Nope. Nuh uh. Not at all.
After the attack at her father's manor, it was decided the group of three should leave, so as not to endanger the household. Making sure to leave a note for her father when he returned from his business, the three left the Satan house. To this, Videl had no objections to.
It was Tien saying they should walk the whole way to their destination that was really what had her irritated.
When they had made their plan to leave, a summer house in the middle of nowhere was the location Tien wanted for them to hide out, at least until the military was finished looking for them.
Trudging through the woods with her bodyguard way out in front of her and Erasa way out behind her due to her not being used to such travel, Videl wallowed in her dark mood. Why couldn't they have taken a jet or something? Yeah, she could understand flying wasn't the best option at the moment but walking? Why not a car or airjet?
Tien came to a stop about a hundred yards away. He seemed to be looking around the area, searching for something. It was this searching that allowed Videl and eventually Erasa to catch up to him and have a very well received pit stop. However, their break didn't last very long.
"Okay girls, there's a trail that will get us up that cliff in front of us. If we can get to the top of it before sundown, we'll be at the cabin in no time," Tien said, a hint of enthusiasm in his voice.
However, Videl and Erasa didn't take that news very well. "Let me get this straight," Videl said, "you want us to climb all the way up that cliff so we can save a little time? Why couldn't we have taken an aircopter or something?"
Tien shook his head. "That would make too much noise and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Why else do you think we've been walking the whole way?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe cause you're nuts?" Videl replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Tien took in a deep breath. "Videl, if you want to get any where with you training, this should help you. You do want to kick that saiyan's ass, right?"
Videl's eyes narrowed. "Hell yeah I do, but this is something Erasa isn't used to. Can't you tell that she'll have trouble with that?"
Tien looked at the overly tired blond. "It's not like it'll hurt her. She could use the exercise."
Erasa's eyes flashed dangerously. "And what does that mean?" she said threateningly. "Are you saying that I'm out of shape or something?"
Tien looked backed at the steamed Erasa. "It means that you're gonna climb that cliff whether you want to or not. I suggest we get started now before it becomes too dark."
Videl growled out of frustration. "Look here buddy, we are not going to be climbing anything today, got it? We are going to set up camp down here and try to get up that cliff tomorrow."
Tien just shrugged. "Fine with me. You two can stay here all you want, but I'm going to the top of the cliff. I'll see you two tomorrow." And with that said, the three eyed man turned and left the girls to their own devices.
Erasa looked towards Videl mournfully. "We're gonna have to climb that rock, aren't we?"
Videl sighed. "Yeah Erasa, it looks like we're gonna have to."
After waiting awhile, the two girls began walking in the direction Tien went, soon coming up to a rocky trail that zigzagged up the cliff wall. Looking up it, Videl could see Tien was in the middle of the second trail, having no trouble at all. Stalling for a little bit as she watched her bodyguard following the path, the Satan girl finally sighed and started following the trail up, her blond companion following her soon after.
At first, the climb wasn't so bad, the two girls easily moving through the first three paths. When they got to the fourth, things got a bit harder, but nothing too serious. It was about the middle of the sixth cross on the cliff that things really got interesting.
Erasa was tired. After walking the whole way from the mansion and climbing up this cliff, the blond girl had spent all of her energy and was now too pooped to go any further. It took a good ten minutes to get the girl moving again and an extra half hour to finish the sixth path. The steep trail was exhausting the girls, taking them to the point of dropping to their knees from fatigue. It was then that Videl decided enough was enough. Caution be damned; she was gonna fly the rest of the way up this cliff, carrying Erasa; and if Tien didn't like it, tough.
Grabbing hold of her weary friend, the Satan girl pushed her ki beneath her and started flying up the cliff's face. It only took a minute and the moment Videl had reached the top, she set Erasa down, walked a couple feet from the edge, and promptly collapsed. If only sleep would take her now.
"Well, it's about time you two got up here."
Damn, why wasn't anything going her way today?
Turning her head to look towards the hardly tired bodyguard, Videl scowled. "With no thanks to you."
Tien chuckled. "Well, we're gonna take a break now. Rest up and we'll continue the rest of the way to the cabin. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours and if we're careful, we could fly a good amount of the way there."
Somehow gathering up her remaining strength, Videl looked at Tien relieved. "Thank Kami almighty."
Tien watched on amused as he saw both the girls immediately drift off into unconsciousness. Oh well, guessed that meant he was on watch duty until they woke up. Walking towards Erasa, the three eyed man picked the blond up and moved her further away from the cliff's edge. Didn't need her falling back down because she rolled around in her sleep.
It was about half an hour later that Tien woke the girls up. Although reluctant, they two finally got up and we're prepared to move on when Tien stopped. Looking at him confused, Videl asked "Is something wrong Tien?"
Staring up into the sky, Tien pointed and simply said "That."
Clueless and a bit curious, Videl turned to look at what her bodyguard was pointing at. Up in the air, flying through clouds, a giant fire ball flew through the sky. Watching it for a moment, the Satan girl finally asked "What do you think it is?"
"Well, from the look of things, I'd have to say that that's a space ship and it looks like it's gonna crash."
Erasa became very alarmed. "Crash? Where?"
"It's not gonna land here," Tien responded, calming the blond girl, "but it will crash off in that direction."
Staring in the direction of Tien's estimated landing site, Videl asked "Shouldn't we go over there and make sure no one is hurt?"
Tien sighed. He was hoping the subject of helping the crash victims wouldn't come up. They were the least of his worries right now and he didn't think the group should be worried about anyone else at the moment. But if his employer wanted to help the unfortunate souls, he'd have to put up with it.
"Fine, we'll go and make sure everyone is alright. Is that okay with everyone?"
When the two girls nodded, Tien turned his attention back to the falling ship, noticing that it had disappeared from his line of sight. It was a light tremor that told him the ship had finally hit ground, meaning that there wasn't any risk of the ship landing on top of them if they had gotten to the crash site early. Picking up Erasa, Tien and Videl flew towards to area of impact to see if they could lend their assistance.
Gero was staring at the screen furious. Apparently, that force that was coming to Earth was just a distraction from a much larger army. The Earth Defense Force had sustained just as much damage as they had dished out. The first line had been wiped out along with a good portion of the second and third reinforcement ships. The fourth line had taken a minimum amount of damage, but it didn't look like it mattered. The larger army would have an easy time picking apart the remaining defenses.
And the worst part about this was the large force was from the Cold Family.
Somehow, those damnable lizards had gotten the upper hand and force the Earth forces to retreat or surrender, showing no quarter to all those who surrender. Just now, many of the retreating Earth battleships were arriving. Then to put on top of it all, an unknown space army came in invading, chasing after a spaceship.
Wait a minute, who was on that vessel?
"Servant! What was the identification code for the vessel that was being chased by the invading force?" Gero demanded.
"I believe it was Ship EA 306," the soldier replied, using the monitor to look it up.
"306? But the 300's are for trading vessels, not civilian ships," Gero said aloud. He didn't like this at all. He needed to find out who was on that shuttle and quickly.
Unfortunately, all of his military forces were currently occupied. Between the defenses in space and the groups protecting the cities, he didn't have anyone else to send. It looked liked he was going to have to call in the chairs…
So…this was Earth.
Not much of anything to look at.
Taking in the scenery, Gohan wasn't very impressed. Standing on the ruined ships as they slowly sank into the lake they crashed in, the saiyan took note of the trees and grass surrounding the body of water. While the forest was nice, it was the sky that was a big turnoff. The dead, grey clouds covered everything, not letting a beam of sunlight through. A very ugly sight to behold.
"So what's the plan?" Goten asked as he stood to one side of Gohan, Trunks standing on the other.
"Well, currently we need to cause a ruckus. That way the leaders will turn their attention to us and possible try to take us out themselves."
Trunks nodded. "That sounds like a good plan, but what makes you think they haven't notice us yet?"
Thinking about Trunks' point, the elder saiyan started sensing for any high power levels, detecting a few spreading out. "Good call Trunks, we got a few leaving one certain spot. I'd say that would be the Northwest."
"So we gonna fight them? I hope so," Goten said, getting giddy.
Gohan smiled. "Yeah we're gonna fight them. We'll split up and take 'em all on."
That statement earned some cheers from the younger saiyans. They had been waiting a long time for a good fight and it was about time they got to show these humans exactly what a saiyan warrior was made of.
Suddenly, Gohan jerked his head to the South. "Damn, I didn't sense those. Guys, we got three power levels heading our way. Only one of them seems to pose a threat."
Trunks and Goten looked in the direction the older saiyan was. They both could feel the kis he was talking about, but they didn't feel worried. They could deal with them easily.
"Gohan, I'll take those three on. You and Trunks take off," Goten said a determined look on his face.
Though a bit reluctant, Gohan nodded. "Okay, you take care of them. Here, take these." Pulling a small bag from out of his armor, and pouring the contents out, three beans came falling out and landed in the palm of his hand. "Here's a senzu bean for each of us. Use them wisely."
When both younger saiyans took a bean, Gohan tucked the remaining one in his glove. "Okay then, take care everybody. Trunks, let's go."
With a nodded, Trunks took off, Gohan flying off in a different direction. Turning to the South, Goten flew off to meet the unexpected visitors.
"Videl, Erasa, we have an incoming power heading right for us," Tien announced, alerting the girls.
"Where's it coming from?" Videl asked, looking around.
"It's coming from the North and moving pretty fast. It'll be here any minute," Tien answered.
Meanwhile, Erasa had moved to get out of the open. As long as Tien and Videl were here, she knew they could take on any threat while she would be more of a liability.
"So what are we gonna do?" Videl asked.
"If it attacks us, I'll go in first. Wait till you see an opening and use the Dodon Ray. I want to take this guy down quickly."
"Right," Videl replied, getting into a fighting stance.
It didn't take long for the unknown power to arrive. Upon looking at the person, Videl gasped.
"Gohan!"
Tien's eyes widen. This was the saiyan that he had been searching for. If it wasn't for him, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and Crane would still be alive. The bodyguard's anger welled up. It was time for him to pay.
Yet, he had this nagging feeling that this wasn't the saiyan he was tracking down. This saiyan looked to be a bit smaller, younger than the one he had fought. Even his hair was wilder.
Videl was also noticing this. Though this saiyan looked just like Gohan, there were too many differences than she could ignore. Was this Gohan?
"Gohan?" the saiyan said confused. "How do you know my brother?"
Videl felt dismay creep into her just as Tien's thoughts of hate dissipated. So this wasn't the one they were seeking.
But then, this guy had just said the saiyan they were looking for was his brother. And if Videl remembered correctly, there was a saiyan that looked very similar to Gohan on that tape of the stolen shuttle. If that was the case, then it was possible that Gohan was also on the planet somewhere.
However, she needed to do something with the one in front of her. Maybe he could lead them right to the saiyan she was after. "Yeah I know him. Would you know where he is?" Videl answered, slowly dropping her stance.
The young saiyan continued to look at them. "Why would you want to know that?"
"Cause I've been looking for him for quite awhile. If it helps, I met him back on Vegeta."
"Huh? Gohan knows a girl?"
"Well there are women on Vegeta you know!" Videl shouted. Was this kid dumb or something?
At this point in time, Tien decided to jump in. "Could you tell us your name? So we can call you something besides boy."
The saiyan stared at the three eyed guy oddly. It took awhile but finally he answered the question. "My name's Goten, a saiyan warrior of Vegeta. Now tell me yours."
Tien smiled. "My name's Tien, the bodyguard of the girl behind me. Her name's Videl. We also have another named Erasa but she's in hiding right now."
"In hiding? Why's she doing that?"
"Because she isn't much of a fighter."
"Well bring her out. I won't hurt her."
Tien nodded. So far they had been on somewhat civil terms. He was positive the saiyan knew they were humans, but knowing his brother must've delayed him from killing them on sight. If he could get on this guy's good side, maybe he would take them to Gohan.
"Erasa! Come on out! It's safe!" the bodyguard yelled out. Erasa in turn came out of her hiding spot, looking cautiously up at the hovering saiyan. Who knew if he would attack her.
Goten watched as the blond human walked over to the other two. From what he could tell, the bald guy was the strongest with black haired girl being second. The blond was true to Tien's word that she wasn't a fighter since her ki wasn't as strong as the others.
Suddenly, a stronger ki popped up, heading towards the crash site. Jerking his head back the way he came, Goten started to become excited. Maybe that power would fight him.
"See you guys later," the young saiyan called before taking off back towards the lake. Watching Goten take off the way he came confused Tien until he sensed the other power approaching. This one was a lot stronger than he expected to be on Earth, short of any of the government chairs.
"Videl, I want you to hang back with Erasa. There's a big power where that saiyan is headed to. I'm gonna make sure he gets through that fight so he can lead us to Gohan. Understand?" Tien said.
Videl looked ready to bite his head from the order. She obviously wanted to follow as well.
Scowling, Tien reinforced his statement. "Videl, someone has to be able to protect Erasa while the other helps the saiyan. You wouldn't be of any use to him like I would be. Now stay here or I'll knock you out and have Erasa protect you."
Videl's eyes widened. Being unconscious while having Erasa watching her wasn't a good idea. The blond was more likely to bolt at the mere sound of the leaves rustling in the wind, leaving the Satan girl open for anything to do with her as it wished. She was gonna have to listen to Tien's order unfortunately.
"Fine, I'll stay behind," Videl said reluctantly.
"Good. I'll be back in a little while," Tien said. Turning in the direction Goten headed off to, the three eyed bodyguard launched himself into the air, flying fast to make up for lost time.
As soon Tien was out of sight, Videl turned to Erasa. "Okay Erasa, let's follow him."
"What!" the blond girl cried out. "Aren't we supposed to stay here like Tien said?"
"And miss the fight? You must be joking. If we can see this Goten fight, we'll get a better idea of how strong Gohan is."
"But didn't you get to see that back in East Fort?"
"All he did was blast the soldiers. I didn't get much of an idea of how strong he was then."
"Why do you need to know how strong he is?"
"So I'll know how easy it'll be when I kick his ass to the moon and back. Now come on! We're gonna see that fight or I'm leaving you here to get lost."
Erasa paled. Videl couldn't do that! She could be lost for days! If only that girl hadn't found her bawling her eyes out when she got lost in the village when she first arrived in East Fort.
"Ooh fine. Let's go after them," Erasa said distraught.
"I knew you'd see things my way," Videl said happily. Turning around she began running in the direction Tien and Goten had flown, Erasa trying to catch up. "Vi! Why won't you fly us over there?"
"Cause Tien will sense me and you know he won't like that."
Erasa felt like bursting into tears. Not only was she heading towards danger, but she was being forced to run towards it.
Things just couldn't get any worse.
And here marks the beginning of the end. Several fights are on the way so look out, this story will be coming to its last leg.
To Dragongirl: Lol, thanks. About time I killed that guy off after so many failed attempts. There will be even more butt kicking in upcoming chapters.