WARNING: This chapter of 'The Mercenary' contains descriptions that may distress some people. Proceed at your own discretion.

Perspective.

Everyone sees life and its wonders through their own perspectives. Sometimes though, these perspectives are influenced which could be seen as brainwashing. The citizens of the Western world would views certain leaders of other nations as being evil, mostly through the use of propaganda, executed by the nation's government. They would view Adolph Hitler, the man who killed millions of Jews and started the Second World War, as evil. They would view Deng Xiaoping, who ordered the students protesting at Tiananmen Square to be massacred, as evil. They would view Joseph Stalin, who killed millions of his own people for his own personal benefit, as evil.

Yet they completely ignore the crimes of their own revered citizens. Such as Winston Churchill, who made mistakes in the First World War when he created a strategy which saw the death of many Australian and New Zealand troops in Turkey, and again during the Second World War, in which he was more than willing to keep Australian troops in Europe to protect the British Empire, at the expense of the Australian nation, which was left defenceless at the hands of the Japanese military might. And as well, President Harry Truman, who authorized the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to finalize Japans defeat in that war. Who can say if any of these people truly were evil or not. Who can say whether I am truly evil or not.

It is all a matter of perspective.

&&&

Doctor Megumi Takani, Senior Medical Officer of Satan City Hospital and the two nurses next to her, Julia Ruba and Kari Kamiya, surveyed the young girl they had just operated on. She had been brought in by a young boy in a black trench coat, apparently a mercenary working for the Administration. Whether he did or not was irrelevant to Megumi. One of the men who were about to rape her stabbed her with a fifth teen centimetre blade. It was by sheer luck alone that nothing vital was hit, and they were able to patch her up nicely.

It was all the bruises and scars that got Megumi in a bad mood. Someone had been all over this girl, and had been doing it for a while. The two nurses beside her easily recognized the signs as well, both having experienced it in one form or another. As Megumi surveyed the charts reading her health, Kari gently stroked the girl's cheek, moving some hair out of her face. "Poor little girl," she said, her voice rather shaky.

Julia nodded. "She's not much younger than my Erasa, or her friends. Too think that this could have been her," said the blonde mother.

Kari looked to Megumi who had placed down the chart. "Do we know her name, at the very least?"

"Her name is Kagome Higurashi," came a shaky male voice from the door.

The three women turned to see the top doctor, Dr. Oguni Gensai. He held a yellow folder in his hand, and looked very pale. For several minutes the women waited for him to speak again, but his words didn't come. Finally Megumi broke the silence. "You look rather pale Dr. Gensai, are you alright?" she asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I doubt any would be alright after reading what I just read. The boy who brought her in is a mercenary likewise with Mr. Sagara. Both of them didn't look too well once they had read it either," he said.

"May I read it please Dr. Gensai?" asked Megumi.

"I-I would not advise it, Dr. Tanaki, it is quite… distressing to say the lest," replied the doctor in a shaky voice.

"I'll be the judge of that doctor," said Megumi hotly, and grabbed the folder before the old man could stop her.

She opened the folder and her eyes began to scan the document. It was Sousuke Sagara's report of the information he learnt while interrogating Kobe Edo. And Gensai was right, it was distressing. As she finished reading she too became pale and she dropped the file as she whispered "Oh my God."

&&&

On top of the roof of Satan City Hospital, sat a boy, wearing a black trench coat, black jeans and fingerless black gloves. All he did was looked to the busy street below him, free of his usual mask of hate and anger. Now he looked emotionless as ever, but if someone looked hard enough they would see the regret and sorrow in his eyes.

This boy was Gohan, mercenary for hire, currently in the employment of the Satan City Administration. That day he had discovered something that completely shook the carefully defined world he had created for himself. His circle had been violated, his box assaulted. As it began to rain, the boy mercenary looked up to the sky. "Its times like this, I really wish I could get drunk," he said to himself, yet not surprised when a gruff voice answered.

"Alcohol numbs the body and mind you know," said the voice.

"Right now that's precisely what I want, Piccolo," said the Saiyan, not looking at his former mentor.

With a swish of his cape the Namek warrior sat down next to his pupil. "When you left three years ago, I never would have thought that this is how I would find you," he said.

"I'm not stupid Piccolo," said Gohan. "I know you've been checking up on me every now and again,"

Piccolo smirked. "Didn't think I could fool you," dropping his smirk and looking at the boy concerned, he continued. "So seriously, tell me what's wrong?"

Gohan just looked at his hands. "You ever feel that Karma has just kicked you in the balls?"

Piccolo nodded. "Yeah, well right now it feels like she's used a sledgehammer instead of her foot."

"Can't be that bad can it?"

"No you're right. Try a jackhammer instead."

"Wanna explain?"

Gohan sighed deeply. "Inside this hospital, there is a little girl, only nine years old. For the past two years she has been the sex toy of the Syndicate families of South City and Satan City, and it's my entire fault."

"Gohan you're not gonna make things better by taking the blame, for something you had nothing to do with," said Piccolo.

"Piccolo, when I say it's my fault, I mean I started a chain of events that led to her enslavement," he said. "When I started working for the Black Syndicate to South City, they wanted to see if I was worth hiring. I robbed the Central Bank single handed, and killed a security guard in the process."

"What's that got to do with anything," asked Piccolo.

Gohan took a deep breath. "At the time, the guard had a wife, a three year old son and a six year old daughter."

Piccolo instantly did the math and his eyes widened as Gohan continued. "When he died, the mother did whatever she could to make ends meet, some less savoury than others."

"Prostitution?"

Gohan nodded. "Eventually she ran afoul with the Sen Family, the Black Syndicate family of South City. I don't know the details except that they sent thugs to kill her and take her children. Once they had the children, the killed the boy, because he was too young to be of any use, and the girl began the two years of torment."

"How did she end up here," asked the green man.

"A gift of good will, from one family too another," spat Gohan.

"You seem to be taking this rather hard kid,"

Gohan looked up to the sky again and sighed. "For three years I have acted without consideration or second thought. And now I find out that one of the first acts I did as a mercenary has cost a little girl her freedom," he sighed again. "So yeah, I am taking this kinda hard."

Piccolo placed one of his clawed hands one the mercenaries shoulder. "When you get to high for your own good, fate has a way of bringing you back down," he said.

Gohan nodded and growled. "I hate this Piccolo, I hate this feeling. I hate that a nine year old girl has suffered more abuse than a hundred people experience in their lives. I hate that I am the cause of her suffering. But most of all," he stopped for a bit and took a deep breath. "I hate the fact that no matter how many times I say 'I don't care' all I'm doing is lying too myself."

"You once said to Vegeta, 'it is only natural for children too imitate their parents'," said Piccolo. "I know you hate Goku, but he would probably be feeling the same way if he was in your position."

At the mention of Goku, Gohan rolled his eyes. "I'm a mercenary, I'm meant to be cold hearted and ruthless not getting upset over some little girl whose had a hard life."

"But she's not some little girl, is she," retorted Piccolo.

Gohan just stared at the ground, in deep thought. Finally he spun around on the edge and got up. Brushing his jacket off, he grabbed his former mentor's hand. "I have an idea that will make things better," he said, and the two disappeared.

Hiding behind the door that separated the roof from the rest of the hospital, there was a girl, only months younger than the boy. Despite having seen a green man wearing a turban and cloak, her eyes held tears for the suffering and confused boy. "Poor Gohan," she whispered.

&&&

"I-inu-inuyasha,"

Megumi looked up from her seat. The little girl, Kagome, had been whispering that name ever since she came in, except for the times she was under anaesthetic. Megumi, and the other nurses and doctor were starting to wonder about this 'Inuyasha' whoever or whatever it was. For the past hour, Megumi had been going over everything she knew about Kagome Higurashi, now accompanied by Sagara interrogation report and her diagnosis. Turns out Kagome had been so badly abused that her uterus had been maimed, preventing her from ever having children in the future. The girl would never be able to have children. As if that wasn't enough she practically had every STI's known to modern medicine, including AIDS and HIV.

"How can someone suffer so much abuse," Megumi whispered to herself.

She turned when she heard a knock at the door. Sousuke walked into the room, followed by Julia, Kari, Videl and Erasa. The younger girls went straight to her bedside, while Sousuke looked at Megumi. "Is she awake yet?" he asked.

"She's coming out of the anaesthetic slowly," replied the doctor. "Inspector I'm not sure you being here is such a good idea. Kagome will likely be very fearful of any man that comes too close,"

Sousuke only looked at Kagome and said "That's assuming it was men who abused her,"

"Excuse me," exclaimed Megumi.

"Gohan mentioned that the Black Syndicate could be very… creative, concerning their torture methods," said Sousuke.

There were mutual gasps from all around the room. "I think I'm going to be sick," said Erasa as she ran out of the room, quickly followed by her mother and Kari.

Videl just sat next to the little girl, stroking her hand, while Megumi only glared at the police man. "How can you be so insensitive," she spat. "You say that it was creative, like it was artistic."

"I only use that word because it would take the sick and depraved side of creativity to do what was done to this little girl," said Sousuke, his eyes betraying his emotionless mask. "You may not know this Dr. Takani, but I have a daughter whose six years old. Only one year younger than Kagome when she was taken by the Syndicate. It could have quite easily been her."

Megumi eased her glare from the inspector as the three women came back from retrieving their last meal. "Forgive me Inspector, I didn't know," she said.

Sousuke nodded. "Nevertheless I need to ask her some questions. She may have information that could help against the Syndicate," said Sousuke, looking at the young girl.

"Sorry Inspector, but I'm afraid that ain't gonna happen," came a voice from the door.

Everyone in the room turned around to see Gohan flanked by two green men, one taller than Sousuke, the other a few inches shorter than Gohan. Everyone gasped at the site of the supposed Martians. "Are they from Mars," asked Erasa, not taking her eyes of the big one.

"Hardly," snorted the tall one.

"We actually come from a planet much further away," said the short one.

'Saturn?" ventured Julia, causing the tall one to shake his head, and the short one to chuckle a little.

"These two are here to help Kagome," said Gohan. "This one," gesturing to the tall one "is my first sensei, Piccolo, and this one;" gesturing to the shorter one "is Dende, guardian of Earth,"

The short one, Dende, stepped forward to the bed as Videl moved back a little, yet still not letting go of the little girl's hand. Turning to Megumi, he said "What's wrong with her?"

Gulping, Megumi said "Her reproductive organs have been mutilated, along with numerous cuts and bruises all over her body. As well she has multiple sexually transmitted diseases."

Dende nodded and turned back to Kagome. Holding out his hand, he emitted a blinding light that covered the girl's tiny form. Videl, who was still holding her hand, felt some of the cuts on her hand disappear. 'What on earth' thought Videl? 'How did he do that?' Once the light disappeared Dende smiled and stepped back. "You'll find that now she is in prefect health," he said.

Megumi instantly ran forward and checked Kagome. After a few minutes she could find none of the previous injuries that she had before, including the knife wound from Kobe Edo. As she was examining the left arm, Kagome's eyes began to flutter. When she noticed that she was being touched, she screamed and retreated as far as she could to the back of the bed, pulling her limbs from Videl and Megumi. "Please, please don't hurt me," she wailed, curling up into a ball ad sobbing heavily.

"Sweetheart, please, we're trying to help," said Megumi, reaching to stroke the girl's hair, only making her scream louder.

"Stand aside, woman," growled Piccolo.

The lady doctor only glared at the alien, but did as he said. Like Dende before him, he held his hand out to Kagome, this time covering her face, while she trembled in fear. "This is for the best kid," he said, emitting a darker light than Dende's, causing the Kagome to faint.

Meanwhile, Sousuke leaned over to Gohan who leaned against the wall. "What is he doing?" whispered Sousuke.

"He's wiping her memory," he said.

"What?!" the policeman exclaimed.

Gohan returned Sousuke's outburst with a shrug. "I figured it would be better for her if she didn't remember anything that's happened in the past two years,"

Sousuke looked at Gohan, then at Piccolo then went back to Gohan. "Well, it would be kinder, yes, but I needed to ask her some questions," the Chief Inspector stressed to the young mercenary.

"Too bad," shot Gohan. "Some things are a little more important than your questions, Chief Inspector."

Before Sousuke could say anything heard a small thump. When he turned to the noise, he saw the Kagome had collapsed into Piccolo's arms. The green man shifted her so she was once again lying peacefully on her bed. He looked at her several minutes before Gohan interrupted the silence. "Everything go ok Piccolo," he asked.

The Namek warrior shook his head. "Not quite," he said, earning a look from Gohan and Dende. "She's forgotten nearly everything that has happened, but she will be vaguely aware that something happened to her. Also she has memories that were too strong to erase."

"What do you mean?" asked Dende.

"She has memories of someone or something called 'Inuyasha'. These memories are so strong that not event he strongest telepaths could erase them," explained Piccolo.

"What will happen if her memories resurface," questioned Megumi, still somewhat wary of the green man.

"They won't," he replied. "Think of the mind as a computer, and the memories as different files. Just as those files can be hidden, memories can be suppressed. However files can be deleted as well. Same goes for memories. Though one of the differences between memories and data is that sometimes memories are too strong emotionally, such as the girl's memory of 'Inuyasha'."

Gaining the understanding nodded from Sousuke and Megumi, Piccolo turned to Dende and Gohan. "I think its time we left," he said.

Gohan nodded to his former sensei. "Right, seeya later Piccolo," said the demi Saiyan.

With a farewell from Piccolo and Dende, the two Namek exited the room leaving an indifferent Saiyan and five stunned humans. After a few minutes of silence, Erasa finally said "huh what just happened?"

Gohan smiled at the blonde and shook his head. "I should have had Piccolo wipe your memories as well," he said heartily.

Videl looked at him strangely, then remembered his conversation with Piccolo on the roof and smiled with him. 'This should help ease the guilt' she thought to herself. "Well," said Gohan. "If anyone needs me I'll be on the roof. The sun should be rising soon and I wanna see it."

"I'll come with you," said Videl, as she followed him out of the room.

&&&

The two teenagers sat on the roofs ledge as the sun began to rise. A comfortable silence was between them, both content with just watching the rising sun. Several minutes passed like this until Gohan eventually spoke. "You know it's not very polite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations," he said, grinning.

Videl's jaw dropped. 'How did he know I was there' she thought, while trying to put together a sentence of apology. The mercenary next to her just shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Our curiosity encourages us to learn more, I though told you that?"

"Yeah," said Videl. "But my dad is always telling me off for eavesdropping on his 'important' phone called.

"Yeah, well, no offence to you but your dad is a few chromosomes short of a human."

Videl laughed at Gohan's description of her father. "Your mood seems too improved," she commented. "Why did you do it, get those green men to help Kagome?"

Gohan just looked at her. "Does it really matter," he said turning to the sun.

Videl leaned back onto her elbows and sighed. "I guess not, but still, I'd like to know," she said.

"Well if you must know," Gohan sighed. "There are many reasons why I did it, but mostly for self redemption."

Videl smiled at him. "Is that all, or is your 'cold hearted and ruthless' mercenary persona shielding other reasons?" she said.

"Preceptive wench," growled Gohan. "Fine, what can I say; I'm not exactly a big fan of little girls being sex toys." His face became serious.

Videl dropped her smiled and nodded. "I don't think anyone would be, save the perpetrators," she said grimly.

"As Hugo Weaving once said," smirked Gohan. "The only verdict is vengeance."

As Videl was about to reply to his comment, the door leading to the hospital flung open and out strode Sousuke Sagara, looking very tired with a cigarette in his mouth. "Miss. Satan, if you please, I need to speak with Gohan in private," he said, once again completely void of emotion.

Videl sat up and made her way to the door, but not before smiling once more at Gohan, who returned it. Once she closed the door, Gohan said "I didn't know you smoked, Mr. Sagara."

Sousuke took a long drag and breathed out. "It's a bad habit my father in law got me into, something Kaname hasn't forgiven him for. And before you ask I only smoke when I'm stress, and never anywhere near my kids."

For several minutes Sousuke looked too the sun, much like Gohan and Videl before him, before he said "Kobe Edo is going to be released tomorrow night."

"What?!" exclaimed Gohan.

"You looked surprised. The reasoning of few is dictated ethics; the reasoning of many is dictated by currency."

"An attempt at being philosophical?"

"Are you saying that I'm wrong?"

Gohan looked at the older man. "Good point," he said.

"I have a job for you Gohan," said Sousuke.

Gohan groaned. "Does this mean I have to do another report?"

Sousuke shook his head. "No, no report this time. This job is off the books," he said.

"Uh… What?"

Sousuke flicked his cigarette away and turned around towards the door. As he opened the door, he said to Gohan "Kobe Edo is being held in the Rujiku District Station. You know what to do, right?"

Getting the picture, the boy mercenary smirked evilly. "Gotcha boss," he said.

&&&

Monday morning Sousuke Sagara walked into Rujiku District Station to finalise the release of one Kobe Edo, son of Tokyo and Kyoto Edo. The Chief Inspector of Satan City was not pleased with the arrangement. He wanted to see bastards Kobe get life for the things they've done, things not even the common person could fathom, what with their carefully established routines.

As Sagara entered the building, the first thing he noticed was that there were a lot of men in white jumpsuits. 'Good' thought Sousuke. 'Gohan did his job.' As he approached a random policeman, he asked "What's going on?"

Realising who he was talking to stood to attention. "Sir, Kobe Edo was murdered last night," the policeman said.

Remaining emotionless, Sousuke said "Take me to the cell."

As they walked to the cells, Sousuke noticed several men running to the nearest bin or toilet, getting reacquainted with their breakfast. The inspector started to have a bad feeling about this. When they came to the cells, Sousuke noticed that Kobe's cell was covered with a white cloth. Giving the policeman a questioning look, he asked for an explanation.

"Sorry sir, but it was all we could do to stop the other prisoners from getting sick. Some of them passed out just from the smell."

"Remove the cloth," demanded Sousuke.

Gulping, the policeman pulled down the cloth. The sight that met Sousuke was not at all what he was expecting. "Dear gods above," he whispered.

The cell was nothing more than a 5x5 square room with a bed and toilet. The usual stone grey walls however were covered with blood, bone fragments and what Sousuke organ tissue. It was no wonder why so many people were losing their last meal over this. Lying at the foot of the bars, Sousuke noticed, was the only intact piece remaining of Kobe Edo, his left hand, which still hand the ring with his family crest on it.

'I should really be more careful for what I wish for'

AN. Hello again guys. Sorry if anything in this chapter grossed you out or anything. Also I've been working on a plan for this story. What I was going to do was make it one story with five different 'sagas' each saga being a year of Gohan and Videl's life, but I'll probably make it a trilogy, each part of the trilogy being two years of their lives. Lemme know what you guys think and remember to keep reviewing. I gotta say I'm pretty pleased with the last chapter's response and hope that you guys will keep it up. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. And yes the man with black hair and blue eyes is android 17. good guess Videl1212 and Allahee4life. As for the chibi super Saiyan heres another hint. The only thing he shares with Goku and Vegeta is that they are the same race. The chibi super Saiyan is not related to either. Hope that helps. Until next time, cyaz.