Chapter 2

…

Videl examined Gohan, her eyes profiling every detail of the boy - no, man - in front of her. Their teacher had just passed on her and selected the new kid to be his aide. This was the Krillin she was talking about but come on, she was the daughter of Hercule flipping Satan!

"Let's begin with a demonstration, shall we?" asked Krillin as he invited Gohan to stand on the same large blue practice mat as him. "Take up a fighting stance."

Gohan immediately settled into the Turtle-Demon-Saiyan style fighting stance. It was a form that he had developed over the past few years by incorporating the best parts of his mentor's own fighting styles (although Vegeta was less mentor and more sparring partner) and meshing them together with his own unique style. The result was a powerful hybrid style that he had been itching to use the next time the entire universe was in danger but for now, he would have to settle with using it against Krillin.

"I was thinking something a little more basic, but that works too," said Krillin with a shrug as he slipped into his own stance.

"I don't get it," said Videl. "How come Krillin chose blondie to help him? His stance is full of holes. There's an opening on his left and his feet are too close together, not to mention that his upper body doesn't have adequate protection. He's just asking to be struck in the throat."

"You're just jealous," said Erasa. "Or maybe there's another reason your eyes are glued to Gohan."

"What do you mean?" asked Videl as her face flushed red. Erasa and her stupid comments could catch a monk off guard.

"I'm just saying…" teased Erasa.

"Enough," said Krillin, demanding the attention of his pupils. "Look at the way we have both settled into deliberate forms. Be firm and confident - remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link."

"But Mr. Krillin, Gohan's stance is full of flaws. There's one on his left and his ankles are almost touching," declared Sharpner. "A stiff wind could knock him over. I'm sure he can do the physics to calculate how strong, or should I say weak, the gust would need to be."

Videl flared her nostrils once she realised that the other blond had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Erasa but settled down because she still wanted to hear the answer.

Much to her surprise, Krillin cocked a grin. "Well Sharpner," Krillin gestured towards the empty space between him and Gohan. "Why don't you show us how to counter this stance, then?"

Sharpner grinned and crossed his arms after a practiced swoop of his hair. "Sure thing, but don't be shocked when I snap Brains here in half."

Despite how much of a blowhard Sharpner was, Videl had to agree with him here. Though Gohan seemed to be in a decent enough shape, that was probably down to his living environment. He probably hadn't seen an actual moment of combat in his entire life. If he could get through this without hurting himself, Videl would treat him to lunch.

Gohan, however, seemed undeterred.

The decision ate at him as Sharpner squared off from him. He had desperately wanted to keep a low profile, but his pride was getting in the way of things; undoubtedly he had spent too much time around a certain Saiyan Prince. Which reminded Gohan to beat the living daylights out of Vegeta once school was out.

But this little boy had to be taught a lesson first.

Krillin whispered from his side "Please take it easy, dude."

Sharpner came running at Gohan, fist cocked back and ready to deliver a strike. He swung his arm over in a huge arc. Seeing it made Gohan scoff. It's like the guy wanted to take a beating.

Gohan stopped the attempted attack clear in its tracks, giving Sharpner just enough time to find his eyes and express his stupefaction. He then thrust the flat of his palm against his adversary's sternum. Sharpner let out a sound akin to a balloon deflating, then crumpled to the ground.

Krillin sighed and shook his head thinking about the amount of paperwork this would leave him with.

The other students gasped in amazement, Videl included. Yeah, Sharpner's ego was bigger than her father's and that was saying something, but he was actually a really good fighter as well. Gohan had laid him out for the count in a single blow. One that didn't require him to expend any effort either, it would seem.

The second the match was over, Gohan turned to his classmates with a cooky grin. "Hehe, not too bad, huh?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck in that undying family gesture.

'Not too bad' was the biggest understatement Videl had ever heard. He wasn't too bad, he was a genius. So it seemed all the more strange to her for him to want to keep this a secret. She bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to make sense of it.

Maybe she had to start doing some snooping around. There should be a lot more to Gohan than anyone could have guessed.

But first she had to buy him lunch.

…

"Woman!" exclaimed Vegeta as he entered the kitchen, only to realise that his mate was nowhere to be found.

'I could have sworn she was here a moment ago,' he thought to himself, rubbing the bite mark on his neck as he searched for Bulma's presence. Satisfied, he departed for her personal laboratory. Much like he used the gravity chamber, she used her lab when the pair were not otherwise occupied with incessant fighting, babysitting their child or taking precaution to not have another one.

"Woman!" he called as he stepped into her lab, a short white towel draped around his neck, his abs resembling something of a plastic sculpture as his perfectly chiseled eight-pack glistened against the room's bright white light.

To his surprise, she had company.

"Gohan," he muttered reluctantly.

The blond acknowledged him with a nod. Despite sparring with the hybrid every now and again, Vegeta was as cold to the boy as ever. In the wake of his father's demise, Gohan had followed in his footsteps: he had taken Goku's place as Vegeta's rival. And like his father before him, everytime Vegeta got a sniff of his trail, Gohan would make several more strides and leave the Prince in his dust. While Vegeta was yet to master the first stage of Super Saiyan, the brat's mastery of the second stage was so complete that he felt comfortable spending every waking moment in the form - in fact, Vegeta wouldn't be surprised to hear that he slept with blond hair and little crackles of lightning snapping around him too.

"Oh Vegeta," said Bulma. "What do you want now?"

"I want nourishment," said Vegeta. "That tin-can hunk of junk is malfunctioning again."

"Like I told you last time, it's not a malfunction if it gives you a normal, human serving of food," said Bulma. "I haven't programmed it for Saiyans yet, so you have to ask it for multiple servings."

"Sound broken to me," muttered Vegeta before eyeing Gohan. "What are you doing here? Last I heard you were off to primary school."

"Ha-ha Vegeta," replied Gohan. "If you must know, I'm here to get help creating a secret identity for myself so I can fight crime around the city without attracting undue attention. I tried powering down to my base form but that didn't cut it so I figured I need my own superhero costume."

"What are you?" he asked. "A member of the Ginyu Force?"

...

Bullets were flying all around her. Videl held her head down, hoping that the hailstorm of metal would soon stop. She had been called in to take care of a group of bandits trying to rob the Satan City Bank. They hadn't succeeded so far, having only managed to overthrow the guards. Their leader, a man about the size of a minivan, was very strong but also very unintelligent. By the time the cops had rolled up to the scene, the hostages he had taken had already talked themselves out of the situation.

The realisation of his own stupidity had come to him just as the first sirens began to sound around him, which coincided with Videl landing her jetcopter in front of the bank. Mr. Minivan, as she dubbed him, roared in anger and began firing, ordering his two goons to do the same. Videl took cover behind a parked car and she had been there ever since.

A look to her right revealed her colleagues were dealing with the same issue. Four cars had managed to get close enough to the robbers to trigger a firefight. Videl tried to find a window in the whole mess to make her move and prevent any casualties, but just as she heard a drop in the rain of bullets, a shadow swooped over the scene.

And it was about to steal it.

"HALT!" A deep, masculine voice rang through the sky. Everyone in attendance listened to its command and stopped in their tracks. And then everything was quiet.

Videl glanced over the car she had been hiding behind. She saw Mr. Minivan and his goons standing on the top of the staircase leading up the bank. Halfway down it though she saw something that she couldn't make any damn sense of. The words "What the hell?" left her lips in a passing breath.

A person was standing on the steps, that much was for sure. Only they didn't seem like a civilian. Not because they were wearing a police uniform, but because of the glimmering black suit of armour. No, that wasn't a joke. From head to toe this person was plated in black steel. A helmet wrought in the shape of a leering gorilla covered their face from view. A sword with a gilded handle hung from his side and a shield in the same colours hung from his back.

Videl wanted to yell at them, for their odd choice in fashion or their utter stupidity, she didn't know. And how exactly did they get there? Not that it mattered, because if they didn't watch it they would be dead meat real soon.

She was about to make her move when the opportunity was taken from her.

"You vile scum!" The Raven Knight said loudly. "Harming the innocent, I see?"

Mr. Minivan looked as though someone had asked him to tapdance. "Say, the hell are you on about? Scram, before you take a bullet where you do not want one."

"Mockery!" The Knight shouted, pointing a finger at Mini. "That will be your undoing, villain! Have at thee!"

Videl screamed for them not to, but in the end she didn't have to. By the time her vocal cords had produced the sound, a black flash appeared behind Mr. Minivan and knocked him down the stairs to land in a crumpled heap. Videl made to follow the Goons, but the Raven Knight was as fast as the eye could see. Two quick taps left both men out cold.

And just like that it was over. The Raven Knight made a grand salute towards the men of the police. Videl wanted to approach them to express her gratitude, but then they just kept adding to the pile of confusion that was her mind.

The Raven Knight literally, not figuratively, flew off from the scene. It was like watching a bizarre rocket launch.

For what could possibly be the very first time in her life, Videl was at a loss for words other than "What?"

…

This chapter was brought to you by Kakarot Son and kalebxdd.

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