Videl stared into the wall, her thoughts a jumble of crazy images, most of which were directed at the boy next door. He had admitted to throwing the battle against Tien but why would someone throw away an opportunity to be champion of the world? Why Gohan? You could have had the world at your fingertips ye t you chose to allow the past champ to reclaim his title. There was always the possibility that Gohan lied about throwing the bout but just his tone of voice when he had said it spoke wonders on their own. There was no sense of regret and no shame in admitting what he had done. Even when he was mentioning how much each of his pieces of training equipment weighed there was no trace of doubt, no lie. Even though the truth was hard to believe, there was no doubt that it was the truth.
Videl recalled her conversation with the chief of police. She had asked him to do a thorough on Gohan. She had remembered that he was Gohan Son from the day of the tournament and while files had emerged for Goku Son and his wife Chichi, there was no available data on Gohan. The chief of police was baffled; there was no date of birth, no medical records (Videl briefly recalled Gohan saying that he had never been to a hospital), nothing of any importance. There were the newspaper articles about him fighting in the tournament but there were no background details unlike the majority of the fighters. He was a mystery through and through, and Videl didn't like not knowing anything about someone.
Her head quickly shot up as she realised a possibility. What if he goes under the name Gohan Son as an alias? The thought was plausible; she had figured that he was part of some underground gang due to the fact of the similar tattoo that he shared with several fighters. But those fighters were all highly respected individuals, heck most of them were in attendance at the Cell games wanting a chance to take on Cell but her father beat them to the punch. Although ever since the tournament her father had become unusually silent.
Without being crowned the champion it had weighed heavily on him. People were now questioning whether or not he was truly the champion of the world due to the fact he had been taken out so easily during the tournament. If what was claimed was true, then he had weakened significantly over seven years. It was true that around his age he would start to get weaker, but not as much so that he would be eliminated in a fight without landing a single blow. Videl, and the media, were starting to question Hercule and it was slowly causing him to question himself.
"Okay, focus Videl," she said to herself. "What do you know about that tattoo?" Truth was she didn't know that much and it infuriated her. A scan through police files saw that it didn't match any gangs known and that made it even scarier. If the tattoo was a gang symbol, there was no knowing the number of members nor if they were as strong as Gohan claimed he was. She knew that of the members she had seen their tattoo had had a different number of stars, was it a symbol for who was the strongest in the group? If Gohan's the second strongest and he is strong enough to lift seven tonne then who knows how strong the number one is. She figured that all of the people who had been at the tournament were in on it, including the four year old who beat her.
Remembering the loss she had suffered bought rage through her body. She wanted to become stronger, her father was in no state to tackle a gang head on and without any proof the police would be unable to do anything. Therefore it was only her and this conspiracy theory. There had to be some secret shared around with this gang which allowed her to be defeated by Marron. When she had tried to pull Marron she wouldn't budge as if her willpower to remain where she was, meaning it was greater than Videl's strength alone. Also even though she would never admit it, when Tien had fought Gohan in the fixed final, she had sworn that both of them were hovering slightly above the ground, as if the laws of gravity had no effect on them.
Videl wanted answers but the more she thought about the possibilities it showed how little she actually knew. Then there was no doubt that Marron had been floating when she mentioned something about 'Ki shields' to her mum. What was ki? Was it what connected them all together? Her thoughts were distracted when her wristwatch started to beep.
"What is it chief?" she said into the communicator.
"You have been assigned to a very special job for tomorrow, we have already notified your school and they are willing for you to have the day off," explained the chief.
"What job is this?" asked Videl.
"Tomorrow at noon, the Chinese Emperor is coming to talk business with Capsule Corps. You will be there to pick him up and escort him wherever he wishes to go," stated the chief.
"Understood," said Videl cutting off the connection. While she had hoped somewhere was being robbed so she could take her frustrations out on something this was still an important job. The fact she got the day off of school was an added bonus as well. Then something clicked.
"What if Capsule Corps is the link?" Again as she weighed through the possibilities in her mind she found that this one fitted in with the plausible section. After all, Gohan was the godson of the executive of Capsule Corps and as such he would have access to all kinds of technological devices, such as his robotic arm.
Slowly, sleep started to overcome her and she realised she was going to get no answers today. Also she needed to be ready for her important role tomorrow. At least this would get her some respect back.
...
Videl hated this for more than the fact she had been standing perfectly still for the last half an hour. Her maids believed she needed to look her best for royalty and such she had been dressed up more than Erasa on prom night. She was wearing an elegant gown which her father had bought her for a dinner party which she never attended. Despite her resistance, her face was now plastered with makeup of every colour to match her complexion. She had become the very thing she hated.
The private helicopter landed on the airfield and the ladder from the door dropped down. Videl took one look at the emperor and almost face palmed. While she had spent all this time looking nice and dressed up, he was wearing casual black pants, a blue singlet and a black beanie with a red ball on the top. Another thing which shocked Videl was how he descended from the helicopter. Instead of walking down the steps majestically as she had envisioned, he leapt from the top step, did a front flip and landed on the ground perfectly.
Videl was shocked, so were all those in attendance that were to build the private escort. Whatever expectations they had of royalty were shattered in an instance as he walked up to them. Now Videl was short for her age but here was this full grown adult who wasn't even up to her waist. "Do you know where my friend is?" he asked almost childlike.
"Are they waiting for you at Capsule Corps your majesty?" Videl asked trying to be polite.
"Most of them although one of them is meant to pick me up," he said as concentrated on something.
"We were instructed to take you to Capsule Corps your majesty," explained Videl.
"That won't be necessary," he said as the sound of tyres screeching in the background could be heard. "It seems my right hand man wanted me to be treated like the royalty that I am and as such booked you lot in advance. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." As he finished his apology a flashy sports car came into view which pulled up next to the emperor.
"Yo, Chaiotzu you ready man," said the man driving. Videl was shell shocked when she saw that this man talked to royalty so casually but was even more shocked that the person driving was the baseball star Yamcha.
"Just one moment," said the emperor turning to face Videl. "Videl, if you want to overcome your fear of being weak, you have to start at the beginning. Seek out Master Korin, at the Sacred Land of Korin. If you wish to become stronger then that is where you must start."
Before Videl could question the emperor's words or how he knew her name he had already hopped in the car with Yamcha driving off at a reckless speed. Even though his message was cryptic in a sense, he knew what Videl wanted and had given her a direction which she could travel. Now she just needed to find out where this sacred land of Korin was.
...
Short chapter but I'm a bit stressed. I'm trying to juggle several stories while preparing for my midyear exams. If I don't update for a while you know why. Please review, the more reviews the more likely I'll update at a closer date.