~Saiyaman Saga~

Chapter 3 – Pre-emptive Strike!

Gohan's least favorite class of the day was just starting...gym. But not for the normal reasons. He could easily be the best in his class in every sport, but with him trying to act normal and everything, it was hard trying to hold back. He would often end up showing off without meaning too.

The gym teacher walked infront of the class. "Ok, today we'll be playing soccer. Split yourselves up into your normal teams and get ready."

Videl looked over to Gohan. "Hey, you ever play soccer before?"

"Uh...no, but I've seen it on tv before."

Videl sighed, "Well...go back and play right defender then."

"O-ok." Gohan nodded and took off.

-Near the end of the game-

The game was almost over, and Gohan hadn't gotten the ball yet. Videl had kept the ball on the other side of the field the whole game, but still the score was 0-0.

Gohan sighed. I'm glad that I haven't had to do anything yet...but this is really boring. And I'm starting to get hungry too.

As Gohan held his stomach in order to try and console it's emptiness, Videl yelled his name. As he looked in a panic to see why, all he could see was white blur inches from his face.

"Eh!" A rather loud thud came as the soccer ball collided with Gohan's face. Being caught off guard, he started to fall backwards from the hit. The ball started to fall down, and as Gohan himself fell back, his foot hit the soccer ball.

The ball looked like it was shot out of a cannon. Gohan had been near his own goal, but seconds later the ball was closing in on the opposite one. The opposing goalie was in a panic. He threw his arms out infront of himself as his only self defense. The ball hit the goalie's arms and smashed through them. As the ball hit his chest, the goalie flew into the back of the goal and fell to the ground, trying to regain his breath.

Everyone was speechless. With wide eyes, they looked back from Gohan, to the opposite goal, and back again.

Gohan himself rubbed his face, standing back up. Ahh. That hurt! I should have been paying attention...why is everyone looking at me?

The coach was the first to speak. "G-gohan. That was something else. I don't think I've ever seen anyone kick a ball that hard before."

"Ah, i-it's nothing really. It's just those shoes I got." Gohan smiled nervously.

"Ah ya...those shoes really are something else." The coach said sarcastic back. "Well, we'll end on that note. Class is over."

A woman with blue hair walked out of the school just as everyone turned to go back in. She walked up to the coach and whispered something to him, and then turned to Gohan. "Hey Gohan, can I have a word with you quick?"

Gohan quickly walked over to her and pulled her behind a near by storage room. "What are you doing here Bulma? I'll have a lot of questions to deal with if someone recognizes you."

"Well it's good to see you too Gohan." She said as she placed her hands on her hips and looked down on him with a stare to rival Chichi and Videl.

Gohan shuddered. "Sorry. It's just this girl has been hounding me lately. She's suspicious and won't leave me alone."

Gohan could have swore he saw Bulma's ear's perk up at that as she smiled "O really? It's good to see you're meeting some girls. What's her name?" She couldn't help but giggle.

"V-videl." Gohan started to pick up on what Bulma was trying to do. Chichi had put her up to keep tabs on him, he was sure of it. Quick to change the subject, Gohan spoke up "So what is it you have to tell me?"

Bulma smiled, deciding to let Gohan off the hook for now. "I need you to swing by after school. I need you to run some tests for me. Oh, and Trunks want's to go sleep over at your house tonight too so it would be nice if you could take him back with you."

Gohan nodded. "Sure, I'll see ya after school. Just...please be careful as you leave."

Bulma giggled, giving him a nod. "See ya later."

Gohan waved goodbye and then ran to catch up with the rest of the class. He caught up just as everyone was entering the school and Videl eyed him up quickly. "Hey Gohan, who was she?"

S-shoot. "Who? That? Oh, no one. Just a family friend who was passing through town. She wanted to say hi." Well, not a complete lie.

Videl shot him one last glare as she turned to Erasa. "Are you sure you recognized her?"

Erasa nodded. "I'm telling you, she's the spitting image of Bulma Breefs!"

Both girls turned to where Gohan was to continue the interview, only to find him missing.

Videl growled, "How does he do that?"

-DBZ-

Gohan always gawked at the shear size of Capsule Corp. His entire house could fit into Trunk's room. But he new better to be envious. His home had the country side surrounding it. Capsule Corp had to deal with the city.

As Gohan made his way to the front gate, he pressed a small button and looked at the screen. The screen stayed dark, but a child's voice came over. In the best Vegeta voice the child could do, his voice came over the intercom. "Leave now before I blast you, human!"

"Trunks, it's Gohan." Gohan chuckled to himself.

Back to his normal voice, Trunks got excited. "Gohan! I didn't know it was you. Just a sec."

A click was heard as the gates swung open. Before Gohan could get 5 steps into the complex Trunks was speeding twords him. "Gohan!"

Gohan smiled "Hey Trunks. Where's your mom? She wanted to see me."

Trunks looked a little disappointed. "You mean you didn't come to play?"

"Not right away." Gohan couldn't help but laugh as a smile grew back onto the boys face. "After I talk to your mom we'll play, and then we'll go to my house so you can play with Goten."

Trunks was now almost shaking with excitement. "Well hurry up! I'll show you were mom is. Follow me."

Trunks lead Gohan through the twists and turns of Capsule Corp. until they came upon Bulma working on something that looked like the old saiyan scouters. Bulma seemed to be just finishing up, putting a piece of metal on out outside and snapping it into place. Standing up, she gave a content sigh and turned around.

Trunks, seeing an opportunity. Hoovered just behind Bulma and waited for her to turn, making a scary face.

"Ehhhaah!" Bulma nearly shot out of her skin as she screamed. The instant after Trunks giggled and shot out of the room as fast as he could.

"Trunks!" Bulma had recovered and was about to give chase when she saw Gohan standing out of the way, laughing as well. She have an angry growl and put her hands on her hips. "You could have stopped him." She began to tap her foot.

Gohan waved his hands in front of him, still laughing. "Come on, he's just a kid."

"He's a lot like his father, to much if you ask me." Bulma sighed. "Anyway, thanks for coming."

"No problem. What are ya working on?" Gohan pointed to the small scouter look alike.

"This?" Bulma then put it on and pressed the side button, bringing the small screen to life. "I've been trying to convert all the saiyan technology Vegeta brought with him into something useful for humans. This model still only reads power levels, but I'm working on implanting a video phone and a camra into this thing too."

"Now that would be cool, but why do you need me?"

"Well, I'm logging everyone's energy reading into this one. That way if one of the logged energy levels spike, like if you were in a fight, it would go off. That way us normal people can keep tabs on you guys if Baba can't be around with her crystal ball."

"I see. So you want me to power up?" At Bulma's nod, he took a stance. An instant later energy was shooting around his body as if he were on fire. "Is this high enough?"

Bulma nodded. "Good. I got you logged. Thanks hun." Gohan powered down, and smiled when the door to the room flew open.

"Boy, what's this I see on the tv? You're parading around in some ridiculous suit? Have you no pride?"

Bulma slapped her face, while Gohan stood there frozen, nervously smiling. "I-I'm just trying to help some of the crime over in Satan City."

"You're dragging your SAIYAN name through the mud boy!" Vegeta really was upset about the whole situation. "You're just like Kakarrot. Even he wouldn't get caught dead waring that thing!"

"Come on Vegeta, you're just not with the current style." Gohan pleaded, believing 100% that his costume really was the envy of others.

With an angry huff, Vegeta left the room. Gohan then turned to Bulma and smiled. "I bet he just wants one himself."

Bulma laughed, causing Gohan to blink since he had been serious. As Bulma calmed herself down, Vegeta walked back into the room with Trunks at his side. "We're going to train in the GR. Gohan, your mate is on tv."

Gohan could only stand there, confused. "M-mate?" He finally spat out nervously.

Trunks nodded. "The lady who always shows up to get in your way. There was a biiiig explosion," Trunks emphasized the size of the explosion with his hands, "and now she's there trying to help the police figure out what's going on."

Gohan thought back to how funny Videl had been acting the past few days. I probably should go see, I might be needed. "Sorry guys, but I should go see if I can help."

Trunks pouted, but then stood back up when Vegeta gave a huff. Gohan smiled and turned to go. "I'll be back as soon as I can. See ya guys soon."

-DBZ-

Videl had never seen anything like it. A bomb had been set off at a down town office building for no reason. No threat before hand. No note afterward. No witnesses. No reason what so ever. The death tole was slowly but steadily going up. It stood now at 53. Videl had been helping with the search and rescue attempt, but so fare no one had been found alive yet. They had cleared the upper levels of people to make sure no one else was hurt, and now it was just a matter of clearing up and figuring out what happened.

Videl took a moment to look over everything that was going on, wiping her brow of sweat. People don't just do this kind of thing...why would someone do this then? As soon as I catch them...

Videl decided it was time to take a break, walking over to a nearby fire truck that had been converted into a break space, and got a cup of cold water. Taking a sip, the cool liquid slid down her throat, cooling off her insides which seemed to be on fire from anger.

As Videl started to think, she looked at her cup of water. Though she couldn't feel anything, a steady rumble could be seen causing ripples in her water. Looking up at the building, she could see dust falling from a section of wall that was still standing every few seconds, and the pattern matched the ripples in her water. In a panic, she dropped her water and cupped her hands in front of her mouth. "Everyone clear the area! The building's going to collapse!"

Panic infected the volunteers, policemen, and firefighters as everyone started running in each direction after hearing Videl's words. Too soon for her liking though, part of the building fell apart, sending smoke into the air. Videl ran towards the newest section of collapsed building, only stopping when she saw a shadowy figure walking out of the smoke towards her.

-DBZ-

"Boss, you sure it's a good idea to send someone like Zuco out there now? I mean, he's a killer. He'll get the army after us for sure by the time he's done."

Dino looked out his window with a smile on his face as the smoke grew higher. "We need to test the abilities of Miss Satan and Mr Saiyaman."

Nuncio moved to Dino's side to look through the window as well. "A test? You really think those two will be able to stop him before he wipes out the entire police force?"

"You underestimate your foes to much." Dino's face grew more excited as a second puff of smoke rose into the air. "Turn on the tv. Zuco's there. Go get your brother as well, he'll like to see how well you're best man fairs."

-DBZ-

Gohan could see a cloud of smoke rising from the center of the city. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the epicenter of the blast. Everyone's running from where the blast occurred, and there are to abnormally high energy levels...hey, one of them's Videl. The other one...don't know that guy, but he's a lot stronger than Videl. Doesn't feel like a plesent energy either. Darn...got to move faster!

Gohan powered up and shot towards the cloud of smoke as a second cloud rose into the air. I have to get there in time!

-DBZ-

Videl squinted as the figure emerged from the smoke and rubble. The first thing she saw was a long, slender katana, extending about two and a half feet from the base to the tip. Looking at the man himself, he looked more like the sword than human. He was a stick of a man, no muscles to speak of. He had long black hair, covering his eyes and ears completely. He wore a black jacket over a red shirt, blue jeans with a tear at the right knee, and strange metal looking boots.

The man held up his blade and pointed it at Videl, the man spoke up in a German accent. "Videl Satan I presume. It seems I should have been a little more quiet when I tried to bring the house down on your police friends." A crooked smile crossed the man's face. "I am Zuco. I tell you only so your spirit can train after I kill you, so you can face me again when we meet in the afterlife!" With that, the man charged without letting Videl get a word in. The boots he was waring seemed to light up as he took his first steps, creating a whirling sound. In a blur Videl could only just make out, he now charged Videl at inhuman speed.

"W-what?" Videl jumped back as the blur approached her and ducked down trying to time a undercut kick to the man's feet. The blur simply seemed to rise off the ground and avoid the kick. Zuco reappeared just past Videl, with his blade at the end position of a swing. Three small black hair's fell to the ground as Videl stared forward in disbelieve.

Zuco turned, resting his blade on his shoulder, with that same crooked grin across his face. "I must apologize in advance though. I'm testing out these new shoes for an employer of mine." He clicked them together, a cold metallic sound resonated in the air. "So I'm going to have to play with your life a little longer." Defying the impossible, the crooked grin grew even wider across his face.

Videl quickly regrouped, launching a counter attack. Jumping up, she swung a roundhouse kick as hard as she could, at the man's smile only to fly harmlessly through the air. Zuco had fazed just behind Videl, his sword still resting on his shoulder. "Come now. The daughter of our greatest hero must be better than this!"

The sarcasm was cold, and hit Videl hard. Becoming frustrated, she jumped back, and studied her opponent. Tch...he's almost as fast as Saiyaman...and that sword. If he decides to use it, I'm in real trouble. I have to stay calm...everyone has a weakness...and if I can't keep up with this guy, there's no way I can beat Saiyaman! Just anticipate his movements...his mind is still normal. He probably will get tunnel vision when he's going fast.

Videl eyed a pop can between her and this Zuco. Ya...that might work. Videl calmly stood up and glared down at the man. "Psh. You may have speed, but one hit and your done. Who uses technology anyway? Please...A real fighter works hard every day. Cheap tricks pail in comparison to hard work!"

Zuco tilted his head back, that cold crooked grin still there. "Is that so?" Taking an offensive stance with his sword pointed towards Videl again, the boots started to grind their gears again. "Big talk for a slow poke!"

Videl rushed forward the two feet or so to the pop can and kicked it as hard as she could. The blur ran strait for Videl only to stop as the pop can made contact with it. Zuco came back into view, his head tilted back in pain and his sword in no position to guard him.

I'll have to thank Gohan for giving me that idea later. Videl shot towards the momentarily stunned swordsman and tried to roundhouse kick him again, this time making solid contact with his neck. The man flew backwards into a pile of rubble, limp.

Videl huffed a satisfied that the battle was over. Turning to her right pigtail, she grumbled. Punk cut my hair...lucky for him it isn't noticeable. Turning to the cop cars down the road, she waved to the huddled police, giving them the sign that it was all clear.

"Come on guys! What are you..." Why do they look like they've seen a ghost? "Hey! Wha-" She was cut short as a sharp pinch shot along her back. She could hear someone behind her, but it something was wrong. The man seemed to be talking in slow motion. Her eyes suddenly got very heavy. Why am I so tired all of a sudden...The pinching pain started to burn, as her eyes slowly started to close and the world started to spin towards the ground. The ground was so cold, or maybe it was herself. Videl couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. Her eyes closed slowly as a green and red blur entered her view just before everything went dark...

-DBZ-

Gohan was almost to the cloud of smoke now. He had lost focus on the battle so he could concentrate on getting there instead, but the last thing he sensed was Videl winning. As he turned the last corner to the battle field, his eyes were filled with red. A man with a katana was standing right behind Videl, just finishing an upwards slice. Blood followed the blade, the cold steal mixed with the red was something unexplainable. Gohan landed, stunned.

The man behind Videl started to yell. "You!, I'll make you pay! No one hit's me! No one! I'll dice you into little bits!" Gohan winced, his mind involuntarily rushing back to the fight Trunks had with Frieza, and how he had diced the villein before vaporizing him.

The man turned and looked right at Gohan. "Saiyaman! I will also make you feel my wrath! You're friend here struck me, and you all will pay!" Looking back at the girl who had just fallen to the ground, eyes closed, he flipped his blade upside down and thrust it down at her.

Gohan snapped. In a flash he was holding the mans hand, stopping the blade from going down any further and causing more harm. Behind the helmet, Gohan's eyes were blank, unmoving. Tightening his grip, cracks could be heard as the bones in the man's hand cracked under the pressure. Yelling a ghostly howl, the man struggled as much as he could to get free.

In pain, the man let go of the sword he was holding, and managed to slip his now crushed hand free. Fear had replaced rage on his face. It wasn't possible. Not only had his hero moved faster than he could with the special boots he had on, his strength was immeasurable. His hand was crushed without a thought. Panic gripped him as he slowly took steps back.

Gohan caught the blade and walked forward a few steps. Taking it in two hands, he snapped the katana as if it were a wet toothpick. Tossing it to the side, Gohan started to walk towards the man who had wounded Videl, his face still unchanging. No announcing his name, no silly flashy movements that rivaled the Ginyu Force in 'style', now wasn't the time.

Zicu was in a total state of fear. Quietly wispering, he pleaded. "S-stay away from me. Y-your a monster!"

Gohan finally snapped out of his trance. "Who's the monster! Look what' you've done! You're a monster! Why would you do this?" In a flash of rage, Gohan powered up almost to the point of reaching super saiyan. Dust in the area picked up as the white aurora surrounded Gohan, his teeth now gritting against each other.

Zuco didn't wait any longer. Using the full power of the boots he was waring, he shot off in the other direction of the enraged Saiyaman. Gohan fazed out of view and appeared right in front of the fleeing man. Zuco, not being able to stop, ran into Gohan at full force. It felt like a steal wall. He nearly passed out then and their as he slowly bounced off and fell to the ground. Gohan wouldn't have that yet though. Gohan wound up and smashed a punch right into the mans stomach nearly at full power, something in the back of his mind holding him back just enough so the man would live. The man few back towards where he was trying to flee, not landing till he had flown two blocks, and skidded to a halt.

Without going to check the man, Gohan fazed over to Videl. Her eyes were closed and her black had been completely spit open, showing small portions of her spinal cord and ribs. He gritted his teeth again. There was blood everywhere, and there wasn't time to waist. Even though moving her was a bad idea, he had little choice. Quickly picking her up, he held back his emotions as she screamed unconsciously in pain. At speeds he had not gone in seven years, Gohan shot for Kami's Lookout.

A familiar voice entered Gohan's head at that moment. "Gohan, what's the matter? What's wrong?" It was Piccolo. Mentally thinking back the answer, "I have someone very severely injured and Dende is the only hope she's got. I know it's against the rules to bring people there, but I have no choice."

After a few moments of silence, Piccolo's voice entered back in. "Dende says it's ok. Hurry up, I can feel her life fading."

Gohan's face became very serious under the Saiyaman helmet as he powered up and shot towards, the lookout, hoping Videl could hang on just a few more minutes.

"Videl! Stay with me! Fight!"

Authors Annotations

Ahh, cliff hanger. You can hate them but you got to love em. I almost put the cliff back when Videl gets slashed, but I thought this flowed better. Review if you disagree or like it! Either way, thanks!