[AN: Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback! The first few chapters might be a little slow. But they're mostly building up context. Don't worry, the entire story isn't going to be like this.]

Everything started when, one night, Gohan got a call from Bulma. Chi-Chi answered their home phone, and was talking to her for a while. Then, in a surprise, she gave the phone to him, saying Bulma wanted to speak to him.

"Hey, Gohan," Bulma started. "You haven't been at Capsule Corp lately, have you?"

"No," replied Gohan, puzzled. "Why?"

"Well, you see, some important documents have gone missing. I was wondering if you took them."

While she did her best to sound casual, Gohan couldn't help but notice a slight panicked tone to her voice.

"Um…no, I didn't." It seemed like a strange thing to ask him. He didn't have much to do with Capsule Corp. "Why did you ask me?"

Bulma paused. "How about you come over? I'll explain there."

Bulma pointed to her desk. "See, I was looking at the documents, and I left them on my desk. When I came back later, they were gone. I've asked all the staff, but none of them said they moved them."

"Um, Bulma?" asked Gohan, still a little confused. "What does this have to do with me?"

Bulma sighed, and took a deep breath. "The problem is – the documents that went missing…they're the blueprints for the Androids."

A bolt of panic went though him. "The Androids? You still have their blueprints?"

"Of course!" said Bulma, sounding a little guilty. "I know I should have destroyed them, but…they were scientific genius. Destroying them…it'd be like destroying a work of art."

"I didn't know you kept them. Why were they even on your desk in the first place?"

"I was looking at them," replied Bulma. "I was just curious. You see, the Androids were one of the few…human technologies that could actually compete with you Saiyans. It made me wonder if there was a way we could defend ourselves without having to rely on aliens all the time. If something happens, and you guys aren't around…"

Her voice trailed off.

"…I don't know. I just don't want to feel like we're dependent on you Saiyans."

"But we don't know if we'll need to protect the Earth anymore," Gohan defended. "Now that Majin Buu is gone, maybe we'll be in peace."

Bulma laughed. "Goku's alive again, Gohan," she said. "Something is bound to happen."

That was one of the major consequences of Majin Buu's attack. His father was alive again. Gohan still remembered why Goku had remained dead. He believed he was a magnet for trouble. All the major threats to the Earth, from Piccolo onwards, were partially his fault. So, now that he was alive again, did that mean there would be more threats to peace? Would he attract more danger? More evil aliens? Mad scientists? Creatures of destruction? They would find out. It wasn't like Goku was going to die again anytime soon.

"So, anyway," Bulma interrupted his thoughts. "I was wondering if you could help me. You still do that Great Saiyaman thing, right?"

"Yeah." Of course, now he did it with Videl, as well.

"If you could tell the police to put out a report that some documents have been stolen…it might make things a lot easier. If they really are lost, then someone might have stolen them. I'm sure you understand how important it is that they don't get into the wrong hands."

"Of course!" But Gohan was confused. "But why do you need me to report it? Can't you do it yourself?"

Bulma looked a little guilty. "Capsule Corp hasn't had the best relationship with the authorities. What, with all of the unregistered stuff we've had to make over the years…I don't think they'd be happy if I told them we'd obtained blueprints for killer robots years ago and refused to hand them over."

That made him think. "Is that illegal?"

Bulma shook her head. "Not illegal, but it's definitely not endorsed. There's a reason they have patents for technology like this. They want to make sure people aren't abusing these new inventions, like Dr. Gero did."

"That makes sense." Gohan made a mental note to tell them the next time he was at the police station.

Bulma smiled. "Thanks, Gohan. This makes things a lot easier for me."

"You're welcome."

After that, he returned home, not thinking too much about it. He had school the next day, and…that would be something. Perhaps, next time there was a crime during school, he'd stop by the police station and tell them about it.

The Next Day

Gohan sighed as he walked up to the now-familiar gates to the school. He was still excited to be going back. He wanted to learn. But everything else…he didn't realise how difficult the social aspect was going to be.

Everyone at school knew he was the Great Saiyaman. Less people knew he was the Gold Fighter. The guys at the Budokai must have been terrible gossips. Gohan thought that Majin Buu would have made them forget that, but no. Apparently, people still cared. The first day of school after Majin Buu was defeated…that was tough. Almost everyone had known about him the minute he walked through those doors. And those who didn't know had found out that day. Thank goodness Videl was there, her harsh glare seeking out everyone, as if she was saying, "You'd better not be judging my boyfriend! I dare you! Do it, and see what the consequences are!"

Luckily, only a few people had put 2 and 2 together and realised he was the little boy from the Cell Games. Videl had told him the best thing to do was to act nonchalant about it. "Just be like 'oh, yeah. I was that kid'," she had said. "If you act like it was no big deal, they won't think too much about it." And she was right. No one had worked out he was one who actually beat Cell. If people asked him about the Cell Games, he just gave what was now the practiced lie that he had watched Mr. Satan defeat him. So far, it had worked to keep his feats a secret.

Only Videl, Erasa and Sharpener knew who he really was – what he was. If he had his way, Erasa and Sharpener wouldn't have known at all. But Videl had explained she couldn't keep a secret like this from her closest friends. They would have figured out she was lying to them, and she promised they wouldn't tell anyone. So, with his doubts, she had told them the truth about him. And, surprisingly, it had turned out alright. Erasa and Sharpener didn't have the endless curiosity Videl had. They just accepted "Gohan's a half-alien", and didn't ask many questions about it. Even Sharpener. When they first met, Gohan was sure he was going to be one of those bully-types like the villains in books he'd read. But it turns out he was a lot nicer than he expected.

So, today, as he walked in to the school, the gazes of the other students seemed to follow him as he went past. People stopped their conversations, and Gohan could feel their eyes watching him. Even if, by some unlikely chance, they didn't know he was a superhero, he was dating Videl. There was no escaping the attention, and he hated it. The whole point in going to high school was to try and experience normal, human life. It looked like that wasn't going to happen anymore.

How hard was it to just accept him for who he was? Didn't they realise how uncomfortable it made him felt, having the feeling that everyone was watching you, judging you, no matter what you did? He just wished people would treat him like they treated everyone else. But, after almost 2 months at school, it seemed like that was never going to happen. It looked like this was going to be the norm.

Luckily, Videl was waiting at her locker.

"Hey!" she called. "I missed you."

"It was only the weekend," he said. "Am I supposed to hang out with you every day?"

"Of course not," she scoffed. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"

"Not much," he answered. The weekend was pretty uneventful. "It's been interesting at home, though. I didn't think about how different things are now that Goten can go Super Saiyan. I think he's in that phase where kids think they're invincible."

Videl rolled her eyes. "What did he do?"

"Nothing yet. It's just that…when it happened to me, I had something to teach me not to go in over my head. Goten doesn't have that yet."

"What about your dad? Shouldn't he be helping?"

He smiled at the mention of Goku. It was such a thrill, having his father back. "I think Dad is just more impressed that Goten can transform in the first place. And he didn't need emotional trauma, either. He's truly amazing."

She squeezed his shoulder. "Not as amazing as you."

A voice behind them interrupted.

"Egh, spare me the lovebirds."

It was Sharpener.

"You're just jealous," said Videl.

"Jealous. Sure," He scoffed as he leaned up against the lockers. "Anyway, can you guys start speaking in English? I have no idea what you were talking about."

Gohan sighed. "Right. Of course. I'm sorry." He needed to stop doing that. It was great having someone to talk to, but he couldn't start blabbering on about Saiyans all the time. Only Videl really understood it. It's so difficult! He thought. I thought I'd gotten the hang of this by now, but it's still hard to fit in.

They got their books before the bell rang for class.

Gohan felt like his assertions were right. The teachers were going through their material faster than usual. He barely had time to relax in class. There was no time to stop if he wanted to get all his notes down. Dimly, he wished he could have used his speed to be able to write faster. But after some experimentation and many broken pencils, he had decided to give up trying it. It just didn't work.

A few hours later, they finally had maths class. Everyone went in, a little nervously. And when the teacher asked if they had any problems with their homework, Gohan raised his hand.

The teacher's eyes met his, a little surprised. "Yes, Gohan?"

"I-I wasn't sure how to do question 14," he answered. "I was trying to do it at home, but I couldn't get the right answer."

Suddenly, he was aware everyone in the class was looking at him in shock and disbelief. Even Videl was a little surprised.

"It's not that weird!" he exclaimed, trying to defend itself.

"I thought you knew everything," said Compass, a large boy who seemed to be permanently glued to the back row in every class. Compass was one of the most outspoken students in his class. If anyone was going to speak his mind, it would be him.

Gohan frowned. Why did people always assume that? He almost wished people didn't have such a high expectation of him. Seeing those looks of astonishment…it was like he had let everyone down.

"I don't know everything," he said. Couldn't they give it a rest?

But that just caused more murmuring amongst the class. Gohan buried his head in his books, waiting for it to stop. They couldn't keep talking about him forever.

"Settle down, everyone!" The teacher raised her voice, and the students stopped talking immediately. Dimly, Gohan was impressed by how much respect the teachers had over the class.

"Just so you know, anyone can have trouble with their work. Something you find easy might be hard for another student to grasp. Even those who you assume know everything-" Her eyes moved to Gohan, "-might still have issues. That's why it's so important to tell me if you don't understand an exercise. You might not be the only one who's having difficulty."

Just then, Videl's watch started beeping. Gohan's mood lifted. That meant there was a crime on! They could go stop it!

A reprieve from everyone's gazes was definitely welcome. He'd ask for the answer to the question later. Maybe at lunchtime, which was after this. The teachers were in their offices during lunchtime, right?

Immediately, the two of them stood up and started packing their stuff away.

"Hold on!" exclaimed the teacher. She looked at Gohan. "You're going, too?"

Gohan had forgotten not everyone knew about that. "I have a permission slip," he explained. "I gave it to the principal."

Videl had convinced him to do it. After all, if everyone knew he was the Great Saiyaman…there was no point in keeping it a secret anymore. And now that Mr. Satan knew about him, getting permission to leave class to stop crime was quite simple.

Even if his achievements were based on lies, knowing the so-called saviour of the Earth had a lot of benefits.

And so, they both left the class to stop the crime. Videl had the co-ordinates. She pointed in the direction of the crime, and they flew off together.

They'd been flying for a few minutes when Videl noticed something. "Gohan?" she asked. "You're not in your Saiyaman outfit."

"…what? Oh, yeah." He had done that on purpose.

"There's no point in doing it alone," he explained to her. "It's going to look weird if I'm in costume and you're not."

A few weeks ago, Videl decided if he was going to fight crime as a costumed superhero, she was going to do it with him. "I'm not letting you embarrass yourself on your own," she had said.

He still didn't see what was so embarrassing about it. He was living any comic book fan's dream come true right now.

"How's your costume going?" he asked. He knew she was still working out the details.

"It's mostly done," she said. "I just need to work out the right colour scheme. Unlike you, I actually care about what I look like."

He frowned. "Hey, if I wanted to change my outfit, I would. But I like it."

She rolled her eyes. "But..." she paused. "I've been having second thoughts about it. Won't it be weird, doing it together? I mean, you're a lot stronger than me."

Gohan knew how much admitting that meant to her.

"It's not that weird, is it?" he said, thinking about normal superhero teams. "If you're…like…my sidekick, or something, it would make sense I'm stronger."

"I'm not your sidekick!" snapped Videl, a little harshly.

Gohan looked at her. "Is something wrong?" he asked. He didn't know what was going on.

Videl turned away from him. "It's fine," she said. "I'm fine."

Somehow, he didn't fully believe her. But they were almost at their destination, given by the police.

As they landed, they saw the two criminals, studying the riches they had gotten from their recent bank robbery. They seemed too preoccupied with counting the banknotes to even notice their arrival.

"You're under arrest!" Videl called.

Hearing that, they scampered, with Gohan and Videl following close behind them. It seemed like they had taken the criminals by surprise. They didn't even have time to split up.

"We've got to keep up the pace," said Videl, easily taking control of the situation. "As soon as they get worn out, we'll get them."

I could get them now, though, he thought. But it would probably be easier to do it in a less-crowded area. The criminals were pushing people away to make room for themselves to keep running. And they had weapons.

So they kept up the pursuit, Videl starting to get a little fatigued. But, even then, the criminals couldn't keep running for much longer. And as they followed them away from the crowded streets into the alleyways, the criminals suddenly stopped. They had reached a dead end.

Perfect! They could confront both of them, easily.

Now it was time to get serious. Gohan slowly approached them, waiting for Videl to come up behind him. She had been a little behind the pace.

"Like we said, you're under arrest," said Gohan.

"Drop the weapons now," added Videl.

The two men looked at the teenagers with a mixture of shock and…strangely…amusement.

"It's Mr. Satan's girl!" exclaimed one of them. "And…"

He stared at Gohan.

"…Some other kid."

They don't recognise me? Gohan was initially confused, but then he remembered. Oh, right. I'm not wearing my costume. It meant he didn't have a reputation. They might underestimate him. And that was both good and bad. Good for him, bad for them.

"Listen, we don't have to fight," Gohan explained. "If you surrender now, I promise we won't hurt you."

He had noticed that, a lot of the time, as soon as the criminals saw what he was capable of, they immediately surrendered. If he could stop them without having to fight…it would be more convenient for both parties. What was it called? The path of least resistance, that was it.

The shorter of the two looked at him in amusement. "And you think we'll fall for that? You're just a bunch of kids. I don't care who your parents are."

"It's not our parents you should be worried about," said Videl.

The other one took out a gun. "I'd suggest you stay back, unless you want me to shoot."

Gohan smirked. "Go ahead."

He took a step towards them.

Surprised, the man fired at him.

And Gohan effortlessly caught it. He crushed it and let it drop to the ground.

"Do you want to try again? Maybe you weren't giving it your all?"

Gohan didn't normally use sarcasm. But it was entertaining to use it in a situation like this. He didn't have to keep up a superhero persona if he wasn't in costume.

"No way," one of the men cried. "I am not going back to jail again!"

Panicking, he rushed at Gohan.

That was their first mistake.

He kicked him, and the criminal went flying into the wall, instantly being knocked out by the impact. The other man looked in shock, before he went after Gohan, too. And then he was slumped, unconscious, on the floor, just as quickly as the first one.

There. That's everything. He smiled. A job well done.

When he looked back, he saw Videl staring at him in amazement.

"This is so easy for you," she said.

He shrugged. "I guess so. You know I've faced a lot worse. Guys like this couldn't hurt me if they tried."

There was a strange expression on her face. Something like…longing.

Videl then restrained them and communicated the police. "We've got them. You can come over."

"So, what now?" he asked her. "Just wait for the police to come?"

"That's what I normally do," she answered. "You can't just leave them there alone, even if they are handcuffed."

Right, he thought. That makes sense.

He'd never thought about that. You never saw superheroes co-operate with the authorities. They normally just stopped a crime and flew off. That was what he had been doing before. But now that he thought about it, it had been a little irresponsible. It was like he had been running away.

He didn't know if it was Videl's presence, or the fact that he wasn't disguised for once, but he had learnt a lot about being a superhero today.

They dragged the criminals out of the alleyway and onto the footpath. The police was going to arrive by the road. All they had to do was wait for them.

About 10 minutes later, Gohan heard the police sirens. "I think they're here."

There was only one police car. Rather small, but with a high rear made for transportation of objects…and for humans.

A man stepped out of the car, examining the scene of the crime. He looked to be in his late-20's, with rather long, sandy-brown hair and a relaxed expression. His blue police uniform was a little dirty, but the badge was polished to perfection.

Videl's eyes lit up in recognition upon seeing him.

"Bayonet! Hey!"

Bayonet? That's a weird name.

Bayonet saw her. "Well, if it isn't Little Satan!" he exclaimed, breaking into a smile. "Busy catching criminals?"

"Yup." Videl said, proudly.

Gohan felt a little awkward. Who was this person? And Videl knew him?

Bayonet suddenly noticed his presence. "Who's the new guy?"

"Oh, right!" Videl gave her introductions. "Gohan, this is Bayonet. He's one of the guys in the police force. I guess you could say he's my closest friend there. Bayonet, this is Gohan, my boyfriend."

He had a little rush when she said that. My boyfriend.

Bayonet laughed. "So, you finally got with someone?" he asked Videl, "That's cool. How did you get your father to agree with that?"

Videl broke into her familiar smirk. "Well, when the world was almost destroyed, you'd kind of agree to anything."

Bayonet sighed. "You mean that Majin Buu business? We're still dealing with the aftermath of that."

Technically, the world was destroyed, Gohan thought. It was just brought back with the Dragon Balls. But he wasn't going to say that out loud. Especially not in front of a stranger.

Bayonet immediately started helping Gohan with loading the criminals into the police van. As soon as they were out of Videl's presence, the police officer started talking to him in a hushed voice.

"So, did Videl force you into this?" he asked. "It's pretty rough."

"What? No!" exclaimed Gohan. "I wanted to help her! I was doing it on my own before I even met her!"

"Wait…" Bayonet frowned, in thought. "Are you that other superhero kid? That…what was it? Saiaman or something?"

"The Great Saiyaman," Gohan corrected automatically. "And, yes. I am."

"Huh." Then the officer chuckled. "Of course Videl would go out with the only other vigilante her age."

"Would you believe me if I said that wasn't the reason why we're dating?" said Videl, coming up behind them.

Bayonet turned around. Clearly, he wasn't expecting Videl to hear him. But, after pondering about it, he decided it wasn't much of a secret.

"Well, as long as you guys are happy," he said.

He shut the door to the police car.

"Now, once I get these guys to the station, I'm going to go and sign the paperwork for this stuff. Unless you want to help me?"

"Paperwork?" Gohan was intrigued. "I didn't know you had to do that!"

Bayonet smiled. "Well, you're not doing this as a job. We have to document every crime that happens, and that includes the ones you guys stop."

Suddenly, Gohan felt guilty. He never thought about that. He was just giving them extra work by leaving as soon as the crime was over!

"I'll help, then!" he decided. He checked his watch. "It's lunchtime, anyway, so we're not missing any more classes."

While he was getting a little hungry, he felt responsible for this. It was his fault Bayonet had extra work, after all. And besides, he wanted to see the police station up-close.

Bayonet offered them a lift in his car, which they took gladly. It would be quicker to fly, sure. But he was offering it. There was no reason to decline his help.

As they drove, Bayonet kept up a constant chatter.

"Crime rates have really picked up lately," he said. "You'd think the Majin Buu stuff would have made rates go down, but that hasn't been the case. The problem was, being faced with what was pretty much the apocalypse can bring out the worst in people. When your life is in danger, human nature makes people care more about self-survival. That kind of selfishness was practically encouraged during those few days…"

Almost involuntarily, Bayonet shuddered, clearly reminiscing.

"It's true," agreed Videl. "My dad told me about it. There was this guy who tried to shoot him."

"Really?" Bayonet was astonished. "The saviour of the world, and someone tried to attack him? This is what I mean. Having your life in peril makes everyone fend for themselves."

He continued. "On the bright side, organised crime has gone down a bit. I'm not a psychologist, but I'm guessing everyone was so happy that they were still alive…it might have given them belief again. Maybe people decided that those events were a sign for them to change."

Videl summarised it nicely. "So, basically, crime has gone up and down?"

"Pretty much," replied Bayonet. "Either way, a policeman's job is never done."

And then he stopped the car. They had arrived.

The police station was a bustle of activity. Employees were typing on computers, exchanging documents, talking on the phone, and talking to each other. Some people seemed to be on their lunch break, but there was still plenty of work going on from officer to officer. It seemed like the station was a place that never truly rested.

After handing the handcuffed criminals over to another section of the station, Bayonet went over to his desk and started filling in a file on the crime.

"Can I help?" Gohan asked.

Bayonet gave him some of the paperwork once he had finished filling it out, explaining where to place each individual document. Some were placed in heavy-looking folders, and others were simply placed on piles on their different desks. Gohan followed Bayonet's instructions eagerly.

"I'm sorry I'm causing all this work," he apologised. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried; there was always some negative consequence to what he did.

"What? Don't be ridiculous!" exclaimed Bayonet. "If it wasn't for you guys, a lot of people could have been hurt. That's more important than a little extra filing."

Suddenly, Gohan remembered what he had promised Bulma.

"Um…Bayonet?" he asked.

Bayonet looked up from his files. "What is it?"

"Well…" Gohan knew he had to word this carefully. He didn't want to make the police suspicious. "I have a…family friend, at Capsule Corp. She wanted to…make a report, about some documents going missing? They're quite important."

Bayonet frowned. "Why didn't she report it herself?"

"Um…" Gohan stammered. Then he came up with a solution. "She knew I would see the police soon. She thought it would be better to warn them in person."

"Sure, I guess. I'll note it down."

He wrote a note in one of the many books on his desk. But it didn't look like it was such a significant book. He wasn't telling anyone else.

Gohan was silently screaming, this is really important! There are Androids in those blueprints! But he couldn't make a big deal out of it. If he did, Bayonet might be suspicious. And Bulma didn't want them investigating the full details. It was so frustrating!

Bayonet seemed curious. "So, you know guys at Capsule Corp? How does it feel to know a part of an evil corporation?"

"An evil corporation?" Gohan was confused.

Bayonet waved it off. "It's just a joke we make here. I mean, it's a family-run business that's amongst the richest in the world, with an almost pure monopoly on the storage and transportation sectors…I'd be more surprised if there weren't secret conspiracies."

"It's not like that!" he said, trying to defend them. He knew Bulma well, and she definitely wasn't evil.

"What, no skeletons in the closet?" asked Bayonet, jokingly.

"I don't think so," said Gohan.

Their family wasn't that strange. Well, unless you counted Vegeta.

And then realisation hit him. In a way, Capsule Corp does have a conspiracy. It's us.

Bayonet started putting his files away. "That's all I really need to do. Thanks for the help, by the way."

"Right. I guess I might see you around?"

"If you're still doing your 'superhero business', most likely. See you then."

And, with that, Gohan left the police building.

Videl was waiting outside.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go. We still have about 30 minutes of lunch left."

She didn't seem to be in the best mood, but Gohan didn't think too much about it. Girls just got like that, didn't they? All emotional and moody for no reason…

As they flew off, Gohan took one last look at the police building, wondering if he was going to see it a lot more often from now on. Bayonet seemed like a nice guy. At the very least, he was the first police officer Gohan had met that hadn't seemed incompetent. Perhaps he was still weak, but he didn't give the impression that he was ignorant. He seemed to fully understand who Gohan was. And despite that, or perhaps because of it, Bayonet actually treated him like an equal. It was definitely…refreshing.

Continued in Part 2...

[AN: I'm not entirely sure what to do about chapter lengths. I have some really short chapters, and some really long chapters. I just don't want things to drag on too much. That's why this chapter is split up.

Also, about Bayonet - yes, his name is a pun. I've decided if I introduce more named police officers, they're all going to be named after different types of weapons. Because everyone in Dragon Ball has a pun as a name. Everyone.]