Shells And Shadows
It was very late on a Saturday night. Son Gohan laid lazily in his bed, dressed in a white T-shirt and black shorts. His eyes were fixed on a spot on the ceiling of his room. To him that very spot was special. It didn't have any particular markings on it to tell it apart from the rest of the roof. Instead it was because with a little bit of concentration Gohan was able to see back into the past a couple of days. Everything he recalled was memory; the ceiling was simply a means of projecting it mentally. The past had been tough on him. It was only a few weeks earlier that he had defeated Cell. There was time for rejoicing, for Cell was a terror that went beyond imagination. However the victory did not come without large prices. Many lives were lost. The most notable from Gohan's standpoint was his own father.
For weeks Gohan had been beating himself up. He had only enjoyed his victory for a short time before the reality that his father was gone had sunk in. Cheers turned into silent frowns at that time. Everyone mourned the passing of Goku. The only difference was that Gohan had the hardest time just letting go. He blamed himself for everything.
The weather outside was dreary at best. It was cold, damp, and the makings of a storm were starting to creep over the Son house. Gohan couldn't help but feel that the weather was a direct outward expression of his feelings at the moment. He slithered off of his bed and walked over to the window barefoot. At that moment it began to drizzle. Little raindrops floated into the room and splashed onto his nose and face. He didn't bother to wipe them off.
Cell is gone, but so is my father. What do I do? I know that it wasn't my fault, but then again... I shouldn't have been so cocky. I should have just finished him off. I so badly wanted to give him some of his own medicine. To make him feel the fear that we all had felt we he decided he was going to destroy everything. If I had just killed him my father wouldn't be dead...
Outside the thunder and lighting crashed loudly, making Gohan's eyes snap up and at attention. He began thinking about the storm. It accurately portrayed what he was thinking and feeling. Not only that but Piccolo was probably out there meditating in it. Gohan couldn't help but smile about that. Piccolo was like the Postman. Neither rain nor snow shall keep him from his goals.
Gohan...
Gohan jumped backward, startled by the voice. His fighting instincts caused him to immediately jump into a ready position as his eyes searched the room. There was no one there, of course. He would have seen them coming much sooner than that. Gohan inched toward the window expecting that someone might be right outside of it. They might be waiting for him to stick his head out so that they could attack. He wouldn't give them the chance.
"HA!" With the grace of an acrobat he jumped through the opening in the window, somersaulted on the ground and stood up with pivoting on his feet. He was now facing his house, but there were no signs of anyone around. The only thing he had managed to figure out was how quickly a white shirt could get dirty. Still he stayed on his toes, not sure whether or not he had heard anything in the first place.
Gohan... help us...
The question of whether or not he had heard the voice had now been answered. There was someone out there somewhere, but the voice had no direction to it. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Gohan couldn't do a thing besides stand in the rain and wait for someone to come out. No one ever did.
"Who are you?!" The water dripped down his face, which was now curled up in an irritated look. It was as if the wind was trying to make fun of him.
Gohan... if you can hear me... follow...
After hearing the voice a third time Gohan noticed two things about it that he hadn't before. First was that it was indeed a female voice. It was soft as well, almost faint. It was as if she were calling from very far away. The second is that there was a sense of urgency in it that convinced him that it wasn't someone just playing tricks. Whoever she was it was very clear that she needed help. It was just a matter of finding her now.
"Where are you? What's wrong?"
Gohan... if you can hear me... follow my voice...
"I can't! Where-" That was the last thing he had a chance to say because at that moment there was a large explosion right in front of him. It was small and it happened between his body and the house itself. A bolt of lightning had collided with the ground, but it didn't make any marks in the area. Instead it hovered mere inches above, glowing with ungodly brightness. Gohan had to shield his eyes from the light, as it was overload for his eyes to handle.
Follow my voice...
Gohan instead inched back, almost tripping as he did. He couldn't see a thing with all that light so he had to make some distance. As he did it began to dim. It soon reached a point where he could actually look at it without going blind. It was a marvel to behold. An actual bolt of electricity was standing in mid-air.
"What... is this all about?"
Just then two more bolts crashed into the ground. The difference was that they were much larger, much brighter, and they both landed much closer to Gohan himself. He covered up his eyes and head far after they had hit, not able to react in time. It didn't take him long to see a pattern here.
"They... oh no." He dived instinctually, and it was a good instinct. The next bolt of electricity saw fit to occupy his space. It missed him by a good few feet, but had he not moved it would have implanted itself in his head. As Gohan somersaulted to his feet again he knew there was something up. He gazed up into the sky, thinking that it might be a literal thing. He started to lift into the air when the next one that came down struck him. The surge raced through his body like venom, stinging him in every possible place. Even his fingertips felt like they were on fire.
"Damn." No more chances. The chi around his body began to excite as his body began to harness it. The area around him grew in heat slightly as his hair whipped upward. The chi became visible as white streaks, and then they became blue. His eyes melted into a turquoise blend and his hair seemingly caught fire and then settled down to a golden glow. He rose into the air and then detected something coming down. Quickly he moved out of the way of an incoming bolt. This one did strike the ground and did leave a nasty mark. Gohan blasted off into the air, avoided all of the raining electricity with his superior speed. Before long he was above the clouds that seemed to be supplying them. It was then he found out that the clouds weren't supplying them. About 50 yards in front of him was the real culprit. Problem was that Gohan had no clue what it was.
It looks like some sort of swirling energy... er- thing. What is it doing here, and why does it seem to be attacking me? What is... what is that?
The questions just kept piling up. Now the energy mass was beginning to slowly expand outward, pushing through the clouds and also closing the distance between it and Gohan. The only thing Gohan was really worried about was whether or not it was safe to let it move closer to his house. It might get a little violent and sent some lighting bolts through the roof.
Gohan...
"That voice again." It was very soft, almost relaxing. In fact Gohan let his guard down for just a second, hoping to figure out just why he was being called. That's when it struck. A "laser lasso" of sorts whipped out from the energy ball and snagged Gohan's left wrist. It had been so quick that even he wasn't able to detect the movement. On top of that the grip was tight and when Gohan tried to free it with his other hand it almost electrocuted his offending hand.
"Won't try that again." Gohan's slight wit was lost onto himself as he continued to struggle against the energy rope. It had now started contracting. He was now on a collision course with the swirling energy. Things were made worse when it started exerting a gravitational pull that was aiding in bringing Gohan to it's center. 50 yards turned into 5 almost instantly. Gohan gave on final pull in hopes of finally breaking the hold, but it didn't work. His hand made contact, causing him to flinch in anticipation of the worst. It never happened, as the outer wall seemed to feel more like warm gelatin than electricity. It pulled him in all the way. Gohan took one last breath while he could. Then there was darkness...
**********
Yamcha sprung over the rubble with one hand and ducked down to the floor. He looked more ragged than usual. His gi was extremely torn, the top half almost hanging off of his body. He wore an unusual pair of eyewear, covering his face like goggles. They were black with a long, red lens. Yamcha checked the area around him from his lowered position, making sure there wasn't anyone around. He pressed a button on his goggles.
"Area 5-1 clear. Reporting back to base." He turned around and was about to hop back over the rubble when a bright light appeared behind him. Yamcha turned to face it; that was a bad idea. It was far too bright to look at with the naked eye, and his eyewear didn't help to filter out any of the light rays either. He covered up instead, almost cowering away from the superior power. It only became brighter, but a shadow did appear in the middle. The light than began to die down and only then did Yamcha attempt to take a look at what had appeared. His response was quick.
"Oh my god..." He began stuttering nonsense, trying to say a million things at once. Gohan, who had finally escaped the portal (which was what he had deduced it to be), could only stare at Yamcha and wonder how hard he must have been training to get his gi in that kind of condition. Questions about the visor that Yamcha was wearing came to mind as well.
"Yamcha, what are you wearing?" Gohan walked over and reached for the visor, but Yamcha pulled back. He shrank away from Gohan as if he was scared of him. Gohan couldn't figure it out. "What's the problem, Yamcha? What happened to your clothes?"
"Get away from me, you demon! I don't care who you are! I'll fight you to the death!" Yamcha composed himself to get into a mockery of a fighting stance. His knees, had they been close enough to each other, would have been chattering and knocking together. His fear was apparent; the reason for it wasn't so clear.
"Yamcha- what did I do?" The genuine concern and bewilderment seemed to win the human over for just a moment. While he didn't look like he was going to invite Gohan to come any closer, he didn't look like he was going to attack either. That would give Gohan a chance to talk Yamcha through the whole ordeal to see if he could get some information.
"You know damn well what you did! You... how can you live with yourself." Yamcha clenched his fist, but not in anger. It was sorrow. Sorrow over came him in the form of tears and anguish. Yamcha became overly weak and fell down to his knees. "Go ahead. I know you like your sadistic games. You like to torture people so that they beg you to stop. Well I don't plan on giving you the satisfaction. You are going to have to just kill me?"
Gohan was completely confused now. The emotion that Yamcha was going through told him that it wasn't just a joke. Everything that Yamcha was saying he believed. That didn't make any sense, though, because Gohan wasn't a killer. Everyone knew that. The only person he had killed was Cell, and Yamcha wouldn't get upset over that. He had been part of the victory celebration.
"Yamcha... I don't know what you are talking about."
"Don't toy with me, Gohan! I saw it with my own eyes. You... you... you bastard!" Yamcha lunged at Gohan and swung a mighty right hand, but it was easily avoided. Gohan just let him pass and he hit the floor, still sobbing and talking under his breath.
"Yamcha..."
"Don't call me! You don't have the right to call me by my name!"
"What did I do?" Gohan started to try to help his friend up, but decided against it. Something had upset Yamcha, and that wasn't the way to help. Instead Gohan stood his ground, trying to convey in his face that he was not an enemy. Gohan doubted it would work. Yamcha got up under his own power and kept his back to Gohan.
"Go ahead... do it... like what you did to him..."
Now Gohan was starting to get a little bit annoyed. Everything Yamcha was saying was inconclusive. There were no real solid answers. Gohan was a patient person, but that was starting to run thin. He was in a weird place with a friend of his that was wearing space age glasses and looked like he had fought twenty battles too many.
"Yamcha. Tell me what it is that I did." The stern look that Gohan now wore on his face provoked a reaction as Yamcha turned around and faced him once again. It wasn't the one he would have liked.
P-Tu!
Yamcha spat right in his face. It was cold and full of malice. Gohan was stunned. The anger and sorrow etched in Yamcha's face was unlike he had ever seen before. It was true hate. Something had happened while he was in the energy sphere to change Yamcha's attitude toward himself, but it had only transported him to another part of the planet it looked. Gohan had figured it to be a high-speed warp.
What could have happened in the time that I was in that thing to make Yamcha hate me so much? It couldn't have anything to do with Cell. What else? Can he be upset about... oh no. It's my father. That's what it is. He's upset that I let my father die in the Cell games. I got carried away. I know that it was a mistake, but I was more torn than anyone for letting him die. The last time I saw Yamcha he was trying to help me deal with it. Something still isn't adding up.
Gohan wiped the fresh saliva off of his face, now a look of remorse in his eye. "Yamcha... this is about my father, isn't it?"
"YOU DAMN RIGHT IT IS! HOW COULD YOU KILL HIM IN COLD BLOOD LIKE THAT? FOR KAMI'S SAKE, GOHAN! HE WAS YOUR FATHER, AND YOU STABBED HIM IN THE BACK JUST BECAUSE THAT EVIL BASTARD ASKED YOU TOO?"
"... What are you talking about, Yamcha? Cell never asked me to kill my father, and if he did you know I wouldn't listen to him. What makes you think that I would purposely do something like that?"
Yamcha was on the verge of yet another verbal tirade when he noticed that Gohan was being very calm about the situation. Amidst all his anger he hadn't realized that Gohan hadn't once raised his hand to attack. The Gohan he knew would have already plastered him against the wall. That meant that this was either a very clever clone, or maybe the real Gohan had finally freed himself from the clutches of that madman.
Yamcha took a deep breath and breathed out. He needed to clear his own head for the moment and get his thoughts on track. "You claim to know nothing about what happened to your father."
"Yamcha. I know that he died saving us from Cell."
Yamcha shook his head. "I don't know how, but someway I think you might have lost your memory. That might be why you haven't tried to kill me yet. I think there might be hope for you, but I don't want to bring you with us just yet." Yamcha pressed another button on his visor and muttered a few things. "We have to be sure."
"What are you doing?"
"Bringing in an expert. Don't worry about it. If you are what you are claiming to be and don't know what you claim you don't know then everything will work out fine. My colleague should be familiar to you. He should be by shortly."
"Okay. Fine. Tell me this though. Why are you wearing that visor?"
Yamcha became silent, unwilling to answer the question. Gohan didn't want to make the now friendlier situation any worse so he left it at that. Within a few moments he heard a sound from above. By instinct he brought his hands up. Then he saw the figure. The man was standing atop a demolished building, on the end of a metal pole. Almost as soon as Gohan caught a glimpse the man disappeared, literally.
"How-" Just then the figure reappeared, right in front of Gohan. It was plain as day now. The face was unmistakable.
Yamcha stepped over to the taller man. "Well... what do you think? Is he the real deal? I figured you would know. You knew him best other than his father."
Piccolo stared at Gohan, almost staring through him instead. His appearance, unlike that of Yamcha's, had not changed. He wore his purple gi proudly with his blue sash. "Yeah. It's him. I'm sure of it." Piccolo allowed a smile to creep up onto his face momentarily. "When did you find him?"
"Just after I checked the area. He appeared out of a portal like all the rest of them did. I thought he was still with them, but he didn't try to kill me at all. He just kept asking me what was wrong. I think he might have lost his memory."
Piccolo continued to gaze at Gohan, studying his eyes as he talked. "Are you sure it was the same kind of portal?"
"No. I wasn't able to look at this one. It was far too bright. I would have been blinded." Yamcha rubbed his eyes just from thinking about it. "Are you thinking something else?"
"Yes, but I don't want to discuss it here. We need to get to one of the security bunks before we are detected. I'm sure a least a few of those rust buckets have locked onto our life forces by now. We just have to move fast enough to lose them. Just keep your chi low and everything will be fine."
Yamcha nodded in agreement and began moving back past the rubble into a darker alleyway. Piccolo did the same. Gohan didn't go anywhere. Piccolo turned back once he realized it.
"If you plan on getting any answers I suggest that you move now."
"Too late." Yamcha pointed into the sky. Floating in the air about Gohan were two hovering crafts. They looked like flying heads, with two wide windows and then a half a sphere for a bottom. They didn't look very menacing, but Yamcha and Piccolo seemed rattled enough.
"Damn it! Move it, Gohan. Those sentinels are going to open fire." Piccolo reached out for Gohan, but still Gohan made no effort to move. One of the sentinels opened up on the bottom and a small cannon came out. It aimed itself at Gohan.
"I'll show you to try and intimidate me!" Gohan balled his fists up and raised his chi. He was about to break into Super Saiyan level when he noticed that he wasn't able to gain any more power than what he had. Worse still was that he had to really concentrate to keep what he had at his disposal. The level of concentration required wouldn't even allow him to use his chi effectively. It was then that Gohan understood why everyone had ducked for cover.
The same thing must affect them all. That's why they didn't want the sentinel to see them... I think I'm in trouble.
Dodging was out of the question. There was no time. The shot was fired and it clipped Gohan on the shoulder. Piccolo had pulled him out of the way in time to only sustain mild injuries. It could have been worse. There were a thousand things going through his head at that point, but it would have to wait until he wasn't in danger. He jumped over the rubble and took off with Piccolo and Yamcha down the alley. There he found that they weren't actually running away, at least Piccolo wasn't. Yamcha picked up a silver pistol with a black handle. Piccolo reached for a long shotgun that was propped up against a wall. He then flicked a button on the side and it began to make a whirling sound.
"Yes, it is a gun, Gohan." Piccolo said seemingly answering the question before it was asked. Gohan blinked a few times to show that he heard but was still baffled. "When we reach one of the safe houses I'll explain it. For now just stand back. This thing isn't a toy." Gohan did as told. Even Yamcha took a step back. Piccolo lifted the gun and pointed it right at the alleyway entrance and waited. Soon the sentinels came around the corner, side by side. It didn't leave much room for evading anything.
"Stop, rebels." Turrets for the guns began to open on the top of the sentinels.
"I don't think so." The Namek pulled the trigger and let loose a large beam that was about the size of his head. It ripped through the sentinel on the right, causing it to explode instantaneously. Yamcha grabbed Gohan by the arm and lead him deeper into the alley. Piccolo was close behind. The second sentinel made it's way through the smoke and fire, but by that time it had lost their position. It stayed it's ground for just a few minutes more, scanning the area, but in the end it failed to find them again so it went back to it's original security procedures.
Behind a large cardboard box Yamcha finally exhaled the breath he had taken nearly 5 minutes ago. Piccolo did the same. Gohan calmly stood up and stared right at him. "Okay, Piccolo. Lead the way. I want to find out what is going on here." Piccolo nodded and bounded it, doing nothing more than jumping long distances, although short for what they were used to. Gohan and Yamcha were right behind. They covered great distance that way and found themselves in a tall grass field in no time. Suddenly Piccolo stopped. Gohan nearly ran right into him.
"This is far enough." The shotgun dropped to the floor. Yamcha pulled out his pistol again and aimed it right at Gohan's head. Reacting to the hostile attitude Gohan raised his hands in surrender.
"Do you think that we were going to bring you back to our base just like that? I don't think so." The desert bandit's fingers trembled on the trigger as if he was torn between extreme sorrow and excitement. "You don't know how long I've waited to get you like this. Now we can take revenge for what you did."
"No, Yamcha." Piccolo moved the pistol in a safe direction with his hand. Yamcha was in shock. "I didn't lead him out here so that you could put a bullet in his head. I want to know what he knows." Piccolo's gaze tuned to Gohan. "So talk."
"All I know is that I was in my house when a storm started up." Gohan scratched his head, sorting through his story mentally. He still was having problems understanding some of it. "Some girl started calling me and before I could find her a large, swirling portal swallowed me up. That's when I found Yamcha. The rest you know."
"That's all well and good," stated Piccolo, "but that doesn't solve the mystery of why you turned you back on us and killed Goku. What was it that that unforgiving bastard offered you that would make you turn on the world? I didn't think that anything could buy you out. That was my mistake."
"Piccolo... I don't understand. Please, explain what happened to me so that I'll know what you are talking about."
Yamcha and Piccolo gave each other uneasy looks. They wanted to believe, but they weren't convinced just yet. Piccolo sighed and began the story. "About 1 year ago you had just reached the next plateau in your training. After months of hard work and pain you were able to make your anger your fuel and you finally hit Super Saiyan Level 2. It amazed everyone, except for your father. He had known all along that you were indeed the best. Only about 2 days after your accomplishment an unwelcome guest visited us. He called himself Zeus. He arrived in his star ship above this very field. He had many troops clad in white armor with black trimming. Goku and I just happened to be training you at that moment. You were still expanding your Super Saiyan power..."
Flashback
"What the hell is that?" yelled Piccolo. The ship had yet to stop and was making quite a bit of noise. Goku and Gohan stared at it, wondering the same thing to themselves. Troops were all over the place, surrounding them. The three didn't like how things were going down, but they didn't want to start a fight if it wasn't necessary. They allowed the troops to continue out of the ship. After the last troop found his way to the ground a group of four descended. One was a tall, slender man. He was slightly more than 6 feet fall. On each hand was a gloved claw, extending to about 1 foot each. His skin was darkly tanned and his black spandex pants bore a yellow stripe down the sides. His outfit was topped off with black shin-high boots, a yellow sash around the waist, and one evil smile. His face looked like that of a true psychopathic killer. The mystery man had a chiseled physic, although still very slender. The golden hair on his head laid over his shoulder in a large braid, weighted down at the end by small cross.
The second person in the group was significantly taller than the first and happened to be female. Her skin was less tanned and her clothing consisted of a one piece all purple 'bathing suit' that rode high on her legs and showed nothing else. Her nails were painted red and her arms were wrapped in white bandages all the way up to the elbow. Her legs were the same, with the bandages covering the leg up to the kneecap and down to the heel of the foot. The woman's hair was dark brown and reached down to her shoulders. Her main feature was her muscularity, not masculine but its power was understood. She was still very feminine. Just the expression on her face showed that she still had a softer side.
The third person in the group was easily the shortest of everyone. The fact was that it was impossible to figure out whether it was a man or a woman. The person wore a red cloak with a hood that was brought as far over the head as conceivably possible. That masked the person inside. The only other visible part of this one was the tan rope around the waist used for tightening the robe.
It took one look at the last man in the lineup for Piccolo, Gohan, and Goku to realize that he was the one leading the entire outfit. The presence around him was just staggering. Even from the distance that they were the three could feel his sense of superiority. It may have just bordered on cockiness. He was a large, thick man, covered in muscle from head to toe. His height was just about that of the 'Amazonian' woman, with his body being much more muscular. He wore a black body suit that covered everything, including his head. It had an executioner-type mask on, form fitting on his face. Over his hands he wore large, yellow gauntlets that looked like they were bolted to his body by the rubies at the base of them. His large, yellow combat boots were much the same way, bolted in place with red rubies. Of all of them he was the only one who seemed to be glowing with any power at all.
The four of them landed in front of the soldiers and walked over to Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo. The last one (the executioner) never actually touched the ground. He instead floated the entire way. He went right over to Goku, who stared right back at him.
"So you are Goku..." He shook his head. "I have to say that you are a disappointment. I thought you would be the strongest. That is why I came for you."
"Who are you?" demanded Piccolo, never one for beating around the bush.
"You do not ask the master questions!" snapped the clawed warrior. He appeared ready to lunge at Piccolo when the 'executioner' stopped him.
"Calm yourself. This is not the time." He looked back to the three Z warriors. "My name is Zeus. This charming man with the claws on his hands is Bison. The woman's name is Sable. The man in the robe is my right hand, Hearst. Do not bother introducing yourselves. We already know who you are. I am here to recruit the strongest fighter on this planet into my fold. As you can see I already have three. My data had indicated that this Goku here was the strongest, but now that I can see for myself it doesn't seem to be correct."
Piccolo stepped toward Zeus. Even he ended up being shorter than the big man, but that didn't intimidate him in the least. "Listen, Zeus. We aren't interested in anything you have to offer. Judging by all the soldiers you brought with you it doesn't look like you have just recruiting in mind. Care to explain that?"
"This is the last time I warn you!" snapped Bison again. He went nose to nose with Piccolo, fuming from the nose. Piccolo matched his intensity. Both had to be pulled apart by their respective friends.
"As I was saying," began Zeus again. "I am here for the strongest, but my data has changed since I left on my mission. Now it seems that this boy here, Son Gohan is the strongest. That suits me just fine. I'll recruit the boy instead."
That remark brought Goku in front of his son. He had heard enough. "What makes you think that Gohan is going to join you just like that? Don't try and take him by force, or we will have a misunderstanding."
"I wouldn't dream of it. I simply want to show Gohan a few things in my ship to help him understand the benefits of teaming with my subordinates and myself. If he chooses not to go then he'll be brought back here and we will try with someone else. It's that simple."
"It's never that simple." Piccolo spat on the ground, aiming just outside of Bison's space. "Somehow you have something inside that is going to 'convince' him that he should join you. That's how you plan on getting him. I won't stand by and watch you manipulate Gohan like that. You won't get the chance."
Zeus sighed and snapped his fingers. That provoked movement in the otherwise motionless Hearst. The robed man lifted his head, but yet it was still too far back to be able to get a glimpse of it. It looked like he was staring at Gohan, but there was no way to tell for sure. Gohan tried to look back, but there was nothing to look at. Suddenly his muscles started to tighten, and he wasn't able to move. Goku and Piccolo both noticed this and action was quick. Goku went after Hearst, but was stopped abruptly by Sable. The large woman grabbed Goku by his head and nailed him with a head butt. He staggered back, his vision blurred by the contact. Piccolo gritted his teeth as Bison nonchalantly walked in front of him.
"Oh this will be fun." Bison licked one of his claws. "You have been saved before, but this time there will be no holding me back. I will paint you red."
"I don't think so." Piccolo raised his arms above his head and then threw them down, igniting his chi around him. Bison jumped high into the air and then shot down at him, twisting his body around in a continuously circle and holding his claw out like a drill. Piccolo hopped back to dodge it and Bison hit nothing but dirt. He recovered without hesitation and swiped again. His claw caught a hold of Piccolo's shirt and ripped it to shreds. The mark was in the center of the shirt, so it was still relatively intact. Piccolo became more defensive at that moment and used both his arms to block the next swipe. Bison tried an uppercut and that proved to be an error. Piccolo slipped under the claw and jabbed him in the stomach. Bison's body almost sucked itself in. He crossed his hands over his midsection, gasping for air. That left his chin wide open.
WHAM!
Bison was now airborne and heading for the next country. He landed out of sight. Done with his chore Piccolo looked over at Goku. The Saiyan was handling Sable not to bad. She seemed able to take all of his attacks, but he wasn't even using his Super Saiyan power just yet. That battle was well in hand, so Piccolo went to help Gohan. He was still staring at Hearst, but Piccolo knew it was probably deeper than that. He snatched Hearst up by the collar, half expecting Zeus to interject. He did not, however upon picking up Hearst, Piccolo found that there was nothing there but a robe.
"What the hell?" He threw the robe at Zeus, cursing him silently for the trick. "What are you trying to pull?"
"I'm not trying anything. I've already done what I wanted. I have my fighter. Meet Son Gohan, your destroyer." He motioned over to Gohan. "I can't have you trying to bring him back to the 'force', can I?"
"You will undo what you have done to him, or I will break your spine." Piccolo heightened his chi to show he meant business. "You know you can't fight me. My power is far stronger than yours and all of your lackeys."
"Right now maybe, but that's why I have my other secret weapon."
That didn't sound good. Piccolo didn't like surprises. There wasn't going to be a chance for one. He formed a triangle with his hands and began to form a Soudokan. That's when it happened. Every bit of energy that he had collected over that of his normal level was instantly suppressed. Even some of the start up energy was suppressed. The sudden lost made Piccolo feel uncommonly exhausted and unable to do anything right away. The surprise had been sprung.
"This is a little gadget of mine that I call the S. E. S.. All you have to know is that you are no longer a threat to us. Son Gohan is mine now. We are going to have a little chat to discuss his future with my empire. Don't get involved unless you want to be dealt with in a most brutal manner."
Piccolo let his arms fall to his sides. He had tried with all his might while Zeus was talking to get some sort of spark, some sort of hint of a energy wave that he could use to attack, but the SES did it's job. Piccolo couldn't generate a drop. That meant big trouble. Their chi wasn't only used to attack, but to move as well. Flying was still an option, but not for fighting. Even then it was probably going to be at a very slow speed. Everything would be much slower without the extra boost and as Zeus lifted his large, right hand and it began to glow, Piccolo found out that the machine probably would not affect him or his minions.
End Flashback
"Duck for cover!" yelled Yamcha as he grabbed Gohan on pure instinct and brought him to the ground. A volley of bullets whizzed over their heads, scattering harmlessly in the distance. Both panted loudly as they knew they had just barely slipped out of the way of that attack.
Piccolo had merely ducked down during the attack. The reason was clear as he stood back up. He had simply reached for the shotgun on the floor. He wanted to return the favor. Out almost 100 yards was a group of 20 soldiers. Each one carried a rifle and was armored from head to toe. They split into three groups and branched off. One group went right, another went left, and the last kept on the straight path. All converged on the last spot that they had sited the Z warriors in. Piccolo cocked the gun and aimed at the group on the right.
In about 3 seconds there was no group on the right side. They were replaced with a large crater that smoked with the recent shot fired. The other groups paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to risk being the next one's shot down.
"Yamcha?" asked Gohan. "Why do you use those things?"
Yamcha, for someone who had such feelings of hate for Gohan, was now being much more friendly. "It is the only way to use the stored chi in our bodies. These guns actually rip it from our aura and lodge it inside like bullets. At the same time it fires that bullet, so the reaction is instantaneous. With my pistol it's not a big deal. Piccolo's shotgun, though, takes a lot out of him. He can't use it too often or he might pass out. It doesn't have a strength setting; it's just meant for power."
Piccolo knelt down again. He was tired from using his toy already. "That's all I can manage. There are only two groups left. If we stay low we can take them." He looked dead at Gohan. "This is where we find out where your true colors lie." Without another work Yamcha and Piccolo crawled off, each one heading for a single group. Gohan peeked above the grass for one quick moment to get a count on the number of soldiers. There were 7 in each group. Piccolo had taken out the larger one. That was good. Seeing as how Yamcha and Piccolo had gone after different sides, Gohan decided to head straight down the middle.
One of the soldiers ran up to the leader in the pack. "Captain, we cannot find them. We know that they are in the grass area. They are probably attempting a sneak attack." The captain, not the brightest of the bunch, then decided that splitting up would be the best solution to the problem. Come at them from all sides. If you see them then give a signal. No one was surprised really when the first soldier disappeared without any warning.
"Where are they?" whined another soldier. He was scared out of his mind. It was like an evil force was there to eat them up and they couldn't do anything but wish that they weren't there. He tried to calm himself and search them out, but instead he found 5 more of his comrades missing. Now there were only eight, and it was time to scream. Yamcha made it his place to stop him. He grabbed the man's head and used all his weight and both his hands to ram it into the floor. Even with the armor on the soldier was knocked unconscious.
"There he is." The captain pointed at Yamcha, who was now standing. All of the remaining troops rallied around the captain and aimed their guns at Yamcha. The human didn't move or attempt to escape, but two more soldiers fell just the same. Now Piccolo was right next to the captain. Everyone turned to fire on him... that's when Gohan came from the other side and hit three men with one jump kick. Yamcha rushed in and in a blaze of moves took out three more. With all of the soldiers on the ground the only one left was the captain.
"I am not going to play game with you." Piccolo snatched him up by the collar, but didn't make eye contact. "All I want you to do is to tell me how to get into the SES building. I know that you have the information I need. Tell us how or I'll torture you."
The captain shook all over. He hadn't signed up to be mutilated by Nameks living on earth. "O- okay. I'll talk... just don't kill me."
"If I like what I hear then you won't die."
From the edge of the field a red beam of light emerged. It streaked forward at insane speeds and ripped right through the heart of the cowardly captain. His speech stopped on the spot; all he could sputter was blood. Piccolo dropped the useless carcass on the ground. He had gotten close, but there was someone who didn't want him to get any closer.
"Tsk. Tsk." Teased Sable. She entered the field, walking slowly. "Such a bad captain. He mustn't be giving away any secrets now, should he? What kind of would we live in if he could just say what he wanted?"
"A much better one!" yelled Yamcha. "You wouldn't be in it, that's for sure!"
"You can do something about that now if you wish. You want to fight me? I'm right here. Just give it your best shot. I can break you in half within minutes."
Yamcha began to lose his cool (more so than he already had). His entire body screamed for him to attack, but his common sense told him it was suicide. Still, even just one punch, one solid connection to the chin would satisfy him right now. If only there was a way to survive after that.
"I see you aren't as anxious as you thought you were." Sable lifted her arm and pointed her index and middle fingers at Piccolo. "I'll just give you a reason to react. Tyrants!" As commanded the tyrants appeared from the sky. They were large, man-like machines that reached up to over fifty feet in height each. Their metal bodies were sleek and resembled red fighters in black Saiyan armor. They landed on the ground softly, using their large propulsion packs to slow their decent. In all there were four and that was four too many.
Gohan knew the situation was bad. Normally such machines wouldn't have even been thought of as a challenge. Then again no one would think of having to fight them at such a low power level. Gohan sucked in some air- and ran. Piccolo and Yamcha had the same idea. They cut a path and kept themselves hidden as much as possible. The Tyrants followed after them. They were able to keep pace with the Z warriors, but not just yet able to fire upon them for lack of visual confirmation. That was all about to change as the end of the grass field was upon them.
"Piccolo-" yelled Yamcha.
"I know," he replied, already seeing the danger ahead. "Just get ready."
Gohan mentally prepared himself. He was going to have to step it up a notch to take down the large machines. The edge of the field came up like a bullet and the group found themselves out in the open. Piccolo jumped and spun around in mid air, hoping to fire off a shot at any of the pursuers. The front Tyrant was far too close to allow that. It smacked the gun from his hand and blasted him with a laser from a cannon embedded in its right hand. Piccolo sailed through the air and skidded on the ground after he hit. He flipped over onto his stomach and lay motionless.
"Piccolo!" Gohan ran over to his fallen friend. The second Tyrant fired a blast at him. He was just barely able to get Piccolo and himself out of the way. The blast left a mark on the ground, but nothing and nobody else was affected. Gohan searched quickly for a place to put Piccolo down, but there was none. There were some mountains off in the distance, but he doubted that he could get there. He would need a huge diversion. Gohan placed Piccolo on his shoulder. If he couldn't find a safe place for him then he would have to keep him safe. Yamcha saw this and didn't like it. He pulled out his pistol and took a few shots at the Tyrant closing in on him. It didn't really do anything, but what else could he do?
"What are you doing?" demanded Yamcha.
"Get the gun, Yamcha! That's the only way."
Yamcha looked at the shotgun lying on the floor and understood. It did provide firepower, but the question was if Yamcha had enough in him to power it. He put his pistol away in his holster and dived for the shotgun. One somersault later he was kneeling on the ground with it in his right hand. One of the Tyrants fired another hand laser. It was easily dodged, and now the attacking Tyrant was pegged as the target for the first shot. Gohan moved with Piccolo out of the range of the blast.
KABOOM!
The shot was extremely loud and even bigger than the last one that Piccolo had fired. It tore a hole through the hand that housed the laser and destroyed it. The offending hand also exploded, leaving only wiring and sharp metal in its place. The Tyrant itself, however, was unharmed and continued to function. Worse yet was that Yamcha had a lot taken out of him after he used the shotgun. He could move, but it would only be a matter of time before they grabbed him. After that it was pretty much over. The Tyrants advanced on him; they knew the same thing.
"NOW!" yelled someone from what sounded like underground. Gohan looked around to see if he could locate the person, but just as before he had no luck. All of a sudden the ground in front of Yamcha exploded upward. There was far too much smoke and rock to tell what had caused it, but Gohan could make out a couple of shapes in the area that weren't there before. They moved to the four Tyrants... and then moved back. They converged on Yamcha... and then jumped out at Gohan. With Piccolo on his shoulder it wouldn't be easy to fight them. Gohan hoped it wouldn't come to that.
The two stopped in front of him, smiles on their faces. The one on the right wasn't familiar. The one on the left was. They both wore the same gi. The right was black, and the left was a teal color. Yamcha was with them, or had been dragged by them.
"...Trunks." Gohan was elated to see his friend. So far he had seen Piccolo and Yamcha, but neither seemed happy to see him. Trunks was a different story.
"Gohan... I knew it wasn't true. You couldn't have done those things..." The man on the right nudged him and cleared his throat. "Oops. Sorry. Gohan, this is Hunter. He's part of our resistance." Gohan nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Gohan. Excuse me for a minute." Hunter turned around toward the area where the Tyrants were. They were on the move again, going toward the group's new location. Hunter got his hands around a controller that had been hiding behind him under his belt. He pressed the big red button (you always press the big red button) and that started a light show where the Tyrants had once been.
"What did you do to them?" Gohan asked.
"Nothing much. Just planted some really big explosives on them so that they wouldn't be causing any more trouble." Everyone got a little bit of enjoyment out of that situation, but then all attention turned back to Piccolo. He wasn't in the best of shape.
"Is there anywhere to bring him to help him heal?"
Hunter and Trunks nodded. They pointed to the mountain range and started long jumping there. Yamcha walked over to Gohan. Without a word Gohan gave Piccolo's body to him, understanding that he still was not entirely trusted. Yamcha bounded off, Piccolo in hand.
Gohan stayed behind at first, trying to piece together what he could of the events he had gone through so far. "I was sucked into another world where we can't use our chi energy and I've killed my father. Is this place for real, or am I dreaming? What bizarre things are going to happen next? Will I actually see a double of myself?" Gohan shook his head, clearing away all the weird thoughts. Right now the important thing was Piccolo. After he was safe then Gohan could begin to ask questions. That's when he would finally shed a little light on this mystery.
It was very late on a Saturday night. Son Gohan laid lazily in his bed, dressed in a white T-shirt and black shorts. His eyes were fixed on a spot on the ceiling of his room. To him that very spot was special. It didn't have any particular markings on it to tell it apart from the rest of the roof. Instead it was because with a little bit of concentration Gohan was able to see back into the past a couple of days. Everything he recalled was memory; the ceiling was simply a means of projecting it mentally. The past had been tough on him. It was only a few weeks earlier that he had defeated Cell. There was time for rejoicing, for Cell was a terror that went beyond imagination. However the victory did not come without large prices. Many lives were lost. The most notable from Gohan's standpoint was his own father.
For weeks Gohan had been beating himself up. He had only enjoyed his victory for a short time before the reality that his father was gone had sunk in. Cheers turned into silent frowns at that time. Everyone mourned the passing of Goku. The only difference was that Gohan had the hardest time just letting go. He blamed himself for everything.
The weather outside was dreary at best. It was cold, damp, and the makings of a storm were starting to creep over the Son house. Gohan couldn't help but feel that the weather was a direct outward expression of his feelings at the moment. He slithered off of his bed and walked over to the window barefoot. At that moment it began to drizzle. Little raindrops floated into the room and splashed onto his nose and face. He didn't bother to wipe them off.
Cell is gone, but so is my father. What do I do? I know that it wasn't my fault, but then again... I shouldn't have been so cocky. I should have just finished him off. I so badly wanted to give him some of his own medicine. To make him feel the fear that we all had felt we he decided he was going to destroy everything. If I had just killed him my father wouldn't be dead...
Outside the thunder and lighting crashed loudly, making Gohan's eyes snap up and at attention. He began thinking about the storm. It accurately portrayed what he was thinking and feeling. Not only that but Piccolo was probably out there meditating in it. Gohan couldn't help but smile about that. Piccolo was like the Postman. Neither rain nor snow shall keep him from his goals.
Gohan...
Gohan jumped backward, startled by the voice. His fighting instincts caused him to immediately jump into a ready position as his eyes searched the room. There was no one there, of course. He would have seen them coming much sooner than that. Gohan inched toward the window expecting that someone might be right outside of it. They might be waiting for him to stick his head out so that they could attack. He wouldn't give them the chance.
"HA!" With the grace of an acrobat he jumped through the opening in the window, somersaulted on the ground and stood up with pivoting on his feet. He was now facing his house, but there were no signs of anyone around. The only thing he had managed to figure out was how quickly a white shirt could get dirty. Still he stayed on his toes, not sure whether or not he had heard anything in the first place.
Gohan... help us...
The question of whether or not he had heard the voice had now been answered. There was someone out there somewhere, but the voice had no direction to it. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Gohan couldn't do a thing besides stand in the rain and wait for someone to come out. No one ever did.
"Who are you?!" The water dripped down his face, which was now curled up in an irritated look. It was as if the wind was trying to make fun of him.
Gohan... if you can hear me... follow...
After hearing the voice a third time Gohan noticed two things about it that he hadn't before. First was that it was indeed a female voice. It was soft as well, almost faint. It was as if she were calling from very far away. The second is that there was a sense of urgency in it that convinced him that it wasn't someone just playing tricks. Whoever she was it was very clear that she needed help. It was just a matter of finding her now.
"Where are you? What's wrong?"
Gohan... if you can hear me... follow my voice...
"I can't! Where-" That was the last thing he had a chance to say because at that moment there was a large explosion right in front of him. It was small and it happened between his body and the house itself. A bolt of lightning had collided with the ground, but it didn't make any marks in the area. Instead it hovered mere inches above, glowing with ungodly brightness. Gohan had to shield his eyes from the light, as it was overload for his eyes to handle.
Follow my voice...
Gohan instead inched back, almost tripping as he did. He couldn't see a thing with all that light so he had to make some distance. As he did it began to dim. It soon reached a point where he could actually look at it without going blind. It was a marvel to behold. An actual bolt of electricity was standing in mid-air.
"What... is this all about?"
Just then two more bolts crashed into the ground. The difference was that they were much larger, much brighter, and they both landed much closer to Gohan himself. He covered up his eyes and head far after they had hit, not able to react in time. It didn't take him long to see a pattern here.
"They... oh no." He dived instinctually, and it was a good instinct. The next bolt of electricity saw fit to occupy his space. It missed him by a good few feet, but had he not moved it would have implanted itself in his head. As Gohan somersaulted to his feet again he knew there was something up. He gazed up into the sky, thinking that it might be a literal thing. He started to lift into the air when the next one that came down struck him. The surge raced through his body like venom, stinging him in every possible place. Even his fingertips felt like they were on fire.
"Damn." No more chances. The chi around his body began to excite as his body began to harness it. The area around him grew in heat slightly as his hair whipped upward. The chi became visible as white streaks, and then they became blue. His eyes melted into a turquoise blend and his hair seemingly caught fire and then settled down to a golden glow. He rose into the air and then detected something coming down. Quickly he moved out of the way of an incoming bolt. This one did strike the ground and did leave a nasty mark. Gohan blasted off into the air, avoided all of the raining electricity with his superior speed. Before long he was above the clouds that seemed to be supplying them. It was then he found out that the clouds weren't supplying them. About 50 yards in front of him was the real culprit. Problem was that Gohan had no clue what it was.
It looks like some sort of swirling energy... er- thing. What is it doing here, and why does it seem to be attacking me? What is... what is that?
The questions just kept piling up. Now the energy mass was beginning to slowly expand outward, pushing through the clouds and also closing the distance between it and Gohan. The only thing Gohan was really worried about was whether or not it was safe to let it move closer to his house. It might get a little violent and sent some lighting bolts through the roof.
Gohan...
"That voice again." It was very soft, almost relaxing. In fact Gohan let his guard down for just a second, hoping to figure out just why he was being called. That's when it struck. A "laser lasso" of sorts whipped out from the energy ball and snagged Gohan's left wrist. It had been so quick that even he wasn't able to detect the movement. On top of that the grip was tight and when Gohan tried to free it with his other hand it almost electrocuted his offending hand.
"Won't try that again." Gohan's slight wit was lost onto himself as he continued to struggle against the energy rope. It had now started contracting. He was now on a collision course with the swirling energy. Things were made worse when it started exerting a gravitational pull that was aiding in bringing Gohan to it's center. 50 yards turned into 5 almost instantly. Gohan gave on final pull in hopes of finally breaking the hold, but it didn't work. His hand made contact, causing him to flinch in anticipation of the worst. It never happened, as the outer wall seemed to feel more like warm gelatin than electricity. It pulled him in all the way. Gohan took one last breath while he could. Then there was darkness...
**********
Yamcha sprung over the rubble with one hand and ducked down to the floor. He looked more ragged than usual. His gi was extremely torn, the top half almost hanging off of his body. He wore an unusual pair of eyewear, covering his face like goggles. They were black with a long, red lens. Yamcha checked the area around him from his lowered position, making sure there wasn't anyone around. He pressed a button on his goggles.
"Area 5-1 clear. Reporting back to base." He turned around and was about to hop back over the rubble when a bright light appeared behind him. Yamcha turned to face it; that was a bad idea. It was far too bright to look at with the naked eye, and his eyewear didn't help to filter out any of the light rays either. He covered up instead, almost cowering away from the superior power. It only became brighter, but a shadow did appear in the middle. The light than began to die down and only then did Yamcha attempt to take a look at what had appeared. His response was quick.
"Oh my god..." He began stuttering nonsense, trying to say a million things at once. Gohan, who had finally escaped the portal (which was what he had deduced it to be), could only stare at Yamcha and wonder how hard he must have been training to get his gi in that kind of condition. Questions about the visor that Yamcha was wearing came to mind as well.
"Yamcha, what are you wearing?" Gohan walked over and reached for the visor, but Yamcha pulled back. He shrank away from Gohan as if he was scared of him. Gohan couldn't figure it out. "What's the problem, Yamcha? What happened to your clothes?"
"Get away from me, you demon! I don't care who you are! I'll fight you to the death!" Yamcha composed himself to get into a mockery of a fighting stance. His knees, had they been close enough to each other, would have been chattering and knocking together. His fear was apparent; the reason for it wasn't so clear.
"Yamcha- what did I do?" The genuine concern and bewilderment seemed to win the human over for just a moment. While he didn't look like he was going to invite Gohan to come any closer, he didn't look like he was going to attack either. That would give Gohan a chance to talk Yamcha through the whole ordeal to see if he could get some information.
"You know damn well what you did! You... how can you live with yourself." Yamcha clenched his fist, but not in anger. It was sorrow. Sorrow over came him in the form of tears and anguish. Yamcha became overly weak and fell down to his knees. "Go ahead. I know you like your sadistic games. You like to torture people so that they beg you to stop. Well I don't plan on giving you the satisfaction. You are going to have to just kill me?"
Gohan was completely confused now. The emotion that Yamcha was going through told him that it wasn't just a joke. Everything that Yamcha was saying he believed. That didn't make any sense, though, because Gohan wasn't a killer. Everyone knew that. The only person he had killed was Cell, and Yamcha wouldn't get upset over that. He had been part of the victory celebration.
"Yamcha... I don't know what you are talking about."
"Don't toy with me, Gohan! I saw it with my own eyes. You... you... you bastard!" Yamcha lunged at Gohan and swung a mighty right hand, but it was easily avoided. Gohan just let him pass and he hit the floor, still sobbing and talking under his breath.
"Yamcha..."
"Don't call me! You don't have the right to call me by my name!"
"What did I do?" Gohan started to try to help his friend up, but decided against it. Something had upset Yamcha, and that wasn't the way to help. Instead Gohan stood his ground, trying to convey in his face that he was not an enemy. Gohan doubted it would work. Yamcha got up under his own power and kept his back to Gohan.
"Go ahead... do it... like what you did to him..."
Now Gohan was starting to get a little bit annoyed. Everything Yamcha was saying was inconclusive. There were no real solid answers. Gohan was a patient person, but that was starting to run thin. He was in a weird place with a friend of his that was wearing space age glasses and looked like he had fought twenty battles too many.
"Yamcha. Tell me what it is that I did." The stern look that Gohan now wore on his face provoked a reaction as Yamcha turned around and faced him once again. It wasn't the one he would have liked.
P-Tu!
Yamcha spat right in his face. It was cold and full of malice. Gohan was stunned. The anger and sorrow etched in Yamcha's face was unlike he had ever seen before. It was true hate. Something had happened while he was in the energy sphere to change Yamcha's attitude toward himself, but it had only transported him to another part of the planet it looked. Gohan had figured it to be a high-speed warp.
What could have happened in the time that I was in that thing to make Yamcha hate me so much? It couldn't have anything to do with Cell. What else? Can he be upset about... oh no. It's my father. That's what it is. He's upset that I let my father die in the Cell games. I got carried away. I know that it was a mistake, but I was more torn than anyone for letting him die. The last time I saw Yamcha he was trying to help me deal with it. Something still isn't adding up.
Gohan wiped the fresh saliva off of his face, now a look of remorse in his eye. "Yamcha... this is about my father, isn't it?"
"YOU DAMN RIGHT IT IS! HOW COULD YOU KILL HIM IN COLD BLOOD LIKE THAT? FOR KAMI'S SAKE, GOHAN! HE WAS YOUR FATHER, AND YOU STABBED HIM IN THE BACK JUST BECAUSE THAT EVIL BASTARD ASKED YOU TOO?"
"... What are you talking about, Yamcha? Cell never asked me to kill my father, and if he did you know I wouldn't listen to him. What makes you think that I would purposely do something like that?"
Yamcha was on the verge of yet another verbal tirade when he noticed that Gohan was being very calm about the situation. Amidst all his anger he hadn't realized that Gohan hadn't once raised his hand to attack. The Gohan he knew would have already plastered him against the wall. That meant that this was either a very clever clone, or maybe the real Gohan had finally freed himself from the clutches of that madman.
Yamcha took a deep breath and breathed out. He needed to clear his own head for the moment and get his thoughts on track. "You claim to know nothing about what happened to your father."
"Yamcha. I know that he died saving us from Cell."
Yamcha shook his head. "I don't know how, but someway I think you might have lost your memory. That might be why you haven't tried to kill me yet. I think there might be hope for you, but I don't want to bring you with us just yet." Yamcha pressed another button on his visor and muttered a few things. "We have to be sure."
"What are you doing?"
"Bringing in an expert. Don't worry about it. If you are what you are claiming to be and don't know what you claim you don't know then everything will work out fine. My colleague should be familiar to you. He should be by shortly."
"Okay. Fine. Tell me this though. Why are you wearing that visor?"
Yamcha became silent, unwilling to answer the question. Gohan didn't want to make the now friendlier situation any worse so he left it at that. Within a few moments he heard a sound from above. By instinct he brought his hands up. Then he saw the figure. The man was standing atop a demolished building, on the end of a metal pole. Almost as soon as Gohan caught a glimpse the man disappeared, literally.
"How-" Just then the figure reappeared, right in front of Gohan. It was plain as day now. The face was unmistakable.
Yamcha stepped over to the taller man. "Well... what do you think? Is he the real deal? I figured you would know. You knew him best other than his father."
Piccolo stared at Gohan, almost staring through him instead. His appearance, unlike that of Yamcha's, had not changed. He wore his purple gi proudly with his blue sash. "Yeah. It's him. I'm sure of it." Piccolo allowed a smile to creep up onto his face momentarily. "When did you find him?"
"Just after I checked the area. He appeared out of a portal like all the rest of them did. I thought he was still with them, but he didn't try to kill me at all. He just kept asking me what was wrong. I think he might have lost his memory."
Piccolo continued to gaze at Gohan, studying his eyes as he talked. "Are you sure it was the same kind of portal?"
"No. I wasn't able to look at this one. It was far too bright. I would have been blinded." Yamcha rubbed his eyes just from thinking about it. "Are you thinking something else?"
"Yes, but I don't want to discuss it here. We need to get to one of the security bunks before we are detected. I'm sure a least a few of those rust buckets have locked onto our life forces by now. We just have to move fast enough to lose them. Just keep your chi low and everything will be fine."
Yamcha nodded in agreement and began moving back past the rubble into a darker alleyway. Piccolo did the same. Gohan didn't go anywhere. Piccolo turned back once he realized it.
"If you plan on getting any answers I suggest that you move now."
"Too late." Yamcha pointed into the sky. Floating in the air about Gohan were two hovering crafts. They looked like flying heads, with two wide windows and then a half a sphere for a bottom. They didn't look very menacing, but Yamcha and Piccolo seemed rattled enough.
"Damn it! Move it, Gohan. Those sentinels are going to open fire." Piccolo reached out for Gohan, but still Gohan made no effort to move. One of the sentinels opened up on the bottom and a small cannon came out. It aimed itself at Gohan.
"I'll show you to try and intimidate me!" Gohan balled his fists up and raised his chi. He was about to break into Super Saiyan level when he noticed that he wasn't able to gain any more power than what he had. Worse still was that he had to really concentrate to keep what he had at his disposal. The level of concentration required wouldn't even allow him to use his chi effectively. It was then that Gohan understood why everyone had ducked for cover.
The same thing must affect them all. That's why they didn't want the sentinel to see them... I think I'm in trouble.
Dodging was out of the question. There was no time. The shot was fired and it clipped Gohan on the shoulder. Piccolo had pulled him out of the way in time to only sustain mild injuries. It could have been worse. There were a thousand things going through his head at that point, but it would have to wait until he wasn't in danger. He jumped over the rubble and took off with Piccolo and Yamcha down the alley. There he found that they weren't actually running away, at least Piccolo wasn't. Yamcha picked up a silver pistol with a black handle. Piccolo reached for a long shotgun that was propped up against a wall. He then flicked a button on the side and it began to make a whirling sound.
"Yes, it is a gun, Gohan." Piccolo said seemingly answering the question before it was asked. Gohan blinked a few times to show that he heard but was still baffled. "When we reach one of the safe houses I'll explain it. For now just stand back. This thing isn't a toy." Gohan did as told. Even Yamcha took a step back. Piccolo lifted the gun and pointed it right at the alleyway entrance and waited. Soon the sentinels came around the corner, side by side. It didn't leave much room for evading anything.
"Stop, rebels." Turrets for the guns began to open on the top of the sentinels.
"I don't think so." The Namek pulled the trigger and let loose a large beam that was about the size of his head. It ripped through the sentinel on the right, causing it to explode instantaneously. Yamcha grabbed Gohan by the arm and lead him deeper into the alley. Piccolo was close behind. The second sentinel made it's way through the smoke and fire, but by that time it had lost their position. It stayed it's ground for just a few minutes more, scanning the area, but in the end it failed to find them again so it went back to it's original security procedures.
Behind a large cardboard box Yamcha finally exhaled the breath he had taken nearly 5 minutes ago. Piccolo did the same. Gohan calmly stood up and stared right at him. "Okay, Piccolo. Lead the way. I want to find out what is going on here." Piccolo nodded and bounded it, doing nothing more than jumping long distances, although short for what they were used to. Gohan and Yamcha were right behind. They covered great distance that way and found themselves in a tall grass field in no time. Suddenly Piccolo stopped. Gohan nearly ran right into him.
"This is far enough." The shotgun dropped to the floor. Yamcha pulled out his pistol again and aimed it right at Gohan's head. Reacting to the hostile attitude Gohan raised his hands in surrender.
"Do you think that we were going to bring you back to our base just like that? I don't think so." The desert bandit's fingers trembled on the trigger as if he was torn between extreme sorrow and excitement. "You don't know how long I've waited to get you like this. Now we can take revenge for what you did."
"No, Yamcha." Piccolo moved the pistol in a safe direction with his hand. Yamcha was in shock. "I didn't lead him out here so that you could put a bullet in his head. I want to know what he knows." Piccolo's gaze tuned to Gohan. "So talk."
"All I know is that I was in my house when a storm started up." Gohan scratched his head, sorting through his story mentally. He still was having problems understanding some of it. "Some girl started calling me and before I could find her a large, swirling portal swallowed me up. That's when I found Yamcha. The rest you know."
"That's all well and good," stated Piccolo, "but that doesn't solve the mystery of why you turned you back on us and killed Goku. What was it that that unforgiving bastard offered you that would make you turn on the world? I didn't think that anything could buy you out. That was my mistake."
"Piccolo... I don't understand. Please, explain what happened to me so that I'll know what you are talking about."
Yamcha and Piccolo gave each other uneasy looks. They wanted to believe, but they weren't convinced just yet. Piccolo sighed and began the story. "About 1 year ago you had just reached the next plateau in your training. After months of hard work and pain you were able to make your anger your fuel and you finally hit Super Saiyan Level 2. It amazed everyone, except for your father. He had known all along that you were indeed the best. Only about 2 days after your accomplishment an unwelcome guest visited us. He called himself Zeus. He arrived in his star ship above this very field. He had many troops clad in white armor with black trimming. Goku and I just happened to be training you at that moment. You were still expanding your Super Saiyan power..."
Flashback
"What the hell is that?" yelled Piccolo. The ship had yet to stop and was making quite a bit of noise. Goku and Gohan stared at it, wondering the same thing to themselves. Troops were all over the place, surrounding them. The three didn't like how things were going down, but they didn't want to start a fight if it wasn't necessary. They allowed the troops to continue out of the ship. After the last troop found his way to the ground a group of four descended. One was a tall, slender man. He was slightly more than 6 feet fall. On each hand was a gloved claw, extending to about 1 foot each. His skin was darkly tanned and his black spandex pants bore a yellow stripe down the sides. His outfit was topped off with black shin-high boots, a yellow sash around the waist, and one evil smile. His face looked like that of a true psychopathic killer. The mystery man had a chiseled physic, although still very slender. The golden hair on his head laid over his shoulder in a large braid, weighted down at the end by small cross.
The second person in the group was significantly taller than the first and happened to be female. Her skin was less tanned and her clothing consisted of a one piece all purple 'bathing suit' that rode high on her legs and showed nothing else. Her nails were painted red and her arms were wrapped in white bandages all the way up to the elbow. Her legs were the same, with the bandages covering the leg up to the kneecap and down to the heel of the foot. The woman's hair was dark brown and reached down to her shoulders. Her main feature was her muscularity, not masculine but its power was understood. She was still very feminine. Just the expression on her face showed that she still had a softer side.
The third person in the group was easily the shortest of everyone. The fact was that it was impossible to figure out whether it was a man or a woman. The person wore a red cloak with a hood that was brought as far over the head as conceivably possible. That masked the person inside. The only other visible part of this one was the tan rope around the waist used for tightening the robe.
It took one look at the last man in the lineup for Piccolo, Gohan, and Goku to realize that he was the one leading the entire outfit. The presence around him was just staggering. Even from the distance that they were the three could feel his sense of superiority. It may have just bordered on cockiness. He was a large, thick man, covered in muscle from head to toe. His height was just about that of the 'Amazonian' woman, with his body being much more muscular. He wore a black body suit that covered everything, including his head. It had an executioner-type mask on, form fitting on his face. Over his hands he wore large, yellow gauntlets that looked like they were bolted to his body by the rubies at the base of them. His large, yellow combat boots were much the same way, bolted in place with red rubies. Of all of them he was the only one who seemed to be glowing with any power at all.
The four of them landed in front of the soldiers and walked over to Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo. The last one (the executioner) never actually touched the ground. He instead floated the entire way. He went right over to Goku, who stared right back at him.
"So you are Goku..." He shook his head. "I have to say that you are a disappointment. I thought you would be the strongest. That is why I came for you."
"Who are you?" demanded Piccolo, never one for beating around the bush.
"You do not ask the master questions!" snapped the clawed warrior. He appeared ready to lunge at Piccolo when the 'executioner' stopped him.
"Calm yourself. This is not the time." He looked back to the three Z warriors. "My name is Zeus. This charming man with the claws on his hands is Bison. The woman's name is Sable. The man in the robe is my right hand, Hearst. Do not bother introducing yourselves. We already know who you are. I am here to recruit the strongest fighter on this planet into my fold. As you can see I already have three. My data had indicated that this Goku here was the strongest, but now that I can see for myself it doesn't seem to be correct."
Piccolo stepped toward Zeus. Even he ended up being shorter than the big man, but that didn't intimidate him in the least. "Listen, Zeus. We aren't interested in anything you have to offer. Judging by all the soldiers you brought with you it doesn't look like you have just recruiting in mind. Care to explain that?"
"This is the last time I warn you!" snapped Bison again. He went nose to nose with Piccolo, fuming from the nose. Piccolo matched his intensity. Both had to be pulled apart by their respective friends.
"As I was saying," began Zeus again. "I am here for the strongest, but my data has changed since I left on my mission. Now it seems that this boy here, Son Gohan is the strongest. That suits me just fine. I'll recruit the boy instead."
That remark brought Goku in front of his son. He had heard enough. "What makes you think that Gohan is going to join you just like that? Don't try and take him by force, or we will have a misunderstanding."
"I wouldn't dream of it. I simply want to show Gohan a few things in my ship to help him understand the benefits of teaming with my subordinates and myself. If he chooses not to go then he'll be brought back here and we will try with someone else. It's that simple."
"It's never that simple." Piccolo spat on the ground, aiming just outside of Bison's space. "Somehow you have something inside that is going to 'convince' him that he should join you. That's how you plan on getting him. I won't stand by and watch you manipulate Gohan like that. You won't get the chance."
Zeus sighed and snapped his fingers. That provoked movement in the otherwise motionless Hearst. The robed man lifted his head, but yet it was still too far back to be able to get a glimpse of it. It looked like he was staring at Gohan, but there was no way to tell for sure. Gohan tried to look back, but there was nothing to look at. Suddenly his muscles started to tighten, and he wasn't able to move. Goku and Piccolo both noticed this and action was quick. Goku went after Hearst, but was stopped abruptly by Sable. The large woman grabbed Goku by his head and nailed him with a head butt. He staggered back, his vision blurred by the contact. Piccolo gritted his teeth as Bison nonchalantly walked in front of him.
"Oh this will be fun." Bison licked one of his claws. "You have been saved before, but this time there will be no holding me back. I will paint you red."
"I don't think so." Piccolo raised his arms above his head and then threw them down, igniting his chi around him. Bison jumped high into the air and then shot down at him, twisting his body around in a continuously circle and holding his claw out like a drill. Piccolo hopped back to dodge it and Bison hit nothing but dirt. He recovered without hesitation and swiped again. His claw caught a hold of Piccolo's shirt and ripped it to shreds. The mark was in the center of the shirt, so it was still relatively intact. Piccolo became more defensive at that moment and used both his arms to block the next swipe. Bison tried an uppercut and that proved to be an error. Piccolo slipped under the claw and jabbed him in the stomach. Bison's body almost sucked itself in. He crossed his hands over his midsection, gasping for air. That left his chin wide open.
WHAM!
Bison was now airborne and heading for the next country. He landed out of sight. Done with his chore Piccolo looked over at Goku. The Saiyan was handling Sable not to bad. She seemed able to take all of his attacks, but he wasn't even using his Super Saiyan power just yet. That battle was well in hand, so Piccolo went to help Gohan. He was still staring at Hearst, but Piccolo knew it was probably deeper than that. He snatched Hearst up by the collar, half expecting Zeus to interject. He did not, however upon picking up Hearst, Piccolo found that there was nothing there but a robe.
"What the hell?" He threw the robe at Zeus, cursing him silently for the trick. "What are you trying to pull?"
"I'm not trying anything. I've already done what I wanted. I have my fighter. Meet Son Gohan, your destroyer." He motioned over to Gohan. "I can't have you trying to bring him back to the 'force', can I?"
"You will undo what you have done to him, or I will break your spine." Piccolo heightened his chi to show he meant business. "You know you can't fight me. My power is far stronger than yours and all of your lackeys."
"Right now maybe, but that's why I have my other secret weapon."
That didn't sound good. Piccolo didn't like surprises. There wasn't going to be a chance for one. He formed a triangle with his hands and began to form a Soudokan. That's when it happened. Every bit of energy that he had collected over that of his normal level was instantly suppressed. Even some of the start up energy was suppressed. The sudden lost made Piccolo feel uncommonly exhausted and unable to do anything right away. The surprise had been sprung.
"This is a little gadget of mine that I call the S. E. S.. All you have to know is that you are no longer a threat to us. Son Gohan is mine now. We are going to have a little chat to discuss his future with my empire. Don't get involved unless you want to be dealt with in a most brutal manner."
Piccolo let his arms fall to his sides. He had tried with all his might while Zeus was talking to get some sort of spark, some sort of hint of a energy wave that he could use to attack, but the SES did it's job. Piccolo couldn't generate a drop. That meant big trouble. Their chi wasn't only used to attack, but to move as well. Flying was still an option, but not for fighting. Even then it was probably going to be at a very slow speed. Everything would be much slower without the extra boost and as Zeus lifted his large, right hand and it began to glow, Piccolo found out that the machine probably would not affect him or his minions.
End Flashback
"Duck for cover!" yelled Yamcha as he grabbed Gohan on pure instinct and brought him to the ground. A volley of bullets whizzed over their heads, scattering harmlessly in the distance. Both panted loudly as they knew they had just barely slipped out of the way of that attack.
Piccolo had merely ducked down during the attack. The reason was clear as he stood back up. He had simply reached for the shotgun on the floor. He wanted to return the favor. Out almost 100 yards was a group of 20 soldiers. Each one carried a rifle and was armored from head to toe. They split into three groups and branched off. One group went right, another went left, and the last kept on the straight path. All converged on the last spot that they had sited the Z warriors in. Piccolo cocked the gun and aimed at the group on the right.
In about 3 seconds there was no group on the right side. They were replaced with a large crater that smoked with the recent shot fired. The other groups paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to risk being the next one's shot down.
"Yamcha?" asked Gohan. "Why do you use those things?"
Yamcha, for someone who had such feelings of hate for Gohan, was now being much more friendly. "It is the only way to use the stored chi in our bodies. These guns actually rip it from our aura and lodge it inside like bullets. At the same time it fires that bullet, so the reaction is instantaneous. With my pistol it's not a big deal. Piccolo's shotgun, though, takes a lot out of him. He can't use it too often or he might pass out. It doesn't have a strength setting; it's just meant for power."
Piccolo knelt down again. He was tired from using his toy already. "That's all I can manage. There are only two groups left. If we stay low we can take them." He looked dead at Gohan. "This is where we find out where your true colors lie." Without another work Yamcha and Piccolo crawled off, each one heading for a single group. Gohan peeked above the grass for one quick moment to get a count on the number of soldiers. There were 7 in each group. Piccolo had taken out the larger one. That was good. Seeing as how Yamcha and Piccolo had gone after different sides, Gohan decided to head straight down the middle.
One of the soldiers ran up to the leader in the pack. "Captain, we cannot find them. We know that they are in the grass area. They are probably attempting a sneak attack." The captain, not the brightest of the bunch, then decided that splitting up would be the best solution to the problem. Come at them from all sides. If you see them then give a signal. No one was surprised really when the first soldier disappeared without any warning.
"Where are they?" whined another soldier. He was scared out of his mind. It was like an evil force was there to eat them up and they couldn't do anything but wish that they weren't there. He tried to calm himself and search them out, but instead he found 5 more of his comrades missing. Now there were only eight, and it was time to scream. Yamcha made it his place to stop him. He grabbed the man's head and used all his weight and both his hands to ram it into the floor. Even with the armor on the soldier was knocked unconscious.
"There he is." The captain pointed at Yamcha, who was now standing. All of the remaining troops rallied around the captain and aimed their guns at Yamcha. The human didn't move or attempt to escape, but two more soldiers fell just the same. Now Piccolo was right next to the captain. Everyone turned to fire on him... that's when Gohan came from the other side and hit three men with one jump kick. Yamcha rushed in and in a blaze of moves took out three more. With all of the soldiers on the ground the only one left was the captain.
"I am not going to play game with you." Piccolo snatched him up by the collar, but didn't make eye contact. "All I want you to do is to tell me how to get into the SES building. I know that you have the information I need. Tell us how or I'll torture you."
The captain shook all over. He hadn't signed up to be mutilated by Nameks living on earth. "O- okay. I'll talk... just don't kill me."
"If I like what I hear then you won't die."
From the edge of the field a red beam of light emerged. It streaked forward at insane speeds and ripped right through the heart of the cowardly captain. His speech stopped on the spot; all he could sputter was blood. Piccolo dropped the useless carcass on the ground. He had gotten close, but there was someone who didn't want him to get any closer.
"Tsk. Tsk." Teased Sable. She entered the field, walking slowly. "Such a bad captain. He mustn't be giving away any secrets now, should he? What kind of would we live in if he could just say what he wanted?"
"A much better one!" yelled Yamcha. "You wouldn't be in it, that's for sure!"
"You can do something about that now if you wish. You want to fight me? I'm right here. Just give it your best shot. I can break you in half within minutes."
Yamcha began to lose his cool (more so than he already had). His entire body screamed for him to attack, but his common sense told him it was suicide. Still, even just one punch, one solid connection to the chin would satisfy him right now. If only there was a way to survive after that.
"I see you aren't as anxious as you thought you were." Sable lifted her arm and pointed her index and middle fingers at Piccolo. "I'll just give you a reason to react. Tyrants!" As commanded the tyrants appeared from the sky. They were large, man-like machines that reached up to over fifty feet in height each. Their metal bodies were sleek and resembled red fighters in black Saiyan armor. They landed on the ground softly, using their large propulsion packs to slow their decent. In all there were four and that was four too many.
Gohan knew the situation was bad. Normally such machines wouldn't have even been thought of as a challenge. Then again no one would think of having to fight them at such a low power level. Gohan sucked in some air- and ran. Piccolo and Yamcha had the same idea. They cut a path and kept themselves hidden as much as possible. The Tyrants followed after them. They were able to keep pace with the Z warriors, but not just yet able to fire upon them for lack of visual confirmation. That was all about to change as the end of the grass field was upon them.
"Piccolo-" yelled Yamcha.
"I know," he replied, already seeing the danger ahead. "Just get ready."
Gohan mentally prepared himself. He was going to have to step it up a notch to take down the large machines. The edge of the field came up like a bullet and the group found themselves out in the open. Piccolo jumped and spun around in mid air, hoping to fire off a shot at any of the pursuers. The front Tyrant was far too close to allow that. It smacked the gun from his hand and blasted him with a laser from a cannon embedded in its right hand. Piccolo sailed through the air and skidded on the ground after he hit. He flipped over onto his stomach and lay motionless.
"Piccolo!" Gohan ran over to his fallen friend. The second Tyrant fired a blast at him. He was just barely able to get Piccolo and himself out of the way. The blast left a mark on the ground, but nothing and nobody else was affected. Gohan searched quickly for a place to put Piccolo down, but there was none. There were some mountains off in the distance, but he doubted that he could get there. He would need a huge diversion. Gohan placed Piccolo on his shoulder. If he couldn't find a safe place for him then he would have to keep him safe. Yamcha saw this and didn't like it. He pulled out his pistol and took a few shots at the Tyrant closing in on him. It didn't really do anything, but what else could he do?
"What are you doing?" demanded Yamcha.
"Get the gun, Yamcha! That's the only way."
Yamcha looked at the shotgun lying on the floor and understood. It did provide firepower, but the question was if Yamcha had enough in him to power it. He put his pistol away in his holster and dived for the shotgun. One somersault later he was kneeling on the ground with it in his right hand. One of the Tyrants fired another hand laser. It was easily dodged, and now the attacking Tyrant was pegged as the target for the first shot. Gohan moved with Piccolo out of the range of the blast.
KABOOM!
The shot was extremely loud and even bigger than the last one that Piccolo had fired. It tore a hole through the hand that housed the laser and destroyed it. The offending hand also exploded, leaving only wiring and sharp metal in its place. The Tyrant itself, however, was unharmed and continued to function. Worse yet was that Yamcha had a lot taken out of him after he used the shotgun. He could move, but it would only be a matter of time before they grabbed him. After that it was pretty much over. The Tyrants advanced on him; they knew the same thing.
"NOW!" yelled someone from what sounded like underground. Gohan looked around to see if he could locate the person, but just as before he had no luck. All of a sudden the ground in front of Yamcha exploded upward. There was far too much smoke and rock to tell what had caused it, but Gohan could make out a couple of shapes in the area that weren't there before. They moved to the four Tyrants... and then moved back. They converged on Yamcha... and then jumped out at Gohan. With Piccolo on his shoulder it wouldn't be easy to fight them. Gohan hoped it wouldn't come to that.
The two stopped in front of him, smiles on their faces. The one on the right wasn't familiar. The one on the left was. They both wore the same gi. The right was black, and the left was a teal color. Yamcha was with them, or had been dragged by them.
"...Trunks." Gohan was elated to see his friend. So far he had seen Piccolo and Yamcha, but neither seemed happy to see him. Trunks was a different story.
"Gohan... I knew it wasn't true. You couldn't have done those things..." The man on the right nudged him and cleared his throat. "Oops. Sorry. Gohan, this is Hunter. He's part of our resistance." Gohan nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Gohan. Excuse me for a minute." Hunter turned around toward the area where the Tyrants were. They were on the move again, going toward the group's new location. Hunter got his hands around a controller that had been hiding behind him under his belt. He pressed the big red button (you always press the big red button) and that started a light show where the Tyrants had once been.
"What did you do to them?" Gohan asked.
"Nothing much. Just planted some really big explosives on them so that they wouldn't be causing any more trouble." Everyone got a little bit of enjoyment out of that situation, but then all attention turned back to Piccolo. He wasn't in the best of shape.
"Is there anywhere to bring him to help him heal?"
Hunter and Trunks nodded. They pointed to the mountain range and started long jumping there. Yamcha walked over to Gohan. Without a word Gohan gave Piccolo's body to him, understanding that he still was not entirely trusted. Yamcha bounded off, Piccolo in hand.
Gohan stayed behind at first, trying to piece together what he could of the events he had gone through so far. "I was sucked into another world where we can't use our chi energy and I've killed my father. Is this place for real, or am I dreaming? What bizarre things are going to happen next? Will I actually see a double of myself?" Gohan shook his head, clearing away all the weird thoughts. Right now the important thing was Piccolo. After he was safe then Gohan could begin to ask questions. That's when he would finally shed a little light on this mystery.