Chapter 3: Alone
Author's Note: First off, I apologize for how late this chapter was. My goal is to publish a new chapter weekly but I wasn't satisfied with both the length and writing of what I had last Sunday so I decided to scrap most of the chapter and rewrite it until I was satisfied. On a side note, as I'm writing this, Another Road now has had over 1,000 views! I don't know how significant a mile stone this is but needless to say I'm very pleased with it and the support I've seen so far. Thank you to everyone reading the series, reviewing, and/or following the series since it helps a lot and I appreciate all the feedback. On a side note, I'm planning on now responding to questions as a Q & A at the end of every chapter because I've noticed some people ask the same questions and so to all those reading I think it would be helpful to have definitive answers rather than answering the question every time someone asks it. So without further ado, here is Chapter 3: Alone.
The Kais were panicking over Gohan's disappearance. Without him, their plans were useless. Only he could lift the Z-Sword and stop Babidi. Only he could finally rid the world of the coming threat.
Kibito had gone to Earth in an attempt to better sense Gohan since they already assumed he had returned home. He had already shown his interest in returning back in previous sessions. Though Gohan himself had not realized it from all the time he had spent both training and resting on their world, the Kais themselves knew how long he had been gone.
It had been over two weeks since they had discovered his half-dead body laying in his own blood. In those two weeks Gohan had already substantially raised his energy and had removed the Z-Sword, a seemingly impossible task. Now he was lost to them, possibly forever. Knowing he needed to immediately calm down, the Kai began to meditate on the situation.
Kibito flew for miles in search of Gohan with no results.
Where are you? He thought to himself, confused as to what happened to the young hero. He had shown so much interest in going home and yet he chose to go elsewhere? He thought of all the other places he could've gone to.
Despite his ties to Namek, the planet was nowhere near its original location and Gohan would be unable to sense out Ki so distant from his location in Other World without already having been to the location itself, even if relying on the flow of energy. Where else could he have gone?
Kibito reflected on their visit to King Kai and thought back to his own teleportation. He remembered focusing on his home world and blocking out all other thoughts as he had disciplined himself to do.
But to a novice...
Kibito stopped flying as he slowly became aware of what had happened. Gohan must have teleported to Hell instead of his intended target. The son of Goku was in Hell, surrounded by thousands of his father's old enemies.
Kibito began to teleport back to his home world to inform his master of his hypothesis.
Gohan's eyes wandered around him, looking at each of the enemies. In front of him was Recoome, a large and bulky man with short red hair and the face of an idiot. When Gohan had gone to Namek, it was Recoome who had defeated Vegeta, Krillin and himself. It was his father who had defeated the enemy, and in one blow no less.
To the left of the Saiyan was Burter, an even larger blue lizard-looking speedster. He seemed tough to Gohan when the two met but they never actually fought, Goku had brought down the fighter within a few hits. On the right of Gohan was Burter's partner in battle and his aesthetic opposite, Jeice. This soldier had a pure red skin tone with long white hair and a small build. Gohan winced as he recalled the merciless death Vegeta gave Jeice by blasting him point-blank in the face.
Finally, Gohan saw behind him the least intimidating of the bunch: Guldo. He was a round and fat green alien with several eyes covering his face, making it seem impossible for him to wear a scouter and a soldier who relied on telekinesis. The more concerning ability was his time-stopping power caused by holding his breath. On Namek Guldo had almost killed both Gohan and Krillin with the technique until Vegeta intervened, decapitating him before blasting his head.
Gohan took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the duel. The four men began to circle about Gohan in an attempt to confuse the warrior, to no avail. Gohan stretched his hands outward and felt his ki extend out from his body as he shouted, releasing a force within a large radius.
The attack sent the four enemies flying in their respective directions, giving Gohan the advantage. He swiftly moved to appear behind Burter and strike his head with a spinning kick, causing the alien to be sent sideways just as Jeice and Guldo caught him.
Now where's the other one?
Suddenly, Recoome launched himself at Gohan from behind only to strike through an after image as it faded away. Before confusion could overtake Recoome, he was struck from behind with a chop to his neck, causing him to tumble downward. In his place stood Gohan with his right hand outstretched from the blow.
I didn't think that would've felt so good, Gohan thought to himself.
The other three's faces displayed a mix of shock and terror. Burter and Jeice quickly snapped out of it though as they began their usual tag team tactics. Gohan watched their synchronized attack start and noticed how it was the same as it was on Namek. Unlike him, the Ginyu Force hadn't changed one bit since then.
Burter threw a kick to Gohan's abdomen which was easily side-stepped. He noticed how what had years ago seemed like incomprehensible speed now appeared like the movement of a snail to him. Gohan sensed Jeice raising his ki in order to form an energy ball to strike with while Burter distracted him, a plan that Gohan was already anticipating.
"Crusher Ball!" Jeice cried as he threw his attack towards the half-Saiyan. It was to met with failure however, as Gohan quickly grabbed Burter by his legs and began to throw him towards the blast, watching as his opponent's body took the full brunt of the other's attack. Both he and Jeice watched as Burter slowly descended, his body surrounded by smoke.
Jeice began to panic as he looked for a way out of his predicament. He turned to Guldo, still stunned from Recoome's defeat and called out to him. "Guldo you daft moron, attack!" Jeice yelled, himself terrified by their foe. Guldo did as he was told and began his counter-attack.
Holding his breath, the psychic charged forward now that he had frozen time. He moved close to Gohan, preparing to attack him from behind, and was consumed in a ball of flame that caused Guldo to gasp out.
Time continued as Guldo began to recover from the incident. Confused, he glared at Gohan only to discover the Saiyan had formed an energy field around himself in case Guldo attempted time freeze. Gohan began to realize what had happened and began laughing at the opponent, angering Guldo. Before he could retaliate however, he felt a strange pain in his gut and realize Gohan had swiftly moved to him and struck him with his fist straight in the gut.
Jeice watched as his last remaining ally soon met the same fate as the other two, crashing to the ground beneath them. Seeing the inevitability of his own defeat, Jeice flew away while calling out to someone.
"Help me your Majesty!"
Gohan began to follow Jeice and reflected on his outcries. Am I going to have to fight Frieza too?
Gohan then felt an enormous power approaching Jeice, who had just landed and was kneeling before the mysterious figure. Gohan met him on the ground, only to be stunned by the figure before him.
"Why, if it isn't Kakarot's brat?" The voice spoke out, chilling Gohan.
It wasn't Frieza like Gohan had expected. Instead, it was a short man covered in royal armor and with large spiky hair that stood up and curved inward onto a single point at the top. His eyes and hair were both colored black, similar to Gohan.
"Vegeta," Gohan muttered, still surprised by this new scenario. Gohan had known Vegeta as only an evil man but he had never thought about what that meant after his death.
"So what are you doing here? I'd assume the Androids killed you but I don't see a halo," Vegeta wondered, though his face told Gohan he wasn't all that interested.
"It's a long story," Gohan responded as he began to leave using Instant Transmission.
"What do you think you're doing?" Vegeta asked as he quickly grabbed Gohan's arm and punched his jaw with the other. Gohan slid backwards and he recovered from the sudden strike. "Vegeta, what are you-?" Gohan stopped as he realized.
Vegeta's not like the rest of us. He's always been evil and now apparently Hell's ruler. He's not just going to let me leave.
"I've been waiting for something interesting. Do you know how boring it is being the strongest, with no one to provide a challenge? I make a ruckus every day in order to get that low-class fool's attention but I've never gotten a response. Let's see if beating you within an inch of your life will finally make Kakarot come down." Vegeta spoke, his voice seeming slightly deranged.
Gohan watched as the Saiyan Prince began to transform into a Super Saiyan, a sight that he had only seen once when Vegeta fought the Androids to the death. "Now, I know I look strong but do try to keep up," Vegeta taunted as he strolled towards Gohan. "Dammit," Gohan whispered as he mirrored Vegeta's performance and ascended to Super Saiyan.
"This is a surprise. I didn't think half-breed scum could reach this level," Vegeta jested, clearly excited by the chance to test his skill. Gohan responded to the Saiyan's words by kicking Vegeta in the face.
Vegeta planted his feet firmly into the ground and balanced himself upward just in time to dodge the punch Gohan threw to his chin and responding by placing his hands on the ground and pushing off them, kicking Gohan square in the chest with both feet.
Gohan back flipped away to distance himself from Vegeta, only to find himself struck once again, this time a head butt from the prideful prince, that sent him towards a nearby mountain.
Climbing out of the rubble, Gohan looked around for his opponent who seemingly disappeared. Suddenly he felt his face make impact with the ground as Vegeta hit him over the head from behind.
In retaliation, Gohan shot himself off the ground, kicking Vegeta in the chin and causing him to be flung into the air. Vegeta adjusted himself and fired off a blast of ki from his palm towards his enemy. Gohan smacked away the blast, deflecting it, and flew upwards towards Vegeta.
The two pulled back their left fists and threw their respective punches at each other, the two meeting in the middle and forming an impact that sent both of them spiraling backwards.
Gohan hit the ground and felt himself slide across the rocks beneath him from the force of their punches clashing. Before he could stand Vegeta crashed his leg straight into his stomach, causing him to cough out blood. Vegeta continued his assault as he sent out a flurry of punches at Gohan, beating him into the dirt as a crater formed from the effects of each hit.
Vegeta's gloves soon became stained with the young Saiyan's blood, signaling to him that the fight was over. Grabbing him by his hair, Vegeta threw Gohan upward before beginning to charge a ki blast. Gohan managed to adjust himself in time to dodge the blast, feeling his gi slightly burned by the blast.
Vegeta swiftly moved towards him in an attempt to catch the Saiyan off-guard, throwing a kick to his shoulder that Gohan blocked with his wrist. He grabbed Vegeta's leg with the other hand and pulled him close, ramming his knee into his nose. Putting his hands together, Gohan mashed his hands against Vegeta's head, sending him deep under the ground below them.
Gohan descended back onto the ground and began to catch his breath as he anticipated Vegeta's return. He approached the hole left by his opponent and began to charge a ki blast. He placed both of his hands on his forehead and soon a yellow orb of energy was emitted. He waited a few moments in order to strengthen his attack before finally stretching his hands straight down into the hole, releasing his ki as a long straight beam.
"MASENKO!" Gohan cried as he heard the blast make contact with something down below, causing smoke to rise out of the hole and shoot into the young warrior's face. After recovering from the surprise, he looked around to see shadows surround him. Slowly they appeared before him and their appearances became more clear to him. Their bodies were covered in armor and a furry belt was wrapped around each of their waists.
Wait...that's not a belt, it's a tail! They're Saiyans!
His heritage surrounded him and he felt their intense glares of battle lust as they prepared to all strike at him. Gohan steeled himself for their attacks as they fired a barrage of ki blasts at him.
He jumped away from the first round of blasts and flew to the side as the second round was sent at him, struggling to avoid the thousands of beams of energy that twisted and turned in different directions. Gohan returned to the ground as the beams once again attempted to converge on him, flying backwards before finally stopping on top of the hole he had left Vegeta in.
A blast of ki fired out from the hole, striking Gohan and preventing him from avoiding the Saiyans' next wave of attacks. The Saiyans heard a single cry echo out before it was engulfed by the sound of several thousand explosions. They watched as their leader, Vegeta, rose out of the hole and into the sky, adding onto his people's barrage with a blast of his own. The Saiyans flew closer while he approached the smoke cloud. As it evaporated, the smoke cloud revealed a silhouette hidden inside.
Gohan stood before them, his orange gi torn to shreds, with his golden aura faint. He looked around to see familiar faces surround him.
Raditz...Nappa... When you were alive, I feared you. I watched as you fought and killed my friends. But back then I was small, now I can defeat both of you without a second thought. I can beat any of you. He looked to Vegeta. Even you. I'll beat all of you.
Vegeta pointed his finger to Gohan and spoke out to his people. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the half-breed son of a low class clown!" Clearly the Saiyans were amused by his comment. Another laugh began to overwhelm all others, shocking the Saiyans as they saw Gohan chuckling loudly.
"You think you're all better than me? Why, because my mother is an earthling? Because my father was of a low-class line of Saiyans? Look at me! My father killed Frieza, the man you all feared and were slaughtered by! I became a Super Saiyan, the legend you all aspired to reach! How stupid can you all be? I might be a failure as a Saiyan but as a person..." he paused, glaring straight at Vegeta. "...I'm better than any of you will ever be."
Infuriated by his deep-cutting words, the Saiyan army charged at him, burying him. Vegeta smirked at the half-Saiyan's foolishness before being surprised as ripples of light shot out of the dog-pile. The thousands of bodies were thrown miles away as Gohan stood there, his aura now shining brighter than ever before.
The two Super Saiyans eyes locked and soon they had vanished into thin air. In their place was sparks and loud booms that traveled for miles across Hell. Gohan and Vegeta moved swiftly through the land, dishing out thousands of hits to the other for every second that their battle continued.
Time stood still as a punch landed, Vegeta's fist sliding across Gohan's cheek with enough force to cause a cut to appear in its place. A fragment of a second passed as the two found their roles reversed, Gohan's fist rising up against Vegeta's chin, leading him to drift in the air for a brief moment. The fighters swapped places over the course of their clash, each one landing a brutal after another on their enemy, only to find him doing the same. Their knees collided as they attempted to strike the other's abdomen, causing them both to be pushed away from the impact.
Gohan and Vegeta both quickly fired off a blast at each other, hoping to catch the other off guard, only to form a smoke cloud from the collision. The two began to circle around each other, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
Gohan disappeared from Vegeta's sight, emerging behind him and swinging his elbow at the Prince's neck. Vegeta quickly descended and twisted his legs around Gohan's wrist, flinging him forward and throwing a fist at his face. The other Saiyan used his knee to block the strike and shook his wrist out of Vegeta's grasp before spinning around to kick him in the neck. Vegeta raised his shoulder to soften the blow and reached out with his hand to grab Gohan's throat, who smacked away the attempt with his hand and continued to dodge the attacks Vegeta threw at him.
Just as Gohan seemed to find a pattern to the strikes, Vegeta stretched out his palm and fired off a blast straight at his face. Carried away by the beam, Gohan felt himself being burned as time continued before finally stopping once colliding with a mountain. He felt the rocks dig into his back and his eye sight began to fade out to blackness.
Vegeta drifted in the air slightly above the unconscious Saiyan before beginning to speak out to him. "I am impressed by your power, truly I am. To think that you of all people could match me in battle is really quite shocking. But this is where you lose!" He stretched out his arms and his hands were placed side by side as his yellow aura grew thicker and he harnessed his ki into his strongest attack.
The ground rumbled and the unconscious Saiyans awoke as a result. They all looked up to see their prince covered in an intense golden barrier and a giant orb of energy forming outside of his palm. Vegeta's energy level grew high enough to shock even the recently-passed-out Gohan back into consciousness. "What the-?" he asked, terrified by the great power Vegeta was exerting outwards.
"FINAL FLASH!" The Prince yelled out, his blast covering the surrounding area for miles and eclipsing Gohan's entire body. The blast began to suffocate him with its heat and pulling him down into the earth as his entire essence was burned alive.
This is not how it ends!
Suddenly Gohan felt his body seamlessly transition into a Super Saiyan and his ki form a protective barrier around him. It stood against the brute force of Vegeta's ultimate attack, the shield nearly cracking before its awesome might. Gohan's body ached from maintaining his energy field and he knew that he had begun to run solely on adrenalin.
After what seemed like an endless period of time, Vegeta's blast dissipated while Gohan's shield remained, barely intact. Vegeta squinted with his eyes, one of which had begun to close from his exhaustion, and jumped when seeing his enemy still alive. "H..how?" He groaned while his mind faded into nothingness and his body collapsed onto the ground beneath him before being caught by Gohan, who lowered him gently and powered down.
Looking around he saw the Saiyans approach him, beaten yet limping along. Warn out from his recent fight, Gohan could do nothing but fall back onto the ground and await his death.
Nappa appeared before him, pressing his boot onto Gohan's head and crushing his skull in. "Aah!" he yelled at a seething pain emanated from his head. "To think that the brat from all these years ago would come all the way to Hell to let me finally kill him!" Nappa boasted, enjoying the harm he was doing.
Gohan's vision began to fade just as he saw a mysterious figure knocked Nappa away with a kick and fired off a giant blast of ki that shot away all the Saiyans. The warrior leaned over to Gohan's face and spoke. "Are you alright?" he asked. Gohan tried to sound out a reply but his body quickly shut down into a state of rest.
The darkness that contained Zangya was cold and quiet, creating an emotionless prison for her. She slept on the ground, or what seemed to be since she could not see anything, and shuddered as time went on.
Her body quickly shot up as she sensed a ki far away rising exponentially. While weaker than those of her crew, it seemed both powerful and familiar to her. It's him! She thought, reminding herself of the man who had single-handedly defeated her team. He's still alive? That's perfect! I'll get my revenge soon enough! Now motivated like never before, Zangya began to walk around the endless world, searching for an escape.
Back when she had first woken up in this world, she had tried to escape by firing ki blasts at the nothingness that engulfed her, only to see them return back at her, both overwhelming and demoralizing her. Since then she had accepted her fate out of fear for the consequences of a failed escape until now. Now she had finally found it, the motivation she needed in order to escape the prison she had been trapped in.
The prison had been constructed by a massive amount of ki, Zangya had initially learned this when she had tried sensing around for her teammates only to discover the intense power that acted as a barrier for her. She began sensing around again, looking for a weak spot in the ki flow. She turned in its direction and flew forward.
Finally arriving at the destination, she tested the spot by firing off a weak ki blast at it, only to see nothing come back at her, instead a small crack of light forming against the darkness that she struggled to see until getting closer.
I see, so this is the blind spot. She blasted again with all her might and the crack grew brighter. Again! she yelled in her mind, firing off blast after blast until the crack was blinding her. Being deprived of any light for what seemed like forever, the chance to be under its glow again began to excite her even more and she started to exert even more energy into her attacks.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, firing off a blast with all the power she had and watched it shatter open the prison, her view being engulfed in a white light.
The world she was on now seemed lifeless yet covered by a bright sun. Once her eyes adjusted to the light she began looking over her hands, surprised by how much she had forgotten about her appearance over time. Her skin was the same bright blue as always and her ears just as pointed. She brushed her hair to see it still retaining a bright orange gleam as its extreme length allowed it stretch down to her feet. Her bright gold boots carried a thick black lining over them that continued up until reaching her baggy white pants, held up by a belt of similar color with a golden shine in its center while a large purple stash hung down from her waist onto her legs. A bright white vest covered that blue shirt underneath and long black wrist bands ran across her arms. She grabbed the bronze necklace that she wore and held it close. I still have it!, she thought, a calm feeling pushing away her concerns.
After checking herself over she turned to see the rest of her crew right beside her and seeming to be just as exhausted as she from breaking out of their prisons. All of them except their leader, Bojack, who stood tall and seemingly unfazed by what they had just went through. He wore the same boots and pants as Zangya but was covered in a bright blue jacket while his head was wrapped in a black bandana that covered his long and spiky bright orange hair.
He turned to them and spoke up, his voice deep and serious. "It seems we've escaped from whatever that prison was. I take it you all sensed what I did?" They nodded and Bojack continued. "That damned Saiyan is still kicking, we should fix that." He smirked and the rest of the squad laughed at his comment, save Zangya who smiled awkwardly. She glanced around the area, glad to see her friends again finally. To her far right was Bido, a hulking figure who wore the same pants and boats as the others, it was a trend among the group, but had a purple vest cover his chest and wore gloves of similar design to their boots. His hair was cut in the shape of a Mohawk and he had a goatee covering his face, both colored their races' signature bright orange color. To her left was Bujin, the shortest of their squad. Alongside their common wear, he wore a red jacket and had his head wrapped in a red turban. In between the two was Kogu, who wore a black long sleeve shirt over his chest and a purple ribbon that was wrapped around his head. To his left side was his signature sword that he carried with pride.
This is my family.
Bojack then gave his first command in centuries. "Go and find us a space ship! We must find the Saiyan who shamed us!" The four obeyed and flew off in opposite directions.
The three androids had flown for hours without seeing a single human and Android 18 was getting irritated.
"Where are all the humans?" She complained. Android 17 chuckled at her frustration while Android 16 stared at her with a confused face.
"What do you mean? We've passed several," he explained to her. The other two androids looked back at him with looks of confusion. "Alright then big guy, how'd you figure that out?" Android 17 asked.
"I simply sensed their energy." He replied, shocking both since they were not given that ability. This new knowledge gave Android 18 an idea. "Hey #16, why don't you lead us to one of those humans?" She asked, hoping he would agree.
The new recruit nodded and began to descend at an angle, guiding the other two in the direction of a nearby human. They placed their feet on the ground and slowly followed the ki Android 16 sensed.
Android 16 gestured to the front of a hotel and told them that he felt a faint power from it. Android 18 smirked at the information and fired a blast at the top of it, causing the whole construct to be overcome with smoke and flames. Android 17 moved closer as he awaited the human's attempted escape.
However, Android 16 looked horrified at what they were doing. "What was the reason for that?" He asked as a young girl ran out of the burning building. Android 17 snatched her by the back of her dress before holding his hand in front of her and firing a ki blast that disintegrated her entire essence.
Android 16 balled his hands into a fist and glared at his brethren with rage-filled eyes. "Why did you do that?!" He yelled at them, shocking both with his outburst. Android 17 turned his head to the side trying to understand the meaning of the question before answering. "Oh, sorry man. I didn't realize you wanted the honors. Next one is all yours, I swear it. We good?" He offered his hand out to his new friend, who responded by crushing it in his own and punching him back into the decimated building.
"#17!" His sister called out, worried for her brother. Android 16 turned to her, a look of disgust covering his face. "You took her life. She was but a child. How could you?" Android 16 demanded that she explain herself. She could only stare back with a concerned expression as he moved closer to her.
"But they're humans! We're supposed to-" She started before he grabbed her face with his hand and shook her violently.
"They are living beings! What kind of monster does that?" He threw her against the ground and proceeded to punch her further into it, enraged by her and her brother's wickedness.
The Trees...the birds...the towns...the cities...the people. They destroyed it all. Without prejudice they desecrated this world!
His rage boiled over as he stomped his foot onto the female android's head, who cried out in pain. "Leave her alone!" Called out her brother, who charged Android 16 only to miss every throw. Android 16 countered by grabbing one of his legs and smashing his body into his sister beneath him.
The two laid in their small crater for a few moments, confused as to what was happening. Android 16 stood over them with eyes so fierce it made the Androids feel something they hadn't ever before: fear.
The hulking figure finally began to speak to them. "I love life and I will not watch it be destroyed. I value even the lives of people like you so I will spare you this one time. But know this, I am stronger than the both of you combined and if I see a life taken by either of you again, I will make sure I am the only Android left."
Finished with his warning, the Android flew away, leaving the other two stunned and humiliated.
"Dammit!" Android 18 cried out, smashing her fist against the ground in a fit of rage. "How could he DO that? We're supposed to be the strongest!"
Her brother stood up and sighed. "I didn't want it to come to this but I think we'll need back up."
Android 18 turned to him and processed what he said. "What are you talking about? Wait, their capsules say they aren't even functional! Gero never finished them!"
Android 17 folded his arms and ignored her remarks. "It's time to say 'howdy' to our brothers."
Author's Note (Again): Wow, a lot happened in this chapter. Between Gohan meeting Vegeta again and the side stories I introduced in the last two chapters being more developed, the story now has a lot going on. Plus, as you can tell by the end of this chapter, I'm introducing even more villains! One of the things I'm looking forward to with this particular series is working with the non-canon films that happened in the regular DBZ timeline such as Bojack Unbound and Super Android 13. I hope you liked the chapter and look forward to the next one!
