Chapter One: Spirited Away
Part One
The floor was hard, uncomfortable. It felt like stone, but he couldn't be sure. His head throbbed, his eyelids heavy.
Those men…who had they been? They had coe out of nowhere, out of a bright shining doorway in the air.
He'd been at Capsule Corporation for a barbeque when they had arrived. He sensed no power emanating from them, which meant that he could not tell how strong they were. He'd greeted them friendly enough, but they hadn't said a word.
And they were fast. Before he knew it, six or more darts were embedded in his neck; thin, fine-pointed things that went deep into his flesh. He'd fought them, but they made no move to do the same. Soon he was feeling dizzy and weak. His surroundings began to grow dark.
That was when Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo had stepped in.
But one of the men threw down some kind of grenade, and a curtain of smoke erupted from it. A thick cloud quickly covered the area, and was the last thing he'd witnessed before the sedative got the better of him and everything went black.
…so where was he now? And the others? His friends, family – were they safe?
With this last thought, he forced himself to try and open his eyes. Come on, Goku! Wake up!
Goku's eyes opened to a stark white ceiling and his orange and blue gi suit, which was undisturbed upon him. The rest of the large, rectangular room was also white, and just as he'd guessed, the floor was made of solid stone. There were no windows, but there appeared to be two doors – one at the far end of the room (it was directly in his line of vision, and he could see it was a small secluded restroom) and one closer to where he lay on the floor.
The door near him was part of the wall, and like it was completely transparent. Through it he could see a hallway – one that was entirely empty.
Encouraged by this, Goku prepared to lift himself up. As he moved his arms to push off the floor, he realized that his hands were bound; not by rope or by iron, but by what appeared to be pure energy. It made no hum and did not crackle, but it was there just the same. The bonds were far enough apart that he could move freely enough, but were too close to do virtually anything as far as escaping went.
Just as he was wondering if he could break through the energy cords, a voice in the hall caught his attention.
"Goku's awake. Hit the switch."
As Goku turned, his arms were suddenly pulled towards the wall, by an unseen force. His body slammed against the wall; he was facing out toward the room. His bonds seemed to be magnetically attached to the wall, and strain as he might, he could not separate the two.
In the next moment, Goku received a shock. With a loud sound of a bolt being unlocked, the door swung open and more of the men entered.
Carried between them was the limp form of Trunks.
Goku gaped. This wasn't the little Trunks from his time, but the one from the future – the one who had come back to their time to warn them of the evil Androids come to destroy the world, the one who had fought beside them in the epic battle against Cell and had returned to his own time to save his own future.
"Trunks!" Goku cried. "Trunks, wake up!"
The men turned as Goku spoke, and he fixed them with a cold stare. There features and clothing were varied, though all looked of Japanese descent and dressed in the style of ninjas. Most wore masks. "Who are you?" Goku demanded. "Why are you doing this?"
But they said nothing, and ignoring his yells of question and protest, walked out of the room, shutting and bolting the door behind them.
As soon as they had gone, Goku's hands were released from the wall and he stumbled to the floor. He immediately rushed to Trunks' side and shook his shoulder gently. "Trunks?"
But the young man did not stir.
Goku looked him over; there were no wounds upon him, except several pinprick holes where Goku assumed the darts must have punctured the skin. Trunks' lavender hair fell gracefully across his face, moving very slightly with his steady breaths. He was dressed in his regular black tank-top and grey baggy pants and orange boots, but his blue Capsule Corporation jacket was gone. Like Goku, Trunks' hands were bound by energy-cords.
"Trunks?" Goku repeated, but to no avail.
He sat by his friend's side, constantly shifting his gaze from Trunks to the transparent door. After long minutes of staring at the door, a small groan tore Goku's attention away. "Trunks?"
Trunks' eyes stirred under their lids, and his head moved slightly. Very slowly, the eyelids cracked, and the bright blue eyes underneath opened to see Goku's face.
What colour remained in Trunks' face now drained out and he sat bolt upright and lurched away. "G-Goku? But you're—Am…am I dead?"
Goku grinned. "Nope! At least I'm pretty sure."
"But what're you doing here? Where is here, anyway?"
"I'm not sure." Goku looked back towards the doorway. "We were having a barbeque at Capsule Corp. when those men came out of nowhere…they shot some kind of darts at me and I blacked out. I woke up here."
"Same thing happened to me – I was helping Mom with some painting and just like you said…they came out of thin air. Oh man, I hope Mom's alright…if they've done anything to her, I swear…" Trunks' blue eyes flashed dangerously and he grit his teeth. But his anger dwindled as he looked at Goku in puzzlement. "So…you're not dead then."
Goku gave a short laugh. "Nope. See, seven years after the Cell Games, there was a World Tournament and because of what I did when I fought Cell, the Kais and King Yama said that I could return for one day to fight in it. Gohan's all grown up now, Trunks, you should see him – and I have another son! His name is Goten, and he looks just like me…But this guy was there at the tournament, and he took the energy out of Gohan to wake this creature…"
And so Goku told Trunks of how the monster Buu had emerged, how he was stronger than any fighter in the Universe…how Vegeta, Trunks' father, had sacrificed himself in order to kill Buu, but even that had not been enough. He went on with the tale, how the Earth had finally been destroyed, but Vegeta and Goku had teamed up in the Other World and finally, with the help of the resurrected Earth and its people, had destroyed Buu with an almighty Spirit Bomb.
Trunks sat, and listened intently through the entire story. "Wow…" he finally said. "And my father…he sacrificed himself. I never thought he'd do something like that…."
"He's changed a lot, Trunks. He's still proud as ever, but he does love you and Bulma, that's for sure."
Trunks smiled and blinked away a tear beginning to form in one of his eyes. In his time, his father – and everyone else besides his mother -- was long dead. He'd never even met his father until he went back in time to warn them of the Androids.
"So how's life in your time, Trunks?" Goku asked, breaking his thoughts. "You took care of the Androids, right?"
"Yeah, and Cell too. I caught him just before he was going to sneak up and take my time machine back to your time. They've all been dead for a few years now. We're still rebuilding and fixing up the cities."
"That's great, Trunks."
"Yeah…" Trunks gazed down at his energy-cuffs, and then lifted them in front of his face. "You think we can break out of these?"
"We can try."
Meanwhile, in another universe, in another reality….
"The Kyr-ivnes sector is all clear, Blade Rider."
Carin Darkstar, alias The Blade Rider turned and nodded. "Thank you, Nightwolf. Wisp, what about the Kyr-ari sector?"
"All clear."
"Great." Carin Darkstar was the leader of an organization known as the Dark Moon. Nearly every night they patrolled the streets of different planets, searching out and destroying Ihreakin – demons that wrought havoc and brought death. This was one such mission, and so far it was looking clear. "We might get home a little early tonight," she said. She turned to mount her vehicle, a slim silver motorcycle-like thing that hovered above ground. According to the Magin race, which created it, it was the fastest thing without wheels.
As she was just about to put her helmet on, a blinding light erupted to her left. She instinctively drew her sword, and flung her arm over her eyes to block out the light. The light was brighter than any sunlight, but it eventually dimmed and she saw it came from a rectangle, a door, in the air. Dark shapes loomed out of the brightness, and one of them raised an arm.
"Wha—ungh!" Several sharp pains erupted in her neck, just below her jaw line. Her hand flew there, to find three thin darts. No, this was just like before…!
One of the men said something, but she didn't catch it. It had sounded like the Earthen English language, but she wasn't sure.
"Blade Rider!" Nightwolf, her husband yelled over the noise of running footsteps and the hum of the light-door.
"R-Rek!" She gasped his true name. Whatever was in the darts was strong, and it was consuming her quickly. Her legs buckled beneath her.
Faintly she heard a command from one of the men, and a furious cry from Rek. She was in someone's arms now, but not her husband's. She was moving towards the bright light, but what lay beyond it, she never saw.
Goku rubbed his hands together, trying to rid the feeling of the electric shock. The door had been booby-trapped…how could he have known?
"Are you okay? That was a nasty shock." Trunks said.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've had worse."
Trunks let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I know…well, I guess we're gonna be here awhile. Do you think it's just the two of us? No one else has arrived yet—" Trunks' voice was cut off by another, coming from outside in the hall.
"Come on, hit the switch."
"I'm going, I'm going – HOLY—"
"She's awake!"
Suddenly one of the men – blond-haired with sunglasses and dressed in blue and black fighting pants – smashed into the transparent wall so hard that his glasses cracked.
Then a woman, with short cropped brown hair and dressed in black came into view. She looked as if she were slightly disoriented, for she shook her head several times as if trying to clear her head. Her hands were bound in energy-cuffs. Despite her state and the manacles, she took up a fighting stance. "Ryul eb aia?" she asked. Goku and Trunks did not understand her language, and apparently neither did the other men.
A man in a blue ninja suit ran at her, but she was quick and side-stepped his attack, turning to kick him as he passed, sending him reeling.
"Jau ta d'ju?" She yelled, turning to the other men and taking a stance once more. "Rixlo kai d'ju clar?"
"RUN!" Goku yelled.
The woman paused only for an instant to look at him, and an instant was all it took.
A man, (nearly identical to the man in blue, but dressed in yellow) lunged forward. "GET OVER HERE!" a long cord with a spike on the end flew from his wrist and wrapped around the woman, pulling her towards him. "Hit the switch!" he growled.
Trunks and Goku flew towards the walls, where their bonds connected with the stone and stuck.
The man in blue unlocked the door and the man in yellow flung the woman inside, at the same time releasing her from the spiked cord. The man with the broken sunglasses scowled at her through the wall.
She fell to the ground, dizzy, but quickly regained her composure and ran for the door.
"Wait! Stop!" Trunks cried.
The door closed, and as the woman ran into it, strings of electricity ran up the door and over her body. She cried out in pain, but could not free herself from the door.
The next moment, Goku and Trunks were released from the wall and they rushed to her side and yanked her away from the electricity-laden door. The men were now gone from sight.
"Oh man," Trunks said, running his fingers through his hair in concern. "She's burned badly. We need some bandages or something…"
"I'll go check the bathroom," Goku said, and ran off. He returned a few moments later, looking frustrated and worried. "No luck," he said. "How's she doing?"
"Still passed out. Her hands are bleeding…"
"Geez…maybe I can tear some of my suit up to make some bandages…"
"Yeah – wait! Look!" Trunks pointed behind Goku, and he turned.
Lying behind him, near the door, were a small bowl and a pile of bandages. Goku's eyes narrowed. "Where did those come from?"
"I don't know…I didn't see anybody come in."
"Me either…" Goku got up and went over to the bandages and bowl. He touched them – they were real enough. He hurried and filled the bowl with the water from the bathroom and he and Trunks cleaned and fixed the bandages around the woman's hands. Curiously, they looked as if they were already healing.
After many anxious minutes, the woman woke. Her eyes snapped open and they were a clear, vibrant grey-hazel. She sat up and then gasped, for she had set her hands hard on the floor. She held them in front of her face, studying the damage, then looked to Goku and Trunks. Her eyes immediately went to their cuffs, and then flicked around the room, where they stopped on the doors and the walls.
Goku watched her. This woman was no fool, and wasn't new to this kind of business. She was studying the room, looking for exits, cameras, anything that could aid her or be of importance.
Her eyes finally settled on the two of them. "Rixlo d'ju rigal Jovian?" she asked slowly.
Trunks and Goku looked at each other. "My name is Son Goku," he said clearly. "Do you speak English?" He could see that she was taking in every word and thinking rapidly.
"I can," she responded. "Forgive me if my speech isn't correct. It is not my first language."
Goku smiled. "You're English is fine. Um…like I said, I am Son Goku and this is Trunks Briefs."
The woman looked into his eyes intensely, and Goku stared straight back. At last she lowered her eyes and bowed her head to him. "Forgive me for staring; I had to see if I could trust you. My name is Carin Vekina Darkstar. I am also known as The Blade Rider by many of my foes." She stopped for a moment to study the energy bonds circling her hands.
"We've already tried to break out of them."
"And judging by your appearances, you're both quite strong." Carin said. She looked out towards the door, then back at Goku and Trunks. "So where are we? Who were those men?"
"We don't know," Trunks said. "We were drugged and woke up here, just like you. But your sedative must have not been as strong."
"No, I simply heal at a fast rate…but you've found no clue as to who they might be? You've never seen these men before?"
Trunks shook his head.
"Never," Goku said.
Carin shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense…I've never seen these men either…who wants us here, and why?"
"I wish we could tell you, Ms. Dar—"
"Mrs. And you may call me Carin. I've never been much on formalities."
"Oh, Carin then. I'm sorry; we don't know any more than you do."
"It's alright," Carin said, and with some difficulty stood up. The other two did the same. "Have you searched the room? For cameras, secret doors…have you knocked against the walls to see if they're hollow?" she looked all around the room, and her eyes fixed on the ceiling. It looked slightly different than the rest of the room…thinner, somehow.
"We checked everything. We can't break through the walls. Under normal circumstances, I think we'd be able to, but there's something about this room. We can't even create ki blasts."
"Magic." Carin said matter-of-factly. There was a magical pressure in the room…invisible and unnoticeable unless you knew what to look for. She sighed and shook her head. Goku had said ki blasts. She wondered if they were the same as shai blasts…energy balls. She turned to them. "So…you speak English, and yet you are not Human."
Trunks looked slightly taken aback. "How can you tell?"
"I've been around enough Humans to sense what their presence feels like, and you are not Human. Neither of you…although you, young one, are at least partially so." She said to Trunks. "But you are very strong."
"Well, you're exactly right. We're not Human – well, Trunks is half Human. But he's half Saiyan…and I'm completely Saiyan," Goku said.
"I have never heard of that race," Carin replied.
"The planet was destroyed a long time ago. There's only a few of us left."
"I see."
"Are you Human?" Trunks asked.
Carin shook her head. "Only partially. I was once a mix of Human, Elven, Magin and Kema blood, but…but I was spliced with the DNA of many different races by a group of scientists known as Z.I.M.G.R.R." She paused and Goku thought he saw her shiver slightly. "They were mad, those scientists. They took orphans and abandoned beings and spliced them for the sake of experimentation….when I was abducted by them, they shot me with darts similar to the ones we were all drugged with….I thought I was being captured again. But I guess I—"
Suddenly her ear caught a noise, and she turned. A heavy click sounded, and in the same moment, her arms were yanked behind her, and she went flying against the nearest wall. Goku and Trunks were beside her, their energy-bonds attached to the wall.
Goku was used to this by now, and told Carin not to struggle.
They fixed their eyes on the hallway and door, and Carin suppressed a gasp.
A gigantic, four-armed creature made his way in the door, carrying two unconscious men. The creature was all muscle, with gold manacles on each of his four wrists and black hair tied in a top-knot on his head. He placed the men on the floor, and then turned to leave.
"Wait!"
The creature stopped and turned to stare with blood-red eyes at Goku. He said nothing.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
The creature grunted, but otherwise ignored Goku's comment and made his way out the door.
As soon as Carin, Goku and Trunks were released, they ran to inspect the newcomers.
Both were muscular, with short black hair (a curl hung over the forehead of one of them). Though upon closer inspection both appeared to be the same age, one of them looked older in the face…it was a face that had seen many hardships, pain, and sorrows. He was dressed in a dark black and grey suit; on the chest there was the emblem of a bat. From the look of the suit, it appeared that a mask or helmet had connected to the neck piece, but it was missing. There was also space for a belt, but it too was gone.
Carin suddenly realized that her own belt, overcoat and sword were missing, and she held back a snarl of anger.
The other man was younger in the face, and dressed in a colourful red, blue and yellow suit with a red cape. On his chest there was a pentagonal shape in which a large "S" was printed.
Carin knelt next to him and shook his shoulder; Trunks and Goku attempted to wake up the other man. As Carin looked her charge over, she saw that the holes in his neck looked bigger than the ones in the man in black's neck. When she looked closer, she discovered a shard of something green and glowing still lingering in one of the holes.
Very carefully, she picked it up in her fingers. It was a small piece of crystal of some kind. This was not a piece of one of the darts that had hit her. She looked back down at the man, and said, "Look." The man's eyelids were moving rapidly under their lids, and soon they opened.
His eyes went to her, and then to the small shard in her fingers. His face darkened at the sight of it, and small as it was, Carin knew it had caused him pain. "Trunks?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you please put this down the sink or the toilet? We need to get rid of it." She carefully placed the shard in his hand, and Trunks went to dispose of it.
"What is your name?" she asked the man.
"Most people call me Superman."
