heard him take a quick intake of breath out of pain. Gohan knew right there that Sharpner had injured himself badly.
With no time left to spare, Gohan threw Sharpner over one shoulder, then Erasa over the other and took off running to the bushes. Once he was back again, he grabbed a very shocked Videl and put her on the same shoulder Erasa was on. This time he slowed down a bit to be extra careful, in case Sharpner's injuries could be aggravated by the intense speed.
Gohan looked back over his shoulder to watch the commotion happening in the building. Most guards were running all around the building, searching for the girls and the people who took them. The rest of the guards appeared to be trying to extinguish the fire before it spread, but it was too late; the flames had reached the room below and next to it.
Satisfied with their work, Gohan smirked as he made his way back to the large van the girls were in. Softly, Gohan placed the astonied women on their feet, but opened the door to the passenger seat and lightly sat Sharpner down.
"I can manage fine on my own," Sharpner said, but couldn't help the forced smile of gratitude from reaching his face. Gohan just rolled his eyes and closed the door, then turned to Videl and Erasa. Both girls were crying into the others hair as they hugged each other tightly, refusing to let go for the time being. Gohan hated to break up their tearful reunion, but they had to get out of there now.
"Sorry, but we got to hurry. Come on!" Gohan said, then quickly walked around the other side of the van. He let the two girls in first, who squeezed in close to Sharpner, trying not to hurt him more then he already was. Gohan then climbed in his self and started the van, but then remembered his truck parked on the other side of the road. Taking the risk, he hopped out of the van and rummaged through his pockets for a capsule to de-capsule his truck, which he found fairly quick.
"Alright, here we go!" Gohan said as he climbed back into the van and pushed the stealth button, the same type that was in his truck. Then they drove off, away from the pain and disaster behind them, and into what they thought would be a bright, happy future. But boy were they wrong.