Gohan casually strolled down the hall towards his locker. Along the way he greeted his fellow students with a warm smile. The jocks waved in greeting and the girls eyed him up and down hungrily. Most of the female students looked forward to seeing Gohan in the morning, the boy was the most fashion forward of all the boys, adopting different clothing styles every day. The plethora of designer clothes the boy had were actually courtesy of Bulma who had ensured he be properly prepared to keep in touch with his classmates at Chi-Chi's request. Today the boy sported a black leather jacket which fitted loose around the arms but tight enough around the shoulders to accentuate his size. Coupled with that was a pair of tight dark jeans, black shoes and white T-shirt.

Approaching his locker, the tall boy was surprised to find his pupil from the day before standing by, awaiting his entrance. "Morning Videl" he greeted happily. However the response he received was anything but.

"You're so full of it, you know that?!" The girl shouted, garnering the attention of nearly the entire hall who grew silent.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" The boy asked, utterly lost.

"You resort to cheap tricks to win? What kind of martial artist are you?" Videl was seething and now all eyes were on the pair.

"What are you talking about Videl?" Gohan asked back.

"This…" She snapped flashing the page from the book with the photo of his father. "Recognise him?" Gohan's eyes widened at the page.

"Where did you find this?" Gohan asked, only to be ignored by Videl.

"Son Goku, or should I say, your father. A no good, lying cheater who resorted to using light tricks to win the world tournament."

There were a sea of gasps from the audience who were listening in. "That's right I figured it out. The fact that you couldn't beat me fairly so you cheated just like your dad, and then you tried to feed me all that bullshit about strategy and skill to cover your tracks."

"Videl I-" Gohan began quietly, trying to avoid making a scene and escalating the situation further. Videl however was not playing his game.

"You what Gohan?" She snapped. "I knew there was something wrong about you and now I get it. You are a lying jerk and you've been playing everyone along all this time. I understand why your dad never showed up for the last tournament" Gohan's eyes snapped to stare at her. "He knew he couldn't compete with my father, he knew that he would be humiliated and discovered for the trickster he is. He's nothing but a two-bit, coward like you."

Slowly the students around began murmuring their agreement. Some even going as far as to shoot Gohan dirty glares, believing the word of Mr Satan when it came to light tricks. Others disagreed and sympathised with Gohan, not believing a word they heard.

"Got anything to say?" Videl questioned with a cocky smirk, noticing the way the boy was shaking, believing it to be fear.

"You're wrong Videl" he stated calmly and softly eyes focused on the ground. He then slowly lifted his gaze to meet Videls and nearly all of the students gasped. There were tears forming in the corner of the boys eyes. "My father was a great man, and the strongest fighter I've ever known."

'Was?' Videl thought, her eyes widening at the revelation… 'Oh no'

"He lived the same way he died, a hero and a fighter. The sacrifices he made will never be known to the world, and that's due to the words of your father. Ki is a legitimate form of martial arts, yet thanks to your father it has all but been forgotten." Gohan was trying to fight the tears at the thought of his father, yet he still remained calm and stoic in his response. "I don't blame you for believing your fathers words. But you did not know my dad and have no right to criticise him, alive or dead." The boy met Videls stare, she could almost see all the emotions running through the black pools. "I never uttered a word of a lie to you. And if you believe me or not that's up to you. Just know that I have tried to extend a certain courtesy to you, I'm disappointed to see it's not shared."

Gohan then packed his bag and made a bee line for the school exit. But before he did, he took one last look at Videl, who had not moved a muscle. "I already told you that the student is the product of the teacher, and you seem to be no exception. You rely on what you hear rather than what you have seen. You and your father have been sitting pretty in your ivory tower for the past seven years, looking down on common people as insects crawling on the walls. You need a new teacher Videl, at this point you can only learn the bad habits and expose more weaknesses."

You could almost hear a pin drop through the hall as the tall figure passed by a sea of students huddled around listening in. None made an attempt to stop him.

Videl stood motionless and silent, the entire encounter had her staring blankly ahead. She was snapped back to reality shortly after to hear murmurs of insults and profanities being whispered about the girl and the scene which had just transpired.

"I can't believe she insulted his dead father."

"She called him a coward, what a bitch"

"What's her problem anyway?"

"Guess she is jealous after all, spreading rumours like that"

Videl couldn't believe her ears, these were the same people who were begging for her to give them the time of day but a few weeks ago, now they were against her. Videl rubbed her temple, she really wished Gohan had never attended Orange Star High.

Erasa and Sharpner were not surprised to see their favourite nerd had not shown up to class. Although not direct witnesses to the event, they had heard of the recent encounter through several school gossip sources. Word had certainly travelled fast. As the door creaked open, revealing a dejected and distant Videl, many students opted to ignore her gaze or shoot her distasteful glares.

"Why Vi?" Erasa asked coldly but also intrigued as Videl took her seat beside her. Sharpner remained quiet not at all over their conversation from the day before, and certainly what had just taken place did not help his view on her.

"I didn't know" Videl confessed, looking down at the book in her grip. She wanted to tear the pages into a million pieces. "I didn't know his father was dead, and now the whole school hates me for it."

"Are you honestly trying to play the victim?" Erasa shot back hastily. "It doesn't matter whether his father was dead or not Videl. You insulted someone you have never met based on your dads word, behind his back."

"Well maybe I was wrong for insulting him, but it doesn't change the fact that he used cheap tricks to his advantage."

"And what if your dad is wrong?" Came a male voice from the blonde beside the pair. "No one has had first hand vision of these tricks except for your dad. We have followed his word this whole time, what if he's wrong and they aren't fake?" Even Erasa was shocked by Sharpner's comment. The boy idolised Mr. Satan and now he was willing to take a neutral stance and question the legitimacy of his claims.

"Last I checked you weren't involved in this conversation!" Videl snapped.

Sharpner just shrugged. "Well I'd say moment you verbally assaulted my friend the way you did, is when I became a part of this."

The girl looked over to her female counterpart expecting some sort of support, however she was only met with her blonde friend nodding her head in agreement at Sharpner's statement. "That's just great" Videl spat, standing from her seat and making a bee line for the exit. All the while not a single student made an effort to stop her.

"I hope she apologises to him" Erasa sighed.

"I'm not getting my hopes up." The blonde jock replied.

Videl stomped her way off campus intending on vacating the premises as soon as possible and moving as far away from the institution as she could. She wasn't worried about being a target for skipping class as she had little doubt her father could pull some strings to avoid any consequences. Pedestrians made a wide berth for the girl as she stormed passed, fearing the cruel glare which she walked with.

As the girl found herself in the public park she sat on the nearest bench she could find and stared at the book which was still clutched in her hands. She inspected the cover further and set into a curious stare. She had been so caught up in her haste she hadn't thought to research the author of this book. She was even more surprised to find that the name was one she was somewhat familiar with.

The raven haired girl waited expectantly in a small cafe, located in the heart of Satan City. It was a quaint atmosphere and not too busy considering it was still the middle of a weekday. She sipped her tea which she ordered out of necessity for being at such a location. She silently hoped her meeting would be worth it and this elusive author could provide her with the information she needed.

"Oh my Gosh! As I live and breathe, Videl Satan herself!" came a high pitched male voice from across the room. Videl raised her eyebrows at the outburst and turned to see a man, tall blonde hair combed back, green suit and his iconic pair of black tinted sunglasses. It was him alright, the host and announcer of the world martial arts tournament, and the very person Videl was waiting to meet.

"I'm only messing with you kid" He said hastily while making a brushing motion with his hand. "But seriously, how's the champs little champ going? I haven't seen you since you took home the junior championship at the tournament."

Videl opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted as the man continued his rant, her certainly had a big mouth and eccentric personality to boot. "I'll be honest I was surprised to get a call from the main lady herself. What's the occasion?"

Videl flashed the book in the man's face in response and instantly his face lit up.

"Well" He started, straightening his suit jacket and sitting up in his chair. "You've read my book. I see why you've called me here."

Videl raised her eyebrows. What was that supposed to mean exactly? "I did, and I have a few questions. Why did you of all people write a book about an unknown martial arts school?"

"Simple" He replied instantly. "To give credit where it's due. Up until the most recent tournament, martial arts was never a world stage sport. Back in those days it was rarely publicised and it was difficult to gain traction in the world of TV, it was much smaller scale than it is today. The Turtle School was unlike any institution the world had seen, the calibre of those fighters and their fights…" He trailed off in an effort to leave tension in the air. "… Legendary" He finished with flare. "However due to the reluctance of the media to publicise the sport, those fights are only remembered by those who were there to witness them."

"But why was it you? Why didn't Roshi write the book?" Videl asked back.

"Well I explained the situation to him after his pupil Goku won the twenty third tournament. He didn't appear to have an interest in documenting the history of his school, said he didn't have the time to sit down and write an autobiography. So I took matters into my own hands. I picked his brain a few days after the tournament and compiled everything he told me, as well as a few personal improvements, to create a history of the turtle school." The man sighed heavily after his answer and looked out the window toward the horizon. "I haven't heard or seen hide nor hair from any of those guys since that day. I was certain they would make an appearance in the last tournament, it would have been the greatest tournament we ever had, I'm sure of it… But it ended up quite the underwhelming affair."

Videl took great offence to that comment. "What's that mean? You do realise my father competed in that tournament."

The man cracked a small grin at the girls ignorance. "No offence intended little champ. But if you had been there you would know what I'm on about. The level of competition isn't the same as it once was, I guess the world lost interest." The announcer slowly began turning the pages of the book in front of him and landed on a picture of Goku standing tall in the rubble of a destroyed ring after having beaten Ma junior in the finals. "Nobody in the last tournament would have stood a chance against these guys in their hay-day. They used to blow up the ring with their battles, it was intense."

Videls eyes grew wide at the comment before setting into a frown. "Yeah. Because they used light tricks and mirrors." She huffed folding her arms.

The announcer regarded her for a second. "Light tricks?" He repeated before breaking into an obnoxious fit of laughter. "Don't tell me you bought it too. Let me explain something kiddo, those tricks the big man praddles on about, they are one hundred percent, grade A serious. I've seen them up close and heck, they nearly blew my head off. There ain't no mistaking it, they are the real deal."

"But they can't be" Videl shot back rising in her seat. "It's not possible to fly and shoot lasers out of your hands."

The man simply shrugged. "You read the book, the old hermit told me it was because of Ki control. And let me tell you, after calling all the fights I have, I can say for certain I believe him. Hell after everything I've seen I'd believe the guy if he told me he had been resurrected from the dead and was literally a dead man walking. The point is, seeing is believing."

Videl sat in her seat, her heart rate was increasing at what she was hearing. Was it possible her dad had got it wrong? "What about Goku? What do you know about him?"

"Ah, now there's a true fighter." He said with glee. "All you need to know is that there has never been a fighter more skilled than Son Goku, he's a once in a generation talent. You know he made it to the finals when he was twelve? And that was before they introduced the junior division. He was punching way above his weight class, and yet he was able to deck guys five times his size. I've never seen anyone that could hold a candle to that guy."

"What about my father?" Videl quipped.

"Sorry Videl, but not even your pops could win that battle."

"He beat Cell! You know, big green guy, hell-bent on destroying humanity." Videl rose from her seat.

"Well Goku beat Ma junior, big green guy, hell-bent on destroying humanity. You'd be surprised how often it actually happens." He smiled widely. "The final of the twenty third was literally for the sake of the world. And Goku came out victorious, their battle levelled the entire tournament grounds." The man looked back to the book and smiled. "I hope he comes back and competes one day. I still feel he has yet to reach his prime."

Videl set into a grimace, deciding she didn't want to get the man's hopes up. "You can't" she blurted out, gaining a confused reaction.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Goku is dead."

Videl's guest broke into a crestfallen gaze, staring out the window. "How do you know?" He asked with a neutral tone whilst staring to the city.

"I go to school with his son. He told me his father was no longer alive."

Videl could have sworn she could see tears rolling down his cheek as a sad smile reached his face. "Well that's a damn shame. All I ever wanted was to see him fight, just one last time. That way I could thank him personally for everything he has done." The announcer then thought back to the footage of the Cell games. He knew that man with the gold hair was Goku, it had to be. Mr. Satan wasn't the one to defeat Cell, there was no doubt in his mind. He always had an inkling that Goku and his friends were the reason everyone was still alive today. His attention then turned back to Videl who was watching him filled with curiosity. He did not have any ill will towards this girl, in fact he pitied her above all else. She was being fed lies for years by the one person she trusted most. Despite being so far deep in this charade of her fathers, she needed to at least doubt. "Riddle me this kiddo. What changes now that I have told you that Ki is a real technique, what do you gain?"

Videl pondered the thought momentarily. "Honestly I was expecting you to deny it being real. It's just that my father…"

"Your father is scared of that power" The man interrupted. "He saw this power as a class above his own, so he wrote it off as a scam to himself and the public. At least that's what I believe. I mean, you're telling me that Cell planted explosives which were able to single handedly take out the worlds military without being noticed? I'm no expert on the underworld, but even the biggest crime lord in the world wouldn't be able to get their hands on that kind of power." The man brought his hand to his chin in a thinking position. "No. Cell was more of a threat than anyone realises, and your dad couldn't stand on his level."

"Are you saying my dad didn't beat Cell!" Videl almost shouted, both in outrage and curiosity.

"You said it, not me." He shrugged. "All I'm getting at is that there are people out there who doubt your fathers story. And when you doubt, you see reason and perspectives that otherwise would have gone unnoticed."

The man swiftly stood from his seat and gave Videl a respectful bow. "Pardon my sudden exit, however I have business I must attend to in preparation for the tournament, it's only a few weeks away after all. And when you next see Goku's son, please tell him I'd love to meet him, perhaps issue an invitation to the tournament. I have no doubt that fighting runs in that family. It was good seeing you Videl."

Videl sat in the booth watching god smacked at the sudden departure and the words she had just heard. 'Surely they are tricks… But he's one of potentially a handful of people who had actually seen them up close. What about Gohan's dad, could he really have been that good of a fighter?' Videls thoughts swirled in her head. She groaned in frustration, she now had more questions than answers, it just wasn't fair. 'Could it really be possible that dad didn't defeat Cell?'

The flaws in her fathers story became all the more apparent as Videl questioned herself. It was at that moment that words of wisdom came to her mind… 'Every martial artist has inherent flaws in their style'

Videl decided, just this once she would put those words to the test.

Arriving home, the girl was surprised to find her father was actually home and without the company of a lady friend or tucked into his liquor cabinet. "Dad?" Videl called softly as the man was busying himself eyeing his trophy cabinet.

"Videl!" The man called back turning to see his daughter. "What are you doing home? You're supposed to be in school!"

"Police work" She lied. She certainly couldn't have her father knowing she was investigating the history of an ex champ. One he had ridiculed and belittled over the years at that. "Kind of didn't feel like going back to school." She then shrugged.

Hercule nodded his head slowly. Despite her sometimes rebellious attitude, Hercule believed his daughter on all cases. "I see. Well I'll have the chef send up some food for you"

"Actually" Videl shot back. "I was hoping you could help me with something."

"What might that be?" Hercule approached his daughter his eyebrows fully raised.

Videl shifted uncomfortably in place. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "Dad, I want to spar with you." She met his eyes expectantly.

Hercule paused for a moment before breaking into a hearty bellow of a laugh. "Come on Videl quit kidding around."

Videl merely set into a cringe. "I'm not kidding" She stated with more confidence. "I want to test my skills against you in preparation for the tournament."

"You'll get there eventually Videl" Hercule reasoned. "But you're going to need a few more years before you can go toe to toe with the saviour of humanity!" The man proceeded to throw a few flashy kicks against the air for theatrics. "Besides, being the second strongest fighter in the world isn't so bad"

Videl merely hung her head at the statement. "Well that's just it dad. I fought that boy Gohan yesterday and…" Videl started only to be cut off.

"Oh I forgot. I hope you taught that twerp not to mess with Mr. Satan and his daughter. Did he put much of a fight? Or was he too much of a pansy to throw a punch?"

"I didn't win" Videl blurted out.

"You what?" Hercule questioned not expecting such a response.

"I lost. Gohan beat me, he choked me out"

"That punk. I bet he cheated! When I get my hands on him"

"He beat me fair and square dad… Well at least I think he did" Hercule watched the girl, beckoning for her to continue. "I couldn't even land a single punch on him, he picked me apart. I did some digging after the fact and found out that his father was a former champion as well. You probably know him, his name is Son Goku"

Hercule couldn't contain the obnoxious laughter that built up inside him. "Bahahaha, so that no good cheater extends his dirty tricks to his son as well. Videl you don't have to worry about losing to that bastard. Son Goku is nothing but a little con artist, he couldn't even muster up the courage to fight me man to man. Instead he ran scared from the tournament."

"He's dead dad" Videl said quietly with her head hung low. "Gohan told me after I called him out for being a cheater" Hercule blinked a few times. "Was I wrong to call him out for it? Did I do the wrong thing?" Videl was nearly on the verge of tears.

Mr. Satan watched intently, unsure of how to proceed. "Videl you spoke only the truth. Harsh or not, some people need to know their place." In reality, Hercule felt a pang guilty for the entire ordeal. He had unknowingly been dancing on the grave of a dead man, calling him a coward when he had most likely been deceased for this whole time as well as being directly responsible for his daughter to act the way she did.

"I need to know dad. They are tricks aren't they? I need you to swear to me that they are" Videl met her fathers eyes.

There was a pause, Hercule was between a rock and a hard place. His daughter was desperate for the truth, yet he had a reputation to uphold and intended to keep her safe from his lies and deceit. "I was there Videl, they were nothing but smoke and mirrors." he answered seriously.

Videl nodded her head slowly. This went against everything she had been told by her meeting with the world tournament announcer. "Please dad, just spar with me this one time"

"Vi… Videl, what?" Hercule muttered at the unexpected request.

"Please dad. I'm so confused right now. And I need you to help me"

"How is sparring your dad going to help you?"

"Just trust me dad. Please"

"Videl I…" Hercule trailed. Though he was very much against the idea of competing with his own daughter, the determined look she had was all it took to break him. He sighed in resignation and nodded weakly. "Just this once"

Several minutes later the two were stood at opposite ends of the training ring. Both fighters had changed into appropriate fighting gear. "Dad" Videl called. "I need you to promise me that no matter what, you will try to win. If you let me beat you then it won't help me"

Hercules eyes widened and jaw hung open. "Are you sure this is a good idea Videl?" He questioned, unsure of himself.

Videl however did not waiver. She nodded. "I need to know where I stand in all this. And you are the only one who can help me!" She shouted as she quickly dashed forward throwing a left hook at her father who just managed to bring his hand up to defend in time.

Taking three steps backward, Hercule brought his hands up to his head and tucked his chin. In doing so he defended three follow up punches from Videl which landed on his hands and forearm. Pivoting to her left, the girl then threw a right head kick which again connected with the man's hand. Feeling challenged, the world champion lead with a counter right hand. Similar to her father Videl brought her hand up to defend. The fist collided with her forearm, and though she had deflected it properly, the force of the punch was enough to send her staggering back.

Hercule positioned himself in his traditional stance. Both hands up in the form of a boxer, left leg out in front of his body and planted firmly. The man smirked. "You may be my daughter. But that doesn't mean anything when your father is the world champion"

Videl smiled. Her father was as competitive as they came. It didn't take much to goad him into a fight.

The two separated and began circling the ring. Hercule eyeing Videl with some interest as his daughter moved from her stance to something new. Instead of holding her hands up high they hung loosely down by her midsection. The girl then began bouncing on the balls of her feet, bobbing her head as she did so. It was an unfamiliar sight to Hercule who had not seen Videl utilise such movement before.

The teen girl could practically see the gears in her fathers head turning as she implemented her new strategy.

"I would employ a similar strategy I used on you. Plenty of footwork and stance changes. But the main difference would be my target area, I would kick his legs whenever I got the chance"

Gohan's words rang in her head. Quickly pushing off her back leg, Videl darted towards her father, pivoting so that now she was beside him, letting loose a left jab which her dad brought his hands up to block. As her fist made contact with Hercules knuckles, she followed up with a kick to the inside of his ankle. The act of doing so caused Mr. Satan to stumble forward a pace, where Videl threw a second kick which hit the man on his inner thigh area. Swiftly, Videl ducked under a counter right hook from her father and separated enough to give her space where she felt comfortable.

The two combatants reset, moving back into their stances and circled once more. Videl could sense her father was favouring his back foot over his front, he wasn't standing as heavy on it. It seemed her kick had done some form of damage.

Hercule, deciding to be the aggressor, charged in. He lead with a left body shot, which Videl turned away from. His right jab missed by the smallest of margins and his left hook partially hit Videl on the right ear as she didn't anticipate the punch well enough. Even though it had landed, Videl could tell it did not have the same amount of strength it usually did. Smirking to herself, the teen countered with another series of kicks to his legs. The last of which made it buckle and the man briefly fell to one knee before standing back up, wobbling slightly as he did so.

"Not bad" Hercule praised, sweat beading down his forehead at the pain shooting through the muscles of his leg. "But lets see how you deal with this!"

Like a bull, Mr. Satan rushed in. His right fist balled up by his side.

"He leaves the left side of his body exposed. He does not mask this attack either, he steps in heavy on his leg, so its easy to predict and set up a counter."

Videl watched his right hand, slowly his left side became exposed.

"As soon as he drops it and steps forward I would move to my left and try to hit right here"

Making eye contact with the centre of his torso, the very target Gohan spoke of, Videl waited for the counter to be available.

"Satan Punch!" Hercule growled, his haymaker right hand uncorking with all his might. The punch seemed destined to connect, until at the last moment Videl ducked. The fist went sailing over her shoulders and head.

The act of doing so left Videl with all the space she needed. Stepping in, Videl hit her father on the side of the head with a left hand and followed up by spearing her right fist into his midsection.

Time seemed to stand still before Hercule backed off. Arms now clutching his body as he then fell into a heap onto the mat, groaning in agony.

Videl looked at her closed fist and then back to her father. "Dad?" She made a move toward him hesitantly. "Everything okay?" Videl knew at this point the fight was over. Had this been a real battle she would have swarmed the vulnerable man until he was forced to admit defeat.

Gasping for several moments, Hercules eyes quickly opened. He almost jumped from his foetal position and stood with his fist high in the air, while his free hand clutched his stomach. "Not bad Videl! Real good progress. You're just lucky I decided to take it easy on you today. Maybe one day you'll being able to go one on one with your old man in a real fight!" The man continued to drone one about his skills, slowly edging to the exit of the gym. "Anyway, you keep up the hard work. I'm just going to go and uh… Get some… Get some… More milk! Yeah that's it! We just ran out, and that stuff is good for the bones of us fighters. I'll go do that, you keep training here"

Videl watched in surprise as her father literally sprinted out of the gym. She could make out a few groans and profanities as he escaped.

Looking at her fist Videl sighed in frustration, she had honestly hoped the scene hadn't unfolded the way it did. She knew how people operated. And she knew her dad better than anyone. The way he was sweating, his mumbling and indecision. How he was keeled over before seeming to recover instantly. There was no denying it. Hercule was lying to her.