PREVIOUSLY:
As Gohan and Goku started to walk down the path, Robin spotted Gohan walk into the bushes for a second and walk back out with something shiny in his hand. Robin couldn't quite make out what it was though. He shrugged it off and decided he would ask Gohan about it later.
Once Gohan and Goku were past the horizon, Robin slowly lifted into the air and flew in the direction of Orange Star City. He knew he wouldn't find any information about what happened in a ghost town. It would also make for good training considering he's never flown large distances yet.
Gohan looked over his shoulder when he sensed Robin power up slightly and saw him float off and zoom in the direction of the city. He just smiled knowingly and turned around to keep walking with Goku.
Chapter 5: Rebellion
Robin was flying at top speed to test out how fast he could truly fly. It was about 8 miles to Orange Star City and it took him about half an hour to reach the city. By the time he made it, he felt drained and he probably wouldn't have made it another mile.
Robin decided to land on the roof of a tall building to rest. Down below, he seen people walking around but it wasn't quite as busy as he would have expected from a city. However it's mostly only going to get a population boost when Mister Satan appears.
Either way, he stood there for about five minutes then decided to go down and look around. He noticed that there was an alley between the building he was on and the next building and he hoped down to the ground in the alley.
He then walked out onto the street. He felt somewhat out of place at what he was wearing. Everyone was dressed casually and he stood there wearing a gi. He then decided to go back into the alley to remove his gi top and just wear his undershirt with his gi pants. It looked a little more casual.
Robin then decided to walk around town for a little while; eavesdropping on random strangers with his saiyan hearing, listening for anything that may explain the village. He didn't have to wait long though as he stopped in front of one of those shops that had several televisions in the window.
The televisions were on the local news station and the title at the bottom of the news caster was interesting. It read 'Mayoral ex-candidate to start rebellion?' "Hmm, I wonder who the ex-candidate is." Robin voiced aloud not realizing that he said it out loud.
A person walking by overheard him. "He was a jerk, kept on bossing people around and telling the public that he could save them. I think he was crazy. Anyways, his name was Red Truman. Then when he lost the election, he said the people just didn't want a short mayor and now people are saying he's going to start a war over the election." A small voice said.
Robin turned around and saw a young girl, maybe around 10 or 11. She had jet black hair tied down in two pigtails. She also had large brown eyes. Robin was caught off guard for a second by how much this young girl resembled Videl, besides the eye colour and age; she was almost a perfect copy.
Regaining his composure, Robin spoke up. "Do you know anything else about this?" He asked the girl. She just shook her head no but then her expression lit up. "No but my daddy's the new mayor and he might know. I'll take him to you, but can I ask why you want to know?" She asked.
"Well, I was in the small village just out of the city earlier, and everyone was gone. I'm mostly curious about it as my home is near there and I want to know if I'm in danger." Robin answered with somewhat of a lie. It was true he lived near there and was in the village earlier, but he knew that whatever was going on wouldn't harm him, Goku or Gohan.
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea, I'll take you to my daddy, and maybe he's not busy. It's only been a week since he won the election, but he likes to take breaks. The people voted for him because he's more relaxed, easy going, and seems like an honest person. By the way, my name's Mariah, what's yours?" The little girl asked as she started walking down the street.
Robin followed after her. "My name is Robin." He said as they were walking. He decided on having some small talk with her to see if he could get any more information. "So your father's the mayor? That must be nice." Robin said.
"Yeah, but he's been stressed out a bit lately. I think it's because of how much work he's been doing since he won the election, but every time I ask him about it, he just tells me not to worry about it." Mariah said as they turned a corner. Robin could now guess that they were heading to City Hall as he saw a large white building down the street with City Hall on it.
"I'm sure once everything's settled down a bit, he'll be fine." Robin reassured Mariah as he now figured he wouldn't be getting any useful information from her now. "You're probably right; I still worry about him though. What about you? What are your parents like?" She asked not knowing that this was starting to become a delicate subject for Robin. The longer he spent away, the more he missed his parent.
"Well, my dad is a surgeon working far away, I don't see him much and my mother is always travelling for business. They're great people with a good natured personality, but I miss them. I stay with my grandfather instead, along with my little brother." Robin said, creating a believable lie.
His dad was a surgeon, and his mother was a businesswoman, but it was himself who was gone. It was also true that his parents were nice people and he missed them, but he wasn't staying with his real grandfather, only his adoptive one.
"Well that's sad. My mom is gone, but I couldn't imagine what it would be like without my dad." Mariah said with a sympathetic look.
Robin just gave her a small smile and looked up as they stopped at the City Hall. "Well, my dad should be in here, maybe he can tell you something since he's probably the only one that knows more than the public." Mariah said as she led him up the steps to the main doors.
When they walked into the building, a woman who Robin guessed was the mayor's secretary, looked up and greeted Mariah. "Why hello there sweetie, what are you doing here? You know your dad's a busy man." The woman said with a voice so sweet and high that is almost made Robin cringe. It also didn't help that he wasn't sure whether the woman was sincere.
"Well the man wants to talk to daddy about the meanie Mister Truman. He says he was at Raft Village earlier and everyone was gone. He's worried because he lives near there and doesn't know what's going on." Mariah said as she looked up at the woman expecting to be let into her dad's office.
"Well Mariah, you know your dad can't take time to speak to people when he works, now go run off and find somewhere to play. I'm sorry to you too sir, but Mayor Takosi doesn't have time for meetings that aren't scheduled." She said with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. The woman was obviously faking her sincerity; she most likely just doesn't want to be bothered.
Robin was about to speak up when he heard someone speak from inside. "Sapphire, who's out there? Did I hear Mariah?" Robin could hear someone walking over to the door and a man with graying hair and a very professional look opened the door. The man looked tired though but when he saw Mariah, his mood visually lightened.
The woman who was now known as Sapphire straightened up and looked somewhat worried. Her name matched her look; she had royal blue eyes and hair that matched.
"Hi daddy, Sapphire was just saying you're too busy but you look like you need a break. This guy here, his name is Robin and he lives near Raft Village and wants to talk to you." Mariah spoke up completely oblivious to the somewhat angered looks that the woman was giving her.
Mayor Takosi gave him a once over and then spoke up. "You know what, I do need a break. Sapphire, I'm taking the rest of the day off; it's been a week since my last day off. I'll finish the rest of my paperwork tomorrow." The mayor then walked out of the building with Mariah and Robin following him.
"So your name is Robin? Well my name is Yang Takosi, and I'm Mariah's father, but I'm sure you already knew that." Yang spoke up. "How about we go get lunch, it's almost eleven thirty. And while we're there, we can talk."
Robin agreed with the man and followed him to whatever restaurant they were going to. Mariah followed behind too, she seemed curious in what was really happening.
They arrived at a small diner that was only a block away from city hall. It was called Dragon Diner. It seemed like a nice place. It was small but it wasn't crowded. "This place makes some of the best burgers I've ever tasted." Yang said as they stepped through the door.
They ordered their meals and went and sat at a corner booth to wait for their food. "So you live near Raft Village?" Yang asked Robin. "Yeah, I live about a mile away with my grandfather and little brother." Robin replied back. "I really just came to Orange Star City to find out what's going on, Raft Village is completely empty."
Yang was about to speak up again but was interrupted as their food was ready. "How about we finish this conversation after lunch?" He suggested and Robin agreed as he too had been hungry.
Robin's only thought as he finished his meal was 'Yang wasn't lieing when he said the burgers were good.' It was the first burger that Robin had in months, but boy it was good.
Yang finished his meal not too long after Robin and Mariah just pushed her meal aside as she was full. "Mariah, maybe you should go to the park down the street and let me and Robin talk?" Yang said questioningly. "No daddy, I think I deserve to know what's going on." Mariah replied with a stern look.
Yang just sighed, knowing he couldn't say no to his daughter. He just wasn't sure if she should hear what he's about to talk about. He just decided that if Mariah couldn't handle it, she would leave.
"Well alright then. Anyways, it all started a little over a week ago. Some crazy guy named Red Truman was running for mayor against me and his whole campaign was unsuccessful. Then when the elections came and he lost, he said the people just didn't want someone short to lead them. Next thing I know, Red makes a broadcast warning the citizens that they would soon bow to him. At first I thought he was crazy, but then the few people that did vote for him started to back him up. They tied red clothes to their arms and protested on the streets for a day." Yang stopped for a second to take a drink then continued.
"The next day they all disappeared, and then some of the world government agents warned me that they intercepted messages about Red starting a rebellion against the city. Then, last night a bunch of weapons were stolen from our city's armory. So overnight I had Raft City evacuated." Yang stopped for another drink, he looked really worried.
"Earlier today though, another message was intercepted and in it there was information about their plans. They plan on taking the city, and using city money to build technology that can't detect the energy of Dragon Balls. If you didn't know, Dragon Balls are a myth of secret balls that when gathered together, they can grant a wish. Orange Star City was the last place all of them were together and that's where the city's name comes from." Yang looked up to make sure Robin was still paying attention.
"Anyways, Red plans on finding the Dragon Balls, and he apparently already has a prototype machine that detected energy coming from near Raft Village. I think he's going to move in on the village, and then the city. I've been amassing martial artists from all over the land to help us fight them off because our defenses are crippled with most of our weapons being stolen." Yang sighed as he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.
"I really needed to tell someone about what's going on. Thanks for listening Robin and I hope that I've answered any questions you may have." Yang said as he relaxed back into his seat. Mariah just sat there quietly in thought.
"Yeah, that's mostly everything but now there's something more, my grandfather is a master martial artist and I've been studying under him for some time so if you need help, we live at the top of Mount Alf near Raft Village." Robin said hoping that maybe Gohan would've helped defeat the rebels either way.
"If we need any more man power, I'll definitely come get you two personally Robin." Yang said as he looked somewhat hopeful. "Anyways, I think I need to go home and relax a little, I've been way too stressed lately. Are you coming home with me Mariah?" Yang asked his daughter.
"Yeah, I guess I'll go home daddy. Bye Robin, I hope to see you again!" Mariah said cheerfully as she and her father stood up and headed out the door.
Robin just sat there in deep thought for a while. 'Did I do the right thing? Even if this changes history, maybe I should still try to help people.' Robin was there for about ten minutes before deciding to get up and go walk around for a bit.
This week I have exams so I spent the last few days studying instead of updating. Any ways, I just want to ask if anyone could maybe help me with a better title. Because even though Robin knows about all the main events, he doesn't truly know everything. I just think the story could use a better title but I can't think of one myself.