Bringer of Death

Chapter 107: The Family that Trains Together

World Championships Saga, Part 7: The Family that Trains Together

"Well, are you ready for this?"

"I should be, Gohan, thanks to your training." Videl's face and neck were tense. "I just don't feel... good about it." Gohan could hear the trepidation in her voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think I can talk about it. There's too much on my mind, okay?"

The half-Saiyan nodded as if in understanding, but he hadn't the faintest idea.

The girl thought about her father, who had crafted his entire persona around a lie. Like all falsehoods, that poison had crept into every relationship that mattered to the World Champion. His sickness was the reason she felt so anxious, so tense about stepping into the ring with him. Or was it? Was she carrying a burden of her own creation?

"It's not your fault, Gohan. I'm the one who wanted to train with you — after he explicitly ordered me not to. You didn't even know." Her emotions were beginning to boil over.

"Woah, slow down, Videl. That's no way to talk about yourself; you didn't do anything wrong. When we first met you would've never shown this kind of self-doubt. What's really going on?"

The girl bit her lip in anguish. Yet another lie, and this one was her fault. If only she'd explained everything to him, told him the full truth from the start — about everything.

"I can't talk about this right now, Gohan. Everyone's waiting on me."

A confused and worried Gohan could only watch as his good friend — and perhaps more than that — walked away from him, up the steep climb towards her father. This was a side of Videl Satan he'd never seen before, and it was rocking her ki like a kayak in an ocean storm.

"You can do this, Videl," the half-Saiyan yelled, hoping to be supportive. Then, more softly just to himself, his voice trailed off. "Remember, I believe in you."

"Well what a treat we have for you all now!" the announcer boomed with excitement. "Starting off round two of the 25th World Championships, we have an absolutely incredible matchup! She's been in the spotlight almost her entire life, raised around martial arts and trained growing up by the world's strongest man — who happens to be her own father! We've all been expecting great things from her, and she's come a long way from that little girl that used to stand on the sideline and adorably copy her dad's poses. All that brings us to today, where she's stepping into the ring with the one and only Hercule Satan! Does she have what it takes? If anyone does, folks, why not her? So ladies and gentlemen, get on your feet and make some noise... You know who I'm talking about, daughter of our Champion, it's Videl!"

The chants of "Satan, Satan, Satan" hadn't hit home with her since she was a kid, but especially not today. In fact it would've been easier if she had literally any other family name. She still hadn't actually looked at her father, though he was surely observing her body language as she approached. Maybe he would keep their own personal drama out of it — he was always playing to the crowd, putting on that persona of a man with the perfect life. She acknowledged the crowd with a forced smile and wave, but the observant eye would've noticed her hesitation.

Her father spoke, more slowly than she expected. "So you won against Spopovich in round one. Personally, I've always been of the mindset that you should give your fans a good show. But if I didn't know any better, I would have said you weren't just dragging it out for the sake of the crowd. That fight should have been easy for you!"

The girl bit her lip, remembering her earlier fight. Spopovich was a monster. His endurance alone marked him as plainly superhuman, even if not for the fact that he had been able to fly and fire energy attacks. It had taken all her concentration not to reveal her training with Gohan then and there.