Disclaimer: ……………………………………….Nooooo! Don't make me!...............*Sigh*…….fine……I…..Do….Not……..*painful cry* OWN!......DBZ! (runs to a corner and starts crying)
At Each Others Throat
Chapter seven: Fall Out with the Mentor
A coma. It sounded strange to his ears. His son. A coma. Gohan in a coma. Was this really happening? His strong boy, who was even stronger than he himself, his precious boy was in a coma?
Goku sat outside on the Look Out, lost in thoughts. Piccolo promised to explain exactly what had happened, but he needed to rest first. As much as Goku couldn't bare to wait, he still found himself sitting outside, waiting.
It wasn't so much the waiting that he couldn't handle. It was the fact that his mind would come up with its own explanations. Explanations he couldn't, no wouldn't believe. Explanations like, Gohan never waking up or Gohan dying, all because Gohan wished for it.
Abruptly Goku stood up, his hands gripping at his hair. He couldn't wait much longer. He felt like he was going crazy. He needed to know what had happened, what Gohan did, if he did anything at all. Maybe that saiyan ass had done this to Gohan! If so he was going to rip the son of a bitch out of his son, if that's what it took and then rip him to …
"Goku!" Goku snapped out of his murderous thought and turned around. Krillin was standing at the entrance, obviously having called him over and concluding from his expression, more than once.
"What's up, Krillin?" Goku asked as he reached Krillin.
"Piccolo is ready" Krillin answered. Before he could blink, Goku had sped passed him. Krillin smiled the slightest bit at this. Always the rash one.
Then at a calmer pace, Krillin followed the distressed father to the distressed mentor to get an explanation. Krillin just hoped that after the explanation, there would also be a solution.
- DBZ -
Goku didn't know how fast he was going nor did he care. He was going to find out what happened to Gohan. At seeing the door to the room where Piccolo had rested, Goku sped up even more. Just as he was about to hit the door, it opened and Goku went crashing into the back wall of the room.
As he lay on his back, Goku turned his eyes up and looked at Piccolo who stood beside the door. Seconds later Krillin came into view, panting from trying to keep up with Goku.
"I sensed you coming" Piccolo answered simply as he closed the door. Goku jumped back on his feet facing his green friend. "Take a seat" Piccolo spoke as he turned away from the door to face his friends.
"First of all, to explain what happened to Gohan, I first have to explain what it was he did exactly. I need you both to remain quiet and listen without interruptions" Both Goku and Krillin seated themselves as they nodded. With their attention fully his, Piccolo sat down himself opposite them and began the long explanation.
"What Gohan did, was a sort of meditation. You both know normal meditation?" Both Krillin and Goku nodded without so much as a loud breath. Both were too anxious to know what had happened to make a sound.
"Normal meditation can calm a person. It can be used to collect one's thoughts or to get a clear head. However, the difference with this other meditation is, that in normal meditation you are aware of what goes on outside you, around your body. You can easily fall out of the meditation if something is happening. Gohan could not" Piccolo watched his friends expressions getting closer to horror. They had even paled a bit.
"This other meditation is a much deeper one. One goes extremely deep into the mind to a point of pure blackness. It is their inner mind in a way. Once there, you'll lose track of everything outside your body. If there was a battle right beside you, you wouldn't notice" Piccolo continued.
"But, how's that possible! I mean, that's so….Why would anyone do that?" Krillin choked out. Piccolo glared at him, angry for the interruption. "Sorry" Krillin quickly mumbled.
"There is a good reason for this meditation. It is exactly like the reason of why Gohan needed it. When I first trained Gohan that one full year, he was a scared little child" Goku and Krillin gave him a look that said 'he was a scared little child, so duh'.
"He quickly got over that, however as the fight for Earth came closer, he became anxious again, nervous. I decided then to teach him normal meditation so he could calm himself. It worked for a while. Then he started having nightmares" Goku looked heartbroken, knowing his son had needed him so and he wasn't there for him.
"His anxiety returned full force because of the nightmares. It became so bad to the point where reassuring words no longer held any effect. There was no way I could use him in battle like that, so I decided to teach him the Shin'en Meditation"
"That's the deep meditation?" Krillin asked wary of Piccolo's annoyance. Piccolo nodded before continuing.
"Yes. Shin'en means deep or abyss, exactly what it is. You go deep into your mind, where it is beyond dark and almost like an abyss" Goku and Krillin glanced nervously at each other not liking where this story was going.
"So I taught Gohan the meditation and it worked perfectly. Gohan was able to reach inner calm and his anxiety was over won. Of course I explained to him how dangerous the meditation was and that it can never be used in battle or any other dangerous situation, because when under it you are unaware of the happenings around you"
"Exactly what is so dangerous about it. All you've said is, that you go deep into your mind and you're not aware of what happens around you. What the real danger?" Goku asked forgetting the no interruption rule. Piccolo sighed strongly showing his annoyance clearly.
"I was getting to that!" He snapped. Goku looked a bit guilty for interrupting, but quickly got over it and listened intently. "Anything can happen inside and outside. If one is dealing with certain personal problems or emotions, or if outside the mind a danger approaches…..we are warriors and more than often we respond without thinking. Our body reacts to danger quicker than our minds at times, because we are used to acting upon danger. If a person in Shin'en Meditation were to release some of his or her energy, even a little bit, it would result in direct damage to the mind and body"
Complete and utter silence followed this statement. Krillin's mouth was agape in shock and Goku's eyes had widened while he simply stared at Piccolo as if still processing the information. Seeing they weren't going to response, Piccolo decided to wrap things up.
"Gohan must have been provoked inside his mind, perhaps his saiyan side has something to do with it, but it caused Gohan to release his power. He tried to transform, knowing the damage and pain it would cause. For Gohan to do something so reckless, he must have been cornered"
"How….could it hurt…" Krillin tried to ask. Piccolo answered having picked up on the monk's question.
"Because body and mind are out of sync. When we transform or power up, we are aware of the transformation and our body transforming with it. When you're in Shin'en Meditation, your body and mind are separated. Gohan's mind decided to transform and even though his body responded and transformed with it, they weren't connected, thus causing severe damage. That's why Gohan was bleeding internally" Piccolo explained.
Piccolo glanced at Goku, who was still eerily silent and still. Even worse, he was still staring at Piccolo with those hollow, widened eyes. Krillin however was now fishing for answers even though he rather not hear more heartbreak.
"So why is he in coma?"
"Because he overdid it, again" At the confused look from Krillin, Piccolo elaborated. "When I went into my own Shin'en Meditation, I focused on the connection I have with Gohan's mind. That way I'd get into Gohan's mind, instead of the deep part of my own. I tried to find him, but as soon as Gohan sensed me, he blocked me out. Made a mental block. By doing that he was putting more stress on himself since he was already hurting from the transformation. Those two things were too much, causing Gohan's mind to slip away into a different darkness"
"A coma, you mean" Krillin guessed. Piccolo nodded. "but can't you break through a…mental block, you said?" He asked curious and hopeful.
"With some I can" Piccolo stated, not feeling up to explaining much more. Krillin however looked at him expecting an answer. Piccolo decided to explain that much and then call it quits.
"It depends on the strength of one's mind. Yamcha for example, I would easily break through, you as well probably" Krillin gulped at that. "Normally I can get through to Gohan as well, but that is because Gohan lets me. I created a mental connection to Gohan so I can easily contact him telepathically. With others I have to concentrate deeply to reach them telepathically. However, Gohan has one of the strongest mental blocks that exist. Some have brick walls, others have glass, but Gohan has crystal"
"Crystal! That's like the strongest stone ……… " Krillin stopped as he realised what this meant. Even with the mental connection, Piccolo wasn't able to break through crystal, crystal mental blocks, but still it was crystal.
Piccolo locked eyes with Goku, determined to get him to snap out of it. He was sure Goku was listening to everything just discussed, but the eerie silence and unmoving was unnerving to say the least.
"Goku?" Piccolo tried. This got Krillin's attention, who had forgotten completely about Goku in his own shock. Goku however didn't respond.
"Goku?" Krillin asked carefully placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Goku tensed at the touch and his eyes suddenly focused, on Piccolo. "Uh, you okay buddy?"
"You!" Goku spoke in a raspy voice, but harsh tone. Piccolo kept his emotionless mask on as the two warriors stared hard at each other.
"You're the one who did this. You taught my son, something so dangerous!" Jumping to his feet suddenly Goku yelled at Piccolo who was still seated. "IT'S YOUR FAULT MY SON IS IN A COMA!"
With nothing stopping the raging father, Goku rushed forwards and his right fist connected with Piccolo's face. Krillin gasped in utter shock and horror. Piccolo remained the same emotionless Namek, now with a slight bruise on his face.
Goku stood above him, panting from anger for his green friend and hurt for his precious son. Before Piccolo could retaliate, as if, or Krillin could interrupt, Goku stormed out of the room.
Krillin looked fearfully at the still Namek before him and at the retreating back of his enraged friend. Piccolo's voice caused Krillin to jump a mile into the air.
"Go after him before he does something stupid. Son's always act reckless" Piccolo spoke monotone. Krillin inhaled a deep breath before chasing after Goku leaving Piccolo alone.
Piccolo stared at the bare wall opposite him. As much as Goku's words hurt, yes even Piccolo could feel hurt though he never showed it, he knew Goku was right. It was his fault. Maybe not fully, maybe part was the reckless Son genes, but it was him who taught the reckless boy Shin'en Meditation. It was to help Gohan, but now it had done the exact opposite. It was his fault.
"I'm sorry, Goku"
- DBZ -
In a different room, Dende sat silently. The young guardian had heard the angry shouts from Goku and he had felt what had happened. He had closed his eyes, praying silently for everything to turn to normal, for all this pain and guilt to go away.
It seemed a bit ironic that the emotions Gohan fought most with in his life, were now the emotions everyone else was fighting with. Pain and guilt. Gohan felt guilty really fast and he had lost a lot in his young life.
Dende opened his eyes and looked beside him. "Please come back soon, before things spiral out of control" After a deep sigh Dende stood up and left the room.
Had he stayed a little longer, he would have seen Gohan's left hand clench into a fist.
Few, that one is done. Sorry it's so much shorter. Don't hate me for Goku's outburst, I think it was allowed. He is a grieving and worried father after all.
The Shin'en Meditation is something thought up, although Shin'en does mean deep or abyss in Japanese. I used a translator.
Very sorry, I haven't updated The Search For Blood yet, at least one of my DBZ stories is on the move. Lets hope the other will follow!
Hope you all enjoyed it. Sorry for the little action, but I needed to explain what had happened to Gohan, or I'd get all those: What the hell happened?! Reviews. Ya Get me?
Damn, still haven't used that chapter title. Well I'm pretty sure that I'll use it next chapter.
So next chapter - Fall Out with the Injured: There is a fall out, but I'm not saying with who and someone's injured and hmm……There will be a little Vegeta time. That's all you'll get!
Read and Review folks!
