Chapter 2- The Beginning
She watched patiently as the guard unlocked the doors to her cell. It was lunch time. Everyday at 12:15pm was the same. As a little girl she hated when her parents forced her to eat everyday at a certain time, she hated it even more as an adult. But she had no other choice, she couldn't fight back.
All the inmates sat in the cafeteria eating the rations that was provided for them. She sat at her table all alone staring at her meal. She couldn't eat, the thought that this could be one of the last meals of her life sent chills to her bones. She was scared. More afraid then she'd even been and this time there was no superhero to fly in to protect her and no father to pay off the judge. She was on her own, and for the first time, she lost hope.
REWIND 9 YEARS
She did not get a chance to tell her father 'bye' that morning because as usual she was late and he was still asleep. The two never saw each other in the mornings they usually met later in the evening, around dinner time, it was their routine.
She would have liked to see her father more often, but she understood, he was a busy man. He saved the world from complete destruction and so everybody wanted a piece of him. She didn't mind at all, most of the time she was busy herself, with all the crime fighting, school, homework, friends, and training, it didn't leave much time for her father.
She got to her home room class and everything seemed usual. Students at their lockers, roaming the halls, gossiping about the newest superhero 'Saiyaman', much to her annoyance. It's not that she hated the guy, she couldn't hate someone who'd saved her life on two occasions, but she hated the mystery about him. How was he so strong? How did he fly through the air like that? How does he know when and where to show up? Why did he talk and dress like a 4 year old playing superman? None of it made sense to her.
Not only was he mysterious but he was horning in on her turf! She was the protector of Satan City! She was the one everyone looked up to and now she felt pathetic, having been rescued twice by that masked idiot.
The solution to her problem? Find out who he is and question him about everything.
She walked up to her desk where Erasa and that new kid Gohan were already seated. She had her suspicions that Gohan and the great saiyaman might be one in the same but she had no solid evidence. He was always so quiet and so timid it was hard to think of him playing superhero. Then again, he did show up on the same day as both Saiyaman and the gold fighter, and he wore the same clothes as the gold fighter as well. It was strange.
She sat down at her desk.
"Morning Erasa," she said cheerfully,
"Hey girl, how have you been. I saw you and Saiyaman on the news last night, fighting the red shark gang, did you find out who he is?"
"No, he wouldn't tell me, it doesn't matter though, I'll figure him out sooner or later,"
"I know you will hun, I was just telling Gohan here that when you set your mind to something you never give up until it's done."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, he doesn't think you can unmask Saiyaman,"
Videl looked at Gohan suspiciously, "And why not?"
He smiled and said, "I didn't say you couldn't unmask him, I was just asking her why you wanted to, I mean if he wants his privacy.".
"And why are you so concerned about it Gohan? Is there something you're hiding?"
"No, no I was just curious, that's all," he said as he scratched the back of his head.
"Don't worry about it Brains," Sharpener said as he sat down in his spot, "Videl's just talking, she's probably never gonna find out who that guy is,"
"Thanks for having my back Sharpener!" She said in retaliation.
"You know I'm just teasing you babe. I just don't want you to obsess over this,"
"Obsess? I don't get obsessed,"
"Someone's in denial," he said rolling his eyes
"I'm not in denial."
"Yeah right. Remember your quest to find out who the delivery boy and those other fighters were from the cell games? It took you almost a year to finally give up your search."
"That was different. They were just... weird, with all their tricks and stuff, but this Saiyaman character has been in my business for the past 2 days. I deserve to know who he is!"
"Right, sure." Sharpener and Erasa chuckled.
Gohan was in shock, he couldn't believe that she had tried to look for him all those years ago. And to search for a whole year! She must have been really determined.
Erasa leaned her head closer to Gohan's "Can you believe this is how they are all the time? They're like an old married couple,"
Gohan laughed, "I didn't know they were going out,"
"Oh they're not. I think he's in love with her though," she said bluntly.
Sharpener put his arm around Videl's shoulder, "Admit it Videl, you're just intimidated by this Saiyaman character,"
"I am not, why would I be" she replied pushing his arm away.
Before their argument could continue their teacher walked in to begin the lesson.
The call came about an hour and 5 minutes into class. Her police watch beeper went off.
"Yes, what is it chief?"
"Videl, uh, I need you to come down to the station, it's very important." The chief said calmly.
"What's going on?"
"I can't really discuss it over the air, I need to speak with you in person."
"Okay, no problem I'll be right there."
Videl promptly got out of her seat and excused herself.
After she left the class, Gohan, who had been eavesdropping on her conversation sprinted out of the lecture, claiming to go to the bathroom. If she was fighting crime, he'd have to be there to help her.
It took her about 10 minutes to get to the police station in her jet-copter. She entered the building suddenly feeling a little nervous, something was wrong, she could feel it.
The chief invited her into his private office and closed the door behind them. Whatever he needed to tell her had to be done in private.
"Have a seat Videl," he said with his hands on his hips
"What going on chief?"
"Videl, I don't know the proper way to say this so I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm just going to come out and say it,"
"Is there something wrong?"
"Yes, there is." The chief sat on the chair beside her. "Videl, this morning at about 7:55am we got an emergency call from the 911 dispatchers saying that there an accident at the Satan mansion,"
"Oh no what happened!"
The chief took a deep breath "Videl, this morning one of your maids went to give your father his breakfast but when she opened the door to his room she found him there laying in... in a puddle of blood." he said with remorse.
"WHAT? Where is he, what happened!"
"Videl, Your father. He was shot. Multiple times,"
"No!" She said as tears started to fill her eyes. "Is he in the hospital, I have to go see him! Why are we still here?"
"You can go see him if you like Videl. But, uh," He paused to take a deep breath, "he was declared dead on the scene,"
"NO!" She was unable to control the tears, "No, you're lying,"
"I'm so sorry Videl, it's all true."
"No it's not! It's not true, I have to go see him!" She said as she frantically headed for the door.
"Videl! I'll take you to the hospital myself, I can't let you fly out of here like this,"
"Just take me to him, Please."
Gohan stood on top of the police station looking down at the entrance, Videl had gone in about 10 minutes before and nothing since has happened. He wondered if there was actually an emergency, everything looked so calm.
He stood there patiently waiting when he heard a helicopter beginning to land on the other side of the roof. Not wanting to be seen he hovered higher into the air watching for what would happen next.
A few minutes after the helicopter landed, Videl and the chief emerged from the building. From his birds eye view it looked like they were casually walking to the helicopter. Videl was walking rather slowly, and the chief was holding on to her at the waist, as if she could not walk on her own. Strange.
They got into the copter and flew east where he followed them to Satan City General Hospital. He was surprised when he saw a large amount of police officers, news crews, and spectators all at the hospital's entrance. 'Must be something big' he thought.
He landed on the ground where no one could see him and transformed back into his school attire. He wanted to hear what was going on so he cautiously approached the building and listened in on one reporter's news broadcast.
'This is Michelle Wallace for Satan City News, once again we report that our city's hero, The Champ was wheeled into Satan City Hospital hours ago. Reports indicate that he was shot in his own bedroom earlier this morning. There's no word on his condition yet. Or any word on suspects. We're hoping for the best. And we will keep you posted.'
That was all he needed to hear. That was why Videl couldn't walk on her own, she was worried about her father. He was tempted to go inside to she if she was okay, but talked himself out of it. He was probably the last thing she wanted to see at the moment. He walked away from the hospital and headed back to the school.
Videl was led into the morgue by the hospital coroner. In front of her stood a stretcher with a large figure on top covered with a white sheet. His feet was the only part left uncovered. On his big toe was a white tag indicating his name and time of death. She couldn't bare the look, this was her second time gazing upon the dead body of a parent. It didn't get any easier.
She fought back the tears as she pulled the sheet off her father's face. She was disgusted, his once very pigmented tanned skin was now as white as a ghost. His afro which usually stood tall was now combed back into a ponytail holder while both his eyes and mouth were closed shut.
She covered him back up. She could barely stomach seeing his face, much less his entire mutilated body. She was told that he had been shot four times in the chest and abdomen and that he bled to death before the ambulance arrived.
She put her hands onto his underneath the sheet. "I promise daddy," She said tearfully, "I promise I'll find out who did this to you, and make them pay!"
That's it for Chapter 2. Let me know what you think. Thanks!