HOLLOW EXISTENCE

-I own nothing except this story-

Chapter 1: Depression

The sapphire sky taunted the green world today with its beauty; not a single cloud around to end the sunshine. The open road was empty of all life; for miles only the whispers of the swaying grass could be heard, outside of their quiet luxury sedan. Gohan rested his head on the window's edge to feel the power of the blowing wind, a different type of wind then what he usually felt while flying at hyper speed. He should've been happy, riding alongside his father going nowhere for hours during that lazy summer day. However a simple uneasiness caused the day to be an unusual awkwardness for Gohan. Odd thoughts about his father and the simple smile he wore while driving and the fact that he never once looked down at him just to talk drove Gohan mad with questions; questions he did not know and did not know how to answer, questions that were just there. Finally Gohan got over his silly shyness and asked a question, he had no idea what the question was but he knew it was the most reasonable to ask.

"Umm, Dad," Gohan started, "didn't you die?"

Goku, the proud defender of Earth, finally looked down at his son.

"Yes son, I did." Goku turned back to stare blankly at the road ahead.

Gohan asked another as if the answer his father had just given him meant nothing. "But dad, that means it's impossible that you're here."

The smile on Goku's face faded, a stiff complexion was the only feature Gohan could see now.

"Son, why did you have to go and say that?"

Gohan's eyes widened with surprise and utter fear as his father's mouth formed into a wickedly sinister smile beyond any thing a living being could do. Goku lifted his arms and lunged towards the quietly frantic Gohan. Everything slowed to a minimal speed. Gohan could see his father's hands coming toward him like a slug moving to a new patch of soil, yet he could do nothing. The rough tanned skin of Goku slowly melted away to a fine, unnatural green. Spots began to form around his body, and finally Gohan knew what was happening.

"No, CEL............."

Before Gohan could get out his words Cell slammed him through the speeding car.

"Haha, nice to see you again boy........."

Gohan struggled from the hold but had no power to will as he and his eternal foe fell through the peaceful grass into a black nothingness, where Gohan's screams had no sound.

Cold, soggy, and catching the smell of oldness, Gohan slowly rose from whatever earth he fell on. Opening his hurting eyes, Gohan could barely see. Afraid that he somehow lost his sight he quickly lifted his eyelids and the brown pigments of his eyes faded with the black of his pupils as his eyes searched fiercely to find any sign of light. Finally, as he made a rough 180 degree turn he could see an unusually vivid light; however what he was seeing was as odd as anything. A man in a cleanly iron suit stood still at what seemed to be some kind of counter table, perhaps one you would see at a hotel. It was very fancy with pink wallpaper in the background and expensive accessories such as jewel plated lamps around that would've made Bulma blush. Gohan looked around some more only to find rotting, disgusting walls. Gohan went back around to the clean counter again, only it had disappeared; the man was left, and he was holding an old style telephone.

"Sir, it's for you......." He simply said.

For some reason or the next Gohan took the phone without caution and placed it by his ear.

"Hello," Gohan asked casually.

A deep yet dry voice came through, "Turn around....."

He did turn around, and what he saw was impossible.

"Ce.....ll, CELL!!!"

Cell stood on top a rocky hill, his hands behind his back and smiling crazily at the young warrior. Gohan, not realizing, was somehow floating high above the ground of an open, rugged terrain, similar to where he had fought in the Cell Games.

"Cell, you monster how are you still alive!" he yelled fists popping.

"You should know boy," Cell said, as if he never died.

"Know what you bastard?!" Gohan yelled.

Cell hadn't budged. "You should know that I am dead, you killed me, and this is Hell. You don't remember? I killed you too! Now you and your father can finally be reunited."

Cell began to laugh uncontrollably as Gohan tried not to get blinded by his anger.

"No, liar! Your alive somehow, someone wished you back to life! One of Gero's crazy associates found the dragon balls and wished you back, well I'm still here and I'm going to send you back to where you came from!"

Gohan released his tensed body, allowing his energy to freely flow. Thousands of unblinking orbs surrounded Gohan, creating a miniature galaxy of light. Cell rose his hand and waved a finger to the super sayian.

"Uhuhuh, if you kill me, then you'll kill your father, hehehehahahahaHAHAHAHA!"

The energy Gohan summoned suddenly fell like beads off a broken necklace.

"Kill, my father, what are you talking about!" Gohan demanded.

Cell's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree from Hell, obviously excited to explain.

"You see young brat, when your father fell down to hell, he had become filled with fear that all he had banished to here would come looking for him. I found him first. It was pathetic, he shivered with fear knowing that I had gotten to him; I couldn't have been more pleased. However I took pity on him, yes it was I who saved him from an eternity of suffering. I absorbed him, like he wanted, and now he and I are one. What did I get out of this? Simple, extraordinary power which I now use to RULE ALL OF HELL HAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

"Shut up!" Gohan commanded, quickly and unafraid. "Do you actually expect me to believe such a story? My father would defeat every single villain he already defeated over, and he would've enjoyed it, and my father, in Hell? Do I look like some 3 year old punk you can tell fibs to? So now that you have told your bogus story, it's time for you to really go to Hell, forever!"

Gohan suddenly burst into an incredible display of gold and moved like a heavenly bolt of lightning toward the evil Cell. Cell, however, was not worried. Taking his other hand, Cell lifted it high in the air, so Gohan could clearly see.

"Here, see this?" Cell asked.

Gohan flashed his eyes towards Cell's hand, and stopped dead in his path. He couldn't believe it, what, what he saw.

"No, no, that's, no what's, going on.....?" Gohan whispered, dead stunned.

Unable to look away, Gohan's teary eyes could see his bloodied and battered father, except, it was barely his father at all. Cell enjoyed the moment incredibly and wanted to explain more.

"Yes Gohan, it is true what you are seeing. When your father pleaded me to absorb him, I thought I was going to just gain his power and he'd be completely gone. However, this strange twist occurred." Cell showed Gohan his hand once again. "It seemed as though my hand had turned into your father's head!"

Cell lifted his hand high again to show the stunned Gohan. It was true, the beaten head of Goku was Cell's hand, and it was gasping for air.

"At first I was going to dispose of this ugly little thing, but I learned it was alive! Hahahaha, can you image it! The head, the very life of the greatest hero known to the Universe has become nothing more but my plaything! Look, look what I can do with him!"

Gohan looked on in horror as Cell slammed his hand, Goku's head, into the hard jagged rock hill. "Haha look at him!" Cell continued to repeatedly slam Goku into the ground, as if it was some sinister game. Goku was bleeding and moaning from the horrific pain.

Gohan could take it no more.

"Stop it NOW!!" Gohan's rage was even greater than when he saw 16's head smashed into bits by Cell, easily a thousand times greater. However, something was different, Gohan did not feel any power rushing in his body. His whole form became weak and turned into dead weight.

"What, what's happening..." he asked.

He looked back at Cell and saw the green android rush at him with unimaginable speed, so great it left the rock hill a dust storm. Cell appeared quickly and shot forward an attack. He launched his Goku fist at the helpless Gohan, all he could do was watch as his father's face came inches from his.......

"Gohan........."

A small sonic boom rattled the dark room, then quietly faded. Gohan sat silently, gasping in his perspiration-drenched bed. The darkness of night cloaked his sweaty face. He held a tight grip on his disturbed blanket.

"It, it was just another dream," he whispered to himself.

Gohan got up from his bed, still his whole form shaky, and head for the door. He dropped the part of the blanket he was holding, in which the cotton and fabric had become so compacted it made a small thud when it hit the wooden floor. Gohan went into the dark hallway, and headed for the bathroom. He crept quietly, afraid of waking his baby brother and therefore not getting anymore sleep for the night; however it was unlikely that he'd get back to sleep tonight anyway. Gohan entered the bathroom, switched the light on and closed the door. He turned the faucet on, and instantly cold, purified mountain water came rushing through to fill the sink. Gohan made a pocket with his hands and placed them below the streaming water. Once his hands were filled to capacity, Gohan tossed it up in the air and splashed his tired face. He repeated this for a while, and then turned off the water. Now he just looked into the mirror at himself.

"Huh, what's happening to me, why am I feeling like this now," he said to himself. "Why Dad, why didn't you want to be wished back, do you not love us anymore? Do you think that just because I have all this power I can live without a dad?! I might be a super sayian, but I'm still a 15 year old boy who needs his father like anyone else."

Gohan held his fist tightly, angry at his dad and angry at everyone else who still had a father. He calmed down, and released the tension shortly after.

"No, I'm the reason why you're not here anymore. I should've destroyed Cell when I had the chance, in my heart I knew I had to. But my new found power told me to mock Cell, to tease him before I sent him away in a blaze a fire. Why, why did I choose that path?!"

Gohan thought about it some more. The reason for his ignorance, but then he trailed off into a new light.

"Why, why did I fight back when I could've just let Cell kill me so I could be with you, dad? Why do I even bother living now?"

Gohan turned off the bathroom light and went off to bed, to lay down sleepless until dawn.

"Gohan wake up it's already Noon," Chichi yelled as she smacked Gohan's bedrail with a pillow. "Honestly Gohan you sleep way too much these days."

Gohan sat straight in his bed, rolling his eyes at his mother's remark.

"Gohan," Chichi began while dusty off Gohan's bookshelf, "I need you to go to Apple City and pick up some things."

"Fine," Gohan said, barely a hint of care in his tone.

"Good," Chichi said as she took out a list and some "money" from her apron pocket. She then handed it to Gohan.

As Gohan grabbed the list and money, he let slip the bottom portion, and out fell the entire list. Gohan looked on in annoyance as the list stretched into the hallway, more than 15 feet away.

"Some........things, Mom?" Gohan asked with an attitude.

Chichi rubbed the top of her head and laughed faintly. "Well you know how much your brother and you like to eat and I need a lot of plaster to fix the holes Goten keeps making in the walls with his head......"

Just then both Chichi and Gohan heard a loud thud coming from the living room.

"Looks like you need to buy little bit more plaster than what I have on the list, ok bye honey," Chichi said as she ran off to soothe her dizzy baby.

"How we like to eat?" Gohan said sarcastically as he looked at the list, "I never knew a hundred different kinds of perfumes and shampoos were part of mom's recipes."

Gohan walked to his window, partly annoyed at his mother, and lifted it open. He raised his energy enough for flight, then took off into the sky.

The atmosphere was stale and not brisk like always in the timeless vortex she dwelled. She could feel a cold silence run down her spine, as if the very hand of Death rubbed down against it. The endless white had shifted into a light grey, which had very rarely occurred. Sailor Pluto put aside her mystical time staff, placing it so that it stood as its own being. Pluto stood still with her arms relaxed by her sides. She opened up all her senses except sight, to increase maximum brain connection to the rest of the body and outside of it. She "looked" around with her spiritual power, to find any indication of a threat to her and her Earth. Swiftly scanning the area, she felt nothing more than a surge of negative energy swirl in the near space from Earth to the outer rim of the solar system which dissipated in mere moments. She relaxed her senses, breathing a sigh of relief. Suddenly an enormous energy shook every cell in her body completely; she was barely able to stop herself from lifting into the air and flying off to infinity.

"What, is this?" Sailor Pluto asked as she regained all of her senses, "what an intense power, where is it coming from?"

She suddenly realized the power had been streaming in the very fathom of her space-time domain. The strongest it felt was right behind her. She quickly turned to face the incredible power, but what she saw was even a bigger mystery than the white-changing-grey.

"What the?!" she asked ill prepared to see what she saw even with her thousands of years of solitude and discipline.

A white-as-snow rabbit came hopping towards Pluto from a few yards away. Pluto almost lost all of her composure when it stopped by her feet, as if intentionally. Pluto dropped down to her knees, picked up the cuddly animal and stroked its back.

"Hi there little guy, how did you get in here?" she asked.

The rabbit stared up into Pluto's eyes as if it understood the question.

"Well, I have my ways."

Reacting quickly Pluto threw the rabbit into the air and grabbed her time staff, prepared for whatever kind of trap this was. The white rabbit laughed like an old man as it twirled in the air and landed on its two hind legs, then lifted it's other two in the air as if it just completed an acrobatic finale.

"Tada!" it said, smiling with its buck teeth shining brightly toward Pluto. "Amazing isn't it?"

Without answering Pluto placed the bulk of her time staff by the neck of the little demon-talking rabbit. Pluto's eyes rested fiercely on the animal, waiting for any sudden movements.

"What are you? And how did you get in here?" she asked plainly, ready to attack at any moment.

The rabbit's smile grew even bigger with please.

"No, no, no, no, that's irrelevant. The question is why am I here?" it explained.

It was too fast for Pluto's eyes to catch; in a second it was gone, then she found it again, standing on top of her head. Her blood boiled at the thought of a dirty animal on top of her head.

"You see, the answer to that is very simple, I'm here to ask what governs the entire universe?" it asked as Pluto swung her staff at it. The rabbit leaped easily over her thrust and fell to the ground on one leg, still explaining the manner of its presence.

"Time and death, that is the answer," it said, flipping backwards to avoid Pluto's attempted attacks.

"We live out our time here then we die, that is the way of the Universe; whatever stops we make along the way are fine as well."

"DEAD SCREAM!" A powerful blast paved a path through the foggy ground, heading straight for the talkative rabbit. As the ball of energy neared the talking animal, it quickly lunged into the air, then landed on the ball of energy, smiling brightly at the futile attempt. Pluto could not believe what she was seeing as the little mammal hitched a ride on her usually devastating attack. The attack quickly made a U turn, heading directly for Pluto. Pluto went down on one knee and placed her arms in front of her face, trying to soften the blow as much as she could, knowing if her attack could make such an adjustment it could follow her anywhere. When the attack neared her, it suddenly burst into smoke and mist. Pluto looked up to see what had happened, only to find the rabbit comfortably in her arms.

"But what if that rule were changed, or completely destroyed? What if that rule was only written in pencil, which the face of evil could easily edit to its liking? What would happen?"

Pluto hadn't realized she was still holding the rabbit. The riddles it was blabbing intrigued her, and knew there had to be something significant about it.

"Oh but there is something significant about it, something very significant indeed."

Surprised by what it had just said, she accidentally let go of her grip on the rabbit, in which it fell like a soft brick. As it neared the ground, a bright light emerged from its entity, and when it hit the ground, a rusty green was in its place.

"What happens to any type of order if its main governing principle is destroyed or even altered?" the newly formed turtle asked.

"That order is destroyed, even by the littlest change it is no longer the same order," Pluto responded, without haste.

"Exactly," the turtle started, "if the rule of time and death is altered, all of the universe shall change, and that change is utter destruction."

As Pluto pondered these warnings, the turtle turned its back and started walking away; its job was finished now, it was left to Pluto to figure out what to do.

"Time is not on our side," it said, still slowly walking away, "but as always, death will gladly accompany us. And always remember, there are two sides to everything."

Pluto finally looked up, "Isn't the hare and tortoise a bit of a cliché Cronos....." Whatever being that had come to Pluto was now gone from her.

Pluto smiled faintly, then turned back, trying to understand this new threat.

"Time, death, destruction," she said to herself.

As she thought, the area surrounding her suddenly shifted into a dark and violent red, then suddenly faded back into the silent grey. Alarms started blazing in her mind as she raced to her dimension window.

"What is this? A new threat already?" she asked as she gazed into the image. Huge entities floated pass Pluto's home world; it was full of negative energy and obviously headed to the only planet that still had life on its surface, Earth.

"What am I going to do."

"Look kid I don't care what your mother wants if you ain't got paper money I can't help you," the store clerk told an irritated Gohan.

Gohan was in no mood to take this from a nineteen year old punk that completely ignored him for ten minutes while he tried to hit on the female clerk; which was pathetic considering his pickup line had been, "Yo baby I'll be your Hercule".

"Well could you go and get the manager for me then?" Gohan asked, keeping his temper down as much as he could.

"Uh, whatever kid I'll get the manager for you," he said as he headed for the back.

"To think my Dad died for these jackasses," Gohan said to himself.

After about three minutes the boy clerk finally came out. Behind him was an older man in a generic professional suit who tried to put on a smile.

"Hello, umm, young sir, how can I help you?" the manager asked, barely taking Gohan seriously as he looked down almost comically.

"Yeah, this guy here wouldn't take my money and I wanted to find out why not?" Gohan asked, barely able to hold his voice down.

"Well we don't take out of the country cash or any old bills which are not in use anymore, you'd have to go to the bank to switch those," the manager said in a tone most kindergarten teachers use on their students.

Gohan shuttered at the thought of losing his father once again because they wanted to save a world of idiots.

"I don't have paper money, I have gold nuggets," Gohan said as he brought out what pieces his mother gave him.

All three department store employees looked at the sparkling gold in awe. The manager was particularly interested. Without warning he grabbed the nuggets from Gohan and went off like a radio.

"Haha I just happen to be a mineral expert and I can tell you right now this is the purest gold I've ever seen I mean its perfect not a single piece of gold has ever been found like this Ted why didn't you take this boy's money right away why its perfect absolutely....," he went on occasionally bringing out a scope from nowhere to examine the contents.

Gohan took the many bags of goods and headed for the automatic door, before the manager stopped him.

"Ahh hello again young sir could you tell me where you received this gold, hmm, HMM?" he asked like an annoying Nat.

"Namek," Gohan simply said as he passed the confused manager and headed outside.

"Man what a savage, who comes in a store with gold like that? Was his mom and dad like wild pigs or something haha," Ted the store clerk said to the female clerk as he finally got a laugh out of her.

Gohan dashed to the counter in a thunderous quickness and grabbed Ted by the neck. The terrified clerk boy could do nothing but stare into the enraged eyes of Gohan.

"Don't, you ever say anything about my father. You're entire family line couldn't match up with one of his ball hairs."

In a sudden jolt of movement Gohan threw the terrified Ted into a curtain of clothes. The female clerk and manager could only watch and stand in fear as the calm Gohan walked out of the store, unchecked.

As Gohan exited the building a swarm of people rushed over him like a human freight train. He was almost caught up in the hurry but his incredible balance had been barely affected by the rush. City life was completely different from Gohan's open and free, rural style of living. Everyone is always in a rush, trying to get somewhere. Gohan was different, he had nowhere to go and he was in no rush to get anywhere. Those fateful events two years ago left the dreaming Son Gohan an unmotivated, uncaring living corpse. Gohan passed one of the open recreational areas that the city liked to call parks. At first he didn't much care for what was there or the people, but something caught his eye, something that was unusual to him these days.

"C'mon son, look right at the ball when it's coming and hit it with all the power you've got," the man said as he wound up his underhand pitch.

Gohan stopped and watched carefully as the ball was released from the man's hand. The slowly rotating ball triggered something in Gohan's mind that made him think back to him and his dad.

"Ahh, come on Gohan you can do it look at what I'm doing," Goku said as he lowered his hands into the cool stream.

Gohan stood fully clothed by the flowing water as Goku wading in the strong current.

"See," he started, "you have to be patient, it'll come to you."

Goku waited, his big signature smile accompanying him. Suddenly a dark shadow appeared where Goku hand's had been resting. Goku licked his mouth in excitement. He waited, waited, and waited. Suddenly with the ferocity of a typhoon Goku lifted his hands into the air, and in it he had a good size fish about the size of his leg. Still holding it in the air, Goku threw the squirmy fish by Gohan. Gohan, terrified of the moving creature, ran off to the nearest tree, holding down his dragon ball hat over his eyes. Goku smiled and walked slowly out of the water. He walked calmly over to his squeamish son and tapped him on the head once.

"Gohan, don't be scared, if you fight it back it won't be so scary," Goku said in a whole different self he showed no one but his son, his fatherly side. "And plus," Goku said returning to his childish ways, "I'm here so c'mon."

Gohan, reluctant but unafraid, went with his father back to the river. He sat a little far from the fish Goku had just caught, and started to take off his shoes. He then took of his socks, and soon after he was in the water with his arm and leg sleeves pulled high. Gohan struggled from falling in the water completely, afraid he might disappoint his father.

"Ok Gohan, now wait until u feel the smooth scales of this fish. Wait until all ten of your fingers can feel it," Goku instructed.

Gohan nodded, and waited like how Goku instructed him to. At first nothing came, a few fish darted pass Gohan's legs, and even a turtle came by, interested in the free toes, but no big catch.

"Ok Gohan, I guess there are no more today, let's go home," Goku said as he began to turn around.

"Wait Dad," Gohan said.

Goku turned surprised and looked at his son's face. Goku could see the determination in his son's eyes, the way his face was warped like he was holding up the world on his shoulders, but how the way his mouth creased told Goku that he was enjoying the moment. Goku smiled and watched as his son stood completely still. Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared between Gohan's hands. Gohan was so excited that he almost fell into the water, but he waited like his father said. Slowly Gohan began to feel the slimy texture of the fish on each of his left-handed fingers, then slowly he felt the sensation on his right-handed fingers. Finally the smooth body landed on all fingers, and Gohan lifted it high in the air, with a grip so tight it could've made Goku squeal.

"Yes Dad, I did it!" Gohan yelled as he held the fish high in the air.

Goku smiled witlessly as his son danced around the water with his fish. After a few minutes just dancing Gohan finally got out of the water. Barefoot like his father, he and Goku started for home with their catch.

"See Gohan," Goku said, "you can fight anything that scares you if you have the will to face. And good prizes come to you when you wait out bad things, or something like that. You know when waited in the water like that, it wasn't fun right? Well not until you got the fish see."

"Yeah, I know what you mean Dad," Gohan told.

Goku chuckled at his brainy son.

"Well don't tell your mother about this. If she knew I was teaching you how to fish she'd kill me."

"But Dad," Gohan explained, "I'm all wet and smell like fish."

"Uh, we'll tell her you were attacked by a bear," Goku explained. "Hehe, later on I'll show you how to catch the bigger fish, hehe," Goku said quietly.

"Ok," Gohan said as he and Goku went off to their home.

Gohan was awakened from his ecstasy when he felt a small, painless thud on his foot. He shook his head of the memory and remembered where he was. The man that had been pitching the ball came running up to Gohan from the mound.

"Sorry son, my little rascal right there is still learning the game, can you hand me that ball?" he asked very nicely.

The man held out his hand, ready to receive the ball from Gohan, but it never came.

"I'm not your son," Gohan stated, walking away from the man without a second thought.

He walked out of the dark throne room, smelling the sweet scent of free-flowing air. Dende walked around the temple, an everyday routine he developed during his short time on Earth. Passing the Room of Spirit and Time, he saw in front of him his mentor and the only one of his kind on the planet.

"How you doing kid," Piccolo asked, without turning to greet him.

Dende smiled, never knowing when Piccolo's intuition was in effect.

"Not much Piccolo, just enjoying the day. Weren't you going to see Gohan today?" Dende asked.

Piccolo stared blankly into the sky.

"Not today, I felt his power rise again early in the morning. He probably had another nightmare," Piccolo informed.

Dende nodded his head, "Which means he'll spend the rest of the day locked up in his gravity chamber training."

Piccolo continued to stare into the sky. Up at the lookout the sky was not hindered by the atmosphere, and thus all the stars were visible while still being able to see the sunlight. Piccolo watched the stars intensely, as if something great had caught his eye.

"Are you looking for something beautiful and green out there Piccolo?"

A deep, beautiful voice echoed from the darkness of the temple. Dende looked sternly to catch a glimpse of whoever had entered the sacred palace. Piccolo was unaffected, as he still stared into the cold fathom of space.

A curved figure formed from the shadow of the temple entrance. Soon a long staff followed suit as the figure moved slowly out of the darkness. As it appeared, the Sun's rays traced every detail of the being. Dende could not turn away. A beautiful female humanoid stood tall in the sunlight. With a gigantic staff and an unbreakable expression, Dende knew she meant business.

"You know I never see green and beauty in the same light Sailor soldier," Piccolo stated, now with a faint smile.

Pluto smiled back at the large Namekian, and then bowed to Dende. Running from his garden, Mr. Popo came in a hurry to see what the small commotion had been about.

"Oh my," he said as his eyes fell on Pluto, "why, it's you Miss Pluto."

Pluto turned to greet the black-skinned immortal. "Good to see you Mr. Popo, I see you are still taking care of those Didoas Roses."

"Yes," he said pleased she remembered, "from the Contort section of the galaxy."

She smiled again at the Guardian's aid, then turned back to Dende and Piccolo, this time with the expression she unveiled herself with.

"Guardian of this world, I've come to ask you a favor," she said to the surprised Dende.

Piccolo made a stout noise hearing Pluto's sentence.

"And how do you know he is the Guardian?" Piccolo asked, still unmoved.

"Well why else would there be another Namekian like you on Earth?" she asked Piccolo, "and obviously if you are on this lookout that must've meant you and Kami must have....?"

Piccolo did not answer. Pluto, content with herself, began again with Dende.

"Guardian of this world," she said again, "may I ask for your assistance?"

Dende's body was tensed with shyness and his complexion was like a teenage schoolboy's. Sweat rolled down his face as he addressed Pluto.

"Yes, um, you may. However, I do not know who you are or even your name, and I do not know what intentions you have so first you must explain everything to me....."

"Her name is Sailor Pluto," Piccolo interrupted, "she is a sailor soldier, warrior guardians from a different dimension. Her roll is very important from where she is," he continued, "she is the guardian of Time, keeper of all things that are suppose to be and should be, and the answer to her question is no."

Both Pluto and Dende looked up at Piccolo, who had finally taken his eyes off the sea of stars, yet did not look at the two. Pluto became annoyed at Piccolo's sudden answer and she fired back at him.

"Well, I asked the Guardian for help, not the former guardian," she stated boldly.

Piccolo smirked at her remark, as if he knew she was going to say that.

"I don't care, the last time we helped you, an old foe was able to reach us. I know it was you, Kami's memories are the same as mine now," Piccolo informed.

Pluto became angry. She couldn't believe Piccolo, or Kami, was still holding a grudge on her. It was absolutely necessary for her to have used a different time gate then her own to send Rini back into the past. If she hadn't asked for Kami's help her world would have been ruined. She had no idea that her tampering with the gate was able to release a powerful immortal sealed in a black hole. Besides, Piccolo and the others had defeated Garlic Jr. anyway. So why would he be resistant to help?

"Because I don't want anything like that to happen again," Piccolo said, as if he heard Pluto speaking in her mind.

Pluto was even more annoyed, since that happened to her twice already, though she didn't show it.

"I know that's what you're thinking, but the answer is still no," Piccolo said.

Dende and Mr. Popo looked on as if they were watching a couple quarrel with each other.

"My young senshi have already had too many battles in their young lives. I do not wish for them to fight another one. Please, with the power your friends have I could easily crush this new threat before it ever reaches my Earth," she explained.

Dende and Mr. Popo nodded, as if informing Pluto that they understood and that they were sympathetic. Piccolo was not moved.

"And do you really think our days here have been all peaches and cream? The warriors of this planet have all faced a power too great to ever face in a lifetime, with unimaginable loses," Piccolo referred to Goku, and mainly thought about Gohan's condition.

Pluto did not stammer in her position, but she knew she came to the wrong place for help.

"Yes, I see," she said in a sad tone, "your warriors have fought and suffered bravely like my warriors. They deserve what freedom and peace they fought for; they should not be concerned with matters away from their homes. I'm sorry for coming Piccolo."

With that, Pluto walked back into the shadow of the temple, returning from whatever door she came from. Piccolo returned his gaze back into the darkness of the universe. Mr. Popo returned to his gardening, knowing not to ask any questions. Dende on the other hand wanted answers.

"Piccolo," he started, "why didn't you offer any help to that woman? You know the Z senshi would've helped."

Piccolo did not answer him. Angry, Dende turned away, disgusted at Piccolo, and began to walk towards the temple.

"The universe has its own plans Dende," Piccolo suddenly said.

Dende stopped in his wake, and turned back to Piccolo.

"What do you mean, Piccolo?" he asked.

"There was a reason for her coming to us, something will happen even if we don't want it to happen."

Dende didn't understand, but that's what Piccolo was trying to tell him. The universe has its own plan. Dende went to Piccolo's side, and too began to stare into the infinite reaches. Piccolo dropped his gaze and lowered his head. He closed his eyes, and went into deep thought.

"The stars, they are blinking out."

Gohan walked firmly towards his home, uncaring about anything around him. All he wanted to do right now were train in his gravity chamber and lay there for hours not caring about anything. As he neared his house, he could see many figures moving about, along with large air vehicles. He sighed in anger as he heard the loud voices of his mother and Bulma rattling around the thick woods.

"Gohan!" Bulma yelled as she went to embrace her space companion. She slowed however as the details of Gohan's angered expression became visible.

"Gohan, are you ok? I know did a girl turn you down?! If any girl turns you down handsome then they aren't looking for strong, smart, and handsome," Bulma said jokingly as she winked at Gohan.

Gohan, paying little or no attention, walked away and entered the house. Bulma stood their speechless, and a bit ticked.

As Gohan entered the home he quickly dropped off the things his mother asked him to get and he headed outside once more, specifically to his gravity chamber. The gravity chamber he now had in his backyard was an old spaceship model capsule that Goku had first used on his way to Namek. The slight difference was that Gohan asked Prof. Briefs to upgrade the max gravity limit to 600g's above Earth.

Gohan left through the backdoor and saw his chamber in the open yard. He passed the store of firewood he had gathered for the coming winter, which was placed in a nicely made pit surrounded by red brick which his father had made when he was just born. Gohan walked a little ways more when off to the side of the chamber he caught a glimpse of a shadow. Turning his sight to it he saw that Vegeta had been sternly sitting by a tree, away from the commotion of the women. Gohan turned away from him and had almost entered the gravity chamber until an idea flashed in his mind. Gohan stopped, and realizing what an opportunity he had, he suddenly walked over to the Prince of Sayians.

"What is it boy?" Vegeta asked, boldly staring into the thick forest.

"Nothing, I just want to see if you improved your pathetic power from the time of the Cell Games," Gohan said boldly, knowing he'd get the reaction he wanted.

Vegeta turned his gaze toward Gohan, his smirk spread cross his face as if dying to show the little punk how much he had improved. However, the feeling suddenly faded, as Vegeta realized who had challenged him. Vegeta knew the state of Gohan's mind, he knew it all too well when his father passed.

"If you know what's good for you boy," Vegeta started, "then you'd get away from me now."

"Oh I know what's good for me," Gohan said as he let a tiny ball of energy shoot towards Vegeta.

Barely reacting Vegeta shot away from the tree he had been laying back on went into the air, quickly followed by a smirking Gohan. Both stood at eye level with each other, yards apart in the open sky. Vegeta's expression was a cold, hard one, but he was also excited to test his new strengths on Gohan.

"One rule," Vegeta said, "no transformations."

With that Gohan leaped forward for the first attack. He sent a fist flying towards Vegeta's neck. Vegeta side-stepped the attack easily and grabbed Gohan with one hand by the collar and sent his own fist into the young sayian's face. As the fist impacted with Gohan's head, he quickly let off a speedy knee into Vegeta's unprotected mid-section. Vegeta let go of Gohan and gasped quickly for air as Gohan lifted his arms in the air and sent down a double-axed attack down onto Vegeta's back. Vegeta went flying down towards the ground, but recovered easily as he sprang forward into the forest, missing an impact into the ground by inches. Gohan followed suit above the tree line, scouting out the other sayian. Gohan unleashed a barrage of ki blasts into the forest as he flew at high speed. Vegeta dodged any ki attack in front of him as he navigated the thick woods. Finally he saw an opening in the forest and decided that it was the perfect place for his assault. As Gohan continued to send down fire he didn't realize that they were edging toward an opening in the forest. As he quickly approached the small area it was too late for him to do anything. Finally they reached the opening and Vegeta sent forth his attack.

"BIG BANG ATTACK!"

The entire forest lit up as Vegeta's attack sprang to life. A massive beam of energy shot toward Gohan at intense speed. Gohan could feel the power of the attack and his instincts told him to move quickly away from its path. Gohan twirled in the air as his body barely dodged the massive energy, which now shot into the sky where it wouldn't fade until it reached Mars. Gohan was able to move away from the attack, but now he spun uncontrollably into the forest. As Gohan fell he felt the hard bark of the trees hit his body and felt the crushing of them as his body rolled through the forest like a bowling ball through glass pins. As he skidded the ground all he could see was a mixture of forest and sky, then suddenly he saw Vegeta. He looked into Vegeta's eyes and could see that he was ready for another powerful attack.

"You won't dodge this one Gohan, AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Vegeta grabbed hold of his arm with the other free hand and sent another massive beam of hot blue ki towards Gohan. It wasn't nearly as powerful as the other one, but it was enough to devastate Gohan at the time. Gohan smiled as the approaching energy burned his skin. Vegeta looked on in horror as he realized now what Gohan was doing. Gohan released any defense he was holding against the attack, and embraced the death.

"If I kill myself, I can't see my dad.............."