When a Hero Disappears

The State Bank

Chapter 2: The state bank

With a slight blush still on her cheeks, she tried to comprehend what had just happened. How did that boy get under her skin so suddenly? Was it because he was genuinely concerned for her well-being? Everyone always saw her as this indestructible fighting machine. And to top it all off, she was seen as this spoiled rich kid who didn't have a care in the world. If someone was concerned about any well-being, it was about theirs, not hers. But Gohan seemed different, unaffected by her status or fame.

She thought back to their first real encounter. Gohan was heralded by the teacher as this child prodigy that everybody should take an example from. He looked nervous, scratching the base of his neck as he tried to introduce himself properly. But the damage was already done. He was immediately labeled a nerd and had it not been for her best friend Erasa, Gohan would have ended up friendless.

The slim bubbly blond always took a liking to the innocent ones. And oh boy, Gohan was the definition of innocence. No matter how much Erasa tried, her flirting just didn't land. And after a few weeks, she gave up on the quite handsome teen with the dark spiky hair and the onyx eyes. However, her efforts resulted in Gohan now being included in their small group of friends. And now, for about two and a half months, Videl, Erasa, Sharpener and Gohan got along very well together.
But now Videl thought about it, she still didn't know much about the guy. Gohan came from the countryside and she knew his family owned a farm. Furthermore, he was kind, ignorant about almost everything, thought a lot about food and was genuinely caring. But that pretty much summed it all up. She realized that Gohan never spoke about himself and she never bothered to get to know him herself. The fact that she just learned he could fly a copter made her curious. What else could she learn about the guy? She decided to bomb him tomorrow with all kind of questions.

Her radio of her copter crackled and a tinny voice echoed through her cockpit. She jumped a bit and nearly lost control of her vehicle. Damnit, was she that unaccustomed to being called by the police?

"Videl, this is the chief speaking. We need all the help we can get. There's a bank robbery going on and -" There was a loud explosion on the other end of the line, followed by some cursing from the chief himself. He recovered and continued, "Prepare yourself, this group is clearly organized and it looks like they're willing to go down in the process."

"Alright, I'm on my way," and with a jerk on the steering wheel, she headed for the state bank.

In the distance she could see a big plume of smoke. That was probably from that explosion earlier. A few minutes later, she landed next to the chief's car. As she jumped out of her copter and decapsuled it, the chief gave her a status report.

"The group consists of a minimum of five people. Three of them are apparently freed from prison this morning, which has just been confirmed. One other is known to us as the mastermind behind a series of robberies, but we never found his whereabouts. The last time we heard of him was six months ago," he looked over at the bank. "I think they've gathered the best man just to successfully rob the state bank."

Videl followed his gaze. "What about the last person?"

"That's the one on watch, he's unknown to us," the chief replied. "Sorry."

"Any hostages?"

"Yes, three employees and two customers. One of which is the mayor," the chief looked at Videl. "We assume they knew the mayor would be there today. They're using him to negotiate their escape." He sighed, "Whatever happens, the mayor has to get out of there as soon as possible – alive, of course."