Chapter Two; Problems
"Shoot him! Shoot him quick!" cried out a frantic thug. The ensuing rain of bullets was met by an unmovable object none other than a costumed Saiyan. The mouth situated beneath his visor smirked as the bullets fell harmlessly to the pavement.
This was the usual routine of the teen super hero and the usual trash of the city. It's said that expecting different results from the same action is a sign of insanity. Whether that is true or not never seemed to deter the criminals even though they were obviously and hopelessly outclassed by both Gohan and Videl.
"No use! He's freaking bullet proof! Let's scram!" cried the frantic thug. None of them had a chance to move as Gohan faded out of view and knocked them all out in the span of a few seconds.
"When do they ever learn?" He looked at his watch and saw there were still a few lunch-break ended. He could still make it if he booked it. After dusting his hands of he blazed off towards school.
Meanwhile, a certain raven-haired girl descended in her jet-copter to see that much to her chagrin her work had already been done for her. The cops were already rounding up the unconscious criminals as she hovered over the scene.
"He always does this! That's the third time in two weeks he's beaten me to the punch. Well, I've had it up to here with this Saiyaman. It's a waste of my time if he takes care of all my work before I even get here. It's time I had a little 'word' with him." She took off towards school and arrived just short of lunch ending. She joined her departing friends.
"Hey Videl! How did it go?" inquired Erasa.
"Hmmph, well Saiyaman took care of it already per usual. That guy is really starting to get on my nerves."
"Well, he's only trying to help out, ya know?" interjected Sharpner.
"You think I don't know that? Not that I mind a little help, as those monkeys in the uniforms can't tie their own shoelaces. It's just that he's practically taken over my whole job! It's a waste of my time to put so much effort into this if there's nothing to do by the time I get there."
"Hmm, I guess I see what you're saying."
"Of course you do, by the way, where's Gohan? Wasn't he with us when I left?"
"Oh, he left to go to the bathroom as soon as you left, he never came back." Videl's face darkened as Sharpner told her this.
"Can't he come up with a better excuse than that? He's so full of it, and I'm going to find out what he's hiding." Her change in demeanor wasn't unnoticed by her friends.
"Gosh Videl, what's eating you?" asked Erasa? "You're not jealous that maybe Gohan is having a secret meeting are you?" she concluded with a wink.
"Shut up Erasa! There's no way I would care about any of that. I can just tell he's lying to us. Isn't it obvious or have you guys really been so duped by that clown?"
"Well, why do you care that he is? If you weren't interested in him in any way would it matter so much if were lying to us?" Videl could say nothing to this and could only look at her shoes. The question flustered her.
"Could she be right? Why do I care so much that he isn't more honest? No, I'm not interested like that." She looked up at her friends. "I can't trust him like you guys do. If he feels the need to hide what he's doing all the time, then why should I? Why should you for that matter?"
"Come on Videl! The guy's harmless. Oh, and lay off Erasa. Why would Videl ever go for someone as awkward as him?" Sharpener scoffed. "Granted, he's alright to hangout with, but Videl could do better." This set off another argument between the couple on Gohan's merits. Meanwhile, Videl chose to escape her sometimes overly dramatic friends. In her hurry, she failed to notice a tall, well-built Saiyan boy as she turned around a corner.
"Oof! Watch where you're going you...oh, it's you. Where were you all this time?"
"Sorry Videl! I was in the bathroom," lied Gohan. He knew she wouldn't believe it for a second.
"As if Gohan. You do this every time I leave to fight crime. I want to know what you're up to. Is that so much to ask?" As she was saying this, she was getting closer to his face with her hand on her hips. She failed to notice his nervousness due to the close proximity.
"You wouldn't understand," he said as he looked away. He tried to gain some clarity and figure out what to say next.
"What do you mean? What's so hard about this Gohan?" A look of curiosity grew on her face.
"It's not that easy to just tell you guys everything I do. I-I don't know if I can trust you." His own openness surprised him. "Why am I telling her this?"
"What are you talking about?" Videl said as she began to feel irritated. "You snoop around and hide behind this wall all the time and you have the nerve to say that!? I'm the one that can't trust you! Listen, if you want to live in your own little world and keep everyone you know in the dark about you that's fine. Just don't expect to be a friend of mine." She turned on her heel and left Gohan gawking. Gohan followed suit and went to his class, but her words weighed heavily on him. They cut him more deeply then he could have ever known.
School lagged on without a hitch or any further incidents all day. Gohan eagerly flew home at breakneck speeds. His earlier encounter had bothered him.
"Does it bother her that much? Why does it bother her that much that I have some secrets?" he said as he landed on the front lawn. He didn't notice his mother hanging laundry as he spoke.
"Bother who?" Chichi asked curiously. "You said 'her', so you're talking about a girl! Oh! I can see the grandchildren already!" She clasped her hands and her eyes twinkled dreamily as she gushed excitedly.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT MOM! She's just a girl in my class. I'm not interested in her like that," his face a string shade of crimson as he spoke.
"Liar." Taunted his inner Gohan
"Shut up." He countered.
"You needn't be so bashful Gohan. I was only teasing anyway. Do tell me though, why is she upset at you?"
"Well, she's onto me mom. She's knows I'm hiding things from our friends. I guess it just bothers her that I'm not more honest, but it's not like I can just say "Hi! I'm Gohan! I'm half alien, I have super powers, and I fight crime in a green tunic and helmet!" He waved and flashed a cheesy smile to add emphasis.
"Hmm...I see what you mean," said Chichi whilst holding in a chuckle. "But I don't think it would bother her this much over you keeping her and others out of your private life unless she wanted to be more than 'some girl in your class'. I bet that girl likes you Gohan."
"You think so? It doesn't seem like it to me," pondered Gohan. "I wish."
"That's more like it!"
"OH, WOULD YOU PUT A SOCK IN IT!" The war between Gohan and his inner self didn't go unnoticed to Chichi.
"Are you alright Gohan? You look a little strange."
"Oh, yeah I'm fine," Gohan scratched his head sheepishly. "I'm going to finish up some homework and then spar with Goten.
"Alright. Be sure to finish all of it and be on time for dinner."
"Yeah, no problem mom!" She watched as Gohan went in the house.
"Oh, Gohan. You can be clueless like your father sometimes. I miss you Goku. I wish you could be here to see the fine young men our sons are growing up to be."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the secluded sectors of Other World, a more complicated situation brewed. The Kais had noticed it almost immediately. The powerful villains of the past were never individuals that could be kept down. Even in death, they still were finding motivation to continue what little reign of terror was possible. Nothing ever got too out of hand with the abundance of deceased fighters on the side of good. However, it seemed a disturbance beyond anything Frieza or Cell would bargain for had come to fruition.
"Those blasted miscreants down in HFIL just won't stay down will they?" complained a tall Kai. "How many times have Pikkon and Goku handled the rebellions down there already?" his deep voice muttered.
"Well, Southy! It looks like my Goku can clean house way better than any of your students can," bragged a nasally voice.
"Don't sing too loudly Northy. Pikkon was sure giving him a run for his money last time around," countered a not as nasally voice.
"Ha! Well, don't let your head swell too big, Mr. High and Mighty West Kai! He still hasn't beaten Goku yet!"
"Well, it won't be long! He'll come out on top sooner or later! You'll see."
"All right gentlemen! Let's focus on the task at hand yo?" called a voice trying to sound too cool for it's own good. They looked towards the bearded Kai from whom the voice originated. All eyes turned to the Grand Kai seated at the head of the conference table.
"Yes Lord Kai," they all spoke in unison.
"We're here to discuss the dimensional rift that's been forming as of late. As you all know, all those baddies down in HFIL would love nothing better than to bust out. Last time they conspired something so extravagant, they indeed managed to make a tear between dimensions with their combined strength. Thankfully, with the help of all the strong fighters around here and our efficient maintenance crew, we managed to round all those punks up and patch up the hole. Unfortunately, those idiots had no idea of the repercussions. Their attempt to bust out has created an imbalance between the dimensions that we obviously couldn't fix."
"Which brings us to the problem at hand," King Kai spoke up.
"Exactly. Normally, when a dimensional imbalance occurs, we tip the scales so to speak. We find the source of the imbalance and eliminate it. However, the highest ranking in the hierarchy of Kais and myself had not confirmed the source of the imbalance until now. Does the name Neeros ring a bell?" A look of fear mixed with panic etched itself across all seated at the table.
"Impossible! That tyrant was sealed away by the Supreme Kai two millennium ago!" retorted West Kai. "What does HE have to do with this fiasco?"
"He is precisely the reason for this dimensional imbalance. He is the ONE source of it actually."
"How could he produce enough power to create a shift in the dimensional balance? It doesn't seem possible," muttered East Kai.
"It appears that the tear between HFIL and Other World weakened the seal on the dimension he was locked away in. It was all the leeway he needed and he has been able to continue to weaken the seal as he continues to pour his energy into it. His power has obviously grown exponentially since his imprisonment, and he has sought for revenge, biding his time until he felt his power was strong enough. It is this surge of power from him weakening the seal that has caused the imbalance."
"But that means to be rid of this imbalance we would have to eliminate HIM! We can't touch him and he can't touch as while the seal is in place!" thundered South Kai.
"Precisely. And no matter how you put things, we're royally screwed. You dig? This imbalance threatens the security of ALL dimensions, because it required the strength of all the seals to contain this bad boy. If given time, he WILL eventually break his seal, and this will cause every other seal to break. Once that happens, there will be no borders between the world of the living and the dead."
"So it'll merely be a repeat of the Janemba incident?" asked King Kai.
"Yes, but worse. Once Janemba was killed, his power over dimensions ceased to exist. Once he was dead, the borders between all dimensions reformed and everything was brought back to normal. If everything falls apart due to Neeros breaking free, there won't be any quick fixes. The whole universe will be in turmoil and it could take years before we restored the borders between all dimensions. Every piece of trash that ever walked would come back and would have nowhere to go even in death. They could do as they please, coming back again and again to terrorize those they had terrorized in past lifes."
"Well, we could cancel the seal before he breaks it, preventing the immediate cancelation of all dimensional borders," offered King Kai
"Yes, we could definitely do that. However, we would have to deal with Neeros as soon as he was released. It's a gamble anyway, because with him out of imprisonment, he could easily generate enough power to destroy the borders between dimensions eventually. Don't forget that this was his original intention."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" snorted West Kai. "All hell will break loose no matter what choice we make! If his power has grown this much, then no one, not even Goku and Pikkon together can take care of him!"
"I believe I can bring clarity to this situation," commented a calm yet commanding voice. A short purple man with a white mohawk stepped into the room. Everyone immediately looked up in recognition. He smiled an unreadable smile.
Meanwhile at the Son residence, an intense afternoon spar was concluding.
"Hiya!" cried a young Saiyan boy. Goten lunged for one last attack. Gohan easily blocked the kick that the semi-Saiyan launched at him. Goten followed up with a series of punches that Gohan also blocked with ease. He lunged one last time only to have his hand pushed to the side as Gohan sidestepped simultaneously. With Goten's right side vulnerable, Gohan set an elbow into Goten's ribs followed up by a forceful but not damaging punch to his face. The impact still knocked Goten to the ground. He sat dazed while he rubbed his chin.
"That was pretty good for today squirt. You've grown more aggressive in your attack, but you still need to be more calculative. Don't just rush in headfirst. The enemy can take advantage of that and hit any openings that you can be sure you're leaving open when you do that."
"Okay! But am I getting stronger yet?"
"Yes Goten! You're much stronger than when you started training. I can see a drastic improvement in your control over your ki as well. But I think dinner is almost ready. Let's head to over to the house."
"Okay! I'm going to get there before you and eat everything up!"
"Yeah, I'd like to see mom let you do that!" Gohan called to him as he ran towards the good smells wafting from the kitchen window. "Man, that kid is something else. Wait a minute. What's that?" Gohan's senses began to take off in a thousand directions. He looked around wildly and just as soon as the feeling came, it went away. "What was that? I've never felt anything like it before. It just appeared and disappeared in an instant. What ever it was, it can't be good." Gohan joined his family rather somberly at the dinner table and didn't mention a thing to anybody. "I don't want anyone to worry about it. I'll talk to Piccolo and Vegeta about it tomorrow." He went to bed restless and slept even more restlessly that night.
Meanwhile, Videl was also laying in bed restless. She had far less urgent, but no less important issues to deal with. At least in her mind they were that important and they revolved around a spiky haired teen.