Chapter 19 - Day Off
The first thing Videl did when she woke up was fall back asleep.
When her normal 7:30 alarm went off, Videl barely had time to reach over and disable it before she lost consciousness again. By the time she woke up for real, the clock read 10:47. With a groan, she forced herself to sit up, her body fighting every moment of it.
"I don't know why Gohan was so insistent about me taking a break today. After all, it's not like I have a choice here" she thought to herself. "Like my body could be up fighting in this state."
She sat back against the headboard. She had never spent much time in the room she was currently occupying at the hotel, mostly just coming back to sleep and occasionally finish up some paperwork on a case. Now that she had a day off though, she didn't think it was exactly the place to be. There was a T.V., but she wasn't the kind to lay in front of the tube all day. Beyond that, not much else.
Her stomach growled, much to her annoyance. "Food does sound good right now though…" she begrudgingly admitted. The hotel had a breakfast buffet, but she was getting a little sick of reheated eggs and sausage. Especially after a week at Gohan's training. "I don't know how she does it, but Chi-Chi is one of the best cooks I've ever met in my entire life."
She pushed herself off of the bed and onto her feet, only to lose her balance almost immediately, barely catching herself on the wall. Thoughts of food fled her mind as she tried to find out just how exhausted her body was. She got herself steadied, preventing herself from falling to the floor, but she had to sit back in. "Stretches first" she thought. Her body hated the idea, but it was better than being at risk of falling when walking.
Half an hour later, Videl was walking out of the lobby of the hotel. She still felt sore as all hell, but at least she wasn't stumbling with every step. A thin silver lining indeed.
As she walked outside, she was contemplating where she wanted to go. She didn't exactly have days off very often, so even though she knew the city like the back of her hand, she didn't have much of an idea of where sounded good to eat. Dinners out with her father weren't exactly the same thing either.
She smiled as she had an idea, pulling out her phone. Hitting a few buttons, she only had to wait a few seconds before the line picked up. "Guess I'm having a day off today. You guys want to grab some breakfast?"
"Are you sure you don't want breakfast, Gohan?"
Gohan smiled. "I'm fine, Mom. Honestly" he said. "I need to hurry anyways."
"I still don't know why you have to be the city's only line of defense for the day" Chi-Chi sighed.
"Because Videl needs to not be doing anything like that today" Gohan said as he slipped the watch containing his Saiyaman suit on. "She really pushed herself yesterday when she unlocked her ki. I remember when I first unlocked my ki, and I passed out right after it. Videl's not… well…"
"A Saiyan?" Chi-Chi asked. "You think regular humans can't-"
"Come on, Mom, I'm not Vegeta" Gohan huffed, crossing his arms. "I just know that Saiyans have an easier time with their energy. Even if my first time was, well, more explosive, it's still gonna take a toll on her if what happened to me was any indication."
"Oh, sweetie, you know I wasn't being serious" Chi-Chi said.
Gohan chuckled. "I was just making sure. I know you and Dad used to go around together…" he paused. "Hey Mom, why didn't you have Dad ever teach you how to use your energy?"
Chi-Chi paused for a moment herself. "Well, by the time we had you, I didn't think that fighting was going to be necessary. Your father had just defeated the greatest evil in the world, after all." She sighed. "I suppose that it wasn't in the cards for us, living a peaceful life."
Gohan gave her a nervous grin. "I know, Mom. Though if we just sat back to have our peace, the world would have been destroyed a long time ago."
"That doesn't mean I wish it had been someone other than us" she admitted. "As much as I hate it, I know all the good you and your father and the rest of them do for the world. I'd just have preferred it if our family could be… seperate from that." She looked up. "But still, as much as I want that, I couldn't be prouder of you, Gohan." She finished holding out her arms.
Gohan accepted it, and gave his mom a quick hug. "Who knows, maybe we're finally at peace?" he said weakly. "I mean, Majin Buu was basically the most feared thing in the universe, and he's on our side now."
"Didn't you say there was some hell demon trying to destroy reality a few weeks ago?" Chi-Chi sighed. "I know what I got into, but I don't think this planet is ever going to catch a break longer than the one we had after Cell."
He chuckled nervously. "Well, we can always hope. It's kind of nice being at peace."
"If peace is people trying to shoot you and run you over all day, then sure" she huffed.
"Hey, I'd rather be shot at by bullets than energy blasts."
"That…" Chi-Chi sighed and gave up. "Just be safe out there, alright? I don't care if you're the new strongest in the universe or whatever, you're still my baby boy."
"You know I'll be fine" Gohan said, rolling his eyes as he opened the door. "Have a good day, Mom."
"You too, sweety!" she waved as he closed the door behind him.
Outside, he took a nice deep breath of fresh air. It was a very noticeable difference, the quality in the air as he left the mountains that made his home and flew towards the city. He savored it as white wisps of energy began licking his body and he became airborne.
"I don't think this planet is ever going to catch a break…"
He shuddered, brushing off the thought. "It was just a dream" he told himself as he flew towards the city.
He'd had another nightmare last night. It was brief, but stuck with him. He remembered a cold laugh, a flash of green light, and the feeling of the planet shattering beneath him as the void of space enclosed him.
The events had only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like it dragged on. The grip of fear he'd felt within it and the realistic atmosphere reminded him heavily of the last two nightmares he had. He frowned and scratched his head, trying to think.
"How did I anticipate Janemba?" There was no doubt that in the week leading up to the assault from Hell, his dreams were somehow warning him of what was coming. The shadowy figures appearing around him… those were definitely everyone who had escaped from Hell, like Frieza and Cell. Janemba breaking out of the dimension following. Even Videl by his side, she hadn't been more than a couple hundred feet away when it all went down.
He took a deep breath and shook it off. He couldn't get distracted. Sure, it felt like the omen that his nightmare about Janemba had been, but he was pretty sure he'd recognize that voice and energy, even after the years that had passed since then. Nightmares about his past opponents weren't uncommon, even if they usually weren't so vivid. "He's dead anyways" he reminded himself. "And even if he wasn't, I'm stronger now."
He wasn't the opponent he should be focusing on anyways. He had a bunch of living, weapon toting ones ahead of him. Juicing up his power, he accelerated towards the city, the clouds parting around him. He reached down and pressed the button on his watch as the city came into view, and the comforting static washed over him as his outfit changed into his Saiyasuit.
A confident smirk coming onto his face, Gohan dropped onto the outermost building of the city, running across the rooftop before springing to the next. He'd be lying if he denied the nerdy part of himself that enjoyed acting like a comic hero.
He ran across a few more building, making his way inwards, towards the city center. Jumping atop a rather large skyscraper, he paused to overlook it. The level of destruction that the downtown suffered was still quite visible, he realized none too happily as he looked down on it. But it was already a hundred times better than it had been the day of the fight against Janemba. Many roads were repaved, the buildings beyond repair had been knocked down and new foundations were being laid, and for the ones that had only suffered minor damage, they almost looked good as new.
"Maybe if crime is low today, I can help out with the labor" he thought. He didn't know much about construction, but his failure to protect the city completely had lent itself to the mess, even if it was Hell's denizens that had done the damage. He could at least help do some heavy lifting. It was the least he could do, after all.
His feet left the rooftop again as he decided to make rounds around the city. He took back to the sky, trying to keep an ear out for the sound of sirens. Surprisingly, things seemed to be rather calm that moment. He made a lap around the entirety of the city without seeing so much as a flashing light anywhere. Annoyingly, his glasses kept trying to fall off of his face as he flew.
"This is even weirder than Janemba" Gohan thought amusedly as he settled back onto the top of a nearby building. Most days, you couldn't go an hour in Satan City without some sort of situation cropping up and scattering the police force. Even if it hadn't been an hour yet, having ZERO signs of anything was such an uncommon occurrence, it was almost unnerving.
He decided to put his glasses back on now that he had landed, on the off chance someone would find him up there. As much as he listened, he didn't hear a single siren, or even a sound of distress.
He was aware that people on the street below had noticed his presence, stopping and looking at him in awe, talking in hushed tones. He didn't pay them much attention, however, as he got ready to make another lap around the city.
Or he would have, if a pebble hadn't hit his shoulder. Well, almost hit his shoulder. Almost automatically, he took a step backwards without realizing the pebble was coming towards him until it flew past. Blinking, he looked at the small stone as it clattered to the rooftop, before looking back the other way.
"Hey Saiyaman."
Grinning, he jumped down into the alley between buildings, fast enough that no one could see where he moved. Pressing the button, his outfit disappeared in a hum of static, as he emerged out onto the street on the other side of the building, where Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner were waiting.
"Hey guys" Gohan greeted as he approached. The street back there was relatively empty, so a teenager emerging from next to the dumpsters went unnoticed besides from his friends. "How're y-OOF!"
He wasn't expecting the oddly strong tackle to come from the smaller blonde. "Uh, hi Erasa" Gohan chuckled nervously. "What's u-"
Videl cleared her throat, catching Gohan's attention and giving him a serious look. Furrowing his brow, he wondered why-
Oh.
Oh.
He may have been novice when it came to social situations, but he remembered the difference between hearing his dad was alive from Shenron versus how it actually felt when he finally made it back to Earth. Considering that, from the class' perspective, he was incinerated in a ball of fire when the school was attacked.
While he was trying to figure out what to say, Sharpner gave his own greeting, lightly punching his shoulder. "Good to see you up and about, Brains" he said.
Gohan gave a small chuckle. "Thanks Sharpner. And, uh, Erasa..."
"Just a second" she said, squeezing him tighter, making him blush. "It's… relieving to see you."
"Oh how I know the feeling" he thought to himself. He looked up, scowling a bit when he saw Videl biting back a chuckle of her own at his situation. "Yes, it's very funny, get it out of your system" he said telepathically. He smirked a bit himself when she started. "Don't think you know everything about me yet."
Now it was Videl's turn to scowl, though it didn't last very long. Erasa let go of Gohan with a content breath of relief. "It's good to see the both of you again, really" he offered. "It's been a while, hasn't it."
"Too long, Brains, too long" Sharpner huffed. "Your sister didn't even let us make sure you were intact when me and Videl stopped by that day."
Gohan scratched the back of his head. "Heh, well Lime can be a bit overprotective sometimes" he laughed. "Though to be fair, I was pretty beat up, so you might have gotten off easy not seeing me."
"Ah bull, it would have been fine either way" Sharpner waved him off.
Videl rolled her eyes. "I dunno Sharpner, I've been learning to trust Gohan when it comes to this stuff" she admitted. "He always has a way of surprising you."
He chuckled nervously. "Well, you know, just being around this stuff for a long time and all…"
"Anyways" Videl said, cutting the conversation off. "We were about to head out and grab some breakfast. You want to come too, Gohan?"
"Uh…" Gohan stopped. "I'd love to, but I'm supposed to be patrolling the city for you right now, remember?"
"You're on patrol?" Erasa asked.
"I want Videl to rest today because of the intense training she did yesterday" Gohan explained. "I'm helping out by taking care of any cases she might have today."
"Oh yeah, she mentioned having some trouble moving after yesterday earlier" Sharpner noted.
Erasa eyed Gohan. "Oh? I wonder what sort of hard training you two were doing that left Videl so sore she could barely walk" she said suggestively.
Gohan and Videl's faces lit up red like a cartoon thermometer in high heat. "ERASAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the two of them yelled simultaneously.
"Don't get too defensive now" Erasa chuckled. "Don't wanna look guilty, do you?"
"If I wasn't supposed to be taking it easy today, you'd be getting it for that one" Videl growled threateningly, face still bright red.
"Oh please, you know you love me" Erasa winked at the tired girl.
"Depending on the time of day, sure" Videl huffed back.
With a roll of her eyes, Erasa nudged her friend. "Come on, let's go to breakfast already" she said. "And Gohan, you're coming too" she added, not leaving any leeway in her tone.
Gohan blinked. "Uh… I've got, patrol" he reminded her. "We were just talking about this."
"I think you've got a bit of time for breakfast, Gohan" Videl prodded him. "Remember, Saiyaman has a bit of infamy going around for him right now. Pretty sure the crooks are going to be lying low for at least a little while after seeing you on the loose."
"Really?" Gohan asked.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, soon you'll have people calling you out for a challenge and making a ruckus specifically to get your attention, just like they do with Hercule" Videl said, spitting out the last name with a bit of venom behind it. She took a deep breath and tried to relax a bit. "But still, might as well use the free time while you've got it."
Gohan scratched his head. "Well, I might be able t-"
"Oh just come on" Videl huffed, grabbing Gohan by the arm and dragging him into the nearby car as best she could, ignoring the sputtering from the demi Saiyan. "Sharpner, drive."
The blonde chuckled as he and Erasa loaded themselves in. Turning it on, he looked into the backseat. "Buckle up you guys" he said. "I don't think we'll be able to pay for a ticket AND for Brain's stomach."
Capsule Corp
"...And then he died too" Future Trunks sighed.
"Wow..." Trunks murmured. "Gohan was kind of a badass in your guys' time, huh?"
"Language, Trunks!" Bulma called over from the workbench, not looking up from her work.
"Sorry Mom" Trunks said sheepishly.
Future Trunks gave a weak smile. "Yeah, he was the coolest. But he was still Gohan, I saw pieces of him when I came back the first time, in the Gohan you know. A strong desire to protect, to fight to end things, rather than for the sake of the battle."
"Oh yeah, you should have seen Gohan when he came back against Buu" Trunks stood up excitedly. "We thought he was dead, and we thought we were dead too, because me and Goten's Fusion just ran out. Then Gohan came flying in like a bada-" he cut himself off, glancing at his mother. "...Like totally awesome" he settled on. "He started whaling on the freak."
Future Trunks leaned back. "I'm still kinda interested in that Fusion thing you and Father keep talking about. You and Goten do it a lot?"
"Well, not a lot since Buu was taken down, but we practiced it a lot"' Trunks said. "We're even stronger than Dad when we fuse!"
The room shook a tiny bit as he finished up, making Trunks gulp slightly. "Sounds like he has some other thoughts on that" Future Trunks noted.
There was a spark at the workbench, and Bulma stood up. "Damnit" she huffed, wiping her brow.
"Language, Mom" Trunks laughed.
"Oh, not now, son" she said. "Trunks, can you come over here?" Both of them stood up. "The older one" she specified.
Future Trunks walked over. "Is something up, Mother?" he asked.
Bulma wiped her brow again. "You learned some mechanics from your timeline's me, right? I might need a little extra help with this."
"What's 'this'?" Future Trunks asked, peering at the workbench. "Wait, is that the Dragon Radar?"
"Yeah, it is, and I think I'm having a calibration issue here" she said, pointing at the screen. "You see, we used the Dragon Balls not too long ago, they should be inert for a good few more months yet. But, as you can see here…"
Leaning down, Future Trunks' brow furrowed. "Interesting…" he muttered.
Satan City
"So wait, you don't like fighting?"
Gohan shook his head as he swallowed a mouthful of eggs. "Never have, at least not nearly as much as my dad and friends did."
The quartet sat in a corner booth at a small cafe in Satan City, the kind of homey old fashioned place that welcomes its customers with the cozy atmosphere. Gohan was doing his best to keep things easy on Videl's wallet, despite her assurance that she could pay for anything.
"How'd you get so freaking superhuman strong if you don't like fighting then?" Sharpner followed up.
"Necessity" Gohan shrugged. "I haven't had what you might call a boring life."
"How not boring do you mean?" Sharpner asked.
Gohan took another bite of his food as he thought. "Hmm… you remember hearing about Son Goku's battle against the Red Ribbon Army in history class?" After a nod, he continued. "The Red Ribbon Army was a complete joke compared to what I had to fight when I was five."
"Wh- When you were five?!" Sharpner gaped.
Videl raised her eyebrows too. "You never told me you were fighting since you were that young" she said.
"Well, it never really came up" Gohan muttered sheepishly.
Sharpner let out a low whistle. "Man, I bet you've seen some shit then" he said, impressed. "What's one of the craziest things that's ever happened to you?"
"Crazy, huh?" Gohan said, thinking aloud. "Probably the time I went to Namek."
The others looked confused, Videl included. "Haven't told her about that one yet" he thought.
"What's a Namek?" Erasa asked.
"Well, was is more applicable here" Gohan chuckled darkly. "Namek was another world, light years away from Earth, home to a race known as the Namekians."
"There are actual aliens out there?!" Videl asked.
"More than you know." "Yeah, actually, Piccolo is a Namekian" he said. "They look like green humans with antennas and pink patches on their bodies" he explained.
"Well there's something for the conspiracy theorists to sink their teeth into" Sharpner said. "Not so alone in the universe after all, kinda cool."
Erasa leaned in. "What are they like?" she asked with great interest.
"Well, they're generally a really peaceful race" Gohan said. "There are some warriors, but most of them are passive. They have some technology, but prefer simple lives. They can live with just water and can actually regenerate. Sometimes, Piccolo's had one of his arms cut off, and he grows another one out in seconds."
"That's pretty cool" Sharpner said. "How much can they regrow?"
"Uh, well I don't know exactly" Gohan admitted. "Piccolo's said that he can recover from most anything as long as his head is intact, but it takes him a lot of power to regrow even some of his less serious injuries. But definitely quite a bit."
"They almost sound like plant people" Erasa added in. "Between living on water, regrowing, and being so peaceful."
"Kind of, yeah" Gohan said.
Videl leaned in. "If they're so peaceful, what made it so crazy?" she asked. "And why were you going to a planet that far away anyways?" Thinking for a second, before Gohan could respond, she added in one last bit. "Also, 'was'?"
Gohan raised his hands. "Slow down a little bit there, Videl" he pleaded. "Always detective mode with her" he thought to himself. "Now how do I explain this…"
He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to say anything about Saiyans yet. He was finally settling into the group, and didn't think a bombshell like that would go over well.
"It was right after a big fight we had on Earth" he started slowly. He frowned to himself. "There's something I told Videl about, and I'll tell you guys too, as long as you promise to keep it a secret. No telling anyone else."
Erasa looked a bit uneasy with how serious Gohan was, but Sharpner nodded right away. "No problem at all, Brains" he shrugged. "What is it?"
Gohan nodded. "You see, we have these things on Earth called Dragon Balls. 7 magical orbs that when gathered together, they summon a dragon known as Shenron, who can grant wishes. There are some rules, but they can perform amazing feats."
"A genie dragon?" Sharpner asked skeptically.
"I know how it sounds, but they exist" Gohan assured him. "We've used them a lot of times before. The guardian of the Earth created them, and his life force is tied to them. If the guardian dies, the Dragon Balls go inert."
He leaned back. "That big fight we had, our enemies killed a few of our friends in the battle, including Piccolo" he continued. "Piccolo and the old guardian were once the same person, so when Piccolo was killed, we lost both of them. Usually, we'd use the Dragon Balls to wish our friends back, but they weren't around since he died."
"I swear I can hear the gears in your head turning" he said telepathically to Videl, making her jump again.
She scowled. "Let me take a guess here" she said slowly. "If Piccolo was one of these Namekians, it makes sense that the person he once was with is also one, right?" Gohan nodded. "So, you wanted to bring your friends back, but didn't have Dragon Balls. But since the guy that created them was a Namekian, you figured that someone on his home planet might have also created them?"
"Bingo" Gohan smiled.
Erasa raised an eyebrow. "Wow Videl, you're accepting that really easily" she said. "I mean, I believe you Gohan, but that still sounds like a tall tale."
"Spend a few weeks with this guy, and you begin to accept some of the most outlandish stuff" Videl huffed. "Anyways, so you guys went to this Namek planet to find Dragon Balls to bring your friends back with. What happened then?"
"Well… the enemies that we had fought on Earth answered to someone else" Gohan said. "There's more than one species of aliens out there, and one of the cruelest of them all had an empire spanning the galaxy. And when he heard of wish granting orbs, he went to seek them out for himself."
The table fell silent as Gohan continued. "When we finally arrived on Namek, we weren't the only ones looking for the Dragon Balls. There was an entire army there, and the emperor himself, an alien called Frieza."
"Why do the evil people always have evil sounding names?" Sharpner asked. "You never hear of any supervillains named Bob."
Gohan actually snorted. "Well to be fair, the names Cell and Buu don't sound so dangerous either, yet both of them were far more dangerous than Frieza ever was" he pointed out.
"Touché" Sharpner conceded.
"Anyways" Gohan continued. "The second we got there, a few of his soldiers destroyed our ship, trapping us on Namek. It was just me and two of my dad's friends."
"Where was your dad?" Videl asked.
"Recovering from the battle on Earth" Gohan explained. "He caught up to us after a little while, since it took our ship about a month to get to Namek. One of our family's friends managed to engineer an even better ship during that time, and my dad was able to catch take off about a week before we got there and landed a few hours after we did."
"Quite the jump in technology…" Videl murmured.
"Heh…" Gohan rubbed the back of his head, not sure how he could say it was the pod his father came to Earth in that inspired it without raising some eyebrows. "Well, we were completely outclassed by our enemies when we got there. We basically tried to save who we could and escape before they could kill us. A lot of the Namekians had already been killed by the time we got there. It was practically a genocide." He noted the horrified looks on his friends' face. "This isn't the happiest story. I can stop if-"
"No, it's fine, it's just… shocking to hear this kind of stuff" Videl assured him. "Especially since you were… what when you went through this?"
"Still five" Gohan said. "Yeah, I warned you my life was eventful" he followed up as their jaws dropped.
"Kami…" Erasa breathed. "How can you have gone through stuff like that and not had some sort of PTSD?"
Gohan flashed her a weak smile. "Who's to say I haven't?" he asked. "I've just gotten used to it. It doesn't bother me like it used to."
"...Gohan, you really don't have to keep going if you don't want to" Videl offered.
He waved her off. "If you guys want to hear, I'm fine with it. It's nothing compared to, well…"
"The Cell Games" Videl thought. "Alright."
"Anyways, me and my friend Krillin-"
"So Krillin was there too" she thought.
"-did our best to help, while our other friend, Bulma, tried to figure a way off the planet. She wasn't a fighter at all, so she hid away while we tried to fight. We actually got some help from some of the remaining Namekians, their elder was actually able to draw out more of our power to give us a fighting chance."
"One of our old enemies from the battle on Earth was there too, but he was trying to get back at Frieza, so we were actually able to have him help us for a while. Frieza kept trying to find the last of the Dragon Balls while he sicced his elites on us."
"Uh, hey Gohan?"
"Yeah Erasa?"
"I'm actually kind of curious, do you know what that Frieza guy wanted to wish for?" she asked.
"Oh of course" Gohan said. "Same thing our old enemy wanted. Immortality. He was already one of the strongest beings in the universe at the time, but he wanted to make sure he would never die, his empire to be unending."
"Those things can actually do that?" Sharpner asked.
"Well they can bring people back from the dead. I'd think that's a greater display of their power than making someone immortal" Gohan pointed out.
"Yeah, I suppose, but immortality is a pretty insane one too."
Videl elbowed him. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked
"Let him go on" she huffed.
Gohan chuckled. "Well, like I said, he sicced his elites on us. A band of warriors called the Ginyu Force. They were… definitely something."
"What do you mean?" Videl asked.
"Well, if I had to describe them in one word, it would be flamboyant" Gohan laughed. "They were terrifyingly strong, and each of them had a special talent, but they also had this thing for poses. Every time they'd do anything, they'd strike some ridiculous pose. And they'd coordinate too, for giant formation poses. Not to mention that they, and I'm not joking, did Rock Paper Scissors for which one of them got to fight us first. Yes, they looked about as ridiculous as they sound" Gohan admitted as they showed signs of amusement.
"They were scary to fight though. They had five members. Recoome, Jeice, Guldo, Burter, and their leader, Captain Ginyu. Recoome was a brute of a powerhouse, took basically any attack we had without flinching. Jeice was the second in command, and was sort of a jack of all trades. Guldo could temporarily stop time and had powerful telekinesis. Burter was incredibly fast. And Ginyu was the strongest out of them all, and had the weird power to switch bodies with someone."
He rubbed the back of his head. "I have trouble remembering most of the fight, if I'm being honest" he admitted. "I took a bad attack from Recoome that broke most of the bones in my body. If my dad hadn't shown up, I probably wouldn't have made it. Guys, I don't need the sympathetic look, trust me" he huffed.
"There's a difference between sympathy and empathy, Gohan" Erasa said softly. "It's not easy hearing one of your friends got hurt like that."
"Oh trust me, I've taken worse since then. It's not a fun memory, but it's not my worst" he assured them.
"You've really got a way of reassuring us, don't you?" Videl snorted.
Gohan gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that" he apologized. "I guess I just- huh?"
Gohan raised his arm up. "That's weird" he muttered. His watch was vibrating. "What's going on-"
"Gohan, are you there?"
He blinked. "Bulma?" he asked.
"He mentioned a Bulma in his story" Videl remembered.
"Yeah kid, it's me" the voice coming out of the watch said.
"I didn't know you made my watch with a communicator in it" Gohan said.
"Just a little thing in case I ever needed to get in touch with you, since you don't have a cellphone" Bulma said. "Hey kid, do you mind swinging by Capsule Corp real fast, I need to show you something."
"Uh…" Gohan said, looking up. "I've got patrols to do in a bit here, I'm not sure I have the time."
"It shouldn't take very long. I just want to check something" Bulma said.
"Well, if it's only gonna be a bit, sure" Gohan said, standing up. "Sorry guys, I've gotta run."
"It sounds important, no problem" Videl waved off. "Thanks for joining our breakfast though."
"Not like I had a choice" Gohan chuckled.
"Damn straight" Videl said, teasingly.
The other three got up. "We'll see you around, Brains" Sharpner said, fist bumping his shoulder.
Erasa stepped forward to give him another quick hug. "Don't wait another few weeks to come hang out again" she said as she pulled away.
"The school should be repaired soon, so I don't think I could even if I wanted to" Gohan chuckled. "But I won't."
Erasa smiled as she stepped back. Videl stepped forward, reaching into her pocket. "Here, catch Gohan" she said, tossing something to him.
Gohan reached out and caught the object, which turned out to be Videl's communicuff. "I let the force know I'm off duty today, but I'd make sure 'Saiyaman' got that so they could get the help if they need it" she said. "That oughta make things easier on you I'd hope."
"Wow, yeah" Gohan beamed. "Thanks for trusting me with this."
She rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal" she said. "Just hurry back so they can get the help I promised them."
"Sure thing" Gohan nodded. He opened the door. "I'll see you guys later!"
"Bye Gohan" they said simultaneously as he left the building. He ran out of sight in seconds.
The waiter started walking towards their table after Gohan left, and Videl pulled out her wallet to pay the bill. After things were satisfied at the cafe, the remaining three went outside themselves.
"It was really nice to see Gohan again" Erasa sighed.
"I'll say. A load off for sure" Sharpner agreed.
Videl was thinking as they walked towards Sharpner's car. "That person who called Gohan…" she murmured as they hopped in.
"That Bulma lady?" Erasa asked.
"Yeah, her" Videl said. "Didn't Gohan say she made his Saiyaman watch? And she asked him to meet her at Capsule Corp?"
"She did, what do you think she…" Erasa slowed down, mouth forming a perfect 'o'. "You don't think…?"
"Oh I'm more than thinking" Videl smiled. "Gohan's got some friends in high places it sounds like. Never would have pictured Bulma Briefs to be the space adventure type, not from her interviews. She sounds like a very 'stay in the lab' sorta person."
"Well, you can't always judge someone for how they look on the surface. I mean, look at Brains" Sharpner pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right" Videl conceded. "...Hmm…"
"What now?" Erasa asked.
"I'm just thinking about something she said" Videl said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but do you want to go shopping for a bit?"
"YEAH!"
"HELL NO!"
Capsule Corp
knock knock knock
Gohan stood their for a moment after removing his Saiyasuit, until the door cracked open. "Oh, hey there Gohan" the younger Trunks greeted. "Mom's been waiting for you."
"Yeah, I figured" Gohan said as he stepped inside. "Where is she?"
"Down in her personal lab" Trunks said. "She was having some trouble with the Dragon Radar."
"The Dragon Radar?" Gohan asked. "Why would that be acting up now? Actually, why would it be out to mess up anyways? The Dragon Balls have five months of being inert left."
The only response he got was a shrug. Frowning, Gohan scratched his head. "Gotta wonder what kind of problems it has. And why she needs my help with it." Gohan had spent a little time helping with tech around Capsule Corp on a few visits, but he was a far cry away from a technological genius like Bulma was.
The two walked in silence for a moment before entering the lab. "What's up Bulma?" Gohan asked.
Still frowning, she looked up from her work. "Hey kid, sorry to pull you away like that" she said.
"No problem" Gohan waved off. "Trunks was saying that you were having some trouble with the Dragon Radar?"
Bulma nodded. "Yeah, it's acting up on me, and I was hoping you could test something for me" she said, waving him over.
"Yeah, I just don't know why you'd have it out to find a bug in the first place" Gohan said as he approached.
"That's the thing" she huffed. "Usually I put the thing in storage until we need the balls again, but I have an alarm tied to the radar. It lets me know when it starts picking up readings again, so we know when we have them up and running." Grabbing the radar, she handed it to Gohan. "As you can see, my alarm went off."
Raising his eyebrows, Gohan accepted the device and looked at it. "Weird, why would there be a reading?" he asked, noting the blip on the radar.
"That's not even the weirdest part" Bulma said, tapping the screen to wide the search parameter. "Check that out."
Now it was Gohan's turn to frown, as he swiped across the map. "There's only one reading" he said.
Bulma laid back in her chair. "And that's what's stumping me. If it's picking up a signal from a Dragon Ball, they'd all be back on the radar. The best I can figure is that there's some object radiating a similar signature to a Dragon Ball, but for the life of me, I can't think of what would be able to cause that. Earth isn't exactly filled to the brim with magic, unless that crone Babidi left something behind."
"Which if that were the case, we probably would have noticed something a lot sooner" Gohan summarized.
"Right in one, kid."
Gohan went back to the single blip. "So… do you want me to go see what's causing the signal?" he asked.
"Can you?" she asked. "If we're crossing signals, I'd rather find a way to calibrate it properly again sooner rather than later."
Gohan zoomed out a bit on the radar. "Well, it doesn't look like it's too far away" he said. "At least not other side of the planet far away."
Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Can't you do laps around the planet in seconds anyways?" she asked.
"Heh… Technically yeah, but do you have any idea what the G-Forces from going that fast do to the landscape below?" he asked.
"Courteous as always, never change Gohan" Bulma chuckled.
Gohan switched the radar back into ranged mode. "I'll be back in a little bit" he said as he made for the door.
"Thanks kid, this is a big help."
"No problem, see you" Gohan said, leaving the lab and heading outside.
Running with the radar in hand, Gohan leapt into the sky, shooting into the air before stopping far above West City. Just because people were used to things flying out of Capsule Corp didn't mean he wanted to be in view. He took off soaring, following the direction of the blip on the radar.
It didn't take him long to start drawing near, even when he wasn't going very fast. Double checking the radar, he began to feel confused when he was recognizing the area he was setting down into. He was basically on top of the reading when he set down right next to his house, out in Mt. Paozu. "That's weird…" he muttered to himself.
The car was gone, and he couldn't sense anyone inside. "Guess Mom took Goten on an errand" he thought as he hovered up to his window. Opening it, he entered his bedroom. He narrowed down the search field as much as he possibly could, and made his way to his dresser.
"Don't tell me…" he breathed, opening his top drawer.
Glinting from the sunlight leaking into the room, underneath a few pairs of socks, the six star ball laid there. Bright orange and glassey.
He reached in and retrieved the ball, gaping. "That doesn't make any sense…" he muttered. "The Dragon Balls got used not too long ago, we should have a long time before… I need to take this to Bulma."
Capsulizing the Dragon Radar, he pocketed it and grasped the Dragon Ball tightly as he took off again.
"How is this even possible?" Gohan asked.
"You're asking me?" Bulma questioned, leaning in. "It's definitely the real deal, this is no fake Dragon Ball."
"But the Dragon Balls have never recharged early before" Gohan said. "This is… it's just weird!"
"Well that's certainly true" Bulma said, looking at her monitor. "The field it's giving off hasn't changed at all either. It's not any weaker for being active so much sooner, that's for sure." She leaned back. "Maybe because Porunga had to resurrect them when he restored Earth? No, that can't be it, otherwise all seven should have been brought back in the same state. I doubt Shenron was mistaken either, these Dragon Balls are him after all, he'd know better than any of us." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "At this point, Trunks bringing back Dragon Balls from the future would almost make more sense, and his were destroyed."
"I'll level with you kid, I don't know what's going on either. Why this Dragon Ball is back online so early, and why the rest didn't follow suit if this one did" Bulma sighed.
"Do you think that the other Dragon Balls might come back sooner too?" Gohan asked.
"I don't know. They could, or maybe this one's just an outlier. We don't have enough data to know for sure" Bulma said, picking up the Dragon Radar. "Until this thing starts going off again, we won't really have any answers."
"At least we know it's not broken" he pointed out.
Bulma chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Raises about a thousand new questions, but at least my tech is still working fine."
Gohan sighed. "Well, I can't imagine having the Dragon Balls back sooner would be a bad thing?" he offered. "As long as they seem to be back at full power, the time they spend dormant should be irrelevant."
"I hope you're right, kid" Bulma said. "I guess I'll run a few tests on the ball to see if I can get any clues as to why this happened. Hopefully I can turn something up." She chuckled a bit. "Not knowing something like this, I just can't stand it."
Gohan chuckled along with the blue haired scientist. "I believe you" he said as he made to head back out. "Well, I'll leave you to it, I've got to… go…"
Bulma cocked her head to the side. "Kid, you alright?" she asked.
Standing at the edge of the room, the light was glinting off of the Dragon Ball sitting on the table. The reflection of the light formed a line that almost seemed to split the artifact right down the middle. "Why… why am I getting the strangest sense of deja vu? And what's this feeling of..."
"Gohan, are you feeling alright?" Bulma called a little louder.
He blinked, shuddering a tiny bit. "I'm fine, it's… it's nothing" he said.
"You sure?" Bulma said. "I've got some medicine laying around if you're not feeling well. I've always got a stock of Senze extract at ready if-"
"Thanks Bulma, but seriously, I'm fine" Gohan assured her. "I just… got dizzy for a second is all."
Bulma huffed a bit. "Just because you're half Saiyan doesn't mean you're immune to everything, Gohan" she said, looking a little worried. She hit a few buttons on her computer before standing up and opening a compartment in the wall. "Let me-"
BZZT BZZT
"Hello, is this Saiyaman?"
On instinct, Gohan hit the button on his watch, donning his alter ego's attire. "Yes, this is Saiyaman, may I request to know who I am speaking with?" Gohan asked in his heroic voice.
Bulma snorted a bit, keeping it quite. "Certainly got the cheesy superhero voice down" she chuckled.
"This is the chief of police in Satan City" the voice on the other end of Videl's communicator said. "We're glad we could get in touch with you, Videl let us know she was taking time off and you'd be taking over for her today, but we honestly weren't sure if she could get in touch with you."
"Fear not, I would never leave the city unprotected" Gohan replied. "You had nothing to fret about, my good sir."
"Well that's a relief. We try not to bother Videl unless these situations are urgent, but I'm sure you know we get our fair share of those" the chief said. "Let's cut to the chase, the Satan City Bank has been taken by a large group of armed criminals. My men have been attempting to defuse the situation to no avail. Can you assist us?"
"I will be there as fast as possible" Gohan announced, cutting the communication. "I really have to go, Bulma, it sounds serious."
"I got it" she said, just as something zipped into the compartment from a pneumatic tube. "Here, catch" she said, grabbing the small object and tossing it to Gohan.
Snatching it out of the air, Gohan looked at the item. "A bottle?" he asked.
"I mentioned the Senzu extract a bit ago" she said. "Take that with you and promise me you'll use it if you have another dizzy spell, alright kid? Just because bullets can't touch you doesn't mean you shouldn't take care of yourself."
Gohan tucked it into his tunic, smiling. "Sure thing Bulma, thanks a bunch."
"No problem kid" Bulma said. "Go knock some heads together" she added as she pumped her fist into the air.
Letting out a laugh, Gohan made a break for it. "You've got it" he said, making his way back outside and back to the hottest crimebed on this side of the planet.
Gohan let out a breath of relief as he collapsed on the rooftop of an office building. "If that's what a day where my presence deters them is like, do I even want to know what the opposite is gonna be?" he thought.
The work wasn't exactly exhausting, considering it didn't take him scarcely any of his energy to resolve rowdy criminals, but it was tedious and repetitive. The bank robbery, two smaller robberies across town, a gang war by the pier, more muggings than he could count on his fingers, and an instance where he was lucky enough to stop some faulty construction work from flattening the passerby.
According to his watch, it was 8:02 at night now that it was all said and done. His roaring stomach confirmed what the watch told him. "I'm glad they took me to breakfast, I was in too much of a hurry this morning" he thought, remembering how he skipped out on breakfast at home in his rush to get on patrol. "I hope Mom made something good for dinner" he thought, salivating at the thought of the dishes that his mom could whip up.
"Before that, I should probably get Videl's communicator back to her" he realized. Floating up without standing, he focused on his ki sense, searching the city for Videl's signal. After a few seconds, he found it easily. After just a day of unlocking her power, she was already the third strongest signal in the city, after Krillin and Buu.
"Let's-" he thought as he prepared to fly towards her, but stopped his train of thought as another signal entered his senses. Shivers ran down his back as he twisted in the air. "That's… no, it's not him. Janemba was destroyed. But… this feels eerily similar to his energy."
He flew down into the streets, aiming for where he felt the power. As he drew near, however, it completely vanished, leaving nothing but an empty pocket of energy behind. "What the…" he muttered, not stopping in his flight towards where he had felt the energy.
The flashing police lights reassured he was in the right area when he touched down. Two of the officers started when he arrived. "S-Saiyaman, I thought you were off duty?" one of them asked.
"Almost" Gohan said. "I felt an odd presence here before I left, so I came to investigate."
The two officers shared a look, not quite sure what to make of what he said, but seemed to accept it. "Well, maybe you'll have more luck than we've been having" the other said.
"Looks like our little phantom thief struck again" the other said.
"Phantom thief?" Gohan asked. "Oh, I believe Miss Videl informed me of this case" he remembered. Looking up at the sign, he was a little confused. "However, a convenience store?" he asked.
"Your guess is probably as good as ours" the first officers shrugged.
"This guy seems to be popping up all over the place, yet the most expensive thing he stole was when he stole some music stuff from the Tech Buy across town. Besides that, just a few small places like this. Doesn't touch the money or any of that."
"We'd swear it was just a little kid, but no kid could get in and out of anywhere he wanted so easily."
Gohan rubbed his chin. "Peculiar…" he muttered.
One of the officers reached into his car and pulled out a tablet. "We got a few seconds of the perp on tape, but we can't make heads or tails of it" he said, playing the scene for Gohan.
The footage was grainy, but Gohan was able to make out a cloaked figure, holding something in his arms, before vanishing from sight near a wall. Raising his eyebrows, he replayed the footage, but didn't catch anything else. "Was the video feed corrupted?"
"Dunno, the perp just vanishing certainly would make you think so, eh?" he asked as he put the tablet away. "If you got any ideas, we'd love to hear them. We know you ain't really the detective type though, and you've helped us out plenty today already. You don't gotta stay."
Gohan thought for a moment. "Sorry gentlemen, but I'm just about as stumped as you are" he said.
"Ah well" he said. "We'll keep looking. Thanks for dropping by Saiyaman. Some of the force is kinda eh on you, but we like the help you offer."
"No problem at all, my good sirs" Gohan said as he prepared to take off again. "I hope you two will be safe for the remainder of the night."
"Sure thing pal, we'll see you around" the second officer offered.
"Have a good night, I'm guessing you still need to sleep too, eh?" the other said.
"That I do" Gohan chuckled. "See you folks later."
With that, Gohan soared back into the sky, mind racing. "I swear, that energy felt almost like Janemba's" he thought as he made his way to where Videl was located. "Maybe not quite as dark, but similar. And then it just vanished. Could there be someone on this planet that knows how to teleport and just happens to have similar ki? Why wouldn't we have noticed them all this time then?"
The more he thought, the more questions he had, and the more frustrated he became. He decided to drop it before he got too annoyed at the lack of knowledge he had of the situation, as he had arrived at the hotel by then.
"Let's see… which one are you… there" he muttered to himself, floating towards the building and rapping his knuckles on the window. "Special delivery!" he announced.
About four seconds passed, before the blinds were thrown open. Videl initially looked wary, but relaxed when she saw who was outside. "I was wondering how late you were gonna be out" she said with a smile as she opened the window.
Gohan smiled back as he hovered inside. "Ah, I'm getting ready to head back home right about now" he admitted. "I'm starving."
"I'll bet you are, didn't get your usual thirty pounds of feed today I'm guessing" Videl said teasingly.
Gohan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, something like that" he admitted. Reaching down, he took the second watch off of his wrist. "Figured you'd want this back before I went home for the night though" he said, dangling her communicator.
"Ah, thank you" Videl said, accepting her device back. "Guessing they worked you pretty hard today. No, scratch that, that was probably some light lifting for your absurdness."
"Hey, I'm not absurd" Gohan crossed his arms and huffed.
"To any normal human, absurd is the first word that comes to mind" Videl said, making the demi Saiyan huff. "Good absurd, but absurd nonetheless."
"And guess who's training to become just as absurd" Gohan pointed out.
"Are we going to keep saying absurd an absurd amount of times?" she asked.
Gohan shrugged. "Why not, it's a fun word."
Videl let out a laugh, a single high note of amusement, making Gohan smile again. "I guess it is" she said. "Oh, before you head back out, I got you something" she said, reaching into her backpack, pulling out a small parcel. "Here you go."
He blinked as he accepted it. "You got me something?" he asked. "How come?"
"Because we're friends, dumb dumb" Videl said, rolling her eyes. "Go on, Gohan, open it."
Looking at the parcel in his hands, he reached down and opened the lid. Reaching inside, he pulled out…
"Huh? What is this?" Gohan asked.
Videl raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, guess you've probably never had one" she remembered. "It's a phone, a zPhone actually."
Gohan's eyes widened a bit. "You got me a phone?" he asked.
"Well yeah, and it's got service too. I'm handling it myself" she said, waggling a finger as Gohan opened his mouth. "Let me do it. I'm practically drowning in wealth as it is, and most of that wealth would be yours in an honest world. It might as well be your money, so let me get you something nice with it."
He wanted to protest, but a part of him felt kind of warm. "Thank you, Videl" he said graciously. "Why'd you want to get me a phone though?"
"The call from your friend earlier" Videl said. "She said that you didn't have a phone, and I thought that we should fix that." She smiled. "It's got mine, Sharpner's, and Erasa's numbers already in it too. So we can get in touch with each other easier when we want to hang out."
Feeling genuinely touched, Gohan beamed. "Wow, Videl, I don't know what to say" he said.
"Say you'll use it, smart guy" Videl said with a small grin of her own. "Now go on, I'm sure you wanna get home. Are we on for training tomorrow?"
"Get a good night's sleep and sure" Gohan said. "Whenever you're feeling up for it."
"I'll hold you to that" Videl warned.
"You act like I don't know that about you already" he chuckled as he floated back outside. "Good night Videl!"
"'Night Gohan" Videl waved as he took off into the night sky.
Wow, that took longer than I expected it to. So much for the wait not being as long, jeez I'm getting lazy about writing. Sorry about that.
Hoping you guys enjoyed the balance of slice of life and setup though. I used this chapter to tease a few things I've had planned for the future of the story for a long time, and for just some feelgood moments. The thing about Videl getting Gohan a phone was, strangely, something I really wanted to do, just a nice friendly gift. And I've been thinking about it for a while, oddly enough.
Iwik - No problem, you should know by now that I love interacting with my readers, heh. I love delving into aspects of characters that people gloss over, so things like Yamcha and Videl's stoicness momentarily crumbling at something so earth shattering (literally) are things I like to include if I think of them.
Jose884 - only time will tell, and I'm glad you liked my SoL piece. I have trouble writing those as easily, so it's good to hear that they're doing well.
Ushindeshi - I'm glad you're enjoying my portrayal of him. I'm doing my best to capture all of his aspects, good to know I'm doing that right.
EscalatorBoy - Yeah, though I also don't want them to be a crutch, with massive parts of my chapters being retellings of the source material. I'm trying to find middle ground
Ficsion - well yeah, he was using ki as an explanation for the training, I figured that was obvious
inFamousSlyMonkey - Aw, thanks, I'm trying my best. I hope I continue to impress
Nova - sorry, it's… very backburner right now. I'm doing my best to add to the chapter when I can, it's just not coming very naturally rn.
That's about all for this one. I can't make any promises about when the next chapter will be out, but I'll work on it as best as I can. I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you guys next time!