Title: Off the Beaten Path
Author: PiccoloisGreen
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)
Gohan groaned, hunching his shoulders as the familiar voice reached his ears. From his spot down the hole he couldn't see who was talking to Videl, but he didn't need sight to identify the person. He screwed up his nose as the stench of dried blood and animal fur reached him and knew that Videl would be doing the same.
Videl had been startled by the voice that had appeared to have come out of nowhere and spun around to find a wild-looking man approaching her from behind a thick patch of shrubbery. His mere appearance made her nervous – how long had he been watching them? – and she took an involuntary step back, her heels causing dirt to crumble down the black pit as she came dangerously close to its edge.
"Careful, Videl!" she heard Gohan call from the hole and she turned to sneak a glance down at him. She could barely make out his form, but had the distinct impression that his eyes were trained on her.
'They better not be trained on my ass,' she thought before turning back to the man who stood now a mere three feet away from her.
If the fact that he'd clearly been observing them for some time wasn't enough to disturb her, the look of the man certainly did. Videl didn't consider herself a snob, but the old man's matted hair, ripped-up clothing, and the belt of dangling animal carcasses wrapped tightly around his waist was enough to make her gag.
Worst of all, the smell of the man consisted of a mix of dead things and overly-ripe BO, and had her dry reaching within seconds. Still determined not to appear too affected by the man in this way, she resorted to faking a coughing fit, and hoped she'd get used to the smell quickly.
When she felt sufficiently capable of handling the situation (meaning that she was pretty sure she wouldn't gag in the next minute or two), she righted herself and looked the man in the eye, fearing the madness that she found in there.
"Well?" he demanded suddenly, his hand falling on a small axe that also hung from his belt. "What're y'all doing 'ere on my land? This is private property, I'll have y'all know; I oughtta be of mind to shoot y'all for trespassing!" he added, shifting his shoulders in a maddened jerk to emphasize the rifle slung over his back.
Below, Gohan squinted at the light above, frowning as he grew more and more anxious to get out of the pit. It was deeper than he first thought; at least ten feet of soil stretched above the height of his own head, and he knew that if he jumped out Videl would grow even more suspicious of him.
But he had to get out. The man who was confronting Videl now really was mad, and Gohan knew this for a fact. Adding to the conflict was the fact that the man had seen Gohan before, and had witnessed both his abilities and his transformation into Saiyaman. If the man were to see him again, Gohan was sure he guy would start talking about flying people and 'transformations,' and then his secret identity would be revealed. Gohan shook his head, cursing little brothers under his breath. There wouldn't be half as much trouble if it weren't for Goten...
He had just walked though the door and dropped his schoolbag beside the couch when his mom came running round the corner, her eyes filled with panic. Gohan knew something was wrong when she took a look at his bag, discarded lazily on the ground instead of tidily in his room, and dismissed it without a second glance. Usually he'd have his ears chewed off for messing up the lounge.
"Goten's missing!" she said breathlessly, clutching her chest desperately. I can't find him anywhere; I think someone's taken him like they took you all those times!"
"Mom, calm down," he spoke gently but firmly, already stretching his senses out in order to find the runaway child. "He's probably just flown off to meet Trunks somewhere; there's no reason to panic."
"But it's so late! He'll be getting hungry! The sun will set in the next hour!"
"And he can take care of himself," he replied pausing as he picked up the familiar ki. "There, I found him. Boy, he really took nimbus far this time!" he added, chuckling. Without another word he turned for the door and took to the sky, barely remembering to call "I'll be back in a few hours!" to his mother before setting off to find Goten.
Gohan flew as Saiyaman, backtracking half the way to Satan City before he finally reached his destination: the vast forests of the 654 area. The place was familiar to him; occasionally, he had trained there with his dad during the years before the androids attacked, but why Goten had chosen to fly so far off was a complete mystery to him. Nevertheless, he descended into the woods, already beginning to run as his feet touched the ground, quickly honing in on the little mischief maker that was his brother.
He found the kid watching – and talking to – a group of geese swim around a small lake. Shaking his head with a small grin, he went to step forward, but paused as he registered the one-sided conversation.
"...so my big brother said he'd fight 'im – his name is Gohan, and he's the bestest brother in the whole world! – and he beat up the monster sooo bad that the monster vomited a lady out of his mouth! I'm not supposed to know that but Trunks told me, so don't tell anyone, kay? So then... well, I think the monster got real upset, so then he said he'd blow up the whooole world, so then my daddy had to take the monster away, and after that my daddy had to stay in heaven. So that's why I've never met my daddy, but everyone says I look like him and I like that. But it's ok, 'cos my family's great; I love my mommy, and I love my brother, and I love my friend Trunks too 'cos he lets me play with all his toys, but Trunks said only sissy girls talk about love so I don't tell him that... and his dad is Mr. Vegeta, and he's a Saiyan like my daddy, but he's always frowning, but Mrs. Bulma is always smiley and she gives me ice cream! And..."
Gohan stood still, feeling as if someone had dealt him a physical blow. It sill hurt to think of the Cell games – he avoided reliving those memories at any cost – and although he knew in his mind that nobody blamed him, deep down he still harbored the guilt that it had been his foolishness that had led to his father's death.
Not only that, it hurt to think that Goten would never see his father. It hurt that Goten treated him like a hero when he didn't really feel like it.
It hurt that when they could have done something to bring his dad back, the older Saiyan had turned them down, and chosen to stay dead.
Goten's voice brought him back out of his depressing reverie. The boy was telling the geese that his mom would be worried and that he had to go home, or he'd get in trouble. Gohan took this opportunity to step out from behind the shelter of the trees, grinning as the boy noticed him for the first time.
"It's a bit too late for that, Squirt. Mom was going crazy when I got home; you really had her worried!"
"Gohan! How come you're wearing your Saiyaman outfit? Have you been fighting bad guys? Look at all the birdies, Gohan! Me an' Nimbus followed 'em all the way from our house! I didn't know birdies flew that far away!"
Laughing, Gohan pushed the button on his watch that returned him to his usual appearance, and picked up the small boy who was now hugging his legs. He had completely forgotten that he was even wearing his Saiyaman uniform, and was surprised the cape hadn't caught on anything. Lifting Goten onto his shoulders, he spun around...
...and found the barrel of a gun pointed directly at him.
"What're y'all doin' on my land?" the crazy-eyed man behind the gun asked. "And what're ya anyway? Some kinda hocus-pocus creature, all transformin' before my eyes! I oughtta shoot you for that, freak!"
"Seriously, we meant no trouble!" Gohan replied quickly, putting both hands in the air. Goten, still perched above his brother's shoulders, did the same, adding a quick, "Sorry mister!" to the mix.
"I don't care what you mean; you're some kinda demon creature, and I'm gonna shoot you for it!" the old man replied, cocking his gun and pulling the trigger.
Gohan took to the air and flew out of range as fast as he could, knowing that there was no hope of reasoning with such a strange old hermit. "Man, Squirt," he said, looking up at Goten, who was now standing on his shoulders and peering down at the forest below. "You sure know how to get yourself in trouble!"
"Sorry Gohan," the little boy replied, hugging his big brother's head. "I didn't mean to."
"I know. Don't worry about it. Let's just get you home to Mom."
Gohan flew off, deciding that it wasn't necessary to worry about that old man, and what he had seen. It wasn't like Gohan would ever go there again, and the man hadn't even known what he was looking at, so Saiyaman's true identity was safe for another day.
"WELL!" the man's demanding voice drew Gohan back out of his memories. "I know you've got someone down there, lady; you're plannin' to steal my critters!"
"No!" Videl replied, holding her ground above. "You've got it all wrong! We were just walking through here, and Gohan fell in! We had no idea that there were any traps here!"
"Liar! I know you wanna steal my critters, you filthy woman! Step aside! I need to take care of my critter traps, and that means disposin' of any rubbish down there!"
"Filthy!" Videl countered. "Look who's talking, you stink! Besides, I happen to know that this is all public land, and that means you're stealing these animals from the state! No hunting allowed!"
"Videl!" Gohan called. "Don't provoke him! He's dangerous!"
"Huh? Do you know him, Gohan?" she called down into the pit, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "I don't need your help! I deal with criminals far worse than this old kook every day, thank you very much!"
Unfortunately, Gohan's warning provided Videl with the distraction that the old man needed to swing his gun around. Gohan's sensitive ears picked up the sound of a gun being cocked, and the young Saiyan decided that now was the time to throw caution into the wind.
Videl gasped as she heard the familiar sounds of a loaded gun, and spun just in time to see the crazy man's finger lift towards the trigger. In the next moment, something blurred in front of her, just as the sound of a shot rang out through the air.
She stumbled backwards, barely missing falling in the pit herself, and landed unceremoniously on her butt. Blinking in shock, she realized it was Gohan who had jumped in front of her, and who now stood dead still where she had been standing.
"It's you!" the old man screamed, looking at Gohan. "Th…the demon!"
At the same time Videl scrambled to her feet, rushing to see if Gohan had been hit. But he stood unharmed, his face the most serious she had ever seen it, and the bullet crumpled in his hand.
"Gohan," she whispered quietly. "What…are you?"
Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)