Videl's Assignment

Videl sighed. When she had been brought in along with all the other girls in her social sciences class she thought something exciting was going to happen. Well, something exciting happened for the rest of them. An assignment had been given out which was worth fifty percent of the year's grade which could almost guarantee a pass on its own. All that was required was to right down a weekly journal of all the things which you had learnt in that week.

The assignment however had not been to her liking, it was the 'find someone of the opposite gender and get to know everything about them' assignment, which for most of the girls spelt out boyfriend. The boy also had to be from their year and Videl couldn't understand why so many of the boys in her year were so 'up' themselves. There was not a single guy that she wanted to even know anything apart from their name. Sharpner was the exception except he had already been claimed by several of the girls. Most of the girls had picked who they were going to get to know the day before but Videl had decided to wait hoping that Mr Right would walk through the door any moment with dazzling eyes and a perfect grin to match.

She was almost right as the teacher introduced the newest student to her class which had many girls breathless. He seemed nerdy but confident of himself at the same time. He wore a very basic outfit which to Videl meant that he didn't much care for his appearance. His black hair seemed so smooth as it waved with each step he made. If ever there was a mister Right this was him standing in front of her.

Whoa, whoa, whoa back up Videl, the crime fighter thought. You don't even know the guys name yet you are fawning over him. You've never looked at a guy twice before so stop starring.

Yet she couldn't take her eyes off of him. He introduced himself as Gohan Son and the teacher told him to find a seat. Thankfully the only one in the room was very close to her, the only thing in the middle was her friend Erasa, who without a doubt try to weasel so much information out of him that it wouldn't be funny.

He can't be purely perfect; he must have a crap personality or something, thought Videl trying to pick the man's main weakness. It had to be something on the inside because the outside seemed to be chiselled out of marble. He wasn't buff by any means but he wasn't lanky either which gave Videl the impression that he worked out in his spare time. He is a nerd Videl, he got perfect test scores to get in here; I doubt he has got anything underneath that shirt.

Gohan sat down at his desk and Videl could hear Erasa's chair squeak slightly as it shifted closer towards him. This was the time to talk, it would be a few minutes before their first teacher would arrive but Videl hated the lesson which would end the day. PE. PE usually was fun but they were doing martial arts and since their school had won a fighting competition (with her help mind you) and thus they had won the privilege of her father coming in to teach them a thing or two.

"Hey Gohan, guess what?" asked Erasa to the new boy. Videl had heard this one before it was one of her biggest lines as if she had recited it to memory. "I'm the friend of a celebrity's daughter!"

Videl couldn't help but notice that Gohan really didn't seem that interested in the topic. In fact he looked like he didn't even care about celebrity status. "That's her there, Miss Videl Satan, daughter of the champ who saved the world!"

Cheers Erasa, now this is the part where the guy starts fawning over me, they are all the same. All they want is for me to be the trophy girlfriend; nobody really cares about who I really am. I hate living in my father's shadow. Just when I thought that he was different...

"Your point being," said a stern faced Gohan. What just happened? Did Videl hear right? Did he not care or know who Hercule Satan was?

"She is the daughter of the man who saved the world!" added Sharpner in a harsh voice. "You should be praising her for her father's accomplishments." Sharpner was one of the Satan Dojo's finest students; he had begun training with them immediately after he had defeated Cell and looked up to him as his idol.

"Hmm, no," that was Gohan's reply. He really didn't seem to care about the topic and he didn't even seem to think of Hercule as that great a person. There is actually a guy who doesn't care about me for the status! Videl thought in wonder. That's it, I will fight off every girl who has eyes on him, for this assignment he is mine and mine only.

"Are you stupid or something?" Sharpner asked to Gohan. "You don't give the champion of the world any recognition at all and you don't even care that you are in the presence of his daughter."

"We are all a parent's child, that doesn't mean that we have to live in their shadow," answered Gohan with authority. God he understands me completely yet he hasn't even said a word to me, thought Videl.

She had so many questions raging through her mind but as soon as she looked at Gohan she saw his eyes. There was a warning written all over them, a do not disturb sign inside each pupil. Her mouth closed, this man was intimidating to say the least but Videl had ways of finding out information about guys, after all she was the strongest person in the school even though she didn't look it. She just had to wait for the opportune moment. The teacher came in and all was silent except for the scribbling of pen on paper.

Videl had just gone on her lunch break when her police watch had called in on her. She ran through the streets, the trouble was only a few blocks away and it would just waist time to start up the engine of her jet copter. She heard gunshots ringing out from around the next corner and increased her speed but before she got there the sound had ceased. Nonetheless she bolted around the corner to find a gang of criminals, all lying unconscious on the ground.

She looked at them in disbelief, unsure of what had just happened. She looked at the police there who told her that they hadn't done anything but simply pointed up the street. Videl followed their gaze to see a familiar black spiky hair go around the corner. At full speed she raced after the crime buster but as she turned the corner she found the street to be deserted, not a single person down the entire road.

Confused and bewildered, Videl walked back to school but couldn't escape the feeling that someone was watching her.

PE and the overly egotistic Hercule Satan stood there posing for all his fans. Everyone seemed amazed by the display but Videl had seen it a thousand times so she looked away... right at Gohan. He stood there with anger on his face, his penetrating stare on the champ. He looked like he was upset from a personal vendetta but Videl hadn't known that her father had done something wrong to any of the Son family, or at least nothing that the tabloids had shown.

"Sharpner my boy come up here," summoned the champ with his big cheesy grin. Sharpner jumped up at once and walked over to the champ who instructed him to take his stance. Sharpner did so and Hercule started pointing out all of the strengths that this stance had. Everyone knew what the stance looked like; the Satan Dojo had more than half the town's population as its members with more growing each day. Everybody who knew how to fight in the city had learnt this style of martial arts.

"Does anybody have the guts to challenge my star pupil?" said Hercule beaming. The class looked around at one another, no one really had expected this but then the sound of footsteps echoed through the room. Everyone's attention turned to Gohan as he walked casually towards the centre of the make shift ring. He brushed by Videl and she felt a shock of electricity, not an emotional shock but an actual shock. Sharpner grinned, he had the chance to beat the daylights out of the man who had insulted his mentor and show him where he stands.

"Alright boy let's see your stance," said Hercule expecting to see an exact replica of what Sharpner was standing in. However when Gohan took his stance it was quite different. Videl eyed it up and down trying to pick out the flaws, but she couldn't find any. This was ultimately the perfect fighting stance which had even left Hercule slightly confused.

Before Hercule could say anything about it Gohan butted in saying, "Just because it isn't your technique doesn't mean that it's bad." The crowd was stunned and whispers carried from one person to the next, they had never seen anyone speak back to Hercule before but they were witnessing a battle of the egos and Gohan was definitely winning.

"Well boy, whoever taught better have taught you how to use that stance better have taught you how to fight with it as well," said Hercule with a laugh.

"Don't worry, I've been fighting since before these students were in preschool." Now there was dead silence. Videl's mind was running overtime. First he shows up and brings out a flawless stance and now says that he had been fighting for most of his life. If he meant it as a joke he went about it all wrong, but something told Videl that he was dead serious about the matter.

"Alright enough mind games," said Sharpner taking his shirt off putting Gohan on the back foot slightly if only for a split second. All of the ladies in the room gasped at the quality of Sharpner's well toned body. Now he mocked Gohan, "C'mon boy, I want to make sure you've got no padding on underneath there."

Gohan stood still for a moment before reluctantly grabbing at the base of his shirt and lifting it over his head. The room gasped and Sharpner froze in shock, whatever muscles he had shown were dwarfed by the size of Gohan's. Every inch of him was toned to the max; there wasn't a single part of his body that had gone untrained. Yet there was more to the body which the attention of the crowd turned to...the scars. Dozens of long gruesome scars littered across his body as if he had been mangled in a car crash. Then there was the one which rested on his left shoulder. It was hideous; it looked like the arm had nearly been dislodged completely.

OHMYGOD, thought Videl. He wasn't kidding when he said that he had been fighting for most of his life. But what sort of master would put his pupil through so much pain?

"Alright, let this match begin," announced Hercule before jumping out of the ring. Gohan instantly resumed his flawless stance while Sharpner slowly got into his. Whatever confidence he had had before coming into the match had slowly diminished as he looked at the intimidating figure before him. Videl recalled her last fight with Sharpner, they had been evenly matched throughout most of the round until Videl had broken through his defence and had won after about three solid minutes.

Sharpner charged at Gohan, a newfound fury in his eyes. This was his match and he wasn't going to let the new kid show him up on the first day. Sharpner went for the trademark Satan Punch which Videl knew had enough force to break a person's nose. Videl watched in awe as Gohan simply lifted his hand and caught the fist as if it was nothing more than a piece of rubber. Sweat started pouring from Sharpner's brow as Gohan went on the counterattack. It was true that Sharpner was a master at blocking attacks from other people at the Satan Dojo because he knew what to expect, this time he had no chance to prepare. With lightning speed Gohan's spare fist connected with Sharpner's right pectoral muscle and sent him flying across the room crashing into a group of people who had been watching. Videl had a clear view of Sharpner and saw that there was an instant black bruise from where Gohan had connected. She turned her attention back to the said man who simply put his shirt back on and walked away as if nothing had happened.

The crowd parted as he walked to the back of the room and Videl couldn't help but stare in shock. It had taken her several minutes to defeat Sharpner yet he had done it with one hit and in much more spectacular fashion. A car's tyres could be heard screeching away as she turned her attention to where her father had been to find him no longer there. Without a teacher the class broke up for the day and several guys helped Sharpner to the sick bay. Videl however chased after Gohan but stayed at a safe distance, not wanting to draw any attention.

She followed him down the street, blending in with the crowd but before she could get close enough her police buzzer went off alerting her of a hold up on the complete other side of town. In dismay she decapsualized her jet copter and took off towards the other side of the city. However when she got there, there was no trouble to be seen, even the police were slightly baffled at the fact that one moment they were trying to negotiate with the criminals and the next they had all been taken down by a mysterious black haired youth.

Then out of the corner of her eye she saw him standing there, not the slightest bit proud of what he had just accomplished. Videl turned her head but as soon as she did the man vanished without a trace. Was that Gohan or am I just seeing things? No, it couldn't have been, I flew here, there was no way he could make that distance without some transport at least.

Angry about being beaten to two crimes Videl got back in her jet copter and flew off towards the police station. She was going to get all the information on Gohan and that was that.

"What do you mean this is it?" shouted Videl as she waved the single piece of paper back at the clerk who had given it to her.

"Honestly, in an hour that is all the information we could find on this Gohan person," he replied in sorrow. "You're chasing a ghost. Apart from the information we could get on his birth certificate we could find no record of him anywhere. No hospital record, no schooling record. It's as if he's lived in the wilderness all his life."

Videl looked down at the piece of paper in front of her. All it had on it was his date of birth and his family history. Apparently his mother was the daughter of the Ox-King who had lost everything he had in a fire. His father on the other hand there was even less information on. There was no date of birth for him and no family line as if he had appeared out of thin air. She found out that he also had a seven year old brother but that was all the information that the police could find.

Disgruntled, Videl left the station after telling the clerk to find out all the information he could about Gohan's parents. One way or another she had made it her decision to find out everything there was to this guy.

Late that night, Videl found herself tapping on a blank piece of paper. She had wanted to get a start on her first weekly journal but couldn't think of anything about Gohan except for family facts and after what she had seen today she didn't really care about those small things. A blip on her laptop screen told her that she had a new message from the police station. Clicking on it twice all she found was a link. Curious she followed it and found herself on a website about the details about the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Videl searched through the article and found a picture with the message "Before their marriage the same day, these two warriors did battle in the semi final of the World Martial Arts Tournament which Goku would later win."

This was information for Videl because it told her that both of Gohan's parents were fighters, exceptionally good fighters if they were able to make it to the final and semi-final of the same tournament. Then to get married after the tournament was over, that seemed like a dream come true for Videl. Furiously she began scribbling notes down on her piece of paper about Gohan's parents.

Another message flashed up and Videl went into it. This one said that they couldn't get access into most of the files because they were owned my Capsule Corp whose security was unbreakable. Why would Capsule Corp have information about Gohan's parents? I better pay them a visit tomorrow after school. With that in mind Videl switched off the lights and went to bed.

A small boy was nervous as he played with his tail while his father talked to a very old wise looking man, a bald short person and a woman with blue hair he had only just met. Then all of their attentions turned away from each other as a man with long black hair appeared seemingly from out of nowhere. He wore strange armour and had a tail wrapped around his waist. The boy's father talked to the man who kept referring to his father as "Kakkarot." A few minutes passed before the boy's father charged at the man only to be defeated with relative ease. The man then reached down and picked up the scared little boy before knocking him out cold.

Videl woke with a start, what a weird dream to have, hardly any of it seemed real. She looked out the window and saw the morning light seep in between her curtains. Not knowing what to think Videl prepared for the day. Who were those people? Why did that kid and guy with armour have tails? When did women have blue hair? God this is all so confusing. Frustrated Videl went about her daily morning routine, trying to make as much sense out of what just occurred as possible.

The day at school went by relatively quickly. During PE her father hadn't shown up to embarrass her which was a relief but the entire day she had spent most of her time trying to figure out just who was Gohan. He was a great fighter from genes and from battle, which she had deciphered but the rest of him was still a mystery.

Every class that they had shared everyone had sat as far away from his as possible because of fright. That fact seemed to go unnoticed by him but Videl assumed that he just didn't care. She could hear whispers and rumours spreading around the entire school of the warrior who had downed Sharpner within seconds. Now people were saying that he had the strength to crush a man's skull with his bare hands and that as a child he had been mauled by a bear. There was even a crazy story that he was a creation of a mad scientist and underneath all his scars were the malfunctioning parts of his mechanical body. Yeah RIGHT, thought Videl, as if that was possible.

Although there was something mechanical about him she had to admit. He didn't show emotions like most people did and he always had the same plain face. Not only that, but he always thought against what other people had such with the Sharpner verbal exchange yesterday. Speaking of pretty boy he wasn't at school today, probably recovering from his injuries or better yet his busted ego, thought Videl as she flew towards West City.

She landed her jet copter outside the big yellow building. She hopped out and capsualized her vehicle before stepping through the front door. As she walked to the front desk she was greeted with a blonde clerk who smiled at her. "Welcome to Capsule Corp," she said in her happy cheerful voice. Her expression showed that she was happy just to be under the same roof as Bulma Briefs which Videl figured was also for the large sum of money that would be put into her pocket after every hour of work.

"Hey, I'm looking for Bulma Briefs," Videl said without realising. What am I doing? I should have made an appointment or something; people like me just can't go waltzing into Capsule Corp and expect to see the president of the business.

"I'll just see if she is available, might I ask who you are."

Videl was stunned. It wasn't very often that people asked for her name since she was so well known in Satan City, although this was West City. "Um, Videl Satan," she answered meekly.

"Give me one moment." With that Videl waited patiently as the clerk blabbed away on the phone for a minute. "Okay she'll be with you shortly."

WHAT? Is it really that simple?

A minute passed and sure enough Videl saw the Bulma Briefs walking towards her, complete with casual clothes and blue hair. Blue hair, where have I seen that before?

"You must be Videl," she said with a smile. She offered her hand which Videl gladly took.

"Nice to meet you Ms Briefs," Videl responded.

"Please call me Bulma, Ms Briefs makes me sound so old," replied the blue haired woman.

"Sure thing Bulma," said Videl as they broke their handshake.

"So what brings you here?"

"I've been doing some research on a possible criminal link but every time I try to get any information on them it turns into a dead end which leads here," said Videl. It's not a complete lie but it'll work. "Is it possible for me to look through some of your files to see what I can find?"

"Sure thing, let me take you to the record room," said Bulma as she started leading Videl down the hall. This felt so awkward for Videl, she had never been in the presence of a more powerful woman than herself, not physically but Bulma did have quite a few attachments.

"I thought there would be more business rooms and such," noted Videl.

"No, this is just our construction and development building," said Bulma who had overheard.

"Shouldn't you be with all your other business people then since you are the president?"

"I should be but I'm a woman who likes to get her hands dirty."

Videl was beginning to respect this woman more and more. They eventually came to a room on the left side of the hall, opposite a large empty room with see through walls.

"What's that?" asked Videl as Bulma fiddled with the lock.

"That's my husband's Gravity Room, he uses it to help him train."

"That's incredible," said an astounded Videl.

"Do you want a taste of what it's like?" asked Bulma.

Videl's face beamed. "That would be amazing thank you."

Within a minute Videl stood in the centre of the Gravity Room with Bulma on the outside twisting the controls. "We'll just start off at two times gravity," said Bulma as she made the adjustment. Videl automatically felt the weight crush down on her but it wasn't more than she could handle. Giving a 'thumbs up' sign to Bulma and the blue haired woman adjusted the settings to three times gravity. Now Videl was struggling just to keep on her feet and she could feel the weight crush down on her shoulders. Bulma could see this as well and switched the machine back to normal.

As Videl felt the gravity return to normal she walked out the door with sweat pouring from her brow. Thankfully Bulma had a towel at hand. "Thank you," said Videl as she took the offered towel.

"Woman is the machine ready," came a booming voice which caught Videl's undivided attention. After all who could possibly call the president of Capsule Corp 'woman?' She looked down the hallway to see an incredibly tank man walking towards them in a skin tight outfit which showed his perfectly chiselled muscles. "Out of my way, the brat's coming shortly and I want to be ready" he commanded as he adjusted the settings of the gravity room before locking himself in.

Curious to what the man was doing, Videl looked at the numbers to see that he was training at three hundred times gravity. "Bulma is there meant to be a dot between there to make it three point zero?" asked Videl trying to make sense of the situation.

"No that's my husband's daily training setting," said Bulma with a sigh.

Videl gasped. That man is the husband of Bulma Briefs? That's unbelievable and what's more he goes and trains at a hundred times more gravity than I could stand in. This is just getting freaky.

"Anyway, let's see if we can find those files you are after," offered Bulma as she walked into the unlocked room. Videl slowly followed still in disbelief at the situation in front of her. As she entered the room she was shocked to find the only object in the room was a single computer.

"Just help yourself Videl, I have to go check on a few things," said Bulma before leaving Videl in the room alone. Videl was scared now, alone and with a man who could easily tear her to shreds on the other side of a walk which didn't look that stable anymore. Focusing, she walked over to a computer and put in the one name. Gohan Son. Immediately a biography appeared detailing all of the events in his life.

Who has access to all this information? How could Bulma have more information than the entire police department? It was then that she realised something else, it was an autobiography. Gohan wrote this, it must be true! Quickly she copied everything on the file to her USB and logged off of the site.

Hurriedly, she let herself out of the room to see the door to the gravity chamber close. It was then that she saw Gohan walk into the centre of the room and stand toe to toe with Bulma's husband. Videl couldn't help but notice that the gravity was still three hundred times greater than Earth's.

What the... Videl didn't finish the thought as both Gohan and the smaller fighter began battling in the centre of the room, the increased gravity having no effect on them. Videl watched stunned at the grace and formality of the two warriors, who dodged and countered every blow that was sent at them.

Videl walked away after watching the two warriors for a few minutes, she had never been so scared in her life. She held the USB stick in her hand with a death grip. She had the feeling that she was getting in way too much over her head. "Are you alright you look a little pale?" asked Bulma who had just stepped out of a room with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand.

"I think I need to lie down for a minute," said Videl honestly as she entered the room with Bulma.

She sat down as Bulma began to ask her questions. "So did you find what you were looking for?"

Videl no longer felt like hiding the truth, she felt by doing so the consequences would be far greater than the gain. "I'm sorry I lied to you Bulma." Bulma didn't respond as she was confused at the matter. "I lied to you about the information being about a criminal, I needed it for an assignment about a classmate."

"Why would classified information be about one of your classmates?"

"Because it's Gohan Son." Bulma breathed deeply as did Videl now that she had gotten that off her chest.

Bulma put down her coffee. "I ask of you to forget your assignment. What you are going to find in that document will mentally scar you forever; once you start there is no going back."

Sweat began to drip from Videl's forehead. This was starting to sound serious. She looked at the USB stick in her hands.

Bulma continued, "There is even information in there that you wouldn't believe and will spend the remainder of your life trying to prove them false but I can guarantee you that every slither of information in there is true."

"Does it say where Gohan got his scars from?" asked Videl.

Bulma nodded. "He has done so much for the planet yet he doesn't get recognised for it."

"What has he done?"

Bulma breathed deeply. "He defeated Cell."

Videl wanted to get angry at that response but somehow she knew it was true. He had been the 'Delivery Boy' who had valiantly fought Cell and had defeated him than her father had taken credit for it. No wonder he doesn't like my dad.

"And that's where he got all of those scars?" she asked.

"Some of them," answered a male voice at the door. Videl turned her head in shock to see Gohan standing there, sweat and blood stains all across his clothes from his brief fight. "The others I got in other battles over the years."

Videl looked at Gohan who sat down next to Bulma. There was something different about him now, possibly in the way he looked at her. There wasn't any anger or hate in his eyes anymore, as if a great burden had been lifted off his chest.

"You've been holding onto your secrets all your life," said Videl softly. "No wonder you don't like it at school."

Gohan was silent; he too was taking all this information in.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Bulma.

Videl looked back at the USB stick and using both hands snapped it in half. She looked up at Gohan and saw him smiling at her which made her blush slightly. "Thank you," he said softly his words wooing her.

"Will I still see you at school?" she asked.

"Hope so," said a grateful Gohan which made her smile.

Videl and Gohan walked out of the Capsule Corp building close to each other. They were friends now, and that was a starting point for Videl. She had told him that she and him could make up some information about his past to trick everyone at school so that they didn't go brownnosing like she did. Videl's police watch started ringing and she quickly answered it.

"What is it chief?" she asked.

"There is a robbery going on in the east side of Satan City," he explained.

Videl was about to respond when she looked up to see that Gohan had vanished from sight. With a smile she said back to the chief, "Don't worry my partner will be there shortly."