Chapter 2- Poor choice of words
2 days later.
Tai and Piccolo had spent the day meditating yesterday and doing image battles to sharpen their minds. Piccolo was impressed by how much Tai had improved. The saiyan was far brasher, quick to anger and too impatient to appreciate these mental exercises before the Cell Games and now he was able to best the namekian.
On his part, Tai was just as impressed by Piccolo. He was a much better fighter than he remembered and the array of techniques he could perform far outstripped his own. Both warriors learned from one another and in doing so, earned each other's respect.
"You must be hungry by now, Tai," Dende finally spoke. He was used to silence but having Tai around made him uncomfortable, something about the saiyan had changed profoundly and he couldn't put his finger on it. He had an aura around him, one which he felt he should know.
"I'm fine, I took a handful of senzu beans from Korin."
"You know you're not meant to eat them exclusively. If your body gets too used to them, then they lose their effectiveness or worse."
"Won't my cells become self-replenishing, so I won't need to take them anymore."
"No, they would just constantly grow. That's fine when they're repairing damage, but if your perfectly fine then there's going to be a problem. Cells would start growing when they shouldn't and at a faster rate. It would become cancerous."
Tai pondered what Dende said, before deciding it made sense. "You have a point. So is there any food around here."
"Only water. We don't eat," Piccolo responded.
"What about Mr. Po-"
"Don't mention his name," Dende hushed. "He went out into space to find-"
"Dende!" Piccolo shouted. The bigger namekians jaw became set and his eyes warned his protégé.
"Remember the pecking order… remember the pecking order," Dende recited.
"He isn't here right now, so no there isn't any food or anyone to make it," Piccolo said.
"You mean I have to go down there," Tai sighed pointing down at the Earth. I shouldn't mingle with simple earthlings. But I'm starving right now.
"You could go to West City, I'm sure Bulma- "
"I'm not going to West City…" Tai said with an air of finality. She'd ask too many questions for the saiyans liking, and unlike Piccolo she wouldn't rest until he'd answered her questions. "That goes double for Chi-Chi's place."
"You should go to a city. Your appetite would be a huge strain on the nearby villages," Dende suggested.
"Hercule City and North City are closest, but both are on the other side of the world," Piccolo added.
"I'll decide when I'm flying."
"You know you can't kill anyone right," Dende reminded, making Tai roll his eyes.
"You're going to standout like a sore thumb in that getup," Piccolo stated.
Tai looked at what he wore and remembered the looks he got when he walked around in saiyan armour. He didn't want to stand out and he didn't want anything to help anyone identify him as one of the saiyans from the Cell Games.
"I don't know what people wear on this planet. You're the guardian, you should know."
"Yes, I know what people in those regions wear," Dende replied before resuming his watch.
Tai waited for the guardian to use his clothes beam to give him something to wear. However, he didn't expect to be ignored by the normally giving namekian.
"What are you waiting for?"
"I could ask you the same thing?" Dende retorted without looking back at Tai.
The saiyan knew that Dende wanted him to make the request politely. Please was a word that Tai despised, he viewed it as a step below begging, something that was below saiyans. After years of begging, pleading and wounding his sizable pride, he refused to plead for anything short of life itself.
He took the cape off as well as the golden accessories and charged down to Earth at super sonic speeds, uprooting the trees nearest to him as well as some of the lookout's tiles.
"Saiyan's and their pride," Piccolo chuckled.
-X-
Gohan stared at the clock anxiously. He had to resist the urge to tap his feet for fear of causing another earthquake panic. It was physics and the teacher was prattling on about Parsecs and red shift, topics Gohan had covered years ago, and the demi-saiyan was bored. If there was one part of the day he looked forward to without fail it was always lunch.
He got his wish fulfilled when the bell rang, and students made a beeline for the door. He picked up his books and joined the rest in a rush to get to his usual eating spot.
"You know it's weird. I don't think I've ever seen Gohan in the cafeteria or anywhere around school during lunch," Erasa pondered.
"So, what?" Sharpener dismissed.
"I just thought it would be nice to eat with him, he does seem kind of lonely."
"Isn't that his thing. He doesn't try and talk to anyone."
"Remember we tried to get him to join our group," Videl added.
"Yeah and then you scared him off with your rudeness," Erasa clapped back. "You were breathing down the poor guys neck, no wonder why he doesn't hang out with us."
"He is hiding something Erasa. He lies to us all of the time and he's horrible at it."
"Maybe he would have told us if you weren't trying to force it out of him."
"Why are we talking about the nerd when we should be getting our food," Sharpener interrupted whilst nudging his friends towards the canteen.
Meanwhile on the school roof, Gohan was tearing through his lunch. It looked like a crash site, Tupperware containers littered the place, along with loose chicken bones and grains of rice. Gohan was so busy tearing through his food that he didn't notice a pair of people walk through the door.
To be fair to him, they didn't notice either seeing as they were making out and they needed to be somewhere a bit more secluded. The man pressed the girl against the wall rather forcefully and she let a slight moan escape her lips, which again wasn't picked up by Gohan. He had his back to the door.
It's only when her eyes bulge open that the man realises they aren't alone. She pointed at Gohan and rushed towards the door, scraping her arm against the concrete wall leaving the man behind. He stomped up to the demi-saiyan, not caring to avoid stepping on the lunch containers and he shouted.
"Hey, boy! What are you doing up here?"
This finally grabbed Gohan's attention from his food and he stared at the newcomer with innocent eyes. "I'm eating my lunch, Mr. Moore."
Moore looked at the vast number of lunch boxes and containers in disbelief. "There's no way you ate this all by yourself. Who else was with you?"
"No one sir, I always eat lunch alone."
"I don't believe you boy. This is enough food for a family. Don't go thinking you're some kind of cool kid by covering for your friends. You're prohibited from being up here during school hours."
Gohan blinked innocently, no one had him about that, "I didn't know."
"Tell me who else was here and I'll take it easy on you."
Upon hearing the threat, Gohan mentally chuckled. He knew he could snap the man in half by simply flicking him, but he wasn't going to harm anyone that was doing their jobs.
"I promise, this is all my food."
Moore scowled at Gohan. He pegged him as a nerdy student who could easily bend to teachers demands, but he never suspected that he would be loyal enough to his friends to receive punishment.
"OK… you have 30 minutes detention," Moore declared before turning on his heel and walking towards the stairs. He did a quick look around to see if anyone was hiding before heading down the stairs. That's the most I can give him for now. I need to find out what he knows, and I need to act quickly.
-X-
Something drew Tai to Hercule City, but he wasn't sure what. When he landed on the edge of the city limits he stared at the massive statue of Hercule in amusement. It's amazing, his entire reputation is based on a lie and he accepts it with little shame. Has he no pride.
He walked through the city streets, getting a general feel for the region. Unlike West City, the buildings here were rectangular and long, and without the tubes to help with transport, traffic was a nightmare in the city.
"We shall not, we shall not be moved…" a group of people sang in front of a run-down building. The police had gathered outside to make sure things didn't become violent.
Tai chose to ignore it and keep on moving forward. He peered across and alleyway filled with people and noticed a convenience store. He was getting antsy, epic hunger for saiyans made them very irritable, particularly for pure bloods like Tai.
He proceeded to walk through the alley, even though there were people inside it. A large man was busy punching down at an elderly dogman with glee. "HAHAHAHA."
The dogman squealed helplessly as he was getting walleyed and his eye looked like it had been crushed by the mans fist. Blood had rushed down his face and marred his shirt, along with the fur from his forehead. His nose was cut badly and many of his teeth littered the ground.
The large man was accompanied by two smaller men, however what the men lacked in size they made up for with guns. The police weren't too far from the scene and people could see what was happening, yet no one alerted the police or even dared to look at them. They ran this town with an iron fist.
Tai strolled through the alley with his arms folded and eyes half open. He heard a civillian warn him to turn around, but he ignored them since this was the fastest route to the shop. Besides, he knew these men were no threat to him.
The giants laugh must have drowned out Tai's footsteps because the two gunmen didn't notice Tai's presence until he was 5 ft away from them. "Hey kid, get lost."
Still undeterred, Tai continued his leisurely stroll without pause. This irked gunmen, who stepped in front of Tai. "Unless you want to end up like these freaks," he gestured towards the crying dogman, along with the two catmen lying lifeless on the floor beside them. "You're going to turn around and forget what you saw."
Looking at the three bodies Tai was unimpressed. Idiots, he thought to himself before shrugging and carrying on as if nothing had happened. However, this time he brushed past the gunman.
"Are you just gonna take that Pat," the giant teased.
"No, I ain't," he replied before aiming the gun at Tai's back. "Listen up kid. Clearly you're new around here otherwise you'd know about the Red Shark Gang."
"Who?" Tai finally acknowledged the group.
"You're gonna find out. There ain't no way you're leaving this alley in one piece. If you don't wanna die. Beg for your life," Joey cocked his gun and pressed it firmly against Tai's back.
The saiyan briefly remembered an earlier time in his life. He had often been at the mercy of those much stronger than him. He was heavily punished for the smallest transgressions and always treading carefully so as not to get killed. This way of living may normally mould someone to be quiet but this made his saiyan blood boil, both at the humiliation and damage to his pride, but also the way he lived.
Eyes closed, fists clenched, muscles tensed, and teeth gritted, signs of tremendous restraint on Tai's part. His ki rose sharply, and he opened his eye revealing his seafoam coloured pupils.
"Poor choice of words," Tai growled.
-X-
The school day was officially over, and kids were making their way home. Videl and Erasa were no exception, Sharpener had boxing practice. Erasa had dragged Videl to the city centre, much to the crimefighters chagrin. Shopping with Erasa was more draining than training or fighting criminals and it took longer.
"This is good for you," the blonde smiled warmly.
"This is a form of torture and you know it," Videl scowled.
"You just don't know how to have fun."
"I know how to have fun. My life is full of fun stuff."
"You spend most of your time either fighting crime or training. You're only young once and I refuse to let my best friend waste it."
"I train to get stronger and I fight crime because this city is dangerous and needs protection."
"I'm sure the city can go a few hours without your help. Besides Saiyaman can handle it while you have fun."
A low growl from Videl made Erasa raise her hand apologetically. "Sorry, didn't mean to say the 'S' word," she said playfully.
Videl let out a low growl before ranting. "Rase, you know this guy is a fraud don't you. He uses flashy explosives and tricks to fight crime, one day he might seriously hurt someone. And he has no accountability to anyone, if he injures and attacks anyone, he won't be arrested or tried. Once I figure out who he is, then he can't hide from the world anymore."
"You need a break from your, oh so noble, crusade and relax with your best friend, or is there someone else you'd rather spend some alone time with," the blonde wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Whatchu talkin about Willis?" Videl squinted her eyes in suspicion at her best friend, drawing a mild chuckle.
"Maybe it's a certain tall, spiky haired, cute nerd that you can't keep your eyes off," she winked.
Videl scoffed at the idea after considering it for all of 2 seconds. "First off, no! secondly how did I go from hating him at lunch to crushing on him after school."
"They aren't mutually exclusive."
"Someone's been paying attention in our statistics class," Videl teased just as they arrived at Juaquin's, a popular burrito place in the town center. They placed their orders before claiming a table near the exit.
"Don't change the subject."
"What about the weird marks on Angela's arm. Looks like she was dragged along the floor," Videl said, hoping they'd stop talking about her interest in Gohan.
"Maybe she's into some freaky stuff…" Erasa trailed off, before shaking her head, "Nice try, back to Gohan."
Videl's head dropped to the table. "Isn't it weird that Saiyaman shows up the same week as Gohan. Not to mention the Gold Fighter, who was also wearing the same thing as Gohan," she said as she raised her head.
"…" Erasa had opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by Videl's continued rant.
"Yes I know that Gohan has black hair, but remember the Cell games. The two guys wearing the blue suits could make turn blonde, and they could fly just like the reports of the Gold Fighter."
Erasa looked at Videl with a pleasant smile while taking in Videl's stream of consciousness and nodded along when appropriate and occasionally asking questions to keep her on her roll. It was a dance that Erasa rarely did with Videl, but one she had made an art form in almost every aspect of her life. She was very good at getting people to open up and get comfortable with her, all it took was pushing the right buttons.
Videl was so entranced by her diatribe that she didn't notice Biro standing at her side, trying to gain her attention, with Casey dragging her feet behind in tow. Erasa snapped her fingers in front of Videl who scrunched her nose at the break in her train of thought.
"Videl," Biro snapped.
The sound of her voice made Videl cringe. "What do you want?"
"People are screaming and causing a panic, it's ruining my vibe."
"Did they see you without makeup."
"No, they imagined what you look like naked and they're clawing their eyes out," Biro countered.
"Ha, burn," Pencilcase laughed.
"Now chop-chop, they've closed off part of the market I was going to shop at," Biro clapped as she walked away.
"Wouldn't be the first time a clap made you burn," Erasa added.
-X-
Tai stepped out of the broken glass with a satisfied burp, shaking lose shards of glass from his newly acquired hoody. After dealing with the thugs in the alleyway he took one of their hoodies and trainers before having a feast in the convenience store. The hoodie was black with a red shark over his heart and RSG printed on the pack. Stretching his arms out calmly, he noticed the small crowd of people eying him fearfully.
"The food here may be the thing I missed the most," Tai said, picking out some chicken from in between his teeth before walking away from the crowd. "What are you looking at?" he challenged the crowd, making some disperse.
Police sirens boomed through the air from all directions. A cold sensation ran through his body, not from the sirens, but a familiar power level coming towards him far slower than he expected. Why didn't they tell me that Krillin was in this city, I would've gone to North City instead. If he see's me then Chi-Chi and Bulma are bound to find out.
"You killed him!" someone shouted from the direction of the shop. There stood a tall, burly man with shaggy hair. He must be friends with those idiots I knocked out in the alleyway.
"I beat the crap out of them." These earthlings are pathetic if that's all it takes to kill them.
"You're a murderer!"
The crowed began to murmur animatedly, pointing at Tai and the man making these accusations. The saiyan turned around and eyed the human. If the someone is dead then they'll send helicopters after me, and if I fly too fast I'll be sensed out. I'd better use instant transmission, somewhere secluded just to be safe. If they tell Krillin how I disappeared using he might ask Dende or Piccolo what's up.
Tai, suddenly grateful for his hoody, ran at normal human speeds towards the area with fewest power levels and without any cameras.
During his run he noticed that there was a power level following him. It was significantly stronger than other humans but still much weaker than any of the Z-Fighters. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Tai ran into another alleyway and waited for the person to find him.
"Over here," Tai shouted into the street then he felt the power coming closer.
He eyed the girl with minor interest. This little thing is what was following me. She's short, athletic and carries herself with authority I'll give her that. But she's still weak.
"Who are you?"
"You have some nerve. First you kill an old man, then make everyone go after you in a manhunt and now you're trying to get answers out of me."
The people I beat up couldn't be much older than Vegeta. Maybe humans don't live that long.
"Yes."
Videl scrunched her nose in anger and charged straight at Tai, releasing an onslaught of punches and kicks that would take any normal person down. However, Tai was dodging everyone of them with ease. This one has a lot of anger within her.
"You don't stand a chance against me, so just answer my quest-"
Tai didn't get an opportunity to finish, since a fist came perilously close to his jaw, if not for his reflexes she might have landed it. Constantly lowering his power level meant that she might be able to bruise him if she gets in a good hit.
Without missing a beat, she used her leg to sweep Tai from behind, but the saiyan again dodged her attack and back flipped to safety. "Impressive, you're better than I thought you'd be."
She grabbed a nearby trash can and hurled it straight at Tai's chest, he responded by catching it and using it to block the punch she had aimed at his neck. Once he chucked it away, he saw that her hand was bleeding profusely, and it was limp. Looks like her left hand is useless now. She growled loudly, the sound oozing pain and rage.
"You don't give up do you,"
"Would just SHUT UP!" she shouted, then she charged at Tai again.
Interesting, even without her hand she hasn't let up, in fact she seems even faster. Tai moved behind her before trapping her good arm. "I told you, I'm too strong for you," he warned, but she tried to shove an elbow into his abdomen, which he caught. "It's not my problem if you break anything else."
A shock went through the saiyans entire body and his head snapped in the direction of the source. His muscles were tensed, jaw set and his heart jolted with the shock of the familiar sensation. What's he doing here, Dende and Piccolo should have told me they were both here. At least now I know why I was drawn in this direction. It's strange sensing their kind of ki again.
In his lapse in concentration, Videl nailed Tai the elbow of her bad arm, the shock was enough to make the saiyan let go of her. She gladly took the opportunity to create some distance between them and also block the only means of exit.
"Move!" Tai demanded.
"Make me," Videl smirked defiantly, despite favouring the left hand side of her body. Who am I kidding, I can barely stand. The sirens are getting closer, I just have to hold him here until back up arrives.
Tai looked towards the sky and turned to the sound of the sirens. Dammit, they're both going to be here in seconds… The streets aren't optional, too many witnesses, flying full speed would raise my power and it might draw the attention of more than just Gohan or Krillin. I could use my other ki, but I told my master I wouldn't use it needlessly.
"Poor choice of words," Tai snarled before going to punch her on her left side, Videl was prepared for an attack on her injured side, what she wasn't expecting was the feint. Tai then moved to her right leg and delivered a restrained kick at her calf.
"AAARGH!" Videl screamed, collapsing to her right side. Tai sensed one of the approaching ki's spike considerably after hearing that and increased his speed. Tai knew he had run out of time. No longer caring about the sole witness he placed two fingers to his forehead and within seconds he was back at the lookout.
"Miss Videl," Gohan called in his Saiyaman voice. Concern created wrinkles in his facial features as he regarded the teenage crime fighter. Who could have done this to her? I couldn't sense anyone else.
Her hand is bleeding, but it wasn't broken, the same couldn't be said about her leg. The attack she had suffered seemed to resulted in major bone damage in her shin. Gohan had a good understanding of human anatomy, but healing and treatment weren't his forte.
"It's not that bad," she bit back some of the pain.
The display of pride drew a wry smile from Gohan, sometimes she's more saiyan than me. "I'm sure it doesn't."
"Where's the perp?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied, but his visor hid his furrowed eye brows.
"What!?" she bellowed and tried to get up to face the direction which her attacker took off. She immediately regretted it. "Oww," she winced, her body reminding her left hand was hurt.
"Hey, don't move, you're hurt," Gohan warned in a soft tone, now dropping the Saiyaman voice. Videl would never admit it but hearing his 'non-superhero' voice did soothe her.
It was at that second that the police had arrived and noticed how badly injured Videl was. It almost leads to them shooting Saiyaman but Videl managed to deescalate the situation. She told them that she had didn't know what the man looked like since he wore a hoodie and managed to keep his face covered during their encounter. The hood had the Red Shark Gang symbol on it so it was safe to say they were involved.
While being carried into the ambulance she noted something odd. Saiyaman was talking to the police. He's real friendly with that officer and they've been speaking for a while now. He's not doing any of his goofy posturing or his general Saiyadork mannerisms, in fact he's relaxed. I'm going to have a little talk with that officer, it might be my first lead in a while.
A/N
I'll try and update once a week
Hope you enjoyed the chapter
