Chapter 6; Discoveries
Gohan was putting extra effort into reaching Videl. He had felt her ki spike then suddenly settle back down. Judging by the agitated yet docile reading it was giving off and the fact that it was surrounded by what seemed like the whole gang, implied that she had been overwhelmed.
"Hurry Gohan. She's in trouble." He ran at a speed that would make him look like moving color to untrained eyes. The layout of the building wasn't horribly complicated and there were only nine floors to travel. He had been on the eighth floor already, but he didn't want complications to arise from his deliberate destruction of the property. However, seeing as how Videl's life was currently in danger, a bit more damage done for the greater good seemed to be in order.
"This is taking too long. Hiya! He launched a weak ki blast at the ceiling, making a smaller hole and a quieter explosion. However, at this point it was probably moot to worry about how much noise he was making.
"You here that exposion? Our caped nuisance is almost here. Well, we have our trump card ready to play." Videl sat on the floor, unsuccessfully trying to loosen her bonds. She tried to yell out a warning, but only a quiet grunt came out. "Ah, you see, all that tape is on your mouth for a reason. It would spoil the fun if you could warn your caped friend. Be a good girl, and we'll leave this bomb strapped to you for company." He beckoned to a henchmen and who brought a harness attached to a bomb. Videl yelled even more so under the tape as they strapped the bomb to her midsection.
"We're all done boss. We should go."
"Alright, get everything together." He turned to looked at the captive Videl and smirked. "You see this bomb was made to destroy the hostages and this whole building. Unfortunately, Saiyaman freed all the hostages. You two working together would have put a stop to us. Fortunately, you didn't come in together and to pay for your mistake, you will be our ticket out of here. As soon as Saiyaman comes here, he'll try to save you first. All the while, we'll be making our escape. If he's lucky, he won't try to disarm the bomb as it was made to detonate when tampered with. In the event that he manages to get the bomb off of you, he'll have to reach a safe distance away from innocent civilians. Either way, it'll give us time to escape with the important documents we've stolen. A man will pay us handsomely for the safe acquisition of these documents, and it would be a shame if we failed to bring them to him." If Videl could have, she would have unleashed a string of profanity vulgar enough to make the dirtiest mouthed individual cringe.
"Boss! Let's get out of here!"
"I'm coming you fool! Do you want a pay cut?"
"No."
"Alright then." He turned back to Videl one last time. "Since the police have followed you guys in here because Saiyaman so graciously saved the hostages, you've all left us a clear path. I think three minutes on the detonator should be enough." He bent down and set the bomb. "I hope you're happy. See you around, or at least bits of you." With a laugh, Wolf and the gang made their departure through window. They had come prepared for such an escape plan and made their descent via bungee cord.
"How did this happen? I had the upper hand at first! If I hadn't have let my guard down then none of this would have happened."
"Videl! Are you okay? Where are you!?" Gohan's voice echoed through the hallway. She tried to talk as best she could through the tape.
"Mmmm nnggg hrrnnnn!" Gohan ran into the room and was greeted with the sight of Videl tied up and gagged with a bomb strapped to her, and not a gang member in sight. He felt a quiet rage inside of himself as soon as he saw her in that condition. "I'll have to disarm the bomb first." She avidly shook her head and grunted in response. "What's the matter? We need to get rid of this bomb!"
"Mmmm!" She shook her head and tried to explain in some way the error in doing what he intended to do.
"I can't understand a thing you're saying!" She glared angrily at him.
"You think genius? How the freak am I supposed to talk with this crap plastered to my mouth."
"This is going to hurt. Brace yourself." Gohan seemed to get the picture and started unraveling the tape from around her head. She let the whole building know how it felt as soon as it was off.
"Owww! Freaking a! Did you have to pull it off so hard? Anyway, we can't disarm it without blowing it up. This is how they planned on escaping. They knew we'd have no choice but to take care of the bomb first."
"Hmmm...it looks like we have a minute and a half left on the clock. If that's the case then I better just take off the harness and fly the bomb out of here. Better be careful though. It's attached in a delicate manner." He methodically unattached the bomb from the harness and was careful not to disturb any of the delicate parts that could set it off.
"Hurry it up Saiyaman! We only have less than a minute!"
"I'm trying! I don't want to set it off right here. Is that what you want?"
"No, but just hurry!" He finally fully detached the bomb from the harness and made a quick glance at the time.
"I have thirty seconds left. It's risky, but I need to do it." He first paused to eliminate her bonds via his ki. Then he ran towards the open window. "You better take cover."
"No! There's no time! Why can't you just throw it and shoot it with that light of yours?"
"I might set it off before my blast destroys it. I need to get it clear of the city at all cost." He blasted off and took towards the sky. "I should be okay if I need to let it blow up on me. How strong could a bomb be anyway unless it was nuclear or something?" He flew straight up as the city was too wide in every direction to get the bomb far away enough otherwise. The detonator counted down steadily. It seemed to be a final countdown as the clock read ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, BOOM! A massive explosion rocked the sky and shook the block underneath it.
"Saiyaman!" Videl screamed out of fear for his safety. She couldn't see how anything or anyone could survive a blast like that at that proximity. The smoke from the explosion cleared and only revealed clear sky with nothing else but a couple clouds to be seen. Videl couldn't help but let the tears stream across her face. "Goodbye Saiyaman. You weren't so bad after all." It was utter silence as she mourned what she believed the passing of Saiyaman. The police interrupted her moment as they entered the room.
"Videl! Are you alright? We heard the blast from the eighth floor! Where is the gang and Saiyaman?" She paused to wipe away her tears before turning to face him.
"I was overwhelmed by all of them and was left strapped to a bomb. The gang made their escape as Saiyaman took care of the bomb. He flew it into the sky and..." She was unable to continue as the memory stirred emotions that fought to rise to the surface.
"I understand. He was a good man who believed in justice and the law." The chief put a consoling hand on her shoulder. "May he rest in peace." He then signaled to let Videl have her moment alone whilst they swept the building for anything to help track down Wolf. Videl finally let her walls fall down and let the tears come fully.
"I always treated him so callously and was flippant about his help. He gave his life to save me and everyone else, but I was always so selfish and ungrateful." She wiped the tears from her eyes and wore a look of determination on her face. "I swear. I won't let your sacrifice go to waste. It's the only way I can repay you. I hope it will be enough."
"Well, I've never known you to cry, but that was really nice. Fortunately, I'm still alive." She turned to face the one speaking and was unable to believe what she saw.
"Saiyaman?" She paused to collect herself then embraced him in a tight hug. "I thought you were dead! I'm sorry for how I've treated you all this time! Wait a second. You let me make swear an oath to a dead man who wasn't even dead and watched me do it! You jerk!" Gohan was taken aback by her seemingly bipolar personality swap.
"She went from repentant to angry and accusing just like that? She's so much like mom!" He let her beat on his chest for a moment to let of some steam. "This whole ordeal has ruined what was supposed to be a fun day for her. I guess she can be angry about this." She paused to catch her breath as the exertion had winded her. "I'm sorry Videl. I didn't mean to make it seem like I died. After I recovered from the explosion, I had to round up those crooks after the bomb exploded. I found them celebrating from a distance beside a parked van and brought them back to the scene. They're all knocked out on the roof. "
"Say what? Are you serious?" She looked at him incredulously.
"Take a look. They're all there." Having to see it to believe it, she allowed him to fly her up to the roof. Sure enough, all seven gang members were heaped up in one unconscious mass.
"Wow. That's insane. You're not of this world!" Gohan chuckled at her halfway accurate comment.
"You're almost right."
"What did you say?" Confusion was etched on her face, but Gohan wouldn't have time to explain himself. Without warning, his visor cracked and his helmet began to split in half. Soon Gohan stood before her in all his unmasked glory. The reaction from Videl was first stunned silence, but soon an angry and accusing look covered her face. "Gohan?"
"Hi?" Was all Gohan could lamely say.
"I knew it was you! I gave into you and let myself start to trust you, but I still suspected it was you!"
"So is it a crime that I hid this from you guys? I never outright lied to you, but did you honestly think I would've been comfortable revealing this to you?" Videl couldn't rebuttal him because she knew he was right.
"I'm too overwhelmed to fairly judge the situation. I'll call the cops up here and you get back to the mansion. We'll talk then." Her voice wasn't hard and cold but it wasn't kind and lenient either. Gohan knew he would have some serious explaining to do in the near future.
"Okay. Will do. I just want you to know I'm sorry."
"Don't say anything now Gohan. I won't be able to listen to you." A hurt expression flashed across her features briefly and Gohan felt a pang of guilt for his deception.
"Okay." He flew off to contend with a blonde couple, probably confused by his absence by now. "What a day. It was just supposed to be a normal day with friends. How on earth did my mask break too?
The scene replayed in his head as tried to remember what happened. At the last moment he wound his arm back to throw the bomb away. Not a moment had it been after he threw it that the bomb exploded literally in his face. He had managed to put up a last minute defense and had escaped seemingly unscathed. When he flew to apprehend the thieves and recover the stolen goods he had noticed a strange rattling from his helmet. He hadn't paid it any mind at the time, but it seemed that his helmet had taken a lot of stress from the explosion. Dende must love me." As he spoke a teenage Namekian lounging in a palace in the sky sneezed. He was reading a magazine chalk full of celebrity dirt and pop culture news.
"What fascinating lives these humans live."
"Ummm, Dende?" Mr. Popo tried to get the guardian's attention.
"Are you done with your break sir? Shouldn't you be watching over the earth?"
"I know what's going on Mr. Popo. Besides, this magazine is full of important information on the notable people of earth. Sometimes it's nice to 'research' the old fashioned way. You follow me?"
"I suppose so sir." The dark genie went back to sweeping the corridor. "Researching my butt."
Gohan continued to fly, oblivious to the lounging guardian of earth. He had to figure out how to explain the excessive duration of his absence to his waiting friends.
"This isn't good. Having to use the bathroom after getting a drink, won't explain why I've been gone for an hour and a half. What am I going to say?" Soon the mansion came into view, and he knew his time was running out. He entered the bathroom window he had left open and closed it. He then put his costume away and flushed the toilet to maintain pretenses. "Here goes nothing. Hey guys! I'm back!" He was puzzled when he received no response. "What are they up to?" He walked into the kitchen and saw nothing out of place. Cautiously, he entered the living room to find the blonde couple lip locked on the sofa. "Whoa. Well, whatever. Here's my lucky break." He got closer and cleared his throat to get attention.
"Aagghhh!" The two blondes screamed in unison. They looked at Gohan then back at each other before scooting a couple inches away from each other and turning red.
"Where have you been dude?"
"I decided to drink my drink in the kitchen, then I had to go the bathroom."
"That only takes like, five or ten minutes? We waited for about fifteen minutes then started the movie. Erasa got a little bored with it after about thirty minutes though, so I guess you can see what happened next." He scratched the back of his neck and blushed out of embarrassment.
"That still doesn't explain what happened for all this time Gohan. Where were you?" Erasa was eyeing him curiously.
"Well, I got lost on the way to find a bathroom. After a while I eventually found one. After I was done, the problem was that I couldn't remember my way back. This place is huge! I wandered around for a while and I guess just started to enjoy looking at all the decorations in the mansion. With some dumb luck, I got back here and found you making out. I waited for about five minutes to break you guys up." Gohan tried to hide the fact that he was lying, but it came off as embarrassment. His friends seemed to buy into it and accepted his explanation without question.
"So what do we do now?" Erasa looked around restlessly. "Videl is taking a really long time today."
"I'm sure she'll be back soon. Why don't we order some food with the money her dad left in the kitchen? There's some money with a note that says it's for ordering in dinner. I'm sure she might be hungry after helping out the police."
"That's a pretty good idea. I'm getting kind of hungry myself. So what should we order then?"
"I've had nearly everything you can think about so you guys just order what you want."
"Okay, well we haven't had pizza in a while. Is that alright with you Sharpner?"
"Sure babe. Let's see, there's enough here for three pizzas. Erasa, Videl, and myself can handle one pizza so how about we order the other two for you Gohan?"
"Sounds good to me." Gohan left to go sit alone for a while. "I better enjoy this peaceful moment. Things will get a whole lot more complicated as soon as Videl gets here."
"You bet hot shot! She'll be on you like white on rice now that she knows how tough you really are. I mean in the good way too."
"Did you miss the part where I said 'peaceful' moment."
"Sorry Mr. Uptight."
"I'm losing it. Get it together Gohan."
"You okay Gohan?" He turned to see Erasa looking at him with concern.
"Yeah, I'm just stressed about stuff."
"Would this 'stuff' involve a particular person?" She took a seat beside him at the table and waited. She had a knowing look on her face.
"Well, yeah. Is it that obvious?"
"I can read you like a book Gohan. So would this person happen to be... Videl?" He paused to look at her in slight shock.
"Yeah actually," He answered, knowing he had already given himself away.
"I knew." She had a gleeful smile on her face and you could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she considered the possibilities. "Continue please."
"Well, let's just say that she's mad at me for not telling her something. I might have considered telling her at some point." He paused out of amazement for himself. "Really?" "Anyway, she found out before I was ready to tell her and now I don't know what to do."
"I see. Well knowing Videl, it's a matter of trust. She doesn't let herself trust many people like she trusts us, so when she does, it really means something. She's finally let herself trust you and now she's found out something that would undermine that trust. The best way to resolve this is to be as honest as possible about the situation. You need to demonstrate in the best possible way why it was necessary to hide what you hid. If you don't have a good reason, it might be hard to regain the trust you had from her."
"Okay. I definitely have a very good reason why I didn't tell her immediately. Maybe she'll understand."
"I think so. Videl has a good head on her shoulders. She's stubborn and she can be rude, but she has a good heart. I also have a sinking suspicion that she likes you."
"Um, not to be rude, but are you crazy? She's only treated me normally until this week! For all the rest of the time she's known me, she's practically breathed down my neck to find out what sinister secret I'm hiding!"
"I think she was just interested in you Gohan. Videl doesn't just chase after someone under the slight suspicion he might have a secret. I know her. Plus, I'm girl. I know these things Gohan."
"You think so?"
"Yep. If there's nothing to it after all, I know you like her at the very least." Gohan sputtered as he drank a soda he had pilfered from the fridge.
"What makes you say that!?"
"Don't even try to deny it Gohan. A boy doesn't look at a girl the way you do if he doesn't like her." Gohan scratched the back of his neck and sighed.
"You're too good for your own good. You know that?" She giggled at the comment.
"People have a habit of underestimating me. I may be boy crazy and a bit ditzy sometimes, but I know relationships. Anyway, it's just something to think about. I hope I helped."
"Yeah, thanks." Gohan was left alone to his thoughts once again. "She'll be here any moment." He said it more to himself than anyone in particular, but there was no one to hear him. A door opened and light footsteps could be heard in the living room.
"Hey guys! I'm home!" The pretty, raven-haired girl walked in with a noticeable lag in her step. It was a level of weary that was stamped on every part of her.
"Hey Videl! What took so long?" Her blonde, sister-like friend embraced her as she walked in.
"It was harder than usual. Saiyaman was a big help today. Things could have been a lot worse without his help." She turned to see Gohan waiting apprehensively across the room. She gave him a small smile, but here eyes told him he wasn't off the hook yet.
"Well that's great. I knew the caped goof what come in useful to you one day." Sharpner had just walked into the room. "By the way, we've already ordered dinner. Does pizza sound okay?"
"Anything sounds good right about now to be honest. I'm going to be freshen up." She sent a brief look at Gohan that beckoned him to be ready to start talking when she got out. Erasa caught the exchange and nodded at Gohan.
"What gives?" Sharpner said as Videl left. "I don't get it."
"Videl and Gohan have something to talk about in private later." She grabbed his arm and ushered him into the kitchen.
"Seriously?" He looked at her incredulously. She just sighed and pushed him into the kitchen. One last time she looked at Gohan and waved in the direction Videl had went. He nodded in return and followed Videl to wait for her.
"This is perfect. Once they have a chance to talk things over, I'm sure things will work for them and maybe 'other' things can blossom." The matchmaker followed her boyfriend into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, in a world far away from the all of a sudden trivial matters of earth, clashes rocked the skies as powerful warriors trained as if their life or afterlife depended on it. The overseeing Kais looked on with grim faces. They were desperate for the drastic improvement of their fighters. The whole cosmos and the very balance of existence depended on it.
In another not so far away section of this world, the skies were busy as well. It wasn't immediately apparent at a glance, but hard work was being done without a single moment of ceasing. It wasn't the birds that occupied the sky. It wasn't the clouds that blew across it either. There was only nothingness and the vast expanse of color to occupy the sky. Then just as suddenly as there was nothing, a crack appeared. The toiler smiled a grim smile. It appeared that all his hard work was paying off after all. He laughed a thick evil laugh of satisfaction.