Disclaimer: I totally don't own DBZ, I just torture them in my free time :)
The Search For Blood
Chapter ten: Too Little Too Late
It was silent, too silent. A soft breeze blew through the cloudy air, moving freely with nothing stopping its pace or changing its direction. Then a loud popping sound filled the air blocking the soft breeze, blowing it around and away from the object with much more strength and force than the breeze actually was.
It was a round object, sort of. It was made of two different types of material; the lower half looked like a strong white material, while the upper part was see-through, like a transparent dome. Inside were two people who were screaming, yet the sound did not reach beyond the object.
The object thundered through the air downwards at a high speed. This was why the passengers screamed. With a loud BANG the object drilled itself into the white tiles, leaving a crater slightly bigger than the object itself.
A sudden click was heard seconds before the object sprang open, the transparent top moving upwards. Immediately both passengers hauled themselves out, landing with a heavy thud on the ground.
Breathing heavily, Goku crawled away from the time machine and lay down when he reached the white tiles. Krillin showed no signs of doing the same.
"Krillin, you alright?" Goku asked when he caught his breath. He got no response persuading him to sit up and see for himself. Krillin wasn't on the ground yet. He was hanging over the edge of the machine, head down and breathing heavily. "Krillin?" Goku called again.
The slightest movement of Krillin's head showed he heard him, but he didn't answer. Goku slowly pushed himself on his feet and swayed a little. He steadied himself before walking or more like tripping his way over to Krillin, slowly.
With every step something banged inside his head, causing him to get dizzy and pressuring him into bending double. He tripped but steadied himself every time it happened, which was every single step. When he reached Krillin, he felt so exhausted that he had to grab hold of the time machine to steady himself.
"Krillin?" The monk did not answer, he simply continued to breath heavily. Keeping himself steady with one hand on the time machine, Goku used his other to help Krillin out of the machine. Unfortunately in his current state of exhaustion his reflexes and strength weren't what they should be, causing Krillin to drop to the ground, hard.
"Ohmmm" Krillin moaned upon impact. His eyes opened slowly and his gaze got sharper the more he blinked. When Krillin could see properly again, he saw Goku hanging onto the time machine for dear life.
"Goku?" Krillin asked confused and a bit worried. He wasn't sure if he was seeing what he was seeing, but to see such a vulnerable Goku wasn't something he saw every day. Automatically he worried.
"You okay?" Goku asked now that he was sure Krillin was awake.
"Yeah, but…are you?" Krillin asked as he panted.
"I'm good, well in a bit I will" Goku answered him. All of a sudden the strength left him and he dropped down beside Krillin, hard.
"Goku?!"
"I'm okay, don't worry…..about…me" Goku responded between breaths. "What's…going…on? We…didn't feel…like this…on the way…there".
"I don't…know, Goku" Krillin answered his friend. "I didn't feel…sick..on the….way….there, either"
"You too? Damn….this just….isn't….our lucky….day" Goku responded. Both of them laughed between breaths, sounding quite delirious, but there was no one to hear them.
After 10 minutes, Goku and Krillin felt better. They stood up and looked around the Look Out. Their hearts very nearly stopped beating. Their eyes grew wide, their mouths opened slightly in shock before they sucked in their breath.
The entire Look Out, the tiled outside and the building itself, were scorched. Everywhere they looked, burn markings were present. The building looked about to collapse, many pieces already had fallen on the ground, broken and scattered everywhere.
The wind picked up then and the smell hit them next. The smell of burned-out fire, the smell of everything nearby being burned; walls, doors, wood, iron, tiles, carpet, curtains, everything.
Goku noticed they were standing near the edge of the Look Out, the only small part, that was unscathed from whatever happened. Now it was scathed from their arrival with the time machine.
"What the hell!" Krillin gasped mimicking Goku's thoughts perfectly. What happened here? This thought kept being repeated over and over in Goku's head.
Everything was destroyed or burned, nothing was left, no one could live here, no one was present to explain, it was all………
Goku's worry intensified as a thought crossed his mind. Everyone was waiting for them here, everyone was here when this happened. Did they escape?! Did they……survive?!
"Goku! Snap out of it! Goku!" Krillin called to him. Goku didn't respond. "GOKU!"
Goku nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his name being yelled. He turned to the sound and looked at Krillin confused. He was so lost in his thoughts he momentarily forgot where he was or had been and with whom.
"I was thinking" He responded distantly. Krillin looked worried. Goku was acting strange and his voice sounded a bit hollow.
"Thinking?" Krillin asked tentatively.
"Did they get out? Did they survive?" Goku spoke gravely, the grieve already filling him up. Sure he had lost his friends before, but never by the hands of his son. Only Gohan could have done this, it pained him to think that, but it was the truth. Before they left Gohan was the threat and Gohan could come here.
Hadn't they worried before, that Gohan might attack this place to get Dende? Obviously he had done that after all.
Krillin looked with horrified eyes at the place he already balled his eyes out at, from shock. There were no bodies, but they could easily be incinerated or thrown off the Look Out. There was no blood, but that too could have been burned away, or maybe no blood had been spilled and their necks were snapped or incineration of the bodies, meant of course there was no blood left to be spilled. Or maybe their blood was spilled off the Look Out, causing it to rain down to earth….
"KRILLIN!" Goku yelled shaking the monk awake. Krillin snapped out of his morbid thoughts and faced his friend while wondering since when he had become so morbid.
"Are you okay?" Goku asked worriedly. Krillin nodded automatically. He wasn't fine and he knew when he became such a morbid thinker. Ever since Gohan, one of his best friends, had become…….a monster. And he was a monster, he just wasn't Gohan, but just a monster. They would get Gohan back, beat back the monster and fix everything.
But what if it killed Bulma? The thought had the blood draining from Krillin's face. Without Bulma there was no one who could use the blood to cure Gohan. No one to beat back the monster, no way to safe the innocent inside the monster. No way to safe, Gohan.
Goku watched alarmed as Krillin paled and got wobbly on his feet. "Krillin!?" The monk began breathing faster and Goku feared he was having a panic attack and was hyperventilating, yes Goku knew about hyperventilating. "KRILLIN!"
Once more Krillin snapped out of it and now he looked confused at Goku, like Goku had before at him. When Goku was sure he had the monk's attention he spoke to him.
"We don't know what exactly happened here. We can only guess from what we see and what we see are no facts. We need to calm down and search this place for any sign they left behind consciously or subconsciously. We can't get off the Look Out with our malfunctioning ki and we have to do something to stop us from thinking too much on this. Stop thinking and start searching" Goku spoke with a steady and strong voice.
Krillin nodded, he understood and both of them started walking around and inside the Look Out, searching for signs.
- () -
They searched and searched, there was nothing else they could do. They couldn't sense the others, they couldn't leave the Look Out, they were clueless like fish on the dry. With a heavy sigh Goku sat down on the tiled floor outside. Krillin was standing a way off looking down as if hoping to see someone flying up to them.
The search hadn't done much to their peace of mind either. With every new burn mark they spotted, the questions filled their heads as did gruesome scenes where everyone ended up dead. The not-knowing was the worst of it all. If they just knew what had happened they could deal with it. Now they were guessing and praying, but no truth.
Krillin gasped causing Goku to jump up and turn around to his friend, expecting to see all his friends. Even one would be enough, if he could just know something about what happened.
Well it was someone and that someone used to be a friend, of sorts, to him. Unfortunately he wasn't the same person these days. It was his son, Gohan and he looked angry.
"Where did you go?!!" Gohan growled. Goku looked confused, while Krillin looked scared. Of course the monk had every reason to, the last time he faced this Gohan he got badly hurt.
"I don't know what you mean?" Goku asked. If possible, Gohan growled even more threatening. Goku remained steady and calm, Krillin stumbled back another step, slowly getting closer to Goku.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Gohan yelled. Krillin started and ended up next to Goku. But not for long, because Goku, though flinching for a second, stepped forward determined to face his son, even though he wasn't completely his son at the moment.
"I've never lied to you and I will never lie to you" Goku spoke calmly and with a care in his voice.
Krillin looked on in concern. Goku was trying to get through to the real Gohan, if that was even possible. Krillin wasn't sure if there was anything left of Gohan, that's why they went to the past to get the blood, because Gohan's cells were gone, Gohan was gone.
But they were going to fix that, if they got out of here in one piece of course.
Gohan stared straight at Goku, his stare menacing and cold. Nothing Goku said had any influence on him and it wouldn't. After all, it wasn't necessarily a mental attack on Gohan, it was physical. He was changed, not even taken over. It wasn't a discussion of possession, but mutation. Gohan was reformed, so to speak, making Gohan someone else.
"You are going to tell me where you went and what you were doing!" Gohan spoke almost radiating with confidence. Even his voice was fully laced with confidence. It worried Krillin and bothered Goku.
Gohan was never really confident before. He was always looking for confirmation, especially from him, Goku. Always asking if he did things right, always thinking he would follow behind Goku. When he told Gohan he could beat Cell, that he was stronger than him, Goku, Gohan had shown the opposite of confidence. He downright refused to believe it.
Yes Gohan was never really confident, in himself at least. In Goku, he had all the confidence in the world. This wasn't his Gohan, but it didn't stop Goku from trying to reach out to him.
"SPEAK!" Gohan all but yelled. The anger radiated of him, they could almost feel it. Krillin froze, he didn't move, he didn't think, he did nothing but breath. As much as he hated it, he was afraid of Gohan, of Gohan! And he hated it, hated being afraid of his friend.
Goku never looked away from Gohan. His eyes looked filled with sadness at the boy before him. The boy who had overcome so much, gone through so much, lost so much and in the end……he lost himself. It wasn't fair and Goku was now more determined than ever to get Gohan back, to give him back what he lost, himself, his life.
Suddenly Goku felt himself being punched in the stomach and he flew back landing hard on his back, inches away from the edge of the Look Out. He moved himself up on his elbows and looked up. Gohan was standing at the same spot, threateningly and his right hand slightly raised in a fist.
"I suggest you cooperate. I'm not very patient" Gohan spoke in a cold voice.
Something warm rolled from the corner of his mouth. Goku touched it and saw it was blood. However Gohan hadn't hit him in the face, but in the stomach, so how could his lip be bleeding? When he looked up he noticed Gohan smirking.
"Confused? Understandable. I discovered that trick a few days ago. Apparently my power level is so much higher, that my mere energy can hurt you, if its concentration is tight enough" Gohan explained still smirking.
Goku wiped the rest of the blood off with his wristband before getting up on his feet. Gohan made no sign of closing the distance. He remained at the same distance, however his smirk now turned into an angry frown.
"No more stalling. Tell me where you two have been and what you were doing!!" Gohan demanded.
Goku was at a loss. What could he say? What could he do? If he told the truth, Gohan would take the vial and destroy it. He couldn't escape cause his ki was still malfunctioning and so defending himself was out of the question too. He glanced at Krillin who was unmoving at the same place as before. Krillin's eyes shifted for a second to meet his, then they went back to fix on Gohan. But Goku had seen enough in that one second. Krillin had no idea what to do either, Krillin knew their options were bad.
"Fine! Have it your way!!" Gohan yelled enraged.
Before Goku realised what was happening, Gohan had closed the distance to Krillin and grabbed the monk by the throat. He lifted him up and held him over the edge of the Look Out. Goku's eyes widened as he realised the danger behind the action.
"Now, you will tell me where you've been and what you've been doing, or else……this monk will fall to his death" Gohan spat coldly. Krillin's eyes widened in horror and he struggled weakly against the hold on his throat. It was futile, for Gohan was much too strong.
Gohan smiled at the futile struggle of Krillin before looking at Goku, expecting an answer. He noticed Goku's horror stricken expression, but also confusion or disbelieve hidden beneath it. Gohan understood what had him confused.
"Yes I know of your problem" Goku's eyes widened further if possible and Krillin stopped struggling from shock. "It's quite obvious. Your ki signature is all over the place and fluctuating as if you have no control. Then the fact neither of you tried to sense the others or defend themselves and lastly, neither of you left since you arrived. You've been here a while as if you couldn't leave. I just connected the dots and figured it out" Gohan explained, momentarily ignoring his anger at their refusal to answer.
Both Goku and Krillin looked baffled. A completely random thought came to Goku at this. It seemed Gohan's intelligence was taken into the mutation, he was clearly still very smart and perceptive. Somehow this comforted Goku. Even though Gohan wasn't Gohan, there was still something from Gohan still present. Sure Cell hadn't been an idiot himself, but this was definitely Gohan's perceptiveness.
"Enough, you keep distracting me. Now you're too late. I've had enough" Gohan said annoyed. He released Krillin and Goku watched his horror stricken friend disappear beneath the Look Out.
"KRILLIN!" Goku yelled as he dashed forwards, knowing very well he'd never make it and he couldn't save his friend. Before he could reach the edge though, Gohan pulled him back by the neck and threw him away from the edge. The tiles broke upon the impact of Goku's body and then the ground dented some more when Gohan placed his foot on Goku's chest and pushed hard. He grabbed hold of Goku's gi and pulled him close to his face.
"You should have just told me" Gohan whispered threateningly. Goku felt the desperation for Krillin intensifying and suddenly an overwhelming rage came over him and he snapped back coldly.
"What's your problem!? We've only been gone for a few hours!" That had been the plan after all. They would return in this world only a few hours later so they wouldn't have a chance of seeing themselves disappear. They could have been months in the past but in this time it would only be a few hours.
"A few hours?!" Gohan spoke tensely as if ready to burst. "You've been gone, FOR A WEEK!" Gohan yelled enraged.
In his bout of rage, Gohan threw Goku across the Look Out. As he meant to charge at him again, three figures appeared in his way. Goku looked up feeling dazed. How could it have been a week?
"Ah, I was wondering how long you roaches would hide" Gohan said smirking. Neither of the three figures reacted to it.
Goku snapped back to reality as he remembered his friend falling to his death. It hadn't been that long, sure he could still be saved. "Krillin!" Goku shouted abruptly before getting up and racing to the edge of the Look Out as if intending to jump off of it.
Trunks' head snapped up at the shout as did Piccolo's and Vegeta's. They quickly sensed for the monks' location and sensed he was falling to his death, very soon now. Trunks rushed to the edge as well, remembering the ki issue.
Gohan sensed a weakness and went to take the opportunity that presented itself. He disappeared from sight. "Trunks! Watch out!" Piccolo shouted, but it was too late. Gohan reappeared before Trunks, slamming him hard onto the tiled floor, leaving a reasonable crater. He proceeded by grabbing Trunks by the neck and slowly squeezing the life out of him.
Vegeta immediately rushed to his son's aid, only to be punched in the face and crashing onto the ground a ways back. Gohan released Trunks, who fell on the ground gasping for air. "Who's next?" Gohan asks with a fake smile.
Piccolo grinded his teeth. He couldn't afford to lose his cool now, Gohan was aiming for that. The angrier they were, the less focussed they'd become.
"Gohan" Trunks spoke weakly still grasping his neck. "Please Gohan, he's your friend, at least he was. Would you really let Krillin die?" Trunks finished weakly. He knew it was useless, but that didn't stop him from trying. He couldn't just sit by and watch Gohan kill off his friends.
Vegeta's sarcastic laugh broke the silence. "Like he cares! He didn't care for the old guy and his pets!"
Goku felt like the breath was knocked out of him. The old guy, master Roshi? His pets, Puar, Oolong….? Gohan k..no Gohan couldn't have. He didn't! Goku kept denying it, kept begging it wasn't true. Had Gohan really killed friends?
Piccolo knew he had to intervene. They had to get Goku out of here, while they still could. Why he had lingered here for so long was beyond him, but now wasn't the time to question Goku's decisions.
Without a word of warning or a glance to either Trunks or Vegeta, Piccolo charged at Gohan taken him by surprise. His fist connected with his stomach and Gohan stumbled back a few steps. Vegeta quickly joined the fight.
"Trunks, get Goku out of here!" Piccolo called to the teen still on the ground.
Trunks nodded automatically, but his mind was still on Krillin, who by now probably feel to his death, because he couldn't sense him anymore. Horror filled him when he realised Krillin probably had the blood. He stumbled back on his feet, his face considerably paler.
Vegeta and Piccolo were getting beat all over the Look Out, but at least they were keeping Gohan busy. There was one positive thing about Gohan's mutation. He had become much too confident, therefore he didn't bother worrying about Piccolo's order.
Trunks stumbled to Goku, not from injury, but from shock. If Krillin had the blood, it was destroyed now from the fall. Gohan was lost once more.
"Trunks, we've got Krillin. I repeat we've got Krillin" Bulma's voice filled his head. Trunks abruptly came to a halt. Subconsciously he reached for the earpiece. His mom had Krillin, that meant she was here in her flying cab.
"We gave him a bracelet, now hurry and get Goku down here. We're on the south side" Bulma continued.
Trunks snapped out of his daze and locked eyes with Goku. Goku looked hurt and confused. Trunks rushed over to him and hauled him up on his feet. He suddenly sensed Gohan coming towards him and turned to see he was right. He shoved Goku with his right hand a second before Gohan punched him.
Goku went over the edge while Trunks went through a still standing wall. Piccolo and Vegeta rushed to Trunks' aid and then the Look Out disappeared from Goku's sight.
He felt himself fall faster and faster. He wondered for a moment why Trunks pushed him off the Look Out, didn't he know about the ki issue? Of course he knew! Goku panicked as the air rushed further passed him.
Suddenly he slammed into something hard. He was sure a had a cracked rib. Dazed eyes blinked open and he saw yellow. Before he could register what he had hit, something pulled on his leg. He felt himself slip down and a sudden forward force before once more slamming onto something hard, this time a greyish color.
"Goku!?" Someone shouted. He blinked more and slowly say up. Before he could ask what was going on, something cold enclosed his left wrist. He looked at it confused ot see a silver bracelet on his wrist.
"Goku!" Someone shouted again. Goku finally snapped out of his daze and locked eyes with Bulma.
"Bulma?!" He asked confused. He was rewarded with a slap in the face.
"Snap out of it! Do you have the blood? Are you hurt?" She asked. Goku pulled the vial out of his pocket, which Bulma immediately snatched away from him.
"I'm okay, but…Krillin" Goku whispered his friends name.
"Krillin is fine, he's right over there" Bulma said before getting up and retaking her driver's seat.
Goku turned around slowly and locked eyes with a pale looking monk. Pale, but alive! "Krillin!" Goku shouted relieved. He rushed to his friend and hugged him before sitting next to him.
Before they could ask each other what happened, the door to the flying cab opened once more and Trunks, Piccolo and Vegeta entered. As soon as the door was closed, Bulma rammed her fist on a big red button and the cab seemed to shudder a second followed by a strange glow. When the glow was gone, Bulma turned the cab on autopilot and joined the others.
"So you two succeeded" Bulma stated as she looked at the vial in her hand. Krillin and Goku nodded.
"What happened? Gohan said…we'd been gone a week and the Look Out…it's….well demolished. And Vegeta said something about, master Roshi?" Goku asked. Krillin tensed when he heard what he missed.
Bulma sighed. "It's long story. I'd rather we discussed this when we're safe. It's not a happy story though" She finished grimly.
"But it's true, about master Roshi…..and us being gone…a week?" Goku asked again.
"Yes Goku, it's true. A week has passed in this time and master Roshi, Oolong and Puar are dead" Bulma spoke solemnly.
Few, that took a while to write. It was exhausting and I'm not completely happy with it. Sorry if the ending seemed a bit rushed, I wanted to finish the chapter already *sigh*
Also, I noticed today I had a few tendencies of changing to present tense. I think I fixed it, but if it still happened somewhere in the chapter I apologise and try to fix it later.
Let me know what you think in a review, pretty please!
Chapter 11 title: Grave situation
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