Disclaimer: I, Goku's Daughter, do not own Dragonball/Z/GT.
Author's Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. I appreciate it.
SPECIAL THANKS TO RARA, FOR BEEFING UP THIS CHAPTER TO AWESOMENESS AND FOR ALL THE PRE-READS! You're awesome! ALSO, TO RYAN FOR THE PRE-READ.
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Sinful
Written by the somewhat infamous Goku's Daughter
Chapter Twenty-One: Flash
intransitive verb1: rush, dash —used of flowing water2: to break forth in or like a sudden flame or flare3 a: to appear suddenly an idea flashes into her mind b: to move with great speed the days flash by4 a: to break forth or out so as to make a sudden display the sun flashed from behind a cloud b: to act or speak vehemently and suddenly especially in anger5 a: to give off light suddenly or in transient bursts b: to glow or gleam especially with animation or passion her eyes flashed with anger6: to change suddenly or violently into vapor hot water flashing to steam under reduced pressure7: to expose one's breasts or genitals usually suddenly and briefly in public8: to have sudden insight —often used with on
transitive verb1 aarchaic : splash b: to fill by a sudden inflow of water2 a: to cause the sudden appearance of (light) b: to cause to burst violently into flame c (1): to cause (light) to reflect (2): to cause (as a mirror) to reflect light (3): to cause (a lamp) to flash d: to convey by means of flashes of light3 a: to make known or cause to appear with great speed flash a message on the screen b: to display obtrusively and ostentatiously always flashing a roll of bills c: to expose to view usually suddenly and briefly flashed a badge4: to cover with or form into a thin layer: as a: to protect against rain by covering with sheet metal or a substitute b: to coat (as glass) with a thin layer (as of metal or a differently colored glass) 5: to subject (an exposed photographic negative or positive) to a supplementary uniform exposure to light before development in order to modify detail or tone6: to expose one's breasts or genitals usually suddenly and briefly to flashed the audience
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Videl could not feel anything. She was still in a state of shock, anger, and dismay.
She had been simply too late.
And somehow, after all those long months away from home she was now back in her bedroom. The bedroom with pale honey walls and crisp, white linen sheets that had been waiting for her. A few months back, thoughts of returning home and being able to live in her own house, sleep in her own bed and see all her friends and family again had been what kept her going, had been her most €recognized€ objective. But now…
The young woman could hear her father murmur some soft-spoken words to the servant outside before he entering her room, closing the door carefully behind him. His face glowed as he smiled. Hercule seemed to have gained some extra weight since she had left so many months ago, but, excluding that, he still looked the same as she remembered him.
"Videl, I missed you so much, my baby girl!" The aging champion sat beside her on the Queen-sized bed and with his right arm, he held her close. Without saying anything, she let her head fall on his chest.
Then slowly, hesitantly, she released a breath of air.
"I missed you too." She meant it. But somehow she didn't sound enthused to be home. Her lips curved upwards weakly. She could feel the warmth of his welcome, but it was painful to show her joy to be home again and in her father's arms.
Shouldn't she be happy?
Hercule did not sense her detachedness, not yet. His somewhat chapped lips kissed his child's forehead, as if she were an infant again. His daughter's room was mildly lit as her only nightstand's lamp shed soft, golden light, and although he wished it to be brighter, he could still see her clearly enough. Hercule Satan could not turn away from her; his violet eyes set on Videl's face to carefully inspect her. Gently, he held her chin with his fingers and tilted her head up so that his eyes could probe her face with a scrutinising gaze.
Although she was still as beautiful as he remembered, he saw that something was amiss. Videl's hair was messy and unkempt. Her fingers, although shapely, were dirty and it was apparent that there was some residual mud stuck underneath her nails. The night dress that she had arrived in was a motley of dark colours-stains Hercule attributed to wet earth. Her face showed streaks of tears and she looked so drained that Hercule had to worry about her still.
Finally, he demanded, "What did he do to you?" Intensity burned in his eyes and his thick eyebrows dipped in a frown. It was almost instantaneous how his entire face darkened in anger.
Videl knew her father was indirectly referring to rape. At such an implication, she tried to wriggle out of her father's grasp, but she was too tired to be successful in that endeavour. It was crazy to wish your father could read your mind, to save your breath from speaking out loud things you don't want to say from fear of breaking inside. "He was…pleasant. He gave me whatever I wanted and whatever I needed. He taught me how to be a better fighter." Then her breath came out slow and controlled, not exactly a sigh. "He never tried to rape me." She blinked a few times, feeling her eyes film over with stinging tears but she did not let them fall. Hercule didn't seem to notice and she watched him visibly relax, although his shoulders were still rigid.
"Then why do you look like that?"
Videl had not changed her attire since she had learned the fate of her captor whilst she had stood in the pouring rain with his father and that arrogant short man. Her dishevelled hair and the crusted dirt stains on her body and clothes made her father doubtful of her words, even though she spoke with feigned conviction. "It's a long story, and I'm tired." Finally, her body was freed from her father's tight embrace and Videl moved away to the other side of the bed.
"So, where is he now?" His voice was fairly steady but his tightly-balled fists shook as he spoke. Hercule wanted to bash this guy's face into a million of pieces. He wanted Gohan to pay for taking his daughter away.
Videl kept her face neutral. "He's dead." Her sullen tone even surprised her and without another word, she walked away from her father to the other side of the room, hoping he could understand her silence.
He was dead.
Gone.
Dead.
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Videl knew she was too late yet she pressed forward, straining as her ki billowed out around her and propelling her forward. The rain made it harder to see but when she felt him, felt the traces of him – Gohan – she slowed down and found two men on the ground.
Gohan had spoken about them before; she recalled Goku was his true father. Why was he here?
And the other one, the pointy-haired short man, had to be Vegeta. Both of their power levels were far beyond a normal human.
Videl approached them despite the heavy rain. She was exposed as every curve was outlined in the wetness that clung to her, but thankfully it was still dark. When she was but a few paces away from the duo, Goku turned towards her. She was the first to speak.
"Where is he?"
Her question was simple but he didn't answer.
-
Erasa came to the Satan residence the next day. And immediately, she saw what Hercule was talking about – sadness, emptiness and shock. And it hurt her to see her dearest friend like this.
The blonde ran a comb through Videl's luscious locks as they both sat on her friend's grand bed. This was her way of trying to comfort her friend. "What's wrong Vi?" Today, the sheets were purple; Erasa found crumpled white sheets in a dark corner of Videl's room. The blond found herself interpreting Videl's mood in correlation with the colours she selected. Her clothes were a plum black. Her blanket was dark grey (she didn't want to tell her friend that it didn't match the sheets). And strangely enough Videl allowed Erasa to paint her nails after a thorough manicure. After an uninterested perusal of Erasa's various different coloured bottles, she finally selected a colour. It was black. Erasa wasn't surprised.
"This is the tenth time you've asked me this question since you came here." There was a stone-like quality to the young woman, as if she was devoid of life. And though she usually hid her emotions, Videl could not cover her feelings completely.
"I know…. Losing a loved one is hard but I know there's something you're not telling me." She spoke her last few words in cantillating tones so that her voice jingled. Then Videl pulled away and decided she better tell her friend the truth.
Without thinking, her fingers gripped in the purple linens of her bed sheet and the dim light peering through her shaded window cast a dramatic look on her face. She looked down, then her eyes rolled up before catching Erasa's interested stare. "I'm…I'm pregnant." Her face showed no ostensible emotion but there was fear in her eyes.
It was almost funny how Erasa's mood changed. From concern, to shock, to understanding and then back to surprise. "What?!"
Videl repeated herself. "I'm pregnant." No matter how many times she said it, she still couldn't believe it herself. And she winced internally. All of those hot kisses, tantalizing touches, pleasurable nights…
But wasn't this Gohan's whole purpose of taking her in the first place?
Bastard!
So, how could he just leave?!
Erasa must have seen the anger gleam in her orbs and the flare of her nostrils for her to ask, "Did he hurt you?"
Videl shook her head slowly, her mouth slowly curving downwards. "No, he didn't." But her heart hurt so much. She fisted her hands, her fingernails running painful grooves into her palms, to make herself stop feeling this way, to make the pain go away. She hated the fact she missed him.
"Does your dad know?" Erasa's face twisted up in some fear and anxiety for her friend. She remembered when they were younger; how Hercule would fly into a terrible rage about the boys who would make any form of advances on the lovely Videl. Even if these advances were as innocent as going on simple dates.
Videl nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yeah, I went to the doctor today. Daddy flipped out. I don't think he believes me when I said I consented to…you know, sex." And then she sighed. "I'm so tired, Erasa. When it's dark and I'm alone and he's not beside me, I can't stop…" She halted, and sighed again. She was so close to say it – say that she might have really really liked him, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.
Erasa put her comb down and pulled Videl into an embrace. She couldn't entirely believe it. The last time she'd seen Videl, she had been adamant about not sleeping with Gohan. She knew without asking that Videl was hurting more than she was willing to let on. Her mind ran through a list of things that might cheer Videl up. Most of them were fighting-related, but those kind of things bored Erasa to tears so she discarded those ideas. Oh, well. She'd just have to bank on her own favourite past-time: shopping!
"Hey, Videl. How about you and I go to the ma-?" The long-time friend was going to suggest a shopping escapade but a sudden crash and scream was heard downstairs.
Immediately, violet and blue eyes met each other in shock and concern before Videl raced down the stairs and found what was the beginning of the "war".
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"Where is he?" she demanded. Her tone was firm and she meant business. "Where is Gohan?" Her eyes were fixed on the ground, sure that he was gone, sure that this was his blood being washed in the rain, and she didn't like how neither man answered her.
Finally her dark indigo eyes flashed to Goku's black orbs, holding his even gaze. She pointed a finger at him. "You're his father. Where is Gohan?"
Goku knew this was the girl he was meant to protect. The way she stood before him was intimidating – like Chichi – and the power she exuded for a human was impressive.
This, coupled with the fact that she was clearly carrying a child- oh how that life was faint but it was there -made him certain.
The completely drenched and bloody Goku barely managed to answer her.
"He's dead."
-
When Hercule flicked on the television, his eyes widened with horror. Frantically he watched a TV news anchor spill the horrid tales of death and show viewers the massacre occurring around the world but mainly in his own backyard.
"This is Johnny Lu reporting!" His voice was austere and loud so that he may be heard over the sounds of the helicopter nearby. "Since seven a.m. there have been reports that twenty families have been murdered by their maidbots. Now as we look down here" – the camera scanned over buildings on fire and people, like insects, swarming out of the blaze – "violence is spreading through out the city. Some say these murderers are not human, although they appear to be. Some identified them as higher powered androids. They possess special abilities to blow up things with a simple jab of their finger. They have super strength to crush metal like nothing! Again, I repeat, these maidbots are no longer safe! Deactivate them as soon as you can!"
Hercule immediately looked behind him when he heard a sudden crash upstairs. He had purchased a handful of maidbots but at Videl insistence, he had shut them down, or he thought anyways. Wasting no time, Hercule ran to the area of ruckus. His eyes widened when he saw his daughter snap a robot's arm off at its shoulder. As she crushed the hand, so effortlessly, sparks flew from its severed limb and from the robot itself.
It chortled out, choppily, "You must die!" and like a switch, its eyes rolled upwards and it retaliated against Videl. Hercule could not believe that a blue-ish energy ball came forth from his daughter's palm as she destroyed the artificial creature with ease. Then his wide eyes trailed behind her, and saw the human body of his cook and his detached head. Dark, crimson red pooled out, and despite his career as a wrestler, Hercule didn't think he had seen this much blood in his life at once.
Videl turned her head to face her father. "We can't stay here anymore. It's not safe." Her hand trailed to her stomach to give him a message.
Hercule stuttered for a moment. "T-This is our home!" He did not want to see his house, his wonderful mansion, fall.
Videl's mouth tightened. Why didn't he get it? Her frustration was so sudden that she couldn't contain it inside. She screamed, "It is not safe here!"
Erasa caught Videl's outburst as she ran inside the room. She remained quiet. Hercule would deal with her friend.
But he was stubborn. "No. I can handle whatever danger is headed our way." He jabbed his thumb towards his heart to emphasize his point.
Videl wouldn't have any of it. At his words, her hands curled to tight fists. She wanted to ask him, "Are you stupid?" but that would be too rude. Instead, she walked over to Hercule until she was right in front of him and she fixed him with a look that was most familiar to him. It was the kind of look daughters gave their fathers when they desperately wanted something. "We need to go to Capsule Corporation, where we will have protection. Don't be so foolish to think you can take on these androids. If they can kill me, they can kill you too." Then this warmth spilled from her, it was her power, and Hercule could feel it.
"I will protect you," Hercule insisted still. But the finger at his chest fell by his side.
She smiled weakly and she let her power flow out as much as she could. The way Gohan let his roll off his skin and off his tongue. A newfound courage filled her eyes. "We will go to Capsule Corporation. And we will survive to see your grandchild grow up."
The warmth was too real for Hercule to ignore. At her words combined with the aura that caressed his skin, he crumbled. Hercule then made orders for the survivors of the house to pack.
-
"He's dead."
She took a step away from him, her bare feet melding into the wet earth. For one second, her gaze flickered to the stoic, quiet Prince. If panic was not unsettling her, she would have noticed the thick tension between the two Saiyan men. Oh, the tension was thicker than the sheet of pelting rain, but the death of the man who held you when you were asleep was so distracting that it was impossible for her to notice such trifle things. "Dead?"
Goku nodded. Then, as lightning flashed in the sky, Videl collapsed onto the dirty ground. Her body trembled before her fingers dug into the brown earth and she let out an agonized cry.
-
There had to be nothing more awkward than meeting the parents of the man you held close to your heart.
Actually, there was.
It was meeting the people who knew that the man you were so close to was a villain, a cold-blooded murderer.
When Videl arrived to Capsule Corporation as Goku had urged her, it was almost like walking in the path of fire. She could feel their eyes judge her, measure her, and she could imagine those eyes asking, "What kind of person is this?"
A victim, maybe?
The strangest thing was she recognized his mother. She was the one who studied her the most, the one with glass-like eyes. Goten appeared comfortable and close to this woman, which confirmed Videl's suspicion.
"Videl!"
At the sound of her name, her eyes flickered to the young boy who ran right towards her. He hugged her tightly before looking up to her smiling face. "Mommy wants to meet you."
When she looked up, Chichi had approached her and introduced herself. "I'm Son Chichi, Goten's mother. He told me about you and…Gohan."
Videl nodded. Then, without thinking, she said, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Chichi gave her an inquisitive look.
Videl shrugged. "I'm not sure why I had to say it. Maybe I'm saying it on behalf of Gohan. Or maybe I'm just sorry you couldn't meet him."
At her words, Chichi smiled a little. "You shouldn't be sorry for anything." Then her dark eyes drifted to Videl's belly.
The young girl laughed nervously. She supposed Chichi knew she was pregnant, since Goku knew. "Maybe I'm sorry Gohan couldn't see his child." Her chest constricted at the words, unable to say them out loud until now. Her eyes stung and she knew her voice would be thick if she spoke. But before Videl could shed any tears, Chichi moved closer, grasping Videl's soft hands in her own.
"Welcome to the family."
And like that, all of the awkwardness was gone.
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"How could he be dead?" she asked. Her fingers were still groping the ground and very quickly she became muddy and dirty. But she didn't care.
How could he die?!
Her gaze met Goku's and her breathing escalated upon seeing the grim truth in his eyes. He couldn't be…"Where is his body?"
Goku almost wanted to look away from her. Out of guilt, mostly, and partly because he knew who she was; it hurt him to see her, although a stranger, in pain.
"He disappeared."
This time Vegeta responded and all attention was drawn to him.
-
Nobody knew how long Capsule Corp could be kept as a safe haven but Bulma prided herself in searching for a way to stop of all the madness. Vegeta, Trunks, Goten and Goku were gone all day while Chichi helped around the house and attended to all those injured and sick. Videl, Hercule and Erasa helped as much as they could as well.
Videl sat down with a little boy who would not stop crying. She gathered him in her arms and tried to calm him down. He was dirty from mud and from blood. A neighbour said she found him under the debris of his fallen house and Videl knew something really bad must have happened when she looked into her glassy eyes.
"Where are his parents?" Videl asked.
"Dead," the neighbour revealed in a low voice.
The boy's trembling worsened and he sobbed harder. Videl pulled him closer, her heart tearing at the small boy's anguish. No child should see the horrors of death and bloodshed at such a young and tender age. Maybe it was her maternal instincts kicking in along with her pregnancy hormones but Videl found herself with a new affinity for children. She slowly rocked the boy backwards and forwards, shushing him gently. Soon, his sobs simmered down to sniffles yet his face remained a tinged red. Then, as she felt there was a chance of him cooperating, Videl coaxed him to eat some food. Videl put him to sleep, after he managed to swallow some rice down. Although his slumber was deep, he was restless as he tossed and turned. Videl watched him sadly, knowing there was no more she could do for him or any of the other bereft victims. They had all been affected by this travesty. They say time heals all wounds, Videl thought to herself, but there may be some scars that run too deep. And with that sad thought, Videl closed the bedroom door.
She tried not to think it, but after hearing something horrendous or something sad like this…she ended up blaming him. Shaking her head, Videl walked back downstairsand saw the red-haired woman, the boy's neighbour, sitting on the sofa and staring blankly into space. Videl took a seat beside her, but remained quiet, wishing to leave the woman to her thoughts if she so desired. As if belatedly realising Videl's presence, the lady jumped slightly before turning to face her. Her voice trembled when she spoke quickly, as if she wished to get the story she relayed off of her chest.
"I was over at their house, in the bathroom…" Videl knew she was continuing her story about what happened to the young child she'd just put to sleep. The young woman nodded to show she was listening.
The redhead hastily licked her chapped lips before continuing. "I suddenly heard a cry and Marcy, the child's mother, fell to her knees. I rushed out and the robot suddenly had red, glowing eyes with a bloody a hand. A hand that pulled out Marcy's heart. It was so sudden." The woman rocked herself, trembling. "Then before I could do anything else, the father was beheaded and then the house fell. Somehow I managed to survive and then I looked for the boy. He saw it all from the stairs and…" the woman halted and she shook her head. "I can't believe such wickedness exists."
Videl thought of the sleeping child and she rose from her spot. She heard countless stories of this kind of terror and her heart grew heavier and heavier with each passing day.
And with the anger and profound sadness building up inside of her, she began to resent him more and more as the weeks wore on.
-
"What do you mean he disappeared?"
Vegeta was able to stare back at her and meet her demanding gaze, unlike Kakarott. "His body disappeared as he died. He's not here anymore."
Rain droplets ran down her face steadily and she kept her expression studiously blank. Her tears might have stopped but it wasn't apparent since tears resembled a lot to the rain. She looked back at Goku and she asked, "Did you kill your son?"
There was no surprise on the Saiyan's face, which slightly stunned Videl. Slowly, Goku shook his head. "I wasn't going to kill my own son, Gohan."
Videl could feel her heart pound in her chest and her mind swirled from idea to idea. "Then, what happened? How could he die?" Her eyes looked wildly across the once dusty terrain that had become drenched and muddy. "How?" And then she met Goku's stare. "You knew he was your son."
It took Goku a long moment to finally answer. "In the end, I knew."
-
"You know, they can't take down every single one of them," Chichi said when they all sat down to eat. Vegeta had returned with a frown. He'd been gone all day, yet he showed no signs of weariness and doggedly continued fighting, day in and day out. His son, however, had heavy eyes and his youthful face sagged with fatigue. Goten wore a similar expression. Although they were Super Saiyans there was a limit to how much bloodshed and terror they could bear to see.
Goku had covered his son's eyes the first time they saw a town destroyed with dead bodies and severed appendages strewn about. He grieved over them and then grieved when his son Goten, finally saw what humanity was capable of.
Goten cried.
Bulma looked up at Videl who was picking at her food dejectedly. "Hey, Videl. Did Gohan ever tell you anything about these androids? Anything useful?"
Videl shook her head but Bulma persisted with her questions, as if asking her enough times would somehow endow her with the information she so sought. Videl's answer was, "no," every time. Then finally she said, "I knew he helped make them." And that started the silence at the table.
Despite the tension, Bulma plucked up the courage to continue the topic. "I know their weakness is in their internal design. The maidbots are easily destroyed but the androids are tougher. There are not many but still…"
"They are tough shit to beat," Vegeta finished.
Videl wanted to weep at the table. She wanted to weep at not being left with any clues to defeat them.
She then remembered the way Gero looked at her and she wondered if this man had a weakness. She recalled when he stared at her with those glassy, wide eyes and she shivered. Videl wondered if there was any way she could pick up on his energy signature, if she even remembered what it felt like. The others would not know it; Gohan had always come here on the doctor's behalf. And then Videl frowned; she could not remember …
Did he even have a distinct energy to begin with?
-
As the rain began to fade to a light drizzle, Videl could feel something unsettling between the two Saiyans. "So, someone tell me now what happened." She looked from one Saiyan to the other, her eyes daring them to deny her request.
Goku glanced at Vegeta. "Gohan and I were fighting. He killed my friends, my best friend and worse, he took my son, Goten."
It was Videl's turn to look guilty. She looked down and away. "Goten is safe."
"Good. I'm glad." Goku was relieved to hear that, but the revelation that his oldest son had been alive all these years, was still fresh for him. And the desire in Videl's eyes to know what happened was so intense that he found himself continuing to speak, despite the tightness in his chest. "Even before I knew, I wasn't going to kill him. When I knew, I wanted to save him."
Then Goku looked at the Prince of all Saiyans.
Videl followed suit.
The rain had almost stopped.
-
"You should rest, you know," Chichi told Videl, eyeing her stomach. She handed the girl a cup of tea and sat down beside her.
"I feel somehow responsible for all this." Videl looked down in the hot liquid and frowned. "Maybe I could have learned something else about them, or…I don't know."
"Just because you were with him does not make you responsible for the sins he committed." The sins her son committed. She sipped on her tea and when she brought the cup down, away from her lips, she continued. "Can I ask you something?"
She looked up at the older woman. "Sure."
"Why do you trust us?' Chichi was rather abrupt but Videl took no offence. However, it took a moment for the young woman to respond. And the answer became clear.
"Well, Gohan told Goku to protect me and I trust Gohan."
Eyebrows rose. "My son said so?"
She nodded, barely. "And Goten, he's a really good kid. He must have really good parents."
The older woman smiled warmly. "I see." When all of this was over she would slowly pick out the details of the older son she did not know.
Then suddenly it came.
Boom!
The walls vibrated.
Boom!
The ground shook.
A loud hiss was heard along with the crackle of an electric current.
Chichi and Videl immediately rose from their seats. "What was that?" Videl asked.
The door broke down and when the smoke cleared, Eighteen stood at the door. Videl's blood froze but her fingers curled for a fight.
-
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Author's Note: Someone help me describe Pan's personality type. I never watched GT.
Poll: Should Pan be…
A) Witty
B) A pain in the butt
C) A very young girl, like 4
D) I don't know!
Thanks for reading. There should be another chapter on December 18. I hope. Or a few days after, because my last exam is on Dec 17. Please review!!!