Bringer of Death

Heroes Saga, Part 4: Get Schooled

*Heroes Saga, Part 4: Get Schooled*

The girl's head spun. The wail of sirens was suddenly deafening, the strobing emergency lights disorienting. The voices around her faded in and out, and she stumbled, coughing. The scent of smoke and dust choked her, and she braced herself against an ambulance. It hurt to walk. "Gohan? Trunks?" Videl tried to raise her voice, hoping someone would hear her, but it came out strangled. They were both gone. Had she seen them lift into the air, or was she hallucinating? Sudden nausea washed over her as she turned and retched, the latent effects of smoke inhalation. A pair of emergency responders were at her side, helping her onto a stretcher. "I'm fine, really..." she protested, but her eyes were heavy and her arms felt weak. "Don't try to speak, miss. You've suffered smoke inhalation and significant burns. We'll need to take you in for examination and treatment." "I have to...I have to find..." Videl's voice trailed off and her world faded to black as she tried to remember just who she had been looking for.

Trunks took a deep breath as he pulled his armor over his head. His mother muttered to herself as she checked him for injuries. Despite a few bruises, he was all right. "That was a close one!" said Gohan, smiling. "Good thing I was around! I didn't realize you were trying to do this kind of stuff on your own." Bulma's glance spoke volumes, and the older Saiyan backpedaled quickly. "I'm sure the average everyday situation isn't nearly this dangerous, right? It's not like you're hurt or anything." "Just my pride," said Trunks. "I was cocky and I let things get out of hand." "Could have happened to any of us, I'm sure," added Gohan generously. "Maybe so," interrupted Bulma, "but this won't be happening again. Thanks for looking after Trunks today, but his hero gig isn't working out." "WHAT!? Come on, mom!?" the youth begged. "I learned my lesson, I'll be much more careful from now on." "I'm sure you've learned a lot, son, but I'm not comfortable with you doing this any more." "But—" "Just because I've stayed out of your project doesn't mean I don't know anything about it, dear." Bulma smiled sadly at her son. "It's good work, and I'm proud of you, but it's not ready for the field. Your power management is all over the place and your programming has some serious bugs that could really mess things up in a sticky situation." Trunks felt his fists tightening and his heart started pounding. How could she act like this? Didn't she know... "If he doesn't do any work, how will he improve it?" asked Gohan quietly. She raised one eyebrow. "I'd love to work with him on it," continued the older half-Saiyan. "I'm going to be around more, now, so what if I spend some time with Trunks? We can go over what systems need updates and what he can use. I'll keep an eye on him." "Wait, you're going to be around more?" exclaimed Trunks, though Gohan didn't seem to answer. "Hmm, I guess you make a good point," Bulma replied after a moment of thought. "Trunks, I'll think about letting you test your suit and improve it with Gohan, but that's the extent of it, understand

Her eyes opened slowly, the heavy lids resisting the impulse to wake. The blurred world around her bore the unfamiliar smell of a hospital room, but as her eyes began to adjust she saw the familiar form of her father standing over her. "Hey, dad..." she murmured, exhausted. "Oh thank goodness, Videl!" Hercule's eyes were so wide with worry that he looked almost cartoonish. "Do you feel all right?" The nurse stepped into the room, noticing she was finally awake. "Not to worry, Mr. Satan. She got out with just a few scratches. At first we thought she had smoke inhalation, but there doesn't seem to be any swelling. And what we thought were burns turned out to just be caked on dirt and debris." Videl quickly raised up in the bed. "What about everyone else? Did everyone make it out of the building in time?" "We're treating a few other patients, but none are critical," the nurse responded. "And as for you, you're an amazingly sturdy young lady. Take it easy for a couple of days though, and lay off the physical training. It looks as if you've come dangerously close to your body's limits, and I suspect this isn't the first time." Hercule raised an eyebrow, doubtful of whether or not he actually wanted to enforce the nurse's restriction. Training came first in the Satan household. "Ehem, well," he grunted, "that's what it takes to be the best, and we don't settle for anything less in this family." For once, Videl wholeheartedly agreed. She knew most parents would insist that she stop training so much, or possibly altogether. Not /her/ dad, though. "Do I have to stay the night here?" she quickly asked, trying to change the subject before the nurse insisted she stay. "No, I actually came to release you." The nurse paused again, looking at her clipboard. "It's quite a miracle really. For what your body went through, you must be the luckiest person alive—there's barely anything but superficial damage." Videl tried not to grin. She knew it wasn't ordinary strength that had kept her alive; her ki must have protected her. But her Dad roared loudly. "That's just how we Satans are! We can take ten times the punishment of any normal person, ahahahaha!" His laughter was overloud as he tried to hide how worried he had been. "Well, just do yourself a favor and make certain your heroics don't keep landing you in here." Videl's eyes perked up as the TV in the corner of her eye displayed a familiar scene. She grabbed the remote and turned up the volume just as the on-scene reporter began. "We take you to Holly, reporting live downtown for the latest updates." "That's right, Tom. I'm standing on the corner of Orange street and Main in downtown Satan City, the site where earlier this morning the building behind me was evacuated due to a bomb threat. Police responded as several employees of the Silverblood Insurance company were held hostage by a single culprit, whose motives are not yet clear. But it was the appearance of Satan City's own favorite daughter /Videl Satan/ that marked a surprising turn in our story. According to police, she attempted negotiations with the bomber which unfortunately resulted in one of bombs being detonated. At approximately 12:34pm, an explosion rocked one of the upper levels, compromising the structural integrity of the building with both police and hostages still inside." Hercule was watching quietly as well as the television continued. "Video surveillance from inside the building indicated that she was joined on the scene by Trunks Briefs, a newcomer to the field of police assistance. His contributions at this point are unknown, but what we do know is neither were able to prevent the attack. Many have already begun to question the validity of their involvement." "Holly, it's quite rare that even /Videl /finds a situation she can't handle," Tom added, "but I suppose a collapsing building falls into that category." "That's true, Tom. Witnesses were describing to me how the 40 story building began to sway and shake, with smoke pouring out of half the building's windows." Amateur footage showed a split-second clip of Trunks pushing in vain against the building as it threatened to topple. "It's amazing anyone made it out alive." "And what of the building itself?" the newsman asked. "Structural engineers are reporting the building was moments from collapse, but the appearance of a strange /new/ hero has everyone in Satan City talking. Inspectors are currently at work behind me examining testing the building's bones, but it appears the undisclosed golden-haired youth was able to both put out all the fires and reinforce the superstructure of the tower before it collapsed. We don't know anything about him yet, but I think we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Hercules fists tightened. "Several of the employees are being treated in the hospital, and as of now the only confirmed death was the bomber. Back to you, Tom." Videl waited quietly, watching her father's face, afraid of what was coming. There was no video footage of Gohan and no mention of his name, but even word of someone matching his description was enough to set her father on edge. "Well, are you ready to go, Daddy?" she asked. Although his face didn't change, she felt something coming from him...a twinge in her ki that felt angry and frightened and unglued all at once. Hercule's mind was racing. If the child he single-handedly blamed for all his failures had managed to infiltrate HIS city, what would he do next? Try to humiliate the champ and expose him as a fraud—worse, capture his daughter and embarrass or undermine her—even indoctrinate her with his lies? "Did you see the golden-haired kid?" he finally asked through clenched teeth. Videl smiled nervously, trying to play it off. "I don't really remember, sorry, it was all a blur at the end there. He saved me though, I think," she added. But as soon as she said it, she knew trying to defend him had been a mistake. "You do realize of course who it might be," Hercule's tone hardened. "I don't even want to say his filthy name, but...if it is that damn Gohan kid, you are to stay away from him at any and all costs, do you understand!?" "I, uh—" "I said stay away! I will not have my one and only daughter being influenced by a lying, cheating, heathen freakshow, do you understand!?" Videl felt like her hopes were being crushed.