Shells and Shadows
Episode 2: City Of Hope
To the Midway Conclusion
The sky had at some point become calm and sunny, the irony not lost on Gohan. They had just left a very hostile zone with the Sentinels and the brief appearance of Kale, but now they were amongst the friendly rocks and plant life that made up the mountainsides. Gohan breathed the sweet air in, letting it fill his lungs. It tasted just as sweet as it smelled too, so he let his mouth drop open and he closed his eyes. His senses overflowed with freedom. It had been a while since he had felt any good about himself.
"Down here, Gohan," yelled Trunks. He and Hunter were already on the ground with Yamcha and running around a hill. Gohan had almost forgotten that he was following them. One more jump and he would have went right by them. Correcting his angle Gohan landed only a little off course and was able to recover in seconds. He tracked them as they bounded over a small stream and stopped in front of a mountain face.
"...Why are we stopping?" asked Gohan.
"Just a second... make contact yet, Hunter?"
He nodded his head, his right hand over his right ear. "I've got security online. They are opening the door now. Time to take a dive, eh?" Hunter and Trunks ran over to the stream. Hunter dived in and began swimming to the bottom.
"Gohan. Stay here with Yamcha. Hunter and I will get a recovery crew for Piccolo." Trunks dived in and disappeared just as quickly as his friend. That left Piccolo, Yamcha, and Gohan. Yamcha placed Piccolo on the ground. Then he walked over to Gohan. He wasn't happy.
"Tell me... tell me why you did it." Yamcha's face was as hard as stone. Gohan tried to understand why no matter what was said Yamcha didn't seem to trust him. Whoever his alter ego was in the current would they must have really been horrible.
"I didn't do it or anything else you think I did. I don't know what else to tell you."
Yamcha didn't say anything, but he was almost blowing his top off. Gohan sighed. He knew that Yamcha thought he was lying. It was written all over his face. It was like he was possessed by a demon of hate that focused all of its rage on Gohan.
"LIAR!" Yamcha spun around with a hard right hook that smacked Gohan right on the cheek. His muscles tensed and a low growl rumbled in his throat. Gohan only backed up, stunned by the attack. Yamcha began to swing again, but stopped dead in his tracks. Gohan was more baffled than ever.
"What is it now?"
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Yamcha just couldn't put the words together. In his mind, though, it was all clear to a certain extent. He knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't believe it.
It can't possibly be... can he really be telling the truth? Can this Gohan really be from another dimension like he says he is? I would never have even considered it, especially because the one I know likes to play mind games, but after I had just lost control I can't really make up my mind. The Gohan I know would have ripped me apart by now. I almost wished that he would take a shot at me. Security would pick up the fight and we would have all the force out here in moments. Even Gohan wouldn't stand a chance with the numbers we have. This Gohan didn't even get angry. It's like he really can't understand how I feel. Maybe... just maybe...
Yamcha realized then that he hadn't been controlling the look on his face as well as he should have and that his doubts were starting to peek through. Gohan smiled weakly, showing that he meant no harm and that he was happy that he wasn't still considered 100 percent guilty. From the bottom of the stream rose a large, yellow craft. It was much like a raft, but it had a clear bubble over it. Two divers came out of the water to load Piccolo onto the raft. Afterward they deflated it and it sank to the bottom. Gohan's head lowered until he was staring at the ground in front of him. He took a few steps and halted. He looked at Yamcha, who was yet again in battle with himself.
"Yamcha... I would really like to see if Piccolo is alright... if that is okay with you."
The sincerity of his voice and question swayed Yamcha even more. The Gohan he knew couldn't hope to pretend that much... so that was it. This wasn't the Gohan he knew. There was no way around that. That didn't explain where he came from, but it did rule out the tyrant that had put them where they were now. For now he would take the newbie with him, but he would still be keeping an eye on him. He would have to visit Bulma first.
"Just don't do anything stupid. In here we can kill you..."
Gohan understood and followed. They dove into the water and headed toward the city.
**********
The castle was as ominous as it had ever been. Dubbed "The Dungeon" by many of the people, it was like something out of a storybook from hell. It had towers of solid, gray stone reinforced with an alien metal. The guards patrolling the outside were top notch as well, having been selected as the best of the force and trusted with the protection of Zeus and his home. The inside was a maze, only traversable by those who knew it best. Visitors (the few allowed and privileged) had to be led around or they might become lost forever.
Deep inside, close to the center of the building, laid the chamber of light. The name would be completely deceiving to all those who didn't know; it was the lair of Gohan.
"HA!" Hand extended, Gohan fired a blast at a statue in the room. It was blown to bits with out a problem. Gohan flipped backward once again rammed his right elbow into yet another statue. The top half exploded on impact. He gave a very unsatisfied grunt. In the far corner of the room another figure appeared, this one larger than the first two. It was well hidden by shadows, but clearly there. Gohan eyed it, seething with anger. "IS THIS THE ONLY CHALLENGE THAT YOU CAN FIND FOR ME?" A bright, red glow began to envelope his body, starting a blow his gi upward.
"Warning!" called a computer voice from inside the room. "Maximum tolerance levels exceeded. Threat of damage to castle."
"Aku!" yelled Zeus over the intercom. "Listen to me. Calm your power now!"
Aku (or Gohan) ignored the order and let his power soar. Fire from his chi danced off of his back and leapt into the air above. His face was contorted in suffering; both from anger and from the little restraint he was showing. He didn't wish to use his awesome power on such a meaningless target, but his thirst for a fight was beginning to grow too large for even him to control. The need for a match with someone of his caliber was uncanny.
"Aku! If you destroy the castle then you destroy the generator. That gives them an advantage. We don't want them to have an advantage. It's hard enough to deal with them as it is."
"Well you had better find me someone to fight soon or else I'm going to have to find that fool you call a fighter, Syther. I'll have fun rearranging his face with my fist." Gohan slowly calmed his enormous power down to the normal point.
"Good." Zeus sounded pleased. He had managed to get Aku to calm down again, but his confidence in that ability was wavering a bit. "Now listen to me, Aku. I know exactly what you are going through. I, myself, had the same problem. This is why I traveled to this planet. When I found you I knew that you had potential. The only reason it wasn't being tapped was because the people here on this planet weren't brave enough to bring you to your limits. Now that you have severed all ties with them you can finally use their efforts to bring you power to another level. At that point you will be able to finally face me and we will find out who is indeed the strongest."
"Whatever." Gohan spat and walked toward the wooden door to the room. "You had better find me someone to fight. I don't care if you have to send that pathetic Amazon of a woman to bring me a Prince. He might not be much sport, but he will be willing. Bring him here so that I can kill him."
"Don't forget who you are talking to, Aku. You may be strong, but you are talking to your master. Do not step out of line, or I might be forced to put you in your place." There was a silence then. Gohan understood, but stood fast in his position. "Do not worry, Aku. I will send Syther and a troop of soldiers to capture your prize. Just stay inside the castle and we will have this taken care of in the next few days."
"Fine." Aku stepped out of the room and began to roam the halls. He so enjoyed scaring all of the commoners and patrolmen. After the door shut Zeus could be heard breathing a sigh of relief. He had just dodged a bullet.
**********
Gohan stood in the middle of the City Of Hope. Yamcha had led him to the Mermaid's Fountain, which doubled as the entrance to the city. They surfaced there and were tended to. After getting dried off and led outside Gohan couldn't do much more than try to keep his mouth from hanging open.
"..."
Yamcha smiled at Gohan's facial expression. In front of them was an entire underground city covered by what seemed to be a glass dome. The most impressive thing that Gohan noticed immediately was the sun. What should not have been at all visible under at least 100 feet of dirt and rock was plain as day in the sky above.
"...Yamcha... this... this is incredible. How did you build this in such a short amount of time?"
"Necessity." His head hung low as the memories began to resurface. "There were so many of them... we couldn't stop them all. We held off as many as we could to get the people to the mountains. We found that we were stronger there." Yamcha sat on the edge of the Fountain, resting his head in his hands.
"You built this to protect the people." That was a concept that deeply touched Gohan. It wasn't that he didn't believe that Yamcha was capable of doing something so thoughtful and meaningful. It was just that he just couldn't believe that given the circumstances they decided to save the people before fighting back. Not only that but they had found a way to construct things quickly.
"The people needed to be hidden. That's all we did. The City Of Hope was constructed to keep the people from being detected by the Doomsday squads. If you venture outside of the city and are caught by one of the squads then you are arrested. After being brought back to the castle they put you to work."
"Put you to work doing what?"
"We don't know." The wind whistled and Yamcha lifted his head to peer at the sky. "We are trying to find that out. It's something big, though. That much is for certain. Security has gotten tighter around the outer limits and especially near the castle. I used to be able to spy inside, but now even I can't get there. If we were only able to destroy that damn generator..."
Something had been bothering Gohan as he learned more and more about the universe that he was in. Zeus and his minions seemed to be in control of everything around. That much was certain. The question plaguing Gohan was how all his Zeus' people were able to stay so strong with the generator on.
"I know what you are thinking," interrupted Yamcha. "Zeus has a magician. He uses powerful magic to shield everyone working for Zeus from the power of his generator. That's why they can use their chi and we cannot. That is also why we have to destroy the generator. We can beat them if we can use our full power."
"Are there any weapons here that can used to destroy the generator?"
Yamcha shook his head and sighed. "Right now Piccolo uses the only weapon we are able to get even within firing range, but he wouldn't be able to do enough damage. They've hidden the most vital parts to the generator inside the building. Firing from the outside wouldn't do much of anything besides letting them know that we were there."
"...Maybe..."
"What?"
Gohan's face brightened up as the idea surfaced. It was perfect, or so it seemed at first. Either way it was worth a shot. "Maybe that's what we should do."
"What are you trying to pull? Piccolo wouldn't have a chance at destroying that thing from the outside. He'd have to-" That's when he figured it out. The plan was good. It hadn't been tried before and that would give it a chance to succeed.
"Piccolo attacks the front side of the building with some back up. We can deplete the forces inside the building by having them try to stop him. While the others are occupied we go inside and destroy the generator with some type of explosive. After that we storm the castle and deal with Zeus."
"Gohan... that's the best plan I've heard in a while. The only problem is that we are going to have to wait until Piccolo recovers. He's probably exhausted from that attack. It shouldn't be too long. In the meantime I'm going to show you something. There is someone here that will want to meet you..." In a surprise move Yamcha actually smiled at Gohan. "She's really missed you."
That was a dead giveaway, and Gohan was beaming in anticipation. The two walked through the city and past by the many buildings. Many of the people that they past stopped whatever they were doing to watch. They all seemed to think they knew Gohan, but none of them could put their finger on how.
"Yamcha... why is everyone staring at me like that?"
"I'll tell you later. Now is not a good time. Just follow me. I'm going to show you our first, last, and only defense against attack." Yamcha halted and Gohan stood next to them. They had covered a large amount of ground in a small amount of time. Before them stood a large dome structure, made of a type of silver metal. Its width was only about fifty yards, but the height reached to the top of the actual dome covering the city. Gohan was truly awestruck by the height of it. It reminded him of Kami's Lookout.
"So what is this place, Yamcha?"
"This is our sanctuary of Hope and Protection. This is where the battle starts to keep this place a secret and to keep it safe. This building provides a blanket over the dome, which makes it impossible to detect by the normal means. In order for Zeus and his henchmen to find us they would have to come here on their own, in person. If they did so our sensors would detect them and we would be able to retaliate. Being this far from the generator we can actually beat them, so they are too scared to actually do anything."
"That's helpful. That means you don't have to worry about them attacking all of the time. They don't know where you are and even if they did you would be able to drive them away anyway." The Saiyan walked toward the dome. Directly in front of him was the door. It was normal size, but thick and heavy. It had no handle, only a keypad.
"Security... just in case." Yamcha stepped up and punched in some numbers with his back to Gohan. The door hissed as it began to open. The force of the escaping air made Gohan cover his eyes. It was intense. All he could think about as the door slowly opened was that there had to be something pretty special behind it for there to be so much protection outside of it. It wouldn't be too long until he found out.
**********
"He said what?!" Syther yelled at the top of his lungs. He was so enraged at what he had just heard that he couldn't figure out how best to release his anger. Unable to do rationalize anything he simply rammed his head into the nearest wall. It hurt, but it helped him rationalize things a bit more.
"Syther, calm down" called the voice of Zeus. He was ignored.
"The child dares to challenge Syther. I will rip a hole into his heart and drain his blood onto his own corpse! Where is he now?!" Syther began looking for the door to his room, which he had misplaced in his recent outburst.
"Syther!"
The slender man froze in place and paid attention. When Zeus was angry you listened, less you want to be thrashed. "I am sorry, Lord Zeus. I lost my head for a moment. Please accept my most humble apologies." Syther bowed, showing his sincerity.
"I accept you apologies, Syther, but do not let your emotions get the best of you again. You are one of my warriors now. You must show a level of control. Now I want you to listen carefully. It is no secret that we have been unsuccessful in finding the rebels base of operations. That has been our one failure."
"Yes, Lord Zeus. If you wish I will take a squad of-"
"NO! Syther. I want you to understand something. I consider you my most valuable warrior. You instincts in battle are second only to my own, and your loyalty is never in question. While Son Gohan may be stronger, he is not nearly as reliable as you are. I will send Kale with a squad of foot soldiers into the area where they last fought the rebels. You will take a handful of our elites and tail them. You are not to fight, understood?"
"Yes, sire. I am to follow Kale in hopes that I can observe the rebel's retreat and find their place of hiding, correct?"
"Yes. When we do you are to report your results to me."
Syther bowed once more. "I will prepare at once."
"Good. It is time to put an end to this rebel threat."
**********
The inside was one spacious room that more resembled the size of a football stadium. A large and thick column of metal supported the middle. It didn't look too sturdy, but whatever it was it did look very vital to the entire building. Below that point, near it's origin in the floor there was a large structure, over 40 feet tall. Gohan's head almost caused him to fall backward as he tilted it backward in order to get a better view.
"Impressive, isn't it?" mention Yamcha. He, himself, was staring at it. It didn't matter how many times Yamcha went into the room. He was always stunned by what had been constructed.
"What... is it?" His fingers reached out, wanting to touch it. It had a dull glow about it that gave it a heavenly presence. It was hi-tech at its best. Gohan had to get a closer look. He jogged up to it, stopping more than once to look at it again in awe. He reached a point where he had to stop to be able to see the top of the machine.
"You'll see. Are you there...Bulma?"
Gohan whipped his head around back to Yamcha. "Bulma?" There was a bright flash right after while he still had his head turned. It was a blue hue and it died down quickly. Gohan noticed a smile on Yamcha's face unlike he had seen before.
"She's been waiting a long time for you to come back, you know."
Gohan was confused. On top of the structure was a... an angel. Her body was transparent blue, emanating from the machine below. Her hair was long and gently floating in a breeze that Gohan never felt. Her face did seem familiar, but the rest of her did not. She had no life force; it was like she was a ghost.
"Gohan...welcome home."
"..." There was no denying it now; it was Bulma. Her voice hadn't changed one bit. But at the same time this wasn't Bulma. She wasn't real. It was like a projection of her in a way that she had never been. Nothing seemed to make any sense right now.
"Gohan... I know you are confused." Her heavenly voice seemed to echo softly through the room. It was so completely soothing. Gohan knew he had nothing to fear. "I am Bulma. That may not make any sense to you, but it is true. When Zeus arrived with his fighters we were forced to build this city in a hurry. This building that you are currently in was the first project and the most important. This is what keeps us alive. This building generates the shield that keeps Zeus' forces from detecting us. The people hear can live in a state of peace while behind this wall."
"Bulma... why are..." Gohan had so many questions. Ever since the portal incident he had never really had a chance to find out what happened. There were so many people that he still didn't know the status of. Things were just so weird.
"When we first tried to activate this computer it was a disaster. The CPU couldn't keep up with all the changes that had to be made. It didn't know what to do. An upgrade was needed, but Zeus had already sent out his search parties to find us. We needed something to get our barrier working fast or else we wouldn't survive the onslaught. Millions of lives where at stake. That's when I made the decision."
This wasn't sounding good.
"Against the advice of everyone, including Yamcha, I used a technique that I had been working with to fuse my personality and thoughts into the CPU's brain. With the copy of myself downloaded I can constantly fix problems that may arise and not worry about getting tired."
Yamcha hung his head and took a deep breath. Listening to the story over again wasn't something that he would have asked for. "Gohan... Bulma basically sacrificed herself to save everyone... we were afraid that you would come back to try to kill us before we were able to regroup and find out exactly what to do about this invasion. Bulma is in charge of keep up the barrier that helps us avoid detection by any of their scouters. That is how we are able to live hear at all."
"Have I caused so much pain in this world...?" A single tear dripped down his cheek. Gohan had heard so much about his alter ego in the world that he now resided. It was now at the point where he was going to have to deal with this person himself. Whatever Gohan had forced Bulma into that prison was going to have to deal with him.
"It's not all lost hope, Gohan. Bulma's body is preserved in another place in the city. As long as we keep her safe here we can reinsert her back into her body. The only thing keeping us from doing that is... you."
"...Yamcha," started Gohan, "I don't think you are going to have to worry about that anymore. We are going to destroy that generator and I am going to fight my alter ego myself. I'll put a stop to this madness. Once Piccolo is ready we'll head out and end this."
Yamcha shook his head. "I wish it were possible, but it is not. Piccolo could create a diversion, but not a big enough one himself. We would need another person to be there with him. Someone as strong or stronger. You can't do it because we would need you inside. Unless we can get another person to fight it is all a lost cause."
"Who is left to fight, Yamcha?"
"Tenshinhan is still here in the city. He hasn't done too much lately. He lost Chaotzu a few days ago to an infantry unit. The two of them were cornered in a building. They both jumped out a window, but Chaotzu was too slow. Tenshinhan nearly went ballistic, managing a blast of energy that wiped out the entire squad. Since then, though, he hasn't seen any reason to fight."
"Who else is left?"
"Krillan is teaching a school. He can help. Androids 17 and 18 would help if we could get to them. Then there is Vegeta."
"Vegeta is still here? That's great! He'll be a great help!"
"... I doubt it. He's still upset about Bulma's decision. He doesn't do anything but train and meditate now. I don't think we could get him to do anything unless he was sure that we had a chance. Up until now we haven't."
"Damn it!" Gohan's power sparked quickly on and off. He had forgotten he was in a delicate room. He was so used to being suppressed that he wasn't ready for his power to show itself like it did. That's when it hit him.
Yamcha knew that Gohan had something up his sleeve. The look was on his face. "What is it?"
"Have you tried to fire any blasts from here?"
"What?! Fire energy from here? Gohan, it's not like we have a cannon on board just waiting to shoot down enemies. We would have to-" Yamcha then understood. Gohan was talking about chi, and Yamcha knew that none of them would have had the strength for that to make a difference... that was until Gohan arrived. Vegeta might have been able to make it happen, but what would they do after? Vegeta would not agree to anything unless it was a full plan. Gohan was willing to try anyway. He ran back to the entrance way and the doors opened automatically. Moving at super speed he went from the building to outside of the dome in only a couple of seconds. In a flash he was in the air, moving away from their hiding place. If things didn't go right he didn't want to lead them right to their last fortress. Once he had put enough distance between himself and the others he stopped.
"Gohan!" yelled Yamcha. He caught up with the Saiyan and smiled. "If you are going to go through with this I want to help. I'll donate as much of my chi as I can so that you can push it a little farther and a little faster."
"Thank you, Yamcha." The desert bandit had finally accepted the fact that the Gohan was not the Gohan that had killed Goku. That was yet another reason why Gohan was going to try the attack. Coming to the alternate dimension had been a blessing in disguise as Gohan would be able to talk to his dead father again. In his time Cell had done the deed, but in this world his own self had killed Goku. That wasn't forgivable. Gohan had a bit of revenge on his mind, and he was going to see to it that it worked. Gohan cupped his hands at his side. Yamcha did the same. At the distance there were from the generator they were able to gather their chi rather quickly.
"I'm ready whenever you are."
A flash of gold surrounded Gohan for a second before he ascended to SSJ 2. Yamcha was nearly blown away by the force, but stood his ground. He now had a stern look on his face. He was all business. "Kaaaaaa..."
A blue ball of energy appeared in both of their hands. Yamcha strained to put everything in it that he had. "Meeeeeeeeeee..."
**********
Aku was really getting pissed. Things couldn't be more boring. He really needed someone to spar with, or kill. Either would be fine for him as long as it was something. He didn't like just standing around. Aku paced his room one more time.
"That's it!" He busted out the door and started flying through the castle halls. Soon he found himself outside. He was about to look for a couple of guards to kill when he felt it. Something out in the distance. It was someone's chi, and it was rising. Aku had felt it many times before, but not from this source. This source was new, but more importantly than that was that it was very strong. It was the strongest that Aku had ever felt. It...rivaled his own.
"That can't be!" he yelled. "No one can be as strong as I am. NO ONE!" Aku levitated into the air and cupped his hands at the side. "Who ever it is won't be training for long... I'll destroy them with one blast!" Aku fired up his chi and began to generate a great deal of it in his hands.
"All I had to do was walk outside and now I have my fight... pity I'll never know who it was."
**********
It hadn't been there a second ago, but somehow a power had risen in the distance. Gohan didn't recognize it, but Yamcha did. He lost all concentration and his power went back to zero. Fear had taken control of his body. Gohan saw that and knew it was his alter ego.
It's him. Yamcha knows it is. Now I know where he is. I should challenge him, but I can't do that where he is. If I fight there he'll destroy me. Maybe I can draw him out here.
Gohan ceased his beam power up and began focusing more on building his chi to a higher level. If his alter ego was like him he would understand. Yamcha, still shaking with fear, knew what Gohan was trying to accomplish. He didn't say anything; instead he made his way back to the city in hopes of finding a way to help.
**********
"He can't be serious!" Aku stared into the distance where the power was coming from. The shift in chi was very apparent and Aku knew what was going on. He was being called out. A fit of rage was boiling inside of him. How anyone could challenge him was insane. Aku began to raise his own power to match that of his adversary. He gritted his teeth as he realized that he was playing catch up. Whomever he was getting ready for was already at their top fighting potential.
"No way! He's as strong as I am!" That pushed him over the edge. His chi glowed brightly around him and erupted into the air like fire. He blasted off, sending shock waves back at the structure behind him.
"I'm going to tear this guy apart. No one tries to make me look weak!"
**********
"Hmm... here he comes." Gohan was calm. His power was at an all time high and was violent surrounding him, but Gohan himself made little more than a peep. His alter ego was now coming for him, which meant a hasty retreat was in order. The worry was that the fight might somehow damage the city meant to protect the survivors. More distance wouldn't hurt. He flew backward through the air, keeping his eye on the spot where his opponent would appear.
He should be here in less than a minute going at the speed he's going. I don't know how this fight will turn out, though. If he really is me... how can we hope to fight each other? Won't we know what the other is thinking before he does it? Will it end up and us just killing each other... does is even matter? In both worlds, his and mine, dad has died because of us. Even if all I can do is sacrifice myself to beat him...
"There he is." Gohan narrowed his eyes as Aku came into view. He wasn't slowing down either. Gohan barely got his hands up before the first attack struck.
Conclusion
The two superpowers go head to head, Gohan and Aku, start their fight. Being that they are both the same person the outcome is impossible to predict. Bulma has made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the city, and that is a driving point for all of the fighters. This one's ready to heat up!
Next Episode: A Fight To Remember