Title: Off the Beaten Path
Author: MakaiAlexa (aka, Furiael on DA)
Rating: PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.
Disclaimer: None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.
Summary: Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach).
After a difficult journey with the country boy Son Gohan, he and Videl managed to find their way back to the rest of the crew. Now, the only obstacle was an old and creaky bridge.
"Gohan, remember what happened the last time we were on a bridge like this ?" she asked, staring into his eyes with a somewhat worried and concerned expression.
"Videl, we'll be fine. We only have to walk and look forward and not stop for thinking," he replied, showing her an expression that looked really alien on his face in her opinion.
After a slow nod, she decided to walk toward the bridge, the first step over it showing the current state of the wood logs. "Gohan , I – " Videl was unsure, and she had to accept that she was scared at certain point.
"Just go, Videl, I'm right behind you ."
Step by step, creaking sound after creaking sound reminding her that she was still on the rickety bridge, but something was wrong. Stopping when she realized that the only sounds heard were the generated by her own shoes, Videl turned to look for the demi saiyajin.
"Gohan, this isn't funny. You are using me to check if this stupid br-!" Her words were stopped by her own gasp, as she found the huge and muscled figure of the villain Cell just in front of her. "Bu-But you-!"
The perfect android walked toward her, extending his arm to push her over the logs, making her let out a loud yelp and a grunt when she hit the splintering wood. Trying to stand up, one of the groaning pieces didn't resist her weight, making her fall through the created hole, her arms being the only things helping her to stay on the bridge. "M-My father killed you long ago!" She shut her eyes tightly as she called her father, the hero, to come and defeat this ugly bug once again.
Cell was charging one of his tricks and pointed at her with his finger as a small ball of light was being created. She knew it was only a stupid light, but at that time she felt like it could pierce her chest at any moment. "G-Gohan!"
Why did she call Gohan? He was just a country boy!
But, well, he was a country boy who had the body of a Greek athlete, the strength of a bull and he was Son Goku's son! He had to do something against Cell! At the very least, he could distract the android while she got a better fighting position!
Videl tried to move, calling once again to Gohan, just to find that another log had broken and, with a quick maneuver, grabbed a weak rope dangling nearby. She knew it wouldn't hold for long.
The girl stared down at the river below, which seemed to run away from Cell as the current was really turbulent and fast. Turning to the android, she could only feel the heat from his technique, which he threw at her. "It's just a trick, it's just a trick!" Even with repeating herself that sentence, her mind would scream that she was really in danger.
Then, she opened her eyes, feeling herself light as a feather, just to find that she was being held by Gohan. He deposited her on a huge rock, not moving his eyes from the android who was still on the bridge.
" Gohan, what are you going to do!" She grabbed his wrist, not wanting the young man to go, but his eyes, his expression and even his body language were different. Suddenly, with Videl still clinging to his arm, Gohan let out a gold veil which covered him, while his hair went as gold at that veil and his eyes turquoise. "The gold fighter !" Videl stepped back a bit, releasing her hold on the demi-saiyan's hands, while he jumped to fight against the android.
"Gohan ? Gohan! Your mother is worried. I had to stop Goten from coming here, since you were with a human."
"P-Piccolo!" The demi-saiyan almost slapped himself when he heard the Namek's voice, realizing that he was just a couple of meters away from the Satan girl. He moved his hands and covered his mouth, sweatdropping, and forced himself to stop talking.
"What the hell are you doing here, kid?" the green man asked, eyes narrowed disapprovingly at his young charge. "Do you have any idea of what I had to listen from your mother just for going to visit you?"
Gohan could only sigh, listening to Piccolo's voice as he stared at Videl, thanking to Dende and almost cursing to Murphy as everything seemed to be against him. "Let's just go outside, Piccolo ," he suggested, moving his lips with no apparent sound coming from them. Good thing that the green man was from Namek; his hearing was superb, which allowed him to hear a faint whisper from Gohan.
As quietly as he could, the demi-Saiyan pushed Piccolo out of the cave and away from Videl.
It was simply a difficult fight, impossible to follow by her eyes. But suddenly, a loud explosion was heard and then Gohan could be seen, pinned to the ground. "Oh no!" She tried to go and get him but it was simply impossible. He was at the other side of the river. "Gohan! Stand up! You have to stand up!"
The gold fighter had a difficult time getting to his feet. He accomplished this task just in time to find that Cell had unleashed another one of his light tricks against him. Gohan's eyes snapped wide open as he saw the huge white sphere of light fall over him...
" Gohan! WATCH OUT!"
A small rock fell onto her cheek, making her snap her eyes open. Videl immediately looked around, searching for the attacker, but realized that she was alone at the cave. No signs of her weird companion. And thank Kami he wasn't around because she would have had to explain why she was calling the country boy's name while sleeping...
'This stupid adventure is turning my mind into a mess.' That was the only conclusion she could think of while she rubbed her eyes and glanced around the cave, making absolutely sure that this son of Goku, a former Budokai champion, simply wasn't around.
Videl stared at the almost fading fire and that made her remember about her dream where, with any logical reasoning, Gohan turned out to be Saiyaman and, at the same time, he could make his hair blond at will. 'Hello, Videl!' She continued talking to herself, absent to the world, 'How could you connect Gohan with that people from the Cell Games?'
Her mind continued turning and turning and "projecting" images from her childhood years, slowly finding that some of her Budokai heroes were at the evil tournament. " They were all there ...Krillin, Tien Shin Han and even Yamcha! I can remember all of them being at the Cell Games!" By that sentence, she simply stood up, walking around the rocky ground, trying to attach ends and stories. Gohan's story, specifically. 'He said that his father died fighting Cell, and that day, only the most powerful were there. Why wouldn't his dad be there? Or... Was he?'
"Wait! There was a blond ma-!"
Her loud thinking was stopped by an echo-like sound. It was the echo of her companion, whose voice was coming from outside of the cave. " Gohan? Is that you?" this time, she spoke loudly and clear, so that her friend could pick up the sound with his sensitive saiyan ears.
"Oh no !" He whispered to himself, much to Piccolo's dismay. Turning to the Namek, the young demi-Saiyan pushed his master out of the cave and then to the wide open forest.
"Gohan, this is stupid and you know it. There's no way that you can get lost in this forest. You can't get lost in ANY forest!" He replied, responding to Gohan's really senseless reasons.
"Piccolo-san, I know that! But I can't let Videl know it too. That will give me lots of problems. Now go, and explain to mom that I'm fine, and with people from school, so that she can understand that I can't just fly and go back home." By this time, Gohan made a pouty expression, his eyes pleading to his master for mercy on his poor, demi-Saiyan soul.
After a loud sigh, Piccolo nodded and then floated away from Gohan. "Please, get out of this soon. I can accept you staying here, but I definitely won't accept being your mother's messenger!" After that, Gohan's former master blasted off into the sky, fast enough to make the trees and well as his hair and clothes shake or move.
The demi-Saiyan watched him go, letting out a soft sigh. 'I am saf- dead.' When he was turning back to the cave, the figure of Videl Satan made herself evident, arms crossed and staring at him.
"First, you flew to rescue me. Later, I found that you are, in part, a pervert. Then you have super strength. After that, I know that your father is Goku, a former Budokai champion. And guess what I've found out now, Gohan!"
He poked his fingers together, as he was expecting his fake story about the defenseless country boy to be ripped apart piece by piece right in front of his eyes by the hands and the bitter words of the girl in front of him. " W- what did y-you find, Videl?"
Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)