A/N: Sorry about the long wait! I've had this chapter done for like two weeks but my computers has been acting screwy. Anywho, heres chapter eleven!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z. I do own a copy of seasons one though eight but that it. Want proof? Majin Buu. I would NEVER have made a villian that sucked that bad.

The Price of a Life

As soon as Goku appeared back in his cell he knew something was wrong.

What? That's Goten and Trunks' energy but it feels like they're Super Saiyans! They aren't sparring each other… Wow! What's that other energy I feel! It's enormous! And it seems familiar somehow. It feels like… No way! Something not right! Just then Goten and Trunks' energy dropped suddenly. I need to get over there now!

Goku immediately focused onto the mysterious energy and zapped away.

Once he reappeared he was shocked to see the source of that incredible power was none other than Detective Burns, the man who had interrogated him.

"What? You? But how?" stuttered Goku.

The detective smirked, "I've been training a long time to kill you Goku Son."

"Who are you and why does your energy feel like Piccolo's?"

Burns laughed, "Ahh, you've picked up the similarities have you?"

Goku nodded seriously, "Yeah, but there is something different. Darker."

"My name is Obo. The reason we seem so similar is because Piccolo is my little brother."

"What? But all of King Piccolo's other sons are dead!"

"Perhaps you might find it easier to believe me if I showed you my true appearance," Burns' body began to shimmer. The man's pale skin changed to green, he grew several inches, his ears elongated to a pont and he grew antennae. In short he was the spitting image of Piccolo even down to his purple gi with blue wrist and waist bands. The only difference was the large symbol on the front; the same one King Piccolo had worn all those years ago.

Goku just looked on with a serious expression, "How?"

The Namek smiled, "That is an interesting story. I was born shortly after my father was revived. He placed me in a spaceship that he designed after the one he came to this miserable planet in. It was my job to scout out other planets for my father to move on to once he was finished with this one.

"That, however, was not to be. With the help of a telepathic link my father shared the entire story with me. Since that day I have traveled across the universe training myself for the day that I would return, the day that I would kill you. I didn't think it would be so soon though. My partner and I had planned to kill your children before we killed you so that you would know the pain of losing your entire family. But what my partner doesn't know won't hurt him."

"And just who is this partner of yours and what does he want with me?" asked Goku angrily.

"An old friend from your own travels through space. A being known as Cryptus."

Gohan stood there, his mouth open, in shock.

"What?"

The Chief let out an evil laugh that sounded strangely like a hiss, "Issn't it obviouss? I hired Tao. I ssent him after you! I framed your father! And I now I'm going to kill you!"

Gohan was utterly bewildered, "But why? If I've done something to upset you I apologize."

"Other than being the offsspring of Goku? No."

At this Gohan was even more confused, "But what do you have against my father? As far as I know you hadn't even met each other before this morning."

He laughed again, "There iss much of which you are unaware boy! My name iss Cryptuss. Your father and I met many yearss ago, as he was traveling home from the planet Namek. He landed on the planet my sson and I had taken ressidence on looking for food. We were heroess on that planet, we protected them from the nightly raids of monsterss that were taking the young and eating them. Of coursse we failed to tell them that the monsterss we were protecting them from were, in fact, ourselvess. They paid uss quite handssomely for it as well."

Gohan's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You made them pay you to protect them from yourselves? You monster!"

Cryptus smirked, "That wass the idea, and it was going quite well, until your father showed up, that iss."

Now it was Gohan's turn to smirk, "I bet Dad saw right through your act."

"Yess," he sneered, "He caught on almosst immediately. He confronted my sson and me in front of everyone. We denied it. of coursse, but the elderss of the planet had grown ssusspiciouss of uss by then. We were banisshed from the planet. But we refussed to go without a fight.

"Your father threw himself in between uss and the elderss. My sson and I fought asss hard asss we could but your father killed my only sson! I barely esscaped with my life. I vowed that your father would know the pain I felt at the losss of my sson. I vowed that I would become sstrong enough to kill your father and hiss entire family while he watched, helpless.

"I sspent the next nine yearss traveling the universse, training to defeat your father. It wass on my travelss that I met a like-ssoul, A Namek named Obo. You of coursse know him as--"

"Detective Burns," interrupted the demi-saiyan.

"Ahh, sso you figured it out. Good. Yess, Detective Burnss. It sseemss that Obo had losst hiss entire family at your father'ss handss asss well. Sso together we began to plan. We wanted your father, the earth'ss hero to know the pain and humiliation that he had caussed me!"

A metaphorical light bulb went off in Gohan's brain, "So that's why you framed him! You wanted to turn the people against him!"

The 'man' smirked, "Yess! Jusst asss he had done to me!"

"There's only one difference," said Gohan his shoulders back in defiance, "You and your son were never heroes. You were frauds. My father has risked his life more times than I can count to save the lives of others. My father is a hero and you tried to blame him for something he never did when all he did was expose you for the fraud you were."

Cryptus hissed, "You think it matterss what we've done? You think it iss your actionss that make you a hero?" he laughed maniacally, "It doessn't matter what you've done! All that matterss iss how people percceive you. To think otherwisse iss nothing more than a sschoolboy delusion! Good and evil do not exisst! All that matterss iss percception and power!"

"Tell that to King Yemma when he sends you to Hell," said Gohan his voice like ice.

"You shall ssee the other sside long before I do!"

Gohan smirked, "We'll see."

"Yess we shall. Perhapss it is time you ssaw my true form! I am gifted with the ability to change my appearance to that of another sspeciess. Watch clossely, you are about to ssee power incarnate!"

With those words his body began to change. His skin melted into bright green scales, his face elongated into a diamond shape snout, his pupils became slits, his eyes yellowed, his arms and legs expanded, and a long, sinuous tail trailed behind him. He had the appearance of a large snake with arms and legs. He blinked twice, the lids coming from the sides.

And just as his appearance changed so did his power level. It had grown drastically, 'He's even stronger than Super Buu was the first time I fought him!' thought Gohan, 'I'm still stronger than him but not enough so that I can get careless.'

"Fine. You wanna know about power? Well how about THIS!" Gohan let loose with a yell.

The ground began to shake, the wind to whip around, and rocks began to hover and then explode from the massive surge of energy Gohan was letting loose. Several mesas toppled over.

The snake smirked, "And now we begin."

A/N: Two or three more chapters until I wrap it up. I will then write a sequel to my fic Last Stand at Kami's Lookout which will focus on Gohan.

I will try to update sooner next time but no promises.

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