(Some weeks later)
(Satan City)
"So you're saying that I can breathe in space for a certain amount of time?" Videl asked as she watched the demi-Saiyan beside her hand the money in his hand over to the cashier for the popcorn and drink he was purchasing for her. Once the change was given back to him, the girl in the white over-sized t-shirt with purple sleeves and figure-hugging jeans smiled when he turned back to face her. "That's so cool."
"As long as you maintain a constant field of energy around you, then your ki will be able to circulate the air inside of the bubble and constantly supply you with oxygen for you to breathe," Gohan elaborated, handing her drink and popcorn over and trading them for the slushy she was holding for him. As soon as both had their beverages in hand, the pair proceeded on out of the candy bar area and towards the cinemas. "Krillin and I tried it out not too long ago, and it works like a charm."
Videl chuckled, "Since you're part alien, I bet your genetics naturally allows you to breathe in space and you don't have to go through the trouble of using your energy to produce an atmospheric shield."
"True. But I think it's a good idea to have as many alternatives as possible. If one system fails, then you can always fall back on your second one… am I right?"
"You got a point there," Videl murmured, plucking some popcorn from the box she was holding and tossing them into her mouth. She made a thoughtful noise as she casually chewed, "Hmm… I should give it a try on my next training session. Maybe sometime this weekend."
"I'll take you up to the stratosphere to try it out," Gohan offered, beaming across at his friend as he escorted her towards the woman standing by the entrance to the corridor of theater entrances. "Though I'm sure you can stand extremely high altitudes if your trips up to Kami's Lookout are anything to go by, it'd be best if we took this in small steps. Adrenaline rushes aside; you're still a little new to this sort of stuff."
"Hey. I'm a tough girl," Videl replied, elbowing the teen in the side and giving him a roguish grin. "Believe me. I can handle anything you can handle, big boy."
"Oh? Is that challenge I hear in your voice?" Gohan asked, going along with his friend's tone as she turned away slyly.
"What do you think?"
"You don't want to bump a half-Saiyan warrior, Videl, because he'll definitely bump back even harder. We're cold, calculating, ruthless alien warriors born and bred for combat of the highest degree. It's in our nature to respond accordingly to competition," the teen informed while leering at her, an expression which earned a playful scoff from the tomboy strolling alongside him.
"You're too much of a softie for something like that," the pig-tailed fighter replied, reaching up and poking the boy in the cheek.
The hybrid grinned against her finger, "Try me." They then stopped in front of the usher. The blonde employee in the red and white striped dress gave the couple a pleasant smile at their interactions, before accepting the tickets Gohan handed to her. As soon as she checked them, she promptly directed them down the hallway and towards their cinema number, which the pair gladly continued towards. "In all seriousness though, I can tell you've gotten a lot stronger compared to what you were back at the World Martial Arts Tournament."
"I've been training with you for about four years now," Videl said while smiling up at the boy. "How strong do you think I am now compared to the people you've fought with in the past?"
Gohan had to think on it for a moment as they moved towards the doorway, "It's hard to say, really. I'll need to test you the next time you come over to my place." Turning his attention to the enormous movie screen that eased into view, the teen then checked their tickets and grinned over his training partner. "But right now, I'd rather focus on finding our seats to watch the movie."
Processing his words quickly, the daughter of Hercule Satan nodded back to him in agreement, "Yeah. Alright." She too checked the tickets he was holding, "So… I'm… J-12?"
"And I'm J-13. That puts us up… there." The young male then pointed towards the middle row of the sprawling I-Max setup.
Videl grinned when she spotted it, "Race yah! One-two-three-GO!" She then sprang into the air and vanished in a white blur, super speeding up to their seats ten meters away in under a second.
Sure it seemed like an abuse of her powers, but if you had super speed amongst an arsenal of several other miscellaneous abilities, who wouldn't use their gifts in a situation like this?
Appearing in her chair in the blink of an eye, Videl grinned victoriously. But just as she was moving to sit, the girl looked across with a start when she spotted Gohan already sitting in his seat, with his legs kicked up in front of him and drinking casually from his slushy. The spiky haired boy in the Capsule Corp. jacket grinned at the stunned girl when she finally registered to his presence. "Close, but no dice," the demi-Saiyan exclaimed in a cheerful voice.
Responding to his teasing grin, Videl smirked and, leaning over, gave the boy several hard, playful punches to his shoulder, her actions causing the teen to laugh and fend her off in kind. "You. Big. Jerk," she said between the thumps of her fist against his arm, "How the hell can you… ah, forget it. I know it's impossible to beat you in a race, no matter how fast I move." She then plopped down in her seat and set her popcorn aside on the same armrest as her drink to her right.
"Keep trying. I'm sure you'll get there eventually."
"Yeah right, liar," Videl said, leaning back in her chair and throwing the boy a look. "On top of being half-alien and a quarter-demon; you're practically the strongest guy in the universe. How can I possibly expect to compete with that?"
"With another year or two of training, I'm positive you'll be able to go toe to toe with me in my base form, no problem," Gohan informed, smiling at his friend to see her perk up at his statement. "Krillin and Tien can fight evenly with me while I'm in my normal form. As long as you keep doing what you're doing, in about fifteen to eighteen months time, you'll be fighting in the exact same league as them. Heck, you're already much stronger than Chiaotzu. A little more weight and ki training, and you'll be just as strong as the others."
This information had the raven haired girl's eyes light up with excitement and her grin widen. "Then I'll keep doing what I'm doing and catch up to you… no matter what it takes." In her eagerness, Videl quickly pushed the arm rest between them up so that she could quickly scoot over and latch onto his shoulder. Her actions causing Gohan to turn to her in surprise, the tomboy smiled fondly at him. With red in her cheeks and a glow in her face, the girl shyly tucked some strands of hair behind her ear while she gazed at her mentor and best friend. "Thanks for everything, Gohan-kun. You're the best."
Blinking a couple of times, Gohan smiled right back at her, "You're welcome, Videl."
Practically shining by this point, the tomboy fighter then adjusted her position and, while still leaning against her friend, turned towards the massive screen at the front of the theatre. Since there were still a few minutes to go before the movie started, the pair had plenty of time to engage in some good-natured pleasantries.
"You know… I'm thinking of joining the police force here in the city."
"Really?" Gohan glanced across at the girl with a blink. "You want to get a job in law enforcement?"
"Yeah. But not as a full-timer. I want to be able to do this part-time while I finish my studies at school and university," the teen stated with an eager grin in play. "I'm a good friend with the police chief's daughter, so I'm sure I'll be able to arrange a meeting with him and talk to him about getting a position on their special crime fighting unit. After I show them what I can do, I'm positive I'll be able to land a position easily. I just need to go through a couple of checks and seminars first to learn about proper police engagement and procedures." Videl then looked up at the half-Saiyan excitedly. "You should join me, Gohan."
The demi-Saiyan blinked a couple of times, "A-Are you sure?"
"Yeah. With your skills and your strength, I'm sure you'll make an awesome crime fighter," Videl said, before then nudging him in the arm a few times, "Or maybe even a super hero. Yeah. The two of us fighting crime side-by-side as the defenders of Satan City!" She then spoke in n exaggerated, heroic sounding voice, "The Z-fighters: protecting the weak and battling villains for the greater good!"
Gohan laughed at his friend's zeal, "Heh. That sounds awesome!"
"Right?" the tomboy exclaimed, gripping the boy's arm tightly and giving him her most honest look. "This isn't about getting fame or glory or anything like that, Gohan. I want to do this so that I can protect the people of my hometown. By joining the police force, I'll be able to go out and help them whenever they need me. Not to mention I'll be allowed to do it and not have to worry about the law coming after me in case I do anything outside of my jurisdiction. Even though we can protect the planet from aliens and robots threatening to destroy it, when it comes to fighting bad guys in the community… it's a little more complicated than that. You can get into a lot of trouble tackling crime as a vigilante without the proper clearance or consent."
"I suppose you're right about that," Gohan murmured, sensing the honesty and seriousness in the girl's voice as he considered her words. After taking some time to dawn on his companion's statements, he then nodded his head affirmatively and, finally making up his mind, turned back to her with a brilliant smile. "Okay then… let's do it." His answer had his best friend's face light up.
Heart hammering away at her chest, Videl leaned in and rested her head against the Saiyan's shoulder, clearly relaxing after her sudden burst of exhilaration. Though Gohan couldn't see it, the pigtailed fighter was ecstatic that her best friend from the country wanted to be with her on this, as they shared the same sense of justice and a need to defend those who were closest to them.
Videl reminded herself to ring up her friend tonight so that they could get started on the process.
Once she was done expressing her gratitude to the young Z-fighter, Videl focused her attention back on the big screen and smirked. "So I heard this movie is supposed to be pretty awesome… much better than the last one they made a couple years ago. At least… that's what Erasa told me." She changed subjects almost instantly, a move that put a grin on Gohan's face.
"Oh yeah? Isn't this supposed to be that Superman remake… the 'Man of Steel movie' or something?"
"Yep. These types of films have been getting pretty popular nowadays… probably due to the footage the news crews have been able to capture of you and your friends over the years. They're making a killing at the box office from all the ideas they're coming up with," Videl explained, bringing the popcorn around and setting it between them. She then gestured for the half-Saiyan to have some, which he did and began tossing individual pops into his mouth one at a time. "Though this franchise is taking a while to get off the ground compared to their rivals, I still think it's a really awesome series."
"I wonder how strong they'll make this version of the superhero in tights," Gohan wondered aloud as he stared at the blank screen with the girl alongside him.
"Not sure. But hopefully he's not going to be one of those overpowered versions where his strength defies all logic and realism," Videl went on, rolling her eyes at the same time. "Stuff like that can really take you out of a movie."
"Well… if he's going to be anything like me, I'll let you know," the demi-Saiyan said with a smile.
"Go ahead. Don't let me stop you."
Several minutes of chat later and the movie began. Kicking back in their seats and using the other's shoulder as support, the two of them got comfortable and watched as the industry's latest master piece came to life right before their very eyes. At first the whole thing chugged along at a labored pace, giving the pair the origin story of this alien warrior who would become the greatest hero earth had ever seen and showed them all his struggles growing up alongside humans. They also introduced the villains of the story; members of the hero's race coming down to the planet searching for him and the secret that he unknowingly had in his possession. It was an intriguing concept of course…
But about an hour and a half into it, when it finally got to the actual fighting between the main characters and the movie's primary antagonists, Gohan couldn't help but stop as he watched one of the bad guys, with great effort, pick up a train and pitch it at the hero like it were a basketball.
The demi-Saiyan chuckled, "I can do that."
"Of course you can," Videl whispered in response, tossing some more popcorn into her mouth.
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