Gohan grimaced feeling slightly nauseous as he slowly awoke. The first thing he noticed was this strange fuzzy feeling beneath him. It wasn't a carpet and really felt so alien that he shot up quickly to see where he was. The sights to behold made him forget to breathe for a moment.
Snapping out of the trance, Gohan slowly stood and looked all around him. The sky was a deep royal purple with bluish streaks of clouds swirling about randomly in the sky like vortexes. The ground was grey and had rock formations that twisted and curled into shapes unnatural to Gohan by his understanding of physics. Even the grass beneath him was more like fur than grass.
Gohan had to stop and think for a moment before he worded aloud, "Where… am… I…?" his most recent memories came flooding back into his mind; the battle between he and Cell, and the final moment when Gohan trapped himself in an energy shell with Cell to absorb the damage from his explosion. Feeling over his head and looking up Gohan made out the golden ring of a halo, "I guess that means I'm dead… But where am I? Is this Heaven or could it be…" Gohan gulped thinking about the alternative. "Maybe I should have listened to my mother more…" Gohan bit his lip and shook his head in panic.
Before Gohan could do anymore wondering, a strange green face dropped in upside down from above only millimeters in front Gohan's face, "Are you lost?"
"AH!" Gohan jumped back and out of instinct assumed a defensive pose. The floating creature turned over upright and floated over to Gohan closer. It appeared to be harmless so Gohan dropped his defenses. The creature was very short and green… rather impish and plump with four pointy ears pointing out of a smooth black cap atop its round head.
"Why would you ask me that?" Gohan finally responded.
"Just wondering because you have a look on your face that reads, *Ahem* 'Help me I'm lost!'" the creature shouted in a voice that matched Gohan's perfectly. "So do you know where you are?"
A chill ran over Gohan's spine, he wasn't used to hearing his voice come out of someone else's mouth, "Other World, right?"
The Imp's eyes widened and glared Gohan up and down, "In what way does anything around here remind you of Other World?" it yelled.
Gohan rubbed the back of his head in a gesture of apology for apparently insulting the creature, "I'm sorry, it was a guess; I've never been to Other World either…"
"Excuses, excuses," the imp waved his hand to dismiss the conversation and turned away walking in the other direction. Gohan was tapped on the shoulder from behind and quickly spun around only to find the same imp back there with his arms crossed, "You should really face people when they're talking to you!"
Gohan looked behind him and back to the imp again. This whole situation was just confusing him now, "OK then… well… where am I?"
The imp chuckled a little to itself before throwing its arms into the air and shouting in a booming grandiose voice, "WELCOME TO THAT WHICH LIES BETWEEN ALL REALMS, THAT WHICH CLAIMS THE LOST SOULS OF THE LONE, THAT WHICH ENTOMBS GODS AND BEASTS ALIKE! I call it Tweener!"
Gohan's eye twitched as he watched unable to mask his confusion at all anymore, "Well… how did I get here?"
The Imp touched down on the ground and rubbed his chin looking thoughtful, "You know… in all honesty I'm not sure myself… Just every now and then someone ends up here and either lives with me or throws themselves into the great void of the damned!"
"The what?" Just as Gohan asked he felt the ground beneath his feet shake and the rock behind him collapse revealing an enormous bottomless pit.
"You feel that bleakness emanating from it?" The imp whistled as he stepped closer, "That's called despair!"
Speechless again, Gohan could only watch as the hole filled itself back up. "That still doesn't answer much…"
The Imp shrugged, "Do I look like a tour guide? All I know is that inter-dimensional travel is risky business and every now and then someone ends up here of all places and can't leave!"
Gohan nodded, "So you're one of these trapped souls?"
"No, you are! I'm just maintenance!" The imp materialized a rake in his hand and started combing the furry grass.
Gohan looked around more at this strange place, "So is there any way out of here besides that black hole?"
The imp threw his rake to the side and smiled widely, "I'm glad you asked! You see every soul who ends up here has to pass… a little test. The test will determine your character, ability, and a lot of other crazy stuff!"
Gohan scratched his head, "Why would getting out of here be determined by some test?"
Crossing his arms looking frustrated again the imp answered, "To see if they're worthy of the great prize that awaits them on the other side… Duh! So are you ready to begin?"
Gohan took a deep breath, clenched his fists and psyched himself up, "OK where do I start?"
The imp snickered, "Well you already failed the IQ portion!" Gohan's jaw dropped as he stared at the funny creature. "I'm just kidding! Geez you're a stiff…" Gohan wasn't able to lighten up as the imp had intended. "Actually I'm not sure what someone like you would have to do. Not many people come through here with a physical body intact..."
Thinking for a minute Gohan said, "So does that mean I should do something physical?"
"Great idea!" The Imp cried, "Alright, go ahead and start scaling that cliff!"
Gohan looked around and didn't see anything, "What cliff are you talking ab…" before Gohan could finish, the Imp snapped his fingers and a cliff with faces as smooth as glass shot up just behind Gohan, growing to thousands of feet in the sky.
"That one!" The Imp walked over and looked up admiring the impossibility of his handiwork.
Gohan put his hands over the tops of his eyes trying to make out the summit. "OK then, here we go!" Gohan immediately jumped with incredible speed high into the sky, leaving the Imp astonished for once as he watched Gohan become a spec and then disappear completely from sight. Gohan used his energy to propel himself all the way to the top in a single leap. Once he reached the top he looked back down to the surface noticing he could just about see the whole planet from up here. "OK, now what?" he called.
The cliff began to plummet back down to the surface, causing Gohan to plop roughly on it at the sudden stop. "That was amazing! You're strong and have lots of energy!" The imp disappeared from Gohan's sight and kept flashing from one side of him to the other, squeezing his arms and sensing his strength, "You're really strong! Where did you get so much power?"
Gohan blushed a little under the appraisal, "Not all from one place really…"
"Fine then… if you're so strong, I want you to try something over here!" The Imp led Gohan to a strange gorge which opened into a canyon. The walls curved inward at the top in far too impossible angles to have been cut by water. At the back of the canyon on the cliff face there was what appeared to be a larger boulder blocking a cavernous path. The boulder had a strange glyph on it which looked like a beam clashing through a triangle and becoming a fine line on the other side.
"I want you to try moving this rock!"
Gohan put his hand on the boulder. It was no ordinary stone, it resonated with enormous energy, "OK, I'll try…" Gohan gripped the boulder as best he could and tried lifting. The Rock made a cracking sound like it was moving, before it moved far though the stone begin to glow where Gohan's hands gripped it. With a strong burst of energy Gohan was blown away from it. He was flung with enough force to crash through a nearby rock wall.
The imp gulped and trotted over to the caved formed from Gohan's body and peaked inside, "It wants to play rough…" Gohan's voice echoed from within as he steadily pulled himself free. Gohan grit his teeth, powered up his ki, and concentrated his energies into his hands he approached the boulder again. Beams of energy protruded from both the rock and Gohan's hands binding them to each other. The entire cliff side began shaking as sparks of energy skipped across the strange rocky surface.
Gohan strained his energies further and dug his fingers into the boulder in order to hold onto the massive stone, actually breaking through the surface and smashing the solid rock in his hand. Gohan's ki flared and canceled out the repelling energy within the stone. The seal on the boulder vanished and in a great heave Gohan chucked the heap of rock away.
A deep dark cave could now be seen behind where the boulder once had been. The symbol which had been etched into the stone faintly appeared over the opening before quickly dissolving into the air. The glow it left behind was absorbed into the passage and created a spatial vortex. "I don't believe this…" The Imp shook his head as he regarded the monumental feat, "Who are you?"
Gohan turned around, "My name's Son Gohan, but you can just call me Gohan. What's your name?"
The Imp gulped, "Phips, call me Phips."
Gohan shook Phips's hand, "Nice to meet you Mister Phips, so what's next?"
Phips finally wore off the shock, "Next? Next we get the hell out of here!"
Phips hurriedly hopped through the Vortex, and Gohan was quick to follow. The Vortex left them in a large dark cavern; if it could be called a cavern. There was a strange murky sky but it was plainly visible that there was something solid above the clouds.
"So you really were stuck in that tweener zone after all huh Phips?" Gohan asked trying to strike up some conversation to put an end to the eerie silence.
Phips teetered from side to side in thought, "Kind of…"
"What do you mean 'kind of'?" Gohan chuckled.
"Well it's been a LONG time… You see I was trying to become an ogre to aid King Yemma many eons ago. As you can imagine it's a little difficult for someone of my stature to pose as an ogre… But I figured what the heck, a job is a job right?" Phips smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Well one day… I got bored alright? King Yemma was on break so I started playing the stamps on his desk… He kinda startled me when he got back with his big burly voice shouting 'JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?'" Phips once again copied the voice perfectly. "He made me jump and I accidently flung the stamps everywhere and… I… accidently… hit King Yemma with the "HELL" stamp…"
Gohan blinked a few times, "Wait… would that even work?"
"Apparently so, 'cause in a puff of smoke, King Yemma was whisked away to the jail cell in Hell where everyone he'd ever banished there kind of ganged up on him and beat him up pretty good…"
"Ouch…" Gohan cringed having an idea where this story was going now.
Phips chuckled to himself finding that part rather funny, "But when he finally got out of Hell and made it back to the check in station…" Phips look drooped slightly, "Let's just say there was no place to hide… He got so angry he actually booted me out of the dimension entirely! I spent some time floating around in just an empty void until I finally landed back there."
Gohan nodded, "But then what was all that talk about some great prize at the end of a test?"
"Oh that was just a rumor we started to attract tourists!" Phips waved his hand as if it should have been obvious.
Gohan shook his head, "You're strange…" This only caused Phips to laugh.
The two walked on for a while longer and quite unexpectedly crashed into an invisible wall, "Ow, what the hell?" Phips rubbed his head and put a hand up against the wall to feel it. "Why didn't I sense that coming?"
The wall began to glow with a strange energy. A feminine voice echoed from the field, "Weary travelers from realms afar, beyond this gate lies the center of all things, sacred and untouched, guarded by three who will not permit effortless passage. The tribulations ahead may very well result in your permanent end. Heed these words well as they are the final warning you will receive in this place." In a flash of energy the wall was no more.
"That was weird…" Phips looked around, "What do you suppose she meant?"
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Gohan's guard was up.
"I say we keep going!" Phips started climbing the stairs on the other side.
"Definitely not going back," Gohan nodded and kept following.
The two climbed the swirling stairs for a good ten minutes before they reached a great door, large enough for King Yemma himself to easily walk through if it were open. Seated at the side of the door was a humanoid with the head of a mustang wearing a black cloak.
"He must be one of the guardians…" Phips whispered to Gohan.
"Indeed, you have reached the first trial of the center realm!" The being spoke with a loud booming voice.
"And he apparently has excellent hearing…" Phips added.
Gohan bowed courteously to the guardian, "So this is a trial, what is it we are required to do?"
The cloaked horse's head began to laugh almost menacingly, "Simply open your true selves…"
"What the heck does that mean?" Phips crossed his arms not at all amused by riddles.
The two were about to question the guardian further when their vision was overtaken by a bright light. Gohan became defensive immediately; he couldn't see or feel anything. "Phips! Stay close! Phips? Where are you?" He began to feel as if he were spinning out of control. That and the bright light was making him feel extremely nauseous. Had he had anything to eat that day, he would have been losing it right now. There was no ground beneath his feet otherwise he'd never be able to remain standing.
Gohan's eyes snapped open, and his body jumped with a start. A comforting hand on his shoulder pushed him back down onto the bed, "Shh, it's alright Go-chan…" a woman wrung out a cloth and placed the damp towel back on Gohan's head, "You've had a really bad fever sweetie, I'm sure you were just having a nightmare. Sleep... sleep…"
Gohan's eyes slid shut, his memories slowly fading away.
End Chapter