I'd like to start off apologising to everyone. I recently posted a power scale for the story that I wrote a long time ago at the start of the story. However after some people pointed out inconsistencies I went poking around and realised I had posted one of the many scratch versions of the power scale. I'll go into more detail at the end of the chapter and include the more polished version of the scale.
Gohan blinked his eyes open and once again found himself in a white room. He wasn't sure why he was in a Capsule Corp medical bay at first but soon all the memories of his recent encounter came flying back into his head. Gohan wasn't concerned at all until he remembered a certain someone had been at the battleground and got hurt pretty bad. He sat up in the bed and looked around himself, Vegeta was standing at the door giving him a critical look. "Vegeta! Was there a girl there with us? Is she alright?!" His questions became more urgent and anxious as Vegeta's lack of expression told him nothing.
The Saiyan prince remained silent for a time, scanning the boy with his eyes and his energy, before he eventually saw fit to answer the boy's questions. "The human girl who was with you is fine" he responded, "She's quite the feisty one, barking orders and demanding your presence..." The older warrior commented, trailing off. Gohan wasn't sure why Vegeta was looking at him like he was, but he wasn't sure it really mattered right now, "She knows boy, she called you by your name instead of that ridiculous moniker you gave yourself to waste time with crime-fighting." The prince added giving Gohan some context to the situation. He looked down at his lap, eyes burdened with the weight of the situation.
"Yeah I figured it wouldn't be much longer before she found out, I thought I would have had enough time to tell her myself at least." Gohan muttered regretfully, causing Vegeta to scowl at his emotional weakness.
"Bah, quit the long face boy, it is unbefitting of a Saiyan Warrior as gifted as you. Show some pride, you just defeated the Legendary Super Saiyan single-handedly" Vegeta barked at him in a manner that sounded like he was still berating him, but Gohan could tell it was just disguised praise at his ability as a protector, "If your 3rd class brain took a second to think, you'd remember that such a thing was only possible with the lot of us 7 years ago." He finished, staring out the window next to Gohan's bed, remembering how thoroughly they were all trounced the last time they fought.
"You're right, I know, but...there's something about this girl. It pains me to think I've disappointed her or let her down. I care about her yet here I am, forced to explain myself after being found out for all the lies I've fed her since we met. It makes me feel like shit." Gohan said with a sad note to his voice that made Vegeta grin devilishly.
"Good to know your feelings match your appearance, you look like a wounded puppy brat. You know what that means? You've picked a-"
"I haven't got time for your pestering Vegeta, I didn't come here to get kicked while I'm down, can you please just tell me where she is now so I can try to not get screamed at?" Gohan pleaded pathetically.
Vegeta frowned at being interrupted and lost interest in telling the boy about his predicament, he scoffed in indignation, "Whatever, she's in the sitting room with Bulma" Gohan got out of the bed and bolted off out the door, past Vegeta and down the hall, "AND FOR THE RECORD YOU DIDN'T 'COME HERE' AT ALL! I HAD TO CARRY YOUR LAZY ASS!" The prince called after the adolescent warrior, "Fucking teenagers, no respect at all for their superiors." He remarked with distaste before walking in the same direction as he was hungry and desired his woman to fix him something. Also he maybe sort of wanted to watch the boy get cussed out by his chosen mate. If she was anything like Bulma or Kakarot's woman she'd tear him a new one, "Dende, if you really are a god, I request you use your powers to make the boy miserable." He thought to himself, internally crossing his fingers as he marched his way to the lounge.
Gohan arrives around the corner in his completely torn up Gi and saw Videl sitting opposite Bulma as they talked about something. The first thing he noticed was that she seemed okay. He sighed in deep relief and momentarily relaxed, satisfied that she was unharmed. Videl glanced over at him and he saw something in her eyes he couldn't decipher and he didn't like that at all. She put down her mug of whatever-Bulma-had-gotten-her and slowly walked over to Gohan who looked away in shame and ran his mouth like an idiot, not knowing what the right words were, "Videl I- I didnt- I was going to-you see I-"
She suddenly began looking him up and down with a critical eye, noting his various injuries. He had cuts and bruises all over his body. He had a few very obviously broken ribs and he was favoring a leg. She 'tsk'ed at him and shook her head, "Look at you Gohan! You look like you were hit by a truck! What are you even doing out of bed?" she questioned with a disappointed tone, poking him in the deep purple bruise covering his right side. It made Gohan since and she pushed him in the direction of the couch as he explained.
"I needed to come talk to you so I could-"he tried to say but she shushed him with her index finger against his lips and eyes closed with a frown.
"No excuse you can conjure is befitting of how badly hurt you are, you should have waited until you were fully healed to come explain it all to me." She told him, crossing her arms with a sense of finality.
Gohan was extremely confused about the situation, why wasn't she madder at him? Why wasn't she shell-shocked? Or even just normal shocked? She was taking it ridiculously well. Instead of questioning her about that yet he decided it prudent to first complete their current conversation. "Yeah I know Videl, but you really don't need to worry about me, I've seen far worse injuries in my fighting career" He told her, "Thanks to my genetics I'm extremely resilient and heal faster than humans do, and I felt really terrible about you having to find out about me the way you did, so I wanted to give you a proper explanation for it all." He concluded for her, making her frown soften.
The girl cracked her eyes open and looked at him in her peripheral vision for a few moments, "Hey, don't beat yourself up too much, I'm not as upset with you as you probably think I am." She remarked.
"That's just it, why aren't you? If I'm honest with myself I hid all this from you, while being able to look you in the eye and act like everything was okay." Gohan responded to her statement questioningly.
She sighed gently and responded with a measured tone, "Gohan I figured out you were Saiyaman before I saw you fighting that guy…" she admitted, looking up at the ceiling.
Gohan's eyes bugged out of his skull, "You did!?" he wracked his brain thinking about if she maybe caught him unconscious and saw him in his normal state.
The teenaged girl nodded delicately with a pensive expression, "I had a dream about you" she began, thinking of a way to describe the collage of images and memories that melded into discernable information in her unconscious state. "You slipped up a lot you know, never enough to expose you outright. In fact I barely picked up on it in the moments they actually happened in. But over time my subconscious memory compiled a list of circumstantial evidence based on what you had done, what you had said, and what I already knew. And it brought it all to my attention in one go. It was almost like how evidence is presented to a jury in a court room." She explained, her hands gesturing in a cute manner as she tried to visualise it in her mind.
Gohan's jaw hung open in disbelief, "You figured me out in a dream!?" He asked her with a tone of incredulity. And he had been sooo careful! But little did he know, all along he was unknowingly leaving little breadcrumbs of evidence that lead her straight to him. He had been a fool to think he could sneak one past a girl sharp as Videl Satan.
"I did. Now Gohan I understand that it's all a very long story and it's very complicated, so I just want to know, were you ever planning on telling me the truth, even if I never figured it out?" the girl asked him with an again unreadable expression and tone that completely confused the Saiyan teenager.
"Of course I planned to Videl. I just planned to do if bit by bit over time. It's a lot to take in…" he told her, his voice sounding somewhat like he was warning her of what was to come.
She ignored this however and stared deeply into Gohan's eyes, as if she was looking for something. The boy wasn't sure what she was doing but stood his ground nonetheless, awaiting his judgement.
Suddenly she nodded again and stepped back with a neutral expression, "You're telling the truth, I can tell" she remarked matter-of-factly. Gohan did remember her saying she was very good at reading people back when he first met her. "Alright I've made my decision. This tournament is coming up in a few days and I want both of us to be in the right headspace so we can say we gave it our all. To ensure that we achieve that, you're off the hook until after the tournament. Doing well in this competition means more to me than knowing all your secrets right now." She explained to him with a tone of finality that told Gohan there would be no room for argument about her decision.
He smiled at how much of a fighter she really was. She made a much better Martial Artist than she did a Cop, that was for sure. He nodded at her and became all business, "In that case we still have a few days of training to do before this tournament. Let's get to work." He declared to her.
*The next day: A grassy plain*
"Yyyyagh!" Videl screamed as she fired yet another Ki blast at Gohan, who simply swatted it into the air above them. The girl charged him and threw a flurry of punches and kicks at speeds a normal human would have only seen as a blur. Gohan slipped and avoided every attack as if they were moving in slow motion. He caught a head-kick at the ankle and tossed her upwards, holding back half of his base form strength. She flew upwards but used her Ki to gain control of her flight path in mid-air, flipping backwards and diving fist first at the son of Goku. Her teacher dashed backwards away from the punch but right before she hit the ground she withdrew her fist and flipped forwards, getting her feet underneath her. From that position she pushed off the ground right at her dashing friend. Not dashing like handsome of course, though that's not to say he wasn't handsome, but she didn't mean to refer to his charming appearance- "Focus Videl! Dammit stop acting like a fangirl!" she berated internally. She narrowly dodged a kick that would have clotheslined her had she not pulled her head back into the fight. "It's just Gohan! Just stupid, smart…strong…handsome Gohan…with biceps like stone and abs that could cut diamonds…" she thought trailing off as Gohan charged in, grabbed her right arm and leg-swiped her, putting her on the ground and then pinning both her arms above her head with one hand. "Sweet mother of God!" she exclaimed in total surprise as she felt her face heat up a thousand degrees. This was like something out of a steamy romance novel for Christ's sake how could she not!?
"Videl? Helloooo, Earth to Videl?" he called out, seeing her red face and dazed expression. Gohan started snapping his fingers beside both her ears with his free hand, "Are you alright Videl?" The Raven haired teenager shook her head and blinked, clearing her mind of her previous train of thought. There were only a few days left until the tournament and she needed to stay on the ball.
"I'm fine, I was just...thinking about something." She said, trailing off feeling very embarrassed at herself. Gohan stood up and offered Videl a hand to get up. She took it and he pulled her, not thinking about what he was doing and accidentally launched her into the air, screaming and wailing.
"Oh shit..." He muttered to himself, before he phased out of existence and reappeared above Videl, letting her fly right into his arms where he caught her before dropping back to the ground. Her chest heaved and her eyes were as wide as saucers. Her hair was a mess from the wind resistance and she was shaking uncontrollably. "Uhhh, maybe its time to take a break..." He commented with a nervous, guilty expression on his face.
*2 hours later*
The two teenagers were sitting against opposite sides of the trunk of a gigantic, ancient tree. A tree that looked like it had withstood countless seasons, storms, droughts and other natural disasters. Underneath it, amongst its massive protruding roots that disappeared into the Earth below, our heroes sat eating pieces of fruit, awkwardly not making eye contact with each other. They hadn't spoken since that little incident, though for entirely different reasons. Gohan held his tongue because he thought she was mad at him and didn't want to further incur her wrath upon him. Videl on the other hand was still too embarrassed from what happened to even look the boy in the eye. The silence dragged on for countless minutes as the two demonstrated text-book teenage social-ineptness. Gohan allowed himself to think too much about what had happened and began berating himself for not keeping his energy in-check better. He mentally beat himself up to the point that he began physically bashing the back of his head into the trunk of the tree they rested beneath, " .STUPID!" He hissed internally, enunciating each word with another thump into the tree, "I should know better than this for Dende's sake! How could I have allowed something like this t-" however in keeping with the trends of this story, Gohan was cut off by yet another unfortunate event. The tree had certainly withstood many disasters, however perhaps the boy had underestimated exactly how many it had weathered, as he heard the familiar creaking and snapping of brittle, old wood meeting its end. It began to lean away from Gohan and he scowled at himself for again making the same mistake. "Son of a BITCH!" he cursed as he realised it was falling in the direction Videl was sitting at. He dashed around the tree to where Videl was standing, only just realising that the tree was indeed falling towards her. He protectively pulled her close with one of his arms, stretching his free arm outward towards the tree.
The trunk of the falling goliath tree reached his hand and, with a loud creaking sound came to a stop there, a few smaller branches and twigs fell from the canopy of the tree but it otherwise stayed in one piece. He then brought his arm further upwards, till it was pointing straight into the sky above them and the tree came with it. Videl gasped in disbelief when she realised he had just lifted the tree clear off the ground. Once Gohan was satisfied it was stable, he threw his arm forward and the whole tree flew 20 feet away from them before hitting the ground thunderously and leaving a huge indent in the earth beneath it in the shape of a tree. Gohan turned to her with concern etched into his features, "Are you alright? I'm so sorry I almost crushed you just now!" He fervently apologised, grasping each of her shoulders and holding her still as he looked her over.
She poked him hard between the ribs, "Hey, Gohan! Quit freaking out over me all the time, I'm alright, thanks to you." She told him, making Gohan relax significantly. He smiled sadly at her as he looked her in the eyes.
"Sorry, I know you don't need me fussing over you like I'm your mother, I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ever hurt you." He explained to her, his voice growing softer as he realised how uncomfortably close their faces were. Silence ensued for a few moments before he finally remarked, "Did I ever tell you that you have really pretty eyes?" Like some kind of hopeless romantic.
Nonetheless Videl's face burned yet again as she wordlessly began leaning closer to him, she could feel his warm breath on her skin and she was close enough to kiss him if she just reached up on her toes. Their faces unconsciously drew nearer before eventually, only an inch away from lip-locking, Gohan's spine snapped straight and he looked directly to their left. Videl felt hurt and disappointment surge through her at first before she felt something nearby.
"Oh don't stop on my account, there is nothing quite as wondrous as young love." A deep gravelly voice remarked. There to their side floated a white-cloaked figure with a strange Blue bodysuit and White boots. A hood covered its head but a goatee gracing a strong chin was visible from underneath. Gohan growled and pushed Videl behind him as he crouched slightly in a battle-ready position, "I must admit, I didn't think hair dye and contacts were a part of the costume when I saw you Saiyaman." The figure confessed. Gohan further tensed and prepared himself for a fight. He just couldn't seem to catch a break lately.
"Who are you and what do you want!?" Gohan demanded with a dangerous voice.
"My my, how aggressive and impolite of a supposed Super Hero" the figure commented, attempting to achieve some kind of reaction from the young hero who just deepened their scowl in annoyance, "Very well, my identity is of no consequence, all you need to know is that I am the brains of the terrorist attacks being launched upon Satan City for the past few weeks now, and your interference has been quite...troublesome for my plans. I have come here to remove you from the equation Saiyaman and Videl Satan."
"I guess we'll have to wait and SEE!" Upon the last word Gohan surged forward, a bright white Aura burning into life around his form. He opened up with a flying side-kick that went straight through his opponent. "Afterimage!" Gohan recognised the illusion and turned around to see the figure standing right in front of him. He growled and launched a right cross that was dodged easily. Gohan followed up with a left straight and a spinning right heel kick which were slipped and ducked respectively. Gohan noted that the figure made no attempt to counter or retaliate yet. The young Saiyan weighed his options, it was obvious that his base form was no match for this guy. But he wasn't sure it was a good idea to transform. He launched back at him and threw countless attacks all of them were dodged easily and Gohan began to feel a sense of apprehension. After the mystery fighter yet again dodged a hook from Gohan he finally countered with a kick to the chest that sent Gohan flying backwards into the fallen tree on the ground, exploding into shards of wood and debris.
"Gohan!" Videl screamed in terror, running towards Gohan's point of impact. She didn't entirely understand what was going on here but she understood her friend had just got kicked through a tree.
"No Videl, stay back!" She heard him say, stopping her in her tracks. Gohan stood up relatively unharmed save for a few scratches. "Looks like I have to take it up a notch.." The warrior remarked. He glared long and hard at his attacker before he wordlessly ascended into Super Saiyan as golden flames sprung from his skin and enveloped him in an erratic aura.
"Ahhhh, impressive. You are capable of transformation." The figure complimented, "Though I must say I'm quite disappointed that this is the extent of your power boy, but it cannot be helped." He said with a smug tone that made Gohan chuckle internally.
"I hope for your sake you don't succeed in pissing me off buddy." He thought to himself as he prepared to continue their skirmish.
"Don't bother, I already know enough about your power to safely calculate that you are no real threat to my plans" the deep voice boomed confidently, "Especially if you are the most powerful on this planet." He added mockingly, making Gohan growl and take a step forward. "Uh uh uh, I have no time for you. I'll be taking my leave now, until next time…Gohan." Videl winced, realising she had accidentally revealed his real name to their enemy. If Gohan noticed, or even cared, he made no indication of it. He merely kept his eyes focused on the spot the mystery man occupied as the figure faded from sight.
Gohan waited, keeping his energy raised as a precaution, for another five minutes in case the guy was bluffing and trying to get a sneak attack in. When he was absolutely sure that he was gone from the area Gohan's muscles relaxed and his Aura faded away with an ever fainter sound of rushing air. His normally brilliant Gold spikes dulled to a pale yellow, before there was a strange sound and his hair returned to deepest Black.
With the tense atmosphere gone along with her adrenaline rush, Videl's legs began shaking uncontrollably before they gave out and she collapsed to her knees, sweating and breathing heavily, "W-Who was that? What's going on!?" she almost shrieked, trying to get a hold of herself. Videl had never felt a power like that. Not even from Gohan. It made the air around her heavy and thick, and it had an awful, rotten quality to it. She supposed that meant he wasn't on their side, since not even Bulma's husband's energy had felt like that.
"I wish I knew Videl…" he answered honestly, "But whatever it is, I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop it if he's involved…" he commented solemnly. That was it. The energy he felt all those weeks ago. A power even greater than Cell's. By how much he wasn't sure, but it at the very least rivalled the power he wielded at the Cell Games years ago. That couldn't mean anything good at all…
*Meanwhile: In a hall of a hidden underground laboratory*
The cloaked figure stalked down the hallway. He entered a room full of his minions, bustling about and doing their jobs. Any who noticed his presence saluted him and greeted his respectfully. "Doctor!" he commanded simply and a much smaller being than himself came running to him immediately.
"Yes my lord?" it asked dutifully.
"Did you use the scanner as I asked you to?" He asked the short creature that owed him it's allegiance.
"But of course my leige, your wish is my command, you wished a task done and so I made it happen in an efficient manner…" it responded.
The hooded figure rolled his eyes, if this idiot kissed his ass anymore his lips would start staining red. He waited silently, as the underling remained in his bowed, proud pose, "…Well!?" he growled in irritation and the creature yelped slightly before continuing.
"I-initially his energy plateaued at about 750 Killis" the servant handed him the paper with the chart, showing the readings, "But at some point during your skirmish his power multiplied, before reaching roughly 3000" be said, with a tone of great intrigue in his high-pitched voice. "We aren't quite sure what caused this phenomena and were hoping you could give us some insight so as to better prepare our men."
The leader scratched his chin thoughtfully, remembering the transformation he witnessed, "Transformations are near unheard of among humans to begin with, but for one to grant a power increase of this magnitude…Yes it is best I warn the troops about-" His train of thought was cut short when a familiar feeling in his forehead caused his thoughts to make a total 180. "Leave me, I have business. Make it clear I am not to be bothered until I emerge, else I will end the lives of whoever dares defy me, slowly and painfully." he commanded simply in a flippant manner.
"But sire mightn't you first provide me wi-"
"NOW!" He bellowed, his tone depending respect and that he be obeyed without question. His minion squealed in terror and quickly retreated from his presence. The leader walked through the doorway to his so-called meditation room, and flicked a switch on the inside. The doors hissed closed behind him for what would be the next few hours."
*That night: Grassy Plains*
Gohan sat at the fire watching Videl. Or rather sensing her. He was doing an evaluation of her Ki. She had grown incredibly strong in a very short amount of time. She had more than quadrupled her power and now rivalled Krillin and Tien in brute force and it made Gohan wonder. Ever since he was a boy he'd had a gigantic dormant potential that massively outweighed his Father's and Vegeta's. This had been due to his strange mix of genetics between Earthling and Saiyan (Earthling rather than human as Chi-Chi is not fully human in this story, she's half Ogre from the Ox-King's side of the family, which is a sub-type of human that are much larger and stronger than regular humans. I made this up literally because I refuse to believe Ox-King is a normal human, LOOK AT THE MOTHAFUCKA! He's massive!)
Now as he watched the impossible unfold before his eyes he had to wonder, could Videl be a human equivalent of what he was? A phenomenon among creatures gifted with a natural talent far greater than they're peers? He supposed it was entirely possible, but the fact that fate had happened to draw their paths crossing was unlikely at best.
It was in the middle of this train of thought when Videl received a call on her cell phone. The girl blinked in surprise when she saw the caller ID displayed on the screen and so checked for himself with his sharp eyesight. Erasa? Why was she calling?
Now Gohan was no Piccolo but his hearing was acute enough that if he so chose to he could hear the entire conversation from this measly ten foot space between them but his chivalrous upbringing kept his temptations in check. He simply distracted himself while he waited.
After a few minutes of conversation Videl placed her smart phone back in her pocket and stood up, talking to Gohan as she moved, "That was Erasa, she said that we're having a field trip to Capsule Corp for the next few days, starting tomorrow morning, and asked if we were going" She began to explain as the teenager started rummaging through her bag, "Obviously I said we were too busy training and-"
"I think we should go." Gohan said simply.
"What!? But my training! You said-" Videl started in an accusing tone.
"Videl you've already made astounding progress. You're a literal natural at Martial Arts. However the fact is you've worked really hard these last few days, and I feel like now is a good time to get a rest." Gohan explained placatingly, "Besides, any difference in your power over the next 3 days would be negligible. Better to enjoy these next few days with our friends, after all who knows what might happen?"
Videl stared at Gohan for a while. She had been about to argue back when she heard him bring up that last part, and when he looked at her as he said it Videl could see the uncertainty in him. She clenched her fists and steeled her emotions, "This guy is that powerful huh?" she asked knowingly and Gohan stiffened wordlessly. A few moments passed and he simply nodded at her. Videl contemplated this information that Gohan wasn't sure if they could win against this opponent before nodding back at her teacher and beginning to pack her stuff.
After everything was Capsulised and ready to go, Videl hit a sudden road block. "Uhhh, Gohan…I maybe kinda thought we'd be out here training up until the tournament, so I told our house keepers to lock the whole place down all week…" Videl confessed.
Gohan internally face-palmed at his misfortune. Outwardly however he maintained perfect composure, "Oh so you need a place to stay then?" he asked, making sure he understood the situation properly. At her affirmation he continued, "You can stay the night at my apartment if you like?" he offered politely, fighting a blush more intense than any Ki attack he'd seen.
Videl fought a similar battle as she graciously accepted his offer. With that settled the duo took flight at a comfortable speed for Videl and made their way towards Satan City.
A few hours later found Gohan's penthouse window being used as a door for our protagonists. Gohan walked to a wall and switched on the lights, watching them light up the apartment one by one. Videl took a look at the luxurious living space her friend had been granted. "Uhh, make yourself comfortable I guess, take whatever you like from the fridge, call me if you need me. I'm just going to go have a shower, alright?"
Videl nodded while awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the boy. Gohan quickly left the room into what looked like his bedroom. After a few minutes she heard water begin to run and did her very best to not imagine Gohan in the shower. She put on the TV and watched a random show while she waited.
A short while later Gohan emerged from the room dressed in long cotton pants and a White T-shirt and made a beeline straight for the kitchen. Videl decided now would be the best time to give Gohan the details of when they'd need to wake up, where they needed to go and what they had to take with them on the trip and got up to go to him.
They went over the details and ate, or in Gohan's case devoured, dinner. The field trip would start tomorrow at 6 in the morning. Normally they'd need permission from their guardians but Videl, being the daughter of Mr. Satan, was deemed reliable enough to go. Gohan, being his own legal guardian, needed no permission. After 3 days and nights at Capsule Corp, they would all be taken to the World Martial Arts tournament to watch from the skybox, and during the down time between matches, they would be staying in V.I.P accommodations.
Gohan and Videl would simply fly to Capsule Corp rather than be crammed on the bus for a few hours, and when it came tournament time . It began to go into the later hours of the night and they decided they should go to sleep, which is where the problems arose. Videl was getting ready to set up on the couch when she looked up and saw Gohan eyeing her with a raised brow, "What are you're doing?" he asked passively.
Videl raised a brow back at him before responding, "I'm getting ready to sleep. Why?" she asked looking at him suspiciously.
"You aren't sleeping on the couch" he stated simply, "You're my guest." he added as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Videl sighed at him, here they go again. Still, she had to admit she was impressed with his manners. "Really Gohan it's okay, you slept on the couch last time it's only fair that I take it this time."
He shook his head, "I asked for the couch because it would be improper to share a bed with you. There is no need in this situation as I won't be sleeping in my bed so you'll occupy it tonight." He explained as he walked away gesturing for her to follow.
Videl's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Oh" she responded dumbly, she gathered her stuff and put it back in her bag before picking it up and following him to the bedroom. She supposed it was a good enough reason for her to take the bedroom. As she set her bag down and looked about the spacious luxury bedroom Gohan indicated where the bathroom was. She sat down on the side of the bed and almost sighed aloud at how comfortable it felt. Gohan seemed to take that as his cue to leave and made for the door.
"Gohan! Wait a sec!" She called out making him stop at the door and look at her inquisitively, "Where are you going?" She asked curiously, wondering where he might be going.
Gohan smiled at her in turn and scratched the back of his head exactly as his father used to do, "I just have a few things to do, people to talk to, errands to run. I'll be here in the morning though." He told her.
She nodded at him and said goodnight as he closed the door. She flopped backwards onto the mattress and sighed softly at the comfort it afforded her sore muscles. She noticed that it smelled distinctly of Gohan which comforted her even further. She found herself quickly drifting off into sleep.
Meanwhile Gohan walked out to his gym area, and dropped to the floor in a meditative position, he focused all of his energy on the familiar distant signature of Vegeta and tried to contact him, an ability he had learned from Piccolo years ago. "Vegeta…Vegeta, can you hear me…?" silence ensued for half a minute before eventually.
"What do you want boy you're interrupting my training! If I'm going to best Kakarot at this upcoming tournament I'll need to be as strong as I can be!" He barked back in his mind, knowing Gohan would hear it.
"I know, I know, just hear me out. Earlier today I was confronted by a mysterious figure who claimed to be the mastermind behind the attacks, and I am fairly certain it was the same person from the broadcast." He explained.
"So what? Did you bring him down then?" Vegeta asked impatiently.
"I tried Vegeta, but even as a Super Saiyan he laughed at my abilities and boasted that I was no match for him." Gohan explicated to the older warrior who scoffed internally.
"That means very little, look what you did to Broly." The Saiyan Prince pointed out to Gohan.
"I know Vegeta, but I can't correctly control that power, and there's more. This person, I'm fairly certain that they are significantly stronger than Cell." Gohan revealed, remembering that massive energy he had sensed a while ago.
Again silence ensued, however this time when Vegeta broke it, his voice was much lower and he was taking Gohan's words into careful consideration, "How sure of this are you?" Vegeta inquired.
"Pretty sure. A while back I sensed a gigantic power growing in the distance that made Cell and I look average in comparison. I can't say for sure that it's this guy but if he's confident that I can't stop him he's either extremely powerful or extremely arrogant." Gohan told Vegeta.
"Hmph, this could be a problem…do you think you can learn to control your full power?" Vegeta asked him with a sense of urgency.
Gohan blinked in surprise at the question, "Well, maybe given time and with your help, but we have no idea what the motive is here so we can't even guess when and where they might attack." Gohan replied, "Though my gut feeling tells me it'll be very soon." He admitted.
Vegeta cursed under his breath before going quite for a long moment before talking again, "Your father returns in 4 days on the day of the tournament, between the three of us we might have enough power to stop whatever it is that's coming. If we do not…" Vegeta trailed off but Gohan got the message loud and clear.
"I understand Vegeta, my class is coming to Capsule Corp for a week long field trip, starting tomorrow. I'll see you then." Gohan finished, before releasing the energy that held that connection. He panted with exertion, it took a lot of energy to do that by himself, with Piccolo he only had to meet him halfway, but with others, he had to establish the connection and maintain it by himself. He stood up and left the room, he plopped down on the couch and let himself drift off to sleep.
And that's the end of another chapter. Next chapter or two will detail the field trip and then it's tournament time. Also from now on please try to review with an account rather than anonymously so that I can PM you if I need to. I got 3 suspiciously familiar reviews all 1 minute after the other last chapter telling me my power scale seemed off or something like that. Obviously by the same person. Anyway thank you all for the reviews I have responded to those with queries, until next time peeps.
Edit: So after receiving the review questioning the power scaling of my characters, I looked at them again with confusion since I was very sure I had fixed those exact inconsistencies long ago, lo-and-behold I have about 6 different versions of the power scale all set out very similarly, and I posted and have been referring to a scratch version of it by mistake. So here is my updated version, sorry for the mix up.
Proper power scale: start – Now
Gohan - Base Gohan (current): 19
SSJ Gohan (current): 76
SSJ2 Gohan (current): 152
Rage Boost (current): 200
Base Gohan (Cell): 18
SSJ Gohan (Cell): 72
SSJ2 Gohan (Cell): 144
Rage Boost (Cell): 180
Vegeta - Base Vegeta: 20
SSJ Vegeta: 80
SSJ2 Vegeta: 160
Majin Vegeta hypothetical: 170
Goten - Base Goten: 8
SSJ Goten: 32
Trunks - Base Trunks: 9
SSJ Trunks: 36
Vrozan - 1st Vrozan: 16
Final Vrozan: 64
Videl - Videl (pre-training): 0.5
Absolute Energy Release: 4
Post-training: 5
Tao - Android: 6
Cell - Imperfect: 20
Semi-perfect: 60
Perfect: 100
Krillin - Krillin: 10
Tien - Tien: 13
Piccolo – Post-Time chamber: 45
Fused with Kami: 38
Fused with Nail: 18
Frieza – 1st form: 8
2nd form: 16
3rd form: 24
Final Form: 32
100%: 40
Normal Human : 0.2
Broly – Base: 15
SSJ: 60
LSSJ: 100