//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Lions of Lambs 
// by ArguingPizza 
//------------------------------//

	“And in there is where they're testing the new food capsules.” Gohan pointed at an office door marked 'Food Research'. Beside him, Videl nodded her head in acknowledgment. Though she didn't voice it, she was bored out of her mind. To keep herself from falling asleep on her feet, she had resorted to counting floor tiles. 1239. And counting.

Since Gohan was wearing his boring school clothes instead of his purple training gi, she couldn't even allow herself the secret pleasure of admiring his chiseled physique. No amount of torture in the world could make her admit it out loud, but she actually thought Gohan wasn't too bad looking, at least when he wasn't dressed like......that.

Still, in retrospect, her current situation was at least partially her fault. It had only been two weeks since the fight against the pissed of monster of a Saiyan Broly, and Gohan had been annoyingly quiet ever since. Videl had finally been forced to ask his mother what was wrong. 

Chi Chi had told her that Gohan was feeling guilty because he hadn't been able to protect her, Goten, and Trunks from Broly. According to the dark haired mother bear that was Chi Chi, he had acted much the same way in the aftermath of his father's death against Cell. 

So, all other means having failed, Videl had called Gohan out. After talking to Chi Chi, she had realized she wouldn't be able to just force Gohan to forgive himself. She realized she needed to get a little creative. That was when she had come up with what she regarded as an excellent plan; she would get Gohan to 'make it up to her' for his imaginary transgression. 

Her next problem had been how? She couldn't exactly ask him to buy her something. It wasn't that he was poor; far from it. Chi Chi kept a small fortune under wraps. A combination of her late husband's old tournament winnings and being a Princess of the Ox Kingdom. If she felt the need the woman could buy a small country. 

It was just the fact that Videl already had too much stuff laying around her and her father's mansion and the last thing she needed was more. Not to mention it probably wouldn't be enough to cheer up Gohan. Asking for training was out too. Videl and Gohan were already training together every chance they had. Any more and her Dad would start asking questions, and that was something she was putting off for as long as she could. 

Eventually, it had struck Videl that Gohan's godmother was the one and only Bulma Briefs, heir to the Capsule Corporation. So one evening, after another of their grueling(for Videl) training sessions, Videl had told Gohan that if he wanted to make it up to her, he had to give her a guided tour of the Capsule Corp Headquarters. And now,Videl was paying for her small oversight in the wording or her request.

Videl had been hoping that Gohan would skip straight to the interesting stuff: jetcopters, hovercars, weapons research, and of course; the 'Weird Science' division, for which Capsule Corp was known world wide. Instead, Gohan had decided that if he was going to show Videl around Capsule Corp, he was going to show her everything. She was stuck being led through the most boring parts of the most exciting building on the planet. Gohan had even taken the time to show her the broom closets, and the small bit of teasing she had done when he had had gone completely over his head. Videl simply couldn't catch a break. 

As Gohan continued to drone on, Videl absentmindedly rubbed the spot where Broly had nearly broken her right arm two weeks before. Even though Gohan had given her a weird bean which healed her immediately, she swore she could still feel it tingle. 

“In here they have-” Gohan's tour was cut short when he was suddenly tackled to the ground by an orange and teal blur. Videl spun around in bewilderment and immediately burst out laughing. Gohan was pinned to the floor with Goten and Trunks on top of him. The two young Saiyans were holding him by his shirt and shaking him. Both were shouting at him, but they spoke so fast and so loud their words were incomprehensible. 

Gohan raised an eyebrow and stood with seemingly no effort. Goten and Trunks fell in a heap onto the floor in front of him. Gohan took a moment to dust off himself off before turning to the two children, who were now standing upright next to each other with angelic smiles on their faces.

“Care to explain what that was about?” he asked sternly. Beside him, Videl was finally beginning to recover from her laughing fit. A muffled giggle escaped her lips, and she covered her mouth in an unconvincing attempt to disguise it as a cough.

Goten glanced at Trunks and nudged him with his elbow. Trunks glared back at him before looking up at Gohan. “Well, uh.....we just wanted to hang out with our favorite person in the world! Is that a crime?” Trunks asked accusingly while pointing his finger angrily at Gohan. 

Gohan crossed his arms and sighed. “You got lost again, didn't you.” It wasn't a question. Goten and Trunks' faces reddened. Goten chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, the spitting image of his father. 

“Eh-heh. Kinda.” Gohan rolled his eyes, but before he could speak all three of the Saiyans' stomachs growled in synch. To Videl it sounded like a pissed off tiger had just roared in the small hallway. She actually felt the building shake.

“Um....Videl? Would mind if we finished the tour another time?” Gohan asked sheepishly. Inside, Videl was crying tears of joy. On the outside, she crossed her arms and looked away from the three half-breeds. 

“Hmph. Fine. But you still owe me a tour. And next time, I want to see the fun stuff. Got that?” She finished by poking him hard in the chest. Gohan leaned back fearfully and nodded. Videl smirked and turned her back to him. 

“Gooooohaaaaan!” Goten and Trunks whined together, “Coooooome oooooon we're hungry!” Goten and Trunks insistently pulled on Gohan's pant legs. 

“Alright, let's go,” Gohan replied and began to walk in the direction he and Videl had just come from. He had only taken three steps when he felt the weight on his pants disappear and the scuffle of small feet behind him. 

“Oooooh, what's down here?” Goten asked. Gohan turned around in time to see Goten and Trunks disappear down a hallway, their childish curiosity momentarily overriding their stomachs,. Gohan's shoulders slumped in exasperation. Gohan glanced at the sign above the hall as he slowly began to walk after the two hyperactive children. As soon as the words on the hanging plastic registered, he froze in place. 

It read 'Level III Research Wing'. Gohan paled. Level III was the wing where Capsule Corp developed its most dangerous technology. Interstellar engines, high energy reactors, advanced weapons, and pretty much everything else a pair of young demi-Saiyans shouldn't be around. Level III was so dangerous it didn't even have a cleaning crew; the chance of a janitor or maintenance technician being accidentally killed was too high. Even Gohan wasn't normally allowed in Level III. 

Without another thought, Gohan charged down the hall and turned into Level III. He paused and turned around to face Videl, who had followed him. “Videl, please stay here. Its really dangerous in there.” 

Before Videl could respond, Gohan pushed through the double doors into the research wing. Videl's face tightened and she scowled. “Too dangerous, eh? Oh yeah Gohan? I'll show you danger!” 

Videl pushed her own way through the double doors. The hall on the other side was completely different from the rest of the building, and it gave her pause. The walls were completely white, except for a single red line that ran about shoulder high. Black words repeated every few feet read 'LEVEL III RESEARCH WING' and 'AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'.

Videl disregarded the warnings and ran down the hall. She paused at an intersection and listened. To her left she heard the sounds of a struggle and a loud crash. She turned and sprinted down the hall, passing doors without bothering to read the words printed on them. 

After almost a minute of sprinting, she heard another crash come from the door she had just passed. She skidded to a stop and backtracked to the door. The door itself was hanging off its top hinge. Had it been intact instead of in tiny pieces on the tile floor, Videl would have been able to read the words on the translucent glass; 'Dimensional Research'. 

Videl cautiously pushed her way inside. As soon as stepped foot into the room, she was thrown back out by an invisible force. She bounced off the far wall of the hallway. Her head smacked against the hard concrete walls and she slumped to the floor. A dull throbbing pain in the back of her skull began to pulse. She pushed it to the back of her mind, no pun intended, and forced herself to stand. 

She entered again, taking very cautious, measured steps. The research room was big, very big. It was easily as large as a sports stadium in terms of floor space, though most of it was filled by lab tables. A line of large, oddly shaped machines lined the far wall. Videl looked towards the center of the room and saw one of the stupidest sights she had ever seen.

Directly to her left was a huge metal device. It shined even in the dull fluorescent lighting of the laboratory and was almost two stories tall. It looked very similar to a pyramid, with the exception of the side facing her being vertical. The flat side was decorated with a large circle that covered almost the entire surface. Strange characters and designs covered the entire structure with the exception of the circle, which was perfectly smooth.

To the right of the circle was a small control panel set into the metal that had been smashed to pieces. A shower of sparks burst from a hole through the center of the console. The hole was approximately the size of a child's head. The damage to the unusual device, however, wasn't what made the scene stupid. Instead, it was the three half-Saiyans wrestling on the ground, completely oblivious to the world around them. 

Gohan managed to pin Goten, but Trunks took advantage of the momentary distraction and wiggled out of his grasp. When he recaptured Trunks, Goten took the opportunity to escape. The cycle repeated a dozen times before Videl finally grew tired of it. She stamped her foot and loudly yelled, “ENOUGH!” The three Saiyans froze. They looked up at her with deer-in-a-headlight looks on their faces.

But before Videl could even begin to interrogate, or discipline, the boys in front of her, the same huge force that had slammed her into the wall before returned. This time, instead of pushing her away, it pulled her roughly towards the damaged machine. Videl's balance was thrown off and fell to the floor. Before she could regain her bearings she was dragged several feet towards the device before the force let up. Goten, Trunks, and Gohan had also been pulled towards it. The device began to whine deeply, every second growing in volume and pitch.

Gohan stood in alarm. Goten and Trunks, their arms and legs tangled together, stopped trying to free themselves to gaze at the machine as Videl righted herself. Suddenly another pulse came from the gate, this one much stronger than before.

Gohan planted his feet and stopped himself. The two young Saiyans slid along the floor and into the back of his legs. Having prepared herself, Videl was able to maintain her balance as well. She leaned back against the force, but the pulling didn't let up. Instead, it became stronger.

The sounds coming from the machine were beginning to become uncomfortable, especially for the Saiyans' sensitive hearing. Goten and Trunks both covered their ears with their hands and Gohan was wincing as he slowly walked over to Videl, careful to maintain his footing. 

“I think we should leave.” Videl didn't argue. It was becoming harder and harder every second for her to remain standing. She gave an affirming nod, and Gohan turned back to the two children behind him. 

“Goten, Trunks, let's go. We should probably find Bulma and ask her-”Gohan was cut off mid sentence as the pull of the machine abruptly disappeared and the hum exploded in volume. Gohan and Videl clutched their heads in agony, collapsing to their knees. 

The massive circle on the machine began to glow a brilliant white. The light illuminated an entirely new set of designs covering the rim of the circle which theselves glowed dark blue. The hum of the machine grew louder as the glow around the edge of the circle grew brighter.

Then, mercifully, the hum died and the bright lights dimmed. Gohan was the first to recover. He stood and placed a caring hand on Videl's shoulder, asking if she was alright. His hand was shoved away roughly and Videl nodded, assuring him she was fine. Gohan then checked over both Goten and Trunks, both of whom were fine. Gohan looked at the machine again out of the corner of his eye. 

The smooth, metallic center of the circle was glowing with an almost heavenly light. It was as if a thin layer of metal was all that stood between them and Eternity. It was, in a word, breathtaking. 

Gohan found himself pulled towards the light. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch it. The young half Saiyan reached out, not entirely in control of his own body, his fingers outstretched. The thought to stop himself occurred a fraction of a second too late, just as his fingers brushed against the polished surface. 

Light exploded, and then everything was dark. 

So, here it is. Please tell me what you think, I always look for pointers as far as writing goes and if you have any constructive points to make, please feel free.