Hi there!

OMG. I've watched the new DB super movie yesterday. All I wanted to say is that I was stoked to learn Gohan apparently has the same profession as me :) Which I always imagined he would ;)

Enjoy reading!

Chapter 4: Broken

With a firm tug on her upper arm, Videl was pulled away into the hallway, out of the sight of their classmates. Erasa cornered her, livid, Videl had never seen her so angry before.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck. Videl!" Her blond friend jerked the magazine from her hands and she hastily flipped through it. Videl swallowed, knowing she wasn't very good at lying to her best friend, but also knew she couldn't tell the truth.

"I joked about this with Sharpener the other day, that it was becoming very coincidental that you were called in by the police but that Saiyawoman showed up every time instead of you. I know you and Saiyaman have connections, fight crime together and he even tried to kiss you once… but come on! You cannot do that to Gohan!"

"Wait what?" Videl was taken by surprise, "What about Gohan?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Vi! I know you two hit it off at the party! You know, I really thought you were talking about him when you confessed to me you loved someone, and I was so happy for you two. But this!" she flashed the magazine in her face, "This I didn't expect! Gohan isn't a guy you just screw on a drunken night! He deserves more."

This triggered Videl, and not in a good way. She had done nothing wrong, especially to Gohan. And while it was true, Erasa had no proof that she was, in fact, Saiyawoman. All she had was a gossip magazine and her own truths.

"Wow, stop there, 'rase! First off, I'm not Saiyawoman and I haven't messed around with Gohan!"

"Really?" Erasa's angry face turned hurtful, "And here I thought we were friends… I guess I was wrong then."

She turned and was about to walk away when Videl grabbed her arm, "Com'n 'rase, why are you saying that?"

"Y'know, 'cause friends don't lie, Vi," breaking free from Videl's grasp, "Gosh, I thought you hated liars, and I admired you for that, but I guess you're just like everybody else," she sighed. After a short pause, she continued, still hurtful, "I accidently walked in on you two that night, y'know, in your mother's room, so you can't tell me you two didn't screw around, 'cause I know for a fact you did."

At that moment, Gohan walked out of the classroom. Taking it as her cue to leave, Erasa gave him a pat on his back in empathy as she passed. Confused, he watched as she re-entered the classroom, leaving the two alone.

"What was that all about?" he asked, though he could guess the answer.

"She knows…" Videl mumbled and slid to the floor against the wall, "She knows about us. And now she's mad because she thinks I cheated on you with Saiyaman."

Gohan was shocked by the sudden turn of events, but recovered quickly. He had to be the stronger one here because he was the one who caused it all. "How?"

"Apparently she walked in on us when we, you know…"

This caused a huge blush on his cheeks and moments later he mumbled to himself while scratching his neck, "Well, that's embarrassing…" He took a breath and shook that thought out of his head, "Look, it's going to be alright, I promise."

"How's this going to be alright, Gohan? The tabloids are on to me now, Erasa is angry because I lied to her and we're in deep shit."

"Everything can be fixed," Gohan assured her, "The most important thing now is to avoid being seen together while this gossip thing is still alive. Otherwise they'll put two and two together," he scratched his neck again, "In the meantime, we need to prove you aren't Saiyawoman."

"But how? And what if we fail?"

"We'll figure something out." Gohan squatted in front of her and lifted her chin so he could look into her now teary eyes, "Hey, don't give me that defeated look, it doesn't suit you," he said softly, "Look, even if we fail, and everything spirals out of control, we always have the Dragon Balls to wish everything to go back to normal. So there's nothing to worry about, okay?"

"Dragon Balls?" she looked up with a raised eyebrow, "Those wishing orbs? How do you even find them? Weren't they supposed to be randomly scattered around the world? And how do you even know they haven't been used yet?"

Gohan gave her a soft smile and rummaged in his satchel. "Here," he said, handing her an apple-sized orange sphere. She took it, and as she studied it, she discovered a few red stars visible in the center of the crystal clear ball. "This is the four star Dragon Ball. It has been in my family for generations and I always carry it with me to protect it. So, you see, they are still open for business. And don't worry about finding them, Bulma invented a radar to locate them. All you have to do now is live through the day and stand your ground."

Videl felt some of the heavy weight lift from her body, but she still felt terrible, "What about Erasa?"

"Leave her to me. At the end of today she will turn around, I promise. Now, let's go inside before people are going to talk even more."

"You go ahead, I'm going to wash my face in the restroom to calm my nerves."

When Gohan entered the room, the teacher was about to start. However, as he made his way to his seat, Stapler - who sat at the back row as usual - turned with the biggest grin as the same magazine lay in front of him, "Being dumped already?"

Gohan frowned. "You wish," he said firmly, but quietly enough for only Stapler to hear, while walking past him.

Stapler's smile faded from his face, confused, not expecting that answer at all. He watched as Gohan walked to his seat and sat down, turned his gaze to the magazine, then back to Gohan. Could it be?

###

When she looked at her wet face in the mirror, she sighed. How did this get out of hand so quickly? It wasn't like she was recognizable in her costume. Erasa made a good point, though: she hadn't shown up as herself lately. She cursed out loud and thought herself very stupid for overlooking the bigger picture.

Deciding she needed to know what exactly was so 'indisputable' about that gossip magazine's evidence, she went to the roof and started reading the pages.

On his first ever appearance, he not only stopped a speeding car, but stopped our beating hearts as well. The Great Saiyaman, dorky as he may seem, is one of the hottest guys in Satan City according to our panel. How, you may ask? Well, if you look past that fashion-disaster of an outfit, you'll be met with tons of refined muscles. Try it, and we guarantee you'll never look at him the same.

But sadly for us, that hot body now belongs to none other than Videl Satan. Yes, you read that right! And we have indisputable evidence for you to prove our statement.

Ever since the appearance of the newly costumed heroine, who calls herself Saiyawoman, our beloved crime fighter hasn't been seen in any of the current crimes. That's odd right? Yes, we thought so too. Our reporters worked overtime to answer that question for you and were shocked by what they found! Besides her absence at crime scenes, she always leaves school grounds after a call for back-up from the police. This has been confirmed by one of her classmates who wishes to stay anonymous.

So why doesn't she show up?

Well, of course we know that answer!

If we look closer, Saiyawoman's fighting style is exactly the same as that of Videl. Sure, you could argue that this is a common style as it's the signature of the Satan school, but one glance at the added photos, you can't deny it: her stances are exactly the same! You can't call that coincidence anymore, right?

So while our crew was working hard trying to recover these facts for you, we were totally taken by surprise when they gave us a front row view to their expression of love yesterday. Right in front of our office, on the roof of the neighboring building, they were actually kissing! And damn, what a passionate one! From our experience writing about love, we can assure you this is probably not the only thing those two have done.

And if that wasn't enough surprise for one day, not only has his love spilled over to her, but also his powers. Sadly, we have no photographic evidence of the latter as we were too shocked ourselves, but after their intimate embrace they both flew off the building and left.

And you'll never guess which direction?

Yes: the Satan's Mansion!

Videl raised her eyebrow and some of the tension left her. So this was their evidence? Some stances and her absence at crime scenes? Too circumstantial to even be proof, if you asked her. If the police would use their logic, many innocent lives would have ended up behind bars. Proving she wasn't Saiyawoman wouldn't be that hard. All she had to do was change her fighting style, appear as herself every now and then, and it would be fixed. But she agreed with Gohan that it wasn't wise for them to show up in public together, as the tabloids would probably swarm over her from this point on, and for Gohan's sake, they shouldn't risk his secret identity being revealed. If this is already evidence for them, they can really destroy him just by gossiping about putting two and two together.

Then she looked at the pictures. First at the 'evidence' about her stances: they were indeed the same, but the photos were taken at different angles, which made it easier to disprove. Then the photo of them kissing caught her eye, and she blushed, forgetting for a moment her troubled thoughts. Luckily for her, she was the one with her back to the camera, so not much was visible of her uncovered face. However, it was clear that they were lost in an intensely private moment. Her gloved hands were touching his chest, and he'd slipped his under her Gi and carressed her lower back against the thin layer of spandex. You didn't see much in the picture because her cape obstructed the view, but she knew exactly what moment this was.

Still blushing, she closed the magazine and stood. She'd better get back to class before she missed too much.

###

After the lecture was ten minutes in, Videl hadn't returned yet. Gohan tapped his foot nervously, and Erasa noticed his worried lines on his face. Wanting to be there for him, she passed him a piece of paper. Gohan was startled from his train of thought and unfolded it: 'You wanna talk about it?'

He picked up his pen, scribbled some words, and gave it back: 'About what?'

'About Videl, you idiot.'

Gohan sighed and crumpled the paper; better not write such things down. He looked quickly in Erasa's direction and when he noticed she was paying attention, he whispered, looking back at the teacher, "Drop it."

"But-"

"Why would you blame her for anything based on circumstantial gossip in the first place? She's the victim here, not me. You are her best friend, you should support her in such times."

"Well, friends don't lie, and -"

"Sometimes friends have to lie, even if they don't want to, that doesn't make them any less friends," Gohan said, a little hurt when he took her comment personally, "The truth is, she lied to you because her father demands that from her. This is the only way he was willing to allow us to date." If this was the way to get the girls back together without revealing him as Saiyaman, Gohan was willing to confess his relationship with Videl. He only hoped Erasa would keep this a secret herself. "And she didn't cheat on me."

Her eyes widened at what she heard. "W-What? So you guys…" she shook her head, realizing she was drifting off topic, "How can you be so sure she hasn't cheated on you?"

"Simple; First, I trust her. Second, she was with me when the photo was taken," which was totally true.

"How do you know when the photo was taken?

"The picture shows a clock. I was with her at that time."

There was a silence. Gohan could only assume she was thinking about his words. His eyes darted back to the door, feeling uneasy about Videl, who hadn't returned yet. He sighed, but was addressed again by Erasa, who now had a softer tone, "I shouldn't have been so hard on her," she muttered.

"It'll be fine. You can apologize to her when she gets back."

"So you and Videl, huh, it's official then?"

Gohan blushed and gave her a knowing look, causing Erasa to grin from ear to ear. "Please, keep this between us," Gohan pleaded. Erasa moved her hand over her mouth and pretended to zip it, causing the half-Saiyan to sigh in relief.

They were both distracted when the door flew open. "Sorry Ma'am, I got a call from the police, but it's resolved now," Videl apologized for disturbing the class with a made-up excuse.

"No problem, Miss Satan, we all know you're doing good work," the teacher replied, and with a nod, Videl walked back to her seat.

As she passed Gohan, she threw the magazine at his table and hissed, "What a piece of crap." Gohan couldn't help but chuckle and the tension left his body, glad she was alright.

"Vi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

This made the young crime fighter look up in surprise, not expecting her to apologize so quickly. "Don't sweat it. And I'm sorry I lied to you."

"Gohan explained why you had to, I understand."

Videl leaned forward and looked at the boy with shocked eyes. "You did what?"

Gohan swallowed and understood that without context, she might think he had told her something else, which wasn't the case. He said quickly - to avoid further escalation - "I-I told her you weren't allowed to talk about… us… because of your father and that's why you had to lie."

Relieved, she leaned back in her seat, glad he hadn't spilled the beans about what she thought he'd said. Playing along, she added, "So the cat is out of the bag then."

"Sorry," Gohan replied.

The rest of the morning passed and when the break began, Gohan was eager to speak to Videl. He had come up with a plan, so maybe this will all fizzle out. But as he was about to snatch Videl from the group, a hand blocked him. He looked up and was surprised to see that it was Sharpener. "Hey guys, you should go ahead. Gohan and I are going to grab a coffee first. We will join you later."

"But I don't want a c-"

"Oh, don't be so humble, I know you want a cup," Sharpener interrupted Gohan's protest, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pushing him away from the girls. Gohan only had time to share a questioning look with Videl who shrugged, also a little confused, and he had no choice but to follow the blond jock.

"Wasn't the coffee machine that way?" Gohan asked, still confused as Sharpener walked the other way.

"Oh, how stupid of me," Sharpener said in a sarcastic tone as he continued down the hall and opened one of the emercency doors. "After you."

Gohan did what was requested and stepped outside. They were now at the back of the school in an area almost deserted of prying eyes. With a sigh, Sharpener leaned against the nearby wall, his arms crossed behind his head. Gohan felt a little uncomfortable, but he too leaned against one and waited patiently for the jock to speak.

"Look, Gohan, I may be blond, but not stupid," he said after a while in a serious voice, "You and I are a lot alike; we observe and calculate our actions instead of jumping to conclusions like Erasa." Gohan looked at his friend and a bad feeling came over him. "I've noticed a number of things and you are much more than you let on to. You've knocked me - the boxing champion of this school - out cold even when you were ill, and you can stand your ground against Videl even when she's going all out on you. You also always disappear from class when Videl gets called for back-up and you show up around the same time after the job is done. The only thing I don't understand is how you did it when you were missing and later when you were recovering." He looked at the sky for a moment and then back to Gohan, "And back in class I heard what you said to Erasa. I know you weren't lying then, but it wasn't the whole truth either, was it?" Sharpener gave Gohan a penetrating look. Gohan just looked back at him, but remained silent, afraid of what was to come. A sigh of the jock followed, "While I respect your privacy, I just wanted to let you know that if you - or Videl - are ever in need of any help, you can count on me, alright? We're friends after all."

Gohan observed his friend, not knowing what to say. But somehow his body relaxed, as if a mutual understanding had emerged. "Thanks," Gohan eventually said, looking at his feet. At that moment, he wished he could tell Sharpener everything - but he knew he couldn't.

A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed him tight, "It's okay Brains, your secret is safe with me. I just hope this whole tabloid thing isn't going to cause you guys too much trouble." And with that he opened the door, "Let's go back, I've said what I wanted to say." Gohan looked again intently at his blond friend and nodded.

They walked in silence for a short while, but then Gohan spoke up, "I have a friend who took my place while I was gone." Sharpener couldn't believe his ears when his spiky-haired friend finally confessed his suspicions and even answered the question he pondered over and over. Out of respect, he decided not to delve into the matter any further and just nodded in understanding to let him know he understood without having to say it out loud.

The evergreen oak they used to take their break under came into view and both girls were chatting beneath it. When their eyes fell on the boys, they came walking towards them. Erasa smiled, "Finally, there you are! I wanted to buy you guys an ice cream, to make up for my fallout this morning." Erasa hooked Sharpener's arm and led him into the city streets. "Hurry up! Otherwise we'll run out of time!"

Gohan waited for Videl to join, then followed. They left the school grounds in the direction of the ice cream shop nearby, but as they were about to pass the park, a group of photographers and journalists gathered around them. They came for Videl, of course, but when she couldn't get rid of them, Gohan decided to slip away. He felt bad about leaving her alone with the reporters, but she was more used to it than he was, and he didn't want to be seen with her and add fuel to the fire. He walked slowly toward the parlor, hoping his friends would quickly shake the paparazzi and join him there.

"Gohan, wait!" Erasa came jogging towards him, apparently she had thought the same as he. "Ugh, they're really pushy this time. I feel for Videl."

"Yeah, I feel bad for leaving," Gohan admitted, looking at his girlfriend who certainly didn't look pleased. But as he wondered if he should go back and 'save' her, even if it would have consequences, a couple of motorbikers passed by.

"Hodaka!" One of the bikers yelled at the one in front, "It's him!" causing the bikers to stop at the end of the road.

This caused Gohan to look up, but couldn't hear the rest of their conversation as the surrounding sounds of cameras faltering and talking journalists proved too much background noise to focus. However, they seemed to be discussing something, looking at a piece of paper in their hand and back in his direction. Then whoever was holding the paper nodded and put it back in his pocket and ignited his engine.

Gohan had a bad feeling about this as they got closer, and when they did, they circled around him and Erasa. The latter moved closer to him, frightened of the scene. Other than shielding her, he could do nothing for the moment, realizing that the journalists had noticed the scene and were now focused on them.

"Well I'll be damned, you were right Yama-Ha!" the motorbiker with the semi-gray fork beard and dark sunglasses said, barely audible over the sound of their vehicles, "You know what to do."

One of the bikers took a sharp turn with tires squealing and accelerated straight toward the teenage duo, causing Erasa to scream. The passenger behind him reached out to the side as they passed and Gohan prepared himself for the worst if he had to. But when they came into reaching distance, he hadn't expected him to grab his satchel. Gohan held on tight to the strap, though when they passed him, he saw that they still had his bag in their possession. The damn bastards had the strap cut off in a swift movement!

"Hey, give that back!" Gohan shouted and started sprinting after them, only to realize seconds later he was still being watched. He reluctantly stopped and could only watch the bikers leave with his belongings. Gohan cursed, but when he turned around to check on Erasa, the bikers returned.

As he watched, they held his satchel upside down as they drove, and its content clattered across the street. As they passed Gohan, they threw his empty bag at his head and yelled "So long, sucker!" and then drove away for real this time.

Gohan scowled, hated having to sit this one out and that he had to accept to be the victim for once. This didn't do his Saiyan pride any good and to be honest, it had taken all his composure not to throw them a Ki-blast at this point. What a pointless action! And there he thought they had learned from their mistakes when he gave them a second chance! Next time they wouldn't get any extra chances, he would make sure of that.

"Gohan, are you alright?!" Erasa's concerned voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Oh my gosh, your bag!"

The commotion gave Videl and Sharpener an opening to flee the reporters. "They will pay for this," Gohan whispered to Videl, who only gave him a serious look in understanding.

Sharpener picked up the empty satchel from the ground and walked over to the main pile of items that had been scattered and began tossing them back into the bag. Gohan joined him, as did Erasa and Videl a bit further down the street.

Sharpener reached for a white, already opened package with a Capsule Corp. logo on it. He looked in and grinned broadly. "Didn't know they had their own brand of c-" Sharpener began, but Gohan snatched the package from his hand and shoved it hastily into his bag.

"I'm not in the mood to be teased right now," he warned, his face frowning and red with embarrassment.

"Alright, alright!" the jock said, still grinning, "I'm just glad you're not that dense and know about their existence."

"Just shut up," Gohan bit him, even redder than before, and he concentrated on putting his things back in his bag. Some of the books were damaged and to his horror most of the items were thrown next to a drain. He looked inside to see if things had fallen in. He cursed, buying a new calculator would cost him so much of his allowance.

"Here, this is everything that was scattered down the road," Videl said, handing him pieces of stationery. Gohan thanked her and as he put it in his bag, Erasa handed him his wallet.

"There's no money in it, so I'm afraid they took it. But you do have a couple of cute pictures in there," she winked, hoping the subject would cheer him up a bit, "The little one, that's your brother right?"

"Y-You've seen my pictures?" he nervously asked, but he couldn't read anything unusual on her face, so he relaxed again. Apparently she hadn't found Piccolo's picture in it, otherwise she would have reacted very differently. Little did he know she had, but was informed by Videl of who he was and instructed not to engage the subject. "Yeah, the little one is Goten, my seven-year-old brother."

"He looks a lot like you," Erasa smiled at him kindly.

"He looks a lot more like my dad," he laughed, almost forgetting what mood he was in. "He is his spitting image."

"The one in the orange suit?" referring to another picture, one that featured his mother, father and his nine-year-old self sitting on his shoulders. It was his dearest photo he had, one that reminded him of the scarce memories he had with his family without it being clouded by death and destruction.

"Uh-huh." His answer was short and quiet.

"Why don't you ever talk about him?" Sharpener asked, "You do mention your mother every now and then, but never your father. Something happen between you two?"

Videl winced, knowing they broached a sensitive and painful subject, but before she could silently hint to the jock to drop the subject behind Gohan's back, Gohan's words surprised her, "I never talk about him because he's dead." Gohan stood up with his now-filled satchel under his arm and looked at the jock's shocked face, "He was murdered before my eyes when I was eleven. The memory is too painful to bring him up in conversations, as I still blame myself for it." He looked down and sighed. "Let's go back, I think recess is almost over anyway. Sorry we had to miss that ice cream," he looked at Erasa apologetically.

"Jeez, Brains, seriously?!" Sharpener exclaimed, getting up as well, causing the half-Saiyan to look at him confused, "You just drop that bomb and then apologize about some ice cream. Forget that ice cream, dude, what the hell. Why haven't you told us about this?"

Gohan frowned, his boiled-up frustration starting to get the better of him. "Like I said, it's not something I like to look back on. I've a troubled past and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings for not sharing, but it's better that you keep seeing me as this happy friendly nerd and not delve into my private matters further." It came out harsh, much harsher than intended, but fear began to creep over him. Sharpener already knew about his alter ego, that was clear as day, but he shouldn't search for more. The more people knew about who he really was, the more dangerous it became.

The jock swallowed, not expecting to be addressed by Gohan in such a firm fashion. Maybe he didn't know his friend that well and who knew what else he was hiding. But since Videl didn't seem surprised by this information and was still by his side, he could only assume that whatever lay behind Gohan wasn't something to worry about.

Videl cleared her throat, "Do you have everything? Except for the money they stole, at least."

Relieved that the subject had changed, Gohan looked at her a little dejectedly and sighed, "Some things fell down the drain, like my calculator. I don't know what else fell into it, but that's lost now."

"And what about your - er - 'heirloom', you know, that orange item?" She tried to be cryptic, unwilling to use the words 'Dragon Ball'.

"Let's hope it's in that drain as well," Gohan replied, who already had noticed it wasn't among his items anymore. "It could have rolled anywhere, so it's not surprising that it's gone." He gave her a half-hearted smile as the four friends slowly walked back to school, the two blonds in silence. "I'll ask Bulma if she can find it." Videl nodded understandingly, knowing there was a radar that could locate the Dragon Balls, but it didn't sit with her well.

They arrived at school in time, but they had wasted so much time that Gohan hadn't eaten anything. But other than being crankier than usual and mild class disturbances due to his growling stomach, the day went on as usual. Erasa had offered to buy that ice cream after school, but Gohan declined the offer. After he whispered Videl an apology for not training her that day, he hurried to Capsule Corp. He had to talk to Bulma as soon as possible!

He landed on the balcony and knocked on the living room window.

"Gohan!" Trunks exclaimed, who had recognized him before he even had opened the curtains.

"Heya Trunks! Still holding up with your dad?"

"Yeah! He's training me." The boy seemed happy about it, so Gohan was too, "He told me you were training Goten too. Does that mean he's participating in the tournament?"

Gohan raised an eyebrow, "Are you?" After the kid nodded in confirmation, Gohan grinned, "I'll ask him, he'll be thrilled."

Trunks's face lit up, happy to know he had a match to look forward to. Then he remembered something. "Gohan, what's mating? Is that a new move you've learned?" After some silence, not knowing that his question shocked the teenage half-Saiyan, he added, "I asked my dad, but he told me to ask you."

"It's, Uh…" Gohan panicked, why would Vegeta tell Trunks to ask him?! "It's a move just for adults, so don't break your head about it. It's like meditating without the edit." He knew the answer was bullshit, but somehow this satisfied his fellow half-Saiyan.

But then the little one looked up suspiciously, "But you're seventeen."

"Eighteen biologically speaking, which makes me an adult" he hastily said, "I take it you've heard about the hyperbolic time chamber?"

"Ah, yeah, I forgot." But when Gohan tried to walk away, he asked, "But why did your Ki spike so high when it's meditation?"

Gohan stood transfixed and looked at the boy in shock. "That's, uh, part of the process, I guess."

A laugh startled him. Looking in the direction it came from, he saw Vegeta leaning against the door frame. "This is what you get for not having your Ki under control, Risot," Vegeta said mockingly, addressing Gohan by his Saiyan name, "For the sake of all Ki-users, learn to suppress it. We don't have to know when or where you do that new training of yours."

Gohan could only look at the Saiyan Prince in horror, unable even to process what he just said. His brain stopped working; this wasn't something he could deal with. He didn't even think about Ki at the time, he was far too occupied. Apparently he got himself carried away way too much.

"Dad, what's wrong with Gohan?" Trunks asked his father after a while. This snapped the elder half-Saiyan out of his shocked state, not realizing that the boy had asked for his attention, and looked at him with a confused expression.

"Ha, I think we finally broke him," Vegeta laughed amusingly.

"Shut up," Gohan glared at him, but before Vegeta could torment him even more, Bulma walked in.

"I knew I heard a familiar voice! How are you, Gohan?" Bulma had a puzzled look on her face, "Does Chi-Chi know you're here? Were you not under house arrest?"

Gohan looked at his watch. "I have forty minutes left before I need to be home, so I can't stay long. I just wanted to ask if I can borrow the Dragon Radar."

"Going to wish for everybody to forget your little Ki-show?" Vegeta smirked, enjoying mocking the half-breed.

"No," another angry look shot the prince's direction, "I hate to admit it, but I lost the four star Dragon Ball today. I have to find it."

"Well, that's unfortunate. Hold on a sec," Bulma said and walked over to a cabinet to get a familiar round device with a green display. "Let's see," she said, turning it on, yet nothing happened. She tried a few times more, but in vain. "That's odd, maybe I need to replace the battery."

Since both Bulma and Gohan were busy with the radar, no one saw Trunks sneak out except for Vegeta, "Where do you think you're going, boy!" he asked loudly, causing Trunks to freeze on the spot.

Trembling with fear, he turned slowly, "G-Going to do m-my h-homework." Then he scratched his neck nervously and made an awkward laughing-sound.

"Spit it!" Vegeta demanded, knowing full well that Trunks would never have done his homework voluntarily. "What have you done with that damn radar?!"

Trunks swallowed. "N-Nothing, I-I swear!" Vegeta looked at him very angry, causing his son to swallow dryly. Knowing there was no way out, he could only think of one thing to save his own skin:

"I swear I didn't break it! It was Goten!"