Chapter 2 - Saiyaman
Son Residence
"Gohan, I sent you to school to make friends, not parade around the city as a superhero" ChiChi chided.
"Mom, I know" Gohan huffed. "But it's not like it's any danger to me, or takes much time. Besides, you know I can't just let innocent people get hurt. Isn't this better than letting that happen, or going in as I am and getting recognized?" he countered.
ChiChi sighed. "You really are your father's son" she admitted. "He wasn't one to sit by either." Her face softened. "Fine, I'll allow it. Just promise me that you'll be perfectly safe."
"Come on, Mom. You know that unless Vegeta got the urge to do something, there's probably nothing on the planet that could put me at risk" he pointed out.
Having come home from school, Gohan quickly did his homework, which had been comparable to his work when he was eight, and had dinner before he told his mom and brother about what he'd be doing. ChiChi had been less than happy about it originally, but had gotten over it. And while she wouldn't say it, she was much happier with the costume over the alternative of being a Super Saiyan. She had never really appreciated the transformation that her family underwent.
Goten had freaked out in excitement and demanded to see the costume, which Gohan was more than happy to comply with. Goten froze in awe when he saw Gohan's outfit, and recommended adding "great" to his title to make him sound more hero-ey. Great Saiyaman. It was perfect.
To help calm his brother down, the two of them went outside and decided to spar for a bit. Goten powered up to Super Saiyan, while Gohan tried to keep his level low to match him. The little golden bullet proved to be a bit difficult to hit, and Gohan found himself slipping into higher levels subconsciously without trying, catching his brother off guard at the sudden increase in speed. Goten eventually lost the match, but he put up a good struggle against his brother. Gohan let him know that Trunks wanted to train with him again sometime soon, which got Goten happy again. Those boys really wanted to push their Fusion to their very limits.
Wandering back inside, the two demi-Saiyans had built up quite the appetite, and devoured the dinner laid out in front of them. Relaxing in the living room for a while, Gohan eventually excused himself to go to sleep. He hated feeling groggy in the morning, so he decided it might be good to go crash just a little earlier each night. Saying goodnight to his family, he retired to his room. Taking his new watch off, he set it on his bedside table, before crawling under the covers, falling asleep almost immediately.
The morning after, hundreds of miles away, Videl stretched her arms as she awoke from her deep sleep. She felt like she was in a better mood than she had been in weeks, which she probably was, now that she had had some decent rest.
Stepping lightly out of her room, Videl made her way downstairs, where she was surprised to see that her father, and Buu, were already up. She gave a small smile at the site. It appeared that her father had just told a joke, because Buu was laughing quite hard.
In the last of her waking hours the previous day, her dad had convinced her to spend some time with Buu and him. She hesitantly agreed, and because of that, she got to learn a lot more about the pink alien.
Apparently, he liked all forms of sweets, was much smarter than his childish voice and innocent persona let on, and Hercule was his favorite person ever. He was quite ignorant to the ways a lot worked, which wasn't always a bad thing. It was quite amusing when Bee licked him, so he licked Bee right back.
Oh, another thing. After meeting her dad, Buu had found Bee, just a tiny injured dog, out in the open. After helping the dog recover, it took a liking to Buu, leading him to his first friendship besides her dad. He had also named Bee, which she probably should have guessed sooner.
There were several things that she didn't understand about what Buu said, something about magic balls and wizards and cookie demons, but she figured that was more of his innocence showing. It was likely that her dad had shown him what a t.v. was as well.
All in all, Buu was actually quite heartwarming to see. He was fun, sweet, and just had a happy aura around him. And because of that, Videl had a much easier time sleeping that night, now seeing the difference between the monster that had terrorized the planet and the pink blob in the house.
Hercule looked up as Videl entered the room. "Oh, good morning, pumpkin" he waved. "How are you this morning?"
"A lot better than I have been" Videl admitted, smiling as she walked into the kitchen. "Good morning to you, Buu."
"Hi Miss Videl!" Buu said in his unique, high pitched voice. "Buu happy you do good today!"
"Thanks" Videl smiled. Giving her father a quick hug, she sat down at the table and pulled up a bowl and a box of cereal.
"So, Videl, how was your first day back at school?" Hercule asked. "We didn't really get a chance to talk outside of our little group yesterday."
"Oh, it's just like normal" she half groaned, half waved off dismissively. "They're already working your fight with the evil Buu into the curriculum…"
Hercule laughed. "They just can't keep their mitts off me, can they?" he boomed.
Videl felt like letting out another groan, but refrained. "Besides that, the only thing different is a new kid in the class. Really weird, says he lives far away, but commutes every day."
Hercule chuckled. "Oh, well, some things come out wrong, you know" he pointed out. "When I was a kid, even I was nervous going to a new school."
"Not sure there was any room for anything to come out wrong" Videl muttered, sure of what she had heard the day prior, but didn't say it loud enough for her dad to hear.
Finishing her breakfast in silence, Videl quickly ran back upstairs to grab her bag and through her clothes on. Dressed simply in black shorts and a baggy white shirt, she ran out the door, bidding her father and Buu goodbye as she left for the day.
Decapsulating her jet copter, Videl hopped in and flew up, ready to head straight for school. Once she had flown up high enough, she turned towards her destination and flew off, entire city passing by beneath her.
"This morning seems like it's peaceful enough" she thought, doing a scan over the streets as she flew overhead. "Good, I'm glad for the change of pace for on-"
A sudden screeching sound, loud enough to pierce into the cabin of the vehicle, interrupted her thoughts in a most rude fashion. "Scratch that" she growled. "There's never a morning off here." Looking down below, she soon found the cause of the disturbance. Two police cars following close behind, a single vehicle with two passengers darted through the streets at speeds that would give many top of the line racecars a run for their money.
"Damn joyriders" Videl muttered, swooping lower, towards the street. Several collisions were narrowly avoided just in the brief time it took her to descend to the level of the rooftops. "I need to stop these morons before anyone gets hurt!"
Diving down, Videl hovered just above the police that were in hot pursuit of the same people. Making a sudden, swift turn, the joyriders swung around the corner, quick enough that Videl had to quickly ascend over the rooftops once more to make the turn without colliding into the building. Wheeling around in the air, Videl shot off towards the car once more. Her eyes widened as she realized that they were careening straight a large cluster of others, stopped at a red light, and were showing no signs of slowing down. "No, no, no…" Videl muttered. "Just stop, dammit!"
The jet copter was suddenly jostled violently, and Videl scrambled to stabilize as she realized, something had flown past her at unbelievable speeds. A blur of green and red dashed past everyone, and planted down on the ground directly in front of the joyriders. She managed to make out the form of a person, and her eyes widened in shock as she realized they were going to be hit. Her foot was about to slam on the accelerator when it happened.
There was a collision alright. But the one to take the damage wasn't the lone person before the car. There was a terrific crashing sound, of crumpling metal, as the car tilted forward, the imprint of the one before them now carved into the hood.
Gawking, Videl settled down alongside the two squad cars of backup, as the scene became much clearer. The two men sitting in the car appeared to be unconscious. The lack of seatbelts led her to believe that they had smacked their heads on the windshield, instantly knocking them out cold. The front of the car was little more than a scrap-heap. But that wasn't the most shocking part.
Arms crossed, a completely bizarre figure stood before the wreckage. A tall man, almost completely cloaked within strange apparel, arms crossed across his chest, surveyed the car. Wearing a long green tunic over a black bodysuit, wearing thick white boots and gloves, and the look completed by a red cape and orange visored helmet.
The mysterious figure glanced over towards the police, seemingly ignoring Videl. "These men have been neutralized. You can take care of the process from here, I suppose?"
Blinking, the police scrambled to retrieve handcuffs from their compartments, running over to the vehicle that the two men sat in. The same figure nodded in satisfaction. "Then, it would appear that my work here is done" he said, looking skyward. His voice, it seemed to be artificially heroic. "Farewell!"
"Hold up!" Videl shouted, causing the figure to pause. "Just what in the heck are you?"
"Hm?" he asked, looking over at you. "Videl? What are you doing here?" He seemed genuinely surprised, but more than that, he sounded like it was more a shock of seeing her personally than seeing her show up.
"My job, when random vigilantes don't swoop in and do it instead" Videl growled. "Let me guess, you're the guy that took care of the crooks at the bank the other day?"
"Uhh…" he stuttered. "I don't recall being at a bank anytime recently, sorry to disappoint. But, I do have to go, so, bye-"
"Just who are you?!" Videl shouted at the cloaked man.
"Me?" he asked. "Oh, why, I am a defender of justice everywhere. But, you may call me, the Great Saiyaman."
He didn't appear to be waiting for an encore, as the moment he uttered those words, there was a large ripple that passed through the air, a gust that pushed Videl back, and through squinted eyes, she saw the man, introduced as the Great Saiyaman ("Ugh, what an idiotic name"), take to the sky, flying out of sight within a moment.
"What in the-?!" Videl exclaimed. "He's flying! How is he… Oh, great, our next hero is nothing but another of those tricksters. Figures." Trick or no, Videl now found herself studying the crime scene. Whatever had been pulled, trick or not, it was pretty impressive to have stopped a speeding car as such.
Videl shot a look to the policemen. "I've got school. I suppose you can take care of processing them?"
The man nearest to her nodded. "Yes, we have this handled, Miss Videl" he swore.
"Good, make sure it happens" Videl told him, climbing back into her jet copter. A look at the clock on her dash, and she groaned aloud. 7:43. Class starts in less than two minutes. Looks like she'd be late arriving again.
"Sometimes, I hate my job."
Gohan braked hard, slowing his massive momentum just in time to skid to a halt on the roof of the Orange Star High School. Skipping lightly so that his feet would not carve through the concrete, he slowed down enough that he could easily open the door and dash inside.
He made his way down the hall stairs, arriving just in front of his classroom as the loud tone of the bell rang through the halls. Consciously making sure to not rip the door off of its hinges in his hurry, he stepped inside.
His teacher, Mrs. Jayden, looked his way as he came in. "Ah, Mr. Son, please, try to arrive a little earlier in the future?" she asked.
Gohan nodded. "Sorry, I have a long trip here" he said. That was true, it just didn't have any effect on his arrival time.
"Which is why I will offer some leeway, but take your seat for now" Mrs. Jayden said, turning back to the attendance sheet and making a small mark near the bottom of the paper.
Nodding, Gohan looked around for a free seat. However, a much easier landmark to spot was the high risen, waving arm attached to a bubbly blonde girl beneath it. Shrugging, Gohan walked up the steps and took his seat on the end of the row, right next to Erasa. "Hey there, guys" Gohan said cheerfully, nodding slightly.
"Hey there, Gohan" Erasa smiled.
"Hey Brains" Sharpner said, lifting two fingers in greeting.
Setting down his bag, Gohan looked towards the front of the room. There was a slight twitch in his temple as he felt an aggravated ki come their way. "Videl was out at the scene of that crime too" Gohan thought. "And she said that she was 'doing her job?' What does that mean?" He internally groaned. "Is she seriously on the police force? Great, an interrogating force like her out at the scene of every lowlife encounter in the city?" Her energy signal settled down outside of the school.
He still wasn't quite over just how hard she had grilled him the day prior. It was like every little word he uttered was cause for probing. He frowned slightly at the thought. "Geez, I've never met anyone so untrusting, not even Piccolo was like that in the beginning."
Mrs. Jayden had just finished taking role when the door opened up, and Videl came strolling in. "Sorry I'm late" she said to the teacher.
Mrs. Jayden shook her head. "It's no problem, we understand the weight of your community service" she said. "Please, take your seat."
Nodding, Videl made her way up the stairs, making note of Gohan's spot as well beside her friends. "Oh, he's here again" she thought. "Why did Erasa invite him over again?" Her face soured slightly. "No, that's not what I meant. Gohan doesn't seem like a bad person, but it seems like he's consciously hiding so much about himself. And I don't appreciate liars."
Taking her seat between her friends, Videl let out a small breath as she relaxed. After yesterday, she was just glad to be in this room without feeling like banging her head against the desk.
"Now then, very good. Class, today, we will be beginning a new project" Mrs. Jayden began, eliciting both intrigue and apprehension from the class. "With recent events taken into account, our world seems to be threatened quite often. There are heroes such as Mr. Satan-"
"And, interest gone" Videl thought.
"-that help stop such catastrophes, however, they still existed, and thus, become an important part of history" she finished. "And as such, are topics that one must be educated in. So, for our next topic, you shall form groups of four, and in your groups, select one major event to threaten society."
Gohan's eyes widened slightly at the announcement. "A major, global event? Are you kidding me? Oh, man, you mean the kinds where me or my dad were on the front line?" Gohan let out a sigh. "Well, I mean, at least it's an easy grade. Firsthand experience will help with that."
"For now, form your groups and begin your research on which topics you may want to explore in depth. You may start now."
Gohan looked up and around, trying to see where there was an open spot for him, before he remembered that he was already a part of a group of four. Looking left, he saw that Erasa was looking at him expectantly, Videl appeared to be in deep thought, and Sharpner seemed to be staring off into space.
Giving a short nod, Erasa smiled. "Well, then that settles it. Come on, guys, let's see what we're going to do."
Gohan closed his eyes and mentally went over most events he could recall off the top of his head. He doubted that the experience with the Black Water Mist would be recorded. Frieza was more well known to the rest of the universe than he had been here. Even his arrival on the planet was stumped by the Trunks from the future, so he didn't exactly get any publicity.
He remembered two events his dad had helped stop in the past. One of them being the Red Ribbon Army's takeover, and the other was King Piccolo. The Red Ribbon Army, though, the public had no idea how it fell apart, and it would sound ludicrous for him to say "my dad beat them all when he was younger than me."
As for King Piccolo, well, he didn't feel like going into detail on how he was never truly defeated, just changed sides when aliens came to attack the planet.
Beyond that, there were a few more recent events that he could recall. Those, of course, being Cell and Majin Buu. He had been on the frontline for both fights. Of course, the world believed that Mr. Satan had delivered them from both catastrophes, but he could probably fake it knowing that. Of course, what he didn't know, was what story Mr. Satan was feeding the press about Buu.
That being said, he was only really left with one option he could really contribute for… And the thought caused his shoulder to twinge uncomfortably.
Videl beat him to it. "Why don't we just do the Cell Games?" she asked. "After all, I do have a good source for info about it. It won't be too hard."
"Oh? Who's your source, Videl?" Gohan asked.
For the second time in two days, the three of them looked at him with wide eyes. "Wait wait wait wait, hold on, you seriously don't know who she is?" Erasa asked. "I thought you were just joking yesterday."
Gohan knit his brows and shook his head. "No, I don't. All I know is that she seems to help the police out, and that her name is Videl."
"Maybe a last name to tie into that would jog your memory?" Sharpner asked. "Videl Satan."
"Satan?" Gohan asked, before he realized what was being implied. "Oh, I get it now, you're Mr. Satan's daughter?"
He remembered, while they were flying around in search of Dende, while Buu was in hiding, Hercule seemed to be in a large amount of grief over the fact that Buu had killed his little girl. As he looked, he couldn't find much resemblance between the two, save for the fact that their eyes were the same exact color. Her eyes were much more piercing, but the same shade of blue as the World Champion.
His eyebrows raised in surprise, but the other three seemed to be more shocked at how he was handling the news. They didn't say anything, but turned back to the work.
"So, if we're gonna do the Cell Games, we just have to meet with your dad?" Erasa asked.
Videl sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, with how showboaty he is, I doubt I'll be able to get much, if any, real facts out of him. I'll talk with him, but you guys should see what you can find also."
"Right, I'll just leave out the facts that he came from the future and is a biodroid made of the DNA of several of the strongest beings in the universe, including my dad, my friends, and some aliens. Yeah, perfectly easy."
"Gohan, I assume you have internet access?" Videl asked.
"Huh?" Gohan asked. "Oh, yeah, sure I do. I can do research, don't worry."
"If by research I mean just thinking back to one of the worst memories I can think of, sure."
Even though just about all the damage had been neutralized, his time at the Cell Games was one of his worst. Sure, his dad was coming back. That didn't change the fact that it was his bloodlust as a Super Saiyan 2 that killed him in the first place. He still wore a scar on his shoulder from where Cell's second Death Beam after returning had struck, and it tingled by merely remembering the biodroid.
They had won in the end, but that didn't make it any less traumatizing.
"Gohan, are you okay?" Erasa's voice asked.
Snapping out of his repertoire, Gohan realized he had begun scowling quite fiercely at the recollection. Blinking, he tried to calm himself, and smiled. "Sure I am, why do you ask?"
Videl looked at Gohan sideways through the corner of her eyes. "That's strange. All I did was ask him if he had internet. He looks completely different like that. He's a nerd, but he almost looked… Scarred, right then. Does it have to do with the Cell Games? I know it wasn't fun for anyone, but everything righted itself in the end, right?"
They spent the rest of the period discussing what they already knew about the tournament the monster had held seven years ago. Gohan offered input here and there, but seemed to be trying to stay out of this part of the conversation, which further fed Videl's suspicions. "He's holding something back, alright."
The next period went pretty smoothly. Math was never too hard for Videl, but Gohan seemed to completely blow even the teacher out of the water. Some of the longest, hardest equations that made their way onto the board, Gohan was doing within seconds, in his head. The only things he wrote on the paper were the answers.
While Gohan left for literature, Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner went off to their english class. This was the only class that felt just like it used to. Just the three of them together doing the work.
After english came lunch time, every student's favorite part of the day, because it was the only period that didn't involve school work. Videl made her way from the cafeteria line over to the table where the three of them usually sat, just outside. Sitting down with her lunch, she looked around. "I, for one, am starving" she said.
Her two friends agreed with her. Before she tore into her burger, however, something was nagging at the back of her mind. Doing a quick scan over the entire cafeteria and courtyard, she noticed that someone was not present. "Where do you think Gohan is?" she wondered.
"Huh?" Sharpner asked, glancing across the tables as well. He shrugged. "Maybe Brains doesn't eat lunch. He is pretty skinny, after all. He's probably in the library."
"Sharpner, everyone has to eat" Erasa pointed out. "I bet he's just somewhere eating alone."
"Why would he be eating alone?" Videl asked. "I mean, it's not like he's not already a part of our group."
"Oh, you've seen the guy, he's probably too shy to realize that we're his friends and want to see him outside of class" Erasa reasoned. "You know, why don't we go find him?"
Videl's stomach grumbled in protest to these words, but she ignored it. If Gohan joined them for lunch, who knows, maybe she could get him to talk about whatever he was keeping from everyone. Never had she experienced someone keeping a secret so wide scale and having it be a good thing.
"They don't allow food in the classrooms or the library, and he's not out here" Videl deducted. "Maybe he's on the roof?" To be honest, before she met Erasa, the roof of her school would usually be where she would retire during lunch. She knew a little bit about feeling alone in a new place, and more importantly, what the person would do with those feelings. "Why don't we check there?"
Erasa smiled. "Then to the roof we shall go!" she said in a singsong voice as she picked up her tray.
Videl and, begrudgingly, Sharpner, grabbed their own, and made their way through the halls, and up the steps towards the top of the school. Arriving at the heavy metal door placed there, Videl pushed it open with her foot, arms being taken by her tray.
Emerging under the clear blue sky, Videl was surprised that she was right in one. Sitting a little ways across the rooftop, Gohan was there, back towards them.
As they stepped out onto the rooftop, a firm breeze made itself known, blowing towards the door behind them, causing it to slam shut. Gohan's head turned around, and he looked surprised as he saw the three of them standing there.
The breeze stopped.
"Oh, hey guys" Gohan said, seeming a little confused as to why they were there. "What are you guys doing up here?"
"The better question, is why are you up here?" Videl asked.
"What?" Gohan asked, now more visibly confused.
"You know that when you have friends, you don't need to eat alone, right?" Erasa giggled.
"Oh, really?" Gohan asked, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Videl didn't buy this. He had to know at least that he didn't have to be alone during lunch. "Sorry."
"That's okay, do you mind if we join you?" Erasa asked.
Gohan paused for a moment, then smiled kindly. "Sure thing" he said.
Seeming satisfied, Erasa made her way over, while the other two followed. Gohan had been leaning back against a generator, so they hadn't seen much around him. When they walked up to him, however, they were shocked at just how many empty containers of food were piled up around him. Almost as many as he had left that were still full of food.
"What?" he asked, wondering why they all had stopped.
"You, uh, have a lot of food" Videl said dumbly.
"Hm?" Gohan asked, following their eyes, and remembering why he ate alone on the first day. "Oh, yeah, I just have a big appetite."
"No one has an appetite that big" Videl frowned. "That's a week of 3 meals per day to your average person."
"Although, I'm not as hungry as usual today. You guys want to help finish?" he offered.
Surprised by his offer, Videl was taken aback. "Uh, sure" she said, Erasa and Sharpner following suit. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it" Gohan said as he passed each of them a few containers of food, containing large amounts of rice and stir fry. It looked amazing. He picked up one of the other remaining containers for himself, and started eating again, rather slowly for someone who claimed to have a massive appetite.
The other three began to try the meal they had received from Gohan. Sharpner's eyes bulged. "Dude, where did you have to go and what did you have to pay to get this?" he said. "This has to be one of the best things I've had in ages!"
"Just had to do some chores around the house" Gohan waved off. "My mom's just a really good cook. And she knows how to make a lot of it for me and my brother."
"You have a brother?" Videl asked.
Gohan nodded. "Yeah, he's almost ten about now. Pretty energetic. Me and my mom sometimes have trouble keeping track of him, with how much he likes to run around."
"What about your dad?" Videl asked, noting that he hadn't mentioned him.
Gohan's face visibly fell a bit. "Oh, well, Dad hasn't been around for a while…"
Erasa gasped. "Oh, Gohan, I'm so sorry-"
"No, it's quite like that" Gohan waved his arms. "He's going to be back soon, he's just been unable to get back for a while."
"Oh" Erasa blushed as she realized how she had jumped to conclusions, even if it was the obvious one.
"You said that he'll be back soon?" Videl asked.
Gohan nodded. "In about one hundred and twenty five days" he said. He had been counting every day leading to the recharging of Porunga. Namek's balls took 130 days to recharge, and they had just been used five days ago in the battle with Kid Buu.
Videl blinked. "That's pretty specific" she said.
Gohan chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Yeah, well, I've been waiting for this for a while. I'm really excited that he'll be back with us soon, for good."
Talking about his father, Videl noticed a change in the facial expression of the young man. Gohan had always had a somewhat shy expression on his face, but talking about him, he morphed. He went from his shy face to one that was, surprisingly, extremely confident. Such a transformation from the Gohan she saw yesterday and today, it shocked her.
"Is he faking his shyness, or is his father some sort of hero to him?" she wondered, knowing that the confidence displayed was definitely true. Just when it seemed she was learning something about him, it opened up further questions.
Of course, it was hard to keep questioning him when she was as hungry as she was and the food was as good as it was. Deciding to abandon pursuit for the moment, Videl joined the others in chowing on their food.
There was one thing that she couldn't help but notice, however. Whenever Gohan wasn't focused on conversation with someone, he seemed to regress, to just stare off into the distance, frowning in thought. He hadn't been like that yesterday. What had happened today to change his attitude?
After lunch, the group of four had gone back to the rest of their normal classes for the day. Ending on gym, where they played football, Gohan slipped up again. When he made a goal kick, the ball barely missed, and hit the goal post itself. The ball still barely spun through, but not before severely warping the large metallic structure, causing everyone to gape in shock once again. He claimed that he must have just hit a weak point on the post. Everyone seemed to buy that excuse. Except for one person.
"Come on, you don't just have three miracles like that in two days" Videl thought, slightly aggravated. "He acts like a nerd, but he hit a ball several fields away, jumped fifteen feet off of a fence, and dented the goal post by kicking a ball at it. Either this guy has the universe rooting for him, or there's something fishy going on."
Changing back into their normal clothes following gym class, she and Erasa exited the locker rooms together. And Videl was about ready to cave.
"Come on, Videl, we haven't gone to the mall in forever" Erasa prodded.
For the second day in a row. "Because every time I go to the mall with you, it shaves a year off of the end of my life" she muttered beneath her breath. Even so, she knew that Erasa wasn't going to drop this. Videl had been putting off their next trip for over a month now. "Fine, if it'll get you to stop annoying me, I'll go this once."
Erasa's smile brightened. "Great!"
Videl already regretted it.
At that moment, Sharpner emerged from the men's locker room and noticed the two of them standing there. "Hey, what's going on, you two?" he asked.
"Videl's coming with me to the mall" Erasa said cheerfully.
Sharpner raised his eyebrows in shock, and looked at Videl. "You are a much braver person than I" he said, chuckling lowly. "Tell me how it go-"
"Oh no you don't" Videl growled, grabbing him by the shoulder as he made to turn away. "If I have to go, then you're going to come with us."
A look of fear entered Sharpner's eyes, and he shook his head violently. "Are you crazy?" he whispered. "I won't make it out of there alive."
"If a girl can be dragged along for shopping and survive the experience, surely you can?" Videl asked, tickling his pride. The results were quite successful.
Sharpner stopped struggling physically, but seemed to be having an internal struggle with himself, before sighing. "Fine…" he said dejectedly.
"That's what I thought" Videl smirked. "Oh Erasa, it looks like Sharpner's going to be coming with us as well" she announced.
"Against my will" he muttered beneath his breath.
"What was that, Sharpner?" Erasa asked.
A look from Videl kept him from repeating it. "I said 'sure I will'" he said shakily.
"Awesome" Erasa said, before striking a thoughtful look. "Hey, how about we invite Gohan too?" she offered.
"What?" Sharpner asked. "Why would we invite him?"
"He's new to this whole thing, no way to get to know new friends than a shopping trip" Erasa reasoned.
Videl thought about it, then nodded in consent. "Yeah, sure, let's invite him with us" she said. "Maybe he'll tell us more outside of a school setting" she thought internally.
Sure enough, speak of the devil, the door opened again, and Gohan emerged, dressed in his school uniform. He stopped when he saw the three of them looking at him expectantly. "Oh, hey guys, what are you still doing here? School's over, isn't it?"
"We were waiting for you, silly" Erasa said. "Come on, we want to take you with us to the mall."
"The mall?" Gohan asked. "Why's that?"
Videl nearly facepalmed. Just how dense was this kid? He may have lived in the mountains, but he couldn't be completely unfamiliar to the real world. "Well duh, we're going there to hang out" Videl said.
"Oh, ok" Gohan said. "I'd like to go, but my mom's expecting me home, and I can't get home late."
"Then just call her" Erasa suggested.
"I, uh, don't have a phone" Gohan admitted. "And besides, I doubt she'd want me to be out and about very long." This part was a bit of a lie. He had a feeling she'd actually want him to go to the mall, considering the main point of attending high school for him was to make new friends. However, he didn't quite feel up to it right then. He had barely met his new friends two days ago, Videl seemed as suspicious as ever, even if she was less agonizing about it today, and above all, his mood hadn't been great today ever since he thought back to the Cell Games earlier. It was 7 years ago, sure, and he had mostly moved past it. But that wasn't the kind of experience you have without hating it forever. "Maybe another time?"
"Oh, come on, you're seventeen, aren't you?" Sharpner asked. "You can't just go by everything your mom says forever. Come on, live a little."
It was now three on one against him, and Gohan felt his resolve to leave begin to crumble beneath the pleas of the three. He sighed in defeat. "I guess I could come for a little while."
"Sweet!" Erasa cheered. "Now we've got all four of us! Come on, let's go!"
Erasa led the group out of the school building, towards the street, the other three in tow. The day was fairly warm, so it was a nice walk. "How far away is the mall?" Gohan asked.
"At this pace, about ten minutes" Erasa answered. "Which means we should find something to talk about to pass the time. So, Videl, what was it this morning?"
"This morning? Just a pair of morons speeding down the road, nearly causing a few accidents along the way" Videl grumbled.
"Bet you put them in their place" Sharpner chuckled.
Videl frowned. "I didn't get the chance" she said.
"Wait, what?" Erasa asked.
"I was chasing them, but then, all of a sudden, some weird guy in a weird costume jumped in front of them and stopped the car in its tracks" Videl said, recalling the events from this morning.
Gohan frowned slightly. "Hey, I didn't act weird!" he thought indignantly. "And Bulma made that costume herself."
"How'd he manage that?" Sharpner asked.
Videl took a moment to respond, noticing Gohan frown. "What's wrong with him?" she wondered. "He just flew out of the sky and stood in front of the car. When it hit him, it was like it struck a metal pole. It just stopped, did some pretty nasty damage to the hood."
"Wait, he flew?" Erasa asked. "Who was he, how'd he do that?"
"He had some dorky name, Great Saiyaman, whatever that means" Videl shrugged. "And how else? He's just another trickster."
That was it for Gohan. Even as part of the cover that kept him and his family out of the limelight, he hated having the skills and power he had worked his entire life for be waved off as a trick. "You know, not everything has to be just a trick" he noted with an even voice. "Just because you don't understand something, doesn't mean it's fake."
Videl shot a glare at Gohan. "Oh, and I guess you know something about that?" she asked accusingly.
"Choose your words carefully, Gohan" Gohan told himself.
"Not personally" he lied. "However, my dad was pretty big into martial arts when I was younger, and I learned some things about an old trainer, called Master Roshi." Ok, maybe his dad was more than pretty big into martial arts, and it wasn't just when he was younger, but it worked. "Apparently, Roshi had developed an energy wave a long time ago, back before technology was good enough to fake something like that." He wasn't quite sure how long ago Master Roshi had mastered the Kamehameha Wave technique, but he was pretty sure that it was before the age of any machinery that could be used to even produce the light, let alone the explosion. "And if it was real back in his day, who's to say that it can't be real now?"
Videl had heard about the legendary Master Roshi in the past. He was a revered martial arts master that hadn't been seen in many years. She made a mental note to do some spare research on him later, to see just how much of what Gohan was talking about was legit. "Let's say that even that was true" Videl said. "What do exploding lights have to do with people flying?"
"All I said was that just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it's a trick" Gohan repeated. "If the Kamehameha Wave was a legitimate technique, who's to say that it's impossible that there are people that can fly?" He was too into the argument to realize that he just mentioned the attack by name.
"Scientists, for one" Videl shot back. "It's physically impossible for people to fly without assistance from jetpacks and the like."
"Just like making an exploding ball out of nothing is physically impossible?" Gohan asked.
"That was fake too" Videl countered.
Gohan groaned internally. "I don't think even Cell was this stubborn when he was trying to get me to transform." "Fine, you know what, I'll let you be as ignorant as you want to be" he muttered beneath his breath.
Videl glared at him. "And what is that supposed to mean?!" she growled dangerously.
Erasa and Sharpner were now watching the exchange between the two a little fearfully. Gohan had no idea what he was getting into if he continued to poke and prod at Videl.
"I mean I'm trying to use some of my knowledge to open your mind up to possibilities, but you're too busy insisting that your version of reality is correct and there is no other possibility for anything else to be correct to see just how close-minded you are" Gohan explained. He may have come off a little brash, but he didn't know how else to explain it. He wasn't used to people being so stubborn as to not even consider another possibility, except in the cases of enemies like Frieza refusing to accept that they aren't the strongest in the universe. And he didn't want to think of Videl as an enemy.
Videl laughed cruelly. "Come on, mountain boy, I doubt you know any more than me, being isolated your entire life" she said. "How can you tell me how the world works when your world consists of your house and a field?"
Gohan wanted so badly to just tell her that he's seen more in his seventeen years then she'll see in the remainder of her life. But he doubted he'd be believed. Not wanting to continue the argument any further, he turned away from Videl, waving her off. It may not have stung much, but that last jab was made to deliberately try and insult him. He wasn't sure he wanted to keep going with them anymore.
But, he did it anyways.
The group was stony silent for the rest of the trip to the mall. To the others, it seemed like Gohan had been hurt by what Videl had said. As wrong as they were, that's what it appeared to be.
Videl felt slightly guilty, but her anger rationalized her participation. "Who is he to tell me that I know nothing of the world?" she thought. But she couldn't shake off what she said. She also couldn't shake off just how truthful he seemed when he was talking. She had always been a pretty good judge of the validity of what people were saying. Gohan was being evasive the first day at school. But today, in that entire debate, she hadn't gotten a single note of false claims from him. He really believed in what he was talking about.
Things cleared up a bit at the mall. They had a good time. Well, Erasa did, anyways. She and Sharpner felt like dying, while Gohan just looked uncomfortable.
They spent a good hour and a half hanging out there, going into various stores, and stopping by the food court for a snack. Pretty soon, though, Gohan said that he had really better be getting back to his home, and cut out of the group. The rest of them took it as that was the time for them to head their own separate ways for the day as well.
Videl flew off back to her home. Greeting her father and Buu, she went upstairs and immediately opened up her internet browser. "Alright, let's see what you've got for me" she muttered, as she typed the words "master roshi" into the search box.
She got immediate results, pages and pages of information detailing a fighting style called the Turtle School, lists of famous martial artists that trained under him, and of course, information about him himself.
She was shocked to say the least when according to the article, he was born over three hundred years ago, and had recent activity to boot. Twenty years ago, he had come out of hiding, and trained a group of new students.
Scrolling through the page, she found the key point she was looking for. Indeed, it was stated that about one hundred years ago, the ancient master was said to have mastered a technique of his own creation, coined the Kamehameha Wave.
"Gohan knew that name" she remembered. "He knew the exact name of the technique." It didn't seem likely, but he did. The wave was barely mentioned, only that he had mastered it as a form of combat technique. There were pictures, poor quality, but there, of a world martial arts tournament battle, several tournaments ago, that showed the master shooting what appeared to be a beam of light. That didn't prove anything. False information could be put on webpages. Pictures could be photoshopped. This proved nothing.
"Gohan seemed really adamant about it, though" Videl thought. "Why would he be so insistent that these things could be possible?" She frowned deeper, remembering his own frowns earlier. "He seemed almost offended. But why would he take offense unless… It was personal?"
Gohan had been defending this Saiyaman character a lot, and he used an old article he had read as backup to his claim. He appeared to be grasping at straws, but for what? Could he have a connection with that strange man?
Her eyes widened. "Hold on a second" she breathed. Over the past two days, Gohan had accomplished amazing physical feats. He claimed it all to be luck, but what if it was something else? And not only that, but it was the day after Gohan began attending their little school that this new crime fighter appeared. "Could that nerd really be Great Saiyaman?"
That would certainly explain why he had been so reclusive ever since he arrived. Both of them had arrived in the city around the same time, and even if Gohan claimed it was just luck, he had done some peculiar things.
But all this was was circumstantial evidence. Not even compelling stuff, at that. Jumping to the protection of tricksters and correlating arrival times meant nothing. Besides, she had barely gotten a look at the Saiyaman character yet. But if it did fit…
Videl leaned back and looked at the ceiling again. "It looks like I've got some work to do" she muttered. She had a duty to protect Satan City, after all, and a vigilante hero could be a threat. Unmasking him was her duty.
And Gohan was her prime suspect.
Gohan soared high above the clouds, coming up around the large platform that hung high above the Earth below. He approached the Lookout rapidly, darting up and setting down lightly on the tiled surface. He looked around, initially not seeing anyone, but then heard a voice behind him.
"You know, it's going to take some getting used to" the gruff voice spoke. "I recognize you perfectly, but your power is so high, every fiber of my being tells me to prepare for an enemy every time you come near."
Gohan smiled as he turned on the spot and looked up into the face of his mentor. Piccolo cracked his own grin. "How's high school, kid?"
"What? How'd you know I was in high school?" Gohan asked.
"Do you forget who he lives up here with?" another voice, this one lighter and much more cheerful, spoke from a small ways across the Lookout. Turning back around, Gohan's smile broadened as Dende and Mr. Popo walked up. "What's the point of being Kami if I don't use it to stay up to date on my friends?"
"I probably should have guessed" Gohan chuckled, walking up to meet Dende and enveloping his childhood friend in a hug. "How did things look from up here?"
"I wouldn't survive that place, and not just because I'm more obviously alien than you" Dende said solemnly. "I'm a bit surprised that one sharing Mr. Satan's blood could be so darn intelligent. She's already suspecting you of being Saiyaman."
"What?! How?!" Gohan was shocked. "I literally only saw her once, and acted nothing like I do as myself there."
Dende shrugged. "She's an expert at connecting dots, already took some facial expressions when she mentioned your alter ego and your defending the possibility of the unknown. Now she plans to unmask the Saiyaman."
"Aw, man, already?" Gohan groaned.
"You picked quite a persistent one as your friend, Gohan" Piccolo chuckled at Gohan's misfortune.
Gohan sighed, and stretched his arms. "Well, I'm sure I can avoid giving her any hints as to who I am. I mean, maybe if this had been before Buu, I might have had slightly more trouble. But with all my power under my control, I doubt she'd get anywhere near me."
"Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on that one" Dende nodded. "Anyways, did you just come up to say hi?"
"Partly" Gohan admitted. "I also needed a bit of info from you, if it's possible, Dende."
"Yeah, sure thing" Dende nodded.
"Alright" Gohan said. "I have a project where we need to research the Cell Games. Obviously, I can't give them all the straight facts, like the fact that the man they think won wasn't even a fraction of his power. I was hoping you might know exactly how the world thinks the Cell Games went down, so I'd be able to work off of that?"
"That all?" Dende asked. "Simple enough. Sit down, I'll tell you the, ah, revised edition of the Cell Games."
"Awesome. Thanks, Dende" Gohan said gratefully, crossing his feet on the ground.
Dende nodded and kneeled down himself. "You know they think Mr. Satan won already. Well, here's what they think went down leading up to that…"
Friday
His visit with the young Guardian of the Earth turned out to be just what he needed to do their project. With all the information that the world held, he was able to revise his own experience enough to create some believable evidence on the matter. It took about half an hour to 'get all of his research done.'
True enough to the warning he had received from the two Namekians, Videl seemed to be even more interrogative than normal. She was so focused on finding out his secrets, she sometimes managed to catch him off guard. He nearly jumped out of his skin one day, when she grabbed his arm from around the corner, and came dangerously close to pressing the special button on his Saiyaman Watch.
It was also a little harder than he expected to keep correlational evidence down. Sure, any crimes that took place before school or afterwards, he could easily get away without anyone being the wiser. However, Videl got quite a few calls over the next few days, and Gohan's finely tuned senses could easily tell that these situations were far too much for normal humans to handle. He often disappeared from class under the guise of going to the bathroom, for very long periods of time. Her suspicions only seemed to grow.
Of course, over those few days, he learned that he had woefully underestimated her. While he saved her from fatal injuries several times, she didn't often need saving. Even when engaging armed groups, weaponless herself, she fared quite well. It was somewhat upsetting, how she seemed to only get angry at his assistance. She had also attempted several times to coerce him into revealing himself. He politely refused before jumping out a window.
Classes were easy for him. He liked his group of friends, even if Videl found ways to make life of the most powerful man on Earth difficult. Life actually wasn't too bad. Here he was, approaching the end of his first week, and he was surprised to find that he was actually enjoying his high school experience.
Managing to get through a game of soccer without any further superhuman stunts, Gohan walked off the field with the rest of the class to where Coach Axe had called them over. He seemed to have an announcement for all of them.
"Alright, now listen up, kids" Coach Axe said, getting the attention of them. "You may remember back on Monday, I told you we'd be having a week of games before we get into our next major unit?" Some of the class nodded, while others looked confused, not remembering the announcement. "Well, that unit starts on Monday. After recent events have been taken into consideration, we've gotten the cooperation of a very well-certified individual to give this class a good self-defense and martial arts unit."
"Martial arts?" Gohan wondered. "That's gonna be a little too easy, I'd say. Although…" he frowned. "If I'm trying to fly under the radar, having some fighting skills is going to blow it for me." His body took care of a lot of his fighting for him with his razor-sharp reflexes.
"Now, I assume you're all wondering who would be doing this?" Axe continued. "Well, that's simple, really. You see, growing up in this city, its mascot is really going to want to make sure you kids are all safe out there."
"Mascot?" Gohan murmured out loud. "Oh no…" his inner voice said, horrified. "It's all over."
"Starting Monday, we've got world champ, Hercule Satan coming here to whip you all into shape" Coach Axe confirmed his fears.
Gohan's groans were lost in the sea of awed gasps coming from the rest of the class. "Mr. Satan knows me" he thought. "This is bad, this is very, very bad. What's he gonna do when he sees me? What's going to happen?"
"Now that's all for today. Get your little bohonkuses out of here, and have a good weekend while you're at it" Axe flashed one last smile, before walking off the field.
The rest of the class immediately began buzzing with excitement at the thought of being taught by Hercule. Gohan was the only one to just step away from the rest of the class and wander back inside, contemplating the oncoming Monday with dread.
He didn't realize, that he wasn't the only one unhappy about the announcement.
Finished up yet another chapter. This one, I don't feel like it was my best work. However, that's mainly because this was a lot of jumping around. A lot of what I jumped over is basically the Saiyaman Saga, even if a lot is left out. I figured you didn't want to to rewrite the entire thing, so I skipped a few days.
You can breath a bit easier. Gohan's a bit older, a bit more mature in this story. He'll still have the same corny heroic lines, but he's no longer taking a leaf out of Captain Ginyu's book every time he arrives.
Now, I've heard some complaints about my explanation of Gohan's Super Saiyan self. Let me explain what I comprehend about the form, and how things are working here.
Gohan's unlock allows him to push his body to his absolute limits with ease. The Super Saiyan transformation multiplies base power to extend higher. However, there is a cap, being Super Saiyan 3, the maximum power the body can put out. It's kinda like this. Kaioken is a shaky increase. Super Saiyan is more stable, but 3 is less so. Potential Unleashed is a stable 3.
Super Saiyan is incompatible with his potential power, just because it's a different form. He has his basic power, but any time he extends past his Super Saiyan boundaries, he taps into potential power, which don't work at the same time as a Super Saiyan forms. Kinda how Super Saiyan God was incompatible with normal Super Saiyan in Battle of Gods. But it's different here. It's a matter of boundaries. Gohan's body has a limit to how much power it can handle. He caps at full unlock. If he somehow merged Super Saiyan with his power… Well, he would have too much body for his body to handle, resulting in some adverse effects. This doesn't mean he's at his peak. He can continue to increase his maximum output at full power/Super Saiyan 3 by training his body to make it stronger, just like any other scenario.
But enough of that. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well. What will the next chapter bring? What will Hercule do when he sees Gohan? How far will Videl advance in her investigation? Does anyone get the reference I'm making with the coach's name? All to be answered soon.
I'll go ahead and wrap things up by responding to reviews.
Guest - the Earth was restored to its condition prior to Buu, which meant the Chamber was intact again. And it is a much simpler matter of upgrading it than it is rebuilding it.
TaitanoRules555 - Bee is with Buu, Hercule, and Videl. He's been mentioned.
Lancecomwar - I'm still considering Lime, and no, this won't be just highschool stuff. I have something planned fairly soon here that I am quite happy about being able to do. A certain idea that popped into my head, that works with the timeline this story follows.
Jalen johnson - hey man, good to see you over here too! This thing has been a blast to write so far, sure enough. Gohan's losing Super Saiyan temporarily isn't really related to Joined Worlds in any way (and keep in mind how scrubbish I was starting that story. Ignore the USSJ2 in Soleanna, that literally makes less than no sense looking back at it). For now, street punks, but other types of fights soon, don't you worry.
I.C.2014 - no, I felt the same. I loved Saiyaman, cringey poses and all, but it was a bit much sometimes
0 Jordinio 0 - I'm going with a hesitant maybe. If this story stretches to Battle of Gods, it'll be difficult to diverge from the canon anymore, considering how the events, and how Videl is married to Gohan and everything by that point. As for the rest of it, I explained my understanding of the canon a bit above. I'm not sure what you mean about my dialogue, but I'll try to avoid that
Risa Silvara - yeah, I wasn't sure I could handle writing in the poses. I feel a bit the same. For the purpose of him being slightly more mature, he's basically the same, but he's no longer Ginyu 6. He can still grow, but I kinda answered everyone's problems like that above. He can improve his body, but Super Saiyan with his unlocked power won't be his jump. I have a plan as to how he'll keep moving, anyways.
That's about all for now, guys. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did, please drop a review on the way out if you will, and until next time, I'm signing out. Cya all then!