Chapter Three - The Dangers of Being a Hero

Hercule High:

The rest of his classes had gone pretty well, and it turned out that Videl and Erasa were in his Astronomy class too. It also turned out that the teacher, a Mrs. Solaria, was quite strange. She was also of the opinion that pretty much everything that happened on Earth was the doing of an alien. She firmly believed that King Piccolo was an alien, that Bulma and her family were all aliens, including her parents, that Cell was an alien, and that Hercule was too, which made Videl only half Human. She had a fairly long list of people who were, according to her, all aliens.

She even claimed that Mr. Sentif's replacement was an alien. And when Gohan had talked to her at the beginning of the class she'd warned him about the aliens and part aliens in the class, and said that a Human like him should be careful. She wasn't prejudice against the aliens, but they were a sneaky bunch. By the time the class was actually starting he was having a hard time not laughing. Though, it turned out she was extremely knowledgable in her actual course. Not that she'd said anything he'd not already known from his trip to space as a kid, but that was an event no one else present had experienced.

Now, at last, the day was over and the school was letting out. As he stepped out into the light he stretched and yawned. He'd heard a lot of the other kids complaining about the homework they'd gotten in a few of his classes, but he didn't have any. Well, except Astronomy. He couldn't do that in class since it required locating a few stars in the night sky tonight. He'd already decided, as soon as he'd heard the assignment, he'd fly up to the lookout to do it. It'd be easier to see everything from up there.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and was about to begin the walk to the edge of the city so he could fly home when the sound of sirens reached his ears. Lots and lots of sirens. He moved passed the courtyard area and out onto the street and looked to his left where the sound was coming from. "What is it, do you think?" came a familiar voice, that of Sharpner.

"Sounds big." Erasa said. A second later five black vans rounded the corner and zipped passed them at least a hundred and twenty miles an hour. The windows were tinted black so he couldn't see in them but Gohan had sensed twelve people per van. As the last of them flew passed a stream of police cars rounded the corner as well and began zipping down the road. Gohan counted fifteen cars speed passed.

A sixteenth came to a quick and sudden stop at the entry to the school which had Gohan curious. A second later Videl was standing by the passanger door as the officer stuck his head out. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Remember those kidnappings from last week?" the officer started in a deep voice.

"Yeah, 10 kids were kidnapped from Hercule Elementry... is that them?"

The officer nodded. "We'd managed to track the kidnappers down to a house just outside of the city but before we could move in they took off with the kids."

Videl grabbed the back door of the car and opened it before climbing in. "Let's go." she ordered and the car lifted up and sped off.

Gohan just stood there dumbstruck for a second and then turned to Erasa who was still standing beside him. "Why'd she go with them?"

"She helps out the police now and then." Erasa replied. "Sometimes I worry about her but she's Hercule's daughter after all. Second strongest person on the planet and the strongest woman alive."

"Exactly." Sharpner said. "Those kidnappers wont know what hit them. Especially if Hercule comes down to help like he did last time."

Gohan wasn't so sure about that. Sure, Videl and Hercule were both pretty skilled and strong for the average Human, but that didn't mean they were invincible. Instead of heading off down the street as he'd planned he turned around and ran back into the school and up one of the stair cases. The door to the roof was locked but just pushing it broke that easily enough. As soon as he was outside again he launched straight up into the air and searched out the police cars by their lights, sounds, and the Ki of those in them and the vans.

By the time he found them they'd already come to a stop. The vans were inside a warehouse and the police had surrounded it. In a flash he sped off for the location. It only took him a few seconds to reach the area and land unseen in a dark alley. Peeking around the corner he saw Videl talking with several of the police officers there and began debating what to do. Finally he decided just to walk up and play it by ear.

Moving from the alley he jogged over to where the police and Videl were standing and talking. "Young man, you'll have to go back." one of the officers said as he spied him.

Videl turned to see who the officer was talking too. "Gohan?" she asked suprised. "How'd you get here so quick?"

"Er..." he'd not thought of an excuse he suddenly realized. "There was a taxi nearby, I just had him follow you." he said grinning and scratching the back of his head. He wasn't the greatest of liars but considering the situation Videl simply passed off his nervousness as embarresment.

"Well, you're better than nothing." she said looking back to the warehouse. "I don't think even dad and I can handle fifty people at once..."

The police officers just looked from her to Gohan and back to her not sure what was happening. It was Gohan that broke the silence. "What do you mean, fifty people at once?"

"The kidnappers. There's only two of them in charge, but they've got 48 hired guns with them as protection." Videl explained motioning him over to where she stood. As he reached her she pointed at the screen on the police computer she held. It was a green display of the area, a Bio-metric Radar. The black lines marked walls and the dark green dots marked people. Inside the warehouse he could easily make out sixty dots. Ten hostages and the fifty people holding them captive.

"You mean you're going in there? Isn't that the job of the police?" he asked.

"Normally." Videl replied. "But in a situation like this either my father or I deal with it, or both of us when there's this many. It's the least I can do, anyway. What's the point in being strong if you're not going to help people?"

Gohan had to admit she had a point. He'd just never really considered it on such a lower scale before. Always on world threats or bigger. But then, there were already other people trained to handle the smaller details like this. Still, he couldn't just let her go in by herself. "So, are you going to help or not?" she asked him.

One of the officers finally stepped forward. "Um, are you sure that's a good idea Ms. Videl?" he asked. "I mean... it's dangerous in there..."

"Gohan will be fine." she said. "He's almost as strong as I am." With that said she turned back to Gohan. "Well?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll help." he said.

Videl nodded and turned back to the officer. "How far away is dad?"

"Should be here in the next five minutes." the officer replied.

"We don't have that long to wait, come on Gohan, dad can catch up." she said running from the police baracade of cars toward the warehouse. Gohan hesitated a moment and then chased after her catching up just as she reached the building and pressed her back against the steel wall near the door.

Gohan stepped up beside her and focused his mind on those inside. "Videl, there's probably someone guarding the door." he said softly. He knew that, in fact, there were three people on the door. "We shouldn't go right in the front."

Videl stood there in thought for a moment. Normally she wouldn't give it a second thought but she wasn't sure how well Gohan would perform under the current conditions. She didn't want him catching a bullet because of her. "Any ideas?" she whispered back.

He nooded. "I saw a ladder on the left side of the building on the way over here." he replied softly. "We can get a view of the interior from the roof, these warehouses usually have skylights. That'll give us a better idea of where everyone is and where to make our entrance."

She gave a quick nod and moved off in that direction, Gohan right behind her. A moment later they rounded the corner and Videl spied the ladder Gohan had mentioned. "Crap, it's no good Gohan, it's too high." she said moving under it. The warehouse was about sixty feet tall, the bottom of the ladder was a good twenty feet up.

He stood under the lader and held his arms out. "I'll give you a boost up."

"What about you?"

He nodded over to the warehouse beside them. There was only about five feet between the two buildings and their ladders lined up directly across from each other, and the other came all the way to the ground. "I can climb up that one and then jump over."

"You sure?"

"No sweat."

Videl grinned and then stepped up into Gohan's cupped hands. He pushed her up and she jumped at the top of his thrust. He made sure not to give the push too much power and she managed to grab the third rung of the lader and pull herself up. By the time she reached the top Gohan was already half way up the other ladder. With a glance over his shoulder her pushed off and used a little of his energy to more glide than jump onto the opposite ladder. A moment later he was up with her and they moved quickly and silently across the roof.

They reached one of the skylights and peeked down inside. The kids were huddled together in the center of the warehouse, two guards on either side of them. There were three on the front door, two at each of the two large garage doors, and the rest were standing or walking around randomly. "There's no pattern..." Gohan said looking them over, making sure he could see everyone he could sense. There were two more somewhere he couldn't see. "And I only count 48 men in masks."

"Their employers must be in hiding." Videl surmised. "Look down that way, the back door up on the second level. There's no one on it."

Gohan looked and sure enough she was right. There was no one on the second level at all. "We could get in that way easily." he said. "And if we're careful we can take out most of these guys before they even realize we're inside. We need to be careful, they may shoot at the hostages instead of us..."

"Yeah..." Videl said as her gaze moved back to the kids, the youngest was five and the oldest eight.

She was about to say more when a loud voice sounded from the front of the warehouse. "Alright you scum! The Champ is here now! You let those kids go right now or I'm coming in there and pounding all of you into pulp!"

"Ugh, daaaaad." Videl moaned. "Such a show off."

Gohan laughed. That was definitely the Hercule he remembered from the Cell Games. Or at least, the start of the Cell Games. He also smiled at what he saw inside the warehouse. The masked men had become very nervous now, fidgeting about considerably. A lot of them had even moved closer to the front and were standing with their guns at the ready for when Hercule barged in. "But he's a great distraction." he said with a small nod to what he'd noticed.

"You're right. Let's go." Videl ordered as she ran from the skylight to the back of the warehouse. She soon saw why the back door wasn't guarded, the walkway on the outside was missing, the door opened to empty air. "Lower me down, I'll kick the door in."

Gohan nodded as she climbed down and hung by her hands from the edge of the roof. He took hold of her wrists and lowered her down using his ki to keep himself firmly on the roof. Once Videl was able to put her feet against the door she did and then pushed off and Gohan swung her out and then back in. Her feet crashed against the door and it snapped open halfway before stopping, its own weight making it hard to move.

Gohan swung her again and this time let go of her wrists so she could land inside the doorway. Sticking her head out she looked up at Gohan. "Lower yourself down. I'll hold your feet, use the sign for a hand grip."

He nodded and lowered down. It only took a moment to make it inside the building. The two of them moved over to the railing and gazed down into the almost empty warehouse. The only things inside were the people and the five vans. Gohan sensed the two in hiding in the back of the Van right under him and Videl. They heard Hercule's muffled voice call out again. "This is your last warning, surrender now or I'm coming in!"

Gohan saw a few of the masked men swallow and grip their weapons tighter. He glanced over the railing and looked straight down. The doors to the van were open and a masked man was standing behind it apparently guarding those inside. Gohan motioned down at him and then at the van. Videl nodded in understanding. In unison they pulled themselves over the railing and dropped down. They both landed on the man's head knocking him out instantly.

As they stood they saw two men in business suits inside the van who were staring at them in fear and shock. Videl leapt up and into the van and punched both of them in the jaw as she landed, knocking them out. Standing back up she turned and gave Gohan a thumbs up. He nodded and moved to the side of the van and looked out, Videl coming to stand beside him. By now everyone had their attentions diverted to the front of the warehouse.

"Wait for dad to make his move." Videl whispered. "While they're distracted with him being seconds away we'll come up from behind."

"Right."

They only had to wait a few more moments before Hercule's voice sounded once again. "Alright, that's it, your time is up! I'm coming in!"

"Now." Videl hissed.

The men had turned their backs completely on the unseen pair of teens and were preparing to deal with Hercule's attack. The two moved from behind the van and ran across the room. They split up each taking a side of the warehouse and had a total of eight guys downed before someone noticed them and called the others. As they turned and readied to fire Hercule's voice came yet again, much closer and louder now. "Megaton Kick!" The front door was knocked off its hinges and crashed to the ground as Hercule came flying in, his foot outstretched from his jump kick.

The masked men were torn between the still charging teens and the now attacking Hercule. After a few seconds a few of them managed to get off a few shots but those were soon silenced as Hercule's fist knocked out the last of them. Gohan looked around for any more and saw Videl kneeling on one knee and her hand clamped on her left leg, red blood trickling down her leg from under her fingers. "Videl!" Gohan called running over to her.

"Hey, stay away from my daughter you..."

"It's okay dad. He's with me." she said grimacing. "And I'm okay Gohan..." she moved her hand. "See, just got grazed."

As Gohan reached her and checked her leg he realized she wasn't exactly right. The bullet had hit her head on but had done little more than bruise her and break open the skin. He doubted she'd believe him if her told her she was nearly bullet proof so he decided not to mention it.

Meanwhile Hercule had come over to them as well and was looking at the injury too. "And what do you mean this skinny guy is with you?" he asked.

"His name is Gohan." Videl said as she stood up and put some weight on her leg testing it. She grimaced a little but it wasn't more than she could handle. "He just started at school, he's a really good fighter. Nearly as strong as me."

"Wha?" Hercule turned to look at Gohan who was grinning and scratching the back of his head, laughing nervously. "He certainly doesn't look that strong... But, I guess if he managed to keep up with you he must be pretty good. Say, what was it, 'Gohan'?"

"Er, yes sir."

"You going to be entering in the tournament this year?" he asked. "It'd be nice to have some good competition for once."

"Er, well... I really only fight to keep in shape these days..."

"Aw, come on!" Hercule said. "Hey, the prize money is a hundred million Zennie this year!"

"Wha! A... a hundred million Zennie!?" Gohan cried in suprise.

Hercule nodded. "Had them raise it myself hoping it'd bring in some good fighters for once."

"Wow... with a hundred million Zennie mom wouldn't have to worry about the bills ever again..."

"So, what do you say?"

Gohan sighed. "Well, I'll have to ask my mom about it. She doesn't like me fighting... But sure, I'll see what I can do."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Otherworld, Grand Kai's planet:

The crowds once again filled the Otherworld Stadium for yet another Otherworld Games. And, just like in the previous one, the finals had come down to Pikkon and Goku. The two were currently going at it in the ring quite fiercely. Pikkon had already removed his weights and Goku had transformed. It was obvious to the Grand Kai that this tournament was going differently than the last one however. The first time Goku had only won due to ingenuity and a ring out. Pikkon had been the superior in strength by a vast amount. This time, however, Goku had the upper hand in power. Not as much as Pikkon had had previously, but enough to tip things in his favor.

"So, that's him then? The Sai-jin you told me about?" a gentle voice asked from the shadows behind the Grand Kai.

"Yes. Goku is by far the most skilled and exceptional fighter in Otherworld. The strongest mortal period, in fact. His son used to be around this level but seven years of relaxation has greatly weakened him. If there truly is a darkness over the horizon Goku is the one you want."

The man in the shadows nodded. "He nearly exceeds even our power." he said after a moment. "How is it that we missed one as him?"

"The same way I missed him becoming so powerful." the Grand Kai said. "This brewing forboding has distracted us all."

"Indeed. I had hoped the universe would enjoy an eternity of safety with the end of Majin Buu." He was silent for a moment as the two fighters in the ring vanished from sight. "It would seem, however, that at least this time we may have some help."

"What if Ken is right?" the Grand Kai asked. "What if Majin Buu is somehow returning?"

"If that is so... then we are all doomed." he said softly as a streak fell from the sky and slammed into the ring unmoving. Goku floated down and landed at the rings edge powering down out of Super. "So, have you made the needed arrangements?"

"Yes." he paused as he watched the declaration of Goku as Otherworld Champion. "Everything is ready."

"Good. Hopefully he'll be able to head off this danger before it gets too great..."