My Life's Stranger Than Yours

A Brief But Eventful Rest: Taking it Easy at the Tendo's

It had been 5 or so minutes since Akane and Gohan had left the Cat Café, the latter following behind Akane as she led him to her home.

"Are we there yet?" asked Gohan.

"Almost, just another block forward," replied Akane.

Before long, the duo finally arrived at the Tendo Dojo, Akane letting out a satisfied sigh. "Finally, we're here!"

As the two made their way to the entrance, Gohan paused and spoke up. "Hey Akane?"

"What is it?"

"If you don't mind my asking, what's your family like?"

Akane hesitated before shrugging. "Why don't you just find out for yourself." Taking Gohan by the arm, Akane pulled Gohan through the door and announced, "I'm home!" To her surprise however, she didn't' receive a response.

"Is…is anyone home?" Gohan asked.

"I'm…not sure," Akane replied. The pair received their answer once they entered the living room and spotted a note on the table.

"Ranma and Akane,

Nabiki and I are going shopping with Aunt Nodoka after she gets out from work. Father and Uncle Saotome have also gone out for the evening so you two will be alone for a while. We'll be back soon, please try not to fight each other while we're gone.

-Kasumi"

P.S. Kasumi has some snacks prepared, so there's no need to try and cook anything. We DON'T need another kitchen disaster like last time little sis.

-Nabiki

"Well…this was unexpected," Akane said with a small twinge of irritation.

"What was?"

"It looks like everyone's gone."

"Aww, that's too bad," Gohan groaned. "I was looking forward to meeting your family."

Akane shrugged. "Someone will probably be back soon enough." 'And given the record for when Ranma and I are alone, it'll be at the worst possible time.' "In the meantime, what do you wanna do?"

Gohan placed a hand to his chin in thought. "Well, now that I think about it, I do have some homework to finish."

Akane pounded her palm with her fist. "Dang it. I just remembered I do too!"

"Well, I guess we'll be studying together for now."

"Sounds good to me. Be right back!"

[A few minutes later]

Gohan and Akane were seated around the living room table, various textbooks and papers scattered about, accompanied by a half-eaten plate of rice balls and tiny sandwiches. Gohan was working without much of a hitch but looked up from his book when he heard Akane let out a groan.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm just having a bit of an issue with this problem here," Akane said pointing to a page in the math book.

"Here, let me see…" stepping behind Akane to get a glance at her book, his eyes lit up. "Oh, I see the problem. You just have to…"

Gohan proceeded to explain Akane's error, and after a couple of revised explanations, she finally understood. "Oh, I get it now!"

Gohan let out a chuckle as Akane excitedly wrote down her answer. "Geeze, that was a migraine and a half," Akane groaned. "How'd you get it so easily? We're not even doing the same subject right now?"

An almost uncharacteristically smug grin found its way onto Gohan's face. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but I do have a reputation for being the smartest kid in Orange Star High."

"Is that a fact?" Akane said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Gohan replied with a simple chuckle as he reached for the plate of snacks. Unfortunately, his aim was a little off as he proceeded to knock the plate off of the table and spill its contents all over the floor and Akane.

"Ack!"

"Gah! I'm sorry, I swear that was an accident!" Gohan exclaimed.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Akane shrugged off. "Just wait here while I go grab something to clean this mess up with.

Akane swiftly picked herself up off the floor, but before she could make her way to the kitchen, she was tripped up by her own bookbag causing her to tumble over.

"Watch out!" Gohan quickly got up and reached out an arm to catch her, but wound up tripping over Akane's bag himself and the two fell down on the floor together.

[Meanwhile]

Unbeknownst to Akane and Gohan, in the rear of the Tendo Dojo, an irritated Ranma was muttering to himself while he drowned his frustration in a fierce rep of push ups, flips, and katas. "Damn kid…stupid Akane with her 'Oh, remember wha happen!?', and damn nosy Mousse. None of his damn business what-!"

Almost on cue, a shadow divebombed Ranma and launched a throwing knife at him. Thanks tp his sharp reflexes, Ranma was able to quickly dodge the projectile and snatch the shadow out of the air, revealing itself to be a duck wearing a pair of swirly glasses.

'Speak of the devil…' "Mousse, what the hell are you doing here?"

"QUANK! HONK! QUACK!"

"Oh right, you can't speak. One sec." Reaching into his shirt, Ranma pulled out a capsule and popped it open revealing a thermos. 'Note to self, remember to thank Mom for this idea when ya see her again.' Pouring its contents into the top, Ranma then poured the (scalding) hot water over Mousse transforming him back into human form.

"Eeeeeek! Did the water really have to be that hot Saotome!?"

"Quit yer complainin', at least your human again. Now would ya care to explain why you're hasslin' me for this time?"

"Believe it or not Ranma Saotome, I have no quarrel with you this day. My anger is aimed at that miscreant who would dare lay his perverted hands on my Shampoo!" Mousse proclaimed.

Ranma looked to the sky in thought. "Why does it feel like we've been here before?"

[Elsewhere]

A tiny black piglet, in the arms of a girl with long dark hair let out a loud sneeze.

"Oh Ryoga, is that cold water getting to you?" the girl asked the piglet. "Don't worry, there's a public bath in town so we'll have you warmed up and human again in no time!"

[Back with Ranma and Mousse]

"Look dude, do everyone here a favor and just let it go. In case you missed it, Gohan already has a girlfriend, and doesn't like Shampoo like that, so you really have no reason to go after him," Ranma stated.

"Be that as it may, I still can't forgive him for defiling Shampoo the way he did. Not to mention your implication of him being stronger than me." Mousse snapped back.

Ranma let out a chuckle before responding. "Okay, I'll give you that last one, but even if you wanted to challenge him, unless he's still at the Cat Café, I think you're outta luck pal. Dude's probably already gone home by now."

"Not true. For I saw him leave the Cat Café together with Akane Tendo. If anyone knows where Rice Boy would be, it's her. I'd ask his lady friend who's training at the Cat Café, but I doubt she'd be too cooperative."

Ranma did a double take at Mousse's statement. "Wait, Gohan and Akane…together? Are you sure you didn't just mistake them for some random couple on the street or somethin'?"

Mousse nodded. "I'm positive. I had my glasses on when I saw them leave, although I lost them when I happened to fly through a rather low cloud."

Ranma crossed his arms. "Heh, even if they were together at the time, Gohan's probably already gone home by now, and Akane's not even home yet."

"Hmmmm…you make a valid point. Still, if he is still in town, and with Akane Tendo, I do believe they'll show up here sooner or later. I'll depart for now Ranma, but I'll be back." Leaping over the dojo's fence, Mousse then bounded away, his search prompt to resume.

Ranma sighed as he re-entered the dojo and sat cross legged on the floor, his encounter with Mousse all but killing his motivation to train. "Suit yourself, but I'm tellin' ya you're wasting your time. For all we know, Akane could be with her friends from school and Gohan could be five miles on his way home." He thought aloud. Until…

"Kyaaa!"

"Huh? Who was that? Is everyone home already?"

Exiting the dojo, Ranma quickly made his way to the living room. "Yo, is anybody here? I thought I…heard…a…scream…"

Ranma's speech slowed to a crawl as he witnessed a stunned Akane laying on top of a blushing Gohan.

"Wha…what's goin' on here?" asked a dumbfounded Ranma.

"R-Ranma!?" the pair simultaneously exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Gohan added.

"I live here. What are you doing here and why is Akane on top of you!?" Ranma countered. His eyes then lit up as he let out a hysteric gasp. "No! Don't tell me…! Akane, I can't believe this!" Ranma cut her off. "I thought Videl was your friend, but here I find you puttin' the moves on her boyfriend!"

Akane narrowed her eyes in shock before letting out a resounding "WHAT!?"

"Wait a sec Ranma, Akane wasn't trying to-!" Gohan tried to explain.

Cutting him off, Ranma continued. "Are you really that desperate to feel sexy that you had to try and seduce a taken man!?"

With a fierce twitch in her eye, Akane swiftly removed herself from Gohan and darted at the smarmy Ranma who dodged her incoming attack.

"Raaaaanmaaaa! Get back here you jerk!" Akane demanded.

"Not until I tell Videl what you two have been up to!" Ranma countered flipping away from Akane's follow-up strikes. Picking himself off the floor, Gohan followed after the pair as the chase continued until the duo wound up back into the dojo.

Akane grabbed a bamboo sword and continued her assault on the ever evasive Ranma. Her irritation reaching a fever pitch, Akane wound up, preparing what would've surely been a home-run swing, until Gohan quickly interjected. Warping in front of the two, he caught Akane's sword with a single hand just as Ranma cartwheeled away and took a defensive stance.

"Ranma, you've got it all wrong!" Gohan quickly exclaimed. "Akane just tripped and I caught her, but we still fell!"

Dropping his stance, Ranma said in a gleefully dismissive tone, "Oh is that all it was? That's a relief. For a sec or two, I thought you two were gearin' up to go on a date or somethin'" Ranma chuckled.

"Hey, Akane's a nice girl, but I'd never cheat on Videl with anyone." Gohan said firmly

"Good on you for that pal, but why didn't you just say somethin' earlier?"

"You never gave us a chance to explain!" answered Gohan.

Ranma closed his eyes and put a hand to his chin in faux deep thought. "Hmmmm…not havin' a chance to explain somethin' that looks bad." Opening one eye, he turned his attention to Akane with a smug grin and added, "Now why does that sound so familiar?"

Akane's face became a light red as she understood Ranma's implications. Gohan on the other hand just watched the two with a look of confusion on his face. "Umm…am I missing something?"

"Don't worry about it pal. All you need to know is I just gave Akane a taste of her own medicine. Sorry I kinda roped you into it though," Ranma explained.

"A taste of her own…?"

"Don't try and turn this on me!" Akane exclaimed.

"Hey, don't get mad just cause you know how I feel when you do that crap to me!" Ranma shot back.

"That's cause it's always your fault!" Akane argued.

"It ain't ALWAYS my fault!"

"Name one time!"

"Okay…how bout that time when I had to hug anybody who sneezed!?"

"…Okay fine, you have one, but what about that time you tried to get frisky with our teacher!"

"You already know what I was tryin' to do! I was tryin' to hit her pressure points so she'd stop stealin' everyone's energy!"

The pair continued to go back and forth recounting many a time when Ranma was caught in a compromising position and disputing whether or not Ranma was truly at fault or not. Meanwhile off to the side, Gohan just continued to watch the heated exchange with worry and confusion on his features.

Deciding it'd probably be best to not intervene in their little debate, Gohan slowly backed away out of the dojo and quickly returned to the living room. He still needed to finish his homework, not to mention clean up the food that he'd spilled earlier. Upon his arrival however, he was surprised to find the food already cleaned up, and the papers that had been scattered were neatly stacked back onto the table as well.

"How'd this happen?" Gohan thought aloud.

Gohan received his answer when the sound of gentle humming filled his ears and he turned to find a ponytailed girl, who looked not too older than himself enter the room with a fresh plate of snacks in hand.

"Oh! I didn't know we had a guest."

"A guest?" said another female voice. An older (but still fairly young, yet mature) woman entered behind the girl and the two greeted Gohan with curious, but inviting expressions. Unbeknownst to the Saiyan however, a third female was viewing the scene from the staircase just a short distance away from the three. She'd join them soon to meet and greet their visitor, but before she did, a single surprising thought quickly flashed in her mind. 'He's kinda cute.'

[Meanwhile]

Back in the dojo, Ranma and Akane had carried on their argument through shouting and a second round of Ranma being chased by a bamboo sword wielding Akane. After numerous recounts and refutes of Ranma being the initiator of many of his compromising situations such as the Jusenkyo Spring in the girl's locker room and the flirtatious clone of female Ranma, among others, the argument finally ended when Akane threw Ranma into the pond in the garden.

As Ranma angrily rang her shirt out, Akane let out a sigh of defeat. "You've made your point," Akane muttered.

"What's it…?"

"I said you've made your point!" Akane repeated. "I get it okay, I jump to conclusions a lot, I should listen to you first more, and I totally had your little prank earlier coming, okay? You HAPPY!?"

Crossing her arms, Akane turned her back to a stunned Ranma who's mouth was just all but hung open. Putting her shirt back on, Ranma cautiously approached the dismissive Akane and gave a single simple request.

"Akane, hit me."

"…What?"

"You just admitted you were wrong. I need to be sure that this is actually happening and I'm not in like a dream, or some mirror world or something."

Feeling more compelled to comply now, Akane brought her fist down an unprepared Ranma's head, planting her into the floor.

"Mmkay, dssh esh meel…" [A/N: Okay, this is real]. Picking herself out of the human shaped imprint, Ranma rubbed her sore head and quickly added. "At least now maybe you'll think twice before you go accusin' me of stuff I ain't doin'."

"Don't push it Ranma." Akane warned. "Yeah, looking back, there were a lot of times where you were innocent, but there've been just as many times when you weren't. Shall we go over them again?"

"Naw, this chapter's already derailed enough, and we need to get back on track," Ranma refused. "Still, it was fun to be the accuser for once. Maybe the author will let it happen again." She chuckled.

"I hope not. Or at the very least, if he does do it again, I hope he doesn't involve Gohan," Akane added. "I'd hate to see him and Videl break-up, and I don't think I could handle it if I were the reason for it."

"Speakin' of which, where is Gohan?" asked Ranma.

"He was here just a second ago? Maybe he just left?"

"Can't say I blame him after havin' your heavy, barreled, body all over him."

Twitch!

"Whoop-!"

THWAM!

[A couple minutes later]

"Okay, I'll admit it…I had that coming."

Akane simply ignored her as the two girls returned to the living room, prepared to clean up the mess they remembered was there. They were not prepared however, for what they saw next.

"So you're top of your class at school?" came the intrigued voice of Kasumi.

"Yeah." Gohan replied between bites of a rice ball.

"It's not too often we get someone around these parts who actually puts stock into school work," Nabiki commented.

"A strong martial artist, who also has a high IQ?" Nodoka let out a longing sigh. "~Haaa~, Videl sounds like a really lucky girl to have found herself such a catch like you."

A blushing Gohan bashfully avoided eye contact at Nodoka's compliment.

As the three women chuckled at Gohan's modesty, Kasumi finally noticed Akane and Ranma in the room, with stunned looks on their faces.

"Oh! Ranma, Akane, there you two are," greeted Kasumi.

"What's going on here…?" asked Ranma and Akane together.

"Oh we were just getting acquainted with Gohan here," Nodoka answered. "When you brought him up before Akane, you didn't tell us he was so well mannered," Nodoka beamed.

"I…get it from my mother," Gohan said placing a hand behind his head.

"Well, we'll leave you kids alone for now. Kasumi and I have dinner to prepare. Will you be joining us Gohan? Judging from that plate, you seem to have a rather healthy appetite." Said Nodoka.

"I'd like to, but I probably can't. I'm only here until Videl gets back, then we have to get home." Gohan declined.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, the offer's still open." Nodoka emphasized as she and Kasumi left the four teens to their own,

Akane sighed. "I think I need a bath."

"Yeah, if anyone needs me, I'll be in the dojo," Ranma said dismissively. To everyone's surprise however, she didn't make a point about wanting to change back to normal first. Now there's a sure sign that Ranma's just done at this point.

The two then went their separate ways, leaving Gohan and Nabiki alone for the moment. The middle Tendo girl chose that moment to position herself beside Gohan just as he finished up the last bit of his rice ball.

"Well, we've got some time to kill, so you wanna talk a little more?" Nabiki suggested.

"I don't mind, but I do still have some homework to finish," Gohan earnestly replied.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. 'He really does put a lot of stock in school…how bout that,'

As Gohan picked up the previously discarded text book, Nabiki folded her arms beneath her chest before continuing on. "You know, when Akane told us about 'Videl's mysterious boyfriend,' she really undersold you."

"Undersold?"

"A smart, polite boy who's also a strong martial artist, and cute to boot? It almost sounds like a too good to be true." Nabiki complimented, her eyes becoming subtly catlike.

Gohan could only reply with a coy, "Thank you," before turning his attention back to his textbook.

Nabiki crossed both arms behind her head as she laid back in the sofa seat. "Not gonna lie, it almost makes me a bit jealous."

"Maybe I oughta start jogging, since it seems the sporty, athletic type girls get all the guys," she added crossing her legs together.

Gohan turned to Nabiki, intending to ask what she meant by that, but upon noticing her…position, quickly buried himself back into his textbook. This did not go unnoticed by Nabiki, who quickly grew a mischievous smirk.

"Speaking of athletic girls, how exactly did you and Videl get together?" Nabiki asked.

"W-well…" a bead of sweat ran down Gohan's forehead. "There's not much to say really. I was new at school, we hung out together through mutual friends and then after a while we just sort of…hit it off." Gohan meekly replied. "After that things just kind of…escalated from there."

Nabiki narrowed an eyebrow. That explanation was too…basic. There had to be more too it right?

"So…what's your favorite thing about her?" Nabiki followed up.

Gohan's meek expression quickly grew more positive. "That's easy. It's definitely got to be her strong determination. I know a lot of strong willed people, but there's something about Videl's 'Never give up' attitude that just…" Gohan paused as his face turned red. "…just speaks to me…even if it does tend to get her into trouble more than a few times."

Nabiki's shady curious expression suddenly turned notably more earnest at Gohan's heartful words.

Unbeknownst to the two, their conversation was being heavily listened in on by Nodoka and Kasumi, who wanted to make sure Nabiki didn't try anything skeevy. They didn't think she'd try to do something like try and take Gohan for herself, but with Nabiki being as nosy as she is, it wasn't farfetched to think she'd try to take advantage of him in some way to make money. Still, the two eavesdroppers, couldn't keep their hearts from skipping a beat at Gohan's heartful words. Given all the romantic entanglements around this town, finding someone who was so genuine with their feelings for their significant other was rather rare, and a nice change of pace.

'That was…'

'…so adorable!'

Gohan and Nabiki sat in silence after their previous exchange of words, as Gohan wanted to focus on his work and Nabiki felt…mysteriously less inclined to keep pressing Gohan for details about him and his relationship with Videl.

The entire house remained unusually quiet for the moment, barring miniscule sounds from both the kitchen and dojo, until Akane finally returned to the living room from her bath. As she strolled over to Nabiki and Gohan, the door hastily flew open, and in walked Soun and Genma in Panda form.

"We're home!" Soun announced.

"Oh hey Dad," the two sisters greeted their father.

"Hmm, is Ranma home yet?" read Genma's sign. His attention then shifted to Gohan who was still casually reading his textbook.

"Uhhhhh…is that a Panda Bear?" asked a flabbergasted Gohan.

"Why yes, yes it is," Soun replied. "And who would you be, young man?" Soun.

"Oh, my name's Son Gohan," the young hybrid politely introduced himself.

The two patriarchs remained silent. Though their expressions were neutral on the outside, inwardly the two were exploding with a multitude of emotions ranging from shock, anticipation, and worry. Through a series of eyeglances, the two communicated to each other what their next move should be.

"So, this is the boy Ranma and Akane spoke of?"

"He just introduced himself with the same name as the Legendary Master's pupil, so he must be?"

"For now just act natural. Mention the Turtle Hermit if you have to, but be subtle about it. We don't wish to cause a scene if we happen to be wrong."

The two nodded to each other before Soun cleared his throat and formally introduced himself and Genma.

"Well, apologies for not being home to greet you earlier. My name is Soun Tendo, the master of this dojo, and this is my dear old friend and partner, Genma Saotome."

"Saotome? Wait, are you Ranma's father?" Gohan asked.

Before Genma could write a response on his sign, hot water was poured onto the growling panda's head changing him back into human form.

"That's a yes," Nabiki answered.

"Well, now that Saotome here has introduced us, I hope you wouldn't mind if the three of us men chatted a little," Genma said crossing his arms.

"I don't mind but what about?"

Before the two patriarchs could answer, there was a loud, shrill beep. While everyone was stunned by the unexpected noise, Gohan reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

"Oh, looks like Videl's finished at Ms. Cologne's place. Sorry, but it looks like we'll have to chat later," Gohan said gathering his things.

"Isn't it a bit early for Videl to be finished training with Cologne?" Akane noted.

"Maybe she's letting her off early tonight?" Gohan suggested.

"But why though?"

"Guess I'll find out. I'll see you later Akane, and it was nice meeting everyone!" Darting out the door, Gohan sprinted up the street just as SOun and Genma hastily called out, "WAIIIT!"

Just missing the speedy Saiyan, the two friends stumbled over each other and fell to the floor just as soon as the door shut.

"I guess Gohan won't be joining us for dinner after all," interjected Kasumi. "In any case, dinner's almost done, so everyone wash up and get ready, and could someone please get Ranma?"

"I'm right here," the redhead announced entering the room. "Hey Pop, why're you and Mr. Tendo on the floor?"

The duo responded with a grunt of failure.

[Meanwhile]

As Gohan made his way back to the Cat Café, his phone once again pinged. Pulling it out, he read the message with a confused look on his face.

"Gohan, change of plans. We're not going home JUST yet! No time to explain why, just know that I need your help! Keep on the lookout for something out of the ordinary. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it!"

'What does she mean by out of the ordinary?' thinking over Videl's words, his sprint was slowed down by the sound of screaming. Angry screaming. A LOT of angry screaming. A lot of angry FEMALE screaming.

"What…what's that sound?" asked Gohan.

Clearly ignoring the narration, the young Saiyan received his answer as the screaming was soon accompanied by the sound of hearty laughter. Turning to the opposite end of the street, Gohan's eyes widened as he saw a mob of very irate girls, some of them wielding makeshift weapons from sports sticks to brooms and everything in between, chasing after something small and dark that was just bounding just out of their clutches.

"I hit the motherload this time!" came a raspy voice. Upon closer inspection, Gohan identified the small black figure to be an elderly man with a black mask tied around his head carrying a green sack. As the elder leapt away from the attack of one of the women, something fell out of the sack, something that made Gohan turn very red.

"Is…is that…a bra!?"

Putting two and two together, Gohan finally realized why the mob of women were so angry. Amongst the ineligible angry screams, Gohan did manage to make out a familiar voice yell out, "Get back here you filthy freak!"

Sure enough, pushing through the pack until she was at the head was none other than Videl who was looking absolutely irate.

"Videl? Is this what she was talking about?" Putting the thoughts aside, Gohan immediately chose to spring into action…well…almost immediately. First things first, he needed to prepare.

[Meanwhile, with Happosai and the mob]

"I swear I'm gonna break you!" Threatened a heavily panting Videl.

"Sorry Ms. New girl, but you still got a few hundred years before you can catch the great Happosai!" the elder taunted.

"You wanna bet!?"

Leaping into the air, Videl hovered above Happosai and launched at him with a dive kick. The smug pervert merely leapt away from the anxious girl's attack with a tormenting laugh.

"Like I said, you've got no chance against me!"

Videl growled with furious irritation. Normally she'd be able to deliver on her threats, but given the fact that this old man was more slippery than a greased eel, not to mention Videl's current state of exhaustion following her training with Cologne, making good on her words would prove rather difficult this time.

As both Happy and Videl stood defiantly, waiting for either one to make the next move, the girls in the mob all turned their attention to a flowing shadow that suddenly appeared overhead. This didn't go unnoticed by the two combatants who also turned towards the mysterious shadow. In the next instance…

STOOOMP!

"Bwwaagh!"

Videl let out a victorious, "All right!" as the other girls gasped in shock.

as a familiar figure in a green suit, orange helmet, and red cape, planted his foot on top of Happosai, driving him into the pavement and catching the sack that he'd subsequently discarded.

'Who's that?'

'Is he with the old man?'

'Why's he dressed like a weirdo?'

'He looks like a Power Ranger!'

'Power Rangers don't wear capes though.'

'One team did…'

Inoring the murmurs of the curious mob, the green clad savior said to Happosai, "Excuse me sir, but I don't believe those belong to you." Without another word, the hero tossed the sack to Videl who then unwrapped it and let the other girls find their stolen garments.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY TREASUUUURES!"

"A word to the wise old timer, stealing is NEVER okay, especially from women…and that goes double for items that are as personal as those!" the green clad figure scolded.

"Yooooouuuu…YOUUUUUUUUUUU…!" Happosai grit his teeth in pure rage as his battle aura flared to life. In a small explosion, Happosai disappeared from under the hero's heel and stood defiantly before him.

"YOUUUUU! I don't know who you are, but mark my words sonny, I'll make you pay for ruining this Elder's one happiness in this cruel forsaken world!" he declared.

"You don't know who I am?" the hero replied with a smirk. "Allow me to tell you my name!"

All the girls, Videl included watched the scene with anticipation. 'And, here it comes,' Videl thought with s light chuckle.

Striking a pose where he crossed his arm across his chest, he began his signature phrase.

"I am…an ally of justice!" Pose.

"Who does not tolerate evil!" Pose.

"I. Am…THE GREAT SAIYAMAN!" Ending pose!

All the tension of the situation instantly died as everyone, with the sole exception of Videl looked at Saiyaman with looks of befuddlement.

Happosai dropped his fighting stance and just stammered in bewilderment, "Wow…that was just…wow…"

"It kinda reminded me of Sailor Moon, only not as cool or catchy!" added one of the girls from the mob.

"I'm…unfamiliar with that name, but I can assure you, I'm more than capable of dealing with this lecherous miscreant!" Saiyaman declared taking his own fighting stance.

"Sorry sonny, but after witnessing…whatever that was, I don't even feel like fighting you anymore, so you know what, I'll just take my consolation prize and be on my way."

Taking out a stick with a sack tied to the end, Happosai turned to make his exit. Saiyaman was a bit hesitant to go after him, since he did surrender after all. His hesitation was quickly squelched by the sack coming undone and a single white bra fell from it. Saiyaman sighed as he was about to make a move to retrieve the stolen garment but paused when he heard a familiar voice cry out.

"Hey wait a minute...THAT'S MY BRA!" came the anguished yell of Videl.

Both Saiyaman and Happosai paused at the proclamation, the latter of whom began to sweat bullets.

"Saiyaman…"

"Ms. Videl…"

"Let him have it!"

"With pleasure!"

His motivation flying through the roof, The Great Saiyaman flew at the diminutive old man and pulled back his fist. Channeling his energy into his hands, the hero fired off his attack with a fierce yell of.

"Justice…PUNCH!"

Happosai cried out in absolute agony as Saiyaman's attack hit like a stampede of elephants and launched him halfway across the globe, complete with a trademark Team Rocket *PING

As Saiyaman stood triumphantly, the mob of girls broke out into a fit of cheers.

"That was awesome!"

"My hero!"

"You saved us!"

Giving a two-fingered salute, Saiyaman replied with a simple, "All in a day's work." Before taking off into the sky. As the girls waved the hero off, Videl let out a satisfied giggle before going to retrieve what was hers.

[A few minutes later]

Saiyaman was soaring through the sky, searching for a place to change back into Gohan. All the while, he couldn't stop thinking about the bizarre encounter he just had. 'Man, Mom, Bulma, and 18 think Master Roshi's bad, that tiny guy, really took the cake. Even Elder Supreme Kai wasn't this bad.'

Saiyaman sighed. 'Still, how the heck did he get Videl's…?' His thoughts froze as he quickly realized what Happosai's theft meant. For a brief moment, Videl wasn't wearing a…!

Gohan quickly banished the thought from his mind just as a familiar voice caught his attention.

"There you are Gohan!"

Quickly fixing his composure, Gohan shakily, but heartfully greeted her. "Oh, hey Videl."

"Why are you still in the costume?"

"Just looking for a place to change back."

"Just do it here, nobody can see us THIS high up."

"…True."

Hitting the button on his watch, The Great Saiyaman once again took the form of Son Gohan and the couple proceeded to fly back to Satan City. The two remained silent for the early minutes of their flight until Gohan spoke up.

"So Videl, how'd your training with Cologne go?" he asked.

"The bulk of it was the same, but it was all worth it. Cologne said that my energy may be at an acceptable level so tomorrow, we'll try the technique for real!"

"Wow, that's great!" Gohan exclaimed.

"She let me out early so I can rest tonight. I may have built up my energy over the past week, but I still have a long way to go before I can use it as effortlessly as you guys do." Videl said with a determined look on her face.

Gohan couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in Videl's announcement. He was the one who taught her to access her energy in the first place, and now she was on the way to learning an offensive technique. Still, he also couldn't help but feel a bit guilty that he wasn't the one showing her.

"Hey Videl?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for snooping on you but…"

"If you're worried if I'm still mad about that, then calm down. I'm already over it," she assured him.

"Heh, well I'm glad to hear that, but what I want to know is why were you so dead set on keeping this training a secret?" Gohan asked.

"Well…" Videl trailed off, her face becoming a light red tint. "To be honest, the main reason I didn't tell you was because…I kind of just forgot to…" she bashfully admitted.

"Wait…you forgot?"

"Initially, but after I remembered, I decided to keep a secret for a couple of reasons; For starters, I didn't want you to get all worried over nothing and then make a scene trying to protect me or something…so kind of like what happened earlier she lightly narrowed an eyebrow.

Gohan coyly chuckled as he avoided her gaze.

"Second, I wanted to prove that I could handle the kind of training that you and the others can do."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Gohan.

"Gohan…every time we train together, all you do is tank hits and play defense. I get it, you're several times stronger than I am because you're a saiyan and you don't want to hurt me, but you really have GOT to stop taking it so easy on me."

Gohan quickly became defensive. "Wait Videl, it's not like I'm not taking you seriously whenever we train together it's just…"

"Just what?"

Gohan looked at Videl, a somber expression on his features. "I didn't know you felt so strongly about this Videl. Why didn't you say something?"

"Honestly Gohan, if I'd have asked you before now, would you have actually started fighting back?"

"I…I honestly can't say," Gohan admitted. "But I can say that I understand. Believe it or not, I went through this same sort of thing with Dad back when we were training to fight Cell."

"Really?" Videl's eyes widened with intrigue.

"Yeah. You want to hear about it?"

"YES!"

As Gohan began the tale of how he first became a Super Saiyan, he let out a mental sigh of relief as his plan to change subjects seemed to have worked. While he told the story, he also made a promise to himself to help Videl with her future training however he could…even if that meant having to get rough with her.

(A/N: For once I don't really have anything worthwhile to say. This chapter took a bit to get started with, but I ultimately got it out in a relatively fair amount of time I think Also, this is my longest chapter yet. Not sure if this'll be the standard going forward, but I hope I can at least keep this pace. Next time, we return to the Cat Café for Videl to start her TRUE training with the Point of Impact Technique. She may need to hurry though, cause Ryoga's infamous horrible sense of direction is about to be mitigated)