Author's note: Oof, another long wait, really sorry about that, I've been soaking up the sun and enjoying time at the beach with friends, so I didn't get too much time to write, well, until I got burnt to a crisp. So here I am, nursing my burned everything. Remember to leave a review, it really helps and any advice definitely useful. Thank you!
Chapter 5
With nothing but silence surrounding it, the clearing in the forest had a bright beam of sunlight piercing the opening in the tree line and left streaking shadows across the grass. Two distinct shadows left their mark on the grass, an enormous hulking shadow that resembled a boulder and a smaller tense shadow that looked like a cheetah ready to pounce. The two shadows stood there facing one another for what seemed like an eternity. A single browning leaf found itself floating on the wind in between the two shadows. As the leaf fluttered around, it found itself sinking to the floor and when it touched the earthy grass, the spring like shadow vanished like a phantom, leaving behind nothing but a mirage.
Mr. Lao's speed was blinding as he vanished for a split second and reappeared behind Ox King. With a swift kick to a tree, Mr. Lao bounced straight towards the back of Ox King's back. Ox King whipped around and grabbed Mr. Lao by the foot and tossed him aside.
"I specifically remember you doing that to me, every time we sparred."
"But this is the first time you've caught it. I must be getting old."
"Hehe, an old dog can learn new tricks you know."
Ox King walked over to help up Mr. Lao, who was rubbing his back in pain.
"We're not young anymore, it's hard to keep up nowadays."
"Tell me about, I used to scare the living daylights out of anyone I met. Now look at me, I'm an old man now."
They laughed and Mr. Lao invited everyone inside. Ox King barely fit through the doorway, being forced to squish down and crawl into the store. Everyone sat down at the dining table and enjoyed a hearty lunch together. Chichi offered to help cook the meal and before they knew it, Chichi had whipped up lunch fit for a giant.
After they finished lunch, Gohan and Lime were sitting by the river, enjoying the brisk autumn air and the orange cascade that filled their vision.
"Gohan?"
"Hmm?"
"Where's your dad?"
"My dad?"
"Yea, he wasn't with everyone else."
"Oh, he passed away during the Cell Games. He was the strongest fighter in the world, and if Cell hadn't threatened to self destruct, my dad definitely would've beaten him."
"Really? But, weren't you the one who beat him?"
" . . . okay, it might sound crazy, but it was only because my dad's spirit gave me the energy to beat Cell. Otherwise, I would've lost."
"Gohan, that's one of the least crazy things I've heard come out of your mouth."
Gohan chuckled and after a moment, leaned back onto the ground and sighed, "I really wish he were around. I miss him."
"Can't you bring him back with the dragon balls?"
"That's the thing, he doesn't want to come back, he feels responsible for all the trouble the planet's gone through and he thinks that if he doesn't return, then the Earth will be safe. So even now, he's off in the afterlife, training like he always does. He's probably the strongest fighter in the universe at this point, and here I am. Too weak to protect the Earth."
Lime turned and grabbed Gohan by the shoulders, "Weak? Gohan, you're the strongest person I know. You BEAT CELL! How does any of that sound weak to you?"
"Like I said, I was only able to do that because my dad was there. He's the real strongest in the world. I still can't compare to him yet. So I've been trying to keep sharp. That's the whole point of the Great Saiyaman thing. I want to help people and as an extra bonus, I can practice my martial arts without fear of getting found out!"
Lime laughed and said, "That's a weird reason, but hey, if you're helping people out, then who am I to argue?"
Suddenly Goten burst out from the bushes, "ooooh, Kissy kissy Gohan, that's gross Gohan!"
Gohan's face turned very red and he yelled at Goten to go away.
They were soon called back to the store and before they knew it, it was time to go home and get ready for school the next day. Lime packed all her bags and asked Gohan for a lift back to Satan city. Gohan naturally obliged and after Lime said bye to her grandpa, Gohan took off for Satan city with Lime on his back.
Lime took photos of the view from Gohan's back and was nearly blown off from the wind. Luckily Gohan caught her and they continued back on their journey south to Satan City.
She directed Gohan towards her apartment and got off there.
"Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow Gohan."
"Anytime, see you tomorrow."
After that, Gohan waved goodbye and flew off. When suddenly there was a shrill scream from around the corner. Lime sprinted around the corner and saw a large burly man grabbing a woman's arm and holding her at knifepoint barking at her for her phone and wallet.
"SHUT UP BITCH, FORK IT OVER."
Without hesitation, Lime leaped in and promptly swept the man's feet out from under him. The man was utterly confused as the woman suddenly turned into the pavement. With a powerful second kick, the man found himself tossed into a lamppost with a pain radiating from his ribs and his legs. As the man lifted his head to see who had attacked him, he saw a auburn haired girl flashing him a toothy grin as she wagged her finger at him. Then everything went black.
Lime had thrown a punch faster than the man could see, which immediately knocked the guy out. Lime checked on the woman to see if she was alright, and then called the cops. After the man was taken away, she sauntered off back to her apartment for a shower.
Meanwhile, Gohan had seen the entire thing from a nearby rooftop. He sighed and muttered to himself, "Thank Dende, she's safe."
He switched into his Great Saiyaman costume and began to patrol the city.
When Lime and Gohan met each other the next day, Gohan was about to ask Lime about the mugging incident but decided against it because Lime might accuse him of stalking her again.
Erasa and Sharpner were acting just as they always did, despite their relationship, sans the flirting. When Videl arrived, she leaned over Erasa's desk and said, "I need to use the restroom."
After a brief pause, Erasa quickly realized what she meant and said, "Oh! Me too."
They both left for the restroom, leaving behind a very puzzled Sharpner. As they walked through the halls, Videl could feel the burning gazes of boys everywhere they went. She glared at a group that was crowded around a locker and let's just say that an M doesn't just mean Majin.
Erasa elbowed Videl saying,"See, I told you learning girl code would come in handy one day."
"Yea yea, anyways, do I have to smash his face in?"
"What?! No! He's actually been very nice and a real gentleman."
Videl raised an eyebrow at the notion of Sharpner resembling anything close to a gentleman.
"I'm telling you, it's true."
Videl let out a breath of relief as she put a hand on Erasa's shoulder, "Thank god, I thought he had hurt you or something. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time he's broken a girl's heart after a day."
Erasa juggled the idea and agreed, "That's true. It's kind of weird to think of him as a boyfriend though, he's always just been a jerky friend in my head."
"Then why did you say yes?"
Erasa turned to Videl with a deadpan expression, "He's like the first guy to ask me out because of a reason besides that I'm hot."
"How do you know that?"
"His eyes said it all. They weren't focused below my face. Which is new.
Videl took a moment to pity Erasa's love life. There's no way each one of her ex's was that sleazy right? Putting that aside, Videl was stil very suspicious about Sharpner, but decided to give him a chance. She'd seen how Sharpner could be a nice guy, but at the same time, she'd seen how Sharpner had broken countless girl's hearts.
When they got back to the classroom. Sharpner was chatting with one of the boxing team members and Lime was sitting in her seat, texting someone. She and Gohan had made plans to visit the fabric store to check out the fabric that they had asked for on Friday.
When Gohan came in, he took his seat next to Lime and began to chat with her.
The entire group took notice of how close the two seemed to have become in just a single weekend.
Erasa giggled and asked Videl, "wOw! What do you think happened to those two? Didn't they go out on a date?"
Videl sighed and pulled out a handgrip from her bag.
Sharpner noticed it and asked, "what's with the handgrip?"
Videl shook her head and said, "I have to get stronger, if I can't beat my dad at the next World Martial Arts tournament then I'll be forced to be single when I'm in college."
Sharpner's eyes widened to the size of jawbreakers, "The famous man-hating Videl wants to get a boyfriend?"
Videl glared at Sharpner and asked, "Is that so surprising?"
Sharpner nodded his head, but Lime and Erasa were already well aware of Videl's predicament. Videl's a total romantic but can't even think about getting a boyfriend until either she or her boyfriend can beat her father. Which basically means Videl has to beat her father, because surely there's no boy in the world who could beat The Mr. Satan.
Videl sighed and focused back on doing her sets on the handgrip. Sharpner asked, "by the way, what's the poundage on those grips?"
"Hmm? Well this is from my dad's custom made set, so about 400 lbs?"
Sharpner's jaw dropped for a moment but he quickly picked it back up and shook his head, wondering why he was even surprised.
Videl turned to Lime and Gohan and asked, "Do you wanna try them?"
"Sure!"
Lime took the grip which barely fit in her hand and squeezed as hard she could. Surprisingly, she was able to close the grip once, but by then her face had already turned red from effort. She handed the grip back to Videl, who promptly handed it to Gohan.
Gohan turned and looked at Lime, who quickly shook her head. Gohan nervously laughed and said, "There's no way I can close this, 400 lbs is more than the world record!"
Sharpner gave Gohan a weird look but disregarded it. Videl, didn't remain silent though. She insisted that Gohan at least give it a try.
Gohan nervously laughed and used his amazing acting skills to fake trying to close the handgrip. His face turned red and after a few moments, and he gave up, returning the handgrip to Videl.
Videl gave Gohan a shifty look, but she continued on with her reps as usual. Gohan wiped the sweat off his brow and sighed a breath of relief.
Lime chuckled and whispered to Gohan, "Nice one."
Gohan smiled and soon the teacher came in. Mr. Scissors asked everyone, how their weekends were. Being answered with some groans and grunts. Mr. Scissors sighed and went on, reminding everyone of the upcoming Fall Ball.
Sharpner turned to Erasa and asked, "You wanna come to the dance with me?"
"Sure."
"It's a plan then."
Erasa then asked Videl, "I suppose you're not gonna bring a date then, right?"
Videl sighed and said, "Probably not. My dad said that he'd only fight me at the World Martial Arts tournament and that's not for another three months."
Erasa patted Videl's back and said, "That's okay, we can all go as friends!" She turned to Sharpner and asked, "that's okay with you right?"
Sharpner's eyes deadened as he stiffly nodded his head as if doing so required great effort. He looked at Gohan expecting sympathy but Gohan, inexperienced in love as he was, didn't understand Sharpner's plight.
He'd secured a relationship with the girl he'd been in love with for the past ten years and at their first dance together, they were still going as friends.
Seeing the pity on their faces only caused Videl to strengthen her resolve and beat her father.
When the lunch bell rang, they made their way to the big tree in the schoolyard and had lunch together. Videl hurriedly scarfed down her lunch and began to shadow box nearby.
"Oh wow, she's really taking this seriously isn't she?"
"Well her goal is to be the strongest in the world so it doesn't surprise me that she's training extra hard."
"Good for her, I think it's really good to have that kind of goal."
After a five minute round of shadow boxing, she came back and asked Lime, "Lime, you're a martial artist right?"
Lime tilted her head and said,"Ehh, sorta. What's up?"
"Will you spar with me after school?"
"Huh?!"
"I need a sparring partner and the rest of the guys at my dad's gym are already too weak for me. I need someone stronger, like you."
Lime pointed a finger at herself and said,"Me? No way, no way, no way, no way, no way."
"But . . . Why?"
"I'm not nearly as strong as you make me out to be. All I did was learn a little bit of martial arts from my Grandpa."
"There's no mistaking the feeling I get from you. I always thought that it was because you were kind of a snake, but now I realize it's because you're strong."
Lime shook her head and said, "I can't compare to you Videl, you're better off looking elsewhere for a sparring partner."
Videl stares straight into Lime's eyes and sighed, "Fine, I suppose forcing you to spar with me is unreasonable."
Erasa added in, "it kinda is, you beat up criminals on a daily basis, how's Line gonna be a fair fight?"
Videl then said, "Well, if Lime won't spar with me, then I suppose I'll just have to get the Great Saiyaman to spar with me."
Gohan's face paled when he heard those words and instinctively turned to Lime for advice; who merely smiled at Gohan.
"What are you all doing after school?" Erasa asked.
"Training and fighting crime if I have to."
"I have football practice today, sorry babe."
"Gohan and I are going to a fabric store."
"A fabric store? Why?," Videl asked.
"Well, Gohan wanted to do some cosplay. Y'know the nerdy kind."
"Awww, how cute. Who are you cosplaying as Gohan?"
"Uhh Super-hoo-man."
"Ehh, I don't think you're buff enough."
Gohan softly chuckled and said,"I guess, but I still think he's really cool."
Sharpner shrugged and continued eating his lunch.
When the final bell rang and students began flooding out of the school building, Gohan and Lime set off for the fabric store they visited on Friday.
They waited outside the school near the field where the football team was practicing. Erasa agreed to wait for Sharpner after practice, so she sat down on the bleachers watching the team run drills. Lime and Gohan sat next to her and asked which one was Sharpner.
Erasa immediately pointed towards one of the helmeted heads rushing around the field.
"Wow, how'd you know?"
"It's easy, Sharpner has this certain way of running."
Gohan and Lime stared at the figure but couldn't figure what certain way of running Erasa was referring to.
After 14 minutes, Lime took Gohan and said bye to Erasa. They went to the subway station and arrived just as the train arrived. Unlike the train they took on Friday, this train was relatively empty and there were plenty of seats.
"Lime?"
"Hmm? What's up?"
"Why is this train so empty?"
"Oh, it's cause this is the train that no one waits for."
"Wha?"
"It's simple, in Satan City, everyone's rushing somewhere so no one tends to wait for trains, they just take the first one they see, even if it's super full. So if you just wait for the second train, there'll be a lot less people in there. Well, only if it's a certain kind of rush hour. Like school rush hour, for sure, but morning rush hour is unbearable, you either have to be super early or really late."
"Ohh, so it works like that. You really know a lot about this city."
"Well a couple years can do that to you."
"Either way, it's really cool."
"Nah, you're just a dork."
As the two made their way to the fabric shop, Videl was busy in the library looking up reports on the Great Saiyaman, Gold Fighter and the golden haired fighters at the Cell Games. As she began cross referencing them, she made the fairly obvious connection that the Gold Fighter was one of the golden haired fighters at the Cell Games, but which one?
"The reports say the Gold Fighter was wearing the pin for Orange Star high school, which means he must've been 7-11 years old at the time of the Cell Games."
She pulled out some of the rare footage that was found, showing the beginning Cell Games, where the golden haired fighters were facing off against Cell and losing. Her father had long since declared the footage to be a fake and the amazing feats the fighters performed to merely be a combination of camera tricks and light shows. Videl never quite trusted that statement though. Her father undoubtedly strong, but Cell was confirmed to have destroyed the military onslaught the World King unleashed on him. Could her father really defeat something that powerful?
As she thought about the Cell attack, she was suddenly reminded of the King Piccolo attack that occurred before she was born. Apparently the World Government has been overthrown by a monster who called himself King Piccolo and that he was defeated singlehandedly by a boy named Son Goku.
Wait a second, why does that name sound familiar?
Son Goku? Isnt Gohan's full name, Son Gohan?
Is it possible they're part of the same family?
She mulled over the possibility and tried to look up Son Goku. The only information on Son Goku was what he did before and at the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament. His life after that point was a complete mystery.
"It says here that he proposed to his anonymous competitor at the tournament and defeated MaJunior in the finals. After that he flew off on his cloud, the flying nimbus and was never seen again? . . . Wtf did I just read?! He defeated a demon at the finals and married some random woman he met at the tournament?"
She took a deep sigh and co tinyes her train of thought, "hmmmmmmm. . . . . Well if he got married, then his marriage certificate would be stored in the World Government's database right? I'm sure I can pull a few strings and get his file."
She put all her research materials back where she found them and went off towards the police station. As she walked there, she still couldn't figure out what relation the Great Saiyaman had with the Gold Fighter and the golden haired fighters. They had similar powers, but not really. The Great Saiyaman has super strength, which they all have, but the Great Saiyaman can fly and shoot lasers out of his hands, which the golden haired fighters could do, but the Gold Fighter couldn't.
When she finally got to the police station, the highest ranking officer immediately greeted her. He bowed until it looked like his head would hit the ground and asked in the most polite way possible,"How can this lowly officer help you, Miss. Videl?"
Videl slapped on her serious faces and said in a grave tone, "I'm performing an investigation into a corrupt martial arts association that's been causing trouble around town. I'm gonna need all the information you can get on Son Goku, the previous champion of the World Martial Arts tournament before my father."
"R-right away miss!"
He hopped onto a nearby computer and accessed the world government databases, pulling up everything on Son Goku.
After half an hour, the officer gave Videl a small stack of papers shoved into a manilla folder.
"This is all that we could find on Son Goku, Miss. Videl."
"Excellent work. What is your name?"
"I'm sergeant Mochi."
"I'll be sure to mention your name to the police chief once I solve this case."
"I'd be honored Miss!"
As Videl left the station, she muttered under her breath, "Miss this, Miss that, what a tool."
She returned to her mansion and quickly made her way to her bedroom. She locked the door and opened up the file on Son Goku.
The file contained all the records that the World Government kept on Son Goku's life.
"He married a woman named ChiChi, who is the daughter of the Ox King?! The Ox King? Wow. And he had a kid named, Son Goten? Oh wait, there was another birth certificate. . . . AHA! He had a son named Son Gohan!
Huhuhuhu. Videl isn't the villain . . . I swear. . . .